Chapter Ten
Apparently, when Sirius Black announces that he found the perfect something, he really means that he already bought it. And when you're from one of the old wizarding families, being left "some money" from a relative means you have what most people would consider a fortune.
Or so we found out when he eagerly took us to see the house the next day. The estate agent met us with the keys and a huge smile on his face. "Ah, Mr. Black, it's so good to see you again," he said, shaking his hand. "Everything is ready for your signature. And these must be your friends," he added, looking to the rest of us with accessing eyes.
I knew what he was probably thinking, looking at all of us. The seven of us were all terribly young, even if we were all of legal age even in the Muggle world, and Dudley and Harry, in my arms and Sirius's, gave our little group an even odder look. He probably thought we were some sort of hippy commune, but he clearly didn't care, not if it meant he was getting his part of the sale.
"Sirius, please tell me you didn't," Remus said wearily, closing his eyes at his friend's antics.
"Re, it's perfect, you'll see," Sirius replied, still grinning. "And if you lot don't like it, I just won't sign the papers."
The agent's face dropped at that, though he recovered quickly. "Why don't we go inside, hm? As lovely as the outside is, the interior is even better. And it's rather chilly for the little ones."
Even for being a bit of a smug git, he was right. The house was lovely, if a bit stuffily decorated, but that would be easy enough to change. There were plenty of bedrooms, throughout the house, so we wouldn't be on top of each other; we wouldn't even need to all be in the same wing. The library was magnificent, and the attic would make a wonderful studio, with enough space to even make a darkroom for Nic. The summer kitchen was light and airy, and it would be a perfect potions lab. The main kitchen was gigantic, with enough room for all of us to not even be underneath one another. And the grounds were magnificent, with so much room for the boys (both big and little) to play.
"This place is beautiful," I told Sirius with a sigh as I leaned against the wall next to him. Nic and Remus were chasing Harry and Dudley through the side garden just outside the kitchen. The girls were busy making snow angels. Well, Danae was making snow angels, while Lottie and Tina seemed to have devolved into snogging in the snow. And it was the most at peace I'd felt in… I couldn't remember when I'd last felt so at ease. Probably long before I'd left Hogwarts.
Sirius just grinned at me. "I'm glad you think so. I think it'll be good for us, all of us, a fresh start without all the memories."
Breathing deeply, I nodded. "You're right, of course, all of you, even if I didn't want to hear it at the time."
"We just want you to be happy, Petal," he said, oh so softly.
"And I think I can make that happen here," I replied, smiling wider than I had in a long time.
…
Nic and Sirius almost started hexing each other when it came time to sign the papers and pay the agent. In the end, Nic agreed to let Sirius pay for the house while he would pay for any new furnishings we would need, if only because I threatened to hex both of them if they didn't come to an agreement. It was an hour past naptime, and Dudley and Harry were both tired and cranky, making me also tired and cranky. I think the fact that I was clutching two small children and glaring fiercely helped convince the big boys to compromise.
That afternoon, after putting the boys down (and Tina plying me with a large mug of chamomile tea that may or may not have had a slug of Calming Draught dumped in), we all sat down in the lounge and plotted out exactly what wards we needed to put on the new house. The sheer amount of fan mail sent to Harry necessitated it, not to mention the fact that there were still Death Eaters who had gone free who could want to harm him. Sirius and Nic both had family members who weren't pleased with their choices, and we'd all been members of the Order of the Phoenix at one time or another, so there were plenty of people who could potentially want to harm any one of us.
"I never thought I would appreciate the indoctrination your family pushed on you, love," Danae told Nic, absently rubbing her belly. "But I'm so glad you know all of these spells if it'll keep our family safe."
"I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe," he said, rubbing his nose against hers. "Both of you."
The familiar pang shot through me, a mixture of envy, loneliness, and pain that I was becoming intimately acquainted with. But Sirius grabbed my attention by asking me about the wards that Dumbledore had put on the house when we'd first come back, and soon enough, the jealousy passed.
It took a week and quite a bit of research in the Potters' library on Remus's part, but we finally got the combination of wards that we felt would be the most effective. Molly, ever the saint, once again took the boys for a few hours while we put layer after layer of protections on our new house.
"It's almost as safe as Hogwarts now," Tina said with satisfaction, after we finished the almost hour-long process.
Remus snorted. "Safer, in some ways at least. Not every witch and wizard in Britain knows the location of our house."
"What're you doin' out here?"
We all turned to see an elderly Muggle man heading our way, at a faster clip than I would have guessed possible, given the cane he used. "Young people these days!" he continued. "Can't you leave it alone? There'll be snow for another three weeks, so you can't ruin the grass yet!"
"I'm sorry?" Nic asked, looking just as confused as the rest of us.
"You lot've been tramping all over the grounds, I can tell by your footprints!" he said, coming to stop in front of us with a huff and a scowl. "It's early yet for you troublemakers to be ruining my hard work on the grass!"
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Danae asked the question the rest of us were wondering.
"Like you don't know," he scoffed. "Like your mums and dads haven't been filling your heads with that nonsense all your lives!"
"I'm sorry, sir, but we're not from around here," I explained hesitantly. I had no idea who this man was, or how he'd gotten past our wards, for that matter. We'd specifically put up Muggle-repelling charms to keep the villagers away.
"We've just bought the house, and we're getting ready to move in," Sirius said, coming closer to my side, probably in order to hide the hand holding his wand at the ready. But his tone was utterly polite and charming, nothing to suggest his Auror-honed skills at the ready.
"You- what? You've bought the house? And that wanker Austen didn't tell me? Ugh, I'm not even surprised, really. His mother never did believe me," he muttered to himself.
Panic crawled up my throat. If we couldn't keep one nosy, slightly barmy Muggle off the grounds, how could we keep anyone with nefarious ideas away? How could we keep Harry safe? Or Dudley?
Lottie took my hand comfortingly, like she could read my thoughts. "I'm sorry, sir, but who are you?" she demanded brashly, bringing the old man out of his own thoughts.
"I'm Bryce, Frank Bryce. I'm the groundskeeper here, have been for nigh on fifty years," he said proudly. "I live in the gardener's cottage, just over there."
"You what?" Remus asked, completely without inflection. And then his voice cracked, and climbed in pitch. "I'm sorry, you live here? You- You can't live here."
I agreed with him, even if it was for different reasons than the ones Remus was worried about. "There must be some sort of mix up," I said, trying for calm. "The agent never said-"
"No, he wouldn't, the little prat," Mr. Bryce growled. "All the villagers like to ignore me, or inconvenience me, whichever happens to be most amusing to them at the time."
And that melted through all my hesitations. I couldn't help but feel for the man. "Oh, you poor thing!" I went to his side and took his arm. "How could they possibly do that?"
"The whole town's convinced I murdered the Riddles, the old family who owned the house originally, but it wasn't me! Outside of the war, I never hurt a soul."
We found ourselves in Mr. Bryce's cottage, where he served us all tea. Past his crusty exterior (and goodness knows I couldn't blame him for that, given all the villagers had done to him over the years), he really was a sweet soul. And he was getting on in years, so it wasn't like he could find another position easily, if at all.
"You want to keep him on, don't you, Pet," Nic sighed, after casting a silent Muffliato at Mr. Bryce, who was shuffling around the stove for another pot of tea.
"We can't just cast him out of his home, Nic," I replied. Just the thought of doing so made my heart squeeze.
"And he's harmless," Tina added earnestly.
Nic and Sirius sighed, almost perfectly in sync, making the rest of us laugh. "It would appear that we've acquired a cranky grandpa," Remus said cheerfully. "As long as we lock him in his cottage once a month."
"I'll give him some tea to help with that hip, and it'll knock him out for a good ten hours," I assured him. He smiled gratefully.
"Mr. Bryce," I said, after cancelling the Muffliato.
"It's Frank," he said sternly, which made me smile.
"Frank, we'd like you to stay on as groundskeeper, though I do plan on making quite a few changes," I warned him.
Frank's eyebrows glowered. "Changes? What sort of changes?"
I happily told him of my planned garden beds, not to mention the greenhouse, and his eyebrows gradually raised. "You actually sound like you know what you're talking about. You just might do, after all."
AN: Apparently, I feel we need an abundance of grumpy old men in this story. Grumpy old men who are secretly softies kind of make my day. Coincidentally, so do reviews! So thanks for those of you who have left me reviews. They always make me smile!