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.

Sorry! I'm finding my inspiration to be coming and going so it's been hard for me to get things done on time. I don't want to promise that I'll have the next chapter up on time, a week from this coming Sunday, but I will try my best. I post updates on my profile if it looks like things are going to be late, so it's always good to check there if you're curious. Enjoy!

Fate

Chapter Thirty Eight

"How have the patrols you've been overseeing going, Alastor?" Dumbledore asked.

"It's a bit of a mix, to be quite honest Albus," the Head Auror answered gruffly. "We haven't run into any trouble yet, but we haven't benefited from it either. We've yet to find out any valuable information from it and I'm beginning to believe we never will. I wanted to see if you thought it was worth continuing."

A thoughtful look crossed Dumbledore's face before he said, "Let us give it one more month. We never know when they'll slip up. In a month we'll decide what to do."

Mad Eye nodded and Dumbledore moved on to another topic. It was the first Order meeting for the month of October. The war was currently at a standstill. There had not been a Death Eater attack in nearly three weeks and the Order had not been able to gain any new information about their enemies. Marlene began to explain how work on the map was going. Right now, they were still researching the past movements of Death Eaters so that the map would be as accurate as possible.

"There's one more matter I wish to discuss before we end the meeting," Dumbledore spoke up when they had deemed they had gone over everything they needed to. "Alastor, Joseph, and myself have long been working on a way for the Order to communicate safely. The floo network is not ideal. It can be watched, and not everyone has a fireplace." Sirius ignored the pointed look Remus shot him. The werewolf had complained that Sirius and Samantha were buying a home without a fireplace, not liking that there was not a way to immediately get ahold of them if the need were to arise.

Dumbledore went on to explain that they had figured out that if done correctly, it was possible to voice a message along with a casted patronus, and send the spell to the witch or wizard of your choice and then they would hear the message. It was a brilliant idea, and most of the Order was eager to learn how to cast the spell.

After, everyone hung back. Dumbledore, Joseph, and Moody taught those who could already produce a patronus how to send a message along with it. Sirius and James were among those who were learning how to cast the spell, having already been taught how to cast a patronus in Auror training. Samantha was across the room speaking with Lily when Sirius's silver eagle soared across the room and, in Sirius's voice, told her how lovely she was, which only earned him a roll of her eyes.

Before everyone left that night, Dumbledore suggested that those who already knew how to produce a patronus should help those that did not. The next few dueling lessons Sirius gave to Samantha focused on teaching her how to cast a patronus. It was a difficult spell for most witches and wizards and she was not an exception. There was no visible improvement at all after their first lesson. But soon she was able to produce a mist. It was nearly two weeks before she succeeded. Sirius had just told her to try one more time before they called it a night so that they could eat dinner; there was a pot of stew slowly cooking on the stove.

She decided to try something new for the day's last attempt. She'd been using memories from her past to try and conjure a patronus. But her past memories had been tainted with the deaths of her family and she was beginning to think perhaps they were not powerful enough. So instead, she found herself concentrating on her future, imagining what her life with Sirius would be like in five years…in ten. It would be happy, she told herself. After everything that had happened, things could only get better.

When a silver figure burst from the tip of her wand, all Sirius could do for a moment was stare. He glanced at Samantha, whose lips were parted in surprise. Then he grinned and wrapped his arm around her waist as her patronus, which greatly resembled his Animagus form, faded away.

"Whenever I wondered what your patronus would be, I didn't quite expect that," he told her.

"Shut up," she muttered, but she was smiling.

It was a good stopping point for the evening, so he suggested that they eat dinner. Samantha was spooning the stew into bowls and Sirius was pouring wine when a knock sounded on their door. Their heads snapped around in surprise. They were not expecting anyone.

Sirius motioned at her with his hand. "Stay here," he told her quietly, sliding his wand out of his robes. He moved to the door slowly, and when the knock sounded again, he called, "Who is it?"

"Open the damn door, Padfoot."

Sirius lowed his wand, his brow furrowed. He turned to look at Samantha, who was now moving towards the door, before undoing the latch to let James into the flat. Sirius was not at all surprised. James wasn't exactly one to give a warning before he dropped by.

"You always have good timing, mate," Sirius told him as James stepped inside. "We were just about to eat dinner. You can have some if you want."

Samantha was at his side by then, but she was frowning. "What's wrong?"

Sirius's lips tilted down, and when he looked back at James, he saw what he had missed before. The lines across his face, the troubled look in his eyes.

"What's happened, Prongs?" he asked, shutting the door.

James sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair. "It's Remus."

Sirius could swear that for a moment his heart stopped beating. Out of all of his friends, he worried about Remus the most. He had an unstable job that did not pay him nearly enough. And since he was living at home, he was dealing with the full moons by himself. But the full moon was not for another week.

"Maybe we should sit down," James said when he saw how Sirius's face paled.

A moment later, Sirius was seated on the sofa and James had sat himself in the armchair to face him. Samantha sat down on the sofa and placed her hand on Sirius's back.

"I only just found out," James told them, his hand running through his hair again. "Dad told me. The Aurors have been over there all afternoon."

Sirius's breath hitched. Aurors. Aurors could only mean a few things, none of them good.

"They were killed, Padfoot. His parents. This morning while he was at work. By Death Eaters."

Sirius released a heavy sigh, breathe he did not realize he had been holding. Leaning forward, he placed his forehead in his hand. Damn Voldemort. Damn his followers. Damn them all. Beside him, he felt Samantha go stiff and his hand sought out hers, giving it a quick squeeze.

"How is he?" he asked hoarsely, rubbing his fingers against his forehead.

"Not good." James's voice was tight, worried. "You know his temper. It's coming out full force over everything. When they tried to take the bodies away. When they touched too many things while searching the house. But other than that, he won't really talk. Lily and Peter are with him now."

Both of Sirius's hands were at his head now and running through his hair, his fingers grasping his hair, tugging at it roughly. He was silent for a long moment. He did not trust himself to speak. He was afraid of what he would say.

Samantha was the one to break the silence, her hand running down his back. "We ought to go to him."

He did not want to go, because then it would certainly be true. But he nodded anyway and allowed her hands to guide him from the sofa and out the door.

The funeral was held three days later. It was a dreary October day. The clouds were dark with rain, but so far they had not opened up. It was a shame, really. It would have been more fitting for the day. After the funeral, they took Remus back to his home. There was not a gathering planned at his home after the service. They had deemed Remus unable to handle such an event- his foul mood had not lessened and though they did not take offence to being snapped at, they decided it would be best to avoid it with anyone else- and anyway, the cottage he had grown up in was a tad small for the six of them, let alone a group of mourners there to offer their condolences.

Remus did not speak much after the funeral, and only picked at the food Lily fixed all of them for lunch. When Sirius gently suggested that he should eat something, Remus snapped that he was perfectly capable of knowing when he needed to eat before muttering something about taking a walk and shoving roughly away from the table.

As the front door slammed, Sirius sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do."

"He'll come around," Lily replied, moving to remove Remus's plate from the table. James, already finished with his own food, made to reach for it, but Lily shot him a look and moved to store it in the refrigerator should Remus want it later. "He just needs time."

James shook his head. "He's not got time. The full moon's next week. If he goes into it in the mood he's in now…"

"Couldn't you go with him?" Samantha asked. "Make it easier?"

"If he'll let us," Peter spoke up. "But with the mood he's in right now he probably wouldn't."

"Go anyway," Lily declared. "Don't give him a choice."

Sirius gave her an amused look despite himself. "This is Remus, remember? He'll get his way however he needs to. The only way we'll be there is if he allows it."

Lily sighed and sank back down into her chair at the table. "And he can't stay here. It's so isolated. He can't be by himself. Especially not right now."

Sirius shot Samantha a sideways look. "We've actually already talked about that. We've got an extra bedroom. If he wants it, it's his."

A thoughtful look crossed over James's face as he leaned forward and scooped some of Samantha's food off of her plate, earning himself a glare. "Why don't you talk to him, Sam?" he suggested, ignoring the glare and stuffing the food in his mouth.

She shrugged. "I could," she replied. "But I don't know why he'd listen to me before you lot."

"You've already been through it," Sirius told her gently. "It would probably mean a lot more coming from you."

Samantha sighed and glanced out the window. In the distance, thunder rumbled. "I suppose I could try and find him."

"You might want to hurry," Peter suggested. "It looks like a storm's moving in."

A storm did seem to be moving in. As she stepped outside into the crisp air, a strong wind hit her and she wrapped her cloak tightly around herself. The sky was growing darker as more clouds built up. She wondered if Remus was even aware of the looming weather. If he was in any similar state of mind as she had been when her family died, he wouldn't be.

There was a worn path that headed into the forest surrounding Remus's home that she began to make her way down. She was not sure if he had taken the path or not. He had grown up here. He would know the forest as well as the back of his hand. But if she strayed from the path, she would likely get lost.

It turned out she needn't have worried, nor did she have to look as far as she thought. After only about ten minutes of walking, she came across a clearing. Remus was seated in the center, his face turned towards the sky. She wondered if he was waiting for the clouds to turn loose and wash away his sorrow.

She sat beside him silently. If he knew she was there, he gave no indication, not so much of a twitch. But she was patient. At least as long as the storm held up. She joined him in his sky gazing, wondering what was going on in his mind, if he'd remember it one day. She did not remember much from the months following her family's deaths. Except that Sirius had been there for her. But Remus seemed to be determined to have no one there for him with the way he was pushing his friends away.

"I wasn't ready to lose them," Remus suddenly said softly, startling her. "I'm not ready to live without them."

She sighed softly and glanced at him. "I don't think anyone is ever ready," she told him. "Not really. But to have someone taken too early…it's the hardest thing to go through."

He turned to look at her then, his brown eyes regarding her silently for a long moment. Just when she began to think he would not speak, that he would only stare at her, he finally said, "How did you get through it? I remember how you were after. We thought you'd never recover. But you did anyway."

"Well…" The wind was blowing her hair all over the place, and she pushed it out of her face. "To be honest, I think the only thing that kept me from becoming completely lost, the only thing that saved me…were my friends."

Remus exhaled softly and brushed his fingers through his hair. "I've been acting an arse, haven't I? I've been pushing my friends away when all they've been doing is trying to help."

She gave him a small smile. "Well…you've certainly been trying to push your friends away. They haven't allowed it though."

"They are a stubborn lot, aren't they?" He looked down and began to fiddle with his sleeve. "I've never handled a full moon without my parents before," he eventually said, so quietly that she almost did not hear. "Besides Hogwarts of course."

Though she knew his secret, they had never really discussed it together. She was surprised he was bringing it up now. "Your friends will be there in a second. You know that. They became Animagi for a reason."

"They're so busy between their jobs and the Order. I couldn't ask them to…"

She was shaking her head before he trailed off. "To be honest, it would be good for all of you. They could use the break. Besides, I know Sirius has missed it."

"I wouldn't try to stop them, I suppose."

Silence fell between them, and she pushed her hair out of her face again. She was surprised at how easily it had been to get him to talk. He probably had wanted to talk all along, and just had not known how. The thunder rumbled again and she felt a raindrop on her cheek.

"Sirius and I have been talking," she said to break the silence, drawing his gaze back to her. "We're all worried about you staying out here by yourself. It's so far from everything. We have an extra bedroom. If you wanted to stay awhile, at least until things get easier, you're more than welcome."

Remus shrugged and shook his head. "I dunno. I'd feel like I was intruding." He paused for a long moment. "But I remember how Sirius was scared to leave you alone after your family died. And I feel like everyone would end up taking shifts at my house on top of their already busy schedules…"

She smiled. "You can say yes, you know. The offer is there for a reason."

He gave her a sheepish look. "Are you sure I wouldn't be imposing?"

She shook her head. "Not at all."

"Alright. I suppose I could give it a try. For a few days at least."

Remus seemed to notice the storm then, so they decided to head back to the house. They had nearly made it back, the cottage was in sight through the trees, when the clouds finally opened up, pouring buckets of rain on them. They broke into a sprint, but it did not matter. By the time they reached the door, they were soaked. Sirius pulled them inside and then he pulled Samantha's soaked cloak from her shoulders, leading her to the fireplace to warm up as he began to dry her with his wand. James began to do the same for Remus, but the werewolf brushed him aside. But it was in his usual fashion, not the snappish tones he had developed over the past few days.

"So it went well?" Sirius asked her quietly after Remus had moved back to his room to change into something dry.

She nodded. "He's going to be coming to stay with us for a while."

Sirius grinned broadly at that and he rested his forehead against hers briefly. "Thank you."

She returned his smile as he continued to dry her. While Remus was in his room, he packed his bags and later, left his cottage behind to go with Sirius and Samantha to their flat.

Remus settled into the flat better than he expected. He thought he would feel as if he was intruding, but Sirius and Samantha made him feel welcome, and the three of them learned how to give each other space when it was needed.

He allowed his friends to accompany him on the next full moon. He and Sirius did some research and found a forest that they could apparate to that was far enough away from any civilization that it would not be a danger for them allow a werewolf to roam the woods. Though he was sore and bedridden the day after, the wounds he had been suffering since he left Hogwarts were nearly gone with his friends there to distract him from himself. He'd only had to miss one day of work.

Work with the Order continued to take up most of their free time. Moody's surveillance had finally paid off and they had finally found a possible repeated Death Eater meeting place in an old abandoned town house in Manchester. Meetings became more frequent as they had begun to plan a sort of ambush in hopes they could at least identify some of the Death Eaters. Besides some attacks here and there, the war had pretty much come to a standstill as it seemed each side was waiting for the other to make a move. The Order had decided to risk making the first move. They hoped it turned out to work in their advantage.

Auror training was moving along. Sirius came home exhausted most nights, but he had grown used to it. Moody was still working them overtime to get them ready for mentorship in the summer. Chances were if there was not an Order meeting that night, they would be staying late, though how late depended on the day.

One Friday a couple of weeks into November, Sirius slipped into the flat as silently as possible. It was nearly eleven, late even for Moody. But there had been several Order meetings that week and since it was Friday, he had decided he could compensate by keeping them even later than normal. He was drained, and planned on doing nothing but slipping out of his robes and crawling into bed with Samantha, but he was quick to realize that she was not even in bed. A dim light was on in the kitchen and Samantha was bent over the map she and Marlene had been working on. Sirius was willing to bet that the witch had been over earlier, and after she had left, Samantha had just continued working. She probably did not even realize what time it was. Eleven was not terribly late, but with their schedules, they were in bed fairly early these days.

She had not heard him come in, or at least she gave no indication she did. After slipping out of his cloak and shoes, he made his way over to the table. She was standing, not sitting, and bent over the map and looked to be deep in thought. When he reached her, he brushed his hand down her back. She jumped, but smiled at him as she straightened up.

"You're working late," he said to her quietly so as to not wake Remus, who he was sure was asleep by now. He'd had an early shift that day, and another one in the morning. Having to work weekends was one of the drawbacks of working in a book shop.

"Says the one who just got home," she teased with a smile.

Sirius looked down to study the map and after getting a good look at it, he frowned. "This isn't the map you've been working on with Marlene."

"Well…technically it is. It's just a different map we've been working on."

Furrowing his brow, he looked closer before comprehension dawned in his eyes. "This is a map of the townhouse they've found."

She nodded and lightly traced the lines with her finger. "It looks odd because from what we can tell, they've knocked walls out to combine two together. The whole row is abandoned." Sirius nodded. He'd been on patrol there several times. "What we've done is piece together what surveillance has gathered about the building and drawn our best guess at what the inside layout is like so we're not going in completely blind."

"It's seems to be coming along nicely," he told her, slipping his arm around her waist. "Now come to bed."

Her eyes got a stubborn glint in them. "But I've been making good progress."

"And it will still be here in the morning. You've got to take a break."

She sighed, but after casting one last glance at the map, she allowed him to lead her away and to the bedroom. Sirius was quicker to climb into bed than she was, but when she slipped under the covers, he was still awake. He rolled over to face her, and she could just make out his grey eyes in the dark.

"What is it?" she asked him, concern in her voice, wondering if perhaps something had happened that he had been putting off telling her about. It would not be the first time.

He reached out and brushed her hair behind her ear so that he could see her face better. "Where do you think we'll be in the future?"

It was not what she had expected. "We?" she asked, laying back against the pillows, keeping her gaze on his.

"Yeah." He scooted closer. "We. All of us." His gaze shifted away for a moment. "You and me."

She smiled. "Why do you ask?" she questioned.

He shrugged and lay back against his pillows, his gaze on the ceiling. "I've just found myself thinking about the future more," he murmured. "Imagining what life would be like after the war…if it ever ends." He paused for a long moment. "Would you ever consider marrying me?"

He asked her so softly that she barely heard him, but she did and her breath caught. A smile tugged at her lips and she rolled over so that she was leaning over him. "Why? Are you asking me?"

Sirius was unable to help himself. He snorted. "No. I am absolutely not ready for that yet."

She let out a soft laugh. "Good," she said before she leaned down to give him a light kiss. "Neither am I."

She pulled away from him, but he made a protesting noise in the back of his throat and reached for her, pulling her back down. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To sleep," she replied, though she allowed him to pull her back to him. "You're the one who told me to."

A thoughtful look crossed his face before he shook his head. "No. I told you to come to bed. I didn't say anything about sleep."

She rolled her eyes as he pulled her against his lips. It lasted a bit longer than their previous kiss, and when they pulled away, Sirius sighed.

"Okay, you're right. I'm exhausted. We should sleep."

She shoved his shoulder before collapsing back down on the pillows. He let out a breathy laugh, his arm draping over her waist before he let his eyes close. He fell asleep still wondering about the future.

End Chapter