A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters
This is for the QLFC
Team: Ballycastle Bats
Position: Keeper
A thank you to my betas!
Warning: Large age gap.
Word Count: 2617
Sirius' arms were covered in tattoos. Most of them were standard things; dragons, names that meant something, a really cool dog. None of them moved, all having been done in the muggle style. The only one that moved was the one on his wrist.
It was an ornate arrow in gold and red. That was Sirius' oldest tattoo, only it wasn't a tattoo, not really. He'd been born with it, like everyone else in his world. It would lead him to his soulmate eventually. It hadn't moved at first, not when he'd been born. That was understandable. Not everyone's soulmate was born the same time as them. It hadn't moved when he'd turned eleven and started Hogwarts. A lot of his friends' arrows had started moving.
James' spun wildly whenever Lily was anywhere near them. She'd hated him though, at first. Eventually, though, they'd discovered they had things in common. Remus' compass hadn't started spinning until his second year. He'd woken Sirius and James up at three in the morning because he felt the tug of it moving.
"She's so much younger than me," he whispered, watching the arrow for a moment. It was still now, pointing towards someplace they weren't sure of.
"True, but at least yours is working," Sirius said. He still hadn't moved. He was starting to wonder if he was broken.
"Mine hasn't moved either," Peter commented, looking at his friends. For some reason, that didn't make Sirius feel any better. He was so much cooler than Peter, any girl would be lucky to have him!
Peter's compass still didn't spin when James and Lily married. Sirius' hadn't moved yet, but he'd decided he didn't care. What did some stupid mark on his arm matter anyway. He hated looking at it, hated how it had some control over his thoughts. He'd started getting other tattoos, ones that didn't mean anything. He even had a compass tattooed around the arrow, so if it ever did spin, he'd at least know which cardinal direction it was facing.
"Maybe she's a muggle?" Peter suggested one afternoon. He and Sirius had met up to discuss James' Christmas present. They always started planning early. It had to be something spectacular. Remus was running late.
"A muggle?"
"Yeah, they don't have arrows. She might not know to look for you. If she doesn't have an arrow or magic, does that mean it doesn't recognize her? I mean, how does that work?" Peter asked. Sirius shrugged. He'd never thought about his soulmate being a muggle. It was possible.
"Remus might know once he gets here. He's the one who reads all those books."
"True," Peter agreed as they started planning on getting James a calendar full of pictures of him in compromising, but tasteful, positions. Remus nixed the idea as soon as he arrived.
"I think even if your soulmate is a muggle, the arrow will still lead you to them. Dad's led him to Mum," he said, once Peter asked.
"So, we still don't have soulmates. Where were you anyway?"
"Following my arrow. I saw her, she's only a little girl, but I saw her and learned her name. I don't know what I think about the age difference, but the arrows are always right, aren't they?"
"I've never known an arrow matched couple to break up," Sirius said, thinking about his own parents. "What's her name?" he asked, curious despite himself. He knew part of it was jealousy, that Remus had a soulmate and he didn't.
"Nymphadora Tonks," Remus answered, wrinkling his nose slightly.
"Tonks? Are you sure?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, why?"
"Because my cousin married a Tonks. He's a muggle born, the family disowned her. Well, they disown pretty much everyone eventually, but wow...you're soulmates with my cousin's daughter?"
"Small world, isn't it?" Peter asked, changing the topic slightly. Remus and Sirius merely nodded. Remus is still thinking about the strange connection and Sirius wondering if he should offer an olive branch to his cousin.
"It's a boy, Harry James Potter!" James announced. Sirius, Remus, and Peter cheered, congratulating their best friend. It had been years and Sirius' arrow was still motionless. Peter's was too, but he'd decided he no longer cared about it. Or if he did, he didn't talk about it. Peter had become more withdrawn in Sirius' opinion, he wasn't sure why. Every time he broached the subject, Peter said he was fine. Maybe they needed to spend more time together?
Sirius spent a fair amount of time with James and Lily, helping out with baby Harry. Remus stopped by most evenings, although Peter seemed to slip further and further from the group. Sirius wondered if he'd found someone, maybe he was lying about his compass not working, maybe he'd done it, maybe he'd found his soulmate?
They were celebrating Harry's birthday late, on August eleventh. James had had a mission and it had kept him away. Sure, Sirius, Remus and Lily had made sure to have a small cake on the actual day and Harry had ripped open one present, a stuffed black dog plushy Sirius had bought him.
"Pa'foo!" Harry had exclaimed, waving the toy in the air. Lily had laughed, rolling her eyes.
"Just wait until James sees that, he'll get him a stuffed deer."
"Who says he hasn't already?" Remus asked, nodding to the pile of presents. Lily sighed.
"Good point, you three go shopping together all the time and run bad idea after idea off of each other. Let me guess, one of these has a wolf plush too?" she asked.
"I can neither confirm nor deny it," Remus answered, giving her a wink.
The eleventh arrived with James arriving home in dramatic fashion. Lily ignored it, as she usually did. Sirius was sitting in a kitchen chair when he felt it, the unmistakable tug on his skin. He looked down to see the arrow starting to spin lazily, as if it weren't quite sure how to work. Then it spun wildly for a moment before pointing North.
"Guys! It's happened!" Sirius exclaimed, running to his friends, waving his arm in the air. "I have a soulmate!"
"Congrats, mate, she's a year younger than Harry," James laughed. Sirius felt his heart sink. James was right. His soulmate was so young.
"Don't worry, she'll grow up. Then you can approach her without seeming like the creepy guy you are," Remus laughed.
"You have the same problem," Sirius reminded him.
"True, but she's going to be an adult sooner than yours."
Sirius laughed, wishing for the first time that these arrows didn't exist, that like Peter he didn't have a soulmate, having one that was a baby now seemed so much worse than not having one at all.
Twelve years, that's how long he was in Azkaban. Twelve years, that's how old his soulmate currently was. He wondered if he'd seen her in the castle. He'd seen Harry when he'd broken in, he'd seen Harry before in his dog form. Now, he was free, on the run, but free. He wrote to Harry, paying special attention to Harry's letters about the girls. One of them could be his soulmate and even if it was a bit creepy, he wanted to know about her.
They finally met in Harry's fifth year. She was fourteen and sitting on the kitchen table, her legs swinging over the edge.
"Ginny, sit in a chair please," Mrs. Weasley's voice yelled. Ginny. Her name was Ginny. Sirius' compass had been going crazy since she'd arrived at Grimmauld Place. The girl, Ginny, sighed and slipped into a chair. Sirius personally thought sitting on the table was more comfortable, but didn't dare say anything.
"What are you staring at?" Ginny asked, noticing Sirius standing there.
"You sitting on the table," he answered truthfully. Ginny held up her arm, a green arrow that looked as though it was made of vines pointed straight at him.
"You think I didn't notice? I did. So, we're apparently soulmates, what do we do now?" she asked.
"I will avoid you until you're seventeen," Sirius answered, knowing it was the proper answer. Even if he started to get to know her now, it would be deemed inappropriate. There were rules, mostly in the muggle world, but a few in the wizarding one.
"That's what I figured. Dad and Mum had a talk with me about that. I mean, I understand, in a way. I guess being friends is a bad idea?"
"From what I've heard, yes," Sirius said, almost unable to believe he'd finally found his soulmate and was playing by the stupid rules. He wanted to know everything about her.
"Well, if being friends is out of the question, what about being enemies?" she asked, with a smirk. "We could hate each other until I'm seventeen, shoot insults at each other, and avoid each other like the plague. That's what we're supposed to do, isn't it?" she asked. Sirius laughed. He was starting to see why this girl was his soulmate.
"It is. Fine, enemies it is," he said, offering his hand. She shook it, both of them ignoring the tiny little bolts of electricity between them.
Being enemies with Ginny was easy. They glared at each other from across the table at meals. Sirius would even go as far as to stand up and walk out of a room if she walked in. One time, he'd walked into a room she was cleaning, she threw an old boot at his head, nearly missing.
"You missed."
"Too bad," she said, picking up the matching one. Sirius had ducked out quickly.
It was easy to avoid her after she went back to school. There was no communication between them save when she arrived in tears during the Christmas holidays. Her father had been attacked. Sirius looked at her, part of him wanting to comfort her, but instead he simply ignored her. She wasn't old enough, and they were enemies.
The night at the ministry broke every single rule. The Death Eaters attacked, having lured the Order out of their hiding place. Sirius saw Ginny fighting. He saw her fall, her legs giving out from under her. He threw a hex at the person who'd hit her. She looked up at him.
"What are you doing?"
"You're my enemy, only I get to finish you," he stated, giving her a grin.
"Behind you!" Ginny screamed, throwing a hex into the air and knocking Bellatrix back. Sirius grabbed Ginny and yanked her to safety. The veil fluttering, but not claiming a victim tonight.
That night it was harder to hate her, but he kept trying. She came home to Grimmauld Place for the summer, her body having started to change. Sirius ignored it. He'd gotten good at ignoring her, at least when he wasn't actively fighting with her.
"You left the jam on the table."
"Wasn't I, maybe Kreacher?"
"I saw you make a jam sandwich last night."
"Wasn't me. If it bothers you that much, put it away yourself."
"No, you left it out, you put it away."
"Wasn't me," Ginny stated, before practically dancing out of the room, leaving Sirius with a jar of strawberry jam sitting on the table.
Sirius started counting the days until she went back to school for her fifth year. It was going to be a nightmare, with Lord Voldemort back.
"Be careful," he hissed in her ear. Their compasses spinning so fast you couldn't even see the arrows.
"Why? Because you don't want me dead?" she asked.
"Because, like I said, you're my enemy," he stated. "Just don't do anything stupid."
Of course, telling Ginny not to do anything stupid meant just the opposite. Sirius kept in touch with Harry about everything.
Dumbledore was dead. The leader of the Order was dead at Snape's hand. Sirius wasn't surprised. He'd never liked Snape. Ginny was back in the house, the scent of her perfume filling every space.
"You use too much perfume."
"I smell better than you, you smell like a wet dog."
"I do not!"
"Do so!" Ginny yelled, running off and slamming the door to her room.
"Brat," Sirius muttered. Remus had married Tonks, his Tonks. Now, Sirius just had to wait and keep waiting. He was really starting to hate the red-haired girl that filled his thoughts. She was a bloody nuisance. But still, these times were so uncertain.
The final battle was looming, everyone could feel it on the horizon. Sirius appeared outside Hogwarts with the rest of the Order. They moved to the castle quickly. He saw Ginny trying to sneak into the fray, saw her mum stop her. He laughed. If Ginny wanted to fight, she would. He counted the times she sneaked back in. Three. She came back three times before Lord Voldemort declared Harry was dead. Sirius' felt his heart sink. Harry had been their one hope at winning. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity. Neville had the Sword of Gryffindor, slicing it through the air. Harry appeared out of nowhere, his wand in hand. That night it ended, the war finally ended. Ginny stood with her family, glaring at Sirius, but without the usual hatred in her eyes. Now, now that they were getting closer and closer to the end game. Three months.
Three months flew past. Ginny had moved back to the Burrow, which meant she and Sirius didn't see each other much. Instead, Ginny sent him a balmy owl that smacked him in the head every day carrying new insults.
"You still smell like a wet dog."
"Your hair looks like straw."
That one had earned Sirius' shampoo being stolen. He wasn't sure how she managed that one.
"You stole my shampoo!"
"Now your hair looks like straw. Also, your feet stink."
"I still look fabulous."
"Wet dog."
Sirius laughed, throwing the latest insult into the fireplace. He'd lost count of the days somehow. He was thinking about what to insult Ginny about next when he heard someone knock on the door. The house was still unplottable, so he knew it wasn't a salesman. He opened it to find Ginny standing there on the stoop. Their compasses started going crazy again.
"Hey, wet dog," she said, walking past him into the house.
"Still don't smell like a wet dog," he argued, knowing it was pointless.
"I know your animagus form, Harry's got a big mouth, Ron's is even bigger. Do you know what day it is, Sirius?" she asked, flopping on his sofa and tossing her shoes off.
"Sunday, I think. I heard those bloody bells going this morning."
"Yup, Sunday, August the eleventh," Ginny answered. "I turned seventeen today and I spent all last night agonizing about how I should spend my first day as an adult. Finally, I realized, I can do magic now!" she exclaimed, drawing her wand. She waved it, summoning a whole net of water balloons above Sirius' head. He looked up at the colored orbs.
"Ginny?"
"What better way to celebrate my birthday than to finally get my enemy good?" she asked, waving her wand and causing the balloons to all pop, drenching Sirius instantly. He stood there, as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. Finally, he grinned, turning into a dog and shaking himself dry. He turned back as Ginny screamed.
"Now we both smell like wet dogs," he laughed, pulling Ginny to her feet. They stood face to face for a moment.
"I hate you," she stated, giving him a quick kiss before grabbing her shoes, darting out the door and apparating away, leaving Sirius standing there with the world's largest smile plastered on his face.
