Disclaimer: None of the characters in this fan fiction belongs to me. They're owned by J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. The only ones that belong to me are those that you don't recognize.

A/N: Thank you for reviewing. You guys rocks!!

I highly suggest my readers read this note: Lately, I've mostly been focusing on James and Lily or Remus and Lorie. So, I've decided to dedicate a few chapters to Sirius and Bella. And on that subject…well, I'm putting some stuff that I doubt any of you had expected in here (i.e. Sirius's issues). And, yes, I sort of intended for him to be slightly abusive in the previous chapter. He is a bit in this chapter too, but hey you, guys can't hate him for it. He's going through a lot. So there's no need to freak out, because…well, I don't want to spoil it. I promise, it's good. Bella will be going trough some stuff too, and I swear, in the next few chapters, you will sympathize her a lot. I've already written part of the next chapter, and it's a major pain for me to write it. It's going to be quite emotional and I actually cried writing some part of it, putting myself in Bella's position. The hard part to write was for me to be really descriptive in the part that…well, needed me to be descriptive. Okay, I'm not going to say anymore.

Chapter 27

Over the next few days, Sirius had become very distant towards the other. He was rarely in the apartments. And even when he was, Sirius would appear drunk. Bella was worried. Very worried. She had tried to talk to Sirius a lot, but every time, he would just ignore her or insult her. Bella didn't take it personally though. She knew that he was still upset and just needed time to recover. She doesn't even mind the insults. It was much better than him ignoring her, because he at least talked to her when insulting.

One night, after being called a "hard--hic--headed freak--hic--with no life" by Sirius, when she told him to eat some dinner, Bella went to talk to Lily.

"Where's James?" Bella asked, sitting on the couch.

"Oh, work's running late," Lily answered, setting some tea in front of them. "Since Sirius has been missing quite a lot of work, James and Remus had been covering for him. So…what did you want to talk about?"

"Lily…it's Sirius…I'm just really worried about him," she said, tears threatening to fall. A lot of her tears had been wasted lately.

"Aw…come here," Lily said, pulling her friend into a hug.

"I just don't know how to help him….He won't talk to me anymore and…and it really…it really hurts seeing him like this…" Tears now stained Bella's face and Lily's robe.

"Why don't you just sit him down and don't let him get away unless you've talked about it? Use magic if you must."

"Sirius is the type of person who needs his freedom, Lily. Forcing him into doing something that he's against isn't the answer. Plus…I don't dare to, anyways."

"You don't dare to?" asked Lily, alarmed, pulling away from Bella. "He hasn't…he hasn't hit you, has he?"

"O-only once," Bella mumbled. She hurriedly added, "But I know he didn't mean it. He was very drunk at the time."

"Bella!" Lily scolded, obviously against the idea. Then she softened up. "You know, back at Hogwarts…you would never let some guy treat you like this!"

"It's different with Sirius, Lily. I don't--I don't know. He's change me, Lily. I mean, we're not two little girls in school, anymore. You…you're married. And I…well…all I know is that I truly love Sirius. And I would do anything for him to be happy."

Lily sighed. She absolutely hated seeing her best friend like this. "You should try that muggle bar down the street," Lily said finally. "I think I've seen Sirius disappearing in there once or twice."

"But what do I say, Lily?"

"Just tell him how you feel. Tell him that you're worried about him. He loves you. He just needs some reminder."

"Thanks Lily." Bella wiped away her tears.

"You know, Bella, even though I'm married now, I'm still your best friend. And you can always talk to me."

"I know. And you can always talk to me too." They shared a hug before Bella left.

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Bella entered a dark and quite smokey place. Loud music was playing and people were dancing all over the place. It was hard to find Sirius, but Bella finally did. She spotted him in the corner, drinking and…and making out with another girl. Bella made her way through the crowd.

"Sirius?" she said weakly. Sirius broke apart from that girl and looked up.

"Oh, it's--hic--you," he said, taking a sip of his alcohol. "What do you--hic--want?"

"Sirius…I-I want you to come home with me. It's…it's late and you've been drinking a lot. L-let's go home."

"Sirius?" spoke up the girl who he had been kissing. "Who is this girl?"

"Oh--hic--she's just--hic--nobody," he said. Sirius turned to Bella. "Go away. This--hic--isn't your place."

"It isn't yours either," Bella said. "Your place is at home, with your friends…and…and me."

"Go away," Sirius said, before ignoring her and starting to kiss that girl again.

"Sirius--" But people started dancing again, and cut through Bella and Sirius. Bella gave up and just went out.

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Over the next few nights, Sirius is always gone. So Bella, knowing that she can't convince him, just stayed at home. She would sit on the couch every night, waiting for Sirius to come home. But Sirius always comes home very, very late, so sometimes Bella could be found asleep on the couch. All of their friends were worried about the both of them, but knew that this is a challenge that Sirius and Bella would have to solve on their own.

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A/N: Please review.