13
Summer Before Sixth Year
After being at Hogwarts for any length of time, coming home didn't really ever feel like coming home to Doe. Being in the warm crowded common room in Gryffindor Tower for the last 10 months, made her house seem all the more quiet and empty.
Her father was always at work. You-Know-Who had become much stronger, and with more deaths and attacks, it required him to spend long hours at the office.
Her mother had taken to filling her days with activities in which she deemed 'perfectly normal'. She was often knitting, or planting in the flowerbeds. She attended book club meetings and met her friends for lunch.
Doe knew they were avoiding each other. They had been fighting a lot lately. Her father was extremely swamped with work, so he often wanted to talk about it, and her mother disapproved of too much talk about magic. Which left almost all of their conversations about dinner or the house. When they weren't discussing menial household topics, it was silent. Or worse, they were fighting.
Without any siblings to keep her company, Doe spent most of her time locked in her room.
She read a lot. Reading kept her linked to the magical world.
She wished desperately that she lived in one of those wizarding houses where magic was used often and spellbooks were laying abound. Her father had a large collection of magical books in his office, and he always let her read them, just as long as she didn't leave them lying around for her mom to find.
Doe craved a household like Marlene's. Marlene came from a pureblood family and her whole house was always full of magic and mayhem. It was just like being at Hogwarts.
She missed Marlene. She missed all of her friends.
Marlene had gone with her whole family to spend the month in Monte Carlo. Lily was also gone, she and her family had gone to stay with her grandmother in France. Mary had stayed home but she lived on the other side of the country and was always busy watching her sisters.
Even Remus had gone with his family to their lake house for the month.
It was very lonely. Besides reading and watching tv there wasn't much else for Doe to do.
All she had accomplished today was reorganizing the bookshelves in her room. They had been toppling over with books and now they stood tall and organized by author.
She was just finishing putting the last book on the shelf when she heard a knock on the door. Her dad was at the office and her mom was at the flower market with a friend, so she cautiously walked downstairs to the door.
She kept my wand clutched tightly in her right hand. She knew chances are she would never need to use it, but her father had instilled a deep sense of caution in her.
" It's getting dangerous in our world," he told her, " I want you to always be prepared".
She stood in front of the door and stepped on her tiptoes to look through the peephole.
Standing on her front steps, was the long haired, tanned shape of Sirius Black.
She opened the door with hesitation.
" Sirius?" she asked.
" Hey there Meadowes" he said with a wide grin. He walked past her and into the house.
" Come on in, Sirius." she said sarcastically and shut the door.
Sirius was standing in the living room and looking around.
" Your house looks exactly the same as it did when we were little" he said taking it all in.
" Yeah, well." Doe shrugged, " My mom doesn't do well with change".
" What are you doing here, Sirius?" she asked.
She didn't mean for it to be so blunt. It wasn't as if she wasn't enjoying his company.
Sirius and her were friends, and it was already two weeks into their summer and she was already bored out of her mind, but it had been years since Sirius had been over to her house.
The last time he did, they hadn't even gone to Hogwarts yet.
Sirius grinned widely at her, leaning against the living room wall, " Well Meadowes, you see all of our friends have gone on vacation for the summer, and seeing as you live right across the street, and frankly are more fun than Regulus, I figured it would make sense if we were to hang out"
" You and me?" she asked.
Sirius nodded, " Unless you've personally found something to occupy your time?"
She crossed my arms, " I've been bored silly, truthfully"
Sirius grinned, " Oh trust me, I'm sure you've had more fun here than I've had in the old House of Black"
She shrugged, She knew Sirius didn't like his family, but as a wizarding family she was sure Sirius was at least able to acknowledge the wizarding world. Something she was very jealous of.
Sirius walked over to the stairs and began to climb them. Curiously, she followed him up the stairs.
She watched as he climbed to the third landing and to the door that was hers. Shocked that he remembered which room was hers, she followed him in.
" Now this room has changed" Sirius said looking staring at her room.
" In 6 years? I'd say so" she told him, hovering in the doorway.
Sirius walked over to the union jack flag hanging from her wall, he ran his fingers over the frayed edges.
" I remember pink ruffles and butterflies" he said.
" Well it's been awhile" she said, " that's what happens when you grew apart"
" We were very close once" Sirius said he pointed at the Puddlemore United poster on her wall.
" Is Puddlemore your team?" he asked in disbelief.
" Yes. Why?" she asked, getting the defensive tone to her voice that she always got when someone questioned her quidditch team,
" I pegged you as more of a Hollyhead Harpies girl" Sirius said with a laugh.
" Because I am a girl?"
Sirius laughed lightly, " guess so"
He sat down on the edge of her bed. He looked very out of place.
" So, come on Meadowes. Catch me up. What have I missed these last few years" he said.
" You see me everyday at school. You haven't missed much" she told him walking over to pick up a few stray copies of the prophet that were scattered on the floor.
" Well seeing as you're my only friend within this postal code, you should expect me around a lot" Sirius said with a grin.
" Well, good" she told him, " It was going to be a long summer without any company"