The following day, Gwen awoke to a smell that overtook the whole house. Though one would hope it would be a warm, inviting smell, like cinnamon or freshly baked cookies, this smell was quite the opposite. Gwen's eyes bolted open as soon as she recognized the scent; eggs and charcoal. She threw the covers off her body and realized the sleeping boy in her bed was no longer present.

Gwen ran to the kitchen, almost falling into the wall. Mum and Dad are going to kill me, the girl thought. It was not often that she was left home alone, so she was eager to make a good impression, unlike her brother, James. The last time he was left alone, Gwen and her parents came home to a house surrounded by Muggle firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances. Apparently the neighbours heard screams and explosions coming from inside the house. Turns out, it was just James and the other Marauders playing a game of Exploding Snap.

The scene in the kitchen made Gwen both inwardly and outwardly groan. Sirius stood there in front of the stove, waving a dish rag in front of the fire in order to put it out. Gwen acted quickly, grabbing the fire extinguisher from under the sink. She wasn't quite sure how the thing worked, so she fiddled with it until white foam poured from the nozzle.

With the fire put out and the extinguisher still on, Gwen turned to Sirius with fury in her eyes. However, the fury quickly dwelled as she realized she had sprayed Sirius with the extinguisher. Her lips formed an O shape as she realized what she had done. Gwen slowly lowered the extinguisher, returning it to its original spot.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Sirius asked, wiping the contents from his face.

"Some Muggle contraption Mum and Dad bought for moments exactly like this." Gwen smirked at the boy's state. "More importantly, what were you trying to do? Have you ever cooked in your life?" It was a rhetorical question. Gwen already knew the answer was a big no, that the boy had never had to lift a finger as the Black family was well off.

Sirius looked sheepish as he started rubbing his hands together. He looked down and blushed as he muttered "I wanted to make breakfast to thank you." Gwen was taken aback by his response. She was expecting a cocky reply or some stupid joke, but not a thank you. Sirius continued, "But I promise I'll be out of here as soon as I can! I have some money saved up and-"Gwen cut Sirius off and grabbed his hand with a look of determination on her face. Without a word, she pulled him back into the hallway.

The two stood in front of pictures that were scattered across the wall with no sign of organization. Mrs. Potter was very fond of taking photographs. Her and her husband had first been unsuccessful with having children in the early days of their marriage. Once they had finally succeeded with James and Gwen, she wanted to capture every moment she could, and she did just that. There on the wall hung pictures of the twins birth, their potty training, and their first time on a broomstick. But those were not the photos Gwen was concerned with. Without a word, she pointed at a picture that hung above her parents wedding photo.

"What's that?" She asked.

"It's us on the platform last year. So?" He replied with an empty look.

Gwen pointed at another photo, "and that?" She asked.

"James and I at the beach in third year. I'll repeat; so?"

And it went on like that. Gwen pointed out several pictures of Sirius on the wall and the boy remained confused about the purpose of all this.

Gwen grew frustrated after their sixth photo "Sirius don't you get it? Who else do you see on this bloody wall besides yourself?"

"Well there's you, James, and your parents." He replied.

"Exactly! This wall is for family only. There's a picture of me and Lily somewhere else in this house, but not here. This space is reserved." Gwen grabbed the boys hands and ignored the tingling feeling in her fingers at his touch. "Sirius you belong in this house as much as I do. So think of that next time you think you are unwelcome. There was no decision to be made in letting you stay, you're part of this family whether you like it or not!"

Gwen looked frazzled at having to explain herself to Sirius. He chose not to answer, too afraid the girl would get mad at him for something else he said so he chose to simply nod his head. Sirius knew she was right, but it was definitely a new feeling being wanted by a family and would take some adjusting.

Gwen seemed content with his non verbal communication and nodded her head in return with a smile.

"Now, I would very much like to get out of this Smokey house. How about some breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron? It's your treat for almost burning down the house." Gwen offered.

Sirius chuckled and agreed. The two separated to get ready for the day. Gwen ran to the shower, knowing that if she let Sirius go first he would take ages. She brushed her teeth and washed her face in the shower wanting to take up as little time as possible. Her stomach was starting to grumble and the faster she finished, the faster they could get out of the house. When she got out of the shower, she dried off with her towel and threw her robe on.

Gwen passed Sirius on the way back to her room. She paid no mind to him, closing the door behind her. What she missed however, was Sirius checking her out. It was also not the first time he had done this. Sirius often times found himself thinking about Gwen in that way. He never acted on them out of respect for Gwen but also out of fear about what James would do if he found out.

Gwen sorted through her clothes, looking for something decent to wear. It was scorching outside and she wanted to be in as little clothes as possible. She decided on a denim skirt with a red and white striped collared t-shirt and platform brown sandals. Gwen then moved on to her makeup, picking it all up from the ground and placing it back on the bed. This was pointless because it was just going to end up back on the floor when she was ready to sleep tonight.

She sat down at her vanity, laying out the makeup she needed in front of her. "God, if you're real I just want to thank you." She said as she opened up her powder that was thankfully still intact.

Gwen finished off her makeup look and smacked her now lip gloss coated lips in the mirror. She stood in front of the mirror admiring her outfit choice and frankly, herself. Gwen wasn't vain, far from it. She was just thankful for the cards she was dealt in life.

Gwen decided to wait out in the living room. She waited... and waited... and waited until finally, Sirius emerged from his room. Gwen rose from the couch and stretched out as she was cramping up from sitting for so long.

"You're looking dashing as always, darling." Sirius notes. He extended his arm for Gwen to take. "Shall we?"

Gwen nodded and took his arm. The Sirius she knew and loved was starting to peak out. Who knew all it took was a shower.

The two teens agreed that via the Floo network was the best way to travel to the Leaky Cauldron. One after the other, they grabbed a handful of Floo powder, yelled out
Leaky Cauldron as clearly as possible, and released the powder.

A/N Hello I'm back! Not much has changed in terms of the story except that I added a cast. Tbh idk if you can see it bc I have no idea how Wattpad works but once I get home I will make sure it's visible to all of you.

The cast kinda deviates from the typical Ben Barnes as Sirius Black bc even though he would be perfect I wanted the teens in the story to actually look like teens.

Hope you enjoy! ?