Once everyone had been apparated back home and Tracey had been granted access through the charms and enchantments protecting their home, Sirius quickly grabbed Harry by the lower arm and dragged him into the living room with a giddy look on his face.
Bemused, Harry allowed himself to be manhandled into his seat and raised an expectant eyebrow at his godfather, who perched himself on the cushion beside him.
"Tell me all about your term, kiddo," Sirius instructed eagerly. "I want to hear everything."
"Yes, we'd like to hear about all of your terms," Marie said admonishingly from behind their settee, and Harry turned to see the woman walking into the room with the rest of her family. Daniel, of course, took his lone armchair whilst Tracey joined Astoria and Marie on the settee opposite. Meanwhile, Daphne found herself standing directly in front of Sirius with an unhappy look on her face, which the man completely missed as he was still staring earnestly at his godson.
"Oh! Sirius, you're sitting in something!" Daphne suddenly cried and pointed at the cushion he was sitting on.
Sirius turned to her quickly and jumped to his feet. "What? What am I sitting in?" He questioned urgently as he patted his robes above his backside.
"My seat," Daphne responded as she quickly darted forward and stole the cushion beside Harry, who simply grinned and lifted his arm so she could snuggle up beside him. Daphne smirked at Sirius as she took Harry's other hand and interlaced her fingers with his.
Sirius grumbled good-naturedly and relocated to the seat beside her. "Sorry. So, how were your terms?" He asked again, this time including all of the children in his question.
"Well, after finding Pettigrew and you getting released it was actually really normal," Harry reported happily. "Classes are going well, Quidditch has started up again so there's been a game every third weekend to watch and Malfoy and Snape have been quiet."
"What Harry said," Daphne concurred. "The only stress we have at the minute is deciding what classes to take next year."
"Have you gotten any closer to making a decision?" Daniel questioned from his armchair.
All three second-years shuddered. "No," Daphne shook her head. "Care is a definite, but we still can't decide between Arithmancy or Divination."
"Why don't you just take both and then drop one if after a month or so you decide you really can't stand it?" Marie suggested, which garnered considering head tilts from her two children. She then turned to the girl sitting on Astoria's other side. "What do you think, Tracey?"
Tracey startled slightly at being addressed directly. "Err...that sounds like a good compromise, Mrs. Greengrass."
"Call me Marie, dear," The woman in question chided gently.
"And I'm Daniel," The blonde man grinned.
"You can call me Sirius too," The other man provided.
"Okay," Tracey agreed, her face reddening under the scrutiny of all three adults.
"How has your term been, Astoria?" Daniel asked of his youngest.
"Eh, can't complain," The girl responded succinctly.
"How many detentions have you gotten?" Sirius asked her with a knowing smile.
"Zero," Astoria answered smugly. The knowing smile dropped off Sirius' face and was replaced with shock. "What? I'm a model student, I'll have you know."
"Which is just about the only positive thing anyone could say about you," Tracey mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.
Marie snorted. "I think we'll all enjoy having you around, Tracey. We need all the help we can get keeping her in check," She nodded her head toward the girl sitting between them, who looked scandalised. "Speaking of, how about we show you around?"
Tracey nodded happily in agreement so Marie pushed herself to her feet, dragging Astoria up with her. When Daniel too rose, he gave Daphne a quick, meaningful glance. Sighing, she removed herself from Harry's side and joined the rest of her family as they began to make their way from the room to give Harry and Sirius some time alone.
However, before they closed the door a burst of inspiration seemed to suddenly take ahold of Sirus and he quickly leaned over the back of the settee. "Are you going to give her a full tour, Daniel?"
Daniel paused and nodded. "I don't see why I wouldn't?"
"Even the study?" Sirius questioned innocently.
"You've been in the study?!" A suddenly close-to-combusting Astoria screeched.
"Yes? Is that a problem?" Sirius answered with a wide, toothy grin.
"You bet your mangy arse it's a problem!" Astoria burst before she twirled on her spot to glare at her parents, who were trying (and failing) to hide their smiles. "This is an outrage! I won't stand for it!"
"Shut up and get a move on," Marie instructed with a roll of her eyes as she reached out and pulled her daughter heavily out of the room, ignoring her indignant yelp. Daniel, who was the last to remain, gave Sirius a weary shake of his head which was ruined entirely by the amusement dancing in his eyes before he stepped from the room.
Once he had left, Harry turned and stared at his godfather. "Did that make you feel better?"
"Yes, yes it did," Sirius admitted happily. "So, how have you been?"
"Good," Harry shrugged. "I've been looking forward to this break though."
"Why's that?"
Harry shrugged again. "I wanted to see you again, and I miss Daniel and Marie when we're in school."
Sirius' smile was blinding at this information. "I've been looking forward to this as well - two whole weeks with my little godson."
"I'm not little," Harry instantly denied with an aggrieved voice.
"You have grown a bit in the last few months," Sirius considered, running his eyes up and down Harry's form. "Have you made any plans for your break?"
"Erm, no?" Harry was confused. "Should I have?"
"No, no, that makes sense actually. I used to arrange visits with James, Remus and the other one, but I suppose when you live with your best friend there's really no need." Sirius answered. "There are some things I have planned for us to do if you're interested?"
"Like what?"
Sirius fiddled with the clasp of his robes as he answered. "Well, I usually meet up with Remus - that's Moony, if you remember - on Wednesdays in the Alley. I wondered if you'd like to join me so you can get to know him?"
"Has he asked to meet me?" Harry questioned with a light frown.
"Well, he hasn't said so outright, but he does seem interested when I talk about you. I think he'd be happy to meet James and Lily's son. You'd like him, Harry, he's a good man, very smart and funny when he wants to be."
"So nothing like you then?" Harry grinned.
"How can you say such cruel things?" Sirius gasped, clutched at his chest and dropped heavily back against the arm of the settee.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Sure, Sirius, I'd be happy to come with you to meet him. Is there anything else?"
Sirius paused his dramatics and sat back up. "Well, I was planning on going to see your parents on Saturday. I haven't been yet, and I know you've never been to see them either, so I wondered if you'd like to go together?"
"I...I never actually thought about that," Harry stammered. It was true, he hadn't given a thought before now to potentially visiting his parents' graves, and now that Sirius had mentioned it he felt extremely guilty. "Yeah, of course I'd like to go. Why wait until Saturday though?" Today was Sunday the 21st, meaning Saturday was in a full six days time.
Sirius' brows knitted together imperceptibly. "Because Saturday is the 27th of March," He stated, though when Harry stared back at him blankly he clarified further. "It's your dad's birthday. He'd have been turning 33."
Harry's guilt deepened when he realised that, before now, he hadn't even thought to ask anyone when his parent's birthdays had been. He knew all of his friend's birthdays of course, but he also knew when Marie and Daniel's were (February 15th and June 30th) and yet he had had no idea when his own parents had been born.
"When was my mum's?" He asked in a quiet voice.
"January 30th," Sirius answered instantly before chuckling lightly to himself. "James used to joke that he always preferred older women."
Harry cracked a small smile at that, though he wondered why his brain suddenly decided to remind him that Daphne's birthday was on November 2nd, almost nine months before his. "So Saturday, then? Just me and you?"
Sirius nodded and smiled warmly at his godson. "Just me and you."
Harry returned the smile in full before he sat back against the cushion and relaxed. "How have things been here?"
"Pretty good, actually," Sirius noted with a small degree of surprise. "Daniel and Marie are good people, and after we sorted out our issues from the past things have been going well. They've both been helping me recover physically, as well as magically."
"How so?" Harry asked with interest.
"Well, training mostly. I'm not where I was before Azkaban, but I'm getting there. I can beat Marie most times we duel now, and I can hold both of them off alone for a few minutes, but there's still progress to be made." Sirius reported happily.
"You can beat Marie?" Harry repeated.
Sirius gave him a funny look. "Don't act so surprised, I'm Sirius Black. There's a reason everyone was so ready to believe I was Voldemort's right-hand man, you know," Sirius explained proudly.
"I get that, it's just I know how good Marie is. She would never let you win if you didn't earn it," Harry shrugged.
"Don't I know it," Sirius chuckled. "She's had me training every day. I couldn't get close to her the first few weeks," He paused to turn fully toward his godson, his whole body now facing him. "She tells me that you can duel her as an equal now."
"Fight her," Harry automatically corrected. "And yeah, but I still don't think she's going all out with me. She never used her animagus form, for one thing."
"Lucky," Sirius grumbled. "She scared the living daylights out of me with it once. I'm looking forward to fighting you for myself though, see how good you really are."
"Tomorrow?" Harry suggested. "We usually just relax the first day back."
"Tomorrow," Sirius promised with an expectant gleam in his eye.
"So, what do you think?"
"I think it's unnatural to have an entire wall dedicated to bookshelves," Tracey shuddered, staring at the left-hand wall of Daphne's bedroom in horror.
Daphne bumped the other girl heavily with her shoulder as they sat on her bed. "Shut up. Besides, you should see Astoria's room, she's got almost twice as many books as me."
"Weirdos, the pair of you," Tracey proclaimed. "And I hope never to see inside Astoria's room...or should I call it a lair?"
"Call it whatever you like, you're not allowed in," Astoria's voice sounded as she strolled into Daphne's room through the open doorway. "Harry's never even been inside my room, and I like him twenty times more than I like you."
"Not as much as Daph likes him," Tracey grinned as Astoria clambered atop the bed. She nodded toward the framed picture on Daphne's bedside table of the pair of them.
"I swear I hear her kissing it goodnight before bed," Astoria whispered conspiratorially in Tracey's ear, causing the older girl to giggle.
Reddening, Daphne glared at the both of them. "I don't do that!"
"Yeah, she's got the real thing at her beck and call whenever she wants to get some kissing in," Astoria continued as Tracey's giggles deepened.
"At least she has someone to kiss," A new voice provided. All three girls' heads whipped toward the open doorway where Marie was leaning against the frame, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Astoria spluttered angrily when her mother's words fully registered, but before she could come up with a response Marie stepped further into the room.
"I thought cottage pie for tea tonight, I wrote to your father and he suggested that was your favourite?" Marie directed toward Tracey, who grimaced slightly.
"Err, that's fine with me," The girl responded politely.
Daphne turned and frowned at her friend. "I've never seen you eat that at school. Actually, you usually eat-"
"Shepherd's pie," Astoria finished as she too turned to frown at Tracey.
Marie's eyes flickered between her daughters and the embarrassed girl between them. "Well, I'm sure your father just had them mixed up. I'll be happy to make shepherd's pie if that's what you prefer? I know everyone else enjoys it."
"I really don't mind, Mrs. Gr - Marie," Tracey responded with a smile.
"Okay, dear," Marie answered with a smile. "It'll be ready in around an hour so don't get yourselves in too much trouble," She instructed as she eyed Astoria sternly for a moment before turning to leave the room.
"You alright, Trace?" Daphne asked her friend quietly.
Tracey shrugged uncaringly. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was nice of your mum to ask my dad, even if he had no idea. Cottage pie is his favourite." When neither sister could come up with a response, Tracey spoke again with false cheer. "So, what do you guys do for fun around here?"
"Oh, I usually train, read or spend time with Harry," Daphne answered self-consciously. "I'm not very fun."
"I plan my rise to power," Astoria answered with no self-consciousness whatsoever.
"Of course you do," Tracey sighed before turning to Daphne. "You are fun Daph, and besides, even if you aren't, you have me around now to make you fun!"
"Exactly!" Astoria grinned from her other side. "That's what I've been trying to do for years. Finally, I'll have some help." When Tracey nodded her agreement, Daphne stared between the two of them with mounting terror.
"Merlin save me."
That night, after the delicious shepherd's pie that Marie had made for them all had been eaten and they had spent their evening relaxing in the living room, Daphne followed her mother into the kitchen when she decided to make coffee for the adults.
"Mum, can you make some hot chocolate for tonight?" She requested as she jumped up to sit on the counter. "You know, with marshmallows and cream and stuff?"
Marie tilted her head and nodded. "Sure, but what's so special about tonight?" She asked as she retrieved six cups from the cupboard. "You make the coffee then, Sirius likes his milky with one sugar."
"I think it'll be fun to have a sleepover in my room tonight, now that Trace is here," Daphne explained as she hopped off the counter to begin preparing the cups. "I used to read about them in my books. I always wanted to go to one."
Marie glanced at her daughter as a guilty feeling settled in her gut, but Daphne's face was completely without accusation. "Well, that sounds like a lovely idea, sweetie. What do you have planned?"
Daphne lifted her hand to her chin as she thought. "Err, I dunno? In the stories people would drink hot chocolate, which we've got covered, eat sweets - I'll make sure Astoria gives up her stash, and spend all night talking and sharing secrets and stuff. What else do you do at sleepovers?"
"That sounds about right," Marie chuckled as she set about preparing the drinks. "I remember staying over at my friend's houses when I was your age." She smiled wistfully to herself as she boiled the kettle with her wand. "They were lots of fun."
The two of them worked in silence together as they each made their set of drinks, but when Daphne finished making the three cups of coffee she frowned as she watched her mother stir the three mugs of hot chocolate before adding the whipped cream.
"Why have you only made three?"
Marie glanced to the side at her. "Why would I make any more? There's one each for you, Astoria and Tracey."
"You forgot Harry," Daphne pointed out unhappily as she placed the three cups of coffee onto a tray.
Marie blinked at her daughter. "I assumed it was girls only?"
Daphne's frown deepened. "But then Harry would be left out."
She conceded the point with a tilt of her head. "True. Alright, I'll make another for Harry but he can't sleep in your room with you girls."
"What? Why?" Daphne demanded. "We've slept together before!"
Marie closed her eyes tightly as her daughter's wording conjured images she was very much not ready for. "Yes, but that was different."
"How?"
Marie sighed and turned fully from the counter to face Daphne. "Because when you and Harry shared a bed it was the night Astoria was injured. You were providing each other comfort, and it was a one-time thing."
Daphne very carefully ensured that her expression did not change a bit, for she knew for a fact that they had slept in the same bed more than the one time her mother was alluding to. "But you're suggesting that we kick Harry out once it's time for bed while the rest of us stay, that's worse than just not inviting him to join us at all!" When Marie said nothing, Daphne's nostrils flared angrily. She grabbed the tray of coffee from the counter and stalked from the room with it, kicking the door closed behind her.
Marie sighed to herself as she retrieved another cup and began preparing another hot chocolate in silence, which was soon broken by the kitchen door opening again. Turning, she fully expected that Daphne had returned to continue arguing, but instead, it was her husband who was closing the door confusedly behind him.
"Why did our daughter just march into the room, slam the tray of coffee down and demand that I come and, in her words, 'tell your wife she's being an idiot'?" He wondered in a baffled voice as he walked over to stand beside her.
"She called me an idiot?" Marie asked. When Daniel nodded she harrumphed and directed the cups with her wand to float over to the sink and begin pouring the contents out. "That's the last time I'll do something nice for her."
Daniel's eyes flickered over to the wasted hot chocolate for a moment before he reached out to take his wife's hands in his and led her to the kitchen table. When they were both seated, he asked. "What's going on?"
Marie breathed out heavily and began to explain. "Daphne wants to have a sleepover tonight and asked me to make hot chocolate for them. I made three cups, thinking that she meant just the girls, but she explained that it included Harry as well. I told her that that was fine, but Harry was not allowed to sleep in her room with them."
Daniel lifted his chin. "And that's a problem?"
Marie stared at him. "Yes, Daniel, he's a boy. A growing boy who is nearly a teenager. I know you and that girl never had sleepovers together, did you?"
Daniel shook his head. "No, Bella never stayed over at my house, but that was more due to her family than anything else. My parents wouldn't have had a problem with it when we were their age."
Marie huffed. "You really don't see a problem with this?"
"No, I don't, because I trust our children. All Daphne wants to do is have a fun night with her friends, especially her best friend." Daniel said firmly.
"The best friend that she's in love with?" Marie argued.
"I hardly think she's in love, dear." Daniel denied with a chuckle. "She's too young to know what that means."
"It doesn't matter, because it's not Daphne I'm worried about, it's Harry. He's going through puberty, Dan."
Daniel shook his head lightly. "Granted, his voice is a mite bit deeper than it was the last time we saw him, but that's all. You have nothing to worry about, Marie, I doubt he's had any urges like that yet, he's still only twelve. You're worrying about nothing."
The couple stared into each other's eyes for a few moments in a silent battle of wills before Marie sighed. "Very well. But if she thinks she isn't apologising-"
Daniel chuckled, pushed himself to his feet and leaned over to kiss her temple. "I'll talk to her."
After he had left the room, Marie remained seated at the table. She hoped her husband was right, and she was worrying over nothing, but she was a mother and that's what they did. Her ears twitched as she heard lighter footsteps approaching the kitchen behind her, though she refused to turn and acknowledge the person who opened the door quietly.
A moment later she felt arms wrap around her front from behind her and a curtain of blonde hair obscured her right eye as her daughter hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry, mum."
"For?" Marie responded blankly.
"Calling you an idiot and arguing with you," Daphne mumbled as she tried to tighten her arms around her mother.
Marie felt a smile lift the corners of her mouth as she lifted her hand to pat the arm of her eldest. "Apology accepted - but don't ever call your mother an idiot again. Or at least, be smart enough to make sure I don't find out about it."
"I won't," She promised quickly, dropping her arms when Marie got to her feet. The woman turned to face her and cupped her cheek gently.
"It's getting late, go tell the other three to get ready for bed. I'll bring the hot chocolate up to your room," Marie instructed gently.
"And Harry?" Daphne prompted, her eyes pleading.
Marie quirked her mouth to the side. "Harry can stay with you," She answered. Daphne squealed happily and dived at her, causing her to chuckle as she gave her daughter another hug. "Go on, get everyone ready."
"Thanks, mum," Her daughter grinned at her before she raced from the room happily. With a chuckle, Marie turned and walked back over to the sink to begin preparing the hot chocolate again, hoping that her husband was right.
If he wasn't, she would hold this over him for the rest of their lives.
"That. Was. Amazing."
"It was."
"I never thought it would be that good. You do realise I'm going to want this all the time now?"
"Glad you enjoyed it."
"It's happiness in a cup. Seriously, I want to marry your mum."
"You've said, Trace. Multiple times," Harry grinned as they all watched Tracey down the rest of her hot chocolate.
"I'm sure mum would be flattered," Daphne smirked as she took Tracey's empty cup and placed it on the bedside beside her the other two finished cups, courtesy of herself and Astoria.
"Who wouldn't be flattered to marry me? I'm great," Tracey bragged as she puffed out her chest.
"Oooh, that's what we could do!" Astoria said, pushing herself up from where she was leaning on her elbow. "Who would you marry!"
Harry, Daphne and Tracey shared confused looks and shrugs, so Harry decided to voice their incomprehension eloquently. "Eh?"
"Alright, so, we'll take it in turns to pick someone from each Hogwarts house that we'd marry. Oh, and you can't pick anyone that has already been picked." Astoria explained excitedly before pointing at her sister. "Who would you choose, Daph?"
"I don't want to be married to four different boys," Daphne frowned as she steadfastly ignored how beside her Harry was staring at the side of her head and awaiting her answer.
"It's a game, dimwit. We all know there's only one boy you really want to marry," Astoria prompted, receiving an angry eye twitch from her sister. "Come on, who would you marry from Hufflepuff?"
Daphne looked toward Tracey, who seemed quite excited to play and sighed her defeat. "I don't know, there aren't really any boys from Hufflepuff who are good-looking."
"What about Diggory?" Astoria suggested.
Daphne scrunched her face up. "Too pretty."
Astoria lifted her hand to her chin as if she were thinking hard. "Hmm, I seem to remember you calling someone in this room pretty before..."
Daphne glared furiously at her sister, who was sitting directly opposite her. "I will kick you off this bed if you don't stop."
The younger girl lifted her hands placatingly. "Alright, alright."
Daphne eyed her for another moment before going back to thinking. "Smith."
"Zacharias Smith?!" Tracey burst, horrorstruck. "Why oh why would you pick him?"
"Because his family are rich. Nothing says that I ever have to kiss him or anything, I can just marry him, never speak to him again and spend all his money." Daphne responded with a shrug.
Astoria looked unhappy with her answer before deciding that it wasn't worth the effort to argue. "Fine, what about you Harry?"
It was Harry's turn to ignore how Daphne turned to stare at him. "Erm...Bones."
Whilst Tracey smirked at the frown that suddenly appeared on Daphne's face, Astoria chortled. "Oooh, that was a quick answer. Why Bones?"
Harry took a sip of his drink as he thought about his answer. "I don't know, she seems nice."
Tracey turned from looking at Daphne to the only boy. "Really? Abbott seems nice too, and she has blonde-hair and blue eyes." She said meaningfully. She glanced back at Daphne's face and was near-certain that steam would be shooting from her ears at any minute.
Harry stared flatly back at his friend. "Who would you pick, then?"
When the attention turned to her Tracey stammered, suddenly less interested in participating in the game. "Oh, err, I don't know. There's really nobody I'd want to marry."
"No, come on Trace, play the game," Daphne said, sitting up further against the headboard and grinning like a shark at her friend. "Who would you marry from Hufflepuff?"
Tracey's ears turned red and she refused to look at any of them. "Nobody."
Astoria scowled and pushed the older girl on the shoulder. "You can't do that! You were happy to make the other two answer."
Tracey batted her hand away and glared at her. "Fine, who would you marry?"
"I'd choose Diggory," Astoria answered with an easy shrug. "He looks good on a broom."
Tracey stared at her for a moment, seemingly flummoxed at how quickly Astoria had answered. "Err..."
"It's alright, Trace, you don't have to answer," Harry told her after a moment while smiling kindly. "The game is just for fun, isn't it?" He said, giving Astoria a hard look when she looked ready to protest.
"Yeah, it's just for fun," Daphne agreed, receiving a thankful look from Harry at her support.
"Cornfoot," Tracey said suddenly.
"Who?" Astoria demanded, confused.
"Hufflepuff in our year, he's pretty smart and quiet enough," Tracey responded quickly. It became obvious to all three of them that she had likely just picked a random name out of her head, but as she had answered and given a reason even Astoria knew not to press her further and instead she turned back to her sister.
"Alright Daph, Ravenclaw?"
Daphne sighed and stared at the far wall, racking her brain for who to choose. "Boot? I guess he's alright to look at, and he's pretty smart."
"How romantic," Astoria snarked with a roll of her eyes. "Harry?"
"Luna," Harry answered easily. "She's already my friend, plus it'd be an entertaining life."
"Damn it, I should have thought of that," Daphne complained. "Can I change my answer to Luna?"
"No," Astoria responded shortly before returning her attention to Harry. "What about me?" She suggested, receiving a look of utter fury from Daphne.
Harry was baffled. "You're my sister."
"Yeah, but if I wasn't?" Astoria prompted before glancing at Daphne's apoplectic face and giving her a 'what?' look in return.
Harry blew out a heavy breath. "Alright, yeah, I'd probably pick you." It was his turn to be speared by a glare from Daphne and he shuffled minutely away from her, just in case he was in imminent danger.
"Probably? I'm touched," Astoria simpered dramatically as she reached up to wipe away a non-existent tear.
"Wait, if Harry marries Astoria then Daphne can marry Luna," Tracey pointed out, but Astoria shook her head.
"Nope, no take-backsies, Daphne's marrying Boot and Harry's marrying Luna. Your turn, Trace."
"Oh, who to choose," Tracey wondered sarcastically. "There's such a poor selection in Ravenclaw. I'd rather be a spinster for the rest of my life."
Astoria scooted closer to the older girl and batted her eyelashes slowly at her. "Are you sure about that? Is there really nobody in Ravenclaw you'd pick?"
Tracey gave her a stunningly unimpressed look. "Not unless my life depended on it."
"Pretend that it does."
"Fine, then I'd choose you," Tracey gave in with a sigh. "Who would you pick, then?"
"Davies," Astoria responded after a moment. "He's alright looking."
"Have you got a thing for Quidditch players, little sister?" Daphne teased.
Astoria scowled back at her, "Of course I don't. Gryffindor, Daph."
Daphne's blank face mirrored that of her sister just before it before she suddenly smiled. "Wood."
"You bitch!" Astoria burst out before her face suddenly cleared all expression. "Huh. Maybe I do have a thing for Quidditch players. Who'd have thought?"
While her sister was still coming to grips with her sudden realisation that she already had a type at the ripe old age of eleven, Daphne turned to Harry beside her. "Who would you choose?"
"Err, Bell? She's pretty," Harry answered after a moment, though he wondered if he had gotten the right name for the Chaser he had in mind. "What about you, Trace?"
Tracey hummed as she thought about the members of Gryffindor House with a distinctly unimpressed look on her face. "I suppose Longbottom, he'd be too shy to try anything."
"I'd pick Creevey," Astoria answered without anyone asking, though when they all turned to stare at her she explained. "He loves his camera more than he'd love any girl so he'd be too busy acting as the wedding photographer to come anywhere near me." When they all nodded, she smiled widely and, rather than direct the next question to anyone, simply said. "Slytherin."
"Harry," Tracey answered instantly. Whilst Astoria immediately began to cackle, Tracey wilted under the stormy glare she was receiving from Daphne. "Sorry! I didn't know who else to pick!"
Daphne's eyes narrowed and she almost spat out her answer. "Fine, I'd pick Tracey. Just think, Trace, we could get a nice house...all alone in the country...where nobody could hear you scream..."
Tracey gulped audibly whilst Harry provided his choice. "Daphne."
Astoria stopped her cackling to lean forward eagerly. "What about Daphne makes you want to marry her?
Harry turned to the girl in question, who looked very interested in his answer. "Erm, well, she's beautiful, and smart, and funny, and she's my best friend, and-"
"Alright, save it for the wedding vows," Astoria interrupted with a grin, which faltered when she realised it was her turn. "Oh, bloody hell, the only two options I have are gone."
Daphne summed up her thoughts on the choice her sister was faced with promptly. "Ha."
"I suppose I could marry Malfoy?" Astoria pondered aloud with a serious look on her face.
"WHAT?!" Three voices exclaimed as one.
Astoria looked between them all blankly before her countenance cracked and she began to laugh. "Your faces! Merlin, no, I'd never marry Malfoy. I guess I'd choose Parkinson." When they continued to stare at her she frowned. "What? I know she's a stuck-up cow, but she's nice to look at."
"But...she's a girl," Tracey said slowly as she continued to stare at the younger girl.
Astoria shrugged. "So? I like what I like."
Tracey nodded slightly, though her eyes didn't leave Astoria's face. "Fair enough." She answered in an odd voice.
While the two continued to look at each other, Harry glanced at Daphne and knew as soon as he looked into her eyes that her thoughts mirrored his own. Once the two girls had finished their strange staring contest, the night continued with more games, though at around two in the morning when Astoria suggested playing 'Kiss, Marry, Curse' Daphne threatened to spray her with water and instead announced that she was ready to sleep.
"So, who's sleeping where?" Astoria questioned her older sister with a knowing look.
"Harry will sleep in here with me and you can share with Tracey," Daphne answered as if it were obvious.
"Absolutely not," Tracey declared. "I am not sharing a bed with her."
"Oh, so you'll marry me but sharing a bed is out of the question?" Astoria shot back.
"Yes it's out of the question, I refuse to sleep with you!"
"What a shame."
"Relax Trace, she won't do anything to you," Daphne assured her. "She's all talk."
"Didn't you once ask Harry to kill you if you ever shared a bed with me?" Astoria grinned at the older girl.
"I said willingly," Tracey seethed before turning to her friend. "Harry, I want it on record that this is under extreme duress. If it were up to me I wouldn't allow this to happen."
"Sure," Harry shrugged before pushing her lightly with his foot. "Now go on, I want to sleep too."
Tracey grumbled under her breath as she climbed off Daphne's bed and stomped over to the one opposite. Once Astoria had followed her at a leisurely pace and both girls had climbed under the covers, Harry extinguished the lights at Daphne's urging with a wave of his hand.
All was silent for a minute or so until Astoria could be heard asking in a loud whisper. "Don't I get a goodnight kiss?"
"Don't act surprised if you wake up on the floor in the morning.''
Ten minutes later, soft snores from Tracey and small mewls from Astoria indicated to the other two occupants of the room that they were safely asleep.
"Harry?" Daphne whispered into the short gap between their faces.
"Yeah?"
"If Tracey hadn't said it first, I'd have chosen you. Because you're amazing, and kind, and handsome."
Harry smiled widely, even if she couldn't see it in the darkness. "Not pretty?" He teased.
"Very handsome."
Harry reached out to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her closer into a hug. Daphne sighed happily in satisfaction and nestled her head against his chest.
"Then it's a good job that I'd always choose you, Daph."
After a late breakfast had been consumed the next morning, and Tracey had stopped staring in wonder at Marie after tasting her bacon & eggs, the seven of them found themselves in the training room.
"Okay, you two are with me. Let's see how much you two have improved," Marie instructed her two daughters whilst pointing to the far end of the room. Daphne and Astoria both glanced at each other with unimpressed expressions, but eventually sighed and dutifully traipsed away with their mother following closely behind.
"Tracey, you and I are going over there," Daniel nodded toward the side wall where the training dummy stood. "I want to see what you know and any improvements we can make if that's alright?"
"That's great, thanks," Tracey beamed before bounding away toward the dummy.
Daniel smiled after her before facing the remaining pair. "And that leaves you two. Seen as Sirius didn't shut up all night about how excited he was to face you, you may as well get it over with now so he has the rest of the day to nurse his bruised ego."
"Hey!" Sirius protested.
Daniel shrugged unapologetically and motioned with his head for Sirius to get a move on. Sirius huffed, twirled on the spot and strode away toward the opposite end of the training room from Marie, Daphne and Astoria. Left alone with Harry for a moment, Daniel stepped close and whispered. "Your godfather is a good man, but he could do with a little humbling."
"I'll see what I can do," Harry grinned. Daniel chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder before walking away toward the waiting Tracey. Harry was left to take the center of the room and got himself into his favoured dueling stance.
Sirius, who had his wand in his right hand outstretched toward him, his body side-on and his left hand held behind him for balance, nodded toward him with a grin. "Ready?"
"Are you?" Harry returned with an amused look on his face as he bowed theatrically, his free hand rolling in front of him.
"I'm Sirius Black, I was born-"
Whatever Sirius had been about to say was interrupted by thick ropes wrapping around his body from behind. His right hand, which held his wand, was trapped against his side. His eyes were wide and disbelieving when Harry, smirking, sent a weak Tripping Hex toward him. Unable to move, Sirius was helpless as he toppled forward, landing heavily on his face.
He groaned into the hardwood floor as soft footsteps approached him at a leisurely pace. With great effort, he rolled his bound body onto his back and looked up as Harry crouched down above him, his face upside-down and grinning.
"So, what were you saying? You were born...ready? Stupid? Not as good as me?" He paused as he summoned Sirius' wand from his hand, where it floated lazily into his open palm. "Well?"
"How?"
Harry tapped Sirius' own wand mockingly against his cheek. "Eh, I conjured them while I was bowing, what did you think my hand was doing?"
"I am both ashamed and proud. What a strange combination."
Of course, Sirius hadn't left it at that and the pair of them had fought a further three times, and by the end of it all Sirius was immensely pleased that he had managed to win once.
The groups had eventually switched and Sirius found himself standing beside Daphne as she worked through her spell repertoire on the training dummy whilst Harry fought against Daniel and Marie at once and Astoria and Tracey faced off against each other on the other end of the room.
"So, you managed to win one?" Daphne asked as she finished up a spell chain.
"Just the one," Sirius answered happily as he shook his still-smarting leg. Harry had, during the last duel, hit him with a Cutting Curse that had toppled him. Once his wand had been forcibly taken from him shortly thereafter Sirius had had to heal himself of the large gash running from halfway up his calf to his hip. Harry had been most apologetic, but Sirius had been too overjoyed at his godson's skill to care.
"He must have been going easy on you," Daphne surmised. "He'd make mincemeat of you if he was really trying."
"Thank you for your faith in me," Sirius deadpanned as he turned away from the blonde girl to watch his godson send a clearly unconscious Daniel skidding across the floor away from his partner.
"I prefer to see it as having faith in Harry," Daphne argued as she too glanced at the scene. After looking critically for a moment at her father to ensure he wasn't seriously hurt, she turned back to the dummy and resumed her spellwork.
Sirius looked away from the now furiously battling Harry and Marie to watch Daphne for a moment. "Tuck your elbow in a little more, you're flourishing too much," He advised before turning back to his godson.
"I don't flourish, I'm not bloody Lockhart," Daphne grumbled to herself even as she made the recommended adjustment. Sirius heard her words but was too focused on what was happening at the far end of the room to bother responding. His eyebrows rose as he saw Harry send spell after spell at a quickly retreating Marie before finally a Disarming Charm broke past her defences.
As her wand soared toward his godson who stepped forward to catch it, Sirius watched almost in slow-motion as Marie scrunched her eyes closed and transformed. The second her arms, which had now morphed into forepaws, hit the ground she let out a thunderous roar and pounced toward a wide-eyed and stunned Harry. Crashing heavily into his chest with her paws (her claws were thankfully sheathed), she knocked the boy onto his back heavily. The rest of the room stilled as they all paused to watch the scene before them.
Harry stared up at the gigantic Bengal Tiger that was now standing above him, her paws standing on each of his wrists to prevent him from moving. Her green eyes glittered as her mouth moved to bare sharp fangs at him in a facsimile of a smile. Harry was near certain that the furious pounding of his heart against his chest would cause internal bruising and for all of his power and skill he was frozen as he stared up at the predator that ancient instincts bone-deep within him screamed its fear of.
"Alright, you win. Will you let me up?" Harry sighed. In response, the tiger lowered her head suddenly and although he knew in his mind that it was really Marie he couldn't help the sudden burst of icy fear that raced through his veins. However, rather than bite into his jugular, she dropped her giant head heavily on his chest and chuffed at him.
"Oh, come on!" Harry complained, scrunching up his nose as Marie's hot breath washed across his face. As Marie growled in response, he heard the other occupants of the room quickly approaching them.
"This is so cool!" Daphne exclaimed as she reached them first. Rather than stand at a respectful distance to admire the great beast, she instead climbed atop the tiger's back and wrapped her arms around her as Harry groaned at the added weight. "Hi, mum!"
Marie huffed but pushed herself up onto all fours, thankfully removing the weight of her head, upper body and oldest daughter from Harry. He rolled away from between her legs and got to his own feet as Sirius, Astoria and Tracey arrived to stand beside him.
Now standing, Harry marveled again at how large she was. Her face was almost level with his own as she paced around slowly, Daphne still riding on her back, and Harry was sure that if she stood on two legs her forepaws could rest easily on Hagrid's shoulders.
"We have to learn how to do that," Tracey breathed as she took in the sight.
"Absolutely," Astoria agreed with a grin.
"I'm sure I have a few tips that could come in handy," Sirius provided as he too came to a stop beside them all. Suddenly, Marie lowered her stomach down to the ground before suddenly flopping onto her side, causing Dapne to fall off her back. Daphne scrambled back to her feet and darted over to Harry's side.
"Harry, show her yours!" She demanded.
He gaped at her. "I beg your - oh, you mean the patronus." He raised his wand and briefly closed his eyes as he focused on his happiest memories. "Expecto Patronum!"
The ethereal tiger that erupted from his wand and dropped onto all fours immediately scanned the room, but when it found no threats to its caster it paced slowly toward its flesh-and-blood counterpart. Though it was a little difficult to tell for certain, as none of them were experts on big cat facial expressions, it appeared that Marie was in shock as she stared at the mirror image of her own animagus form.
Eventually, the patronus tired of standing around doing nothing and, after flicking its ear once, it vanished into nothingness. A moment later, Marie morphed back into her human form and immediately moved toward her son, drawing him into a tight, loving hug. Harry returned it happily, but after ten seconds they were interrupted when Daphne began tapping him on the shoulder.
"Erm, Harry?" When he turned questioningly toward her, she nodded toward the forgotten prone figure still lying on the floor. "Are you going to leave my dad there all day?"
Harry blanched and sent a quick reviving spell toward Daniel. Marie chuckled and went over to help her husband to his feet, closely followed by Sirius, but Harry's attention was soon taken by the sudden shout of "Expelliarmus!" from behind him. He whirled with his wand held aloft to defend himself, but soon found that he had not been the target. Indeed, by the time his eyes could focus he saw Astoria holding Tracey's wand in her right hand whilst she twirled her own lazily between the fingers of her left as Tracey gaped at her.
"What the hell! Our duel was paused you cheating bi-"
"Ah ah ah, our fight, and there are no rules in those, Trace." Astoria taunted. "It's not my fault you kept your guard down for so long." Tracey's anger deflated when Astoria winked at her before turning on the spot. "Come on, chin up. I'll give you another - OOF!"
Harry couldn't help but laugh when Tracey, taking advantage of Astoria's back being turned, suddenly dived at the smaller girl. Under the sudden assault, Astoria fell forward to the floor, both wands flying from her hands, and found herself pinned under the weight of the older girl, who was grinning as she leaned over her fallen victim.
"No rules, you say? Well, see how you like - OW!"
Unfortunately for Tracey, she soon learned what Daphne had known since she was a toddler - that trying to pin Astoria was more akin to forcing a reluctant cat into a sack. The struggling girl's sharp elbow had just caught Tracey in the ear as she flailed around in a violent bid for freedom.
"Stay - still -"
"Get - off - me!"
"Astoria - AH! Stop - struggling - "
Harry glanced away from the pair of them toward Daphne, who was watching the scene dispassionately. When she noticed him, she met his gaze and shrugged. "Want to go and get some dinner?"
"Sure."
Marie Greengrass prided herself on being a good parent.
Part of being a good parent was allowing the children to have another sleepover that night, and another part was setting monitoring charms on her daughter's room so she would know whether or not they were staying awake for too long again. Still, she was unsurprised that after she had been roused from her own slumber at half past three that morning due to a pressing bathroom need and had taken the opportunity to check her charms she had discovered that all four children were still awake.
Briefly, she had considered poking her head inside and encouraging them to get some rest, but after a moment she had decided not to. It was, after all, their break from school so she would allow them their fun and a good lie-in as all good parents would do.
However, when the clock struck midday and there was still no sign of any of the children, she decided to investigate and, after tiptoeing up the stairs, checked the charms again to find that all four were still fast asleep. Being the good parent that she was, she knew it was up to her to rouse the sleeping beauties so as not to irreparably affect their sleeping patterns, but she would do so gently.
Opening Daphne's door quietly, she stepped into the room and her gaze immediately found Tracey and Astoria sleeping right next to each other, their faces almost touching. She smiled at the sight, though it dimmed slightly when she turned to the other bed. Harry and Daphne were also sleeping closely, but their positions were a little different. Rather than facing each other, Daphne had her back pressed up against Harry's front and her head resting on his arm. Under the covers, she was certain that Harry's other arm would be wrapped around her front, much like Daniel's would for her.
Slightly concerned at this rather intimate sleeping arrangement and wondering if that was how they had slept the entire two nights, she cleared her throat to begin waking the children but had to pause when one reacted to the noise immediately. Harry frowned slightly in his sleep, and Marie was sure for a moment that he would awaken and begin firing spells at her, but instead, he shifted and turned from lying entirely on his side behind Daphne to lying half on his back.
Marie could not help but look at what was clearly revealed poking through the rather thin duvet and found herself frozen in place staring at the sight for much longer than she'd like to admit.
However, that time was enough for her mind to kick back into gear and she quickly turned on the spot and paced quickly from the room, closing the door behind her a touch heavier than she would have under different circumstances. Her rage and enhanced speed proved useful as it took her only nine seconds to travel from the upstairs landing to the living room, where her husband and Sirius were relaxing unawares.
Marie Greengrass prided herself on being a good parent, and she hoped that her children would continue to see her as such after she murdered their father.
"You."
Daniel Greengrass, meanwhile, prided himself on being a brave man, but even the bravest men in history would pale at the promise of a violent death coating that one word, and when he turned to see the raw, animalistic fury on his beautiful wife's face, he was not ashamed to admit that he whimpered fearfully to himself.
"...Is there something wrong, dear?"
Marie's eyes were locked to his as she slowly prowled closer to him. He found himself involuntarily pressing himself further into the back of his armchair as she approached, and when she suddenly darted forward to grip the arms, he yelped and lowered himself in his seat.
"'You have nothing to worry about', you said. 'He hasn't had any urges like that yet', you claimed. 'He's still only twelve', you explained." She leaned in until her face was only centimetres away from Daniel's. "Then would you like to explain to me why our son has an erection after spooning our daughter all night?"
"Sorry, am I staying with the Gaunts?" Sirius joked from his place on the settee when Daniel was unable to provide an answer, but when Marie growled and turned furiously toward him he too paled and held up his hands begging for mercy. "Easy tiger. Go back to forgetting I'm here."
Marie growled again but decided against eviscerating the fool on the settee in favour of the bigger fool. "Well?"
"He-he had an erection?" Daniel croaked pitifully.
Marie gritted her dangerously sharp teeth and glared murderously at him. "Yes. He did. After you assured me that nothing like this would happen!"
"Oh dear."
"THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?!" Marie exploded.
"I'm sure he didn't mean to!" Daniel tried. "It just happens, you know that. Sirius, help me out here," He leaned around Marie's arm to look at the other man, who gave him a filthy look when Marie also turned to him with a face still etched in fury.
"Erm, yeah, he's right. Happens all the time, for seemingly no reason. And mornings? It's rare not to wake up with one." He explained as calmly as he could.
Daniel nodded frantically and, taking a risk, stroked lightly up and down her arm. "See? You know it happens to me too," He chuckled despite himself. "If you'll remember, you took great pleasure in this phenomenon this morning-" He was cut off rather suddenly by the sound of his wife's claws, which had appeared in under a second, ripping into the soft leather of his beloved chair.
To his great surprise, Marie did not then use those claws to rip his throat out. Instead, she straightened and tilted her head so her left ear was angled toward the ceiling. "They're up. And moving." She whirled on the spot and began pacing back and forth in front of his armchair, her anger seeping out of her in an instant and being replaced by worry. "I need to talk to him. You two," She paused her pacing to glance between both men. "Take the girls to the training room, make it look natural, I'll just say I want to do some Occlumency training with Harry." She returned to pacing and shook her head. "I'm not ready for this, I didn't think I'd have to explain all this to him yet. Trust Harry to be an early developer."
Daniel sat forward in his chair. "Explain what, Marie?"
Marie stopped in place to give him an utterly baffled look. "What do you mean what? I have to explain what's happening to him, what he's going through now and what will happen in the future. You can bet those people never told him a thing."
Daniel stood from his seat and approached her carefully. When she didn't react adversely, he took her hands gently and drew her closer. "I'll talk to him, love." When she frowned at him, he elaborated. "I might not have realised just how far along he is, and that was a mistake, but he's clearly on the road to becoming a man. I went through it too, so it should be me who talks him through it. I have the experience." Marie breathed out heavily and nodded before dropping her forehead against his chest. He wrapped his arms around his wife and hugged her tightly, happy that she had agreed with him.
However, it seemed not everyone in the room agreed.
"Ahem, I don't think it should be you, Daniel," Sirius stated as he rose to his feet. "I think I should talk to him."
"Why you?" Daniel asked calmly, interested to hear his reasoning.
Sirius inclined his head toward him. "Everything you said is true. He's becoming a man now, so it should be a man who explains it to him, and the Dursleys won't have told him about it. Or, well, anything. Which means they won't have explained sex to him either."
Marie sighed heavily again while Daniel nodded. "Yeah, you're right about that. But I can explain that to him too."
Sirius smiled wryly and shook his head. "Sure, you could explain sex to him, but you'd have to explain everything that comes with it too. He's going to start seeing girls in a different way soon, if he hasn't already, which means he'll start fancying them, wanting to do things with them, start a relationship and all." He locked eyes with Daniel as he continued. "All that will be explained to him, but it's possible he's already having some thoughts, and you know as well as I do that if he is they'll be about your daughter. That's why it should be me who talks to him."
Daniel paled, closed his eyes tightly and swallowed. "You're right. You talk to him."
"I hadn't thought of that," Marie muttered, though when she realised both men had heard her she elaborated in a louder voice. "It's clear as day that they already like each other in that way, but neither has said anything. They're both private, but at least Daphne could come to one of us if needs be. I hadn't realised the position Harry was in though - having the parents of the girl he fancies as the only ones he could have asked for advice. Until you came, that is."
"What are godfathers for?" Sirius grinned, raising his arms as if in question. "I'll go and grab him, are you going to take the girls to the training room?" When they both nodded, Sirius returned the gesture and left the room.
Sirius Black prided himself on being a confident yet responsible man, but as he made his way up the stairs and passed Tracey, who he greeted with a quiet good afternoon, he felt his confidence begin to plummet as he realised that he might not be cut out for such a task.
And as he knocked on his godson's door, he wondered if would be responsible for him to flee, make an emergency floo call and call in reinforcements to talk to Harry instead.
He was pretty sure Tonks was free today.
"But if you have any questions, you can come to me anytime, yeah?" Sirius offered.
Harry sighed, nodded, and vanished the rope he had tied his godfather up in. He was aware that it was an extreme reaction, but after Sirius had ignored Harry's protests that he was aware of what sex entailed and had liberated some of his parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink from his trunk to begin drawing diagrams, he had felt he had no other choice but to take drastic but much-needed measures.
Now free, Sirius gingerly placed the parchment and writing utensils on the floor before retaking his seat beside his godson. Harry eyed the man suspiciously for a moment before he relaxed minutely and began to think to himself. He had been rather touched that Sirius had come to him to talk about puberty and the changes his body would soon be going through, despite Harry already having read about it before he had even started Hogwarts, and the man had given him some admittedly good advice and further clarification on things he was unsure about.
But speaking about sex with his godfather was not something Harry was interested in doing, especially today, not after...
"Sirius...did Marie come into Daphne's room this morning? When we were all asleep?" When Sirius nodded hesitantly, Harry felt his stomach plummet. "Oh, god. I thought I'd sensed her, but I was still asleep."
"You can do that in your sleep?" Sirius questioned in an impressed voice.
Harry waved him off. "Sort of. I can't really control it, but sometimes I can. Like at Hogwarts, sometimes in my dream I'll feel Daphne is there with me, and I figured out that I was probably sensing her in the next room. And our first night back here I had the same thing with you, Daniel and Marie. Your rooms are on either side of mine." He quirked his mouth, wondering whether or not he should voice his concerns, but Sirius had offered to listen to any of his questions. "So, she saw...?"
Sirius nodded slowly. "She did, kiddo," He answered in a quiet voice. Harry sucked in a sharp breath and groaned deeply. He had been embarrassed beyond belief to start with, but to find out Marie had seen it too?
"Great."
"Want to talk about it?" Sirius offered. "It's fine, it's not your fault. It happens."
Harry turned to him quickly, disbelief evident on his face. "Really? It's fine? It's completely fine when your best friend's mum sees...that, and it's completely fine when the girl I - my best friend rolls over and ends up lying on it?"
Sirius was sure that when he was on his deathbed and was reminiscing on the proudest moments of his life, the fact that he did not burst out laughing right then would be somewhere near the top. "T-thats...rough. Did she notice?"
Harry gave him a withering look. "It was poking her in the stomach, of course she bloody noticed." He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands.
"What happened? Did she wake up? Were you awake when this happened?"
Harry took a moment to answer, and when he did it was muffled by his palms. "We both woke up pretty much instantly. She, err, moved away pretty quickly. I wanted the earth to swallow me up."
Sirius winced. "Did she say anything?"
Harry shook his head, which was still in his hands. "No. Her face went really red, and when I looked at her she tried to smile a little, but then Astoria and Tracey woke up and she bunched the covers up quickly to hide it."
"Smart girl," Sirius muttered to himself. "Did the other two notice anything?" When Harry shook his head minutely Sirius grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "See, it wasn't as bad as it could have been."
Harry dropped his hands and gave him a look of utter disbelief. "Not as - Sirius, have you been taking Essence of Insanity lately? This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me!"
"That's a hell of a statement coming from the kid who has beaten Voldemort three times, defended himself against a thousand-year-old Basilisk and endures Snape as a teacher three times a week," Sirius observed lightly. Luckily, this seemed to lift Harry's mood a little as instead of despairing further he rolled his eyes at him. "Listen, I know it seems like the end of the world, but it's not. Daphne knows it wasn't your fault, and sure, she'll be a little embarrassed too, but look on the bright side - imagine if Astoria had seen it."
Harry shuddered at the thought. "She'd never let me live that down."
"Exactly," Sirius chuckled. "But you can live this down. It'll be fine, just act normal when you see her, and if she acts the same back, you're in the clear. If not, just give her time." He watched Harry nod his head as he considered his words. When it seemed like the message had sunk in, Sirius decided to probe a little in his own way. "Oh, James would be so proud of you, kiddo. Sharing a bed with the girl you fancy at your age, he'd have killed for the chance."
Harry instantly whipped his around to glare at him. "I don't - she's my friend."
Sirius nodded slowly and turned his head to face the bay window opposite them. It was magical, of course, what with Daniel and Marie's room occupying the space that the window showed should be the garden. "Have I ever told you about Marlene?"
He saw the confused look on Harry's face in his peripheral vision. "Marie's sister?"
"Yeah, that's her," Sirius nodded before taking a long, deep breath. "She was the love of my life, Harry. I first noticed her in our fourth year, sitting in the library doing a Herbology essay. We'd had classes together of course, but she was a Ravenclaw, and girl, and until then I'd ignored her existence. But that night, I stumbled across her in her quiet corner of the library, her face illuminated by candlelight and she took my breath away. She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid eyes on, and I couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed her before then."
"What did she look like?" Harry asked. Sirius turned to him and saw the interest on his face. "I've never seen a picture of her, and I didn't really want to ask what with...you know."
Sirius nodded. "Well, she had blonde hair, long and straight. And her eyes were blue, deep blue, so deep that I'd get lost in them," Sirius closed his eyes and pictured her face, a soft smile emerging unbidden. "She had small, light freckles across her nose and cheeks, and she had dimples when she smiled. I loved making her smile just so I could see them. She was so beautiful."
Harry smiled at the description and the clear love he could feel in Sirius' voice. "What happened?"
Sirius' eyes opened and he took another deep breath. His hands splayed to the side as he shrugged. "Nothing. I didn't say anything to her. I just stood there until she noticed me and then I scarpered. I didn't drum up the courage to talk to her until seventh year." He turned to see the frown on Harry's face and chuckled. "I know. It was your mum's fault, really. She and your dad were together by then, and I was free to tell all the embarrassing stories I had of how James would stare longingly at her whenever he had the chance - when he wasn't being a prat and pushing her away by trying to impress her, that is. I told her how his eyes would glaze over and he'd get this stupid little smile on his face, like he was lost in his own world." He turned to Harry with a grin. "Do you know what she said?"
Harry shook his head. "No, what?"
"She said 'Oh, you mean the way you stare at Marlene McKinnon?'," He imitated the innocent voice she had used. "I got so defensive, especially when James joined in and started taking the piss. The tables were really turned then, and he told Lily about how I'd fancied her since our fourth year. I'd never told him that, but he knew straight away, they all did. But your mum, she encouraged me to ask her out. I balked, but she said if I didn't at least talk to her she'd curse me black and blue and then drop me in front of the Slytherin common room." He laughed to himself at the memory, shaking his head. "She could be downright terrifying, your mum."
"So did you?" Harry asked. "Talk to her, I mean."
Sirius nodded softly. "I found her with the map in the same spot in the library. The walk from the common room to there took longer than it ever had before, my legs were shaking so much. But I got there, and she was hunched over an essay, her hair almost like curtains hiding her face, and I sat down in the chair opposite her. Well, fell into it, more like."
"And then what?"
"She turned to me, looked at me for a few seconds, then she pushed her paper away and sat back in her chair and said 'Glad to see you've finally grown some balls, Black." Harry snorted and Sirius turned to him with a grin. "That's what she said. I was speechless, but that didn't seem to bother her, because she just turned back to her essay and told me to help her because I was the best at Transfiguration and she was struggling."
"Did you ask her out?"
Sirius laughed and shook his head. "No, I didn't. I helped her with her essay, and when we were finished she said that I should help her more often so she could see if I was worth keeping around - and that's what I did. We spent more time together, and I learned that not only was she the most beautiful witch in the world, she was funny, she was hard-working and she was so, so smart. I learned that when she thought no one was around she'd sing softly to herself, and she liked to draw things she'd seen that would stick in her mind until she had to get them out and onto parchment. She learned some things about me, too, some things I wasn't ever comfortable enough to talk about with anyone other than your dad, but she would listen and then talk me through my emotions, and it made everything I was feeling better," Sirius paused as he began to choke on his words, and Harry could clearly see the shimmer of tears in his eyes. "She was amazing, Harry, she was so amazing. It was like magic created this wonderful woman who blessed me by simply allowing me near her."
When Sirius fell quiet and tried to surreptitiously wipe at his eyes, Harry looked down at his feet and thought about what Sirius had said about her, everything from how she looked with her blonde hair and blue eyes to the way she understood Sirius, who to this day spoke of her with such love and adoration.
Although Sirius had been describing Marlene McKinnon, it was her niece Daphne who Harry pictured.
"I was so stupid," Sirius said suddenly, and when Harry looked up he saw that Sirius had given up on wiping away his tears for they were falling freely down his cheeks. "I was so stupid to wait so long. I wish I'd just asked her on a date the first time I saw her, I wish I'd asked the first time we spoke, but I didn't. I was too afraid that someone so perfect could never want to be with someone as broken as me," He shook his head angrily. "I didn't ever ask her. We graduated, and we both joined the order to fight and nothing happened for months. So many times I saw a spell nearly kill her, and I'd feel like my heart was about to be ripped out of my chest, but when the dust settled I still didn't ask her. It wasn't until I got hurt that anything happened. I'd gotten hit with a gouging curse that took a chunk out my hip and had to be evacuated to a safehouse mid-battle. After it was all over, she found me and burst into tears, called me every name under the sun, and then she kissed me," He paused, swallowing heavily as he remembered how he had felt. "She kissed me. It was...indescribable, Harry. To be kissed by the woman you love for the first time, it's like nothing else on this earth. There is magic in first kisses, I truly believe that, and she was mine as I was hers. The war, everything that was happening, it felt like it was hopeless, that there could be no way of winning. But when she kissed me, I saw a future, with her." Sirius paused to take a deep, shuddering breath and turned toward Harry with unfathomably mournful eyes.
"Three months later she was dead."
Harry felt like the breath had been taken from his lungs. He had known of Marlene McKinnon's ultimate fate before, but somehow during Sirius' tale he had forgotten, too invested had he been in the love they had shared. "I-I'm sorry, Sirius," He breathed out.
Sirius smiled waterly and reached out to pat his hand in thanks. "I was lost. So, so lost, and I wasn't found until the day your mum put you in my arms, and even then I don't think all of me came back," He reached up to wipe his cheeks with the sleeve of his robes again and sighed heavily. "I love her, Harry. I love her still, with everything I am. Tonks tried to suggest I start dating, now that I'm a free man again, and I nearly took her head off. There's no one else for me but Marlene, I'd never want anyone but her, but I'll have to wait until we can be together again. But I'm good at that, aren't I? Waiting. I waited so long, pointlessly long, so long that she ended the wait for me." He turned to face his godson fully and tried to convey with his eyes how important what he had to say was. "Harry, if you are lucky enough to find someone even half as wonderful as Marlene, don't do what I did. Don't waste time you might not have."
"I won't," Harry promised quietly, though no less powerfully than if he had shouted it from the rooftop. "I won't."
The two of them fell silent, both sitting on the edge of Harry's bed and staring out of the window. Harry's embarrassment from what had happened when he had awoken now felt entirely insignificant to him in the face of the real pain his godfather still felt at the loss of his love. Harry couldn't imagine how that would feel, he couldn't imagine if Daphne ever-
"Sirius...I like Daphne.''
''I know, kiddo, I know.''
Whew.
Took me a week to write this, largely due to my now surely known to you all unrivalled procrastination skills.
This chapter took a turn, boys and girls. Originally, it was going to be largely based around meeting Lupin (about half of that scene is already written but ended up being removed from this chapter and placed in the next) and then going to Godric's Hollow, but as I was writing it I noticed it was taking on a theme - growing up.
Again, I feel like I kind of have to defend myself a little bit just in case it seems odd that Harry, at 12, is waking up with erections, but honestly I think I was actually younger than that when I started getting them, but 12 is the age where I definitely know I was so it seemed natural for me. And I also have always gotten the feeling that in the magical world, development is actually a little bit quicker than the real world, just not to a ridiculous extent.
This chapter also dropped heavy hints about a major ongoing storyline, which is all I'll say about it for now. I'm sure most of you will probably work it out.
I've always been on one of those people that hates man-child, pRaNksTer Sirius, but I can kindaaa see the appeal a little bit now. My Sirius is definitely not going to be a man-child, but he's actually a little more realistic to me the way he is here. He makes jokes, he's easygoing for the most part and relatively laid-back - which he rarely was in canon. But I think my Sirius, who is now a free man and able to spend time with Harry who he loves so so much is currently going to be extremely happy about that, so he won't be as broody and miserable as he was in the books, especially OotP.
Enough babbling, I hope you all enjoy this long-overdue update, please let me know what you think by dropping a review.
Enjoy!