Dealing with the Fallout

On Boxing Day, the twins, Harry and Draco went with Sirius to Remus's house on the moors, where they spent the day eating leftovers and being regaled by stories of the Marauders' glory days at Hogwarts. Fred and George listened to their idols with rapt attention, and Harry could see their minds working as they drew inspiration from the Marauders to improve their own mischief-making.

On December 27, the Gryffindor Quidditch team assembled at Malfoy Manor for their party. There were mountains of top-notch food and plenty of butterbeer. Sirius, true to his word, brought a bit of firewhisky, though he carefully monitored consumption. There was music and a number of games, and everyone had a marvellous time. Harry, Sirius and the twins did not return to Windermere Court until well after midnight, and so they were quite surprised to find Marius waiting up for them, alongside a witch and wizard with very red hair and stern expressions on their faces.

'FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!' the witch roared as soon as they stepped through the Floo. 'HOW DARE YOU? WHEN I GOT PERCY'S LETTER...'

'Oh, so it was Percy, was it?' Fred said.

'Figures,' George added. 'Perfect prefect Percy.'

Sirius stepped forward. 'You must be Mr and Mrs Weasley,' he said in a friendly tone. 'I'm Sirius Black. Has there been some sort of misunderstanding?'

'I know perfectly well who you are,' Mrs Weasley snapped. 'And what! And if you think I'll let you patch over this with your gold the way you've done everything else, you've got another think coming.'

'Molly, calm down,' Mr Weasley urged quietly. He turned to Sirius. 'You see, Mr Black, we were under the impression that the boys were staying at school for Christmas. When we received a letter from our son informing us that they had gone home to stay with a family we did not know...well, being a parent yourself, I am sure you can understand our concern.'

Sirius gave the twins a wry look. 'You didn't tell your parents you were coming?'

George shrugged. 'Must've slipped our minds.'

Sirius sighed and turned back to the Weasleys. 'I'm very sorry, Mr and Mrs Weasley. When I told my son that he could invite the twins to come here for the holidays, I assumed they had permission. I should have thought you would be happy for them to spend Christmas with friends, rather than alone at Hogwarts.'

'I don't know what Dark schemes you have up your sleeve, Black,' Mrs Weasley hissed, 'but I'll thank you to stay far away from our family. I don't want you turning their heads, poisoning them with your wicked notions.'

'Don't blame my dad!' Harry yelled, jumping to Sirius's defence. 'It's not his fault.'

Sirius put a strong hand on Harry's shoulder. 'Thank you, son, but I'll take care of this,' he said in a low, even voice, a tone that Harry had learnt not to question. He obediently quieted down.

'There's no need for all this bickering,' Marius said with a yawn. 'It's very late. Why don't I have our house-elf prepare a room for you, Mr and Mrs Weasley, and we can all talk this over in the morning?'

'Thank you, Mr Black,' Mrs Weasley replied curtly, 'but we shan't be staying more than a minute.' She turned on the twins. 'Fred! George! Collect your things. We're going home.'

'What?' the twins protested. 'That's not fair!'

Mrs Weasley, however, would not change her mind. The boys trudged sullenly up the stairs to pack. They returned a few minutes later with their trunks and broomsticks.

'Where did you get those new brooms, boys?' Mr Weasley asked curiously.

'A couple of alumni gave new brooms to the Gryffindor team members,' Fred said quickly.

'It was really very generous of them,' George added.

'I see,' Mrs Weasley said quietly. 'Well, you won't be seeing those brooms again until you go back to school.' The furious woman marched her sons right out the front door, leaving an embarrassed Mr Weasley to bid the Blacks good-night. Once all the Weasleys had left, Sirius let out a long breath.

'Thanks for dealing with them, Uncle Marius,' he said. 'I'm sorry we kept you up.'

'Not at all, my boy,' Marius replied sleepily. 'I could have sent them over to Malfoy Manor, of course, when they showed up at eight o'clock, but I hated to interrupt the party. I told them I didn't know where you all had gone.'

Sirius chuckled and clapped the Squib on his shoulder. 'So you sat with them for over four hours? You're a good man, Uncle Marius.' He looked down at Harry and patted him on the shoulder. 'I'm sorry your friends had to leave.'

The boy shrugged sadly. 'They should have known better than to try to trick their mother. She clearly isn't the sort to take this kind of thing lying down.' He sighed. 'Draco will be disappointed. We were all going to play Quidditch tomorrow.'

Sirius grinned. 'Well, Granddad and I shall just have to take the opportunity to crush the both of you, shan't we? I can't wait to show you my new broom.'

.....

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