Roses All The Way Down【Sirius Black】

ⅩⅩⅩⅤ. 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝?

"So they never have sex?" Sirius hissed to Virginia, when they had piled into the back of the car to visit Virginia's grandmother and aunts at the nunnery. "So do you have any cousins or anything?"

"Yes," she whispered back, "my mom would have joined the convent - but she fell in love with my father. So I was born and my Aunt Georgaina lives in America and has three kids."

It was Christmas Eve. The tree in the living room was to be decorated that night and the stockings hung on the fireplace. There was a large gray sock that belonged to Virginia's father before he had lost the other one that was for Sirius.

"And will you do that?" Sirius asked, his eyes wide, "when we graduate, am I going to have to visit you there?"

She shook her head, "no thanks, I want children and a lovely little family," she smiled down at her lap, "and a job would be nice too. Besides, they probably wouldn't let me in without making me give up magic. I mean if nobody ever fell in love with me, I probably wouldn't have much of a choice. I'm not sure."

He nodded, eyeing her sideways. The two fell silent. The ride was long and rather cold, Virginia pulled her feet onto the seat and hugged her legs. The heat had stopped working in the Waters family car long ago. Sirius gaped when he saw the Nunnery. It was an impressively massive building with a large snow topped garden in front of it. The building itself consisted of two tall buildings with stained glass windows near the top, connected by a slightly lower building.

"Looks like a mini Hogwarts," Sirius said, his brows furrowed, "I didn't know Muggles could build such cool things."

"They are pretty ingenious," Virginia agreed as she stepped out of the car, her feet crunching in the gravel. Inside the convent the cold was not much better. The drafty corridors were endless. The Nun leading them led them to where their Grandmother was residing. She smiled kindly before leaving the family in the hallway. They opened the door and she was laid in bed, coughing up a fit until she gulped it down and forced a small smile. "Hey Nana," Virginia greeted with a sympathetic expression.

"Greetings dear girl," her Nana replied. Sirius waved from next to Virginia. She looked the tall boy up and down shrewdly, "now, now... Mary and Ezra," she addressed the parents, "Mary's sister Eve is down the hall with the rest, you should say hello." They nodded and her mother bowed her head. They shuffled out of the room. As soon as the door clicked closed behind them, their Nana looked up, "I do not need your pity whippersnappers," she directed her comment at Ophelia and Virginia.

They grinned at each other. "Sorry Nana," they chorused.

"Now Ginny," her Nana said, "I assume you are the one fucking this boy, considering our Ophelia prefers to fuck girls?" Sirius blanched, looking between Virginia and her Nana with bulged eyes.

"No Nana, we're not dating. I do believe him to be courting someone back at school."

Her Nana groaned dramatically like a child, "must you be so formal?"

Virginia shook her head with a small smile on the edges of her lips, "you must return to Ophelia, if you wish to receive the gossip."

Her Nana looked at her sister with bright eyes, Ophelia knelt down next to her and launched into her tales of her sexual exploits. Sirius shuffled over to Virginia, "I'm confused."

"I'm not surprised that you are," was the only thing Virginia said in reply.

"Now, now my idiot granddaughters and their charismatic friend, time for the dreaded aunt visit." Ophelia groaned aloud, Sirius was still too stunned to speak and Virginia curtsied awkwardly and began to drag the two out of the room. "One moment Ginny, leave them to wait." She reentered the room, folding her arms across her chest. Her Nana looked pointedly at the floor next to her. Virginia sat down criss crossed down next to her bed and fiddled with tassels hanging from the comforter. "So... you and the boy."

Virginia sniffed, "He's dating a girl at school and saving himself for marriage. He never swears-"

"Enough of the lies you told your parents," she said with a cranky wave of her hand.

Virginia nervously knotted the tassels, "last night..." she paused before telling her what had happened. When she got to the part where he had said he was god, her Nana laughed loudly,

"oh ho ho, seems to think a lot of himself this young man does," she chuckled, "so then you do like him?"

"No. We just had a fight and emotions were running high," Virginia replied dismissively.

Her Nana groaned, "I forgot about the idiocy of youth. My dear Ginny, you're in love."

Virginia snorted and stood up, "thank you Nana for your infinite wisdom but," she was caught entirely by surprise when a viselike grip fastened around her forearm, dragging her back down towards the old lady. Her eyes widened.

"You have to," her voice came out raspy and terrible like she was a banshee with a particularly awful head cold, "you have to get me out of here. Do you understand me Virginia?" She grabbed at the young girl's face, harshly holding her jaw with her bony hands as she forced Virginia to look into her milky and desperate eyes, "do you promise to get me out?" She shook her head with her hands until she answered weakly.

"Y-y-yes Nana."

Her Nana released her and Virginia stumbled back, groping at the door with her hand. A moment passed. It felt as though something lifted from the room.

"Farewell my dear Granddaughter!" she smiled as jovially as always. Virginia waved and almost slammed the door closed, leaning against the frame and breathing heavily. She shook her head to clear it before walking down the hall to see her aunts.

That night, after the tree was decorated in a circle of merry Christmas tunes on the radio and they had all been stuffed full of cookies - Sirius, Ophelia and Virginia gathered in the latters room.

"So the big question," Ophelia said, settling into her bed. It sunk under her weight, she squirmed uncomfortably. "Did you get the kiss sister?"

She shuffled across the room before lowering herself onto her own creaky mattress. Sirius awkwardly lingered in the doorway, leaning his arm on the closed door. "I did, yeah."

"The gruesome details," she smirked, "please." Virginia's nose twitched before she explained in slow words the encounter in the library. Sirius seemed to be paying rapt attention, which seemed odd considering he had been there. "Oh come on," Ophelia grunted, "that doesn't count, girl. You told him you needed a kiss? That's not anything daring or special. I mean the whole point was to be wild. A peck of a kiss in the corner of a huge room of books," she crossed her arms, "hardly counts."

Virginia bit her tongue slightly out of annoyance, "so you're not going to help me go back?"

She could practically hear Ophelia shrug, "you knew the rules Little Sis. But speaking of going back to places - wanna visit the Night Arcade after Christmas dinner? You can meet my girlfriend..." She dangled the word in front of Virginia like a cruel taunt. Virginia shifted in her bed.

"Sounds great, well I'm going to bed."

She heard the door open and close. Sirius left. She didn't sleep easily that night. She shouldn't have been so stupid as to assume it would count.

A/N- I'm sorry if I get anything wrong in the nunnery department - all my knowledge of nuns comes from Sound of Music and my one Christian friend.