A/N: I own nothing but the plot and any original characters I wish to add in at my own judgment...J.K.Rowling owns anything you recognize

Sirius Black took a seat on the Hogwarts Express. The compartment was rather silent as all the inhabitants were gazing as Hogwarts vanished into the distance. It was the last time they would be riding the train, their seventh year had drawn too a close and they were on to bigger things, well Lily and James were at least. James was to start Auror training the beginning of September, and Lily would soon be starting a job in the office of the Minister of Magic. Remus was on the search for a job, and was concerned he would have a hard time finding one.

"People will be hesitant," he said, "About hiring a werewolf."

Peter chose to remain silent, every time the topic of careers was brought up and his face would seem to blanche slightly, though no one would ever take notice of it. Sirius claimed he was going to enjoy the freedom of no more school for a while and if he ever felt the urge to get a job, he'd land himself one at Zonko's.

"Oi! Padfoot! Are you all there?" James yelled as he tossed a chocolate frog at Sirius' head as Sirius gazed out the window.

Sirius barely managed to avoid the frog and shot a tickling spell at James. He sat back and watched as James collapsed to the compartment floor in fits of laughter. Lily looked at him for a few seconds before muttering the counter-curse and shooting a would be angry look at Sirius, but he could easily see the amused one in her eyes.

"Why would you ever suggest that I'm not dear Prongs?

James was about to respond when a disturbance at the compartment door sidetracked him. He looked over and a smile broke out over his face.

"Why dear Snivelly, what did we do to honour this little visit? Surely, oh don't tell me we forgot! Did we forget you're departing hex? How rude! Let me help you out there then, Tarantallegra!"

Before Snape could manage a response his legs began shooting out in various directions. Everyone in the compartment burst out laughing as they watched Snape struggle to stay upright. It continued for a few minutes until Lupin decided to put him out of his misery by placing the full body-bind curse on him. James and Sirius laughed as they kicked Snape's immobile legs out of the compartment and closed the door. They both sat back down and Sirius laid his head against the window once again. He could hear Remus talking to Peter beside him about possible places for a job. He looked across to where Lily and James were sitting hand in hand, talking about their plans for the summer. Sirius recalled James saying earlier he was planning on moving out, and once he found a house he was hoping to ask Lily to marry him. Sirius could tell by the look in both of their eyes that they would no doubt make a happy couple. All too soon the train ride was over and they all exited onto Platform 9 ¾. Before going through the barrier the five friends turned and took one last look at the scarlet Hogwarts Express. It was hard to believe they would never see it again, never ride on it to another year of fun, pranks, and Quidditch. Sirius heard Lily sigh and watched as James took her in his arms. With a final glace they all exited into the muggle world.

Sirius waved a quick good-bye to Remus, Peter and Lily as he set off with James and his parents. He was planning to gather up the few things he still had at James' place before apparating to the house he had bought over the Christmas holidays. He was disappointed to be leaving the Potters, they had been the closest thing he had to family since he met James in their first year. His own family was nothing but a load of power-hungry dark wizards whom Sirius wished to have nothing to do with. He knew only too well that his younger brother Regulus had already joined the ranks of Voldemort's Death Eaters, but knowing his brother he would soon be wishing he hadn't, the little coward. The only relatives he liked were his Uncle Alphard, who had left him a considerable amount of gold when he died the previous summer, and his cousin Andromeda, who had thrown away the Black tradition of marrying a pure-blood and instead married a muggle born by the name of Ted Tonks. After all his things were gathered into a moving box Sirius stood in the hall of the Potter's house to say good-bye. Mrs. Potter was trying to fight tears and told Sirius to come by as often as he liked. Mr. Potter wished him the best and James just said a simple good-bye, knowing full well he would most likely be seeing Sirius in a matter of days. With a final nod he apparated and vanished from the Potter household.

Sirius was standing in the middle of the hall of a rather small cottage he was now to call home. He dumped his box on the floor and walked throughout the house. It was rather small, only two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen/dining room, a bathroom, and a rather small storage room. The only bit of furniture in the house was a bed Sirius had bought at Christmas and he knew he would have to go out looking for some furniture the next day. But for the moment he just grabbed the box and walked up the stairs to drop his load in his bedroom. He settled the box in a corner and lay down on the bed. In less than a minute he was fast asleep.

Sirius woke late the next morning and stumbled out of bed. He went into the washroom to take a shower and realized he had no towels. There was no food in the house, and nothing save a few cupboards to keep any food in at that. He wasn't looking forward to going shopping, in fact he hated it, but it had to be done or else he'd be living in an empty house with no food. He trudged up the stair and changed before making his way down to the town, about a 20 minute walk away.

It wasn't a very big town, but he was able to get a bus to the next large one. He fumbled for a bit with the muggle coins but in the end got it all sorted out, Lily had taught them all the differences in muggle money. Sirius sat on the bus, getting some rather odd looks from the other people sitting around him. He couldn't place what it was, had he not dressed in muggle clothes that morning? He looked at his shirt and realized he had put it on inside out.

"Oh shit, just great," Sirius thought to himself as he removed his shirt, revealing a rather muscular, toned body and put it right side out again. He flashed a mischievous smirk at a few older women who were giving him disgusted looks and settles back down in to seat.

This action caught the eye of a teenage girl sitting across from him. She was 17, turning 18 that summer and had seen Sirius walking down the street just before she left for the bus that morning. He seemed to have moved in across the street from her, but she couldn't remember seeing him arrive the day before. She shrugged it off and saw Sirius giving her a funny look; she hadn't realized she had been staring. He flashed her a dazzling smile and she blushed and looked away. The bus stopped and Sirius went to exit. She looked around and realized it was her stop and exited as well. The bus drove away and Sirius turned around, spotting her.

"Oh great," she though, "Now he probably thinks I'm a freak AND a stalker."

Sirius had indeed noticed her stares on the bus, but instead of being embarrassed he smiled and returned the stare once she had looked away. She looked about his age, and frankly, she was beautiful. Her hair was a long, flowing brown and her eyes were an intriguing shade of hazel. He exited the bus and saw her leaving as well out of the corner of his eye. Once the bus had left he turned around and looked at her again. An embarrassed blush rose over her cheeks and she slowly began to walk over in Sirius' direction. Sirius' just smiled and walked over with a confident swagger. They stopped and eyed each other for a moment before Sirius' stuck out his hand.

"Sirius Black," he said with a smile, "and who, may I ask, do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

A smile came onto the girl's face and all embarrassment seemed to disappear. "Melanie Walker," she replied, "You moved in across the street from me, didn't you?"

"Why, I have absolutely no idea, but if you say I did, then I must have," Sirius said with an overplayed accent and a smirk.

Melanie laughed and looked at him. He was quite handsome. His dark brown hair was short, but slightly ruffled and he had deep brown eyes that seemed to keep going on. Before she could get caught staring again she hastily looked at the ground.

"Now, dear Melanie, do tell me what brings you here on this fine day?" Sirius asked with the accent again, which caused Melanie to laugh.

"Just some grocery shopping," she replied amid chuckles.

"Absolutely splendid!" Sirius exclaimed, "I may need a bit of help you see, not only do I need to do some grocery shopping as well, but I am enlist your help in furniture shopping."

With that Sirius grabbed Melanie's arm and asked her to lead him to the nearest furniture shop.

After all the shopping had been done and the bus ride home finished, Sirius dropped Melanie off with the promise to drop by soon, once his furniture arrived he'd need a little bit of help arranging. Melanie smiled and turned away calling back that she'd look forward to it. Sirius watched her walk to her door and thought there was really something captivating about her. He shook his head and walked into his house. Now to figure out how to use the telephone to order some pizza.