LOVER | HARRY POTTER

chapter 11

"hi guys" i greeted while dropping my trunk obnoxiously.

harry laughed as remus pinched the bridge of his nose. "okay, grab onto my arms." remus told us while holding up both of his arms. i picked my trunk up with one hand and with the other latched onto him. i felt the weird feeling of apparition teleporting us to an old building.

we landed in a dusty hallway, i coughed instantly.

"right well there's a meeting going on but dinner will be served in around two hours so just go on upstairs, the rest of the kids are already up there." remus told us before he walked off.

i exchanged glances with harry before we started walking up the old creaky stairs.

"do you mind if we share a bed? this place creeps me out." i asked while eyeing the spider webs in the corner.

he laughed at my frightened expression, "no of course not."

we opened the first door we found and hermione came bounding over to me, tackling me into an extremely tight hug.

"lexie!" she exclaimed.

"mione! i missed you!" i told her through the hug.

after greetings with everyone else, including ron, fred, george, and ginny, we were all huddled in a tiny room. we had dropped our bags in a random room and said we would figure out our sleeping arrangements later.

"i have a bad feeling about this year" ron told us before everyone turned to him, "not because he-who-must-not-be-named is back but because it's fred and george's last year."

i grimaced at the pranks they were going to pull, "oh dear merlin." i groaned.

"cheer up ickle ronniekins!" fred started.

"we're going out with a bang!" george finished.

"dinner!" molly yelled from the kitchen.

we all raced down the stairs before bursting into the dining room. i locked eyes with sirius, as he looked at me with curiosity. while i was trying not to lose my shit- everyone else had already taken a seat, leaving me to sit next to harry and across from sirius.

"oh lexie, harry dears!" molly yelled while throwing her arms up, "so great to see you two! hopefully you found your own rooms?"

"oh we just- we're gonna stay together, it's no big deal." i spoke casually, but apparently to everyone else, this was a big deal. the adults turned curious gazes to us as i realized they probably thought we were together, "not like that of course! we've just been having sleepovers since we were like eight."

"your dad wouldn't be happy to hear that" sirius laughed, ignoring the alarmed faces of the other people in the room.

"sirius-" i started, only to get interrupted by him.

"i assume your mother told you, and i'm sorry for you not being able to meet him. i'm also sorry for being a crap uncle. but i can tell you about him."

my friends turned to me with surprised and worried looks in their eyes, exactly why i didn't want to tell anyone. i looked down to my hands and nodded silently.

"lexie, what does he mean your father?" harry asked, breaking the layer of silence at the table.

"i don't want to talk about it" i mumbled.

"how long have you known?" he pushed further.

"i'm not sure" i responded quietly.

"lexie, how long have you known?" he asked, again, "why didn't you tell me?"

"because i don't want to think about it!" i snapped. i hated to be a bitch, but i really was not in the mood for this. "i'm feeling quite tired now so i think i'll just head up." i told them, not caring it was 6:00.

i left the silent room and started up the stairs. i wandered down the old hallway, with curious eyes. i was told by harry that this house was owned by sirius, but if he had just bought it wouldn't it have been all clean and shiny instead of dusty and gross?
unless, of course, he grew up in this home.

i found a hidden door by the end of the hallway and walked up to it.

regulus arcturus black

i froze. my dad? he lived here? i pulled open the door with caution, only to enter in an old elegant room.

the walls were a dark grey, and the dark green curtains were pulled shut. in the middle of the large room sat a queen size bed, with dark green sheets thrown messily over the side. the dark wood desk and dresser had things thrown over them, it was like this room had been ransacked. like he was planning on running.

honestly, it made me a bit sad to see the room all messy and disorganized. so against my better judgement, i started putting things back where i assumed they would be.

i fixed the sheets on the bed, and headed over to the desk. on top of the surface was an open box with tons of photos inside. i wasn't ready to go through them yet, so i closed the box and set it aside.

after i had finished picking things up, and discovering my dad had a strong liking for stars, i sat on top of the bed and stared at the ceiling.

i sighed heavily as i heard a little knock at the door.

"come in" i mumbled.

"hi" sirius entered the room with a guilty look on his face, "i'm sorry for talking about your father during dinner, i thought you would already told harry and everybody else."

"dad" i corrected him after he finished, "father sounds too formal, even if i never knew him."

"okay" he nodded.

i looked at him and he looked at the ground. i scooted my way onto one side of the bed to make room for him on the other. sirius looked at me with hopeful eyes and smiled slightly, he sat down next to me.

"you cleaned up?"

"i found it kinda sad how messy it was" i told him, "i also found a box of photos. will you go through them with me?"

"of course."

i walked over to the desk and picked up the little box and sat down next to sirius again. we began going through the old photos.

i pulled out a photo of a younger version of sirius and my dad and he began explaining everything.

he explained how my dad and him were best friends before they went to hogwarts, but their house differences split them up. how sirius figured out my dad was in love with my mom. how my dad went to make amends with sirius the night before he died.

i was glad he told me these things, because if my dad couldn't be in my life, at least i could know who he was.

"what should i call you?" i asked while putting the lid back on the box, "i mean you're kinda like my uncle."

he laughed lightly at my weird way of wording things, "well you could call me uncle padfoot, or just padfoot, whatever you're comfortable with."

i nodded while standing up, still clutching the box, i walked over to the door but paused before leaving,
"thank you uncle pads."