Chapter - 79 : Aerial Duels and Family Feuds part - 3

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"Wakey wakey, Mr Black!"

Sirius blearily opened his eyes, only to let out a startled yelp at the sight of Dobby hovering over him, so close their noses were almost touching.

"Would you stop doing that!" Sirius struggled with his bed covers until he was in a sitting position. "It's creepy!" He clutched a hand to his chest as he waited for his heart rate to slow down. Waking up with Dobby's bulbous green eyes peering down at him gave him a nasty shock every time - one the elf seemed to delight in inflicting.

Sirius wondered whether his day could get any worse. He was already going to have to deal with his grandmother Melania, who'd sent him a summons to tea at Black Manor for that afternoon, not giving him the option of refusing. He could have done without also being the focus of his House-Elf's ideas of entertainment.

At this thought Sirius glared over at where Dobby now stood in the open doorway, wearing a fluffy red jumper, a tartan kilt, and a pair of large oven mitts.

"Dobby is only making sure Mr Black isn't being late for his work," Dobby said, the look of innocence on his pointed face not fooling Sirius for a second.

"Fine, whatever." Sirius sighed and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He didn't bother ordering him to stop - he didn't want to be treated to yet another lecture on how 'Dobby is a free elf!'

At least Dobby refrained from giving him such a wake-up call whenever Hestia Jones was around. The witch already had Sirius' nightmares to contend with and Sirius didn't want to add a demented house-elf on top of that - he very much doubted their casual relationship would stand the strain.

Although Sirius had to admit that Dobby's method of waking him up was certainly effective. The adrenalin rush shook off any drowsiness, letting Sirius turn up to work feeling wide awake, though annoyed. That morning Sirius flooed to the Ministry with several minutes to spare, giving him time to hang back from entering an elevator with Dolores Umbridge - Sirius' hatred for that witch had only risen after listening to Orion's stories - and instead wait for one with more pleasant occupants.

Sirius smiled in relief as the elevator doors slid open to reveal a green-haired Nymphadora Tonks. "Morning, Dora," he greeted her as he stepped inside.

His insanely cheerful relative grinned back at him. "Wotcher, Uncle Sirius! Guess what? Auror Kingsley said I could shadow him on his Knockturn Alley patrol tonight!"

"That's great," Sirius said, pushing the button for second floor.

Tonks almost fell over as the elevator began to move. "Yep! And I've already asked Auror Moody and he said it's okay."

"Did he?"

"Well, what he really said was to not drop my wand like I did last time, and to remember Constant Vigilance!"

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, I heard about that wand incident."

Tonks blushed and tried to turn the subject away from her clumsiness. "How come you never let me join you on your Auror patrols, Uncle Sirius?"

"I asked you to investigate the Defence Professor, didn't I? I'm sure that'll teach you vital researching skills. Speaking of which, have you found anything?"

"Only a report on Footswitch being fined for Apparating without a license back when he was a teenager. The man's extremely law-abiding." Tonks sounded as if she disapproved of such dull behaviour. "He's a Ravenclaw from a minor pureblood family - nothing special, really."

Sirius frowned. "Damn. I promised Orion I'd look into getting him fired, but if I've got no grounds to make a complaint..."

"I couldn't find anything, sorry," Tonks said. "Footswitch hates muggles, but that's not actually a crime, is it?"

"No, but teaching those views to innocent schoolchildren should be." Sirius felt there were enough muggle haters around as it was - no need to encourage such extremism.

Tonks shrugged. "He'll be gone within a year. No Defence teacher's ever lasted longer."

"A man like that could do a lot of damage in a year," Sirius said grimly as the elevator lurched to a halt. "Well, this is our stop. Time to get to work, I suppose."

They both stepped out into the crowded bustle of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and made their way past Amelia Bones' office until they reached the Auror Headquarters. There were several Aurors sitting slumped at their desks - no doubt at the end of their night shifts - while more awake-looking wizards were clustered around a large wooden board with the day's cases tacked on it.

"Oi! Trainee!" Scrimgeour called out. "Go get me coffee!"

Tonks muttered insulting epithets under her breath, but nevertheless made her way towards the break room. Sirius smirked to himself as he joined his fellow Aurors. He remembered his own time as a Trainee and was extremely that glad those days were long behind him.

"Morning, Sirius," Frank Longbottom greeted him. "How're things? Heard from your son Orion at all?"

"Yeah, got a letter from him just yesterday," Sirius said. "Why?"

Frank shrugged. "Oh, no reason really. I've heard good things about the boy. You must be proud."

"I am," Sirius said. "It was hard sending him off to Hogwarts, but I'm glad he's doing all right. You must have felt the same with Neville, eh?"

"Neville..." Frank sighed exasperatedly. "Honestly, I was just relieved he got in. He never showed so much as a single spark of magic growing up. I did my best to force some accidental magic out the boy, but nothing worked. Uncle Algie was all for sending him to a muggle orphanage - kinder for a Squib to grow up amongst his own kind, you know - but I couldn't do it. He's all I have left of Alice. Though Merlin knows Alice and I were no slouches at magic."

"I'm sure Neville's just a slow developer," Sirius said, made uneasy by Frank's scornful tone. "By the sound of Orion's letters, he spends quite a bit of time with your son and thinks he shows a lot of potential."

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