The doorbell rang loudly and Sirius's hand flew to his wand. After a moment he relaxed when he realized where the sound had come from. Sighing with exasperation, he leapt up and crossed the room to see what sort of muggle had come to bother him now. So far he'd had his landlord, an "electgician" who had apparently come to fix his lights, and a surprised neighbor who he'd nearly cursed out of existence when he'd first moved in.
He swung open the door to find his old girlfriend from school who he had not seen in almost a year, Stella. "Hi!" she exclaimed, her cheeks rosy from the cold winter air. After glancing at his shocked face and waiting for a few seconds, she shrugged and walked past him into the semi-warmth of his apartment.
Sirius watched her in complete confusion as she took off her scarf and heavy coat and hung them from his book case to dry. "Nice," she said, looking around approvingly at the dilapidated couch and dirty carpet with old newspapers and reports for the Order strewn across it.
Finally, regaining his voice, Sirius closed the door and turned to face her, "Er… What are you… I mean, why did you…"
Stella took this opportunity to clarify, "Don't you know it's Christmas? We got out for the holidays last week… And, I hadn't seen you since last summer, and only briefly then, so I don't know… I guess I just missed you," For the first time, she looked slightly less then confident and glanced fleetingly at Sirius's face as though hoping for a sign of approval or forgiveness.
"Oh… Oh, yeah… I've missed you, too," Sirius lied. In fact, he hadn't thought about the spunky little fifth year he'd gone out with in his seventh year at Hogwarts in a long time.
"I just… I thought I'd swing by. I didn't think you'd have anyone around and I thought you might be… well, lonely, since it's Christmas and all," she said, looking up at him imploringly.
"What made you think that?" Sirius asked, a little more harshly then he'd meant to.
"Oh… Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that… Only that, well, I thought Remus and James and Peter'd be with their families and I didn't know if you… I'm sorry. Do you want me to leave?" she asked, looking downcast.
"No, no! Don't leave! It's fine… you're right… I was feeling a bit… uh, lonely." This wasn't entirely the truth. Sirius actually hadn't even realized it was Christmas at all today. The weather was bad, so he supposed his friends hadn't been able to send him anything and he didn't really have any need to keep track of days. He just dropped in at the Order whenever he felt it'd been a while, and other than that, he had no place he really had to be. Sirius liked this kind of life, carefree, no obligations… One wink, one smile, and he could always pick up any girl if he was feeling particularly bored and all he had to do was stick his head in the fire if he felt like a chat with a friend.
"So, uh… What year are you in now?" he asked Stella who was now sitting on his couch, inspecting his large tabby cat who had just come to visit her.
"Seventh," she said, looking at him suspiciously, "Do you even remember who I am?" she asked, then she blushed and started to get up, "Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come. This was so stupid of me."
"No, stay! Really!" Sirius said, hurrying over to sit with her on the couch. He pointed his wand at the fireplace and a warm glowing fire erupted there. "I know who you are. I was just a bit surprised that you dropped in, that's all. I haven't seen you in forever. It's nice, though… Thanks… for coming by."
Stella smiled lightly, and settled down again, pulling the grey tiger cat onto her lap. "I know you probably barely remember me, but I just missed having you around. I thought, maybe since I'm about to graduate, I might be able to see you more often."
"Yeah… yeah… Hey, why didn't you apparate here? You nearly scared me to death, ringing that door thingy!"
Stella laughed, "I'm sorry! I didn't… er… quite pass my apparition test with full marks. But it's ok, I was just worried that if you did have someone over it might be a bit weird if I just apparated into the middle of your living room. Also, I wasn't entirely sure where you lived."
"Oh yeah, how did you find me?" Sirius asked, "Not that I'm not glad of course, I was just wondering," he added hurriedly.
"It's ok, it really doesn't matter whether or not you're glad I'm here, because I think I'm glad enough for the both of us," Stella laughed lightly, "I talked to Lily. I used to know her, back at school, and I had her address so I asked her what she thought and she said… Well, she gave me directions,"
"I can just imagine what Lily said about me!" Sirius laughed, "She thinks having her around is keeping James in line…" Sirius shook his head, still laughing. "So, Stella… How are things?" he asked.
Sirius had expected her to look heartened that he knew her name, but instead she grimaced.
"I hate that name," she said.
"I remember. Is it still 'Stell' or have you manage to get it changed?"
"It's Stell for now. I could change it, now that I'm of age… But seventh year is awfully busy. I'm not really sure how I would go about changing it, anyway," she said. "Everything's fine… Classes are like usual, only more stressful because of N.E.W.T.s, It's been a bit dull since you and your friends left, of course… How are you?"
"Uh… Good. It's all good… You know, just picking up jobs here and there… Nothing fancy. It's pretty nice being out of school. No responsibilities, no deadlines… So… uh, why are you here? Did you just feel like, er, dropping in?" Sirius asked, trying to figure out why a girl he hadn't spoken to in nearly two years was suddenly visiting him.
"Well, I had lots of reasons. For one I'm a very spontaneous person…"
Sirius laughed, "That's right! Did my need to surprise the hell out of everyone when ever I felt like dropping in rub off on you?"
"Yeah, probably," Stell looked slightly abashed, "Sorry about that. Anyway, I wanted to keep in touch with you after you left Hogwarts, but after that first summer, I guess we just sort of grew apart. We were both busy and I never saw you or talked to you; I kept thinking about dropping you an owl or something, but I never actually did." Sirius listened silently, not interrupting.
"Over the years, things kept making me think of you. Every time a creative prank was played, involving sneaking out of the castle or setting off dung bombs in the corridors, I thought how much better you could have pulled it off. Every time someone told me a funny joke, or brought food up to the common room from the kitchens… Whenever I had a new boyfriend, or broke up with an old one… I'd always think about you. It was weird, you know? Like I couldn't get you out of my head. I always told myself I was being stupid. I know you probably haven't thought of me at all, and you've probably had hundreds of girlfriends, and I guess every one of them probably never forgets you… But, I don't know, I finally just made up my mind to come and see how you were. I thought, maybe… we could just be friends again," she looked at him silently; her face was almost expressionless, but her eyes were hopeful as they watched his shaggy, dark, hair and elegant features.
"You know, I haven't thought of you, but I didn't think I had forgotten you… But now… Well, I guess I had," Sirius was relieved when Stell smiled; she had understood what he was saying. Slowly, Sirius took in her eager face, her plain brown eyes seemed to have lost some of their sparkle, and the blond curls had darkened slightly and lost a little of their bounce. There was nothing interesting or exotic about her face; Sirius could remember the resentment of half the girls in the school when they saw this girl with him. However, now that she was older, she seemed to have somehow grown into herself and there was something about her, a hidden beauty almost, that made you want to look twice.
"You've grown up," he observed.
"So I've heard," she replied, "Bad or good?"
"Good, of course. Better…"
"Better?" she asked suspiciously.
"Better then some of the others… Better then people thought you would… How many O.W.L.s did you get, then?"
Stell blushed, "Eleven," she admitted guiltily.
"Eleven! That's nothing to be embarrassed about, though, obviously it's no surprise."
"I know. That's why I'm embarrassed. Everyone hates me for being so smart."
Sirius laughed, "And maybe they should. Why do the teachers all love you so much?"
"Because I do my homework. Plus I never got mixed up with trouble makers… until you of course."
"Head Girl?" Sirius asked.
"Amazingly, no," Sirius gaped in mock shock. "I think maybe Dumbledore thought he'd give me a break."
"That's ridiculous! I intend to have a word with him!" Sirius said indignantly, making Stell laugh, almost upsetting the large grey cat.
Abruptly, however she stopped, "That reminds me!" she exclaimed, "Where- Do you know- I mean, well, you must know where it is that Dumbledore keeps going… you do, don't you?" she searched his blank face for confirmation and finding none, she continued, "Does it have to do with… Is it about... you-know-who?"
Sirius considered her. She was intelligent, and she had a knack for magic. The Order could use new members, what could be the harm in telling her about it? On the other hand, Dumbledore probably had a good reason for not telling students about the Order; after all, Stell was awfully young and she had her whole life in front of her. Why convince her to spend it fighting for what seemed to be, at this point, a hopeless cause? Then again, Dumbledore was most likely just worried that some students would go telling their death eater parents all about the Order, otherwise there'd probably be sign-up sheets in every common room. Finally, he compromised.
"Yes. It's… It's a secret organization… well it's not that secret, but it has to be somewhat undercover, because you can never tell who to trust."
Stell nodded, "There've been rumors, about a group that started standing up to him, people say it's been gaining strength recently… But so has you-know-who. Some say it's a losing battle, but others say it's working. When I heard about it, well, I knew Dumbledore would be at the head of it, and I guessed that was where he might be going every time he disappears. And I thought, knowing you and James, you'd be the first to join…"
"Not quite the first, but certainly we joined almost as soon as we graduated, there's plenty of work to be done," Sirius said, still trying to decide how much to say. "It's not going well, though. I suppose you might call it a losing battle at this point, but no one is about to give up. I mean, it's a cause worth fighting for even if we're not making much headway and at times it seems hopeless…"
"What is it that you do to fight him?" Stell asked eagerly.
"Well, it's mostly just trying to figure out who's on Voldemort's side, and who's on ours. We try to track him and his followers, but it's difficult because they're so well organized. He's always ahead of us and the most we can do is try to predict and protect his next victims. Also, at first a lot of it was recruiting new members, but now that Voldemort is gathering so much power we can't really spare anyone for that, though it's still a priority," Sirius realized, suddenly, what he was saying. Stell was quick to disguise her excitement, but Sirius caught it. Hastily he added, "Of course, it's dangerous work. Lots of times members are discovered by death eaters and are killed or tortured. It takes a lot of time too, and there's barely room for anything else in your life. It… it's definitely kind of a waste… I mean, it's not like the Order is doing anything big!" he said desperately, Stell was looking more and more eager with every word.
"How can you say that? What could possibly be more important than fighting you-know…" Stell took a deep breath and managed to say "V-voldemort?" She looked surprised and proud of herself for a second before continuing, "So, if it had more members, could the… the Order, did you say? Is that what it's called? If it had more members, then would it have a better chance against… against Voldemort?"
Sirius paused before nodding, "Yes… I suppose. But, look, Stell, don't go poking around or anything, ok? Don't get yourself into trouble trying to find out more about the Order,"
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to. I was hoping you would-"
"No," Sirius said, firmly, "I'm sorry, but it's just too dangerous. It's really-"
"But you're in it, aren't you? I want to do something! I can't just sit around and mind my own business while people are being killed!"
Sirius sighed, "I know… It's just that… well, at least wait until you're done with Hogwarts, alright?"
"Alright… Does that mean we can stay in touch?" Stell asked hopefully.
"Of course! Although, it's against my better judgment…"
"Since when have you had any judgment at all?" Stell laughed.
"Hey, why don't we have a proper Christmas? I'll go make some hot chocolate… and I think I have a set of wizard chess pieces somewhere… Do you think you could conjure a tree?"
"I can try," Stell said, pulling her wand from her pocket.
They spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and talking, although the subject of Voldemort was carefully avoided. When at last Stell pulled her winter coat and gloves back on and trudged out into the blizzard, refusing Sirius's offer to try side-along apparition to get back home (he was unfortunately out of floo powder, as the large grey cat had knocked the last of it into the embers of the fire), Sirius found himself thinking nervously back to their conversation about the Order. Although he had made Stell give her word that she wouldn't try and find out anymore about it now, her enthusiasm had made him regret telling her. Still, it had been nice of her to come by. He put the thought of the Order out of his mind for now, thinking back over all they had talked about. He really had enjoyed seeing her, and maybe the hope that they could be friends again was more mutual than Sirius had first thought.
An owl hit his window with a loud thud, just as someone in the fireplace called out, "Hey, Padfoot!" Sirius smiled and opened the window to retrieve his package before turning to discuss his Christmas with James.
A/N: At least it was long, right? lol... I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this. I mean I know we all hate SiriusOC fics, but hopefully this will be an acception, if I decide to go that way at all... which is likely, lol.