Harry soon formed a regular schedule: waking up early, fading to the Granger house, exercising with Hermione and Dave, fading back to his room, breakfast. He usually spent some time with Dudley, catching up on the Muggle school studies and helping Dudley to better understand some subjects. Each evening, about an hour before dinner, both boys went to the exercise room, where Dudley benefited most, although Harry was also able to strengthen some of his muscles.
Harry returned to his room soon after dinner, where Hermione joined him for the night, usually spending at least an hour talking or doing some summer homework before going to bed.
\/\/\/
Three weeks later, both children were escorted to London, where Sirius waited eagerly to take them to his house. "It's still far from what it should be, as it wasn't maintained since my mother died, about nine years ago, and the house elf had nobody to direct him. I still don't know if I can trust him to keep the house clean. Besides, he seems to dislike me and my friends. I must admit that the feeling is mutual."
Indeed, the house at 12 Grimmauld Place looked at first glance just like another decrepit apartment house, like its neighbours. Only when passing the property line it seemed to change and become a stately house, very elegant yet not in better shape than the other nearby houses. "My mother wasn't too sane to start with and turned even crazier when she remained the only person living in the house. She probably made the house elf turn just as crazy, as he let the house get filthy and deteriorate. By now, he barely obeys direct orders and is very difficult to control."
Once inside, it was easy to see that Sirius hadn't exaggerated. Except for the kitchen, the bathroom, the master bedroom and the two guest bedrooms, everything seemed dusty or even dirty. "I had to do most of the cleaning myself," Sirius admitted, "and I've never properly learned any of the household charms. They didn't seem important when having house-elves."
"Where can I learn them?" Hermione asked, eager as always to learn everything.
Sirius shrugged. "Oh, I suppose I can find something in my library. I first need to check it for any hazards, though. I wouldn't like you to touch any cursed or booby-trapped book, and I'm sure there are quite a few of these in there."
Seeing Hermione's disappointed expression, he added, "I'll see if I can hire a curse-breaker to get a full scan of the library. I believe Gringotts may have some for hire. Would you like us to go have lunch at Diagon Alley and then I may check with the bank?"
The children left their bags in their rooms and then they used the Floo to reach a restaurant in Diagon Alley. After eating their fill, Sirius left them at the Ice-cream parlour while he visited Gringotts to hire a curse-breaker. He then took them to visit some of the more interesting shops, including the bookshop that Hermione insisted on. Sirius made sure to put all the stuff in plain paper bags, including the book on household charms which Hermione insisted on buying, before taking them to Muggle London, where Hermione served as their guide to some more fun shopping. They ended having dinner at another restaurant. Sirius then found a secluded place from which he side-along apparated them both to the front of the house.
Surprisingly, Kreacher – the Black house-elf – offered some hot chocolate to finish the evening. Both children thought it was a fabulous day.
Not wanting to reveal their fading abilities yet, Harry thought about their daily runs. "Sirius, Hermione and I train each morning, running a bit and doing some more exercises. Is there a place we could safely do it nearby?"
Sirius frowned in deep concentration. He then sighed before talking. "This is not a safe enough neighbourhood for children. If you want, I can come with you on your runs. The park on the other side of the street should be good for some exercise, as long as I'm with you."
Harry smirked. "Are you sure you can run along with us? I was totally exhausted the first few times I tried it and we run much further by now."
Sirius seemed surprised. "Can you tell me some more about it?"
"Well, we wake up early, drink some warm beverage and then do some warming exercises for about five minutes. We then run for about half an hour, or a bit more. We are usually quite heated by then, so we do some cooling exercises, along with some strengthening ones before we come back for a shower."
Sirius exhaled audibly. "I'm not sure I'm up to it, certainly not in my human form. Maybe as Snuffles, I can do better. Since I need to guard you, please make sure you don't exhaust me too much."
Harry smiled. "We'll see..."
They each went to their allotted bedroom, locking the doors. A few minutes later, Hermione joined Harry, fading into his room, holding the new book. "I think we should do some of these charms, so we can be sure our bed is clean enough," she said.
As had become their habit, they were wearing nothing for bed. They both sat on the side of the bed, as close as possible, leafing through the book and wandlessly doing each of the charms they found useful. Eventually, they had a small pile of dust and dirt on the floor. Hermione vanished it and closed the book. "Now we can sleep peacefully," she said, turning to Harry with a wide smile.
Harry felt something stir inside, a kind of new feeling. Hermione's smile seemed to lighten his heart and his soul in a way he couldn't understand. He could understand the way his body was reacting, though. According to the books, he was approaching puberty, and seeing a potential partner of the opposite gender caused certain physical and physiological reactions. At first, they bothered him, but Hermione reassured him. "Your reaction is natural and is even flattering. It means that you find me attractive, and I can't be offended by that."
He still didn't understand what he was feeling, but it was pleasant, and as long as Hermione stayed his friend he didn't mind some slight embarrassment caused by his body. He knew it would eventually pass when they grew older.
\/\/\/
The alarm charm woke them up on time. Hermione faded back to her room, where she got dressed while Harry did the same in his room. They took turns in the bathroom and then went to the kitchen, where they found Sirius, still looking more than half asleep. Kreacher served them some warm milk and then they went out. Sirius joined the warm-up exercises, that seemed to tire him quickly. He then changed into Snuffles and they started their running.
An hour later, the two children ran up the stairs to take a shower, while Snuffles plopped on the floor, too tired to move.
"We can shower together, to save time," Hermione told Harry. "I don't think Sirius will mind and I doubt he'll even leave his place on the floor before we're both ready."
"Are you sure? I mean..."
"Harry, remember that we have a bond. I've already told you that you may touch me any way you like, at least in private, and I expect you to let me touch you just the same. Now, hurry up. I really want to get out of these sweaty clothes."
They each took their bath-gowns and met in the bathroom. Harry locked the door and they also added a silencing charm, not quite knowing what would happen. Hermione was already half-naked. He quickly took everything off and joined her under the shower. He had already become accustomed to seeing her naked and feeling her body pressed to his, but this was the first time to shower with her and he felt some apprehension. Hermione didn't mind. She even seemed to enjoy bumping into him inside the single-sized shower cubicle. After a while, Harry also found it quite enjoyable, especially when she asked him to help her wash her back and then when she returned the favour. When they stood face-to-face, his eyes were attracted to her breasts, that were already quite evident. He failed to see that she was also looking at his body, noticing his erection and wondering how it would fit, eventually.
By the time they both returned downstairs, Snuffles was still lying on the floor, looking exhausted. Hermione chuckled. "Sirius, you have a curse-breaker coming in less than an hour. You should get a shower and be presentable by then."
Snuffles opened a single eye and whined miserably, making both children laugh. A moment later, he turned back into a very tired-looking Sirius. "How can you look so fresh after running for so long?" he asked, in the same whining tone.
"We're doing this every morning, so it doesn't bother us any longer," Hermione said.
"It took me some time to get in shape," Harry added. "I was completely exhausted the first time I tried it, so you still have a chance."
Sirius looked at their shining face, full of youthful energy, and sighed incredulously. "Fine, make fun of this old dog." He then smiled. "I really need to get in shape. It's no fun being outclassed by two children."
By the time the curse-breaker arrived, Sirius was already presentable, although still looking tired. He let the children spend their time in the kitchen or in their rooms for the time it took to scan the library and clear it of any dangerous books. The children, though, didn't stay put. Using the household charms, they cleaned the sitting room and the dining room, as well as the entrance and the stairs. As instructed by Sirius, they didn't touch any of the various trinkets spread in the rooms and kept their voices low when close to the painting of his mother.
Sirius was quite pleasantly surprised when emerging from the library and finding a much cleaner house. For thanks, he took them to Muggle London, where they ate a burger lunch, followed by a visit to the cinema, some fun at a game arcade and then Dinner at an Italian restaurant.
Back at the Black residence, Hermione went immediately to the library, making Harry chuckle, despite a dirty look directed at him. Sirius gave them an initial tour of the library, which was not as large as the Hogwarts one, yet seemed to contain even more books. Hermione then chose a few books and sat at a desk to read them, after making sure that Harry joined her. Sirius took another book from the fiction shelves and sat on a sofa, mainly watching the children as they were soaking the new information and using it wandlessly. As much as he liked them, he was starting to feel inadequate in comparison. He had never mastered wandless casting, nor had any of his friends, while these two children seemed to do it naturally, and they were also physically much fitter than any other person he could think of. And yet, they were only children, he had to remind himself. He couldn't help but wonder how they would turn out as adults.
The rest of the week turned much the same, with the mornings spent helping Sirius with his house, followed by lunch outside, then some fun activities, dinner and going back to spend some time reading. In between, Sirius also told Harry as much as he could about James, Lily and their closest friends. They also had Remus visit twice, telling some more stories and enjoying hearing about the children. Both adults found it evident that Harry and Hermione were an established couple, despite their young ages.
It was their last evening together for the summer. Sirius seemed almost sad when thinking of the children leaving. Harry had been contemplating this for some time and eventually decided to reveal another secret. "Sirius, I'd like you to meet another friend of mine, if you don't mind."
Sirius seemed surprised. "Will your friend come here, or do we need to go meet him?"
"No, she's almost always with me. Silky, if you please..."
Sirius opened his eyes wide as he saw the black snake sliding out of Harry's sleeve. "You have a sss… snake?"
Harry smiled, trying to cover his nervousness. "Silky is my familiar. She's been with me since I was eight and she's very friendly. Hermione and Neville already know her, but I keep her secret from others, due to prejudice against snakes."
Sirius found his voice back, just barely. "Well, many snakes are dangerous, you know."
"Sure! Silky is also venomous, although her venom is not particularly strong. She only uses it for hunting. I usually let her eat enough, so she doesn't really need to hunt."
Silky was now curled comfortably around both Harry's and Hermione's wrists. Sirius had to smile. "I can see she already considers you a couple."
Harry shrugged. "Of course. We're still children, but we're going to get married when we're old enough. There's no doubt about that."
Sirius shook his head in disbelief. "It's well known that Potter men find their mates early in life, but this seems to be too early even for a Potter. How long have you been together?"
Hermione answered this time. "I've first met Harry during the new-year ball, almost three years ago, and we became friends. We visited each other every weekend. We're much closer since we started Hogwarts, of course."
Sirius felt like there should be some teasing material in there, but he couldn't find it. Still, the closeness he could sense about these two could not be explained by just long-distance friendship. What else could there be? Not able to find it, he returned to the snake. "So, how long do you have the snake?"
Harry smiled. "Silky joined me the summer I reached eight, although I've seen her and her siblings when they were still in their eggs, a few months earlier."
"But where do you keep a snake in a school full of children?"
Harry shrugged. "She's been with me at all times since becoming my familiar. She sinks into my skin and stays undetectable, unless I ask her to come out."
"You talk to the snake?"
"Well, when she's inside my skin, I only need to think at her, but we can also talk at other times. Her mother told me I could probably talk to all snakes."
"You're a Parselmouth!" Sirius seemed a bit frightened. He then took two deep breaths to calm down. These children were good children and spending a week with them helped him get to know them well enough. He couldn't see Harry as evil, despite the strong prejudices. "That's… unexpected. Most people associate this ability with dark wizards, you should know."
Harry nodded approvingly. "Neville has already told me. This is why I didn't tell you before. I thought that it was safer to only tell you after we get to know each other much better."
Sirius chuckled, feeling slightly embarrassed. "It would have scared me, had you told me when we first met. It slightly scares me still, although I know it shouldn't."
"So, you're alright with that?"
Sirius sighed. "Harry, since you came here, you've given me quite a few surprises. After staying away from everything for several years, changes aren't easy for me, but given some time, I'll be fine with everything. You're just… much more than I could expect."
Harry wasn't sure what that meant. "And is that… good?"
Sirius smiled reassuringly. "It's very good! It just takes time to get accustomed to."
Harry's smile turned mischievous. "So would you like to pet Silky?"