Title: The Sovereign Defender

Characters: Penny Singh, Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Albus Dumbledore.

Pairings: Sirius x Penny

AN: 2018, an insane and amazing year. I've had three short stories published in three different books. Almost done with school and a lot of other stuff. Anyway, I've decided to make a new attempt at writing some so I decided to combine my newly found effort and insomnia to write a very late birthday fic to padfootastic. I'm sorry I deleted your multi-chapter fic but here's a fic with drabbles and one-shots which will focus on Penny. I've got lots of material for her, both moments and longer … things. I hope you like it a little if nothing else.

Word Count: 1, 087

The United Nations was founded on several principles that would guide the formation of the documents stating the human rights. One of those principles was called sovereignty; Penny had trouble pronouncing it when she was younger. But basically, in the context of the UN, it meant that no country could invade another country. Every member state of the UN was sovereign. One of the many synonyms for sovereign was independent and Penny often used that word to describe herself but there were many people inside the walls of Hogwarts who couldn't do that.

Dumbledore was a great man and a powerful wizard. Personal opinions aside, that could not be denied. He had, after all, managed to defeat the great Grindelwald and he was part of the reason that Hogwarts was one of the safest places on earth. That meant that he had earned a certain level of respect from his peers and the students of his school. But all those things aside, Penny Singh couldn't claim that she did anything more than respect him. The seventeen-year-old girl had heard multiple speeches from the old wizard and couldn't help but analyse them thoroughly.

"Dark forces are gathering outside our doors and some of you may be scared but remember that you are safe as long as you are inside these walls."

Every word was said with a comforting smile and a twinkle in his eyes. There was a certain tone that he used when talking to people and everyone felt as if he was looking at them specifically. Penny narrowed her eyes at him. On the surface it sounded good but once you thought about it a little more, hidden messages came out and all of the sudden Penny didn't know if she was comforted by his words or scared by them.

"That sounds like a demand or something." She mumbled underneath her breath.

She had grey, silvery and light blue highlights in her otherwise raven coloured hair, her brown eyes were focused on Dumbledore while he spoke and her lips a thin line. But as soon as Dumbledore became quiet, she looked at her friends and boyfriend.

"That was a dark one, dark and a bit parental almost." Sirius commented and comfortable laid his arm around her neck. Penny nodded.

Sirius Black, also seventeen, had dark brown hair, so dark that it almost appeared black sometimes, grey eyes and was on the skinnier side in comparison with his best friend James Potter. Unlike his best friend, Sirius hair always fell in the right place and there was a nonchalant gracefulness about the way he moved.

"Yeah, well…" James spoke. "Times are rough. I say we do something to lighten the mood."

James Potter, sixteen years old, on the other hand was a ball of energy with crazy black hair and energetic hazel brown eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. He was much more muscular from having spent hours upon hours playing quidditch and working out. He quickly became involved in a conversation with Peter Pettigrew, also sixteen years old, a small boy with mousy brown hair, light blue eyes and semi-long hair which just about reached his eyes.

"Yeah," Peter said and nodded excitedly. "What are we going to do, Moony?"

Moony, or Remus Lupin also sixteen years old had sandy blond hair and green eyes, nodded. He had vague scars on his face and across his hands but nothing too serious. They looked like mere shadows unless you truly looked for them. But all his friends could tell that he was a little more tired than normal.

"I like the sound of that, Wormy."

Penny didn't know if they heard the hidden message underneath Dumbledore's words or not.

"What if we break the rules, does that mean that we're out on our butts and left to fend for ourselves?" She asked her boyfriend of a year, later that night when they laid quietly in his bed.

The other boys were already sleeping; Peter was snoring lightly from the other end of the room, James mumbled random words of affection while Remus laid completely still hidden beneath piles and piles of covers and pillows that he had brought from home.

"Are you still thinking about Dumbledores speech?" Sirius asked where he laid next to her, one arm underneath her neck and the other gently tugging at the hem of her top, occasionally grazing the skin on her stomach.

"Yeah, I don't like the idea that his protection has requirements. What if you don't reach those requirements? What if…"

She moved to her side and gently touched his arm, up and down, until she could feel his long hair, his chin and then his soft lips. Those lips that could drive her crazy when he smiled, smirked and kissed her, among other things. Penny had to smile. He was crazy beautiful and he was crazy independent. Sirius Black was loyal to the core but you had to earn that loyalty and he would never bow down to authorities because they assumed that he would. She was the same.

"You almost sound worried about me, babe."

Early in their relationship, back when they were only friends, Penny would have asked how he knew. But she didn't anymore. Because he knew her as well as she knew him and it had come to the point where they couldn't hide anything from each other. She loved it.

"Well, maybe I am," she said as he drew her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. "What would you say?"

"I would say…" he yawned. "That whoever is out to get me is going to have to fight really damn hard. Because I've got my very own defender. Several defenders. And the same goes for you my love, you will never be left behind. No matter what happens to me. You will always have someone that you can lean on."

Penny felt a shiver travel down her spine. "Don't say it like that. Nothing is going to happen to you, Sirius Orion Black. Nothing bad at all, only good things."

Sirius chuckled, the way he always did when they approached something sensitive, something that scared so many people at the moment. Namely, the idea that something bad could happen. Because it could. He kissed her again but her nose this time.

"You're right. We're all going to be fine. You're going to be fine and I'm going to be fine because I've got you, my very own sovereign defender."

The end