Chapter 24: A Gift

I pulled my legs to me and wrapped my arms around them, unable to have him touch me anymore. Knowing he was innocent now, he has suffered for 12 years because I was scared to face my father. I was too much of a coward to even tell my friends who I was, I was scared they would have judged me and turned from me. He believes he was the cause of their deaths because he changed the secret-keeper at the last moment, but it was truly my fault…it would always be my fault because I was afraid.

"Hey, talk to me, please. What did I say?" he reached out to touch me, but I flinched away, making him pause. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'll leave you for now. I need to go check on my assistant right now anyways. I will be back alright? I hope I didn't upset you into leaving." he blew me a kiss before leaving and I couldn't move, only cry as I sat in the shack. My thoughts were raging in my mind, from my childhood innocence to now, tearing at me from every side. It was nightfall when Sirius returned, bringing some dinner for us both in a picnic basket.

He kept his distance as I stretched my limbs and slowly came over to the piano where the food was. I picked a few things and went back to the bed, tucking my legs under me, not speaking. Sirius joined me and was leaning against the post, although it looked like it would snap any moment. "Sirius, I'm sorry." I breathed out after a few minutes in silence. "What do you have to be sorry for?" he asked and we met eyes, I knew he would see right through me if I even tried to lie. "I-uh…it's hard to explain…can you just trust me?" he cocked his head to the side and nodded.

"You are trusting me, on my innocence, the least I can do is trust you as well." I smiled and he moved over to me, waiting to see if I was going to pull away again. When I didn't, he sat beside me, our shoulders and arms touching. "I'm sorry if I upset you, Phoebe." I shook my head, telling him it wasn't anything he said. When we were finished eating, he cleaned up and pulled a blanket from my bag for us. He tucked himself beside me and covered us as the sun was beginning to set. I turned and faced him on my side, making him follow suit.

"Phoebe, I am so happy to have you here with me…it makes all these years fade into a distant memory. Together, we will avenge our friends, prove my innocence…then I want to start a life with you." I tensed up a little and he noticed, quickly saying, "If you want to, you know? I don't want you to think you have to. I'm just saying, it's something I want for us…" I smiled and kissed him tenderly, before laying my head on his chest and listening to his breathing and heartbeat to put me asleep.

**Next Morning**

When I awoke, Sirius was gone and I assumed he was checking with his helper in the castle. I sighed and looked out the window of the shack, seeing the white snow covering everything. It was beautiful, yet I could see the blood splattering on it, the contrast of the colors as they melded together. I was entranced as I continued to imagine the snow turning from a innocence white to a crimson red and filling the world with it's darkness.

I whipped around, throwing my hand out and blasting the figure behind me across the room. Sirius landed with a thud and I realized what I had done, before I ran to him, I turned back to the window and saw nothing but perfect white snow on the ground, not a drop of red anywhere. I shook myself and went to Sirius, who was coughing and getting to his feet. "I'm sorry, you scared me." I explained and helped him to the bench at the piano, giving the window another glance. "Phoebe, what's been going on with you?" I didn't speak as I looked him over, making sure I didn't do any damage to him.

He made me stop and look at him after a couple minutes, asking again, "Tell me what's wrong Phoebe." I went to speak, but nothing came out. I tried again and this time, words came, "My mind is messing me with me. I'm just confused about some things. Family stuff. It's nothing." he smirked and rubbed his chest, "Nothing, huh? Is that why I got blasted across the room with a wave of your hand?" I apologized, but he waved it away. "I'm here if you wish to talk about it. I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. I was…held up."

My ears perked up, he must have found something out. "What happened?" I asked and he pulled a box out of his pocket and held it to me. "I figured you needed a proper gift for Christmas." I couldn't even roll my eyes at him, because I realized I was the first thing on his mind, I was held tightly in his heart. I opened the box and inside was a locket, pretty and had a P engraved on the front. I opened it and saw he had placed a picture of all of the gang in it, Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, Peter and myself. The last photo we all took together.

"Oh, it's gorgeous. Thank you Sirius." I went to close it, but he stopped me and said, "There's a secret." he placed the locket right in front of his lips and whispered something I couldn't hear. When he handed the locket back, there was a different photo hidden behind the first. When I looked at it, I felt my heart skip a beat. It was the only photo that Sirius and I had ever taken together…just us. We had met up right after graduating from Hogwarts and went to a fair that the muggles were having in a nearby town. We had come across a booth that took 4 tiny photos in a strip.

They didn't move like magical photos, but it was special because they didn't have to hide the way we felt about each other. It was the one where we were pressing our faces together, smiling brightly and our eyes shining with our feelings. I closed the locket and kissed Sirius deeply in my thanks of the gift. He returned with a passion I knew too well and soon we were in the bed again. After a hour or so of love-making, we were laying together on the bed, in our own hidden world, away from everything, it was just Sirius and myself.

The night came and we were laying down, I was just about to doze off when his voice reached me, "Hey, Phoebe. Can I ask you something?" I mumbled a mhnmhn and he continued. "We have known each other for a long time, yet I know very little about your parents or any of your family. Would you mind telling me about them? Your childhood? Before coming to Hogwarts?" I opened my eyes, meeting his and they were holding a curiosity I had seen in his youth. "Uh…sure. What do you want to know?" I laid my head on his chest, giving me an excuse to not look him in the eye. I couldn't lie to him if I was looking into his eyes.

"Are you from a pureblood family? Muggle-born?" I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm half-blood. My mother was pureblood and father was half-blood. I was raised by her and her family. I never knew my father and his family." "Why not?" I cleared my throat and adjusted my body to fit against him better before answering. "He left before I was born. He didn't want kids, wanted my mother to get rid of me. She refused, so he left." "He sounds like an asshole." I nodded and thought to myself, if only you knew the truth.

"So I'm assuming no siblings?" I nodded and he continued to ask more and more. "So where are you from originally? I mean, you aren't from here right?" "You're right. My mother is from the Caribbean, along with her family." "I always wondered why you were so tan." I laughed and gave his ribs a poke before he asked another question. "Do you even know your father's name?" I froze and recovered quickly, shaking my head. "I never wanted to know. I mean, if he didn't want me, why should I want to know anything about him?" he agreed and began to run his fingers through my hair as he continued asking about my family and how I grew up.

When he was finally finished asking me questions, we went to sleep and we just enjoyed each other company as the holiday break continued. On the last day, meaning I had to return, he was staring out the window when I woke up. I went to him and wrapped my arms around him from behind, nestling my face into his back. "Good morning Sirius." I breathed and he didn't answer, nor did he react to my touch. I released him and went around to face him, his face was blank as he continued to look out at the window.

I blinked, did he figure out who I really was? Did he know that I was the Dark Lord's daughter? That's when I noticed the note in his hand, it was well worn and folded many times over. I knew the note, it was mine. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked and I tried to take the note, but he moved his hand away and looked at me. "Sirius, it's not important. It doesn't matter." "You told everyone that you were visiting your mother…when you don't have a mother anymore. How is that not important?"