A/N: This story is AU. In it Sirius and Narcissa are NOT cousins. I repeat NOT COUSINS!I also wrote this pre-OOTP and therefore Blaise is my own creation.
"It's amazing!" I gasped in awe as if I were in a trance.
Immediately dropping the trunk in my hands, I ran to the middle of the enormous room, plopping down on a black, leather couch.
"You like?" the beaming man still in the doorway questioned, his face lighting up in shock, blown away by my reaction.
"Love," I corrected him dreamily.
He chuckled softly to himself and walked over to the couch, stealing the unoccupied seat beside me. "Good," he nodded, patting my back. " I'm glad. I wouldn't want you living in a house you hated."
I sighed with satisfaction, looking forward to the upcoming summer and school year. It was official: I never had to go back to the Dursleys. No selfish Dudley. No surly Aunt Marge. No nosy Aunt Petunia or bad-tempered Uncle Vernon. None of that over the summer.
Plus, at Christmas, I didn't have to stay at Hogwarts. I could actually go home. And I don't mean "home" as in the Dursleys. "Home" as in my home. The reason? That's simple. Sirius Black's name was cleared.
Though the explanation effortless, it didn't stop the situation from seeming so incredibly unbelievable. Everything still just felt like one big slow moving dream to me; one cold, splash of water, or harsh pinch on the arm, and I'd wake up with Sirius in hiding and Dudley desperately brewing up a plan to trick me.
Wow! I thought again, Fudge clearing his name and a Dursley-Free summer. No way…No way is this real.
I can't count how many times I would wonder when I'd wake up back at the Dursleys'. But even through all the doubt, I was happier than I'd ever been.
Sirius lived in a gorgeous two-story home, complete with its very own outdoor pool. As my Godfather, he asked me to move in with him, an offer I couldn't deny. I now had two bedrooms with walk-in closets, or rather, a walk in closet. You see, my bedrooms were right next to each other, connected by an enormous closet with two doors, one for each room.
Sure, the house was a little big for just the two of us, but, somehow, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that there were more people moving in with Sirius and me. It wasn't that he'd actually done anything or said anything about it—it was just an odd feeling I had. The mystery ended one evening after dinner.
"Harry—may I speak to you a moment?" Sirius questioned as I headed towards my room.
" Erm.. Sure," I shrugged, following him into the living room and taking a seat on the leather couch that had been love at first sight.
Sirius took a seat across from me, on the opposite, identical couch, most likely to maintain eye contact with me as he spoke.
"I have something very important to tell you, Harry, something you need to be informed of, I expect you to be mature and honest" he began, " I'm going on a date tonight,"
" Oh, really! That's great, Sirius, I'm so happy for you! Let me guess, you need tips on how to act?" It was great that Sirius had already found someone.
It wasn't even that shocking to hear. Since he had his name cleared, Sirius cut his hair and purchased a whole new wardrobe, appearing quite handsome.
He shook his head." No, that's not it at all. I'm perfectly capable of preparing for dates,"
" Oh… Sorry" I muttered, but he went on without acknowledging the apology.
"You see, I dated this woman in my fifth year at Hogwarts, but she broke up with me in sixth year for someone else. She recently divorced, and wrote me about it. We've been writing each other for quite some time now. I feel like we are both falling in love all over again, so I'm expecting tonight to run smoothly. She has a son your age, and I want you to know that if all goes as planned… you'll be getting a mother as well as a brother,"
"Oh—that's—oh," was all I could say for awhile. A mother, in itself, was hard to comprehend—but a mother and a brother—it was asking a lot.
" I haven't gone on the date yet, which is why I'm asking. I'm not making any life-altering decisions without your approval," Sirius assured me.
" What's her son's name? Does he go to Hogwarts, too?" I finally came up with something to say other than 'oh'.
" So you're okay with me asking this woman to marry me?" He changed the subject on me.
"It depends. Who is she and who is her son?" I smirked, switching the subject back to mine.
" Harry, I'm serious—"
" I know, it's your name, why would you remind me?" I joked lamely.
" Harry!" Sirius barked, beginning to fume from me acting uncooperative. He had, after all, expected me to act mature.
" I was just joking! I'm fine with this. You're a grown up—it's your life, I'm just your god-son,"
" But I might end up adopting you," he put in.
" I'd expected that" I shrugged, " And I'm okay with this. One hundred percent, I promise. It's going to be nice to finally have my own family."
On the inside, I was a little unsure, but who was I to deny Sirius of such a huge opportunity? He had a girlfriend—and if he wanted to marry her, why should I stand in the way? Besides, it might be fun to have a brother my age… I wonder what he's like… what's his name? Does he like Quiddich?
" Wonderful," Sirius beamed at my approval.
"So, really, who's the lucky woman?" I teased. My Godfather blushed.
" It's not official yet—remember, she could say no,"
"Who would say no to you?" I laughed, " Honestly, who is this woman who you have not told me the name of? That you dated at Hogwarts?"
" Blimey—look at the time! Well, I'm off to shower up and prepare for this evening. I plan on making a marvelous impression, you know," Sirius jumped up and hurried away, not even trying to answer my question.
What was going on? Sure, it was obvious someone would be moving in. And sure, I knew it would be a woman and her son. But who? Who was Sirius's girlfriend? Who was her son? Oh, this was going to bug me for eternity! Who was moving into Sirius' house? Who?
"Come again?" The normally deep, Hispanic-accented voice seemed to soften.
The expression sounded to be a mixture of confusion and shock. I had expected a reaction like this from my friend. Actually, the reaction was better than I'd expected. But I guess I couldn't really count that as his reaction because he had no idea what I was talking about…
"My father is in an asylum," I tried again, crossing my fingers and bracing myself.
Nothing. Nothing but a heavy sigh from the other end of our Wiz-Phone connection. "What's an asylum?" he demanded irritably.
I chuckled, assuming the straight O student was joking. "Very funny, Blaise," I laughed. "Good one. This is your way of letting me know you're in shock, too, eh? I can't believe it, either--"
He angrily cut me off. "What's an asylum? Draco, what's going on? What are you rambling on about?" Blaise demanded.
He seriously didn't know what an asylum was? Of all four years that I've attended at Hogwarts, Blaise Zabini's marks have been above mine. Always English wasn't even his first language and he still beat me on every exam. He's probably like Granger and begins studying on the first day of school. But now I knew a word that he didn't!
"DRACO! Earth to Drake! Are you there?" Blaise cried out at my silence.
At 'Drake', I was ripped right out of my thoughts. "Drake?" I questioned dangerously.
"I knew that would work," Blaise replied smugly.
I growled. "Never call me that again," I told him sourly.
"Why? I think it's cute!" he joked playfully.
I felt my cheeks flush. "Cute? I'm officially disturbed. I might even vomit—Blaise, are you gay?" I shrieked, completely sure that my friend was blood red too.
"Wha--? No—no, no, no. I meant it'd be a cute nickname—you know—for a girlfriend to call you. I'm completely straight, honestly. I like—well, never mind that, you don't need to know who I like, just that she's a girl," Blaise frantically explained.
I snickered. Blaise acting flustered was hilarious. Of course, I knew he was straight from the get-go, and I wanted to hear him suddenly panic. Yeah, I know. I'm cruel. Its just revenge for the fact that he doesn't know the word 'asylum'.
"Okay, really, Draco—what's this ordeal about your father?" My friend straightened up, ready for the explanation.
"Oh. That. He's mental," I stated in a bored tone.
"Sometimes I think my mum's crazy, too. Like this one time, she locked me in my room just because I threw mashed potatoes at the wall—I was only seven! Man, do I hate mashed--"
"No, Blaise, literally," I rolled my eyes, afraid of never being able to get it through his thick skull. Blaise is one of those people that I will never understand. He has a full head of black hair, and yet he's so incredibly blonde…
"What's literally?" he asked.
I wanted to scream! This is what I meant about blonde! He is slow at catching on to things—and he beats me in school! I can't believe this! "MY. FATHERLITERALLY. WENT. CRAZY. DO. I. HAVE. TO. SPELL. IT. OUT. FOR. YOU?" I bellowed. I did this as if we were speaking different languages and I thought that separating each word into it's own sentence would make him understand.
"Lucius is crazy?" he questioned uncertainly as if to say I was the crazy one.
"Blaise Zabini, am I speaking Spanish?" I asked sarcastically to prove my frustration.
It was two seconds later an epiphany washed over me. I was talking to a Hispanic! I should've mentioned a language other than Spanish. I really need to consider that whole think before you speak thing.
"No," Blaise answered. "But maybe you should speak Spanish. Then I'd understand you better. Yo no comprendo ingles," he laughed.
"Blaise—honestly—would you not switch to Spanish on me—I can't understand what you said!"
"Well, I can't understand what you've been saying," he reasoned.
I sighed. How hard was it to understand? My father went crazy because You-Know -Who wanted him to kill an old friend. I think his name was Fabrizio, and since he was a friend, my father backed out. That angered the Dark Lord, so he tortured and tortured him with the crucio curse until he had drained every last ounce of sanity from my father.
After that happened, Mum divorced him, and admitted him in an asylum at St. Mungos. Then it was basically over, and that's where my father was at this very moment.
Knock. Knock.
"Draco can I come in?" Mum asked, cracking the door open a fraction of an inch.
"Hang on, Mum," I called, "Hey, Blaise, I have to go, okay? I'll re-explain matters later," I said, relieved to take a break.
"Okay, Adios."
"Good-Bye," I said, and the Wiz-phone clicked off as it always did when both people said 'bye'.
I invited Mum to come in, and was surprised to see her dressed up in a ruby-red dress with matching nails and lipstick. She was absolutely glowing. "Er…Going somewhere, Mum?" I asked, confused.
"Actually, that's why I came up here. I'm going to be gone for a couple of hours, are you going to be okay alone?"
"Mum, I'm fourteen, I'll be fine," I rolled my eyes. She is way too over-protective. " Where are you going, anyway?"
"Oh, just…a party…"She, blushed; giving away that it was a lie.
Where could she really be going? Was she—no. She wasn't dating already. Was she?
Sirius stood waiting in front of the limo, parked by the doors of Malfoy Manor. In his arms he held a beautiful bouquet of Narcissi flowers and an oversized chocolate frog. This was the night that, only a few months ago while in Askaban, he could only dream about. But now—now, he was experiencing the real thing. He felt like a foolish schoolboy on his first date, desperate for a kiss on the lips sealed with the assurance of a second date. It'd been forever since he took a woman on a date. It'd been even longer since he'd been on a date that meant the world to him.
When she stepped outside in her stunning gown, a smile crept across his face. She was just as gorgeous as when he knew her; just as gorgeous as when they'd dated before. "Oh, Sirius!" Narcissa ran up to him, as he presented her the items he held.
"It's just like our first date! My favorite flowers and my favorite chocolate!" she smiled brilliantly, kissing his cheek and sliding her hand into his.
The driver of the limo opened the door for the two and together they slipped into the backseat. Sirius had made special reservations to an expensive restaurant, Italia.
" I love Italian," Narcissa giggled as the limo pulled forward, " It's one of my favorites,"
" Yes, I remembered," Sirius, recalled from their prior dates. He twiddled his thumbs in a childish way, suddenly taking interest in the black slushy carpet of the limo floor.
He couldn't help but feel so awkward—so—so unworthy to be in her presence. It was like when he attended Hogwarts and he would bump into a gang of preppy girls. He remembered the overwhelming feeling that always washed over him that was difficult to describe. The feeling that he didn't fit in—he had so many flaws, and they were perfect. He knew they'd make fun of him behind his back. It had been an uncomfortable feeling, and just like he had been beneath those preps, he was beneath Narcissa.
" Sirius," Narcissa whispered, noticing the nerves built up within her date.
" 'Cissa…." He heaved a pathetic sigh. " I can't do this—I mean look at you! Your stunningly beautiful, you lead a great life, and I don't understand—why? Why must you waste your time with someone like me?" Narcissa raised an eyebrow.
" Someone like whom?" She questioned lightly, knowing the answer, but checking, just in case what she thought he meant was wrong.
" A former prisoner, Narcissa, an up-to-nothing-good murderer," He spat, hating such a horrible reputation.
He knew it was foolish to feel like he did. Normally, he did not care that he'd been to prison, because he knew inside it wasn't his fault. Normally he'd stand tall and confident—but Narcissa meant the world to him. What if she wasn't over Lucius? What if she did not love him, and this was just a pity date? What did she think about his criminal past?
Narcissa nodded, as she knew he'd been putting it to thought. How could he not? If she were put into the same situation, she had no doubt she'd feel the same way.
" Sirius, you're not a murderer," Her voice was barely above a whisper as she placed her hand under his chin, lightly lifting his head up so they met each other's eyes.
" But I have been to prison," He stated, and she now noticed his eyes glistening with a glossy covering of unfallen tears. She'd never recalled him appearing so hopeless.
" And it wasn't your fault. You were found innocent, don't you remember?" She reasoned with him, her voice beginning to waver.
She starred up at the moon roof in an attempt to hold back her own tears. " I can't imagine what it's been like for you, Sirius. I know you still receive death glares even today, but I'm not like that. I wouldn't have bothered to look as stunning as you say I do if I thought you were a scumbag, or—I don't know, whatever it is you think I'm thinking. If it means anything, I think you look great,"
" Yet you broke up with me. How can you say I look great and go out with me without remembering that you broke up with me once before--"
" Of course, that would bother me, too. Yes, I understand," Narcissa, sighed, " That was the worst mistake of my life, Sirius. Dumping you. And over something so stupid. Just because your Christmas gift wasn't as fancy as Lucius's… I'm tremendously sorry. I caused you a lot of pain. I even caused myself a lot of pain, I caused us both a lot of unneeded pain, "
" And how do I know you won't do it again? Cissa', I'm still not rich. I'm better off than I was—but--"
Sirius closed his eyes so the tears wouldn't fall, and as he did so, he found her lips against his own. It started out very unsure, and light, but within seconds he deepened the kiss. His overwhelming ' beneath you' feeling seemed to melt away in that kiss, and he no longer felt like he'd bumped into a preppy high school girl that was ten leagues ahead of him. As the relief washed over him, he once again, like before they'd met face-to-face, knew that this was right.
"Ah, Narcissa, it's just been so long!" Sirius sighed as their dinner was served, and he'd completely recovered from his previous meltdown. Thinking about it now, he felt ashamed. What a horrible first impression. So much for flawless.
"Yes—forever. But I honestly want you to know that I always knew you were innocent," she sighed. "Again, I'm sorry I broke up with you in sixth year for Lucius…"
"Don't be. That part of your life is over now. I'm over it, too, er… well; I'm in the process, anyway. At least he'll never return. The bloke's in an asylum," Sirius paused. "He was a bloke, correct?"
Narcissa giggled. "Yes, Divorcing him was the happiest moment of my life," she sighed, "I just wish I'd done that sooner… or better yet, never got involved with him in the first place. But then… I wouldn't have Draco, so…" She trailed off.
Sirius smiled, "Well, they say everything happens for a reason,"
" I suppose so," She replied, " I married Lucius so Draco could be in my life, he went crazy, you were proved innocent, and now I'm allowed to see you again,"
" It's odd, though—all that has happened, just lead up to us being here tonight,"
" Yes, maybe because…" Narcissa laughed bitterly, " Maybe because we're meant to be together,"
Sirius nodded, still smiling. He took Narcissa's small, recently- creamed hand in his big, calloused one, feeling light-headed and nervous. " 'Cissa?" he gulped, feeling that this was the right moment for what he was about to ask.
"Yes," she smiled warmly, looking deep into his eyes.
" 'Cissa—Narcissa--" He paused and inhaled a deep breath, "Will you marry me?"
A/N: This story is AU. In it Sirius and Narcissa are NOT cousins. I repeat NOT COUSINS!I also wrote this pre-OOTP and therefore Blaise is my own creation. So please...reviews are great but if you're going to flame, please don't make it about Sirius and Narcissa being related because they're NOT.