SIRIUS

When I stepped up to face my boggart, I already knew what to expect. My horrid father's ever-present disdain and open disappointment, and my bitch of a mother's shrieking and abuse. I still have the scar on my left forearm from the day I ran away to James's house. However, what I didn't expect was to see Regulus, my little Reggie, branded. I knew he played the part of the heir well, but I still feel as if I failed him. I'm supposed to protect him but I left him. And now I know my fears are true.

I was still pretty shaken after that, but when I saw it was Hermione's turn, I was intrigued. Maybe I'd get a glimpse at the mystery that surrounds her. I saw James on the floor next to another boy, but what thoroughly confused me were that his eyes weren't the same and who was this other boy? I didn't get to contemplate this when her boggart changed again. Fenir Greyback stood there and leered at her. I felt a low growl in my throat at the things he was saying to her. It changed again and I finally understood where her nightmares came from. What shocked me was not what was done to her, but who had done it to her. Hermione let out a bloodcurdling scream and I've never wanted to kill my cousin more. But why did she look so …old? It changed again and I was more confused than ever. What's so scary about a curtain? Then I heard the bitch say she'd killed me and she sounded damn well proud. But I was still alive.

I allowed myself a moment to be confused before I realized that all of this must have come from her experiences. I looked around for her only to find that she'd fled. I shared a look with my friends and they nodded. We sprinted as fast as we could back to our dormitory and quickly found the map just to watch as her footprints disappeared somewhere on the seventh floor corridor.

We ran as fast as we could, thankful for our quidditch physique, to the spot where we saw her disappear only to find a blank wall.

"You can't- apperate- in Hogwarts." Remus said between breaths.

"Then- we'll wait- for her- to come back." Lily panted leaning heavily on James.

"You guys- saw that- right?" I looked around at the small group. "Wasn't- just me?"

"Yeah, mate- wasn't- just you." James looked thoroughly shaken. Probably had something to do with seeing his doppelganger lying dead in a pool of blood.

"Hey guys- I made- it." Peter said finally catching up.

We eventually decided to hide behind one of the columns across from the wall and wait and see when she returned. A somber silence fell over us, each contemplating just what we just saw.

What felt like hours later, a door appeared on the blank wall in front of us. We all stood up slowly. Waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, we walked over to it. James placed a shaky hand on the handle and turned.

HERMIONE

I was sobbing, I couldn't breathe. I felt the weight of my world crashing down on top of me. No doubt the Marauders would want answers. I don't even know if I'd be able to give them. So I ran. My lungs burned and my vision was blurry with tears. I made it to the seventh floor and paced in front of the bank wall. When I walked through the door, I cried harder.

I was at the burrow. I was home. But I was alone. There was no Molly cooking in the kitchen, no Fred and George laughing at their products, no Ginny running down the stairs, no Harry and Ron playing chess in the corner, no Arthur tampering with muggle inventions, no Bill shamelessly flirting with Fleur, no Charlie telling stories about his dragons. No one.

So I cried.

I pulled up my sleeve and noticed I'd drew blood with my scratching but thankfully the scar was healed enough it didn't open again. Despite my dreams playing my nightmares back on a loop every night, seeing them in my waking life again was infinitely worse. I don't know how I would handle meeting the real versions. And I hope I wouldn't have to.

After a few hours, I heard the sound of a door handle being turned and immediately drew my wand. But it wasn't deatheaters and it wasn't Slytherins and it certainly wasn't any members of the Weasley family. I let a few more tears fall and lowered my wand. It was the marauders. I sat back down on the couch and continued to stare into the fire. I felt the couch dip in the places next to me. Everyone had crowded around me, offering their confused comfort in their closeness. I felt an arm around me and didn't have to guess to know it was Sirius. Fuck Sirius. He'd just heard his cousin singing that she'd kill him.

"I know you want answers, but just… just give me a minute." I whispered. Everyone nodded.

We sat for a while in silence. I knew they were getting restless. I don't think I'd ever be ready to tell them. Remus seemed to notice so he started off with gentle probing.

"So, what is this room? We've never seen it before."

"It's called The Room of Requirement or to some The Come and Go Room. It takes the form of whatever you require."

"And what did you require?" Lily asked slowly.

"Comfort. Something from home. A place to think."

"So this was your home?" Sirius questioned looking around.

"No, no- well sort of." I laughed. "It was one of my best friend's homes. I'd come stay during vacations sometimes. This is The Burrow." I finished nervously.

"The Burrow? But isn't that where the Weasleys live?" James asked.

"Yes." At their confused looks I continued. "My best friend is Ron Weasley."

"There's no Ron Weasley, we would've known-"

"I know." I cut James off. "There's no Ron Weasley yet."

Everyone looked confused.

"I'm a time traveler." More silence. I grew nervous and I started to ramble. "My birthday is September 19th, 1979. I came from the year 1998-"

"Wait, wait, wait. How did you get here?" Remus asked.

"I'm sure you remember the house elf that was with me?" At their nods I continued. "I think it was an accident. A botched rescue mission."

"Rescue mission?" Lily asked uncertainly. The boys paled, most likely remembering the state I arrived in.

"You remember I was in the hospital wing for close to two weeks when I first got here?" Lily nodded. I took a deep breath and rolled up my sleeve. She gasped. "I was being questioned. I had something that B-Be-Bellatrix thought we'd stolen. My two best friends were taken to the cellars of Malfoy Manor and I was held back. She carved this word into my arm and she held me under the cruciatus so many times I'd lost count. She was about to give me over to G-Gr-Greyback but my friends managed to escape thanks to Dobby. Then Dobby brought me here. I'm guessing his apparition was botched because B-Bellatrix threw a knife that landed in his abdomen and killed him."

Silence again. Everyone had pale faces. Lily's face had tear tracks running down her cheeks. Sirius's arm around me tightened almost painfully.

Finally James spoke. "The two boys… the redhead was Ron I'm guessing?" I nodded. I knew where this was headed. "Were they the ones held in the cellar?" I nodded and pressed on. "The other one, he looked just like me."

"His name is Harry James Potter. He's your son." I watched Lily carefully, she seemed to be on the edge of a jealous breakdown.

"He has green eyes. They say they're exactly his mother's eyes." James knew immediately he smiled, looked toward Lily and blushed. She still looked downtrodden but when she met James's eyes and saw his goofy grin, she let out a few happy tears and laughed.

"He's lovely, Lils. Exactly like you, but he gets his quidditch skills from his father." At James's curious look I continued. "Youngest seeker in a century. McGonagall let him on as a first year. Caught the snitch every time." Both future parents looked incredibly proud.

"So you knew us then? In your time?" Peter asked.

I sighed heavily. "There's a war going on. Right now and where I come from." I began.

"So we died." Remus concludes.

I sighed again. "Not all of you."

"Tell us." Sirius says gruffly.

"I can't."

"Then can you tell me about my death since everyone knows?" He asked coldly. He stood up and started to pace.

"Sirius-" I began but he cut me off.

"No." He stopped pacing. I stood up and reached a hand out. He looked me in the eyes once before turning and walking to the door. I turned and went to the window. The door slammed.

Sirius left, and I cried.

A week later found me sitting in the library writing an essay for transfiguration. Or trying to. I told myself it was pointless to be upset about this, that there were more important things. Things were tense in our group. No one wanted to ask me anymore questions for fear of the answers. I've tried to leave and avoid everyone, but Remus, James and Lily weren't having it. They always drag me back to tense situations. Situations where you could cut the silence with a knife. Situations that'd end with Sirius storming out. Situations ending with pitying looks and me pretending everything was fine. It has to be. I went seven years without letting my emotions get in the way, why is it so hard now?

"He really does care about you." I continued to write. "He just doesn't like to let his guard down. And you came in and blew through all his walls he'd built up. And when he saw that you'd been keeping something from him… he felt attacked." My quill stopped but I didn't look up. "His defenses are on overload right now." Remus finished.

"For someone who hates Slytherin ideals so much, his self-preservation is certainly up to scratch." I whispered.

"Comparing me to snakes now are you? No better than my fucked family?" Where'd he even come from?

I sighed dejectedly. "Sirius, by now you should know I'd never hold your family against you."

"What would you know about family? As I recall, you don't have one." His words cut me.

"Are you quite done?" I whispered.

"Yeah. We are." He left. It was worse than anything Bellatrix could've done. I looked at Remus. He had an apologetic look on his face.

"I suppose his offense is on overload as well?"

"He just wanted you to hurt as much as he does."

"Mission accomplished." I wiped a tear from my eye. I cry too much I noted.

We fought like cats and dogs from then on. Any time we were in the same room it turned into a screaming match of who could hurt who worse. We both suffered. Our friends suffered. Our worst row came when Dumbledore pulled them out of class and broke the news that the dark mark was found over Potter Manor and Charlus and Dorea were dead. He screamed and raved and broke anything in his path. His grief only added on to his warpath. He screamed at me that it was my fault because I could've stopped it. I screamed back that he'd lost the only family that ever wanted him so he was just like me. Then we dueled. I didn't actually want to hurt him, not that I'd have gotten the chance. I poked at the infamous Black temper. All I could do was put up protegos while his hexes, backed by his anger, tormented broke through them. He only stopped when I fell to the ground after a slicing hex got my side. I heard his wand clatter to the ground. He left me again.

The tension was still thick as blood when Valentine's Day rolled around. We weren't screaming and arguing at each other anymore, much to the relief of our friends, there was just tense silence.

I didn't know how Valentine's Day could get any worse until we walked into potions class. Slughorn was in the middle of writing the ingredients list on the board but I knew exactly what it was.

"Ho ho! Today we have a treat! As it is Valentine's Day why not celebrate with a love potion, hm? No, no, I'll be assigning your partners." Meddlesome fool. "Ah, yes here we are, Mr. Lupin with Miss Meadowes. Mr. Snape with Miss Parkinson. Mr. Potter with Miss Evans." He rambled off more names clearly putting together his own power couples. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard my name. "Mr. Black, you'll be with Miss Granger." Silence. Everyone in the class was silent. It was no secret we fought all the time these days. I caught a few Slytherins snickering at their own table.

I went over to our table and kept a safe distance between us. "Now who can tell me about Amortentia?" Slughorn asks, the smug bastard.

"It's the most powerful love potion in the world, it smells different to each person based on what attracts them." Lily said almost verbatim.

"Ten points to Gryffindor! Now everyone get to work."

We didn't speak to each other, we didn't glance at each other. The two hours went by and I was suffocating the entire time. Bloody emotions. I tried to suppress everything so I could work. I didn't realize until it was too late that I'd forgotten to tone down my skills. A quick glance around told me that a few people were doing just as well so I kept working.

"Oh no you don't. You're not botching this one up for me. Screw your cover story." Sirius said breaking the silence for the first time in a week. I ignored him.

When we'd finished and Slughorn started coming around to check I couldn't stay silent anymore.

"I can't smell anything." I started to panic. I actually wanted a good mark on this one.

"Neither can I. What did you do?" He accused.

"Me? I didn't do anything! Maybe if you got your head out of your arse, you'd take the blame for once!" By now our rows were becoming legendary and we had gained an audience.

"You're the one that purposefully screws everything up, don't try to pin this on me!" Even Slughorn was watching with rapt attention.

"Everything is your fault though! And- Merlin! Did you have to smoke a fag before you came to class?" I scoffed.

"Please, as if you didn't frolic through the fucking rose bushes on your way here." Someone started chuckling. I looked over to find Remus barely containing his laughter. I rounded on him.

"And you! You probably helped him out, didn't you?! Bathing him in his cologne so he wouldn't get caught!" He laughed harder. The rest of the class joined in.

"Remus didn't do shit! And you're one to talk, you're practically swimming in your fucking vanilla bullshit perfume! Probably trying to suffocate me! Go ahead and get me out of the way." The class lost their shit.

I stopped then. The classes was laughing hysterically, Slughorn was looking at us with a proud smile. I'd realized that I ran out of my perfume weeks ago. I remembered being upset because it was another thing from home that was gone.

"Sirius, I ran out of my perfume weeks ago." I said in a shaky voice. His head snapped to mine, then he blushed.

"I broke my last bottle of cologne last week when we… when we fought."

"Fucking finally!" James yelled through the laughter that was dying down.

"I think that deserves full marks for both of you!" Slughorn said jovially.

I began to panic. I smelled the potion once more to make sure. When class ended I bolted, heading outside to get some air. I remembered my first time smelling Amortentia. I smelled new parchment, freshly mowed grass, and Ron's hair. All comforting scents that made me feel safe and at home. I knew I wasn't attracted to Ron in any way anymore. Not only could I never have him now, when he left Harry and I in that tent, it broke us. But now, I smell leather and cigarettes covered up in expensive male cologne that I know belongs to Sirius. And it makes me feel safe and it's like coming home. It made me realize that it's time to let go of the life I used to live in 1998, because I'll be okay without it and I'll see my friends again, I'll just mean something else to them.

Once again my mind disconnected from my feet which led me to the thestrals. I walked over to one and started to pet it's leathery neck. Its white eye bore into me.

"Sorry, I don't have any meat for you." I whispered.

I looked over at a tiny foal and slowly stepped over to it, avoiding sticks and leaves so not to startle it. When it noticed me, I crouched down and held out my hand, palm up. It slowly crept over and nudged it. I laughed when it closed its eyes after I started to scratch its neck.

"So you can see them too?" I turned around, startled, and drew my wand.

"I know the past few weeks have been rough, but I really don't intend to hurt you anymore. Never again." I lowered my wand slightly. Sirius kept his hands up but took slow steps over to me.

"And what if you do? What if I say something else you don't like? Or if I have a secret I literally can't tell you?" My voice was like steel despite the tremors in my heart. "What if you leave me again?"

SIRIUS

"What if you leave me again?" Her voice cracked on the last word, betraying her. Her voice reverberated in my mind

She still held her wand out pointed at me. Her hand started shaking and she let it drop. Her steely resolve was crumbling before my eyes and I so badly wanted to build her up again, but I know I was the one to break her this time.

"I'll never leave you." I whispered. She looked up at me. Trying to find my lie. "I can't stand fighting with you. We said hurtful things. I cut you. I swore I would protect you and I was the one that hurt you." My voice cracked. Only then did I realize I was crying too.

She walked over to me. Tear track marking her face, hair wild and unruly, caramel eyes behind thick eyelashes. She'd never looked more beautiful.

"I'm broken." She said.

"I'm damaged." I replied.

She put her arms around my neck and my hands fell to her hips.

"Quite the pair we make." She said

"We deserve each other."

She kissed me. And it was nothing like the time before. I was dying and she was living. I was cold and she was hot. I was nothing and she was everything. We poured our frustrations into each other and all there was was passion. There were sparks and there were fireworks. She was it. I nibbled on her bottom lip and she gasped. I greedily took the opportunity and explored her mouth with my tongue. We battled for dominance in a way that resembled our fights. I pulled her closer. And closer still, I wanted our ribcages to crack open and merge and our hearts become one.

We were breathless. I leaned my forehead against hers and we locked eyes. The molten caramel was swirling and sparkling reflecting her passion. I kissed her forehead and trapped her in a tight embrace, her head resting on my heart. I ran my fingers through her soft hair and held her. I felt her small fists tightly holding onto my jumper like I'd disappear if she let go.

I'm not going anywhere.