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The yellow Brickroad	By : Lalani Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 8131 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters. I do not make any money off of this

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
Chapter Seven
SiriusPOV
An hour later, Sirius was so mad, he was taking deep breaths to calm himself down. Mrs Brown had retold what had happened earlier with Severus and his children. He had doubted himself for a while, letting James and Lily help him with the Hotels wards. In the end, though, he didn’t have the money to pay someone for them and so he had relied on his friends. As an Auror, James was more than capable and Lily had always been a quick study. Now he regretted counting on his friends. Instead of telling one of his security people, James had charged in and Lily had stunned one of his customers. He was lucky if Severus didn’t sue him.
“Were the girls or him hurt?” he pressed out between clenched teeth.
“No. But he was mad, to be honest. He pretended not to be and was quite charming, but still.” She answered him, while sorting through paperwork and helping him put the office to order. He liked Brown. She usually looked and acted like a dim-witted fool, but beneath the ditzy exterior she was smart and sharp-witted. He put her in reception because she put people at ese. Women liked her and men flirted with her. It worked.
“I see. Did he say anything else?” he asked, pushing her aside when she tried to lift one of his heavy, book filled crates. They had renovated his office, putting in more space for the ledgers and he just now got to putting everything back in order. The trip to the States had robbed him of the time he had planned for this.
“Yeah, he wants to see you later, before dinner. He said to come around at half past six. And Sirius, will you please stop? I can lift those as well! I am a witch, after all!” she snapped at him, before ripping the basket he had taken away from her out of his hands again. He grinned at her short temper and show of attitude. The little flutter in his belly when she glared at him made him swallow and he just nodded before turning to his shelves and putting away ledgers. He really had to snap out of it. She was a married woman, for Merlin’s sake! Apparently, it was a bad habit of his, lusting after taken women…
“Very well, Brown. Did you tell him anything about Lily and James?” he asked, sighing when she went silent behind him.
“Something or another…I am sorry, I know I shouldn’t gossip to the guests, but it just slipped out!” she rushed out. He turned towards her and startled when he found her right in front of him, wringing her hands.
He sighed again, stepping even closer and taking her hands in his.
“It’s alright. Ok, it actually isn’t, Brown. You need to stop gossiping! I will let it slide this time, but the next time you do it, I will start docking your pay. And I am serious about this. No, don’t cry! Oh, for Merlin’s sake, stop it!” Sirius suddenly had a sobbing mess in his arms, his usually competent manager breaking down. He gathered her closer, but looked around for help, as if someone would just magically appear to take care of the hysterical woman in his arms.
“Y-you a-are s-s-so nice to me, Sirius!” she sobbed into his chest and Sirius felt a moment of confusion at this.
“Love, are you alright?” he asked, pushing her away from him slightly, looking into her tear-stained face.
“Nooo, I am not!” she wailed and nearly crumbled to the floor. Sirius was barely able to hold on to her, before he decided to lead her over to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“Alright, Caroline, how about you tell me what is really going on?” he asked her, after putting the box of tissues he always kept on his desk in her hands.
“He is leaving meeeee!” she wailed and Sirius probably did the worst thing any man could do at a moment like this. He talked without thinking.
“Who?”
“Wh-who? My husband!” she yelled.
“Oh. Well…why?” he asked, which apparently made it worse. She started crying harder and Sirius was ready to dump a bucket of cold water over her head.
“Because that slut seduced him! That’s why!” she cried again and Sirius felt a lurch in his chest area. She was hurting and that made him hurt, too. At least a little.
“Darling, a man cheats on you? That is on him and him alone. Neither you nor the other lady made him do something. You can’t seduce an unwilling person. That is why you shouldn’t cry over him, Caroline. I know it is disappointing, but there has to be something broken in your relationship for anyone of you to cheat. No, no, listen. I didn’t say you are at fault. Something wrong in a relationship doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. A partner who cheats? That’s just weakness. That is being too weak to talk to your partner about your problems. You aren’t happy, you take it to your partner first, end it, if that is what you need, and then start something new. There is no excuse on earth to do it another way. Cheating doesn’t just happen. Cheating builds up. He let a relationship with another woman build up, things like that don’t happen overnight. Now, the question is, do you want to work on your marriage for yourself, because you were happy and this blindsided you or were you unhappy and just pretending?”
She had stopped crying after the first few seconds and just stared at him, her face blotchy and her eyes red-rimmed. She had calmed down after her first outburst. His almost unflappable manager was already halfway in control of herself.
“I…never thought about it that way. We’ve been having problems and I tried to get us marriage counselling, but Bert never wanted that. I thought maybe he was just uncomfortable, sharing our problems with another person. He has always been so private and we rarely went anywhere. And then last month he just suddenly gave me divorce papers and told me he was having an affair with Rosmerta.” She said, the end coming out as a whisper.
“Rosmerta? Really? He is leaving you for Rosmerta? What kind of an idiot is he? Honestly, how does he imagine Lavenders Hogsmeade visits are going to play out?” Sirius burst out.
Not that Rosmerta was a bad person, but she was right there next to the girl’s school. Every Hogsmeade visit would be a torture for her. And Sirius sincerely doubted that Rosmerta would leave her Inn behind and move somewhere else.
“I know! I told him to at least wait until Lavender has finished at Hogwarts, but no, he wants the divorce know so he and Rosmerta can get married in the spring, because she wants a spring wedding. I am so worried for Lavender. You know how cruel children can be! It isn’t right to put the child through this. I…I have kind of resigned myself to being a divorcee, but the child… He just doesn’t care.” She answered him, still upset, but at least not looking wild and desperate any more.
Sirius sighed, looking at her properly. He had noticed she had been a bit off lately and had lost a bit of weight, but he had written it of as female vanity and a thirty-something woman wanting to look better. He had even dismissed Lavender showing up almost daily at the Hotel, looking for her mother or just hanging out with her homework at the break room. Usually, she would spend her summer anywhere but here. And usually Caroline got three weeks of vacation to spend it with her family, but this time she hadn’t even asked.
“Really, Caroline, if you had been having these problems…you would have gotten more paid leave to sort this out. I take it Lavender knows?” he asked.
“Yes. He didn’t waste any time telling her. By owl, no less! And he wanted the summer with his girl, so they could spend time together and she could meet Rosmerta. But Lavender doesn’t want to see him or to meet Rosmerta. So, she comes over. I didn’t want to get involved in that. He is still her father, I am not getting between those two.” She gave another heavy sigh. “Well, there is nothing to be done for that, although I still want to scratch out Rosmertas eyes. But I hope Lavender being here so often is ok with you? You know, she is fourteen and I don’t feel so good leaving her alone the whole day. And Burt didn’t take his paid leave for this, since he is shoring it up for his honeymoon.”
“How do you actually know so much about their plans, Caroline?” he asked, stunned she was so well informed.
“Because Burt tells me, everyday. I guess he is trying to get me to leave the house? I don’t know.”
What an asshole, Sirius thought. He had always liked her husband before today, but right now he would happily strangle the idiot.
“I see. And I don’t mind Lavender being here. If you need a place to stay, the small flat I have in Godric’s Hollow is empty right now. You can always crash there.” He answered, glancing at the clock. He saw it was almost time to meet Severus and turned his attention back to Caroline.
“Will you be alright? I have to meet Severus now, but if you need someone to talk to, we can get a bottle of wine and do that.” He said to her.
“No, I am fine, Sirius, but thank you. And I am sorry for unloading all of my problems on you today. I guess…I guess I have a lot to think about, especially with what you said to me right now. I have been so angry at Rosmerta, that I didn’t stop to think what this was really about. You are right, she didn’t make him cheat. He chose to do that to me. And that tells me something really ugly has been lurking in my marriage for some time.” She answered, staring down at her hands and wringing a tissue between her fingers.
Sirius stared down at her bent head. He truly felt for her, but there was nothing more he could do. They weren’t best friends or really, very good friends. She was his employee and nothing more. Well, maybe a bit more if she hadn’t been married and… he cut off that line of thinking, patted her on the shoulder and stepped out of his office. He was so not going there while she was in the middle of a divorce, with her kid being put in the middle by her husband and Rosmerta whirling around that mess like a spectre.
He would support her, offer his friendship and help her the best he could, like he would for any of his employees. Like he had done for his now Head Chef, when he had picked him up from the streets (Knockturn Alley, to be precise), completely high on a number of horrifying potions, let him rent his small apartment in Godrics Hollow and given him a job. Dave had learned to be a chef from his former Head Chef, who had retired last year.
That was all he would do, he decided. And if that little pull around his heart, the flutter in his belly when she lost her patience with him and the slight breathlessness he sometimes experienced with her were still there after she was settled, then he might ask her out on a date.
Having made a decision, he took the small walk of shame towards Severus’ quarters to apologize for the mess his closest friends had put him in.
And he still had to remember to call the other man Russel and not Severus any more.

RusselPOV
Russel was pacing up and down in his rooms, waiting for Sirius Black to arrive. His anger had cooled down somewhat, after he had been listening to the rumour mill at the Leaky Cauldron for the last few hours. Apparently, Sirius had pulled himself together and wasn’t the selfish, little prick he used to be. Russel still couldn’t forgive the boy Sirius used to be, but he could certainly respect the man he had become.
He had made that decision after listening to one of the cleaners telling the story of how the current Head Chef had come to work at the place. He knew, getting someone oof illegal potions wasn’t something you did lightly or quickly. It involved not only time, but money, to get replacement drugs, so the withdrawal wasn’t as bad. And after all of that, it still was bad for the addict. Shivers, vomiting, sometimes being paralyzed and losing control of your other body functions… Generally, it was a mess and someone had to clean that up. And that is what Sirius Black had done for the boy. Someone he didn’t even know, at the time. It was courageous and it was responsibility.
Damned Gryffindors, he thought without any real heat.
Just then, he heard a knock at the door. He went over, looked out the peephole (How Muggle!) and saw Sirius Black standing there, in a Navy suit, with a white shirt and a navy tie. Russel opened the door and stepped to the side, letting the other man in.
“Hello, Russel, isn’t it? Excuse me if I forgot to use your proper name.” Sirius Black said and held out his hand for a handshake. Russel lifted his left eyebrow and shook the offered hand.
“Yes, it is. A necessity, at the time. Come, sit down. We do have a few things to talk about.” He answered, gesturing towards one of the chairs and taking the two-seater opposite him.
Sirius Black unbuttoned his suit jacket and took a seat, leaning his elbows on his knees and letting his hands dangle down. It was a testament to how uncomfortable the other man must be feeling.
“Are you and your girls alright? Was any of you hurt?” was the first thing Sirius asked. Russel had noticed the small hesitation before the word ‘girls’, but chose not to comment on it.
“Yes, we are fine. No one was seriously hurt, least of all my girls. Well, maybe Lily’s pride, but that will heal, I assume.” Russel answered.
“Yeah, that is good. I hope they weren’t too shocked, by what happened. You know, I sincerely apologize for what happened today. Lily and James had no right to barge into your rooms like this. We have security for that and, since they were there when we had placed those wards, they should have known that, while it might be possible to engage in sexual relations with underage witches or wizards in my hotel, an alarm would sound and alert the Aurors. So, knowing that, if you want, we can press charges and I will help you in any way I can.” Sirius said, visibly uncomfortable.
Russel thought about what had just been said. He certainly wasn’t going to press charges. That would be too much of a hassle. Then he thought about another thing he just heard.
“Really? Why would you put in a ward like that?” he asked, curious and bemused.
“I… well, there were a couple of incidents, of wealthy wizards bringing their ‘nieces’ and so on…It’s what happens when a Black owns a hotel, every low-life thinks they can waltz in and do their crooked business in here. After a few of them had been taken out by the Aurors butt naked, people finally understood this was a family establishment and not a place to live out your perversions if you had enough money.” he went silent for a moment, while Russel let this sink in.
“Do you want to press charges?” the other man asked again.
“No. I don’t want the hassle, quite frankly. I just moved across continents with my girls, while my wife and boys are still over there. I wasn’t really hurt, the girls are fine and really, what would come of it, with James being an Auror?” he answered.
“You would be surprised. A lot of people would help you against the Potters. They have…well, you know how they are, Sev...Russel. If you aren’t friends with them, they can seem a bit pompous and self-righteous. And especially Slytherins don’t get along with that. And a lot of Aurors were former Slytherins.” Sirius answered, albeit reluctantly.
“Shame on you, Sirius, for throwing your friends under the bus. And do you really think House Rivalry goes this far, even later in life?” Russel said, trying to needle the man a little bit. He even put a small sneer in there. He knew how hard this was for Sirius, talking about his friends like that.
“We are sorted for character traits, not for House Loyalty. Those traits don’t disappear; they get more dominant the older we get. You are still looking out for yourself and you still don’t confront problems head on, do you? The way you threw us out, so you could think about every angle, and if it would benefit you. And not only you, but your family as well. Most people don’t really believe that Slytherins are more loyal than even Hufflepuffs. The difference is, that circle is small and selective. I know, for example, that you consider your family a part of you, so when you look out for yourself, you still look out for them. Some might call it self-interest, but who cares? They are loved, they are taken care of and they are kept safe. That is all that matters and that isn’t bad. Slytherins are more loyal and more caring towards family and friends then the rest of us. Gryffindors give their loyalty to a cause, not to people. And while we defend that, Slytherins defend those they love. We tend to forget there are still people around us who need our strength and bravery as much, if not even more, as the cause we are fighting for.”
Sirius paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts and Russel let him. Another Slytherin trait, he knew, but it was the best way to gauge another person. Just letting them talk and giving them time to think everything through. It wasn’t long, before Sirius started talking again.
“So, no, not House rivalries, but Character. No one is better than the other in life. It needs those who fight the good fight and it needs those who look out for the weak with more than a sword. And it needs those who put their family first and think before they act.” Another pause.
“James is arrogant and puts down people, because they don’t play by the book all the time, or don’t try to hold up a higher standard with everything they do. He thinks it is a waste of resources to want to take care of the people and that pisses some Aurors off. He thinks it is kindness and caring enough to help them with the law, if there are casualties on the way, that is just how it has to be. Blowing up an illegal potions-ring might just mean that some don’t get their highs and if they end up in the gutter, well, at least the law was upheld. If another Auror tries to get the weaker ones out, before busting that ring, he gets reported to the higher ups for holding up an active investigation. If you don’t barge in heads first, but think about how to proceed, maybe do it sneaky, that doesn’t deserve respect, in his eyes.” Sirius paused for a moment, deep in thought and Russel was loathe to disturb the other man.
It was the first time someone articulated what every Slytherin knew about himself. And something Gryffindors didn’t see about themselves, because they were too busy saving everyone around them. And it was a testament to how alone Sirius Black must feel, to talk through all of this with him.
“It’s not putting my friend under a bus, but it is looking out for him. He can’t go on like this. His intentions might be pure, but he is hurting people. That is becoming a problem. And I am enough of a friend and enough of Gryffindor to show him the lesson by not being loyal to him every time he fucks up.”
Russel let the silence hang for a moment, before he mimicked Sirius’ stance.
“I see. Well, I do not want to be the venue you can use to pursue your goal, Sirius. Not because I don’t think you are wrong, but because my priority is my family.” He smirked, knowing that he had just done exactly what Sirius had described Slytherins did. Sirius smiled back and shook his head.
“I know. And I didn’t expect anything else. I just wanted you to know that I wouldn’t think less of you, if you didn’t do it.” Sirius sighed heavily. “Well, since that is done, I have to tell you, you have a horrifying amount of packages arriving, Russel. What did you do, buy out Diagon Alley?”
He laughed lightly at that and shook his head.
“No, but I have two teenaged girls that were disappointed at moving across an ocean. I had to do something.”
Now Sirius chuckled as well and shook his head.
“I will have the concierge bring them up later, after dinner. Usually, we would wait until morning, but I think your girls would like to ‘ooohhh’ over their purchases as soon as possible. At least, that’s how I remember teenaged girls.”
“That would be perfect. We will be having dinner at seven. If that isn’t too short-term, he can bring them up and just dump them in here. Whatever arrives after can wait until morning. As long as he puts them in here and doesn’t enter the bedrooms, I don’t mind him being in here.” Russel answered, frowning at his clock. It was already a quarter to seven and his girls hadn’t come out of their room.
“Excuse me, Sirius, but I have to check on my children. They are too quiet and it is almost time.” He said and stood up. Sirius stood as well, shook his hand and excused himself, walking out of his suite.
Russel walked over to their door, but before he could knock, Hannah opened it and bounced out.
“I thought you would never finish! We have been ready for ages! And we wanted to help you with your clothes, too, but I can see you are properly dressed. Although, why are there so many buttons on a waistcoat, Dad? And why is that cravat so big? Oh really, here let me take of it, Debbie and I have brought you a nice tie, that would look good on you. See, it’s even a dark green, with small Chinese dragons on it!”
He just stood there, while a barrage of words assaulted him and his daughters long-fingered and fragile hands took of his pompous cravat and quickly knotted the tie around his throat. He had used the cravat on purpose, knowing his girls would object. He docilely leaned down and just enjoyed the moment of his daughter caring for him…although he still had to listen to her chatter.
“…and then we heard him talking about his friend and I have to say his friend doesn’t sound all that nice. I don’t care how brave someone is…”
“Hannah!” his other daughter finally spoke up. “More breathing, less talking and at least let someone else speak!”
“What?? Oh, I have been babbling again, right?” Hannah replied, having finished his tie and turning back towards her sister.
Russel just shook his head at his daughters and righted his tie. Looking at the two, he noticed that they wore matching dresses, again. He knew Hannah loved big, swinging skirts, since she was a dancer and usually wore them every chance she got. This one went past her knees and had purple under skirts, while the skirt itself had a tartan pattern in black and purple. Her blouse had short cap sleeves and was purple silk. And Deborah was wearing the same outfit. They were going all out, trying to look adorable and approachable.
He led them out of their rooms, down to the dining room, all the while they were chattering between them. He drowned them out, like he usually did when they started talking to each other. With all the love he felt for his family, he could only stomach so much of their noise.
Walking through the lobby and into the dining room, he saw Professor McGonagall talking to the Maître d’, a young man in his mid-twenties.
“Good evening, Minerva.” He said to the older woman, while his girls chirped out a happy: “Good evening, Professor McGonagall!”
His dour and formidable former teacher beamed at his girls and returned the greeting, already stuck between his sneaky daughters. He grunted in amusement and turned towards the young man.
“Good evening, Sir, my name is Malachai and welcome to the Leaky Cauldron. Your seats are ready, if you would follow me.” The man greeted them and led them over to their table.
After seating both Minerva and then his girls, he sat down, still shaking his head in bemusement. He didn’t think the older woman would be so easily charmed.
“You must be so proud, Severus, at having such delightful daughters. I hope the boys are even half as charming.” Minerva said to him, her eyes dancing with amusement. He snorted, finally seeing that she had figured the girls out, but was playing along.
“That I am. But more because of their accomplishments and rather less because of their superb acting skills.” He answered.
“Dad! Really!” Hannah called out, her face shocked.
Minerva and him started laughing at their facial expressions, when the waiter came over with their menus.
“Come now, you really didn’t think it would work, did you now? Oh, thank you!” Minerva said, taking one of the menus. Severus took the others and distributed them around.
“It was worth a try. Oh, look, Debbie, they have Onion-soup! Your favourite!” Hannah gushed. Already forgetting about being busted.
Minerva looked at her with an air of amusement, before glancing at Debbie, who shrugged her shoulders and gave a lopsided grin.
“As my sister said, it was worth a try. We figured you would notice sooner or later, anyway.” She said, before bending her head over her menu. With both girls safely ensconced behind their menus, Russel shared a grin with Minerva.
“I do have to say, if it hadn’t been for my years of teaching and the occasional grin from you, Russel, I would not have noticed.” Minerva admitted, while shaking her head.
Russel chuckled lightly and then proceeded to be the most charming dinner partner Minerva had ever had.
- 6
- 7
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The yellow Brickroad