No Shrinking Violet

Love

After a hearty meal the student body separated, for the most part, to go to their Common Rooms for the afterparty, some of the bolder students had disregarded the rules for the night and had gone to their friends Common Rooms instead of their own, in search of the best party. Lily, Marlene and I had been entrusted with fetching supplies that the boys had carefully tucked away weeks ago, they had never doubted their victory. The Fat Lady looked at us with mild judgement as I held a heavy case of Firewhiskey in my arms, the wine in her glass sloshing dangerously as she asked for the password in a disdainful tone.

'Catterwomp.' I said cheerfully.

'You may enter, but don't expect me to just sit here and listen to you lot screaming for the night.'

We ignored her as we stepped through the doorway to find the Common Room packed to capacity, I breathed in deeply and prepared to wade through the sweaty, drunken bodies.

'Move your arses and let us through!' Marlene shouted.

The crowd parted once they spotted the supplies we had brought with us and cheered loudly at the sight of the heavy crate in my arms, the same crate was suddenly gone from my grasp as a pair of strong arms snatched it from me.

'Thanks Moony.'

Remus gave me his sweetest smile and I couldn't help but smile back as an arm slipped around my shoulders, I turned and smiled at Cassie but it was replaced with a look of confusion when I saw the frown on her face.

'What is it?' I asked carefully.

'Okay, don't be angry, I didn't invite her and I don't know who did but...' she trailed off and tipped her head toward the fireplace.

'For the love of Merlin.' I sighed quietly.

Myrcella Vanti stood by the fireplace, her wild curls were framing her face and it pained me to admit to myself that her ensemble of a burgundy button up tied off over a pair of dark denim jeans was cute. She was speaking to Sirius who looked terribly uncomfortable, I tried to arrange my face into a happier expression, but it kept falling into a grimace at the sight in front of me. James approached Sirius and tapped him on the shoulder, he spoke into his ear and Sirius' head shot up, his eyes roamed the room with a troubled look until they met mine, he gave me an apologetic, almost pleading look and I tensed up against my will. Cassie slipped her hand into mine and squeezed, exhaling slowly I gave Sirius a shaky smile and a slight nod of my head, I didn't want to control him.

We broke eye contact but I kept watching him, unable to tear my eyes away as he turned away from Myrcella and picked something up from the mantlepiece, squinting my eyes slightly I saw it was a box of cigarettes, my eyes widened as he took one out and offered it to James, James shook his head and leaned over to kiss Lily before saying something to Sirius who shook his head and lifted the fag to his lips.

'Sirius Orion Black, you better get that vile thing out of your mouth!' I shouted, shocked.

Sirius looked at me with wide eyes while his hands were still cupped around the lighter, the flame flickered as I raised my eyebrows, daring him to light it and take a drag. I had nothing against smokers, but my aunt had smoked her whole life only to die of lung cancer at 52 and I refused to see that happen to Sirius...not to mention that smoker's breath is nasty.

Snapping out of his trance and realising that a few people were staring Sirius chuckled and closed the lid of his lighter, he passed his fag on to Dean Thomas who tucked it behind his ear for later use and smirked as he mimed a whipping sound, Sirius shoved him and laughed before making his way over to me.

'I forgot you aren't a fan of smoking.' he said quietly as he slipped his hand into mine.

I didn't respond as I pecked him on the lips, Sirius, being Sirius, wasn't content with a mere peck, he gently guided me to a corner and placed me between him and the wall before nudging my nose with his own.

'Thank you for being so calm.' he whispered.

'It was a struggle.' I chuckled with closed eyes. 'I can't control who you do or don't talk to, as long as you've made things clear to her it's...well it is what it is I suppose.'

'I really don't deserve you, if the situation was reversed I'd probably have broken something, possibly someone's nose.'

I looked up at him and giggled as I noticed his jaw was tensed, he had made himself angry with his own thoughts once again and I gently traced my hand down his jaw in an attempt to loosen it, Sirius focused on me with a lopsided smile and placed a hand at the small of my back before pulling me so close we were chest to chest.

'You look beautiful.' he said, making my cheeks burn red. 'I love that I can still make you blush. It's cute.'

'No it's not, I look like a Niffler.'

I tried to cover my face with my hands but Sirius pried them away and held them on his chest, I frowned and placed them flat as I felt how fast his heart was beating.

'Are you alright? Your heart is pounding.'

I looked up at him with worry and was taken aback by the look in his eyes, I couldn't describe it even if I knew all the most beautiful words of the English language, his eyes had never looked more beautiful and I found myself smiling like a fool.

'What are you smiling at?' Sirius asked, amused.

'Your eyes are so...'

'Dark, I know, I have the Black eyes, grey and even duller than a stone.' Sirius rolled his eyes.

'No! They're beautiful...they have these little flecks of blue in the centre that you can only see up close.'

Sirius' cheeks were a little red and I smirked.

'Who's blushing now, darling.' I teased.

Sirius rolled his eyes and kissed the tip of my nose; his heart was still beating furiously, and I rested my ear against his chest as I listened to it.

'It's you.' he said suddenly, causing me to look at him in confusion.

'What's me?'

'My heart, you make it beat like that. You scare me more than anyone or anything.'

My eyebrows knitted together, and I tried to pull away, slightly insulted.

'Not like that Vi.' he laughed. 'You scare me because I've never felt the way I do about you before, not with any other girl and the thought that you might not be as invested in this as I am terrifies me, and you can laugh in my face if you want but the honest truth is, I trust you. I can tell you things like this because I trust you, maybe even more than I trust James and Remus and Peter. I trust you and...I love you.'

We never broke eye contact while he spoke, and I gasped when he spoke those last three words, the words I had been longing to hear and the words I had worried I never would hear, I broke into a grin so wide it hurt and threw my arms around him crushing him in a passionate kiss that had a few bystanders whistling and cat calling. My hands tangled in his hair and I felt him gripping the fabric of my shirt making it gather at my waist, we were so close there was barely any air between us and when we broke apart we were panting for breath.

'I love you too.'

Sirius smiled in relief and pulled me back to him for another kiss, this one sweeter, gentler and full of love. I didn't necessarily know where my life was going, but I was sure that whatever happened, wherever I went and however badly things might get, if I had Sirius and he had me, everything would be okay.

I would be safe, andI would be happy. 

A/N: This is not the official ending, there will be a few more chapters to wrap up the story and then that will, sadly, be the end. I'd love if you could all comment and let me know if you would like for me to write a new book after NSV ends, and if so, what kind of content/genre would you like to see? I have a few ideas in mind but I want to hear from my readers! As always, thank you for reading. - T