The Final Goodbye
AlwaysPadfoot
December 12th
I was barely six years old when I met Amelia Reaves. My parents were out and Andromeda was babysitting, again. It was a hot day so she sat on the top step writing a letter to Ted. Only I knew about Ted, and I promised I'd never tell anyone. So instead I simply smiled at her and made myself comfy on the bottom step of number twelve, just inside the wards.
None of the people who passed by could see Andy or I, even as I constructed a tower of exploding snap cards that was even taller than I was. Nobody saw it. Nobody even heard me as I released a whoop of excitement when I slid the final card into place.
Despite my avid concentration, I was distracted by a group just beyond the wards of the house. There was a small ginger girl, who looked about my age, and she was suddenly hit hard and pushed to the ground by two older boys walking behind her. I stared for a split second in disbelief before I moved abruptly, scattering my cards everywhere as I rushed to aid the girl. The noise caused by the few cards I knocked through the wards, split through the air like thunder and scared the two boys away, but I was more worried that the girl was hurt.
"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned that her forehead was bleeding where she hit it on the curb of the pavement.
"Yes," she mumbled, "I'm fine."
"You're bleeding," I observed. She let me call to Andy, and I watched as my cousin pretended to tend to the girls wound, but secretly drew her wand and cast a basic healing spell.
Afterwards, I learnt that the girls name was Amelia and she looked at me skeptically when I introduced myself as Sirius, but laughed when I agreed it was weird too. I explained that my family has been naming their children after stars for generations. Apparently my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather (I knew there was more greats but I didn't mention that) had an obsession with stars and not only did he know everything about them, but he discovered his own little cluster of them. I explained that naming kids stars was completely normal in my family, despite how strange it was to others.
"But it has been in our family for generations, who cares that it's weird?"
She laughed again and I offered to walk her home, Andromeda hesitated before reminding me that I should get home before my parents did. I agreed.
Amelia was incredibly interesting and smart and nothing like my parents say Muggles were. She told me about her school and I had to lie when she asked about mine. Obviously I didn't got to school, but she made me wonder how fun it would be when I finally did get to go to Hogwarts and be with people my own age.
Andy was waiting for me on the doorstep when I got back and she automatically raised an eyebrow as if to ask how I felt now. I easily came to the conclusion before I even spoke.
"There is nothing wrong with Muggles, Amelia was fun and nice," I said stubbornly, "Mum and Dad are wrong."
I saw Amelia plenty of times after that since she only lived a street away, although I had to be careful, if my parents had ever found out that I was spending time with a Muggle they probably would have beheaded me like they did with our last House Elf, Tattie. Luckily for me, no one ever found out, but when the time came for me to go to Hogwarts she was heading to grammar school in East Anglia and I had to tell her I was going to a boarding school.
After that, I didn't meet Amelia again until we were sat opposite each other at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. We were both in disbelief if I remembered rightly, unable to even comprehend how much of a coincidence it was that we were both there.
And so it began, seven years of magical twists and turns, girlfriends, boyfriends, exams and Quidditch. I found a handful of friends that didn't turn away running as soon as I mentioned my last name and by the last year I could put my trust in every Gryffindor seventh year. Not only did I have three friends who I now considered brothers, but Amelia, Amelia Reaves was my best friend and we'd confided in one another for almost twelve whole years. That made her more precious to me than anyone else and I suppose that's why we decided to spend the rest of our lives together, because we were more than just best friends.
I looked over at the figure beside me, her chest slowly rising and falling in time with her breathing. A long strip of light from a gap in the clockwork above us crossed across her chest and just fell short of her face. With a smirk, I leant over, intending to just drop a kiss on her cheek, but she moved suddenly her lips on mine before I'd even registered her movement.
"Hey," she whispered when we broke apart from one another.
This was our final night before Amelia went home for Christmas. I may have asked her to stay a million times, but even I couldn't break her seven year long tradition of returning home to be with her family at Christmas. In fact she'd invited me this year, but I told her that we had plenty of Christmas's still to come so it settled on her going home and me staying with the boys for one last Marauder's Christmas.
"I'm going to miss you," I smiled.
"I'm going to miss you too, but this is almost our final goodbye," she answered, "Next time me, you and practically everyone else will be moving across the Alley from each other."
It was true. From the moment the Marauders, myself, Lily, Amelia and Alice left Hogwarts, we would be moving into apartments literally a stone's throw away from one another. The guys in one and the girls in another.
"Hmm. That's true."
Amelia rolled over on to her front and curled up against my side, sharing her body heat like I hadn't already cast a gazillion warming spells on her request. I wrapped an arm around her, tracing patterns up her back absentmindedly and circling one long finger in a strand of ginger hair. I was a tiny bit jealous of her family Christmas, since I left home two summers ago and moved in with the Potters, blood family was almost a complex notion. Real family was all I cared about now. The Potter's and my friends were my family, but even so, guilt panged deep down inside me when Amelia mentioned family.
I almost began to doze off when I heard footsteps on the clock tower staircase.
"I knew you'd get me in trouble before I got home," Amelia whispered, getting to her feet and readjusting her shirt and skirt nervously in anticipation of whoever it was' arival. I rummaged through the bag I brought and yanked the invisibility cloak out.
"Good job I stole this off James," I said, "Crouch down."
I flung it around our crouched figures. Godric knows we were too old to get it over us standing without revealing our ankles now. All we had to do was wait for whoever it was to come up and then sneak down after. As soon as that was down I could carry the cloak and we could run back to the Gryffindor Tower from there.
Unfortunately it wasn't Prefects, it was Filch, which meant Filch's cat must be close by and that little shit could sense us even it we were under the cloak
"Go," I breathed. We slipped past Filch and down the stairs only to be stopped halfway down by an outraged yowl.
I ripped the cloak off, "Run."
Amelia didn't freeze, she took off down the stairs three at a times with me right behind her. Filch, of course, heard the cat and hobbled down the stairs after us, "Oi stop, you're in so much trouble."
"Hell no we're not," I muttered, urging Amelia to go faster.
We eventually got away, after all old Filch wasn't exactly fast. We were back in the Gryffindor tower, safe and sound, before he could even get a good look at us.
"I should go finish packing," Amelia whispered quietly, pulling away from me with a sigh.
I whined, "C'mon stay here for a little bit."
"You're never going to grow up, are you?" she laughed as I pulled her towards the sofa in front of the fire. I shook my head and quickly lifted over my shoulder, making her squeal with surprise. I shushed her playfully before we woke up the whole Common Room, dropping her down of the sofa.
How I convinced her I don't know, but we ended up falling asleep of the sofa, only to be woken up by a third year student just after six the following morning. Well I wasn't woken by him, but Amelia hit me hard with a pillow to wake me up with the complaint that I'd kept her down here and she had so much packing to do. She practically ran up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, leaving me half asleep on the sofa.
After Breakfast that morning James and I went with Lily and Amelia to the platform in Hogsmeade, leaving Peter and Remus back at the castle.
"I think… I don't want you to go," I smiled.
"Don't say that," Amelia replied, kissing my jawline, "I'm going to miss you."
"I'll write to you everyday," I replied, leaning down to put my forehead against hers.
She laughed, "No you won't."
"Every other day," I tried.
She rolled her eyes and pulled away, picking up her bag. Lily and James broke away from each other at the same time and the two girls prepared to get on the train. I pulled her close and kissed her once more, before whispering, "I think I love you."
"You better do," she grinned, "We didn't agree to be together forever for no reason."
I didn't say anything. I just smiled goofily and she laughed again, "I love you too."
"Goodbye."
"The final goodbye, Sirius," she said, "We won't have to do this again."
"Then I better kiss you again," I smirked, pulling her in.
Ten minutes letter James and I stood together on the platform and watched as the girls got on the train. Neither of us said a thing until the train had pulled out of sight. I was going to miss Amelia and James would miss Lily. It seemed that we were finally growing up and I was almost okay with that, almost.
James put his hand on my shoulder, "You're smitten."
I scowled, "And you're not?"
"We're both fucked, Sirius," James grinned, "I hate to say it, but we're in love."
December 27th
DEATH EATER ATTACK ON MUGGLEBORN & FAMILY
On the night of Boxing Day, Amelia Reaves, a Muggleborn seventh year Hogwarts student, and her family were attacked and brutally murdered by Death Eaters. The Dark Mark was cast above their house before Aurors could reach the scene in the Muggle neighbourhood.