Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 91

It was now way past midnight. Jenna felt as if the last few hours had happened in a span of days. Around an hour had passed since she had left Grimmauld Place, and yet her head was still hurting.

Jenna knew that there were more important matters going on, including the return of the darkest wizard of all time, but at the moment all that she could think about was Sirius.

But in order to ease her mind a bit and help her thoughts to calm down, she had gone back to her childhood home. It was true that the place was haunted for her with old memories, but it was also the only place that Jenna thought she truly belonged. It was the only place she felt safe.

So after taking a short walk around the Potter Manor's dusty halls, Jenna went back out into their yard, knowing that a stroll could help to free her mind. Although her feet carried her on, toward a tall willow tree at the back of the yard.

With a sad smile at the edge of her lips, Jenna went on one knee before the tree trunk, running her fingers over the old carving upon the wood. It was her and James's initials, which they had carved on the tree when they were only eleven, on the summer before their first year at Hogwarts.

Withdrawing her hand from the tree trunk, Jenna felt her tears fill up her eyes again, though she kept on smiling to herself.

"I miss you, J.P," she whispered. "I really wish you were here."

With a sigh, Jenna sat down on the grass and leaned her back against the tree trunk, closing her eyes. She could feel the gentle summer breeze brush through her hair, though unaware that her hair color had turned silver.

Jenna didn't know how long she had been sitting there, with her eyelids closed. Maybe an hour, maybe two. But her eyes shot open when she heard someone Apparating in the distance.

With her heart sinking, she briskly got to her feet and drew out her wand, looking around her to see who it was, through the darkness of the night.

"Jenna?"

She gasped and jerked around with her wand raised high as she heard someone call her out. Though she lowered it in relief when she saw Sirius standing a few feet away from her.

"What are you doing here?" she grumbled with a frown, placing her wand back in her pocket.

"I — I came here to apologize," said Sirius, though he didn't move any closer to her, afraid that she would try to walk away from him again.

"I mean why did you leave the house!? What if somebody sees you!?" she said sharply, her eyebrows knitting together. "The Ministry is still looking for you, Sirius! Are you really that eager to go back to Azkaban!?"

    No matter how mad Jenna was at Sirius, the thought of him being captured was still unbearable to her.

"There are enough protection charms around this house; nobody who means harm can step in here," he said softly. "And even if they did get me and sent me back there... I would deserve it."

Jenna rolled her eyes at his attempt to smooth things with his words, and turned around to walk away. But Sirius was quick to rush forward to stop her.

"Jenna, wait!" he called out, running after her and grabbing her wrist.

"Sirius, don't —"

"Please," he cut her off, still holding on to her tightly, "please hear me out."

Jenna stopped fighting to get her hand free of his grasp and relaxed a bit, so he finally let her go.

"I'm sorry I overreacted tonight," he said earnestly. "But... I owe you an even bigger apology... I know you're right. I know that me feeling sorry isn't going to fix anything, but... I'm really am sorry, Jenna. I'm sorry for leaving you that night. I'm sorry for being reckless and going after that rat thoughtlessly. And I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you... for you and our baby."

Jenna was now biting the insides of her cheek to prevent herself from crying. But just then she noticed how red Sirius's eyes were, both filled with tears as he was breathing heavily.

"I was being an idiot, saying that it was easy on you. Because I know it wasn't," he went on when she remained quiet. "I know it must've been harder for you, more than anybody else. But I thought that I had lost you, too. For twelve years... everyone thought that you were dead, including me. And that was more painful than anything I had ever experienced in my life. But when I saw you two years ago, in this same house... it felt as if they had given me the world back. And now... even the thought of losing you again is enough to drive me insane."

Jenna still said nothing as she stared up at him. She had no idea what she was even supposed to say.

"Look," Sirius continued, "If I had known that I wouldn't be seeing you again for so long, there was no way I would've left."

"But I needed you," Jenna finally whispered. "It didn't matter to me if you were going to be gone for an hour, or only for a few minutes. I needed you, Sirius. We both needed each other for comfort. But you thought that getting revenge would've made you feel better. I know you had a good reason for wanting Pettigrew dead. Believe me, I do too. But there were other ways to deal with it."

"I know..." he nodded weakly. "And I know that I might act reckless sometimes —"

Jenna gave him a look.

"Okay... most of the times," he corrected himself. "And I know that I don't deserve you... but I can't live without you, Jenna."

He then moved closer toward her, placing a strand of her silver hair behind her ear the way he always did, before placing his hand softly on her rosy cheek.

"I love you," he said softly, looking deep into her hazel eyes, "and I want to spend the rest of my life proving to you just how much. only if you would let me. If only you would forgive me."

Jenna let out a sigh, looking away from him. "You drive me crazy, Sirius Black. You really do."

Sirius let a light grin tuck at the edge of his lips. He then placed both his hands on either sides of her face, making her look up at him again.

"I love you, Jenny." He smiled, slowly leaning down until he pressed his lips against hers, bringing her into a gentle kiss.