4 YEARS LATER

I woke up with the realisation that something was very wrong. Someone had passed through the wards without even trying to disarm them. But who –

Harry moved slightly in his sleep, snuggling closer to me. Even after the death of Voldemort, I was still on edge about someone coming to steal Harry away and had taken to having the boy sleep in my bed. Not that he minded. Gently I picked him up, making sure he stayed asleep and cradled him against me with one arm. My other arm dove under my pillow, my fingers curling around my wand as I struggled to stop myself from shaking.

My heart hammered in my chest as I raised my wand to the door; whenever the person walked through the door I'd hex them. The door handle creaked open slowly as the door was pushed open, the light from the hallway illuminating the face of the madman in the doorway. His eyes scanned the room wildly and I felt my own widen in shock.

"Sirius?" My shoulders dropped in relief, my wand falling out of my hand in shock. Harry started to fuss in his sleep and I rocked him gently. "What are you doing here? Did you escape or – "

"Is that the way to greet your husband?" He asked, moving into the room and making his way towards the bed. Merlin, I'd missed him.

"I still don't understand, what are you doing here? How are you here?" I couldn't get past the confusion I felt, the shock too large for me to comprehend the situation. Placing Harry back onto the mattress, the boy sleeping soundly, I went to his side. Sirius looked down at our godson, eyes filling with instant warmth. He brushed a hand through Harry's hair and Harry shuffled closer to him in his sleep. He reached out to hold my hand and I let my fingers link with his, needing to know that this was real, that he was real and not some imaginary figure my loneliness had dreamt up.

"Your case worked sweetheart." He raised the hand he was holding to his lips. "The evidence you brought to light was enough to have me cleared of all charges and they've started the search for Peter, the rat. They released me just a few hours ago."

"And did they say anything about the 10 months that you were wrongfully imprisoned for?"

Sirius shook his head and I went to say something, only to be cut off my Sirius. Clearly there were more ministry officials for me to deal with. "Rumour has it that you've turned into a lioness whilst I was gone? The pureblood wife who stood in front of a wizengamot without a singly supporting figure twice and won both cases."

"It's because I was fighting for the truth." Getting off the bed I made my way over to our shared cupboard and pulled out some pyjamas for Sirius. I looked at him from over my shoulder and frowned, would they fit him now that he'd clearly lost weight? I'd have to fatten him up now that he was home.

"You took on Dumbledore and won." He said coming up behind me.

"I respect Dumbledore, you know I do, but I wasn't going to stand back and let him ship Harry off to the Dursley's. You know how Petunia used to treat Lily, did you honestly expect me to sit back and watch our godson get sent off to her home? Besides, Dumbledore ignored the will Lily and James had written which entailed whose care Harry was supposed to be left in."

"My lioness," Sirius said fondly, reaching out to take me in his arms.

I moved out of his reach, throwing his clothes at him. "No offence, but you're a mess. Clean up first."

Sirius grumbled under his breath but headed into the ensuite. Summoning one of the house elves I ordered some food to be made. Once the house elf had disappeared I smiled; I wasn't the only person happy about Sirius' return. Even the house elves had been filled with new vigour.

Just as Sirius stepped out of the bathroom the house elf had handed me a plate of toast and some pumpkin juice. The house elf vanished and I looked over at Sirius to find him bare chested with his trousers rolled at the waist to get them to fit.

"We're going to have to fatten you up," I said putting the plate and glass down on the bedside table.

"Home food was one of the things I missed the most." He walked towards me, taking me in his arms and pulling me against his chest.

"And what did you miss the most?" I looked up into his eyes, finding him smiling softly down at me.

"I don't think that's hard to guess."

Winding my arms around his neck, I rose up to press my lips against his. Curling my fingers through the mass of curls at the base of his neck I deepened the kiss before remembering the other presence in the room. Harry had a tendency of waking up in the night and I didn't need to scar him at such a young age.

Pulling away from Sirius, I beamed up at him. "I've wanted to do that since you walked through the door."

"Merlin I've missed you." He pressed his forehead against mine.

The atmosphere was shattered by a sharp cry and I pulled away from Sirius. Making my way over to the bed, I picked up a crying Harry and started to rock him back to sleep as he stared up at me with sleepy eyes. His crying subsided quickly and I peeked down at him to see him staring at something over my shoulder.

"Padfoot!" He called out sleepily, making grabby motions towards Sirius.

I turned to find that Harry's one word had frozen Sirius to his spot, a piece of toast hanging from his mouth.

"What did he just say?" He asked in disbelief.

"Don't you remember his first word?" I asked heading over towards my husband.

"I thought he'd have forgotten me." He admitted, reaching out for Harry when we were near enough. Harry went willingly to his godfather.

"I made sure he didn't." I said softly watching Harry snuggle against Sirius' chest.

Sirius mimicked my earlier rocking action, looking down at the boy cuddling up to him. Looking up from Harry, Sirius met my eyes and blinked away unshed tears.

"Thank you for saving the last memento of them." He said unnecessarily.

"I wasn't being separated from him," I said solemnly, seeing Harry's eyes start to close.

"Uncle Padfoot," Harry murmured through his yawn.

"That's right buddy." Sirius hummed, holding the boy closer to him. "I'm here now. I'm going to protect you and make sure nothing harms you ever again."