Moonlight: Well, at least I told you who the person was! There was a worse cliffhanger I could've given you a line shorter. Be thankful... be very thankful! –cackle-

Sorry for the cliffies but this one ends softly and smoothly. And a long post too! Sorry for not being able to post often. I can't find myself to be writing much these days. Final Years in only 7 weeks omg!!! –does the Hermione-panic-

And Reine is stupid. But y'know, her dad said he was going out. But then he didn't. So she thought her house is gonna be empty really.

Post 58

"What are you doing here?" I asked in alarm.

"My trip was cancelled Reine and how fortunate too, as I could see this," he replied coldly staring at Sirius with looks that could've iced the sun.

"Father, I can explain..." I added hurriedly. What was there to explain? I don't know how I was going to fight my way out through this one, hope was drifting away with every second.

"THIS BOY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HIM?!" he roared at the top of his voice so suddenly, I jumped badly.

"I-"

"DID I NOT TELL YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM HIM?!" he roared, turning around now to fix me with furious eyes. I quailed under his glare, not knowing what to say.

With an outraged bellow he grabbed me by the cuff of my neck and pulled me onto my feet. I stared at him with terrified eyes, my fingers weakly clutched around the strong fists that held my robes, my breaths coming in short gusts.

"You get your hands off her!" Shouted Sirius suddenly, now his wand out.

"Sirius, no!" I warned him. A duel was the last thing I wanted. Not when Sirius was on the losing end.

I screamed when I saw one of my father's arms coming at me. Reflexively, I shielded my face with my arms and a split second later his strong arms collided hard against my head. There was the dull sound of bone against bone that rang in my ears like bells. My legs buckled and I crumbled to the ground with a sharp throbbing in my head.

I heard Sirius shout my name but all I could do was whimper in reply as the pain pulsated through my head. Tears clouded my eyes as I lay on the cold, icy marble floor clutching my head with both hands.

"You should be ashamed! What kind of a father are you?!" Growled Sirius.

"Who are you to tell me what kind of father I should be?" Bellowed father, whose voice sent a wave of pain across my head.

The world seemed to be balancing on a needle when I opened my eyes. The painful throbbing in my head droned harder and harder as I struggled to analyze what was going on around me. Father and Sirius were facing each other, both alert, wands out and ready.

I could see the fire burning furiously in my father's eyes... those eyes full of hate and loathing, and suddenly he cast a spell at Sirius. His eyes went wide as a jet of crimson light hit him in the chest and sent him tumbling across the room. I screamed as he crashed into a display cupboard and bits of glass and wood rained on him.

Scrambling across the ground, trying to focus my mind on what was happening, I got to my feet, shaking, and tried to run. I had taken a few steps when I collapsed again. The throbbing in my head gave a particularly nasty pound but I managed to move far enough to bend over Sirius.

"What are you doing?" I yelled blindly to the blurred figure at the other side of the room. "You're... you're mad!"

I turned towards Sirius. He didn't look as if he was hurt badly, but he rubbed his head where a trickle of blood was oozing down his forehead.

"Are you okay?" I asked him quietly, trying to help him to sit but I, myself struggling to focus on him. A sharp jab stabbed at my brain and I winced and as I looked at Sirius, his figure split into two... waving irregularly. The world seemed to be tilted as I suddenly felt heavy on my right. I shook my head, the pain still hadn't subsided, but I tried to steady myself with my hands.

"I have warned you, Reine, I told you not to mix around with this boy, but you wouldn't listen!" he shouted furiously.

"For the last time, father he is NOT 'the boy'! He has a name! His name is Sirius Black and I love him!" I screamed, quite surprised that I could think. It was as if this line had been rehearsed over and over again in my head. "I love who I want! And you can't do anything to stop me."

"I AM YOUR FATHER AND YOU DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO!" He bellowed.

I felt Sirius grab my arm and pull me to my feet. I leaned heavily against him, sidestepping occasionally as I tried to match the floor's tilts.

"You are no father of mine if you hurt the ones I love," I replied frigidly, pointing a wobbling finger at father.

Sirius edged towards the fireplace and I followed along, unaware, me and my father glaring at each other like arch enemies.

"You come here right now," he said in a voice of strained calm, though I could see his wand arm was trembling with anger. "...And apologise. And we will forget tonight ever happened. I will give you another chance."

I just looked at him, I didn't know what to do.

"Just come over here... and promise me that you will never see that wretched boy again," he said. "And everything will be alright."

I frowned at him for calling him wretched. If there was anything wretched, it was him. What should I do? I didn't know what to do. It was hard to think when it felt as if stones were being hammered on my head. I turned to look at Sirius. He returned an unfathomable look. He didn't want to make that decision for me, I knew. I turned back into the face of my father.

Gathering all my courage, shakily, and very hesitantly, I said, "No."

"What?" demanded Father, his face livid.

I took a step back. "I said no... Y-you can't force me to love someone else."

I headed towards the fireplace, my eyes still fixed upon both my fathers. They moved to and fro, to and fro... why couldn't he stand still...

"I should have never come back home," I said shaking my head, taking a handful of Floo Powder from the silver pot on top the mantelpiece.

"Reine! DON'T YOU DARE!" he said dangerously. "I'm your father!"

"YOU. ARE. NOT. MY FATHER!" I screamed suddenly at the top of my lungs. It was the loudest I had ever shouted. And it reverberated through the room like echoes in a cave. it made my head hurt so much, it was as if I had strained it up just till breaking point. I rubbed it vigorously in pain and spun around wildly, flinging the powder into the fire, turning it emerald green.

"The Leaky Cauldron!" I shouted ferociously and ran blindly into the fire.

I faintly heard Sirius calling after me. But I knew he was coming. A split second after my feet touched the floor of the Leaky Cauldron, Sirius came after and bumped into me. I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of The Leaky Cauldron into the street.

Folding my arms and walking fast, I headed down the street with my hand against the brick wall of a building, just in case I fell over.

"Reine!" Sirius said.

"He is a...a SAVAGE!" I growled angrily.

Sirius kept quiet and my footsteps gradually got slower. My anger slowly ebbed away as I headed down the lonely street against the piercing wintry wind. Where was I going to go now... I stopped and leaned against a wall, sighing heavily, resting my aching head on the hard wall.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah... it'll go away," I nodded vaguely, rubbing a hand on my temple. "I wish I never asked you to come back. This is all my fault, I should've known... If I hadn't... If I only hadn't-"

"I insisted on going back with you remember?"

"Why of all people, why is he my father?!" I wailed as tears stung my eyes. "He doesn't care about me... he doesn't love me. He doesn't give a shit about what I want!"

Sirius pulled me into a warm, comforting hug and he tapped my back as I sobbed onto his shoulder, muttering words that I knew he couldn't understand.

"So you're not going back home?" Asked Sirius, digging his hands into his pockets as we continued our way down the dark, lonely street that seemed to look so grey and held nothing but endless sorrow and grief.

"You're bleeding you know..." I told him, eyeing the shiny dark red trickle that seemed to have been frozen by the wind on his forehead.

"I can hardly feel it," he replied. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"Yes..." I insisted, shaking my head slightly to get rid of the pain. It had lessened now, but it was still there.

"Maybe you can go back to the Potters-"

"I can't go there!" I cried. "They'll ask questions: Why aren't you at home? Why did you come back? And you know Mr Potter and my father are friends!"

"Um... I'm going back to my apartment," he said slowly with a shrug. "If you'd like..."

"Would you?" I asked, hopeful, although I wasn't too glad with the idea. I tasted a salty tear as it entered my lips.

He walked closer and wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. I leaned my aching head again on his shoulder, dulling the pulsating throbs slightly.

"No, I'm going to leave you curled up lying on a piece of cardboard in the alley tonight," he replied jokingly. I laughed sarcastically.

We went back to Sirius' apartment. It was exactly as it had been, just darker and more sinister. Sirius switched on the hanging light, and it emitted a dim orange glow hardly bright enough. I stepped gingerly in and sighed. Only for the rest of your holiday, Reine.

"There's only one bed..." I said softly.

Sirius paused, looking at the bed.

"We really need to clean that up..." I said, looking at his forehead.

"No, you lie down..."

He nudged me towards the bed and I stumbled towards it, landing heavily, causing squeaks of protest from the bed.

"Clean that up," I repeated, pulling out my wand but Sirius snatched it away immediately.

"You can't do magic outside of school!"

"We can't?"

"Not when there are risks of muggles realizing." he said. "We are allowed when there aren't any muggles around... And that is only when we need to."

"But there's only you and me here," I pointed out.

"We're in a muggle environment..." he said slowly, spreading his arms wide. "By the way, it feels fine... will probably heal by tomorrow."

"Fine..." I took my wand back and kept it in my pocket. If he preferred to do it the hard way...

I heaved myself onto my feet and stood. The pain had almost gone... what was left was just a migraine.

"Sit," I ordered taking out a handkerchief from my pocket and folded it into halves, and then went over to the tap to dampen it. The sink let out a soft gurgle and it vibrated slightly, but the water that flowed looked clear enough.

I went over to him with the damp handkerchief and pressed it against his forehead. He let out a gasp of pain.

"Oh, I can hardly feel it," I teased in a deep voice.

"It's bloody cold!"

I lifted the handkerchief and saw it already patched with blood. I slowly parted away his hair to see a glistening red spot underneath. I grimaced as I pressed the handkerchief on it, resulting in another sharp gasp of pain.

"I'm sorry he's such a jerk," I muttered, sighing heavily.

"It's not your fault... I guess we both have parents we hate..."

"I wished my mother could've stayed..." I said softly. "But I understand why she left..."

"She's working for the Order now right?"

I nodded.

"You might see her again soon," he added.

"I don't know if I can go back ever again now..." I muttered. "I can't believe he hit me... he's never hit me before..."

Sirius kept quiet.

"Well... I think it's stopped bleeding..." I said, pulling away the handkerchief, it was slightly soaked in blood. I dropped it into the sink and let the water run, streaks of red soon snaked its way into the little hole. It looked strangely mesmorising.

"I can take the couch, you take the bed," he said, getting up from the bed and walking over to the chest of drawers.

"Are you sure?"

"Very," he said, nodding. He took out large thick bundles of what looked like brown woolen blankets. He dropped one on the bed and the other on the couch.

"Well... this is nice, isn't it?" he said with a grin. "It's a sleepover!"

I smiled. It's sweet how he tries to make me look at things positively, even when there were so many problems going on.

"Well um... would you like something to drink?" He asked, opening his bag digging inside.

"No, thanks," I replied, pulling off my gloves and placing them on top of the drawers. I collapsed onto the bed, hearing the groan of springs against my back. I fluffed the pillow (that seemed to have lost most of its stuffing) and rested my head on it, squirming to find a comfortable position. My aching body sank into the bed anyway, my head grateful to be laying on something.

The room was still chilly despite the window being closed. I pulled the thick blanket high to my chin and sighed, staring at the cracked ceiling.

"You don't mind me being here, do you?" I asked, still looking up, eyeing what looked like a lizard's tail sticking out from a crack in the corner.

"No, of course not," he said, shaking his head.

"I think I'll go rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the holidays..."

"Well, you could stay here if you want..."

"I feel bad..." I admitted.

"About what?" He asked with a grin.

"About taking your bed... about invading the private space you waited so long to get..."

"Well if you feel that bad, we could share the bed," he said, wearing a crooked smile on his face.

"You wish, Sirius Black."

"It'll be warmer that way too..." he pointed out.

"Nooo..." I cried, stifling a laugh as I turned to my side facing away from him.

With a heavy sigh, Sirius laid down on the sofa, with his clothes bag below his head as a pillow and pulled the blanket over himself.

I closed my eyes and slowly, eventually fell asleep.