“She looks nothing like you, you know?” asked Harry, clearly amused.

None of the others reacted to his poorly timed question. They continued to gape at Harry.

“She’s new,” Sirius turned towards Lily and said, “Who is she?”

“Lily Moon, one of our classmates and my girlfriend,” replied Harry, “Lily, this is my godfather, Sirius Black. Yes, that Sirius Black.”

Lily’s eyes widened for a short while before she regained her composure.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr Black,” she said with a smile.

Sirius cocked an eyebrow. “Not even going to be scared? I am a mass murderer, you know? Also, don’t call me Mr Black. I hate that. Just Sirius is fine.”

“Oh please,” she snorted, “after everything the Daily Prophet and the Ministry have put Harry through, I will not believe everything they say. Not to mention, Harry seems to trust you and that is good enough for me.”

“She’s a good one Harry,” Sirius barked out a laugh. “She’s a keeper, this one.”

Lily grinned and wrapped her arm around Harry and said in a teasing tone, “You hear that, Harry? I’m a keeper.”

Lily broke down into giggles.

“Wh-what was that, Harry?” asked Lupin, snapping out of his stupor. Mrs Weasley and Tonks stirred as well, looking towards Harry for answers.

“I have no idea. Remember how I said my eyesight got fixed? Well, that wasn’t all,” said Harry, trying hard to frame his sentences. “Ever since then, I’ve noticed some changes in me. Stuff, I can’t really explain.”

“What changes?” asked Tonks, her eyes sparkling with interest. Hermione, next to her, looked concerned, while Ron seemed even more jealous.

Lily looked concerned. She opened her mouth to speak, but seeing Harry shake his head ever so slightly; she stopped.

“Mainly I can see better, hence no glasses and I can shoot fire out of my hands,” replied Harry. “I did that one by accident a while back, and well, it was kind of fun.”

Lupin looked at Harry seriously, “How long have you had these changes in your body, Harry? What exactly happened? Are you sure it’s nothing bad?”

Harry thought for a moment before replying, “It’s been a couple of days now, a few days before you guys picked me up, I suppose. The day I woke up with my eyesight fixed. Doesn’t seem like anything bad has happened so far, though.”

Harry paused for a moment and then continued, “I can control the flames quite well to be honest, I spent a while practising,” he said and created a ball of fire on his hand and shaped it into different shapes, “It’s really powerful too, you saw with the painting.”

“Why so honest, Harry?” asked Sirius suddenly. “You must have some reason to tell us this, right?”

“Yeah,” admitted Harry. “I just wanted you guys to know that I’m now much stronger than I used to be. I can actually take care of myself now.”

“Just a new trick won’t be enough for you to say that, Harry,” said Mrs Weasley sharply.

Harry shook his head at that. “It’s not just a little trick. Also, it’s not like I’ll try to put myself in danger. Actively, anyway.”

Looking at the unwilling look on Mrs Weasley’s face, Harry said, “I don’t mean that I’ll be throwing myself into danger right at this moment, Mrs Weasley. But I just mean that I would appreciate not being restricted because you guys think I’m still a child.”

“But you are still a child!” exclaimed Mrs Weasley. “You are much too young to be fighting, even if you have some strange powers!”

“He might be young, Molly, but he has gone through as much as most of our order members and more than some,” said Sirius seriously.

“No one’s denying everything he has done. That doesn’t mean it’s okay to throw him into more situations like that!” she yelled back, glaring at Sirius. “As someone with Harry’s best interests at heart-”

“He’s not your son, Molly,” said Sirius quietly.

“He might as well be!” she replied fiercely. “Who else does he have?”

“He’s got me!” yelled back Sirius.

Harry couldn’t help but feel a smile creep onto his face as he watched them quarrel.

Seeing his expression, Tonks asked curiously, “what are you smiling about?”

Harry quickly put a hand on his mouth and replied, “Nothing, really”

Tonks shrugged and returned her attention to the quarrel.

“Fat load of good that did him,” she replied mockingly. “With you sitting in Azkaban and all”

“Now listen here, Molly-” just as he was about to reply, a hand was placed on his shoulder.

“Sirius, Mrs Weasley, I know you both really care about me but there’s no need to quarrel before anything has even happened, is there?” asked Harry. “How about we just go have dinner and then head over to bed. That should help us all clear our heads a little”

Mrs Weasley nodded reluctantly while Sirius just shrugged.

“While we’re at it, could you all keep this a secret between us?” asked Harry. “Not even Dumbledore, please.”

Though they had all nodded, the last part made them all flinch. Seeing this, Harry sighed.

“I know hiding it from Dumbledore would be uncomfortable for you guys, but I’ll tell him when I’m comfortable. When there is actually something substantial to tell,” said Harry. “So please promise me you won’t tell and just wait for me to do it myself.”

“Fine, I don’t have a problem with it,” said Sirius, clearly not very bothered with hiding something from Dumbledore.

“If you say so dear,” sighed Mrs Weasley.

“Haa, make sure you tell him eventually, Harry,” Lupin said, looking a little more ill at ease compared to the rest.

The rest just nodded their heads, while Tonks placed a hand on her chest and spoke cheerfully. “You can count on me, Harry! I’ll take this secret to my grave!”

“No, no, please don’t. I don’t want - a certain someone - to hate me,” said Harry.

Tonks chuckled, “Make sure you keep your promise too.”

“As soon as I can,” replied Harry, and the two walked off towards the kitchen chatting happily, leaving the others behind.

Harry and Tonks made their way into the kitchen, a dark place if ever there was one. Full of pipe smoke and poor lighting, it didn’t hold nearly the appetising appeal one might expect from a kitchen used by Molly Weasley.

Harry could see Mr Weasley and Bill, Ron’s oldest brother, talking amongst themselves, a mess of scrolls of parchment near them. Another man, sitting at the table, was looking around groggily.

Mr Weasley looked up when he heard some footsteps and, seeing Harry, he stood up and approached quickly.

“Harry!” he exclaimed. “It’s great to see you.”

“You too, Mr Weasley,” replied Harry. While Bill tidied up the scrolls on the table as quickly as he could.

“Journey okay, Harry?” asked Bill. “Did Moody try to take you through Greenland?”

“He tried to but luckily we shot him down” laughed Tonks, making her way to the table and helped Bill out.

The two quickly cleared everything up just as the others entered the kitchen.

Harry noticed that Mrs Weasley alone looked a little uncomfortable and the moment she glanced at her husband, she looked even more guilty.

Harry sighed slightly, making his way over to her. “It’s fine to tell Mr Weasley and Bill, Mrs Weasley,” whispered Harry. “It’s not like I want you to keep this a secret forever. It’s only till I get a grip on these changes.”

Mrs Weasley looked at Harry with a complicated expression while he continued to speak. “I feel like, if I can get a grip on these powers, I won’t have anything to be afraid of. Then I don’t really care if this gets out.”

With difficulty, Mrs Weasley nodded. “I really don’t want you to be in danger, dear,” she said. “No matter what, you need to be careful. The people we’re dealing with won’t just come at us from the front. You need to be ready for anything at all, so make sure you rely on us. We’re always there for you,” she said with a smile as she patted Harry on the head.

Out loud, he said, “thanks, Mrs Weasley.”

She nodded her head, and then she headed over to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

“If you all want dinner served soon, then you need to help,” called Mrs Weasley, to the room at large.

“What can I do to help, Molly?” asked Tonks excitedly and rushed towards the kitchen, knocking a chair over.

“Uh, you sit down and rest Tonks, you’ve had a long day,” replied Mrs Weasley in a strained voice.

“No, no, let me help with something at least,” said Tonks, running over to the kitchen.

“You take a seat too, Harry. Lily, dear, could you help me out here?” said Mrs Weasley and busied herself stirring a cauldron.

“Of course, Mrs Weasley!” Lily chirped and bounced over to her.

Sirius soon took a seat next to Harry and introduced him to the other man in the room.

“That’s Mundungus Fletcher, Harry,” said Sirius, loudly enough for Mundungus to hear him, causing him to turn towards them. “The man who was supposed to be watching you,” continued Sirius with a cold bite in his tone.

Mundungus looked visibly uncomfortable as he made his way to Harry. “‘Eya Harry. I ow you a ‘pology,” he said. “Ye see, I ad this business opportunity-” he started, only to be cut off by Sirius.

“Don’t you always, Mundungus?” he asked with narrowed eyes. “Tell me, was the business opportunity worth Harry’s life?”

Mundungus looked around uncomfortably and beat a retreat instead of facing the accusations. “Right Molly, on my way ta ‘elp”

Sirius sighed and placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Forget him. Anyway, it’s good to see you, Harry,” he said with a smile.

“It’s good to see you too, Sirius,” he replied.

The two started talking about random topics after that. How this was Sirius’ childhood home and some information about his family.

Harry soon got to the crux of the information he wanted. “What’s the news about Voldemort, Sirius?” he asked siriusly.