She frowned at her husband even after six and a half centuries he still opened his mouth and inserted his foot. He opened his mouth to tease Harry some more but she cut him off with a jab of her elbow to his ribs. She could tell that Harry did like shopping and didn't think it was fair for Nic who would be quite happy to never leave his laboratory to tease him about it.
Since Harry had spent all his money, they window-shopped a bit more then apparated home to the Manor.
The last four days of Harry's visit, Harry continued to learn alchemy from Nic but Perenelle instead of focusing on teaching him history taught him the Patronus Charm. It troubled both Harry and Perenelle that he had trouble coming up with a sufficiently happy memory to make the charm work. Harry had never before realized that while his life to that point hadn't been a pile of woe it also lacked joyous moments. In the end it was memories of goofing around with Neville on the train after first year that finally allowed him to generate a patronus. On the day of his last lesson he felt comfortable enough that he finally asked her, "Tante Nell, that first day you said four words in Latin to Oncle Nic what were they about?"
Perenelle got an absolutely wicked grin then she went and pulled a book from a shelf and handed it to him.
Harry didn't recognize the language it was in, so he did the translations spell she had taught him. Twenty Essential Personal Care Charms for Brazilian Witches . Part of him didn't want to know, but there was another side of him, the prankster side of him, that said any spell that gave that reaction to someone had potential. So he opened the book and read. The spell was a charm designed to remove body hair it was accompanied by a numbing charm you were supposed to do first but it basically was a Brazilian hot wax in a spell. Harry couldn't help it. He guffawed. He guessed that Perenelle had found this spell on their travels and apparently she had either used it or threatened to use it on her husband. He looked up and met her twinkling eyes, and started laughing harder.
"It's not a spell to use lightly. Without the numbing charm it is quite painful. It can even be applied to a surface, and left in place for the unwary. I would doubt that you'll ever have occasion to use it, but then again you never know." She trailed of wickedly.
Harry couldn't help it. He fell off his chair because he was laughing too hard.
…..
Cassandra smiled as Harry activated the Portkey that was taking him to France. She honestly believed that this was the right choice for Harry this year. He had been so wound up with his aunt this summer, and then the current tensions with the trustees, his getting away from it all was precisely what he needed. She really hoped he had a good time and she couldn't wait to hear what all he'd learned when he got back.
The week that Harry had made the change in his plans she had sent an owl to Black letting him know that his appointment with Harry would be changed from the first of the holiday to the end. He had responded by asking if they could meet instead. She had thought about it for days before finally agreeing. Her plans for the holidays included the solstice dinner at the Davies and the Longbottom ball but most of her time would be her own unlike the previous year where she had been keeping an eye on Harry.
The next day she waited in a private parlor at the Leaky Cauldron. Precisely at ten the door opened and Sirius Black came in.
"Lord Black?"
"Sirius, please. You say "Lord Black", and I want to look around for my father. Miss Yaxley, thank you for seeing me. Um, I know you work for my godson but I'm not really sure what all that entails, not that that is really any of my business really, but… I guess I'll be blunt. I screwed up with Harry, and right now as you probably already know he doesn't want anything to do with me. Part of me can't really blame him, because where he is concerned I've made one screw-up after another, I wouldn't want anything to do with someone like me either. But I really want another chance and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get that chance. I'm hoping that you'll be able to tell me what that will take."
"I'm not sure. Harry hasn't exactly been raised to be the most trusting or forgiving person. Why should I help you?"
"Because despite my screw-ups, and what I said when I first saw Harry after I got out of Azkaban, I love Harry and I only want good things for him. I want to help him grow into the type of person James and Lily would be proud of."
"And what kind of person is that?"
"Someone who is strong, that does good things, that does what is right. Someone who helps others."
"Who, or rather, how do you define: "Good things and what is right"? Because, Mr. Black, while all that sounds very good, since I met Harry at Hogwarts I've seen "good" people do awful things to one of the few people I've ever met, that looks beyond labels and honestly has never tried to hurt someone unless provoked. He can be the sweetest person I've ever known, but he has these mile high walls around his heart. Walls that have been built by people like you. So unless you've got more to offer than pretty words, I think we're done here."
"What does he need? I will do anything, and I do mean anything, to prove I mean what I'm saying."
Cassandra was very tempted to just dismiss what Black was saying, but then she remembered tales her great-granduncle had told of the Black family library that he'd visited when visiting his sister, Lysandra, who had married a Black. "The Black family library, there are certain things Harry has found out that he needs more information on, unfortunately the information isn't readily available at least not through normal channels or even through not so ordinary channels. You let me do research in the Black family library and I'll tell Harry that you're trying to help us. Which will probably buy you enough tolerance that you'll get a shot at making that apology you claim you want to give."
Sirius gulped. The Black family library was a serious matter. Letting this girl and Harry have access was horrifying because it would mean they would have to go into his ancestral abode. The second most horrifying place he had ever dwelled. He looked at her face, she was completely serious. He was going to have to think about this. Could he really face those demons that lived in him from his childhood and go back to that house? "I'll think about it. Thank you for seeing me, Miss Yaxley."
Cassandra finished her tea trying to calm her nerves. She had hidden it throughout the meeting but from the second Sirius Black had walked into the room a small part of her that she had never felt before had stood up and made itself known. This had the potential to be very bad. She left the parlor and paid the reckoning with Tom, then headed back to her apartment. She had a few things to do before the party at the Davies'.
Sirius apparated back to Remus' place. He'd been staying there since his release from the clinic. He was at a bit of a loss. He sat down and struggled not to get lost in the memories of his childhood. When he'd been a small boy he'd been terrified of his parents, they had told him the Black heir was expected to excel at everything he attempted, and he'd tried. His efforts however always fell short of his parents expectations, they were never good enough. Their punishments had always been more mental than physical. Shunning him when he was little, verbally abusing him when he reached double digits. He had chosen to act as if it didn't affect him, boldly doing as he wished. The Sorting Hat had called him brave for continuing to try despite his belief that his life was a hopeless cause. It told him that his tilting at windmills attitude made him a lion. It told him that in Gryffindor he would find his heart and learn to see what was already there.