"Thank you, Sirius."

"Alw-" He pulled back, looking down at his foot. Leaning down he picked up a black fluff ball. "What are you doing here?"

"He's so dark I didn't even see him." Reaching over to pet his ear, I frowned at the flash of eyes. "Do dire wolves flash eyes?"

Sirius shrugged, picking the pup to his eye level. "Not sure. I wasn't told much about them. Harry came to me with the idea of getting one, after Slytherin. They said he was a special one." Placing him back down on the ground, we watched him waddle over to the lake. "What did you name him?"

I bit my lip, fighting back the grin. "Black."

Sirius blinked a few times. Slowly turning his gaze onto me. "Black?" I nodded. "Where have I heard that name before?"

"I heard there was a large dog running around London called Black." I mumbled.

Sirius chuckled. "Big mangy mutt? Yeah, I heard the same."

"Well, I wouldn't call him a mangy mutt." I said. "A brush down wouldn't hurt though."

The wizard growled, running a hand through his neatly combed hair. "Leave my mane out of this."

I raised my hands, feigning surrender. "Hands off the mane. Got it." In a flash of movements, I was pulled into his arms. Not expecting that, I grabbed onto his shoulders, causing us to fall backward. Sirius held me close, making sure he received the full impact. "Sirius! You alright?"

Sirius groaned. "Yeah, yeah. Fine. You?"

"You took the full impact of the fall and you're asking if I am okay?" I swear this man was just to damn sweet sometimes. Leaning down for a kiss, I paused for a moment. His eyes kept falling to my mouth, yet he didn't make a move. "I am fine." Leaning in closer, I suddenly pulled away. Only to be pulled back and into a hard kiss. One arm held me down by the waist, while the other grabbed the back of my neck. The kiss was hard and demanding. Our teeth's clashed, as we both fought to control the kiss. In the end, I gave in, just enjoying the sensation he caused in me. Just as my lungs burned with the need for air, we pulled apart. Resting my head on his chest, I took in heavy breaths.

Sirius laid his head back on the ground, hugging me close to him. "We should be getting back." Helping me stand along with him, he kept me tucked under his arm. "I really don't need Molly thinking I have gone off with you."

"Are we not going back home?"

He shook his head. "No, we are going back to the old Black house. We have a few more things to finish up, besides Molly wants all of us together for Christmas."

"Sirius!" Remus appeared beside us, just as we walked back into the tent. "I have been looking for you all over the place." He eyed us both, taking in Sirius's dirty clothes. "What were you two doing?"

"Athena, I believe Hermione is looking for you." Sirius motioned to the three sets of eyes on us.

Giving his arm a squeeze I made my way over to them. I spotted Ginny and Vicky whispering among themselves. Hushing as I passed by. I knew by the time I was back at Hogwarts, everyone will be aware of the mark. "Hey."

"You alright?" Harry asked.

Was I really?

"Yeah, fine. Anyone else excited to go back to school?" I didn't want to talk about it and thankfully they got the hint.

"And deal with Umbridge?" Ron yelled.

"She can only cause us damage if we allow her to." I replied. "We stand strong, she will fall."

Hermione nodded her head towards Sirius and Remus. "What's going on?"

Glancing over at them, I meet Sirius's gaze. He gave me a quick smile before a look of pure seriousness was cast over. "I don't know. Professor Lupin, just said they needed to talk. It seemed urgent."

"You think I might be about you know who?" Ron asked with his mouth full of chicken. "Think they found him?"

"I doubt it. He has been hiding this long, he isn't going to let them find him just like that." I replied. "Unless someone gave him up."

Hermione shook her head, reaching for the fruit plate. "I don't think anyone would give him up just like that."

"Maybe with a good pr-"

"Shh. Shh. Shh." Hermione swatted my arm, shutting me up. "Sirius is on his way over."

"And you had to slap me for that?" I hissed, rubbing my arm.

"I didn't even hit you that hard?" She laughed.

"How would you know ho-"

Sirius stopped just in front of us. "Could I borrow my wife for a brief moment?"

Hermione placed her hands on my back, giving me a slight shove. "You can have her."

"You are so lucky I love you, Granger." Walking away with Sirius, I noticed the look of grim on his face. Something was not right. "Sirius, what is it?"

Grabbing my arm, he stopped us. "Something has come up. Remus and I have to depart for a few days."

Looking towards the left, I spotted Remus, Madeye, and to my shocking discovery Snape. "Wh-" Sirius stopped me before I could make my way to him. "What is he doing here?!"

"Athena..."

"Did you by any chance forget what he did!" I hadn't realized my tone loud. Or that the guest was now listening to us.

"Of course not." Sirius said. "But Dumbledore ordered he go with us. I didn't want to, but I can't refuse."

The man didn't even have the courage to look at me. I refused to let my anger ruin my night. Besides what kind of selfish person was I? He just told me he was leaving for a few days, and my reaction was to yell at him for something he had no blame for. "Right, sorry." Raising my arms, I wrapped them around his neck. "Just be careful and hurry back."

Sirius encircled his arms around my waist, pulling me into him. "Always love. I will be back before Christmas." Leaning down, he kissed me slowly. The kiss was sweet. His hand cupped my jaw, tilting my head to deepen the kiss. Pulling back after a few seconds, he pushed a string of hair behind my ear. "Stay out of trouble while I am away."

"No promises." Letting him go, I glanced at Remus. No words were needed. He understood exactly what meant. 'Keep Snape away from Sirius'. Watching them disappear, I felt a heavyweight in my chest. The same one I got when Sirius was attacked. 'No, don't think like that. They will all make it back alright.' As mad as I was at Snape the man was still my father. Well, maybe father was too big of a word for him, but you know what I mean.

"Everyone is leaving." Harry approached from behind.

"Mum wants to know if you will be staying with us?" Ron asked.

"Yeah." Turning around to face them, I was met with curious and confusing looks. I knew there was no way I could hold out the issue between Snape and me. Not after my little scene. "I know you all have questions. Let's help Molly clean up and we can talk."

About two hours later, we were all gathered in the boy's room. I was sitting on a desk chair, with everyone else scattered throughout the beds. "This was not how I wanted to tell-well I wasn't actually sure if I even wanted to tell anyone. You all know Theodore wasn't my real father." They all nodded. "And I told you I didn't know who my real father was. I lied."

"You lied?" Harry frowned. "Why?"

"I don't know. For many reasons." I replied. "I was in shock. Didn't want to believe it. Didn't know how to process it myself. I was angry, hurt, and lost. I didn't want anyone to know."

Hermione leaned forward, taking my hand in hers. "You don't have to tell us, Athena."

Harry nodded. "Hermione's right, Athena."

"You already know who it is." It was difficult to figure it out. Not after tonight. "You might think you don't, but you do." I got all nods, with the exception of Ron. The boy looked lost. "It's Snape, Ron."

"Blimey!" Ron gasped. "You're the daughter of Severus Snape?!"

"Yup."

Ron laughed. "Talk about dysfunctional families."

Grabbing a pillow, I hit him right in the face. "Shut up."

"Wait, wait." George raised his hand in a stop gestured. "I thought you would be happy about this."

"Yeah, aren't you and Snape close." Fred jumped in. "You already act like his daughter. This just makes it-"

"Official." George finished.

"They are right." Ron said. "Why were you so mad to see him today?"

"That's right." Harry spoke. "In fact, I didn't see him at the wedding at all today. Did you not invite him?"

I was so close to getting whiplash, looking from one to the other. "One at a time." Getting them to quiet down, I started with the easiest of the questions. "Harry, no I didn't invite him. To answer Ron's question, he betrayed me in a way."

"How?" Harry asked.

Grabbing my arm, I gestured to the mark. "He was the one to make me." They all exclaimed 'what'. Hermione used some words I never knew, she knew. "No one can know. This is something I will deal with on my own. But I figured it was only fair you all knew."

"So, Snape is with Voldemort?!" Harry yelped.

I shrugged. "I cannot say for sure. I myself don't trust him, not anymore."

Time jump: Christmas Eve night

Two more days, before we were officially back in school. Sirius and Remus were yet to return. We hadn't received anything from either of them yet. Tonk's was the same. I had asked her to join us for Christmas Eve. I really didn't want her spending it alone with her son. We spend the day decorating the old Grimmauld house from top to bottom. A few things were done the muggle way, like the tree. After that everyone just decided to use magic. Not that I am complaining, it was rather run.

It was around 1 am when I called it a night. Not like anyone else was awake at that time. Molly had asked I to make sure everyone was asleep, before going to sleep. She wanted to make sure no one, primarily the twins, would sneak down at night. I had caught Fred and George attempt to sneak down a few times. But after having Gryffindor stand guard at their dog, they called it quits. Crawling into bed, I pulled the pile of blankets over me. It was a cold night and I have always been easily cold. I love winter, but damn. Snuggling deeper into my blankets, I let the warmth smother me to sleep.

I don't know how long I had been asleep. Glancing at the watch on the side table, I frowned at seeing it was 5 am. 'What the hell woke me up?' Pulling the blankets over my head with a groan, I froze at hearing a chuckle. I sat up in an instant, pointing my wand at the intruder.

"If this is how you receive me now, I can't imagine how it will be when you're angry." Sirius chuckled.

"Bloody hell Sirius." Placing my wand on the table, I ran a hand down my face. "I could have hurt you."

"But you didn't." He opened his arm. "Come here."

Sliding back down, I settled into his side. My head laid over his shoulder. I laid one hand flat on his chest. My arm was tucked in between our bodies. Running my thumb over one of his tattoos, I spotted a bruise on his abdomen. "You're hurt."

His hand came down over mine. "It's nothing. Just some bruises here and there. They will be gone in a few days."

"Everyone make it back okay?"

"Yes. Remus is with Tonks right now." His voice was low, heavy with sleep.

I snuggled in closer to him, pulling the blankets over us. "Get some sleep. Molly plans on waking us up early in the morning."

"She comes knocking any earlier than noon, I will turn the woman into a pot." Sirius growled.

Morning:

A knock on the door, followed by a 'Time to get up' was my wake-up call. Yelling back that I was up, I snuggled back into the warmth. Sirius's hand came up to my hair, running his fingers through my hair. "That's going to make me fall asleep again."

"Then go to sleep." He grumbled.

With a low groan, I sat up in bed. "I promised mum I would help."

As I was getting out of bed, he reached over pulling me back by my waist. My head landed on his lap, giving him the perfect advantage. Bending forward, he claimed my lips in a morning kiss. The kiss was meant to be quick, but something in me enlightened. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him closer. A small moan escaped from the mouth when his tongue pushed past my lips. In a swift movement, he straightened himself up, pulling me up with him. Straddling his lap, I gasped at the new feeling I suddenly felt. Sirius's hands rested on my waist holding me in place. No matter how hard I tried, he wasn't letting me move.

Pulling back with a growl, he flipped us around. He now hovered over me. His breaths were coming out in puffs. "Why don't you go help, Molly."

I wasn't as naïve as many thought. I knew just what I had caused in him. "What about you?"

Giving me a quick kiss, he jumped off the bed and reached for a towel. "I am going to take a much-needed cold shower." Watching him disappear into the restroom, I laughed. Who knew I could make him feel that way.