Sirius was dead. No one knew what that meant to her and she didn't feel like enlightening them. She sat in their compartment on the train reliving how she had gotten close to him.
During her second year, she had gone exploring during one of the Hogsmeade weekends. Well, she certainly wasn't going to let age hold her back, not when she had practically been raised by Fred and George. While she was exploring, she met a rather large black dog that seemed rather hungry and in need of a friend. After what had happened her first year, she could use all the friends she could find, so she fed the dog and played with him all afternoon.
He seemed so intelligent and so sad when she had to return to the castle that she decided she would sneek out occasionaly and make sure he was doing all right. One night she had spotted him in the distance and approached him, but he didn't notice her and kept walking in the opposite direction. As he left the town and headed for the hills behind it she hesitated, not sure whether she should follow him or not, but as she had brought with her a particularly juicy bone, she decided to.
She tried calling after him a few times, but he didn't seem to hear. Finally, she saw him disappear into a cave. She smiled, finally he would stop. As she entered the cave she called, "Hey boy! I brought you a..." but she froze mid-sentence when she saw not a dog but a man sitting in the cave. It wasn't just any man either, it was the man from the cover of the wanted posters, Sirius Black.
He was on his feet and watching her carefully. He looked like he might make a grab for her if she moved so she stood perfectly still, although it must be admitted that she did so mostly out of shock rather than intelligence.
As she stood there, she looked him in the eye. He didn't seem angry or threatening. What he seemed was terrified and almost pleading. His eyes didn't look anything like Tom's eyes had, so cold and calculating.
"...bone," she finished her early statement and held out her gift.
He looked at her for a moment and then at the bone and back at her.
"I...it has some meat on it still. I don't know if you'll want it...I brought it for a dog..."
He continued to look back and forth between her and the bone. Running his fingers through his hair he started to move forward but hesitated. He seemed to be afraid that if he got to close she'd run away.
Trying to put him a little more at ease, she took a step toward him. He took a step back.
"You...you aren't...afraid?" his voice was hoarse from disuse.
"You don't look so scary, just lonely," she shrugged.
He barked mirthless laughter and finally stepped forward to take the bone but darted back away from her again. "You've been nice to me...thank you."
"So you are the dog?" she asked and he nodded. "See, more reason to trust you. You could have killed me lots of times, but instead you licked my hands and wagged your tail. Just cuz you're a man now doesn't make us any less friends."
"Then...you won't tell anyone I'm here?" he was still eyeing her cautiously.
She shook her head. "You aren't here to kill Harry, are you?" it was more of a statement than a question.
He shook his head.
After that, she continued to visit him on occasion. She brought him food more suitable for a human and told him about her first year and Tom's diary and he told her about Azkaban and Pettigrew. She had volunteered a vow of secrecy regarding the information he gave her, letting him handle things in his own way. She was only twelve, after all, and she had made a rather large mess of things the year before.
When he realized how deeply Tom's diary had effected her, he decided to do something to help. He asked her to buy two identical notebooks and bring them to him. She did so, curiously but without asking why. Borrowing her wand, he cast a spell, linking them. Anything she wrote in hers would appear in his and vice versa. He sat her down and they had a whole conversation writing in the notebooks while sitting side by side to get her comfortable to the idea. They had used them ever since to keep in touch.
Even after Harry and the others knew the truth about him, she kept her friendship with him a secret and he never betrayed her. She reminded him a lot of Lily when she had been young and he felt that even if he couldn't help Harry the way he wanted to, he could help Ginny the way she needed most. It made him feel useful and needed. He became a cross between a big brother and an uncle to her, a bit of a mentor. She became like a daughter to him, and a friend.
All of that was in the past now, because he was dead. If she couldn't tell Harry about how close she had been to his godfather before, she certainly couldn't tell him how deeply she felt the loss.
Malfoy barged in for the start of year ritual. Growing tired of the bickering, she told him to sod off. When he caught her eye, she held his gaze evenly, too tired for a serious confrontation. She breathed a sigh of relief when he left.
To be honest, she was too tired for a lot of things. She did her best to keep up appearances and seemed to be doing a good job. The only odd reaction she was getting from anyone beyond a searching glance or two was the obnoxiously increased attention from Malfoy. He seemed more determined to get a rise out of her than ever. She wondered why it bothered him so much when she ignored him. Probably hurt his pride.
Whatever his reasons were, by the time Christmas holidays were approaching, she was almost ready to give him what he was asking for. Couldn't he tell that all she wanted was to be left alone? No, of course not. No one else could, so why should he? Besides, even if he did notice, it would probably just be more motivation to annoy her. All she knew was that if she let herself rise to his bait she would go too far and release all of her pent up emotions on him and that would not be good.