In the spirit of Valentine's Day, here is a half-fluffy fic for you all :) Siriusly in love with this pairing. Written for DADA, Assignment 3.

Task: Write about the happiest day in your character's life and why. Alternatively, write about theworst day in your character's life.

Word Count: 1,217

Prompt: Dialogue - "I want you to be happy. I want you to laugh a lot. I don't know what exactly I'll be able to do for you, but I'll always be by your side." - Kagome, InuYasha

The night that Lily and James were murdered, Sirius Black had been drinking in a pub.

That particular night, the Leaky Cauldron had been relatively empty. Sirius sat alone at the counter, swirling his amber drink in its mug. He knew that Tom the bartender was watching him out of the corner of his eye, because the last time Sirius had been here, he had nearly destroyed the little table in the corner of the bar.

But tonight, Sirius wasn't here to be angry. He was here to be alone and in a place other than his empty flat. He was here because the bar held the last memory he'd ever have of the girl with the startling blue eyes filled with life and caustic wit.

He was here because there was no other place he could go, because here was the place that held one of his best memories, and because there was no other place that reminded him so acutely of her.

Two Months Ago

They sat perched on the stools at the counter, their drinks half-forgotten on the marble top. Sirius grinned down at her eyes, which shone up at him with a flaming mixture of innocence and mischief.

"Stop looking at me like that," he said, flicking a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"Like what?" She nudged his hand away.

He caught her small fingers in his broad ones and deliberately lifted them to his lips. "Like you know full well what effect you have on me."

She turned pink but rolled her eyes, reaching around him for her drink with her free hand. "I have a naturally large effect on everyone I meet, Black. Don't feel flattered."

The corner of Sirius's mouth lifted high. (She was one of only a few people who could still make him smile like that nowadays.) He watched as she drained her cup of firewhisky and set it down with a clang. The little red hearts that dotted the rim, celebrating Valentine's Day, shone in the soft light of the torches.

"You sound like you've been well." Sirius released her hand and leaned back in his chair. "How's Edward?"

"Better, now that Mum finally stopped trying to tell him what to do. He's excited to go back to Hogwarts."

"Ah, how it would feel to be young again! Young and free to choose your path in life," proclaimed Sirius with a wink.

She didn't look very amused. "Young as in one year younger than the both of us, am I right?"

He tweaked her nose, in just the way that he knew she hated. "Are you sassing me, love?"

She made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat. "I'm not doing anything. It's only if you make yourself vulnerable to it." She suddenly twisted in her seat so that they were facing each other. Her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously. "So why exactly did you call me here tonight?"

"Did I need a reason to?" Sirius asked mildly, grabbing his cup to hide his smirk behind it.

"Yes. I was in the middle of something very important when you came."

"Like what?"

She frowned at him. "None of your business. Now answer the question."

"I'm afraid there's no answer, love." He shrugged. "I just wanted to see you."

"Bet you say that to all the girls you invite out." She frowned up him, her blue eyes - the precise shade of deep blue sapphires - unwavering and searching. He met her gaze evenly, hoping that she could see in his face that yes, that was a line which he'd used a fair amount of times before, but it only mattered for her. He only meant it for her.

"You don't want to make bets with me, Mckinnon," he whispered after a while, leaning in close. He wondered how close he could get before she averted her eyes, although the reality of it was that she was less likely to back away than he was. She was always better at managing the limits of their undefined relationship.

Which was precisely why he'd invited her here to the Leaky Cauldron tonight.

Sirius stopped when their faces were inches apart and he could feel her breath brush across his cheeks. "Fine," he murmured. "I'll tell you why we're here."

"Good."

"We're here because the last time I saw you, we were on a raid and there was evidently no time for us to sit down and chat." He tilted his head. "We're here because I wanted to see you."

She interrupted him with a peck on the cheek. "You already said that."

"Let me finish," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "I wanted to see you and hear you and be with you. Do you know how long it's been since we last saw each other? A long time."

"Two weeks," she pointed out, but added quietly, "I missed you, too."

He pouted. "Thought I said no interruptions, Mckinnon."

"Sorry. Continue. This is unnaturally sappy, by the way."

"It's Valentine's Day, love. We're supposed to be sappy." He laughed and reached out to touch her cheek. "But you know, I brought you here because I wanted to see you be happy. I'll always want to see you happy. I want to see you laugh a lot. There's not much else I'll be able to do with this war going on, but I'll always try to be by your side. You understand?"

She was flushed completely red by then, but managed to mutter, "This is completely unfair."

"What is?" asked Sirius, taken aback.

She glared up at him. "That you have to be so goddamn romantic. What is up with that, Black?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry. If you'd like me to turn it down a notch -"

He was stopped in the middle of his sentence by the sudden warmth of her lips on his, and the feeling of hands winding into his hair that drove him crazy, like everything else about this girl.

When they broke apart, foreheads touching, she all but demanded him, "You be by my side, I'll be by yours, Black. You understand?"

"Perfectly." And he reached down to kiss her once more.

The night that Lily and James were murdered, Sirius Black had been drinking and remembering in a pub.

There was no way that he could have known that in an hour or so, he would be presented with news of his best mate's death. There was no method to tell him that from the moment he sat in that bar and thought of Marlene and how he had not been at her side enough to help her in her last moments, to a moment more than thirteen years later, when he was presented with the spitting image of James, death would rule Sirius's mind and thoughts like a ravaging fire.

That night, so full of death - the ache of his dead love, the raw pain of his dead best friends, the desire for Peter Pettigrew to die by his hands - all of that was something that Sirius could not have foreshadowed when he first sat in the bar, dressed in inky black robes the color of Marlene Mckinnon's hair.

He had only gone there to mourn one death, not three.