Sirius took a deep breath before he began telling them about his time behind the Veil.
“I remember fighting with Bellatrix, and her spell hitting me. I could see your face as I fell backwards, but I didn’t understand. The next thing I knew, I was yelling at your dad we had to get back to you to save you. Your dad just looked at me, Harry. He told me there was no going back. I think I punched him. I remember yelling you needed us, and your mum wrapping her arms around me and telling me everything would be okay.
“After that, it’s all kinda cloudy. I don’t really remember anything but peace. I can vaguely remember others joining us, Dumbledore, Moody. They each told us how you were doing, but...” Sirius made a disgusted sound. “It’s all so unclear. The only memory I can recall with complete clarity is the scene in the forest. Even the memory of finding the Time-turner is fading.” He looked at Hermione. “Why is that? I know I spent most of my time with your parents, Harry, but I can’t tell you anything.”
“I don’t really know why it is fading. I’ll ask Kingsley when I go upstairs to talk to him later if he knows or if he has any books that may help us to find out why. But, as far as I know…’ Hermione stopped talking and gasped. “I know I read somewhere about someone long ago doing research into the Veil. I just have to find out who it was and what they found out.”
Harry rolled his eyes. Hermione’s love of reading was legendary. “Hermione, with all the books you have read, that could take forever,” he said jokingly.
“Very funny, Harry,” she said. Looking at Sirius, who was smiling at their interaction, she said, “Sirius, what else can you remember? Do you remember Remus, Tonks and Fred joining you?”
Sirius thought for a moment. “I remember Remus and Tonks because Remus was not happy Tonks had not listened to him and came to Hogwarts. Fred? Fred joined us in pulling pranks and stuff.” Sirius laughed. “He has a wonderful imagination. Too bad he wasn’t born in time to be a Marauder.”
“Is there anything else you can remember?” Harry asked. “Maybe about my parents?”
“It is just little flashes. Just bits and pieces. It is hard to explain. You said I spent five years there, but to me, the memories only add up to maybe a day or two.”
Hermione reached over and put her hand on Sirius’ shoulder. When he turned his head and looked at her, she said, “Its okay. As you remember or think of the little bits and pieces, just tell us. We don’t expect you to be able to tell us everything you did for the past five years, just tell us anything you can.” She smiled at him.
It seemed to Sirius that he was falling into Hermione’s eyes. Why had he never noticed how her eyes had a sparkle to them when she smiled? Because the last time you saw her she was sixteen years old, he thought. She is not sixteen anymore. She is older than Lily was when she had Harry. The other part of his brain argued. She’s too young. The rational side of his brain resisted what the reckless side was saying. Shaking his head, he turned and looked at Harry.
“Harry, I know your parents are very proud of you. What you did, it just amazes me. The things Hermione told me you faced…” Sirius shook his head again. “I don’t think even your father could have done what you did at the same age.”
Hermione glanced at her watch. “I better go update the Minister,” she said as she stood.
“I’ll go,” Harry said. “There are a few things I want to discuss with him. The first being getting Sirius out of here and back to Grimmauld Place.”
“Harry, until we know how this happened…” Hermione began.
“Hermione, I don’t care how or why. There is no reason why he can’t come home with us. Tonight. No one needs to know he is there.” Harry’s voice held a note of stubbornness.
“I agree, Harry. But…” Again, Harry cut her off.
“Hermione, no buts. I will be back in a little while.” Looking over at Sirius, he said, “You do want to go to Grimmauld Place, don’t you?”
Sirius smiled. “Yes, I want to get out of here.”
“Then you will. I’ll be right back,” he said as he stood and walked to the door. As the door closed behind him, Hermione sat back down.
“I don’t think the Minister is going to go for it. At least not yet.” She smiled apologetically at Sirius.
“Hermione, it’s okay. As long as I have you and Harry for company, if I have to stay here a few more days, I’m fine with it.”
Hermione looked at Sirius. She could tell he meant what he said. “I know you said you don’t really remember much, but there is something I need to ask you.”
“Sure, I’ll tell you anything I can remember,” Sirius said.
“Other than Harry’s parents, what do you remember about the others who were there?” Hermione asked.
Sirius thought for a moment. “I remember Albus; he didn’t seem upset to be there. In fact, he seemed happy. Happier than I ever remember him.” Sirius concentrated on others he had met in what seemed to be a long dream to him, but wasn’t.
“I remember talking to my brother.” At Hermione’s gasp, Sirius smiled. “I was surprised to see him there. I couldn’t understand how a Death Eater came to be in such a beautiful place. He did tell me what he had done in the end. So, I guess that is why he was there.”
“What about Remus, Tonks and Fred?”
Sirius chuckled. “Tonks is still tripping over her own feet. Remus is… well, more content, I guess is the word to use. He is free from the monthly torture and seems to be enjoying life.” At Hermione’s raised eyebrows, Sirius said, “Well, it is life to him now. Fred should have been a Marauder. He would have fit right in. I’ll tell you, that kid comes up with the greatest pranks.” He burst out laughing.
“Just last week, he rearranged rooms so James walked in on Tonks getting ready for bed, just as Remus walked in on Lily. If you could have heard the screaming. He just stood there, in the hallway between their rooms, laughing hysterically.”
“So, everyone is really okay? I hoped they were, but… I just miss them so much.” Hermione started crying.
Reaching over, Sirius pulled Hermione into his arms to comfort her. This feel right, he thought. She’s upset, stop thinking of anything else, the good part of his brain fought back. Just shut the hell up and let me enjoy what I can, the reckless mind stated.
As the door opened, Hermione broke apart from him quickly; she jumped up and rushed over to the table, wiping the tears quickly from her face. She began cleaning the empty dishes and piling them in her bag.
“I got him to agree, but with a couple conditions,” Harry said as he approached Sirius who was still sitting on the couch.
“What conditions?” Sirius asked hesitantly.
“First, you can come to Grimmauld Place, but you have to stay there. You can’t go anywhere and one of us must stay with you all the time. Second, no one can know you are alive, at least not yet.”
“So I am to be a prisoner, a secret hidden prisoner again?” Sirius said resentment evident in his voice by his tone alone.
Hermione turned from the table and rushed to stoop in front of Sirius. “You can’t think of it that way. This is only temporary,” she said as she reached out and took his hand, “just until we figure out how to handle the questions that are going to be asked.”
Sirius looked down at Hermione then at her hand holding his. He pulled his hand from under hers and reached out to grasp her arms and stand her on her feet before he stood himself.
“Let’s go. I have seen enough of this place to last a lifetime,” he said smiling.
Hermione turned to Harry. “How are we going to do this?” she asked. “Are we going to go by Floo Powder?”
“No, even for this, I won’t connect the house,” Harry said, shaking his head. “Kingsley is going to lift the Anti-Disapparation charm in a few minutes. We can then leave directly from this room to Grimmauld Place. We will take Sirius along by Side-Along Apparation.”
Harry looked at his watch. “It’s time, let’s go.”
Hermione reached out and took one of Sirius’ arms as Harry moved over and did the same. Hermione and Harry looked at each other. They were both thinking of how familiar travelling this way was for them. The time during which they spent hunting Horcruxes, they often travelled this way.
As the crushing darkness lifted, Sirius found himself staring at the door of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. Even though he hated this place, he was glad to be there. Truth be told, he was glad to be anywhere.
Tapping his wand on the door, Harry reached out and opened it as soon as he heard the locks turn. He gestured for Sirius to enter first. Smiling at Hermione, he followed him through the door.
Sirius was in shock. He never imagined the foyer filled with bright sunlight. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen it to clean. And he knew he had never seen it look so welcoming.
Gone was the peeling wallpaper replaced by a softly striped light coloured paper. The chandelier sparkled and the gas lamps also were clean and shiny. The most noticeable difference however, was the missing portrait of Walburga Black, in her place hung a lovely still-life portrait of a peaceful meadow.
Turning to look at Harry and Hermione, Sirius tried to speak, “It’s… it’s…”
“Clean?” Harry supplied.
“Bright?” Hermione tried.
Laughing, Sirius said, “Both. I am amazed. I can’t believe this is the same house. It didn’t look this good even when I was a child.”
Harry looked up as he heard someone coming down the stairs. “Damn, we forgot about…” His words were cut off.
“Master Harry, Kreacher didn’t expect you for dinner. Kreacher can have your dinner ready-” Kreacher’s voice stopped suddenly as he spotted Sirius standing in the foyer.
“Kreacher,” Harry began, but he was cut off by a high-pitched wail and watched as Kreacher threw himself at his feet.
“NO! No! No! Kreacher is Master’s. Kreacher will not go back to him. NO! NO! Nooooo.” Kreacher’s voice trailed off as his pleas turned to sobs.
Harry bent down and reached out to touch Kreacher. “Kreacher, it is okay. Nothing has changed, at least as far as I know.” Harry looked up at Hermione who shrugged her shoulders in answer to the unspoken question. Harry looked back at Kreacher. “Kreacher, Sirius is back, yes. But no one will treat you any different than they have been… including him.” Harry watched as Kreacher, his big globe shaped eyes peered up at Sirius.
“He is hating Kreacher. Don’t leave him here with me,” Kreacher asked Harry. Over the past three years, Kreacher had become even more the perfect House-elf than he was during their brief stay after Bill’s wedding.
Hermione bent down next to Kreacher and placed a hand on Kreacher’s arm. Sirius looked at the scene at his feet with amazement. He couldn’t believe Kreacher was allowing Hermione to touch him. Kreacher has always parroted Walburga’s beliefs when it came to witches and wizards of Hermione’s blood.
“Kreacher, it will be okay,” Hermione said, her voice consoling. “We told him about how you were a hero in the last battle. And it doesn’t matter who comes here, you should know we will never let anyone treat you badly.” Hermione looked up at Sirius as she said the last statement.
“Why don’t you go down and start dinner? The three of us will be staying here now,” Harry said.
With one last shuddering sob, Kreacher stood up. He gave a wary glance at Sirius before addressing Hermione. “I hope you brought the dishes back, young miss.”
“Of course I did. I have them here in my bag. I will come down with you and put them away.” Hermione smiled at him.
“The young miss will do no such thing. Kreacher will put them away. If you will just give them to me…” Kreacher held out his little hands.
“There are quite a few of them,” Hermione said. “I will bring them down for you.” She turned and started down the hallway to the stairs that lead to the kitchen. Kreacher bowed low to Harry and then gave Sirius a small bow and hurried after Hermione.
“Well, that was interesting,” Sirius said. “Hermione told me what Kreacher had done and how he had changed, but I found it hard to believe.” He continued to look towards the stairs to the kitchen.
Smiling, Harry said, “He is different now. Sirius,” Harry hesitated, “I am asking you to give him a chance. I know what he did before you died, but he has made up for it, over and over again.”
Looking at his godson, Sirius sighed. He never liked the House-elf, but that was in the past. Kreacher no longer sounded like a miniature of his mother. “I’ll try,” Sirius said.
“Let’s go up to the Drawing Room. Kreacher will find us when dinner is ready.” Harry started towards the staircase.
As Harry and Sirius reached the top of the stairs, they heard Hermione coming up behind them.
“Dishes all put away?” Harry asked jokingly.
“Sometimes, that elf…” Hermione said. “He wouldn’t let me put them away. He had me leave them on the table as he was rushing around to get dinner ready. I told him there was no need to rush, whenever it was ready, was fine. But, he is worried if he displeases you, Harry, you will leave him here alone with Sirius. I also told him he can’t tell anyone about Sirius but I think you need to tell him Harry. Just to make sure he understands he can’t say anything.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Harry said as he opened the doors to the Drawing Room. The room, once dusty and dank, was now light and airy. Gone was the Black Family tree, the glass fronted cabinets now held small treasures and knickknacks. Across the mantle of the fireplace were pictures of the Weasleys, Harry’s pictures of Lily and James as well as pictures of Teddy. It was however the picture in the centre that captured Sirius as he approached the fireplace.
Sitting in a simple gold frame was the now restored picture Lily had sent to Sirius. “This is the picture your mum sent me after your first birthday.” Sirius smiled at the baby zooming around on a tiny broomstick. As he set the picture down, he looked at the others. He was shocked to see all the pictures of James and Lily.
“They look exactly the same,” he said in wonder. As his gaze travelled through the remaining pictures, he smiled at the one of Bill, Fleur and Victoire. “This is Bill’s wife and daughter?” he asked.
Harry, who had joined him at the fireplace, looked at the photograph. “Yes, she was the Triwizard Champion from Beauxbatons.” In the picture, you could hardly see Bill’s scars.
Sirius put the picture down and turned to survey the rest of the room. “Just seeing the entrance, the stairs minus the elf heads, and this room, I can’t wait to see the rest of the house. I am amazed at the change.”
Before Harry could answer, a Patronus in the shape of a lynx came through the window landing gracefully on the floor in front of him.
The lynx spoke in the voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt, “Harry, I need you in my office immediately. Received intelligence on Greyback.” Having delivered the message, the Patronus disappeared.
Harry looked at Sirius and Hermione. “I have to go,” he said as he rushed to the door.
As his hand reached for the doorknob, Hermione called, “Harry!” When he turned to face her, she said simply, “Be careful. It is only two days until the full moon.” Nodding, Harry raced out the door and they could hear him going quickly down the stairs.
Hermione and Sirius could hear the muted voice of Kreacher and Harry answering him.
Turning to Sirius, Hermione attempted to reassure him. “He will be fine. Harry is the best at what he does.”
Sirius knew she was trying to reassure him even as she was trying to convince herself of what she was saying. He was not happy with once again, being forced to sit by and have Harry go off into danger.
“So, would you like to see the rest of the house?” Hermione asked trying to force some lightness into her tone. She was worried, and knew Sirius was too. She wanted to keep him distracted so he didn’t try to do anything rash.
“Sure. How did all this happen?” he asked.
“After the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry stayed at the Weasleys for a little while when he wasn’t out chasing the remaining Death Eaters. After a few months though, he and Ron decided staying here would be more convenient for them. Kreacher was so happy to come back, he had the whole house cleaned in no time.
“After I finished school, I decided to stay here, too. Then Ginny is here whenever she is in town, so we decided to really clean and brighten the place up.” Hermione laughed. “Harry and Ron were out of town for a little over a week. When they got back, this is what they found.
“Molly and Kreacher worked so hard to make this place the way Ginny wanted it. If you could have seen Harry’s face when he walked through the door...” Hermione opened the door to Sirius’ old room. “This is the only room that other than being cleaned hasn’t been changed. Harry wouldn’t let us change anything.”
Sirius looked though the door at his old bedroom. Yes, it was clean, but other than that, it looked exactly the same. The same posters hung on the walls with the Gryffindor banners.
“Harry uses this room, but I am sure he will move out of it for you.”
“No, he can stay here. I’ll use one of the other rooms. Who uses my brother’s room?” he asked.
“Ron. We redid it for him. Now that he and Serena will be living in their house by the Burrow, that room will be empty.” Hermione was proud of herself she could speak of Ron and Serena without even a hitch in her voice.
Opening the door, Sirius looked in. “I’ll stay in here,” he said simply before closing the door again.
They went through the rest of the rooms, and Sirius couldn’t help but be impressed with the changes. As they were nearing the bottom of the steps into the entrance way, Hermione was finishing telling him of Kreacher’s attack on Mundungus.
“And there he sat crouched, frying pan ready to hit him again begging Harry to let him hit him one more time,” she said as they both burst out laughing.
They were laughing so hard, neither heard the click of the locks turning nor the door opening. As they started across the entranceway, they realised they weren’t alone.
“Hermione, where’s Harry?” Bill asked hurriedly. Then suddenly, he spotted the man standing behind her. “Sirius?”
“Bill!” Hermione exclaimed. There in front of her stood Bill Weasley, his wand pointed directly at Sirius’ heart.
Second Chance at Life and Love by mudbloodproud
Chapter Notes: Many thanks to Alyssa (harry4lif) for being a wonderful friend and beta.
I am not J.K. Rowling. Anything you recognise is hers. I am just thankful to play in her world for a little while.