Chapter 8: Siriusly in Love

December 24, 1976 Friday, 6:15 PM

It was the day of the winter ball and Sirius was sitting in the armchair by the fireplace waiting for Gwen.

"How long does it take to get ready for a bloody ball? She's been preparing for over two hours," he complained with a sigh.

"Have some patience. It takes time for a lady to properly prepare herself," Walburga snapped.
"Though I suppose only a gentleman would know that," she added with a sniff.

"Walburga," Orion said warningly, then turned to Sirius.
"The result is always worth the wait, you'll see," he told him.

"Well, you won't need to wait any longer. Here she comes," said Walburga.

Sirius got up as Gwen came into the room and abruptly stopped when he saw her.
Wow,he thought, staring speechlessly.

"My little girl's all grown up now," Walburga said, slightly teary-eyed and cooed, "Doesn't she look like an angel?"

Gwen was wearing violet dress robes which perfectly complemented her bright violet eyes, and had twisted her sleek, waist-length raven hair into a elegant French braid.

"Mother!" Gwen protested with a blush, her pale cheeks turning rosy.

"Yeah…" Sirius agreed, trancelike, making her blush even more.

Everyone laughed as Snuffles also barked in agreement.
Everyone had consented to keeping the puppy and they had named him Snuffles. Though Snuffles was loved by everyone in the family and loved all of them in return, he was really Sirius' puppy and loved Sirius the most. Of course it was only natural that it should be so, due to the clear (to the Marauders at least) affinity between them.

Orion smiled at Gwen in agreement while he nodded proudly at Sirius. "Our children are growing up. It won't be long before the two of you have your own family," he said musingly.

Gwen turned pink. "Dad, there's still a long way to go before that happens," she said.

"Nonsense. I was barely out of school before your father and I got married," said Walburga.

Sirius blanched. "I plan to enjoy my bachelorhood before I settle down. If I ever do," he added.

Orion patted him on the back. "You'll see. When the time comes, you wouldn't be able to get to the alter fast enough," he said.
"By the way, your dress robes look splendid. Whoever helped you pick them out has excellent taste," he added.

"Yes, Dad. You have great taste," said Gwen, laughing.

Even Walburga managed a smile. "Like father, like son," she said, looking fondly at them both for a moment.

"Well, come on Son. We should get going," said Orion, reaching for the floo powder.
As he watched Sirius and Gwen, Orion felt a fierce pride yet a hint of sadness at the same moment. It was nearly incomprehensible that his eldest two children, his pride and joy, were now of age to attend the annual pure-blood Balls.
It seemed like just yesterday that he had brought Gwen from the hospital. Just yesterday that his best friends had been killed, and he and Walburga had brought Sirius back home. Yet so many years had passed since then. It was now nearly time to reveal the secret he had been keeping for so long.

Soon. It had to be soon, for as long as he kept his secret, Sirius and Gwen would be kept apart, and that would not do.

"Ladies first."

After Gwen and Walburga had gone through, Sirius stepped up to the fireplace for his own turn.
As soon as he had fallen out of the fireplace, he saw Gwen being greeted by Narcissa and Aquila and Sirius rolled his eyes as the three girls began to prattle excitedly.

"Ilove your hair! Your dress robes look perfect with your eyes!" Sirius mimicked in a high pitched voice.

The girls laughed and turned on him.

"Why, you look perfectly dashing today, cousin," Narcissa teased.

"And your robes bring out the blue in your eyes," said Gwen, smiling widely.

"She's right. Your eyes do look blue today," said Aquila, looking carefully at him. "Interesting..."

"Stop it," Sirius protested, swatting at her arm, "you're embarrassing me."

"Are you flirting with my girlfriend, Sirius?" a drawling voice said teasingly from the doorway.

They looked to the doorway to see Evan and Rabastan at the entrance.

"Evan!" Sirius greeted him with a smile.
They had been friends since before Hogwarts despite the fact that they lived in different regions since they were both cousins of Narcissa and had become acquainted through her.

Aquila immediately headed to Evan and hooked her arm through his. "Of course not. You know there's only you for me," she said sweetly.

Sirius didn't miss the brief look of pain that flitted across his face and cast him a curious look but Evan merely shrugged and turned to Aquila.

To Sirius' displeasure, Rabastan immediately headed for Gwen and presented her with a bouquet of red roses.

"That's so sweet!" said Aquila.

She turned to Evan. "Why can't you do something sweet like that?" she teased.

"All you lovebirds are making me sick," Narcissa said teasingly, then grabbed unto Sirius' arm and pulled him from the room after her. "Let's go find our own dates, Sirius. It's obvious we're not wanted here."

The group headed to the dining hall where dinner was being served. Gwen joined Sirius at the entrance and beckoned to a girl sitting at the end of the room.

The girl had chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes, and was wearing white dress robes. Sirius' eyes widened as he saw her. Surely she wasn't-?

"Sirius, this is Morgan Dolohov," Gwen introduced her. "Morgan, this is my brother, Sirius."
Sirius barely suppressed a sigh of disappointment. Of course it wasn't her. He really had to stop thinking that every girl with brown hair and hazel eyes might be his lost sister.

After greeting each other, they headed to the table reserved for them and sat down. The table mainly consisted of the sixth and seventh year Slytherin students and Sirius looked uneasily around the table at the Slytherins. The majority of them were either glaring at him or simply ignoring him, with the exception of Lucius, who smiled awkwardly at him.

It really was a pity, thought Sirius.
He and Lucius had been best friends before Hogwarts but were now barely acquaintances who exchanged greetings. And perhaps the saddest part of it all was that it wasn't Lucius' actual companionship but thefact that they had been friends that he missed.
Because it was an indication of how much had changed, at least for Sirius.

What would have happened if I had been sorted into Slytherin like I had wanted? Sirius wondered.

Would he hate all Gryffindors and Muggle-borns? Even before he had enrolled into Hogwarts, a part of him had always questioned his parents' ideology. But if he been sorted into Slytherin, would he eventually have accepted it the way Lucius, Rabastan, Magus, and so many of his other childhood friends had?

If so, would it have been James instead of Lucius that Sirius estranged? And, horror of all horrors, would the Marauders have even existed without him? As much as he liked to believe that he was a very significant member of the Marauders, he couldn't bear to think that the Marauders might not have existed.
And Gwen, of course. Because had Sirius not been sorted into Gryffindor, Gwen would never have learned to disregard their parents' principles and accept Gryffindors and Muggle-borns alike.

Sirius finally realized how wise the sorting hat had been in sorting him into Gryffindor. Deep down, he would have been miserable in Slytherin; forced to accept the very beliefs that he questioned. Yes, his destiny definitely lied with Gryffindor.

Sirius smiled politely at his escort who, he noticed unnervingly, had been staring intently at him since the moment they had been introduced. Furthermore, a seventh year Slytherin girl took the other seat beside him before Gwen could, and Rabastan led her to the only available spot which was at the other end of the table.

Gwen quickly caught the look of panic on Sirius' face and began to walk back to him.

"Can we switch places, Gamp?" Gwen said to the seventh year girl, Sophia Gamp.

"And if I refuse?" the girl snapped, glaring towards the direction Gwen indicated.

Gwen smirked. "Are you sure you want to?" she said silkily.

"What are you going to do to me, Black? Just because you're a Black you think you can get everything? Always using your name to manipulate others," Sophia said derisively. "You're just talk, nothing more."

Several rose indignantly at her words but Gwen gave them a pointed glare and they sat back down.

"It's okay," Gwen said, then turned back to Sophia.
"So I'm just talk, am I?" she said and smiled.

"What are you smiling at?" Sophia demanded, with a hint of panic in her voice.

"Your face," Gwen replied smugly.

Before she could reply, laughter erupted in bursts from around the table and Gamp quickly took out a mirror.
"What have you done to my face!" she shrieked. Her eyes and nose had swollen and turned red and dozens of volcano sized pimples were scattered across her face. Her date for the evening, Joel Hyde, took one look at her and backed away.

"I haven't done anything. See? No wand," Gwen lifted her hands with a smirk.

She burst into tears and Gwen sighed. "It's nothing magic can't fix," she said irritably.
Gwen quickly waved her hand and her face returned to normal.

"You can do wandless magic," Gamp said, half sullenly, half awed.

Gwen shrugged. "That's just basic stuff."
She smiled wickedly. "Care to see more?"

Sophia quickly stood up and dragged Hyde after her. "Alright, you can sit next to your precious brother," she said sullenly.

Sirius winked at Gwen as she took the seat beside him and to his pleasure and gratitude, she tightly held his hand throughout the meal to ease him.

"Oh! Sorry," Gwen said, letting go of his hand, as she saw that he was eating a bit awkwardly with his left hand.
Sirius quickly grabbed unto her hand and firmly held on.

Gwen smiled and picked up a bit of beef and potato with her fork then brought it to his mouth. "Here, try this."

Sirius grinned as Gwen forked the beef and potato into his mouth. They continued to eat as Gwen alternatively fed herself and then him.

They had been eating in this manner for several minutes when they saw that majority of the table had stopped eating and were focusing on the two of them with looks ranging between bemusement and disgust on their faces.
Even Lucius, who had been sending jealous glares at Wilkes the entire duration of the meal, was now focused on them and both Rabastan and Morgan were looking irritated.

"Um…he hurt his hand," Gwen said awkwardly.

After everyone had returned to their food they ate tensely until the meal finally ended, to both Sirius and Gwen's relief.

After the table had been cleared, the music started and Sirius grimaced slightly as he saw Rabastan lead Gwen unto the ball room floor.

"Come on, let's go," Sirius muttered as he led Morgan to a spot right next to where Rabastan and Gwen were dancing.

---

Several songs later, Sirius tapped Rabastan on the shoulder.
"Why don't we switch partners for a while, Lestrange?" he drawled.

Rabastan looked up and glared, putting his arm protectively around Gwen until he realized that it was Sirius.
"Fine," he shrugged.

"I'll be right back," Gwen told Rabastan with a smile.

Rabastan grinned back. "Alright then."

Sirius snickered and muttered under his breath, "If I return you, that is."

"You just couldn't resist me, could you?" Gwen teased as she put her arms around him.

"Yes, I couldn't," Sirius said softly and kissed her cheek.

Sirius looked down at Gwen and smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder, feeling strangely detached and content.

As Sirius felt the emotion overcome him, he also felt a sense of confusion.
What is this peculiar emotion? he wondered. All he knew was that it was an emotion that only Gwen appeared to be capable of igniting; only she seemed to be capable of making him feeling this particular emotion.

This feeling of pure bliss and contentment.

If only this song could last forever…

Sirius sighed as the song ended as all songs did.

"Let's take a walk," Gwen suggested as she led him outside.

Outside Gwen and Sirius sat down on the bench in front of the fountain and watched the water flow into the fountain.
After about ten minutes Sirius became to shiver slightly, which came as no surprise since the water in the fountain was starting to freeze over. Gwen immediately placed her hand on his arm, and his shivering stopped almost instantly.

Gwen's power was a secret that only she and Sirius knew of. She had found that she could control the temperature of an object, or even a person as she just had with Sirius, simply by touch. Using her power, Gwen could both freeze entire lakes and dry up said lake. In the beginning, it had been quite troublesome since she would accidentally make items burst into flames or turn into ice sculptures, but through years of practice she had learned to control her powers. However, it was limited in that without physical contact, her power was completely useless.

"I wish we could have a White Christmas," Gwen said dreamily.

Sirius nodded in agreement. "Green Christmases are so bland," he said with disappointment.

Gwen looked up as a single flake landed on her robes. "It's snowing!" she said delightedly.

"Looks like we might have a white Christmas after all," Sirius said contentedly.

"Sirius, did you know that each and every snowflake has a different design? Every snowflake has its own uniqueness, just like people. If you think about it, it's so…amazinghow that can be when there are an endlessnumber of snowflakes," Gwen said dreamily.

"Do they? That is amazing," Sirius agreed then said pensively, "but you know…it's always the little things about nature, the things we don't even give a second thought, which are amazing."

That was one of the things she loved about him. He didn't laugh at her no matter how silly or ridiculous she sounded. He understood her. They understood each other.

As they sat by the fountain, Gwen smiled his smile at him; that soft smile she smiled at him when it was just the two of them. It was the very smile that always made him feel as elated and somehow grateful as he imagined he would feel if he had just been handed the quidditch cup.

And it was as Sirius smiled back at her that he first realized it, and he finally understood.

At that moment everything became crystal clear.

He understood why he always felt the need to protect her at all costs, even his own life. Why he would bear all sorts of pain, anything, uncomplainingly for her.
How when he was at his worst, either depressed or in fury, only she could calm him; make him smile again.

And most of all, why no other girl could interest him. He had always felt it was partly because of Gwen, but merely that he had come to expect too high of a standard comparing girls to her.

[Flashback

"How can you find her attractive when we have Gwen for a sister? I thinkshe can't even compare to Gwen," Sirius said, not condescendingly but with obvious astonishment.

"Do you?" Regulus, who had been going on again about his new girlfriend Jasmine Parkinson, said with surprise.
"I suppose Gwen is quite a beauty," Regulus agreed reflectively then shrugged nonchalantly, "I never really noticed."

"How can you not notice?" Sirius asked, dumbfounded, and said with a hint of pride, "Gwen's easily the best looking girl in Hogwarts with her rare eye color and complexion. Nobody even comes close."
"Blue and green eyes are quite pretty but are extremely common and only the Malfoys come close to her complexion, but they're too pale."

"I don't know...I think Aquila is quite attractive. Easily the best looking girl in Hogwarts," Regulus countered.

"The best? Aquila Malfoy better looking than Gwen?" Sirius said with disbelief then grinned. "Aw, does Reggie like Aquila?"

"Of course not!" Regulus said, turning red at the suggestion.
"Anyway, about Gwen?" he said hastily.

"Hm…where was I? Oh right. Anyway, as I was saying no one can surpass her in beauty and she's also brighter then most of the Ravenclaws. And of course Gwen's the only reason Slytherin has been winning the Quidditch cup these years."

Regulus looked at him for a long moment then burst out laughing.

"And you say I like Aquila just for saying she's pretty," Regulus snickered. "Do you realize that you sound exactly the way your friend Potter does when he's talking about that Evans girl?"
"I suppose I sounded like that too when I was talking about Jasmine," he added, slightly embarrassed.

"If I didn't know better, I would think that you were talking about your girlfriend instead of our sister." Regulus snorted.

[End of flashback

Sirius knew one thing for sure. He definitely wasn't gay.

"I love you," he said softly, yet just loud enough for her to hear.

"I love you too," Gwen smiled.

And for the first time, Sirius understood the pain that Gwen had had to endure for years.

---

It was several hours later that they left the bustling excitement at Malfoy Manor, where the snow was now falling heavily, to return to Grimmauld Place in high spirits.

Neither Sirius nor Gwen noticed that the sky was remarkably clear without a snowflake in sight. However Regulus, who had been flying, did notice when several minutes later the snow began to fall as heavily as it had been at Malfoy manor.

"How strange. It was supposed to be clear tonight. And the temperature fell about twenty degrees in less than five minutes," he grumbled with a slight shiver as he grudgingly headed indoors.