Are You Sirius?
Smooth

Things went smoothly after that , but then Serenity decided just to let Sarah deal with Peggy and not make any waves. She wondered where Sirius got to in the back of her mind while also contemplating what he said about his younger brother, not understanding what he was getting into.

"It kind of makes it even sadder if you think about it."

"What?"

Serenity paused, watching her older sister as she finished putting the now washed and dried dinner dishes away as Peggy took off, having been instructed to change for bed and brush her teeth. To which Serenity didn't know how to respond. "Well, I was just thinking."

"Does it have to do with that boy?"

"Well, sort of. It's not so much that boy, but more about the Harry Potter books. Do you think that Regulus Black understood what he was getting into?"

"Doesn't Sirius Black say as much?" Sarah's words made Serenity sit up straight, her eyes blinking.

"Where? I mean, there's not that much there."

"Well, I can see why those words might be taken one way, but that's honestly without considering what happened in the cave. Because Regulus was no idiot, which means his older brother was referring to something else. Like how his brother did something stupid that most sane people wouldn't have done, while his brother was also soft and kind-hearted, too much so to want ever to cause conflict in the family. And…"

"And it led to him dying?"

"Yeah. So, as to what you were thinking. Of why it makes it even sadder?"

"That he didn't know what he was getting into."

"But isn't that what always made it so sad?"

"I don't know. I always thought he did do some of that murdering and torturing stuff, and then when the Dark Lord suddenly decided to throw away the property of another Pureblood…."

"Oh, surely it's not that simple, but it's rather obvious Regulus had a soft spot for Kreacher and thought of him as more than property. And don't you think it odd that while Kreacher had pictures of every Black family member, there were none of Regulus in his collection?"

"None of Regulus? Wouldn't Walburga Black have thrown them out? There's also no mention of pictures of Sirius' father either."

"Yes, but a picture of Sirius' father wouldn't have stood out like a picture of Regulus because Regulus would have still been a boy. Even Harry describes him in that picture he did see as a smaller, slightly less handsome version of Sirius. So a picture of him would have stood out."

"Well, I still say Walburga Black throwing them out makes sense as she went mad with grief."

"But doesn't that mean the picture isn't quite right?"

"You said there wasn't a picture."

"No, of the portrait. Her portrait has gone mad. And even if that's the case, would she have thrown out something so precious or kept it hidden? Sirius, it would make sense to throw them out."

"Okay. What do you think happened to his pictures."

"I think there was no need for Kreacher to save them from Sirius throwing out anything and everything related to the family because Sirius kept them, just as his mother would have. That boy was smart in figuring out Sirius Black cared about his brother, albeit I think he was a lot like you and didn't know how to show it."

"I don't…" Serenity looked away, clearing her throat. "I wonder what Peggy is up to. It is rather quiet."

"Oh. You're right. Better go check on her," her older sister laughed.

And then—

"What are you doing in my room?" came from upstairs.

There came a fit of giggles from Peggy, who said, "Nothing."

Then came the sound of footsteps as Peggy hurried to her room, and Sarah said, "Goodnight, squirt. Don't get out of bed unless it's an emergency, or you'll be in trouble with mom. Got it!"

"Got it! Only if I need to go to the bathroom. Or the house is on fire."

"And I still don't get her," Serenity said, shaking her head, and deciding to head off to bed herself. The entire day seemed like a dream, as if Sirius never ended up in her room, and she could sleep in the following day.

Except—

A scream woke her.

Serenity bolted up and ran to her sister's room as sunlight showed in as her sister stood there as she opened the door only in her panties as she'd just removed her nightgown, which was carelessly dropped on the floor, which was so unlike her sister as Sarah stared out the window, her jaw dropped.

And then Sarah's face started turning a bright red, and one arm went to cover her chest while the other went to slide the curtain shut with a slam. The next thing Serenity knew, Sarah was hurrying to get her clothes on, forgetting about a bra and simply pulling on a t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants before hurrying off, but not before saying—

"That boy is never allowed in the house, like, ever again!"

"What boy?" Serenity asked.

"You know what boy I'm talking about?"

"Sirius?"

"The one pretending to be Sirius."

To which Serenity took the time to open the window and—

There was Sirius, slightly red face, but when he saw her, the blush faded, and he smirked, waving at her. And Serenity stared. "Oh, my gosh!"

"What happened?" Peggy asked.

"Sirius is…" And then she remembered Peggy had been in Sarah's room giggling about something the night before. "Wait. Did you know about this?"

"I was hiding Sirius like I was supposed to," Peggy said, hands behind her back, acting like not telling their older sister that there was a potential peeping tom hiding in their backyard was a completely normal thing to do. And for Peggy, it was.

"You do realize Sarah's going to slug him for seeing her in only her panties, right?"

Peggy frowned, then said, "But Sarah's pretty."

"Oh my gosh! Would you want a boy to see you naked?"

"Well, no." Peggy's eyes widened. "Oh!"

"Yeah, oh!" Serenity decided to look out the window to see Sarah was headed to the treehouse. "Got to go!"

And so she headed to the treehouse, expecting to find a Sirius with a black eye with the police on their way to haul him to jail, only to see Sarah standing there, looking baffled. "Sarah?"

"What's a dog doing up here?"

Serenity felt her face twitch.

"How did that boyfriend of yours get a dog up here? Poor thing."

"He's not my boyfriend! And…" Serenity didn't know how to respond to what was going on.