The Dog and the Swan.

Chapter Nineteen

Sirius lifted Hazel's hand above him as they lay in bed that night, she'd fallen sleep as soon as he'd finished kissing her but it evaded him. Her hand was still as small as he'd remembered, still delicate yet worn. Bringing it closer to his lips he kissed her palm before resting it back on his chest.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, turning back to her he saw one blue eye looking tiredly up at him.

"Fine." He lied, "You got back to sleep."

"No." she mumbled, slowly wriggling her way up the bed until they were nose to nose. "What's on your mind?"

"I feel so guilty about Harry." He admitted, "I was so jealous when you came back from Diagon Alley and he was just asking you question after question about his parents."

"He's a teenager, they ask questions." She shrugged, kissing his nose.

"He doesn't ask me those questions." He frowned.

Hazel sunk her fingers into his hair and forced him to look at her. "Harry is just scared of upsetting you. You and James were peas in a pod; two of a kind... me and Lily were just friends, like normal people. Though I miss them both terribly, it's not as deep as yours."

"He was my brother." Sirius nodded, feeling a little of the weight lift from his shoulders. "If I wanted to, would he listen?"

"He couldn't soak it in quick enough." Hazel laughed, slipping down and resting her head on his chest once more. "I haven't told him he was named after my grandpa."

"I'd forgotten." Sirius sighed, tightening his grip around her. "He'll always be a Henry, not a Harry."

"I just wish..." she started and Sirius felt the familiar pain radiate through him. He'd forgotten how painful this was.

"I know Haze." He whispered, kissing her forehead. "Me too."

Once Lily had found out she was pregnant with Harry they'd stopped being careful, thinking how nice it'd be to have a friend for Harry. But nothing happened, they carried on as normal and every month like clockwork her period had begun. Harry was born and there was no baby, Harry turned one and there was no baby.

"It's good though." She whispered, trying to laugh, "What parent's would we have made, you in prison me moping about Australia."

But he'd never have gone after Peter if there had been a baby, there wouldn't have been that argument that had left them on edge if there had been a baby. They'd never have broken up because they couldn't catch out, if there had been a baby.

"I'm glad you're here." Sirius said, breaking their thoughts away from the negative. "I've got you to myself again."

"Me too." She smiled, wiping her cheeks on the blankets. "I like having you to myself."

"Just the two of us." He mumbled, tightening his grip around her once more.

"And your hippogriff." She smirked.

"And all the people in my house." He snorted and it fell silent and they listened to all the noise. "What happened to our house?"

"Nothing, I just locked it up thinking a month in Australia sounded nice." she admitted. "I'd just seen Ebony with the Tonks'... she didn't need me anymore."

"Do you think it's habitable?"

"Why don't we check tomorrow." She grinned, rolling on top of him. "I'll borrow one of Moony's coats and put a lead on you, look like we're just going for a good long walk."

---

Sirius bounded down the stairs and landed on all four feet, his tail wagging at the thought of actually leaving the house. Hazel stood with Moony by the door, arguing in whispers. Turning back into himself, he stood and covered himself.

"What?" he asked with a sigh, "Surely a woman walking a dog isn't going to draw too much attention?"

"It's not that." Moony sighed; "The kids want to go too and Hazel said yes."

"What's wrong with that?" Sirius asked, though he'd wanted to rechristen their old bed he never minded spending time with Harry.

"Well you're a wanted criminal and the only thing Hazel can do with any competency is housework!" he exclaimed, earning a few surprised looks from faces peering around the kitchen door. "Hazel, I love you but you're not capable of looking after Harry."

"I'm sorry I wanted to get to know him a little bit more Remus." She said stiffly, pulling the loaned coat off of her shoulders and snatching up her handbag. "You after all were his teacher for a year and have been seeing him sporadically since and know better than I do."

"Hazel come on." He sighed, trying to snatch her hand as she pushed past and stormed from the house.

"Well, you do have a way with women." Tonks stated, disappearing from the doorway back into the kitchen.

"We were literally going to go home." Sirius sighed, snatching the coat from him and putting it on to hide his nudity. "And now I've got no chance unless you're willing to walk me and face her wrath?"

"Do you think she'd have gone alone?" Remus asked feeling guilt rise, he never wanted to hurt her feelings but it was the simple fact that Harry was priceless. He was the key to ending all the horrors of the world.

"I barely know her anymore." Sirius admitted, hating the words as they fell from her lips. "The Hazel we knew isn't the same Hazel we have now."

The front door swung open again and Hazel stood fuming, she glared at Remus before turning to Sirius. "Are you coming or not? As Harry's godfather, you have the final say over whether he can come or not. Not Remus."

"Come on Haze." Moony groaned.

"I think Molly should have the final decision." Sirius said finally. "She's taken Harry and Hermione as her own."

"Why don't you two go ahead and Remus can create a portkey." Molly smiled, looking between the three of them. "Then I'll come over with the children and we can help dust."

"Good idea Molly." Sirius smiled, wanting to kiss the woman. "See Haze, we can have some time to ourselves and then the kids can come and we can bond."

"Remus; you're not allowed." She stated, turning her nose up to him as Sirius turned into a dog and allowed himself to be attached to a lead.

"Really childish Hazel." He muttered darkly, she just turned away from him entirely.

They walked away from the house and through the streets until they reached a park, disappearing into the trees they found a secluded spot as Hazel rustled a plastic bag. Sirius transformed into himself and pulled her into his arms. She looked up at him with a frown, her eyes looked tired and a little haunted.

"Home time." He whispered, kissing her forehead and disapparating into their garden. "You really did do a lot didn't you?"

Hazel let out a laugh as they both looked down, the plants she had so lovingly tended to were now hidden by massive weeds. Hazel's arm wrapped around his waist as she turned to look at their house. The windows were full of spider's webs and she shuddered at the thought.

"It's a good thing you're so good at housekeeping spells." He laughed, resting his chin on her head.

"Let's go and get you dressed." Hazel smirked, reaching back and touching his bare flesh. "It's a good thing you've not gotten fat in the lat decade."

"I was in prison."

"Good for something then." she teased, waving her wand and cleaning the windows.