Harriet Potter 1

Old flame

When she landed back on the ground her cheeks were pink from the icy air and the exhilaration of broom tag with Ron and Ginny.

"It's not fair! You always win because you have a Firebolt and we're on Cleansweeps" Ron grumbled.

"You would think that our parents could have picked some rich godparents to get us Firebolts on our birthdays" Ginny added "Aunt Muriel just sends me hand me downs on my birthday."

Sirius grinned from where he sat on the porch with Lupin watching them play "well I wouldn't want to waste Harriet's impressive riding skills on a sub-standard broomstick."

Was she reading into his words too much?

"Only the best mount for my girl" he added with a wink.

Okay, clearly not. He was definitely firting. Well at least with Sirius she knew that they were both just playing.

She flashed him a grin in reply.

Harriet froze at the sound of a familiar voice behind her "still as good on a broomstick as I remember, I see."

She turned to find his amber eyes trained on hers and her heart seemed to pause in her chest. He was just as gorgeous as the last time she had seen him.

When they had last seen each other they had had an understanding that with his job in Romania it just wouldn't work between them. But her body seemed to forget that when she saw him for the first time in months.

When he pulled her into a warm hug he smelled the same as she remembered. The scents of Frankincense and myrrh with a hint of smoke overcame her. She closed her eyes and for a moment it was just the two of them again. "Charlie" she breathed.

He sighed in her arms "Harriet."

Charlie was an untamed spirit and Harriet would never be the person who tried to separate him from his dragons.

Then Fred was thumping Charlie on the back and Ginny was wheedling Harriet into letting her have a go on the firebolt.

He shot her a glance over Ginny's shoulder that clearly told her that their conversation wasn't over yet.

Then Sirius was calling her over "come here my dear. You must be freezing." He pulled off his jacket and slipped it over her shoulders before leading her inside with a hand on the small of her back.

She buried the icy tip of her nose into the fleece lining of his jacket. Merlin, it smelt amazing.

She was still haunted by what she had seen in the pensieve. Harriet was now questioning everything she had ever thought she knew about her father.

"Hey Sirius, there's something I want to ask you about" she hesitated. "It's kind of important."

Ron pulled up alongside them.

Sirius' usually warm tenor was muted with concern "So what did you want to ask me?"

"Actually I was kind of hoping that we could speak alone" she added with a meaningful glance at Ron.

Ron looked shocked and appalled that there was something that Harriet didn't want him to hear. "Oh c'mon Harri, you tell me everything anyway."

Harriet could have laughed. The things she hadn't been telling him had to be piling up for a while now. This was just another on the pile at this point.

"Oh alright then" Harriet said calmly "it's girl's stuff."

Ron pulled up short "erm did you hear that? I think I just heard Mum calling me from the kitchen. I'll catch you later Harri."

When Ron left, Sirius let loose a bark-like laugh. "Nicely done. Your father would be proud."

Harriet felt a pang in her chest.

Would she really want her father to be proud of her?

He guided her to the staircase "let's go to my room. We are unlikely to be interrupted there."

"Um, sure."