She raised an eyebrow but gave up her robe and hat. "Thank you."
"And you Harry Potter's Mooey?" Remus sighed and let the house elf divest him of his outer robe too, the house elf hanging it on a hook. "Tea in the sun room, please, Dobby."
The excited house elf nodded and popped away.
"An unusual elf." Minerva commented.
"Harry freed him from the Malfoys apparently. He turned up out of the blue just as Sirius and I agreed we needed to find an elf for here to help look after Harry. He's a free elf – we're paying him a galleon a month. It tickles Sirius no end." Remus shook his head. "Dobby's incredibly loyal to Harry and protective of him which is the main thing." He smiled happily at her. "Welcome to Harry's new home. Shall I give you a tour? I'd appreciate a female point of view."
"I'd be delighted." Minerva said, smiling.
They went upstairs first. The attic room with its sloping roof and adjoining en-suite bathroom was Remus's – the sign on the door said Moony. A large room on the floor below with a shower room was Sirius's and he too had a sign with his Marauder name.
Minerva's fingers trailed over the sign on the door opposite Sirius's that proclaimed 'Pronglet' and walked inside. She nodded in approval at the warm chocolate colour that predominated on the furnishings, linen and curtains with cream and gold accents. The room wasn't overly large but had the basics of a wardrobe, chest of drawers, bedside table, reading chair and bed. A bookcase filled with Harry's school books, a desk and chair for study were set under the large window to the right that looked out onto the back garden and the countryside beyond. Hedwig snoozed happily on her owl perch beside the desk. There was a small shower-room to the left complete with toilet and sink.
"We've set it up as similar to the room he has at Black Manor but he can charm the colours here to something he prefers once he arrives." Remus explained. "Sirius wants him to have some say in making the room his."
"An excellent idea," Minerva agreed. She waved her wand turning the chocolate to Gryffindor red. "I believe Harry will find the familiarity comforting for his first night."
Remus grinned and ushered her out and down the stairs, briefly showed her the two guest bedrooms before they ended up back in the hallway. There was a large comfortable living room to the front of the house that Minerva exclaimed over. With Remus's permission she conjured a tartan throw for the sofa and some cushions for the chairs. She picked up the photos of the Marauders, Lily and Harry on the mantelpiece, smiling wistfully at all of them before following Remus through into a study filled with bookcases and two desks on opposite walls. The study overlooked the back garden and had doors out to a small patio area.
Remus picked up a file and a book from his desk, and they walked back to the hallway, through another formal reception room where Minerva did the same finishing touches, and into the dining room. It led to the large kitchen where Remus took Minerva down the steps into the basement which had been set up for magical practice. He finally stopped the tour at the large sun room at the back of the house where a table was already laid out with afternoon tea waiting for them.
Remus pulled out Minerva's chair and got her settled before taking his own seat. "So what do you think?"
"It's lovely." Minerva said sincerely. "I believe Harry will be very happy here with you both, Remus." She accepted his silent offer of tea – picking up the teapot – and waited until he had poured her a cup before continuing. "You'll forgive me for noting that I don't believe that this amount of work was possible in just the few days since Sirius was awarded custody."
"No, indeed." Remus filled her in on Sirius assuming his position as the Head of the House of Black; their plan to get Sirius's name cleared; the Ministry's discovery of Harry Potter's muggle life; the immediate awarding of custody to Sirius, and the agreement for the news to leak slowly to the public.
"Quite honestly, we thought we would have another week of wrangling with Fudge about the custody," Remus passed her the plate of warm scones, "but apparently Amelia Bones was horrified by the muggles and pushed for Harry's immediate removal from them."
Minerva sliced her scone open. "I should have listened to my first instinct about those muggles. I don't know why I let Albus talk me into leaving Harry with them. I'd only just found out about Lily and James but that is no excuse for walking away as I did."
"We all walked away, Minerva." Remus pointed out. "Sirius walked away when he handed Harry to Hagrid – something I know haunts him. Hagrid walked away believing as you did that Albus knew best. I held on as long as I could but even I walked away in the end because I had to live my own life. You're not alone in making that mistake. We all trusted Albus to take care of Harry."
Minerva nodded, accepting the comfort as she bit into her scone.
Remus buttered his own scone before he continued. "If the will had emerged sooner, things would have been different, I'm sure."
"Perhaps," Minerva wiped her fingers on a napkin, "although I find myself wondering if I wouldn't have allowed Albus to convince me that Harry was safer with the muggles." She shook her head. "I certainly allowed him to convince me that talking with Harry about his family was inappropriate, but then I do try not to show favouritism at the school."
"So no favouritism except in matters of Quidditch?" Remus teased. "You did make Harry the youngest seeker for a hundred years."
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