A/N: Big thank you to HPuni101 for inspiring me to update! Hopefully the chapter won't disappoint.

Chapter Ten: Moonlight

Aurelia and Sirius were working side-by-side in Transfiguration again, this time transfiguring rocks into puppies. There were mixed results across the classroom, some students had managed to create cute fluffy puppies and proceeded to play with them before transfiguring them back to rocks and starting again; whilst other students were only partly successful, resulting in the occasional shriek as a one-eyed, bald, two legged creature barked at them. The classroom therefore, was rather loud and provided Sirius the perfect opportunity to question Aurelia about why she had been ignoring him all lesson.

He watched her struggle with her rock, which had remained resolutely rock-like despite the ever frequent jabs of her wand and muttered curses. "Need a hand?" he offered light-heartedly.

She glowered at the rock, her eyes trained upon it. "Not from you," she snapped.

Sirius jerked his head backward, quite taken aback by such hostility; it had only been a few weeks since they'd shared a kiss in the room up in the Astronomy Tower after all. "Fine," he bit back, "enjoy failing!"

Her head whipped up, her eyes betraying her worry despite her best efforts to remain cool. "Do you really think I'm going to fail?!" she cried, eyes wide.

Sirius sighed. "No," he said, much more gently than before. "I just said that to get a reaction. Why've you been ignoring me?"

Aurelia's eyes narrowed. "Not nice is it, being ignored?" She turned back to her work, waving her wand at the rock again and glaring when it remained stubbornly the same.

"What are you on about?" Sirius whispered, moving closer so nobody could catch wind of their argument.

"You really don't know?" Aurelia asked exasperatedly, sending a reproachful glance his way. "I haven't seen you properly since-" she peered around, checking that no one was watching, "-since that night."

"Wait, what?" Sirius laughed, earning himself a sterner glare. "Peach, I told you I would be busy with Quidditch practice! James has had us practicing every night after class, we've got our game with Hufflepuff in the first week back after the holidays!"

Aurelia crossed her arms moodily but raised her head so that their eyes could meet again. "Still," she grumbled, "I thought you'd at least be able to spare an hour! Or have I just got the complete wrong end of the stick here? Am I just another one of your disposable girls?"

"Peach!" Sirius urged softly, moving as close to her as he could without being obvious. "You know it's not like that!" She shot him a disbelieving look and stared ahead of her, saying nothing. He rounded the desk so that he was in her line of vision and leant in on the pretense of examining her rock. "I haven't stopped thinking about that night," he whispered. His words caused her face to soften somewhat and before long a small smile was playing on her lips.

"Me neither."

He smiled back, enjoying the shy blush that had crept its way across her cheeks. "What are you doing tonight?"

She shrugged. "Hmm I imagine I'll either be waiting for Reg to get back from one of his many dates or generally avoiding Lewis. Nothing pressing."

He laughed. "Right, well then, can you meet me by the coat of arms on the ground floor – you know, by the steps to the dungeons?"

Aurelia sighed heavily. "If I must!" and with a playful smile at Sirius, she added, "I'll look forward to it."

Sirius struggled not to grin like some lovesick halfwit and chose to cover his mouth with his hand, pretending to clear his throat. Aurelia raised an eyebrow knowingly, enjoying his sudden awkwardness.

"Okay now all jokes aside, I seriously need you to show me how to make this lump turn into a dog."

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed overenthusiastically, still feeling a bit giddy. "You need to move your wand like this," he demonstrated the gesture, motioning for her to copy him. Finally, the rock changed, though only a little bit.

"What the fuck is that?" Aurelia looked at the rock in disgust - it had sprouted a few random clumps of matted fur.

Sirius laughed heartily. "It's not that bad!" he insisted.

Aurelia glanced around at the other student's puppies, however deformed. "It looks diseased," she said flatly, "and it's not even alive!"

Disguising another chortle as a sneeze, Sirius proceeded to help Aurelia, eventually managing to get her to produce a furry rock with a tail.

On the other side of the classroom, Lily and James looked on curiously, observing the dynamic between their friend and the Slytherin. "Reckon there's something going on between them?" Lily asked casually, knowing that James was so loyal to Sirius he'd be unlikely to tell her anything.

James shrugged moodily. "Not unless he's suddenly had a knock to the head."

"Why does it bother you so much?" She probed. She could understand that James didn't like Aurelia, she was a colossal bitch about ninety percent of the time, and for the other ten percent she was just cold and unreachable. But James seemed particularly hostile towards her…it was weird.

"Has Sirius ever told you what they – his family – used to do to him?"

Lily shook her head slowly, her stomach knotting uncomfortably. James continued under his breath, "well, anytime he pissed them off, which was frequently as you can imagine, his mother or his father or some other member of his family would sit him down, tie him up, and rip out one of his teeth."

"What!" Lily's hand flew to her mouth, subconsciously cradling it as she imaged the pain of having a tooth ripped out without any kind of pain killer. "But what does that have to do with Avery?" she asked after a minute.

James looked Lily in the eyes darkly. "Apparently when he became a Gryffindor they lay off him a bit, passed him off as a lost cause. Well of course that wasn't good enough for Avery over there, even more sadistic than that lowlife cousin of hers-"

"I still don't understand," Lily cut in.

James shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Right, yes, so one day in the summer holidays before fourth year, their families had gone away to some villa near a lake in Italy. Avery, Sirius, and his brother had gone to play by the lake and Avery decided it would be funny to see how many rocks she would have to strap to Regulus before he stopped floating-" Lily's eyebrows knitted together in concern, clearly predicting what would happen next, "-Sirius told her not to be so stupid obviously, but when his back was turned she pushed Regulus off of the decking and into the water, and next thing they knew Regulus was drowning. Sirius managed to jump in and save him but they'd been so loud in the process that Sirius' father had caught wind and dragged him and Avery inside.

When he asked what happened, Avery blamed the whole thing on Sirius and then watched as his dad pulled out every single one of his bottom teeth, didn't try to stop him once." James ran a hand through his hair, sucking in a breath to calm himself. "They just left him like that, bleeding and surrounded in his own sick and stuff, wouldn't let him out for days - it wasn't even his fault."

"Oh my god." Lily breathed. Though a moment or so later, her look of horror had changed to one of confusion again. "But if they just left him like that, how did he get all of his teeth back?"

"Well I'm not entirely sure when or how they did let him out, but apparently he just ordered his elf to apparate him to my house. Mum was beside herself, went to St Mungo's herself to force one of the healer's to come and sort him out! She didn't want to let him go back to his parent's house after that, tried to get Dumbledore to use his sway at the Ministry to push her adoption papers through but Sirius insisted he had to go back, if only in the summer."

"Why?"

James shrugged again. "It beats me. Those people are master manipulators though, that much is clear as day, and Avery knows exactly what to do to make him come running. She's dangerous."

Lily nodded thoughtfully, her eyes wandering back to the pair. It didn't quite add up to her; sure Avery probably was great at getting guys to do what she wanted, she had the doe eyes down pat, but Sirius wasn't stupid, he wouldn't normally allow himself to fall for that. But then again she couldn't just discount James' argument; it was becoming clear that Sirius cared for the girl more than he had previously let on and if it that story really was true, well, they'd need to keep her away from him for sure.

Aurelia had been waiting by the coat of arms for a full five minutes, and was starting to get edgy, especially as it was already an hour past curfew. Just as she was preparing to call it a night and sneak back to her dormitory, she heard a light tapping on the window beside her. She jumped, pressing a hand to her mouth to cover the tiny squeal she'd let out, and peaked through the window. There on the other side of the glass was a beaming Sirius hovering on his broomstick, his hair flapping about in the breeze.

Aurelia opened the window hurriedly. "Sirius? What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing? Taking you for a ride! Now quick, get on before someone comes!"

She stared at him for a moment, her brain quickly calculating whether or not this was a good idea and decided on yes. Climbing onto the windowsill she lurched indelicately onto the front of his broom and instantly regretted it. "Its freezing!" She exclaimed through chattering teeth, rubbing her hands over her arms frantically.

"Obviously it's freezing – its December!" Sirius reasoned, pulling her close so he could wrap his cloak around the two of them. "Will it fasten?"

"Just about," Aurelia said distractedly, fiddling with the interior fastenings. Sirius rubbed her arm with his free hand, the other one still clinging to the broomstick. "Better?"

"Much." She smiled, wriggling back a bit further to get herself even cozier against Sirius' torso.

"Good." He planted a quick kiss on her cheek before kicking off heavily, sending them speeding off towards the forbidden forest. They took slightly longer to touch down at the edge of the forest than might have been expected; Sirius had taken them on a tour past the Quidditch pitch and over the black lake first, enjoying the scents of Aurelia's perfume wafting up his nostrils. When they did eventually stop, he charmed his broomstick so that it would hover behind them, and held out his hand for Aurelia. She eyed it warily.

"What if someone sees?" She whispered.

"The fact that we're out after curfew looks suspicious enough as it is, Peach, we may as well enjoy ourselves."

Before she could respond he'd taken her hand firmly in his and started off into the forest.

"Where are we going?" Aurelia asked, curious. Sirius just winked in response, raising a finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet. Then, only fifty-or-so metres from the edge of the forest, he whispered, "stay here", and dashed off into the depths of the woods.

"Wait, what?" She called after him. "Sirius?" But it was no good, he'd already gone. "Not my idea of a fun evening," she muttered to herself, folding her arms across herself protectively. She never felt quite right in the forest, it was peculiar – although she couldn't see or hear anything nearby, it still always felt like she was being watched, like something was lurking just out of sight.

And then she saw it. Two yellow orbs cut through the darkness, fixed on her. Slowly, they moved closer and Aurelia began to make out the outline of an animal…a wolf. Her breath hitched in her throat, adrenaline pumping to every crevice of her body. The wolf was circling her now, a low rumbling growl ebbing out of its throat. A harsh bark broke the silence, causing Aurelia to jump so violently that her temple began to throb. With a mix of horror and excitement, Aurelia realised that the bark had not come from the wolf in front of her, but in fact from the giant black dog she had seen before in the school grounds. The wolf had now turned its attention to the dog, and the pair were circling each other predatorily. All of a sudden the dog lunged itself at the wolf, knocking it onto its back; the animals rolled over, again and again, yapping and snapping at each other, but Aurelia had studied animals enough to recognise this type of behaviour – they were playing.

A moment or so later, the dog had separated itself from the wolf and proceeded to approach Aurelia, giving her hand a friendly lick. "Hello you," she greeted, patting it gently on the head. She looked back up to see the wolf watching them, now joined by half a dozen sets of yellow eyes. "Puppies!" Aurelia shrieked happily, completely forgetting that a wild adult wolf was just metres away from her. Dropping to her knees, she tapped her lap encouragingly, beaming when all six wolf cubs bounded over at once.

"Having fun?" Sirius. He was leaning against a tree, an amused smirk complimenting the playful glint in his eyes.

"Ahh! They're so cute!" Aurelia cooed as one of the cubs attempted to climb on top of its sibling in order to get a better chance at licking her face. Sirius chuckled and moved over to them, crouching down beside Aurelia to scratch the grown wolf behind her ears. It took Aurelia a strong ten minutes of puppy-play before she really realised Sirius was there. "Wait, where did you go?" She asked quickly, turning her gaze upon him.

He nodded at the cubs surrounding Aurelia. "Where do you think?"

Aurelia grinned back at him like a child on Christmas morning. "This is so cool!"

"Thought you'd like it. Forgiven me yet?" She nodded enthusiastically, earning herself another chuckle from Sirius. They stayed there for quite a while longer before the wolf eventually signaled for her cubs to follow her and they disappeared off into the darkness. "I think that's our cue to leave as well, Peach." Sirius stood, dusted himself off and then dusted Aurelia off too. He held his hand out for her, only this time she took it without hesitation.

They walked in silence for a while, both just enjoying the others company and eventually they reached the lake again. Sirius marveled at how the moonlight shone off Aurelia's hair, her skin illuminated even in the darkness; she glanced up and smiled when she saw him looking. The action seemed to soften her entire face, that rare, genuine smile caressing her mouth. Sirius pulled her to a halt, wrapping one arm around her waist, the other pushing loose hair behind her ear softly. Slowly, he lowered his head, his eyes never leaving hers. Her chin lifted slightly, her eyes fluttered closed and then finally, their lips met. It was a long, wonderful kiss; their lips seemed to glide over one another, the hairs on Sirius' skin standing on end, blood rushing to his head. It ended just as slowly and softly as it had started and it was a while before either of them opened their eyes again. He stroked her cheek with his thumb, enjoying the relaxed smile she gave him in response.

"You cold?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as she shivered slightly.

"Just a little," she nodded.

"Here." He pulled his scarf loose from around his neck and wrapped it over hers instead. "Gryffindor suits you," he teased, but she was too happy to bother retorting and settled for a poke in the ribs instead.

"It smells lovely," she commented, tucking it inside her cloak fondly. "So, what are you doing for Christmas?" she questioned lightly, resting her head against his chest.

"I'm spending it with the Potter's, we're going to James' auntie's house in the country somewhere."

"Sounds nice," Aurelia mumbled, her voice muffled by Sirius' cloak.

"How about you?" It was a bit of a pointless question really, as Aurelia always spent Christmas with the Black's.

"I'll be with Reg for the day, hopefully Christmas Eve as well."

"Is that it? You normally stay for the whole fortnight!"

"Yeah," Aurelia sighed, "apparently Reg wants to spend some time with his latest girlfriend, but I don't buy it."

Sirius frowned. "What do you think he wants to do then?"

"Well that's the problem," Aurelia said, pulling away from Sirius enough to be able to look him in the eyes, "I don't know."

"Hmm…" Sirius' eyes focused on the ground behind Aurelia's head, his mind spinning with thoughts of what Regulus might be up to. "Ah!" he exclaimed suddenly, reaching in his inner pocket for a small corner of parchment. "That reminds me, I want you to have this." He pressed the parchment into her palm and watched her unfurl it curiously. "Its my address," he explained. "I bought a flat in London."

She looked up at him, confused.

"I'm not gonna be there for most of the holidays but I want you to promise that you'll come and see me, if things get…you know…" he trailed off, dark memories flashing through his minds eye.

Aurelia studied his face for a moment, then pocketed the parchment. "I mean I'll keep it but I'm not going to use it. Besides, what if I did use it and you weren't there?"

"I will be, I promise."

"But how? You just said you're not going to be there much at all!"

Sirius just smiled, the playful glint back in his eyes. "Magic, Peach."

After sleeping through the majority of the train ride home, Aurelia was awoken by Regulus shaking her shoulders gently. "Lia," he said soothingly. "Lia, we've arrived!"

"Hmm?" Aurelia mumbled. She had to blink a few times before his face came into focus. "Oh, we're here!"

Regulus laughed, pulling her upright and giving her a quick hug. "Right, I'll see you on Christmas Eve then, yeah?"

Aurelia glowered at him in response. "Oh come on, Aurelia, you can't be angry with me forever!"

She made a noise that made it quite clear that that was exactly what she intended to do. "I just don't understand why you're so happy to spend next to no time with me this year!"

To her annoyance, Regulus just laughed again and pulled her trunk down from the overhead rack. "Don't be silly," he called down the corridor, "you know I love you."

"Hmph!" She jumped down from the carriage and onto the platform, arms still crossed and face set in a frown.

Regulus turned around and grinned even wider, delighted by the sullen look on her face. "Oh come here!" He wrapped his arms around her tightly and swayed her in his arms. "We are going to have the best Christmas yet, okay?"

He pulled away just in time to see a small smile on her face, a smile she replaced with a fake frown as soon as she could. Over his shoulder, Aurelia saw Mrs Black watching them in horror, the idea of public affection enough to make her head explode.

Or any affection, for that matter.

"See you soon," Regulus said, planting a final kiss on Aurelia's cheek before hurrying off to appease his distressed mother.

Aurelia turned around to grab her trunk, but to her surprise it wasn't there. Her eyes darted around urgently and, to her dismay, rested upon a tall, sallow looking Lewis Mulciber.

"Perhaps I can help you with this?" He offered in honeyed tones.

She glared at him, annoyed with herself for feeling scared by his sudden appearance. "What do you want?"

"Now, now," he tutted patronisingly, "no need to be defensive."

"What do you want?" She repeated, her teeth gritted together.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly. He rounded the trunk so that he could stand by her side; he nodded towards the centre of the platform, where Aurelia's parents were watching them expectantly. "Shall we?" Lewis held his arm out valiantly and as her parents were watching, she took it.

"Now I don't know what you've said to Robert," Lewis said, his voice was low but every ounce of venom in his tone was easily audible, "but whatever it was won't last long. I am gaining rank in the Dark Lord's circle, and he is a just leader. If I please him, he will grant me a- favour- of sorts," he paused for effect. "And you know what I'm going to ask for, don't you?"

She gulped but managed to keep her gaze steady, defiant – they had almost reached her parents, she would be free in just a second!

"Remember Aurelia," Lewis warned quickly, smiling politely at the Avery's for show, "the longer you keep it from me, the worse it's going to be for you."

Aurelia's mouth dropped open, she couldn't help it. That disgusting, vile, loathsome, bas-

"Aurelia, darling! How was school?" Mrs Avery saved Lewis from the slap he had been about to receive, smothering Aurelia in an excessive hug that she would never have given her daughter in private.

"Goodbye, Aurelia!" Lewis sneered, waving mockingly as he walked to greet his own family.

She stared murderously at the back of his head, wishing she had the power to maim him with her eyes.

"Aurelia!" Mrs Avery hissed at her daughter, shaking her arm violently. "Where are your manners? Say goodbye to Mr Mulciber!"

Aurelia felt anger bubbling inside her but knew not to argue with her mother, at least not now anyway. "Goodbye Mulciber," she called flatly.

Merlin, it was going to be a long few weeks.

A/N: I'm sorry this has taken so long but pleeeeease review! Love you all, have a wonderful weekend x

Coming up: Aurelia and Sirius are on Christmas break - will she use that address he gave her?