SHORTLY AFTER SIRIUS AWOKE, he was summoned by his mother to speak. Walburga was no longer downstairs in the kitchen, but back in her room, tucked away in her bed. At first, Sirius felt like he couldn't be bothered to talk to her, mainly because he didn't think it was going to make much of a difference. His mother was standing on Death's doorstep and was making no effort to change her ways, or even, at the very least, acknowledge her mistakes. However, it was Charlus that encouraged him to talk to her one more time.

Sirius didn't dare argue with him, it wasn't worth it. Charlus was under enough stress as it already were and he didn't want to make a scene as Harry woke up and asked for some breakfast. Taking a deep breath, Sirius shot Charlus a look that could only be read as "you're lucky I love you" before heading upstairs to face his mother once more.

Before he could even approach the door to her room, he could feel his body tense. A conditioned reaction from his childhood whenever he heard his mother screech his name before a scolding. It was like being twelve years old again, his mind buzzing with the many 'what ifs' and how he would choose to respond. In his younger years, he often just stood there and allowed his parents to yell at him. Sometimes he would cry and they would tell him to stop before they gave him reason to. As he got older, the confidence that radiated off of James found its way into Sirius' voice, and he didn't hold back.

Arguing didn't make things easier in the household, but at the end of the day, it left Sirius feeling better because he wasn't holding everything inside anymore.

Opening the door, Sirius was already on the defence, preparing for whatever Walburga would choose to spit at him. But as he opened the door, Walburga didn't speak right away, the room remained silent with the exception of the raspy sounds of her breathing. It left him feeling uneasy as he approached her bed, it seemed she was closer to death than he originally anticipated.

"Sirius," Walburga's hand started to move around, reaching for him aimlessly as her eyes remained closed, " Sirius?"

Suddenly, the waves of anger that normally took hold of his body around her, vanished. He reached out and grabbed her hand before sitting beside on the bed. Her hand felt like ice in his, the skin around her bones, practically paper thin.

"It's me, I'm here."

She let out a long sigh before he felt the slightest squeeze of her hand. " Was I a good mother to you, Sirius?"

The question caught him off guard, for sure, but even if she was approaching her final moments, Sirius couldn't bring himself to lie to her.

"No."

"Do you remember any of the good memories?"

"I remember some of them, yes, " he answered, " but the bad ones outweigh them by far. You know that as well as I do. You remember the good ones, but I know  you have to remember the bad ones. Why bother asking?"

She didn't answer him and for a second when he didn't hear her rapid breathing, Sirius thought it was the end. But then she let out a weak cough and her eyes fluttered a bit.

"Do you want to know what my last good memory with you is?" Sirius asked her lightly. "It was right before I started at Hogwarts, when you, Father, and Regulus went to drop me off at King's Cross Station. You looked so proud walking through the train station, before we left, you damn near told everyone that I was starting up at Hogwarts. You held my hand through the barrier and you told me I was going to have a wonderful year. That's my last good memory with you because after that, I was sorted into Gryffindor, and you never looked at me the same again."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I know! I'm the big family disa-....what? What did you say?"

Walburga finally managed to open her eyes and look directly at him. The corners of her lips pulled into the slightest of smiles as she met his gaze.

"I said I'm sorry. I should have been a better mother to you, to your brother Regulus as well. I should have supported you no matter the House you were sorted into. I should have done more. But I didn't. Instead, I treated you horribly, foolishly thinking that one day you would snap out of whatever phase you were going through. It didn't work. I supported your brother's ambitions and look where that got him. Your father died of a broken heart and I blame myself for it all. I kept thinking that when I die, I would see your brother and father again, maybe even you when the time came. But the more I think about how things left off on in this world, why would they ever want to see my face again?"

Sirius could already feel the lump in his throat developing, his body and emotions betraying him in the worst way possible. He didn't want to feel sorry for her, just because she was dying, it didn't mean it was going to erase years of damage. He wasn't ready to forgive her for the things she had said and done to him.

"I just want to make sure that before I leave this world that you're happy now, Sirius," Walburga continued. "You have a husband that adores you, friends that are willing to look after you, and Harry, who's going to need you, especially after the hell he's been through. Tell me, tell me that you're happy."

And just like before on the stairs, Sirius felt like he was twelve years old again as he leaned in and rested his head on her chest. He hid his face from hers, not willing to cry in front of her.

"I am happy."

"I wish you all the best in the world, my darling boy." With what felt like her last bit of strength, Walburga wrapped her arms around Sirius and held him close, thinking back to her most cherished memory with him.

The day Sirius was born.

When Sirius returned downstairs, Charlus was busy making a grand old breakfast for everyone. It seemed Harry had already fixed himself a plate before everything was finished and judging by the way he ate, he was quite hungry. Sirius took a seat next to him, glancing around the table. Maeve and Remus were occupied with some conversation, probably not even noticing that he had entered the room at some point. And Lyall was standing next to Charlus, watching over his shoulder as he cooked.

"You remind me of my wife," Lyall chuckled once Charlus looked over at him, " I always offered to cook with magic to make her life easier, but she absolutely refused."

"Magic ruins the flavour," Charlus told him as he touched his index finger to his chin and swiped it down.

Before Lyall could argue the nonsensical theory, Charlus turned to Sirius. Nothing needed to be said, Charlus' expression already asked Sirius "if he was alright?" and Sirius nodded his head, reassuring him with a smile.

Once confirmed, Charlus handed over the cooking to be finished by Lyall before walking over and kissing the top of Sirius' head before leaving the room. Flattered but confused, Sirius leaned over in his chair to watch as Charlus headed upstairs. Since everyone but Kreacher and Walburga were in the kitchen, why did he feel the need to go up there?

Sirius stood up in curiosity, but before anything else could happen, a fire erupted from the stove area.

"Whoa! A fire!" Harry exclaimed excitedly.

"I'm beginning to think your mother didn't like my cooking very much, because even with magic, I can't cook very well!" Lyall called out.

The conversation between Maeve and Remus ended abruptly as the flames grew bigger with every passing second. Every adult scrambled to grab their wands to put out the fire, meanwhile, Harry looked beyond amused rather than fearful. At the very same time, all the adults cast the same spell to extinguish the flames, leaving only a trail of smoke in its wake.

"Dad!"

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Sirius caught Charlus putting on a coat as if he were about to head out somewhere. He nearly spit out his own drink, just wondering where his husband thought he was going when they were due to show up to court soon to gain guardianship over Harry. He hurried out of the kitchen and approached Charlus, ready to scold him with speech and sign if needed.

"Charlus," Sirius grabbed the back of his coat and held him in place, "just where do you think you're going? Do you remember what we have to do today? Something very important! What could possibly be so important right now that you're leaving-"

"Sirius," Charlus held his hand up, "relax, please. I need to go set up a distraction before we go to court."

"A distraction? Charlus, do you honestly believe that Dumbledore or Fudge are going to try and pull something now? They'll be facing Wizengamot while we sign the papers, there is nothing they can do. They will be occupied, what more of a distraction do you need?"

"I just have to be sure, Sirius. I'm not going to let anything get in the way of this happy ending. I'll feel better knowing I did everything I could. Now, I'm going to go, alright? While you're at it, I need you to go upstairs and check on your mother. She was having a coughing fit earlier, I don't think there's much time left. I think she wants you there to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"Goodbye."

Once again, Sirius didn't get a chance to argue as Charlus took the opportunity to leave without another word. Letting out a frustrated growl, he had to keep telling himself that Charlus meant well and once everything was over,  there would be no more need for all the back and forth. Meanwhile, Charlus had told him prior to leaving that Walburga was not looking food upstairs. Perhaps it was another false alarm, but Sirius felt the need to go check on her as well.

Upstairs, he opened the door and peered inside to prepare for the worst.

"Mother?"