Barking Mad (Sirius/OC)

The miracle of living

"If you keep looking at me like that-"

I didn't let him finish that sentence and kissed first his left and then his right nipple. He promptly shut up, and I grinned against his skin. I pulled away again and let my gaze move down to where I knew an ugly scar marred his stomach. Sirius became very still when I slowly bowed my head and kissed every inch of it gently. He was so beautiful to me that it hurt me that someone could ever have hurt him like that. He only started breathing again when I stopped. I gently let my fingers caress his side as I looked up into his eyes. I couldn't exactly name the emotion that lay in his eyes right now, but it hurt me worse than any Cruciatus curse ever could. I moved up again and lay down next to him.

Without saying a word he grabbed my hand. We both stared at the ceiling for a second, before he gave out a loud sigh.

I smiled and turned to my side so I could look at him. I let go of his hand and laid mine on his chest. I started drawing lazy circles around his nipple until we both calmed down and his breathing became more regular.

"Sirius?" I asked him softly.

He didn't say anything but I could tell that I had his undivided attention. "You would tell me if you weren't okay, right?"

He grabbed the hand drawing circles and brought it to his mouth. He kissed my fingers as if that was a proper response to my question. It really wasn't.

"Padfoot," I prodded.

His lips turned into a lazy grin at his nickname. He intertwined our fingers as he stared at our hands. "Would you?"

I stared at our hands now, too. I knew what he was really asking here and that he would never force the answer out of me. I squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. We didn't speak for a long time, and I couldn't help but wonder what time it was. The sun had risen just as Sirius had slipped into my room so I figured we maybe had about an hour before the house woke up. I laid my head down on his shoulder and told him everything that had happened at the orphanage.

~**~

"Lily!" I yelled when I saw her fiery red hair.

Her smile was almost too bright for this overcast day. It made me miss the sun even more. She walked a little bit faster until we were both in each other's arms. I hugged her close. "I've missed you," Lily said with a grin as she pulled back.

"And I you," I grinned back.

"Evans," Sirius said when we released each other.

Lily nodded at him in acknowledgment. "Black." Her eyes quickly moved to Sirius' right and she nodded stiffly again. "Potter."

James waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. "Lily."

She shook her head in exasperation before she turned to me with an accusatory look in her eyes.

I laughed and hooked my arm in hers. "Just ignore him, Lily. He's trying to rile you up."

"I'm well aware," she huffed. "Doesn't mean it isn't working."

I shook my head at her and sent Sirius a look over my shoulder. He gave me a wink, and I turned back around with a broad smile.

"Oh Merlin," Lily sighed as she studied me, "I'm going to spend a lot of time with James Potter this year, aren't I?"

I laughed. "Nobody's going to make you spend time with him, Lils."

She shook her head with a small smile. "It'll be inevitable," she shrugged. "I'll just have to get used to all the nicknames coming my way."