Sirius Black was in awe; he had always thought that Hermione reminded him a bit of Lavinia and Lily as well.
He had a daughter; with the woman he had loved so long ago. Lavinia Bailey was in their year at Hogwarts,
she was smart, beautiful, and energetic. She was the opposite of Sirius, her energy was uplifting in a calm way,
she made those around her feel happy and at peace. To say that attitudes towards Romani people in the UK
were less than favorable would be an optimistic assessment, on top of that, coming to Hogwarts as a muggle-born
Romani Witch had been a true act of bravery. The sorting hat had quickly placed her in Gryffindor. She didn't want
anyone to protect her, she didn't see herself as a victim of anything.

When Sirius had asked her in their 7th year, she'd said that there would always be people in this world that treated
those different from themselves with contempt and animosity, and those people were not worth her time. Statistics
didn't matter, her ability to take advantage of the opportunities she came across in life mattered. She was determined
to do that in spite of those who would seek to place her in a box, or those that would underestimate her simply based
on where her ancestors were born centuries ago. That was the moment that Sirius realized how much they had in
common, he didn't want to be placed into the 'Deatheater' box just because of his family's long-held tradition of
supporting pure-blood bigotry, simply because of an expectation society had for him.

When the Potters had taken him in, he felt freer and more loved than he had been his entire childhood up until that
point. It felt amazing to finally have a family that accepted him just as he was. Pranks and all. It was late, and he was
laying on the still transfigured couch in the dark hospital ward as Snuffles, watching the young girl, his daughter, sleep
after everyone had left. Well… almost everyone.

Harry was sitting in the chair next to her bed still, watching her closely as if afraid her time awake earlier was wishful
thinking. Sirius had finally had enough, Harry needed sleep as well. He huffed and stretched as he moved from the couch
towards his godson. When he reached the young man that looked so much like his lost friend, he let out a muffled bark
and nudged the boy's knee roughly with his snout.

The boy raised his free hand and rubbed his eyes under his glasses with an exhausted sigh. "I know, I know." he said.

Sirius shifted back into himself and looked at the boy. "Watching her all night isn't going to hasten her healing Harry, we both
need rest as well. I've heard how rough her hexes are. Neither of us wants that."

Harry looked up at him, "I know. I just can't stop thinking about everything that's happened over the past few days. Her, you…
all of it. I finally feel like I have a family of my own Sirius. It was easy not to be scared of war when I didn't think I would
ever have that. Now that I have both of you… and the Weasley's, Remus, and Tonks too. The thought terrifies me."

Sirius looked thoughtfully at his godson for a moment "Harry… know that however you answer my question…whatever you
tell me, I will believe you. I trust you. I need to know, that you won't push her away. Loving people in times of peace is hard
enough, people fight, the world is full of temptation. But in a time of war, it is even harder. I may not know her as I should,
but I know that Hermione will never willingly leave you to your own devices. I witnessed you running from me, almost causing
yourself injury just to be by her side when she woke up today. I saw your concern and affection for her... I need to know that
since you are dropping your guard now, that you will stick to your decision." Sirius ran his fingers through his hair and looked
towards the door to gather his thoughts, when he next spoke his voice was lower, more firm, and full of conviction. "Harry…
you can't do what I did. For all his faults, your father was a much better life partner than I was. There were others that could
have done my job the last time around. I could have chosen to stay and help at home. Instead, I took assignments far away,
that were equally important. But, in doing that I left my family vulnerable. If you're going to go down that path, I need to know
that you'll be more like James.

Harry looked at Sirius with wide eyes. "Sirius..."

"No Harry, swear it. If you're going to stop trying to fight those feelings, if you're going to give her any hope at all, swear to me
that you'll never disappoint those hopes purposefully."

Harry looked slowly away from Sirius to the still pale girl sleeping peacefully. His free hand, not encased in the grip of hers,
moved up to brush a stray lock of hair away from her face but instead of letting it go, he held the silky curly dark chocolate
strand between his fingers for a moment before answering "Merlin, I swear it. God, Sirius, I never want to feel this way again.
After this… I'm scared of being away from her. The thought of something like this happening if I were to try going it alone, kills me."

The older man placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, lightly squeezed it, and released a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"That's all I needed to know. I'm not questioning how you feel about her Harry. Now, go lay down and get some rest. She's doing
much better."

The two of them were finally able to get a few hours of sleep, Sirius back in his dog form, before the hospital wing door burst open
loudly in the early hours of the morning at a barely decent time for visiting hours.