You guys! I just realized that Jack Falahee would make a GREAT Sirius face claim! He is adorable! Nina Dobrev would also make a great Winnie Powers. Just saying. What do you guys think? Also, prepare a box of tissues with you.

Chapter 27

Sirius turned to me, "So where is everyone? You said James was with you?" he said, looking around the street. We were now in the street, wandering around trying to find our idiots, or friends as normal people called them. We thought that they would be outside Grimmauld Place but boy were we wrong, they were nowhere to be seen.

I shrugged, "I don't know, they were supposed to get in but I don't think the guard guy let them in. They're not very convincing." I laughed. Poor blokes.

Sirius was was holding his jacket over his shoulder and his shirt was messily unbuttoned, tie no where to be found which gave him a very James Dean, debonair look about him.

"So, how do you manage to get in? No, better question - how did you walk in there and leave as a single woman? You do know what the purpose of that event was, right?" he asked, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

I nodded, clicking my finger at him. "Yes! yes I do! I didn't at first but then I did when a lady asked me to marry her son. Also, did you know that the people at that place are incredibly rude? Especially the older women. Which is weird. Also, the prime minister hit on me. Oh and I met Andromeda and I met your brother." I said, laughing.

He stopped and faced me completely, "You met my brother?" He said, confusion on his face.

I scoffed, "Was that the only thing you got from that? How about the fact that a forty year old thought it was okay to hit on me? Or the fact that I met your cousin Andromeda, who is great by the way."

He shook his head, "What did he say to you?" I shrugged at him. "No, Winnie, I'm not kidding. What did he say to you?" His voice was filled with concern with freaked me out a bit.

"Nothing! He was just, oh yeah. He flirted with me. Then he told me how he never got to speak to me because of you - Oh." I said realising what he meant.

Sirius turned around, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's what I thought. He did that to the guys too. Regulus tries to make anyone who's my friend turn against me. Also, you let him flirt with you?!" He asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

I rolled my eyes, "Of course I didn't let him flirt with me. Besides, we barely spoke." I said coolly. "I was looking for you the whole time. You're not very easy to find, are you?"

He laughed, "Hiding is my expertise when it comes to that place." he gazed at me, "You know, I'm a bit surprised that I didn't see you tonight, I mean you did stand out."

I nodded, agreeing with him. "Yeah, I know. I really should have worn that purple dress, but it was last minute okay! Besides, Remus said it looked nice.' I said, looking down at my green dress.

Sirius chuckled, "I didn't mean as in you looked out of place, I meant that you looked beautiful." he said,

I raised my eyebrow at him, suddenly lost for words. "Ah-huh, me too." I said stupidly. "I mean you too. You looked nice too." I said and in that moment my fingernails had become very interesting.

He laughed at my expression, "It does look nice, but it's awfully uncomfortable and itchy." he said, tugging the collar of his shirt which was already unbuttoned.

Before I could respond a loud yell was heard from the other direction, "SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" James voice rang out and I could see his figure along with Peter and Remus racing towards us. Sirius and I turned to each other and snickered as we watched them rush to us. Sirius opened his arms and James raced towards him and tackled him in a hug.

"Hi, James." Sirius said laughing as he hugged him.

He patted Sirius on the back, a big smile on his face. "Padfoot, I've missed you so bloody much mate. It's been ages!"

Remus laughed, "It's been ten days, you guys."

James rolled his eyes, "Quiet Moony! It's been far too long and you," he pointed at me "Why did you take so damn long? We've been waiting for over an hour!"

I put my hands up in surrender, "Hey, don't blame me! Blame Paddycakes over here, he's the one who's so hard to find. I had to look for him!" I derided.

Sirius cackled, "Paddycakes? Since when was that a thing?" he said, looking at the other boys who shrugged in response.

I put my hand on my hip, "Since I wanted it to be a thing, sweetheart." I said, grinning.

James gaped at me, shocked that I would say that. But Sirius wasn't as easily stunned, "Aw, that was cute, do that again." Sirius said, pinching my cheek.

I batted his hand away, scrunching up my nose. "Stop it, do you know how many guys asked me to dance with them? Like three! I'm practically irresistible!" I said, flipping my hair and laughing.

Remus laughed, "Oh wow, look out Sirius we've got a new manwhore in town. A woman-whore, actually you know what that's not very nice at all. Forget everything I just said."

Wormtail laughed, "Remus is so funny." he said making me turn to look at him.

I was still pretty annoyed at Wormtail and the fact that he had told James that Sirius and I were dating. It was one thing to gossip, another thing was to gossip about your friends. To your friend! It was like all the trust I had for him disappeared and now I could never view him as the same person again, he was just as secretive and reticent as he was when we first met him. You know what they say, the quiet ones are always the most dangerous.

"I hate people who gossip," I announced, without looking at him specifically. "It's tacky and rude." My eyes locked with Peter and he guped, which meant that he had gotten the message loud and clear.

Sirius tugged on his bottom lip, amused. "Winnie and I jumped off a balcony." he said, laughing. "It was terrifying but she enjoyed it."

Remus's eyes widened, "You did what? How'd you manage to do that?!" He asked.

I laughed, "I also rejected the prime minister and said no to a marriage proposal!" I smiled broadly.

James groaned, "I knew I should've been there - but you know what, the bouncer wouldn't let us in. Apparently he thought that we were trying to sneak in. Which we were."

Sirius simpered, "Hey, who was it that asked you to marry her son anyway?" he said, tilting his head as he studied me.

"Um," I tried to remember who it was, "I didn't get a name, but she was pale. Like really pale and she had dark hair, really defined cheekbones - scary eyes! Her eyes were scary, I didn't make much eye-contact with her."

Sirius went pale, "Did she have a beauty mark on her nose?"

I drummed my fingers against my chin, "Uh, yes! yes, she did. Is she your aunt or something?" I asked, swinging my bag up and down.

Sirius shook his head, roaring with laughter. "No, darling that was my mum."

My jaw almost fell off my face, "What? No. Merlin's green trousers - she's your mum?! You do know that your mother is trying to marry you off?" I said, disbelievingly.

James almost spat out the water he was drinking, "Your mum wanted to marry you off to Winnie? Your mum wants to marry you off? Why?!" James asked exasperatedly.

Sirius stuck his hands into his pockets, "She reckons it'll fix me if I end up marrying a pure-blood. Bet she had no idea that she wanted me to marry a muggle-born," He said winking at me.

I rolled her eyes, "Maybe she should realise the fact that there's nothing wrong with you but there is definitely something wrong with her."

"How far is your house, Winnie?" Peter whined.

I glanced at the streets around us, "Not too far, about two minutes or so."

James stretched his arm, "Good, because I am starving. Do you have anything to eat back home?"

I scoffed, "Of course I do! Who do you think I am?" I said, smiling.

"Winnie Powers, that's who." Remus said, grinning.

I laughed, nodding. "Damn straight!"

In exactly a minute we reached my house. As they all walked in and made themselves home, I took a moment to admire my house. The white paint, the much needed to be cut grass growing near the pathway, even the annoying neighbourhood cat that never seemed to leave our house. It wasn't exactly a five star hotel and it certainly was nothing like Sirius's house but it was home and I adored it.

I walked in a moment later to see them all crowded around Sirius.

"Did you see any pretty girls?" Peter said, hopefully.

He shook his head, "Not really, I was just trying to hide most of the time."

Remus was going to say something but then he stopped when he noticed something about Sirius, something that I had noticed earlier.

"Sirius, whats wrong with your neck?" Remus said making everyone (not including me) turn to look at him. I already knew what was wrong with his neck, or to be more frank what was wrong with his life.

Sirius stepped away from him, "It's nothing." he said emotionlessly.

We all eyed each other nervously. When he said it was nothing, that meant that there was something .

James grabbed Sirius by his sleeve and made him look up, "Sirius, what is that? Who did that to you? was it your father again?" James whispered the last part to him.

Sirius avoided everyones gaze and tugged on his sleeve. "No, no I fell down the stairs."

Remus scoffed, "I had no idea you could get finger marks from falling down the stairs. Quit the lies, mate. What really happened?"

James inspected the bruise, "Fresh too, when did this happen?" he asked, uneasily.

Now that I stepped back and examined Sirius, he looked different. He was different. Sirius was paler, the colour in his cheeks were gone and he had lost a significant amount of weight. His eyes seemed different too, his electric grey eyes were dull. He looked vulnerable. If this was the result of ten days then I could only imagine what happened to him when he was alone with them during the summer break or other holidays.

James put his hand on Sirius's back, which made him jump. "Don't touch me, please." He said, shutting his eyes.

I decided now it would be a good time to interfere, "You guys, can you all just relax for a second? Give the guy some space, he's obviously been going through a lot. Now, should I order pizza or Chinese food?" I said hoping I could deter the subject away from him for a moment.

James shocked me the most when he said, "Take off your shirt." to Sirius.

We all looked at James, "Oh, wow I didn't know you swung that way James." I laughed. "So no food?" I chimed.

James gave me a blank look, "No, seriously. Do it, Padfoot. Now."

Peter seemed to be confused, "Wait, James. Are you gay or not? I don't know what's going on." He asked, spinning his head to look at us.

"Shut up, Wormtail." I said, boredly and we all watched Sirius slowly remove his shirt.

Sirius's body had multiple bruising, all ranging from different colours. From deep purple to bright red, there was so much bruises that I just wanted to cry. His back was swollen and tender from all the injuries he had sustained. I couldn't believe a father could do this to his child. It wasn't parenting, it was torture.

"Me cago en la leche!" I exclaimed scanning his bruised and battered body, he had definitely lost a lot of weight. "Sirius, what the hell? Your dad did this to you? Did you fail to mention that your father was satan?" I said, biting the back of my hand.

Sirius laughed scornfully and put his shirt back on and then pulled out a cigarette, he lit it so quick I didn't have time to snatch it out of his fingers.

Peter turned to me, "I think that's the first time you've spoken Spanish this year." he said, giving me a small smile which I ignored.

James shushed us, "Mate, tell us what happened. Tell us what's happening. Please." James begged Sirius.

Sirius inhaled the smoke and then looked up, "It kept getting worse, It's like they wanted to get rid of me. So I drank and I drank and then I thought whats the point of it all? Yes. I was going to kill myself. I was going to commit suicide because I couldn't take any of this shit. I swear to you that if you didn't come get me out I would've been dead by now." He said bleakly.

Remus ran a hand through his hair, "Jesus, mate, you need to fucking tell somebody." he said looking at Sirius with sympathy, I think this was one of the only times I had ever heard Remus swear.

Sirius gave us a insouciant shrug, "Doesn't matter, I'm not going back there anyways."

Peter squeaked, "You're not going back home?" he had a look of pure shock on his face.

Sirius raised a brow at Peter and then leaned towards him, "Wormtail, mate. If I've learned one thing then it's that home isn't a place, it's a feeling. That place is not my home and it will never be."

I squeezed his hand, "You're always welcome here. This is your home too." I said with a small smile.

James nodded, "So is my house, you can stay over for as long as you want. In fact, you should stay with me. Mum loves you anyway."

Remus agreed, "Sirius you're welcome at all of our houses. What we're trying to say is, we're not going to abandon you and we care about you."

"Thank you." Sirius said, smiling at us, a smile that said more than his words ever could. "You have no idea how much you this means to me."

My eyes watered as I took in Sirius Black. He wasn't trouble, he was troubled. For once, it was like the facade was gone and I could actually see Sirius Black for who he truly was. A hurt and tired young man who had to survive with probably the worst people on this planet. I couldn't imagine how much he had endured. I couldn't imagine how much he had gone through. I knew that they were all feeling this way, I could tell by their expressions and I could tell by Sirius's expression that he hated it. I knew he hated people pitying him. I felt like it was up to me to lighten the mood, it was what I was best at.

"So," I stood up and cleared my throat, "Chinese food anyone?"

Sirius shot me an appreciative smile.

James realised what I was doing and immediately went along with it, he rubbed his damp eyes and put on his glasses before standing up next to me and saying:

"Definitely Chinese food, I haven't had Pad Thai in a while."

Remus noticed as well, "Pad Thai is Thai not Chinese, Prongs." He said, laughing slightly.

I motioned to the telephone sitting next to Remus, "Call them would you Remus?" Remus gave me a bored look but did as he was told.

Sirius gave him a half-smile but then our gazes met, "Where are your parents?" he asked, scanning the room just in case he missed them.

I put my hair up into a ponytail, "They're out of town with Greg," I then remembered something, "Oh! there's something I need to tell you. Privately," I said, my eyes flickering to Peter.

"Please, do not feel the need to confess your undying love to me," He said lightheartedly making me laugh.

"No you idiot," I said, pulling him from the couch and into my room. Once I got into my room, I peeked out of the doorway because I knew that they were nosy and were going to try and listen to what we were saying.

"What's going on?" He asked, flopping down on my bed. "Your bed is really comfortable." he said, stroking the blanket.

I laughed, "Okay, this might sound a little crazy but did you know that people think that we're together? Secretly?" I said, giggling.

He threw my pillow up in the air and caught it, "Yeah, of course." he said, throwing it in the air once more, "I thought you knew," he said, locking gazes with me.

I stared at him flabbergasted, "What? Really? Does everyone know about this except me?" I said, frowning.

He laughed at my surprised expression, "Probably," He lay down on my bed, "So what does this have to do with anything?"

I spun on my swivel chair, "Listen Padfoot, now this might be weird but can we pretend date?" I said and then proceeded to spin once again. "But not now! When we go back to school." I shut one eye waiting for his reaction, I kept the other eye open to actually see his reaction.

His eyes flew open and he immediately burst into laughter, "What? That's what you wanted to ask me? Merlin, you're adorable." he said, laying back down and shutting his eyes.

I threw the pillow I was sitting on at him, "What? what did you think I was going to ask?" I said, furrowing my brows at him.

The pillow hit his face and he sat up, "I don't know, but it definitely wasn't that. To answer your question, sure. Why not? You're the least irritable girl in my life right now."

"That's it? You don't want me to explain or anything?" I said,

He sat upright and gave me a passive look, "Why do I feel like you want to explain?"

I guffawed, "Because I do! Basically what I was thinking was that if I date you Mulciber won't have a reason to be suspicious of my sudden re-appearance with you guys! Isn't that such a good idea?" I said, beaming.

He nodded, "Yeah, it's great." then wrapped the covers around himself.

I stared at him stupidly, "Hey, can you stop sleeping in my bed?" I asked, tugging on the blanket off of him. "It's my bed for a reason!" Right there and then he reminded me of my brother Greg and his tendency to sleep in my bed when I was a kid. Actually no, even now.

Before I could pull the blanket off of him he quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him, I watched as his eyes fluttered open to reveal grey orbs, that almost made my breath hitch in my throat.

"Winnie, you know what's really great? Try doing that," he said, smirking and I rolled my eyes at him, even though my heart was thrashing in my chest.

"Did you know that you're extremely annoying? Like all the time?" I asked him as he turned around, pulling the blanket over his head. Yep, there was no way he was getting out of here.

Secretly, I was glad.

Me cago en la leche: translated to I shit in the milk! but commonly used as holy shit!

To the Reviewers:

Crazilitious: I'm sorry, but I don't think you have ANY idea how much time and effort goes into writing one chapter. I work hard to manage my academic career, family, friends and also still find time to produce a chapter on a WEEKLY basis. Also, as a huge perfectionist I have to ensure that each chapter I post is up to my standards and that it's actually good. So excuse me if I 'took too long' because I have a life outside of the internet.

Kawaii-Jamu: I think that's a really good idea, especially Frank x Alice because I really love them together. Thanks for the review!

GianBayni : Thank you for reviewing!

Guest: Thank you for your kind words, I'm not sure if you're the same guest who left me two of the reviews but they genuinely touched my heart. Also, thanks for the idea of including more Benjy because I was really thinking of doing that and I wasn't sure whether I should or not, but I think I just might. Thank you for your support.