The next morning came bright and early, everyone felt a sense of calm. Harry woke refreshed for the first time as long as he could remember. Maybe back in first year, those first few months when all he had to worry about was schoolwork. That quickly changed and it seems that he had been fighting for his life ever since.
Pushing those thoughts away for now, he got up and prepared for the day, glad that the room had a bathroom. He made his way to the ground floor, then realized he had no idea where the kitchen was. He listened and heard laughter, so he followed the sound. When he came to the kitchen, he saw three people, sitting at the table with Sirius, that he didn't know.
There was an older woman with long curly dark hair, she wore respectable baby blue, woman's business suit. Next to her was an older man with light brown hair, who was also dressed for the office, only in black. On the other side of the table was a younger woman, in gothic like clothes, with pink hair.
Sirius, who was sitting next to the pink-haired lady, saw him and smiled. "Harry, meet the Tonkses," he said, waving to the group. "This is Andi, Ted, and Tonks. I won't say her first name, I like my balls where they are." He chuckled as he ducked her swat.
Harry gave him a queer look, but he entered the room without commenting on those words of wisdom. He remembered that Sirius had mentioned something about that the night before.
"A pleasure to meet you all," he said, sitting next to his godfather.
"They're going to stay here over the summer," Sirius explained.
"Oh," Harry inquired, looking at the family again.
"Yeah, Ted feels it's easier than sending post back and forth," the dogman added, serving up some coffee. "He wants to talk to you to get your story recorded for his files."
"Oh, okay, sure. That sounds reasonable," the boy answered as his breakfast appeared, via Dobby.
"Andi's going to help me teach you everything you need to know about your legacy. We'll get you up to snuff before the end of summer," his godfather said, nodding to his cousin, who nodded back.
"Sounds good," Harry said then started on his breakfast.
"She's also going to teach you to dance," Sirius added, right as Harry bit into his eggs.
Harry spewed his eggs across the table. "What?!" he choked out, coughing a bit.
Dobby and Kreacher popped in and snapped their fingers to clear the mess. Dobby took care of Harry, and Kreacher did the rest.
Meanwhile, everyone at the table laughed at the sputtering boy, while Sirius pounded him on the back. It was to this funny scene the rest of the teens walked into.
"What's so funny?" Ron asked as he took a seat next to Harry, Hermione next to him.
"Harry's going to learn to dance," Tonks stated, handing Harry a napkin, which he took thankfully.
"Why is that funny?" Hermione inquired, leaning over and glancing at the still choking boy.
"It's his reaction that's hilarious," Sirius said with a laugh, still thumping Harry's back.
"Why did I need to learn how to dance? Is there going to be another ball? Merlin, I hope not," Harry choked out, waving Sirius off now that he could breathe, sorta. He picked up a glass of water and swallowed it down in a few gulps.
"It's part of learning how to behave like the upper class. You will be attending balls, galas and such. I heard about how the Yule Ball went, I won't have you embarrassing yourself again," Sirius stated, sobering up at the seriousness. "If what I heard was right, you need to send a letter to that young lady and apologize," he said, looking at Harry as if to make sure he didn't deny the fact that he had messed up.
Harry blushed deeply. He knew he had made a fool of himself, not to mention his date. "Alright," he sulked, slipping down his chair. "I'll send an owl after breakfast," he promised, it was the least he could do.
"Ron," Fred said, looking at his blushing brother, "you should do the same."
"Yeah," George agreed, "your date was even worse than Harry's."
"I agree," Ginny added her two knuts worth. "You ignored her the entire time you were there," she added hotly.
"Fine," grumbled the redhead, slouching down in his chair in embarrassment.
"Don't worry, Harry," Andi said, reaching over and patting his hand, "I'll be gentle while teaching you to dance. I can help you with your letter as well. You too, Mr. Weasley. Bring them to me when your done with them and I'll look them over."
"Alright," Harry said again, still slumped down.
"Okay," agreed the still disappearing Ron.
"Harry, did you write your bit for the article?" Ted asked, peering over his cup at the teen.
"Yeah," the boy replied sadly, sitting up a bit. "I mostly wrote about Cedric. I thought he was more important than people seeing me in a good light. I'll get it to you after breakfast," Harry promised, taking a bite of his toast.
"You're a good boy," Andi said with moist eyes. Once more, reaching over and patting his hand.
"He deserves better," was all Harry would say, though he did give her a sad smile.
Ron gripped his shoulder, and Hermione reached around Ron and rubbed Harry's back.
The other Weasleys gave supporting smiles, and Fred lifted his cup in salute.
They all remembered the great person Cedric was. He hadn't lived far from the Burrow, so they grew up neighbors. Playing together as children. To the Weasleys, he was a friend that was sorely missed. They too, thought it was a great injustice that his death was glossed over. They were proud that Harry was going to give their friend words of kindness and remembrance.
"Sirius, I just thought of something," Tonks said, turning towards the man in question. "Why do you have a hippogriff in your mum's old room?"
"How did you know about Buckbeak?" Sirius asked, sipping his tea.
"Oh, I heard him this morning and went to check it out. Your mum was yelling and cussing up a storm. Can't say I miss that," she grumbled, remember all the times she tripped over the troll leg umbrella stand, making the portrait wake up and start yelling and screaming. She shook her head and got back to her point. "Anyway, you should set him free. He's not looking good," she said calmly, not in a demanding way.
"You're probably right. I'll see to it after breakfast," her cousin said, taking a small bite of eggs, and then swallowing. "He's there because he, along with Harry and Hermione, rescued me from being Kissed," he added, putting his fork down. "I didn't let him go before, because Malfoy's put a hit on him. I don't want him to die."
"I doubt very seriously that many can tell one hippogriff from another. Especially, the likes of Malfoy. Why don't you see if you can't get him to go elsewhere, like Ireland or someplace, if you're that worried," Tonks replied, then started her own breakfast.
"Yeah, I'll try that," the Head of the House said, then the table went quiet as they finished their meal.
Harry quickly finished his breakfast and went to get the article he wrote, then he went back upstairs to write to Parvati Patil. He made sure to say that he was sorry, and that he'd try to make it up to her. Not that he thought he could, she had been pretty upset with him. He only hoped he phrased it right, he didn't want her to think that he was interested in dating. The last thing he needed was a girlfriend. Not right now, maybe after the war.
Meanwhile, Sirius went to the master bedroom. His hearing was bombarded with the yells of his mum. The first thing he did was silence her picture, then he noted, as he took a good look around, that Buckbeak had shredded everything. He smirked at the destruction. His mum spent a small fortune on this crap. She must be pissed over it all.
All the fine furniture was now a huge mess. Blood and animal bones were strewed about the place from his meals. The hippogriff had made quite a nest with all the bedding, bed curtains and mattress filling.
It was rank in the room, since he couldn't exactly walk the beast. The elves banished the leavings, but the smell remained. The little guys didn't stick around long, since they were on the menu. It was a tossup for a while who came and who didn't, Kreacher finally settled it with a rotating schedule.
Sirius looked at the poor animal, who was molting where he had feathers and dull where fur was. His wings hung limply on the floor, like two wet blankets. It was a sad sight. The poor thing gave a pitiful cry, raising his head to see who came in.
"Don't worry, Buckbeak, I'll get you out. It was selfish of me to keep you here this long," Sirius said, bowing to the once majestic creature.
Buckbeak bowed his head back since he was still laying on the floor.
Sirius went up to him and petted his long neck. He thought about what he could do, and he talked to the hippogriff on what should happen. Buckbeak seemed to be paying attention, nodding in all the right places and narrowing his eyes at things he didn't like. Like the name Malfoy. Soon the two hashed it out and Sirius called Dinky to take the great beast to the Forbidden Forest. Buckbeak would then fly as far away from the UK as he could and settle elsewhere.
Dinky followed the man's instructions, by bowing to the huge animal. When Buckbeak bowed back Dinky put his hand on the hippogriff's head and they disappeared.
Sirius was sad to see him go, but it was the right thing to do. Once the animal was gone, he looked around the room. It was destroyed, far beyond what the elves could fix. Gouges were in the floor and the walls, where the hippogriff had lashed out. Nothing was left untouched. Except his mum's portrait, which was weird. Maybe Buckbeak liked the company. That thought made him shudder, as if anyone could like that shrew. Not even his father could stand the woman.
He noted his silenced mother screaming wordlessly. He smirked. "Goodbye, Mother," he said cheerfully as he left the room. "Enjoy your stay," he added as he closed the door. The spell would wear off in time, until then he called Winky.
"Master is needing Winky," the female elf asked, curtsying. She was still dressed in a clean white tea towel that had a black Black family crest on the front. As were all the elves, except Kreacher, who preferred a pillowcase, though it too had the emblem. It looked like a toga dress, with a small metal clip on the shoulder. She appeared happy and satisfied with life.
"Yeah, I want you to go into that room," he said, pointing to the room in question, "and clean up anything that is disgusting. Blood, bones, animal droppings. Don't worry, Buckbeak is gone. However, I want you to leave the mess of furniture for now. I'll replace it later. I want my mum to see all her nice things reduced to kindling," he ordered gently, though a vindictive smirk played on his lips.
"Is Master sure? Winky can clean it all up. It is being no problem," the elf fretted at the thought of leaving a mess behind.
"No, leave it for now," he reiterated.
"As Master wishes," she sighed and went to follow the order.
Sirius then went to seek out Harry. He knew that his godson had a letter to write, but he should be done with that by now. So, he wandered around, and just basked in the clean house. He finally stumbled onto the teens, all sitting in the library doing summer homework. The twins were bent over the same book, each making different notes. Hermione, Ron and Harry were discussing History with Ginny for her homework.
"Fred, or George, one of you needs to Floo your dad. It's Saturday, so you need to call home," Sirius stated as he took a seat near Harry.
"Righty oh," Fred said, standing and stretching. "George will stay here and finish this. I'll be back in a jiff," the oldest teen said as he waved to everyone over his shoulder, seeing himself out of the room.
"You are doing your homework, right?" Hermione asked George, but Harry answered.
"Not your place, Hermione," the dark-haired teen said with a small smile, tapping her arm with his finger. He knew is friend was trying not to be bossy, but he felt that she needed encouragement. The two in the room looked at him as if he had done something that just wasn't done.
"Sorry, George. I meant to say… if you'd like help researching something, homework wise, I'd be more than happy to help," the bushy-haired girl stated after a moment's thought.
"No worries, Hermione, we've got this. Thanks for the offer though," George said, going back to his book.
"What did you do?" Ginny whispered furiously to the boys.
"Nothing much," Ron answered, rubbing his nose.
"Just talked is all," Harry added, patting Hermione on the arm.
"They might have been a bit blunt, but I think it's what I needed to hear," she said with a small sad smile.
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, looking at her friend with a confused tilt of her head.
"Well," Hermioine started, thinking for a second, "I know that you and the twins think that I'm a bit… pushy," she said, making the younger girl blush.
"Well…" Ginny said, looking around the room for inspiration, finding none she went with the truth, "maybe a little."
"It's okay," her friend said, patting her arm, "my parents have been telling me for years that I need to tone down. It's only after these two pointed it out that I fingured maybe they were right. If my friends, who like me, think I'm being overbearing, and my parents, well they can't all be wrong."
"So, what? You're going to not nag anymore?" Ginny asked, then blushed again at the look the boys gave her.
"Oh, I'll still nag, and state my opinions," Hermione said, "I'll just try to be nicer about it."
"Well, good luck with that," George said, looking up from his parchment.
"Thanks, I think," Hermione said, not sure if he was serious or not.
"Hermione," Ron said, pulling her attention to him, "I know I've been a right berk sometimes, what with wanting you to do my homework and such. What I'm trying to say is, sorry, and you can tell me to piss off, if you want," he finished, looking in her eyes to show he was serious.
"Me too," Harry said, laying his hand on her arm.
"Okay, I will," she said, with an evil smirk.
Both boys groaned, but soon they were all laughing when Ginny started giggling.
"Harry, got a moment?" Sirius called from his chair, after he watched them interact. He was glad to see that they were getting along and really hoped that they three remained friends for a long time.
"Yeah. I'm done with my homework for today. I'll finish the rest tomorrow," he replied, getting up and joining his godfather.
"What do you need Harry for?" Hermione asked, eager to help.
"Nothing that concerns any of you," Sirius stated, firmly. "Just House stuff," he added for those that knew what he was talking about.
"Leave it, Hermione," Ron said, taking a book and pointing to a sentence on the page. "Help me with this, yeah?" he asked, diverting her attention.
The two set about finishing Ron's homework, while Harry and Sirius talked about House stuff. Fred came back in all smiles, so everyone assumed all was well at the Burrow.
"Everything alright at home?" his twin asked, showing him the notes, he'd made while the other was gone.
'Mum's in a right snit," Fred answered jovially, taking the parchment and looking it over, nodding to himself at what he read.
"I'm not sure that's something to be happy about," Hermione said, delicately, as if not to step on toes.
"Sometimes, I think she's only happy when she has something to harp about," Fred rebutted as he settled near his twin.
"He's right, Hermione," Ron added, shuffling he parchments together and shoving them in his bag. "She finds stuff to snip about when there's nothing going on."
"Yeah," Ginny put in her two knuts worth. "She does seem happier when she's bossing everyone around."
"Why is she in a snit?" Sirius asked, lifting his head from where he and Harry's were huddled down to chat. Last he had heard, Arthur was keeping her calm.
"Dad told her we'd be staying here. She wants us home, but Dad said we're to stay here. She's arguing with him about it, but even Dumbledore agrees that we'd be safer here. Well, he wants to be here too, but there you are," Fred said cheerfully.
"Oh, well, as long as it isn't important. Your dad is the Head of House, after all," the dogman said, and bent back down to finish his talk with his godson.
There was nothing Hermione could say to that, so she sighed and went back to her homework. The twins nodded and they went back to their work. Ginny finished her assignment with Ron and Hermione's help.
Sirius and Harry spent an hour going over do's and don'ts of meeting people. Harry knew a bit, since it didn't differ much from what he'd been taught about meeting royalty, Lords and Ladies and such.
The Dursleys always did hold themselves above their station. They would go on and on that one day they'd be gentry. Not bloody likely, but still he had had to spend hours rehearsing what he would have to do, if ever one came to the house. So, he didn't embarrass them, of course.
Either they got it wrong, or wizards did it a little differently. Stuffier. Still, it was pretty much the same thing.
They then went to dance lessons; which Hermione was roped into. Harry stumbled about and stepped on the poor girl's toes. They were to dance for a few minutes so Andi could assess Harry's performance.
"If this is what your date went through, I can see why she was embarrassed," she grumbled, taking a step back and wiggling feeling back into her toes.
"Sorry," Harry mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.
"Don't worry, Harry, you'll learn soon enough," Andi said, coming up to the two friends.
"What should I do?" he asked, ignoring his laughing redheaded friend and godfather. Good thing the twins weren't there. Ginny was there, but she was smacking her brother, while trying not to laugh.
"You need to learn to listen to the music," the older woman offered, holding her hands in a dance position. "Take my left with your right, and vice-versa," she instructed as she started swaying in time to the beat. Not greatly, just gently side to side. She hoped he would get the rhythm, and it seemed to work, minutely.
He did as she bid, swaying along with her, and then he felt a small tug from her right hand as she stepped back, and so he followed. Soon enough he was dancing well, for being led. However, when it came time for him to lead, he was all left-footed again. Much to the displeasure of his partners.
Hermione glared as her toes were once again crushed, and then took the lead, directing him verbally into the steps that needed to be made. He didn't even chastise her for it, since she was in a teaching position. It was a grueling hour, but soon it was time for dinner.
They all trooped to the kitchen and sat around the table, where they were joined with the rest of the house, waiting for the elves to serve.
Conversation was light, until Ted dropped a bombshell, right as the food was served. "Sirius, I've talked to a business partner of mine, he says he can get you free without a trial," the man stated calmly, but some could see a small smirk play at the side of his mouth.
"What?!" came the collective reply as everyone, except Andi, stopped serving themselves and gawked at the smug man.
"Since you didn't have a trial, and you were held for twelve years without one, he feels he can make a case of gross miscarriage of justice and criminal neglect," the solicitor said, taking a sip of tea.
"Ted, quit teasing and just get on with it," Andi said, smacking her husband's arm.
"Really?" came the desperate question of a desperate man.
"Truly," was the firm reply.
"Do you hear that, Sirius? You might be free. And there's nothing anyone can do about it!" Harry exclaimed, throwing his napkin down and getting up to hug the man in question from the back, while Sirius just stared in stunned silence.
"What about my escape?" Sirius asked suddenly, hoping for good news there.
A happy Harry once again took his seat, staring between the two as to not miss a word. The rest of the table did the same.
"He feels that he can argue that you were never meant to be there in the first place, therefore, there is no escape," Ted said, with a wry smile.
"My Animagus form?"
"Pay the fee, you've already served the time," Ted said, still smiling.
"You're not having me on, right? This is real?" Sirius asked, just to be sure.
"Yes," the man affirmed. "Talk to Harold Waters, Esquire, tomorrow, via the Floo, and he will set up everything. You're going to have to tell him everything, from the night the Potters died," he gave an apologetic look to Harry, "to the night you wound up in prison."
'I can do that. I'll take Veritaserum," came the eager reply.
"That might help," Ted said, putting his napkin down and taking up his cup.
"Whatever it takes."
"Wonderful. I've left his name and Floo address on your desk. Call him in the morning. He's expecting you around nine."
"I'll do that. Thanks, Ted, you can't know how much this means to me," Sirius said, seriously. He stood up, reached over the table, grabbed the man's hand and shook it strongly.
"You may be right, since I've never been in your shoes. Still, it was the least I could do, what with you bringing us back into the family," the man stated as fact, patting their linked hands and then disengaged.
"Yes, it is what family does," Andi added, gripping her husband's hand in thanks.
"I'll remember this for the rest of my life," the relieved man said to his family. He was glad he brought them back. Not just because of this, but because they lined up with his way of thinking. It was good to be around people he loved, and who loved him back. It was the best thing he did, getting rid of Molly and inviting the Tonkses.
The rest of the table congratulated Sirius and dinner went on.