Sirius
Sirius woke up drowning in his own drool. He would’ve been mortified falling asleep on anyone else’s shoulder, but it was Remus. He wasn’t embarrassed. In fact, he was a bit proud. Sirius blotted the drool spot as best he could and stood up.
He watched Remus for a moment (his crossed arms and fluttering eyelids and how the curl on his forehead moved when he breathed), then pushed Remus backwards so he lay lengthwise on the sofa.
It would feel better on Remus’ joints when he woke up.
Sirius stretched, blinking rapidly. His eyes were staying open. If he tried, he could form a coherent thought. Was this how it felt to be well rested? Was this how James felt all the time?
Sirius climbed the stairs to check on Neville (who was still sleeping after his eleven thousand tantrums the day before), and putted around the small house for a half hour before he dropped the jar of sunbutter and startled Remus awake.
Sirius slid into a kitchen chair and snapped open the Daily Prophet. He kept the paper low, so he could track Remus’ bleary, discombobulated journey to the kitchen.
Remus emerged from the hallway, grabbing blindly for the kitchen doorway. After a long sigh and a quick head nod, he counted, “One, two, three.” With a sudden burst of energy that Sirius remembered from all those mornings before, Remus strode across the kitchen and threw open the cabinets. He picked through the Longbottoms’ collection of tea, asking over his shoulder, “What kind do you want? Caffeinated or extra caffeinated?”
“Some of that herbal shit,” Sirius answered from behind the newspaper. “Don’t think I need much caffeine today, that was the best sleep I’ve had in months.”
Immediately, he wished he could grab the words back. He slouched behind the newspaper, and Remus froze with his hands still on the cabinet knobs.
“Because of the house,” Sirius continued, face red. “I really like this house. The hallways and the bathtub and stuff…”
“Sure.” Remus turned on the tap and let the running water end Sirius’ sentence for him.
“Anyway!” Sirius’ voice came out too loud and he wondered if being well rested also meant being too truthful. If so, he wanted to go back to chronic insomnia. “Horoscopes, horoscopes. Pisces, let’s see… Oh! This week, Pisces is going to be seduced by a man in a leather jacket. Interesting.”
“Very.”
Sirius ripped the paper away from his face, and sure enough, Remus’ eyebrow was raised. “Tough luck, I’m only joking,” Sirius said. “It says something bad is coming, per usual.”
“Since when do you read horoscopes? That feels more along the lines of Regulus Black and Sybill Trelawney and Pandora Whatever-Her-Last-Name-Is-Now,” Remus said, busying himself with the kettle.
Sirius’ eyes dragged down the page, where sure enough, the small text read, “PREDICTIONS BY SYBILL D. TRELAWNEY— FUTURE, ANCESTRY, AND PALM READINGS AVAILABLE AT THE HOG’S HEAD PUB, ROOM 13.”
Sirius folded up the newspaper, sliding it under the salt and pepper shakers at the center of the table. “I like to read the Pisces horoscope to see if it matches with Scorpio. It always does.”
Sirius saw Remus smile down at the stove, through his bleary eyes and exhaustion from the night before, and Sirius wanted to kiss him.
***
“Welcome to Auror training,” Sirius shouted, pacing back and forth across Effie and Monty’s lawn. “Children, children, can we at least pretend to pay attention?”
It had rained the night before, creating spots of mud on the grass that had already been violated by everyone in the house except Remus and Missy. It squelched under Sirius’ feet and splattered the hem of his jeans.
The kids squinted against the morning sun, impatient. Surprisingly, Fred and George were the most well behaved, standing at attention with their hands clasped behind their backs. Percy slouched, bored. Missy’s arms were crossed and Sirius wouldn’t be surprised if she was mentally stabbing him in the forehead.
Remus watched from the front doorway so he could hear if the babies woke up from their naps. He looked strangely amused.
“What’s the use of Auror training? We can’t use magic,” Percy said.
“We’re doing something better,” Sirius said, knowing he sounded overly excited. “We’re learning hand to hand combat. Trust me, this is the useful stuff that they won’t teach you in school.”
Missy stared at him. “I don’t want to do this. I’m going to go read with Moony.”
Sirius shook his head. “Moony’s not reading. He’s standing at the door like some sort of swamp troll. Look.”
Five heads turned to look at Remus, who waved from the shadows.
“I’m not doing it. I’m going inside,” Missy turned on her heel and stalked towards the house.
“Wait, Missy!” Sirius quickly ordered the three Weasleys to stay on the lawn and took off after Missy, finally catching her as she stomped up the front steps.
Remus stepped outside, quietly shutting the door behind him. “What is it?”
Missy reached out a hand, like she used to do in the early days of summer, and grabbed the hem of Remus’ shirt.
Sirius looked at Missy. His first instinct was to shout, What’s wrong with you? But he thought about what Remus— the natural born, thoughtful, fucking talented teacher— might do. He took a deep breath and dropped onto one knee, so he looked Missy directly in the eye. “What’s bothering you?”
Missy’s nostrils flared with barely concealed anger. Her dark eyes flicked from the row of Weasley boys to Sirius. “I don’t want to learn Auror training, because I’ll never get to use it. Like Percy said, it’s useless.”
Sirius laughed, more in relief than anything else. “You might use it! You of all people should know that knowledge is never a waste of time.”
Missy’s eyes filled with tears, and her hands curled into fists. “You don’t get it!” she burst out, voice wobbling. “You can’t get it! Percy can use Auror training, and Stick and Poke, and Harry and Ron, too! But I’ll never get to use anything I learn today, so I don’t want to learn it!”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Sirius glanced up at Remus, who mirrored his confusion.
“I’m a girl,” Missy said plainly. “Girls aren’t Aurors.”
Sirius scoffed. “You’re kidding.”
Missy lifted her chin defiantly. “I’m not.”
“Sirius—” Remus started.
“Girls can be Aurors, Missy,” said Sirius. “Don’t you know about the Special Forces Unit? Merlin, don’t you know what your mother does for work?”
“My mother is a secretary,” Missy said, daring Sirius to argue. There was a glint of understanding in her eye, though, and Sirius had a sneaking suspicion that she was trying to get something out of him.
He took the bait. “Your mother is not—”
“Sirius, be quiet,” Remus said sharply.
“Oh, be quiet yourself, Remus,” Sirius shot back, eyes flashing up at him.
Remus stepped closer to Missy, placing a protective hand on her shoulder. He shook his head at Sirius over Missy’s head so she couldn’t see. His gaze was even and steady, and again Sirius reminded himself to slow down.
Sirius turned back to Missy. “I know billions of women in the Order. They’re some of the best fighters I know. Some aren’t Aurors, because they’re better.”
“Name five,” Missy said in a steely voice.
Sirius held up his hand, putting a finger down for everyone he named. “Marlene McKinnon. Lily Evans. Minerva McGonagall. Hestia Jones. Andromeda Black. I could keep going, I know a lot more—”
“Andromeda Black?” Missy interrupted. “Is she your sister?”
“Cousin,” Sirius said, grateful that the tears in Missy’s eyes had disappeared. “She’s Andromeda Tonks now, actually. You know, Dumbledore took her under his wing as a special case. When she was in school, people said she might become a more powerful duelist than Dumbledore himself.”
“What happened to her?” Missy asked. Her grip on Remus’ shirt loosened.
Sirius shrugged. “She chose to focus on her family, to keep them all safe. I think that’s why I admire her so much, because she knew when to step back. Her and Mary are one and the same, aren’t they, Moony?”
Remus nodded.
“So… she doesn’t fight now?” Missy asked slowly.
“She doesn’t fight for Dumbledore now. Andromeda chooses when and where she fights her battles. She doesn’t let anyone else tell her what to do or how to do it. Sounds a lot like you, doesn’t she?”
“But there are others?” Missy dropped Remus’ shirt completely and took a curious step towards Sirius.
Sirius nodded. “Remember Marlene? How she visited when Moony here was sick?”
“Well, I knew her before. She’s famous.”
“Of course, she’s a famous Quidditch player. But during the off season, she hunts Death Eaters with Dorcas Meadowes. They are a terrifying pair,” Sirius said, dropping his voice as if he was telling a secret. “I’ll piss myself if I talk about them too much.”
“They caught me in the woods, once,” Remus piped up. “I almost got caught in one of their traps. If James hadn’t been there, they would’ve sliced my leg clean off.”
Missy’s eyes widened, and she turned back to Sirius. “Are we learning how to do that today?”
Sirius tried to keep his facial expression under control. “No. We’re just learning the basics. If you like it, I can teach you more. It’s up to you, though, Missy.”
“I can learn,” she answered slowly, looking at Remus for reassurance.
Remus nodded and motioned her forward.
Sirius got to his feet and took Missy’s hand, pulling her gently back towards the group. “Perfect. We’d be lost without you, Missy. Thank Merlin you’re here.”
The rest of the Auror training group had predictably fallen apart in their absence. Fred and George wrestled with each other on the ground, occasionally knocking into Percy, who gave a swift kick every time they touched him.
“Hey!” Sirius clapped his hands.
Fred and George immediately stood up.
“He started it,” said Fred.
“First lesson!” Sirius shouted, watching as Missy stepped next to Percy with a determined look. “When you’re attacking someone, like you two were just doing, go for the limbs. Arms! Legs! Never the torso. Let’s try it. Stick! Hit me!”
George let out a battle cry and charged at Sirius’ knees, sending him crumpling to the ground on impact. Mud splattered up around Sirius’ head and seeped through his leather jacket.
George’s freckly face loomed above Sirius. “Like that?”
“Just like that. Go for the knees,” Sirius wheezed, the breath knocked from his chest. “Perfect.”