Don't Blame Me (Sirius Black)

Chapter 55 - Sirius

Sirius focused as much as he could on the chess match with Peter. "Darling," he quietly said. She hummed a response. "What do you want to do for the holidays?" he asked the terrifying question that they had both been avoiding.

"Well, I've never really been away from home for Christmas," she admitted quietly.

"We can stay there then," he told her before cursing as Peter took his rook. "What about New Year's?"

"Well, we did the Potters' last year..." Daisy mumbled.

Sirius was about to lose his temper as Peter took another bishop. "We're not going to your parents' for both holidays," he grumbled. He was sure he could've found a nicer way to say it, but he was so frustrated by his chess match.

"I didn't say we had to," Daisy replied. Sirius could tell that it was taking everything in her to not snap back. "We have a flat."

"So you want us to spend New Year's alone with no friends?"

"I didn't say that either. The boys have come over to our flat before," Daisy muttered.

"Oh," Sirius replied. "Yeah that sounds- F*ck you, Peter!" he shouted as Peter took his queen. "Let me play!"

"Not my fault," Peter grumbled.

"Pete, are you okay?" Daisy asked.

"Yeah. Fine," he shortly said. Daisy nodded. "There's a pet on my nightstand," he added.

Daisy stood up and wrapped her arms around Peter. "We love you, Pete," she told him before gently kissing his cheek and running up the stairs.

Sirius cursed again as Peter won once again. Sirius finished the bottle of firewhiskey. "One more round?" Peter asked. "Loser drinks the whole bottle?"

Sirius nodded as Peter filled the firewhiskey bottle. "It's on, Wormtail," he muttered, making Peter laugh.

Daisy came running down the stairs. "It's our fifth animal- Um... What's that word you guys use?" she exclaimed.

"Nuisance," Remus said from the couch. Sirius couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"No! The word on the map. And you boys use it all the time," Daisy tried to explain.

"Marauder," Peter told her.

"Fifth animal marauder!" Daisy exclaimed.

"There've been five?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. Mary the bug got stepped on-" Peter started.

"By Alice," Daisy added.

"Yes. By Alice," Peter confirmed. "We all know the fate of Daisy Jr.. Sirius is still alive, right, Dais?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Sadly," Sirius added quietly as Daisy sat against his chair once more. He started running his fingers through her hair as she played with her gerbil.

"And Remus is still alive too," Peter finished. Daisy nodded in confirmation. "So what's this one's name?"

Daisy looked over at Peter, unamused. "What do you think?" she asked, holding up the red gerbil.

"Sorry!" Peter defensively said. "I didn't want to assume!"

"It's Lily," Daisy told him. She let the gerbil run in front of her before pulling out her wand and bringing her back.

After a few more minutes, James and Lily came back from the head boy and head girl duties. "How were your snog duties?" Sirius asked. Daisy shot up and ran over to them before they could answer.

"Look! It's Lily!" Daisy exclaimed.

"You named her after me?" Lily asked. Daisy nodded. Lily smirked over at James. "I'm honored."

"What do I have to do to get one named after me?" James asked, throwing up his hands.

"You need to be cool," Daisy told him. James started chasing Daisy. She ran to Sirius and set the gerbil down. "Watch her," she said before James caught her. He walked her over to the sofa and threw her down before sitting on her. "You're so heavy!" Daisy groaned, trying to push him off. After several minutes of trying, Sirius walked over. He wrapped his arms around James and threw him to the ground.

"Thank you for helping, Lily," Daisy sarcastically mumbled. "I named my gerb- Where's Lily?"she suddenly shouted, looking around frantically. Lily, James, and Sirius all helped her as Peter yelled for Sirius to finish the match.

Suddenly, Remus slammed his book shut. Everyone turned their attention to him as he reached his hand down his trousers and pulled out the gerbil. He slowly stood up and walked over to Daisy. He dropped the gerbil into her hands. "If your gerbil goes up my pant leg again, I will kill it," he muttered. He then returned to his armchair and his book.

"That was terrifying," Daisy admitted quietly.

"It's alright, love. He's only cranky because the full moon is tomorrow," Sirius assured her. Daisy nodded and gently kissed him.