A/N: This is where my story really starts to deviate from cannon.

There are some suggestive M rated scenes in this chapter, you

have been warned enjoy!

Harry Potter

The Aftermath

Chapter 11

Love

March 17, 2023

Marie returned home late that night she managed to get into the house without any trouble, she yawned as she resealed the door and made sure her enchantment were still fine, then she went up the stairs to bed with her wand lighting the way. She yawned again as she crossed the room laying her wand down on the dresser she began taking off her work clothes, she opened a drawer and pulled out a button up sleep shirt and she took off her bra. She put on the sleep shirt making sure the two middle buttons between her breast were buttoned and letting the rest remain unbuttoned her reasoning was as she tossed and turned they always seemed to unbutton anyway so why bother.

"Marie." a deep male voice said, he had been watching her from the moment she entered the room he was laying there on the bed smirking at her.

Marie for her part nearly jumped out of her skin as she grabbed her wand and spun around to protect herself. "God Sirius really? I've been alone for twelve years don't give me a heart attack!" she said as she leaned back against the dresser with her wand pointing down at the floor.

Sirius was laughing so hard at her it was hard to breathe. "How could you forget an escaped criminal was here in your bed?" he asked once he finally stopped laughing.

"Bloody hell I'm tired alright. This is home, this is safety." Marie said as she glared at him for a moment then shook her head and walked over to the bed and sat down beside him putting her wand on her night table and extinguishing the light it was producing.

"That's no excuse Marie and you know it." Sirius said as he frowned at her.

"I know hush! I was thinking about all those damn Aurors tonight roaming around I was distracted and tired." Marie said as she rubbed her face and sighed. "It won't happen again." she said as she looked over at him with a sad smile.

"I could have been anyone laying here, and you just waltzed in and got undressed." Sirius said wanting to make sure he drove his criticism home.

"I know alright, I got it." Marie said as she laid down on her side then covered her head with the covers.

"Marie, oh come on don't be like that." Sirius said as he managed to get the covers off her head, but she refused to look at him and that was driving him crazy. "Look at me Marie." he commanded but that didn't get her to look at him, so he did the next best thing. He forced her to roll over then he straddled her hips, his hands on the bed by her shoulders to keep his weight off of her. "Look at me please." he said but when she refused, he used one hand to drag her face to him by gently grabbing her jaw.

Marie shocked by his behavior looked up at him curiously wondering if this was the same man from Azkaban, she had met just two days before. He seemed more sure of himself and more like his younger self as he looked down at her. "Sirius." she whispered as she locked her brown eyes with his grey, with her long brown hair coiled around her head kind of spread across her pillow.

"That's better. Marie I just want to keep you safe, with me out on the loose the Ministry could have been here waiting for you, Death Eaters could have been here waiting for you, I can't let you get hurt because of me." Sirius said with a small smile and a worried look in his eyes.

"I know, I let me guard down and I can't protect you if I do that." Marie said softly as she looked up at him with tears building in her eyes.

"Don't worry about me Marie I'll be fine. You must stay safe." Sirius said softly as he leaned down on his elbows. He let one hand rest on her left shoulder gently and his other hand rubbed stands of her hair in between his finger and thumb.

"That's not how love works Sirius, it never has worked like that. I will protect you and you will protect me no matter what we say to each other. I remember you running into Voldemort's hideout for me. The Ministry is corrupt and stupid but not nearly as dangerous." Marie said lovingly as she put one hand on his side and the other up cupping his face, which was now clean shaven again. She rubbed her thumb across his cheek softly as she looked up into his eyes lovingly.

"That's beside the point." Sirius said rolling his eyes at her then looked back down and smiled softly. "I took some time tonight to walk around the house, you were right you put a mixture of my stuff and your stuff throughout the house to make it like I never left you." He whispered softly as he leaned down to where his bare chest was pressed against her's ever so slightly.

"I couldn't pretend you weren't my past, present, and future. I couldn't store your stuff away out of sight. I needed your strength to get through these long years." Marie whispered back as she moved her hand from his face, under his arm to rest on his hips lightly.

"And I needed yours to survive." Sirius said against her lips softly then kissed her as his hands roamed down her body gently till, they found the open part of her sleep shirt, he unbuttoned the two buttons. He pushed the fabric open more exposing her body to his gaze. She was still as fit as ever, beautiful beyond belief to him, and still smelled amazing to his senses. He wanted nothing more than to ravage her and show her just how much he still loved everything about her, but he stopped and leaned back looking at her curiously wondering if he was going way too far way too quickly.

Marie bit her lip lightly as she opened her eyes to look up at him again wondering why he had suddenly stopped and leaned up. She leaned up on her elbows shrugging off her top as she did. She pulled her arms out of the sleeves and tossed it to the floor then leaned up some more so she could put her bare chest against his then pressing her lips to his. She moved one hand on the back of his head lacing her fingers into his hair and began pulling him back down to the bed with her.

~*~*~*~ Next Morning ~*~*~*~

Marie woke the next morning laying on her front, wrapped only in the sheet. 'Was last night a dream?' she thought to herself, worried. She blinked her eyes a few times and rubbed the sleep from them confused as she leaned up on one elbow. "Sirius?" she asked tentatively as she looked around the room. "Sirius?" She asked softly as she sat up holding the sheet to her chest, she reached over and grabbed her wand off her night table, then scooted over to the edge picking up the sleeping shirt of Sirius' laying on his bedside table and she put it on. She walked out of the room curiously, the house was still dark since it was early morning, so she quietly made her way downstairs with her wand lighting the way.

As far as she could tell the house was empty the only thing that said the house wasn't empty was the little bit of light coming out from under the closed kitchen door which she normally kept open. She walked barefoot down the hall then slowly pushed the door open to see Sirius there making breakfast and she smiled softly. She slipped into the room silently and stood back watching him work with her foot braced on the wall she was now leaning against with her wand behind her since she had her hands behind her placed-on top of each other bracing her butt off the wall. The shirt she was wearing was long enough to cover her down to her thighs.

Sirius kept busy intending on serving Marie breakfast in bed when she woke up, he had no idea that she had woken up and was standing behind him watching him. He also intended on asking her about this potion she was brewing with a note obviously for him to leave it alone. He was just about done with the tray to take it back up to the bedroom when he decided to grab the salt, pepper, and sugar off the table. "Ugh...Marie!" he said startled when he turned around and saw her standing there in his shirt staring at him.

"Yes dear?" Marie asked innocently as she smiled sweetly at him.

"You can't just stand there and stare at me like that." Sirius said slightly aggravated as he frowned at her.

"Oh, but you could lay on the bed and stare at me last night." Marie said with a wicked grin she knew she had just won that volley.

"Marie..." Sirius said as he made his way over to her.

"Sirius..." Marie said softly as she looked up into his grey eyes. She bit her lower lip lightly as she allowed him to put an arm around her waist and pull her to him, making her drop her foot back to the floor that had been braced against the wall.

"You're just being mean." Sirius said as he picked her up and pushed her back against the wall. "I was trying to get breakfast ready for you." he said softly against her ear as he pressed their bodies together. He kissed lightly on her jaw line.

"What's good for the goose is good for the gander." Marie said softly as she leaned her head back against the wall putting one arm around his neck as it held her wand, then the other hand laced through his hair and her legs wrapped around his waist.

"I can't be without you for another decade Marie. Marry me?" Sirius asked as he held her body close to his and kissed her neck and jaw line to get to her lips.

"I agreed to that already, over a decade ago." Marie said as she bit her lip lightly leaning her head to the side slightly, giving him better access to her neck.

"I meant today." Sirius said as he pulled back from her and looked at her curiously. "We could go to some small out of the way area and get married." he suggested, wondering what she was going to say.

"And how do we keep that from getting back to the Ministry? That's a dead giveaway that I know where you are." Marie said softly as she looked at him worried that he was getting too wrapped up in this moment.

"I know it's a risk, but we could take the paperwork wipe the memory of the ceremony official then present the paperwork later to the Ministry." Sirius suggested as he watched her curiously.

"Alright." Marie said softly as she looked at him with so much love then leaned forward and kissed his lips. She had one hand wrapped around behind him pulling him to her in a gentle hug as she weaved her fingers into his hair tilting her head slightly to deepen the kiss.

"It won't be the spring wedding you had planned." Sirius said softly when the kiss broke as he leaned back. He sat her back down on the floor but kept her pressed against him and the wall.

"It'll be alright, you are what matters." Marie said softly as she looked up at him and smiled then leaned up on her tippy toes to kiss him on the lips.

"You're sure? I don't want to pressure you into this." Sirius said worried as he looked down at her when she started standing flat footed again in front of him.

"Sirius I would have married you in Azkaban if I could have gotten there." Marie said softly as she cupped his face with a sweet smile on her lips.

"I never want to see you in Azkaban." Sirius said honestly as he stepped back pulling her away from the wall.

"Then don't get caught, cause that's where I'll be right beside you this time." Marie said with a small laugh as she turned with his hand in hers and began to make her way back up to the bedroom.

"Marie breakfast..." Sirius said as he followed her curiously.

"Can wait till later." Marie said softly as she led him up the stairs. "Let's get dressed." she said as she glanced back at him with a smile.

They got dressed then followed the tunnel out of the house and they held hands as Marie let Sirius pick where to go. They made it to the outskirts of a little town with a known ceremony wizard, they skulked in the shadows until they reached the back door of a specific house where they knocked on the door then looked around to make sure they weren't being watched. They had donned traveling cloaks with hoods that covered their faces before they left the house.

The door opened and a little old wizard asked, "May I help you?" looking at the two curiously noticing their dress.

"We want you to marry us now please." the male hidden beneath his cloak said.

.

"Well, that's a little out of the ordinary this early in the morning." the old wizard said, raising his eyebrows at them.

"We just can't wait anymore. Please sir can you marry us?" The woman hidden beneath her cloak asked curiously as she stepped closer to the man with whom she was to be married.

"Of course, of course keep your shirts on." the old wizard said then motioned them into the house which they gladly entered. "Winifred young love strikes again come in here dear and witness this ceremony." he said into the kitchen after directing the couple to in front of his fireplace which just happened to be decorated beautifully as if for a wedding.

"Must happen a lot." Marie said softly as she looked at the fireplace curiously.

"Apparently." Sirius said as he pulled her into a hug.

"Alright drop your hoods and tell me your names." the old wizard said as he pulled out parchment, ink, and quill.

"Here we go..." Marie whispered over to Sirius as she dropped her hood. "Marie Willis." she said with a soft smile on her face but gripping her wand under her cloak just to be safe.

"Sirius Black." Sirius said as he too dropped his hood gulping slightly wondering if this had been an extremely bad idea on his part.

"Hum... Black I've heard that name somewhere before." the old man said as he screwed up his face trying to think of where he had heard that name before.

"Both our families are pure blood, I'm sure that's where you've heard it. The Black family is rather largely known." Marie said quickly trying to move the old man along.

"Well, that must be it then." The old man said with a shrug as he wrote their names down. "And which last name shall we be taking today?" he asked curiously looking over at them.

"Black." The two lovebirds said simultaneously then Marie giggled as she looked up at Sirius who just smiled down at her and shook his head.

"Of course. Well, we are ready to go, let's go ahead and sign this while we wait for my wife and her sister." the old man said and motioned to the parchment laying on the desk. They both moved over and signed their names in Marie's case she signed it as Marie Ann Black.

"Come along sister." an old woman said as she rounded the corner into the living room bringing with her another older woman.

"Here dear go ahead and sign before you sit down." the old man said as he let the two women walk up and sign their names as well. "We're going a little out of order here but I'm sure you don't mind." the old man said with a bright smile over at the loving couple.

"Oh no by all means go ahead." Marie said as she stood back in front of the fireplace with Sirius at her side happily.

The old man preformed the ceremony once his wife and her sister had sat down on the couch watching the loving couple as they looked at each other with so much love. "By the power vested in me by the Ministry of Magic I pronounce you husband and wife, you may now kiss your bride." the old man said with a happy smile.

"Here let's snap a picture for you." the old man's wife said happily as she stood up with a camera.

"Wait let us take off our cloaks." Marie said as she took off her cloak to reveal a beautiful white wedding gown with red ribbon around her waist tied in a bow at the back, it had been in style twelve years ago. She watched as Sirius took off his cloak as well to reveal a black suit with a grey vest and a pocket watch and chain. He had on a white button-down shirt and red tie as well.

"What a lovely couple you make." the old woman said happily as she watched them step up close to each other and smile at her.

"You know I'm going to kiss you for this picture, right?" Sirius said as he looked down at her and smiled.

"Kind of figured you'd do something." Marie said with a warm loving smile.

"On the count of three... one... two... three..." the old woman said and smiled as she took the picture. She watched as Sirius turned Marie around in his arms, dipped her, and kissed her. He then spun her back around and he pulled her to his side. She wrapped her arms around his waist and they both looked at the camera with huge smiles.

"That was lovely. Give me a few moments and I'll have it ready for you." The old woman said then motioned for her sister. "Come along sister we have a picture to make." she said helping the older lady back up.

"Don't worry she's the best picture person I've ever seen. Now tell me how did you meet?" The old man asked curiously as he watched them pick up their cloaks and don them again.

"Hogwarts naturally." Sirius said as he pulled Marie over to him again.

"School sweethearts huh. It's been a while since I've done one of those, actually probably the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was probably the last time that happened, it was rather quite frequent in those times. Mostly they come here to me because their families disapprove of the marriage, I don't get many Pure blood to Pure blood here." the old man said with a shrug.

"Yeah, well our wedding was supposed to be a spring wedding. But we were traveling and unwilling to wait any longer." Sirius said with a shrug.

"I'll file your paperwork this afternoon." the old man said as he rolled up the parchment now that the ink had dried and used a small ribbon to tie it.

"Well actually we are going to the Ministry this morning we can take it for you." Marie said as she smiled at the old man.

"Oh no dear I file it here locally and the Ministry once a year collects our official paperwork. It won't reach the Ministry till summer next year since they've already picked everything up." the old man said filing their paperwork away with others to be taken to the local administration. "Don't worry that doesn't make your marriage any less legal. The central government just won't have it in their hands right off." he said with a smile and a dismissive wave misunderstanding their worried looks.

"Here you go dearies." the old woman said as she returned with the beautifully framed moving photo of her and Sirius.

"This is amazing thank you. What do we owe you?" Marie asked curiously as she looked up from the photo in her hands to the old couple now holding hands watching them.

"Ah this is on us dear, just enjoy your lives together. Marriage can be an amazing adventure if you let it, enjoy all the time you have, go see the world, make babies, and grow old together that will be our payment." The old woman said with a smile after she received a small nod from her husband.

"You're so sweet." Marie said as she smiled over at the couple.

"At least take this as a symbol of our gratitude." Sirius said as he pulled out a gold coin and handed it to them.

"Ah no spend it on your honeymoon, it's been a privilege to marry a loving couple such as yourselves." the old man said waving the money aside.

"If you absolutely insist?" Sirius asked as he wrapped his arm around Marie's waist pulling his hood back up into place.

"Oh, we do deary, call this our wedding gift to you." the old woman said with a smile and a wave as the couple made their way to the door.

Marie pulled her hood up and smiled back at the old couple. She waved then when the door opened, she and Sirius slipped out of the house. "I need to write my boss and tell her I won't be in this week." she said softly as she kept pace with Sirius.

"You not going to work will be a red flag to the Ministry." Sirius said as he looked over at her curiously.

"Not if I tell her I'm going on a last-minute Holiday then we leave the country." Marie said once they rounded a corner and hid in the shadows.

"I've got to get Peter." Sirius said as he looked down at her worried.

"Yes, and Peter won't be in this country for another month almost. Let's take a holiday Sirius we did just get married." Marie said, looking up at him hoping he would agree, they could go somewhere where he wasn't wanted, and they could walk around together in the sun instead of in the shadows.

"But where?" Sirius asked curiously as he glanced around to make sure no one was watching them.

"A beach would be nice." Marie said with a smile up at her new husband.

"A beach out of reach of the Ministry... not a bad idea..." Sirius said with a raised eyebrow once he looked back down at the kid at Christmas look on his new wife's face and he sighed knowing he could never deny her what she wanted with that puppy dog look in her eyes. "Alright let's go pack." he said then laughed as she hugged him tightly with a little squeal.

They went to the nearest owlery so Marie could send her message to her boss at the three broomsticks telling her that a friend had given her a two-week holiday and she would be going out of country she was sorry it was such short notice, but she would be back before Hogwarts reopened for the school year. Then they apparated back to the secret entrance to Marie's house to go pack

"Before we leave Marie tell me what that is." Sirius said stopping her from going up the stairs and pointing at the brewing potion.

"You're not going to like it." Marie said warningly as she looked up at him.

"I don't like it already, what is it?" Sirius asked as he raised an eyebrow at her wanting an answer.

"Polyjuice Potion." Marie said as she watched his face go from curiosity to anger in a matter of moments.

"I absolutely forbid it Marie." Sirius said as he started towards the kitchen to destroy the potion.

"Sirius don't!" Marie said as she ran to catch up to him. "Listen I warned you, that you wouldn't like it. Now I'll promise you to only use it when the Ministry gets too close to you, and you need a diversion." she said trying to block his way to keep him in the hallway.

"Marie, no you are not putting yourself in the middle of this disguised as me." Sirius said as he looked down at her worried.

"Sirius listen isn't the best defense we have keeping the Ministry confused and off your trail?" Marie asked curiously as she looked up at him worried that he wouldn't budge on his refusal of the idea.

"Well, yes that is my best chance of staying out of Azkaban again." Sirius said with a frown he hated this idea but now that the anger was gone, he could see the good sense in the plan. He didn't have to like it to understand the flexibility and security this would give him once he got to Hogsmeade and tried to get to Peter in Hogwarts.

"Sirius you are going to be tied down in Hogsmeade, if you are having to go all over hell and tarnation to avoid the Ministry and their bloody Dementors you could miss your chance to catch Peter." Marie said knowing this would get to him. "I'll be your decoy from time to time so you can stay there and watch for the rat." she said as she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest.

"Only when I say!" Sirius said with a frown as he glared at that potion brewing on the counter.

"Or I deem absolutely necessary because you are unable to contact me, my husband." Marie said as she looked up at him worried.

"Very well, my wife only on those two conditions will I allow this." Sirius said with a sigh as he looked down at Marie.

"Alright now let's get packed and go on Holiday." Marie said with a smile as she hugged him tightly then grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs to their shared bedroom. She had a small bag that she had done a charm on the inside to where she could stick anything she wanted inside no matter how large or how much the bag remained the same size on the outside. Within a few hours they were gone with the Ministry being none the wiser about their marriage.