Until We Meet Again (Sirius x OFC)

Part 1 - Chapter 3: News

"Don't," I heard a voice.

When I looked up, I saw Remus standing in the door of my office. He was watching me with concern, a frown on his scarred face. It was late, I wondered how he know I was still up.

Defeated, I sighed and put away the latest issue of the Daily Prophet with Sirius' screaming portrait on the front page. I had been staring at it for the past hour and by the look on his face, Remus knew it.

"He has been sighted," I said. "Not far from Hogwarts."

"I know." Remus walked over to me and sat down on the chair opposite. "How are you?"

"Fine, I guess."

"Ally, I know it's not easy for you..."

"No, Remus, it's okay, really." I tried to shake it off, thinking about this topic made me upset and I didn't want to cry again. "It's just... his face..."

He sighed, a more affectionate expression on his face now. "I wish I had some consoling words for you. I wish I had them for myself as well."

"Well, I guess there is no consolation. And after all these years... I don't even know if it's still necessary." I put the paper in the bottom drawer of my desk, so I wouldn't be tempted.

"Promise me you won't do anything reckless," he asked me, as if he knew what I was thinking about all the time. "When it comes to him, you..."

"Yes, he's always been my weak spot... But I know that he might be dangerous... not just for me. And I wouldn't want him to be here anyway with the Dementors around." I poured myself and Remus a cup of tea that was standing on my desk – ready for whenever someone needed comfort. "If he does come here... what do you think he'd want?"

"Well, he probably doesn't know you're here, so I'd reckon he might be after Harry."

I tried to at least consider this option but any thought that linked Sirius to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named just sounded absurd to me. And I also knew that this was a sensitive topic with Remus who usually tried not to get his hopes up. I on the other hand was certain that something else must have happened, that Sirius hadn't lied to me and everyone else. The two of us had often discussed this but it was tiring and with no evidence, it was hard to make a conclusion.

"I don't think he wants to kill Harry," I dared to say. "He would never hurt him."

Remus took a deep breath. "We shall hope so."

* * *

I was sitting in the library with Remus and Lily on a dull and rainy Saturday afternoon. We were working on a group project for Professor Slughorn, since we were excelling in Potions class this year, our fifth at Hogwarts, he said he wanted to further promote our talent. I didn't mind, I was glad to spend some time with my best friends.

Well, until something happened.

An hour in, we got visitors. James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and none other than Sirius Black came to see Remus about a plan they didn't want to elaborate on in front of us. Lily rolled her eyes at James who shot her flirty looks every few seconds. I, on the other hand, couldn't help but stare at the black-haired, grey-eyes Gryffindor who sat opposite from me. Sirius was a handsome boy, and many, many girls I knew fancied him. In fact, I knew more than a handful who had a serious crush on him, about five who claimed that he had flirted with him and another two who pretended to have made out with him once.

I didn't know if that was true, but I often thought about it. Sirius and I had never really spoken to each other, except for like once or twice during class when he hadn't listened and wanted to know what we had to do. The problem was... ever since I had watched him during the Sorting Ceremony, I thought about him. At first, it was just pure curiosity because my father had often told me about the noble house Black... but over the last few months, I thought about him in a different way. But my shyness stood in the way, he barely looked at me and when he did, I practically ran away so he wouldn't notice my stares. Which was easy because I was in a different house anyway.

Now I couldn't run though, because he was right in front of me.

"Alia?", I heard him say and involuntarily looked up at him. I had never before heard him say my name.

I swallowed hard, when he ran his hand through his hair and I noticed I was staring. "What?"

He smiled. "Are you okay? You have been looking at this page for the past ten minutes..."

I blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, yes, I am... I just thought about... things."

"You look pretty today," he said then, taking me completely off-guard.

"Oh, please, Black," interrupted Lily, "Do you have to flirt with every girl who I'm friends with and ruin it afterwards?"

Sirius chuckled. "I don't. And I meant it, she does look pretty."

"I think I need to leave, I have to uh... meet Melanie in the Ravenclaw Common Room..." I lied and stood up. I wanted to leave this argument as soon as possible, and him...

"I'll walk you," said Sirius and stood up with me. I wanted to curse. Lily tried to say something but quickly got distracted by James. And I didn't dare say anything.

Internally, I freaked out. Externally, I was motionless. Reluctantly, I then followed Sirius out of the library. Luckily for me, he immediately started talking before it got awkward.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I really just wanted to make you smile. You seem sad whenever I see you," he explained. "Which is rare anyway for some reason."

"Oh, I'm not sad, don't worry," I quickly said. "But thank you for worrying, I guess."

"Lily forbid me to ask you, actually... but I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" Sirius started to walk slower, as if to stall time. Then completely stopped.

I did as well and looked at him, surprised. "Me?"

"Yes..." He chuckled. "You."

"I... Of course. Yes." I nearly shouted my answer, scared he'd take back his offer if I hesitated. Sirius was staring at me with an expression I hadn't seen before... as if he really was interested in me for whatever reason. An hour ago, I didn't even think that he knew who I was and all of a sudden, I was going to go to Hogsmeade with him.

"Great," Sirius replied and raised his hand, bringing it close to my face. I immediately froze, while he gently removed a strand of hair from my face. It had grown quite a bit since I was last home during Christmas.

"You do look pretty." He smiled at my blush. "I mean it."

* * *

Since I had seen the picture in the newspaper, I didn't get it out of my mind. So when I was alone in the evening after Remus left, sitting on the edge of my bed with a mug of steaming tea on the bedside table, I tried to open my memory box but I found myself unable to do so. But there was a photo album in my trunk as well, and I took this instead. I had made it while grieving, not just the death of my best friends, but also the future I had lost. There were a lot of pictures of me and Sirius, naturally. And I had collected them as a way of coping with my bereavement.

Now, as all the happy memories came back, I cried and smiled at the same time. There was a picture of me and Sirius after we had graduated from Hogwarts... the official date of when I would finally live with him and leave my father behind. It was followed by a picture of me, Remus and Sirius – you were all smiling, despite the ongoing war, happy to have each other. There was a picture of Lily and James on their wedding day. Another one with Sirius as James's best man and me as Lily's maid of honor. I remembered how Sirius was looking at me that day, obviously imagining me as his bride. A thought that made my heart swell with love for him. Which probably led to the next picture... me and Sirius, kissing feverishly, after he asked me to marry him in front of our friends. I barely recognized the woman in the photograph. She was happy, wearing a smile I hadn't seen on my face for twelve years now.

I closed the album, unable to bear thinking about what I lost. Who I lost.

But Sirius... he was somewhere out there. He wasn't completely lost. Not yet. But if they found him, Merlin knows what they'd do to him. That's why I had to stay still, wait until it was safe to go looking for him.