Well, we have reached the end of the story and I have to share I'm a little sad. This was one of my favorite versions of Anwen and Sirius I've ever written (and I've written many). I might write these children's school years, but I'm not sure yet. Keep your eyes out for a new story from me.
For those interested, I am re-writing their beginnings in a darker version called "Restrain" on Fanfiction . net. It's a wholly different story, and it reflects my understanding of living in stressful times as I am 15 years older than when I started it.
Thanks to my amazing friend and beta, Arnel, who makes me so much better of a writer. Thanks to my dear husband as well, because he always lets me bounce ideas off him. Enjoy and thank you to everyone who has read and to those who have reviewed. I hope one day I'll get all my reviews restored, but if not, I read them all and saved the emails with them. MNF
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Category: Pre-OotP Characters:Sirius Black Genres: Drama Warnings: Death Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 19 Summary: Sequel to Harry's second Christmas. James and Lily are dead, and Sirius, Remus and Anwen are living in the Potter keep with Harry. They want him to have a well balanced childhood, but the need to keep him safe is greater. Sirius is working to unravel where the Potter money went while Anwen wants to discover why they were in Godric's Hollow and not safely in the Potter's home. Hitcount: Story Total: 18925; Chapter Total: 821 Author's Notes: |
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Epilogue: Family 23 September 1987 It was a warm day for the latter half of September, but none of the children complained. Remus had ended their classes early as it was Mabon, the home and harvest festival. It was also a special day for the Longbottom and Black families; today, the youngest members of their families would have their welcoming ceremonies. The family was gathering to share in a large meal before welcoming the babies into their faith circle. Augustus Jeffrey Longbottom, Gus for short and named after his paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather, was born eight minutes after eleven in the morning of the fourteenth of March; Rigel James Black was born at eleven-forty-nine in the evening of the fourteenth of March. The two boys were nearly identical, save their eyes. Gus's were a beautiful pale blue, like his mother's, while Rigel's were a mossy green like his mother's. Aurora Grace Black, a surprise to her parents and the Healers treating Anwen, was born at twelve-oh-two in the morning of March fifteenth. Smaller than her brother, the little girl had brown hair and pale grey, almost violet-coloured eyes. Anwen had her twins in a double stroller next to her while she sat in the shade and watched the older children fly around on their brooms or have a tea party in the shade under the big tree in the rear garden of the Potter’s manor house. The year since Tom Riddle had been eliminated had been a prosperous one for everyone on Team Harry. Anwen and Alice continued to work on strictly investigative aspects of cases for the Auror department. Rufus Scrimgeour was happy to have the witches in any capacity they felt comfortable with, although he hoped both might one day return to full-time, active duty. The twins took up a fair bit of Anwen's time, their first three months, she felt like all she was doing was feeding them, but now that they were six months old, she was able to divide her time more evenly between the children. A fourth house-elf was brought on to assist in watching Caelum and the twins. Bordus was an energetic younger male elf who enjoyed being Caelum's playmate, was helpful around the house with repairs, and listened well to Wilken's instruction. Sirius was busy with Ministry business, as he was Lord Black and proxy for the House of Potter. He was also advising Narcissa, who was proxy for the House of Malfoy. Frank was promoted to Senior Auror, oversaw three other Aurors, and worked with the training classes. At Neville's prompting, the greenhouses at the Longbottom estate were being repaired and replanted. Remus had convinced Frank and Alice that Neville had real promise not only in Herbology but his potion making skill was excellent. Julie had taken to reading, although she wasn't happy about learning maths. At two and a half, Emma Longbottom was into everything and enjoyed getting into mischief with Caelum Black. Alice was convinced that Gus would not only be walking early, but he'd just take off running to keep up with the older ones. He, too, was dozing in a stroller while she relaxed with Anwen in the shade. Amelia and Susan lived on the Potter property until their house was entirely rebuilt. She continued as Head of the DMLE, although there was talk of her being elected the Minister for Magic in the next elections. Susan came over every day for lessons, and often, the pair ate dinner with the Black family when her workday was over. Additionally, Kingsley had asked Amelia to marry him, and she'd said yes. Their wedding would be on New Year's Day, nineteen-eight-eight. Albus had finally admitted that holding secrets was doing him no good and explained that Harry, through the Potter line, was the direct descendant of not only Godric Gryffindor but the legendary family of the Death Hallows. He returned the Invisibility Cloak and explained the stone in the ring, which had been a Horcrux, was his, although it was in a case at Hogwarts as a founder's artifact. Upon his death, Albus also willed Harry his wand, which was the wand of the legend. He was now tutoring the group of children in Transfiguration, and they were happy to have the grandfatherly man teaching them. He often stayed and played with them and loved to hold the babies and rock them to sleep. Minerva had made sweeping changes to Hogwarts and brought it up to International Wizarding Standard levels. New electives were added, and students could test into more challenging classes if they proved to be advanced in a subject. All teachers had to demonstrate their proficiency in their teaching skills. Several teachers were let go (Professor Binns underwent a painful exorcism from the building). In contrast, others were kept on in different capacities (Professor Trelawney was now a house mother for the Hufflepuffs). Different sports were added, and a greater emphasis was put on intra-school unity rather than house loyalty. However, she always had Saturday afternoon free to visit with her grandchildren at the Potter manor and stayed through the evening meal and bedtime. Walburga, Louise, Narcissa, and Draco were doing well as a family unit in the now beautiful Grimmauld Place. With help from a team of house-elves, the house was cleared of all dark items and was lighter and brighter. It's remarkable what cleaning the windows will do for a place. Draco came to classes with Remus and learned to hold his tongue, but he was still Lucius Malfoy's son, and prejudice ran deep in him. Louise had begun volunteering at St Mungo’s in the paediatric department. Walburga was happy to have one of her sons in her life, realizing she never fully understood her eldest and was thankful she could now. She also loved being a grandmother. Draco, Ginny, and Harry loved flying with each other, and once Ron figured out his skills lay as a Keeper, he would happily have the other three throw Quaffles at him to block. Remus and Emme had quietly married in the spring. Emme chose not to return to her Ministry career and was instead working for Sirius as the estate manager for the many Black and Potter properties that he was responsible for. She made sure rents were paid, that tenant property was kept in good order, and that repairs were made before lasting damage could occur. She also ensured that the farms were producing the most financially sound crops for their locations. Under her guidance, all the properties were turning a profit, something that hadn't happened in nearly a decade. In addition, she was due to have a baby early the following year. As a wedding gift, Sirius and Anwen gifted them a cottage not far from Ottery St. Mary. Ron and Ginny Weasley stayed with the tutoring, although Ron did the least amount of work he could to finish a project, while Ginny had surpassed him in her abilities in both magical and non-magical subjects. Remus had warned Minerva that his students might test into their third-year classes upon their arrival at Hogwarts. Arthur and Molly were friendly with the rest, but sadly the couple rarely spent time with the adults outside of when all of Remus’ students’ families got together. Molly had decided she simply couldn’t agree with Anwen about child-rearing. Harry had flourished without the Horcrux in his head. His magic also flared to life after its removal, almost as if he was bound in some way by it. Anwen and Sirius had confronted Albus, but he swore he'd done nothing to Harry as a toddler. He also began to grow, and while only seven, he'd grown nearly eight inches and gained a full two stone in a year. He was starting to resemble his birth father more closely, who was stockier than Sirius ever hoped to be. Lizzy had her biological maternal grandmother’s blonde hair and blue eyes and looked like a little doll. She learned to read quickly and often read the same books as Julie Longbottom to discuss them. The two were closest of friends and were more girly than their friend, Ginny. They were fascinated by the babies until they started to smell or cry or need feeding. At the far end of the magical garden, the two best friends went under the boughs of the pine tree to hide from view. Draco was arguing with Ron about who was the best Quidditch team, and it was getting annoying to be with them. “Your brother is a prat,” Harry thought to Ginny. “Tell me something I don’t know. You should try living with him. At least he isn't like Percy. Did I tell you that he started ironing his tee-shirts and pants? He confessed his goal in life is to be Head Boy. I asked him what he wanted to do after school was over, and he didn't answer. I like what Charlie wants to do.” “What does Charlie want to do?” "He wants to work with dragons. Hagrid says he's great with Magical Creatures, and he should make a career with dragons if he wants. He's been to the Welsh preserve twice this summer with Bill." “Wow. What do you want to do when you grow up?” Ginny tapped her finger on her chin and then looked at Harry and smiled. "I'm going to play professional Quidditch, on the Holyhead Harpies, of course. Then I'm going to marry you, and we can have lots of babies like Mrs Anwen and Mr Sirius. So we are going to live to be really old and be very happy together." Harry smiled at that. "I like your plans, future Lady Potter. I might play Quidditch too, but I really want to be a good Lord Potter. I have classes to take with Neville when we get older, and Dad promises to teach us everything so we can make sure everyone has rights. So I might want to teach. I like the way Uncle Remus makes sure we understand everything, and I want to help kids learn." “You can do that with our babies.” “I will, but I think I’d like to teach more kids than that.” “But you’re okay that we’re going to get married someday?” Ginny asked. “How could I not be. I love you, Ginny Weasley someday Potter.” “I love you too, Harry Potter.” Ginny leaned over and kissed his cheek. That’s how Sirius found them when he lifted the lowest boughs of the tree. "Come on, you two, you know you're not supposed to hide under here. It makes your mum worry, Harry." Sirius escorted them out and back toward the broom shed. "Why don't you fly some more, or you can come play on your fort." The climbing structure he'd started when Harry was two now had multiple rooms, an astronomy tower, three slides, two rope climbing areas, stairs, and an interior ladder, as well as running water and a storage area that was charmed to keep drinks cool. Unfortunately, the sandbox was currently covered as Caelum and Grace made too much of a mess when they played in it. Harry rolled his eyes at his dad, a trait he picked up from his mum, and took Ginny by the hand and went to get their brooms. "You could always read," Sirius suggested, noticing Neville was sitting near the gardens with a book, a pencil, and a Muggle paper book of some sort, making notes. He had been harvesting seeds all summer for the greenhouses at his house. As Sirius loped back to where his wife was sitting, he thought again about living in his best mates' house and wondered if he should move his family somewhere else, a Black family property. He knew if he said something to James or Monty's portraits, they'd tell him that it is his house too, but Sirius knew it wasn't. They'd come here for safety, but the danger was gone. He'd bring it up with his wife one night, and they could discuss it while she fed, and he diapered and bedded the babies. Sitting down on the grass next to her, he felt her contentment. “Lady Black, what’s on your mind?” he said in a flirtatious way. Anwen turned her head and answered: “How horrible my boobs are going to look without magic,” she deadpanned. Sirius threw his head back and laughed. He then realized that Remus had heard her as well and was blushing. Sirius laughed even louder the second time. He awoke all three babies, which garnered him dirty looks from the two mothers. “Sorry.” “Go get a bottle from the kitchen,” Anwen said. “You’re feeding your son.” “Glady.” He felt his wife’s love as he entered the house. He was content as well. Life was good. Harry was safe. His children were growing, and his wife was amazing. He thought about what would have happened if he'd given Hagrid baby Harry and had chosen to go after Peter. Sirius shuddered; he didn't think it would have gone well. Bottle and burp rag in hand, he went back out the kitchen door to pick up little Rigel and began to feed him. Life was perfect. |
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