SIRIUS.
Christmas break was coming to an end and Sirius was determined to finally clean the boys' bedroom. House elves had washed and folded all the clothes that he left on the floor, and now they neatly laid in their closet. Pile of garbage had also disappeared and the room looked much better, but still there was a pile of parchments and books on Remus's bed.
Sirius was ready to finally finish sorting all the papers, because Alex was studying in her room and he now had a free afternoon to do that. He sat on the Remus's bed and picked up couple of papers. And then he saw once again the letter addressed to Alex, he had completely forgotten about that.
He picked it up; Sirius knew that reading the letter would be unfair towards Alex, but something inside made him do it. He bit his lip and touched the broken seal on the letter.
Then he opened the envelope and took the letter out. He slowly unfolded it and looked at it. Letter was once soaked and the big part of words was disappeared from parchment. He looked at the top of the letter and saw there October's date. The letter were sent to Alex on October's full moon. That was the same day he saw Alex and Remus together on the bench by the lake.
That explained the fact how letter ended up in their bedroom. Sirius looked at the handwriting that was very neat and calligraphic; Alex's mother wrote it presumably because the last name of the sender was the same as Alex.
Still unsure of his actions Sirius started to read the letter, at least the parts, which still was readable. It was not long, so there was just some words and phrases remaining on the parchment.
... today we wanted to remind you... you are not... we are ashamed... your fault... your brother would never got in a situation... we expected great things from you... ruined all our dreams... disgrace to our family... you will not accomplish anything... your fault that you are a werewolf... suggest to spend Christmas at school... such a disappointment...
Sirius with wide eyes looked at word "werewolf". Alex is a werewolf?! No fucking way! He reread the part "your fault that you are a werewolf" repeatedly; he realized that his hands were shaking. He put the letter back on the bed and stood up, he started to pace around the room.
How it was possible that Alex was a werewolf? How he hadn't notice that? He himself ran around with a werewolf every month, possibly that was the reason he had not notice that there was another werewolf in this school. Sirius stopped and scratched his head; he was so confused.
He was pleasantly surprised that Alex had hidden it so well from others, but on the other hand... Alex was very mysterious. All those late night walks around the castle, late night snacking in the kitchens, skipping classes – it all made it much simpler for her. Nobody would not notice her disappearing once a month if she did that at least once a week.
Suddenly everything fell into place, Sirius even smiled a little. That's why Alex had bruises and scratches all over her body, that's why she sometimes looked more tired than other days, that's why she was so strong. Because in all of these years which he spend with the Marauders and they had gotten into some fights with Slytherins and amongst themselves, only James had broken his nose no matter how many hits he had gotten. And Alex did it without even trying.
Sirius sat on the bed and, resting his elbows on knees, grabbed his head. Alex was a werewolf and nobody knew that, well, Remus probably knew. Now Sirius understood why Remus had protected Alex so much. He knew about Alex. And that probably was the reason why Alex and Remus didn't stay together but decided to become friends instead. They could understood each other the way nobody could.
Sirius was not sure that Alex have been a werewolf all her life, because in that case he would have noticed something. Sirius stood up once again, he realized something – at the end of the fourth year Alex was ill for a very long time, a couple of months at least, he now remembered that. There was a talk that she would not be able to finish that year, but she still did it. That must have been the time when she was bitten, and that's why Sirius hadn't noticed anything because in the fifth year he finally became animagus and he was out running all around with Remus.
Sirius grabbed the letter and read it once again. Alex's family hated her just because she was a werewolf. They did not needed her when she was like this. Sirius felt disgusted, what kind of parents push away their child after something like that. And they blamed Alex for that. Sirius didn't believe that Alex was guilty whatsoever, but he didn't knew the story and all the facts.
Sirius chuckled because Alex's family reminded him so much of his own. Now he understood Alex much better. He put the letter back into envelope and then threw it into his trunk, and then returned to the rest of the papers on Remus's bed.
Sirius had just finished sorting all the papers, books and parchments and sat on his own bed, when Alex stepped in the room. She had torn jeans, simple sweater and Chuck Taylors on, her hair was soft and wavy as always, she smiled her usual joyful smile and her eyes radiated warmth. Sirius did not give a damn that she was a werewolf. She was amazing.
"I'm starving like a wolf," Sirius laughed about her choice of words while she continued to come to him, "pleeeeeeese, let's go to dinner." She sat on top of him and pushed Sirius on his back. He instinctively put his hands on her sides and breathed in her smell before she leaned in and kissed him.
When Alex kissed him it was like he had never kissed another girl before, every time it felt like his first kiss. He adored that Alex made him feel that way.
"You know what," he said when they finished kissing, "tomorrow we should go out on a proper date, because day after tomorrow everybody is returning from holidays."
"Do you have any suggestions about the date already?" she smiled mischievously.
"We could sneak out to Hogsmeade and spend the day there," Sirius suggested knowing that Alex really liked the village, "and in the evening we could smuggle in some firewhiskey and get drunk?" he asked rising his eyebrows.
"Sounds perfect," she smiled widely and kissed him again. "But please can we go and eat now?" Alex was already dragging him to the door, Sirius laughed because he knew why Alex could eat so much; she was werewolf.
*
They were in the Three Broomsticks; Sirius had ordered drinks and dinner. It was Saturday's evening and pub was full of people. Under the table were some bags that testified to the great day they had spent. It was really amazing.
Now he observed Alex who sat opposite of him and looked out the window. It was snowing all day, at this moment snow fell with big and heavy snowflakes. Alex's elbows was on the table and she held her hands. Unconsciously she bit her index finger, that amused Sirius, but he did not wanted to laugh aloud, because that would mean that Alex would probably stop doing that.
Alex was wearing Christmas sweater, which Sirius had bought despite all her protests. And that's the reason why he sat there wearing "ugly" Christmas sweater which Alex had bought him saying that she would wear hers only if he had his own.
Alex's hair was in the bun, but couple of disobedient hair strands fell on her face, her cheeks were blushed from all the walking outside, but she looked cute. Sirius liked that Alex always looked great with or without make-up.
If he didn't knew better, he would be convinced that Alex was a goddess who has decided to live on this earth. And based on this alone everyone should adore her. But... in Sirius's eyes she was a goddess.
"How are we going to tell everybody that we are together?" Alex interrupted Sirius's train of thoughts. "Because I assume that we are together right?" she smirked.
Sirius laughed. "I don't know how to announce that," he continued to laugh. "But I believe that everyone is expecting that – we getting together."
"You are right," Alex also laughed. "Oh, shit!" she suddenly exclaimed, as if she had just remembered something very important that she had forgotten.
"What happened?" Sirius jumped and looked around startled.
"Almost all of the schools handsome guys now are taken, damn it, what will happen now amongst the girls, they will have to hang out some kind of flags of sorrow," she shook her head.
"You and Remus were the last eligible bachelors in Gryffindor, oh, poor Remus," she continued. "And Scott and Wells from Ravenclaw are also taken, and Smith from Hufflepuff also." She threw her hands in the air.
"Only Whitfield and Dale from Hufflepuff are free for grabs, but both Slytherins – Downey and Haywood are taken," she kept on talking. "This is going to be the tragedy of century when girls will find out that you are now in a relationship."
Sirius got scared from enthusiasm in her voice and that she knew that kind of things about the rest of the guys from school. He had thought that Alex wasn't interested in things like that or gossip.
"Wait," he stopped her, "how do you know all of that?"
"Sirius," she spoke very seriously, "first, I am a girl and I have no problems whatsoever with my eyesight, and second, I am no fool. I see to which boys girls stick like flies to honey and I notice how these guys treat girls," she pointedly looked at Sirius. "And almost all of named guys play Quidditch, which means that if they are not at least perfectly good-looking, then they are still perfectly desirable."
Sirius started to feel a little bit weirded out, Alex had noticed a lot of small things and she had remembered all of that and she most definitely could put that all in one picture. She really saw what everybody else just haven't been noticing.
"Okay," he said with a nervous look on his face. "Now I am officially scared of you."
Alex just winked at him and gave him a half smile. Drinks came and Sirius sipped his firewhiskey, the more he thought the more he realized that it didn't mattered that Alex knew which are schools most good looking or desirable guys, because right now she was here with him, she was his.
"We didn't decide how we are going to tell our friends about us," Alex simply said. It wasn't a question she just stated a fact. Sirius just shrugged his shoulders.
They ate dinner and went back to school using the passageway beneath the Honeydukes. All evening and most of the night they spent drinking firewhiskey and talking. It was almost morning when they fell asleep in Sirius's bed.
ALEX.
She felt Sirius's lips on the back of her head, he kissed her gently. They moved from back of the head to her neck, Alex felt goosebumps all over her body, she shivered. Sirius's touches were a mixture of ice and fire, they were very arousing.
She turned her body and looked into Sirius's alluring grey eyes. His mouth curved into a smile, they both had just woken up. Alex let him pull herself closer, she adored the feeling how Sirius's muscular torso pressed against her body, and it made her feel safe. She slowly kissed Sirius; these slow mornings Alex liked the most.
They slowly discovered each other's bodies once again like they had never done it before. Sirius slowly grabbed her hip, and Alex moaned. She ran her nails over Sirius's back, which made him chuckle a little. He grinned all over his face.
"Oh, woman, you are going to be the death of me," he whispered while breathing out. That made Alex remember their kiss at the beginning of the school year.
Sirius's touch burned and iced her body at the same time, she trembled from the excitement. She felt special and desirable, she had never felt that way. Alex felt beautiful, and Sirius was the only one who could make her feel like that.
Time and space was lost for both of them, Alex only knew that this wasn't the first time when they made love today. They hadn't left the bed and it was dark outside again.
"NO!" it was James's voice. "Merlin's beard, people please!" Alex heard door slamming. "Wormtail, you better don't go in there, otherwise you will be traumatized for life like I just was," last James's sentence they heard when he was already going down the stairs.
Alex felt Sirius's body vibrating in laughter, but he wasn't laughing out loud yet. And then she heard those particular barking laughs, they were so true that Alex also started to laugh.
"What are we going to do now?" Alex asked through laughter.
"Well," his eyes were full of mischief, "we could finish what we have started here, and then we can go downstairs where I presume we are already expected." He laughed. Bastard.
*
Alex felt like that was her walk of shame. James had just caught them having sex. She had no idea what was waiting for her in the common room. She slowly followed Sirius down the stairs.
Lily, James, Remus and Peter sat by the fireplace down in the common room, she did not wanted to see any of them, but she had no choice. Alex looked at Lily who smirked like crazy, but was silent. Then she looked at James who looked happy and proud at the same time, Remus looked worried, but at least not angry, but Peter just looked confused.
"I hope that wasn't just a hook up," James spoke, "but you twos are really finally together."
Alex suddenly could not manage to put together words and form a sentence – we are together. And Sirius didn't say anything either, this silence was wrong on so many levels.
"Padfoot?!" that was Remus who still looked way too much worried about this situation.
"Calm down mate," Sirius finally spoke, "we are together."
Alex shot a glance towards Remus like saying that this was fine, that he didn't need to protect her. Remus smiled weakly but it was kind smile. Lily almost laughed from joy. And then something interesting happened, James jumped on the couch and put his hands to his mouth forming some kind of megaphone, the common room was full of students which just had returned from their holidays so he had a lot of spectators.
"Dear ladies of the Gryffindor House," he shouted from the top of his lungs, "I am so sorry to inform you about this sad news, but two of the most desirable guys in this tower are taken." Everybody looked at him.
"Unfortunately, ladies of the Potter and Black fan club, you'll just need to put out some flags of sorrow," Alex felt how Sirius was trying to conceal his laughter while James spoke. "But have no worries, here is charming Remus Lupin who likes long walks by the lake, muggle novels and he would never say no to the Honeydukes chocolate, and also..."
"Shut up, Prongs!" Remus grabbed James by his shirt and dragged him down from the couch. "Just shut up!"
They all laughed. Alex noticed that some of the girls eyed Remus, she couldn't stop laughing, this situation was way too hilarious.
"You were right about those flags of sorrow," Sirius admitted. Alex didn't believe that James told the same thing what she had said yesterday to Sirius.
"I know that the world had turned upside down, but can we go to dinner?" Alex suggested, because she realized that she hadn't eaten anything today.
*
Alex and Lily sat in the empty girl's bedroom. Alex knew that Lily wanted to know what happened between her and Sirius, but Alex wasn't sure if she wanted to speak about that.
"So you and Sirius?" Lily asked raising one eyebrow.
"Yes..."
"What happened? Because the last thing I know is you rushing out of the Great Hall leaving Sirius alone in the middle of the dance floor, and your cold "see you later" the next day," Lily apparently wanted to know what happened between then and now.
"I..." Alex wanted to say that she finally realized that she really liked Sirius, how she had returned to Hogwarts to confess her feelings to him, how she had spent the best holiday in her life, but for some unknown reasons only thing she said was something completely unrelated to her and Sirius. "...am a werewolf."
Lily sat on her bed and exhaled. "I know," she said. "I'm glad that you finally told me," she smiled and looked into Alex's eyes.
"You knew?! How?" Alex was in shock. She was not expecting Lily to know. Alex expected some shock, surprise, disgust, yelling, anything, but not the fact that Lily knew.
"I concluded it in the fifth year," Lily confessed. "You changed very much after your "illness" in the fourth year, and I gave in into my curiousness. I did not wanted to ask you anything and you told me nothing, so I just started to observe you until I came to only reasonable conclusion. And since then every month I am reminded that I was right." Lily looked a little bit guilty; however, she had done nothing wrong.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Alex was still shocked. "And you are okay with what I am?"
"Because I felt like you had to tell me that yourself if you ever decide to tell me," she just simply stated. Alex understood that because she remembered how it went down when she and Remus realized what they both were.
"And I am completely okay with what you are," Lily's smile was warm and pleasant. Alex stood up and sat next to Lily hugging her.
"I knew that there was some other reason why you are my best friend than the obvious ones," Alex stated, they both laughed.
"Good," Lily spoke when they hugged everything out, "but now – you and Sirius?"
"Oh," Alex exhaled, "I had some time to think everything through, and I realized that we both like each other, and Sirius isn't the great heartbreaker he used to be, and my heart was already broken. So what the heck, why shouldn't we be together. And so that happened." She shrugged her shoulders, because Alex didn't wanted to talk about all the details and overall she had covered everything.
"Hmm," Lily dragged out slowly with a mystic smile on her lips.
"Just stop," Alex rolled her eyes and went back to her bed, "you'll see that after a month he will be sick of me and my heart will probably be broken once again."
Alex regretted that she had said that, because it was proof that she was still afraid of Sirius breaking her heart. And these fears proved that she not just fancied the heck out of Sirius, but that she was in love with him.
MEGAN.
The phrase, which James Potter yelled out in the common room about sorrow, was true to the last letter. News that Sirius Black was in a relationship with Alex Watson flew across the school faster than a niffler stole some gold. About their relationship knew everyone starting from first years and ending with even professors. All the girls were shocked that Sirius could actually be in a relationship, because that meant that they weren't the ones who did that – turned infamous Sirius Black.
Megan knew it very well that she was one of these girls; she could not manage to make a boyfriend out of a heartbreaker. And it was hurtful because she was in love with Sirius since the third year. But she was just good enough for Sirius when he wanted to have fun. But she had reconcile because she never thought that Sirius could like someone, that he would be ready to have a relationship with that girl.
It was two weeks into a new term and Megan was happy that professors gave them a lot of homework and tasks to accomplish, that made her not to think about Sirius and Alex way too often.
She sat by the one of the tables in the common room and studied; the Marauders, which just had arrived in the common room, interrupted her. She looked at the portrait hole and there they were all laughing probably about some prank they had just pulled.
They scattered around the common room, Peter left for the bedrooms, Remus sat in the armchair by the fireplace, James went to Lily who sat by the next table, but Sirius sat next to Alex who sat on the couch and read a book for a while now.
Megan looked how Sirius kissed Alex on the forehead and smiled. Sirius talked to Remus but he unintentionally gave attention to Alex. He held his arm on her leg or put his arm on the couch behind her back. Sirius had no need to look at Alex to tell her that he knew that she was there beside him, that he wanted her near him at all times.
And Alex did the same. She read the book but time to time she casually touched his arm or his hair, or caressed his back. That was so simple and pure. Megan was jealous about what she saw. She wanted to be in Alex's place, but she knew that she had no chance. If Sirius would have liked Megan half as much as he liked Alex, Megan would be in the Alex's place a year ago.
Megan realized that Sirius and Alex was unusual couple. Not because they didn't belong together (because they really was made for each other) but because they very rarely showed their feelings publicly. They never tried to eat each other's faces off in the common room; they never had fights. It was possible just to see them holding hands and looking at each other, but it was obvious that they were together.
If there was a scenario when you saw them kissing (and really kissing not just doing something that your hormones told you to do) it felt like you were the witness of something very private, that you just wanted to turn away and leave, because that was just too intimate (in a good way).
And after one accident like that, when Megan caught them kissing, she realized that "sorrow" was the right word for situation among other girls. Because there would never be any other girl after Alex.
Megan had already accepted this situation, because she realized that she had been fool for all these years, when she believed that Sirius would see something more in her... something that would make him want a relationship with her.
Megan actually did not understand fully why Sirius and Alex was such a surprise for her, because for months it was clear that there was something between them.