Chapter 26

The Marauders finally coaxed their ailing friend out of bed the day classes began. He trudged angrily after them, making their way to advanced Charms when he saw Olivia with Lily, talking to one another. He mustered all the courage he could to walk past her without a glance, but her hand found his, and he was amazed at the sensation that rippled through his body.

She didn't look angry, when her eyes met his, gently tugging him toward the far end of the hall as the other students filed into the room ahead, she drew him to a secluded area and folded her arms across her chest.

"I hear you've been indisposed." She said, trying not to sound spiteful. It was Olivia who was hurting, what right did he have to moan and groan in his room like he'd been abused?

Sirius ran a shaky hand through his hair and realized he had absolutely no spine when it came to this girl. He merely shrugged.

"Damn Sirius, talk to me!" Olivia demanded, fire burning in her violet eyes.

"I can't talk to you Olivia," He finally sighed. "Every time we talk, I either end up yelling at you, or trying to-"

"Bed me?" She snapped, looking flustered.

He looked up into her eyes and she was shocked to see a gentle softness in them, a sad almost longing look. "Don't say it like that." He whispered. "Why do you think I had to stop things Olivia? Do you think I really wanted to?"

Olivia pursed her lips. "I can tell you how I felt about it." She said with a bitterness she hadn't realized she'd been harboring. "I felt used."

Sirius swore lightly and pulled her into his chest. "That's exactly the opposite of what I wanted Olivia. I wanted to show you that I respected you."

Olivia felt as if she'd been dumped in ice water. Grasping his middle helplessly, she laid her head on his chest and held back another wave of tears.

He pulled away just slightly, and took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look up at him. "Olivia… I-"

She quickly put a finger to his lips and silenced him with an angry stare. "Don't say it." She took in a shaky breath. "Don't say it now."

Sirius was at a loss. He'd been through hell and back for this girl and he still kept going back for her, and at that exact moment he realized he always would. She was right though, telling her that he loved her wouldn't mean anything at this moment, not to her. Sirius felt a new wave of frustration but bit his tongue. He wanted to prove to her that he loved her, not just say it, he finally understood what she wanted, no-needed, after everything they'd been through.

She had replaced her head back on his chest and he gently stroked her hair.

"What do I have to do Olivia?" He whispered. "What do I have to do to show you its real?"

Olivia pressed her lips together and shook her head. "I don't know." She whimpered softly. "I've been so angry with you for so long, but I need you and I can't understand for the life of me why." She pulled back from him and looked into his eyes again. "Why is it that I'm miserable with you and without you?" She asked with a tearful laugh.

Sirius smiled and pulled her lips to his. This kiss was different from the last, this was warm and gentle, possessing but full of every promise Olivia could have hoped for.

"I was wrong to make that bet." He said after he had broken away. "I was wrong to treat you like any other girl. You're not just any other girl to me Olivia."

Olivia's heart felt as if every crack had been renewed into a warm, solid mass in her chest. He was really trying, and she was beginning to trust him again.

Before Sirius could kiss her again, there was a loud wailing erupting from the hallway they had abandoned for an empty classroom. Sirius looked at Olivia and then grabbed her hand to find out what was going on.

A large crowd had begun gathering around a girl on the floor, she held a letter in her hand and the wailing despair that came out of the girl was heart breaking. Onlookers were whispering to one another as a group of Ravenclaws came to collect the girl off the floor.

"Sirius, that's Emily!" Olivia whispered, a hand to her mouth.

They could hear her cries down the hallway, even after they were out of sight.

"What happened?" Sirius asked a few stragglers who had formed a hushed group.

A boy, who looked about fourteen looked around the hallway and leaned into the two Gryffindors.

"She got a letter from home," He said quietly. "H-her family has been killed." The boy looked at his feet, feeling miserable for the girl.

"Her family?" Olivia gasped. "All of them?"

The boy nodded. "It could have been her too. I heard her mother was begging her to stay, but she wouldn't." The boy looked around again and felt as if he'd said enough; he nodded at the couple and took off with his friends.

Sirius grabbed Olivia and held her tightly, kissing the top of her head. "It's beginning." He said ominously.

Olivia thought of her sister, what would happen when Olivia left Hogwarts? Would they come after her to recruit her, or kill her?

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, after they began walking together back to the Gryffindor common room. Charms had long been forgotten.

"My family." Olivia said quietly.

Sirius nodded. "Me too." A dark shadow was passing across his face.

"Sirius what are we going to do?" She asked, sitting down by the great, warm fire.

Sirius sank into the seat next to her, draping an arm around her shoulder. "We're going to have to fight for our lives, love. It's going to end up that way in the end." He stared into the fire and wondered if that's where his cousin had run off to. He noticed after the holiday break she'd been missing. Bellatrix had long been devoted to the dark cause, but was she stupid enough to join the Death Eaters this early in the war? He continued to ponder those dark thoughts throughout the evening. His entire family and Olivia's too would be joining Voldemort, he'd be damned if he let them harm her. He leaned into her and kissed her temple, automatically feeling possessive. The tables were turning now, it wasn't about him and Olivia anymore, this was about all the innocent lives beyond the walls of Hogwarts that needed to be saved.