After everyone went forward to have a chat with the Dursleys and threaten them to treat Harry better, we waved him goodbye and watched them leave the station.

"Er... Sirius?" Ron started awkwardly when he caught a few fellow students point at him and whisper to their parents. "Are you sure you're safe here, walking around in human form?"

"Of course," Sirius chuckled. "My name was cleared this morning. I guess you'll be seeing the news in the Prophet in a day or two."

"Well, that calls for celebration!" said Mr. Weasley enthusiastically, clapping his hands together in glee as he looked around. "What do you say, people? Butterbeer, our house?"

"Not me," growled Moody. "There's work to do."

"I'm sorry, Arthur, but me too," Tonks gave a sad smile. "They'll be needing all of the Aurors at the Ministry now that they've realized their mistakes. They'll need all hands on deck."

"No matter," Fred shook a hand and grinned, "there are enough Weasleys to make it a party. There's lots of us."

"How about you, Remus?" Mr. Weasley turned to Lupin and asked hopefully. "Surely you can spare time for a drink?"

"Of course," Lupin smiled.

"You sure you wouldn't like to come, Tonks, dear?" Mrs. Weasley smiled at her knowingly and I noticed Tonks look down uneasily.

"A-alright," she shrugged and I had to fight hard to suppress my grin as I looked between her and Lupin.

"Splendid!" Mr. Weasley cried out cheerfully. "Let's get going then, shall we?"

     "Well, I was actually wondering..." Sirius started, "maybe we could go somewhere more... public? How about the Leaky Cauldron?"

    "Oh, Sirius, I don't think that's a good idea," said Mrs. Weasley anxiously. "Many people haven't heard your news yet. And going somewhere with only Wizards and Witches that had known to fear you for fifteen years —"

     "But my name's been cleared!" Sirius protested. "Besides, Dumbledore agreed that I could come to King's Cross —"

     "That's because no one's foolish enough to hex you in front of all these Muggles," Mrs. Weasley reasoned.

     "I think Molly's right, Sirius," said Mr. Weasley. "Yes, your name's been cleared, but only a few have heard of it. The rest will only learn about it once the Prophet comes out. You'll just have to wait a few more days."

     "Alright, then," Sirius sighed, slightly frowning. "I mean, you have a point. Besides, anywhere's better that my mother's house."

He sighed happily and we chuckled.

     "Let's get going then," said Mr. Weasley brightly, starting on along with the others.

     Meanwhile, Fred and George walked in the lead, looking highly stern and serious as they kept saying loudly,

     "Make way for the infamous Sirius Black!"

     "Mass murderer coming through!"

     We all laughed, even Sirius. But it was only Mrs. Weasley who looked irritated. "Keep quiet and walk on!" she snapped at them sharply.

***

We all went back to the Burrow, and what was supposed to be only a few drinks, led to dinner as Mrs. Weasley insisted that everyone must stay longer. And so, we all enjoyed the night as we sat around the table in their kitchen.

"How did Crookshanks get here, anyway?" Ron asked moodily, looking down as it pawed at Sirius's leg, who gave the cat bits of his chicken every once in a while.

"Well, you better send Hermione a letter and tell her that her cat's here," said Mrs. Weasley, filling up our plates for the second time. "She might want to take Crookshanks back with her."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Sirius said briskly.

As he saw all of us stared at him with raised brows, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat and cleared his throat, saying,

"I mean... er... I don't think Hermione would come all this way to get her cat, would she? She can see Crookshanks in a few weeks when she comes here to stay for the summer."

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Weasley nodded, yet still looking at him curiously. "I don't think she'll come all this way. But you still better write to her, Ron. She might get worried."

"Why should I write?" Ron huffed stubbornly. "I never liked that cat, anyway."

"It's okay, I can do it," said Sirius. "I'll write to Hermione and say that she doesn't have to worry, and that Crookshanks is here."

"Oh, Sirius, you really don't have to—"

"It's alright, Molly. It's no trouble at all." Sirius smiled, shaking a hand at her reassuringly.

"So how long would you be staying here, anyway?" I asked out-of-the-blue, turning on him.

"I'll stay here for a few more days, until the news of my name being cleared off comes out," Sirius answered, giving Crookshanks a bit of his chicken to eat from his hand.

"Where will you go then?" I asked, looking at him anxiously.

"Dumbledore's got a job for me to do," he said rather brightly. "I'm glad, actually. God knows how long it's been since I'd been able to use my wand properly."

Crookshanks meowed at that, causing Sirius to shot down a glare at the cat.

"So... you'll be staying at the Burrow until then, right?" I asked, pursing my lips together.

After all the things that had been going on, I still wanted to talk to Sirius about what Kreacher had told me long ago, now more than ever before; now that I knew I had been a witch all along.

But he seemed in such a good mood that I didn't want to disturb that just yet. I had time for that conversation.

"Yeah, I'll be at the Burrow for the time being," Sirius answered, nodding. "Molly and Arthur were kind enough to let me stay at Fred and George's room, now that they've moved our."

"By the way," I said, turning to the twins. "I never asked where you guys are living now."

"Oh, so she doesn't know everything,." Fred grinned.

"Ah, yes," George sighed happily. "How the tables have turned."

"Oh, shut up and answer the question," I snapped at them jokingly.

"There's a flat right above the joke shop," said Fred.

"Damn, I already knew that," I sighed to myself as I remembered, shaking my head.

"It's perfect," said Fred, turning to the others. "It's got three bedrooms, and everything."

"Not that we've been miserable living in the same room for seventeen years," George added sarcastically.

"But it's a nice change, having a place to ourselves," Fred continued.

"Anyway, I was actually thinking of going to Diagon Alley tomorrow," I said, my heart fluttering at the thought. "You know... for my first real wand. I'd love to see your Joke Shop while I'm there!"

"Well, now that we're on the subject," Fred started, turning on me. "I was thinking that maybe you could come and stay with us for some while."

"What!?" Mrs. Weasley and Sirius exclaimed together, their heads jerking up.

"What?" Fred shrugged. "It's not like she has a home to go to now."

"She has here," Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"But we barely have enough room here," Fred argued. "You've locked Percy's room and won't let anyone in, and Sirius has got our room."

"Well, Sirius will be leaving in a few days, so you don't have to worry about having enough space," said Sirius, giving Fred a suspicious look.

"I'm not saying she's going to stay in my room that you've all got your guards up," said Fred, even though he was grinning. "There are three rooms. And it's not forever; just for as long as she wants to work at the shop."

"You want to work at the shop?" Ginny turned to me, raising a brow.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I asked them and turns out, they've actually been wanting to bring someone to help them around. And seeing as I don't have much money, I thought I would work there until school starts."

"Good for you," Sirius smiled at me, although then it faded when he added, "but you're still not going to stay there."

"She's old enough to decide for herself, now that she doesn't have her parents for that," Fred argued. "She's almost sixteen."

"Well, technically," George started with a grin, "she's actually two years old right now."

Fred turned on his brother sharply with a glare. "Whose side are you on?"