A/N: Thank you so much for your beautiful response to the previous chapter. I was really worried about how you guys would react, and I can't describe how much it moves me to hear your reactions to it, whether you loved it or hurt with Aurelia. I am so glad to have every single one of you read and react to my story, and I hope you will continue to love it! This chapter is written from Sirius' POV, which I hope will be interesting for you guys to read. A suggestion is to listen to some Pink Floyd while reading this chapter, might I suggest 'Shine on you crazy diamond' or 'Wish you were here'. If you haven't heard them before, you're in for a real treat! Enjoy!

Sirius Black had a shitty sense of timing. He always had, and he probably always would. It was one of his lesser qualities, and more often than not, it landed him in all sorts of tricky situations. Like the time when he had accepted a dare to serenade Professor McGonagall, and landed himself in three weeks of detention just before double trips to Hogsmeade.

Add some alcohol into the mixture, and those situations got tenfold worse. Like the time when he had made the solid decision to bring a fit muggle girl home to Grimmauld Place for the night, only to realize that it was his mother's birthday. Needless to say, that had been enough leverage for her to finally disinherit him and blast him off the family tree.

But this time - this time, he had really fucked up. He wanted nothing more than to blame the alcohol, to blame James, or even Lily Evans, for that matter. But the truth was, he had hurt the most beautiful girl on the planet, and pushed her away when she needed him the most. And there was no one to blame but himself – and his shitty sense of timing.

Sirius had adored Aurelia Fawley ever since the first time he saw her, only seven years old at the time, as she lectured his younger brother Reggie on muggle rights. They had been in the same Latin class at the time, Aurelia and Regulus, and Sirius had arrived with his father to collect the younger Black-brother just in time to hear her scolding.

It had been absolutely brilliant. Already at the young age of eight, Sirius had made a name for himself as the rebel of the family, but to see another pureblood child stand up for such ideals - a small, pretty girl at that - had left him in complete awe.

And the rebel boy had never seized to be awestruck by Aurelia Fawley; be it her striking grey eyes, her persistent strength, or her undying love for the family – a family that continued to let her down time after time. Sirius had never had love like that. He doubted that his parents had ever loved him at all, and his brother had barely spoken to him since he "got himself kicked out", as Reggie liked to put it. In all honesty, he was probably no better himself – he was no Fawley, that was for sure. He couldn't love his parents to the degree that he would forgive and forget everything they had done wrong, and while being blasted off the family tree had hurt him like nothing before, it had turned out to be quite the relief – being free of them.

Either way, there still was a part of him that wanted to be loved like that; unconditionally. The way only she seemed to be able to love. And Merlin, did she deserve that, too. She seemed to just give, and give, past the point where one would think there was nothing left to give. And she never demanded anything in return. Hell, she rarely even got anything in return. James breaking her heart the way he had was only the tip of the iceberg. And it was the last thing she deserved; the last thing she needed.

And so, it came to be that a quite drunk Sirius Black had punched his best mate, muggle-style, as he came back from whatever he had been up to in that broom closet with Lily Evans. Needless to say, the two boys hadn't spoken to each other since, despite Moony and Wormtail's attempts at meddling. Fawley wasn't speaking with him either, although he probably deserved that. While he had never meant to take advantage of the situation, his terrible way with words (and timing) had definitely made it seem that way. It was awful, really. All he wanted was to be there for her, and now she wouldn't let him.

It was all a terrible mess, and Sirius didn't know where to begin in solving it. His best mate was furious with him, and contrary to popular belief, it wasn't because he had punched him. It was because of why he had punched him. Prongs had figured it all out over summer, despite Sirius' wholehearted attempts to hide it. That bloke just knew him all too well. It hadn't been fun, explaining to his best mate that he fancied his girlfriend, but after their terribly long conversation, they had been fine; practically back to normal. Up until the point that James – the largest tosser on the face of the earth – decided to bonk Lily Evans in a broom closet, completely oblivious to his girlfriend's heartbreak.

Sure, James had always been mad for Evans, and this relationship he had with Fawley had been a bad idea from the start. But Prongs was all for bad ideas, and he didn't take well to others trying to meddle in his life. It had been bound to happen, sooner or later, and while he couldn't exactly blame his friend for being in love with Evans, he could damn well blame him for how he had handled this whole situation; because it certainly hadn't been pretty.

Anyone who knew Sirius in the slightest would say that he was a rebel, a ladies' man, and a bit of a drama queen. Anyone who knew him well, would know that he was a rebel in order to avoid any family obligations. That he was a ladies' man because he literally couldn't bare being alone, or not being touched, for more than five minutes. And that he was a drama queen, because he had clearly not gotten enough attention as a child.

None of that seemed true anymore, it was as though he wasn't himself. Hell, even his friendship with James seemed to have hit a pause, and that if anything, was bad. But then he had broken things off with Marlene, and any other girls he might have been shagging for that matter, and, Merlin forbid, nearly told Fawley he was in love with her.

She knew, too. She knew, and she didn't care. Worse, actually; she knew and she was furious about it. She had forbidden him from telling her, she had yelled at him, and she had walked away; as though she preferred being alone to being with him. She had proven that was how she felt, too. She had ignored the lot of them, and since that fucked up party, he had only ever seen her alone. That part was worse than being ignored; knowing that she had no one.

He tried, Merlin knew he tried to be there for her. He tried during breakfasts in the Great Hall – but she managed to make her exit before he could make his way to the Hufflepuff table. He tried in the corridors between classes, but she pushed past him like he was bloody Lestrange. He even tried during the Hogsmeade weekend, but she was nowhere to be seen – not even on the map.

Sirius finally got his opportunity all of three weeks after the party, after it had been so long he was on the brink of losing his bloody mind. Her name showing up on the map, slowly making its way towards the beech tree by the lake, was the best thing that had happened to him in weeks, and thus, by far the best birthday present he could've wished for that November 3rd 1977.

It had been a long day. The only thing Sirius Black liked about birthdays was the opportunity to get completely pissed at the party, but admittedly, he wasn't even looking forward to that this year. Things had been fine with James since about a week, so most things were back to normal. Most things besides from her. She had only been hanging out with them for about half a year, and yet it felt like nothing would ever be normal without her again.

So, Sirius had suffered through his classes, the mandatory birthday pranks, and the awkward birthday wishes from random girls. Indeed, it had been a long day. So, early that Friday afternoon, he found himself in bed, staring at the map during those spare hours before the party that the boys so desperately denied was happening. And there she was. The only one he wanted to see for his birthday.

Needless to say, the just turned eighteen-year-old wasted no time throwing himself out of bed, grabbing his robe and scarf as he rushed out of the Gryffindor common room and practically threw himself down the stairs and out onto the grounds.

And there she was, perched under the beech tree, looking more peaceful than he thought possible. The yellow in her scarf perfectly matched the autumn leaves on the ground, and her silver hair completely contrasted the dark sky. It was an image he barely dared to disrupt, yet wanted nothing more than to be part of.

"Hey," he finally mumbled, after having sat down next to her in silence. He still didn't dare to look her in the eyes, terrified of seeing the same distaste in them that he had seen on the night of the party.

"Happy birthday."

Her voice was weak, surprisingly weaker than his, and he could practically hear the tears in her eyes. It was heart-breaking, and had he only known how to make that pain go away, he would've given anything.

"You know?" he asked, finally meeting her misty grey eyes – a perfect reminiscent of the dark skies behind her. Only, it was as though all the fire had been sucked out of them; all the life. The eyes that normally held the power of a thundercloud about to burst, were cold and lifeless – like stone.

"It's sort of hard to miss with all the third-year girls practically throwing chocolates at you," she responded, a hint of a grin making its way to her lips, making her recognizable again; reassuring him that it really was Fawley who was sitting there next to him, and not a ghost under the effects of Polyjuice Potion.

"Fair enough," he chuckled, pulling his hair back before once again realizing the seriousness of the situation. The young wizard failed to hold back a small sigh as he turned his gaze back towards the dark lake.

"I got you a present," the soft voice beside him stated, as she handed over a thin square gift wrapped in scarlet red paper. She had known about his birthday before, he realized; enough so to get him a present. A brilliant present, at that. Inside was an LP record, the cover showing a strangle muggle building with a pig flying above it.

"It's that Floyd-person on the shirt you lent me… It's called a record, I believe. It's silly, really."

"Fawley - it's brilliant. I lov… I've never gotten a better present. Thank you."

It was silent for a while. It wasn't the awkward kind of silence, though. While he did want to know what she was thinking, how to help her, it was quite calming just listening to the wind and her breathing. But Sirius Black wasn't stupid. He knew it couldn't last. He knew that ignoring your troubles didn't solve anything, that it only made things worse - if anything. And so, he forced himself to break the beautiful, comforting silence.

"Can you forgive me?"

"Oh, Sirius. I already have."

"Can we go back to being friends, then? Just friends, Fawley, that's all I ask."

"I… I can't. I need some time alone right now. It's not… away from you, it's away from everyone."

Her dejected gaze turned down towards the grass, giving her away. It wasn't as though he was surprised she didn't want to talk to him, but there was something she wasn't telling him. That was something that had always come naturally between the two of them – talking. She had always seemed able to tell him about anything and everything, and now, something seemed to be holding her back. Perhaps it was because of that moronic kiss, and what he had nearly told her on the night of the party, but he had a lingering concern that it was something else.

"You should go, Sirius. I don't want to keep you from your party," she mumbled, wrapping her Hufflepuff robe tighter around her small form, reminding him of the cold – which was the least of his concerns.

"It won't be any fun without you," he murmured, reluctantly glancing back at the castle, anguished at the thought of leaving her again, wondering how long it would be before he got the chance to talk to her again – to see her again.

"Well, it certainly won't be any fun with me. I just… I can't be around him… around them. But you should go. Have fun," despite her efforts, she didn't sound very encouraging. And while he would much rather spend the rest of the evening out in the cold with her, he knew he had no right to ask that of her. And so, she was right.

He had gotten her forgiveness, at least, and that would have to do for now. That was more than anything he could've wished for, and her asking was all the encouragement he needed to go back to the Gryffindor tower, even if it was without her. So, he pushed himself back up onto his feet.

"Get back inside before you freeze, would you?"

"I will… Soon."

"Good. And I'll play you that record, Fawley. Someday," Sirius promised, a small smirk hovering over his lips as he made his way back towards the castle that cold November afternoon.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed reading some Sirius POV, because I really did enjoy writing it (although it was much more difficult than Aurelia POV). If you enjoyed this chapter, please follow, favorite and review! It makes me indescribably happy to read your comments and to hear your thoughts on this story, so every review matters - long or short! Thanks again!