Title: Padfoot & Penny

Pairing: Sirius x Penny

Characters: Sirius Black, Penny Singh, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

Warning: Slight Lily bashing… maybe?

AN: I have tried writing this story three times. THREE TIMES. And this version is nothing like the first two. I just wanted to throw that little piece of information out there.

This story is dedicated to Penny (padfootastic). I consider myself very lucky to have started talking to you of all the people I could have started writing with. You're a constant source of inspiration, motivation and you're truly a brilliant person. I love discussing things with you even when we don't agree with each other because you provide this amazing perspective that I have never considered before. You are truly amazing and I will never be able to thank you enough for being my friend. But I'm going to try. So, this is for you.

Word Count: 2, 034

The flat was filled with people. Penny was surprised that the floor hadn't started cracking at some point since she was sure that the material wasn't meant to hold the kind of weight that it did at the moment. There was loud music and people were talking about whatever crossed their drunken minds. She wore a colourful dress as she sat next to Sirius, her husband, and watched as the few people they had invited enjoyed themselves.

It was odd. They were in the middle of a war. The last thing you expected to find amongst a crowd so battered and bruised by the constant fighting was happiness. Yet there it was. So blatantly obvious in their faces, the way they gestured when they spoke to each other. Everyone seemed to have forgotten their situations at that very moment and thoroughly immersed themselves in the positive emotions that filled the room.

The sound of someone hitting their glass reached her ear and Penny glanced to her left side. Sirius still sat next to her but the person next to him, James Potter, stood and looked at the people in front of him while holding his glass in front of him.

"I was asked to make a speech and before I do," he turned to Penny and Sirius and made a big deal out of putting his finger on his nose. "I'm not drunk so if I do reveal anything embarrassing about the two of you that's not something you can blame. Not that you need to worry about that. Because I'm not here to tell these beautiful people about the times you screwed up… I am here to tell you about the moments that lead to this. This is the story of Padfoot and Penny."

1972

"Look, there she is." Sirius Black said and pointed at the girl who walked a few meters in front of them. Her black hair was pushed back in a ponytail and she looked down on a piece of paper.

"Which she is we talking about?" Remus asked from behind him while James stood on his toes.

Once he found who Sirius was looking for he stood normally again and smiled. "Penny. Gryffindor. New student who arrived last night and had dinner with us. Geez Moony I knew you could be distracted with food in front of you but not that distracted."

Remus gently shoved James who only laughed.

"I should go talk to her right?" Sirius asked with his eyebrows slightly raised. "I mean she looks kind of confused and we have the same class as her. I should be a good guy and go talk to her."

Remus nodded. "Definitely."

Peter gave him the thumbs up and the kind of smile that showed Sirius exactly what he had been eating for breakfast. Then James stepped forward and gently patted his shoulder. "You should definitely go talk to her. Go get to know her mate, make some friends. We're getting tired of your face anyway."

"Hilarious Prongs," Sirius replied and rolled his eyes but never the less started running and eventually caught up with her.

James laughed and nudged Remus. "Merlin, he's cute."

"You both are," Peter replied as he stepped up next to the raven-haired boys side.

"You're a true charmer Wormtail." James answered and messed up Peter's hair before they walked into the classroom. Sirius and Penny were still standing in the hallway.

1973

Sirius looked out the window. The snow was slowly falling down outside. The ground had turned white hours ago and Sirius had watched it all happen. His birthday was always a weird day. One the one hand he wanted to celebrate it but on the other hand there was nothing he wanted to do more than hide away until it was all over. James, Remus and Peter would never let him do that. They wanted to celebrate him and told him that over and over again. And if Sirius could forget about his stupid parents then he would have been able to look forward to his birthday as much as they did.

He sighed deeply and leaned his head against his legs. He really wished it was that simple.

"Hey Sirius," a careful voice was heard through the darkness and when he looked to the side he saw Penny. "I didn't think you'd be awake. Did you have a good birthday?"

Sirius shrugged. It was the best he could do. "Birthdays are complicated. But this one was a lot better than some others I've had."

"Can I sit?" Penny asked and sat down in front of Sirius so that their feet touched. "Why would birthdays be complicated?"

"Families have a habit of making a lot of things complicated," Sirius replied. Until he met James the normal response he got was offensive ones. But when he told James, the young boy surprised him by just watching as Sirius told him more. Penny did the same. She just looked at him. "I don't get along with my parents."

Penny nodded. "I'm assuming that's the short version."

"Yeah," Sirius laughed.

"So, what's the long version?"

Sirius raised a questioning eyebrow. "Do you want to hear the long version? It's really long."

"Yeah," Penny nodded and leaned forward so that she could rest her arms against her legs. "I would really like to hear the long version."

1974

"… and now she thinks that I was the one who pulled that prank although it wasn't and I really need someone to find Lily and explain that I had nothing to do with it and she should give me a chance."

Penny sat on the couch in the common room with Sirius on one side and James on the other. Her hands rested against her thighs as she attentively listened to James rant in circles about an event which led to Lily yelling at him. Sirius had tuned in and out of the monologue but it looked like Penny had listened to it all because when James asked her a question she answered.

"No."

"No?" James looked at her as if she had kicked him in the stomach. "But why not Penny?"

"Because she doesn't deserve you." Penny replied in a stern voice. James was about to open his mouth again when she put her hand up as a signal for him to stop before he had started. "You have a huge crush on her James. I get that. But she's trying to get you to change and you shouldn't be forced to change for someone to date you. Eventually someone is going to come along who will love you for who you are and not for who they want you to be. Right Sirius?"

Sirius nodded. There was no missing the serenity in her voice. After two years of knowing each other Sirius could hear it as clearly as if it was an object standing in the middle of the room. Every word she said hit James right where they needed to and for a moment Sirius almost thought that she had managed to convince him.

"Yeah," he eventually said and squeezed James' shoulder. "She's right Prongs."

1975

Penny had gone to Hogwarts for three years when the first rumour about her was spread like wildfire. Well, the first true rumour. Or semi-true rumour. Sirius did his best to miss it but it appeared as if people were talking about it no matter where he turned. It made him want to tear his hair out. He didn't want to hear the rumour from anyone but her. James had noticed his frustration and told him to go make himself something in the kitchen. So that's what he did and that's where he found Penny.

"So, this is where you're hiding," Sirius said with a smile on his face in a bad attempt to make things better. "Are you hungry, do you want me to make you something?"

"Aren't you going to ask me how I am?" Penny asked. Her eyes darted back and forth between the table and his worried grey eyes which seemed to find their way back to her no matter what.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm assuming that you're not fine."

"Do you want to know if the rumours are true or not?" she asked with a pitiful voice. Again, Sirius shrugged. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Right now? Well, right now I want to know if you want crepes or pancakes? There's a huge difference between the two things," Penny laughed and looked up at him with a bright smile on her face. Sirius took a deep breath. "I don't care if the rumours are true or not. I love you either way."

Penny nodded. "It's true."

"Okay, do you want to talk about it?" Sirius asked but Penny quickly shook her head. "Do you want chocolate with your crepes then?"

1976

No one needed to push Sirius and Penny together and neither of the two had to chase the other. One day it just felt right for Penny to ask him out on a date. The thought had been playing in the back of her head for a while when she all of the sudden started looking for him in the Great Hall. Sirius sat further down the table with the boys laughing about whatever idea they had cooked up. Penny just stood up and walked over to them. James noticed her presence first.

"Hello friend," he said in a happy voice which caused Sirius to turn around and smile at her. "For what reason do we owe the pleasure?"

"I'm just here to ask Sirius a question." Penny replied and looked down on the beautiful young man in front of her.

He had changed since he was a child. Hindsight had taught her that he was a cute child. She had never thought about it when they were growing up because she was too busy watching him getting into trouble and dealing with the bad hand that life had given him in terms of his family. But she wasn't blind about how attractive he had become. It was clear to anyone that she didn't want to be only his friend and vice versa.

"I'm all yours. What did you want to ask me?" he licked his lower lip and again Penny's mind was filled with various things they could do using only their lips. There were quite a few…

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" she asked after a moment of silence.

Sirius smiled. That happy-go-lucky smile which people rarely saw and only if he let them. "Yes, I'd love to."

1977

"What are we doing here?" Penny asked as she looked around the empty flat. The only source of light came from the windows and it wasn't much since the rain was pouring down outside.

"I bought this flat," Sirius said as he stood leaned against one of the walls wearing his leather jacket and his hair pushed back in a bun. "And I wanted to show it to you."

"Why is that?"

"Because I was thinking that maybe you wanted to live here with me," his smile grew when Penny turned around to look at him. The little box in his back pocket felt like it was going to burn a hole through the fabric. "I was also thinking that maybe you would want to marry me?"

There were no grand gestures. There was no spectacular magic involved. This was Sirius Black asking the love of his life to spend the rest of their lives together and he did it the way he had approached all other subjects during their relationship. Because being with Penny was like breathing. It came naturally to him and he knew that marriage would be the same.

"Great writers talk about epic romances. They are often described as passionate and wild. They are described as problematic and complicated. I don't believe in that crap. I believe that this is the truest form of love. This relationship right here is about friendship, support and true love. Thanks to these two truly amazing people I am no longer striving to find my Juliet. I want to find my Penny," James smiled at them. "Congratulations to my brother for finding the love of his life so early. To Padfoot and Penny."

"Padfoot and Penny."

The end