NOTE: This story is primarily focused on SiriusOC and is only written for fun.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter and the world JK Rowling created. I only own the characters you do not recognize from Harry Potter.

Finally, here's the next chapter! Thanks for your patience; school's got to come first. As always, a big thanks to those that reviewed! I love to hear your feedback!

Fate

Chapter Twenty-One

When Samantha had gotten into bed to try and get some sleep, Adrien had slipped into her room and crawled into her bed, and had told her what had happened earlier that night. He hadn't been there, but he heard the Aurors had had no trouble sneaking into the old, abandoned house that they had been told Death Eaters would be meeting that night, how they thought they had managed to do so undetected. They had suddenly been ambushed by twice as many Death Eaters than they thought would be there. They were unprepared. Brennan had been hit by multiple curses. One Auror had died. Moody had called a retreat, and Christopher had managed to grab hold of Brennan before disapperating. If he hadn't, their father would have been lost as well.

After his story, they had lay in the dark in silence, both trying not to think what could have happened that night. They ended up falling asleep that way, their exhaustion winning over the worry. At some point, Samantha was woken up by her door creaking open slightly before closing again, and she rolled over to go back to sleep, knowing it was her uncle having just returned home and checking on them before he went to bed.

When she woke up the next morning, Adrien was still sound asleep, and she hated to wake him, so she quietly got out of bed and took a quick shower before going to St. Mungo's by herself. Adrien probably wouldn't like it when he woke up and realized she was already gone. But she did not care. She wanted to see how her father was. She wanted to know if he had woken up.

When she opened the door to her father's room, she was surprised to see her mother was still awake. She had been so tired that Samantha had expected her to have fallen asleep in her chair. She also noticed that her father looked as if he had not moved at all.

Elizabeth jumped when Samantha quietly called out to her, and when her mother turned to look at her, she saw the dark circles under her blue eyes.

"Has he woken up?" Samantha asked, stepping closer.

Elizabeth shook her head, because she did not trust herself to be able to say that no, he hadn't even moved.

"Did you get some sleep?" she asked after clearing her throat. Her voice still came out slightly hoarse.

"I did," Samantha replied quietly. "And now you need to go and do the same."

Her mother shook her head immediately. "No," she responded quickly. "No. I can't leave him."

"Mum," she sighed. "You're not doing him any good running yourself down like this. He doesn't look like he's going to wake up anytime soon. Go get some sleep so you'll be more awake when he wakes up. You promised you would."

Despite herself, her mother gave her a small smile. "I did, didn't I? Did your uncle ever make it home?"

She nodded. "I heard him come in. He and Adrien are probably still in bed. Go home for a bit; Adrien will bring you back later."

"Alright."

Before she stood, Elizabeth brushed her lips over Brennan's cheek. Samantha waited until she had made her way out of the room before sinking down into the chair, taking her mother's place at her father's bedside. She wondered if he would wake up before the end of the day.

She did not know how long she sat there; she did not keep track of the time. But she had to have been there for at least an hour, perhaps longer, before the door opened. She looked up, expecting her brother, uncle, or perhaps even her mother unable to stay away, but she was surprised to find Sirius standing in the doorway with a hesitant smile. She knew he had told her he would be back, but she hadn't thought that he would actually do it.

"How is he?" Sirius asked, stepping into the room, closing the door behind him.

Samantha shrugged, glancing at her father. "No change," she replied. Sirius did not miss the worry in her voice.

"But that's a good thing," Sirius told her. "The healer said that as long as he was sleeping, he was healing."

At that, she managed to give him a small smile. "I suppose you're right."

With his hands stuffed in his pockets, Sirius stepped closer to her.

"Do you mind if I kept you company for a bit?" he asked her, not wanting to stay without her expressed permission in case she had been hoping for some time alone.

"Not at all," she said with a shake of her head. "No one will be around for a while. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to."

With a grin, Sirius headed toward the couch that was placed along the wall behind where Samantha sat at her father's bedside. She turned the chair slightly so that she could better talk to him, propping her right foot on the edge of the chair, resting her chin upon her knee.

"Does James know you're here this time?" she asked him as he seated himself on the sofa.

He leaned towards her, propping his elbows up on his knees. "He does," Sirius replied. "Said he'd come by later, actually. I thought he might insist on coming with me, but I think he was too excited that the two of us are speaking to want to tag along."

Samantha let out a soft laugh, crossing her legs, smoothing out the bottom of her shirt. "He can be a bit enthusiastic, can't he? Lily told me just the other day how nice it is to have a break from his harassment."

"She may get a break. I still have to hear him whine about missing her every day."

"I think she may be softening up to him a bit," she told him, leaning forward slightly and lowering her voice as if she were sharing a secret with him.

"Really?" His voice was skeptical, an eyebrow raised.

"She doesn't get as offended when he talks to her. And, that lily he gave her for her birthday? It's pressed between two pages of her Charms textbook."

She hadn't thought it possible, but his eyebrows rose even higher at that. "Really now?" The corner of his lips tilted up, and he blinked his eyes several times. "Perhaps he's not as mental as we thought."

"Oh, no, he's definitely as mental as we thought," Samantha disagreed with a shake of her head. "It just seems that Lily is who we underestimated."

Sirius agreed with her with his barking laugh.

A comfortable silence fell between them not long after. She had slept well when she had finally fallen asleep, but she hadn't slept for very long, and sitting here not doing much of anything was causing her eyes to grow heavy and begin to burn from exhaustion. She alternated between watching her father sleep and watching Sirius out of the corner of her eye.

He seemed lost in thought, his gaze alternating between being glued to the far wall or to the floor beneath his feet. Several times, she wondered what was on his mind. She didn't know what he was thinking, but she knew that even if she was thinking of something else, she was constantly aware of his presence in the room, aware of the fact that they had not been this close to each other in a long time.

Eventually she sighed heavily, pulling her feet into the chair, lying her cheek on her knees, her arms hugging her legs.

"Is it a terrible thing that I sometimes wonder what my life would be like if I had been born in a different family?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him jump in surprise at the sudden break in silence before turning his gaze to her.

"Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to belong to a family who's not involved in the war," she continued, her voice soft. "Perhaps one far from here, one who doesn't even know what's going on." She lifted her head, and her blue eyes latched on to his grey ones. "Does that make me a terrible person?"

"No." He shook his head immediately, his voice firm. "That makes you a normal person. You live your life in constant fear that something will go wrong because you know how easily it can go wrong. It's understandable that you would wonder how your life could be different."

She gazed at him uncertainly, shifting in her chair slightly. "Do you ever wonder?"

"All the time," he replied. "I wonder what my childhood would have been like if I had been raised by loving parents. But at the same time," he paused, as if gathering his thoughts, "They showed me the type of person that I never want to become, and they made me all the more determined to not be like them."

Samantha gave him a small smile, and opened her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted by the sound of clapping, and their gazes jerked to the doorway in surprise, neither one of them having noticed the door opening.

"That was a touching speech, Sirius. Tell me, is that how you lure them all into your bed or is she special? Goodness knows it would work."

Sirius was immediately on his feet, his eyes flashing angrily at the man who stood in the doorway. He gazed around the room with cold grey eyes, and his pale blond hair was pulled back out of his face. His pale face was pointed, and when his gaze landed on her, Samantha shivered. Power radiated off of the man, but what struck her the most was the underlying evil she sensed. She had never met him in person, but she had heard her father speak of Lucius Malfoy enough to know that this man was a threat.

Slowly, she rose to her feet, and a smile that did not reach his eyes stretched across his lips. He stepped further into the room, and extended his hand towards her.

"Samantha Dawson, I presume? We've not met but I've heard plenty about you. Lucius Malfoy."

She stared at the hand, not sure whether or not to shake it. Sirius decided for her when he stepped between them, his arm brushing hers and his eyes narrowed at Lucius, and if looks could kill, Samantha knew he would be dead ten times over.

Malfoy did not seem fazed by Sirius and retracted his hand, shifting his attention to the boy who was glaring hatefully at him.

"You're looking well, Sirius," Malfoy observed. "It seems as if those blood traitors you abandoned your family for are treating you well."

"They are better people than my so called family will ever be," Sirius ground out between clenched teeth.

Malfoy made some sort of noise in the back of his throat that could have been amusement. His grey eyes flickered to Samantha briefly, and a smirk tilted the corners of his lips.

"Narcissa tells me that you had your mother fretting over the fact that her disgraceful son was dating a blood traitor for a short amount of time. In my opinion, it's a shame that it did not work out. Her family's views may be twisted and obscured, but she is of pure blood, and from one of the old families. You could have done much worse."

Samantha's lips parted slightly in surprise. She knew of certain family's views on blood status, but never had she heard something so personal to her as a past relationship spoken about as if it was her blood that had been the important part of the relationship.

She could tell by the way Sirius stiffened that he did not approve of Lucius's comments.

"What are you doing here, Lucius?" he snarled.

Malfoy ignored Sirius's hostile tone, and for the first time since he stepped into the room, his eyes fell on Brennan, still asleep in his bed.

"I heard about what happened and wished to see if he would be alright."

Sirius snorted. "More like you wanted to see if you and your….friends had managed to finally finish him off."

It was Samantha's turn to stiffen. The words had slipped from this tongue without a thought, and he did not think of how they would affect Samantha until he felt her stiffen beside him. Silently, he cursed himself, and slipped his hand back to gently grasp her hand, squeezing it in both comfort and apology. He knew she did not think terrible of him when she squeezed back. He did not let go of her hand as Lucius shook his head at him.

"Really now, Sirius. There's no need for such talk. I was merely concerned." There was a falseness to his voice that gave away to the both of them that he was not being truthful, but he really did not seem too concerned about hiding it.

Sirius scoffed. "And why should I believe that?"

"We're related somewhere down the line, though I cannot quite remember how," Lucius replied. "And family is family, no matter how distant."

"Don't you talk about family as if you give a damn that he's going to be alright," Sirius roared, finally losing his patience. He released Samantha's hand to step closer to Lucius, his eyes black with anger. "Don't talk about family as if you and your fellow Death Eaters aren't the ones behind the reason the rest of her family is dead or the reason why they have to live in constant alert in case there's an attack."

His voice got louder and louder as he went, and Samantha was surprised that healers had not yet shown up to tell them to keep it down. She wondered if they weren't because they knew who was currently in the room. She certainly wouldn't blame them.

Despite the discomfort she felt at moving so close to Lucius Malfoy, she stepped up to Sirius, and grasped his hand in both of hers, pulling his arm slightly to catch his attention.

"Sirius, please," she said softly. She appreciated what he was doing, she really did, but she did not want to hear anymore, nor did she want a fight to start.

Sirius took a small step backwards, but he did not lessen the glare on his face or the warning in his eyes.

"Yes, Sirius, please." Lucius's voice was steady, slightly condescending, and there was an underlying tone of amusement. "No need to become so angry. How can you lecture me on family when you've abandoned yours? A bit hypocritical if you ask me."

A growl sounded from deep in Sirius's throat, but before he could retort, the door opened behind Malfoy, and Samantha was glad when it was her brother and mother who stepped through the door, though they stopped short in surprise when they found what lie on the other side.

It was as if the past several minutes had not happened when Lucius plastered a smile upon his face, though it once again did not reach his eyes, and turned to greet them.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Elizabeth," he said as he grasped her hand.

"It's a pleasure to see you, too, Lucius," Elizabeth replied, though her smile was wary. "What brings you to St. Mungo's?"

"I heard what happened," Malfoy replied easily, casting a quick glance to Brennan in his bed. "I felt the need to come by myself to see if he was alright."

A brief anger flashed through Adrien's eyes at that statement, but he managed to keep his face neutral as he shook Malfoy's hand.

"I've had a pleasant chat with your daughter this morning," Lucius informed Elizabeth, turning and giving Samantha a small wink. Sirius bristled. "But I ought to be going. I don't want to intrude."

Elizabeth nodded, still wearing her cautious smile. "Of course. Thank you for stopping by."

Lucius nodded, and Adrien moved aside to allow him to pass. In the doorway, the blond man paused, and turned back to glance around the occupants of the room.

"I do hope you'll tell him to be more careful next time. I fear his luck may be running out." He smiled again, and nodded. "Have a wonderful afternoon."

For a long moment after the door closed behind him, a silence filled the room. It was broken when Adrien began to angrily rant about the nerve of Lucius Malfoy. With a small shake of her head, Elizabeth moved to sit at her husband's bedside, not missing that he had not moved at all since he had left. Sirius turned to Samantha, rubbing his hand down her arm comfortingly, asking her if she wanted to go on a short walk. She nodded and allowed him to lead her from the room, wondering if her family would continue to ignore the threat Lucius Malfoy had spoken, or if they were simply waiting for her to no longer be around to hear.

The afternoon passed slowly. While Samantha and Sirius strolled slowly through the halls of St. Mungo's, Sirius attempted to distract her from everything by telling her just how displeased James was when he found out Sirius had gone to the hospital the night before without him. He had managed to make her smile, and that was all that he had wanted.

James had found them when they had decided to return to the room, and he had hugged Samantha tightly to him and asked if her father was going to be alright. She told him yes and thanked him for coming before slipping back inside the room. Sirius and James hung back to allow her a few minutes with her family, and Sirius told James of the morning's events. James's eyes had darkened in anger, his jaw clenched tightly, but he had not said anything when they joined Samantha and her family. They hadn't stayed much longer, and before they left, they made Samantha promise to let them know when her father woke up.

Not many people came and went from the room that afternoon. A healer –a different one from the night before- would stop by occasionally to check on Brennan, who still had not moved. A nurse came in a couple of times to see if they wanted anything, but they never did. Lily came by briefly late in the afternoon. She insisted Samantha get out of the room for a few minutes, so she took another walk. Lily did most of the talking, telling her about her summer, telling her how Petunia had moved to London and gotten a job.

After Lily left, Samantha had returned to her spot on the sofa, where she had sat all day beside her brother. Elizabeth had not left her husband's side

It was nearing the early morning hours when Samantha began to realize how tired she was. As the minutes continued to drag on, she found herself beginning to lean against Adrien, who had brought reports Moody had wanted all of the trainees to study and had been reading them for the past few hours. She felt herself moving closer and closer to sleep, and Adrien shifted his shoulder slightly to make her more comfortable just as she drifted off.

When another had passed, Elizabeth was the only one still awake. Adrien's head had shifted to the side to rest against Samantha's, the reports he had been reading still resting in his loose grip. Elizabeth was watching her children sleep with a small smile on her face. That was when she heard the rustling, and her head instantly swung around.

Brennan was shifting on the bed. His arms moved slightly, as did his legs, and his head slowly turned from side to side. Elizabeth's breath hitched, and she moved her hand to brush against her husband's cheek. He moved into her touch, and she could see his eyes moving beneath his lids.

It took several minutes of struggling before he was able to slowly pry his eyes open. When his brown eyes finally met hers, she brought a hand up to cover a watery smile. She leaned down and gently wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing a kiss to his cheek. With a bit of struggling, Brennan lifted his arms to rest his hands on her back. They stayed that way for a long moment before Elizabeth pulled back, still smiling in relief.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him softly, running a hand over his head.

His eyes closed briefly at her touch. "A little stiff," he replied hoarsely. "How long have I been here?"

"A little over twenty-four hours," she told him. "You've had your children very worried."

"Are they here?"

"Of course."

She turned to look at the sleeping form of Adrien and Samantha. Brennan stiffly turned his head to follow her gaze, and smiled when he caught sight of them.

"They'll be happy to know that you've woken up, but they will be disappointed they missed it."

He managed a soft chuckle. "I'm sure they'll survive. They'll see enough of me to make up for that."

His eyes grew heavy then, and Elizabeth could see the battle he was having to keep them open.

"Go back to sleep," she told him, running her hand over his head once again, giving him a small smile. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Brennan glanced over at his children one more time. "Make them go home," he told his wife softly. "So they can get proper sleep. I'm going to be fine. They're going to have to try harder if they want to get rid of me."

Despite herself, Elizabeth's smile grew a little, and she nodded. Brennan finally succumbed to sleep, allowing his eyes to slide closed. It did not take long before his breathing was deep with sleep. Elizabeth sighed and leaned back in her chair, unable to help the relief that flooded through her that her husband had finally woken up.

The door to the room opened then, and she glanced up to see who it was. When she saw it was her brother, she was on her feet immediately, and a few quick strides allowed her to be wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Thank Merlin you're alright," she breathed despite the fact that she had seen him early that morning when she had gone home to sleep. "I don't think I could have handled it something had happened to the both of you."

Christopher rubbed her back comfortingly as he looked over her head at Brennan.

"Sorry I couldn't make it over sooner," he murmured. "I had to go to headquarters, tie up some loose ends and do some paperwork. Has he woken up yet?"

She nodded as they pulled apart. "He's just gone back to sleep. But he's going to be alright."

He nodded with a smile. "I figured as much. He's tough; it's going to take more than a few spells to take him down." He paused to rub his hand down her arm. "Are you going to stay here tonight?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I don't think I can bear to leave him. I want to be here when he wakes up again. But," she glanced towards her children, "I promised him I'd make them go home and get some sleep. Do you think…"

"I'll take care of it," he assured her. "I'll take them home and make sure they go to bed. Moody'll probably want Adrien to come to headquarters tomorrow anyway, so he'll need the rest."

Elizabeth gave him a grateful smile, and watched as her brother moved across the room. He shook Adrien's shoulder, which in return roused Samantha. He whispered something to them, and she did not know if it was exhaustion or learning of their father waking up, but they made no arguments as they clambered to their feet, Christopher gently grasping Samantha's arms to support her as she seemed to be only be partially awake.

She watched the three of them slowly make their way out of the room before moving to sit back down, this time on the sofa so she would be more comfortable, not minding the small distance away from her husband since he had now woken up. As she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, she could not help thinking about when he would be back in their bed so that she could curl into this side and take comfort from being so close to him.

Brennan was kept in St. Mungo's for two more days before he was released with strict instructions to take it easy for the next week, which meant he was confined at home. He didn't particularly mind. He was able to spend more time with his family in that time than he had been able to all summer. He took some time to spend with only Samantha as she would be returning to school in another month, and then he would not see her again until Christmas.

The week he was home went by fast. Tabitha returned home halfway through. She had wanted to return right away when she had heard what had happened, but Christopher had assured her that Brennan was just fine and had told her to stay and enjoy the time she had.

Brennan returned to work as soon as his week was up, though he still took it easy and sat out of any combat that he could to keep his family, still tense after the close call, at ease. But it was not long before things were back to normal, and it felt as if the attack had not happened.

"Once you get the hang of it, it comes as second nature."

Samantha nodded with a determined expression, and attempted the complicated movement of her wand that went along with a just as complicated incantation. Adrien was reclining on the floor, watching with a bored expression as Nichole schooled his sister through several basic healing spells. Samantha had been curled up in her room with a book when Adrien and Nichole, who had come over for dinner, had come in, and now the three of them were seated in a circle on the floor.

"It'll also be easier once you have an actual injury to work with," Nichole continued.

At that Samantha shot a quick glance towards her brother. Adrien did not miss the glance and scowled deeply.

"Don't even think about it," he drawled at her lazily. "I'm not becoming some sort of experiment for you to learn spells with."

"I was thinking no such thing," Samantha retorted, her voice offended.

Adrien snorted. "Right. I saw that look you gave me. If you had your way, you'd slice me open so that you could practice healing."

"Actually," Nichole spoke up, "This spell is for healing severe burns."

"Well, you can't throw me into the fireplace either."

"I would do nothing of the sort," Samantha replied indignantly. "There wouldn't be any need for me to. You're so clumsy, I just need to wait until you hurt yourself."

"Clumsy? Me?" Adrien scoffed. "Not likely."

Nichole cleared her throat. "What about a few months ago when you visited me at work and knocked over an entire cart of potions?"

Adrien made some sort of choking sound and Samantha broke into a fit of giggles. At the dirty look Adrien gave her, Nichole covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh of her own.

"I went all those months without her finding out about that," Adrien grumbled. "And now I'll never hear the end of it."

"You most certainly will not," Samantha told him when she was able to quiet her giggles. "I can't believe you did that."

Nichole leaned towards her, a grin on her face. "They told me to keep him away from anything liquid if he ever came again. But he hasn't. He was too embarrassed."

Samantha began to laugh again, and as Adrien began to mumble under his breath, Nichole reached over and squeezed his leg, but she was trying to keep from laughing herself.

They continued to talk, not having much else to do. It was a Friday night, and neither Adrien or Nichole had to work the next day. Samantha, still stuck at home all of the time, needed the entertainment.

They fell silent as the night became late. Samantha eventually picked herself off of the floor and moved to her bed, lying on her back so that her head just barely hung over the foot of the bed, her gaze on the ceiling. Nichole stretched out beside Adrien, resting her head on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her.

"I got a letter from James earlier." Samantha was the one to break the silence, when she remembered something that had slipped her mind. "You won't believe what's happened."

"He finally got Lily Evans to say yes to him?" Adrien guessed passively, his attention mostly focused on the girl who was lying against him. Her eyes were closed, and he could not tell if she had fallen asleep or not.

A small smile tugged at Samantha's lips. "No, but now that this has happened, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he managed that, too."

Adrien frowned, and if Nichole had not been falling asleep on his shoulder, he would have pushed himself up to better look at his sister.

"What in Merlin's name happened?"

"Dumbledore made him Head Boy."

"What?"

His loud exclamation caused Nichole to jerk in surprise, and he squeezed her shoulder in apology.

"Is Dumbledore mental?" he continued in a softer voice. "James Potter Head Boy?"

"That was my reaction," Samantha replied dryly. "I'm not sure what Dumbledore was thinking. James isn't exactly the model student. I thought for sure Remus would get it."

"Well, Dumbledore's got his reasons. He knows what he's doing."

"I suppose," she mused with a shrug. "But you haven't heard the best part. Lily's Head Girl."

At that, Adrien chuckled.

"It sounds like Lily's going to have an interesting year," Nichole spoke up.

"Does James know?" Adrien questioned.

"No," was Samantha's reply. "I didn't mention it when I replied to him. And I won't mention it to Lily either. It will make when they find out more amusing."

"You're a terrible person."

"You say that like you wouldn't have done the same thing."

"He would have," Nichole spoke up for Adrien, nudging him with her shoulder. "And I'll bet he'll want to take you to King's Cross in hopes that he'll see them find out."

Adrien made no attempts to defend himself.

They fell into silence, but this time it was short lived. From downstairs came the sound of the front door opening and closing, and a moment later, they heard footsteps slowly ascending the stairs. Adrien sighed.

"Dad's home," he murmured.

He felt Nichole shake her head. "The injury didn't slow him down for long, did it?"

"Only as long as necessary," he replied.

"Tomorrow's Saturday," she said softly. "Will he take the weekend off?"

Adrien sighed again. "He'll try. But Death Eaters don't always take weekends off. If something happens, he's got to go." He frowned when he suddenly realized his sister had been being very quiet. "Sam?"

When she did not reply, Nichole pushed herself into a sitting position to glance at the bed.

"She's asleep," she told Adrien quietly. "Which makes me realize how late it is. I should probably go home. It was a long day at work today."

Adrien nodded, and they pushed themselves to their feet.

"Wait out in the hall," Adrien told her as she made her way to the door. "I'll come walk you downstairs in a minute."

He turned to the bed, and reached down to shake his sister's shoulder gently.

"Kiwi, wake up. At least turn the right way."

Her eyes slid opened, and she gazed at him sleepily for a moment before she pushed herself up.

"Did dad come home?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Just a few minutes ago," he replied. "Go back to sleep. I've got to see Nichole home. I'll see you in the morning."

She nodded, and watching him stride from the room before crawling to the head of the bed, falling onto her pillows. It was only a moment until she was once again asleep.

End Chapter