Disclaimer: It's not mine and neither is Sirius. Go, both of you, be free.

A/N: For EmmaLeighx who I will miss dearly. I finally got round to writing it.

It's been an interesting summer, he thinks. Deep down, he knows it is his last but he isn't sure quite how. The whole house is shocked by his behaviour. He is almost the model son. At least, he would be if his parents were a little more…normal.

He has spent six weeks in Grimmauld Place and so far Sirius Black has done:

Nothing.

No smirks. No smarmy remarks. No pranks. No talking back. Nothing.

That is until his mother's social gathering. He is for once present and wearing acceptable attire. His shoulder length hair is pulled back revealing cheekbones to die for. He almost thinks it's a shame that his hair looks so good at its current length or he could show off his bone structure more often.

"Why are you doing this?" asks Regulus under his breath.

Sirius arches an eyebrow in - he shudders at the thought - a gesture most like his mother's. "Doing what?" he replies, far too politely at a volume that he knows the room will hear.

Regulus chooses not to respond and Sirius manages to rein in his triumphant grin. He has decided that the best way to really unnerve these people is not to respond, not to show emotion and most certainly, not to antagonise.

His brother is highly confused, his mother is far less disapproving (although her House Elf is another matter entirely) and his father is merely frowning and no longer shouting but given his track record, Orion Black is positively chipper.

It is as someone once said, the best way to create truly great tragedy is to give the audience a huge laugh just before. Sirius has granted the Blacks a reprieve.

He spots the Black sisters in the corner, minus the middle child who has a child of her own now and a small part of him is desperate to do it. He bites his lip and coaxes himself into it. Yes, he'll do it. He'll say hello to Bellatrix.

"Bella?"

She looks at him as though he has proposed she marry a diseased rat. "What do you want?"

Sirius manages a gracious smile. "I just wanted to let you know that you were right."

She cannot help the self-satisfied, smug little smile on her flawless face. "Oh really?" she asks somewhat dubiously. "About what?"

Sirius bites the inside of his lip so she can't see it. He's waited long enough. "About my choice of company."

Bellatrix does not look surprised by this. She nods along with him, still smiling smugly. It's not a fetching smile and Sirius can't help but smile back almost losing his cool because she doesn't understand.

"I realise that the people I'm spending my time with aren't worth it. I realise that these people are scum. I realise that they - and one monstrosity in particular - are insufferable, unreasonable, an incredibly bad influence and do nothing for my reputation. I just wanted you to know that you were right. I'll never be a Black." He raises his voice. "I don't fit in. I hate and I mean really hate at least ninety-seven per cent of the people in this room and the other three per cent I don't actually know but I'll hazard a guess, if I may, that we won't be sending one another Christmas cards." He laughs as he catches sight of his mother choking on one of her elaborate canapés. "And I know she can hear me so can I just let the record state that I told that one particular monstrosity that decorative food was a bad idea and yet again, she wasn't prepared to listen."

There is total and absolute silence. It almost deafens him. He watches his mother drop her volauvent and notes the sheer fury in her eyes. He wonders where he's going to stay. He's three days too early. James and his parents are in France. He risks a glance at his terrified brother and finds him shaking. He's horrified that he wants to put an arm around the boy who will never really stop being his baby brother and tell him everything's going to be alright.

He's grabbed around the wrist and he feels his father's hand tighten around him. The pain is like nothing on earth. Breaking his arm and falling thirty feet was nothing compared to this.

"I think you'd better wait in my office."

For the first time in years, Sirius quietly does as he is told. While he waits, he rifles through spare bits of parchment and finding one blank, grabs his father's quill and scrawls:

Remus.

Get me the fuck out. Please. Just help me.

Sirius.

That's it. Remus is his last hope in the world. He ought to feel a sinking at the pit of his stomach but he can't because if there is ever anyone on whom to rely, it is Remus Lupin and he knows that he won't be let down or abandoned.

He laughs with relief and it's just the wrong moment to do so as his father slams the door behind him and takes his seat on the opposite side of his desk. There is total silence for some time while he rearranges his papers and pulls out a crystal decanter filled with an amber liquid that Sirius knows his mother would be furious about if she knew of its existence. And then the strangest thing happens.

"Would you like a drink?"

Sirius is thrown by this. He clears his throat and shakes his head. His father shrugs. "Suit yourself." The awkward silence descends.

"You might as well get it over with," says Sirius. "I've arranged my moving in with the Potters."

His father nods solemnly. "I used to think this was a rebellious phase you would grow out of. I repeatedly told your mother that it was nothing to worry about and you would see sense. I thought it was teenage rebellion."

Sirius nods back. It is the only way in which they seem to be communicating as it is too painfully obvious that neither is about to listen to the other. "It's the green tea that does it. I've been detoxing and finding the real me and-"

Orion cuts him off. "Stop pretending to be a homosexual. It's far too acceptable in these circles for you to use it as a tool to antagonise. You're only making a fool of yourself."

For a moment, Sirius honestly believes that he is on the verge of blushing. He is relieved to have it under control. "Sorry, sir."

His father laughs bitterly. "No, you're not."

"You're right." It occurs to Sirius that it really is only his mother he has an objection to. Certainly, this man's beliefs make him sick to his stomach but he's a little more reasonable than his mother. "Can you see my point of view?" He's almost pleading now, playing for time in case Remus hasn't read his letter.

Orion sighs. "You spend your time with a blood traitor, a boy who's practically a squib and a half-breed. Can't you see mine?"

Sirius' blood boils. "I would love to, sir, but unfortunately, I can't get my head up that far up my own arse. James is the best friend I could ever have. James is everything I could ever have wanted in my family and I won't let you talk about him like that." He's acting braver than he feels, forgetting that his father has the upper hand. "Peter's not a squib. Peter's the best bloody potioner Slughorn's ever taught which actually makes him better than you in the opinion of someone who actually matters so perhaps you ought to think about your choice of adjective." He takes a deep breath and realises that his hands are shaking. "And as for Remus, you're not even fit to say his name. He's a non-negotiable part of my life. I'm leaving now and I trust you won't have any objections."

He's gasping for breath by the time his speech ends and terrified that his father will play his trump card.

"And who's going to pay your school fees?"

Sirius feels sick. "I…I don't know," he stammers. "I don't care."

He slams the door behind him and realises that he still has not received a response from Remus. The owl might not have delivered it yet. The Lupins might not even be in the country.

It's pouring with rain and he is glad that his tears won't show. The fact that he was crying had escaped his notice until he tasted the salt on his lips. It was only to have been expected really and he thinks he ought to have prepared himself for this. Sirius sits on his trunk and waits for a solution to offer itself.

"Sitting in the rain," says a familiar voice. "How cosmopolitan. Tell me, Padfoot, is this another of your many enriching hobbies?"

There is no-one who is better at sarcasm than Remus Lupin and Sirius has never been so euphoric after being insulted before. He runs down the street and flings his arms around his friend. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Awkwardly, Lupin pats his head. "Are you okay seems like a stupid question so…have you packed?"

It is only as he's led along the costal path in a summer storm that Sirius realises he may not be welcome at the Lupins. God knows, they had put up with enough from him. He swallows, desperately trying to soothe the burning at the back of his throat.

"Remus?"

Lupin barely turns. "Yeah?"

"Are you sure I'm allowed to stay? How did you get to London?"

His response is to mumble something about a bus that Sirius himself should have used but he smiles and turns his key in the door.

Sirius is bombarded by the smells of burning wood, roast chicken and the faint trace of Diorissimo and sounds of Mrs. Lupin humming which quickly turns into a string of profanities as the vegetables boil over. She's wearing a blue and white striped apron covered in flour and gravy stains. This, thinks Sirius, is what a home should smell like and above all, this is what a mother should look like.

She's not even perturbed by his presence. "Come and taste this for me, would you, sweetheart?" She spoons a small amount of gravy into his mouth before he has time to even agree to it, before he even has time to dry his hair. "What do you think?"

He nods enthusiastically and swallows. "It's lovely."

She smiles at him in a manner in which his own mother has never done and says in a tone rather reminiscent of Mary Poppins, "Dinner will be ready in five minutes. Remus, get him a change of clothes and find your father for me. Sirius, sweetheart, I'm sorry but you're not dripping over my carpet like that. There's a towel in the porch. That'll have to do."

He grins. It's almost just like having his own mother; a mother who gives a damn and fusses and wears inviting perfume and calls people 'sweetheart' and all those other things mothers are supposed to do.

He turns on his heel and comes face to face with John Lupin who is considerably more alarmed by his sudden appearance in their kitchen. Sirius can't say he blames him. The last time they met, Lupin wanted to drop out of school after the Snape incident. Sirius averts his eyes and blushes. After everything he's done to these people, they remain pleasant and loving and…he can't think anymore.

"Ten tonne polar bear," says John.

Sirius looks up. "I'm sorry?"

"Ten tonne polar bear."

Sirius looks to Lupin, desperate to pick up on the joke. He shakes his head. "Pardon?"

"Well," says John, shrugging. "It broke the ice."

It's a terrible joke; so terrible that it's funny. It's easy to see where Remus gets his ability to make people laugh even with the oldest of jokes. Sirius shakes and before he knows it, he's crying again.

John smiles affectionately. "Good grief. It wasn't that bad - was it?"

With a sudden jolt, Sirius realises that these people are his family. James and his parents, Remus and his parents and even Peter who often infuriates him. That more than makes up for his lack of a biological equivalent.

Sirius wonders if the same person who dictated how to plan his miserable attempt at a tragic departure is the same person who tells people that they can't choose their family. It's a rather philosophical sort of question and it occurs to Sirius that within three minutes of spending time with the Lupins, he's even thinking like them.

Rather suddenly, Mrs. Lupin is handing him a plate of food he can barely see over and asking him a question that he doesn't really know the answer to yet.

"Will you miss home, do you think, Sirius?"

He thinks for a moment and as though sensing his best friend does not want to answer this, Remus replies, "Every day in that house is like the last act of Othello. I wouldn't - would you?"