We had talked for a few hours that night before Remus insisted we stay the night since it was Saturday, and we didn't have any classes. Remus promised we would talk more strategies in the morning.

"So, you and Jack... you're being safe?" Remus asked, pulling me to the side as Harry and Sirius cleaned up the cups. And I nearly laughed with how uncomfortable he looked. His eyes glued to my shoulder instead of me.

"Yes, Moony. We're being safe. What about you?"

"Me?" He turned red. "I haven't - we didn't - there is nothing going on."

"Uncle Moony." I put my hand on his arm, making him look at me. He didn't look flustered or shy, he looked deflated and sad.

"It's nothing." He offered me a small smile. "Besides you have enough on your plate already."

I sighed when I saw his determination. "Fine, but we'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Sure, now off to bed, cub." He kissed the top of my head.

"Uhm." Sirius cleared his throat "Can I have a quick word with Alec?"

Remus turned back to me with a questioning look. I nodded with half a smile. He squeezed my shoulder before walking up the stairs behind Harry. I took in a deep breath and turned to Sirius.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about last time. I should have never forbidden you to enter, I'm just afraid of losing you, again. I just found you and even though I don't know you, I want to, and I don't want to lose you."

Wow, that wasn't what I was expecting. "Oh." I whispered.

"I know I've gone wrong about the whole situation, and I know I can't change the past, even though I want to, so badly. I'm just asking for a chance here, Alec. A real chance. You're the only family I have left, and I don't want to lose any more."

It was everything I wanted to hear, and everything I didn't. The whole Sirius Black situation is not good for my head. "I think -" I waited for a moment and Sirius's hopeful eyes, turned into panic. "I think I can try. But baby steps."

"Baby steps." He nodded. "I can work with that." A smile spread across his face. "Thank you."

I wanted to say that I was doing it for Moony and Harry but that is only half the truth. "I should get some sleep. Do you have any blankets for the couch?"

"You're not sleeping on the couch. I told you I have a room for you." He said already guiding me upstairs. "It's not much, I wanted you to have the opportunity to make it your own. So, just the basics." He said pushing open the door next to Moony's room.

It had creme coloured walls, a large window on the side. A desk, a bed and a closet. Like he said the basics but still. On the nightstand next to my bed were a couple of pictures. One with me and Remus, one with my mum when I was just a baby. Then pictures with Harry, the twins, Aunt Cissy and Draco from at school or during break. It was a small gesture, but it made me smile.

"You like it? Moony helped me with the pictures."

"It's great. Thank you, Sirius."

"It was nothing." He waved it off, already stepping back out the room. "Goodnight, Alec."

LB

The next morning, we woke up early to try to figure out what exactly we needed to do with the dragons. Harry and I sat on one side of the couch, while Remus and Sirius sat across from us.

"Fighting a dragon will be hard, they are nearly impossible to kill, especially alone." Sirius said.

"We're not fighting them." I shook my head. "You've met Charlie Weasley, right? He rescues dragons, he would never be here if we needed to kill them. No, they will probably be used to protect or guard something or someone."

"A damsel in distress perhaps? Locked away in a tower." Moony grinned, and Harry and I chuckled. Sirius looked completely lost. "Muggle fairy tales, Padfoot." He patted his knee.

"Oh." He said, a blush creeping on his cheeks as he looked at the spot Remus's hand had been. Harry and I shared a secret grin. Harry, not knowing I had the same train of thoughts about him and my cousin.

"Probably no damsel in distress." Harry said. "They wouldn't put other students in danger for the sake of the game." Oh, how wrong he was but we didn't know that then. "So, guarding or protecting something?" He turned to me.

"That would be my guess." I nodded. "We probably need a way around them, preferably without getting burned alive." I didn't see Remus or Sirius's look turn into pure terror. I tapped the quill against my chin as I leaned on my knees. "We're only allowed a wand, yes?"

"Yeah."

"So, I can't use a potion, too bad. I could make one to put it to sleep. But I should look into the spells we trained for to see what could distract it, even for a little bit. I could transfigure something..." All different ideas sprouted in my head and started to write them down. "But that won't help you, Harry."

"Why not?"

"This is not a jibe or an insult, but you don't know as much as we do. That's why the age limit was set on seventeen." I sighed. "You're a great wizard, Harry, but this is next level shit."

"Alec." Remus said.

I stuck out my tongue to him before looking back to Harry. "But you're great on a broom."

"We're not allowed a broom."

"But you are allowed a wand." Remus pointed out. I saw he was on the same page as me. It took a little longer before Sirius and Harry figured it out.

LB

When Harry went over the summoning charm with Remus and Sirius, I went to the kitchen to make some tea. When the pot whistled, I turned off the stove and thought of the twins. Shit, they must be worried. I quickly took my wand and conjured my Patronus and send a message to them.

"You can cast a Patronus?" Sirius asked baffled.

"Uhm, yeah. Moony taught me."

"Is there something you can't do?" He laughed softly, then a sad smile appeared on his lips. "You're so much like your mother; she was dead clever too."

"I wanted to be like her growing up, but it turned out differently. My mum was more books, calculations, think before acting, I, on the other hand..."

"I'm afraid, you inherited that from me. Or from Remus." He laughed again, nervously.

"Yeah." I said quietly.

"Who did you send the Patronus to? Jack?"

"No, Fred and George. They worry."

"And Jack doesn't?"

"He does, but he knows me. He knows how I can be reckless yet careful. Knowing if there is something wrong, I would go to Moony. He just knows."

"That's a special bond."

"It is. He's my best friend." I said smiling. I still can't believe I'm telling him all this, with a smile, nonetheless. But there we were, baby steps.

"Are there other friends of yours that have come too?"

"Jazz." I said. "I've known Jack since I was five, I think. The boy next door for a long time. But Jazz and I met when I was eleven, on the first day of school. Been inseparable since. It's nice to have them here."

"How do the Weasley twins react to Jack?" He asked. And I raised my eyebrows at him. "What?" He grinned. "It's quite obvious they like you."

"We're friends." I said and he snorted. "I mean it. At first, I thought the same thing, but they flirt with most girls and George told me we were just friends."

"I don't believe it." He shook his head. "They are so obviously smitten with you."

"They are not." I said, turning away from him to fill the cups. "Even if they were, they are brothers, twins, I would never come between them."

A smirk worthy of a Slytherin spread across his face, and I knew I slipped up. "So, you do like them? Which one? Or both of them." He said excitedly, bouncing on his heels.

I leaned forward on the kitchen island, my arms rested on the granite counter. "You really want to know who I like? What I want to do to them? Or others, boys or girls? What I do when Jack and I are alone or what I would do with not one but two boys?" I challenged. "You want your daughter to shack up with two guys?"

"I-" Sirius face paled and his eyes were wide. I smirked the Slytherin smirk back at him as I straightened up.

"Stop eavesdropping, Moony." I called over as Remus scowled immensely. "I'm just riling him up." I laughed as I walked back to them with tea.

"You were not lying." He whispered when I handed him a cup. Of course, he knew. He could hear it with my heartbeat.

"Wait!" Sirius whirled around; his eyes wide. "You said daughter."

"Stay on topic, Black." I said, tapping my notes.

"But that was the topic." He said gloomy, but the smile was still on his face.

"I need to tell Fleur about the dragons." I said.

"What? Why? This gives you an advantage." Sirius gasped.

"It's unfair. I saw Karkaroff in the forest that night, if he knows, Viktor knows, and I would be unfair that Fleur is the only one left out."

"Viktor? Everyone calls him Krum." Harry said.

"I met him a few years back at a ball, so yes, I call him Viktor. To me he's a young man, not a famous Quidditch player."

"So much to learn about you." Sirius rubbed his head tiredly.

Harry laughed loudly. "You have no idea! The twins, Angelina and I are still finding out new things about her and we talk almost every day. Even Malf-" He stopped again when my cousin's name fell on his tongue. I cocked my head to him with a grin. He pointedly looked the other way, his neck red. "Still an enigma, this one."

"And an enigma I will stay." I grinned. "A girl got to have her secrets. Except for you, Moony."

"You better not." He winked. "About secrets, you can't turn into Loki in the task."

"I know that-"

"I know you wouldn't do it on purpose, not in front of everyone and people from the ministry but you can change involuntarily if you're scared out of your mind."

"I'll keep it in mind, I promise."

"So, you're an illegal Animagus too, like me." Sirius grinned proudly.

"You are proud about the weirdest things." I shook my head.

"What? That's one of the best things to be proud of. You're a little rule breaker, just like your dads."

"Well, since I'm sitting here instead of being at Hogwarts, I guess you're right about that." I answered, not reacting to the dads' part.

"About that... we better head back before too many people notice we're gone." Harry said.

"You're right." I said, pushing my notes in my bag. "Look at our little rule follower." I ruffled his black unruly hair and he blushed. I laughed at seeing it.

"Still not over your crush, Harry." Remus smirked as we stood up.

"I didn't have a crush."

"Oh, yes you did." Sirius laughed, clapping him on the back. "Nothing to be ashamed off, I had plenty of crushes when I was young."

I hugged Remus while Sirius hugged a still blushing Harry. Hugging Sirius was a step too far, so I just smiled at him when we stepped in the fireplace.

"Beside that isn't so bad than when a parent tells you that you could get in any boys dorm if you just smiled at them." I said, grinning. Harry looked wide-eyed at his godfather and Remus had a shocked expression on his face.

"You said what?!"

"I didn't know she was my daughter!" He exclaimed, making Harry laugh.

"See you next week." I laughed before throwing floo powder at our feet.

LB

The following week, Harry and I practiced every night. We didn't tell anyone what the first task was, except Fleur, but Draco was curious at why we suddenly changed our tactics and training. He found Harry's summoning spell a little boring, so he came to help me with my spells. When Harry had managed to summon an object from a certain amount of space between them, I let it fly further. Because it would be a great distance to cover to summon his broom.

Draco sat next to me, examining my notes. "You know... you could use your Patronus."

"For what?" I asked, because the thought had already occurred to me, but I was wondering why Draco thought about it, because he didn't know about the dragons.

"For lots of things. You can send a message with it, it can guide you out, but with you being an Animagus you probably can sniff your way out." He laughed, making Harry stop his summoning spell to look at him. Probably because he has never heard Draco laugh, really laugh. "It can be a distraction; it can guard you. It's pretty versatile."

"I was thinking about it too. It's on the top of my list." I grinned, handing over the ideas that seemed the best.

"Great minds think alike." He laughed again, and again Harry dropped the spell to look at him. Draco didn't notice but I did, I shot Harry a wink, who looked away blushing. So much fun!