Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
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"Welcome, welcome one and all," announced Sirius, opening the door for his guests.
"We thank you for having us over this evening," said Amelia as she along with the two children she had brought with her entered the ancestral Black home.
"Please, I should be thanking you Amelia for ensuring that my night would not be such a bore. A shame we couldn't have arranged this sooner but I thought I better search through the home and prevent the kids from finding anything they shouldn't," said Sirius in a jovial manner.
"I'd hate to imagine what depraved things you had to hide from such innocent eyes," scoffed Harry before chuckling.
"I'll have you know that the only items of such a nature belonged to..."
"And I think I've heard enough of this conversation," interrupted Amelia, preventing the chat between the two males to travel down a path she didn't wish to hear.
Susan meanwhile looked between the three other people wondering whether she had missed a clue as to what they were talking about when she had found herself admiring the house. "Do I..."
"No, no you don't Susan," said Harry comfortingly. "What say we go explore a bit?"
"If that's okay," said Susan, glancing to the adults for permission.
"Just don't force yourselves into any locked rooms, they're locked for a reason," stated Sirius.
"Fine," said Harry before he dragged Susan with him into the depths of Sirius' home.
"I apologize for their behavior," said Amelia as she took off her coat.
"Nonsense, it's wonderful to have such spirits in these walls," said Sirius as he took the coat from Amelia and hung it up on a nearby hook. "Would you like to retire to the parlor for a drink before dinner?"
"I take it drinks before dinner has become a regular thing for you then," stated Amelia.
"With over a decade without so much as a touch of liquor in Azkaban, I need to catch up for lost time," said Sirius.
Amelia had been cautious for the moment where Sirius would bring up the prison, knowing that it would happen at some point during the evening. To see that he spoke about it in such a casual manner was somewhat reassuring. "Very well then, what do you propose we drink to?" asked Amelia.
"Let's work that out along the way shall we," said Sirius with a smile as he beckoned Amelia to follow him. As they walked through the hallways, Amelia found herself looking about his home and taking in the smallest of details. There seemed to be a fair number of missing paintings or portraits that had been taken off of the walls in recent times. Amelia knew how Sirius felt in regards to his family (and how his family had felt about him) so this didn't come as any real surprise to her. Rather she found herself wondering as to whether or not he would replace the missing artwork with anything new in the weeks to come and what they would be.
Heavens knew that the house needed some splash of color in it.
"Madam," said Siruis, ushering Amelia towards an old fashioned chair.
"Why thank you," said Amelia as she took the offered seat.
"I will be back in just a moment," stated Sirius as he moved to the kitchen in order to collect their drinks. Amelia took the time to look around the room and found herself looking at the ornate bookshelf tucked away in the corner. Merlin only knew just what sort of knowledge was kept in those tomes, be it historical or magical. It was somewhat good to see that Sirius hadn't taken to removing the collection similar to how he had removed the pictures.
"Ta Da," announced Sirius as he returned to the parlor with two glasses of Champagne in his hands.
"Well now this is a surprise," said Amelia as she took a glass from Sirius who then moved to his own seat. "I wouldn't have figured that this would be something you would regularly stock in your home."
"I did find out from a couple of gentlemen that such a drink is had when celebrating and for me, every day is a celebration!" beamed Sirius.
"I...have been meaning to ask," said Amelia slowly. "I have spent time around Dementors, minimal time and even only being near them for a manner of minutes takes me days to find my way back to normality. You spent years with them and yet you're so..."
"Joyful?" supplied Sirius, to which Amelia was only able to give him a nod having been unable to come up with a better word at that moment in time. "After the first few days, you feel like there is no hope, all your spirits are drained away with every breath. I knew however, that amongst all those other people there who were in their for heinous crimes that I had done no such thing. I wasn't a cold blooded murderer or worse. That became my driving force, the one thing I had to focus on every day. My hope may have been gone but I knew that I was innocent, even if the rest of the world failed to see it as such."
"I'm so sorry for what you went through," apologized Amelia.
"Bah, don't apologize," scoffed Sirius. "It wasn't like you were the one who tossed me in there. What matters now is what happens from here on out. In which case, I would like us to toast to the future and whatever it may bring."
"To the future," said Amelia with a hint of uncertainty that was thankfully missed by Sirius as the two of them sipped at the liquor they shared.
Instead of taking the moment to consider the future and what it could potentially bring however, the sound of something solid smashing into a wall sent both adults into battle mode. The shattering of glass rang out as both Amelia and Sirius dropped their respective drinks and rushed off towards the direction where the sound had come from.
"Kids!" shouted Sirius moments before the two of them stumbled upon a rather curious scene in where Kreacher, the Black family's house elf clutched onto something tightly while Harry was crumpled against a wall. Susan had evidently thrust herself over the prone boy's body in an effort to prevent any future damage befalling him. "Kreacher, what is the meaning of this?"
"Young filthy upstarts tried to touch Master Regulus' locket," stated Kreacher as he clutched the item closer to his chest.
"Hand it over and begone with you!" ordered Sirius. He followed up before Kreacher had the chance to say another word. "Now or it'll be the streets for you!"
Kreacher grumbled something incomprehensible before obeying, apparating away the moment the locket left his grasp. Sirius looked over to where Harry was laying mildly dazed, Amelia doing her best to inspect his Godson. "Are you alright Harry?" she asked with concern in her voice.
"Nothing a good night's rest won't fix," declared Harry as he pushed himself to his feet, stumbling momentarily. In that single moment of weakness, Susan darted into action and prevented Harry from falling over, clutching onto him tightly. "Thanks Susan."
Susan tried to form words but found sound unable to escape from her lips.
"Let's find a seat somewhere," ushered Harry, Susan helping him towards another room. The two of them stopped however as Harry looked over his shoulder. "Just a heads up, I wouldn't hold onto that too long Sirius if it's what I think it is."
Those few words were enough to send Amelia's attention off of the close combat that her niece was sharing with Harry and straight onto the locket in Sirius' hand. "What he thinks it is?" questioned Sirius as he raised the item to eye level. "Do you happen to know what he's talking about Amelia or did he hit his head a little too hard?"
Amelia meanwhile found herself biting at the innermost corner of her lip in agony knowing fully well that if Harry was right, she needed to get that item off of Sirius. Bringing him into the fold however was not a story she was willing to share sober. "Let's repair those glasses and let me tell you what I know," she finally said. While he wasn't exactly an ally she had originally hoped to recruit, Amelia knew that she could trust Sirius with his loyalty if it meant protecting his Godson.
...
Hermione looked at the list that contained the subjects that she had to choose from for the following year. At her request, Professor McGonagall had given her the list in advance so that she had the adequate time to properly consider her options.
When she had asked her head of house whether doing all was a possible option, Professor McGonagall had informed her that such an option was near impossible. Near impossible however did not mean impossible. It turned out that there was a way for Hermione to take all of her lessons using a device that would grant her the ability to rewind time, allowing her to simultaneously be taking lessons provided that she followed the strictest of rules.
That however was the crux of the issue. Time travel was a dangerous issue with the possibilities of accidentally screwing something up being on a monumental level. That was just with her lessons alone.
The improper use of such an item had already crept into her mind. What could she, as a part of Potter Club, do with an item that could bend the fabric of time. It was, without a doubt, a terrifying thought and as much as she wished she could swear that she would never use the device for such nefarious schemes, she knew that if there was no alternate way then she could very easily crack.
At the start of her magical schooling, such a thought would never have crossed her mind. School was meant to be purely academical. That however had changed when she had come in close contact with one Harry Potter.
Even the meer thought of Harry made Hermione smile, imagining him as he looked in her direction, congratulating her for a job well done. Whether he did so in regards to their extracurricular activities or her academic score, it didn't matter which. She just wanted to spend time in his company.
It was then that Hermione rushed to the bathroom, turning on the cold water faucet before splashing water straight into her face. Turning the water off, the teenage witch looked at herself in the mirror as beads of water dribbled down her face. "He's your friend Hermione, one of your best friends," she said to herself, urging herself to rid herself of the thoughts that were starting to embed themselves in her mind.
Her thoughts swiftly turned to the deatbeat way in which he had refused Susan's offer for a date without so much as a second thought. Were he to respond in such a way were she to ask him out, would her heart be able to withstand such an attack? Alternatively, could she continue her schooling without knowing the answer to such a simple question?
More water swiftly found it's way against Hermione's face in an attempt to cool off her mind. She wasn't one of those girls who fawned over a boy. She was a smart girl studying to become a witch that would one day be known across all of Magical Britain, and not just because she had such a famous person as her spouse.
Turning the faucet off, Hermione knew that she needed a distraction. A big distraction. Figuring out what classes she was going to take over the course of the next school year could wait. The last thing she wanted to think about was school and certain people that attended the same academy. Thankfully, she had her answers in books.
Entering the living area, Hermione scanned through the collection of books that she had at her disposal. Books which she could effectively recount from back to front with minimal effort. Hence, Hermione knew that she needed something new and exciting. It was with this mindset that Hermione found herself gazing at her mother's collection of novels. Without taking too much thought into which one she wished to read, Hermione selected one off of the shelf and plopped herself on the couch and began to indulge in the pages within.
It was twenty seven pages in upon where she realized that her mother's taste in literature was a little more raunchy than she had anticipated.
Hermione kept reading.
...
Susan Bones sat alone in her home, awaiting the arrival of her fellow Hufflepuff in Hannah to make her arrival. Her auntie had made herself sparse, at work for days on end ever since the time they had spent with Sirius. During the evenings when she had asked Amelia how her day had been she was often given a response that varied from a nonchalant grumble to a barely whispered fine.
She had a feeling she knew what it was that was causing Amelia to spend as much time at work as she was but she didn't want to make an assumption. Or more precisely, she didn't want to know the truth because she was relatively sure she knew what it was.
As for Harry, on this day he had made himself scarce by saying that he wished to go down Diagon Alley and pick up a few supplies while she and Susan had a day together. It was thoughtful in regards to the fact that Harry didn't wish to be a bother to them but she couldn't help but notice the emptiness surrounding her at that moment. She knew that she would be the only person in the house for a short period of time but it was still very noticeable.
She also couldn't help but use this time to think about how it had felt to be in such close proximity to Harry. Even though he was only mildly dazed, he had still relied on her to get from room to room. She had had his arm draped over her shoulders in support.
Susan had loved the feeling of being needed in such a situation. She would be more than happy to shoulder as much of his troubles as he would let her, which knowing what he was going through would only be mild amounts of his the issues surrounding his life. If she could ease that burden even the smallest of bits however she wanted to do it. She wanted to be there for him.
She needed to be there for Harry.
It was at that moment Susan truly realized how her thoughts had progressed and her face flushed red in embarrassment, now grateful for the isolation that she was in.
"Hey Susan, I'm here," announced Hannah as she stepped through the front door, causing a sharp 'eep' to squeal out of Susan's mouth as she found her solitude broken.
...
Hope you enjoyed.