The Slytherin Princess and the Gryffindor Prince: The Sorcerer's Stone

2. Answers

September 1st, 2006

"Gryffindor." James grinned. "My son is in Gryffindor."

He stared at the letter for a few minutes, feeling a little guilty for opening it without Lily, Padfoot, or Moony. He glanced at the clock--it was only ten, and his fellow parents would probably still be in the sitting room. Padfoot had been acting off all day--maybe some good news would help. James was down the stairs in seconds, and, as he guessed, they were all sitting around the TV, sipping on tea and watching a rerun of Friends.

"I got a letter from Harry," James announced, unable to keep the grin off of his face. "Our boy's in Gryffindor!"

"Give me that!" Lily's heart was racing; in the short time she'd known him, she'd grown very close to her son and missed him dearly. Reading over the familiar scrawl she grinned, glad that he was having so much fun at Hogwarts and unbelievably proud of his getting into Gryffindor. "Oh, I'm so proud of him. I just hope Severus isn't too hard on him...it worries me that he's teaching again."

Shaking off that horrible thought, she looked at her brothers-in-law and gave them a watery smile. "Thank you for raising him to be a little Gryffindor when we couldn't."

Remus grinned as he took the letter and Sirius gave her a small smile; James had been right, good news had helped his mood.

A bit.

*~*~*

September 2nd, 2006

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, then took a swig of Firewhiskey.

Of all the people for the twins to nearly stampede.

She looked so much like Regulus that it was a wonder Molly couldn't pinpoint exactly who she was. Not that Molly knew, but still.

Sirius sighed just as Remus entered his study. "What do I even do now?"

"Talk to Tabitha." Remus instructed, taking a seat on the edge of Sirius' desk and crossing his arms. "If you want anything to do with your niece, you need to talk to her. Jade is her child and I can assure you Jade needs to hear this from her, not you."

The Head of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black considered this for a moment as he rolled his shot glass between his fingers, contemplating taking another shot. He reached for the bottle of Firewhiskey just as his husband grabbed it and put it out of reach.

"No." Remus soothed. "You do not need this right now. If you're this torn up about things, write to your sister-in-law."

Sirius smirked as he leaned back in his chair once more, setting the shot glass on his desk and then letting his hands settle in his lap. "You're good at that, you know."

"Good at what?"

"Soothing." The werewolf only ducked his head and blushed, and both of them jumped as their fellow parent knocked on the door.

"Boys? Lunch is ready." Lily announced, then almost skipped out.

"Is she wearing...is that my...my Guns N' Roses shirt!" Sirius was on his feet in seconds, ready to run after her when Remus grabbed his arm. "Baby, let me go! I've been looking for that for two weeks!"