the_debt_of_time

The five or six people actually there all cheered, and the bartender nodded to the
man before proceeding to fill up several glasses, handing the first to the Muggle who was
grinning from ear to ear.
Sirius looked at the bloke, raising a brow. "Your team win a game or something?"
he asked, still not knowing enough about Muggle sports to be more specific than that.
"Better! My wife's in labour."
Sirius snorted in amusement. "No offence mate, since you just bought me a drink
and all," he said, glancing at the pint as it was placed in front of him. "But if you're about
to have a baby, why're you in a pub?"
The Muggle drained his entire glass in one go and then nodded to the bartender to
refill it. He let out a shaky exhale and laughed a little hysterically. "It's been a long day.
Doctor says it'll still be a while, and Helen, my wife, said I was making her more anxious
by pacing around the room. Ordered me out. Said if I passed out from nerves when the
big moment came, she'd break my nose. Said to get a drink in me while she was still allowing
it."
"Sounds like my kind of woman." Any girl that threatened to break someone's nose
was good in Sirius's book. "Well, in that case, two shots of firewhisky," he said to the
bartender.
The bartender raised a brow. "That some new brand? I don't think we carry it,
mate."
"Regular whisky, then. One for me, and one for the new father here," he said,
gesturing to the Muggle beside him.
"Thanks," the man said brightly and extended a hand to Sirius. "Richard Granger."
He accepted the outstretched hand with a nod. "Sirius Black."
"Sirius?" Richard laughed. "That's your name?"
Sirius shrugged, more amused than insulted. "Family tradition."
"Interesting family," Richard muttered with a slight smirk. "No offence, of course,"
he added before taking a sip of his beer.
"None taken," Sirius assured him. "Shitty family. Glad to be well rid of the lot." He
shoved the images of his parents and Regulus into the back of his mind and tried to
summon up visions of his real family: James and Lily, Mia and Remus, even Peter, wherever