Three hours had lapsed before Sirius finally found his way home. Gone were the days when he could allow his anger free reign, and he had to make sure he was calm enough before returning to his small flat. He couldn't let his godson see that side of him; Harry had been through enough already without being given a reason to be afraid of Sirius.

The Black Family temper was infamous; but for Harry's sake, Sirius would control it.

He unlocked the front door, slipped inside the dimly lit room, and set his helmet on the side table along with his house key before shutting the door behind him. After hanging up his leather jacket, he flopped onto the sofa with an over-dramatic grunt, pressing his temples roughly with both hands.

Brisk footsteps sounded from the hall, stopping when they reached the living space. "Oh, there you are Mr. Black," Madame Rosmerta greeted with every ounce of her usual pleasantness. "I was beginning to fear the worst when you didn't show at the time you said you would."

Sirius sighed before running his hands through his raven hair as he looked up at her with tired eyes. "I had an unexpected visitor," he responded vaguely. "Sorry about the delay. I'll see to it that you get a bonus for tonight."

She waved her hand in dismissal. "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm just glad you are alright. You know I always worry about you."

He offered her the best smile he could, which wasn't much considering his current mood.

"Don't you worry about Harry," she said, noticing his desire to be left alone. "I've already tucked him in and he's sound asleep. You just get your rest tonight, Mr. Black, and I'll see you tomorrow evening."

Sirius nodded in recognition before she let herself out, locking the door behind her.

Madame Rosmerta was truly the best blessing the agency could have provided him once he had taken custody of Harry. With her help, he never had to worry about whether Harry was safe while he was away on a mission. She had quickly become an almost permanent fixture in their life and, while Sirius wanted to be a strong parental figure in Harry's life, he knew he couldn't do it on his own. As he had absolutely no one to help him, he had to accept the help that the agency provided in the way of a caretaker for the field agents with small children.

Without Madame Rosmerta, it would be almost impossible for Sirius to continue his job, and bounty hunting was all he knew how to do. He didn't want to do anything else. Yes it was dangerous, but there were times when he would be on the field hunting his target, and it was so easy to imagine James right by his side. For a few moments, he would find himself forgetting his best friend was dead.

There were so many great memories tied up in this job, and he didn't want to lose them. He'd already lost everything else that had ever mattered to him.

He allowed his eyes to shut as he once again replayed the interaction with his soulmate in his mind, seeing if maybe he could figure out where he went wrong. The worst part of the whole debacle was that he had no idea what happened. Why had the man suddenly turn tail and run? Why wouldn't he at least offer his name? Had Sirius somehow offended him? He did tend to put his foot in his own, but replaying their conversation, he couldn't see anything that could have been taken offensively.

Unless of course his soulmate had thought he was being sarcastic when he called him sexy, but only a blind man wouldn't be drawn to him. That soft brown hair with golden flecks was tousled in such a way it appeared he had just crawled out of bed. Those gorgeous amber colored eyes framed by dark eyelashes and rosy cheeks. His thin chapped lips that just begged to be chewed on. Just his face alone was enough to send Sirius over the edge, and the hot nerd look he had going with that faded cardigan and ridiculous sandal and sock combination did nothing to quell his libido. Until tonight, Sirius had no idea he could lust after a man so badly. His soulmate was perfect.

If only he hadn't run away.

Sirius had always had a difficult time trusting people, which was the main reason his circle of friends had been so small. How was he to know he would lose everyone within the span of a single month? When he ran into his soulmate tonight, he had been so excited. The thought of finally having someone again that could truly understand him was such a great elation. The past two years had been practically unbearable on his own. Even though Harry was in his life, he was just a babe and couldn't be the same as a real friend.

Even if his soulmate was simply not romantically available right now, Sirius would have accepted him. It would have been enough if they were just friends.

A hot tear fell from his left eye, splotching his Christian metal tee he purchased from a concert several years ago. James had drug him to the House of Blues in Illinois for the Summer Constellations tour. Sirius had argued that concerts were a waste of money, but his friend would hear nothing of the sort. When he got there, he had been completely blown away. Sirius' mother always insisted that heavy metal was the devil's genre, and the thought of a band able to turn such distorted and violent sounds into worship music brought an ironic glee to his life. It was then that Sirius began scouring record stores, collecting every Christian metal record he could get his hands on simply to spite his over-bearing mother.

The fond memory broke Sirius from the temptation to cry. He had already shed enough tears tonight on his way home, and wasting more tears would make him look like garbage in the morning.

A bright light drew his gaze outside where the full moon was hanging heavy above the townhouses. As he stared at the bright rock, he once again found himself wishing he at least knew his soulmate's name. It was a full moon when they met, and those amber eyes reminded him of the color of the full moon as it would rise along the horizon.

"Moony," he whispered, exhaustion finally claiming his brain. "Your name is Moony."

...oOo...

Remus shook his head as he stared at the reports. There was absolutely nothing about Sirius Black on file for the past eight years. If he hadn't met the man the other night, he would believe he was dead. Remus tried entertaining the thought that perhaps the man he met gave him a false identity, but the photograph in the news article he pulled up looked like a younger, and much more stoic, version of the man he met two nights ago.

'Orion A. Black and Walburga I. Black are pleased to announce the engagement of their eldest son Sirius O. Black to Alecto P. Carrow.'

Clearly Sirius had been wed to this Alecto woman the article spoke about. If he was around the same age as Remus, it would seem he was married straight out of secondary school.

Remus tried thinking back on the details from the other night. He remembered Sirius wore several rings, but he didn't believe he saw one on his left ring finger. That could mean that either he backed out of the wedding, is divorced, or widowed. Alternatively, perhaps his lack of a paper trail means he faked his death to get out of a bad marriage?

He dug around for more information, looking into Orion and Walburga, quickly realizing why he had recognized the surname 'Black'. This was definitely a bad family. One of the families he would be sent to investigate had they not used money and underhanded tactics to keep the law away.

Remus frowned, chewing on his lip as he rooted through article after article, a deep feeling of dread creeping into his stomach. He didn't think families like this even still existed anymore. Certainly if families that still behaved like the mafia existed today, he as a police detective should have been aware of their presence, right? From what he was reading, their main hub was in London, too. Only miles from his home.

Why would fate give him a soulmate that would affiliate with drug-dealers and human traffickers? This had to be some kind of twisted joke. Was this punishment for not waiting to meet his soulmate before having a child?

He let out a long breath. Any lingering doubts that he had about shutting the man out ebbed away. Soulmate or not, walking away was definitely the right choice. Having a man like that on his arm would only sully his reputation at the firm.

"What'cha lookin' at?" a perky voice asked from behind him as Alice leaned over his shoulder.

Remus jumped, quickly minimizing the browser on his computer screen. He had been so engrossed in his research, he hadn't heard her slip into his office. "Nothing," he replied too hastily to be believable.

"You were researching the Black Family," she replied in answer to her own question. "Are you working on a case involving them? You know we can't touch them without going through a mountain of forms, right?"

"So you've heard about the Black's?" he rose an eyebrow in surprise.

"Well, yeah. Everyone has."

He stared at her blankly. While he certainly had heard the name a few times, he hadn't known nearly as much about them before this morning as Alice seemed to know.

"Are you kidding me, Remus? How have you not heard of them before? They're only the most powerful family in England!"

He shrugged, a wry smile on his face. "I suppose they just aren't as popular in Wales."

"Oh, right." She paused in her tirade. "I sometimes forget you weren't raised here." Alice settled into a seat beside him. "So why were you looking into them? You didn't have a run in with one of their affiliates, did you?"

"No," Remus replied with a shake of his head. "Not really. I just was curious about their son."

"Their son?"

"Yes, Sirius Black."

"Ah. I haven't heard that name in years." Alice tapped her knee idly. "No one has."

"Do you know what happened to him? The most recent article I could find was a wedding announcement."

She shook her head, blonde hair swaying along to the movement. "Not really. I do know that the wedding never happened, though. There was a big uproar from the Carrow family as they were really trying to get into the Black's good graces. Sirius just up and vanished the day before the wedding."

"Any speculations?" Hear-say was sometimes just as good as a written story, and Remus wasn't about to pass up any information on his supposed soulmate, even if he did have every intention to keep his distance from the man. It would be beneficial, after all, to know if he could be a threat.

"Oh there's plenty. I can't say how much is true, of course."

"Well, indulge me. Out of everything you've heard, what sounds the most likely?"

She pursed her lips as she thought. "I remember hearing a lot of whispers about him being a rebel. While his parents tried to put on a façade that they were a perfect family in public, there were always little tells that were noticeable. It was obvious that Sirius did not see eye-to-eye with his father, the leader of the family. My guess is, once he came of age, he tried to get away from the family business, which consequently led to what happens to any that get on the wrong side of the Black Family."

Remus' eyes widened in disbelief. "You aren't trying to say they had him killed, are you?"

Alice shrugged. "It makes the most sense out of everything I've heard. Someone doesn't just disappear after all. Why isn't there a trail? Even if he changed his identity and ran, there would be a trail. Unless he was working for the MI5 or something, we would be able to find him. It's been almost a decade now and he hasn't turned up. That's got to mean something."

He made a humming noise as he looked back at the photograph of a young Sirius standing beside his fiancé. If he hadn't seen the man himself, he would have been inclined to agree with Alice. How had he managed to stay off the radar for so long?

"Why the sudden interest in Sirius Black?"

Remus jumped, having momentarily forgotten Alice was beside him. He shook his head as he closed the tabs on his computer. "I just heard mention of him is all. We should probably get back to our case, yeah?"

Alice rolled her eyes, but stood up none-the-less. "Sure," she chuckled. "I'll let that excuse slide this time, but you're going to come clean eventually Remus."

...oOo...

"I'm fine," Sirius grumbled into the cellular phone that he had propped between his shoulder and ear. He was quite annoyed at his coworker's insistence on checking up on him every night after he noticed Sirius' tear-strained countenance earlier that week. All he wanted to do was binge watch Benji while eating as much eight treasure spicy noodle and chocolate éclairs as humanly possible, not talk about his feelings with some guy from work that insisted on becoming his best friend. He already had a best friend. Despite the fact that James wasn't around anymore, that spot would always belong to him. "No, I don't need you to come over."

"Becoming a recluse isn't going to help you get better, Sirius," Frank's voice scolded through the small speaker.

"I don't need to get better. I just need to forget about Moony."

"And gorging on Chinese noodles and French pastries while watching children's movies is how you plan to forget about him? What kind of name is Moony anyway?"

"It's his name because his eyes are like big harvest moons. It's a perfect name for a perfect man."

"It doesn't sound like he's perfect the way he ran off on you."

Sirius glared in the phone's general direction, his gray eyes darkening in irritation. "If you keep insulting my soulmate, I will hang up."

An exasperated sigh crackled through. "That wasn't an insult, mate. Look, I'm just saying that what he did to you was not on. Maybe you got it wrong though? Maybe he isn't your soulmate and you're getting worked up over nothing."

"He is my soulmate! We said the thing!"

"You may have said the words, but there have been cases where there were two sets of soulmates with the same words. Maybe that happened with you two?"

"No," he argued through a mouth full of custard. "It was him. I know it. I could feel it in my soul."

There was a long pause before Frank spoke again. "Look, I didn't want to say anything because I know you've been down, but I found my soulmate just the other night, too."

Sirius blinked, setting down the takeaway container to pause the screen, momentarily smiling at the expression frozen on Benji's face before recalling what Frank had just said. "You what?"

"I found my soulmate. She's perfect, and awesome, and I want you to meet her."

"Why would you want me to meet her?" He removed the phone from his shoulder, stretching his stiffening neck as he placed the speaker to his other ear.

"Because you're my friend. I want you two to get to know each other so you can be a part of both of our lives."

Sirius shook his head before remembering that Frank couldn't see him. "No, I don't think-"

"Sirius, you can't keep locking yourself up. You're coming out with me this weekend to meet her, alright?"

"I don't care how much you beg me, I'm not going to be a third wheel."

"You won't be. She has a friend that's a bit of a loner, too. From what she's told me about him, it sounds like the two of you will hit it off. So she'll bring her friend and I'll bring you, yeah?"

"I don't know."

"Getting out will be good for you. It'll take your mind off of Moony. Maybe you'll even find some cute guy at the pub to take home?"

Sirius scoffed. "Yeah, I'll bring some stranger home so I can have meaningless sex in the room next to my five-year-old godson. Sounds like I'll get a parent of the year award."

Frank groaned. "Okay, maybe not take him home, but you know what I mean. You need to get out and meet people!"

"No, no. I'm good Frank. I'd rather not-"

"If you don't agree to meet me there, I will paint Snuffles chartreuse."

Sirius' eyes widened. Of all the colors out there, chartreuse was by far the most gaudy. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Are you sure about that? Are you absolutely sure I won't?"

"You aren't that vindictive," he replied, but the quiver in his voice gave away his uncertainty.

"Do you really want to risk it? I'm pretty sure a chartreuse Harley wouldn't impress anyone. Maybe I should also detail the rims. How does burnt orange sound?"

"Oh, that's disgusting! Why would you even joke about combining those colors?"

"What makes you think I'm joking?"

"Okay, okay," Sirius yielded, shifting the phone to his other ear once more. "I'll meet your bloody soulmate. Just keep your mitts off my bike. Only I'm allowed to touch Snuffles."

"Great. I'll text you the details." Sirius could hear Franks' smile through the phone. Apparently agreeing to meet this woman was really important to his coworker. "Good night, Sirius. Try not to eat too many éclairs, yeah? You can't afford to get fat yet. That comes after marriage."

Sirius didn't bother correcting Frank. The idea of him ever having that happily ever after he always dreamt about was becoming more and more faint. He was barely aware of saying farewell or even hanging up the phone as he stared at the waning moon in the window.

It had only been six days since he met Moony, but it felt like it had been so much longer. The last time he felt a pain like this was when he walked into James and Lily's home to find them butchered by one of those wicked henchmen his parents employ. The fact that losing Moony hurt just as bad as losing his best mate was all the proof he needed that that beautiful man was his soulmate. He was the person he needed to feel complete.

But Moony had rejected him. He walked away without so much as an explanation.

Sirius didn't know when the tears had started. He didn't even realize that he had moved his food to the coffee table to better curl up on the couch. Somehow a blanket was wrapped around him and he was sobbing into his knees, snot and tears pooling in an unattractive fashion.

It was too much. He couldn't take this constant ache that never intended to fade. The way his family and soulmate had completely rejected him was all the proof he needed that he would never be enough. That Sirius was inadequate. Worthless.

No one had ever cared about him as much as James and James' family. They took him in when he had no where else to go. They showed him what a family should be. What unconditional love truly was. For a time, everything was perfect in his life, and Sirius was able to pretend that he was one of them. That his tainted surname didn't have to define who he was.

It was tragic when Harold died from a massive heart attack, Dorea following him shortly after. The doctors claimed she died of a broken heart. As Sirius and James mourned their loss, Lily had found it amusing that Sirius seemed more grieved than James. Coming from a loving home though, she couldn't understand what it felt like for Sirius. The two young men clung to each other for comfort, helping one another to recover from losing the two most important people in their lives.

It was too soon after that Sirius lost James and Lily, as well. Two of the last three pieces of his heart. If it wasn't for Harry, Sirius certainly would have given up on life a long time ago.

When he finally found his soulmate, Sirius had thought that maybe, just maybe this would be his second chance at a family. Sirius and Moony would be able to marry and have a family together. He would have someone to help him raise Harry. They would bicker over stupid things like which television shows to watch, and they could snuggle close at night, keeping each other warm during the winter months. Everything would be perfect.

Unfortunately, happy endings didn't seem to be in the cards for Sirius. He should have stopped dreaming long ago.

"Pops?"

Sirius stilled at the sleepy voice, sniffing back some of the mucus that was trying to spill from his nose.

"What's wrong, Pops?"

He looked up, wiping his face with several tissues as he tried his best to give the young boy a smile. "Nothing's wrong, Harry."

Harry scowled, his green eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Then why crying?"

Sirius shook his head as he took in a ragged, calming breath. He had to be brave for Harry. Harry needed him. No matter how much he felt like his life was falling apart, Harry needed a strong parental figure in his life. He owed it to James, Lily, Harold, and Dorea. He had to put aside his own grievances to give Harry the life he deserved.

"I was just worried that Benji wouldn't find his way home," he said, pointing to the dog that was still frozen on the screen.

"Oh," Harry said, clearly satisfied with that answer. He scratched his head, ruffling his spiky black hair in the process. While the five-year-old got his stunning eyes from his mother, he unfortunately received James' unruly locks.

"You want to watch with me?" Sirius asked, opening up a section of the blanket for his godson.

The boy beamed, clearly enthused about not being sent back to bed. "Yeah!"

As Harry enthusiastically settled in next to Sirius, a soft smile came naturally to him. He wrapped his arm tightly around the boy, ensuring he was snuggled under the blanket before pushing play.

So long as he had Harry, he wasn't alone. He had a family.

True, it was much smaller than he wanted, and a romantic partner would be ideal, but at least he had his godson. He didn't need to feel unwanted or unloved, because Harry wanted and loved him. Having at least one person was better than none.

...oOo...

Word Count: 3916

I hope you enjoyed chapter two – please let me know what you think! I definitely enjoy feedback – and who knows? While I do have the story all mapped out, you may just give me an idea that would make the story even better, so feel free to speak up! I know this is still rather a downer, but I promise it will pick up – you'll just have to be patient. This is a rejection story after all, but there will be a happy ending! Pinky Promise!

Please review!

The next update should be coming soon – it just needs a bit of fine tuning.