Chapter 25 - Family

"Harry, could you pass the jam please?"

Harry reached into the fridge and handed Remus the jar. Remus quickly arranged breakfast for the two of them; having already decided that waiting for Sirius would be pointless. His date with Alex had been last night, and knowing Sirius he probably needed time to recover. Remus set the two plates of toast on the table and watched as Harry determinedly scrambled onto his chair. Remus and Sirius offered to help nearly every time they sat down for food, but Harry seemed determined to do it on his own.

When he finally climbed onto his seat, Harry asked a question. He was getting very good at asking questions when he was curious. "Where did Sirius go last night?"

Now, Remus had rehearsed the answer to this question, damn sure that it would come up eventually. He wasn't disappointed. "He went out to see an old friend"

Harry looked slightly confused. "Why didn't you go too? I thought you'd been friends for ages"

Remus didn't know how to answer that. How do you explain the concept of a date to a four year old? Where the hell was Sirius when you needed him? "Well, I wanted to stay here with you, and Sirius and Alex wanted to go out, just the two of them"

"Oh OK" Harry nodded, picking his slice of toast up. "When's Ron coming over?"

Remus smiled. Harry had very timidly asked them on Boxing Day if he could see Ron at some point. Sirius had been so pleased that Harry had been brave enough to ask them to see Ron that he'd nearly smothered the poor boy when he hugged him. Remus had been slightly more restrained, but he hadn't been able to wipe the smile off his face all day.

"In a bit Harry. We need to get ready first," Remus answered. Harry nodded and took a large bite of his toast, apparently hoping that Ron would come sooner if he were ready quicker. Remus could remember following the same logic once, a long time ago. The thought made him feel old, older than his 24 years.

"Done" Harry announced cheerfully. Remus glanced up and nearly choked on the sip of coffee that he'd just taken. In his haste to eat his breakfast, Harry obviously had paid no attention to where the jam had gone, so he was covered in it. It was all around his mouth, all over his fingers and there was a large blob on his pyjama top. Remus was in two minds; half of him wanted to run and grab the camera, but the other half wanted to get Harry cleaned up as soon as possible. He knew that Sirius would be most disappointed to have missed this, so Remus snapped a quick picture for him and then picked Harry up, careful to avoid the jammy fingers.

"Mr Potter, I think we are in need of a bath"

Harry giggled and looked down at his top. Remus carried him into the bathroom and began to run the tap, well aware of Harry fidgeting behind him. Remus helped him out of his pyjamas and then lifted him into the bubble filled bath. Remus waited patiently for the gasp of joy when Harry realised he wasn't alone in the bath. Where Muggles had boring rubber ducks, Sirius had bought Harry a moving dolphin to keep him company. It seemed to work because Harry was soon laughing at the sight of the dolphin jumping out of the water.

"Why is there a top covered in jam over here?" Sirius' confused voice asked. Remus winked at Harry and answered.

"We had incident with the jam, it escaped off the toast" Remus replied, dead serious. Harry giggled again and Sirius smiled as he walked into the bathroom. He looked tired, but perfectly happy as he saw Harry grinning at him.

"Ah, jam is tricksy stuff. It obviously didn't want to be eaten"

"Apparently not. Sirius, if you can do Harry's hair, I can go find him some clothes"

Sirius nodded and Remus traipsed out of the bathroom, wondering for all the world why he'd volunteered to do domestic work. He hated sorting clothes, hated it with a passion. He had a sneaking suspicion that that was Sirius' fault. He'd put a flobberworm in Remus' robe pocket as it came back from the laundry at school, and he'd jumped about a foot in the air when he'd found the horrible, slimy thing in his pocket. He hadn't spoken to Sirius for days. Smiling at the tide of memories that threatened to drown him, he began the hunt for clothes.

OoOoOo

"RON!" Harry shouted in delight and raced towards the door. Remus smirked and followed after him, waiting for Harry to ask for help. He was trying to open the front door, but he wasn't quite tall enough to get the right leverage to move the door handle.

"Would you like a hand Harry?"

Harry tried once more and then turned to Remus, a sheepish smile on his face. "Please". Remus smiled and reached over Harry's head to open the door. Arthur Weasley was stood, holding Ron's hand firmly. Harry kept fidgeting next to Remus, apparently wanting to drag Ron upstairs but obviously not brave enough.

"Morning Arthur. Morning Ron" Sirius' voice called from the stairs.

"Morning Sirius, Remus, Harry" replied Arthur. He gave Ron a gentle poke on the shoulder.

"Good morning Mr Black, Mr Lupin. Hello Harry"

Sirius opened his mouth, most likely to tell Ron to call him Sirius, but was interrupted by Arthur. "Are you sure you'll be alright with him? Only I think I might be needed at home, it would seem that Fred and George have hidden Percy's glasses and all hell has broken loose"

"We'll be fine Arthur. After all, what could possibly go wrong?"

Remus face palmed himself. What a stupid thing to say, especially when there are two excited four year olds in front of you. Remus shot an annoyed glare at Sirius and Arthur chuckled. He bent down to say something to Ron, but the red headed four year old obviously thought it unimportant, as he rolled his eyes and said, "I'll be fine Dad, geez"

"Well, you've been told"

"So it would seem. Thank you for taking him, and if anything goes wrong we're at home. Otherwise, I'll see you at about seven" Arthur replied with a smile, before waving and walking away.

"Right, what would you boys like to do first?

OoOoOo

"So, how was your date?" Remus asked. Harry and Ron were playing upstairs and the two men had sunk into the armchairs in the lounge, exhausted by the boys' seemingly endless energy.

"It was good, Alex says hi by the way," Sirius answered calmly.

Remus smiled. "Do you think you'll do it again?" That was the important question, the one that bothered Remus the most. He'd always liked Alex, but he just needed Sirius' word that he wouldn't leave Remus behind. He knew he didn't have to worry about Harry, but he was worried for himself. He knew that was selfish, but he didn't care. He didn't think he could survive being alone again.

Sirius paused. "I think I will. I mean, I do like her. I guess we'll just see where it goes" Sirius grinned, his roguish grin that previously would have had girls swooning where they stood. While Sirius still looked gaunt and haunted, he didn't look nearly as bad as he had that first time Remus went to see him in Azkaban. He didn't look nearly so scary as he had anymore, though Remus doubted if the haunted look would ever truly leave his grey eyes.

"So the old Sirius begins to resurface" Remus said lightly.

"It's taken him long enough. Wait, do you mean the good bits or the bad bits?"

"I thought you always maintained that there was nothing bad about you" Remus answered back, his eyes twinkling.

"Quite right. Though in hindsight I can see that I was a bit of a prat during the war"

"A bit? I think you were more than a bit of a prat Padfoot"

"I think this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black" Sirius retorted with a chuckle.

"Are you saying I was a prat?" Remus asked with mock indignation.

Sirius nodded solemnly. "I am afraid so Mr Moony"

Remus smiled. They'd both tried so hard to get to this point, and now they were finally here. It felt good to have their old camaraderie back. Finally, they both felt comfortable enough with each other to act like they had before, to return to their lighthearted teasing. Remus had to admit, this had been one of the things that he'd missed most when Sirius was in Azkaban. They'd both lost so much, but now they were starting to get that back. But most importantly, Remus had a family again.

AN: So this is it. The last chapter. I would like to thank every single person who has reviewed this, put this story on alert or favourited it. It means a lot, so thanks

The first chapter of the sequel is up, and I would be honoured if you lovely readers could go and check it out, and let me know what you think?

Thank you all for reading this and giving me the inspiration to keep writing :D Thanks guys