𝙰 𝙳𝚘𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰 𝙳𝚘𝚟𝚎 - 𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘

Chapter 16

"They look so cute," Marlene cooed in a whisper, placing her face right in front of Sirius and Aurelia's sleeping ones. "Like little goats."

"She's not a goat, Mar!" Lily hissed, wrapping her cloak around herself tighter.

"Oh, she's definitely not," James murmured, slightly overjoyed by the fact that throughout the entire morning, Lily had not let go of his hand. "Can we wake them up now? I want to give Padfoot my present!"

"We've been up since we heard you three clambering into here," Sirius muttered, still with his eyes shut. Aurelia opened one eye, glaring at her three friends, before she shut it again, snuggling further into Sirius. Lily audibly awed at them, bringing out a list from thin air, writing down wedding invite ideas.

"You guys should make babies like now," Marlene said, flipping her short blonde hair over lazily. "They'd be so cute."

"I'd be the godfather, obviously," James remarked, bringing Lily's hand up to his lips. He planted a kiss on the soft skin, and Lily smiled gently. "And of course, Lilyflower would be the godmother."

"Okay, you've woken us up!" Aurelia snapped, pushing herself off Sirius. He kept a hand on her waist to steady her, before she helped him up, straightening his sweater for him. He grinned down at her whilst rubbing the sleep from his eyes, finding himself lost in her eyes.

"Happy birthday Siri," she whispered, throwing her arms around his neck to hug him. He hugged her back tightly, before wincing as James threw himself on Sirius, followed by Marlene and Lily.

"Happy birthday brother!" James hollered, earning a harsh shush from Madam Pince, the young librarian who had nearly shrieked in horror when she had found out about Sirius and Aurelia sleeping in her library last night from Minerva. James stuck his tongue out at Madam Pince, and shrieked as she rose from her chair, ready to reprimand him.

"Let's go!" he cried out, running towards the doors with Lily in tow. She laughed, grabbing onto Marlene's hand to drag her along, and Sirius crouched down in front of Aurelia, gesturing for her to jump onto his back. She grinned, jumping on with ease, and held on tight as Sirius ran out of the library, her chin resting on his shoulder.

The five of them passed some students in the hall, all of whom just stopped to either stare or laugh at the chaotic running. Sirius and Aurelia even passed Regulus, who smiled gently at them, before scowling once more as his friends came up to him. He'd already left a small gift out for Sirius by the entrance to the Gryffindor tower but knew it would not be wise to speak to his brother anymore, now that people were beginning to report back to his parents.

Remus, Peter, and the rest of their friends were patiently waiting for them in the Great Hall, already with a spread of breakfast before them. Kira and Wendy had pitched in together for a present, but the many smaller packages atop of their main present suggested Wendy had gone over the top.

"Happy birthday Padfoot!" Remus and Peter said in unison, reaching over the table to clap their best mate on the back. Sirius grinned madly, still with Aurelia clinging to him, but he set her down gently before acknowledging his friends, ensuring Aurelia was sitting tight beside him.

"Happy birthday, Mr Black. I hope your day is pleasant," Minerva said as she strode past the small group, patting Sirius on his head.

"Thank you, Min-Min!" Sirius hollered, earning an eyebrow from the professor.

"I think I preferred it when you called me Minnie," she muttered, continuing her journey to the teacher's table. Sirius' face lit up in pure glee, and it took Aurelia, James, Kira, and Lily to hold him down before he jumped up to hug the professor.

Sirius didn't mind Aurelia holding onto him. In fact, he did not want her to let go. Something in his heart had changed in the past few hours, like a light switch had suddenly illuminated the warm feelings he had been holding towards his quiet Ravenclaw counterpart.

He liked her.

No, it was more than that, Sirius realised, as he looked down towards the one other person in the world who understood him for who he was. Who knew what it was like to not be loved by the people who had brought them both into this world, and who knew just how important chosen family was, especially in the dark times ahead.

He loved her.

Sirius Orion Black had come to the realisation at eight o'clock on the 3rd of November 1976, that he was unreservedly, completely, irrevocably, in love with Aurelia Hope. She was his best friend, after James, but somehow, it felt as if she were his other half, the piece that he'd been missing his entire life until he had bumped into her on that train back in September.

He did not realised love could come by so quickly. Love at first sight was not meant for people like him – someone who had been born not from love but from pure spite and darkness was not supposed to fall for an angel.

Aurelia's tug on his sweater brought his attention once more to her, and she nodded her head towards the pile of presents stacked before him, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Open them, Siri. Today's your day," she whispered, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Sirius beamed his ever so boyish grin, before reaching for the large present from James, all whilst keeping his mind on the girl sat snugly beside him, still wearing his quidditch jumper that he'd gifted her a month or so ago. She adored the piece of clothing, and it made the primal dog inside of Sirius puff it's chest in pride.