Prologue

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Sirius woke up in a fright and immediately put his hand to his chest. He felt nothing. He pulled up the battered t-shirt he was wearing and searched for the mark of the curse cast by Bellatrix. He found nothing. If he stopped to think about it, he was almost absolutely certain he wasn't wearing a t-shirt when he went out to look for Harry at the Ministry. He looked around and understood absolutely nothing.

For a split second, he thought about being at St. Mungus, surely they had stripped him down and put on more comfortable clothes. But he wasn't in the wizard hospital. He was in a room. The room was cosy, the bed was fluffy and covered with several sheets, blankets and pillows. The walls were a light colour and the wood of the furniture in no way resembled the dark furniture of Grimmauld Place. Through the window, rays of sunlight streamed in, warming the room and giving it that yellowish tinge that Sirius liked so much. Strangely, he felt good in that unfamiliar environment.

He got up from the bed and put on a pair of slippers that, strangely, he knew belonged to him, as well as the black dressing gown hanging beside a white dresser. He opened the door and walked with careful steps down a path that, strangely, he also knew by heart. He observed everything around him and felt that he was in an environment that was familiar to him, even if he had never seen it before. Or maybe he had seen it before and just couldn't remember it? As he walked through the large house, feeling the warmth of the sun's rays entering through the numerous windows, he began to hear a growing buzz. They were voices. There was more than one person talking, and he sharpened his ears as he descended the stairs taking care not to crunch the steps. Sirius could hear laughter, and something inside his chest warmed at the sound touching his ears. He couldn't help himself and cracked a shy smile as he followed the sound.

"I'll bet with you", he heard Petunia's voice, and his heart skipped a beat. He hastened his steps.

"Daddy said never to bet anything with you, because you always win", a childish voice replied, and he strangely recognised the voice.

As soon as he reached the source of the sound, he found himself in a huge kitchen. Sunbeams streamed in through the window and illuminated the large wooden table with a basket of fruit in the centre. The table he recognised as the one belonging to Grimmauld Place. Petunia was propped up by the kitchen island, with a steaming cup between her hands. She was wearing a pink dressing gown and her blonde hair was loose and slightly tangled, as if she had just woken up. Beside the woman, there was a child of about twelve years old. It was a boy with black hair and grey eyes, and his resemblance to Regulus was such that it startled him. The boy wore a Gryffindor jumper and was smiling at Petunia.

The marauder found himself frozen by the doorframe, and only snapped out of his trance when he felt a tug on the lace of his dressing gown. Looking down, he found a little girl of about six or seven, with the same blue-green eyes as Petunia and honey-coloured hair.

"Daddy, you're going to stay on my team, aren't you?" the little girl asked, and Sirius blinked several times. The man had his mouth open, and the little girl's voice caught Petunia's attention, who looked at the two of them and cracked a smile.

"Daisy, don't ask Daddy any hard questions. He just woke up", Petunia joked, approaching the two. Sirius looked from Petunia to the little girl again, who held out her arms to him. As if his body was used to that, he reacted instinctively and crouched down enough to take Daisy in his arms. The little girl placed a crisp kiss on his cheek.

"Good morning, Daddy", she said in the most graceful voice that had ever entered Sirius' ears. The man smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Good morning, darling", he replied, and Daisy cracked a smile.

"We were placing bets for the game today" Petunia explained, moving closer to the marauder and depositing a simple kiss on his lips.

"I wasn't!" the boy replied. "The only person who keeps betting with you, and losing every time, is Dad".

Petunia gave a laugh that made butterflies dance in Sirius' stomach. The woman walked over to the kitchen island and dropped her cup, pinching the boy's nose between her forefinger and thumb, drawing laughter from the boy who Sirius knew, in his heart of hearts, was his son. Daisy wriggled in the marauder's arms and he set her down, and watched with a silly grin on his face as the little girl pulled the boy towards the door that led to the garden of the house, calling him to get the brooms. Sirius walked nervously over to Petunia, and the woman threw her arms over his shoulders and kissed him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss. He had kissed her earlier that very day, before going to the Ministry, and yet his chest ached with longing. She broke the kiss and looked him in the eye.

"Are you okay?", Petunia asked.

"Is this a dream?" he retorted with another question. "Are you really here?"

"Did you have nightmares again?", Petunia stroked his face and cracked an empathetic smile. "I'm here, Daisy's here, Asterion's here, and most of all, you're here".

Sirius let out a laugh.

"A flower and a star" he commented, and Petunia smiled.

"Just like you and me" she replied, and Sirius pulled her by the nape of her neck until his lips were glued to hers.

"I love you so much" he whispered against her lips.

"And I love you", Petunia replied. "Even when you wake up completely dizzy. A beater doesn't have to beat balls with his head, you know that, right?"

Sirius let out a laugh and pressed her tighter against his body, taking her mouth again.

"We're going to be late for lunch and James is going to kill you", Petunia commented sighing as Sirius kissed the line from her ear to her neck. The man froze the movement and stared at her.

"Ja-James?"

"Yes, you silly boy. You two and Marlene are going to team up with the kids. It's Daisy's first game in the Quidditch Potter Cup, don't you remember?"

"Yes, yes, I remember" Sirius lied and paused for a few seconds. He frowned. "Wait, why is the name Potter Cup? Why not Black Cup?"

"And there we go again!", Petunia laughed. "That you'll have to sort out with your friend".

The woman then kissed him one last time before leaving the kitchen. Sirius walked to the door and checked on the two children, smiling to himself as he saw Asterion crouched in front of Daisy, helping the little girl tie her shoes. She was holding two brooms, one in each hand, and saying something that drew laughter from her older brother. Sirius' chest warmed in a way he never thought possible.

He walked back the way he had come and found Petunia combing her hair. He took some time propped against the door frame watching her and trying to understand how he had stopped there, how he was living the life he had always dreamed of living. He should, for sure, be dead. Or, at least, dreaming. And Sirius decided that if it really was a dream, he would never want to wake up.

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"There are seven of us! There are three of you!", Marlene shouted, and James rolled his eyes. The woman uncrossed her arms and threw them up dramatically.

"That's exactly the point!" the spiky-haired marauder retorted and fixed his glasses on his face using his index finger. "We're outnumbered, so nothing fairer than for the Cup to carry our name!"

"Prongs, that doesn't make any sense at all" Remus replied, throwing himself down on the couch next to a red haired Nymphadora Tonks. The werewolf lovingly extended an arm over his girlfriend and the witch smiled at him.

"Of course it does!", James replied and turned to Lily, who was sitting next to Petunia on the couch. "Lily flower, my love, tell them!"

The argument went on heated for quite a while, and Sirius just watched everything sitting on the couch, with Daisy nestled on his arms taking a nap. This was what he had always wanted. This was his second chance, and he was immensely grateful that he had grabbed that second chance. They had a family! He and Petunia, married with two beautiful children. James and Lily were alive, Harry had his parents. Regulus was alive! And married to Marlene! And with a son! Remus hadn't spent years feeling inferior. He was young, and he was loved, and he also apparently grasped his opportunities tooth and nail, and it was noticeable by the werewolf's hands intertwined with the long fingers of Sirius' cousin, Nymphadora.

"By Merlin, I give up!", Marlene complained, walking to the kitchen and opening a bottle of butterbeer. Regulus laughed and followed his wife. "You marauders are terrible! I think we all agree here, don't we girls?"

"Tell me about it!", Petunia exclaimed, and Sirius stared at her interestedly.

"You're the unluckiest of us all" Tonks commented, and then immediately stared at Sirius. "Sorry, cousin, but it's true. You're no good at all! Poor Tuny has even had to sit next to Cissa at the Wizengamot! And all because you made up that you had... what was it again?"

"Scurvy!", Petunia accused her husband, laughing. "Which is impossible, have you seen the size of our vegetable garden? Sirius spends hours tending it, and even more hours eating it".

Sirius let out a laugh, and felt a brief memory of what Petunia narrated. His hands with dirt, planting some seedlings with Daisy.

"Tuny, if anyone has the right to sit in the Wizengamot, it's you" Lily defended her sister, "You're the muggle who defeated Voldemort".

Sirius widened his eyes in surprise and stared at his wife. He hoped he hadn't shown too much that he was completely lost on the subject. Petunia defeated Voldemort?

"That's not true", Petunia justified.

"You found out that Peter was setting us up", James commented. "If it wasn't for you and your insistence that we switch the hideout and keep the aurors here in Godric's Hollow on guard, only Merin knows where we'd be".

"Mum kicks ass!", Asterion exclaimed, appearing in the doorway completely muddy, accompanied by Harry - who was a few years older - and Ron. The red-haired boy's cheeks flushed red as he realised he had soiled the carpet.

Sirius watched with a silly grin as his godson walked over to James, who messed up his son's hair with his fingers. The two of them were practically identical. The marauder felt someone approach and when he turned around, he met Petunia's greenish blue eyes. The woman was crouched beside him and she cracked a smile, moving to stroke his black hair with her fingers.

"Still on cloud nine, baby?" she asked, and he stared at her intensely. How could he manage to be the luckiest man in the world? After everything, all the years of suffering? How did he get so lucky? "Do you want me to take Daisy to the guest room?"

Sirius looked from his wife to the sleeping daughter on his arms and pressed the child against himself. He stroked the little girl's honey-coloured hair.

"No, I want her to stay here with me" he replied almost in a whisper.

It was so strange. He was there, living a day in the life he had always wanted, and even though he had only been there for a few hours, he felt like he knew everyone, that he had lived it all. And he loved Daisy and Asterion, more than he ever believed possible to love anyone. They were his children! He had children! Beautiful, healthy, happy children. His little flower and his shining star. Two children who were half him and half the woman he loved.

Sirius lived that day in fear that it was all just a dream. However, the next day when he opened his eyes, Petunia was beside him. Daisy was asleep in her room cuddled with a big black stuffed dog, which drew a low laugh from the marauder. On the fridge - because yes, they had one - there was a note from Asterion saying that he would be back from the Potter house in a few days as he was practicing quidditch with Harry, Ron and the twins. On the sideboard in the living room, there was a copy of a book written by Petunia, with a large dedication to Hermione, and Sirius was glad that the girl and the Weasleys were still part of his life.

The days began and ended, and over time Sirius forgot about his past life and the veil. However, once a year, he would wake up in the middle of the night with all the memories back, and they would last for a few days. It was like an annual reminder that he was getting a second chance.

Over time, Sirius regained the memories of the life he thought was a dream. He discovered that he had, in fact, broken Petunia's heart, but that he had told her the whole truth on the day Harry was born, at which time he declared to her that he loved her. Since then, he never let her go. The two were married, and she still wore Alphard's ring on her ring finger all the time. Petunia had become quite close to Marlene, and had even been chosen as godmother to her first child with Regulus, little Cignus.

Regulus had defected, and thanks to him, the Order found out about the horcruxes. It took them years to discover and destroy them all, but in the end, they succeeded. They were safe.

James and Lily were alive, and Harry had grown up with his parents. Lily and Petunia spoke to each other every day, as did Sirius, James and Remus. The werewolf, after a while, took courage and asked Tonks to marry him, and Sirius made long jokes to his cousin with the fact that she would no longer be a Tonks and would have to get used to being called Nymphadora Lupin. The marauder's butt was scorched for three days after the jokes.

The Potter Cup went on every year, and every year Sirius, Petunia, Regulus and Marlene argued about the Blacks being in great number and the Cup having the wrong name. Sirius took the seat in Wizengamot with Regulus and the two of them managed, along with James and the Weasleys, to convince the majority of wizards to pass laws to include werewolves and integrate the magical community with the muggle world.

Sirius lived one day at a time, all as if it were his last. The love he felt for Petunia caused his magic to bind itself to her at the moment of marriage, and that was the reason why Petunia Evans-Black, a muggle, lived so long. She passed away at 130 and Sirius, unable to carry on without her, left soon after. The two are buried side by side in Cokeworth, in the same cemetery as the Evans were buried. On Sirius' tombstone, his last joke: 'Here, buried in muggle lands, lies Sirius Orion Black, son of Walburga, beloved mother who at this very moment is burning in hell'.

Sirius was never remembered as the man who spent years wrongfully imprisoned and who died before being cleared. Thanks to the Veil and the second chance he had received, Sirius was remembered as the man who stayed true to his friends until the end, as the man who loved his wife more than anything in the world, as the most owlish father of all the marauders, and as the grandfather with the worst advice.

Well, the last part is a consensus only among the Hogwarts headmasters, because, you see, at this very moment his great-grandson Jim is in the passage of the One-Eyed Witch making out with the Ravenclaw captain, Sebastian Lupin. And you know how I know this? Because his sister Rose is at this very moment with an open Marauder's Map under the table next to her friend Charlus Potter as they wait, sitting in the claustrophobic little room that was once Argus Filch's, for the next detention.

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The end.