Blaargh, Harry spewed out everything he held in his stomach on to the crossroad once he came out of the side along Apparition with Sirius.
"Ahh first time for Apparition, aye?" Sirius asked with a grin as Harry finished heaving out his breakfast and midday snack.
"It felt like I was being shoved by a tiny tube." Harry answered as he never wanted to relive that sensation. 'Brooms are truly the best way to travel anywhere,' he told himself.
"You will get used to it," Sirius said as he walked ahead.
Harry hurried to catch up to him and the two wizards traveled a short distance until he came to a stop at two residential homes mistakenly numbered 13 and 11.
"Here," Sirius said as he gave Harry a slip of paper which read; 12 Grimmauld Place. "Did you remember it?" Sirius asked after a short while. Harry nodded his head in answer and Sirius quickly took the slip of paper back then without any wand movement or incantation the paper lit on fire and burned to a crisp until all that was left were ashes that disappeared into the wind.
Once again Harry stared in open fascination as he witnessed Sirius perform wand less, he made no comment but right now he was bristling with endless questions.
Walking forward, Sirius disappeared right in-between the two, for a moment Harry was a bit terrified, but he quickly squashed that down since it was obvious magic was at work. Following after Sirius, a large house was revealed before Harry, he spotted Sirius walking up the front steps and quickly followed.
Sirius came to a pause at the door which had a silver knocker in the shape of a twisted serpent, however, there were no keyholes, handles, or anything else that would indicate that it is an actual door which is used to enter.
Sticking out his right hand, Sirius revealed that he had on a large ring finger which had the crest of three dogs running through the fields. Above the dogs was a hand holding a wand and below that was a Latin phrase which read; Toujours Pur.
Sirius waved his right hand over the door until it clicked it to place and slowly opened giving way to a dark hallway and some flight of stairs that lead up.
"Be careful," Sirius stated as he entered the house "We do not know what sorts of nasties my mother left before she died."
At that moment Harry decided to follow in Sirius's footsteps alone and drawing out his wand from his pocket was a precaution he wasn't going to give up.
Walking down the darkened hallway, Sirius turned on his first left until he came upon a living room, going to the fireplace, Sirius waved his wand towards the mantelpiece to which it quickly lit up. Grabbing some powder out of a jar which Harry noted was Floo powder, Sirius tossed it in and called out to a place he didn't recognize.
Before long a head popped into the fireplace, it was a woman a bit older than Sirius but their features were so similar that they could both pass off as siblings. "Hey Dromeda," Sirius said as a smile played on his face.
"Hello to you too Sirius," the woman replied, briskly. "Where are you right now?" she asked.
"I am at the old family home," he answered back with a shrug.
"What!" the woman shouted causing the fire to raise up a bit into the air. "Why would you be at that godforsaken place?!" she asked.
"Well, I never wanted to come back here, but I needed a place to hide and this house is very well protected. Nobody would even look here, or even for that matter, know about its existence."
"Why would you even come back here? Weren't you hiding out in the Caribbean?" the witch inquired, catching onto Sirius's slip up. Narrowing her eyes towards Sirius, the woman asked in a threatening tone, "Are you not telling me something, Sirius?"
"No, of course not, cousin," Sirius hastily replied, though the only thing his hasty response did was make him look even more suspicious. "I called you only to get some of my medicines, that is all. I promise you, I am not up to anything."
"Oh ho ho," the witch uttered as silently chuckled to herself and shook her head from side to side. "You must know dear cousin, whenever you say I promise, I am not up to trouble. It elicits totally the opposite response, right?"
"Ahh..." Sirius said, as he had no response to give since the witch in the fireplace was right on the dot.
Seeing Sirius's frozen expression, the woman sighed out loud and remarked, "I will shortly be there with your medicine in hand and to make sure you are not causing up a racket. Wait for my arrival," she finished as her head disappeared from the hearth.
All of a sudden, Sirius went into a panic as he nearly ran around the house screaming and with his hands in the air. "Harry," he desperately said as he turned to face the young wizard, "Go and hide before she comes."
However, it was too little too late as a pair of high heels appeared from the fireplace then legs, a torso, and finally a head-- the exact same one in the fireplace.
Once the woman was through all three individuals gazed at each other, frozen in their place.
"Is that Harry Potter?" the witch asked as she pointed towards the young wizard while she narrowed her eyes towards Sirius.
"If I say no, would you believe me?" Sirius replied as he gave an awkward grin.
Before the older wizard could think the woman smacked him over the head with the purse she carried in her hand. "Do you think I am an idiot, Sirius Orion Arcturus Black!" the woman asked in a rhetorical manner.
Harry knew when a woman said your full name, with grandparents included and all, you were in serious trouble.
"I am sorry cousin," Sirius yelped as he shielded his head, "I just..."
"You just weren't thinking at all like always, huh!" the woman shouted. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, the woman serenely said, "Go into the kitchen, I will be there with you in a moment."
That more than anything seemed to have an effect on Sirius as he nervously walked out of the living room. Turning her gaze towards Harry, the young wizard took a gulp of air and a subconscious step back as he awaited his punishment. However, the witch's expression seemed to have softened up when she faced Harry and she warmly asked, "Are you alright, dear?"
"Yes, Mrs..."
"Andromeda Tonks," the woman said, giving a full name to her face. "I am Nymphadora's mother," she added, helpfully.
"I am sorry," Harry stammered, feeling awkward, "I do not know of this Nymphadora, you speak about Mrs. Tonks."
"Ahh, that girl," the older witch sighed as she shook her head, turning to face Harry she clarified. "I told her to watch out for you. Your grandmother, my aunt was the best of us Blacks. It was her duty as your older cousin to have your back."
"Its alright, Mrs. Tonks," Harry said, not wanting to get the older girl in trouble with her mother.
"You are too kind, dear," the woman said as she pinched Harry's cheek, picking up his thoughts from his expression.
"Are you hungry?" she suddenly asked.
Harry thought back to that dinner he left on the floor and at that thought his stomach growled in response.
"It seems like you are," the older witch said with a warm smile as Harry blushed in embarrassment. "Come along," she added as she headed to the kitchen, "I also need to deal with your irresponsible godfather. I have no idea what your parents were thinking when they gave him such a heavy burden."
At that off-handed remark, Harry quickly came to the defense of his guardian, "Mrs. Tonks, Sirius might be remiss at times, but his intentions always mean well, and that more than anything counts far above everything in my books."
Taking no offense at all but instead chuckling softly, the woman once again commented, "Just like I said, dear, you are too kind. You must meet my daughter, now."
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