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Is it wrong to stun your child? Sirius wondered as he crouched on the floor of his five year old daughter's bedroom. He was poised, ready to attack the minute the opportunity struck. He had the pale green dress Walburga had given Flora for Christmas clutched in one hand and the other was itching to reach for his wand and send a stunner under the bed. Under the bed was Flora's favourite hiding place at the moment, and this morning she had set up camp. He could hear her giggling madly and had already learned the more he chased her the faster she would scamper away, so he sat waiting for her five year old attention span to win out and send her crawling out from under the bed to find out why he had given up.
Not that he blamed his daughter for trying to delay their leaving the house, it was Sunday morning, muggles might whinge about having to go to church but Sirius felt that the small family Black was much harder done by because Sunday meant lunch with Walburga and Pollux. His and Hermione's changing of the timeline had done so much good for the world, but unfortunately for Sirius he had inadvertently given his mother a reason to live. Hermione had told him that Walburga had died in '85 in her time, it was now 1988 and he still wasn't an orphan- much to his disappointment.
He chanced a look under the bed, wondering if an appropriate amount of time had passed for bribery to be acceptable, all he could see was his daughter's naked bottom and one socked foot, he sighed, he had thought he was making progress – socks and knickers on, just the dress and shoes to go. Hermione was in the shower and had allocated Sirius the seemingly simple job of dressing their daughter. Well, it turned out his daughter was an aspiring nudist. He heard the water of the shower being shut off down the hall and realised that both he and his naked child would be punished if Hermione had to step in, 'Flora?' Sirius said, 'you need to come and get dressed otherwise you can't come to visit Harry after lunch.'
There was silence and Sirius pushed on, 'Aunty Lily is making macaroons,' he added.
The affect was immediate, there was a shuffling and then the curly black haired head of his daughter poked out from her hiding place, she pushed her mad hair out of her face and grinned up at him 'Orange ones?' she asked hopefully.
'Probably,' Sirius said, 'since you're apparently more important than me now.' Flora just gave him a confused look and then climbed out from under the bed.
'Okay,' she said and she stood up and put her hands in the air, waiting for him to put the dress on, he had to restrain a chuckle at the sight of her standing completely nude except for one sock, looking impatiently at him as though it was his fault she wasn't dressed yet.
Thankfully Sirius had managed to get Flora re-knickered, both socks and shoes on and the dress buttoned up in time to deliver her to Hermione for the second war of the morning – hair taming. He had got in the shower to avoid that battle and half an hour later the three of them were standing on the front step of number 12 Grimmauld Place.
'Welcome, Master Sirius,' Kreacher said as he opened the door, 'Mistress Hermione,' he added with a nod and before the elf could acknowledge her, Flora said brightly, 'Good morning Kreacher.'
'Good morning Miss Flora,' Kreacher replied, and Sirius was amazed as he always was at the friendly tone in the elf's voice when he spoke to the youngest Black. Kreacher led the way up the main staircase to the first floor, 'Mistress, Master Sirius has arrived,' he said showing them into the drawing room. The long room looked the same as ever, the dark wood panelling only made less imposing by the light that flooded in from the large sash windows that faced the grassy square outside.
Walburga sat, as usual, in her customary winged armchair, her hair was pulled back from her face and her silver ringed hands were folded elegantly in her lap, 'Sirius, Hermione,' She said pleasantly as they took seats, 'how are you this week?'
'Well, thank you Mrs Black,' Hermione said.
'Good morning Granny Wally!' Flora sang happily, darting up to Walburga, 'look I've been practicing!' and an expression of great concentration came over her little face as she placed her right foot behind her left, held the sides of her dress in each hand and bent her knees in a surprisingly graceful courtesy.
'A marked improvement my dear,' Walburga said, Sirius raised his eyebrows at Hermione, his mother was teaching their daughter to courtesy? This was the first he'd heard of it. Hermione just looked on bemused as Walburga said, 'Now, you want to hold your skirt with only finger and thumb, not in a fist because you will crease the fabric, and proper ladies do not have creased skirts.' Flora frowned at the wrinkled places her hands had been and then pinched the material of her dress and repeated the action. 'Very nice,' Walburga nodded smiling at her granddaughter. Flora beamed at the praise.
Kreacher was pouring tea at the side table and asked, 'Miss Flora, would you like a glass of milk?'
'Yes please,' she said with an eager bob of her head, then she looked at Walburga and her smile broadened. Kreacher finished pouring the milk and Flora daintily held her skirt between forefinger and thumb and dipped her knees in a perfect little courtesy as she said, 'Thank you, Kreacher.'
The elf nearly dropped her glass in shock and Walburga drew in a sharp breath, Sirius and Hermione both held in a chortle at the horrified look on Walburga's face. To her credit she didn't sound angry as she said, 'Flora, we do not bow to house elves to show thanks. It is his job to serve you, you insult him by doing that.'
'Oh,' Flora said looking confused and a bit upset, she took several steps closer to the elf who was watching her warily, 'I'm so sorry Kreacher,' she said solemnly 'I didn't mean to hurt your feelings,' and she hugged him briefly.
Kreacher 's eyes were so wide Sirius thought they might burst from his head, when Flora released him the elf stumbled back looking panicked, 'I w-will – ' he stuttered, 'I will return when lunch is ready.' and with a crack he was gone.
Flora turned to her grandmother, 'Granny, is Kreacher angry with me?'
Walburga's lips were thin and white, she was obviously trying very hard to rein in her temper, 'Kreacher is fine,' she said shortly, 'and do not worry, it is not your fault you are your mothers daughter.' Flora looked at her mother, her bottom lip wobbling, Sirius could tell that Hermione wasn't the least bit offended by this statement but he thought it best to avoid further discussion.
'Flora, why don't you go and find Granddad? He's probably in the library.' She turned her wide eyes from him to Hermione and chanced a glance at Walburga, 'Go on,' Sirius encouraged 'he will probably have sweets up there.' This seemed to sell her and she left the room quickly. The minute she was out of sight Sirius burst into laughter and was not surprised to see Hermione doing the same, the look on the elf's face was one of the funniest things Sirius had ever seen.
'She will never learn to deport herself properly if you encourage such crass behaviour,' Walburga said haughtily.
'I didn't realise making an apology was c – crass,' Hermione said with a slight hiccough as she tried to regain her composure.
'To a house-elf? I know you have very skewed opinions on their lifestyle but we must draw the line somewhere!'
'Mother,' Sirius said, 'come now, she's just a kid, she'd probably hug a snake if we told he she hurt its feelings,' he thought for a moment, 'In fact she definitely would. Weird kid hugs everything.'
Walburga exhaled heavily through her nose and seemed to think it wise to change the subject because she said, 'You'll never guess who I had the good fortune to meet at tea last week.'
Sirius resisted rolling his eyes, he really couldn't give a toss who was at tea, 'Who?'
'Mrs Maynard, she was very pleased to see me, asked about Flora.' She said with a significant look.
'Mrs Maynard? … Oh no, good merlin Mother you better not have said anything to her!' Hermione looked at him, 'Mrs Maynard was mine and Regulus's tutor until we were eight and began Hogwarts preparation, and she was a nasty old bint.' He explained with a grimace.
'Sirius!' Hermione admonished, possibly just out of habit, because if she knew Mrs Maynard she would know that 'that nasty old bint' was a rather flattering description.
'What? It's true,' he insisted with a shrug.
'Don't you think Flora would benefit from some more formal education Hermione?' Walburga said ignoring her son, 'I know you value intelligence.'
'We are perfectly happy with her learning with Harry and Neville at the Weasley's, she is progressing well.' Hermione said pleasantly.
Walburga's lip curled in distaste, 'Yes, but there are so many children there, don't you want her to have proper attention?'
'There are only eight,' Hermione said failing to keep the slight note of exasperation out of her voice, 'and Alice and Augusta keep them in line, you're not suggesting that Mrs Longbottom is unsuitable? I thought you and Augusta were old friends.' His mother's mouth twisted with frustration, knowing she had been bested, and Hermione continued, 'I think it best for her to learn to interact properly with other children, she is very bright and already knows it, the older kids keep her humble. Besides, if you think formal education is best perhaps I should start looking the local primary schools.' Sirius buried his face in his tea cup to hide his smirk, Walburga's face had gone from irritated to complete disbelief at Hermione's words.
'Local? As in –,' she swallowed, 'As in muggle?'
'Indeed Mrs Black, it is highly fashionable at the moment to send your children to muggle school as I'm sure you know, I do see the merits, being comfortable in the muggle world is becoming increasing important.' Hermione said sweetly.
Sirius could see his mother struggling to overcome the horror, for a moment he wondered if she might pass out, but to his disappointment she just said, 'Yes, but she is happy with the Weasley's, why change was is already working?'
'A good point,' Hermione agreed. Sirius had cramp in his cheeks and an odd twitch in his eye from restraining his laughter, he didn't think he would ever get sick of watching his wife argue with his mother, Remus and James both said he had an unnatural enjoyment for it, Sirius thought they might have a point as Hermione caught his eye and smirked wickedly at him.
Any further examination of this mental issue was forestalled by a high pitched chant of 'Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!' that ascended in volume as it drew closer. Then, in a blur of green Christmas dress and black bouncing mop, Flora re-entered the room at top speed hauling herself onto the couch and clambering across her father to slot herself into the not really big enough gap between her parents.
Sirius was still wincing at the pain of bony little girl knees making contact with his lap when Hermione asked, 'What are you hiding from sweetheart?' Because Flora was certainly hiding, peeking out from behind Sirius's elbow she whispered in pale faced terror 'The white bishop.'
Sirius's grandfather Pollux entered the drawing room as she spoke and he looked a little sheepish as his eyes fell on the cowering Flora, 'Mr Black,' Hermione said, 'I thought we agreed you would keep a silencing charm your chess set when Flora was in the room. Although,' she looked at her daughter, 'it's not like you to be afraid of some bad words Flora, it's just a toy after all.'
'He said that if I touched him with my sticky pilfering fingers he and his army would wait til I was asleep and take each one!' she exclaimed looking distraught.
'Each one of what?' Sirius asked.
Flora held out her hands and wiggled her fingers in his direction, 'He can't, right Daddy? I need my fingers, even if they are pil-fer-ing,' she enunciated carefully examining her hands.
'He can't leave the chess board,' Hermione said, hiding a smile, 'or take your fingers. He must just be grumpy about something.'
'You could say that,' Pollux put in, having taken a seat in the arm chair next to the tea tray and helping himself, 'I'm afraid your godfather is to blame for the bishop's tetchy mood Flora.'
Sirius held in a smirk as his daughter gave what could only be described as a disbelieving huff. 'Moony wouldn't make anyone that grumpy,' she said decisively. 'He's nice to everyone, even Percy.' She added as though this was impossible.
Pollux looked confused but didn't ask, 'He wasn't mean to the bishop my dear, he just beat me at chess yesterday and the white pieces aren't used to that.'
'Oh,' Flora said, previous annoyance vanishing as she said thoughtfully, 'he does win at chess a lot, I'm not surprised he's better than you Granddad.'
'Yes well,' Pollux looked quite disgruntled and Sirius grinned. Pollux and Remus had developed an odd almost friendship since the end of the war, or really since Remus began to make an impression on important members of the Ministry. Pollux – the eternal Slytherin – had decided that it was for "the good of the family" to make a cordial alliance with the werewolf that defeated the Dark Lord. Sirius had pointed out that as Remus was the godfather of his great-granddaughter and his grandson's best friend, a rather strong alliance was already in place. Pollux had ignored this and for the last three years he and Remus had exchanged opinions via owl and Pollux had supported – with gold and influence – several of Remus's education proposals to the Ministry.
Remus was no longer a Ministry employee, he now spent his time as a sort of motivational speaker, even though he hated it when Sirius would call him that. Remus travelled around Europe speaking at conferences about how education killed Voldemort, how without his schooling Remus would have been just another un-employable werewolf and Britain would still be at war. He still seemed to find it strange that people would want to listen to him and uneasy about taking all the credit but Hermione insisted and it really was impressive that it was being talked about at all.
Sirius had not been aware that Remus's friendship with Pollux had progressed to chess in the library at Grimmauld Place however. 'Remus was here yesterday?' Sirius asked.
'Yes, and I wish he hadn't been,' Pollux said, 'cocky bast-' he cut off with a glance at Flora, 'Well let's just say he's a devil at chess.'
'Is it true he's dating one of your cousins Hermione?' Walburga asked and Sirius pinched his thigh to make sure that he was in fact awake, were they really discussing Remus like he was an acceptable member of society? How dare his mother act like a human, It was very off putting.
'Yes,' Hermione said, 'Falco's daughter Freya, she showed him around Zurich last year when he was visiting my mother for work, he seems to find a reason to stop in there every time he's in Europe now.'
Walburga just smiled and Sirius was pleased that she was obviously just being polite and looking for gossip to share at the next high tea, not actually taking an interest in the affairs of a werewolf. The world still had some semblance of order.
Remus wouldn't actually admit to any of them that he and Freya were anything more than friends but Frederica constantly insinuated that she had reason to believe otherwise, and to both Hermione and Sirius's amusement she seemed a little disappointed that he was off the market – something that Sirius could not get enough of teasing Remus about. 'So you won't be inviting him back then Granddad?' Sirius asked.
'Of course I will, I need to prove to him that it was just beginners luck,' Pollux said sounding very nearly petulant.
They were interrupted by the crack of Kreacher apparating next to the tea table, 'Lunch is served,' he said with a hesitant glance at Flora before he disappeared again.
Sirius followed is Mother and Grandfather from the drawing room, Hermione and Flora trailed behind him. As they descended the stairs he heard his daughter ask, 'Do you think Kreacher's angry with me Mummy?'
Sirius grinned, glad that Hermione was fielding this question, 'No sweetheart,' she said, 'Kreacher is confused. He doesn't know what to do – he will be happy if you are happy.'
'Okay,' Flora said, hanging on to her mother's hand and jumping down each stair, 'I will tell him I'm happy that he is my friend.'
'Perhaps you could just tell him you like the lunch he has made,' Hermione suggested, and Sirius looked back at her, he could tell she was struggling not to give her real opinion on the matter.
Flora nodded to herself as she took the last two stairs in one jump and let go of Hermione's hand to run into the dining room. Sirius wound his arm around Hermione's waist and kissed her cheek before saying quietly, 'Do you think Mother or Kreacher will faint first when Flora calls Kreacher her friend?'
'I don't know,' Hermione giggled, leaning against him, 'as long as she doesn't ask him to come over to the house to play I think it will be alright.' At her words an image of the bloodshot-eyed and saggy-skinned elf bedecked in Flora's dress-up jewellery – all of which was the primary coloured plastic variety – popped into his head and Sirius was still laughing as they entered the dining room. Maybe Sunday lunch wasn't so bad after all.