A/N: Ilvermorny

Yr7

Theme: Humility - write about a big-headed character being taught humility.

Main prompt (first line/last line): I should warn you: I'm a liar.

Additional prompt: (Dialogue): "Careful. The prettier it looks, the more likely it is to kill you."

WC: 2826

Warning for the occasional swear word.

Thanks to my team for all their beta work on this story.

SiriusxOC. This is a follow on from my fic last round, but is a stand alone story.

Lastly, I would like to thank my team for all their support this year. Without you I would never have made it through this season. So thanks so so much for everything.

"I should warn you: I'm a liar. You should take everything I say with a pinch of salt. After all, I haven't told her about my magical abilities or the world in which I live. That was my big mistake."

Sirius Black picked up his phone, searching for a certain number. As soon as he found it, he started to type out a text message.

'Lacey, it's Sirius. You're probably wondering how I got your number? I nicked it from Lexi's phone. Can we meet? I need your opinion on something and, if you're willing, help with the plan I have in mind. I look forward to hearing from you.'

After a few minutes, Lacey texted him back. Sirius let go of the breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

'Sirius, you're a cheeky little shit, did you know that? Lol. Yes, I can meet you tomorrow. The Blue Velvet club at 7 pm alright? I need to sleep. See you then.'

Sirius stood in the doorway of the club and watched Lacey as she sat at the bar, a glass of red wine in front of her. She swayed on her stool to the song playing over the sound system, the lights making her red hair look like it was on fire. Sirius sauntered up to her and tried to give her a winning smile, although it was more like a grimace.

"Lacey, it's good to see you."

"Hey Sirius, how are you?" Lacey asked.

"I'm all right, missing Lexi and Alex, something chronic. My life's far too quiet now,"

Sirius sat down on an empty barstool next to Lacey and fidgeted with a beer mat. He knew he was giving himself away; his shoulders slumped as his heart broke in his chest. Lacey looked so much like Lexi, except Lexi didn't have a beauty mark on her top lip.

Lacey reached out and placed a hand on the top of his arm, rubbing her thumb back and forth against the skin. He turned to look at her, trying his best to suppress the tears that filled his grey eyes.

"Merlin, I miss them so much it hurts. Lacey, please help me. I need them back," Sirius said, his voice breaking.

Lacey's lips twitched as she tried to hold back a smile. There was no surprise there that he had come to her for help in repairing his broken relationship.

"I'll do what I can, Sirius. I don't understand why you still love my stupid sister after everything she's done to you, and I think you deserve better. But I can try."

He wasn't hopeful. He knew how stubborn Lexi could be. He was a good guy and a brilliant father figure for Alex – much better than Kieran any day of the week.

Sirius turned on his barstool and wrapped his arms around Lacey. "Thank you," he whispered.

Lacey hugged him back.

"God, Lexi doesn't deserve you. She really doesn't," Lacey said.

When Sirius returned home, he found Remus sat at the table reading. The only light on was the reading lamp. He was seated in a battered old upright chair that Sirius had, a few years ago, upcycled for his friend to use. The reading lamp cast an eerie look about the room. It threw shadows across the walls making the furniture look like monsters that liked to hide in the darkness.

"Have fun with your friend?" Remus asked, not looking up from his book.

"It was... nice."

Remus was in the middle of turning the page, but this caused him to actually close his book. "Who did you see?"

"My ex's sister."

Remus dropped his head and muttered something unintelligible.

"What?" Sirius asked.

Remus squirmed in his seat before shrugging his shoulders. "Look, I know you still love her, but is she really the right girl for you? She cheated on you, for Merlin's sake. Careful. The prettier it looks, the more likely it is to kill you."

"Are you serious right now?" Sirius fired back. "Besides, what do you know about relationships?"

"Just be careful, Sirius."

"I know what I'm doing, thank you very much," Sirius sneered.

"I really hope so," Remus said as he picked up his book and started reading again.

Later that night, just as Sirius was thinking about going to bed, he received a text message from Lacey.

'Well, that went badly. Lexi has stormed off somewhere. I'm sorry, I tried, I really did, but you know how bullheaded that sister of mine can be. Take care of yourself, Sirius, and, well, maybe give this up as a bad job… Lacey x'

Sirius slung his phone across the room and collapsed back against the wall, sliding down it until he was a heap on the floor. He drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head against them before he started to cry.

Why was fate doing this to him? He wasn't a bad guy, so why was he being punished? And why was everyone trying to make him give up on the only girl he'd ever loved?

He may have punched Kieran and gone mad at Lexi, but he did have good reason to. After all, no one wanted to see their girlfriend snogging her ex-husband. But he had forgiven her, and he wasn't about to give up on her now.

A few days later, Sirius met up with James at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hey mate, how are you?" asked James as Sirius sat down at the bar beside his best friend.

Sirius shrugged. At the moment, he was desperately lonely and miserable.

"Merlin, Sirius, are you still mooning over that Muggle girl?"

"So what if I am?" Sirius retorted.

"Mate, she cheated on you," James said, echoing Remus.

"I'm fully aware of what Lexi did, James. But I can't help the way I feel about her."

James sighed before asking Tom for a Firewhiskey for them both.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I might just go to her house and demand to speak to her," Sirius said. "Or at worst, see Alex. You have no idea how much I love that kid."

James coughed as his mouthful of Firewhiskey went down the wrong hole. Sirius thumped him on the back.

"Bloody hell," James spluttered. "Who are you and what have you done with Sirius?"

Sirius elbowed James in the ribs.

"Ouch," said James, rubbing the left side of his ribcage. "Holy Circe, your elbows hurt."

James took a good hard look at Sirius, who squirmed under his scrutiny. Sirius could feel himself curling in on himself as he tried hard to hide from James. He had lost a lot of weight recently, and his clothing was quite baggy on him.

"When was the last time you ate anything?" James asked.

"I've not really been all that hungry."

"That's not answering my question, Sirius. When was the last time you ate anything?"

"I don't know," Sirius said.

"You're coming home with me. Lily is making her famous chicken pie tonight," James said. His voice brokered no argument. "I'm just going to use the loo, then we'll get going."

A little later, they arrived in Godric's Hollow. As they stepped out of the emerald green flames, a set of arms pulled Sirius into a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh Sirius, I'm so glad to see you. James is right, you've lost weight," Lily Potter said accusingly.

"Good to see you too, Lils," Sirius said. "How did you know what James said?"

Then he realised that James must have sent a Patronus ahead of them.

"Come on, the pair of you. Dinner is almost ready.".

Over dinner, they discussed Sirius' problem.

"Right, now you listen to me, Sirius Black," Lily started, pointing her fork at him.

There was an intensity about her that held him. Her body was upright and stiff, her green eyes had a fire burning in them that reminded him of the emerald flames of the Floo network.

"That was a huge mistake trying to go through Lacey. It was also really unfair on her. How could you put her in that position? Why would you put her in that position? You really need to apologise to her. I can't even begin to imagine how the poor girl must be feeling about going behind her sister's back like that! Typical brainless Sirius. You need to talk to Lexi about all of this, you moron. You need to be the one to tell her how you feel about her and Alex. You need to tell her the truth about who and what you are."

Sirius' fork stopped in mid-air. He hadn't been told off like that since sixth year. He put his fork down on his plate, shame spreading through him like a wildfire, and lowered his head so he didn't have to look at Lily's intense stare down.

"How am I supposed to tell her who I really am? The Ministry is clamping down more and more on that sort of thing. If I go and tell her all about me and the wizarding world, I may end up in Azkaban."

"Where did you hear that load of old troll dung?" Lily asked as she spooned more mash onto everyone's plates. "You know that was just a hoax. When did you last read the Prophet?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know, maybe about a month ago."

"Well, you need to keep up with the news more often. It was just a sick joke. The Prophet has since apologised and removed the person who wrote it. You need to see Lexi, Sirius. If you want her back that badly then you need to put on your big boy pants and speak to her in person, and not through her sister! Honestly, Sirius, I thought better of you."

Sirius had the good grace to look ashamed of himself.

"You're right, Lils. I've been a fool."

Lily smiled smugly to herself for a moment. "In other news," Lily said, changing the subject. "You're going to be a godfather."

Again, Sirius' fork stopped in mid-air. This time, he dropped it with a clatter and got up and moved towards Lily.

"Say what now? You're pregnant? You're going to let me be the godfather to your child. Are you sure?" Sirius said as he knelt down in front of Lily and looked up at her.

For a moment, her big green eyes threw him off. It was like looking at Lexi or Lacey. Sirius shook himself and threw himself at Lily, drawing her into a hug.

"Thank you," Sirius said. "Thank you both for trusting me with this responsibility."

"I think you've proven yourself," James said as he slapped Sirius on the back.

"Do you know what you're having yet?" Sirius asked.

"A baby," Lily said, laughing. "It's a boy."

"I'm going to have a godson." Something inside of Sirius melted. Suddenly he felt buoyed up and jumped to his feet. "I need to go."

With that, he ran out of the cottage and Apparated away to Willow Creek, where Lexi lived with her family.

Sirius landed in the park near where Lexi's family lived and headed for Lexi's mother's house.

He strode up the front path but could hear Alex laughing from the back along with a splash of water. Ah, they're in the pool, Sirius thought. Taking himself around the side of the house into the back, he found Lacey sitting at the patio table watching Alex playing in the pool.

"Sirius!" Alex yelled, startling Lacey.

Lacey looked over and saw Sirius standing there with a soft smile on his face as he watched Alex climb out of the pool and dart towards him.

"Alex, don't…" But Lacey didn't get a chance to finish as Alex threw his wet body against Sirius. "Nevermind…"

"Look at you, buddy. You've gotten so big," Sirius said, cuddling the boy. He could hardly tear his eyes away from the boy as he took in his appearance. He was sure Alex had grown a few inches since he last saw him. Just hugging Alex made his heart ache.

"Are you coming home?" Alex asked enthusiastically.

A shadow fell across Sirius' face. He doubted it very much. He doubted Lexi would want to see him or speak to him.

"Not yet, buddy. I need to talk to your mum first."

"She's inside having her dinner," Alex said.

Sirius let go of him and started to move towards Lacey.

"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for dragging you into all of this. I've been made well aware that it was really unfair of me to do that to you, so can you please forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive, Sirius. You know I've always been on your side," Lacey said, smiling. "Go on. She's inside."

Sirius stopped for a moment and drew in a lungful of air before stepping through the back door.

Lexi looked up from the counter island and gasped as Sirius walked through the door.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. Look, there are some things I need you to know, and I know it's going to sound crazy, but it's all true," Sirius said, his voice tinged with nervousness.

Lexi hesitated for a moment then looked out of the window at her sister and son. She shook her head. "Not here." Lexi took Sirius up to her room, and they sat on the bed together. He took her hands in his. He felt her hands twitch in his as if she was going to pull away and without looking at her, started to explain who he really was.

"My name is Sirius Orion Black, and I am a wizard," Sirius started. "You may think I'm crazy and that this is a lie, but it's really not. My world is shrouded in secrecy simply because Muggles forced us into hiding centuries ago."

"Muggles?"

"Non-wizarding folks such as yourself."

"Oh."

She was looking at him like he had gone off of his rocker. That is until he pulled out his wand and made her ballerina statue on her dresser dance.

Lexi's fingers fluttered to her mouth as she stared in amazement.

"I can't… believe it," Lexi said.

"You can't tell anyone. Do you understand?" Sirius asked. "This is really important."

"It's not like anyone would believe me if I did."

Sirius just rolled his eyes. It wasn't the first time he'd heard that.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't good enough for you. I'm sorry that I went through your sister to get to you. I know that was wrong," Sirius said as he stared out of the window and watched Alex playing below. "Do you have any idea just how much you've hurt me, Lex? What you did should be unforgivable, but being the idiot that I am, I'm willing to give you a second chance."

Lexi got up and moved towards Sirius who had got up and moved as his anger had gone into hyperdrive.

"It wasn't that you weren't good enough for me, Siri; it's a case of 'I wasn't over my divorce or Kieran'," Lexi said, her voice laced with anger. "We'd been together a very long time, and you don't just get over something like that. Yes, I'm now aware that Kieran did what he did deliberately because he was jealous. But I'm still not ready for a relationship yet. Besides which, being with you is like being with a whirlwind. You moved way too fast; just be grateful that Lacey has made me see things from your point of view."

Sirius turned from the window. "Don't you dare do that! You don't get to act like a martyr. At least I didn't hurt you!" Even after everything he'd tried to make things right, she still wouldn't accept him. Anger surged through Sirius; it came off of him in waves.

By this point, Lexi was in tears. "I didn't mean to hurt you, you stupid sod!" Lexi shouted in frustration.

They looked at each other. Realising just how pointless fighting about this was. Nothing was going to change. She didn't want a relationship. This wasn't all about him; he had to consider Lexi's feelings in all this. The realisation hit him hard, and he gulped.

"You know, Alex asked me when I'm coming home. I think we need to sit him down and explain things to him," Sirius said.

"I'll talk to him. He's likely to have an angry outburst, and I'd much rather it be directed at me than you. I don't want to tarnish your memories of Alex," Lexi said as she drew away from Sirius.

Sirius looked at Lexi for a moment before nodding curtly. He began to spin and Apparated away.

"I should warn you: I'm a liar. But this time, I had to tell the truth. I had to make things right."