Hello, yes another one. I finished HBP and I can safely say I won't be changing anything on my story. I'll try not to put any spoilers in, if I do, I'll give fair warning. Although, what kind of HP fan would you be if you haven't read HBP yet? Haha jk jk. Well here it is, I only own Bella.
"NON! No, per favore lui, papa. Aiuto! Partirlo solo! L'amo!"
Bellissia woke with a start. She had been having a horrible nightmare about Sirius being killed. It seemed so real. She shuddered and opened her eyes. She was nearly blinded by the brightness of the room. The walls, the curtains hanging on her bed, the tables and chairs, all were completely white. She blinked a few times trying to adjust to her surroundings. She was in a big bed with a fluffy, white comforter. It felt amazingly warm and soft. She tried to sit up, but she quickly abandoned the idea when she felt a sharp pain shooting up her side. She laid back down. There was no one else in the room.
"Where am I?" she asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.
"The hospital ward, in Madame Pomfrey's care," came the reply.
"Remus!" she sighed, relieved. She tried to smile at him, but it came out as a kind of grimace.
"Just lay back, don't try to move too much. Your wound is physically healed, but it will be sore for another hour or two. Just stay right here and I can even bring you lunch. How are you?" he asked concerned.
"I'm ok, but what happened? I mean, why am I here?" she wondered.
"Don't you remember?" Judging from the blank look she gave him, he guessed she didn't remember. He sighed. "A gang of Slytherin boys attacked you but me, James, and Sirius saw just in time. You were hit in your side pretty bad. It was bleeding like crazy! I was afraid… well Madame Pomfrey said it was one of the worst she'd seen in a long time. We were all waiting for you to wake up, but James and Sirius tried to kill Cresten Malfoy when he came in with a bloody nose, so they had to leave."
"Why did Cresten Malfoy have a bloody nose? All I remember is talking to him, and then his stupid friends surrounding me," she shuddered.
"Er…well," Remus clearly looked uncomfortable. "I sort of punched him." Bellissia laughed.
"Oh Remmy that's wonderful!" she giggled.
"Why is it wonderful?" he asked, puzzled.
"Oh, never mind. So what else had happened?" she said.
"Nothing really, I ate some breakfast, talked to the guys, wrote a letter to my mum…" he said the last phrase very fast. He sincerely hoped she didn't hear. He avoided eye contact and instead looked at the ceiling.
"Remus you didn't!" Bellissia was shocked. "She's going to freak out!"
"I know! I know! But Professor Dumbledore thought I should," he told her.
"The headmaster was here?" her eyes were practically bulging.
"Well, he had to know what happened! He said he's going to take care of the Slytherins, but in the meantime to write to my mum and to never leave you alone." She gave him an 'are you serious' look.
"I know you don't want a baby-sitter, but Bella, I worry about you!" She glared at him and then exploded.
"Non posso credere questo! È nessuno dei suoi affair che faccio. Ha ditto la Zia! Il nervo de lui!" she accented the last few words by pounding her fist against the mattress. When she finished, she was still mad, but looked somewhat more relaxed.
"I should think your safety is my business, and my mum's as well, for that matter. We care about you, Bella! You're like the sister I never had!" She stared at him, shocked.
"Since when do you know Italian?" she breathed. He smiled at her.
"Oh you really don't think a person could make it through seventeen years of living with my mother and not know some Italian," he said. "You know, I picked some up here and there. I only know a bit, and I can't read or write it to save my life."
"Do you know what we should do?" she asked. She had a glean in her eye he did not like at all.
"Er…what?" he asked, cautiously.
"Practice!" she exclaimed, then sat back, satisfied. He stared at her, confused.
"Practice what?"
"Italiano, stupid! I've got two books written in it, and I remember all the pronunciations. Me and you can help each other." She now looked very pleased with herself.
"I guess it would be cool to learn it properly…" he wavered.
"It's settled then!" she exclaimed happily. Remus looked like he wanted to protest, but gave up.
"I could ask my mother for pointers when she writes back," he offered.
"This is going to be great! I still don't think Antonia needed to know what happened last night, but I forgive you," she said.
"Erm, I didn't apologize, but whatever makes you happy," he said.
"There's one thing I don't understand, though," she said. "Why did those boys attack me?"
"Well, I was hoping you could tell me," Remus replied. "Sirius recons they were just being gits, but he's biased against them because one of them was his little brother."
"Ex-brother." Remus and Bellissia turned to and saw Sirius standing in the doorway. "You know I don't consider any of those creeps my family," he continued.
"Sirius! I thought you were got chucked out of here!" Bellissia said.
"Yes well, I'll have to be careful, won't I?" he flashed her one of his lop-sided grins. "By the way, Peter wanted you to have these." He winked and tossed her a bouquet of white lilies.
"Peter?" she asked skeptically as she caught them and inhaled their fresh scent. Remus looked slightly confused as he glanced at each of them.
"Yes, Peter. He found them by the lake and thought of you. He also sends you his best wishes."
She smiled. "Well tell Peter that they are lovely flowers and it was very kind of him to think of me. Wasn't it kind, Remus?" Remus's eyebrows had scrunched together and he was frowning at the flowers and Sirius alternately.
"What? Oh, yeah, it was kind," he said half-heartedly. "Are you feeling better Bella?" he asked, clearly trying to change the subject.
"Oh yes, I fell perfect. Actually I think I'm ready to go back to the common room."
"Awesome, ok, Sirius and I will wait outside while you change clothes and get you're things together. Won't we Sirius?" Remus said. Sirius raised his eyebrows at Bellissia. She looked worried as well. She sincerely hoped Remus hadn't somehow found out everything between her and Sirius. He was clearly over-protective, and this would make him so mad. She said a silent prayer as Remus led Sirius out of the hospital ward.
"What's wrong Remus?" Sirius asked, hoping he was keeping an innocent face.
"I'll tell you what's wrong! Bellissia's supposed admirer! I don't want her to date any Marauder!" he nearly shouted.
"Alright Remus, first of all, you need to calm down. Bellissia's a big girl, she can take care of herself. Second, you are a Marauder! And what's wrong with us?" Sirius asked.
"What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong! She deserves much better," he said.
"Aw come on, Remus. That's low! Below the belt…" Sirius said, but Remus interrupted.
"Sorry, but come on, Peter? What's she doing with Peter?" he asked, a look of confusion and disgust on his face. Sirius summoned every horrible thought in his head just to try to keep himself from laughing out loud. It was truly hard to contain himself. Remus was just shaking his head, muttering.
"Well, er," Sirius choked, "maybe she just wants someone, you know, nice." He had to start coughing, in order to disguise his laughter.
"Yeah, but you're nice! She can do so much better than Peter. I seriously think he just discovered girls this year," Remus said. Sirius really did laugh.
"Look, do you really think Bellissia and Peter are having a secret love affair?" Sirius asked. "I think Peter may like her, but she clearly does not like him."
Remus cheered up. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Back in the Hospital, Bellissia was listening with her ear pressed against the door. She had to put her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. She wiped a tear from her eye and leaned against the door.
"Just WHERE do you think you're going?" Bellissia turned around to see a short, plump witch dressed in white with her hands on her hips. She appeared to be in a bad mood.
"Um, to the common room?" Bellissia half said, half asked.
"I don't think so!" Madame Pomfrey snapped back.
"Oh please! My cousin Remus is right outside, he's going to walk me back and I'll stay really relaxed all day and I won't do anything fun I swear!" she rambled.
Madame Pomfrey sighed. She reached her hand out and felt Bellissia's forehead. "Well, let me take one last look, and then we'll see," she replied. Bellissia grinned and happily obliged.
One hour later, Bellissia was sitting on her new bed in the boys' dormitory. She had the feeling her stern head of house, Professor McGonagall, did not like the idea of her rooming with four seventeen year old boys. She finally had caved, though, when Remus had explained that he needed to keep an eye out for her. To everyone's amazement, McGonagall had shed a tear and replied that family indeed needed to look out for each other during these terrible times. Bellissia wondered what terrible times she was talking about. She never read the news, so she had no idea how much support Voldemort was gaining.
As she laid back on the comfy mattress, she realized it was Sunday. Her hands immediately felt for her necklace. It was a small silver cross she always wore. Her mother had worn it as well. Her mother had been the most devout catholic she had ever known. Isabella Marsala Angenelo. Everyone had called her Marsala, or Marsi. She went to confession every week. Bellissia wondered what her mother would do right now. She sat up and slid off her bed. Her trunk was laid at the foot of her four-poster. She went rummaging through and eventually found what she was looking for. Her hands felt the wooden beads as she took it out of her trunk. It was her rosary necklace. She smiled. She knew her mother was pleased.
Bellissia set up a miniature altar on her night table. She hung her cross necklace over the lamp that attached to the wall and lit candles around it. She crossed herself and then began the Apostle's Creed.
"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ…"
She allowed herself to be calmed by the prayers. She may not be getting along with everyone right now, or doing very well with her schoolwork, but she felt at peace. The holy spirit was with her. She decided to say a joyful mystery with her rosary prayer. Why should she not be joyful? She had her religion, she had her family (well, Remus and his parents), and, thanks to Madame Pomfrey, she had her health. She was also surrounded by wonderful people, like Sirius. She really liked him. More than usual. As she reached the last ten Hail Marys, she reflected that they were much easier to say than Our Fathers. She also felt better when she said them, as Mary was her patron saint. Her middle name, Maria, was the Italian form of Mary.
"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
As she ended with an Our Father, she sighed. If only she could always be as relaxed as this. She thought about Remus and their Italian lessons. She cracked a smile. They would certainly have their work cut out for them. She strained her brain to remember how to say a Hail Mary. She could only remember the first part.
"Ave, o Maria, piena di grazia, il Signore è con te..." she sighed. Oh well, she thought. It would eventually come back as she practiced more. She heard someone cough behind her. She stood up, turning around, and saw Sirius.
"That was neat, but do you always pray for like hours at a time?" he asked.
"Oh ha ha. I was saying a rosary, and yes they take a while, but it is Sunday," she replied.
"This your new bed?" he asked.
"Yeah, it just came today," she flopped down on the comforter. Patting the spot next to her she said, "Come on and try it out." He sat down next to her and lazily wrapped his arm around her waist. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I heard what Remus said about Peter," she said, smiling.
"Yeah, he was pretty worried, but I told him I'd watch out for you," he replied, with a bigger grin on his face.
"I don't know, but I think he should be much more worried about you."
"Yeah, I'm much more fun than Peter," he said.
"Yeah, because I really can't picture Peter reacting well to this." Bellissia placed her lips on his and kissed him. It did not take long for Sirius to respond by leaning her back on the bed so he was on top of her. She smiled between kisses and grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it off of him. Soon she was out of her shirt as well. She kicked her shoes off and Sirius did the same. She began fumbling with the belt on his pants, but she felt strong hands grab her wrists. She looked up, confused.
"We can't do this," he said, panting.
"Why not?" she asked, just as out of breath. She felt like she had run a hundred miles.
"Because," he said, his eyes watching her chest rise and fall as she breathed. "Now is not the right time, and I don't want to be responsible…"
"Shut up," she said, but not in a mean way. "Is this because Remus doesn't know? We'll tell him eventually. And people have sex all the time."
"There are some virgins in the world, Bella."
"Oh come on, you know I'm no virgin, Sirius. I'm just saying why should we wait?" she replied.
"Bellissia, it's not right. I can't do this if Remus doesn't even know we're an item. Lets just lay down and relax," he said.
She sighed, but nodded her head yes. They both laid back, side by side, on her bed. Bella turned her head and looked at Sirius.
"You're cute when you're arguing," she said with a smirk.
"You're cute when you're horny," he replied, straight faced. She laughed. Her eyes traveled down his smooth, toned chest. She allowed herself to fully appreciate him.
"Like what you see," he asked, one eyebrow raised. She arched her back and winked at him. All she was wearing on top was a thin, lacy bra.
"You tell me." He shook his head.
"You are going to get me into trouble one day," he said.
"Too bad that couldn't be now," she teased.
"Enough! I promise you we'll do it eventually, just not secretly in the boy's dorms while your cousin is on prefect duty! It needs to be more special. You deserve better," he said.
"Aww, Siri you're so sweet!" she replied.
"Yeah, yeah. Speaking of sweet, I saw you and Annie together yesterday. Are you two friends now?"
"We kind of have a mutual understanding, but yeah, I guess you could say she's my friend," Bella said. "I'm getting cold," she added, shivering. Sirius pulled the covers out from under him and they both slid under. "So what's her story?" she asked.
"Annette Canterby. Well, she's muggle-born, like you. Her father is the owner of Canterby Enterprises in London. He made a shit-load of money. Her mother is a deb."
"A what?"
"Deb, debutante. Uh, socialite. You know, the wealthiest girls go to parties in hopes of marrying someone like Jude Canterby," he said.
"Jude? What's her mom's name?" she asked.
"Melinda. Her maiden name is Morgan. I hear she's, you know, not all there," he said, gesturing to his head. "She and Mr. C are never there, and if they are, they're never together. Annette goes home for a few days during the holidays, but usually she spends the majority of them at Lily's house, John goes there as well. I should know, because James and Lily live in the same town, not too far from each other, and I spend my holidays at James' usually."
"Why? Why don't you go home?" she asked.
"Well, it's a long story. It begins with me hating my parents for all of their dark ties and ends with them kicking me out after fifth year. I was only too happy to oblige." Bellissia felt terrible for asking. He obviously didn't like to talk about it, but she had to know about him. She wanted to know his past. It defined who he was now. She snuggled close to him, but he did show that he had even felt her. She pulled away. Looking down his chest, she saw a long scar she hadn't noticed before. It ran from an inch or two above his belly button to at least the waist of his jeans. She had a feeling if he took off his jeans, she would see that it went further. It was off to one side of his stomach. She put her hand on his stomach. This he noticed. With one finger, she traced the path of the scar. When she reached the end, he grabbed her wrist for the second time that night.
"I don't want to talk about it," he replied to the question she had asked with her eyes. He could see that his abrupt tone had hurt her, but he was not ready to tell her his sob-story. He didn't think he would ever be ready.
"Sometimes it's good to talk about things," she said softly.
"Well now is not one of those times," he sneered. He though for a moment he had made her cry, as her eyes grew large and her bottom lip twitched, but in a millisecond, her expression changed. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth was a thin line. She turned her attention to her own jeans and began fumbling with the button.
"What are you doing now?" Sirius asked in exasperation.
"You shut up," she said, harshly. Surprised, Sirius obeyed. "You're not the only one in the world, Sirius. You're not the only one who's had bad experiences." She had finally succeeded with the button and had the zipper down in no time. She began sliding the jeans off her hips. When they got to her knees, she kicked them off. Sirius only got a moment to appreciate how good she looked in lace boy-short underwear before she grabbed his hand. She placed it on her inner thigh.
"Er, not that I'm not enjoying this, but what are you doing?" he asked.
"Feel that?" she asked. Now that she mentioned it, he did feel something rough. It was an odd contrast to her smooth skin. She turned so he could see a small white circle rimmed with red. He was still confused.
"What is it?"
"It's a scar, same as yours. Except it's not from a wizard's wand," she told him.
"I still don't understand. How did you get it?" he asked.
"Back in New York, I ran with a much different crowd. My ex boyfriend, well let's just say he didn't have much regard for laws. His whole family didn't. You ever hear of organized crime?"
"Bella, what are you saying?" Sirius's eyebrows were knit together.
"One night, Luca, my ex, had just come back from a 'job'. I was over at his house, as usual. He came inside in a terrible mood. Of course, I just had to pick that time to start nagging him," she laughed coldly. "I was begging him to quit, I hated all of it, the lies and the shadiness, but he would not be swayed. I got real close to him, yelled in his face. Suddenly he just snapped. He hit me across the face," she gestured to her jawline. "And he gave me a black eye. I was on the floor crying and yelling at him to stop." She sighed, and Sirius saw a tear in her eye. She wiped at it furiously. "All of a sudden, he pulled out a gun. It's a kind of muggle wand to shoot…"
"I know what a gun is," Sirius said.
"Well he pulled it out and aimed at me. I was screaming so much, I was hoarse for days. He had a horrible look in his eyes, one I had never seen before. He had always been so sweet and good to me when we were together. I still think he's good at heart, he just made some mistakes. You know, his father wasn't a very good person, and sons are a map of their fathers…"
"So what happened?" Sirius whispered.
"He shot the gun. It hit me here in the leg. His sister, Lila, heard the commotion. She's just a few years younger than us. She grabbed the gun out of Luca's hand and threw it out the window. By this time Luca had gotten pretty quiet. I think he was in shock. I know he didn't mean to shoot it, but it doesn't change that he did. Lila went and got my grandmother and they (Lila and Nana) took me home. They cared for me, Nana sewed it up herself. I begged them not to take me to the hospital, because I didn't want to cause any trouble. It scarred horribly, because, you know, without doctors or healers, there's not a lot you can do. So Sirius, I told you my sob story. I'm just some poor little girlfriend of a thug. What's your story?" Bellissia stared him down. Her eyes flicked to his scar, but only momentarily. He held her gaze, then broke away.
"Alright, you win. My dad," he said finally.
"Your dad. That's an answer, but I'm looking for the story."
"You can be a bitch, you know that?" he said. She glared at him.
"I didn't ask for what you think of me."
"Fine, you want to know my story? You want to know the life story of Sirius Black? The white sheep of the Black family? Here it is. Mine wasn't a one-time thing, ok? This has been going on since I was old enough to talk, or at least old enough to form my own opinions, which would be at about six years old. That's when I stupidly told my father that I didn't think muggles looked that bad and I had a muggle friend who lived down the street. You know what happens when Judas Talman Black hears one of his sons like and associates with muggles? He punishes him. My little brother, you had the pleasure of meeting Regulus last night, he was the perfect son. How proud they were that he got into Slytherin, their beloved house. This particular scar that's spiked your interest was what caused me to move out. My father got a little carried away, you know, did too much. Kind of hard to cover up that kind of scar from prying eyes. He yelled at me, as though it were my fault he was stupid. So I packed my bags and took the Knight Bus to James's house. That was the end of Sirius Black's ties to his family. I am bound now only by name. The Marauders are my family." He had pulled away from Bellissia. She looked pale, but she was not crying. He was thankful for that.
"I want to be your family," she said at last.
"You-what now?" he asked, looking confused.
"You said that the Marauders were your family. And I said I wanted to be your family, too. But definitely not your sister." Sirius smiled.
"That's a good thing, because I'm not really into in breeding," he said. She laughed.
"We're both such a mess. Abused," she said.
"Mistreated," he added.
"Overly flirtatious."
"Too hot for our own good."
"And cocky as a sailor," she finished. She smiled at him. "Baby, I want to make this work. I care about you."
"I care about you too, sweetheart. That's why I want to know that son of bitch's last name and address," he said with feeling.
"Luca DiRenzo. Son of Vincentio or 'Vince' DiRenzo. He lives in New York, but there's no way you'll get him."
"Oh yeah? He shouldn't get too cocky. Someday, we're going to meet up, and only one of us will survive, and I plan on living."
"Oh Sirius! Don't be stupid. He's a mob prince, you can't touch him with a ten foot pole. He's got bodyguards and pit bulls and anything else you can imagine."
"He doesn't have you," Sirius said.
"Thank goodness, because then I couldn't do this," and she leaned in and kissed him. He quickly responded. Soon she was on top of him, one knee on either side of his hips. She felt his hands in her long hair. They were both thoroughly enjoying themselves when they heard a loud thump behind them. They turned to see what had interrupted them. Peter stood with his mouth hanging open, a book open on the floor where he had dropped it. He was openly staring at Bellissia's lace-clad ass, which was facing him, as she was still on top of Sirius. In one swift motion, Sirius grabbed his cloak from the bed next door and had it wrapped around Bellissia. Peter still stood there, staring.
"What the hell Peter? Stop staring at my girl. And could you knock before coming in to a room?" he said, clearly annoyed Peter had interrupted them. Peter's jaw snapped shut.
"S-Sorry Sirius. I was j-just getting a n-new quill!" Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Go ahead, make yourself at home," he said, sarcastically.
"Sirius, don't be so mean," Bellissia said.
"Oh come on, Bella, you saw the way he was looking at you-" but Bellissia cut him off.
"It's not like it's never happened before. He didn't mean any harm, baby, he was just surprised, weren't you, Peter? I mean, it is as much his room as ours." Peter was still nodding at her.
"No harm done. Now I'm getting tired, so if you boys will excuse me, I think I'll go put my pj's on," she said as she disappeared into the bathroom.
"I'm sorry man, I'm just a little stressed out," Sirius apologized.
"No, I'm sorry, Sirius. I should have knocked," Peter squeaked.
"I can't really blame you for looking at her, I mean, she's hot," he said, shrugging. Peter laughed his high-pitched laugh. "Seriously, though, if I ever catch you making a move on my girl, I swear to you, you won't be able to tell—"
"Baby!" Bellissia's voice interrupted him. He growled.
"What is it Bella?"
"Will you go see if I left my bag in the common room? I'm in the shower and it has my favorite soap in it." Sirius sighed.
"Sure, just a second," he yelled back.
"I'm not kidding Peter. You better go down to the common room with me. I don't think you can handle being up here."
"Whatever you say, Sirius." The boys walked down the stairs together to the common room. They found James sitting on the couch, talking to Lily.
"Wow, sorry, Prongs, I hope I'm not interrupting," he said. Lily giggled. Giggled.
"No, you're not interrupting. We were just talking about some stuff. You know, head business," James replied. This comment had made Lily giggle even more. "What are you up to?" he asked.
"Well, I just came down to get Bella's bag, she left it here yesterday," Sirius replied.
"Oh yeah, I took it up to my dorm," Lily said. "Sorry! I thought someone might take it. I'll go get it." She began tearing up the stairs. James stared after her, then turned to Sirius once Lily was out of earshot.
"Padfoot, don't take this the wrong way, but you are so whipped."
"I know, I like it," Sirius said, smiling.