Hello hello lovelies! Happy Saturday! I know I only updated a couple days ago, but I had this chapter pre-written, and I kind of really wanted to share it with you lot.

This chapter was actually supposed to happen...four or so chapters from now, but it felt better putting it here, so here we go. Some questions are answered, many other questions are posed. Such a fun little chapter this is ;)

Please, please leave a review and let me know what you think ;)

My tumblr: indiebluecrown. tumblr. com

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, and only the story line and any OC's belong to me.

Wednesday, February 3rd, 1999

Undisclosed Location Along Wales's Coastline, UK

Sett Cottage

Crack! Sliced through the air, tearing the very fabric of it apart violently, before sewing it back together a fraction of a second later—most of the sound however was drowned out by the wild wind, and the vociferous waves crashing on the rocks.

Sirius's shoulders rose and fell heavily—long distance apparition was always magically draining—and he greedily drank in his surroundings.

It was nothing like he remembered. For starter's, there was a house here now—obviously she'd lived somewhere for the past nineteen years, but the formidable shock of seeing the structure kept him rooted in place.

It was a quaint, stone house: dark grey, stacked stone was broken up here and there, by sparsely spread lighter grey stone, the window sills were painted a starch, bright white—the windows were currently open, and sheer white curtains were blowing outside, fluttering in the breeze—and there the front door was navy blue with white trim and accents. Not to mention, gone was the knee high grass—instead it was well kempt, and fairly low to the ground. There were a multitude of flora and fauna that encompassed the house, and knowing his witch, she had a garden out back.

Sirius cautiously walked along the stone path that led up to the front of the house, hesitating at the base of very short flight of stairs—there were two steps to be exact, "do—do I just knock, Moony?"

"I guess you ought to," Remus said quietly, stepping forward, and placing his hand on Sirius shoulder in comfort.

He never got a chance to however, as the front door abruptly swung inwards, and there she was.

Riley.

"Come on, Twilight!" Riley called, her face was turned away from them, as she spoke to whoever was in her house.

The witch's hair had grown in the time they'd been apart—still as pale as snow, except now it was pulled back into a high ponytail, the straight hair gently blowing about in the breeze as it trailed down her back.

Fascinated his eyes roamed her body, her soft curves, and her delicate fingers that were donned with numerous rings, and covered in flecks of paint. The witch was wearing black leggings and an oversized, honey coloured jumper that had slipped off of her right shoulder, revealing a black bra strap, and he noted that her feet were bare—midnight blue nail polish was painted on her toenails.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Riley pursed her lips, hands on her hips as she continued to speak to the other person. Silence, no response came in the following moments, and Riley kissed her teeth together before striding forward, and disappearing from view.

Sirius wasn't aware that he'd been holding his breath.

A warmth had been building in his chest since they arrived, but now, magic sparked across his skin: his fingertips and toes were on fire, but yet, he was frozen in place.

Feet slapped across hardwood floors, and just as quickly as she'd gone, the witch re-appeared, eyes wide, her face ashen—almost paler than her hair—and her knees buckled, but she caught herself by firmly grabbing ahold of the ajar door.

Their bond burned in his chest, flaring to life as they both were now wholly and totally aware of it.

"Sirius?" Riley asked, her voice trembling.

"Riley," Sirius whispered reverently in return, still rooted in place, unable to move—completely entranced by her visage. His eyes darted about, soaking up every detail, freckle, mark, and he realised with a harsh stroke of alarm, that there was something starkly different from all of his memories. In spite of that, she'd never seemed more beautiful.

"Are you real?" Riley's hand flew to her mouth, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Do you—you remember…?"

"Most things," Sirius replied, his mouth dry, his tongue thick in his mouth, and he shifted from foot to foot, finally regaining control of his limbs. "I do remember that I love you."

"Fuck me. That is so sappy," Remus muttered under his breath.

"Mate, I had to listen to all kinds of sappy shite growing up, from you and Hermione, and that's only continued now that you're with little Tonks," Sirius scowled, peering at Remus over his shoulder.

The werewolf withdrew his hand from Sirius, only to fold his arms over his chest, "fuck you."

"It is you!" Riley exclaimed, bounding across the front stoop, before vaulting herself over the steps and directly into Sirius's arms—Remus saw it coming and sidestepped the couple, clearing himself entirely from the line of fire.

The wizard stumbled backwards for a few steps, entirely caught off guard, and sunshine, she smelled like sunshine.

"I thought I felt something cross the wards, but that's never happened before, so I told myself I was being ridiculous, and part of me—Helga, I don't care," Riley blurted, but cut herself short, and clamped her lips together.

The witch clung to him with everything she had, and she scaled his body only to secure her legs around his waist, "I've missed you so much," she whispered, her hot breath bathing the side of his face. Sirius tightened his grip around her lower back, holding her up, there were so many things he wanted to say, but nothing seemed like enough. Nothing felt right.

Riley pulled back just enough to look at him in the eye, well, she did with one eye at least: her left cornea was a milky white colour, a jagged scar started just above her eyebrow, and travelled down until it hit her delicate cheekbone.

Sirius removed one hand to stroke the same said cheekbone, "this, I don't remember. Who did this to you?" he asked calmly, restraining himself whilst his magic was vibrating with fury, acid burned at the back of his throat, and he wanted nothing more than to tear the one responsible limb from limb.

Riley smiled gently, "I don't know if he's dead or not, but he isn't, then I figure he's locked up in Azkaban—since you lot won the second Wizarding War and all." Her hands slid down to his chest, playing with the exposed skin—he was wearing a long-sleeved, slate grey shirt, with the top few buttons undone, faded blue jeans, and black leather boots.

"Who did it?" Sirius asked again, his rage only growing more potent, fire sparkling in his grey eyes.

Riley regarded him carefully, "Macnair. It was a long time ago, baby," she said, hands moving to cradle his face; he felt the band around her left ring finger lightly press into his skin, the metal warm from her body heat. The warmth inside him purred, and preened that she was still wearing it; that she was still wearing her engagement ring.

Remus cleared his throat loudly, "well, he's dead," the sandy blond haired man supplied, bemusedly watching the two. "I think Kingsley is the one who actually offed the sick bastard, if my recollection is correct."

Riley's head pivoted in Remus's direction, "wotcher, Moony. News travels far and wide despite the fact that I've been sequestered away, I heard you finally pulled your head out of your arse, and now you're married to little Tonks, and you've got a kid."

"Hello, Riles," Remus smiled, "now who told you that?"

Riley's content, serene expression faltered, "Xenophilius…I—a few months after Lily and James…well, I went to go see Pandora, to check on her, and I didn't mean to let her see me, but she did, and somehow…she remembered me," Riley explained, the words tumbling out rapidly.

Sirius's face fell, ashamed that he too hadn't remembered, and sorrow filled him at Pandora's loss. He had been locked away, and wholly unaware that she had even passed, that is until the first time he met Luna Lovegood (she'd been in her fourth year at Hogwarts).

"You're Sirius Black, you knew my Mother…" Luna said airily, toying with her corkscrew necklace.

"Yes, I did, she was best friends with—I can't remember who right now, my brain is a bit addled because of Azkaban, so you'll have to forgive me," Sirius chuckled, gazing down into the girl's wide, pale eyes.

"It's okay, Mister Black, you'll figure it all out soon enough, I'm sure," Luna hummed, twirling on her heel before skipping away.

Riley looked absolutely crushed, her mind clearly still on her late best friend, "after…I visited Xenophilius and Luna throughout the years, and he kept me up to date on all the important things in your lives. Well, that he was privy to, Luna told me other things."

Why didn't you come for me? A voice screamed in Sirius's head, but outwardly he remained silent.

"He knew who you were?" Remus queried, strolling over to the couple.

"Just that I was Pandora's friend, and that I knew Sirius and the rest of you. He swore on his magic, to never to breathe a word of me until I told him it was okay," Riley said, biting her lip as a frown tugged at her brow.

"So you know about the second war," Sirius stated bluntly, a matching frown knotting his features together. Then why didn't you help? The voice hissed, cradling its hurt, and confusion tightly to its body.

"Vaguely. I was adamant about helping, but Luna talked me out of it," Riley said, a fond smile tugging at her lips when she mentioned the girl.

"Does she know who you are? To us I mean," Remus asked.

Pure joy exploded from the witch then, a few strands of hair blowing into her face, and she hastily brushed them away, only to grasp ahold of Sirius's face again. "She figured it out."

A breathy laugh escaped her lips, "I honestly don't know how. One day she said, 'it must be lonely without anyone remembering who you are,'." Riley dropped her forehead to Sirius's, "and she twirled around me in circles, before telling me that I'd be seeing my Grim again soon. When she was nine."

"It's scary how much that little witch knows," Sirius chuckled, part of him not believing that this was real, part of him convinced he was dreaming.

I have so many questions, Sirius thought.

"It is," Riley said, and her lips twisted to the side thoughtfully. "I'm sure you have plenty of questions," Riley murmured, her fingers tracing an errant pattern across his cheek, a soft smile spreading across her features upon contact.

"I figure we have a great deal to talk about," Sirius replied, a grin gracing his face, but it dimmed and withered all too quickly, "I'm so sorry I forgot—"

"None of that. Draco and Hermione used incredibly old, and inordinately, powerful magic, baby, it's not your fault," Riley assured him, a finger gliding over his skin until it brushed against his lip.

Riley paused, as if warily mulling over her next words, "Draco—Draco came to see me and explained a few things before he disappeared the second time," Riley added firmly, nudging the side of his face with her nose.

She almost sounded as if she wanted to continue, as if there was more to the story, and Sirius would have pressed if he wasn't hooked on one particular detail that she'd just shared.

"I'm sorry, the second time?" Sirius repeated dumbly.

"The second time," Remus echoed, hands falling limply to his sides, he half turned on his heel, and subsequently, in a very Remus fashion—he did what he always did when he was attempting to process things—he began to pace.

"Yes, yes," Riley said dismissively, gnawing on her bottom lip as she sought out her prior train of thought. "Right! He came round, appearing out of nowhere when he'd been gone for months—you were on an Order mission from what I remember."

"Sorry?" Sirius gaped, blinking blankly.

"This feels like an appropriate moment to put the kettle on for a spot of tea," Riley said absentmindedly, unlinking her legs from around him and letting them dangle a couple feet off the ground.

Deflection, is what that sounded like, and it rang harshly in his ears. "Riley."

Riley heaved out a loud sigh, "Sirius Black. Let me go so I can put on some tea, and I'll tell you everything I know. Okay?"

"Okay—but I hope you know I'm never letting you go again," Sirius whispered.

"Good. You can finally follow through with your promise," Riley teased, and Sirius's brow puckered in confusion. Promise?

"The one where we have a massive, boisterous and happy family?" Riley giggled, her eyes dancing with mirth.

"Ahhh that one, I think we can make good on that, after all, we are still young," Sirius winked, leaning down, and gently claiming his witch's soft lips. Sunshine, warmth, home.

"That's my cue to leave—" Remus rolled his eyes, "—just like old times," he muttered under his breath as he walked away.

Sirius smiled into their kiss, reluctantly removing one hand from around his witch—and she slid down until her feet sank into the short grass—and used said hand to flip off Remus.

The werewolf's laughter trailed after him as he strode away, a sharp crack echoing through the air as he apparated away—he figured the witch and wizard would appreciate some alone time.