A/N: Aaah! I'm so sorry I haven't updated here in forever! I lowkey kinda forgot at one point because I crosspost on Wattpad and Ao3 and *sigh* I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! But it's fine, I'll get you guys caught up to the others in no time! :)

Here's chapter 58! I hope you all enjoy!

The green flames that swallowed her up from the Burrow, died around her and she saw Remus sitting on the sofa, reading. She took a step out at the same time that he looked up, in confusion. "Grace?" he asked, then he really looked at her, taking in her appearance. He tossed his book to the side and stood up, staring in worry. "What happened?! Are you alright?!" Grace's lips trembled as she shook her head and quickly latched herself to him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and crying into his chest. "Shh, what's wrong? What happened?" he asked softly, wrapping his arms around her, cradling her head to his chest and rubbing her back.

"Remus? Who is it? What's wrong?!" Sirius exclaimed loudly, thundering down the stairs of the cottage. He froze in the doorway of the sitting room, staring wide-eyed at Grace crying into Remus. "Gracie?" he said breathlessly, staring at her. He noticed her clothes were torn and dirty, and her hair was knotted and a mess. Grace pulled her face from Remus to turn to look at him, and he went numb. Her face was red from crying, tears creating rivers between the dirt and soot that caked her face, and his eyes found the black and red gash on the top of her forehead, and the caked on, dried, blood. Her grey eyes met his, and felt his heart in his throat when he saw the pure terror in her eyes.

"Dad..." she whispered, her voice trembling and she ran to him. Sirius wrapped his arms around her tightly, holding her close. Her entire body was trembling against him, from crying and fear, and he stood frozen, holding her. He cradled the back of her head, clutching her hair into a fist, and his other hand fisted her shirt and he rocked her gently, letting her cry. His eyes shifted to Remus, and he had the same wide-eyed, worried and scared look.

Sirius felt his body start to burn white with anger, and he held Grace tighter. What the hell happened at a bloody Quidditch Match to make his daughter look like this? To be this scared? He knew that Arthur wouldn't have let anything happen to any of those children, and he knew that Bill and Charlie were going too. Sirius knew that they wouldn't let any rowdy people wreck havoc around the children. He also knew that Harry wouldn't let anything happen to her, and he may not have known Ron as well as he hoped, but he saw the way Ron cared about Grace, and knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to her either... so why did his daughter look like she survived hell?

Remus turned and made his way to the kitchen, most likely going to make tea or hot chocolate to help calm her down. Sirius stayed there, holding the crying girl tightly in his arms, whispering softly in hopes that it would help sooth her. "Gracie, love, it's alright," he whispered, rubbing her back softly. "You're safe now. You're with Daddy, and Remus now, you're alright, we're here," he assured her, and moved to kiss the top of her head. When she finally started to pull away, Sirius instantly grabbed her head and started inspecting the gash on her temple. "What happened? How did you get hurt?" he asked gently.

Grace's lips parted to answer him, but they trembled and the tears started flowing again as she shook her head, holding onto his arms. "Grace, have a seat, let's clean you up, alright?" Remus said softly as he walked back into the room, holding a plastic box, and a mug. "I've made you some hot chocolate," he added, placing the mug down on the coffee table.

"Come on, love," Sirius whispered as he lead her to the sofa. He kept his arm around her as they sat, and Remus opened the small box, inside of it was medical supplies. Remus sat on the other side of Grace, and began to gently clean her face with a damp cloth. "Why don't you tell us what happened?"

"We...we were having fun in the tent, teasing Ron about Viktor Krum," she started shakily, wringing her hands together, in hopes she could get them to stop trembling. "There was some shouts and loud bangs coming from outside, Fred thought it was the Irish partying since Ireland won the cup," she continued. Remus pressed the wet cloth lightly on her temple and she hissed, wincing away.

"I've got to clean it, Grace," he told her softly. "I can't heal it if it's dirty," he added and dabbed the wet cloth gently to her temple again.

"What happened next?" Sirius asked, rubbing her back, and taking one of her hands. Grace closed her eyes as she took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. Blood curdling screams from all those people started echoing in her head with flashes of green and orange. She remembered the look of fear on Harry's face when they were pulled apart. She opened her eyes again and blinked twice.

"Uncle Arthur came in... told us it wasn't the Irish and that we needed to go..." she continued, then winced when Remus dabbed her temple again. "It was awful...there were people screaming and running everywhere. There were these people setting camps on fire, even when – when," Grace's voice cracked as she felt the tears starting to well in her eyes again. "There were people in them! Those poor people!" she cried. "There were – were people in the air, screaming, and everything was being set on fire!" Sirius felt his blood run cold as he and Remus shared a look. "Harry and I, we – we got separated from everyone. There was so much going on, everyone running in every direction, we got pulled away from the rest of the group and... and then – then we..." Grace's breath got caught in her throat and she tried to swallow it down. "I tried to hold on! I did, I really tried!" she said, looking at Sirius then at Remus with wide eyes. "He told me not to let go, I tried! I couldn't hold on! There were people everywhere! Someone grabbed me and – and I tried to hold on but we – we were pulled apart. He-he told me not to let go and – and I tried-"

"Shh, it's alright, Gracie," Remus said softly, setting the damp cloth down on the table. "Tell us what happened after you and Harry got separated," he told her after a few minutes trying to calm her down. She had struggled to breathe smoothly again.

"I-I started running, but then I saw those hooded people again, the ones that started the fires, and – and they sent something at me and I ran, but then I tripped and – " she paused and Sirius rubbed her back softly and squeezed her hand. "I tried running again, but it was hard to see and I tripped again and – and hit my head. I couldn't stand, everything was dizzy so – so I hid under a tent until – until everything was quiet," she continued. Remus grabbed a wound-cleaning potion and dabbed it on a clean cloth before pressing it gently onto her forehead. She yelped from the stinging pain and squeezed Sirius' hand tighter.

"What else happened?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I came out, and...and everything was burnt, there was smoke everywhere and there was – was this green skull in the sky – " she said. Remus paused, and he and Sirius locked eyes. Sirius squeezed her hand tightly, his blood running cold. No. Not again."I couldn't see anyone, I – I was so scared that – that I was all alone! I didn't know where anyone was so I – I called for help. I tried to move but – but my ankle hurt and my head hurt, everything was still dizzy but – but I kept calling for help. Someone tried to stun me –" Sirius held his breath, and stared at her with wide eyes. "But Bill found me, and – and then Charlie and Uncle Arthur. Charlie took me back to the Burrow. Everyone was there, everyone's alright," she said, and while Sirius was relieved that the other were alright, he couldn't find it in himself to care or ask. His sole focus was on her, and at the moment, she didn't seem to be fully all right. "Harry's alright, he isn't hurt. I-I asked Aunt Molly if I could come-come home...I needed to come home."

"It's alright, love," Sirius whispered.

"Grace... those hooded figures you saw," Remus started carefully. "What did they look like?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "It was dark, and there was so much smoke and fire... they were hooded, it looked like they wore black and... and they wore masks." Sirius and Remus shared another look. "They were death eaters, weren't they?" she asked.

Crack.

"Is Gracia he-" Helena started but her words died when she saw Grace on the couch. She took her daughter in, and her mouth went dry. "Oh my... are you okay? What happened?!"

"She got separated from everyone because of the mass panic-" Sirius started.

"I can hear it from her, she's right there Sirius-"

"No," Sirius shook his head, cutting her off. "We just got her to calm down, I'm not forcing her to go through that just to tell you what happened. She's hurt, she's tired, and she's traumatized. Remus is going to finish her up, she's going to go upstairs, drink her hot chocolate, then take a shower and go to bed."

Grace stared at her parents, as they glared at each other. She winced when she felt Remus press a bandage on her temple. "Your ankle, does it still hurt?" Remus asked her and she nodded. She lifted her pant leg up, and winced when she saw how swollen it was.

"She got separated from everyone, there were too many people running in panic. She fell, hit her head, and then went to hide the best she could until everything calmed down. Bill found her and Charlie took her to the Burrow, then she came here," Sirius said, telling Helena the vaguest summary. "Where were you?"

"I-I was at work," Helena answered. "I covered a shift for someone since half the department was at the match. Then news came that there was a death eater attack at the world cup and I left as soon as I could. When I got to the Burrow, Molly told me Grace went home, and she wasn't there so I came here..."

Sirius stared at her for a moment, a part of him wondered if any part of her story was the truth. He hated questioning her, because thirteen years ago, he wouldn't have. He would've taken her word for it because he was none the wiser, but now... after the last month and a half, he had seen and learned a lot about this new Helena. He had no doubt that she went to the Burrow before coming here, but everything else she said, he questioned.

"You're all fixed up," Remus said, and then handed Grace the mug of hot chocolate. "Why don't you go drink this upstairs?" she nodded and then turned to Sirius.

"Dad-"

"I'll be up there soon, love, don't worry," he smiled at her, then kissed the top of her head.

"Why don't we head home, Gracia," Helena said and Sirius shook his head.

"Helena,please," he started, desperation lining his voice. "Don't take her away from me tonight," Sirius pleaded. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment before she nodded.

"Okay," she whispered.

"Thank you."

Grace, now free of dirt, soot and blood, slipped into bed, pulling the blankets over her. She buried her face into the pillow, taking in the deep, earthy scent of her father. She opened her eyes and turned to stare at his bedside table. Like the rest of his room, it was pretty bare. There was a magical lamp, and three picture frames. One picture was of all of them on Harry's birthday, the second one was a picture of her and Sirius, and then the third picture was old, creased and worn. It was a picture of a baby, with dark curly hair and grey eyes, smiling and laughing, reaching for whoever was holding the camera. It was a picture of her, the one he had when he was in Azkaban.

"There you are," she looked to the door, and saw Sirius walk in, giving her a small smile. "Made me a little scared, not finding you in your room."

"Sorry... I-I didn't want to be alone..."

"It's alright... I would've come in there."

"Do you not want me to stay in here with you?"

"It's alright," he smiled softly as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"It's just... when I was little and had a nightmare, I used to always go to Remus' room... because he was there, and everything would smell like him and...and it would calm me down," she started, and Sirius pressed his lips in a thin line, trying to bury the bitter feelings that were beginning to rise. "When I came back to the Burrow, all I could think about was... was you, and how much I really wanted my dad, and when I came here and I hugged you... your scent made me feel better so – so I thought-"

"That laying in here would keep any nightmares away?" he asked softly, with a small smile and she nodded. Sirius reached and pushed some of her damp, curly hair behind her ear, and gently grazed her bandage on her temple. A warm feeling swelled in his chest as he smiled at her. "A secret between you and me," he started, stroking her cheek gently, "when I wake up from nightmares in the middle of the night, I go to your room... because being surrounded by everything that's you, it keeps my demons away."

"Really?" she asked breathlessly, and Sirius smiled.

"Really," he nodded, tapping the tip of her nose with his finger. "Give me a minute, and I'll be right back, alright?" he asked and she nodded.

When Sirius returned a few minutes later in his own pajamas, he slipped into bed beside her and she curled up and rested her head on his shoulder. "Can you tell me a happy story?" she asked, bringing up the blanket and tucking it under her chin.

"A happy story? What kind of happy story?"

"Any happy story, something that when you think about it... you smile."

"Ah, alright... well, there was this time when we were all in our third year and we decided that it would be a good idea to have a light show in the middle of the Great Hall at dinner," he started, and Grace felt herself begin to smile. She nuzzled closer to him and listened to him tell her the memory. When he was finished, she asked for another one, and he did, and this continued for a while until he heard her yawn and he rubbed her arm. "You're tired, you need to sleep."

"But-"

"Sleep, little star," he whispered and kissed her forehead. "I'm right here, I won't be going anywhere."

"But-"

"If there are any night monsters, I'll fight them off," he assured her. "Sleep, Daddy's got you, little star." A lump formed in his throat as he held her. The last time he had said those words to her, she was still a baby, not even two years old yet. It was in the middle of the night, on October 30th, 1981... the night before everything fell apart. He woke up to her screaming and crying in her crib, and when he went to her, he tried everything to get her to calm down.

"What is it, little star?" he whispered, trying to dry her chubby cheeks as he bounced her gently in his arms. "What's the matter?"

"Bad d'eem, daddy," she sniffled, and Sirius smiled softly at her, then kissed her wet cheeks.

"It's alright. I'll fight off all the night monsters, not a single one will get you while I'm around," he assured her and kissed her cheeks again.

"P'omise?" she whispered, sniffling.

"Promise," he nodded. "Daddy's got you, little star, and I'm not going anywhere."

But he didn't keep that promise to her. A little over twenty-four hours later, he forced Helena to take Grace and go to her sisters and he went to see for himself if his best friends were gone, and to kill Peter. He left and he never came back.

Sirius blinked away the tears that started to pool in his eyes, and he looked at her. Grace was out, and she looked so peaceful. He held her tighter and kissed the top of her head. He wasn't going to break that promise to her again. There was a soft knock, and then the door opened. He turned and saw it was Helena, who looked at them. There was something in her eyes, that he couldn't quite place, but then her eyes turned to him.

"How is she?" she whispered, sitting on the end of his bed.

"Scared, exhausted but... she's alright," he answered, running his hand down Grace's arm. "Helena..." he started softly, looking at her. "I'm not going anywhere. I made that mistake once, and I've regretted it every day since."

"Sirius," she started as she stood up.

"Please," he whispered desperately. "I want to try again. Give us one more chance and if it doesn't work, then we know we at least tried to make it work, and we'll figure it out from there."

"Why is this so important to you?" she asked breathlessly, her voice full of emotion.

"Because of Grace," he answered simply. "Because she doesn't deserve to have your parents at each other's throats all the time. I've been there, I lived it for years, and its horrible and I promised myself that I would never let that happen to my own children..." he continued, and Helena's shoulders slumped. "Because, letting you two go... broke a part of me that I didn't think I could ever repair. You were the love of my life once, Helena. I wanted the world with you, and you gave me the world," he confessed, rubbing Grace's arm again. "If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work and we'll figure it out and come to some agreement. I'm not going anywhere, and I don't want to have to fight and beg for my daughter to stay with me..."

"Sirius..." Helena whispered shakily.

"Please, Helena... just... just think about it alright?" he asked desperately.

"Okay," she nodded.

The next morning when Grace woke up, she woke up to Sirius shaking her softly. "Time to get up, love, it's nearly noon." She had of course, fallen asleep again, and was shaken awake again a little later. "Grace, I know you want to sleep a little bit more, but you've got to get up. You're expected back at the Burrow."

Grace eventually made it downstairs, she didn't bother changing out of her pajama's as she sat at the kitchen table, blinking tiredly at the place mats. "Well good afternoon, sleepy head," Remus greeted softly and he placed some buttered toast in front of her.

"Mm," she grunted and yawned.

"Eat up, you don't want to floo on an empty stomach," Remus told her as he sat across from her with a cup of tea.

"It's about time, you got up," Sirius teased lightly as he walked in from outside. Grace grunted again, then yawned. He must've just been to feed Buckbeak. Grace pulled the hair tie from her wrist and held it out to him and he looked at it confused.

"Can you braid my hair? I'm too sleepy to be bothered," she mumbled, and once Sirius took the hair tie, she grabbed a piece of toast. Sirius blinked, and looked to Remus, silently asking for help, but Remus hid his smirk behind a teacup.

"I'll try, but I haven't braided hair in fourteen years, it might turn out shit," he told her, but she shrugged her shoulders, chewing on her toast. She didn't care, because as soon as she got to the Burrow, she was going to find the sofa and sleep. Grace winced slightly as she felt Sirius start to braid her hair, ortryto; his fingers snagged on a tangle and she hissed quietly. "Sorry," he muttered, his brows frowning as he concentrated on her hair.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, he tied the hair tie at the end of her hair and let out a long breath. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't even pretty, some places were loose and others were tighter, there was even a loop of hair poking out somewhere in the middle, but he finished. She reached back, and felt it, then nodded as she stuffed the last piece of toast in her mouth.

"It'll do, thank you."

"I'll have to practice some," Sirius said, then his eyes shifted to Remus and he smirked. "Hey, Moony, let me practice braiding your hair will you?"

"Not a damn chance, Padfoot," Remus replied instantly, narrowing his eyes. "If you want to practice braiding hair, I'm sure I can find Gracie's old dolls from when she was a child. You can use those."

"Aw, come on, where's the fun in that? It won't be the same! I need real hair," Sirius grinned and Remus gave him a dry look.

"No."

"I should probably go now," Grace sighed as she stood up. She walked around the table and wrapped her arm around Remus' neck, and he smiled, returning her hug. She kissed his cheek and smiled. "Bye, Remus."

"Bye, Gracie," he smiled at her softly.

"Bye, Dad," she said, as she hugged Sirius tightly. Sirius smiled and hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. She pulled away and smiled at them both. "I love you guys."

"Love you too," they both said, watching her leave the kitchen and head to the fireplace. There was a green light, and then it was gone.

"That was a shit braid, Padfoot," Remus said, shaking his head.

"Ah, well... A for effort then," Sirius shrugged and sat down.

"Effort starts with an 'E'."

"Oh, so I've exceeded expectations, have I?"

"Shut up."

The green flames died around her as she stepped out of the fireplace in the Weasley's sitting room. "Grace!" Ginny greeted her with a smile.

"Hi," she yawned as she made her way to the sofa, stepping over the text books that littered the floor. She plopped down on the sofa and laid down, resting her head on Harry's lap. Harry's face burned as he stared down at her. "I'm sleepy," she muttered and tugged on the knitted throw blanket that was on the back of the couch over her.

"Er..." Harry started awkwardly, with his hands up in the air, he didn't know what to do with them. Grace reached up and took Harry's hand and rested it on her head and she closed her eyes. Harry turned to look at Ginny and Ron, silently asking what to do. Ginny started moving her hand in a slow stroking motion, like you would do with a pet, so Harry did that.

"I'm not a pet, Harry," Grace muttered. Harry froze, staring wide-eyed at Ginny and Ron, who both looked at each other then started laughing behind their hands.

"You two are a pack of gits," Harry muttered, glaring at them, that only made Ginny and Ron burst into laughter. Harry scoffed and leaned back into the sofa.

He didn't move from that spot, nearly all day. Even when Mrs. Weasley called them all to lunch, and when Harry didn't come into the kitchen, she went into the sitting room to see that Grace had returned and was sleeping on his lap. "I didn't want to wake her... she's been out since she got here," he told Mrs. Weasley and she nodded.

"That's alright, dear, I'll bring you your lunch," she said. So Harry ate his lunch in the sitting room, trying not to get any crumbs in Grace's hair. She might smack him for that.

However, when dinner time came around, Mrs. Weasley felt that it was time for Grace to wake up and eat something. Getting Grace awake was hard, because no matter how many times Harry shook her, she only groaned and hid her face in his stomach.

"Just stand up, and let her fall to the floor," Ron told him with a shrug. "That'll wake her up."

"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley snapped and Ron's ears turned red. "She's already hit her head once!"

"Gracie, it's time to get up," Harry tried again, shaking her shoulders a little harder. "It's dinner time."

"No," she muttered, moving and turning around on Harry's lap.

"Gracia Venus, if you don't get up right now, all the roast chicken and potatoes will be gone!" Mrs. Weasley called and Harry doesn't think he's ever seen her sit up so fast.

"Can I eat the chicken thighs?"

"You best hurry to that table!" Grace didn't need to be told twice as she threw the throw blanket off and raced to the kitchen.

"Oi! Where's the chicken and potatoes!?" Grace whined as she sat down. Harry sat in the seat next to her, and saw that the table did not have chicken and potatoes. For dinner they were having pot roast, roasted carrots and Yorkshire puddings.

"I had to get you to wake up somehow, silly girl," Mrs. Weasley teased, and Grace huffed.

"Rude," she muttered, glaring at the food but she still filled her plate. Harry snorted, trying not to laugh as he also started piling food on his plate.

A/N: Dadfoot he's such a good dad, the best girl-dad!

So, yes, babies at least 18 months do learn how to say words, and at 2 they can start saying very short 2-3 word sentences. Keep in mind this is just the average, all babies developed at different rates. One of my brothers were talking in 2-3 word sentences and singing a few months shy of 2 years. Grace was about 20 months old on Halloween 1981, so she knows some words, she still speaks brokenly bc baby brain lol, and she can't say 'r' sounds at all (as referenced in a previous chapter she has a hard time saying them).

But that scene, the little flash back, uuuughh it hurt my heart writing it... it's another little glance into seeing how missing Grace and her growing up has really affected him :(

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :)