Disclaimer: All ideas are based on characters and events belonging to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing.

Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 10: Unexpected and Unwanted

Olivia halted her administrations to his face. His mother. His mother had done this to him. The whole room was silent upon hearing Sirius' confession. He didn't give them all the details and for the night, they wouldn't try and push finally continued speaking, breaking the silence, "Again, I'm sorry. I just.."

"Nonsense Sirius. You are welcome here as long as you want."

"Thanks, Mrs. Potter but I don't want to impose. I just need a place to stay for the night."

James looked skeptical, "Then where are you going to go?"

Sirius looked down, avoiding everybody's stares, "I don't know yet, but I'll figure something out."

Harold sighed and put his hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Look Sirius. You've always been like a second son to us. We love you. Your staying here. At least until your of age, then we'll help you figure something out if you want to leave."

Sirius wouldn't look up. He couldn't look up. If he did, he knew the tears would come and he couldn't let that happen. Emotions were overwhelming him. Emotions he wasn't familiar with. "Thank you, Mr. Potter. I know its not a lot, but I don't know what else to say."

"Its more than enough son."

Son. That word did him in and a sob racked his body. Evelyn sat down beside him and pulled him into a motherly embrace. He cried out all the emotions that he had been building up for so long. All the hate and misguidance from his family and all the love he felt for and from the Potters. He cried for several minutes before he was able to get himself under control, embarrassed by his actions. Evelyn patted his back, "Come now, lets get you cleaned up so you can get a good nights rest."

Olivia took that as her cue to continue cleaning the blood off his face. She couldn't hardly believe what was happening. She knew that Sirius' home life was bad, but this bad? She had no idea. He looked at her, and even with his puffy eyes and cracked lip, he smiled at her. "I really can do that myself."

She glared at him. She didn't know any other way to help and he wasn't going to take it from her. "Shut up and look forward."

He smiled again and did as he was told as James crossed the room to hand him some clothes. Evelyn went upstairs to prepare the usual room he stayed in when he was there. Now, his room for the next two years. Olivia finished after just a few minutes and he stood, stretching. He flinched at his very sore muscles. James stood next to him, "Alright mate?" At Sirius' nod, he walked with him up the stairs to him room. "Are you sure your ok?"

"Yea, mate, I'm ok. Sore, but mostly just my pride injured."

James scoffed, "Unless your pride is another word for your face then your lying. They beat you to a bloody pulp Padfoot."

Sirius smile a rueful smile. "Yea, but your dad healed a lot of it. I'm mostly just sore now."

"I was coming for you tomorrow, you know."

Sirius laughed. "Really?"

"Ask Dad, he was going to go with me. I hadn't heard from you, I knew something was wrong. I just...I shouldn't have waited. I should've went looking for you days ago. Then maybe, this wouldn't have happened."

Sirius stripped his clothes off and changed into James' borrowed pajamas in silence. He was touched that James was planning on looking for him, but he knew it wouldn't have helped. He took a deep breathe, ready to confess what he had been holding in for so long. "Prongs, this isn't the first time its happened. But it was the last. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to get out."

James looked at Sirius, shocked. "You mean, this has happened before? And you never told me? You never told anybody?"

"Nobody could've helped, Prongs."

Knowing that the past couldn't be changed and that at least Sirius was safe now, James nodded. "We better be getting to bed, its late." Him and Sirius' eyes met and they had a silent understanding with each other. They were brothers.

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The next morning Olivia climbed out of bed unusually early and made her way downstairs for breakfast. She entered the kitchen to the sound of laughter and was surprised to see James and Sirius at the table talking with her father. She sat down in her usual seat across from James and looked around. "Where's mum?"

Before anyone could even answer her Evelyn walked into the kitchen, followed by Minnie, who filled all of their plates. Olivia couldn't help but notice the enthusiasm in which Sirius ate. She couldn't help but get the impression that he hadn't had a good meal since break started.

He was just finishing his third pancake when he looked for Minnie and winked at her. "My compliments to the chef, Minnie. This is fantastic." Minnie simply beamed and proceeded to give Sirius more pancakes that he surprisingly ate.

After everybody had finished eating, Mrs. Potter stood and called Minnie to clear the table. "So, what are everybody's plans for today?"

James, Sirius, and Olivia all looked at each other and shrugged. Mr. Potter was the first to speak up, "I was planning on going into London and seeing Dale."

James face lit up. "Uncle Dale?" He turned to Sirius, "Want to go?"

Sirius laughed, "Thats ok, I kind of just want to rest today. You should go on though, say hi to Uncle Dale for me."

James, slightly downhearted, turned to his sister, "Livey? You want to come?"

Olivia scrunched her nose. "Uncle Dale loves you and puts you on a pedestal because your a 'Potter man' but me and him have never really gotten along, he's weird."

Everyone laughed as Olivia continued to do a very accurate impression of Uncle Dale as he talked about a man's role versus a woman's role in life.

After James and Harold had left for Uncle Dales, Olivia went up to her room to work on some of her homework, trying to get a head start on her Potions essay. She would never understand this bloody subject. She just couldn't remember what reacted with what and how to counteract different potions. It just made no sense to her.

Around midday, her mother called her downstairs. Sirius, too, had been summoned apparently as he joined her in walking down the stairs and into the kitchen. Evelyn was sitting at the table along with two other plates, awaiting them for lunch to be served. Had she really been working that long? Wow, Potions kicked her ass.

As they sat down, her mother was able to start an easy conversation about school. "So, Sirius, how do you think you did on OWLs?"

"I'm pretty confident that I passed them all. Probably not perfectly but I think I did well. I wonder when we'll get the results?"

"Well, from what I remember they usually come about halfway through break."

"I'm actually excited to find out."

Olivia laughed, "You, Mr. Black? Excited to find out your marks?"

He laughed along with her. "I know, hard to believe but they do determine our future."

Evelyn smiled warmly at him. "I'm sure you'll do excellent Sirius. Your an exceptional wizard for your age."

Sirius blushed at the compliment and Olivia felt guilty thinking how handsome he looked when he did. She stood in a hurry. "I think I'm going to go for a walk, mum."

Evelyn nodded at her daughter and Sirius stood up. "Do you mind if I join you? I'd like to stretch my legs a bit."

Before Olivia had time to answer, Evelyn threw her arms out. "What an excellent idea!" Olivia looked at her mother in surprise. "Your dad and brother won't be back for a while yet and there is no reason for the two of you to just sit around on vacation, go out and have some fun."

Slightly bewildered, Sirius and Olivia stood together and walked out the back door. They walked for a few minutes in silence, heading for the woods not far from the house. After they were in the cover of trees, Sirius turned and stopped Olivia. "Look, Livey." He stood awkwardly in front of her, not really knowing how to begin.

Noticing his hesitation, she reached out and took his hand. "What is it Sirius?"

"I just...I just wanted to thank you for last night."

Olivia squeezed his hand in reassurance. "Don't mention it. I know you'd have done the same for me."

Sirius smiled and continued forward, not dropping her hand. "It really is beautiful out here."

Olivia flashed him a mischievous smile, "Its also hot, but you know, there is a small lake not too far from here."

Sirius stopped and turned to stare at her, the thought of taking a swim very appealing to him. "Which direction?"

That's all it took for Olivia to take off running, Sirius straining to make his sore muscles keep up with her. She laughed and ran harder as he got close to her, reaching out and trying to catch her. They arrived at the small lake laughing as Sirius finally caught up with her. Seeing him bent over, but knowing that he was in excellent shape, made realization dawn on her, "Oh, Sirius, I'm sorry. I forgot."

He let out one of his bark like laughs and shushed her. "Don't Livey. That was fun."

She smiled innocently at him as she realized he was standing very close to the edge of the lake. She walked toward him slowly. "Are you sure? You don't need to overexert yourself."

"I'm positive Livey. See?" He balled his fists up and pounded on his chest like a monkey. "Good as new."

"Good." He caught what she was doing only too late as her hands made contact with his chest and she shoved him backward into the lake. He came up sputtering with his hair covering his face. She was laughing so hard that she was practically laying down under one of the trees surrounding the lake.

He pulled himself out of the water and upon seeing him, Olivia jumped up and started running around the lake. This time though, Sirius caught her in record time. He grabbed her from behind, soaking her back. She struggled to get away but was laughing so hard that it was a futile attempt. He picked her up in his arms and made his way back toward the lake.

"Sirius! Don't you dare!" Sirius held her tighter as she doubled her attempts at escaping his hold on her. As he reached the edge of the lake he looked at her, water still dripping off his hair and down his face. He was smiling at her and she couldn't help but admit to herself that he was gorgeous. That is, until he jumped into the lake, her still in tow.

Sirius came back up laughing while Olivia came back up sputtering with a deadly look in her eyes. He raised his hands in surrender as he treaded water in front of her. "Come now, Livey. You started it."

She said nothing as she started towards him. Whatever she was planning to do though was lost as all of a sudden she was jerked under the water. Sirius stayed where he was, shocked. He waited for her to come back up or try and pull him under but nothing happened. After several seconds, he began to panic. He held his breath and went under only to see her trying to free herself from a lone grindylow and having very little luck.

His first instinct was to reach for his wand, that wasn't there. Not exactly knowing what he was going to do, he swam as fast as he could toward her, grabbing her arms and trying to pull her loose. He could see the panicked and helpless look on her face, knowing she didn't have her wand either. After unsuccessfully trying to pull her loose, Sirius started drastic measures. He knew she was pulled under unexpectedly and wouldn't be able to hold her breath for much longer so he swam down lower so that he was facing her and grabbed her waist, simultaneously trying to kick the grindylow loose. His attempts became desperate as he saw she was loosing consciousness. Finally, with one last kick, he was able to free her.

He pulled her up and onto the edge as fast as he could. He raised her head up and shook her slightly as she began to open her eyes. Once realizing that she was indeed out of the lake and alive she threw her arms around Sirius, hugging him tightly and crying into his shoulder. He rubbed her back and whispered soothingly into her ear, letting her know that everything was going to be ok.

Once hysteria had wore off, she sat next to Sirius, still slightly shaken. "You saved my life."

He looked at her and couldn't help but smile. "Well, now we're even." He stood and reached out a hand to help her up which she gladly took. "Now, I don't really think you'd be up for another swim so do you want to head back home?"

She shook her head. "I don't really want mom to know what happened. You won't tell her, will you?"

He took her hand and started leading her away from the lake. "Not if you don't want me to."

She smiled in thanks, "So where are you leading me, Mr. Black?"

He smirked at her. "Well, Ms. Potter, I thought that maybe you'd like to go where the sun shines through these trees and dry off a bit." She laughed and he couldn't help but smile. Her laugh was pleasant to listen to, very genuine. They reached the field that contained thier home made quidditch pitch and Sirius led her into the middle and laid down in the grass. She sat down beside him, relishing in the warmth of the sun beating down on the both of them.

It didn't take long before she was laying in the warm grass beside him and she closed her eyes as she rested in the sun's rays. He couldn't help but stare at her. She was beautiful, he could no longer deny that. He had tried so hard to tell himself that she was James' sister, he wasn't allowed to see her as beautiful, and for a long time he succeeded. Until earlier that year. After their walk around the lake, when he realized just how she had really grown up, he started watching her, wanting to know exactly how much he had missed about her and what he saw amazed him. She had completely grew up right under his nose and he missed it all. After that realization, he had been fighting with himself. He was attracted to her and he couldn't be. She was James' sister, she was off limits, and he was in a relationship.

She opened her eyes and caught him staring. She laughed, "What?"

He simply shook his head and a huge smile escaped, "Nothing, Livey. Just wondering if you were asleep or not."

"I easily could be out here. The sun feels amazing."

"Are you feeling ok? You know, from the grindylow?"

She nodded her head and closed her eyes again. "Thank you again, Sirius. I don't know what I'd of done if you hadn't been there."

"I only wish I'd of been smart enough to bring my wand. I can't believe I left it." He shook his head, mad at himself.

Olivia reached out and grabbed his hand, shooting unwanted tingles up his arm as she had the first time she took it after they left the house. "I left mine too Sirius. I guess we just weren't thinking. I mean, mum did rush us out as soon as we mentioned leaving."

Sirius laughed at Evelyn Potter's behavior. "Yea, that was kind of strange. Your safe, though. That's all that matters."

Olivia smiled and squeezed his hand. There were those bloody tingles again. He smiled though and they both laid there, perfectly content and enjoying each others company.

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Author's Note: Review! Reviews motivate me so send them in and let me know what your thinking! -PJ

A special thanks to DanniGirrl0001 for her awesome compliments. Made me laugh out loud with happiness. :)