Prologue

"He is using you to get to me!" Severus whispered aggressively to his little sister. Sierra shook her head at her overprotective brother. "You can't see him anymore. He is going to hurt you. The only person he cares about is himself. It is all just a game to him." Tears brushed the edges of Sierra's eyes as she looked away from her concerned brother.

"Listen Sev, Sirius and I have been together since October. I know that you only found out a few weeks ago, but you have to understand. He really does care about me, and he has told me that he wants to continue a relationship with me after he graduates Hogwarts," Sierra explained quietly. Her heart was heavy with guilt, knowing how hard this was for her brother. She knew he had every reason in the world to think the worst. With the exception of this year, Sirius and his group of friends had bullied him every year they had been in school. She felt like she had been betraying her brother, but Sirius had made her feel like no one else before. Severus had always been there for her at home, especially when their father was having a drunken fit. Sirius on the other hand made her forget everything that was at home, like she lived a normal life.

Sierra could see the disappointment and betrayal in the shadows of Severus' eyes. He didn't say much more to her the remainder of the day as they finished their last Hogsmeade trip together. It was hard to believe this had been their last year at Hogwarts together. "Can I still go with you this summer? You know, move out of the house with you?" Sierra asked after a few hours. Severus sighed deeply before stopping and turning to his sixteen year old sister.

He touched the side of her face softly, "Of course you can. I would never leave you alone with father." Sierra nodded with her brother's hand still cupping her face. She couldn't help but wonder if he would allow Sirius and her to have a relationship outside of Hogwarts while she was in his custody. Although she burned with curiosity, she didn't have the courage to ask. Time would tell, and she wasn't sure if he was ready to give a non-judgmental answer.

"Hey, babe!" Sirius greeted with a wide grin. His pearly teeth glimmered as he strode up to Sierra. She gave him a small smile as he wrapped a warm arm around her. "Is everything okay? You've been pretty quiet the last few days." James was right behind Sirius surveying Sierra's every move.

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Severus just needs some-"

"Sevvy, will get over it, doll," Sirius grinned mischievously as he pulled Sierra closer.

"Maybe if you speak with him about-"

Sirius twirled Sierra closer to him and brushed her bangs away from her eyes. "Anything for you. I will tell him how much I care about you, and ask him if he can forgive me for everything James and I did." Sierra embraced him tightly, feeling overwhelmed with loved. She was unable to see the large smirk covering Sirius's face or the arrogant wink he gave James. "Don't let it bother you anymore," Sirius said compassionately as he pulled her back. "I will take care of everything, because I love you."

"Hey Wormy, Mooney," James greeted with a wave. Remus didn't look up from his book as he greeted James, but Peter very enthusiastically waved back while squeaking his greeting. "Padfoot and I need your help with a few things, would you guys mind?"

"What with?" Remus asked turning the page of his book. Peter looked back at James eagerly to hear what adventure they would be going on next.

"It's kind of a surprise," James answered trying to conceal his ornery grin. Lupin looked up seemingly tired.

"This isn't another secret prank on Severus is it, Prongs?" Remus asked in a scolding tone. "If he is as serious about Sierra as he seems to be, he should really leave her brother alone."

James cocked his head in innocent confusion as he exclaimed, "Mooney, we have left Severus alone this year!" He tried not to laugh as he thought back on all of the great moments that were blamed on Peeves or random accidents. Remus gave James a long hard stare as if to say he knew the truth. James sighed, "Listen, Padfoot wants to surprise Sierra tonight and he needs your help." Peter looked overly excited, but Remus was skeptical. James gave him an eager smile and said, "Come on, Lily said that we would need your help!"

With that Remus closed his book and stood, "Okay, let's go." They followed James through the halls of the school to the room of Requirement. The room was set in candles and flowers, a four post bed in the middle of the room. Remus looked around confused and a little bewildered. "What exactly are we supposed to be helping with?"

James smiled widely, "You'll see. Follow me." They walked to the side of the room, where James sat down. Remus and Peter followed suit. James then draped his invisibility cloak over them. Before Remus could question any further, Sirius and Sierra walked into the room.

She gasped at the sight of the room. "Sirius, you shouldn't have. This is so beautiful. I-I just...I'm not sure if I am ready." Sirius cupped her face reassuringly.

"We are ready for this. I love you. Don't you love me?" he asked her as he led her over to the bed. Sierra went to say something else, but Sirius silenced her with a kiss.

Remus felt a growing discomfort as the two progressed onwards. He went to whisper his concerns to James, but his friend put a hand over his mouth and whispered, "I will let you know when it's time to surprise her." Remus nodded, feeling trapped in the situation. He didn't like where this was headed and he seemed to be the only one. He watched not knowing what to do as one of his best friends and his girlfriend made love for the first time. He heard Sierra whisper that she was scared, and admit that she was a virgin. He watched as Sirius comforted her and expressed his love. During the climax, James whispered to Remus and Peter, "Follow my lead."

Remus watched Sirius roll off of Sierra and heard him say, "You were great." Then James lifted the invisibility cloak off of the three of them. Remus' eyes widened. James stood along with Peter. He heard Sierra gasp as James lifted Remus from the ground began clapping. "Bravo, bravo! Splendid performance, Sierra!" James exclaimed loudly. Remus began clapping, not understanding why he was participating.

Sierra's eyes watered as she looked back at Sirius in confusion. She watched as his grin turned maniacal. "I...I don't understand…" she stuttered. Sirius let out a loud exaggerated sigh.

"You were good fun. They really enjoyed watching, didn't you guys?" Sirius laughed. "Want to see the best part?" Sirius lifted his wand and pointed off to the side of the room. Sierra gasped as she saw her brother frozen upside down hanging from the ceiling. "You're sister is even more fun than you are Snivellus!" Sirius roared with laughter. Anxiety filled Sierra, she tried to cover herself up, but Sirius threw the covers off the bed. He handed her clothes to her.

"I'm always up for a round two if you are," Sirius said with a large smirk. Sierra couldn't contain her silent tears as she quickly put on her clothes.

"Nice front row seat you had as Padfoot porked your sister!" James shouted to Severus. "Come on, let's get out of here." James began to leave followed by an eager Peter and an ashamed Remus.

Before Sirius followed his friends, he looked down at a devastated Sierra. "No hard feelings, right? We had fun while it lasted." He left her without another word, but yelled a zealous goodbye to her brother.

Sierra could feel her heart pounding in her throat as she walked towards Sirius on graduation day. She had endured the constant bullying of all of her Ravenclaw friends, who teased her for not being more insightful, and Sirius' Gryffindor friends, who were only trying to make her feel worse. In one day she became the school slut, and no one would let her or Severus forget it. She didn't want to approach Sirius, but she had to know. Him and his group of friends played with a snitch as they posed for pictures for their families. Lily came up to her immediately as if she didn't have any idea what James had participated in. "Hey Sierra! It is so good to see you!"

Sierra gave a short smile before clearing her throat to say, "I need to talk with Sirius." Lily looked a bit concerned, but called him over anyways. Sirius looked cocky as he came over. He asked Lily if they could have a moment, and she left.

"Ready for round two?" he asked quietly. Tears immediately surfaced in Sierra's eyes. With that, she knew the answer to her question, but wanted to ask it despite.

"Was…were we…" she took a deep breath as Sirius scoffed loudly at her. "Did our relationship mean anything to you? Ever?" Sirius gave her an exaggerated sympathetic smile.

"Come one, Sierra," he said putting his hand over her shoulder. "You know that I don't do the serious relationship thing. We had fun, that's all that matters. You should hold onto that."

Sierra felt the lump in her throat rising. She tried to swallow it down, but it was persistent to bring tears to her eyes. Sierra quietly choked back tears as she said, "You told me that you loved me." Sirius chuckled loudly as he pat her on the back

"I tell that to everyone I am going to bed with. It doesn't mean anything. You didn't take that seriously did you?" Sirius gave her a final hug before saying, "Good luck next year. I know you will do great." He walked away without second thoughts to continue being with his friends. Sierra stood paralyzed with regret and grief.

Severus came up to her quickly. "What are you doing? Why were you talking to him? You didn't tell him, did you?" Sierra could hardly breathe as she watched Sirius having the time of his life. She slowly shook her head. Severus turned his sister around so that she would look him in the eyes. "Hey, he isn't worth crying over." He pulled her in for a hug as he whispered, "I will help you take care of the baby. He will only make matters worse."

The war had taken its tole on Remus, possibly more so than anyone else. Acting as a double agent for the Order was harder than his friends could have ever imagined. What he found even harder than being a double agent, was the distrust he felt drifting through the order. There was a spy through the ranks, but no one was sure who. He knew that naturally everyone would suspect him. He tried not to think of it as he began eating his first meal in daylight in the past six weeks. Glancing around, Remus noticed a little girl sitting next to him. She sat smiling at him, staring with curiosity. "Hi, my name is Leah," the little red headed girl squeaked.

He couldn't help but smile at her. He was about to say hello back, but stopped himself when Sierra Snape walked up to the table. He felt like a 7th year again, to ashamed and mortified to look her in the face. "Leah, let's go baby," Sierra said to her little girl. Remus found himself dumbfounded in silence.

The little girl happily got up from her seat and grabbed Sierra's hand. "Mommy, since today's my birthday, can we buy me a new dress?"

Remus cleared his throat before asking, "How old are you now?"

He tried to ignore Sierra's piercing stare as Leah answered, "This many." She held up four fingers. "Can we, mommy, please?"

Sierra glanced panicked at Remus, who became even more shocked as he did the calculations in his head. "I'm not sure, sweetie. I'll see what I can do."

Remus felt like he needed to say something, but wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to apologize more than anything, but before he could muster the words to say anything to her, she was gone. Remus debated saying anything to Sirius. He wasn't sure what to do. Sirius hadn't changed much in the past several years. James was really the only one who had, and would be the perfect person to go to. Remus knew better than to ask Sirius if he could speak with James, since he and Lily were in hiding with Harry. Remus knew that something needed to be done, but didn't know what it should be.

Sierra listened to Leah sing happily as she poured her a bowl of cereal. She could hear Severus jogging down stairs as she handed her daughter the colorful bowl of animated animal puffs. "Did you see the Prophet this morning?" Severus asked. Sierra tilted her head before giving a short no. It was the first she had seen her brother since he had been told of Lily's death. "Sirius Black has been sent to Azkaban. It seems he killed Peter Pettigrew and a street full of muggles."

Sierra's eyebrows rose slowly in shock as she read the Daily Prophet her brother dropped in front of her. It didn't seem like Sirius to do such a thing, yet there was the picture of Aurors dragging him away from the scene of the crime. Her hands shook as she read further through the article. "It doesn't say when his trial is," she said more to herself than to her brother.

Severus scoffed loudly, "He isn't getting one. They already snapped his wand and carted him off." Before Sierra could voice any opinion there was a booming knock against the front door.

"I'll get it!" exclaimed Leah loudly.

"You need to eat your breakfast," Sierra said quickly. "I will get it." Slight panic went through her as she thought about the Ministry questioning her about Sirius. She quickly put it out of her mind, because it had been years since she spoke to him and no one except Severus knew that he was Leah's father. Panic soon overcame her again when she opened the door to find Aurors and a Ministry official at the door.

"Is Mr. Severus Snape home?" the official asked abruptly. Sierra couldn't bring herself to say anything. Severus stepped in front of her. "Ah, Mr. Snape. You are to come with us for questioning." It was clear that Severus was surprised and taken aback.

"What for?" he asked crossly.

"You have been accused of affiliating with You Know Who," one of the Aurors boomed. "Show him the warrant." Sierra couldn't believe her ears. She wondered how they could think such a thing. Her brother turned to her, and gave her a brief hug before departing quietly.

Walburga Black sat back in her chair as she glared obsessively at the family portrait on the wall. Her thoughts raced through on her memories as she tried to make sense of where she went wrong. Lifting her wand, she sent another scorch mark through Sirius's name. As far as she was concerned it was entirely his fault that his brother, Regulus, had died. If Sirius had been a decent Black, he would have become a Death Eater and protected his brother. An owl began pecking on Walburga's parlor window. Kreacher quickly fetched it from the window, he was such an obedient house elf. He bowed as he laid the letter on the end table next to his mistress.

Walburga assumed the letter would hold yet another distant family member's condolences for the loss of her precious Regulus. Her hands shook as she opened the letter, but as she read they became steady and her eyes grew wide. In her hand was a letter from the Department of Children Services. Apparently her good for nothing son had a bastard, and the tramp of a mother had recently killed by a last ditch Death Eater attack in Diagon Alley. Walburga chuckled as she read, 'With deep condolences we must say that Leah Snape's mother, Sierra Snape, was found deceased along with twelve others in Diagon Alley two days ago. Leah was found next to her mother, and survived the attack with minimal injuries." However, disgust fell over Walburga Black as the letter proclaimed, 'Leah is now in custody of the Ministry of Magic. Due to her Uncle's questionable status with the Ministry of Magic, and your son, Sirius Black's incarceration, we have deemed you and your husband Leah's new guardians. We request that you come to collect her within the next 48 hours.'

Another Dementor passed by Sirius's cell and he tried not to let it affect him. He felt more tears beginning to surface the corners of his eyes as guilt began to mount his chest. Thoughts of James and Lily's dead bodies and a distraught Harry clouded his mind. He would have dwelled on these thought for hours if it had not been for his mother's booming voice echoing through the prison, "Which cell is that damn blood traitor?" Panic settled in his chest as he quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. He had vowed long ago that he would never let his mother see him weep. Sure enough his cow of a mother stood in front of his cell doors with a wide evil grin plastered across her face. "Ahhh, here he is. The world famous killer."

Sirius didn't say anything in rebuttal. He didn't have the strength or the patience to deal with his mother. Part of him wondered if she was real at all. Perhaps it was possible he was already hallucinating the only thing that could make this experience even worse. "Since you aren't allowed mail, I came to let you know that your brat's mother has died," his mother said as if the words were meant to hurt him. For the first time in months he let himself experience something other than pain or guilt. His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. He glanced at his mother who was clearly waiting for his reaction. She seemed disappointed at his lack of response.

She pursed her lips as she tried again to get a reaction out of him, "I will have you know, that I will not take care of your bastard child. You should have known if anything happened to that filthy halfblooded bitch that your daughter would mean less to me than the dirt Kreacher spits on." Sirius's mind began to race as he tried to make sense of his mother's words. He could tell she wasn't lying, and that she was becoming more frustrated by his lack of passion for her words.

"My daughter?" Sirius finally said. His mother raised her chin up that finally he had said something.

"Don't remember her, do you? You were always weak. I shouldn't be surprised that you are already losing your mind," she said almost gleefully. "Yes, your daughter, Leah Snape." Sirius's eyes grew wide and he felt himself become numb. Sierra had gotten pregnant from his prank. She had never told him, not that he could blame her. So many things ran through his head as his mother continued on. "I will have you know that I have made sure that she is where she belongs. Shoved her off on some stupid muggles, I did!" his mother exclaimed with pride. "I won't have any filthy cunt ruining our family name. Don't you worry, I made sure those muggles never know about her magic. Before I sent her away, she went through power siphoning."

Sirius's stomach plummeted. Not only had he just found out about his daughter, but he found out his daughter would never grow up to know who she really was. To top it all off, she had gone through one of the most archaic and illegal punishments known to wizarding. Something that had been banned centuries ago, but something Voldemort brought back to life during the war. Enchanted crystals inserted into a witch or wizard in order to siphon there powers throughout their life. The power would then be transferred to another enchanted stone for other wizards or witches to use. In most cases it was used to keep the magical being from accessing their powers. Sirius felt nauseated that a little girl, his little girl would have to go through something so terrible.

He glared up at his mother, who stood smiling widely at him. "Get out, you fucking bitch," Sirius croaked from inside of his cell. After a few more snide comments and devilish grins, his mother left. He paid no attention to her as he thought about Sierra and his daughter. Another Dementor passed by his cell, making him feel even more hopeless and powerless than before.