the_debt_of_time

Arthur sighed softly and nodded. "Still. Twelve years. No rat lives that long. I'd
brought my son Percy with me to work one day, not long after You-Know-Who, well,
vanished. Don't know how he found it, but by the time we got back to the Burrow, Percy
was holding on to this rat. Molly told me to get rid of the filthy thing, but Percy was
attached. He'd never had anything of his own before; something that hadn't first belonged
to either of the older boys. The rat wouldn't let anyone else hold him for those first few
years. Just Percy. We should have known something."
"You should have bought a cat." Sirius laughed, hoping to alleviate the shame from
the wizard in front of him, who had never done a thing wrong in his life. Mia had always
spoken kindly of Arthur, who fought for Muggle rights against a Wizengamot that despised
him, doing his best to make the world a better place while providing for his exceptionally
large family in the process. "No hard feelings, honestly."
"No." Arthur shook his head. "I feel I need to apologise. I know we didn't know one
another very well back then, but we were friendly and.. ." He paused and looked down,
fighting back tears. "And Mia loved and trusted you. She was a good witch, and her word
should have been enough. But when she―"
"I know," Sirius interjected quickly, his smile fading at the mention of his witch.
"Was she ever found?" Arthur asked, looking up.
"No," Sirius answered without hesitation.
"Sirius, I'm so―"
"Arthur!" Molly Weasley called from the front door. "Can you help with these—?
BOYS! PUT THAT DOWN! Ronald! Help Hermione with her trunk!"
Sirius and Remus looked up to spot the little witch making her way through the
front door, struggling with the large Hogwarts trunk, her fat kneazle slipping between the
legs of the crowd, making his way toward Sirius.
Grinning at the familiar beast, Sirius leant down to scratch Crookshanks behind his
ears, smiling smugly when the cat purred at him.
"She's got hands," Ron snapped at his mother. "I've got my own stuff to take care
of."
"Such a gentleman," Hermione muttered, rolling her eyes as she finally made her
way into the house. "It's fine, Mrs Weasley, I can take my own things, thank you."