A/N: A short story about how Sirius managed to get Mary to open up and tell those who cared for her the most why she had been pulling away... Please let me know what you think?

Never give up

Mary MacDonald had been fifteen years old when she first came in contact with dark magic.

She hadn't been in the library, perusing books she knew she shouldn't. Nor had she slipped up and accidentally exposed herself to the seductive darkness. It had been fairly simple really; a Slytherin boy named Mulciber had thought it to be a grand idea to torture the muggle born witch, and leave her for dead. She had spent weeks in the hospital wing after that, pale as a sheet and flinching at every new voice she heard.

After the attack, Mary MacDonald had changed. She pulled away from the friendlies she had considered to have in the other Houses, and retreating into her own House with the knowledge that she might just be safe there. To say that Mary was scared, that she acted out of a natural urge to protect herself wouldn't be wrong or misinformed.

Up until the incident Mary had been a vivacious and happy girl, keen on boys and teasing in any form it came in. Flirting was Mary's second nature, her first being magic, and it was probably only Mary herself that noticed how distant she was growing. Or so she'd thought.

OOO

Sirius Black had always been handsome; even as a boy he had been one of the most gorgeous creatures Mary had ever seen, and he'd won her poor heart quickly in her first years. He was a year older, a year wiser for all intents and purposed and he was also a fiercely loyal friend. In the same House as the boy, and some days even in the same broom closet, Mary knew Sirius to be a patient and kind, with her.

She knew she wasn't the brightest, or the most beautiful. Her caramel coloured hair and green eyes were still plain. Compared to Marlene or Lily, Mary would never be called beautiful. And the attack hadn't changed her view on her own person for the better, nor much for the worse. But at times it felt like she was on the edge, about to tip over.

And incidentally enough, it was on the edge of a stairs that Sirius Black's hand wrapped around Mary's wrist and pulled her into him, away from the ledge.

"Are you mad?" he asked, his voice low.

"What?" She looked at him, her heart in her ears, loud and scared, her eyes bewildered as she met his. "Let me go, Black," she snapped weakly, and he did. She took a step away from him, and then another, her hand wrapping around the wrist he had been holding.

"What are you thinking, MacDonald? It looked like you -" His voice trailed off, and she realized she hadn't been exactly steady on her feet as she stood at the top of the stairs. Tears sprung to her eyes far too quickly some days, and she pressed her eyes shut for a moment.

"I wasn't-" She looked at him and shook her head. "I didn't…"

"Mary."

Why did he have to be so soft with her? She looked away, her eyes finding a window to gaze out through. "I was just thinking how easy it must have been," she mumbled, "for him, to just leave me there. I didn't even know where I was, Sirius. I-" She bit her bottom lip, feeling it tremble slightly.

"You can't let him get to you, MacDonald," Sirius said calmly. She felt his hand on her arm again, pulling her away from the ledge again. She was trembling by the time she felt his arms around her shoulders and despite herself, she leaned into him.

"I don't understand," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "I've been trying to understand, to figure it out. There must have been a reason, Sirius, to pick me. I don't understand…" She wasn't crying, yet, but when he met her eyes it sure felt like she was. His thumb brushed her cheek and he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Don't be scared, Mary Mack. I won't let them get you again."

She hadn't know she needed someone to tell her she would be safe, until Sirius' arms were tightly around her and her head rested on his shoulder. She was tired, so tired, and finally hearing someone say she would be safe – Mary didn't know how to feel or what to think. Instead, she relaxed.

Sirius had an arm around her, slowly pulling her away from the stairs and the prying eyes of the other students, speaking softly to her under his breath. She felt her resolve shatter, and a part of her didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry.

He stopped just outside the Gryffindor entrance, his hands on her shoulder, and looked her in the eyes. "Don't pull away from us Mary. The girls worry, and don't tell anyone, but so do I. Alright?"

She nodded, still biting back tears. "Aye, alright," she said.

OOO

That night she snuck into the dorm of Lily and Marlene and Alice, and finally told the girls just what had been bothering her.

And at fifteen, Mary MacDonald had managed to come out the other side with nothing but scars from an attack that should have taken her life.