Living with Danger

Chapter 33: Make New Friends

"Does my hair look all right?"

"Yes, your hair looks fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Are my robes on crooked?"

"No, they're perfect."

"They look like they're too long on this side..."

"Letha, will you please settle down."

"You're not helping any, Gertrude."

"That was mean. Why are we so nervous anyway?"

"Because Arthur Weasley has to have seen me at the Ministry at some point and might blow everything out of the water if my disguise isn't good enough, because we never had to socialize with magical people at the old Den, and because we really want to be friendly with these people so our cubs can stay friends with their children?"

A pause. "That could be it."

----------

"Your robe's on inside out."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not. It's the new fashion. It's supposed to look inside out."

"Does that include having the tag on the outside?"

A pause. "No. Would you mind turning around for a second?"

"Are you blushing?"

"No."

"Yes."

"Just turn around."

"Fine."

Another pause.

"Better?"

Remus turned back around. "Yes. Much." Sirius' hair was rumpled, but he looked best that way. Kind of nonchalant. Whereas I am what my mother used to call a nerd, and therefore look best when immaculately groomed.

You are not a nerd. You're a gentleman.

Oh, and Sirius isn't?

Do I have to answer that? Come on, it's almost 3:50.

----------

Patrick and Carina Black

And John and Gertrude Black

Request the favor of the company of

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Weasley

And Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Lovegood

At their home, the Marauders' Den

On the sixteenth day of January

At the hour of four in the afternoon

For tea and refreshments

Children welcome

"The Marauders' Den," Arthur Weasley commented, reading over the invitation one final time. "I didn't notice that before - what an interesting name for a house."

"No more so than the Burrow, my love," Molly said absently as she finished combing Ginny's hair. "Ron, go wash your face, you've still got something on your nose."

"But I washed already, three times," Ron protested.

"Then make it four. Go."

Ron rolled his eyes when he thought his mother wasn't looking and ducked out of the room. "And don't even try just running water in the basin!" Molly called after him.

"Come along, Weasleys, it's almost four and we're expected for tea," Arthur said happily as Fred and George arrived in the doorway. He pulled his wife aside as the children went down the stairs to wait in the kitchen. "Molly, dear, are you sure it's wise to bring all of them? The twins are a bit older than any of the Blacks' children..."

"Do you want to leave them home alone, Arthur?" Molly asked tartly.

Arthur blanched. "Er, now that you bring that up, it's a fine idea to take them along, just fine."

Ron returned from the bathroom, his face a bit pink from scrubbing. "Oh, that's much better," Molly said approvingly, and kissed him on the forehead. "Go on down, Ronnie, we'll be there in a minute..."

"Mum, please," Ron begged. "Don't call me Ronnie in front of Harry and Drake."

"Should we call you our Ickle Ronniekins, then?" Arthur asked, teasingly. "I'm only joking, son," he added hastily to erase the look of horror on Ron's face. "Don't you worry. We'll all be on our best behavior today. New friends deserve the best we have."

----------

"When're they gonna get here?" Meghan asked, squirming in her chair.

"Be patient, Pearl," Sirius said, stroking his daughter's cheek. "They'll be here soon enough."

"You always say that," Harry complained. "It's always 'soon enough' or 'in a little while' or something. It's never 'right now'."
The fireplace chimed. "Yes it is," Draco said from across the room.

Harry made a face at him.

"You're biting your lip again," Danger murmured to Remus.

"Thanks." Remus schooled his face to calm and welcome as a spinning form appeared in the green flames - a red-haired woman, small and plump, with a highly motherly air. This must be Mrs. Weasley, whose first name Remus as yet didn't know. The four children who followed her out of the fireplace Remus had no trouble placing as the twins Fred and George, the cubs' friend Ronald, and their semi-friend Ginny. The tall, thin man who finished the procession was obviously Molly's husband, and it was to him that Sirius addressed himself.

"Patrick Black."

"Arthur Weasley. Welcome to England."

"Thank you. My wife, Carrie - my brother, John - " Remus extended his hand and found the other man's dry and his grasp firm but polite. "And his wife, Gertrude, but only to strangers - "

"Everyone who knows me calls me Danger," that lady interrupted with a smile.

"Then we certainly shall," Arthur said. "My wife, Molly."

The Pack shook hands with Molly Weasley, just as their fireplace chimed again. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley jumped.

"It's all right," Aletha said. "We've put a charm on the fire so it alerts us if someone's connecting into it. This must be the Lovegoods."

"What a good idea," Arthur said in astonishment. "Why didn't I ever think of that?"

The introductions were repeated with Gerald and Anita Lovegood and their daughter Luna, reminding the Weasleys that they hadn't yet introduced their children. "Well, these are Fred and George, but heaven knows I can't tell them apart," Arthur said frankly, making everyone laugh. "And this is Ron, and Ginny, our only girl. We have three older boys as well, but they're off at Hogwarts - you do know about Hogwarts, I trust?"

"Oh, yes," Danger said. "Quite a lot. My teachers used to tell such stories about it - "

"Mum?" Hermione said respectfully. "Please, may we be excused?"

"Oh, of course, forgive me, love. Children, your tea is upstairs, in the large bedroom - Black children, show our guests around, make sure they have what they need, and I don't expect to see any of you again for a good hour at least, unless someone's bleeding or unconscious."

The adults laughed. Draco bowed to Remus and Danger, and Neenie curtsied. Harry and Meghan copied them with Sirius and Aletha. Then the cubs headed for the door, and the four Weasleys and Luna followed them.

"Your children are very polite," said Gerald Lovegood, watching them go. "I should do a piece on them, what do you think, sweet? 'Family in Existence with Obedient Children' - how would that look on the cover of the March issue?"

"Gerald edits The Quibbler," said Anita with a smile. "I do independent magical research."

"Really?" Aletha asked with interest. "What's your current project?"

"I'm working with a Healing Research team at St. Mungo's on a new formulation for the Blood-Replenishing Potion - something to cleanse the new blood as it's formed..."

"Do you mind sharing?" Aletha said, coming across the room to sit near Anita.

"Oh, not at all..."

"And they're off," Gerald said, casting an amused look at the two women, who had taken only a few sentences to get deep into the technicalities of potion-brewing. "I tell you, John, I love the woman dearly, but some of her interests... I mean, honestly, potions. It was my worst subject at Hogwarts..."

"I caused a few cauldron explosions myself," Remus said honestly. Some of his mishaps in the dungeons could still make Sirius roar with laughter when they were brought up. Such as the one that had turned the hair of everyone in the class a bright pink for three days.

Of course, he wouldn't have thought it was nearly so funny if we hadn't had Potions with the Slytherins.

"And yet, she dives right in. Give me something alive to work with any day."

"Are you interested in magical creatures?" Remus asked.

"Oh, very much so. It's my dream," the other man confided, "to be the man who finally validates the existence of something everyone else says doesn't exist. Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, for instance - did you know there have been eighteen separate plausible sightings of them since 1975?"

"No, I didn't."

"Now could that many people all be lying, all together, about exactly the same thing?"

"I don't know," Remus said politely. "I have an interest in the lesser Dark creatures myself. Redcaps, boggarts, that sort of thing."

"Oh, boggarts. Nasty things. I have some stories back in my office about some persistent cases of boggart haunting - there's a new theory that it was actually a boggart in the Hogsmeade Shrieking Shack, which would explain why it's been silent for the last several years."

"It seems as plausible a theory as any," Remus agreed.

Danger snickered in his head. Liar.

Shut up, woman.

Make me.

"Excuse me," Remus said to Gerald, and got up, crossing the room to where Danger was exchanging what sounded like candy recipes with Molly. "Pardon me, madam," he said, sweeping a bow to Danger, "but your four o'clock medicine is overdue."

What are you doing?

Play along. Please?

Oh, all right. "I'm sorry, Healer, I must have forgot to take it," Danger said contritely.

"Well, we can fix that," Remus said. He lifted her out of her chair and bent her backwards in a passionate kiss. Consider yourself shut up. Payback for the other day.

Right in front of everyone, too, Danger fumed. I'll get you for this!

But she was kissing him back. Remus chuckled mentally. You can try, my dear, you can always try...

----------

"You live as Muggles?" Arthur Weasley said to Sirius a bit later, clearly fascinated by the idea. "How do you manage taxes and records and such? Do you have Muggle jobs?"

"I'm a writer, so I work from home, and John's found a job at one of the stores in the village," Sirius said. "Carrie's musical, so she was hoping to give piano and singing lessons. You wouldn't happen to know if there's anyone in the village who does that, would you?"

"I don't think there is," Arthur said, frowning in thought. "I believe the children can take lessons at the local school, but there's always room for a private teacher, I'd think. And there is one woman who teaches woodwinds - flute and clarinet and so forth. Our Bill studied with her for a year or so, until he could continue on his own..."

Sirius tagged the information about the flute teacher for future reference.

"But do you send your children to the Muggle school?" Arthur asked.

"No, we teach them here at home. Now that they're old enough to read, they do a lot of it themselves - not Meghan yet, of course, but it won't be long. All we have to do is make sure we have the books around, and Hermione will read them, and then bully the boys into reading them too."

Arthur laughed. "I wish my Ron had someone like your Hermione," he said. "Molly's hard put to keep him to his lessons some days - his head's always somewhere else, up in the clouds on his broomstick, or on the chess board - he's quite a player for his age."

"How long has he been playing?"

"Four years, since he was old enough to tell the pieces where to go. He can beat me on occasion, and I don't hold back, trust me - not since the time I decided I'd go easy on him and he checkmated me in ten moves." Arthur smiled slightly. "Now it takes him twenty."

Sirius chuckled. "The nightmare of every man - eclipsed by his own son." He leaned forward. Arthur had brought up something he'd been wanting to ask about. "About lessons - would you, or Molly rather, consider taking our older three in with Ron for a while? We'd be willing to pay, of course, but you know better than we do what would prepare them properly for Hogwarts, and we want them to be ready, of course..."

"Oh, by all means," Arthur said easily, waving his hand. "But we couldn't possibly take your money. Your three are so good, Molly'll never even know they're there."

Harry, Draco, and Hermione had reported on Mrs. Weasley's reaction to finding what she thought were Muggles in her house - Sirius could only imagine her reaction to finding her schooling workload quadrupled without any kind of recompense. "Perhaps a trade of services. Music lessons for any of your children who're interested, in return for regular lessons for ours."

"That sounds agreeable," Arthur said with a nod.

The men shook on it.

----------

Upstairs, the beds had been pushed against the walls to make room for the large round table with places set for nine. The cubs had their own tea set, which kept the tea hot enough to be pleasant to drink but cool enough that it wouldn't burn them, as well as pouring for them, on request, so they didn't have to handle the hot pot. And Danger, knowing her cubs and suspecting the nature of the Weasleys, had provided several plates of small enjoyable things to eat.

"How come you have four beds in here?" one of the twins asked. Harry thought it was George, but he wasn't sure.

"It's our bedroom," Hermione answered in her best "ask-a-stupid-question-get-a-stupid-answer" tone. She did it really well, Harry thought - and she should, from all the practice she gets using it on me and Draco.

The twins exchanged glances. "You all sleep in the same room?" the other twin asked.

"Why not?" Draco asked, taking another biscuit from the plate.

"Don't you ever want to be alone?" Ron said in amazement.

Harry shrugged. "Sometimes. But there's the guest room, and lots of rooms downstairs, and all outside to be alone in. Besides, we won't have our own bedrooms at school - it's all dorms, right?"

"Right," answered the first twin, whom Harry was almost sure was George now. "But boys and girls get separate ones. Why don't you put the boys in one room and the girls in another?"

"Because the guest bedroom isn't big enough for two beds," Hermione said. "Not with any floor space left over, anyway. And this room is big enough for four. And we like it this way."

"What's this?" Luna asked from over by the bookshelf before the silence got too uncomfortable, poking at something.

"Don't touch that - " Draco sprang up from the table. Harry rescued his cup of tea just in time. "It's my recorder."

"What's a recorder?" Ginny asked.

"This is a recorder," Draco said, holding it up. "You make music with it."

"Can you play it?" asked Fred.

"A little."

"Play for us," Luna said. "Play something pretty."

"Please?" Meghan said. She always loved it when Draco played.

Draco smiled a little shyly. "All right." He put the pipe to his lips.

Do-re-mi-sol-mi-re-do, mi-sol-la, do-ti-sol-mi, fa-mi-re...

It was a sweet, wandering melody that Harry had never heard him play before. He wondered where Draco had heard it, or if he was making it up. Whichever, it had his audience enthralled. Luna had her eyes half-closed and her head tilted to the side. Ginny was leaning forward in her chair, her eyes following every move of Draco's fingers on the pipe. Ron didn't even seem to notice that he had crushed the piece of gingerbread he'd been holding and was now raining crumbs on his robes.

...re-do-ti-do, Draco ended.

"Where did you learn that?" Hermione whispered.

"I thought it up. From one of the books we read. The one about the thief and the dwarves and the dragon."

"Wicked," Fred said in tones of admiration. "Bill can play the clarinet, but it sounds kind of squawky a lot of the time."

"And he doesn't make stuff up," George added. "That was brilliant."

"Thanks." Draco put his instrument back on the shelf, his cheeks now definitely pink.

He doesn't take compliments well, Harry recalled Danger saying of Draco. "We can all play the piano," he said to take some of the attention off his brother. "And we sing. My mum taught us how."

"Your mum teaches people to sing?" Ginny said. "Would she teach me?"

George leaned around Ron and hissed something at Ginny. Whatever it was, it made her turn bright red. "Er, I mean, never mind. I'm sorry. I don't want to learn." She stared down at the table.

The cubs looked at each other and exchanged puzzled shrugs. Their business, Harry thought. Not ours. "Do you want to see some of the pictures of us in America? We were there for a while before we came here."

"They're Muggle pictures," Meghan added. "They don't move."

"They don't?" Ron said in tones of disbelief. "What do they do, just stand there?"

"We'll show you," Hermione said, and went to get the cubs' personal photo album.

"How come you have just Muggle pictures?" asked one of the twins a while later (Harry had lost track of which one was which when they moved).

"We were traveling as Muggles," Draco said. "To see what it was like. Have you ever ridden on a bus?"

"We rode the Knight Bus once," said the other twin.

"American Muggle buses are a lot like that, except not so bumpy. And the seats are really cramped, not nice chairs like on the Knight Bus."

"We rode on an airplane to get here," Meghan chimed in. "I had to sleep all the way because I'm little, but Harry and Drake and Hermione got to stay up, and then they got in trouble for poking and hitting, and Mum made them go to sleep anyway."

"No, that was on the way there," Harry said without thinking, then froze. His hand went to his breastbone, as if the rings hanging against his chest could help him take the words back before anyone asked...

"On the way where?" Ron asked.

"Um... to the United States," Harry said quickly. "We had to get there from Canada, where we used to live. And that was when we got in trouble for hitting. When we were going from Canada to the United States. That was when."

Everyone was staring at him. I'm so dumb, I forgot about our story, I forgot we're hiding, I'm so stupid, please don't let me have messed everything up, please let them believe me...

"What's this?" Ginny asked the room at large, pointing at one of the pictures. "It looks like someone carved faces in a mountain..."

"Mount Rushmore," said Hermione quickly. "They're American presidents. I forget which one is which, but they're all really famous."

Harry slumped in relief as everyone else gathered around the photo album again.

That was close. I'm so stupid sometimes.

They can be our friends, but they can't be our Pack-friends. Not yet.

Not until we don't need Pack-friends any more.

----------

The visit lasted all afternoon.

Danger showed off her kitchen to Molly, receiving an invitation to come and see Molly's in return, and recipes were traded for all kinds of delicious-sounding things.

Anita and Aletha made a date to go over Anita's notes on the new potion formulation, as Aletha'd had some suggestions simply from what Anita could recall off the top of her head.

Gerald invited Remus over to his house to see his small menagerie, including a brothel of doxies and a pinch of pixies.

And Arthur Weasley was transported into upper realms of delight by Sirius' gift of a small, black-and-white television set, which had inhabited Sirius and Aletha's bedroom at the old Den, but hadn't found a home at the new one yet. "You must come over and see my car sometime," he told Sirius and Remus. "Do you know - don't tell Molly, of course - but I've actually got it to fly?"

"A flying car?" Sirius repeated. "This I have to see. I knew someone with a flying motorcycle once..."

Remus looked at him sharply. Must you?

Sirius continued talking with Arthur, but where Remus could see it, he held up his right hand, ring and little fingers stuck out, the other two held down by the thumb.

Inwardly, Remus snorted. "Keep your hair on" indeed. I'm not the one endangering us all.

Would you please relax?

No, I will not - have you heard what Sirius is doing over here?

Yes, I have, and I still think you ought to relax.

Why?

Because the odds of Arthur Weasley knowing that Sirius Black owned a flying motorcycle, or of him connecting it with us even if he does, are pretty damn low. However, most people can see tension in others, and wonder about it...

As usual, you have a point.

And also as usual, so do you. You can yell at Sirius after our guests go home.

Thank you, beneficent lady. You are too kind.

I know.

----------

"Weasleys, time to go!" Molly's voice called up the stairs. "Come along, children, where are you? Fred, George? Ron? Ginny?"

"Luna, you too!" Anita called. "Come on, it's dinner time!"

There were no answers.

"They're probably so deep in playing they can't hear you," Aletha said. "I'll be back in a moment."

She went quickly up the stairs and opened the door to the cubs' room, smiling for a moment at the tableaus that presented themselves.

Harry and Ron were sitting side by side, with a large book open on their knees - knowing Harry, Aletha was willing to bet it had something to do with Quidditch - and were pointing things out to one another in the picture on the page, with Ginny sitting nearby, not quite an acknowledged part of the group, but not being shunned either. Hermione, Meghan, and Luna were having a tea party at the table with Hermione and Meghan's dolls. And Fred, George, and Draco were in quiet, earnest conversation in a corner.

Probably discussing prank theory.

"Time for everyone who doesn't live here to go home," she said, and was gratified by the disappointed "Awww" that rose simultaneously from all four Weasley children. Luna looked considering for a moment, then rose matter-of-factly and folded the napkin which had been sitting on her lap.

"Thank you for a very nice time," she said to Hermione and Meghan. "We must do it again soon."

"See you tomorrow?" Harry said to Ron.

"We're always up by nine. You can come right over..."

"After you get permission," Aletha put in firmly, "from us and from Mrs. Weasley, yes, you may go visiting tomorrow. And on Monday, you three," she said, including Hermione and Draco, "Mrs. Weasley is going to start teaching you lessons, to make sure you'll know everything you need to when you go off to Hogwarts."

She had said the magic word. The faces which had fallen at the mention of lessons brightened again at the reference to Hogwarts, and the cubs cheerfully escorted their new friends downstairs.

"Now, you four, I have a surprise for you," Molly said. "How would you like to learn to play the piano?"

The twins quickly shook their heads, but Ron looked speculative, and Ginny blurted, "Mum, can I?"

"Yes. Mrs. Black - oh, dear, there are two of you, how are we going to handle this?"

"They can just call me Danger, like everyone else," Danger said. "I doubt I'd even answer to Mrs. Black or Gertrude at this point."

"All right, then. Mrs. Black," Molly indicated Aletha, "is willing to give you lessons. Now, if you start, I expect you to keep on, do your work, and not give her any trouble. Is that understood?"

Ron and Ginny nodded. Ginny was grinning widely.

"Luna, would you like piano lessons?" Gerald asked his daughter.

"I would like that," Luna said thoughtfully. "Drake plays nice music. Maybe we could learn to play together."

Draco's cheeks went pink, and he turned away.

"Oooh, Drake's got a girlfriend," Harry said, smirking.

"Harry," said Sirius warningly.

"Sorry."

----------

The Pack stood still for a moment after their fire had returned to its normal color. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, everyone relaxed at once and started talking, and then laughing at the coincidence.

"I think that went very well," Remus said. "And now we have some friends in the neighborhood."

"And not only grown-up friends, but friends for you four," Sirius said to the cubs. "That's more important."

"So please, don't fight with them," said Aletha. "There's nothing less fun than having to apologize to your friends."

"But what if they're the ones who were wrong?" asked Hermione the ever-practical.

"Apologize anyway," Danger advised. "Saves time and makes them feel super guilty."

Should I try that on Sirius?

Allow me to clarify... "Of course, it only works if your friends have a sense of guilt in the first place."

Too bad.

"You're talking about me," Sirius said. "I can tell by the way you're not looking at me."

"Egocentric much, Padfoot?"

"Hey, it's only the truth."

"Speaking of the truth..." Remus made eye contact with Sirius and held it for a long moment. "We need to talk."

"Now?"

"Now."

"Kitchen?"

"That works."

"Don't tell me," Sirius said when they were both sitting at the kitchen table. "The motorcycle story."

Remus gave a firm nod. "I would appreciate it if you didn't tell interesting stories about yourself, even if you do credit it to someone you knew once. We are trying to hide here."

Sirius developed an interest in his shoes. "I know," he mumbled. "I just really wish it was over."

"So do we all," Remus said feelingly.

"I was thinking the other day, Moony. Meghan's literally never known a day when we weren't hidden. We've been hiding now for five and a half years. That's longer than her entire life." Sirius tried a smile, but it didn't work. "I'm just so sick of it all. Not the Pack," he added quickly. "That's one of the best things that's ever happened to me. But having to hide. I guess I'm trying to get it over with. By doing really stupid things." He chuckled without any real humor. "So, I'll be more careful. I'm sorry."

"It's all right. And you have a point too, Padfoot. Liars tense up. So we have to be as relaxed as we can, so no one will realize our whole lives are basically a lie. I tensed, you didn't. I was the one making the mistake today. So I'm sorry too."

Sirius looked up from the table. "It's fine." He smiled again, more successfully. "Let's go annoy the ladies."

"It is what we do best."

"So that other day when I was thinking, I didn't just have one thought," Sirius said as they returned to the living room.

"What, you had half of one?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Very funny. But I was thinking about the cubs. Meghan, of course, she's never known anything but Pack life. And Harry and Neenie were so little, they probably don't remember life before the Pack."

"I do too," Hermione protested. "There was a house before the Den. It had blue curtains and a couch where Moony slept with me on him."

"And the only reason you know that is because you've heard me tell it at den-night," Danger said in an affectionate scolding tone.

"Harry?" Aletha asked. "Do you remember your aunt and uncle's house?"

Harry shook his head.

"Probably just as well," Remus said. "You weren't happy there."

"I know," Harry said softly, his eyes on the carpet. Hermione hugged him, and Aletha went over and sat next to him. He climbed onto her lap and cuddled down, prompting the other three to go lap-hunting as well.

"Then there's Draco..." Sirius looked down at the blond boy nestled against him. "How about it, little fox? You remember your other family?"

Draco shrugged. "A little bit, maybe," he said. "Some from dreams. More from den-night stories." He pressed his hand against his chest, where his mother's ring hung on its chain. Harry, Neenie, and Meghan copied him. Remus had noticed the cubs doing this when they were frustrated or annoyed with something - it seemed to have become a habit.

"There you have it," Sirius said. "Three no's and a maybe. It's official - this is all they know. Us. The Pack. We're it." He looked over at Remus. "Meet my motivation for doing better."

"We've met," Remus said with a small smile.

After all, they're mine too.

----------

Chapter 34: But Keep the Old

26 January 1988

Dear Aunt Andromeda,

I take up my quill on this, my seven-and-a-half birthday, to tell you that I am well and in good spirits. My guardians take excellent care of me, and I wear my mother's ring always.

I have made a new friend recently. We will be in the same year at Hogwarts. He is very good at playing chess and beats me a lot of the time. But I can play the piano much better than he can. Of course, he has only begun lessons and I have been playing for three years.

My guardians say that I may begin flute lessons when I turn eight. I look forward to this very much. I play the recorder now, which is like the flute because it is a wind instrument, but is very different from the flute in many other ways. I will have to work hard to get good at playing the flute.

Please give my best wishes to my Uncle Ted and my cousin Nymphadora.

Your nephew

-----------

30 January 1988

Dear Letha and everyone,

I was thrilled to get your letter. Glad you've found a place to settle down, and that the disguise I recommended for Harry is working. If you ever need a place to hide in a hurry, remember my door is always open. Not too much is happening on this side of the pond - the state of the Muggle economy makes work interesting, but then, doesn't it always...

-----------

Of Aletha's three new music students, one showed promise more as a pianist, another more as a singer, and the third... well, he was doing his best.

Luna always listened closely to the directions Aletha gave, even when she appeared to be paying attention to something else entirely. According to her mother, she practiced assiduously, sometimes for an hour or more. "This seems to be what my girl's been looking for," Anita said. "Something that gives both her mind and her imagination work to do. Bless you, Carrie."

Ginny was less interested in piano than in voice, but Aletha stuck to her principles. "Piano comes first," she said firmly one day in late winter. "You'll always have use for it later. To help you learn tunes, to accompany yourself - and it's one of the best ways to learn to read music. So keep working on piano, and you'll be ready for voice soon."

Ron was the least enthusiastic of the three, though he did his work and learned his music. "He has a good ear and a good sense of timing," Aletha said in frustration. "And he sings perfectly well. His fingers just don't seem to want to work together."

"So maybe he's not cut out to be a keyboard player," Danger suggested. "Or woodwind, or strings. What else could he do?"

"He could be strictly vocal, but I've always felt that's a mistake myself," Aletha said. "Too limiting. You should have at least one instrument if you're at all serious about music."

"I'm not about music," Sirius said, looking puzzled. Aletha reached across the table to flick him on the forehead with her fingers.

"What about percussion?" Remus suggested. "He could teach himself the basics of that, and I'm sure there are books on how to do some of the more complicated things."

"That sounds about right for him, actually," Aletha said with a laugh. "Ron is pure boy. Being allowed - encouraged, even - to bang on things would make him blissfully happy. I'll have to suggest that to Molly."

-----------

Ron woke up on March 1 excited. The twins and the Black boys had been dropping hints for three weeks about his birthday present. He knew that he would only get one present, a joint effort from his family and his new friends, but that it was a large one. He knew that it was something he wanted. He knew that it was something that might sometimes annoy his mother. And he knew that it was something that had made his father put charms on his room so that noise could get in, but not out.

He had purposely not tried to put the pieces together. But he couldn't help wondering anyway...

That afternoon, after the song and his birthday cake, he found out.

"For me?" Ron stared, awestruck, as Fred and George pulled the sheet off a handsome drum set. He could tell it wasn't brand new - there were use marks on some of the drums, and one of the cymbals was ever so slightly dented - but it would work just fine.

Hermione handed him a wrapped box. He tore it open and found a pair of gleaming drumsticks, which he lifted reverently. The wood was smooth beneath his fingers, and he found himself imagining all the fascinating sounds he could make with these...

"This is so great," he said, unable to stop grinning. "This is my best birthday ever."

"We'll help you get them all upstairs after dinner," said Drake's dad. "They ought to just fit along the bottom of your bed."

And they did.

-----------

As soon as most of the snow had melted, the boys were out on their brooms every day that was even approaching fine. Hermione had generously offered Ginny the use of her broomstick on a more-or-less permanent basis, since Ginny was far more interested in flying than Hermione was.

Ron was astounded at the ease with which Ginny learned to fly. Hermione confided to Harry and Drake that Ginny had been "borrowing" her brothers' brooms all the previous fall when they weren't looking.

With the Weasleys, the Lovegoods, and both Black couples involved, it was discovered to be possible to permanently charm the orchard where the children practiced flying and played Quidditch. The Weasleys had never been able to use any real Quidditch balls other than their much-patched Quaffle, since the Golden Snitch and the Bludgers moved on their own, and there was the very real possibility of them escaping and respectively puzzling or terrifying the village. Now, however, a permanent Repelling Charm, such as real Quidditch pitches had, could be put in place.

Remus had bought Sirius a full set of Quidditch balls for his birthday, and Sirius had reciprocated a month later with a set of Beater's bats and a portable goal hoop set with attached automatic scorekeeper. Both men, at the time, had laughingly bewailed the fact that their Quidditch-playing days were behind them.

"So I guess I'll have to take them back, then," Remus said regretfully on Sirius' birthday, glancing at Harry, whose eyes were fixed on the Snitch.

"Nah, keep them around. We might find a use for them," Sirius said casually.

The same conversation, almost in the same words, was repeated on Remus' birthday.

Two days later, the Quidditch equipment, the cubs' brooms, and the cubs all turned up missing directly after breakfast.

Unconcerned firecalls to the Weasleys' and the Lovegoods' revealed that their children, too, had left early and without saying where they were going. "Just that they'd be home for lunch," Molly Weasley said. "And I've just had a look - their brooms are gone."

"Then I think we can guess where they are without much trouble," Danger said in satisfaction. "Thank you, Molly, I just wanted to be sure."

-----------

The disappearance became a regular morning occurrence, and the cubs invariably arrived home sweaty and exhilarated - some times more than others, of course, depending on whose team had won. Hermione, Luna, and Meghan were the regular spectators of the group, leaving Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Draco to play. The only invariable rule about team formation was that the twins weren't allowed to be on the same side. Other than that, anything and everything went.

The rules the six played by also varied. Sometimes they would play the way they had before the Blacks moved in, using just the Quaffle, two Chasers and one Keeper to a side, and the match ended at a predetermined time. The matches were also timed in which they let one of the Bludgers loose and played with two Chasers and one Beater per team. Those could get messy, but no one ever got worse than a bloody nose or black eye.

Harry's favorite, though, were the games in which they got an adult to charm the Bludgers to act as Keepers, chasing players away from the goal hoops, and played with two Chasers and a Seeker on a team. He always played Seeker, and almost always won, though Draco occasionally gave him a run for his money, and Ginny was very put out about the time Harry had won against her by dint of having a longer reach.

Mornings were thus fully occupied for everyone, because Meghan and Luna were just as interested in watching as the boys and Ginny were in playing, and Neenie always had a book with her, so if she lost interest, no one minded. Afternoons were devoted to lessons and indoor play at one house or another. Molly Weasley found the Black children to be quite well along in all the things they would need to know for Hogwarts, except that Draco's reading comprehension was still a touch shaky and Harry needed some help with fractions.

"I can't tell you how much your children's friendship has meant to Ron," she said one May day over tea. "He tries harder now that he has peers to compare himself with - especially Hermione, my goodness, that girl is astonishing. So intelligent, and so willing to help him when he needs it - his writing's improved beyond all recognition, he actually understands what a paragraph is now, and heaven knows I'd tried to explain it to him so many times I lost count."

"She gets it from Danger's side, I'm sure," Sirius said. "John isn't that smart."

"Nor is he here to defend himself, I notice," Danger said, smacking her Pack-brother lightly on the arm. "Say that to his face and see what happens."

"Do I look suicidal?"

-----------

Remus was, at that moment, unpacking and shelving the latest arrivals at his workplace.

If it's not one of us, it seems, it's another. The first job that he had seen advertised for that he was both qualified for and interested in had been at the village's bookstore, a small independent place instead of a branch of a chain. Exactly how independent it was became apparent within the next few seconds.

"Mrrraw?" said a voice from around Remus' ankles.

"Hello, Aslan," he said, placing the last book from his armload on the shelf and stooping to pet the store cat. A tawny creature with a sort of ruff around his face suggesting a mane and a tail that made Remus suspect kneazle in his ancestry somewhere, Aslan had earned his name honestly. He was listed on the store payroll as "Mr. Aslan F. Domesticus, Vermin Control" and received his pay every two weeks with the rest of the staff. The money which didn't go for his food and upkeep went into a bank account to see him through his old age.

There are people who aren't as well taken care of.

It was a common idea among those who studied Dark creatures that cats reacted badly to werewolves, because of their basically canine nature. Even some of the other werewolves Remus had met, by chance or while doing work for the Order of the Phoenix, had mentioned that their neighbor's or their sister's or their mother's cat didn't like them. But Remus had never noticed that about himself.

It might be just me, though. I've always liked cats. They may be able to tell.

He turned back to the cart, which now had two shelves full of books and one full of cat, and continued working.

-----------

Meghan turned five at the beginning of June, and Luna seven in the middle of it. The three oldest Weasley boys arrived home at the end of the month and were duly introduced to the Blacks. Bill and Charlie incorporated themselves into the Quidditch matches, making everything a great deal more exciting, since there were a lot more ways to play when the games were four on four. And Mrs. Weasley laid down the law to her third son.

"Percy Ignatius Weasley, for the last time, keep that dirty creature out of my kitchen!"

"Mum, Scabbers isn't dirty."

Molly went on as if she hadn't heard. "What would Mrs. Black or Danger think if they saw you toting that filthy thing about? That rat stays in its cage and in your room or it goes out of this house. Is that understood?"

Percy sighed. "Yes, Mum." He went up the stairs to his room and placed Scabbers in his cage. "Don't worry," he said to the rat through the bars. "We can still play in here. And I'll bring you some scraps from dinner."

The rat squeaked, exactly as if he'd understood, Percy thought with pride. Scabbers was a very smart rat. Percy sometimes read aloud to him, and the rat listened exactly as if he knew what the words meant...

-----------

July was the month of birthdays in the Black house - two were celebrated on the 26^th and one on the 31^st, even though one of them wasn't really until two months later.

"You do realize, this may cause problems when it comes to Hogwarts time," Sirius said on the 25^th, looking up from the illustrated Child's Guide to Potions he was wrapping.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"Technically, you have to be at least eleven to go to Hogwarts. And Neenie won't actually be eleven until after term starts the year Harry and Draco and Ron go."

"That is true," Aletha said. "The letter comes on your eleventh birthday, or a little earlier for Muggleborn students, so they don't miss it in the excitement of the day, because they won't be expecting it." Her eyes flickered into "far-away" mode, probably recalling the day her letter had come, the day her life had changed forever...

"You said, technically," Danger said to Sirius. "You think an exception could be made?"

"There's no doubt she'd be able to handle the work, that's for certain," Remus said, smiling fondly. "Kitten can handle just about anything you give her." It was his particular pet name for Hermione - she allowed no one else to call her that, not even Danger.

"And Dumbledore knows that," Aletha said. "So I think he'll be willing to let her come a year early."

The Headmaster himself confirmed this when he arrived for the Pack-only party on the 28^th, which was for all three cubs jointly. "If Hermione remains as mature and intelligent for her age as she is currently, I see no problem with letting her enter school along with her brothers and her friend," he said, watching the cubs wrestle with Hagrid on the living room floor. "The problem, indeed, might lie in trying to keep her back a year - she might inflict damage on the one who suggested or tried to enforce such a thing."

"Might, nothing," Danger said. "She would hurt anyone who even suggested it."

"So, we won't suggest it, it won't happen, everyone's happy," Sirius said, taking another grape from the bowl on the coffee table. "My question is, how are we planning to handle Hogwarts, period? Are they going to have to be out-of-den and disguised the entire time they're there? That's an awful lot to ask of eleven-year-olds. Especially with the added strain of being away from us."

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "I have thought about that very thing, many times, as has Minerva."

"One solution I've considered is having you all move to Hogwarts, and having the cubs sleep in your rooms rather than in the dormitories," Minerva said from her seat across the room. "It would be irregular, certainly, but we've made arrangements for students with special needs before." She shot a look at Remus.

"The problem with that is that it would cause talk," Aletha said. "People would wonder, who are they, that they can live in the castle with their children? Why them and not me?"

"As I said, it is only one possibility I've considered," Minerva repeated.

"What we really need," Sirius said quietly, "is to find Wormtail and come out of this bloody lie we're living."

Danger nodded sadly. "I hate deceiving the Weasleys and the Lovegoods. Every day we lie to them is another day before they'll really be able to trust us once the truth comes out. And I don't want the cubs to lose the first real friends they've ever had."

"The cubs will be fine," Aletha said. "Their friends will think it's just wonderful that they're actually celebrities in disguise. What I worry about is the adults."

Remus smiled slightly. "Molly Weasley's face when she discovers she's been having Sirius Black and his wife over for tea ought to be a sight."

The rest of the company chuckled in agreement.

-----------

The impromptu Quidditch league got another member in the last two weeks of August, when a friend of Charlie's came to stay. "Her name's Tonks," Ron said. "Well, that's her last name, but everyone calls her by it because her first name's something long and funny that she hates..."

"Nymphadora," Draco said under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just coughed."

"It sounded like you said something."

"I didn't."

Ron shrugged. "All right."

"Andy's daughter Dora?" Sirius repeated when Draco told him the news. "Well, it is a small world."

"Smaller for magical folk than for others," Danger said. "The girl's your second cousin, isn't she, Sirius, same as Draco?"

"Should be. I wonder if she knows anything?"

"Her mother surely wouldn't have told her," Aletha said. "Not a child that young. She can't be more than fifteen."

"And we trust eight-year-olds with our lives every day," Remus pointed out. "Be careful around her, cubs. Doubly careful."

-----------

15 August 1988

Dear Mum,

I saw the person who wrote you a letter in January today. He lives down in the village here; he's friends with Charlie's little brother. Instructions?

Dora

-----------

16 August 1988

Dearest Dora,

The same as ever. Do nothing, say nothing.

Mother

P.S. Does he still appear happy?

-----------

17 August 1988

Dear Mum,

Very happy. He plays Chaser when we play Quidditch, and he's really good. His cousin Harry plays Seeker. He's good too.

Dora

P.S. How's Dad?

-----------

18 August 1988

Dearest Dora,

Your father is fine. Is this Harry the same age as the person we were previously discussing? And does he also appear happy?

Mother

-----------

19 August 1988

Dear Mum,

Yes, and yes. Why?

Dora

P.S. You don't think...

-----------

20 August 1988

Dearest Dora,

Yes, I do think. Silence has just become doubly important. Lives may depend on it. So guard your tongue, my daughter. If you must tell the secret, tell it to only the person you told last time, and do it quietly. You were overheard previously.

Mother

P.S. And of course I know about that. Mothers know everything.

-----------

In October, the Pack hosted a party - a Shakespeare party.

"We take parts and read the play aloud," Danger explained to Molly and Arthur. "I'm sure you've heard of it or seen it somewhere."

"My parents used to have reading parties," Molly said musingly. "But I had no idea anyone did it anymore."

"Maybe they don't," Danger said. "But we will. It should be fun - Patrick's editing A Midsummer Night's Dream for us, cutting down a few of the really long speeches and leaving in all the humor and the playfulness. Will you come?"

"Of course, we'd be delighted," Arthur answered for them both.

"And, of course, the children are welcome. Fred and George can read if they want to, or play upstairs with the others."

"They ought to read Puck," Molly said with an affectionate grimace. "They certainly make enough trouble."

Gerald and Anita were also intrigued by the idea, and the eight adults gathered in the Den's living room on one brisk night in late October. The children had all retired to the cubs' bedroom with large amounts of food and two decks of Exploding Snap cards.

"Our scene is Athens," Sirius announced. "Enter Duke Theseus and his fiancée, Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons."

"Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour draws on apace," Arthur began.

A door closed quietly upstairs.

As Duke Theseus heard the case of Hermia, the rebellious daughter of Egeus, who wished to marry her love Lysander instead of her father's choice Demetrius, Danger noticed a small pair of feet appear on the stairs. By the time Hermia and Lysander had planned to run away to the forest, the feet had grown legs. And as Hermia's friend Helena, who loved Demetrius even though he scorned her, planned to win his gratitude by telling him of Hermia's flight, the legs developed a torso and head. A blond head.

Draco was listening, apparently utterly enrapt by the story.

The rude mechanicals, unlearned working men of Athens, planned the play they would put on for Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding, with many amusing slips of speech and turns of phrase.

Hermione joined Draco on the stairs.

"Our scene is now the forest outside Athens, where the fairies dance on nights like these," Sirius said. "Enter two fairies, one of whom is called Robin Goodfellow."

"Wait," Danger said, forestalling Gerald, who had been about to speak Puck's first line. "We have visitors." She beckoned for the children to come down.

"Do you three want to read?" Aletha asked Draco, Hermione, and Luna, who had been just out of Danger's view.

They all nodded.

"Drake, why don't you be Puck," Gerald said. "And Luna, you can be the other fairy, if that's all right with you, dear," he said to his wife, who had that part assigned to her.

"Oh, that's fine," Anita said, making room for her daughter beside her.

"And Kitten, why don't you read Titania, the Fairy Queen?" Remus asked. If you don't mind losing your main role, love.

Far be it from me to suppress a budding interest in Shakespeare for personal gain. Besides, there will be other nights.

"If we're all ready, then, I think we can begin," Sirius said. "Drake?"

"How now, fairy, whither wander you?" Drake read proudly.

"Over hill, over dale,

"Through bush, through briar,

"Over park, over pale,

"Through flood, through fire,

"I do wander everywhere," Luna answered,

"Swifter than the moon's sphere,

"And I serve the Fairy Queen,

"To dew her orbs upon the green."

The Fairy Queen and her King Oberon wrangled over a changeling boy. A love charm was procured and applied inappropriately, tangling the lovers and making Titania fall in love with Bottom, one of the rude mechanicals, whom Puck had charmed to have an ass's head. In the end, though, the true lovers found each other, everything came out all right, and the epilogue of the play fell to Draco to read.

"If we shadows have offended,

"Think but this and all is mended,

"That you have but slumbered here

"While these visions did appear..."

He's good, Remus said.

"And this weak and idle theme,

"No more yielding but a dream."

He is, and Neenie too, Danger answered.

"Gentles, do not reprehend.

"If you pardon, we will mend."

Luna's not half bad either.

"And, as I am an honest Puck,

"If we have unearned luck

"Now to scape the serpent's tongue,

"We will make amends ere long."

Of course, it helps that she took a fairly small part. Puck and Titania are big roles.

"Else the Puck a liar call.

"So, good night unto you all.

"Give me your hands, if we be friends,

"And Robin shall restore amends."

Quite true.

They joined the rest of the adults in applauding Draco, who looked a little startled.

"You can't ask for applause and then look shocked when you get it, Drake," Remus teased. "Good work."

"Yes, excellent, all three of you," Molly said, looking around. "That was enjoyable - I admit I was a little shy about the idea at first, but it grew on me."

"And it seems you're not the only one," Anita said. "Lumos!"

The beam of wand-light illuminated the stairs and reflected from six pairs of eyes.

"And how long have you all been there?" Sirius demanded mock-indignantly.

"A while," Harry said defensively. "It's a funny story."

"You didn't have to hide, you know," Aletha said. "You could have come and listened."

"Maybe next time," said Danger. "I assume there will be a next time."

"Oh, by all means," Gerald said. "I can't recall when I've enjoyed an evening more."

----------

"Tell us a story, Moony?" Hermione asked that night.

"Why me? Padfoot always tells you your bedtime stories."

"That's why," Harry said. "We want a different one. Please?"

"Yeah, please?" Draco and Meghan echoed.

"Well, what kind of story did you have in mind?"

"Something with adventures," Harry said.

"Something with a bad guy," Draco contributed.

"Something with a family," was Hermione's request.

Meghan yawned. "Something about us," she said sleepily.

Remus closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and then began.

"In ancient times there lived a great and evil wizard, so great that most feared even to speak his name..."

Playing with the language Sirius liked to use in his period stories, and with the events that had shaped his life and the lives of those he loved over the past years, Remus told the cubs a tale with everything they had asked for.

"For a time, they traveled, and came back to their homeland to settle anew. And there they lived, and thrived, and made friends, and were happy." He noticed that most of his audience was asleep or nearly so. "And there we will leave them for tonight."

He rose and gave each of the cubs a kiss and a scent-touch before leaving the room.

And they are happy.

I only hope they stay that way.