~ Feel calm, I belong I'm so happy here

It's so strong, and now I let myself be sincere. ~

***

Alphard was glad to have his daughter back after so many years and was feeling much better at last. Both Sirius and Felicity knew if he continued like this, he could be restored to full health provided a little time. 

And while Alphard was the only person for whom they had similar opinions and feelings, but in all other cases they were of clear opposite natures.

Felicity had banned Sirius from the kitchen except for the occasional cups of coffee or hot cocoa, which were his specialty as he loved to proudly add. Ever since then she had taken up cooking and was making sure that Alphard got a proper healthy diet.

While she was extremely cautious for Alphard's diet routine, the same couldn't be said for Sirius. Felicity had been right; it was going to be be a totally disastrous week for him and she was hell bent on making sure of that.

For one, she was determined to make him pay for all the trouble he and his friends caused her back in school. Therefore it was not a new thing for Sirius's dinner to be overly spiced or missing salt entirely depending on what she had planned for the day.

And of course his complaints wouldn't come to much use either since both Alphard and Fel would find nothing wrong with their meal and resume eating giving him looks as if he had just gone mad.

Sirius couldn't believe the unfairness of the situation. His uncle would constantly take her side and she would act as if she was a sweet little angel who could do no harm to anyone. He could easily see now what Remus meant when he had said that pranking her could backfire at them.

At the moment, both Sirius and Felicity were in the kitchen. She was wearing an apron, preparing the night's dinner while he was carefully scrutinizing her, intent on finding out when and how she messed up with the food that only the things on his plate tasted awful.

"If you're wasting your time here and thinking you'll catch me red-handed, you're clearly wrong," she remarked playfully jabbing the hot stirrer at him.

He backed off immediately in order to avoid getting burnt, "I am craving a proper meal, Felicity. It's been days and you only give me overcooked dinner or one with too much salt, pepper, spice or even sugar."

"Are you allergic to all of that?"

"No but..."

She interrupted him, "then know that I am doing this for your own benefit. You need a good spanking in order to make you a bit bearable, but since I can't do that I resorted to the easier option."

"Easier option?" he held his hands up in a dramatic gesture of distress, "I would die in a few days from having to eat this rubbish."

She narrowed her eyes at him threateningly, "oh really? Fine, you aren't getting any dinner tonight. I feel sorry for your loss but you'll have to go to sleep on an empty stomach."

"What? That's not fair!"

She was about to fire back a retort when a boy in an oversize cardigan and faded jeans entered the kitchen quite unexpectedly. Remus John Lupin. A number of expression were visible on his face before settling at last into a look of pure surprise and confusion.

"Che diavolo...," the words escaped her in a whisper however the stirrer fell right on Sirius's foot who started screaming in agony as the hot metal touched his skin.

"Bloody hell, Felicity, you almost burnt all of my beautiful toes off my foot, what the hell were you thinking?"

Just like in situations when Felicity would be undergoing some sort of shock or surprise, she would automatically start speaking in Italian and that was exactly what happened. "Smetti di urlare e guarda dietro di te, idiota. Il tuo amico è qui e cosa gli diremo di tutto questo?"

[Translation: Stop screaming and look behind you, you idiot. Your friend is here and what will we tell him about all this?]

At her words, Sirius spun around and his eyes met Remus's chocolate brown ones. "Good day, mate!" he attempted to sound his usual energetic self but it was a rather feeble attempt from his part.

"Good day. And she's gone in the Italian mode now," Remus spoke with a small smile on his face as if he had started to recover from the shock of seeing the hothead Ravenclaw at her best friend's house, "Ciao, Felicity."

"And since when did you learn how to speak Italian?" Sirius spoke up before she could give any response.

"Well, don't you know, I can say hello and goodbye in fifteen different languages including Italian," he answered nonchalantly as if it was the dumbest question Sirius had ever asked.

He nodded shaking his head wearily, "now don't you go into your nerdy Moony mode, understand?"

"What are you doing here?" as always Felicity's words came out rather bluntly but of course Remus understood. He was her friend as well and was quite aware of her odd ways.

He replied, "Sirius's uncle let me in. Though I must say I wasn't expecting to see you here."

She shrugged, "it's a long story, Rem. We'll explain later. First off, what will you have? Tea or orange juice?"

He politely declined but she filled up a glass of orange juice and handed it to him, "I'll just be back in a minute. Have to make sure the dinner doesn't get spoiled."

"You know I hate how you're such a hypocrite," Sirius mumbled, "offering other people juices while I'm clearly not getting a morsel for dinner either."

She laughed, "ah come on, Sirius, I'm not a hypocrite. I'm only giving you the treats you so well deserve. Now go and take Remus out and give him some company. Show him the gardens for instance. Make yourself useful."

"Stop being my Mum," Sirius yelled back however he did accompany Remus outside.

"I can be far worse than her if I want to so you better keep that in mind," her voice came drifting towards them at which Remus tried to suppress a grin but Sirius was quite red in the face.

"She knows the bloody answer to every retort I ever make," he complained.

Remus shook his head failing to contain the laughter inside of him, "not meaning to be rude, Padfoot, but I think I'll have to agree with her on this one."

Sirius faced him with his eyes widened mockingly, "whose friend are you? Mine or hers?"

He shrugged, "what can I say? Both, I'm a mutual friend and that too was your plan in the first place."

Sirius slapped his hand on his forehead and dragged it down as if frustrated, "ah how much I wish I had never came up with that stupid idea. I wouldn't have been stuck in such a horrible situation now, having to eat near inedible food for the past few days."

"You what?" Remus couldn't hold back his surprise.

He sighed exhaustively, "like she said it's a long story and it would be better if she comes as well for all the explaining. Or else she's going to eat me up alive like she clearly stated a few seconds ago."

"Just tell me one thing," Remus asked getting serious all of a sudden, "you two aren't a secret couple, right?"

Sirius made a disgusted face, "oh hell no!"

"Well then, all's fine with me I guess," he replied smiling slightly at his reaction.

***

Both Felicity and Sirius told him everything from their relation as cousins to Alphard's short lived marriage with Felicity's mother. But they made him take a vow that he won't let anyone else know about that.

And Remus being Remus agreed, of course it wasn't the first time as he had been keeping secrets from others since a long time. He was quite used to it by now.

Remus stayed until dinner much to Sirius's delight, because living without his friends in the Summer Break was an unattainable feat for him and he was indeed glad to have at least one of them around.

Dinner was served and Sirius was eyeing his plate suspiciously because unlike the threat earlier, it was actually filled with food.

"Sirius, why are you not eating?" Alphard asked when he noticed that a considerable while had passed yet he hadn't even touched anything on his plate.

"Well because your daughter warned me that I was going to go to sleep on an empty stomach tonight," he replied.

"Oh no father, I wouldn't dare," Felicity shook her head managing to look as innocent as she could.

Alphard hid a smile, "but she has given you dinner, hasn't she?"

Sirius made a face, "how am I to know that it isn't awful?"

"By eating it of course," Remus replied, "come on Sirius it won't be that bad."

He exchanged his plate with Remus's, "now I'll eat."

Remus shook his head filling his spoon with rice and eating it, "I told you Sirius, it's really good. Right, Uncle?"

Alphard nodded, "of course, I can't understand why Sirius never likes whatever she cooks."

Felicity flashed him a bright smile, "see, it's only you who finds problem with anything I do."

Sirius didn't reply for a while instead only focused on his dinner. When everyone was done eating, he spoke, "gosh how I missed eating food that actually tasted like something edible. Next time, I'll exchange plates with you, Uncle, if I find something wrong with it."

"Next time, I would make you cook your own dinner," she replied as sweetly as she could, "if you continue complaining like an ungratifying little brat."

Both Alphard and Remus were trying their best to contain their laughter as they remarked, "fair enough."

***