For the rest of the day, Harry had the best time. He made Sirius laugh his ass off when he said how he had convinced Hagrid to return the motorcycle.

“I've been meditating and practising the techniques in the book Hagrid loaned me.” Harry said. “Legilimens Creatora.”

Healer Ela gasped. “Harry! You're much too young to...”

“Hush, woman!” Sirius barked, then he took her hand to apologize for snapping at her. “That boy used an ancient magical artifact to heal me and the Longbottoms. If he thinks he can handle listening to animal whispers, then he's smart enough to know to not listen to them all the time.”

Ela sighed and nodded her head. “You're right, love. I shouldn't be too surprised that he's using such advanced techniques.”

“They're advanced?” Harry asked, a little surprised. “Hagrid uses it all the time and he was expelled from school.”

“Hagrid is about sixty-five years old.” Sirius said with a laugh. “He's also quite a bit nutters about dangerous creatures.”

Harry had to agree about that. He used to own a large three headed Cerberus dog called Fluffy. “I've been practising meditating as much as possible, thanks to the Immobulus spell...”

Ela took in a sharp breath and Sirius pulled her over onto his lap to restrain her and to calm her down.

“You see how smart he is?” Sirius said. “I bet that blanked your mind right out, didn't it?”

Harry nodded. “It was Hermione's idea to use it and to use a mirror, so I could cast the counter spell.”

“HA!” Sirius barked a laugh. “I have got to meet that smart little witch one of these days.”

“Anyways, I made a breakthrough about two weeks ago.” Harry said. “It was only for a brief moment when Hedwig came back from dropping off a letter in France...”

“FRANCE?!?” Ela yelled and Sirius kissed her to shut her up. She was distracted now, so Sirius waved for Harry to continue.

“I got the feeling from her that she was exhausted and invil... invid... invigorated! That's the word.” Harry said. “I was so surprised that I dropped the treat I was trying to give her. I heard her sigh and say that she wasn't that hungry!”

Sirius laughed into Ela's mouth and that kind of woke her up to what she was doing. She broke the kiss and gave Sirius a stern look.

“I needed to distract you, dear.” Sirius said and held her tightly. “Go on, Harry.”

“After that, we kind of... talked. I mean, she can't really speak in full sentences. She said her mind isn't like mine, whatever that means.” Harry said. “I told her all about this trip and where I was going, and she was sad that I wouldn't see her for two weeks. It was great!”

“I'm glad you managed to not go overboard with it.” Ela said. “Some people tend to become too focused on listening to every animal they meet.”

“I only ever wanted to talk to Hedwig, ever since she let me know that it was possible.” Harry said. “Anyways, I didn't need the original book anymore and made a copy, then sent Hedwig to Hagrid to give the book back and to thank him for loaning it to me.”

Sirius sat up straight. “She was the one to tell Hagrid about me!”

Harry nodded. “When she mentioned you, he remembered that it was your motorcycle that he had borrowed. When she told me, well...”

Sirius laughed for several minutes. “You arranged for him to give the motorcycle back!”

“...and bought the jacket.” Harry said. “It's a flying motorcycle and I almost bought a pilot's jacket.”

“That would have been a good gag gift!” Sirius laughed again and then relaxed with Ela on his lap. “I'm glad you went with black leather instead. I like it a lot.”

“I'm glad.” Harry said.

After that, they visited for quite some time and talked as they waited for Amelia to show up. At five minutes past six o'clock, Amelia appeared and the little bell rang when she stepped on the porch.

“HI!” Harry said loudly and hugged her.

“I see you might have missed me a little.” Amelia joked and Harry, Sirius, and Ela laughed.

“When six rolled around and you weren't here...” Ela started to say.

“The train ran slightly over schedule and didn't stop until six on the nose.” Amelia said. “I needed a couple of minutes to get to a good spot to pop over.” She looked down at Harry. “I will never tell you that I'm coming and then not show up, Harry.”

Harry took a breath and let it out. He nodded and she motioned to his trunk. He picked it up and went back to her side. “Thanks a lot for letting me come over.” He said to his godfather and the healer.

“Harry, you are always welcome to visit whenever you want.” Ela said. “At the school's allowance, of course.”

Sirius laughed and nodded. “The next large break won't be until school's out for the summer, so I hope you're ready to come visit for a couple of weeks.”

“Wh-what?” Harry stared at him.

“I've already got your goblin looking into the Black estate and there might be a vault with a bit of gold in it, so my finances might be a bit better in the future.”

“There's also an old house, isn't there?” Ela asked.

“I never want to see that horrible place again.” Sirius said. “I haven't stepped foot in it since I was a teenager and mum disowned me for consorting with James and Lily. If the house is a part of the estate and it becomes mine, I'll either have the damn thing demolished or sold.”

“That should get you a nice windfall if you sell it.” Amelia said. “I did my best with the Ministry and your settlement...”

“I appreciate you doing that, Amelia. It's been a great boon, especially after losing everything.” Sirius said and put an arm around Ela's waist. “It's so nice to have dependable women in our lives, isn't it, Harry?”

Harry grinned at him and nodded as he put an arm around Amelia's waist.

“Happy Christmas.” Amelia said and tried not to blush.

“Happy Christmas.” Sirius and Ela said back.

Amelia and Harry walked around the house to the alley, waved at the two people on the porch, then they hugged tightly and disapparated.

“He really does have that woman in the palm of his hand.” Sirius said, quite proud of his godson.

“You do realize that we aren't supposed to be prizes to be won.” Ela said with a bit of a frown.

“You aren't?” Sirius asked and turned to put his other arm around her. “How was I so lucky to be the one to win such a great lottery and have you be the one to help me, then?”

Ela opened her mouth to say that it could have been any healer, then she remembered what the Head Healer had told her about her unhealthy obsession with one hopeless case named Sirius Black.

“You're still a hopeless case.” Ela whispered.

“Hopelessly in love.” Sirius said and kissed her.

Ela moaned this time, since she didn't have to hide how much she liked it now, then realized that they were still on the porch. She gasped into his mouth and Sirius broke the kiss and laughed.

“My dear, I still have several years of sexual frustration for you to heal.” Sirius whispered to her and her face flushed red. He smiled warmly as he led her inside and shut the door.

*

The rest of the trip passed by like a flash. Amelia visited all the places she needed to go, did her work, and Susan and Harry had a wonderful time staying occupied together while she was busy. Susan definitely had a much better time with having someone else along to keep her company.

The meals they ate all over the country were varied and delicious as well, even the ones like haggis (a meat pudding stuffed into a sheep's stomach), a chip butty (a sandwich made with french fries - Harry had two of those), and Scotch eggs and pork shavings (both of which are covered in batter and fried). Harry ate everything and both Susan and Amelia made sure he sampled as much different cuisine as possible, since he hadn't gone anywhere in his life except for home and school.

The train stopped at a station that had a huge castle nearby on New Year's Eve. People had the choice to stay onboard or to go out and enjoy the festivities. The fireworks would be seen all over, so the three of them decided to stay on the train and avoided the crowds. They had a nice supper in the dining car and went back to their compartment to wait. Harry had to use the energize spell at eleven-thirty to stay awake and Susan asked for one as well.

“I would have woken you up when it was time.” Amelia said as she took a small sip of champagne and ate a cracker to make sure it settled and the alcohol didn't impede her judgment.

“We want to see it all.” Susan said and watched everything outside the window.

Amelia tried to hide her amusement at her niece being so excited over something she had seen several times before, then her eyes fell upon the reason for her excitement. Harry was smart, worked hard, and didn't mind trying new things. That had surprised her, actually. She knew all about his old home life and for the boy to be like he was, with curiosity and eagerness, and not reclusive and confrontational... she clamped her mouth shut to stop her laugh at that last thought.

She remembered those first few letters from Bertha about Harry's outbursts and his complete defiance of authority. She knew full well that he was overcompensating, because he would never do that at home. When finally given a voice to speak out, he did so and he made sure that everyone knew it. She had politely asked him to curb his outbursts, and to her surprise, he had.

Amelia reached out and pet Harry's hair and he turned to look at her. His bright green eyes were captivating and she saw in them a reflection of her own trials and heartache. She let her fingers run through his hair and smiled at him. Just then, there was a streaking sound as a small light shot up high into the air, then a loud boom sounded as a bright red firework exploded.

Neither she nor Harry jerked at the sound. Amelia took her hand back and nodded at the window. He nodded back and turned to watch the fireworks display. The show went on for nearly fifteen minutes, and then suddenly everything stopped.

“Ten seconds.” A man's voice said over the train's speakers, then he counted down. When he reached one, a huge set of fireworks went off as one and lit up the night sky, brighter than daytime. “Happy New Year!” The man said loudly and cheers came over the speaker before it cut off.

Susan turned from the window and looked into Harry's eyes as she moved closer. She glanced at her aunt for barely a second, let a wicked smile appear on her face for another second, then she leaned forward and placed a kiss right on Harry's lips.

“Susan!” Amelia gasped.

“Happy New Year.” Susan said when she broke the kiss, her face bright red.

“H-happy N-new Y-year.” Harry barely managed to say back, his face burning red.

“Young lady.” Amelia said a bit sternly. “I think we need to have another talk.”

“It's all right, Mom.” Susan said and waved at the window. “It was just a New Year's kiss. Everyone's doing it.”

Both Amelia and Harry looked out the window and saw people celebrating. A lot of them were kissing, just as Susan said.

“Still...” Amelia started to say.

“I like Harry and he likes me.” Susan said. “I know it's just as friends, so it's okay, right?”

Amelia opened her mouth to say that it wasn't, then she saw Harry's face. “You don't have to be embarrassed, Harry. I should have told her not to do that, even if it is the custom to kiss at midnight.”

Harry blinked his eyes at her for a second. “You're supposed to kiss someone?”

“Usually your date or sometimes a close friend.” Amelia said. “In the latter case, it's usually platonic.”

“What's that mean?” Harry asked.

“I know that one.” Susan said. “It means just as friends.”

“That's probably as good of an explanation as any.” Amelia said. “It means that it won't lead to anything more and that it is just what it is and that's that.”

Harry sat there for several moments and thought about it. “Okay. I think I understand.” He said and leaned close to Amelia, then gave her a brief kiss on the lips. “Happy New Year.”

Amelia sat there, completely stunned at what just happened. Susan laughed and laughed at the look on her aunt's face.