Aly went into the summer overwhelmed with anticipation. She had gotten a job at the Ministry again. However, this summer, since she had applied to be a part of a student program, she was shadowing an actual Ministry worker. She was not particular pleased with the person who was in charge of the group students, "Mr. Trentecost" as he was insisting upon being called, mostly because she was afraid of Sirius' reaction. However, she stayed so busy with her working as a shadow, she rarely saw Logan. So, she felt that there was no need to worry Sirius. Plus, she was too worried about him to have to deal with him being worried about her.
Sirius had left his parents house not long after summer break had started. He had wandered for a while, moving from friend's house to friend's house. Aly never knew where he would be each night or when she'd see him. He randomly showed up at her house in Hogsmeade. She had taken to staying after having a very civil discussion about it with her dad. He seemed pleased with this new bout of maturity and agreed. Aly wasn't sure if he knew that her boyfriend came to see her and crashed on the couch occasionally (usually with Aly tangled up with him).
She loved her assignment at the Ministry. She had been given to the care of Mr. Pascual Hallan Scout. He was middle aged with always dirty dirty blonde hair. He was very eccentric and a bit off the wall. He was late the first morning, coming in with two coffee cups, and stuck out his hand to her, "Names Scout. Gotta lot to do today. A lot a lot to do." He scurried off past her, and Aly was instantly reminded of a squirrel. This was how he moved. He twitched, scurried, and hide things from her. However, he was also brilliant. Aly was amazed at how his brain worked and how fast. This plus his behavior explained to her why he worked in the Department of Mysteries.
Aly wasn't allowed to really do much within the Department. She mostly just followed Scout around and did whatever small task he requested of her. She mostly got coffee for him. That first morning, seeing his two coffee cups, she had told him, "No thanks. I don't really drink coffee." He had laughed at her, thinking it was a joke. His two cups of coffee were just the beginning. He consumed more coffee than probably all of the rest of the Ministry workers combined. The one thing she really looked forward to was when she ran papers to and from different departments (Scout didn't trust the owls). She got to see all the different people of the ministry and occasionally a classmate.
When the summer came to an end, Aly knew she would have to remind Scout. He never even knew what day of the week it was without Aly's instruction. He merely looked up from his over cluttered desk and nodded. He turned back to his work, but then, as his slow relay caught up, he looked back at her and asked, "So I'll need to get my own coffee?"
Aly smiled and nodded, and placed one of the last cups of coffee she would give to him on his desk before heading off with a note to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
XxXxX
Aly meet Lily at the train on September 1st.
"You're riding this year!" Lily screeched as she pulled Aly into a backbreaking hug.
"Yeah!" Aly told her, freeing herself. "I decided it was important and talked to my dad about it…"
Lily's eyebrows almost disappeared into her hair line at this announcement.
"Yes," Aly answered her unasked question, "I have been talking to him. Or, well, communicating anyways. Anyhoo, he agreed that the train ride is a long standing tradition and developmental part of the Hogwarts experience." Aly beamed and helped Lily put her trunk on the train.
They were on the way to Hogwarts, and Lily was animately talking about her O.W.L. results (she didn't want to brag, but she got 9 "O"s and 2 "E"s) when the hallway filled with pretty, pink bubbles.
Lily looked out the window in shock. "Wha, wha, wha?"
Aly laughed aloud. She knew exactly where, or to be more specific who, the bubbles came from. She had seen bubbles for years as a source of interest for the Marauders. So, she didn't even hesitate as she jumped up, threw open the door, and dove into the sea of suds.
"Aly?!" she heard Lily yell, but it was muffled. Aly half walked, half swam through the mess. Her vision was obscure to barely in front of the tip of her nose. It was no surprise when she ran into something solid and glided backwards. She squinted as light broke through the wall of pink, and she saw Sirius smirking at her. James was next to him. Aly could only tell it was him due to the glasses.
Aly looked back towards the direction she came from and saw Remus standing near Lily. She made her way over to them. Lily was angrily scrapping suds from her hair when Aly got to the compartment.
"Did you do this?" a voice asked.
Aly looked towards it. It was Snape and the Slytherin prefect Aly only knew as Avery.
"What do you want?" Aly asked eyeing the best she could as bubbles still moved past them.
"I'm trying to take the culprits up to the front of the train," Avery said through clenched teeth. He was a dark and sullen looking boy.
Sirius laughed. "Well, your looking in the wrong compartment. Try two doors down." Avery glared at Sirius who smiled back amicably.
"Leave." Aly said with a cross of her arms. Glares were sent around the small hallway as Lily's voice yelled out, "Don't!"
It appeared that Remus and Peter had been helping Lily remove her bubbles by use of their wands. Apparently, Peter had decided to go for her chest, and Lily was not too happy about it.
Snape's eyes rested upon Lily, heavy with sorrow. Avery growled, "I'll be back, Black," and left. Snape followed reluctantly.
"Aly, what were you thinking?" Lily asked as Aly took her seat again, making a squish noise as she did, and ignored Lily's question.
"So," she turned her attention to the boys. Peter was sitting next to Lily, sending her apologetic looks. Remus was helping James try to close the door so the bubbles wouldn't keep spilling in. Just as the door was almost closed, Sirius slide in and the door snapped shut. "What's with the bubbles?"
The boys took seats, Sirius next to her, James across from Lily.
"Hmmm?" Sirius made an attempt to look confused.
"I mean, a bit amateur for you all," Aly commented. "That's so second year."
James frowned. "This is a much bigger attempt. I'd like to see you find a way to get bubbles to hold their shape for such a long time in such a small space." He crossed his arms.
"But, why bubbles?" Aly asked and jumped as she felt a cold breeze. Lily had taken to cleaning her off with her wand.
"You don't need a lot to get a lot," James said without much thought.
"Plus," Sirius added, "It's something easier to blame on someone else." He smiled widely as he told Aly, "We stowed a big bottle of muggle bubbles with the Slytherins two doors down."
"So that's where those went," Lily mumbled, now picking at Aly's clothes to dry her off thoroughly. Aly smiled and leaned back so that Lily could focus on her front. She knew trying to stop her would useless. Lily stopped short of Aly's chest, hesitating.
"Just leave it." Aly said, "I'll be changing soo--"
Everything went black and hot for Aly in a jolt. There was yelling and feet running as Aly opened her eyes. She took in the cart around her. She was on the floor, and Sirius was crouched over her, wand out. Peter was standing in the door way, shaking almost uncontrollably. Everyone else was missing.
"What's going on?" Aly asked. Both Sirius and Peter jumped.
"Shh," Sirius stated, putting his hand on her arm. She moved it off and sat up. Her head felt heavy, but not in the same way that it normally felt as she blacked out.
Aly heard the buzzing on the train as she sat, but, suddenly, everything went quiet on the train. Her hair stood on end as a flash of green came from down the hall.
"No," she gasped silently, covering her mouth. Everything was silent until the train lurched forward. Aly had no idea that the train had stopped. A scream echoed down the hallway that even the remaining bubbles couldn't muffle. Sirius stood and went to the door with Peter. They waited. James was the first one to reappear.
"They're gone," he said heavily, sinking into a seat.
Sirius looked physically relieved and held out his hand to help Aly up. She took it, and they found their seats.
Peter sat as well, and they waited for the other two to return. As they sat and listened to the crying coming from down the hall, Aly knew that it wasn't Lily or Remus who had been the target of the green light because James wouldn't have returned without knowing they were okay. However, she had to ask, in a whisper, "Who?"
All three boys looked at her, and James responded in what could only be described as torture, "A first year."
Aly's jaw dropped as well as her heart. She saw Sirius cover his eyes and shake his head. Peter was just as stunned as she was.
Aly opened her mouth to ask the many questions running through her head, but closed it immediately. James looked green and upset. She knew there would be a time and a place to ask what had happened, and she knew that that time was not now.
They all waited. Lily never returned, but Remus did and told them that she was with some of the other prefects who were trying to calm the other first years in the car down and keeping them away from the girl.
"A little girl," Aly whispered. "An innocent little girl." She buried her face in her hands.
The train came to a stop. And it seemed that all of the students on the train had heard what had happened. Remus headed back to help where he was needed as a Prefect. The four of them that remained headed towards the carriages.
As the carriages came into view, James gasped and stopped.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked in confusion.
Aly, noticing James' line of sight, asked him, gently, "You can see them?"
He looked at her. "You see them too?"
Aly nodded. She hadn't known the man she had seen die, but once when visiting St. Mungo's she had witnessed a death. She was suddenly aware of the thestrals on Hogwarts grounds at the tender age of 5.
"Did you see the little girl die?" Aly asked.
James merely nodded.
Aly meant to explain to him why he could suddenly see the fierce looking creatures, but the headmaster had suddenly swept past her. They were preparing to move the body off of the train. Aly watched in paralyzing shock. The little girl was wrapped in an older student's robe, the Gryffindor symbol obvious on it. However, as the small body moved past, Aly realized that there was also a Hufflepuff robe wrapped around her and a Ravenclaw robe too. And to her great surprise, the green of the Slytherin emblem was seen near her feet. She felt tears well up in her eyes.
"You shouldn't be here," she heard a voice say. She turned to see Professor McGonagall standing there. She was right. All of the other students had been cleared out of the area as to not see the body. Aly didn't move though. Sirius' hand found hers and pulled her away. She sent one last glance over her shoulder. Floating freshly above the train was a strange symbol. It looked like a skull and a snake of some sort. They got into the last carriage that had been waiting for them.
Aly was silent the rest of the evening. So much was on her mind. It seemed that most of the school felt that way.
How were the parents of that little girl going to react when their excited student was returned in a body bag? How could anyone do that to an eleven year old? How was this going to effect the rest of the first years? The death of a classmate wasn't something one forgot.
Lily entered the Gryffindor girl's dormitory well after Aly had. However, Aly was still awake. Lily sat down on her bed and looked at her.
The usual noise of the dorm was quieted.
"We should get some sleep," Lily said quietly.
Aly nodded, but neither of them moved.
XxXxX
The school was still in a somber mood the next morning. Aly, after receiving her schedule from McGonagall, headed to her father's office.
"Skipping class already, Alyson?" he asked when he saw that it was her that had entered his office. He had been starring hard into the fire when she entered.
"I had to come see you."
"You want answers," he said.
She sat down without a word, but she knew he knew that was exactly why she was there.
He sighed and said, "The first year was Vala Colchester."
"Colchester? As in the Minister of Magic?"
Dumbledore had taken his seat behind the desk as he nodded. "Niece."
"But why?"
"Death Eaters."
Aly nodded. "How?"
"They abducted the train--" he started.
"How?" Aly interrupted.
He frowned as he thought. "There must've been a student on board who helped. The conductor was held hostage by someone in Death Eater robes. I would say it's a good guess to assume that it was a student."
Aly nodded to show her agreement.
"With the train stopped, others, presumably nonstudents, boarded with the intentions of taking out predominant ministry worker's family members," he said with his face slacking under some sort of unsaid stress.
"How do you know?" she asked.
He patiently let her interrupt. "We found a list of names not far from the train. Luckily," he said, with a tad of a sparkle in his sad eyes, "The bubbles that had mysteriously appeared on the train prohibited the Death Eaters from getting any further than they did."
"Silver lining, I guess," Aly shrugged.
"Indeed," he nodded. Their eyes met, and Aly knew, without him saying it out loud, that her name had been on that list. "Alyson, it's hard to understand all of this. The Death Eaters, Voldemort in particular, wanted to send a message to the Ministry."
"But through killing children?!" Aly exclaimed.
Dumbledore sighed, "I will be the first to tell you that I do not understand the way that Tom's mind works."
"Tom?"
"Voldemort's given name," Dumbledore explained. "Anymore questions?"
Aly thought about it. "What was that thing floating over the train?"
"Ah," he said examining his fingertips, "That was the Dark Mark. It's Voldemort's symbol. Whenever someone is killed by Death Eaters, or Voldemort himself, the Dark Mark is sent up over the area to let every one know. This is another reason why a student on the train had to have been involved. The mark was sent up after the train had stopped at the station."
Aly nodded.
"Is that all that is on your mind?"
Aly looked at him and smiled blandly, "That's all the answers you can give me."
He nodded and advised, "I think it's best that you head on to class."
Aly nodded and headed towards the door.
"Aly, do me favor, would you?" he asked as she reached the door.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Send a thank you to those who created the bubbles from me."
Aly smiled and said, "Will do."
XxXxX
"What happened to me on the train?"
Sirius, who was eating lunch, stopped midbite. He looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
She hadn't told him about the Death Eater list, thinking it wasn't necessary to worry him. Currently, she glowered at him. "How did I end up on the floor?"
He put down his fork, thinking, "I figured it was one of your thingys."
"No, it wasn't."
Sirius scrunched up his face as he thought.
"Hey, Lils," Aly turned to her.
"Yeah?"
"Did you see what happened to me on the train?"
"Oh, yeah, that…"
When Lily trailed off, it upped Aly's curiosity. "What happened? Tell me!"
"I accidently hit you with some sparks from my wand."
Aly was taken aback.
"Well," Lily tried to defend herself, "The train stopped all of a sudden, and I accidently shot some sparks out of my wand, and they hit you. That's why your bangs are singed." Lily turned bright red as Aly examined her hair. Sure enough, they were blackened on the tips. "I'm so sorry," Lily exclaimed. "It was an accident. Uncontrolled magic. I should've been more careful."
"Lily," Aly stopped her. "It's okay." She went back to her lunch, and Lily followed suit.
The whole school was still sedate. Aly wondered how long it would last. The first years were all more mild and twitchy than usual, but that was to be expected.
"I wonder who was the student involved with the train incident," Aly thought aloud as she looked at the Slytherin table.
"Probably the same ones involved in that explosion last year," Sirius commented.
Aly looked at him. "What do you mean? What happened then?" Aly had been too caught up in the aftermath to ever think to ask about what had happened to have landed Lily in the hospital the year before.
"Well, there were some students, mostly Slytherin," he said with an eye roll, "That were making illegal potions in the dungeons. Probably because Slughorn lets everyone get away with anything. But they got caught due to the, the...something,"
"The purple smoke looming over the dungeons," Lily supplied.
"Yeah, so the Prefects were called down to handle it, but one of the potion they were working on,"
"Garrotting gas," Lily chimed.
"Yeah, it exploded and hurt like everyone who was in the area."
"So stupid," Aly said as she rolled her eyes.
"Exactly," he agreed. "So, stupid."
XxXxX
Aly was lying on her bed completely dressed waiting for Lily to get out of the shower so they could go to breakfast together. The school year was moving along smoothly. There had been little commotion besides what had happened on the train. Classes seemed more interesting to Aly since she had been able to drop some of, what she thought were, the more useless classes. She was still taking charms, but, this year, Lily was her tutor. That didn't mean she had a lack of Sirius time though. The summer had seemed to simmer the interest in her and Sirius' relationship. Most girls seemed to have accepted that they were out of luck when it came to the illustrious Black. However, some seemed to need to make sure the summer hadn't seen them split.
During the second week of class, Aly had been talking to Melanie in the front hall when, out of no where, Sirius was hiding behind her (very ineffectively since he was now over 6 feet tall, and Aly still stood at a mere 5'4"). Aly saw some girls that stood at the Great Hall door and glare unhappily at them.
September had gone by in a blink of the eye. Today, Aly waited for Lily only because it was her birthday. She was 17 today, an adult in the magical world. She didn't feel any different. This, however, was not why she waited. It was her first birthday with Sirius, and, to be completely honest, she was almost afraid of what was to come. She figured it could go one of two ways: 1) he could totally turn it into some sort joke (this is what Aly figured would happen) or 2) he would make no big deal about it (this is what Aly prayed wouldn't happen). It wasn't as if Aly wanted a parade in her honor. She never worried much about her birthday. However, for some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that this year had to have something...something special.
Lily looked surprised when she saw Aly waiting for her. "What's up?" she asked as she rubbed her hair dry with her towel.
"Just wanted to wait for you," Aly said sitting up, swinging her feet back and forth, not meeting Lily's eyes.
She followed her out of the room and down the stairs as Lily left. As they reached the bottom of the grand staircase, Aly peaked around Lily, and Lily mumbled, "You are acting so strange." Aly's response was to poke her between the shoulder blades to edge her into the hall. "Stranger than usual anyways," Lily added.
They sat down, and Lily began to eat while Aly stared hard at the entrance way. The Marauders had yet to arrive. When they did, Aly's eyes shot back to Lily, who rolled her eyes.
"Good morning," James greeted them as he sat down next to Lily.
"Happy Birthday, Aly," Remus said as he sat. She returned a nervous smile, and avoided looking at Sirius as he sat down next to her and gave her the customary kiss on the cheek.
"How are you today?" Sirius asked.
"Fine," Aly said stiffly.
"You ok?" he asked. She nodded quickly, and Sirius sent a look at Lily who shrugged at him.
Breakfast went by quietly. Aly sat waiting, on edge still. As it ended and they headed to class, Sirius took a hold of her by her elbow and held her back slightly. He whispered into her ear, "I got a present for you." She turned to look at him, excited, but he walked past her, and mouthed, "Later."
She felt her heart jump and a smile spread across her face. She sat impatiently through class, paying little attention to any of her lessons. She expected something at lunch, but got nothing as Sirius never even showed up. By the time dinner arrived, Aly was so antsy she almost fell out of her seat when he entered the hall. They ate just the two of them since no one else showed up.
"You wanna go for a walk?" Sirius suggested after dinner.
"Sure," Aly said, anticipation ballooning almost to the breaking point in her chest.
He took her hand and lead her down the stairs. Aly realized as they walked that they were headed towards Hagrid's hut. She saw what looked like balloons through the window. She halted in her steps. "No," she said.
Sirius looked at her, trying to sum up what the "no" had meant.
"A party?" Aly whined. "I don't want a party!"
An understand smile spread across his face. He obviously knew she'd react this way. "Come'on, Als," he said taking her hand.
"Nooo!" she continued to whine as he pulled her forward.
As they reached the door, he stopped her, and said, "Now remember, Lily has worked very, very hard to pull this off without you knowing about it. Don't blow it now. Act surprised. Act grateful. And try to have some fun," he added with a small pout.
"Fine," Aly growled.
Sirius pulled his lip in, smiled, and knocked on the door. Aly pulled herself together. She would at least let Lily think she was surprised and happy, and then she would find a way to sneak away.
Hagrid opened the door. "Hey ya, Aly, Sirius! Come'on in!" He stepped back, letting the light stream out of the small hut and a loud "SURPRISE!" hit Aly.
She didn't have to force the smile as streamers rained down on her. There were more people there than she expected. Of course there was Lily, Remus, James, and Peter, but there was also Melanie, Mary, Professors Sprout, Flitwick, Slughorn, McGonagall, and her father.
"We got you!" Lily exclaimed running forward, so ecstatic by this fact. "We actually got you!"
"Ya you did." Aly shrugged trying to look sheepishly. "I mean, a party. Really, Lils, you shouldn't have."
"Oh, you don't have to thank me," she replied with a flip of her hand. "This was really all Sirius' doing."
"Really?" Aly said, eyes going wide and her lips curling in as she turned to look at the boy leaning carelessly against the door frame behind her. He smiled a big toothy grin at her. Before Aly could say anything in response to this, Lily grabbed her by the wrist, "Look at your cake!"
Aly looked at it and smiled a very soft smile at it. It's icing was red and yellow, and in the center of it was a picture taken the year before after Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup. It had Aly, Sirius, and James in uniform, holding the cup, on brooms, floating next to the stands with Lily, Remus, and Peter in war paint behind them. It must've had a protective spell on it as the images in the picture laughed and smiled back at her.
She looked up from the cake and saw that the Professors were drinking. Hagrid had his firewhiskey out, and they all seemed eager for a glass. She saw Hagrid look at Dumbledore who nodded.
"Gather 'round," he hollered louder than necessary. All of the students moved towards him. "We're gonna do a toast to our girl Aly," he stated. He opened his cupboard and only found two glasses. With a quick flick of his wand, Dumbledore caused the six other needed glasses to appear. Hagrid poured a very small amount of firewhiskey into all of them. "Grab a glass all of y'all."
Everyone seemed to eagerly grab a glass.
Lily pulled out a chair and stood up on it with her glass held high. "Seventeen years ago today, my best friend in the entire world was born. I just want to say that, I for one, am very glad to be celebrating. With all of crazy things that she's done, we are all very lucky to see her still standing here. I wouldn't be me without you. I love you, Aly. I want you to have the best birthday ever. To Aly!" All of the glasses raised. "To Aly," the room echoed. The glasses were all emptied. Peter gasped and coughed. Remus patted him on the back. Melanie and Mary both giggled.
Aly gave Lily a big huge once she had stepped down off of the chair. "Thanks, Lils."
Aly was almost certain she saw Lily wipe away a tear. "Presents!" she exclaimed.
"How about cake first?" James suggested eyeing it hungrily. "For those of us who haven't eaten yet."
"Sure," Lily said running over to the cake and grabbing plates to start distributing it.
Aly picked at her cake as she observed the room. The teachers had poured another round of firewhiskey. Melanie and Mary were eyeing Fang who was breathing very close to their feet hoping for some dropped cake. Lily was still running around. This time she was looking for something to cover the remaining cake so it wouldn't go bad. James, Peter, and Remus were discussing the next Quidditch match and possible strategies.
Aly looked around and realized she hadn't seen Sirius since she had entered the hut. She spotted him in the far corner of the hut. She made her way over to him. "What's up?"
He looked at her and jumped up. "Enjoying your party?" he asked. Aly sensed that his smile was forced.
"Yeah. You?"
"It's great."
"Sirius, really what's going on with you? You're acting weird. It's stran--"
"Wanna get out of here?" he interrupted.
"Leave?" Aly asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I'll give you your present," he added as an added incentive.
Aly's interest perked. "Okay,"
They slipped out unnoticed as Fang finally made his move for Mary's cake. The night air was brisk, but the moon was out. "I used to think that the crescent moon was a thumbnail placed in the sky," Aly commented as they walked. Sirius was unusually quiet.
They reached the lake not far from Hagrid's hut, and Sirius stopped. He stood awkwardly for a few moments as Aly watched him. She knew something was really getting to him. "Can't you tell me what's wrong?" she asked placidly.
He shook his head, and Aly thought it was at her. However, he seemed to explode afterwards. "I don't know what to do. If do it, I may be buying into all the stupid traditions I've been trying to escape. If I don't, I feel like, like, like I'm doing something wrong. I just don't know what to do. I want to, but part of me doesn't…"
He was pacing frantically. Aly was beyond confused, and asked, "What are you---?"
"Here," he hastily shoved a box into her hand.
She looked at it. "Is this my present?"
He nodded furiously at the ground as he continued to pace. She merely looked at the small box in her hand.
"Well, open it!" he snapped.
She slowly did. It was a bluish, velvety box that looked like it would hold a ring. Sure enough, it did. It was a large cut sapphire. It's color was the deepest blue Aly had ever seen, almost black, but, even in the moonlight, unmistakeable blue. It was set in silver with a small symbol laid over the stone. Aly couldn't understand why anyone would want to cover such a beautiful stone.
"I knew it," Sirius began murmuring again. "It was stupid. Ridiculous. What a dumb idea. I should've known…"
"Sirius," Aly tried to interrupt. "Sirius!" She finally barked.
He stopped and looked at her. He came towards her. "I'm sorry," he stated, "I didn't mean to offend you. I just thought, that maybe--"
"What is it?" Aly asked. Clearly the ring had some sort of significance. She just didn't know what it was.
He looked surprised as his eyebrows rose. "What?"
"I don't know what it is," Aly stated.
"Oh," he said running his hands through his hair. "It's a crest ring."
Aly looked at it. Now that he mentioned it, it was a crest sitting on the stone. "What's a crest ring?"
Again, he looked taken aback. "It's a longstanding tradition in the wizard world," he explained. He sighed heavily before continuing, "Each family has a crest. Back in the Renaissance, at least I think that's when it started, wizard families began using their crests everywhere: clothes, homes, even animals were branded with it. Some families still use theirs today. Well, the crest ring came about as a way to display which family you belonged to, as an outsider."
"An outsider?" Aly frowned. She didn't like the sound of that.
"Outsider as in not from the family originally. Like a girlfriend or fiancee. A man would give his girl his family's crest ring to show that she belonged to his family. It was an association thing."
"So, you want me to belong to the Black family?" Aly asked.
"No!" Sirius exclaimed. "God no. That's why I've been so torn. I don't like the history behind it, yet I can't give over the fact that I've always been told that I'm suppose to give it to the girl I love. I know it was stupid. I'll just take it back and get you a real present." He held out his hand, but Aly didn't move. He looked at her frozen form. "Aly, are you alright?" he asked grabbing her by the upper arms to steady her. "Is it one of your spells?"
"You said," Aly gasped, "You said you were going to give this to the girl you love. And you gave it to me."
His ears turned bright red, and his eyes lowered to the ground. "Yeah, I did."
She looked at him, her eyes swimming. "You love me?"
His hands that were still on her dropped. "Yeah. So?"
He was acting like a petulant child, but Aly didn't care. It was the first time he had ever admitted to it. She looked at the ring and knew she would cherish it, regardless of the past and meaning behind it. That ring showed the world that Sirius loved her, and she would wear it every single day.
She slide it on her left hand ring finger and held it up to admire it in the moonlight. "Thank you," she said. He looked up to see her making the stone dance in the pale light.
"You'll wear it?"
"Of course," Aly said with a smile. "I love it," she exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck. "And I love you."
"You do?" he beamed.
"Yes, I do," and she kissed him.
"And to think I almost bought you a toaster."
XxXxX
Aly's birthday was, by all means, the best she ever had. All of her gifts were perfect, and all of the professors got more than a little tipsy. It made the rest of the evening a very entertaining spectacle. The next morning when McGonagall came shuffling into the room Aly heard James snigger. McGonagall sent him a deadly glare.
At lunch, Aly saw Sirius for the first time that day. He beamed as he saw the ring still on her hand. He explained to her that the ring was magical. It would only fit the finger of the person it truly belonged to. Regulus' jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw that it sat upon her finger. Aly didn't wait around to hear his remarks about it. And as much as she loved her new ring, Aly worried about what would come along with it.
She was laying on Sirius' bed one night worrying about what she thought was expected of her now. Sirius was oblivious of this as he worked on something not related to school. He was very deep in his book when Aly blurted out, "Do we have sex now?"
He didn't look up right away, but, when he did, he slowly lifted his eyes into a furrowed brow. He merely blinked a few times at her, seeming lost for words.
Realizing he wasn't going to find his tongue, Aly sat up. "Well, do we?"
He looked to the left and then to the right. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Sex," Aly stated feeling a bit aggravated that he was taking so long to comprehend.
"I got that." He still seemed unsure of how the conversation was going.
Aly sighed loud and exaggerated.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I haven't wanted to, but what do you mean 'do we have sex now?'"
Aly lowered her eyes. She subconsciously began to toy with the crest ring.
"Is this because of the ring?" Sirius asked looking down at her twiddling fingers. "Do you think that because I gave it to you that I expect sex in return?"
The look he gave her, a cross between disapproval and disbelief, made her blush and feel stupid. "Kinda," she mumbled.
His finger found her chin and lifted her head so he could look into her eyes. "Aly, I would never give you something hoping for sex in return. You know that." Aly nodded. "Now," his tone changed into a more playful tone, "If you want to, that's a different story." He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Aly felt a little bit better and smiled at him. "Well,"
His eyes went wide. "What? Really?"
"Well, I'd be lying as well if I said I hadn't thought about it either," she admitted. It was true. Over the summer, especially after a particularly heated make out session on the couch, she wondered what exactly it would be like to go all the way with Sirius.
He seemed to be studying her rather intensely. When he saw her looking at him, he nodded and said, "Interesting."
She shook her head and smiled. "Why is it interesting?"
"Well, you've thought about it, and I've thought about it. Bees do it. Birds do it. So…" he trailed off and looked at her sheepishly.
"So?" Aly teased pulling on the top of his shirt and pulling him over her.
Next thing she knew, she was on her back, throughly enjoying whatever he was doing with his mouth on her neck. She felt ready for this. However, as his hands moved down her body and his lips were back on hers, she froze. For some reason, the frightening memory of Logan's hands on her filled her mind. As Sirius' hands moved up under her shirt, she reacted in fear. Her teeth bite down hard on Sirius' bottom lip. With a loud swear, Sirius pulled himself up and off of her. His lip was bleeding rather profusely.
Aly sat up and cupped her hand over her mouth in horror. "Oh my god. I'm so, so sorry."
He was sitting on the edge of the bed with his shirt pulled to his mouth.
"I'm so, so sorry. I just…and… Logan…and…you…"
He turned angry eyes on her. "Logan? You were thinking about Logan?" He stood and started to walk towards the door.
"Sirius," she yelped, tears starting, "It's not like that. I was thinking about the time he tried to get me to sleep with him. You just reminded me of that, and I freaked. I'm so sorry." She was bawling at this point.
He had stopped and was standing in the middle of the room. His back was to her. She could tell he was breathing heavy, but wasn't sure if it was due to the kissing or the anger.
"Please," Aly pleaded. "Forgive me. I wasn't intentionally thinking about him. I wouldn't."
He turned afflicted eyes upon her. "I reminded you of him?"
"No," Aly jumped off of the bed. She rushed over to him. She had somehow managed to make the whole thing worse. "No, you never, EVER treat me the way he did. But the situation was very similar, and I just…" she had no other words for what had happened.
He turned his head back towards the door. After what felt to Aly like an eternity, she heard him whisper, "I knew you weren't ready."
Anger stirred in her chest. How dare he tell her she wasn't ready? She was too angry for words and simply moved around him and out the door. "Aly," he called and followed her.
He stopped her in the middle of the staircase.
"Als,"
She yanked away from his hold.
"No," he said holding onto to her shoulders. "You don't just get to walk away. We have to talk about this."
"What's there to talk about?" she snapped. "You already said enough."
"I said what I thought. That's what we're suppose to do right?" Aly could tell he was trying very hard not to lose his cool.
"Yeah, but if you knew I wasn't ready then why would you go let it get as far as it did?"
He looked taken aback by this, and stuttered, "I, I, I…I don't know." He hung is head. "I guess I was just excited about the prospect. I shouldn't have let it even start."
Aly felt bad looking at him.
"Sirius," Aly started, but he interrupted.
"Look, we can just take this slow. I will not cross that line again until I know you're ready."
Aly stared up at him. "Really?" She didn't know whether to be happy about this or mad that he didn't want to rush her. She decided that it was better to think it put her mind at ease. "Alright." She kissed him on the cheek. "Let's get that lip of yours cleaned up.
XxXxX
The conversation about sex never seemed to be far from their minds. Sirius was almost stingy when it came to them being together. It began to frustrate Aly. She continually confronted him about it, but he always took the same stance: "When you're ready."
This wouldn't have bothered her so much if Aly's mind didn't question how many other girls Sirius had been with without any questions or boundaries like he had for her. The number bother her so much she actually asked him about it one day. It was something they had never talked about, and he didn't seemed inclined to start now.
"Please tell me!" she begged following him up the stairs to his room.
"No," he tried to close the door to the bedroom before she could follow him in, but she stopped it with her shoulder. She ignored the pain and followed him.
"Tell me. Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
He stared at her. His brown eyes boar into her with an intensity that she had to look away. She had never really realized how unnaturally beautiful he was. The shape of his face was perfect. All of his features were exactly symmetrical. Even his hair fell perfectly to frame his eyes which were still starring at her. Of all bad things the Blacks had credited to them, Sirius had to be the best thing they had ever done.
Aly sighed. He had manage to get her mind off topic, which was probably what he had wanted. She looked down at his hands and all she could think about was how many of the girls she passed every single day had been touched by them. She cleared her throat, "So…" With his eyes still on her, she was lost for any other verbals.
He smiled slightly, but it was a sad smile.
"Say something!" Aly stomped her foot as she said this. His smile became more defined.
"Hi."
"That doesn't count!"
"What do you want me to say?" he asked.
"Something."
"Ok, 'something.'"
"Sirius!" she swatted him playfully.
At her returned smile, he gently put a finger between her eyes. "Why are you worried about this?"
"Worried?"
"You've got a little crinkle right here," he said as he gently poked her between the eyes again.
"So?" she responded defensively.
"It means you're worried."
She sighed and knew it gave her away. He set his face. "What do you want me to do? Point them out as we walk by?"
"Yes," Aly answered honestly before she could stop herself.
He snorted and muttered, "Like that'd go well."
Aly snapped at him, "That many, huh?" She felt hurt. Maybe he was right. Maybe he shouldn't tell her.
"It's not that, Als. It's just I'd prefer to not be reminded of you and Logan. So I'm sure you don't want to hear about me."
"That's true," Aly agreed. "I don't go around talking about all of the guys I've been with."
"All of the guys? There's more than one?" he looked as if he didn't believe her.
"Yes," Aly snapped.
His eyebrows went up.
"I need to go look for Lily," she said, her voice giving away the fact that she was upset. "I'm suppose to meet her."
"Aww, Als. Tell me about 'all of your guys'." He couldn't hide the laughter in his voice.
Aly stormed from the room. She found Lily in the common room studying. Aly leaned against the arm of the couch Lily was sitting on. A third year she had helped pick up his books the day before waved at her as he walked past.
"That one of your guys?" Sirius joked as he entered the room.
"Her guys?" Remus asked from the Marauder's table.
"All of the guys she's been with," Sirius continued with the laugh still in his voice.
"Who besides Logan?" Remus studied Aly.
"I don't know." Sirius rolled with laughter.
Remus looked at her and asked, "Who? Someone over the summer? A muggle?"
Aly's face was burning red and fuming.
"Oh," Lily said looking up from her work, "Did you finally tell him about Brandon?"
Sirius stopped laughing instantly, and his eyes narrowed. "Who's Brandon?"
Aly felt deep retribution for the joke he had found in the situation.
"No one," Aly said standing, and stalking up the stairs to her room.
XxXxX
"Who's Brandon?" Sirius cornered her in the library.
"No one," Aly snapped not looking at him and scanning for a book.
"Why haven't you told me about him?"
"There's nothing to tell." Aly opened a book, scanned it, and put it back on the shelf.
"Lily seemed to think it was something I needed to know." He looked almost crazed with jealousy.
"It's no big deal," Aly said, picking up another book. "He's just some weird guy who liked me over the summer, and he kissed me. Trust me, it stopped as quickly as it started."
"He kissed you?" His eyes went wide in their crazed state. "Some filthy muggle kissed you?"
"Hey now," Aly was upset that he used the fact that Brandon was a muggle against Brandon. It wasn't like him.
"Did he? Did he put his lips on you?"
"Well, yes…" before she could finish he had grabbed her roughly and began kissing her almost violently. Aly's book fell out of her hand with a thud. He pushed her back against the shelves, and the books shuddered and a few fell. Aly's arms went around his neck, and he held her firmly on the hips. His fingertips were going to leave bruises, but Aly didn't care. His lips were too much of a distraction.
"What is going on?" Madam Pince appeared around the corner to see what had caused the noise. Sirius and Aly looked at her and then ran before she could regain herself. As they ran out the doors of the library, Aly heard her yell, "Your father will hear about this!"
Sure enough, right before dinner, she and Sirius were called to his office. Once they were seated in the headmaster's office. Dumbledore looked at them in anger. Aly thought that he should be more upset than angry.
"The library?" he asked angrily.
There was no response.
"You are sixth years."
Again, no response.
"You should know better." He was annoyed. "I am sick and tired of hearing about the two of you copulating in public places."
"We were not copulating," Aly informed him. "Nor have we been," she added bitterly.
"Aly," Sirius snapped through clenched teeth.
"Well, we haven't!"
Sirius nearly growled as he stated, "This is not something to be discussed with the headmaster. Let alone your father."
Aly rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
Dumbledore turned in his chair to examine Fawkes, leaning in very closely. Sirius glared hard at Aly. Aly stared at a previous headmaster snoring in his frame. There was about 10 seconds of awkward silence before Aly snapped, "Why can't you just get over it and do it?"
"Aly!" Sirius yelped like she had hit him.
"Well, you won't! You'll do it with every other freakin' girl in the world but not me!"
Sirius' ears burnt bright red.
Dumbledore cleared his throat uncomfortably. Aly turned to him, "You've had him in here for this type of thing before. Have you not?"
The headmaster looked trapped. "Yes," he answered.
Aly smack Sirius' arm in response. "What is your problem?!"
"Oww, that was not necessary."
"Not necessary? You know what's not necessary? Your sudden need to be celibate!"
Sirius cleared his throat and said calmly, "I'm sure your father would agree that that is for the best."
Aly's eyes went wide. "You two are working together?" She jumped up and then, after an extreme groan of pain, fell back into the chair. She had been active since she had been thrown into the shelves. The short moment of sitting still, letting all of her muscles relax, brought the full force of the pain on her as she jumped up.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked moving almost all of the way out of his chair.
"Shelves," Aly groaned.
"What of them?" Sirius asked quizzically, not putting two and two together.
"Being thrown into them tends to hurt," Aly grumbled as she adjusted her body in the chair.
Sirius' color left his face.
"You threw her?" Dumbledore strained to keep his voice even.
Aly felt anger ripple through her. He sat behind his desk, unmoved by her pain, and he dare be mad at the sweet boy who was worried about her.
"I didn't realize that I did it so hard." Sirius said towards Dumbledore, but turned to Aly as he said, "You didn't say it hurt." His eyebrows were so pursed together that they looked to be one.
"It didn't," Aly said meekly, but Sirius saw through the lie.
Apparently, her father did too. "Mr. Black, you will not throw my daughter, or anyone else for that matter, again. Understand?"
Sirius would've responded, but Aly had tried to shift, and he was too preoccupied with her outlet of air.
"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Really."
"Alyson," Dumbledore inquired, "Has he ever done this before?"
"No!" both of them gasped.
"I did not inquire of you, Mr. Black," the headmaster snapped.
"Don't you talk to him like that." Aly snapped back.
"Alyson, lift your shirt."
"Excuse me?" She knew she must've missed heard him.
"I want to examine your back. Decide if you need to go to the nurse or not."
Aly sat defiantly and glared. Dumbledore stared right back. Neither were going to budge.
Sirius looked at her and requested, "Please just do it." The look on his face told Aly that he was curious too.
"Fine," she mumbled and tried to keep her noise to a minimum as she stood and turned to lift her shirt.
Sirius groaned loudly and sank back into his chair with his hand over his eyes.
"It's not too bad," Dumbledore said simply. "No medical attention required. Maybe a muscle relaxation potion to help with the pain."
"Great," Aly mumbled as she lowered her shirt causing the front to move up slightly in the process.
"Oh god!"
Aly looked at the outcry from her boyfriend, and felt slightly annoyed. Whatever he had gasped at could've been kept until later. He needed to restrain himself in front of her crazy father. She glanced down as she adjusted her shirt and saw what had upset him.
Her hips had purple imprints of Sirius' fingers on the soft skin. She let out a soft "Oh." She had known they were coming but had forgotten about it until just then.
"What?" Dumbledore asked brusquely.
"Huh?" Aly asked trying to act as if she hadn't heard him. Not waiting for him to reply, she held out her hand to Sirius. He just looked as the extended hand. His face was sickly: pale, sweaty, and eyes wide. "Sirius," she moved forward, her back muscles contracting. While she could keep her father from knowing she was in pain, she couldn't hide her face from Sirius.
He jumped up in reaction to it. He took her by the elbow to hold her. "I'm so sorry," he told her as he studied her face cautiously.
"I'm okay. Really." She smiled lovingly at him, and he seemed to relax a little bit.
"You are not," her father announced from behind her. "Mr. Black, I believe detention is in order."
"Excuse me?" Aly swung around and let out a hiss and bent over to use her knees to hold herself up.
"He damaged you, Alyson. It cannot go unpunished."
"This is only because I'm your daughter," she declared.
"This is because this school condones any sort of physical violence."
"There was no violence!" Aly tried to straighten up. Her balance was shot though, and Sirius put his arm around her waist to help steady her.
"I would remove your hand from my daughter's body, Mr. Black," Dumbledore said through clenched teeth.
Sirius didn't move. Aly had clung onto his shirt. "Professor, I admit that I made a huge error in judgement. I never should've moved Aly in such a fashion, but I will not let go of her now."
She smiled gratefully at him. "I'm fine. I think I just need to lie down. Wouldn't you agree, dad?"
Dumbledore looked even more upset than before. "I suppose so," he responded, standing up for the first time since they got there.
"Sirius, you'll walk me back?"
"Of course," he said simply.
They left with no argument from her father, but Aly knew that it wouldn't be the last she'd hear of it. Aly tried to be patient with Sirius who took to walking very slow. She wasn't exactly tired and didn't want Sirius to leave her so she asked, "Stay with me?"
He looked torn, but directed her towards his room when they reached the tower. He insisted that she lay down on his bed once in the room. He sat on the edge of the bed with his back to her.
She ran her fingers over his back. "Tell me what your thinking."
He didn't say anything, but heaved a sigh. After another few moments of silence, he said, "I'm going to get you that muscle relaxer."
He left a crestfallen Aly. She needed to tell him she wasn't mad at him. She didn't care about the marks on her body. She had been wanting him to kiss her like for a long while. He rarely just gave into his emotions like he had in the library.
When he returned, he handed the potion to her and said, "This will probably put you to sleep."
She looked at him wanting to talk. "Take it," he instructed.
She frowned so he added, "I'll be here when you wake up."
She nodded and took the potion. Sure enough, she did drift of into a restless sleep only a few minutes later.
XxXxX
Aly woke to a dark room. The curtains were closed around the bed. Sirius was sitting next to her. It was almost completely pitch black, but she could tell by his breathing that he was awake. She stretched, and he twitched slightly out of surprise.
"What time is it?" she asked in a voice thick with sleep.
"Not sure," he mumbled picking at his finger nails.
Aly pulled herself up so she was sitting. Her back hardly hurt. She knew she had just needed to lay down. (Plus, the potion probably didn't hurt.) "It's not morning, is it?"
"No."
His answer was short. Aly pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. He was still upset about what had happened. "We're not gonna talk about this, are we?"
She heard no response from him. She heaved a sigh, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She pulled back the curtain, and slide into the darkness. She whispered "Lumos" which showed that all of the beds were filled by their sleeping owners. She tip toed out of the room. At the bottom of the stair, there was a low glow emitting from the fireplace as the last embers fought to stay lit.
Aly heard muffled footsteps behind her. She knew without turning that Sirius had followed her.
"You didn't hurt me," she said towards the fire. A sound of disbelief came from behind her. Aly shook her head and continued to stare at the fire.
After a very long period of silence, Sirius spoke, "I'm no better than him."
Aly turned, "What are you talking about?"
He looked sick as he said, "I left marks on your body. It makes me sick to think that at the end of the day I am no better than Logan."
"But,"
"No, Aly," he closed his eyes and shuddered, "Regardless of what you say, I bruised you."
Aly moved towards him. Sirius took a step back. Aly, frustrated with him, grabbed him roughly by the wrist. "Listen to me. This is different. Logan never worried about me after something happened. You worry. That makes you different."
He shook his head quickly.
"Yes, Sirius. Yes, you are different." She looked up at him with oversized eyes. He held her gaze. "Believe me." It wasn't a question or a request. It was a demand. Without moving his gaze from hers, he nodded. "Good," she replied. She went and sat on one of the couches. He didn't follow immediately, but, after a wave of her hand, Sirius joined her.
They sat in silence for some time. Sirius slipped his hand into hers just before his head landed on her shoulder. His breathing told her he had fallen asleep. Aly sat and watched the last embers die out, resting her head on top of his.
