Hey everyone! Here's a new chapter. =] Reviews are always appreciated! Love you all. xD

~Ouaysis.

June, three years later

"Daddy, Daddy!" Emilia said, running over to me across the market place, her friend Carol Ann trailing behind her. She skipped to a stop in front of me and held up two bright colored gems connected to delicate silver chains.

"Can we get these?" She asked me. I sighed.

"Didn't you get something five minutes ago?"

"Pleeeeaaaaase?" She asked, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout and widening her big brown eyes, filling them with her silent pleading. How could I resist that face? That adorable crooked grin and those chocolate-colored eyes were irresistible. It was impossible. Shaking my head, I dug my hand into my pocket and pulled out a couple Muggle five-pound notes, handing them to her.

"Here," I said, ruffling her hair.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Emmy said, giving me a hug. I chuckled and nodded, wrapping an arm around her. Then she and Carol Ann ran off with their hair bouncing, light beside dark. With a smile on my lips I turned back to browsing the many trinkets and baubles on sale. I glanced over at the girls every few minutes, making sure they didn't wonder off.

My smile grew bigger as I turned to look and saw Emmy and Carol Ann huddled together, talking about something. As I watched they put their heads back and laughed. I could imagine Emmy's laughter in my head, tinkling and sweet. I could hear Carol Ann's as well, a slightly lower pitch than my daughters but just as sweet. I took a step back without turning to look and ran into something. Or rather, someone.

"Sorry about that," I said as I turned. In less than a second the color drained from my face and my heart began to race in my chest. My mouth suddenly felt dry and my palms sweaty. I was imagining this. I had to be. There was no way that the brown-eyed brunet woman in front of me was who I thought she was. I was prepared to walk away and force the image of her face out of my mind. But then she said it.

"S-Sirius?"

I swallowed away the lump and stab of pain that voice invoked. I was wrong. It was possible that Danielle Wilson was here, in England. And not only in England, but here in London. I cleared my throat and nodded.

"Dani?" I asked, still not completely believing what I was seeing.

She nodded and looked down at her hands, nervously fiddling with her peach-colored spring dress. I couldn't help but notice her tanned legs and delicate white sandals strapped to her feet. Quickly looking back at her face, anger suddenly flared. What was she doing here? Did she come here looking for me, expecting me to just take her back? Did she come for Emilia?

"What are you doing here?" I demanded. I knew she noticed my angry tone, because she shook her head and looked down again.

"I'm not—please don't assume I'm here because—" She stopped and sighed, looking behind her. "I never thought we would run into you, I mean, the odds of…."

I nodded, my anger dying down. Danielle would never come here looking to take Emilia away from me. No matter how much she missed her, Dani just wasn't that kind of person. I crossed my arms over my chest, the awkwardness hanging in the air around us almost palpable.

"What brings you to our side of the sea?"

Danielle looked behind her shoulder again, only this time a guy waved back at her with a smile before turning back to the tables he was scanning. She turned back to me.

"My parents insisted that we go on a family vacation so they can get to know Stan."

"Stan?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"My fiancé."

Why did that one word drill a hole into my heart? I knew it had something to do with the way I was hyper aware of the fact Danielle was only about a meter in front of me. The breeze tossed her hair, begging for me to tuck it back into place and brush my knuckle along her jaw like I'd done a thousand times. I put my hands in my pockets before I could do anything I would regret. Glancing back, I made sure the girls were still enjoying themselves looking at all the objects on display.

I pushed away the longing that threatened to well up inside me when I turned back to Dani. I couldn't deny that even after all these years the only girl I'd ever loved was standing right in front of me. I'd dated of course, mostly at the insistence of all my friends. But I'd never been able to find anyone. I'd always ended up comparing them to Dani—how their hair was too light or too dark; how Dani's smile had always been so much more sweeter; how I had been able to tell her nearly anything and she would know just the right thing to say; how she had known me better than I'd known myself.

"Is that her?" Dani asked breathlessly, looking behind me. I turned and followed her gaze to where Emilia and Carol Ann were bent over something, digging in a crack of the stoned ground. I smiled.

"Yeah."

I looked back at Danielle as she studied our daughter from the distance. Tears pooled in her liquid chocolate eyes so much like our daughters. She bit her lip, balling her hand into a fist at her chest. I clenched my own hands in my pockets to stop myself from reaching out and pulling her into my arms. I never had been able to stand her tears. I sensed she was about to ask something when a small group of people approached us. I recognized two of them as Danielle's parents, but the other man I'd never seen before. He was the one who had waved and I knew he must be Stan, the fiancé. He was tall, with dirty blonde hair and green eyes. He wore expensive-looking black slacks, a deep blue button down shirt, and a patterned tie. Everything about him shouted rich, arrogant git.

"There you are, Danielle." Stan said. "We were wondering where you disappeared to."

She nodded and smiled up at him, but it seemed a little forced. She looked over at her parents and then back at me.

"Mom, Dad, you remember Sirius." I could hear the forced way the cheerful tone came out, but I doubted anyone else did.

I'd only met them once, during the one Christmas holiday when Dani and I dated. I offered them my hand. "Nice to see you again."

Mrs. Wilson nodded and shook my hand happily, a smile on her face. Mr. Wilson shook my hand with only a curt nod. He'd never really cared for me. How would he react if he knew that his granddaughter was standing right across the market place from him? Probably not very well. Almost as if she'd known I was thinking about her, Emilia and Carol Ann came skipping over.

"Hey, Daddy!" She said happily. I immediately grinned, my daughter's bright ray of sunshine dissipating the awkwardness and subtle tension in the air. I prayed that she wouldn't recognize Danielle. Even though her mother was older than the picture she still kept in her room, Danielle honestly didn't look that different.

"Hello, Emmy-Bear," I said. I gestured to Danielle. "This is an old friend of mine, Danielle, and her family."

I almost choked on the word friend, but managed to get it out. Danielle smiled and bent down to Emilia's level. I knew she hated that, but hoped she would keep her manners and not say anything. I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that her eyes were curious but held no sign of recognition.

"It's lovely to meet you, sweetie. What's your name?" I had to give Dani credit for acting; no one but I would know she was very well aware of our daughter's name.

"Emilia," she said immediately. One thing my daughter never had been was shy. She took Carol Ann's hand and I smiled. "And this is my best friend, Carol Ann."

I loved that Emmy had inherited my sense of loyalty to friends. Unconsciously I put my hand on her shoulder. I wasn't sure I liked the way Mr. Wilson was narrowing his eyes at Emilia.

"How old are you?" Danielle asked. The question was appropriate and completely innocent. But I was in on the secret that Danielle was Emilia's mother and I knew that she was soaking in the presence of our daughter. How could she stand not seeing our daughter's bright smile every morning? How did she go through the day knowing she didn't have Emilia to go home to? I had to remind myself that Dani had never experienced it before, so she couldn't miss it. The thought made me sad for some inexplicable reason.

"Seven," Emilia replied happily.

Danielle glanced up at me and her face was absolutely beaming. I couldn't help but smile for her happiness. Dani started to reach out to our daughter but then caught herself. I saw the sheen of tears in her eyes as she put her arms back to her side. When she stood up moments later her expression was cheerful and her eyes devoid of any moisture. It occurred to me in that moment what big of a sacrifice Danielle had made for Emilia. She'd known that our daughter hadn't stood a chance against her grandfather and in order to do what was best for Emmy she'd left. That would have taken an immense amount of strength and love. Yet, at the same time, it hadn't been her only option. She could have married me. We could have been a family. If she'd returned to the States a married woman with a family, her father would've had no choice but to accept it.

"Daddy, when are we going to leave?"

I looked down at Emilia and then back at Danielle and her family. They didn't appear in any hurry to be leaving. I pulled out some more money and handed the right amount to each Emmy and Carol Ann.

"Why don't you and Carol Ann go get some ice cream while I talk?" I said, pointing to the small ice cream shop on the corner. Emilia and Carol Ann cheered before taking off. Mr. Wilson's gaze followed them and then turned back to me with a disapproving look.

"You're going to just let them go by themselves?"

"They'll be fine, Bret." I said in annoyance. He grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest, staring after the girls. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"She's seven you say?" He asked, turning back to me.

"Yes."

"So that means she was born—"

"Right after I got out of school, yes."

He glared at me for cutting him off but I just stared back. He wasn't intimidating in the least. After facing and dueling a gang of Death Eaters on a near weekly basis, Bret Wilson was nothing.

"Where's her mother?" He asked with a grunt. I refused to let my eyes dart to Danielle's face, in case that would give it away. Instead I met her father's hard gaze. I shrugged.

"She left," I said finally after mulling over how much I should tell them. "And before you say something negative about it, I'm perfectly fine with that. I understand. I'm not going to lie and say it isn't hard sometimes, but I do understand, even if I don't necessarily like her decision. In a way, I sort of respect her. It took a great amount of strength to do what she did."

Bret looked incredulous and raised his eyebrows at me. "You respect her? You Brits aren't too bright, are you?"

I just laughed. He knew nothing about us "Brits" as he said. And it wasn't the "Brits" he didn't like, it was just me. Not that that bothered me. There were a lot of people who didn't like me.

"Yes, I do. Her parents never would have accepted that she had a child out of marriage—especially her father. They never would have let her keep Emilia. At least now our child's with her father and will never be more loved in her life."

"Babe, are you ready to go visit Buckingham Palace?" Stan asked, apparently bored with the current topic. Anger flared and I crossed my arms over my chest. Why did they have to come here, of all places? Why couldn't they have gone to bloody Australia or something? The last person I wanted to see in the world was my daughter's grandfather. He'd always had a knack of pissing me off within two seconds of his presence. He'd always made me feel like I was worthless somehow, like I was a piece of rubbish. I'd had enough of that from my parents and I wasn't about to take it from a spoiled American.

I saw Dani give another fleeting look at the ice cream shop before nodding and taking the man's hand. She smiled up at him and he returned it, leaning down to kiss her on the lips. My gut twisted and I looked away. Was that really necessary? I cleared my throat and inclined my head towards the ice cream shop.

"I really must get going. The girls have to be at Carol Ann's in an hour. It was lovely to see you again, Dani."

She smiled and nodded. "You, too."

I didn't say good-bye to anyone else, more to make Bret mad then because I didn't like them. I tucked my hands into my pockets as I walked swiftly toward the shop. Once there, the girls came running out, already having eaten their ice creams.

"Are you two ready to leave yet?" I asked.

"We're ready," Emmy agreed cheerfully. "Are we going Carol Ann's now?"

I took one of Emilia's hands and one of Carol Ann's as I nodded.

They cheered together and started to skip on either side of me. I chuckled and shook my head. Forty minutes later I pulled up to Carol Ann's house and let the girls out of the car before going to retrieve Emmy's over night things from the boot. They immediately ran to the house and went inside. I followed behind.

"Hello, Hannah." I said, giving the woman a friendly smile as she opened the front door for me.

"Hello, Sirius."

After I'd dumped Emilia's things in Carol Ann's room I found Hannah in her kitchen, knitting.

"I'll pick her up in the morning? Around nine?"

She nodded, her browned hair pulled back into a bun. "Yes."

"Alright then, see you."

"G'bye, Sirius."

I left the house and got back in the car, blowing air out of my lips. Running into Danielle in the market place had left me stressed. What if her parents found out? Would they try to take Emmy away from me? Danielle never would approve, but would she be able to stop them? She was getting married, after all. It wouldn't be such a horrible transgression to have a child now. I swallowed hard and climbed into the car, wishing that I didn't have to use the Muggle transportation. It would have been so much faster to get home by magic. Then again, it might be good for me to have some time to think.

Seeing Dani had also dredged up feelings that I thought I had buried a long time ago. I'd never once expected Danielle to come back. I'd dreamed of it, hoped it would happen, but I'd always known it was impossible. Or at least I thought I had. Now she was here, but she was engaged. That still hurt, though I knew it shouldn't. Had I really thought she wouldn't move on? No. But I'd hoped she wouldn't. I'd fantasized about the day Dani would return and say she was sorry for leaving; say she had never stopped loving me, either.

I tapped the dashboard with my wand in order to speed up the car without the Muggle's noticing and ran a hand through my shaggy hair. I was thankful Emilia hadn't recognized Danielle from the picture she had. What would I have done if she had? I sighed and shook my head. My world was crazy enough, what with the Order was still fighting Voldemort. And now there was going to be all this added stress of Danielle being in town. Maybe I wouldn't run into her again. Maybe they'd only be in London for a few days. Maybe I could go stay with James the rest of the summer. No. I wouldn't do that, no matter how much I wanted to. I wouldn't be a coward and run away. I would face the possibility of seeing Danielle and her parents again with my chin up and shoulders back. I had to be strong for Emilia, even if that meant she would be right in front of her mother and never even know it.