Another new chapter. Hope you all enjoy.

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M (Chap 18): Thanks

Guest from chap18: Thanks and that's what I'm kind of going for.

Sirius moaned in his sleep as he rolled over. He just couldn't get comfortable. Why was the damn mattress so lumpy? There was a noise. A little creak. Sirius felt himself wake up, but he didn't dare open his eyes. Not yet. Another sound. Closer this time. What in Hades could it be? There was a fleeting touch on Sirius' side. He was up in an instant, blindly reaching out and grabbing the thing that had dared to touch him.

"Sirius!" the thing squeaked out.

It was a voice. A girl's voice. Oh Merlin, what did he just do?

"Marlene?" Sirius breathed out, staring at his girlfriend with wide eyes. "Merlin, don't do that!"

"What the hell, Sirius!" Marlene shrieked. "I was just trying to wake you up! You didn't need to go crazy on me."

Sirius looked around. He silently thanked the gods the common room was empty. He looked into his girlfriend's angry, and somewhat frightened, eyes and instantly deflated. Dropping her wrist, Sirius ran his fingers through his hair. It was getting long; he would have to chop it soon.

"I'm sorry, Marls," he sighed. "You startled me."

Marlene cooled off a little at the apology. "I'm sorry too," she said, although she really wasn't all that sorry. "It's time for dinner. I thought you'd be hungry as you didn't really eat all that much lunch."

Hadn't he? Sirius supposed not. He hadn't been feeling all that hungry earlier. Now, though, his stomach was grumbling unhappily, and he was starving. Some food would definitely do him some good.

"Thanks, Marlene," Sirius said. He stood up and stretched. Smirking slightly, he held his arm aloft for Marlene. "Shall we, m'lady."

"I'd be honored, kind knight," Marlene giggled, accepting Sirius' arm graciously. She allowed him to lead her out of the common room before speaking again. "We didn't see each other all summer," she started.

"I know," Sirius sighed. He looked apologetically at Marlene. "I spend every summer with some of my relatives over in America. I really am sorry."

"You could have at least written," Marlene accused. She stopped walking, more than a little upset about the whole thing.

Sirius groaned as he stopped as well, turning to face Marlene. "Marls," he started. "I really am sorry, but I honestly couldn't have written. It's not safe for owls to fly that far, and I don't really know where you live to send you letters the muggle way. My relatives don't have Floo either."

"Right," Marlene said. She was still upset, but she couldn't really argue with that logic. "Whatever."

"You're still mad at me," Sirius said softly. He lifted his hands up to Marlene's cheeks and rested his forehead against hers.

"A little," Marlene admitted. "It's not your fault, though."

Sirius smiled and bent his neck a little to give Marlene a soft kiss on her lips. Inwardly, though, he was cringing. Wasn't it really his fault, though? He could have snuck away from his father to come visit her for a little while, couldn't he have?

Sirius stared at the large horse-like creature in front of him. All around him, other people in his class were staring at the creature in fear, at least, those in the class that could actually see the creature. Most students were only looking in the general direction. The creature, a thestral, nudged Sirius' arm gently. He carefully reached out to stroke the creature's nose.

Percy would be proud, was all Sirius could think. He was actually touching a horse. At camp, all the horses, most animals, really, had shied away from the aura of death that surrounded him. These creatures, though, really seemed to like him.

"Good job, Mr. Black," Professor Merrythought said excitedly. "They aren't scary. They're quite friendly, really. They just get a bad rep because you can only see them if you've seen death."

Sirius bit his lip to hide his smirk. Oh, he'd seen Death all right. Lived with him. Next to Sirius, James was shaking, trying to hold back his laughter.

Sirius coughed, glaring at Remus. "You made Pumpkin Juice go up my nose," he accused.

Remus didn't respond. He was too busy laughing, collapsed against Peter. Even James, the traitor, was laughing himself silly. Sirius rolled his eyes at his friends. Weren't they just great? A sudden thought occurred to Sirius. Could he do it? James had done it already. There was only one way to find out. Sirius squeezed his eyes shut in concentration. He needed to focus. It was the only way he could do it.

It took a minute, but eventually Sirius could feel his bones shifting, his hair shrinking back into his head, and fur popping up all over his body. It was uncomfortable, but James said that after the first time you couldn't feel a thing. Sirius lunged from his bed to Remus' and landed on top of the laughing werewolf. Remus collapsed back onto his bed, laughing hysterically, as Sirius licked his face.

"Ew, gross!" Remus groaned. "Sirius, get off of me!"

Sirius backed off and sat on his haunches, thumping his tail happily. He gave James and Peter a doggy grin.

"Definitely a grim," James said as he looked Sirius' animagus form up and down. He ran a hand through the soft fur on top of Sirius' head. "I hereby dub thee Padfoot."

Sirius barked his approval as Peter and Remus nodded in agreement.

It was late. James and Sirius were the only ones still up in the common room. They knew they should be going to bed, it was a Tuesday night after all, but it was also Sirius' sixteenth birthday, and the boys couldn't be bothered with silly little things like sleep.

"Knight to E5," Sirius commanded, watching as his piece moved and took out James' bishop.

James started to consider his next move, and Sirius looked around the common room. It was kind of dismal without everyone down there creating a ruckus. Ah well. It was nearly midnight. Soon, James and Sirius would be going to bed.

"Bloody hell!" James shouted, jumping back from the board. A small package had appeared in the middle of the chess board.

Sirius reached over and picked it up. Sirius Black, was written across it in a pretty cursive he didn't recognize. Sirius flipped the package over once before setting in to open it. He ripped off the brown paper and stared in shock at the tupperware full of cookies and the little card resting on top. He set the cookies on the table and opened the card, reading it out loud for James to hear. It was in the same cursive as his name had been.

"Dear Sirius,

Happy birthday, dear. Percy called Chiron and asked since we didn't know. I made some blue chocolate chip cookies for you. Everyone seems to rave about them, so I hope you enjoy them. Percy got you something special too. I hope you have a lovely birthday, Sirius.

Love,

Sally and Percy Jackson"

"Demigod friends of yours?" James asked as Sirius opened the tupperware full of cookies.

"Percy is," Sirius said. He moaned at the taste of the cookie. It should be illegal for a chocolate chip cookie to taste that good. "Sally is his mum. I only met her one time."

"That's really nice of her," James said, reaching out for a cookie. Sirius let him take the one.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I didn't expect anything from Percy, let alone his mum."

Sirius' heart was warmed as he remembered what Sally had said to him just before he left her apartment. "You'll always be welcomed in my home, Sirius," Sally promised. "No matter what. Feel free to visit whenever you want." Sirius gave a giddy laugh. He lifted the tupperware, and, sure enough, there was a poorly wrapped box that signified Percy's present. Sirius grabbed it and tore the paper, blue, off. Inside the box was a little clay bead with a pine tree scratched into the side.

Sirius couldn't help his smile at the gift. He hadn't even been at camp most of the summer, and Percy had still picked up a bead for him. Underneath the bead was a note with Percy's messy scrawl. Wanted to wait until you're birthday to give this to you. Hope you like. Sirius removed his leather necklace and slid the bead on with the others from camp. He had three now. Three years of living as a demigod.

"A bead?" James asked, looking at Sirius curiously.

"We get them at the end of each summer," Sirius explained, tying his necklace back on. "I wasn't at camp for most of this summer, so I never got mine."

"Three," James said. "That's how long you've been at camp?"

Sirius nodded his head.

Sirius couldn't help his laughter. Regulus' pout was just too adorable. Sirius had a hard time believing his little brother was turning fifteen in less than a month.

"Stop laughing Si," Regulus complained. "I'm being serious!"

That just sent Sirius into even more laughter. He wrapped his arm around his little brother's shoulders and pulled the boy into his side.

"Sorry," Sirius gasped out between his panted breaths. "You're too cute for your own good, Reg."

"I'm not cute," Regulus grumbled. Sirius raised an eyebrow, and Regulus smirked up at him. "What about my question?"

"I'm sure you could manage to sabotage Snivellus' potion, Reg," Sirius said. "You're rather sneaky." Sirius pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "Pranking Snivellus. I've never been more proud in my life."

Regulus' answering smile was enough to keep Sirius himself grinning for days.

"Do you really have to go back?" Marlene asked as Sirius packed his trunk.

Sirius could feel the groan growing in his throat, but he refused to let it out. He really didn't feel like getting into an argument with Marlene right now. He had just got back from a grueling DADA lesson.

"Yes, Marlene," Sirius sighed. "I am going to see my family. It's just two weeks."

"Two weeks of absolutely no contact!" Marlene argued. "Again!"

"Look," Sirius snapped. "I see you all year. I see my family ten weeks. Ten, Marlene. Excuse me for wanting to see them whenever I get the chance!"

Marlene flushed slightly, looking down at the floor. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I guess you're right, Sirius."

Sirius felt slightly guilty for raising his voice, but it needed to be said. He reached out and pulled Marlene into his arms. "I love you," he whispered softly. Marlene looked up at him with wide eyes. It was the first time either of them had said it.

"I love you too," Marlene said, a smile stretching across her face. She leaned forward to kiss Sirius' cheek, but at the last minute he turned his head to capture her lips with his own. In Sirius' not-so-humble opinion, it was their best yet.