Squib - In the Noble House of Black

20- The Invitation

(A/N) This and the next two chapters have big time skips to get to the war.

December 18th, 1976

Sirius arrived back to Potters the first day of break and he was buzzing with energy. It was right on the cusp of being a year ago that he ran away from his parents house, and he had turned seventeen last month, officially of age, feeling he could take on the world. What he didn't expect was immediately being dragged off by Maia to show him something. It wasn't all that unexpected, actually, Maia did say in her letter on his birthday that she had a special present that she could only give to him in person.

"Oaky you need to close your eyes," Maia said as she dragged him along. He closed them slightly but not enough so that he could still see through his eyelashes.

"Actually, close your eyes," Maia pestered, but James hopped in.

"I got him!" He said as he smacked his hand over Sirius' eyes. For a moment he fought, complaining that James was smashing his nose, but ultimately resigned to having James hand block his sight. They led him outside, he could tell from the cold air.

"Alright you can let him go," Maia said and James removed his hand. For a moment he blinked, not being able to see well when everything came into focus and Maia was standing in front of her motorbike.

She tossed him the keys and he fumbled when he caught them. "Happy 17, Sirius." Maia smiled.

"What?" Sirius' voice came out higher than he meant.

"The bikes your's. You've always wanted one and I don't ride it as much as I should."

"Elvendork?"

"Yes, Elvendork is yours." Maia laughed. "Just please don't die on it, I really don't want to be responsible for that. Other cars can be dangerous."

"Oh, I don't plan on riding around other cars." Sirius said with a smirk while pointing to the sky. "Thank you," He then said quietly and gave her a short hug. Sirius was always a hugger from the day he was born. Maia was glad he was getting to that point again after the absence from living with Walburga or Orion.

"There is some work that needs to be done on it. Hasn't been maintenanced in a while, maybe it's something we could work on together?" Maia asked

"Fuck yes." Sirius responds enthusiastically.

"Language!" Effie called, poking her head out the door. "Come in and get some food and

December 27th, 1976

The year was coming to an end. Christmas had just been celebrated at the Potters. Maia was spending some of the holidays with them and today, Remus and Peter were flooing over to join as well. The five of them planned to go explore the village that wasn't far. There was a record store, Sirius had been begging James to go with him too, but now that Maia and Remus were there, he finally had friends to go with. It was their first stop of the day.

They were all bundled in large coats and Effie made sure to give everyone a pair of thick wool socks. The trek to the village wasn't too far, but you're walking with four teenage boys who like to complain, it feels like forever.

They make the record store the first stop. Sirius, Maia and Remus come out with a couple new each, the store had a good selection. What was surprising was James buying the new Abba Arrival album. Apparently at Sirius' birthday, a Hufflepuff had brought the record to play. Sirius had danced most of the night to Dancing Queen. But James mentioned how Lily loved all the songs, and had actually talked to James when he asked her about music.