//
Henrietta couldn't stop grinning as she was reunited with her friends and family. After she explained a few things to everyone, Claws kept whining and groaning obnoxiously, while flopping her tail against the ground.
"Is there a problem, Claws?" Henrietta asked teasingly. Claws snorted, causing a small ember to land on the girl's shoulder. She yelped and quickly dusted it off, then glared at the Devil Spawn. "Rude."
Claws didn't seem to care, as they all expected. Instead, the black dragon shot between Henrietta's legs and lifted her off the ground once she was secure on her neck. Henrietta yelped in surprise, although she should be used to it by now.
"I think your dragon wants to go somewhere," Ron snorted.
"Ya think?"
Claws shifted her wings around, contemplating taking off. Henrietta grabbed onto the riding harness in anticipation, but was surprised when the Devil Spawn instead turned and pranced over to Sirius.
Claws purred, nudging into Sirius' cheek. Henrietta snickered, "Aw, you made a friend, Sirius."
The man grinned and patted Claws' head. "Alright, scoot over!" he ordered. He hopped onto the dragon's shoulders, behind Henrietta with a surprising grace and speed.
"Wait, what?" the lavender-haired girl blinked. "You're flying with me?"
"Puh-lease," Sirius huffed. "You should be grateful you're not on a leash."
"Kinky."
Everyone choked on their own breath at the single word that came from Tonks. Henrietta and Sirius laughed the loudest, with matching blushes. Mrs. Weasley gave a tiny shriek while being restrained by her husband and Ron looked horrified. Harry shuddered and Hermione snorted.
Remus chuckled. "You should fly off before Molly attacks Sirius again."
"Good idea." Henrietta turned to glance back at Sirius. "Better hold on, old man. And no puking!"
"Hey, if I can play Quidditch on Harry's Firebolt I think I'm--"
Claws crouched and abruptly kicked off from the ground, causing Sirius to give a startled yelp. Henrietta snickered. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Sirius just flicked her on the side of her head. "Don't worry, my darling Padfoot, we shall go easy on you."
"You better," he grumbled.
The seventeen-year-old leaned down to exchange mischievous expressions with Claws. Suddenly, the Devil Spawn was picking up the pace, moving at a speed faster than a broom but still not her proudest speed.
Sirius' arms tightened around Henrietta, and the girl couldn't help but chuckle. "Problem?"
"No!" Sirius replied a little too quickly.
"How 'bout now?"
"What do yo-- WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
Henrietta leaned forward and pushed down on the harness to signal a dive. Claws agreed and tucked her wings in, diving at a perfect vertical angle towards the ground. Sirius held his breath as they neared the ground, then shut his eyes.
Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...
When he felt Claws even out, he risked opening his eyes again. He was surprised at how swiftly they glided across the landscape, even with no wing movement. Henrietta didn't seem the slightest bit stunned, only disappointed, like she wanted to do more.
"Okay, I give up, I'm never getting on this vomit-inducing dragon ever again," Sirius muttered.
Henrietta laughed. "I knew you'd give in."
//
Later, Henrietta was shown to her old dorm room with Hermione and two other girls. Dumbledore explained he'd get a stable set up for Claws soon and then Henrietta could decide if she wanted to sleep closer to the dragon.
The reunion group dwindled into the people closer to Henrietta. Now they had summoned food to the meeting room and were seated around the table, eating and chatting happily. Sirius' hand curled around Henrietta's under the table while they ate.
"Wait, wait, so you guys got together 'cause of matching Patronuses?" Ron asked as Henrietta, Sirius, and Remus told stories from when she time traveled to the past.
"Yup," Sirius confirmed.
"Actually not just that, but Dad followed me when I ran off and convinced me to give Sirius a chance," Henrietta added.
Sirius spluttered. "Wait, seriously?" She nodded with a smirk. "You mean James, your father, encouraged you to date me, your godfather, even with time travel involved?"
"Yeah," Henrietta laughed.
"Wait a second," Remus spoke up. "Does that mean James knew you were a time traveler all those years?"
"Yup."
"And he never TOLD US?" Sirius groaned. "No wonder he was always bipolar with me holding you as a baby."
"Nope! No, no, no!" Henrietta intervened. "Don't talk about holding me as a baby, that's weird."
"I wonder if Lily knew," Remus mused.
"She did," Dumbledore murmured. "She was quite shocked."
"How come Dumbledore knows this too?!" Sirius huffed.
Ron explained in a 'duh' voice, "He's Dumbledore, he knows everything."
//
Henrietta giggled as she dragged Sirius towards the library. She tried to ignore the looks they received, which mostly focused on Sirius, consisting of fear, distaste, and suspicion.
Sirius grumbled to himself once they reached the library. "Hen, remember when I always said how I'd do anything for you?"
"Yup."
"I change my mind," he huffed. "This is the one thing I wouldn't do. Study." He said the word as though it was an atrocity.
The lavender-haired girl laughed. "C'mon! All you have to do is sit while I work and occasionally ask for help."
"Why didn't you use Remus for this?"
"Because I'm experimenting on how reliable you are with History of Magic," Henrietta replied. "Remus will obviously be good at helping, but if he's not around, then I can always get you."
The man sighed. "Well, shouldn't you know by now that I'm shit when it comes to History of Magic?"
"I was hoping you had improved," the young woman shrugged.
Henrietta was working on History of Magic because she was required to complete assessments to decide what grade she'd be placed in. She hoped she'd be in the same year as her brother and her friends...
Finally, they found a quiet corner and sat down. Henrietta read through several books while Sirius sat there in a state of boredom, glancing around for something to do. Eventually he gave up and turned to his girlfriend -- damn he loved using that word again.
"I'm bored," Sirius declared while the witch traced a line of words on a page within a textbook. When she ignored him, he groaned and tugged her into a hug, causing her to yelp when she was pulled away from her work. "Heeeeen, I'm bored!" he whined.
"You're such a child," she laughed. "What do you suggest we do?"
"I have a few ideas," he responded in a flirty but joking voice.
She rolled her eyes and flicked him on the ear. He cried out and flicked her back. She giggled and stood, dodging his next attack.
It continued for a while, until Sirius had pinned her and was tickling her. Of course the commotion annoyed the librarian, who hurried over and spluttered at the sight.
"What in Merlin's name are you two hooligans doing?!" the librarian exclaimed.
The pair just snickered.
//
"You got kicked out of the library?" Harry repeated slowly. Sirius and Henrietta nodded.
"That's horrible!" Hermione groaned. "For how long? What about--"
Ron interrupted with, "HIGH FIVE!"
//