Disclaimer: Any character, site or magical vocabulary recognized from the Harry Potterverse the author does not own. It is all owned by the lovely Mrs. J. K. Rowling. The author is not receiving any sort of payment for this work.
Chapter One
There was something to be said about a secret love. The excitement, the passion they put into their short trysts were something that made her heart beat a little faster. And that was just by thinking about it. The possibility that they might be discovered by anyone staying in Grimmauld Place certainly added to the excitement.
Then again, could they really be called secret lovers if there were more people than just themselves who knew about the relationship? There were Hermione and Ginny, both of whom covered for her when she disappeared from the general familial gatherings.
And then there was George, Ginny's older brother. She had been quite mortified when George had walked into her room one night unannounced. Her knees had been over Sirius' shoulders, his trousers bunched at the ankles. She had immediately covered her bare chest and they had both froze as if they had been petrified.
George had frozen too, his eyes wide and disbelieving at the scene sprawled out on the bed before him. And then his surprised looked had vanished. It was replaced with the mischievous look that no one had seen on his face since before his twin brother Fred had been killed.
"Well," he let out, his grin reminiscent of the muggle Christmas toon, the Grinch. "Carry on then. And don't forget the bloody locking and silencing charms. Thought you were both being murdered in here for Merlin's sake."
He had then closed the door, locking it behind him. Sirius and Holly had looked at each other and began laughing at the hilarity of the situation, the adrenaline of their love-making and being discovered so suddenly pumping thru their veins. Banging on the door startled them and George's voice had spoken through the wood.
"I thought I said not to forget about the silencing charms!"
His demeanor, reminiscent of the days before his twin brother's death, was enough for Holly to forgive him the interruption into her room. George Weasley had not been the same since his twin brother's death during the last battle at Hogwarts. There had been a critical moment that the Weasley family had feared he would commit suicide in grief. With the constant care and supervision from his family and friends, George seemed to have abandoned his dark thoughts. Holly understood though. This had been his brother, after all. And Fred had also been their son and brother. With their constant presence they wanted to assure the young man who Fred would never want his beloved brother to harm himself.
"A thought just came to me," Holly whispered in the dark.
They were both naked under the thin sheets. Even with a cooling charms, the night was a hot one. Their enthusiastic love-making had not helped the temperature of the room either. Her cheek was laid against his shoulder as Sirius breathed deeply to catch his breath.
"There are too many people who know about us," Holly said wryly. "Too many."
Sirius chuckled. "Quite right. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Ginny is too many. Hermione is fine, she has a level and intelligent head on her, but Ginny-"
"There is nothing wrong with Ginny," Holly countered with a laugh.
"She's a girl," Sirius said dryly.
"And what do you take me for, sir?"
"A mature, of age, woman," Sirius retorted, sounding quite serious. "You and Hermione both. Ginny on the other hand is still a girl.
"Now don't get me wrong," he interrupted before she could speak out on Ginny's behalf again. "I know for a fact that for some people their age does not decide their maturity. But Ginny is not one of those people, love. She is a little girl whom I doubt very much to keep a secret of this size. A secret of any magnitude, really.."
Holly sighed. "I understand what you are saying..if it makes you feel better, I'll have a talk to her about discretion."
"Thank you," Sirius answered. "..And I'm sorry for getting a tad excited there in the conversation."
"No, it's fine. I understand that your concerned about us. So am I..Remus is supposed to be back tomorrow."
Her lover was quiet. She could feel his fingers gliding down her naked back until his hand came to rest on her hip. Holly knew for a fact that he had also had Remus Lupin on his mind. Remus Lupin, best friend of Sirius Black and a lycanthrope since a young age. Keeping a secret from a werewolf was going to be quite difficult.
It felt as if she had just fallen to sleep when Sirius had woken her at 6:30AM. It was a nightly ritual. They would wake before Mrs. Weasley, Holly would shower and sneak back to her room before the Weasley matriarch would knock and enter her bedroom at 7AM sharp for breakfast.
Holly went to her room in her bath towel, her hair was still soaking. She was running a little late. She shut her door behind her with a quiet snap and immediately rushed to her bathroom just as Mrs. Weasley knocked on her bedroom door and entered.
"Breakfast is ready, dear," Mrs. Weasley said quietly, a small smile on her face.
Holly stuck her head out of the bathroom door and returned that smile. "Thanks, Mrs. Weasley...Er, do you think you can take my skirt out of the closet for me? And a matching blouse."
Molly Weasley's smile brightened just a bit more and Holly was glad it did. Molly's demeanor had been quite subdued since the death of her son Fred, everyone's demeanor really. It had been months, but the pain of losing a brother figure had been like no other to Holly. She did not even want to imagine how painful it must be for the Weasley family since Fred had been their real flesh and blood.
"It would be my pleasure," Mrs. Weasley said as she opened her closet. "Ginny no longer allows me to help with her clothing. My, the last time I helped her dress was when she was around eleven years. And now she is sixteen. She is going to be seventeen in just a couple of short months. And you and Hermione and Ron are seventeen going on eighteen..Where does the time fly to?"
The clothes were passed to Holly through the open door. Mrs. Weasley turned away as Holly quickly dressed. She walked out of the bathroom, face freshly scrubbed and a healthy pink.
"I don't mind the help, really," Holly said as she brought out her dirty clothing. "I've never had anyone who cared enough to help me with my clothes before. My aunt was, well, uninterested with me..And of course you know about my parentless situation."
Mrs. Weasley nodded sympathetically, but she also looked a little confused.
"I will never be able to understand why your aunt would act that way," Mrs. Weasley looked sad once again and Holly regretted ever bringing Petunia Dursley's name into the conversation.
"Jealousy, is how I've come to understand it," Holly answered quietly.
Holly began to braid her hair slowly as she told the tale of two flower sisters from Surrey. One red-haired and the older one blonde. One magical and the other muggle. By the time her tale ended her hair was perfect. She had braided it down to her waist and tied it tightly with a bottle green leather hair tie that matched the color of her skirt.
"Those poor girls," Mrs. Weasley sniffed. "And Severus. Oh my, poor Severus Snape."
Holly nodded. "He had been in love with my mother since the moment he met her. And until the day he died. It was one of the reasons why he hated my father and by extension, I suppose, disliked me.
"My father, he had bullied Snape during all seven years of his schooling. When he married my mother that was just more incentive to hate James. And the Lily became pregnant with me. Once I was born I suppose I was just another person who had more claim on Lily then he did. Another Potter."
A soft and gentle hand reached forward and wiped away tears that Holly had no idea had fallen. Mrs. Weasley pressed a kiss to her forward.
"I wish things would have been different," Holly whispered, trying to control the emotion in her voice.
"We all do, dear. But there is nothing we can do about the past anymore. We can only move forward."
Wiping her face with her apron, Mrs. Weasley smoothed it back in place and rose from her seat on Holly's bed. She ushered the young woman out of the door and down to the kitchen.
"Let's get down before the men eat everything in sight."
Most of the house hold was in the kitchen now. Including, to Holly's immense suprise, Remus Lupin, whom looked up at their entrance and smiled jovially. Holly sat down beside hesitantly and accepted the clean plate he offered.
"It's nice to see you again, Remus," Holly said quietly.
"Likewise, Holly," Remus had replied. "How have you been?"
"The same since the last you saw me," she had answered, "Looking forward to finishing up my seventh year by the Christmas Holidays. And then beginning my healing internship in January."
His amber-colored eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "By Christmas?!"
Hermione, whom had sat across from them leaned forward with an enthusiastic nod. Her chocolate-colored eyes brightened at the thought of discussing the curriculum she and Holly had taken.
"Has no one told you?" Hermione interjected, excited at the prospect of talking about their education. "Holly and I had begun our seventh year studies by owl at the beginning of the Summer! We only have about half a semester to carry out and then we just have to test out of the exams!"
"Really?" Remus asked, looking utterly fascinated and even a bit proud. "I had no idea the professors of Hogwarts offered studies by owl now."
"The exception was made for those who had missed last year and would like to complete for their full Hogwarts diploma," Hermione said, though she suddenly looked put out. "Unfortunately, there were only around fifty who elected to finish their last year. Everyone else went into internships that did not need the clocked hours of advanced classes or they went into the workforce."
Holly rolled her eyes in good nature and explained to Remus from the, "Hermione is just a might put out that there are only about nine people out of Gryffindor who actually cared about getting their Hogwarts school diploma."
"I see. Well, good on you both," Remus said while shoveling more food to his plate. "I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say we are very proud of you."
"Here, here!"
George shouted out to the occupants of the kitchen. Arthur toasted from the head of the table with a full glass of pumpkin juice. Remus reached an arm around Holly and gave her a one-armed hug. Holly returned the hug with a soft smile, placing her head on shoulder momentarily before moving away.
Suddenly, Remus stiffened and tightened his hold on her. She had no choice but to press back into his side again. Then, just as suddenly as he had tightened his hold on her, he let her go. His smile turned tight and his eyes turned a dark amber.
"That's an interesting scent you're wearing," Remus bit out. "I almost didn't smell it. But it's there. Just there under your soap. It's familiar. A very expensive men's cologne."
Holly froze. From the corner of her eye, she saw Hermione freeze and Ginny on the other side of Remus leaned forward to look the man in the face with wide eyes.
"It might be Sirius' cologne," Ginny said with a widening smile.
The blood completely drained from her face and she supposed she must have looked like a Hogwarts ghost. Her eyes drifted to the other occupants of the breakfast table and she was relieved to find that their conversation had not caught anyone's attention.
"Yes," Holly breathed out. She was suddenly feeling short of breath. "Sirius' cologne, no doubt be-because we spend so much time together."
Ginny leaned back in her chair and threw her head back, letting out a cackle.
"That is so funny!" Ginny laughed out.
The bookworm of the trio of friends gaped at the younger of the three in offended disbelief at her action. Hermione turned to eyeball Remus, whom looked none too happy. In fact the man looked quite murderous, his amber eyes darkening further.
"Ginny?" Holly suddenly breathed out. "Can I have a word, please?"
Ginny stopped laughing and turned to look to Holly with a bright smile. Her bright smile disappeared at the sight of Holly's expression. The pale, ghost like face of shock was gone and in its place was thunderous anger. Never before had anyone seen such a look on the girl's face.
Ginny nodded with wide eyes. "S-sure."
They both rose from their seats at the breakfast table and walked toward the door. As they went through the entrance/exit for the kitchen Holly began walking upstairs. On the way up they passed a pleasantly surprised looking Sirius who gave a brief kiss to the corner of Holly's mouth.
"Remus is here," Holly said quickly, before she went passed him to her floor.
Sirius nodded quickly before looking to Ginny.
"Good morning, Ginevra."
"Heh, morning Sirius."
Holly went quickly to her door and allowed Ginny to enter before her, then quickly closed it. With a swish of her arm, the wand that was strapped to her right arm let out a couple of silver sparks to announce the commencement of a silencing charm on the bedroom.
"What the bloody fuck is the matter with you, Ginny?!"
"What did I do?!" Ginny asked with bewildered panic flashing in her eyes.
"What did you do?!" Holly repeated in disbelief. "How can you not know what you did, Ginny? You basically outed my relationship with Sirius through your disgusting, and quite frankly disrespectful, comments!"
"I was only joking, Holly!"
"Why?!" Holly asked. "Why would you joke about my relationship like that?! You knew we wanted to keep it a secret, I told you that! Why would you joke that way in front of the household?! IN FRONT OF REMUS?!"
"Shut it!" Ginny suddenly shouted, her face turning red. "Just shut up about it already! I only made a simple joking comment about your stupid relationship! I didn't bloody out you both to the world! And what the hell are you mad about anyway?! Everyone was bound to find out anyway!"
Holly shook her head, still in disbelief at the way that one of her best friends was acting. Their argument had gotten so heated they had begun shouting at each other. Holly chose then to stop the argument, because she knew that in the end they would end up dueling in her bedroom and that would no doubt cause a ruckus in the household, which would lead to the truth of the matter. Her taboo romantic relationship with her godfather, Sirius.
Oh Merlin, Sirius! She should have listened to him in the first place. He had been right this whole time about Ginny Weasley.
"Get out," Holly suddenly spat out. "Get the fuck out of my room.."
"Oh, bloody bite me," Ginny made a face and rolled her eyes. "Owl me when you get the wand out of your arse."
Growling in anger, Holly retorted hotly. "I won't owl you anything, Ginny Weasley. And I had better not hear anything from you either. I don't ever want to speak to you again. Not until you understand that what you did down in the kitchen had been an evil sort of betrayal that no best friend would ever do. Not until you apologise."
"Not bloody likely, you bitch," Ginny spat.
As Ginny wrenched the door open in hostility, they could both feel the silencing charm break and dissipate away. Holly suddenly grabbed a hold of the door.
"If I get any kind of whisper that you have talked about my relationship again.." Holly warned. "I swear to you there will be dire consequences."
Ginny stood tall and looked Holly in the eye with an eyebrow raised in challenge. "Really now?"
"Oh yes," Holly answered. "Otherwise, everyone will know about a certain pregnancy scare that happened at the beginning of the Summer Holidays."
Ginny sucked in a breath, her ears burning red with what Holly could only speculate was a mixture of mortification and anger. The red-haired teen swiftly exited the bedroom in a hurry, slamming the door behind her on her way out.
As quickly as the door slammed, Holly locked it. She backed away from the door until the back of her knees hit the bed and she fell back on her bottom on the soft mattress. She placed her head in her hands and cried for the best friend she lost.
Author's note: I'm a little above schedule with my posts which is good. A big thank you to everyone that reviewed, favorited and alerted for not just "Left Behind" but also for the old version called "Please Don't Hex Me, Remus!".