Chapter 11- A Heartfelt Hug

A Twin in Mine Shadow

The summer holidays that passed only brought a flicker of sunlight followed by rainy nights. There was no denying that the weather wasn't the only part of Lizzie's life that mourned, and it certainly did not play its part in improving her spirits.

It was currently nearing towards the end of July as well as bringing the forever-feared summer school closer.

Lizzie glanced around at her room from where she was propped onto her bed, and then brought her eyes to rest on the piece of parchment sprawled across her lap. Printed across it in gothic lettering was 'Chateau d'Etiquette.' Around the fanciful heading were several pictures of well-mannered looking ladies with up-to-date clothing, all of whom supporting snobby expressions. In the small space between the pictures was impeccable calligraphed text that went on and on about the change the School had made in the lives of previous 'ill-mannered' witches.

Suddenly, Lizzie distinctly heard a bell ring- the signal for lunch. Throwing the piece of parchment on her bedside cabinet, she wandered out of the door and into the hallway. Confrontation with her parents' unvoiced scolds and icy glares was not what she needed right now; though she had not been calling for it all her life.

Since her room was the closest bedchamber to the Dining Hall, Lizzie was the first one there when she arrived. Taking her usual seat near the far end and waiting in silence, she was surprised to see that a fifth place was set at the Dining table on James' right. As a house elf neared the table, Lizzie decided to enquire of the servant; hopelessly praying that her suspicions would not be confirmed.

"Pessy, why is there a fifth place set at this table?"

Upon being addressed the creature looked up, round yes widening as it hung onto every word that came out of Lizzie's mouth.

"Mistress says that Master James' friend Mr Black is to be attending, Miss. Is there anything you's be wanting, Miss?"

Lizzie just stared dumbfounded at the elf, before she realised what she was doing and quickly dismissed the servant.

"That will be all, Pessy."

As soon as the elf left the room, the repeated clanging of her mother's shoes slowly reached her ears from the hallway. It was followed by a door being thrust open to reveal the form of her mother; one long hand resting in the crook of Jonathan Potter's elbow. They were followed shortly by James, and the infamous Black that had filled Lizzie with such dread.

"Hi Lizzie," Sirius waved in a geeky motion before turning away to snicker at her with James. Lizzie did her best by playing ignorant and delighted them both with a pair of middle fingers from behind her glass. An action which worked to her benefit.

"Lizzie, it is terribly rude not to answer to someone's greeting, especially since Sirius is our guest," Alexandra Potter remarked with a pointed look at her daughter.

Though she meant it to look like a comment, Lizzie easily detected the ordering tone of her mother's voice and was forced to oblige.

"Well hello, Sirius. Great of you to dine with us today," she said in the most strangled voice.

Though Lizzie knew he'd caught on with her sarcasm, she was surprised to find him look away as soon as she'd finished. It took her a while to realise he had felt ashamed to cause Lizzie a scolding, which only made her wonder whether he knew how it felt to be treated in such a way.

The first half of dinner passed in a comfortable silence, as everyone hungrily tore into their stake and drank butterbear from their goblets. It was not until twenty minutes later that Lizzie was the first to finish, as per usual, and continued to sit silently in her waiting. She did not have to wait long before her mother's gaze rested upon her once again, followed by the most startling remark Lizzie had ever heard; "Lizzie, you needn't rush through your food in such a hurry; it's not as if someone's going to steal it from you. This is one of the basics that they teach at 'Chateau d'Etiquette,' you know."

Her words echoed like ice on a frozen sea, burning shame into Lizzie's cheeks at being scolded so openly. She felt tears sting at the back of her eyes, but kept them there to save herself from further humiliation.

'It would not do to show your weakness amidst the presence of onlookers- Grandmother's first rule of being a pureblood,' Lizzie mused darkly. She did bring her eyes to rest on the onlooker's expression for a fraction of a second, and was surprised to see his eyes turn away so quickly. Another action of his that startled her.

Her thoughts were suddenly drowned by James' voice, as he launched into a conversation on the England Quidditch team's current progress in the World cup. It was then that Lizzie decided she needn't wait, seeing as she could not take part in such an uninteresting conversation. As soon as she was granted permission to be excused (by a very obligated mother) she strode her way through the door and broke out into a run to her chamber. She tried to ignore the portraits as she ran down halls, each one barking at her 'unladylike' motive with her every step. By the time she reached her door and locked herself in, her face was a state of salty tears that were slowly blinding her sight. Stumbling as she walked, she made her way towards her window and collapsed on the sill before it- where she clawed and clawed at the glass until her eyes had gone beyond scarlet.

She felt so many emotions that she was altogether numbed on the spot. She lifted her head once again to let out a cry strangled by quickening breaths, and rested her head upon the cold glass. It was then that she saw two dark eyes glaring up at her from the garden below, where Sirius stood. Only this time he did not turn away as she ceased for a second, and continued to watch her carefully as she backed away from the window and drew her curtains.

Making her way over to her four-poster, Lizzie was about to resume her crying when a knock on her door interrupted her. She did not look up though, and instead bellowed for the person to 'go away.' The person did not oblige however, and continued to knock further with threats to break down the door if Lizzie would not open. It was at that point that Lizzie finally got up, feeling destroyed at the fact that she could not be granted privacy in her own room. Hastily wiping her eyes and tying her hair up into its regular ponytail, she muttered a charm to unlock the door. The door suddenly opened, and there in the doorway stood the boy who had been in the garden seconds ago, still fully dressed in Quidditch gear and supporting a broom under his right arm.

"What part of 'go away' do you not understand, Sirius? Are you so keen on embarrassing me when I am near suicidal? Well, here I am; now you can laugh at me all you want, because frankly I don't care," Lizzie shouted as she went to slam the door on him. But the door only bounced off his form while he stood at a loss for words. It was not until Lizzie's tears decided to shed again that Sirius finally spoke.

"Lizzie, I didn't mean-"

"Didn't mean what, to humiliate me? Well frankly, I don't want your pity Black so you can stop feeling sorry for me this instant. You know nothing of what I feel!" Lizzie shouted as she moved to close the door again. But just as she came to slam it, Sirius' hand shot out of nowhere and caught her wrist in a menacing grip. He then forced her to back away, before letting himself in and slamming the door shut behind him.

The locking charm was followed by a dark glare, before he launched at her other wrist and gathered her into his arms- broom falling to the floor in the process. Lizzie was awe-stricken at first, but then started to hit and punch at him so that he would let go. She knew she did not want him to comfort her, nor to see her in such a state of distress. But after scratching his face and bruising his ribs she finally ceased, allowing him to rub her back in a heartfelt motion.

She did not know how long they stayed that way- lost in each other's arms as though the world had finally ended. All she knew was that he never stopped soothing her with sweet words, which eventually stopped her tears from flowing and made her hold onto him even tighter. It was not an act of some passionate love or a lust-filled motive, but a mere embrace of two souls that had suffered the same amount of hurt and pain.

When Lizzie acknowledged reality again she found herself on the floor and leaning by her bed, head resting atop Sirius' chest with his hands draped across her shoulders. She could hear his heartbeat like a loud drum amidst the silence, its rhythm matching her intake of breath with each pace. She tilted her head slightly to look at his face, to see if she could try and view what he was thinking through his eyes. As soon as he noticed her move, his hand shot out to touch the hair that had come loose from the hair band.

"Why don't you ever let your hair down? It makes you look like a totally different person," he remarked as he ran his fingertips through the ebony shreds, pulling out the scrunchy in the process.

Lizzie smiled sadly in return. "I guess I hate it being in the way. And because my hair's naturally tangled, it gets so out of hand," she replied as one of Sirius' fingers got caught in a newly-formed tangle. A look of understanding crossed his features, as his hands resumed their previous position across her shoulders. Lizzie was about to look away when a hand caught her chin, tilting it so that she was staring directly at Sirius' mouth.

Being the height she was, Lizzie was not high enough to glance into his eyes, but was given her wish as Sirius tilted his head down to look at her. Their faces were mere inches apart, which made Lizzie's skin feel hot again, as Sirius' face drew ever closer.

She had only ever been kissed once, and that had been by Lucius Malfoy last year, when they had unfortunately found themselves stuck under magic mistletoe.

Lizzie gulped as Sirius' eyes closed, before he reached out hungrily to capture her lips. Her eyes fluttered shut as their mouths came into contact, while Sirius' tongue began to trace her bottom lip.

'I wonder how many girls he's had the opportunity to practice with,' Lizzie thought before reaching her hands out to lace through his hair. Sirius moaned as she began to massage his scalp, while his hands rested on the small of her back lightly. They were about to kiss longer when a sudden voice tore them apart.

Panting together at what they had just embarked, Lizzie and Sirius looked away from each other while regaining a normal breathing rate. James' voice rose again as he began to shout Sirius' name downstairs.

Sirius' cheeks started to glow red when he realised what he had just done to his best friend's twin sister, before scrambling to his feet and smoothed his robes.

"Sirius, wait!" Lizzie said as she caught his arm just before it came to lift his broom a foot away from her. Sirius paused as their eyes met again, before Lizzie's head dipped forward and placed a quick kiss on his lips.

"Thank you," she uttered, once she had managed to break away from him. Sirius just stared dumbfounded, before the corners of his mouth began to twitch into a silly smile. Lizzie withdrew her hand just as he got up and left with a short 'bye.' Once the door had closed behind him, Sirius made his way out into the hallway; desperately hurrying towards the source of noise.

When he found James and lied about being stuck in the toilet, Sirius decided to withhold the information of what he and Lizzie had just done. Though he tried to shrug off the feeling of utter happiness that plagued his stomach, he continued to tell himself that it had meant nothing to him.

While Lizzie also began to force herself to think the same thing, she realised that she had discovered a side of Sirius Black that no one knew of, not even her own brother. He had kissed her and comforted her so hungrily, which told her that he had been in dire need of comfort for a long time.

Now that she knew there was at least one other person that understood her in this world, she began to wonder whether his parents' wrath overruled hers, and if someone knew of what he went through under such circumstances. Though needless to say, that had been one hell of a kiss.

xxXXXxXXXxx

Since it has been taking me a long while to update, I decided to create a short progress in Lizzie and Sirius' relationship. Even though I've mentioned they are not passionately in love, they actually are but don't know it yet.

Anyways, I would like to thank the amount of people that reviewed for the last chapter:

Aka yuki hime, love's a bleeding lie, padfoot's love, mangos2005, crazy psycho, aliana campell, SelenityJG and sam; you guys have really made my day!

If there are any questions, don't hesitate to include them in your reviews so that I can answer them in the next chappy. In the meantime, please review!

MissSerpentina