Hey guys! I had so many requests to do this so here it is.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but the storyline is ALL MINE
"Hey sweetheart," she turned around quickly, and felt her stomach fall as she saw her boyfriend, Alexander Williams, standing in the doorway of her office.
Hestia Jones was a successful writer at the Daily Prophet, and had her own team of people who gathered information, people who were starting off just as she had.
It had been 12 years since the deaths of her best friends, Lily and James Potter. She had never met Harry, although she had attempted to many times. She had even showed up at Hogsmeade one time, on her way up to Hogwarts, and had decided against it, only because of one reason.
Seeing Harry, would remind her of Lily and James, which would only lead her to the thing that was constantly on her mind.
Sirius Black.
Just remembering his name brought butterflies to her stomach. She had been so in love with him. She knew that she still was.
"Hey," she said, and smiled, before turning around, pretending to fix some files, so she could hide the wetness in her eyes. She had been especially jumpy the last few days, ever since the incident had occurred
"Have you found any information about it?" Alexander asked, as he sat down on the edge of her desk, right behind her, so she could feel his knees on her back. She scowled at the physical contact. Sirius had never been this pushy.
Snap out of it, she chastised herself, Stop comparing him to Sirius. Sirius is never going to happen. You have to move on.
"About what?" she asked, forcing herself to keep her voice from shaking. No, she didn't love Alexander. Hell, she didn't even like him much. She still lived in the flat she bought with Lily; it held too many memories to be given away. Walking around in there, she still felt like Lily was alive. The nights following the deaths, she had slept in Lily's old bedroom, looking around at the arrangement that her best friend had chosen.
Remus was still around, and was her only connection to the life she missed. But seeing him, also, reminded her of Sirius, and that hurt too much. She and Remus had weekly lunch outings together, in Godric's Hollow, at James and Lily's favorite restaurant. They visited the graves of their best friends, every time. She remembered the first time she had visited there, how much it had hurt, and how long she had spent, sitting next to their graves, crying her eyes out, asking Lily and James to come back.
Remus, unlike her, had been keeping an eye on Harry, from a distance. It angered Dumbledore to no end but even he had nothing to say to the devastated werewolf. Remus's transformations were now so much worse, as he had nobody there to transform with him, and find him once he was done. He had a permanently shabby and scarred look about him, and forever had dark circles under his eyes.
"The escape, of course," Alexander said, his voice drawling. He sounded nothing like Sirius.
That's why she had chosen him.
He was the complete opposite of Sirius; serious, snotty, straight to the point, and above all, a rule abider. Hestia found herself smiling; imaging what Alexander would do if he found out she had dated, and fallen in love with, the mass murderer Sirius Black.
"Nothing since yesterday, I'm afraid," she sighed, grabbing her 'Sirius Black' file. The idea that she had such a file always amused her, and made her feel slightly like a stalker.
"Shame," he said, "I can't wait until he's found," he said, and Hestia looked up at him, suddenly curious
"Why?" she asked
"Well, firstly, we'd know that the wizarding world, and above all, Harry Potter, was safe again," he said, and Hestia winced slightly at Harry's name, "and also because I want to be there to witness it," he said
"Witness what?" Hestia asked, afraid to hear the answer
"The kiss," he shrugged. Hestia squeaked and dropped the file she was holding, the papers flying everywhere, "Merlin Hestia," he said irritably, waving his wand and causing everything to fly back into the file and the file to land neatly on the desk.
"Sorry," Hestia mumbled.
"It's okay Hestia," he said bluntly, "Anyway, I'm out for lunch with Joshua," he said, and Hestia nodded, "I'll see you later then," he said. He leaned forward for a kiss, but Hestia turned around quickly, which he shrugged off, before walking out of her office. The door shut with a click, and Hestia started to shake.
"No, no, no," she murmured to herself, shaking her head. She grabbed a tissue from the box on her desk and carefully wiped her overflowing eyes. She sniffed noisily and shook her head, "No, stop crying, you can't cry over this," she said to herself. She stood for a few minutes, composing herself, holding the desk so tightly her knuckles turned white, before releasing a long breath, and standing up straight. She turned around and started to look through the files again, for Lily and James's file.
She had been the one to write the stories on their deaths, and Harry, and Voldemort. She had not written the article on Sirius Black's arrest, or Peter Pettigrew's murder, but she had the files in her office.
"Hest," she heard a whisper and froze for a second, before shaking her head. She had heard that whisper so many times during the past dozen years, and had just chosen to savor in the feeling of them whenever they came. The wave of relief, and calm that set over her when she heard it brought a small smile to her face. She knew it was wrong to still love Sirius Black, but she couldn't help it, "Hest," the whisper repeated, only this time a little louder, "Hest," this time it came at a normal volume, and Hestia froze.
There were only a few people who ever called her that.
Lily.
That wasn't possible, she was dead.
James.
Dead.
Remus.
Hogwarts.
Peter.
Dead.
Alice.
Medically insane.
"Sirius," she breathed, and turned around quickly, to see the one and only Sirius Black standing in her office. He wasn't what she remembered him to be, but that was only expected. His clothes were ragged and tattered, and were covered in soot and mud. He was thin, so thin that his bones were visible through his papery skin. His face was sallow and gaunt looking, and his hair, which he had taken so much pride in, was hanging dead-like near his cheeks. What struck her, above all, were his eyes. His eyes had no life in them, no twinkle, nothing at all that held her Sirius Black. They were dead. He had no smile.
Yet, the sight of him still managed to flip her stomach.
"Sirius," she choked out, her eyes filling with tears. All the anger that she had held against him over the years vanished, and she was left only with a longing to go to him, to hold him, to have him hold her, and a longing, beyond anything, to know the truth. He continued to look at her, assessing her reaction.
"Hestia," he said after a few minutes of them just staring at each other. Hestia snapped out of her state of mind immediately. She looked down at her desk, and saw the file, sitting neatly on her desk, a wanted picture of Sirius Black on the front. She ought to send for Kingsley, who was in the Auror office, head of the Sirius Black search. She really ought to, but she didn't.
Sirius took a step towards her and she looked up at him, fire in her eyes. He stopped quickly, and felt his stomach lurch. Perhaps this wasn't the best idea, coming to see a woman who had left him in prison 12 years ago. But it had been his first instinct. He knew that Remus was working at Hogwarts; it had been in the newspaper he had borrowed from Fudge, who had visited Azkaban a week ago. Along with the photo.
Hestia jumped as anger flashed across his features and pulled her wand out quickly. She knew what he was capable off. Thirteen people, dead, in one flick of his wand. Peter, blown up, the biggest part of him found was his finger.
Sirius felt immense sadness well up inside of him at the sight of his Hestia, standing guard against him.
"Don't come any closer," she choked out, tears streaming down her face, which Sirius knew she wasn't aware of.
"Okay," Sirius said, and she cocked her head to the side, a small frown on her face. He felt the urge to grin, which surprised him, especially after years of feeling miserable. She was surprised that he had agreed so quickly. He wouldn't have in his younger years, and they both knew that.
"What do you want?" she asked, and Sirius shrugged slightly.
"I wanted to see you," he said, and Hestia felt fire bubble up in her stomach
"Well I don't want to see you!" she yelled, sobbing slightly, "Why did you come here?" she asked, pleaded, and Sirius felt his heart clench. He ran his hand through his hair, an action so familiar, yet so foreign, that it caused Hestia to drop her wand.
"Are you okay?" he asked concernedly.
"I-I-I'm fine," she said, wiping her eyes.
"The truth?" he asked, and Hestia grinned; the number of times he had done that before.
"No," she said, and then looked at him. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Hestia looked away quickly.
"I didn't do it," he said, and Hestia's head snapped up, "I didn't do it," he said, and Hestia's eyes narrowed
"Don't lie to me," she hissed, and Sirius looked up at her. She was frightened to see the fury in his eyes.
"You thought that I would have brought about their deaths?" he hissed, "He was the closest family I had!" he yelled, and Hestia backed up a few steps, "The only family I had! And her?" he asked, "You think I would have done anything to her?" he yelled, and Hestia continued to look at him, eyes wide
"I don't know what to think," she said, her voice shaking slightly
"WELL YOU SHOULD!" he roared, "YOU KNOW ME!"
"I THOUGHT I DID!" she yelled back at him, and Sirius glared at her, "I THOUGHT I KNEW YOU!" she yelled, sobbing.
"You did!" he said earnestly, taking a step towards her, "Hest, you do!"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" she shrieked, taking a step away from him, "You killed them! It's your fault they're dead! It's your fault I go to their graves every Sunday and cry! It's your fault they even have graves!" she continued, her voice raising an octave at every accusation.
"You're right," he said, crying, and Hestia froze, "It is my fault," he said, and collapsed on the floor, "My fault…my fault," he said, shaking, "I told them to do it," he said, and Hestia frowned, completely confused, "I told them to change," he whispered
"Change what?" she asked, watching him.
"Secret Keeper," he whispered, and Hestia gasped
"What?" she asked
"I told them to change," he said, "I told them not to use me, I knew he would know it was me," he continued, and Hestia leaned in, listening intently, "I told them to use someone nobody would ever expect," he said, and Hestia started to shake
"Peter," she whispered, and Sirius nodded, "He was their secret keeper?" he asked, and Sirius nodded, "How can I believe you?" she asked, shaking slightly, "How can I believe that you're not one of his?" she asked.
Sirius glared up at her for a second before pulling away the sleeve of his left arm, exposing clean flesh. Hestia felt relief flood through her. Sirius Black was innocent. Sirius Black was never in league with Voldemort.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, and he looked up at her
"I tried," he said, and Hestia felt her stomach lurch, the memory of that night in Azkaban echoing in her head. She remembered how he had walked over to her, his eyes begging her to listen, and how she had screamed at him and run out. She looked down at him, eyes wide, but he wasn't looking at her
"But-But you killed him," she said, looking down at the file once more. The facts were there! Sirius Black had killed him, along with thirteen muggles.
"I wish I had, I was going to," he growled, and Hestia looked at him, shocked, "I was so close, I caught up to him, and you know what he yelled?" he said, looking at Hestia
"'Lily and James, Sirius, how could you?'" she whispered, and Sirius nodded, his eyes tearing up, "But he's dead," she said, "As are those thirteen muggles," she said
"I wish I had killed him," he said, and Hestia frowned
"You did," she said, and he shook his head slowly
"Peter's still alive," he said, and Hestia spluttered
"But! That's not possible!" she said, "I've done research!" she said, and Sirius chuckled, "He's dead!" she said, and Sirius shook his head, "Well how would you know anyway?" she hissed nastily, "You've been stuck in Azkaban for twelve years," she said.
Before she knew it, Sirius was standing in front of her, glaring at her, "You think I don't know that?" he growled. Before she could do anything, he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and thrust it at her. She looked down at it and recognized the picture of the Weasleys in Egypt
"I don't understand," she said, looking back up at Sirius. She looked back down at the picture and her eyes scanned it, stopping on Ronald Weasley, Harry's best friend. She smiled at him slightly. She had met him when visiting the Weasleys. Sweet boy. She looked at Fred and George, who were standing behind him, and then noticed Scabbers the rat on Ron's shoulders.
She continued to look at the rat, her stomach turning to ice.
Scabbers.
A rat.
Peter.
Animagus.
"He's missing a toe, isn't he?" Sirius asked, and Hestia nodded
"He's been in the family for twelve years," she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. Ron had told her that the last time she had had dinner over at the Weasleys.
"This is Scabbers, by the way," Ron said, as the rat in question scurried out of his pocket, causing Hestia to shriek, "He's pathetic," he said. Hestia smiled and opened her mouth to respond but Ron waved her off, "It's true, even Harry agrees," he said, "He was Percy's old rat," he said, and Hestia nodded
"How old is he?" she asked
"I don't know, but he's been in our family for twelve years"
"Oh Merlin," she breathed, knees shaking. Sirius quickly grabbed her chair and pushed her down into it, "Peter?" she asked, looking at Sirius, who nodded solemnly, "He's with the Weasleys!" she squeaked, and Sirius nodded. She looked down at the piece of the newspaper and then back at Sirius, "This is why you escaped isn't it?" she asked, and Sirius nodded
"It said the boy was going back to Hogwarts," he said in a dead voice, "To where Harry is," he said, and shuddered.
"Surely Peter wouldn't do anything," Hestia said, "He would have done it by now," she said, and Sirius frowned, "This is Harry's best friend," she said, pointing at Ron. Sirius stiffened and looked up at Hestia slowly
"Peter's living in the same dorm as Harry?" he asked dangerously, and Hestia nodded, wiping her face. Sirius stood up quickly and Hestia's hand closed around his wrist, causing him to freeze
"Don't go yet," she said, and Sirius looked down at her, disbelief plain on his features.
"I have to," he said, and Hestia shook her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. Sirius knelt down in front of her and wiped her tears off her face with his thumbs, "Don't cry Hest," he pleaded softly, "It's not worth crying over," he said, and Hestia shook her head
"I'm sorry," she said, looking him in the eye, and Sirius shook his head, "Where are you going?" she asked, as he stood up
"Hogwarts," he said, and Hestia wiped her eyes
"Let me come with you," she said, standing up, and he shook his head
"You have your life here," he said, "Stay here."
"I am not losing you again," she said sternly, and Sirius looked down at her incredulously.
"I'll see you soon," he promised. Hestia looked at him and before she knew it, her arms were around his neck, and she was hugging herself to him. Sirius wrapped his arms around her waist and felt her whole body shiver slightly before relaxing, burying her face in his chest. He breathed in the smell of her and a slow smile spread across his face, "I'll see you soon then," he said, letting go of her, and Hestia looked up at him
"When?"
"Soon"
Hey guys, hope you liked it! I'll be posting another one shot TOMORROW probably, so stay tuned.
REVIEW (:
ALSO, Check out my other oneshot, if you want to, called Lost and Found. It has no Sirius/Hestia in it, sorry, but it's still a Harry Potter fanfic :)