'Fancy a swim? Meet me at Tybalt's favourite hunting spot at midnight, -R' read the note tucked into my potions book. I smiled to myself and sat down in my seat next to Meadow, who snatched the note from my hand immediately, crawling over its words with her bright eyes.

"Hello to you too." I laughed under my breath as she shoved the parchment under my nose, finger on something. I sighed at her unyielding obsession with my new relationship. "Meadow, it's so close to my face I can't even read it. What?"

She looked at me, pointedly, and whispered, "'Tybalt's favourite hunting spot' – where even is that, Star? How can he know things about your cat in a week that I don't in five years?!" It took everything in me to not roll my eyes as I sarcastically responded.

"You never asked. Now give me my note and let's make this blasted potion before it kills us!" Meadow's eyes met mine and for a second, I thought we were about to fall out – big time. Then she burst out laughing, as though a cave full of Irish pixies had swooped in and tickled her all over. I soon joined her.

Meadow suddenly silenced and sat bolt upright, looking horror-stricken. "Oh, Merlin," She began.

"Meadow, what is it?" I asked gently, reaching for her shoulder. Her head twisted to face me, her eyes darting up and down my body.

"What on earth will you wear?" She exclaimed and began to giggle again.

….

In the end, we decide on an old lace dress of mine, waterfalls of cream material flowing from my neck down to my knees, with loose medieval-style sleeves. I wrap my shawl around my shoulders and murmur a goodbye to Meadow as I slink out into the corridors. I tiptoe to the tunnel and soon find myself (and Tybalt, who would never let me leave him out on a night-time adventure) emerging from beneath the oak tree in front of the lake. True to Remus' note, my fiendish fluffball stalks away instantaneously. Speaking of Remus…

He's sat, lounging on his arms, on a picnic blanket next to the glistening lake. In the light of the moon I saw his face glowing like an angel. My angel. I approached quietly, positioning myself on his left and smiled at him. He beamed back, scars stretching and tugging at his cheeks, his nose, his forehead. Suddenly, my mouth was full of sweet fruitiness as Remus shoved a strawberry into my mouth unexpectedly.

"Surprise attack." He murmured playfully; I smirked and, hand behind my back, tore up a large handful of grass. I shuffled towards him as though to kiss him, so close that he closed his eyes – and took my chance. I stuffed his mouth full of dewy, green blades and giggled as he sat up, choking and spitting.

"Surprise attack." I mimicked, raising my eyebrows. He scoffed.

"You realise you're totally in for it now, right?" I cocked my head, tensing my body in anticipation of his next move. He launched himself on top of me, tugging my dress over my shoulders, revealing a white swimsuit, and lifted me over his broad shoulders, like a fireman. I squealed as we approached the edge of the lake, begging and pleading with him, my voice full of laughter. Despite my giggled apologies, Remus threw me into the freezing lake, soaking my body and hair with cold, dark water.

"Remus John Lupin! I swear on Merlin's grave you will regret this!" I ran out of the lake to where Remus was already removing his shirt and trousers, and (stealing his wand from his trouser pocket) I sent a sharp jet of chilled spray directly at his face, before dropping his wand and pulling him deeper into the water with me. We splashed and played and danced under the moonlight, which was reflected gorgeously on the lake. Eventually, we tired and returned to the water's edge, lying down and watching the stars, muttering quiet conversation to each other.

"You should come to our common room tomorrow night, after dinner. Get to know my friends, you know? They reckon we should play a game of magical truth or dare, it'd be so fun, don't you – "

"No." I cut him off bluntly, standing quickly, before relaxing my stance and lowering myself back to the ground, sitting on my grazed knees. "No," I repeated more softly. I didn't want to come across as unreasonable, but I was not comfortable displaying my deepest secrets to the likes of the Marauders, and magical truth or dare forces you to complete your turn, however awful it may be. Remus looked at me questioningly.

"Why not? It's just a bit of fun, Star" His forehead creased as he spoke, eyebrows pulling together.

"I'm not spilling my secrets to them, Remus. I know they're your friends and that's great. I've been trying my hardest to get along with them for your sake, and my own quite frankly, but don't mistake my tolerance for trust. I don't trust them." Tears were building behind my eyes, but I refused to let them spill.

"Look, Star, I know there's a history there, but they're nice people really. They – "

"Nice people?" I cut him off again. "Were they nice people when they hexed me, beat me up, made my life a misery? Were they nice people then Remus?" I laughed breathily, unable to believe how this shit could even be coming from his mouth. "You know what? Don't even answer that. I don't need you to. The answer is no, they weren't, because no nice person would do to someone what they did to me. Goodnight, Remus." I stood, grabbing my dress and shawl in one quick sweep and stormed back through dank tunnels and dark corridors, before reaching my dorm and collapsing into a deep and restless sleep.

….

At breakfast the next morning, whilst buttering my croissant, Meadow nudged me and nodded towards the Gryffindor table. Remus was giving me a longing, apologetic look, but I returned it with my best evils. If looks could kill, the Marauders would be no more, minus Sirius, who didn't appear to have left his bed this morning. Or (more likely) whoever was in his bed.

"What happened last night, Star? Why've you and Remus fallen out?" Meadow questioned, noticing the daggers I'd sent in his direction. I explained to her quickly, obviously leaving out the part about his furry problem, and her face turned from confusion, to shock, to anger.

"How could he? He's no idiot, he knows what they did was wrong, and you're his girlfriend, he should be defending you!" Meadow stated accusingly, sending her own dirty look Remus' way. I nodded in agreement, before we stood and left for our classes, Meadow to Divination, me to Care of Magical Creatures.

As I neared the door out towards the path down to Hagrid's Hut and the Forbidden Forest, a strong hand snatched me into a store cupboard, a silencing charm keeping my screams hushed. I turned and saw Sirius in front of me, waving his wand to remove the charm.

"Sirius! What the hell!" I shouted, before he lifted a finger to his lips.

"Stop shouting or I'll charm you again." He threatened, eyebrows raised challengingly. I flared my nostrils grumpily.

"What do you want, Black?" I seethed. He stepped back, and reached down to the edge of his shirt, before slowly lifting it up.

"Sirius, what are doing, put your shirt on!" I whispered loudly, moving towards him to tug his top back down.

"Do not come any closer, do you hear me?" He looked wild and afraid, like a rabbit the second before it gets hit by a car. I was terrified, but obliged.

He continued to lift his shirt, slowly revealing his sculpted chest. I squared my jaw and looked him in the eyes, making sure he knew I wasn't interested in whatever game he was trying to play. His eyes trailed up to meet mine, wide and unsure.

"I brought you here because you deserve an explanation. Remus told me what happened between the two of you last night, so I'm going to show you something. Something I've never shown anyone, not even James. You deserve to know why I did to you what I did. And I know it doesn't excuse it, trust me I do, but it made me feel better, and I need you to understand that, please, please, understand that." His voice cracked as he finished his plea, and slowly, he turned away from me. I gasped audibly at what I saw.

Red, raw cracks ran all down his back, like trails of lava, pouring over him, burning. He was a mess of torn flesh, strips of tissue paper, papier machéd over his back. Someone had been whipping him, and, from the looks of the scars, for a long time. He was shaking, crying, and I felt myself joining him.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed, over and over. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

To see the cocky, arrogant young man reduced to this weeping boy broke my heart, and through my tears I found myself feeling a huge amount of anger.

"Sirius, who did this to you?" I spoke softly as I approached him, turning him by his shoulders and encasing him in a hug.

"My father is not a nice man." His breath was hot as he spoke down my neck, his tear-stained face sticky against my cheek. I pulled back from the hug but kept my hand firmly on his bare shoulders.

"Your father did this to you? Does your mother know?" I was struggling to comprehend it: I'd resented my father for so long, but in comparison to this, he was a saint.

Sirius barked out a bitter laugh. "Does Walburga know? Of bloody course she does, but I'm the Gryffindor blood traitor. She couldn't give a toss what he does to me." He spat his words out, each one coated heavily in well-deserved venom.

"Listen to me, Sirius. You are never, I repeat never, going back there. You can stay with me in the holidays, help me with Arlo." I couldn't bear the thought of anyone going through what the Blacks obviously torture Sirius with, Sirius whose eyes were glued to the floor.

"Star, I can't accept that. I've been awful to you, for so long. I'm not asking you to pity me and forgive me out of sympathy. I just wanted you to know that I'm so fucking sorry. I was so afraid of how he stole all control from me, so I got it back by doing the same thing to you. I hate him more than anyone and yet I fund myself turning into him just to make myself happier, and that was wrong, and I hate myself for it." Salty tears began flooding from his eyes again, and I grabbed his face roughly, forcing him to look at me.

"Sirius, look into my eyes. I forgive you. I forgive you for everything. You're right, it was awful, but you've finally proved to me that you're mature enough to see it. And I wholeheartedly believe you'll never do it again, just like I know that he will never lay a finger on you again. I will not allow it. I forgive you, Sirius Black. I forgive you."

He collapsed back into my open arms, and together we sat on the floor of the cupboard, finally understanding one another.

Hello everyone! Can I begin with a massive sorry for how bloody long it's been since I updated! It's exam season so my life's been crazy hectic right now, and I can't guarantee how long it'll be before I manage to update again, but I swear when summer comes, I'll be updating loads! I have such huge plans for this, I'm just begging that you guys stick with me til then.

So, Star finally fully forgives Sirius, and he shares a massive secret with her… Will she keep it? Or will temptation get the better of her? Hmm…

Please leave some reviews, I'd love at least 2 or 3 before I next update, hopefully within the next fortnight. Let's say if I get 5 by Friday, I'll update this Sunday night, so get reviewing for a quicker release!

Love as always,

Daughter of Orion xoxo