The Wolf and the Raven

Ch 18 - Play Day

The friends drifted up slowly from their sleep the next morning. Peter tugged the comforter on to his side of the bed, leaving Remus exposed on the other end. He woke at the sudden loss of warmth. When he looked down the bed, he found Branwen sprawled out, one arm resting over his own chest and a leg tossed over James, who was snoring loudly. Then a woman's deep ringing voice resounded up the staircase and Sirius bolted upright. "My mum!"

They all tumbled out of bed as quickly as possible, making a tremendous rumble, especially as Peter thrashed about, trying to untangle himself from the blanket. They ran to the upstairs landing and leaned as far forward as they dared to catch the conversation below.

"Ah, Walburga," Fleamont's smooth voice could be heard greeting his guest, "to what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I've no time for niceties, Potter. Where is my son?"

"Which one?"

"You know which one. Sirius was not in his room this morning, nor anywhere else in the house. I know all about his misguided infatuation with your son, and I know that James aided him in sneaking out of the house last night. I'm sure that the two of them are here right now, under your very noses. "

"It's true that James has a few schoolmates over, but I can assure you that Sirius is not among them."

"Then call the children down here. Question them Search his room."

Euphemia must have joined her husband at some point, because she spoke up, full of indignation. "This has gone far enough, Walburga. We will not subject our children to a, a criminal interrogation simply because of your suspicious mind."

There was a moment's silence when it seemed everyone in the house was holding their breath. Then Mrs. Black spoke in a whisper that only just carried up to strained ears waiting at the top of the stairs. "I swear, Potter, that if my son is found to be in your house, it will not go well for you. I will see to it that those two will never lay eyes on one another again. I have connections at Hogwarts, you know. If I need to, I will remove my son into the respectable House he should have been in to begin with. He'll receive the proper company there and no longer have to associate with traitors and....mudbloods."

Mrs. Black's voice may have been quiet, but Fleamont's roared out. "Get out of my house, Walburga! This instance. And if I catch you around here, or any where near my children again, the Ministry will hear about your little visit. I'm sure they'd be very interested to know about your supposed manipulation of the Sorting process at Hogwarts. Do not think that I am above dragging you and your entire family name through a very messy and very public scandal."

The door slammed shut.

Fleamont and Euphemia could be heard conversing quietly, but the sound faded as the friends raced back to James' room. There was silence while they tried to avoid Sirius' eye. Finally, Peter whispered, "Your dad is awesome, James."

They all chuckled, even Sirius, though he was still trembling from both fear and anger. "Well," he smiled ruefully, "I guess I'll be going back home."

"No way," James grabbed his arm. "We didn't go through all that trouble just so you can leave so soon. Look, the rest of us will go downstairs and bring you up some breakfast. I'm sure we can avoid my parents for the rest of the day. You missed the grand tour yesterday. There are tons of places to hide in this house."

Sirius nodded. "All right."

Branwen hurried back to her room to dress for the day while the boys did the same before heading downstairs.

"Good morning, boys, Bran," Fleamont was seated at the breakfast table, perusing the Daily Prophet. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, sir," James reached for the toast. He took one slice for his plate, then slipped another into a napkin on his lap.