Pinky Promise || Wolfstar

Chapter 13

C: EPILOGUE

Sirius smiled fondly when Harry barged into Remus' quarters, effectively disrupting a very heated snogging session, to Remus' dismay. Harry's face was lit up with a massive smile as he quizzed Sirius even more about his house-what was it like? Did he have a house elf? What do wizards use instead of refrigerators? Why was it called 'Grimmauld Place'-why would you name your house 'grim old place?' ("That's just the name of the street, Harry.")

Sirius answered the questions as honestly as he could, even as anxiety ran rampant in his brain-surely Harry would hate the dusty old townhouse once he saw it. Sirius knew the extent of Harry's abuse, but he couldn't imagine that he'd want to stay in such a dark, awful house-even if he was doing it just to be polite.

"Harry, are you sure that you don't want to take the train with your friends?" Remus asked, and Sirius rubbed his thumb over Remus' knuckles as he heard the tremor in his voice.

"Yes, I'm sure. You guys said that I'd be able to see them over the holidays, yeah? They won't miss me for one train ride-besides, I've never apparated before, so why not?

"Alright, pup. If you're sure," Remus agreed, "though, just a warning-side-along apparition is far less fun than regular apparition."

Harry nodded, and Remus drew his wand to shrink their luggage, adding a Feather-light charm before so he could easily pocket it.

"Well, if everyone's ready," he said, holding the door open for Harry and Sirius and they headed to the apparition point just outside the Hogwarts grounds. Sirius waved to Professor McGonagall on their way out-Sirius was 'visiting' to 'help Remus pack'-though Remus was sure she'd seen right through the excuse.

"Ready, Harry?" Remus waited for him to nod before taking both Harry and Sirius' hands and twisting on the spot. Sirius shut his eyes tightly, as he felt the unpleasant squeezing sensation dragging him from one place to the next, and suddenly he was standing in front of his childhood home. He felt a lump building in the back of his throat-he hadn't returned home since he ran away in fifth year. There were so many horrible memories here, and so few good ones. He swallowed the lump, letting a genuine smile spread across his face. He shouldn't be living in the past-he, Remus, and Harry would make new memories here, and at some point, they'd renovate the entire house, too. Remus was taking at least the next year off teaching too, for he couldn't bear to spend another minute apart from Sirius (or, so he'd said.)

Despite all of this, his muscles still tensed as they walked through the door. It was as if the corridor had been preserved in time-sure, some of the housekeeping spells had worn off after twelve years, leaving a thick layer of dust, but everything else was the same-the cursed torch brackets, the troll-leg umbrella stand, the grandfather clock that shot bolts at anyone who passed by.

The only new addition was an ugly-as-life portrait of his mother, who'd woken up as soon as he'd shut the front door behind him. She rubbed her eyes, blinking blearily, until her vision focused on her estranged son. There was a split-second of silence-and then she opened her mouth, letting out the most hideous screech she could muster. It was amazing, really, in a horrifying way. Whoever they'd commissioned for the portrait had done an amazing job-Portrait-Walburga was a perfect replica of the real-world equivalent.

"YOU! HOW DARE YOU BRING SUCH FILTH INTO THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS? YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A FILTHY STAIN OF DISHONOR-" Sirius stared at the portrait in shock, rooted to the spot. Suddenly, he was a teenager again, enduring her screaming fits and hexes while counting down the days until he could return to Hogwarts. He could almost feel the hexes burning on his skin, the crucio rippling through his muscles-

"-YOU VILE BLOOD-TRAITOR, BRINGING FREAKS AND MUTANTS INTO MY HOME, BEGONE! I OUGHT TO-"

She was abruptly cut off when Remus shot a silencing spell at her. Portrait-Walburga didn't seem to notice; she continued to open and close her mouth, screaming furiously, but once again, the house was silent.

Sirius shook his head. He didn't know how he could have possibly fathomed the idea of them building a life here-really, he should just get out of there-after he grabbed the few things of James' that he knew still lingered in his room. He'd give those to Harry.

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck and deliberately stared down the dark corridor as he spoke. "Listen, it's-it's awful, I know. It's really dark and dreary, and you probably hate it, but it'll just be until I can get some money out of my vault, and this place will probably make a decent amount of money if we sell-"

His words cut off when he felt a small hand wrap around his wrist, and Sirius looked down nervously at Harry. He was surprised to not see a trace of disgust on his face, but rather a child-like look of wonder as he looked at the house, then the still-screaming portrait, then back Sirius. He was a child, Sirius remembered. That was easy to forget when Harry acted so mature for his age.

A grin spread across his face, even as he examined the moth-eaten curtains hanging around the portrait. "It's brilliant."

"I-what? It's dark and horrible and covered in a thick layer of dust-we could find a much nicer house somewhere else-anywhere you'd like."

Harry shook his head. "It's still brilliant," he paused. "Erm, I know you probably didn't have the best of times here-like me, at the Dursleys'," Sirius' eyes widened in surprise, but Harry smiled nervously. "I can tell from your body language." Sirius shook his head, but motioned for Harry to carry on. "I'd like to stay here if it's okay with you-I mean, this is a Wizarding house, how cool is that? But-where we live doesn't matter, right? We could live here, or Hogwarts, or in a bloody tent-"

"Language, Harry," Remus elbowed him, though he was smiling.

Harry rolled his eyes, giggling, before continuing. "It doesn't matter, as long as we're together, right? That we're with the people we care about."

Sirius blinked back the tears that had gathered in his eyes. Harry cares about me. Even in the darkness of Grimmauld Place, his chest burst with happiness. Harry was right-anywhere felt like home when you're with the people you love. "Really?" Sirius asked him, "you truly want to live here?"

Harry nodded, brandishing his pinky finger at Sirius. "I pinky promise."

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A/N: a HUGE thank you to all of you who followed and voted on this fic!!! Both huffinglepuff and I appreciate it so much!

We have a tentative sequel planned, but itll be like, a million years before we can even start writing it, since we both have school and other fics already in progress

Love you all, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter <3