Part One: Beloved Seventies

When I was a little girl, I used to think that when my Prince Charming would come, I would recognize him at once. He would take me on his great white horse and we would disappear in the horizon, later get married and have ten little children. But everything is not always rainbows and butterflies: nothing along this lines happened when I first met Sirius Black. When I first saw him, time didn't stop; he didn't smile at me or even looked at me in the eye. Actually, he pushed me and made me fall in the cold water of Hogwarts's lake. Not quite the ideal way to meet the man of my life.

And he laughed. He laughed, the idiot. I shivered with cold during the short journey in boat, which seemed like centuries to me. Try to attend to the sorting being soaking wet, you'll see. No wonder why I hated him all these years. After Mr Black had had a good laugh with a messy-haired boy who turned out to be his best friend, he asked me what my name was. Yes, he dared! No need to say I didn't answer him. I turned to mind my own business, hoping this idiot wouldn't be in the same house as me. We were both put in Gryffindor; I already saw my life at Hogwarts like a long following of pranks and arguments. Time proved I was only partly right.

Our mutual dislike increased as time passed by, and I have to say that he was the one who always started it. He pulled pranks on me on countless occasions. He laughed at me on even more countless occasions. I watched from as far away as I could as we grew up and he started to date girls. Everything that moved and wore a skirt was a potential girlfriend for Sirius. Everything, beside me, that is.

There was this weird girl back at Hogwarts. Aurelia Combs. She used to think Sirius and I would make a perfect couple; we used to make a face and deny with all our heart. Only after a very long time did we cease to be blind. I don't know how he happened to fall for me. I think that for a long time my heart was full of both hate and love; it took me several years to admit it. It was hard for us to swallow our pride, but now I can see it was worth it.

Near the end of our sixth year, our best friends Anna Ripperton and Remus Lupin began dating. I think I was jealous of her at the time; not because I was in love with Remus, of course, but because she had someone she loved and who loved her back. I tried to hide the truth from myself, but I couldn't help it: I had fallen in love with my best enemy. There was nothing I could do about it. As we spent more time just the seven of us, we started to realize that we were less different than we thought. I even pulled some pranks on the Slytherins with the Marauders. As long as it was on people who deserved it, I agreed.

Now that I look back to our Hogwarts years, I can't believe we didn't realize sooner that we were meant to be together. Of course, our constant arguments didn't help it. But if we had been friends from the start, we wouldn't have ended up together. Sirius and I just couldn't be friends; it was hate or love. It changed our lives when we passed from one to the other. It was a bit the same between James and Lily, only that James had been in love with her for ages.

We would argue about anything, basically. The sight of him used to be unbearable; never had we thought we would share so many happy moments, the best souvenirs of our lives.

Wist is all I've got now. Only three of us survived, and one turned out so bad we wish he had died instead. I can't help but cry every time I look at the pictures. We were so young, so happy - so unaware of our fate. I wish it had lasted forever.

June, 1978

"Sirius, stop playing with my hair, it will get all curly."

I turned my head to him and he smiled sheepishly. "But I'd like it curly."

I rolled my eyes. "All right," I said, turning back to the window.

We were sitting in the train, on our last ride back home. Outside, the rain was falling to match our wistful mood.

"I can't believe we'll never see the castle again," Anna sighed. "I'll miss it so much."

"Fortunately, we kept some souvenirs," Sirius smiled mischievously.

He took his trunk and picked several things in it: a Snitch, Mrs Norris's red collar that had been stolen (Filch had made a huge fuss about it), some food taken from the kitchens.

"That's for you," Sirius said earnestly.

He handed me Mrs Norris's collar and we all laughed.

"Thank you so much," I replied and kissed him.

"Could I have another kiss?" Sirius asked as soon as we had broken apart.

"Not for the moment, I'm waiting to hear about how you got all those things."

"Then I'm not telling you."

I rolled my eyes. "When will you stop being such a child?"

He smiled. "Never, I'm afraid."

He was right. He never really grew up; I knew the mischievous child was still there, even after he got out of Azkaban. It was well hidden behind a mask of pain, but it was still there. But maybe that was why I loved him, after all. His little defaults made his charm; the only thing that bothered me about Sirius was his boundless love for women. I was never sure that I was the only one; with him, I learnt to be jealous. And he, of course, would flirt with a girl when I was there just to make me jealous. He found it very funny. I didn't. But as time passed by I learnt to make fun of it. I have no reasons to think that Sirius ever cheated on me. I ended up trusting him entirely; love is based on trust, after all.

I'll always remember the first time he told me he loved me. It was at Christmas, back in 1977. I couldn't dream of a more precious gift. Us of all people. Us who thought we would not fall in love. Us.

Christmas Day, 1977

"You shouldn't have, really."

Sirius looked over at me and shook his head. He was holding a Nimbus 1980, the brand new broomstick I had offered him; James and I had the same one.

"Come on, I know you've wanted it for ages. And you know my family doesn't lack money."

"Yeah, but still. Makes my present for you pretty insignificant."

"I like it," I replied simply.

"So, you like the place?"

I looked around. We were sitting on the edge of the cliff that overhung the lake. The sight was magnificent: everything was covered with snow.

"I love it," I sighed, breathing the cold and pure air. "And the company isn't bad either."

He grinned back at me, making my stomach loop as always.

"You're not too cold, I hope?" he asked.

"I love that smirk of yours, you know."

I smiled and settled myself in his open arms. He held me tight and for a moment we just remained silent, admiring the sight below us.

"There's something I'd like to tell you," he whispered.

I looked up at him and saw that his cheeks were slightly red. I wondered if it was because of the cold.

"Yes?"

He was not looking at me. "I just want you to know that I-I don't hate you."

I was so not expecting this that I couldn't help but gave a nervous laugh.

"Is that your way of telling me...?"

I trailed off, not knowing if I was ready to say the words and if he was ready to hear them. All I knew was that I was madly in love with him. He looked down at me and smiled slightly, although his eyes were full of doubt.

"I love you."

I closed my eyes and let the words ring in my head in the most pleasant melody I had ever heard. I held my breath and looked at him in the eye, looking for a sign that would tell me he wasn't lying. He didn't blink or look away.

"I love you too, Sirius Black."

I rested my head against his chest, smiling broadly, oblivious to the snow flakes that had started to fall. Merry Christmas, Venus.

We saw each other almost every day after we had graduated: we were both doing the training to become Aurors. He had his own flat since he was seventeen and I still lived with my parents. This was the only uncomfortable thing in our relationship: should we live together? We didn't know if we were ready to have a life-long relationship. Would we get married and have children later on? At the time, we of course had no idea of the terrible things that would happen to us. All we knew was that Remus and Anna were planning on getting married some day, and that the idea was in Lily's and James's minds as well. But we were too young to get married, weren't we, Sirius? We were too young and too busy being rebellious and fighting Voldemort. The prospect of being together for life feared us. One day, Sirius had a brilliant idea.

November, 1979

"I think we need a break."

I jumped slightly at the unexpected words and my cup of tea threatened to fall off my hand. I took a deep breath, put it down on the table trying to remain calm, and only then did I look at Sirius. He looked both uncertain and determined. I knew this couldn't be good.

"What? I-I thought everything was okay between us!" I said frankly.

"It is not and you know it," he replied, his tone unusually serious.

I remained silent, stubbornly staring at the bright fire burning in the fireplace of Sirius's flat. My mind didn't seem to accept the idea.

"I mean, not breaking up, you know. Just...stay apart for a while, see what happens."

I still refused to look at him. "We can't stay apart, Sirius," I replied bitterly. "We work together."

He didn't say anything. I knew it wouldn't make any change, but a part of me was just trying to protest.

"And why do you think we need a break?" I asked in a fake casual tone, as if it was a question of no real importance to me.

"Venus," he whispered and tried to take my hand, but I scowled at him and he sighed. "We're only nineteen-"

"Nineteen and a half," I replied childishly through gritted teeth.

"Whatever. I need to know if – if it's really true love. Don't you want to see what it's like with other men?"

The idea had not really occurred to me since then, as stupid as it sounded.

"That's what you want, isn't it? I knew it. You just need to get laid with a dozen of girls. Come on, then. I don't give a damn."

It was a lie and we both knew it. But this was a sensitive point.

"I knew you wouldn't understand," he replied darkly.

"Then you were right," I said furiously.

I stood up and quickly went around the apartment, picking up everything that was mine. I couldn't believe it. When I was done, I went back to Sirius, who was still sitting at the table; his expression was unreadable, although it seemed like a part of him was watching me leave reluctantly; but I also knew there was no discussion possible.

Three weeks passed. Sirius and I avoided each other the most we could, and, even if I was too proud to admit it, I missed him terribly. Every time we had to see each other at work, we didn't talk but deep inside, I was glad to see him. One evening, I went to a bar with my sister Emmeline, hoping to meet another man and to get Sirius out of my head. I never managed to do it. I met a quite nice guy, I don't even remember his name, but I spent the whole evening talking about Sirius. Everything cried his name and made me think of him. I tried to get information from James, Remus and Peter, but they would not tell me. One day, I had had enough.

December, 1979

I entered Sirius's office, which was actually a very small room with no windows, graciously given by the Ministry of Magic. I had a determined expression on my face, but I'm sure that this mask disappeared as soon as I saw him. He was lounging in his chair, relaxed, tilting it back on two legs, his long, dark hair falling upon his eyes. He was trying to read something that he obviously was not interested in. But he was doing it very handsomely so. Everything was so perfect in him that if was as if he had repeated every action in front of a mirror.

I cleared my throat and he looked up at me. I was glad to see relief and happiness on his face, along with slight embarrassment. I tried to look casual, leaning against the doorway, but I was nervous.

"Well, come in," he said.

I had almost forgotten what his voice sounded like. I took a deep breath and stepped in, biting my bottom lip and looking down, all traces of self-confidence gone. I didn't know if he felt like I did; maybe he was just going to reject me. We remained in awkward silence for some seconds; when I sat down in front of him, his eyes travelled almost unconsciously down my chest. I smirked. I had chosen a low-cut black dress to give me an advantage. I knew my Sirius.

"My eyes are up here, Sirius."

We smiled; it was an old joke between the two of us.

"I missed you," we said at the same time.

We grinned again and I almost sighed of relief. "You first."

"I'm sorry, this wasn't a brilliant idea after all," he said, sounding sincere. "But being apart from you made me realize that it was serious between us. I've never felt this way for anyone else, but I just wanted to make sure-"

"Geez, Sirius, it's okay," I laughed. "It's not like we were going to get married or something."

"Yeah," he replied, unsmiling. "Let's not talk about wedding or kids or future, all right? What I know is that right now we've got some free time until Mad-Eye Moody arrives, if you know what I mean."

He smiled as I pretended to look clueless.

"No, I don't," I grinned back innocently. "But maybe you could show me."

"You know that innocent look doesn't-"

I kissed him before he could say anything else. I had almost forgotten how kissing him felt like.

How I wish I could go back in time... The seventies were the best years of my life. Everything wasn't perfect, but at least we were all together, happy. Lily, James, Anna, Remus, Sirius, Peter and me. The best friends. We thought it would last forever, we thought nothing could separate us. We were wrong: we had forgotten that death could.