Redemption For A Monster (Marauder fanfic) Book Three

25- Settling In

Waking up in bed, beside Sirius the next morning, was the happiest Sara had felt in a long time.
She had explored all the rooms with him the previous day, before choosing a bedroom of her own. To everyone else, she would be sleeping in it alone, but in reality, she would have Sirius with her, as neither of them wanted to spend even one night apart.
Although Sara had needed to disinfect the bed with magic first, she was happy with her choice of bedroom. And watching Sirius sleep peacefully beside her, was like a dream come true.
He had done all he could the day before, to take down his mothers portrait, to no avail. So when Remus brought Buckbeak in that night, Sirius decided to put him in his mothers old bedroom, as it wouldn't matter if the room got trashed in the process.

During the rest of the week, the two of them inspected all of the rooms, which seemed to have things growing in them.
Even though the house had only been empty for 10 years, at the state it was in, it seemed more like 100 years had passed since it had last been cleaned.
They discovered dozens of magical pests all throughout the house, but decided to wait until the Weasleys arrived, before tackling them. So that they had more hands and wands, that could help them remove the creatures.
But the one room that they had to clean properly, straight away, was the kitchen, as that was where all the meals were prepared, and all the Order meetings took place.
All the Order members that had survived the 1st wizarding war, had rejoined the fight, as well as several new members that hadn't been old enough the first time around, like Tonks, Fleur, Bill, and Charlie.

Although Molly and Arthur Weasley had been sympathetic to the cause in the first war, they had never been a part of the Order.
Molly's brother's Gideon and Fabian Prewett, had been killed, while fighting for the Order during the war, which is why Molly was uneasy about joining herself. But Dumbledore had managed to convince her that joining was in her best interest.
Once Sara and Sirius' first week alone had ended, they were both looking forward to having some company, especially from a family as lively as the Weasleys.
Although the day before the red heads arrived, Sara and Sirius heard that Percy Weasley would not be joining them, as he had decided to estrange himself from his own family.

"I hope it's not a problem, but we've got one extra person" admitted Molly, when her and the Weasley's entered the house, with their luggage.
She pointed to Hermione who was standing in between Ginny and Ron, holding her suitcase tightly.
"It's fine. Like I said, the more the merrier" grinned Sirius.
"It's good to see you again Molly" Sara smiled, as she approached the mother of the large brood that was now standing in the hallway.
"You too Sara. Now where do you want this lot?" Molly asked, pointing at her kids.
"Why don't they go upstairs and choose their own rooms?" Sirius suggested.
"Good idea. The twins will be sharing, and so will Hermione and Ginny. Ron will be on his own, until Harry joins us at the end of the holidays. Bill has decided to work here in London, so he'll need a room too"
"Don't worry, there's more than enough rooms in this place, for everyone".

"Well you heard the man, go and find yourself a room, and unpack your things" instructed Molly.
Fred and George looked at each other, and grinned, before Apparating upstairs. Leaving the rest of their siblings, to heave their own bags up the staircase.
"Sorry about them. Now that they can use magic outside of school, and Apparate whenever they like, they keep doing it, just to prove that they can" apologised Molly.
"That's alright. We were the same when we were their age" smiled Sirius.
"You were the worst if I remember rightly. Whipping your wand out, at every chance you got" teased Sara.
Sirius chuckled, and punched Sara playfully on the arm, as Molly began making her way upstairs.
"Come on, let's get some breakfast going, to feed our hungry guests" sighed Sirius.
"After you" replied Sara.

Having the Weasley's living with them, certainly brought a lot of excitement into Sirius and Sara's lives, as they were very lively.
Though they quickly learned not to mention Percy's name in the house, as when they accidently did, Arthur would break whatever he was holding, and Molly would start to cry.
After two years of living outside, with no one but each for company, it was a bit of a shock for Sara and Sirius, to suddenly have other people in their lives.
But it wasn't just the Weasley's who were now in their lives, as Remus came by most days to visit.
There were daily Order meetings, where they discussed the missions that they were all undertaking. Including guarding the hall of prophecies in the Department of Mysteries, which they had heard Voldemort wanted to break into.

Most of their information on the enemy came from Snape, who had recently joined the Order. And he enjoyed rubbing his usefullness in Sirius' face, so Sara often had to hold Sirius back to stop him from throtteling Snape.
Sara and Sirius had been forbidden from going on any missions, by Dumbledore, who had claimed that it was too dangerous for them, since they were wanted criminals.
They weren't even allowed to leave the house, and after a few weeks stuck inside 12 Grimmauld Place, they were beginning to get very frustraited.
The two of them felt so useless, since they weren't able to help the Order in any way.
Snape's constant teasing and mocking, also wasn't helping. That combined with being unable to see Harry, made Sirius very irritable and short tempered.
Even Sara was struggling to keep her cool, and she had began to wonder if Dumbledore was really keeping them out of the way, for their own safety, or because he had no further use for them.