Chapter 38 – ... Or Die

OoO

Two weeks later, they were all sitting in their private quarters. Sirius, Remus, James and Peter were sitting on the floor, all reading books on blood magic. While Regulus, Izzie and Lily were sitting on the couch reading Latin books, scribbling down notes as they read. It was getting late, and Peter had dozed off a few times already. She had another four dates with Sirius in that time. While all of them were amazing and talked about things they never talked to anyone before, it was also agonising since they still couldn't touch each other. At least, Regulus could have Remus, which made her happy. School work had taken the front stage for the past weeks, but now they would concentrate on the task at hand.

"Oh no!" Izzie gasped as she translated the last sentence. She jumped up, her book fell to the floor with a loud thump. "No, no, no, no, no." She was starting to breath heavily.

Everyone looked at her worried. Regulus, Remus and Sirius were on their feet instantly and Reg placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from pacing. "Isabelle what's wrong?"

"This is not good, this is not good." She muttered.

"Izzie!" Remus shook her a little.

"KREACHER!"

"Kreacher?" The others all chimed in confusion. The next second the Black house elf appeared.

"Mrs Black called for Kreacher?"

"Yes, I have a question for you."

"And you will answer it honestly." Regulus said as they kneeled in front of the old elf. The others looked at them intrigued. Sirius scowled at the elf but kept his mouth shut.

"At the platform, you said Reg and I needed to finalize the marriage. Did you mean consummate?"

Reg stiffened next to her, and she didn't dare to look at anyone else, let alone Sirius or Remus. "Yes. If yous and Master Black don't consummate soon, you'll-"

"We'll lose our magic." Regulus said. The elf started to shiver and shook his head.

"Reg, if we don't do it, we will die. Or at least I'll die"

Kreacher nodded as he started to cry, he sobbed into Regulus's legs. Reg patted his back absentmindedly.

"How long?" Remus asked with a shaking voice.

Between the tears and sobs, Kreacher managed to say. "New year's."

"FUCK!" Sirius cursed, throwing a lamp against the wall. The elf trembled.

"Do you know how to break the bond?" James asked.

"I do not know." He shook his large ears.

"What about the magic that keeps Isabelle away from Sirius?" Regulus asked, coming out of his daze. Sirius head snapped to the elf.

"It's blood magic, master Regulus. More I do not know."

"Alright." He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "You go back to Grimmauld, but Kreacher... don't speak a word of this."

"Yes, master Regulus." He bowed, still trembling before he disappeared with a crack.

Everyone stood frozen in their place and the silence stretched on. Then Peter said something that he would regret almost instantly. "Why don't you two just have sex?"

"WHAT?!" Everyone exclaimed but Sirius was the loudest.

"Well, it would solve the problem, wouldn't it?" He said a little more apprehensive. Sirius charged towards him, and Peter jumped up from his seat, but he couldn't dodge him. Sirius had pinned him down against the wall, his hand closely at his throat. "I'm just trying to find a solution."

"You think this is a solution?" His voice was hysterical. "You don't know what it will do to them!"

"At least it wouldn't kill them!"

"Sirius." Izzie said softly stepping behind him. His grip on Peter slackened just from hearing her voice. "Let him go, please." He dropped his hand and stepped back, then he turned on his heel and walked out. Izzie bit her lip as she watched him disappear.

"I'll go talk to him." James squeezed her shoulder before following Sirius out.

Regulus held her against him, as tears started to fall. "How did you know?"

"Conveniunt, vitamque simul elegerunt. Hoc matrimonium in cubiculo solidari necesse erit, aut citius quam serius finiet. It means: They agree, they chose to live their lives together. This marriage will need to be solidified in the bedroom, or it will end sooner rather than later."

It was silent once again as Regulus led Izzie back to the couch, settling her down gently.

"What did Sirus mean when he said you don't know what it will do to you once you do... consummate." Remus asked carefully. He was still standing, keeping his distance already.

"Knowing my parents." Regulus sighed, rubbing circles on her arm. "Once we'll consummate, we will only have eyes for each other. Doesn't matter if we loved someone before, those feelings would vanish. I've seen it done before."

"At least we know where to look now, we just need to hope we find it in time." Lily's voice was small.

"It's getting late. Why don't you guys go back to the tower, we can't do anything about it now."

"Are you sure?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, I – Reg and I need to process this and try to get some sleep."

"Alright." Lily leaned forward and hugged her. "Goodnight."

"Night." Izzie stood up and walked Lily towards the exit, giving Regulus and Remus a moment. Ten minutes later, Regulus had climbed into bed while Izzie was under the shower. She let tears roll freely down her cheeks, unable to control herself.

OoO

"You're avoiding us." Sirius said when he found her in the empty Charms classroom a few days before Sirius's birthday.

"I just saw you guys in Transfiguration two hours ago." Izzie said as she made the window reflection change into a beach in Spain with a wave of her hand.

"But you barely spoke."

"I have other things on my mind, Sirius." She snapped.

"I know." He stepped closer to her. "But you don't need to do this alone."

"Maybe I should. I've taken enough of everyone's time already. Reg and I will figure this out alone."

"You don't need to figure it out alone, we don't want you to. We are all helping because we want to. Me, Remus, Lily, James, Peter. Even Barty and Evan. You can't push us away."

She stepped away from him, when her back was towards him, she asked. "Why do you love me? I'm damaged goods, Sirius."

"I fell in love with you because you are funny, sweet, smart and absolutely gorgeous. You are fierce and loyal and protective over the ones you love. You can keep up with me or slow me down when I'm going in overdrive. How can you not see how amazing you are? You are not damaged goods, Izzie. You are the love of my life."

"But I can't be." Sirius could she her shoulders shake slightly. "I'm not only damaged, but I'm also a doomed case. If I don't have sex with your brother, I will die. If I do, I will probably forget what I felt for you, that I'm starting to fall in love with you."

Sirius heart skipped several beats at the last sentence, and he had a hard time controlling the tremor in his voice. "Izzie, I told you before, I'll never give up on us. You asked me not to push you away last year, I'm asking you not to push me away this time."

"That was before -" Suddenly he wrapped his arms around her, his head resting on her shoulder as her back pressed against his chest. They could feel the force pushing them away, but he held on tight. "Sirius." She whispered.

She turned in his arms as he held on tight. Both of their eyes were clouded with tears. She closed her eyes and let a dome settle around them. She shrank the dome so small until they felt it against their bodies.

"Izzie? What are you doing?" Sirius asked confused as he felt the pressure of the invisible dome, he wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Shh, I'm trying something." She said so quietly it was barely above a whisper. She locked her eyes with him before she leaned in and kissed him slowly.

They both fell the push to tear them away from each other. But when the dome held them in place, Sirius pulled her flush against him and kissed her back. His whole body intensified as her tongue slipped into his mouth. He couldn't help the moan that escaped him when she tugged on his hair.

"We should stop before..." She said a little breathlessly.

"Yeah, you're right." Sirius nodded but the next second they were kissing again. It seemed like they couldn't stop, they waited for so long. "Izzie." He moaned her name into her mouth. The kiss was getting out of hand, the space in his trousers seemed to shrink or rather something else was growing rapidly. His hand went from her hip into his hair, cradling it softly.

Then the dome broke, and Sirius flew in the air. Izzie felt the dome break, so she was just in time to send a cushioning charm behind Sirius before he landed against the wall. She ran over and kneeled down. "Sirius?"

"So worth it." He gave her a lopsided grin. "You and your amazing charms."

OoO

It was Sirius's birthday party. Sirius just wanted to celebrate in Izzie and Reg's room, but they wouldn't dream of it. James made sure everything was in order to celebrate his last birthday in Hogwarts. And despite, Regulus's nervousness, Izzie convinced him to join her at the tower. He was Sirius's brother and her husband, so Reggie was perfectly welcome in the Gryffindor tower. Sirius even invited Barty and Evan to her greatest surprise. Izzie was standing with Regulus near the fire, trying not to think about their awaited doom in less than two months. Regulus eyes were on Remus, who was conversing with Barty and Evan, to Reggie's greatest annoyance.

"It's sweet he wants to get to know your friends." Izzie smiled.

"I know, I'm just worried what Barty and Evan might say to him. He might go running for the hills." He muttered.

"Remus loves you." She squeezed his hand. "And if our situation doesn't make him run for the hills, those two idiots certainly won't do it." She laughed.

"Guess you're right."

Izzie's eyes scanned the room and found Sirius on the other side of the common room, surrounded by girls. "He's popular amongst the girls again, I see." She mused.

Regulus followed her gaze. "Last term, everyone thought they didn't have a chance with you around. Even if most of the girls didn't believe you two were dating, they backed off. But now that you're married to me. I guess they think he's fair play again."

"It appears so."

"He won't do anything. He loves you."

"That doesn't mean the girls won't do anything." She frowned.

"Isabelle."

"I need a drink." She shook her still half full glass before heading to the bar.

OoO

Ten minutes into the party, girls had been swarming around him like bees. He talked to them absently, but his eyes always sought out Izzie. The party was going on for a few hours now, but he had barely had a chance to talk to her. She was standing next to his brother, laughing at something. He smiled as he saw her laughing, it's been a while since she seen her smile with everything going on.

Suddenly, every girl in school seemed to think they had a chance with him since Izzie was married. He needed to put a stop to it, because he would never want any of them. He just wanted Izzie but couldn't right out and say it, even though he wanted to scream it to the world. He saw her ditch his brother and made her way to the bar.

"Gotta go." He said to the girls, ignoring their protests and made his way to Izzie. "Hello, love."

"Sirius." She nodded as she sipped her drink.

"Want to?" He nudged his head to the missing window.

A smile appeared on her lips. "Yeah." She sidestepped him and walked to the wall, taping her wand against the right brick. They both stepped on the invisible steps and climbed into their secret hide out. "They will notice that you're gone. It's your birthday party." She said once the door closed behind them.

"The people I care about will know with who I am." He said as he took a seat on the bench across from her.

"I got you a present." She smiled sliding over a little box.

"You didn't have to. A dome and a kiss are enough for me."

"Maybe later." She smiled shyly. "Open up."

He grinned picking up the box. He unwrapped it quickly and was excited when he saw what was in the box but also a little disappointed.

"You don't like it?"

"No, I do. I wanted one since I knew they were developing them." He said, taking the Walkman out of the box. "But -" He blushed suddenly. "I loved it when you share yours with me."

"Oh." She blushed too. "But you know we can't do that now." She frowned. "I may have put somewhere over the rainbow on it, but my own version." Her blush intensified.

"You recorded a song for me?"

"It's stupid, never mind." She tried to pull back the Walkman.

"No!" He stood up and held the Walkman in the air. "I'm going to listen to it every single night. Can I have my birthday kiss now, please?"

"Since you asked so nicely." She smiled, she waved her hand around the room and Sirius could feel the cushioning charm underneath him.

"Impressive." He winked. Then he felt the dome closer around them, bringing them closer. Her arms curled around his neck, while his wrapped around her waist. The felt the push of the dome, bringing them closer and felt the push of the magic, trying to shove them apart. But they held a firm grip on each other. Their lips ghosted over each other for a moment, their breaths mixed before Sirius couldn't handle it anymore. He crashed his lips against hers, his heart soared as her lips moved against his. He never thought kissing someone would feel like this. All his past hook-ups were bland, boring. This – this was fireworks, it was love, it was everything you ever read about, and he never wanted it to stop. The push of her magic was getting stronger. It seemed that every time they touched the magic would try harder to push them away. Her hands went into his hair as she climbed on top of him, straddling him.

"Fuck, Izzie." He breathed out when she went for his neck, so they could catch their breaths. But he wanted, no he needed to feel her lips on his again. He captured her lips again, even though they were still out of breath. His fingers dug in her bum, making her shift closer. The soft brush from her breasts against his chest nearly made him undone right there.

No, no! Not yet. He could feel the dome crack. He clung to her like dear life but eventually it broke completely, and Sirius flew backwards. Since Izzie was on his lap, she had fallen to the ground, breathing heavily, her eyes were dark as they met his across the room.