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xxxi. CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
A CONFESSION.
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BRIAR STOOD OUTSIDE what she assumed to be the Potter house, and took a deep breath. It was a nice place, and the Potters were clearly well-off. Biting her lip, she reached up and knocked on the door.
A few moments later, a tall middle-aged woman opened the door. Her resemblance to James Potter was striking, and Briar had no doubt that this was his mother. The woman looked confused, but forced a smile. It was quite late for strangers to be knocking at the door. "May I help you, dear?"
Briar smiled, trying to be polite. She wanted to see Sirius desperately, but she forced herself to calm down. "Mrs. Potter? I'm so sorry to disturb you at this time, I was just hoping to talk to Sirius, if he's here."
Mrs. Potter looked even more surprised. "Sirius? Well, whatever could- but oh! Of course, are you Briar?"
Briar nodded, doubtfully. "Erm, yes."
Mrs. Potter smiled. "Oh, Sirius talks about you all the time! Come in, dear, it's freezing outside and you look quite pale. Is everything all right? Did you come all the way here alone? I remember seeing those boys in the living room just a few moments ago... Sirius! Come here, will you?"
Mrs. Potter had a loud voice, and Briar had to refrain from flinching as the woman yelled into the next room. She stepped into the warm house, however, and rubbed her hands together. Mrs. Potter led her into the next room, where James Potter and Sirius Black were sitting on the couch, watching something on a Muggle television.
"Yes, Mrs. Potter?" Sirius asked, glancing away from the television. His eyes widened when he saw a slightly shivering, Briar behind her. He stood up, looking worried. "Rosi- Briar? What are you doing here?"
"Well, is that any way to greet the poor girl? She's been out in that chill for goodness knows how long," Mrs. Potter scolded Sirius. She turned to smile at Briar, kindly. "Why don't you sit down by the fire, dear?"
Briar shook her head. "That's very kind of you, Mrs. Potter, but I can't stay long. I really just needed to talk to Sirius about something," she replied. She turned and shot Sirius a meaningful look. He nodded quickly.
"Could we go upstairs to my room, Mrs. Potter?" he asked quickly, stepping closer to Briar. He smiled at the older woman. "No funny business, you can trust me."
Mrs. Potter raised an eyebrow. "I've learned quite well not to trust you, Sirius. But since Briar seems like a very responsible girl, I suppose you may. Really dear, I don't know what such sweet girls as you and Lily are doing with my boys."
The platinum blonde smiled, but before she could respond, Sirius had taken Briar's hand and started leading her upstairs. They stopped outside one of the doors, and Sirius pulled her inside before closing it behind him.
Sirius Black's room was a mess. Briar hadn't expected it to be particularly neat, but she was greeted with clothes, crumpled papers and random objects strewn everywhere. The walls were still covered in posters, but there weren't as many as Briar had expected. As he'd said, he must have left most of his old ones at the Black house.
"It looks like a storm hit it," Briar commented, unable to resist a grin. Sirius shrugged lightly, kicking aside some dirty laundry.
"I might have cleaned a bit if I'd known you were coming. What happened? Is everything all right?" Sirius asked, concerned. "You look pale."
Briar frowned, as she remembered why she'd come. Looking up at Sirius, she felt as though her voice would crack if she said something. "I don't know. I'm sorry for turning up like this. I just wanted to see you."
Sirius stepped over a broomstick kit lying on the floor, and stood in front of Briar a moment, before pulling her into his arms. Briar instantly held on tightly to him, the feel of his comforting embrace bringing tears to her eyes. She blinked them away quickly, feeling stupid for crying. After a long while, Sirius rubbed a hand up and down her back softly.
"Are you crying? Rosie, what happened? You wouldn't just come here for nothing, talk to me."
Briar looked up into Sirius's grey eyes. She could see that he was worried about her, and the emotion in his eyes made her feel warm inside. She was tired of the cold, expressionless faces she'd been looking at all day at home. She took a deep breath. "My father knows about us."
Sirius's grip around her slackened for a moment, and then it returned, tighter than before. Briar was pressed into his chest, but she didn't mind. She just wanted to be near him. "Who told him?" Sirius asked, quietly.
Briar sat down on Sirius' bed, and she told him the story of how her father had reacted when he saw the hairpin, and what Lucius had said about it. He listened quietly, holding her in his arms as she blurted out everything. There was a pause, and then Sirius spoke.
"It makes sense."
Briar looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't understood most of what she'd said, herself. "It does?"
Sirius nodded. "Yes. When I bought the clip, the salesman told me that he'd cast a charm to prevent the owner from losing it. So if you leave the hairpin somewhere, or someone steals it, then it returns back to the owner automatically after a certain period of time."
Briar stared at him. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
"I'm sorry, it must have slipped my mind."
"That explains why the pin keeps turning up wherever I go. So then I did drop the hairclip in that abandoned store and Uncle Abraxas found it? But it must have returned to me later that night, which was why I never noticed that it was gone."
Sirius nodded. "I suppose."
Briar sank back into the bed, her face covering her arms before she let out a loud groan. "I'm an idiot. I'm such an idiot, I can't believe I just let the bloody pin fall-"
"Don't say that," Sirius told her sternly. "We were running from Death Eaters, you couldn't possibly have noticed. But that's not the problem. What's your father going to do now that he knows?"
Briar bit her lip, looking up at Sirius. "I don't know. Sirius, I'm scared. He hasn't said anything to me all night, and now he has proof that I... I don't know what he'll do, I have no idea. I'm terrified that he might try to hurt you."
Sirius sighed, stroking Briar's back once more. "You're worried about me? Rosie, you realize that you're the one living in the same house as him?"
"He wouldn't hurt me. He might be angry, but I don't think Mother or Lorcan would let him harm me. I'm more worried about you. Sirius, us being together it putting you in danger. I couldn't bear it if something happened. I think-"
"Don't say it," Sirius growled. His grip on her arms tightened, and he forced her to look into his eyes. "Don't say it, Briar. I know what you're thinking. I'm not going to leave you, just because you think that your father might try something. I'm not scared of him."
"But I am," Briar whispered, softly. "I don't know what he's capable of. And I'm not asking you to leave me, Sirius. But you need to know the kind of risk you're putting yourself in. He's not some regular protective father, he's a Death Eater."
Sirius nodded. "I know."
"He'll hurt you. And then he'll have me married off to one of those horrible Death Eaters, and-"
"No, he won't. He can't force you to marry anyone, that's against the law. The only way he could have you married to someone is if you consented to it."
Briar looked up at Sirius. She couldn't believe what she was saying, but the words came tumbling out of her mouth anyway. She knew that they were true. "I would never marry somebody that wasn't you."
Sirius's eyes brightened for a moment, and he pulled her face closer to his. "Do you mean that?"
"Yes, I do. If I'm going to marry anyone, it's you Sirius. And I know it's far too early to be even talking about marriage, but it's the truth. I thought I'd be happy as long as my husband was kind to me, but now that I've met you, things have changed."
Sirius kissed her hard, his arms going around her and pulling her closer to him on the bed. Briar could feel the passion in the kiss, and the feelings he was trying to convey. She could barely breathe but that seemed insignificant. She could only feel his warm lips ravaging hers, and his arms pressing her as close to him as she could get. When they both pulled away to breathe there was a fire in Sirius's eyes.
"I'm going to protect you, Briar," he promised her heatedly. "I love you and I swear to Merlin I will never let your father take you away from me."
Briar's stomach exploded in butterflies, and she could feel the tears threatening to sting her eyes once more. She wanted to live in that moment forever. She wanted Sirius to hold her, and to never let her go as he was promising to do. She lifted a hand, and stroked his cheek gently. "I believe you. And I love you too, more than anything."
"Good," he replied, pressing his lips to hers once more. Briar lost herself in his kisses, and for a few moments, everything seemed perfect. She was happy with him, a happiness she'd never felt before. Sirius pressed his lips to her neck eagerly, his hands riding up her thighs before his left hand coming to hover above the zipper of her dress. Briar pulled away, smiling.
"Didn't you promise Mrs. Potter no funny business?"
"Shut up. It's not everyday I have a beautiful girl in my bedroom."
"Well, perhaps I'd be a little more willing if your bedroom didn't smell as though something had just died in it."
Sirius laughed.
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When Briar got home that evening, not even the sight of her father could dampen her mood. He still didn't say a single word to her. Aimee assured her that her hour-long absence had gone completely unnoticed, and once all the guests had gone home, Briae went upstairs to her bedroom.
She lay back in bed, and fell asleep imagining that Sirius's arms were still around her.
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