Hey, sorry for the long wait. I deleted wattpad for a little while there because I needed a break from it.
But I'm back now, sort of. I don't know when I'm going to be updating again. It could be next week, it could be next month, or even next year. Honestly, this is just a fun hobby for me, but I'm still enjoying all the comments you guys leave me. It always makes my day when I can see someone enjoying my work.
So, I hope you like this Sirius one shot!
Warnings: unedited work (sorry)
Disclaimer: All the characters and places belong to JK Rowling.
Enjoy ;)
"You Ravenclaws are all the same."
I looked up, towards the source of the high-pitched drawl with a well-exercised deadpan expression.
"Can I help you, Black?"
The smirk on Bellatrix's face widened as she moved around the table to stand behind my shoulder, peering at my essay. She tutted, running a long, black fingernail over my quill, "It's always just more homework and books for you weirdoes, isn't it?"
I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my fiery temper at bay, "What. Do. You. Want?"
She giggled in that sadistic way of hers, knocking over my ink pot with a flick of her wand and ruining my essay, "So feisty."
Rolling my eyes, I opened my mouth to give her a piece of my mind, but I was interrupted by a different Black.
"I suggest you put your wand away, dear cousin," he threatened, his own wand already in his hand, "Unless you want a repeat of last time."
I shot a glare at Sirius who was leaning against the nearest bookshelf in what would have been the epitome of nonchalant, had his fist not been clenched at his side.
Bellatrix simply gave him a sickly sweet smile packed with enough venom to kill an elephant, "You always have to ruin my fun, don't you, cousin?"
He only gave her a warning glare in return, wand lifting slightly.
But Bellatrix was already leaving, her long black hair swishing in her wake.
"I had it under control, you know," I muttered, casting scourgify over my essay and watching the ink flow back into the pot.
The oldest Black brother just plonked himself down across from me with a smirk, "No thanks to you knight in shining armour, L/n?"
I simply raised a brow, "More like idiot in greasy leather," he gave an exaggerated, wounded gasp but I ignored him, "Did it ever occur to you, Black, that I don't need saving?"
He grinned, giving me that infamous wink, "Of course you don't need saving, but a desperate times call for desperate measures. I've almost run out of moves, L/n, I'm starting to get creative here."
I glared at him, "Why can't you just leave me alone? I'm never going to go on a date with you, Black, end of story."
"That sounds like a challenge to me," he mused, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head.
I sighed, "It's really not."
"I like a challenge," he continued, ignoring my protest, "so what do you say, L/n? How about we make a bet?"
I gave him the same deadpan look I'd given Bellatrix, "What?"
"Let's make a bet."
"You've gone bonkers, Black. You're off your head." I stated.
He rolled his eyes, "Just... hear me out?"
Something in his tone made me hesitate. I'd never heard him sound pleading before...
"...okay. What's the bet," I said cautiously.
He perked right up, a wide smile spreading on his face that made my insides twist, "Great! If I can get you to fall in love with me in... lets say six months, then you owe me four galleons."
I scoffed, "There is no way-"
"But if I loose, then I owe you fifty."
I blanched, "What?!" I exclaimed.
Fifty galleons. Was he mad?!
"So?" he prompted, that smirk falling back into place, "Do we have a deal?"
"Are you sure you're not sick, Black? You must be joking," I asked.
He rolled his eyes, "Just answer my question, L/n."
I sighed, biting my lip, "Alright," I shook his hand, "We have a deal."
_____
The Great Hall was way too loud in the mornings, and today it seemed the students of Hogwarts had cranked the volume up a notch. The Gryffindors and Slytherins where feuding again because of a prank the Marauders had pulled in the Slytherin common room (how they had gotten in there was anyone's guess). The Hufflepuffs were, predictably, attempting to diffuse the tension. Which left the Ravenclaws to their own devices, resulting in Barty Crouch Jr blowing up a teapot while trying out a spell he had 'discovered'.
I sighed, head resting in my hands as I contemplated ditching first period for a much-needed nap. Unfortunately, that was clearly not on the agenda, as just as I was coming up with a reliable excuse to give to Slughorn, Lily Evans sat down next to me.
"Why in the name of Merlin's bloody beard is Sirius Black asking about your type?" she hissed, grabbing a slice of toast.
I blinked up at her sleepily, "Well good morning to you too-"
"Yes yes, good morning," she muttered impatiently, "Answer my question!"
"We made a bet," I mumbled, taking a sip of my coffee and almost moaning at its familiar taste.
The Gryffindor simply raised a ginger brow.
I sighed, "If he can get me to fall in love with him in six months, then I owe him four galleons."
"And...?" She prompted. I made a mental note to curse the Sorting Hat for not putting her in Ravenclaw.
"And if he can't, then he owes me fifty," I finished quietly.
Lily didn't reply, green eyes studying me with a sense infuriating clarity.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," she finally drawled, "but he's going to be four galleons richer when this ends."
I choked on my coffee, eyes watering as the liquid went up my nose. Other Ravenclaws around the table gave us strange looks as as I coughed violently while Lily patted my back apologetically.
When I'd finally caught my breath, I gave the Gryffindor an incredulous look, "Are you telling me you think I am going to loose this bet?"
She smirked, shrugging, "Yeah."
I simply glared at her.
"Oh come on, Y/n! Don't tell me you haven't realised your own feelings for the idiot!"
"I do not-" I quickly cut myself off, realising how loud I was speaking and lowered my voice, "I do not have feelings for Sirius Black!"
Lily sighed, "Okay, fine. I'll let you stay oblivious. But just know that when Black wins, I will be saying I told you so."
I rolled my eyes, "You're delusional, but fine. Sure."
Neither of us noticed the small, brown rat tucked next to the leg of the table.
______
"What are you doing, Black?" I sighed, watching him struggle to hold both his books and mine.
He just gave me a 'charming' smile, "Come on, love. As wonderful as it is to hear you addressing me personally, the conditions of the bet were that you call me by my first name."
I held up one finger, "One, no they weren't. Two, you didn't answer my question."
He shrugged, the movement almost dislodging a book balancing precariously on top of the pile in his arms, "You didn't read the fine print."
My temper flared at the cheeky smile on his face, "We didn't sign-" I sighed, "Fine, whatever. What are you doing, Sirius."
I was almost delightfully surprised when his smile turned genuine, "Why, I'm carrying your books, my dear Y/n."
Rubbing my temples in frustration, I decided to give up trying to reason with the idiot, "Okay, fine. Just don't drop anything."
He beamed, happily trailing after me like a lost puppy as we walked to Charms. The students around us who had slowed down to watch the exchange quickly hurried on when I glared at them pointedly.
"Honestly Sirius, do you have to make such a scene of everything?" I hissed out of the corner of my mouth.
"I don't know what you're talking about, love."
This had been going on for weeks. Ever since we'd made the bet, Sirius had been acting weird around me. The endless pick-up lines ceased, along with the jokes and winks and pranks... everything that made him Sirius. At first it had been a nice change. He was acting like a gentleman for once. He respected boundaries, he opened doors, he pulled out chairs, he became a different person. But I began to realise that, as frustrating as it was, I missed who he had been before. I missed the old Sirius.
I kept hoping he would forget the whole endeavour and turn go back to his normal mischievous, flirty self, but he didn't.
Still, I humoured him. I let him carry my books and open doors for me. I let him play this game, hoping he would eventually get bored and give up. Because Sirius Black always got bored of one girl after a certain period of time. I was no different.
______
After Charms I decided to spend a few hours in the Library catching up on homework. I only managed to get an hour to myself before I was interrupted.
"L/n."
I sighed and placed my quill down next to my parchment. Why was it the mission of Gryffindor house to prevent me from doing any sort of work in this school.
"Yes, Lupin. Potter. Pettigrew."
The three boys surrounded the table I was sitting at, towering over me form my position. I was surprised to find that two of them actually looked apologetic. Potter was the only one who seemed oblivious to my irritation.
"May we sit?" the boy in question asked, gesturing to the three empty chairs.
Sighing, I consented, "If you must."
"If I'm being honest, Potter, I don't think I've ever seen you without Black, other than when you're chasing after my best friend of course."
The Marauder shrugged, "What can I say, I value my friends."
The serious expression on his face was unnerving me. It didn't fit with his aesthetic — messy hair, grass-stained school shirt, uneven tie...
"So what do you boys want?" I asked, directing the question at Lupin who seemed the most reasonable out of the three.
"We want to talk about Sirius," the smartest Marauder replied, an earnest expression on his scar-riddled face, "We're worried about him."
My heart melted slightly at the genuine worry on the boys' faces. As annoying as he was, Sirius sure knew how to make loyal friends.
"I'm not sure what I can do to help you," I said softly.
"You can tell him he's being ridiculous," James pleaded, "You can tell him he should stop pretending to be someone he's not."
"And why can't you tell him that?" I asked quietly, "You're his best friends."
Lupin shook his head, "We've tried."
"He won't listen to us," Pettigrew added.
"What makes you think he'll listen to me?"
"Because your the girl he's trying to impress!" James exclaimed, earning a glare from Madam Pince.
"If you tell him you don't want him to change who he is, he'll take that to mean you prefer him as he is and he'll go back to normal," Potter continued in a whispered.
I sighed, "I wish I could help you boys, but you know how Sirius is. I'm just his flavour of the month, that's all. In a few weeks he'll get bored and find some other girl to chase after."
"Is that really what you think?!" Potter asked, the shock evident in his voice, but Lupin silenced him with a look.
"Just talk to him," Remus said, "Please."
I hesitated, biting my lip.
"Alright," I finally caved with a sigh, "I'll see what I can do."
Lupin gave me a grateful smile, "Thank you."
______
Oddly enough, I struggled to locate the oldest Black brother. It seemed that when I wanted to get rid of him, the bugger was everywhere I looked, but as soon as I actually wanted to talk to him, he was nowhere to be found.
It was a whole week later when I finally found him on top of the Astronomy Tower, dangling his legs over the side of the platform with his arms resting on the railing. A letter was held in his hand, fluttering idly in the breeze.
"You're a difficult wizard to find, Sirius Black," I murmured once I'd sat down next to him.
He didn't answer me. He just stared out over the castle, grey eyes shining with what looked like tears.
"Are you okay?" I asked softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He blinked, turning his head to face me. For the first time, I noticed the bags under his eyes. His hair was disheveled as if he'd been running his hands through it. The whites of his eyes were tinted red.
The hand holding the letter came down from the rail and pressed the pice of crumpled parchment in my lap.
Tentatively, I picked it up before hesitating.
"Do you want me to read this?" I asked gently.
He nodded, so I uncrumpled the parchment and flattened if out against my leg before lifting it up to read.
My eyes trailed over the hateful words, rage and pain for the boy next to me coiling around my heart. How could anyone say such things about their own child? Even if his parents were... well, what they were, surely they possessed some form of love for him?
Who did this woman think she was? 'Selfish and disgraceful' my arse! Didn't she know Sirius. Hadn't she seen how kind and loyal he was? How much love he held for his friends. How much he cared for his brother. How much this disgusting, horrible letter was shredding him up inside?
I felt tears come to my own eyes when I read the word 'disowning'.
With shaking fingers, I turned to the boy next to me and enveloped him in a hug. He jerked in surprise, hands instinctively coming up to rest on my back.
"What's this for," he rasped, his voice thick from crying.
I pulled back and framed his face in my hands, "It's to show you that you are not alone. Whatever your wretched mother might say."
He stared at me with wide eyes, "...what?"
"Every word of that letter is so far from the truth, Sirius," I continued, "You are kind, and loyal, and absolutely wonderful."
He swallowed, tears coming to his eyes again, "Thank you."
I shook my head, "Don't thank me," I said, "Just promise me you will never, ever try to be someone other than yourself ever again, okay? Not for your mother, not for a girl, and especially not for me."
A small smile made its way onto his face, "You noticed that, huh?"
I just nodded.
We stayed there, sitting side by side, shoulders touching for as long as the sun remained in the sky.
______
That evening started a friendship between Sirius and I, much to everyone's surprise. Lily was one person in particular who didn't stop bugging me about it.
"What did I tell you?" She sung softly when I finally admitted — albeit reluctantly — that he and I were friends.
"Ah-uh, a little early on the 'I told you so', aren't we Evans?" I scolded, tutting softly.
She shrugged, "Say what you want, so far I'm not seeing anything that completely disproved my theory."
"Oh, so it's a theory now," I teased, scooping myself some roast potatoes.
The Gryffindor rolled her eyes, "Oh, shush you. You'll see, in three months the deadline of the bet expires. I'd bet money that you will have handed Black his four galleons long before then."
I shook my head, "Nope, no. Not gonna happen. And please, no more bets, I beg you."
She just grinned.
Charms was a lot more enjoyable now that Sirius had stopped hitting on me. We had become desk partners soon after that evening on the Astronomy Tower and I was delightfully surprised to find that I actually got more work done with him there. Despite his flirtatious nature, Sirius was incredibly smart, and particularly talented at Charms. The work flew by in no time.
I even started getting to know the rest of the Marauders. The assumptions I'd made after my first encounter with them weren't far from the truth, I realised, and I soon became good friends with all of them. Even quiet Peter Pettigrew found something to talk about when I was around.
The Christmas holidays were approaching, and James had invited me to spend a few days with him and Sirius in Godric's Hollow. I accepted gladly, and after enough begging, I agreed to try and get Lily to tag along.
Lily was less than pleased, but seemed to have got it in her head that if she came along she would get to see me finally cave to the bet. I humoured her simply to get her to agree, which would get James off my back.
So, three weeks later, Lily and I found ourself standing outside the Potter residence in Godric's Hollow, each with an overnight bag.
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Lily muttered, burrowing her chin further into her scarf. The snow lay thick behind us, our footprints clear across the front lawn.
"You let me talk you into it," I reminded her, "Besides, it'll be fun. These boys really aren't as bad as you think."
"Severus said-"
But I never got to find out what Severus said, as the door opened at that moment to reveal James Potter in a light-up Christmas sweater.
Both Lily and I took one look at the fairy lights stitched into the wool before bursting out laughing.
His grin turned into a scowl, "Yes, yes. Just get in here."
We entered the house, stomping the snow off our shoes on the welcome mat while wiping tears of joy out of our eyes.
"Is that them?" Sirius's voice called from somewhere in the house.
"Yes, get down here," James yelled, politely taking our coats and putting them on the rack.
The sound of hurried footsteps sounded, drawing closer and closer till Sirius appeared from behind the corner.
"Y/n!" He exclaimed, rushing forward and pulling me into a tight hug, "I missed you!"
I giggled, hugging him back, my heart beating wildly in my chest, "I missed you too, Siri."
Then it hit me.
I could very well stay in his arms like this forever.
The realisation had my heart fluttering in my throat and I struggled to look him in the eye when I pulled away.
"Come on, let me show you around!" He exclaimed, grabbing my hand and dragging me further into the house.
______
"Goddammit," I groaned into my pillow later that evening.
The day had been amazing. The four of us had rum a-mock around in the snow, having snowball fights and building snowmen. But I couldn't ignore the way my breath caught in my throat whenever I met Sirius's eyes, or when he grabbed my arm to steady me on a slippery piece of ground.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked from her own bed.
I lifted my head to peer up at her, "You were right. I hate to say it, but you were."
It took her a moment yo process what I meant. Then she grinned, "I knew it!"
I sighed and buried my face back in the pillow, "Good for you, now let me die in peace."
She laughed, "Don't be stupid, you have to go give him his reward!"
I sat up, red cheeked and wide eyed, "Lily! No!"
She rolled her eyes, "The four galleons, you idiot!"
I blinked, looking down, "Oh."
My money bag landed on my bed. I shook my head, "I can't. Lily, Sirius can never know."
She out her hands on her hips, "Oh no you don't. Since when do you not keep your end of a bargain?"
I sighed. She was right. Sirius deserved the truth, and my own stupid morals urged me to hold up my end of the deal.
"I'll be back," I muttered, grabbing my money bag and taking out four galleons before stomping out the room.
"Goodluck!" She called after me.
"Yeah, yeah."
The door to James and Sirius's room was closed, so I knocked. My heart beat wildly in my chest as I heard footsteps moving towards the door.
"You can do this," I whispered, stomach coiling into knots.
Sirius opened the door.
"Hi," he said, smiling.
I took a deep breath, the galleons clutched tightly into my hands, "Can I talk to you?"
He nodded, frowning slightly in concern before shutting the door behind him to give us some privacy.
"What's wrong?" he asked, reaching out and brushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
"Just know I don't expect you to do anything, okay?" I said.
He nodded, frown deepening.
Quickly, before I could loose my nerve, I took his hand and shoved the galleons into it.
"There," I said, my voice sounding high and wavering even to my own ears, "Now you um... now you have what you wanted."
I watched as realisation dawned on his face. He was staring down at the galleons in his hand, but once he understood, he made to lift his head.
Before he could do anything, I turned away, throat tightening as I started walking away.
But then his hand grabbed my arm and I was spun into his chest.
"Where do you think you're going?" he breathed, lifting my chin with a finger.
I blinked up at him, no answer presenting itself to me as I watched the space between us dwindle to nothing.
And as I felt his lips land on mine, all thoughts became insignificant.
Sirius wrapped grabbed my wrists and placed them over his shoulders before wrapping his own arms around my waist. My fingers found his hair as I melted into him, heart thudding wildly against his chest.
And that was his heart, beating just as fast next to mine.
"If you two are done, do you mind moving out of the doorway so I can get to the bathroom?" James interrupted.
Sirius pulled away and muttered, "Sorry, Prongs," before grabbing my hand and pulling me down the stairs, a wicked grin on his face.
"Where are we going?" I asked, breathless with joy.
He stopped and faced me, placing a slow, deep kiss on my mouth.
"The roof."
That's gotta be one of the longest one shots I've ever posted.
Thanks for reading ;)