Chapter 12

A/N: I'm not even going to begin to try to apologise for not having updated this story in over a year. I will just say that I hope everyone had happy holidays and a -great New Year. One of my resolutions is to be more creative and start writing again, and this seemed the perfect place to start. To any of my 'regular' readers, welcome back; to any of you just joining Skye and Sirius, welcome in general, and as always, constructive criticisms are always welcomed. -SIMP

Sirius couldn't bring himself to look away. As much as he wanted to, as much as he willed himself to be rooted to the spot, his legs didn't seem to want to listen. He repeated Skye's name to himself in the hopes that his body would listen to reason, or she'd somehow hear him, but to no avail. He felt dazed; Nate took his hand and was guiding him towards the bed, smiling smugly.

"There, now. That wasn't so difficult, was it?" Her tone was still mockingly innocent. As he sat on the edge of the bed, still unable to take his eyes away from hers, she sat astride him, facing him, her hair glinting in the slivers of light coming through the windows. He felt himself tensing under her, and tried to imagine the rage Skye would be in if she knew what was happening.

"My dear cousin seems to think there's something different about you," Nate whispered in his ear, trailing her fingers back and forth across his chest, "but I don't see what all the fuss is about. Wouldn't you like to show me? To prove me wrong?" She pulled her top off over her head revealing that she hadn't bothered with a bra. Sirius' breath caught in his lungs; he didn't think he'd be able to stop himself if this went much further. Nate took one of his hands and pressed it to her chest.

Skye brooded a bit longer over the crumpled letter in her hand before returning to the pub. Slumping in the same stool she'd sat at earlier, she buried her head in her hands. How in the world was she supposed to help Sirius - even continue living with him, if you could call it that - with her cousin in the same house? Nate would never concede to staying there, even for one night. Maybe I could convince her to rent a little place here in town.

"Another hot chocolate, dear?" Madam Rosemerta was standing in front her cleaning a glass with a rag.

"Yes, please - actually, I'll take a small Firewhiskey." She hadn't planned on doing any drinking, but this was starting to feel like one of those days.

"Certainly."

A drink on the rocks and a few shots later, Skye felt warmed enough from the inside out to try to trek back up the hill. Her head was a bit clearer now, which she found highly ironic, even if her steps were a little wobbly.

I just need to talk this out with Sirius. Surely, the two of us together can think of something.

Nate had ridden Sirius until he was close to his climax before finishing him with her hands. He felt drained, more weak and feeble than relaxed. He couldn't bring himself to move or even to make a sound, let alone speak.

"You'll feel better once you've slept it off, dear." Nate was getting dressed, not bothering to do him the courtesy of looking at him while she spoke. "Can't say that you'll be back to your old self magically…" She shrugged and laughed haughtily, picking up her bag and flinging her cloak around her shoulders. "We'll see each other again soon for another dose, hmm?" She kissed him on the forehead in what felt like a condescending way, and as much as he wanted to headbutt her, Sirius couldn't muster the strength to do more than glare.

Skye had nearly stumbled to the edge of the village when something snapped her out of her tipsy stupor. Nate was practically bouncing down the hill towards her. She smiled knowingly when their eyes met before apparating away. Skye's head cleared in a split second. As quickly as her thoughts had been racing earlier, they were as still as a silent pool now. She nearly faceplanted the snow running as fast as she could back up the hill and towards the Shack, not bothering to take her back way up.

"Sirius!" she yelled as she entered, barreling up the stairs, stripping her cloak and cardigan off of her as she went. She fell onto the bed next to him and held him tightly to her, sobs shaking her body. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Sirius still couldn't make himself talk, but he managed to turn towards her and limply throw his arm around her, nuzzling into her neck. True enough, this wasn't the reaction he had expected, but it was certainly better than her railing against him while he was (apparently) defenseless.

Skye wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, but she woke up shortly before dawn, Sirius still draped across her. She kissed his forehead and tried to move out from under him without waking him.

"Stay," he mumbled, tightening his arm around her.

She couldn't stay. She had to get up and move. She had to do something with all this pent up wrath. She had no one to take it out on. She had to do something to make the energy dissipate. She couldn't very well take it out on Sirius; it wasn't his fault her cousin had essentially taken advantage of him. She couldn't be sure how much of his magic Nate had taken, if any, but she knew that, either way, she'd have to convince Sirius to let her go to London to sort things out. Even if she had to completely cut ties and burn bridges with her entire family… This time, they had all taken it too far.

She couldn't bring herself to pry herself out of Sirius' arms. Cuddling closer to him, she hummed what she hoped was a comforting tune that she made up as it went along. Every now and then she'd hear sniffles coming from under her chin, pressed into her hair. She was fairly sure Sirius was crying, but she didn't blame him. Whether from guilt or the debility he undoubtedly felt, she didn't know.

"I tried," she heard him mumble.

She stroke his hair. "I know, darling. I know."

Something inside Sirius felt like it was all starting to surge back into him. He wasn't sure what it was, but the strength he had managed to regain since Skye had been with him - that bit of him that felt like it had fled the previous day - was all coming back. In waves. In droves. In swells. He was starting to feel almost like himself again. He lifted himself up so that he was looking down into Skye's eyes, searching them for some kind of answer.

"Let me see your wand," he said sitting up and holding out his hand.

"That's probably not the best of ideas, Sirius. If she took any magic from you-"

"Let me see it!" He didn't mean to snip at her, but he had to be sure that what he had felt then, and what he was feeling now, were related. That those feelings were what he thought they were.

"All right." Skye sighed as she took her wand out from under a pillow at the head of the bed and handed it to Sirius.

He made a small swishing motion in the air and levitated Skye's perfume bottle gently across the room to come to rest in his hand. Elementary. He thought. A first-year could do that. Put some oomph into it! A slightly bigger swish this time and a large, silvery dog started to gallivant around the room. That's more like it. If he could produce a fully fledged Patronus, surely what he was feeling was his magic returning to him. Or at least the energy it took to produce it.

Skye sat up suddenly, her mouth agape. "You- You shouldn't be able to do that! Not yet! Most people it takes weeks, months, to get back up to par!" She looked at him incredulously.

"You told her you thought there was something special about me. What did that mean?" Sirius' expression was solemn, almost the look he had given her when they'd had their tiff in the kitchen.

"I wasn't sure. I'm still not sure. But that… You shouldn't be able to bounce back like that."

"Perhaps that's what's so special." Why was he being like this to her? He had no right to be blaming this on her. If anything, she should be the one getting cross with him! But he needed a scapegoat. He had always prided himself on being the one that could make others melt, particularly girls - women, even. Nate hadn't just tried to wound him magically. She had succeeded in wounding his ego, and, in his opinion, that was just as heinous. He dropped the wand on the bed, causing it to emit a few red sparks. Skye put her arm gently around his shoulders and pulled her father's wadded up letter out of her pocket.

"I got this while I was window shopping in town." She handed it to him. "It's from my father."

Sirius' eyes met hers, that searching look returning, as he took the paper and unfolded it. They read it silently together.

"I should have known that she would have seized the first opportunity to try something like this. She was never going to intend to stay. To look after me. She may have told my father that, but it wasn't what she really had planned."

"What do you think she really had planned then?" Sirius' voice was still harsh, but at least it didn't sound as damning as it had moments earlier.

"To take you from me. Whether have you for herself or take you out of the picture completely. Nate can be difficult to read at times, but her general motives are always so blatant-"

"She said she'd see me again soon 'for another dose'. What's that supposed to mean?"

Skye sighed and stood up. "It means we need to move house."

Just then, some shouting sounded from outside. It wasn't close enough to be just outside the house, but it was close enough to hear through the boards over the windows. Skye and Sirius went to the closest one and looked out. There were a few kids down there, some of the running around screaming, a couple of them laughing hysterically. A handful of mud flew at one of the kids' heads from out of nowhere. Sirius chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"I know who that is down there. Who threw that mud."

"Who?"

"Harry. Looks like he's got his dad's invisibility cloak. Good." He smiled to himself. Standing next to a beautiful woman, looking out a window at his godson playing outside, even if he was playing tricks on a couple of kids being mean to his friends, had to be the highlight of his whole life thus far, and he sighed in contentment.

Skye dashed out from under his arm and grabbed her cloak off the floor.

"Where are you going?" Sirius turned around to watch her heading towards the stairs.

"I want to meet him."

"And what are you going to say to him when you get down there? 'Hi, I was a seventh year when you started at school. Just wanted to say hi?'"

"I don't know yet. Maybe something like that." Skye was already down the stairs and heading out of the door she'd put in the back of the kitchen for her back entrance to the Shack.

Sirius huffed in frustration. It was getting increasingly more and more unfair that he couldn't just take Skye and Harry far away from here so they could live their lives in peace.

Sirius returned to the window and peered out. Floating in mid air was a dark-haired head that quickly disappeared again as the last of the kids that had been running and screaming went running back towards the village. Oops. Sirius thought to himself, chuckling slightly.

Skye doubled back from the village, and was still trying to decide what she was going to say to Harry when she finally met him as she came upon him pulling the cloak off himself. He and his friends were still laughing.

"Were those boys bothering you guys?" She blurted out, not able to think of anything else to say.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione froze, their faces clearly nervous.

"It's all right. I'm not going to tell anyone what happened. I just wondered if you three were okay. But seeing as you seem to be enjoying yourselves, I guess that answers my question." She held out her hand to Harry. "I'm Skye. I saw what was happening from my window and just wanted to check on you." When Harry stared back, still in shock, and didn't take her hand, she lowered it awkwardly. "I didn't mean to startle you…"

"I…I'm not supposed to be here," Harry stammered.

Skye stepped aside quickly. "Then you'd best get back to the school, hadn't you?"

She thought she heard Harry mutter a low "Yeah, thanks," as he sped past, sweeping the cloak back around him. He may not have been her godson, but she felt a small swell of pride that he was a bit of a rule-breaker. Sirius had told her enough stories about his days at school for her to get a general idea of what Harry would most likely be like, if he was anything like his father.

Skye spent a quiet night in, and had tried to convince Sirius to do the same, but had failed miserably. He had insisted on going up to the school for another meeting with the cat and she hadn't come up with a rational enough argument to make him wait another day. She had just laid down to try to sleep when she heard Sirius coming up the stairs. He was stomping which made her think that he was in a worse mood than when he had left. She sat up in the bed, looking eagerly towards the door.

"Fucking fuck." Sirius flopped onto the bed like a moody teenager.

"What happened, my love?" asked Skye, starting to run her fingers through his hair. It always seemed to help him calm down and think a bit.

"Fucking. Rat. Fucking. Ran."

"How do you know?"

"The cat told me. Bit himself so he'd get blood on the kid's bed sheets and bolted. All this after he and the cat had made a mess of the dormitory because the cat had been chasing him. He's been trying to get him this whole time, but the stupid git keeps getting away!" Sirius slammed his fist onto the bed.

Skye shushed him and kneeled on all fours over him so that she was looking into his eyes from over the top of his head.

"We'll figure something out. Why don't you come to bed. I have to leave early in the morning for London to deal with my cousin, and I'm not waking you up when I leave. So you'll have to say your goodbyes tonight." She smiled coyly, but Sirius, surprisingly, didn't seem in the mood.

He sat up and kissed her deeply, before slumping onto the pillows and curling in to a slight ball, a pouty expression on his face.

Going to do this the hard way, are you? Thought Skye. There was no way she was going to leave him here by himself for a few days without getting a little something to tide her over. She snaked her hands around his hips, pushing her fingers slowly under the waist of his trousers. Sirius curled into a tighter ball, but she was determined. She kissed her way from his shoulder blade, up his neck, to behind his ear. When he still didn't respond the way she wanted him to, she nipped his ear a bit harder than she'd meant to.

Sirius flipped over and caught Skye's wrists in his hands, pressing her onto her back and holding her arms above her head. His eyes were darker than she'd ever seen them, which only aroused her more. If she was going to be that persistent, he was going to make sure he got as much of her as he wanted. Jealous that he couldn't go with her, furious that he'd been outsmarted again by Peter, all he could think of to get his anger out was having his own way. He swore Skye could do whatever she wanted with him for the rest of their lives, as long as he got what he wanted tonight.

Skye wriggled her hips underneath him, but he clenched his knees around them and made her be still. The hunger in his eyes grew stronger the longer he stared down at her. He tore her shirt and bra from her in one movement, slamming her back onto the pillows and grabbing handfuls of her breasts as he did so. Skye took a sharp breath as he bit around her nipples, massaging her chest with one hand, the other frantically undoing her jeans. He only sat up to rip them off of her and free himself from his own bottoms. She made to wrap her arms and legs around him, but he held her arms over her head again and swatted her legs away.

Skye had never seen this side of him. Sure they had had some rough sex, but this made them utterly pale in comparison. She moaned as he positioned himself over her, and screamed as he rammed into her as deep as he could. He didn't wait for her body to adjust; he was going to get his release in whatever time he damn well pleased. Again and again, deeper and deeper into her he plunged. She screamed with every thrust, but didn't push him away. Rather, she pulled him to her in rhythm, her need seemingly as ravenous as his.

Neither of them looked away from the other as they rammed the bed against the wall, the two posts at the head making a loud banging noise with every movement, the feet of the bed scraping against the wood floor. Sirius panted more heavily as he got closer to finishing. He leaned down and put his face in Skye's hair that was sprawled out over her pillow.

"Sirius," she whispered hoarsely. "Sirius!" Her voice was getting louder. "Sirius!" she screamed as they both reached orgasm in unison, Sirius pounding himself into her a few more times for good measure before collapsing on top of her. He finally let go of her wrists, which were now sore and a bit bruised from being held so tightly for so long against each other. Skye wrapped her arms around him as they both tried to catch their breath. "I love you," she whispered, kissing his shoulder, the salty taste of his sweat lingering on her lips.

"I love you," he whispered back, barely audible from exhaustion and the muffling of the pillow.

Skye's train pulled in to Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross Station a little after ten in the morning. She had swore she'd take resolute revenge on Nate for betraying her the way she did. No doubt none of her other relations would see it that way. It was just the way things were done. The way they'd always been done. A little sharing had helped them to survive for as long as they had, carrying on their bloodline, but making a bit of mixing, whether accidental or not, nigh impossible to avoid.

As she walked towards her father's house, Skye couldn't help but wonder how he would react to her reason for being in London. She had come to get answers. If those answers meant cutting ties, then so be it. She hoped it didn't come to that but knew that it somehow inevitably would. Or worse. She was determined to get back to Hogsmeade, to the Shack, to Sirius, no matter what it took. Her family would most likely try to keep her locked up 'for her own safety'. That's what she thought, anyway.

The silver gates of her father's house swung open of their own accord as she approached. The gravel of the drive crunching under her feet sounded ominous in some strange way, unwelcoming. The front door swung open just as the gate had, admitting her to the brightly candlelit foyer. There was music coming from one of the rooms to the right. "Daddy?" Skye called, peering through the archway towards the sound. The music stopped abruptly, adding to the feeling she already had that it probably wasn't the best idea to come here first.

"Cousin?" came Nate's voice from where the music had been. "Cousin!" she beamed, meeting Skye's gaze from a couple doorways down. Skye's face immediately hardened; her expression resembled that of unsculpted marble: cold, hard, and unforgiving. "What a pleasant surprise." Nate's voice was condescendingly sweet, as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn't tried to steal Sirius from Skye.

"I don't think my being here is a surprise to you at all, Cousin," Skye retorted, her voice a stark contrast to Nate's, more like acid than honey.

"Well, no, actually. I came to check on you and when you weren't home I lift a message. You clearly got it, and have come to check in with us." Nate smiled and gestured around her. Various family members began to appear in other doorways: Skye's father, Nate's mother and sisters, their aunts and uncles. It appeared the entire family based in London had come.

"This is between us, Nathaira." Skye glared white-hot daggers, but Nate didn't seem to notice.

"Of course we may talk in private. Let's go up to your room. We can talk there." She took Skye gently by the elbow and began to steer her back towards the staircase.

"No!" Skye yanked her arm away. With the other she quickly pulled her wand out of her hair and made a deft swooping gesture. A loud crack resounded throughout the house as Nate was sent flying backwards into a wall past the stairs. The rest of the family stood around stunned, muttering to each other and watching on avidly.

"It didn't work, you know!" Skye teased. "You're little trick. And now our bond is stronger than before. He is stronger than before!" She made another motion with her wand, throwing Nate face first onto the polished marble floor. There was a snap and Nate's nose started to bleed. A few of her sisters stepped forward, their wands out and pointed at Skye. "You stay out of this!" She rumbled, pointing at them and staring Nate down.

"Stop this madness!" came her fathers booming voice from amidst the others. "We are a family. And we always look after our own. Skye-Lairn, why don't you go up to your room and compose yourself. Then we can have a nice…"

"No! I won't! Just so you can lock me in there and keep me from him! Nathaira is going to pay for what she did to me - for what you all did to me - and then, I'm done!" A flick of her wand pulled her cousin into her grasp. She squeezed Nate's throat as she pulled her so close that their eyelashes nearly touched. "If you ever think of taking him again," she whispered menacingly, "Think. Again." With a last glare she threw her cousin to the ground, turned on her heel, and was out the door and down the drive before anyone could stop her. Perhaps stupidly, Nate came running after her. Skye turned at the gate, her wand back in her pocket, and lifted a hand. With a swift flick of the wrist, Nate was sent whirling back up to the house through the air, landing in Skye's room after crashing through the window. She saw her family members race back inside and heard them clamoring up the stairs to make sure Nate was alright as she turned her back to the estate, the gate closing behind her with a loud clang, and headed back to the train station.