A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I was a little worried about this story. Now I know it's ok I can continue.

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Chapter 3

"To err is human; to forgive, divine."


"Taylor's home," Aurora said as she hurriedly wiped her eyes and tried to straighten herself out.

"So his name is Taylor?" Sirius raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Her name actually."

"HER?!" his eyes popped out of his head. "Rory…I never knew…"

"It's not like that," she sighed.

"So she's just your flat-mate then?"

"Not exactly. Taylor is my daughter."

"Did you just say…what…how can she…but you must," Sirius stammered his mouth agape.

Aurora looked at her hands. "Well, I better go talk to her. You stay in here and keep quiet. Be right back."

Sirius could only nod. She left and closed the door behind herself. A daughter? Since when did Aurora have a daughter? She wasn't exactly the most maternal woman in the world. The idea of Aurora Matheson having a child was just too foreign for Sirius to comprehend.

A lot has changed, Sirius thought to himself as he moved to the door and pressed his ear up against it in hopes of catching some of the conversation.

The door opened suddenly and Sirius stumbled. Aurora eyed him and he smiled sheepishly.

"She's gone over to her friend's house. She won't be back for a few hours."

Sirius nodded slowly. "So-uh-who's her father?"

Aurora appeared to seize up and she grimaced. Sirius felt an uneasy heaviness settle in the pit of his stomach.

"You are."

"Come again?"

"I said you're her father," Aurora said without looking up from a spot on the floor.

"Hmm. That's a little hard to believe considering my extended absence. I mean, I'm good but I'm not that good."

"I'm not kidding. Before you left…I found out I was a month pregnant the day before Halloween. I was going to tell you…"

She really didn't look like she was joking. They had a daughter. A little girl they had created.

Anger like he'd never felt washed over Sirius. "You should have told me straight away! Hell, I should have gone to the doctor's appointment with you! Bloody hell Aurora! Do you realise what you've done!?"

"I'm so sorry! I was scared and…"

"I don't want your damn excuses! I can't believe you would do something like this to me!"

"Don't yell at me!"

"You don't even understand! If I had known you were pregnant I never would have gone after Peter! I would have had something to live for! The loss of Lily and James wouldn't have affected me so much! God, everything would have been different!"

"Wasn't I enough to live for? You're a damn fool! We both know you would have gone after Peter regardless."

"NO!"

Aurora recoiled slightly. She swallowed past a lump in her throat and tried to remain strong. "I was doing what was best for me and the baby."

"And what about me? She's my daughter too! Or don't I get a say in anything? Does she even know I'm her father?" Sirius crossed his arms and glared at her.

Aurora shook her head and stared at her feet. Sirius was angrier than she'd ever seen him. Frankly, he was scaring her.

"Oh, that's even better! I don't even exist as far as she's concerned."

"What was I supposed to say? By the way, sweetie, your father is a convicted murderer. Come on!"

"You screwed up. I just…I can't even look at you anymore," Sirius shook his head and left the bedroom.

Aurora fumed. He can go to hell for all I care! Aurora repeatedly told herself. But deep down she knew it wasn't true. She loved Sirius and she'd hurt him.

At the time it felt right. Sirius had been acting as uncommitted and frivolous as ever. He obviously was not ready for a baby. She just had to make sure he was serious about their relationship before she told him. Aurora would have hated it if he stayed with her just because she was pregnant.

How was she to know he would never return? Aurora had wanted to tell him but she was frightened. Sirius was unpredictable, she couldn't guess how he'd react to the news he was a father. Sometimes she wished she'd told him and sometimes she simply wished they'd been more careful in the first place.

He was right though. She had screwed up. Any thought of them returning to the way things were before he left had been thrown out the window by the revelation. Sirius hated her. That much she was sure of.

Why shouldn't he hate me? I kept his daughter from him. His own child.

Aurora began to cry. The tears fell freely this time. Not bothering to restrain herself any longer she sobbed uncontrollably and collapsed on her bed.

What if Sirius took Taylor from her? She'd be alone. Taylor had been the only reason she kept living after he left so unexpectedly.

Aurora had never cried so much in her life. Now, she found it hard to stop. This wasn't just about Sirius anymore. She cried for her parents, her grandfather, and Lily and James. Any pain she'd ever experienced in her life was being relived.

Aurora cried for an hour straight.

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Sirius was sitting out in the kitchen. He'd never been more confused in his whole life. His emotions were so conflicting that he was getting a headache.

He had a daughter! And with Aurora of all people! Neither were really parental material yet they had a daughter together.

No. Aurora had a daughter. Sirius had a girl who didn't even know who he was. Taylor just thought of him as that escaped murderer guy. Chance are, she was even scared of him.

Sirius had wanted to have kids eventually but he planned to wait till he was at least twenty-seven. He supposed he and Aurora could have been a little more careful at times but she really had no patience.

He had a daughter and considering she was Aurora's daughter too she was obviously beautiful. Sirius smiled to himself. But the smile quickly vanished. Sirius had missed over twelve years of Taylor's life. He never got too see her take her first step or hear her say her first word. He'd missed her entire childhood.

It was all Aurora's damn fault. She'd ruined everything. Had he known about Taylor's existence earlier he would have been at least been a little more cautious when he confronted Peter.

At the very least he would have tried to escape Azkaban sooner. Sirius had never hated Aurora before but he was feeling close to it now. She'd raised their daughter all by herself without any input from him.

Then Sirius suddenly realised how alone she must have been. Aurora would have gone through the birth all by herself. With no friends or family to support. Then she had to raise a little girl all by herself.

Sirius felt his anger slip away. A deep sense of sadness and admiration swept over him. Aurora had done it all by herself. It would have been hard to raise Taylor with the way the world was. He was sure she would have given her the best life possible but as Sirius looked around their dingy flat the full reality of how hard they'd lived hit him.

Sirius sighed and rubbed his neck tiredly. It had been an hour now, surely Aurora had calmed down. He was answered by a particularly loud and painful sob from her room.

Though it was still a pretty new experience to him, Sirius didn't like her crying. Already they'd fallen back into their old habit of fighting and hurting each other. It was a vicious circle they found hard to break.

Aurora's cried carried out to Sirius and he flinched. She was in pain all right. But what was he supposed to do? He was new at this whole comforting thing. How could he make her feel better?

"Just let her know you're there for her."

Lily's words rang in is mind. Sirius had gone to talk to her when the anniversary of Aurora's father's death had approached some ten years ago. He hadn't known what he was supposed to do. Luckily the anniversary past and Aurora treated it like any other day

Heeding Lily's advice, Sirius stood up and went to knock softly on her door. The whimpering and gasping stopped briefly then started again, even louder than before. The fact that she hadn't sworn at him was a good sign at least. Sirius entered her room.

Aurora was lying in the middle of her bed, curled up in a tight ball with a pillow clutched tightly to herself. Her black hair was all over her face and she was trembling. Sirius nearly broke down at the sight of her.

Acting on instinct, he moved to sit on the bed beside her. Aurora rolled over without a word so her back was to him.

"Rory, I want to help you."

"You want to take my baby away from me," she croaked, her voice shaky and barely audible.

"No! I'd never do that to you or Taylor!"

Aurora rolled back over to face him. Sirius brushed some hair from her face and smiled. She tried to smile back but she ended up crying again.

"You've worked yourself into quite a state, kitten," Sirius said as he lay down beside her.

"I like it when you call me that," was all she said.

"I know," he put his hand on her cheek.

She just cried some more. "Dammit! I can't stop now!"

"It's probably more healthy to let it out anyway. Tell you what, if you let go of that pillow there you might be a little bit more comfortable."

She moved her arms and he pulled the pillow from her grasp. Almost timidly, she moved a little closer to him. Sirius knew what she wanted so he pulled her into his arms. She settled against him and he sighed loudly. He thought he'd never be able to hold her again.

"I'm sorry," Aurora whispered.

"I know. How'd you manage it all by yourself?"

"It was really hard but the old lady from down the road helped me. Dorothy. You remember her? She used to be a midwife so she helped me a lot. She died when Taylor was five though. Then we moved here."

Sirius realised something. "Taylor's twelve right?"

"She turned twelve at the beginning of July."

Sirius frowned as he stroked her hair. "Does she go to Hogwarts?"

"No. I-well, I didn't want to risk anyone recognising her last name. I really wanted her to go but I thought you'd agree with me. I didn't think you'd want her to be harassed by people because her last name is Matheson."

"I don't want her to be harassed. Does anyone know she's my daughter?"

"Not as far as I know. I tell everyone she's eleven. As far as they know her father is the man I was with after you."

"You were with someone after me?"

"Yes, it didn't last very long though. Only for a few months. Let's just say he took advantage of the situation and wouldn't take no for an answer."

Sirius tried to remain calm. "Did he ever hurt you?"

"No. But not from lack of trying. You don't want to piss off a pregnant woman though. I don't think he's be able to have children anymore," Aurora said with a small laugh.

Sirius winced. "I thought about you a lot in Azkaban. I didn't worry about you though. You're extremely capable of taking care of yourself."

"I've been doing it for too long now. For once I want to relax and let someone else take care of me. Sirius…"

"I promise I'll take care of you. Taylor as well. We'll be a real family."

"Thank you."

"It's my job, Rory. So, tell me all about Taylor. What is she like?"

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A/N: Sorry it was short. I just wanted to get a chapter out now. I won't be updating for a while. I have my HSC exams coming. The HSC is what we do at the end of school over here. I need good marks to get into University too.

Please review.