As the Hogwarts Express drew slowly into King's Cross Station, the cousins and the twins gathered their belongings and bade farewell to Lee Jordan and Dean Thomas.
'You're going to love Dad,' Harry gushed to the twins as they exited the train. 'He really is brilliant. He...' He paused in confusion when they stepped out onto the platform. 'He isn't here.'
Sirius Black was, in fact, conspicuously absent. In his stead stood Cassiopeia in her severest robes, looking sternly in their direction.
'Don't dawdle, boys,' she snapped. 'We don't want to wait around this Muggle sty a moment longer than we have to.' She looked at the boys' trunks and owls. 'Are these all your things?'
'Yes, Aunt Cassie,' Harry replied.
His great-aunt waved her wand and their trunks vanished.
'They will be waiting for you all at home,' she explained, taking a couple of steps closer to the boys. Fred and George Weasley instinctively took a step back. Cassiopeia glared at them. 'Aren't you going to introduce your friends, Aries?'
'Sorry, Aunt Cassie,' Harry replied hastily. 'These are Fred and George Weasley. They're Cedrella's grandsons.' He turned to the twins. 'This is my great-aunt, Cassiopeia Black.'
'It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Black,' Fred said nervously.
'A real honour,' George added.
'I know,' Cassiopeia replied in a bored tone. 'I wish I could say the same.' She sighed. 'In any event, my nephews are fond of you, and you have been invited to join the family for Christmas. As much as I might wish it otherwise, the decision in no way rests with me. I wish, however, to impress upon you the utmost importance of your maintaining proper decorum in our house. I don't doubt that, raised as you have been, you have become accustomed to a somewhat looser standard of behaviour. That will not do with us. You will behave yourselves as proper gentlemen at all times, or you will find the consequences to be most severe. Do I make myself perfectly clear?'
Fred and George nodded in unison.
'Do you have voices?' Cassiopeia demanded.
'Yes, Miss Black,' George stammered.
'Then I suggest you use them. Once again, do I make myself clear?'
'Yes, Miss Black,' both boys replied simultaneously.
Cassiopeia gave them a faint smile. 'Excellent. As long as you behave yourselves appropriately, I expect we shall get on quite nicely.'
She led them off the platform and out of the station, and the boys followed her in silence. Fred and George gave Harry and Draco rather resentful looks, but the younger boys could only shrug apologetically.
'Where's Dad?' Harry asked Cassiopeia as they walked back to Windermere Court.
'Your father is very sorry that he is unable to collect,' she said. 'He injured his leg rather seriously over the weekend, and he is still unable to move about.'
'Is he all right?' Draco asked in concern.
Cassiopeia frowned. 'I have no doubt he will survive. Tell me, boys, how have you fared in school?'
'The classes are really boring,' Harry answered.
'They're nowhere near the level of yours, Aunt Cassie,' Draco added.
Cassiopeia sniffed. 'Undoubtedly. It is a very rare thing for children to be instructed by a witch of my proficiency. You should both count yourselves lucky to have been afforded such a privilege.' Her tone was stern, but the boys thought she looked rather pleased.
When they finally arrived at the house a quarter of an hour later, Sirius met them at the door, seated in Pollux's ornate old walking chair.
'Aries! Draco!' he exclaimed, and gave both boys a hug without standing. He smiled at Cassiopeia. 'Thank you for picking them up, Aunt Cassie.'
The old witch sniffed. 'It was dreadfully inconvenient, of course, but the boys managed to refrain from causing too much trouble.'
Harry grinned at her. 'You know you love us, Aunt Cassie.'
She pursed her lips, but gave him a rather affectionate look. 'Well, at least I am generally satisfied with your conduct, which is more than I can say for some people.' She turned her glare on Sirius. 'What were you doing to get yourself so damaged? Sliding down banisters again, no doubt.'
Sirius shrugged. 'It was the full moon, Aunt Cassie,' he said nonchalantly. 'I was wrestling with a werewolf.' Aunt Cassie shook her head and walked upstairs, muttering beneath her breath about insolent, overgrown adolescents, but Sirius gave Harry a playful wink, and the boy realised that his dad had been doing exactly what he had said.
'And these upstanding young gentlemen must be Fred and George Weasley, about whom I've heard so much,' Sirius said, offering the twins his hand. They accepted it somewhat nervously, still clearly shaken by their encounter with Cassiopeia. 'I'm Sirius Black, Aries' dad,' he went on. 'I remember seeing you at the Quidditch match. You're both excellent Beaters.'
'Thank you, Mr Black,' Fred said.
Sirius grimaced. 'Lose the "mister" bit,' he said. 'It makes me feel old. I'm only just barely on the far side of thirty, which is still quite young, really. Call me Sirius.'
'Certainly, Sirius,' George said politely, holding his hands folded politely in front of him, as though he were reciting a bit of poetry.
Sirius rolled his eyes. 'Are you really going to be minding your P's and Q's all through Christmas?' He turned to Harry. 'Let me guess. Aunt Cassie gave her introductory speech?'
Harry nodded.
'I thought so,' Sirius replied with a sigh. 'Well, whatever the old crone said to you, I want you to do the exact opposite. This is your holiday, and I want you to enjoy every bit of it.' He raised his voice pointedly. 'And if Aunt Cassie complains, she'll find out just how dangerous a wizard Sirius Black can be!'
.....
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