jemina // sirius black

three

chapter three - kitchen

Lilian slept in my room with Esme and Aubrey, while I sat in the living room staring at photos of Lily and James. There were quite a few that were James or Lily with one of our other friends, and a couple that was all of us, though I had used magic to remove any traces of Peter from them. 

Remus had never noticed that, but I know if he did, he'd ask quite a few questions. First and foremost would be why I removed Peter, not Sirius. 

He didn't know that I still had an entire album of photos with Sirius in them in the study. It was in a locked drawer that I had the only key to. Esme was the only other one who knew it existed, but she had only seen it a couple of times. If she asked, I'd show her, and if Lilian or Aubrey ever asked to see them, I'd show them. 

It was mostly photos of our wedding day, photos of us with Esme and/or Aubrey. There were very few photos of us with anyone else, though my absolute favorite was a photo of James and Sirius. That one was one of my most cherished photos, as it was the last one I had of both of them together. I took it the night we did the charm. The photos I had taken with Lily, James, and Harry the next morning were in frames in my room. The one of Harry smiling at me while I cooed at him was on my bedside table.

The living room was set up in a way that would be able to encompass a large group of people. There was a large couch in the middle, directly in front of the TV, that could easily sit up to six people. Sitting on the couch, there was a smaller, four-person couch to the left, and a loveseat to the right. There was a large bookcase beside the doorway that connected the entrance hall to the room. There were two large chairs beside the bookcase. 

I was sitting on the loveseat, my legs tucked under me as I leaned against the arm. My elbow was perched on the arm of the loveseat, my chin rested on my hand. I was looking at the photos, desperately wishing that either of them were here. I just needed someone to talk to. 

Eventually, I was able to think of something other than how much I missed my brother. So, I thought about the trip to Egypt that Esme and Aubrey had been able to go on with the Weasley's. After the war ended, I stayed in contact with Molly and Arthur, mostly because Molly and I both had lost brothers. 

The girls had been friends with the Weasleys since they were young children. Esme was friends with Charlie and the twins, Aubrey with Ron, and Lilian with Ginny. They enjoyed going to see them quite often, and there were a few times that Molly welcomed the girls into her home for a few nights. That only happened the months that Remus hadn't been able to go anywhere else to transition, and so I would go with him to Potter Manor, and we'd stay together in the forest. I'd be in my animagus form, obviously, and Remus was always on wolfsbane. 

Most of the time, he was able to go to Scotland, and he'd be fine. But it was rather far away, and he couldn't apparate there. I had put wards up when we set it up to keep Muggles and wizards alike away. It was in the middle of nowhere, and invisible from the outside. The one time that Remus tried to apparate nearby, he got lost because he wasn't sure where exactly he was. So he apparated to the nearby town and took the path he had mapped out to the cellar. There were a few times that he had simply forgotten the time of the month, and hadn't been able to go before the full moon. 

So, I'd ask Molly if the girls could stay the night, and she was always very welcoming. 

There were a few times when Ginny would come over and stay the night, or a few nights, with Lilian. She was a joy to have around, and I knew that she and Lilian were very close. 

When Molly sent me a letter early in the summer, telling me of how Arthur had won a drawing for seven-hundred galleons, and they decided to take all of the kids to Egypt to see Bill, I was overjoyed for them. I had been informed of Ron and Harry's... incident with the Whomping Willow the year before, and I knew that Ron needed a new wand. I would have offered, but I knew Molly and Arthur were proud people, they didn't want to take handouts, so I didn't feel comfortable putting them in that situation.