The Hogsmeade property was a three bedroomed cottage on the outskirts that had needed complete renovation; the tiny kitchen, dining room and front parlour were being remodelled into a kitchen with an attached small orangery at the back and an open plan living and dining area. Remus would take the attic room which would have an en-suite shower, leaving the two bedrooms on the first floor for Harry and Sirius. Harry had the small room; Sirius had the double; they'd share a bathroom. It was cosy and charming, and would do as a bolthole for Harry if he wanted to spend Hogsmeade weekends with them. Sirius was happy to live there while Harry was in school. The Three Broomsticks was a brisk ten minute walk from the front gate; Honeydukes and the Shrieking Shack were also within walking distance and offering easy passage into Hogwarts.
"I think in the circumstances Albus would not say no. There is a clear and present danger to Harry which would justify the extra training and the special treatment." Minnie said enthusiastically.
Sirius was certain that Albus would say yes and offer to help. But if it meant he would get time with Harry while he was at school, Sirius wouldn't complain overly much. He might suggest opening up the training to Harry's friends to mitigate the special treatment issue and that would hopefully put Albus off for a while.
He nodded. "I'll speak with Albus later. We're due to have a War Council at six." He decided a change of subject was in order. "The animagus training is obviously going well."
"Harry is a natural." Minnie gushed – gushed! – and smiled proudly at Harry. "I've rarely used this meditative technique in animagus training but it works wonderfully for him. It seems to be easier than training separate body parts to transform and then to resize the whole." She considered Harry as though contemplating an interesting object. "Perhaps there is a study to be done of the experience. What do you think, Mister Potter?"
Harry looked surprised. "Me?"
"Well, you would need to keep a journal as would I." Minnie suggested. "Publication, of course, would wait until you would want to make your animagus form public."
"Is it really different what I'm doing?" asked Harry, worrying his bottom lip thoughtfully.
"Unique." Minnie said dryly. "You have an instinctive talent, Harry. I actually think you'd have a good chance of transforming into one of the other forms available to you if you meditated on it long enough."
Harry perked up again. "Really? Because I love my raven form but if I could change into the others that would be brilliant."
"Well, let's focus on getting you trained up in the raven form first." Remus said before realising he'd stepped into Minnie's territory and hastily correcting his error. "I mean, if that's what you think, Minerva."
Minnie sent Remus a sharp look to say she wasn't fooled but she nodded. "Quite right, Remus." She turned back to Harry. "We'll get you comfortable with your raven form first before trying any others." She grimaced a little. "And now I think I shall retire to my room and rest for a while."
She turned away the offers to escort her and the three men were left in the sun room feeling rather helpless.
"She is going to be OK, isn't she?" Harry asked worriedly.
"She's going to be fine. She's a tough old cat." Sirius reassured him. "We, Remus and I, thought we might invite her to move in here more permanently – consider it her home away from Hogwarts? What do you think?"
"Sure." Harry nodded.
"You don't have any concerns about living with one of your Professors during the holidays?" asked Remus when Sirius floundered.
Harry shrugged. "If it was Snape maybe."
Sirius gave a dramatic shudder. "Perish the thought."
"And besides, I'm already living with Remus and he was a Professor," Harry pointed out with simple logic, "and she was Dad's godmother and my Gran's best friend, and I think they'd want us to be Aunt Minnie's family. Right?"
"Right." Sirius said faintly.
"Can I take my Firebolt out?" asked Harry abruptly.
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I thought we agreed you were grounded."
And there they were; those green eyes of pleading doom.
"Harry." Sirius said warningly.
Harry gave in, folding his arms tightly over his chest.
Sirius sighed and reached over to drag his son into a hug. "I love you, you know that, right?"
"I know." Harry said, his arms creeping around Sirius to return the embrace. "And I know I'm grounded and why. I shouldn't have gone chasing after the guy."
"We all made mistakes yesterday." Sirius allowed, tightening his hold. "At least going after the Weasleys helped saved their lives but you have to stop putting yourself at risk." He gave another sigh. "But I have to make better decisions about your safety too."
He didn't want to fall into Albus's trap of protecting Harry at the cost of his happiness but neither did he want to indulge Harry too much and risk his life.
And speaking of indulging…
"One hour on your Firebolt."
Harry yanked himself backwards in surprise before he hugged Sirius hard enough to drive the breath from Sirius's body. Harry dived out of the door before Sirius could say another word, obviously deciding that he should act before Sirius changed his mind. Hedwig followed no doubt to keep an eye on him in the sky.
Remus waited until Harry was gone before he raised an eyebrow knowingly at Sirius.
"Don't say it!" barked Sirius.
He gathered what was left of his dignity and made for his study. He was not a soft touch just because he let Harry go out on his broom. He was simply allowing Harry some freedom since Harry would be going nowhere else for the remainder of the Summer except to Black Manor for his lessons. Sirius was a perfectly responsible parent.
His chest ached anew at the memory of the night before; at the thought of losing Harry; the panic and the terror he'd felt when he'd realised Harry had gone after the rogue.
He took a deep breath.
Harry was safe.
That was all that mattered.
Sirius's jaw clenched with determination. They wouldn't make the same mistakes again.
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/gokublack444🎉