Window into the Past

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Tia stuck her wand out to summon the Knight Bus to take us back home. "So, did you extend the invitation?" she asked me.

"I did," I told her. "Thanks for inviting Dad too."

"No problem, I'm getting the tickets later during the week," Tia informed me.

Tia helped me load my stuff off the bus and we lugged it down the street. We walked for a good twenty minutes until we were outside of our home and we made it in front of a mass of huge bushes with roses.

"Home again," I murmured as we walked on the path. "What in Merlin's beard is that?" Tia pointed at the garden.

"It's a Hippogriff," I told her. "Why would there be one here?" she frowned. I smirked. Sirius was here. The two of us headed towards the door. "Remind me to feed him," Tia muttered. She unlocked the door and the two of us went in. I put my stuff in the hallway. "Miss Tatiana, there's a man in the house," Angie told her.

"A man?" Tia frowned, rushing into the huge living room. I followed her as she let out a yelp of surprise. "JESUS CHRIST! GIVE ME A WARNING!"

"Does Miss Tatiana know the strange man, Miss Joy?" Angie asked me. She walked up to Sirius and suddenly smacked him across the face.

"Yes," I told Angie. "You..IDIOT!" she lost her marbles. "You could have been seen! The Ministry might know you're here!"

"Tia, calm down," I said. She gaped at me. "You know this man?"

"Sirius Black," I told her. "He knows me too."

"Me and Joy are quite close TT," Sirius told her, rubbing the part of his face where he was smacked. "Remus might have left that bit out."

"I was expecting a notice, not a Hippogriff in my garden," she grumbled. "You've grown," Sirius noted. "I remember clear as day when I dropped you off to your fourth year on the Hogwarts Express."

"Well, that's what time does, Black," she muttered. I tried to suppress my laughter once I remember Tia telling me she had a crush on Sirius when she was younger. "Telling me that I'm old?"

"Quite the contrary," he said. "I was merely pointing out what an incredibly stunning woman you turned out to be."

Tia turned red at that statement, maybe that crush wasn't in the past tense.

My jaw dropped as Sirius shamelessly flirted with her. "Well, you're not so bad yourself...after Azkaban...I mean," she gulped. "Why, thank you," he smiled at her, inching a little closer to her. "I never thanked you for visiting me all those years ago...."

He held her hand and I pretended to gag.

"GROSS! CHILDREN PRESENT!" I interrupted their moment.

Tia pulled away from Sirius, sighing and shaking her head.

"Angie, can you help Joy bring her things upstairs?" Tia finally spoke. "Yes, miss," Angie nodded and the two of us left Tia and Sirius. "Use protection!" I shouted down the stairs, teasing them.

"You're grounded!" Sirius shouted back.

Angie used a hovering charm on my belongings to bring them upstairs.

We walked into my bedroom where the trunks were carefully placed down. I let Biscuit out of his cage so he could fly around a bit. "Would you like me to unpack your things?" Angie asked me. "No thank you, Angie," I said.

Pip was asleep on my bed but woke up at Biscuit's screeching. "Hi boy!" I sat on the bed and he leapt on top of me.

***

I had my headphones on as I listened to this Muggle band called the Beatles, I was reading the last book of the series that Tia had gotten me. I took the Marauder's Map out of my bag and set it down on my bedside table. Pip had his head on my lap.

I heard a knock on my door. "Come in!"

Sirius stepped into my bedroom. He was a lot cleaner, his hair tied up in a man-bun, clean shaven but still had stubble, wearing black jeans, boots and a shirt with the top two buttons undone. Pip began barking at him. "Hush," I scolded him. "So this is where Joanna Hope Jones grew up," he muttered. "I remember this place, last time I was here was back in the spring of 81."

He sat on my bed, trying to get Pip to come over to him. Pip reluctantly went over to him and gave him a small lick. "Thought I'd come and check up on you."

"I'm okay, after the full moon," I reassured him.

"I meant about everything you heard the other night," he muttered. "About your mother."

I sighed and bit my lip. "I mean, it makes more sense now," I admitted. "But from what I heard, he really wanted her quiet, meaning it must have been something huge she had found."

Sirius looked down a little and focused his gaze elsewhere.

"Is that the map?"

He picked it up off the bedside table. "Dad gave it to me," I told him. "How is he?" he asked me. "He had to quit," I told him, sadly. "It's all Snape's fault."

"Snivellus," Sirius grumbled under his breath. "Did he say anything about you?"

I shook my head. "He wanted to but Dumbledore would probably sack him if he did."

"Fingers crossed," Sirius smirked. "So, when is Moony coming?"

"Saturday, I think," I mumbled. "Haven't heard from him yet."

Sirius was having a look around my room and looked at the pictures on the wall and picked one up. "When was this?"

"Oh, Tia took me to Disney World for my tenth birthday," I told him. "That's Minnie Mouse ears I'm wearing."

"It's not moving, the photograph," he frowned. "Yeah, it was a Muggle camera that was used," I told him. I pointed at some of the moving ones. "That's when we got Pip, a little companion for us. This is us when I got my letter to Hogwarts. This was my first Christmas here, Tia and I making Christmas cookies together."

Sirius smiled the photograph, at me throwing flour at poor Tia.

"SIRIUS! JOY! DINNER!" Tia yelled. Pip leapt up and ran down the stairs.

***

We had a nice dinner together, Tia and Angie made spaghetti and meatballs. Sirius looked happier than he's ever been. Later that night, I sat on my window sill, watching the moon rise and the stars shine.

I turned off the light and crawled into bed but I couldn't get to sleep at all. I got out of bed and crept down the stairs and into the kitchen.

I opened the fridge to look for some chocolate. I took a bar from the shelf and I warmed up some milk, melting the chocolate into it. I dropped in a few marshmallows and sprayed on some cream and sat down at the counter.

Once I took a gulp, I felt a blob of cream resting on my nose. I stuck out my tongue as the cream fell.

I had a small smirk on my face as I took another gulp. I thought about Mum, about her top secret mission back in the war. She never got to finish it.

It didn't matter. You Know Who is gone, he's not going to come back.