Disclaimer: I own no one and nothing from the wonderful world of Harry Potter because that all belongs to the brilliant JK Rowling! Sadly, though, because I do believe Sirius Black is entirely too wonderful!

I honestly don't know where to begin. I cannot thank everyone enough for their incredible support on this insane journey that I'm on. The reviews continue to amaze me, so thank you so, so much for those! To those of you who have added this stories to their alerts or to their favorites, a big thanks to you as well because I know you all are keeping an eye on this as well! And lastly but certainly not least, to those of you who have added me to their favorite authors, I'm awestruck, thank you so, so much! Since I was a little kid I've dreamed of being a writer, and you all are just making it even more tangible for me.

I never would have thought that Maruder Meets Girl would have reached thirty-six chapters, not to mention the amount that I plan on continuing to write. I love this story, there's no doubt about it, and the fact that everyone actually likes it, makes me feel like I am doing something right, so thank you. I have big plans for this story, so the ride is only just beginning!

I think some of you might be mad at me after this chapter but it's just how it had to happen I think! Please, please don't be mad! I swear it will all make sense later and will continue to tie in more events in the future, I promise!

So, here is chapter 36, I hope you all enjoy it! Please excuse any errors!

Many thanks!

-Yani :)

Chapter Thirty-Six

The final few days leading up to going to Spain, were, although fun, very, very slow for me. I just wanted to meet Juan and his family. I wanted them to know that they had more family, that the Paredes name hadn't just gone out with them. I was so bloody excited that I could barely eat or sleep for days, which bothered Sirius to no end because he threatened to not take me if I didn't force something in to my stomach.

Christmas day was spent at Sirius's home with Lily, James, Remus, Zoe, the Potters, and myself. We all exchanged gifts there and had a massive feast that Mrs. Potter and Lily prepared. Sirius had given me another charm to add to my bracelet which was beginning to weigh down my wrist, but nevertheless, I loved it entirely too much. He gave me a little charm that was in the shape of Spain, it just added to the mixture of things I was representing on my wrist.

I had told the Potters that I had figured out my entire background concerning my father and they were very pleased to know that I was finally completely in the know regarding my family and my powers. They told me that they had heard of the Paredes family many times but believed it to be extinguished, they didn't know there was still a survivor aside form myself.

The morning of the twenty-six, I woke up exceptionally early. I couldn't sleep knowing what my plans for that day were. I rolled over in the bed and looked at Sirius who was completely out cold after having a firewhiskey drinking competition with James, probably not the best idea when he and I were going to be traveling today, but he and James insisted on it. Needless to say, Sirius beat James. Lily was a little disappointed to know her boyfriend was a lightweight in comparison to my boyfriend who could probably bathe himself in firewhiskey if he wanted to.

I kissed his forehead softly, and then shot of bed, running to the shower. I bathed quickly, not wanting to waste any of my time and got dressed. When I exited the washroom, I saw that Sirius was still asleep. I figured that I could cook, Lily, James, Sirius, and I breakfast in the mean time while I let him slept just a little bit longer.

I skipped downstairs and saw that Lily had already started on breakfast.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing awake so early?"

She looked at me, and gave me a small smile. "I couldn't sleep."

I frowned, sitting down on the counter next to her, swinging my legs back and forth. "How come? James's snoring keep you up?"

She rolled her eyes at me. "No, I'm worried, Elaine."

I scrunched my nose. "Worried about what?"

"You."

I gave her a strange look. "Me? Why are you worried about me? You're always worried about me these days. Aside from the usual, of course, you know, Voldemort after me and Death Eaters trying to capture me and take them to their leader," I joked easily, trying to make light of the situation.

She sighed. "That's not funny, Elaine, and you know it isn't. Do you really want to know why I'm worried or are you going to continue to make fun of me for worrying about my best friend?"

I frowned. "Sorry. What's wrong, Lils?"

She focused on the task at hand for a moment before turning to put all of her attention on me. "Elaine, you and Sirius are going to a foreign country to meet a man who you are very loosely related to. That doesn't scare you or freak you out? What if this guy just turns you away, or worse, curses you or is a Death Eater or whatever? What if he doesn't want his family to be found? Have you at all thought about the possible consequences of this? You could end up hurt, or Sirius could as well."

I bit my lip. To be honest, I hadn't really thought of what could really go wrong. I had been so eager to just meet him, to know him, that I didn't really think about how things were going to turn out when I knocked on his door. As terrible as it sounded, I really hadn't thought of it. "No, I haven't. Lily, I don't think the guy is a Death Eater, I mean, he lives in Spain, they don't really condone those kinds of things over there, remember? We learned about all of this in History of Magic."

She nodded. "I know that, I thought that too. But if you believed in someone so fully, so wholly, what could stop you from doing their bidding? People do these things in secret these days, anyways."

I shook my head. "He's not a Death Eater, okay? He's my family."

She let out a long breath. "This is why you and Sirius are perfect together, you're both the most stubborn arses I've ever met. Just be safe today, okay?"

I nodded. "Would I ever be anything less?"

She and I worked on breakfast for a while longer before going upstairs to wake up our boys. When I opened up my bedroom door, I saw that Sirius was getting dressed.

"Hey, booger, breakfast is ready," I said to him softly.

He looked at me, a small smile playing on his lips. "Are you excited for today?"

I smiled. "Of course. Lily is a little freaked out though."

He made a face. "Why is Evans freaking out? Well, actually, I'd be surprised if she wasn't having some minor meltdown, like she typically does."

I sighed. "She just doesn't know if what we're doing today is a good idea. She's worried that Juan is a Death Eater or something."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't think they have Death Eaters in Spain."

I laughed. "That's what I said."

He stood up, pulling on his long sleeve t-shirt. "We'll be fine. Worse case scenario, you and I apparate out of there like a bat out of hell."

I sighed. "Okay, so long as we have a good plan." I grabbed my leather jacket, the one Lily had given me-which Sirius adored, he had even made me wear it in bed once-and had gone to good use on late nights when Sirius wanted to go for a ride, and put it on.

He gave me a cheeky grin. "That jacket is so sexy on you. Do we have time to-"

I cut him off. "Usually, I would throw you back on to the bed and have my way with you, may be in this jacket if I was in the right enough mood, but right now, I just want to go to Spain."

He chuckled. "So, you said breakfast is ready?"

"Yes, sir."

He grinned. "Lets go eat then! I'm starving, all of that damn firewhiskey is making me really, really hungry...and since you won't satisfy my current hunger, I'll have to compensate with a mass quantity of breakfast."

I laughed, taking his hand and walking downstairs to the kitchen.

James was already downstairs, stuffing his face, the firewhiskey obviously having had the same effect on him as it did on Sirius.

After breakfast, I packed a little bag with an undetectable extension charm as always to carry just a few things with us in case we needed anything. James let us take his invisibility cloak just in case we would need it.

Sirius and I were standing on our front porch step with the door open, saying quick goodbyes to Lily and James.

I hugged James and then Lily.

"Be careful, you two. Okay? Sirius, bring her back to me in one piece, do you understand?" Lily said to us and then looking at Sirius, a stern expression on her face.

James clapped Sirius on the back. "I know you'll be fine, mate."

Sirius nodded, grasping my hand tightly in his. "Don't worry Evans, I won't let anything happen to her."

I smiled, reaching up to kiss his cheek. I looked at Lily, complete seriousness masking my face. "I expect dinner to be ready by the time we come back, got it?"

She, James, and Sirius laughed.

"Ready, lovely?" Sirius asked me.

I nodded. "Lets go, booger."

He rolled his eyes at the nickname but held on to my hand tightly to do side-along apparition. The ability to apparate was hard enough, but doing it in farther distances was nearly impossible unless the witch or wizard had more than adept skills at concentration. Luckily, Sirius had become exceptionally talented at apparition. In seconds, I was somewhere new. We were in an alley it looked like, and it was mid-morning, I think an hour ahead of London time.

Sirius put an arm around me protectively and led us out on to a busy street. From the looks of it, we were in the center of Madrid. There were cafes everywhere surrounding a massive plaza where there were children running around chasing pigeons.

To be honest, it was beautiful.

I looked up at Sirius excitedly. "Where to, booger?"

He reached down and kissed me quickly. "This way."

He led me down some intricate streets, and even though I should have been more focused on the task at hand, I couldn't help but focus on the beauty that surrounded me. The buildings, streets, cafes, everything was stunning.

"You know, this is the first time I've ever been in a foreign country," I said excitedly as we began to talk through another street, this one lined with balconies upon balconies for flats.

He chuckled. "I used to go to France every Summer with my parents and Regulus. That's how I learned how to speak French."

I nodded. "I love it when you speak French."

He winked at me.

We continued walking farther down the street, finally stopping before the smallest apartment building there. It looked like it was squeezed tightly in between two other monstrous walls, but it looked cozier than others, and much, much older.

"This is a house, isn't it? They just reconstructed around it?"

He gave a quick nod. "It's ancient, but the Paredes wouldn't let them tear it down, it had been in the family for generations."

We walked to the front door and I saw that it was already open. I motioned to walk inside but Sirius shook his head, holding me back.

What is it? I sent to him.

His voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "I don't like this. Look at the handle."

My eyes lowered to the door handle and it looked like it had been burned off. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.

"Get your wand out," he said urgently.

I took out my wand, even though I didn't really have to, and he pushed open the door with his foot, slowly and cautiously, walking in before me.

We weren't alone, there were about five wizards in there, people I had never recognized. They were taking pictures, scanning the room with their wands, and inspecting every inch of it.

My jaw clenched and I gripped on to Sirius's hand tightly.

"Quines son ustedes?" An older wizard asked, the one standing over something in the sunken in living room that was off to the right of the entrance.

Sirius spoke without hesitation. "English, por favor?"

The old wizard's nostrils flared. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Sirius held on to my hand tighter than ever. "My girlfriend is visiting her family. Where are the Paredes?"

The older man, whose hair was as white as white could get and his skin looked like it was literally sagging off of his face, gave me a somber, almost regretful expression. "You are Elaine Prescott, no?"

I gulped, not moving from my place. "Y-yes."

He sighed, walked over to us, and handed me a piece of parchment, and then looked at Sirius. "She shouldn't be here to see this."

I blinked. "See what? What's going on?"

He shook his head. "If you want, you can look."

Sirius put an arm around me.

I had a feeling that he already knew what happened.

We walked over to where they were in the living room, and I paled instantly, all the bloody seeping out of my face and going straight to my feet, rooting me right in to place once more. There was Juan Paredes. He was lying face down on the floor, blood had been spilled all about him, deep gash marks covering him. The blood was an odd color, probably having been there for days.

I turned quickly in to Sirius's chest, my breathing hard.

"What happened?" Sirius asked the older man.

"He, his wife, and children were all murdered. They are all scattered around the house with wounds like these."

"Who did this?"

My face was pressed firmly in to Sirius's chest, while one of my hands held on to the parchment tightly.

The wizard sighed. "Death Eaters. Times like this, the war reaches even us in Spain."

Sirius nodded. "Elaine, I'm taking you home."

I said nothing, but he held on to me tightly.

Sirius disapparated, sending us right back home and in to the entry hall. He pushed me further in, leading me past an anxious Lily and James, and right up the stairs to our room.

He gave me a worried look when we got in.

I dropped the bloody letter, walked straight in to the bathroom, and began to violently wretch in to the porcelain bowl.

Half an hour later, I emerged from the bathroom. My hair was pulled back in a messy bun, completely out of my face. I walked over to where Sirius was sitting and took the seat next to him in our room, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my head atop then.

"They're dead. I had this little glimmer, just one tiny hope, that I could meet members of my family. Just to know him would have been enough, but I couldn't even get that. This is all so fucked up, Sirius," I said, my sentences scattered, sounding broken and in pieces.

His jaw clenched. "Elaine, I don't even know what to say. I am so sorry."

I shook my head. "Everyone is dying around me-and it's all because of me! First Ella, then my Dad and Erin. Charlie and Kendra, and now Juan and his family!"

He got off his chair and sat down in front of me, grabbing my free hand. "None of this is your fault, do you understand? How can you even think that?"

I shook my head again. "How can I not, Sirius?"

His breathing was hard. "Whatever is happening is not your fault and I don't want to hear you talking like that again, understood?"

It was like I wasn't even listening to him. I motioned to get up but he sat me back down.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving."

"You're not going anywhere."

"Yes, I am."

"I won't let you."

"I'm leaving to protect you, you idiot! I'm leaving so that you, Lily, James, Remus, and Zoe can all survive! You five are the only people I have left. I'm being selfish staying here with you! I'm endangering your lives! I can't be with you, Sirius, I'll get you killed," I said hastily.

He stood up, grabbing my face in between his large hands. "I'm not letting you go anywhere. I love you so fucking much, Elaine. If you left I'd probably go off the fucking deep end. I'm not going to let you die just like you're not going to let me die, okay? We promised that to each other, Elaine. You're out of your fucking mind if you think us being separated is good for us, because us being apart is more likely to kill us. I never want to hear you talking shit like that again."

I hadn't noticed I was crying, but, I hadn't noticed he was either. He wasn't sobbing or anything, but a single tear, a lone tear, slid down his left cheek.

I reached a hand to his beautiful, solemn face, and wiped it away. "I don't want to lose you."

He pulled me up from the chair, hugging me tightly to him, as if the world depended on it. "You're not going to, just like I'm not going to lose you. Fuck this stupid war, Elaine. It's just you and me, okay? That's the only thing that either of us should be worried about."

I breathed in against his chest, taking in his scent. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down.

We stood there in silence for what felt like forever. It was comfortable, safe, normal. Just being held made me feel better, not completely whole, but much, much better than I was feeling before. Sirius was right though, he and I apart would kill us before any bloody Death Eater or fucking Voldemort.

He pulled away, sitting me back down on the chair. He went over to the bed to get something, shuffled back, and handed me the parchment the wizard had given me back in Spain. "I didn't read it, or anything. But, the guy knew who you were. I think that Juan knew who you were too, it's addressed to you."

I took the parchment, and very shakily opened it. "I'll read it out loud?"

He nodded. "If you can."

I blinked and took a breath before reading it.

"Dear Elaine Paredes,

I know the letter is addressed to Prescott, but if you possess this letter than I am confident that you know of your true heritage. I am Juan Paredes, your cousin of sorts, distant now because of all of the separation our family has endured. I live in Madrid where our family originally comes from and I have a wife and children. They wish to meet you just like I do.

I am sending this letter because I want you to know something. The Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, You-Know-Who or whatever he is being called these days, is after you, dear cousin. He is after you because he knows of the weapons you possess. Yes, I know that you have inherited Francisco's powers. I spoke to you father briefly, just before he passed, and he told me you were exhibiting certain magical abilities, only which I could think to explain as the same ones Francisco possessed. Despite the problem that is brewing, you are most certainly blessed.

The Dark Lord knows of your weapons from not only our side, but of your true mother's side as well. How he has come to know of all of these things is beyond me, but nevertheless. You are an outstandingly powerful young lady, Elaine. I don't even know you yet, but I know that already. Your father used to speak of you like you were the world, and Ella, well Ella loved you to the moon and back.

Be not ashamed of where you come from, dear one. Although problems may seem to be knocking at your very doorstep wherever you turn these days, but like I said before, you are blessed. You are truly a Paredes and a Heron, the mixture of two pure wizarding families, some of the strongest and most feared in ancient times.

Another reason for my letter is that, my family is being watched. I am trying my best to protect them as best as I can, but they know the Paredes name, and if they can end the line with us, they will. I do not fear them, Francisco feared no one. But, in any case, should anything happen to me and my wife, I leave my children in your care. I know that is a lot to ask, but you are the only family they would have. Secondly, should anything happen to all of us, I leave you the Paredes fortune and not only my home, but the Paredes estate which is off the coast of the northern end of Spain, you can find it by solely looking it up. All of these indications are in my will.

I wish you luck, cousin. I know you will do great things.

All my love, one Paredes to another,

Juan Paredes"

I blinked, relieved that I wasn't crying again. "Wow."

Sirius looked at me strangely. "Yeah, wow."

"I am so fucked."

Sirius gave a dark chuckle. "We can handle it."

I nodded, feeling more confident because of my cousin's words. "Yes, I think we can."

He grabbed my hand in his. "Everything is going to be okay, Elaine. I swear. When all of this is done, if you want, you and I can take a year off, just you and me, and we'll go to Spain and live there. We can go to that estate or Juan's home, whatever you want."

I nodded once more, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, a year off. That would be amazing."

He kissed my hand. "I love you and we'll be okay."

I told him I loved him as well, a small smile on my lips. I believed him though, we would be okay, so long as we protected one another, and never broke our promises.

A/N: I would just like to thank everyone one more time for their amazing support! So, to NymphadoraLupin98, Ssjstar86, Luli Cullen, SlightlyCrazy, xxvisuallkeii, The Shadow King, Zoexclaire ,circular-illumination, LyssaLoo62, Nameless Fable, miZaru667, twinemma26, LoveTheCrazy, Nizuna Fujieda, WordVortex74, CatAnne78, boblovespotter, belleslvtr1867, untamed00notbroken, Stargazer2000, TWHATT18, slavexrose, likepurpleteal, lflem123, LOL, pourquoibella, PrincessDripDrop, Fauxnadian, thebritishone, Padfootforever1996, Little Flipendo, MorganEmma29, Helmi, rainbowpop., Natalia Danielle, LostCurrency, mykk47, Stephanie, corbsxx, and c0urtshipdating. The reviews honestly just make me want to write constantly and make this story as good as I possibly can!

If I am forgetting anyone, I am so, so sorry! Just tell me and I'll fix it straight away! You all are amazing!

Also, CatAnne78 (Catherine), has a wonderful James S. Potter/OC story called Since Forever, that everyone is bound to love! It's very well written and has a wonderful story line, so please, check it out! She recently updated and it was fantastic! I honestly havenever laughed so hard at a chapter in my entire life. I can't even explain how much I love it! I like gush with love every time I read it lol! Plus, her OC and James S. Potter are just too, too cute! Check it out, I know you want to! :D

I'd also like to extend a special thanks to Lyssi (WordVortex74) for her support on this story! She has given me some tremendous ideas on to where my story is headed! She and I have talked a lot about Elaine and Sirius's future, so I give her a lot of credit for some brilliant ideas! Thank you! :)

I am very excited to continue with this!

So long as everyone wants more, I will continue to write more, I promise.

Thank you again everyone for everything!

-Yani :)