The Final Countdown

"I now declare you a free man, Sirius Black!" cried Judge Percy Weasley to the crowds in the Ministry of Magic, who were watching the trial of Sirius Black.

There was a burst of cheering and Sirius smiled broadly and stepped down from his box.

The first thing he did when he was out of the courtroom, was to find his dear, old friend Remus Lupin who he had not spoken to for about two years.

"Padfoot, me old mate!" cried Remus, when he spied Sirius.

"Moony, old thing!" replied Sirius, wringing Remus' hand very hard.

"How are you? You look better than you have done for years."

"I feel better! But, honestly, Remus! That Fudge is a blubbering idiot! It's ridiculous!"

"Why? What's he done now?"

"Right well, there were all these witnessess saying that they had seen You-Know-Who, Pettigrew and all that and Fudge was standing there saying, 'He's not come back! He's not come back!' He had to admit it in the end, though."

"He'd have to! Must have been pretty embarrassing actually."

"Well, it got me cleared, and that's the main thing! Now, tell me about you. What are you doing nowadays?"

"Actually, I'm teaching at Hogwarts again. Defence against the Dark Arts, you know."

"Really? How's Harry? I can't wait to see him!"

Remus paused then leaned conspiratorily over and whispered in Sirius' ear, "He's fine. But I think...I think he's fallen for a girl!"

Sirius jerked back in suprise, "Harry! Fallen for a girl! Golly. Which one? Is she pretty?"

Remus looked embarrassed, "Er, it's Hermione Granger."

Sirus grinned, "Little Hermione, the bookworm? I don't believe it!"

"Well, she's not such a plain little bookworm now! Last year, she got a boyfriend, Viktor Krum, and both Ron and Harry began to, er, I think notice her more."

"Both of them?"

"Yep. They both like her."

Sirius nodded, "And who does she prefer?"

Remus fidgeted, "Well, I may be mistaken but...er..."

"Go on!"

"It's Harry!"

Sirius laughed, "Thank god it's Harry! I love Hermione-"

"Sirius!"

"Not like that, you idiot! I'll come to their wedding. Er, Remus, er, how far have they taken it? I mean, I am Harry's godfather, and I think I should... well, you know..."

"Honestly! Still the same, aren't you! They haven't taken it anywhere! They just sit staring at each other across the classroom. It's quite distracting."

"Well, you know what to do, don't you?"

"Sirius, I am not going to play matchmaker!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Shut up!"

"Right ho. Remus, what are you doing tomorrow? It's New Year's Eve."

"I'm going back to Hogwarts. Dumbledore's doing some countdown to the New Year in the Great Hall which I don't want to miss. You can come as well, if you want."

"I'd love to, get to see Harry as well. But for tonight... let's have a guy's night out!!"

"Right you are! Leaky Cauldron at ten o'clock?"

"Good one! See you then!" So saying, Sirius left to get into a suitable mood for his first evening out.

Remus and Sirius met bang on time in the Leaky Cauldron. They immediately ordered some Butterbeer, and in fact kept on ordering it for quite a few hours afterwards. At just about midnight, when the conversation had almost dried up, Sirius said, "Truth or Dare, Remus?"

Remus sighed, he couldn't be bothered to complain, "Truth."

Sirius drummed his fingers on the table top, "Who was the best girl you ever French kissed?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "You know it was Arabella Figg in sixth year in the broom cupboard!"

"For how long?"

"I wasn't exactly timing!"

"Oh well. Your go."

"Truth or dare, Sirius?"

"Ooh, dare of course! Provided it includes at least one pretty girl!"

Remus thought a minute, then said with a mischeivous glint in his eye, "OK, Sirius. It includes a pretty girl. But you won't be getting her!"

"Aw."

"I dare you to be matchmaker-"

"Noooo! Remus- remember the last time you dared me that and we lost fifty points!"

"But it was worth it just to see their faces when they realised they were caught under the mistletoe."

"We're talking about Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall here!"

"I dare you," Remus continued steadily, "to play matchmaker for Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley!"

"Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley!"

"Yep. And they have to be together by January the first!"

"Remus please! That gives me one day!"

"And if you don't do it, I'll tell Harry exactly what went on in the prefect's bathroom after the match against Slytherin with June Weasley. You were in there for half an hour!" (June is not an original character since it mentioned in PoA that Ron had some aunts.)

"Remus- you wouldn't!"

Remus nodded, grinning.

Sirius put his hands up, "OK, OK. I'll do it! And I'll see you tomorrow as early as you can make it. I need as much time as possible."

Remus stopped, "I just thought. How will we get to Hogwarts? There aren't any trains running on New Year's Eve."

"We'll go on Buckbeak. I intend to give him back to Hagrid."

"Don't you want to keep him?"

"Oh no. He's been pining for Hagrid ever since I got him."

"Isn't he in danger from the Ministry, though?"

"No. I extracted a formal apology from Fudge after the trial. He says he promises never to harm a hair on that hippogriff's head."

"Well, that's all right then. I'll see you tomorrow at my place."

Sirius nodded, "Are you still living with your uncle?"

"Yep. See you then."