GOOD DOG || Sirius Black

(Fifty Six: The Forest Again)

He pulled two butterbeers out of the inside of his robe, "I thought you'd find me here."

Alex sat down on the grass, legs crossed under herself, and took the bottle from his hands, "New's gone. The potion is really... It's gone."

"I know." Sirius glanced at the ground, "I can see it in your face."

"The world looks so small." Alex said, "That's what it feels like, I'm just left with this tiny little world and I live smack dab in the centre. I don't get to play the comic relief character in my own life anymore."

Sirius looked at her, "Is that better?"

"I don't know." Alex replied honestly, "But I can feel everything again. Everyone I... Everyone New killed, and my parents... I never really took the time to- to process. All those people. They're all gone."

"I know."

Alex stared down at her hands, that were wrapped around the butterbeer, "And I don't know who to blame."

"Typical bloody northerner." Sirius smiled slightly, "Do you need to blame someone?"

She pondered it for a minute, "I think so."

"Why?" Sirius asked with such a straightforwardness that Alex wondered for a moment what would have happened if she'd just left him in that cell.

"Because otherwise it's my fault." She answered.

"Okay, so it's your fault." Sirius allowed, "So go out there and spend every day making it up to them by being happy and kicking the shit out of some Death Eaters and living a long and full life."

Alex made a frustrated noise, "It's not that simple."

"It really is." Sirius argued simply.

"It's not."

"Is."

"Not."

"Is."

The corner of Alex's mouth twitched again for just a moment, "Not."

"See?" Sirius pointed triumphantly at her lips, "That's a smile right there. Keep hold of that. You aren't going to have a whole lot of them for a while. You've gotta make the ones you get count."

"Like right now?" Alex asked, curious as to what kind of response she would get.

Sirius just looked at her, "Is right now important?"

Her eyebrows furrowed in thought, "Feels like it."

"It doesn't matter, really." Sirius decided, "Smile when it's not important. Smile when everything's falling apart. Smile the whole bloody time."

"Why?"

"It pisses people off," Was the answer that Alex should have expected of that weird Gryffindor who had wormed his way into her life, "And that's what you do. Also... It looks good on you."

Alex raised her eyebrows, taking a long swig, "Is that right?"

Sirius grinned, but there was something far off about his expression, "My cousin sounded like she was telling you my whole life story when I got there."

"She was definitely trying." Alex laughed hollowly.

"So, what?" Sirius had his sarcastic voice on, "You didn't want to hear my full autobiography?"

"Oh, I do." Alex grinned, "But I like the way you tell it."

Sirius nodded in acknowledgement, "Smooth."

"I'm proud of myself for that one." Alex admitted, "Why don't you tell me what's up and then we can get back to being two repressive arsehole teenagers drinking alcohol on school property?"