Love and Trust

By: Apolla

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story except for Serena and her entire family. Oh, and any other unfamiliar names of random friends and characters I might choose to throw in here.

Setting: Except for the Prologue and Epilogue, the entire story takes place in what we'll call "Marauder time" – when Sirius, James, Lily, and the rest attended Hogwarts.

Note: This takes place after OotP, using some of the info we learn in THBP, and as this was written before TDH, nothing in that book pertains to this story (although I did love the 7th book).

Pairings: Mainly Sirus/OC with a little James/Lily on the side.

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Prologue – Takes place sometime after OotP

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting on the stairs, trying their best to remain undetected. They were at the Burrow, and a few members of the Order of the Phoenix were talking in the kitchen. Try as they might, they couldn't hear anything of interest. Finally they heard the sound of scraping chairs, and Harry knew that the meeting was over. He, Ron, and Hermione scurried back up to Ron's room.

"Harry," Hermione began hesitantly once they reached Ron's room. "Professor Lupin is here tonight."

Harry looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, so?"

"So maybe, oh, I don't know," Hermione said, wringing her hands. "Maybe we could ask him about Serena."

Ron and Hermione both looked at Harry with bated breath. Before Sirius had died, Ron and Hermione had told Harry that when they were sneaking around the house at night, trying to overhear Order of the Phoenix business, they had heard Sirius muttering the name 'Serena' in his sleep. Harry had never gotten the chance to ask Sirius who Serena was, and Hermione didn't know if he'd want to hear anything about Sirius now. Harry was, understandably, upset about Sirius' death – they all were. But Hermione thought that maybe, just maybe, Harry would feel better if he learned more about the godfather he had so loved.

Harry surprised her by saying, "Yeah, all right."

So Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way downstairs to find Remus Lupin. They found him sitting in an old comfy armchair in the room off the kitchen, and he looked up with a weary smile when he saw them. "Harry, Ron, Hermione. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked pleasantly.

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, electing him to ask the question. Harry met Lupin's politely puzzled gaze and said, "Professor, who was Serena?"

To the three teenager's surprise, Lupin did not ask 'Serena who?' but instead sat back in his chair. "Serena. There's a name I haven't heard in almost twenty years," he said, almost to himself.

"So you knew her?" Ron asked.

"Oh, yes. Of course. She was in our year back at Hogwarts. She and Lily were best friends," Lupin added, looking at Harry.

Harry felt that happy feeling inside that he always felt when he heard details about his parents' lives. "What does that have to do with Sirius?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing. And everything. Merlin knows, if Lily and Serena hadn't been best friends, Sirius would never have had a chance."

Here Lupin paused, looking at Harry, Ron, and Hermione consideringly. "Never had a chance at what?" Ron asked, sounding a tad impatient.

"This is a very long story," Lupin said. "Are you sure you want to hear it?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded vigorously. Lupin sighed and settled back in his chair. "All right. It all began our sixth year at Hogwarts. James and Lily had finally gotten together towards the end of fifth year, and then when we came back for sixth year, we had a new student. She had moved around a lot, but finally ended up at Hogwarts for the last two years of school. Her name was Serena Ashby. And she was the love of Sirius' life."