The Black Sheep

October 3, 1972- A Midnight Rendezvous

Rory was a bundle of nerves as she lay in the dark, impatiently waiting for midnight to roll around. She had gotten the letter from Sirius via a girl Rory knew to be called Haley Lupin earlier that day in their shared potions class. After ensuring that Professor Slughorn was far too interested in his lecture to pay her any attention, Rory opened the note and began to read it.

Dear Rory,

I have missed you so much! Meet me outside the great hall at midnight tonight so we can do some much-needed catching up. I want to hear how all your classes are going and make sure that there aren't any boys that I need to threaten yet!

(p.s. I may or may not have nabbed some sweets from dinner to share with the two of you)

Love, Your favorite brother

Rory smiled at the thought of being reunited with her brothers again and, after he was finished reading his letter from Sirius, the twins made eye contact across the aisle with matching grins as they silently agreed to their brother's invitation. Despite his constant spats with their parents, many of which Rory had to outdo to keep her older brother from punishment as her parents' rage moved on to their unwanted daughter, Sirius had always been close with the twins. The three siblings often spent their days in Sirius' room, playing cards or wizards' chess or simply enjoying each other's company while each sibling did something to occupy themself. There were even a few times when the twins were younger when they would crawl into bed with Sirius during a storm, as they were both terrified of the lightning but even more terrified of waking their parents over their fears.

These memories put a smile on her face as he recalled them in a desperate attempt to calm her nerves while waiting in the dark. Suddenly it was time, and Rory began to exit the room as quietly as possible for fear of waking the other girls in the room and having to answer to them. After successfully making it out of her dorm, she tip-toed down the stairs to the common room, where Regulus was already waiting for her.

"Ready?" He whispered excitedly to his sister.

"Ready." She replied, grabbing his hand and leading them out the door.

As the two siblings approached the Great Hall, they broke into matching smiles as they saw their older brother pacing in front of the doors. "Siri!" Rory exclaimed, dropping Regulus' hand and running towards her brother.

"Rory!" Sirius said, a huge smile spreading across his face as he welcomed his sister into his arms. "Aww Reggie, getting jealous of our dear sister?" He teased causing Rory to laugh and Reg to smirk and roll his eyes at his brother's teasing.

"Why would I want to hug you? I'd probably come away smelling of your stupid cologne you always insist on wearing and then I'd have to shower when I get back to the dorms."

"You know, words hurt Reggie." Sirius said while bringing his hand to his chest in mock offense, "Besides we all know Rory is the hugger and not you, so I wouldn't dream of even attempting it." The siblings laughed and walked into the dining hall to have a more private space to quietly talk. They sat there for hours before Rory finally insisted that they should probably get some sleep before their classes, much to Sirius' chagrin. After a short goodbye, and a promise to do this again soon, the siblings parted ways, Sirius heading back to Gryffindor Tower and the twins heading down to the Slytherin dormitories.

From that day on, they met on the third of every month, exchanging stories and checking in with each other in the dead of night where they were free from judging eyes.