Till The End | h.p

grimmauld place

Sam has been at 12 Grimmauld Place for only a week and she's never felt more fulfilled. She spends every day talking with Sirius; he asks her to fill him in on everything he missed and he tells her stories of her mother and his time at school with James, Lily and Remus. They sit for hours just talking and she never realized what she's been missing until now. Ron, Fred and George should be arriving within the next two to three weeks, then Molly and Arthur will join and start their meetings, and sometime in the middle of their holiday, Hermione will arrive. But everytime Sam asks when Harry will get here, he changes the subject. Sirius asked her not to tell Harry anything about the Order, which she finds ridiculous but she obeys nonetheless.

Sirius has been trying to teach her ways to control her emotions and her magic, but so far it's been slow progress because all she feels is joy. Today, they both sit in the drawing room as she shows him the pictures in her scrapbook.

"So, I took this in July last year before the World Cup. Fred and George set up a whole day of fun for us. It's one of my favorite memories," Sam smiles widely at the memory.

"Is that you and Harry with sparklers?" Sirius asks amusedly.

"Well, you see, I may or may not have chased him around with it," she says as she pulls her lips in, trying to hold in a laugh.

Sirius laughs loudly, "You both are so much like James and I used to be."

"He was your tethered soul, right?" Sam asks and Sirius nods with a smile, "What did it feel like when he died? Did you feel it?"

Sirius looks away for a moment at the picture on the mantelpiece, a picture of him and James, "I wasn't there when he and Lily... but yes, I felt it. It was like a piece of me died with him. I knew the moment it happened."

Sam pulls him in for a hug that he gladly returns. Not being able to raise her and experience her first day at school, her stories of the years, not even being able to write to her, it broke his heart. Being able to know her, to watch her grow, hear her stories now... it feels like something has healed his heart.

"Please don't ever leave me again," she whispers.

"I will always be with you, no matter what. I will always be here for you," he assures.

She flips the page of the scrapbook and regrets it instantly.

"Is that you and Harry?" He points to the page of their dance at the Yule Ball and their kiss.

"Uh- yeah..." she glances at him with worried eyes and his mouth gapes.

"Damn, I owe your mother and Lily 10 Galleons."

She looks at him partially between shock and wonder.

"After watching you both interact for the first time, they figured eventually you two would end up together. James and I absolutely rejected the idea. I didn't want to imagine my daughter dating ever," he pauses for a moment and tilts his head at the picture, "but now that I see it, I wouldn't trust anyone else to keep you safe."

She smiles and looks at the pictures of them, "But now that I know, I will be giving him the talk."

"Oh Godric, please don't," she covers her face with her hands in embarrassment.

After an hour of laughing at each other's stories, they get ready for another lesson. Sirius pushes all the furniture out of the way and stands in front of her.

"I know this isn't fun, but it will come in handy one day otherwise your mother wouldn't have taught me how to help."

She takes a deep breath, "I'm ready."