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Lucky Strike	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Sirius Views: 76061 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 17
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and make no money off this strange dance in JK Rowling's world.

Chapter List
- 33
- 34
- 35
Beta'd by the most amazing Tenchi, who I can't thank enough for all the hard work she does for me!

With help from Lynn who works with me when it comes to flow, continuity and other issues.

Just a reminder of what's on my profile; reviews complaining or whinging about the lack 'o sex in stories will get deleted. If you want a smut-filled romp, you need to find another story to read.

Chapter 33

Tonks took a seat at the table Donnahill and Maggie were at then launched in, “Right, he agreed.” Seeing the child, who had tears in her eyes, brighten, she then added, “There are some conditions, though.”

“What are those?” Maggie asked, curious and wondering if she could manage. All she wanted to do was say she was sorry, nothing more.

“He’ll let you if you don’t tell your parents you talked to him or mention your family. Can you agree to that and promise?” Tonks asked, looking at the child.

With a vigorous nod, Maggie told her, “I won’t, my word. I’ll keep it a secret.”

“You need to,” Donnahill told her softly.

“Won’t be for long, but he’ll let you apologize,” Tonks told the little girl, standing. “Harry’s dads will be along as well, so will some others. They promised him they would stay with him.”

“That’s fine,” Maggie agreed, straightening up.

“Not a word to anyone you talked to him,” Tonks warned. Then she said, “Let me go get them. Just don’t expect it to last long.”

“I won’t,” Maggie assured her, reaching down to straighten her robes then smoothing her hair. Since she was meeting her brother—well, something like her brother, for the first time, she wanted to look her best.

Donnahill smiled then conjured a brush and told the child, “Let me brush it out for you.”

“Thanks,” Maggie told her, relieved though still uptight. This was a big deal for her and she would feel better once she told Harry she was sorry.

Tonks led an uptight Harry into the playroom. While flanked by Sirius and Lucius, with Cissy, his dads, and Rufus behind him, it was stressful.

Once in the door, his eyes locked on the little girl, and he clutched Bugs tightly while they made introductions. His first thought drifted to how small she looked. He supposed he realized it before, but hadn’t really noticed due to the dog last time. If fact, she seemed really tiny compared to all of them.

Maggie stood up when everyone came in, trying not to fidget while Tonks introduced everyone, gazing at Harry and the bunny he held.

When Tonks finished, she put a hand on Maggie’s back, looking down at her, and told the child, keeping a gentle tone, happy the child didn’t seem overwhelmed by all the people and tongue-tied, “Go ahead, Maggie.

After nodding, Maggie looked up at Harry then said, voice shaking just a little, “I’m sorry about Bones scaring you, Harry. I didn’t mean for him to.”

Though stiff and wary, Harry nodded to the child then told her, “Apology accepted.” This was easy enough and not stressful like he thought it would end up.

“I’m scared of the big winged snakes they had where we used to live,” Maggie admitted with a shake of her head and a sigh. “They were really scary, so I felt bad scaring you like that.”

Brow drawn down, having never heard of winged snakes before, Harry told her, “I understand.” Then he looked around and asked, “What’s winged snakes?”

Before anyone could reply, Maggie described them with a shudder. When she finished, she added, shaking her head, “They are huge and can eat grownups. They have, too!”

“Sounds pretty scary, if you ask me,” Tonks added, planning to look up the creatures later to see what she could find.

“We had alerts when someone spotted them, so we had to stay inside,” she explained, shivering.

“Sounds scary,” Harry agreed softly with a nod. Not sure what else to do, he waited, though it hadn’t been as bad as he thought going in.

Giving Maggie a pat on the shoulder, smiling, Donnahill nodded. It had gone well, thankfully, with no problems.

Maggie knew this was all they agreed to, so it was time for it to end, but she couldn’t help herself and had to ask. Eyes locked on the big bunny, she asked Harry, “Can I pet your bunny? He’s the biggest bunny I’ve ever seen! I won’t hurt him, I promise.”

Harry assumed she would ask something else, probably about her parents, so the request surprised him. Since this had happened before when they went out because Bugs attracted a lot of attention, he nodded. “Sure,” he told her, but made sure Sirius and Lucius were right beside him.

After taking a couple of steps closer, he crouched down. Holding Bugs close like normal, he petted the rabbit. Bugs was curious, leaning closer to the child, nose twitching. After making sure Lucius and Sirius were by him, he told her, “He likes his head petted.”

With a grin, Maggie reached out and petted the bunny. “His fur is so soft,” she observed. “What’s his name?” She then asked, assuming it was a boy, though no one had mentioned if he was.

“BugsZilla,” Harry told her, keeping a wary eye on the child, though she wasn’t making any funny moves.

“I love the Bugs Bunny cartoons and Godzilla movies,” she laughed, rubbing between the bunny’s ears. “What does he eat? I haven’t been around bunnies, so I don’t know. Bugs likes carrots, so I figure he likes those.”

“He likes carrots,” Harry nodded. “He also likes green leafy veggies, Brussels sprouts, bananas, berries and eats lots of hay. And has a raisin addiction.”

She laughed at the raisin part as she continued to pet the bunny. Then she pulled a face and told Harry, “Brussels sprouts are nasty!”

“I agree,” Harry admitted with a tiny grin.

“Can I hold him?” She asked, looking at Harry, not sure if he would let her. She could see the badge on the bunny’s harness which told her he was a service animal, so she didn’t know if he could let her or not.

Though not sure and still not sure about the girl, Harry noticed Bugs seemed to like her, grunting and grinding his teeth the way he did when happy, liking someone.

Though highly wary because of who this kid was, Sirius saw a very good opportunity and went with it. Quickly conjuring two chairs for them, he then waited to see what Harry would do.

While not sure, Harry then sat down, waiting for the child to do the same. He was on edge, but there were so many around he didn’t think it would end up a problem. When the excited child sat down, wiggling a little, he explained how to hold Bugs then passed her the rabbit. “Just be careful,” he admonished gently as she took the rabbit.

“I will,” Maggie promised earnestly, taking the big bunny and holding him close. “He’s not as heavy as he looks,” she observed after wrapping her arms around him,.

“He’s plenty big though, so he’s awkward to hold,” Harry told her, keeping a close eye on the two, though Bugs seemed fine and she was being gentle.

Lucius felt Narcissa handing him the box of raisins she had in her pocket then passed them to Harry. With a smirk, pleased with what he saw, he said, “Let her feed him a couple.”

With a nod to Lucius, Harry took the box then shook a few out and handed them to Maggie. “Just hold them out and he’ll eat them. He won’t bite, my word.”

Maggie did what Harry told her, giggling when the bunny made happy noises and ate them. As he did, she peppered Harry with all kinds of questions about rabbits and what they were like.

“He’s talking to her,” Remus observed softly, trying not to disturb the two. “And he’s not acting like usual. This is good.”

Highly wary because of who this child was, Severus had to agree, though. With a nod, he said, “It is. When we settle down at lunch, we’ll ask to see why she’s different.”

“It’s a wonderful improvement, though,” Narcissa smiled.

“Shows real growth,” Rufus added with a nod. “A year ago we would have had to herd the child away because of what he would have said to her. Shows a great improvement.”

After a half an hour of talking to Harry, Maggie passed Bugs back and petted the rabbit one last time. “Thanks, Harry. I liked that, a lot. It was fun, too.” She told him.

“You’re welcome,” Harry said, taking Bugs back with a tiny smile.

“I liked talking to you, too,” Maggie grinned at him. “You’re very nice.”

“Thanks,” Harry told her, not sure what to say, petting Bugs.

“Maybe we can talk again?” Maggie suggested, looking up at him. “I’d like to hear more about Bugs.” Then she added, hastily “My word I won’t tell anyone. Mum and Dad won’t know!” She then grinned and giggled before tacking on, “It’s fun to have these kinds of secrets because they don’t hurt anyone.”

Once more Harry wasn’t sure what to say and was a little uptight when she mentioned the two arses, but nodded, “We can, I think, as long as it’s a secret.”

“My word,” Maggie assured him then made the universal signal for locking her mouth shut and throwing away the key.

Though he hadn’t seen that motion before, Harry caught on to what it meant and nodded, grinning a little. “All right,” he told her.

“We do need to go, Harry,” Remus told his son, smiling a little at what he said.

“Goodbye, Maggie,” Harry told her, standing.

“Bye,” Maggie said, standing herself.

Hand on Harry’s shoulder, pleased with all that went on, Sirius nodded to the three women then guided Harry out, grinning a little. This was great.

Watching everyone go, Maggie waved goodbye to Harry when he looked back her, smiling when he returned the gesture before they stepped out the door.

“Harry is very nice,” she told Donnahill and Tonks as she took a seat at the table. “And I really liked the bunny.”

“The rabbit is pretty cool,” Tonks agreed with a grin as she sat down. That had gone wonderfully for all involved and it pleased her. The looks on everyone’s faces told her they were as well. Yeah, that was a good idea.

As she left the Ministry with her parents after telling them about the games she played with the Aurors, Maggie asked her mom, “When we get home can you help me write a thank you note to Tonks and Donnahill for spending time with me? It was lots better than standing there being bored and waiting.”

“Of course,” Lily told her daughter with a smile. “We’ll make time once we start the elves moving everything.”

“It’s good you remembered to do that,” James told her, putting a hand on her head and rubbing it.

“They were very nice and I like them,” Maggie told her parents with a nod. While she did want to thank them as she liked both Aurors, she else had something else in mind.

Tonks had told her after they started playing games that Sirius was her cousin and she knew all of them. She also wanted to write to Harry and see if he would write back. Of course, she wouldn’t tell anyone, but she liked him. Besides, it was nice to make a new friend.

When her parents asked her where she wanted to eat, Maggie focused back on them but couldn’t stop thinking about Harry. She just hoped he would write back to her.

After eating a good meal, they were all relaxing with a drink. As Harry was nicely mellow, just feeding Bugs from a salad they bought the rabbit, Severus thought this was the perfect time to inquire about what happened with the child. “Harry,” he started, leaning back in the chair, “I wanted to ask about the encounter with Maggie.”

Harry assumed this was coming as everyone looked quite pleased with him when they left the Ministry, so he nodded then waited to see what Severus wanted to ask about.

“We know what you’re usually like with girls, so I am wondering how this was different. You weren’t exactly relaxed around her, but didn’t do what you used to. Why?”

With a sigh, Harry looked down and thought it over, brow furrowed. He honestly didn’t know for sure himself. After a few moments he said, “Part of it was you lot were all there. While it’s happened before when dealing with girls, this was different.”

“Is that the only reason?” Remus asked, curious himself. If they figured it out, they could employ the same principles in other situations. Any improvement was good, as were situations they knew about.

“No, it’s not all,” Harry told him with a shake of his head. He then pondered it more before saying, tone distracted as he tried to sort through the situation himself, “I think it—well, some of it came from she just wanted to say she was sorry. That’s part. The other is, maybe, she was so small. I mean, compared to all of us she was tiny. Then she didn’t have a wand or anything else to use.”

“She’s not really that small,” Sirius told him, arm slipping around Harry’s shoulders. “From what I can tell, she’s about average sized for someone her age.”

“It’s more like she’s plenty small compared to the rest of us.” Harry explained, looking around. “It’s a case of she’s—well, I didn’t see her as a threat of any kind. She didn’t cop an attitude of any sort and seemed genuinely upset at first. I think she meant it when she said she was sorry.”

“I think she did as well,” Severus nodded, filing away everything his son said so they could talk it over and use it later when it came to what they dealt with.

“This was a case of no one put her up to apologizing, Harry,” Lucius added in, putting a hand on Harry’s knee and giving it a pat. “Tonks wouldn’t have mentioned it if her parents were involved.”

“That I believe,” Harry agreed with a nod. “I think it’s a case of it was safe, in plenty of ways. Then she just wanted to ask about Bugs, nothing else. I mean, she could have used the time to poke at what’s going on, but didn’t. She just focused on Bugs and wanted to know about rabbits.”

“While I’m certain she knows plenty of what’s going on with all of this, she’s young enough and not closely involved so she wouldn’t manipulate the situation,” Remus told his son after thinking it over. “From experience in teaching when it comes to those her age, most won’t delve into troublesome areas and focus on the standard for their age. She’s not at Hogwarts, so isn’t pulled in other directions by people. At her age, they are curious, this I admit, but more about areas which interest them, not necessarily the gossip and whatnot.”

“I didn’t mind talking about Bugs,” Harry admitted, looking around. “It was a neutral topic and she seemed to like it. There weren’t even slips into other areas.”

“She’s a typical child of her age, from my observation,” Narcissa chimed in with a smile. “No reason to end up concerned about what she would try. Little girls have their own interests and they’re not troublesome.” Then she chuckled and told him, “If you had mentioned the encounter with the unicorns, she would have talked your ear off about those then would want all the details. Girls of that age tend to like such matters.”

After hearing Harry chuckle over what Cissy said, Sirius added, “It was a safe way to deal with her. None of us would have let anything happen, you know this.”

“I do, which helped,” Harry admitted with a nod, petting Bugs who had finished gorging himself. “It was just the idea. Well, you know me and girls...” he then trailed off.

“We do, which is why I want to understand how this is different,” Severus agreed. He then added, “She does seem like the typical little girl. As I’ve dealt with plenty over my time, I didn’t detect anything off or an agenda of any sort. With those that age, you can easily tell as they haven’t learned the subtlety they need to pull it off yet.”

“No,” Remus smiled, chuckling softly. “While they can manipulate in plenty of ways when they want to, she wasn’t displaying the usual signs. I think it’s just how Tonks said; she was upset about what she felt she caused, nothing more. As she had a basis to understand being afraid of something, she felt guilty.”

“I think I understand,” Harry told them. He did, though would remain wary of girls. “I do have to ask, though,” Harry then started, changing to something she mentioned. “Are there winged snakes? Not heard of them before.”

“There are,” Sirius told him. “I’ve heard of them before because they aren’t allowed in the UK and some try to smuggle them in. Not only are they plenty deadly, but huge and frightening. When we go home, we can see if there are any volumes in the library about them. If not, Snape can order a couple books so you can see what they look like.”

“I’ve heard of them, but not seen one,” Severus told his son. “They aren’t indigenous to the UK and we didn’t learn about them in Care, so it’s not something I’ve encountered. Would be most interested in seeing what they are like and if they’re as big as she mentioned. Animals can seem quite a bit bigger to small children, especially if they’re scared.”

“Don’t care how big they are, I don’t want to see a live one,” Harry chuckled, shaking his head. “A picture of one is good by me.”

I don’t blame you a bit,” Sirius laughed, ruffling Harry’s hair. “Wouldn’t want to encounter one myself.”

After a chuckling himself, Remus slid into a more neutral topic of some planning they were doing for other areas to relax all of them. Though pleased about what happened, he would wait until they were home to delve into it more with Severus. It was just time to relax and talk before they had to tackle the more troublesome parts which were coming when they went home.

Remus took special care to not disturb the sleeping Harry when he placed the book he read out of on the bedside table then wrapped his other arm around his son. It was about the time they all went to bed and Harry was in with them. Sirius had gone out to talk to a few people, so Harry didn’t want to sleep alone. Of course, Sirius would return before long but, being tired, Harry came in to stay with them until Sirius returned. It was fine with him, honestly, as he adored the closeness. It was even better that they didn’t have to worry anymore about him trying something sexual.

When the door opened, he looked up and nodded when Severus stepped in. His husband must have finished checking in his lab finally. As there were potions brewing, this was standard.

“All is well?” Severus asked as he removed his robe and put it on the bench at the foot of the bed. He assumed, but wanted to check. Then he slid into bed gently so he didn’t disturb Harry, who was clutching Bugs, head resting on Remus’ shoulder.

“We’re fine,” Remus told him with a smile. “Sirius should return shortly, then we’ll be alone.” Lowering his voice, smile growing, he added, “And he didn’t try anything sexual either. I don’t think that’s an area we need to worry about anymore.”

“I don’t either,” Severus told him, turning on his side and putting a hand on Harry’s shoulder as his son slept. “While he still has issues, they’re exhibiting in another way. It seems we’ve finally cleared that particular hurdle, thankfully.”

“We have and he’s doing better. While we talked for a time, he was mostly interested in me reading,” Remus told him, settling down. Though they’d end up disturbed when Sirius came home, especially if he had information to impart, he liked the closeness they shared now. Any small times they could lay like this was good with him.

After lighting the nightlight with his wand, Severus then killed the other lights in the room and settled down with a sigh. “He isn’t having issues over the talk with the girl, is he?” From experience, they knew Harry tended to show problems at bedtime or in the middle of the night when it came to stressors which occurred during the day.

“I talked with him a tad about what happened and he was calm. No hint of distress over it,” Remus assured him. “While we didn’t talk the whole encounter through, I felt he was calm enough that I didn’t worry the topic to death. Let’s see what comes later. I’m certain Sirius will keep watch as he knows the pattern.”

“It’s improving then, good,” Severus sighed, smiling a tad. “Even with all the stress and problems cropping up from outside sources.”

“My thoughts,” Remus nodded. Taking special care not to disturb Harry, he leaned over and gave his husband a kiss goodnight. “Let’s get some sleep until Sirius comes in. Tomorrow is another busy day with plenty we’ll have to handle.”

“Indeed,” Severus agreed then gave a tired sigh. Settling down, he shut his eyes, pressing closer to his son, arm draped over Harry so he could touch Remus. While the sleeping arrangements were odd as Harry didn’t join them much, he did like how it felt, more than he cared to admit. As he drifted off into a doze, he hoped Black would stay away a while longer so he could enjoy it for a time.
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Lucky Strike