Chapter Nine

"I've found us a house!"

Sirius burst into the kitchen a few days later while Lottie and I were making dinner. Nic and Danae were playing with the boys in the lounge, and Tina and Remus were both upstairs putting laundry away, but they all came scuttling in at Sirius's declaration. "I've found us the perfect house," he repeated once we were all gathered, looking so proud of himself.

The rest of us stared at him, waiting to hear more, but when none of us said anything, he sort of… deflated. "Where you waiting for a round of applause?" Nic asked, eyebrow raised sardonically, and Sirius glared at him.

I just sighed. While they got on far better than they had at school, they still tended to rub each other wrong occasionally. "We're waiting on pins and needles, Sirius," I prompted, earning a blinding grin from him.

"I went with Moody on a call about a supposedly haunted Muggle house, because none of the other Aurors on shift trust me," here his voice took a bitter bent, and I couldn't help but squeeze his hand. He squeezed back, smiled again gratefully and continued, "It was this big old manor, always been a Muggle home, so little chance of it actually being haunted, but we still had to check it out, because of all the complaints. There were no ghosts, of course, and Moody said that we get these complaints every couple of years from the villagers. But it is for sale, and there's plenty of room for all of us! There's already a library so Petal can raise the boys surrounded by books as she wants, and the attic is huge, so you artistic types could have your studio you wanted," he gestured toward Tina and Danae, and deliberately leaving Nic out, which made me grin. "The sellers just renovated the kitchen to be completely modern, and there's even a summer kitchen, so Petal could have a dedicated potions area. The grounds are huge, plenty of space for the boys, and baby Fawley, and we could even build a greenhouse for you, Petal. And it's outside of the village, so plenty of privacy. It'll be perfect!"

"If it's so perfect, why's it for sale?" Remus asked, perfectly logical as usual.

"Because of the rumours of it being haunted," Sirius shrugged. "The estate agent said that there was a murder during the war, which is why the villagers say it's haunted."

"You want us to live in a house where there was a murder?" Lottie asked incredulously.

"You're the one who thinks me reading Dracula at bedtime sets the mood," Tina reminded, then instantly flushed.

I stared between them, both of whom were now blushing bright red. "Wha- I didn't mean it like that!" Tina stuttered out, but I could see how terrified she looked.

"You did, darling, and it's time they knew," Lottie corrected, moving to stand next to her so she could take her hand, even as she trembled. "We're together, have been for two years now, and if anyone has a problem with that, we'll be out in five minutes."

"You will not!" I screeched without a thought, a furious sort of protective anger roaring in my chest. "If anyone has a problem with that, they'll be the ones leaving, not you. This is still my house, and you're still my best friends."

Now, it seemed, was Lottie and Tina's turn to stare at me. "You don't hate us?" Tina asked, voice so quiet and tiny that it broke my heart for both of them.

"I could never!" I flew to hug them both, squeezing tightly as if I could shove all my love for them into the gesture. "I love you both, though clearly not the same way you love each other," I added, with a cheeky grin to make them smile.

It didn't work, since Lottie burst into tears on my shoulder. "I've been so scared to tell you! I didn't know how you would take it!"

That hit me in the heart. "You thought I would hate you for who you love?"

"My dad did," Tina replied softly, "and Lottie's gran."

I couldn't hold my tears in at that. "Oh, my girls, I don't- I'm happy if you're happy, that's all I care about."

I had an armful of sobbing friends, and I was sobbing on top of their heads. And then I looked up, to where the rest of our friends stood staring at the three of us. "I meant it," I said firmly, even through the post-sobbing shudders. "If any of you have a problem with Lottie and Tina, you can leave right now."

The four of them shook their heads, at varying speeds, then Sirius grinned. "I get it, ladies," he said, his need for comedic rescue coming out to play. "Women are much more attractive than men, so I completely understand your decision to abandon us for the fairer sex."

That drew wet laughs from both of them. "I still am attracted to men," Lottie said, straightening up to grin back at him. Then, she turned the grin on to Tina, taking her hand once again as they stepped out of my arms. "I just happen to love Tina."

"And she is so lovable," Danae said, a tiny, yet sincere, smile breaking out.

"That she is," Lottie agreed, kissing Tina quickly and making her blush once more.

"You're utterly ridiculous," Tina muttered, but I could see how much it meant to her.

"Why don't you tell us more about how this came to be while we finish up dinner?" Remus suggested, bringing my attention back to the stove, which I'd (thankfully) had the presence of mind to put a stasis charm on when Sirius had come bursting in.

The girls talked the whole time we finished up dinner, and throughout the meal. Tina said she'd never been attracted to men, and she'd always been confused at how the rest of us talked about boys. "For example, I can see that you lot are all ridiculously handsome," she told the boys, "but I've never wanted to be anything more than friends. And then I was surrounded by these gorgeous birds, and thirteen-year-old me had a very hard time sharing a dorm room."

I was horrified. "I'm so sorry if I said anything that made you uncomfortable. I never meant-"

Lottie laughed, but Tina interrupted me with a kind smile. "It wasn't anything you said, love. I was thirteen and discovering I liked girls, while sharing a room with four gorgeous girls. I promise, it was nothing you did."

And then I blushed horribly when I realised what she meant. "Well, Evander is going to be so sad when he finds out," Danae quickly said, and I mentally thanked her for her timing. "Because he asked me just a few days ago if you're single, Lottie."

"He had his chance," Lottie replied, kissing Tina's cheek again. "I'm quite happy where I'm at now."

"Good, because I'm not planning on letting you go any time soon," was Tina's perfectly adorable response.

I was happy for my friends, ecstatic, even, but I still felt that stab of envy that cut through me as I watched them.

"Honestly, we've all wondered what it would be like," Remus mused, bringing me out of my self-pity. "There was one time-"

"Don't you dare, Mooney!" Sirius barked, making the rest of us that much more interested in what Remus had been about to say.

"There was one time what, Remus?" Lottie prompted with a huge grin. "Just ignore the big baby over there and tell us what you were going to say."

Remus grinned and Sirius pouted. "We might have snogged one time, but it was weird and we were drunk," Sirius grumped, though I could see he wasn't nearly as upset as he was pretending to be.

"And you were pining over- over someone," Remus reminded, grimacing when he'd almost slipped and said the name.

"Sirius Black pined over someone?" I teased. "Who could it have been? Who could have been strong enough to withstand you flirting with them?"

Sirius just smiled sadly. "She was in a relationship, with someone I really admired. They were sort of perfect together, actually, and I didn't want to break them up; I just wanted her to be happy."

I stared, feeling horribly like a heel. "I'm so sorry, Sirius, I didn't mean-"

"It's alright, Petal, you didn't know," he replied with a grin. "I'm okay, I promise."

I still felt awful, but before I could further apologize (or further dig myself into a hole, really), Danae suddenly said, "Sirius, you didn't finish telling us about the house. Where is this paragon of a house?"

"It's in York, in a village called Little Hangleton," he said, pausing in cleaning Dudley up from dinner to answer. "It's called after the family who used to live there, though we can always change that. It's currently called the Riddle House, but I'm sure we can come up with something better than that."

AN: Sorry it took a few hours in between posting chapters, but I had family things in between :) Here's the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy watching everyone being obvious about Sirius's feelings for Petunia and her being super oblivious! It's tons of fun to write!