Harrielle had defeated Voldemort but at great costs. Most of her friends had died and so did her godson Teddy. She was barely hanging onto what remained of her sanity by a thin thread. When magic was drained from her in exhaustion, she succumbed to the painless darkness, welcoming it. However, magic had other ideas for her. She had decided to give her a second chance in an entirely different, new universe where she was to have a family, parents, brother and friends who were loyal unconditionally. She would have a new life, her memory wiped clean to start afresh.
This was her reality now. She was Harrielle Evarose Potter, daughter of the prominent social standing Lord and Lady Potter, younger sister to the heir James Potter. Growing up she was dotted on by her brother who adored his little sister and fiercely loving and protective. She was younger than him by four years. So she didn't get spend as much time as she wanted with him at Hogwarts because their schedules were so different. However, now she was finished with school and was returning home. She was invited to spend a few weeks of her summer with James and his new wife Lily in their home in Godric's Hollow.
James and Sirius worked as aurors in the ministry and Lily was training to finally become a Charms master. So she would mostly be alone at home except when James and Sirius were coming off of different shifts. She spent the time alone catching up on reading some novels and painting. She hardly got the peace and quiet to paint at Hogwarts so she was relishing the opportunity.
This was how Sirius found her, painting in the back garden, lost in her painting. She felt a prickling warmth at the back of her neck unsure of what it was. She however ignored it and focused on capturing the exact shade of Lily's flower garden. She saw a movement in the periphery of her view and when she looked up she was startled to see Sirius by the door leaning against it.
'Sirius!' she jumped up and ran towards him, relishing in being enveloped by her favourite person. She grinned happy to finally see him. It had been a year since she last saw him, because she spent her last Christmas at Hogwarts with her best friends May and Bella. She grabbed Sirius's hand and led him to her easel, showing him what she was painting. He had always been easy to talk to about anything, he was good humoured and always made her laugh.
That's how they spent the rest of the day until Lily came home in time for dinner. Harrielle had prepared a dinner of roast chicken, potatoes and yorkshire pudding, her specialty, and Lily dug in with a grateful kiss to Harri's cheek. James had the night shift so he was absent. Lily had gone to bed right after dinner, claiming a rough day at school.
Sirius and Harri were left to their own devices, watching a quidditch game on wizarding tv. Harri's legs were draped over Sirius's lap, leaning against the back of the leather sofa. They were animatedly discussing who had the best strategies and who lacked the insight, what should have been done and such. With adrenalins pumping, they didn't realise the time flying by.
Unfortunately, Sirius was due back at work early the next morning so he should have thought about heading home for the night. However, when she could hardly contain her disappointment, Sirius decided to spend a bit more time with her and stay the night in the spare guestroom that was practically his by now because he often stayed over.
For the rest of her stay, Sirius came by after every shift and they talked about quidditch, planned a trip to next quidditch game, and had fun planting pranks for unsuspecting James around the house. Lily was good humoured and a good sport because she came home daily to Harri's delicious cooking.
By the end of the summer, she returned home and had started her training course to becoming a healer. The course it turned out to be very grueling in terms of schedule and stress. During the weekends, she would remain home opting to revel in the peace and quiet, destressing. Sometime she would meditate, paint, fly or sunbathe by the pool. Such was the position that she was in when suddenly she heard someone apparate in who had been keyed into the ward, it could only be one of James, Lily or Sirius. She peeked open an eye and saw Sirius looking down at her. She grinned with a pleasant surprise and patted the place beside her to join her in sunbathing.
He took off his shirt and lay down following suit. They talked good naturedly about random things, basking in the rare fall sun and the quietness. He asked her about her new school and her new routine.
Sirius was due for a fortnight holiday at the end of that year, a holiday that was overdue. He asked her if she wanted to join him in his trip round wizarding europe, visiting wizarding towns and a quidditch game in one of said towns. She was delighted at the offer and accepted excitedly. She hadn't been to a lot of the said towns in europe besides France and she was looking forward to it.
Sirius continued to visit her at weekends and they would spent most of the weekend together unless one of them were busy. It had become an unsaid routine. She would have the elves prepare their favourite meal and snacks and would wait for him to drop by.
When they finally left for the trip round wizarding europe - with some much placating needed for James - she was suddenly slightly apprehensive. She had spent a lot of time alone with him before but never for such an extended period of time with only each other for company the entire time. Never the less, the excitement was greater and it was soon forgotten.
It had been as expected great, greater than their weekends together. Finally they were down to their last weekend and were currently spending it in a tent at the camp site of the quidditch game. The game had been put on hold for the night and they retreated to their tent, nursing butter beers and chatting. She had begun to fall asleep from the emotional excitement and exhaustion. Sirius watched her contemplatively for a long while. He had known he had started falling for her since the summer after her graduation. He hadn't dared make any advances out of fear of James but he was becoming desperate in his attempts at keeping himself in control and at bay. He wanted to caress the beauty and claim her as his and his alone. He wanted to kiss her plump lips until his lips and his being was the only thing on her mind.
He craved her. He didn't just lust after her - no, lust wasn't even the accurate word - he craved her physically but he also craved her very being, every ounce of the person she was that excited and challenged and assured him all at the same time. Although she was much younger than him - by four whole years - she felt like who his other half, soul mate, his match, his partner should be. He realised he found the one he was meant to be with, the one partner he would settle down with.