23: Sirius Black - Alone Part One

Warning! This is part one of two, the second part being a lemon which means it'll include sexual content.

Note: This is set when Sirius is older.

House: Slytherin

 Since You-Know-Who had returned, Dumbledore began re-assembling the Order of the Phoenix. The first war ended just before I was about to go to Hogwarts so I didn't know too much about what had gone on as both my parents were muggles. When I joined Hogwarts I of course heard all the rumours, it was both a time for celebration at his defeat and a time for mourning over the loss of many witches, wizards and muggles.

Most of my friends growing up in Hogwarts had family members or close friends who were killed during the war either by Death Eaters or You-Know-Who himself. Hearing the horrible stories made my skin crawl, and perhaps that was the reason I became so desperate to become an auror. I wanted to protect people against the dark forces, and I'd do whatever it took.

Dumbledore had recruited me along with many other new faces to join the Order, and tonight was my first meeting. We had received a little intel about You-Know-Who's movements and plans, there seeming to already be a trail of deaths which the Ministry blamed on Sirius Black. I had been told about Black, him being a key member to the Order even back during the first war, and wrongly accused of murder. Now he had escaped from Azkaban I was told he had to hide away from prying eyes in the base of the Order which just so happened to be his old family home.

With Kingsley by my side, we stopped in front of a row of white houses, him waving his wand at a spot between them. My eyes widened as the houses began to split apart, another one forming in between them. He led me towards it and opened the door, revealing an eerie looking hallway. There were cobwebs hanging from the lamps that ran along the walls, the decorative wallpaper peeling away. It seemed incredibly dusty and unpleasant, but he carried on towards a door at the end. It opened to reveal a room with an incredibly long table running through it, several people already seated at it. I knew a handful of them from work but there were plenty of faces I didn't recognise. I spotted Tonks on the other side of the table, someone I knew and got on with from work.

Moody soon settled everyone down, not bothering about introductions and instead getting straight to the point about the whereabouts and activity of various Death Eaters. I looked around the table, there being a variety of different faces. My eyes fell upon one in particular, a handsome looking man with slightly sunken eyes. His long hair gave him a troublesome appearance, and he was incredibly attractive. I found my eyes staring at him, and I only looked away when I realised that he glanced my way.

Once Moody was done briefing everyone on the situation, people began talking to each other. I, being the friendly person I was, happily introduced myself to everyone but I was particularly interested in the attractive man.

"Hi, I'm (y/n)," I said, approaching him. He was talking to another man, him being dressed in a ragged brown cardigan.

"Sirius," he said, extending his hand for me to shake. I took it before registering his name.

"Wait, Sirius? As in Sirius Black?" I asked. He looked so different than how he did in the pictures I saw of him in the Daily Prophet. Twelve years in Azkaban definitely didn't affect his looks.

"In the flesh," he said. I glanced up to his friend, wanting to get to know everyone.

"Remus, Remus Lupin," he said and I too shook his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you both," I said happily. For the next hour I lingered around, chipping in with every conversation I could and getting to know everyone, even if it was just their names. According to Kingsley who I worked directly under in the Ministry, Dumbledore was still recruiting people for the Order.

"There's another thing as well," Kingsley said to me in private and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What is it?"

"Someone needs to stay here with Sirius," he whispered and I gave him a look that said 'carry on'. "Dumbledore wants it to be you."

"Me? But I only just met the man!" I hissed.

"He said that he can rely on you to keep Sirius indoors because of that fact. It's likely Lupin would crack and let him out, and everyone else has reasons as to why they can't do it. You live on your own, don't have any relations and don't worry about work, I'll tell them you're abroad on my orders," he said and I sighed.

"Do I even have a choice?" I asked and he remained quiet. "Fine, I'll do it," I sighed dramatically.

"We want you to move in by the end of the week," he said and I shivered at the thought of having to live in this place. "You'll be fine."

"I hope so," I said, glancing over at Sirius Black.

- Timeskip -

Kingsley had taught me how to reveal Grimmauld Place, and so I now stood in the rotten hallway trying to fathom the fact I'd now be living here. Sirius suddenly appeared from one of the doors that ran along the hallway, glancing between me and the suitcases I held. "So they've given me a bodyguard," he said, understanding the situation perfectly.

"I didn't ask for this, Kingsley told me I needed to be here," I said and he folded his arms. "Where shall I sleep?"

He silently led me up the stairs towards a spare room that had a large four poster double bed in it. It was messy, there being dust everywhere as though the curtains and windows hadn't been opened in years. "Lovely," I said sarcastically.

"My brothers Reg's room... before he passed away," Sirius said and I immediately felt guilty.

"O-oh, I'm sorry Sirius," I mumbled but he shook his head.

"I've not opened it in years. Make yourself at home," he said and I nodded. When he left and the door closed I let out a sigh, wondering how awkward this situation was going to be. I barely knew the man - we'd held the occasional conversation at the first Order meeting I attended, and now Kingsley wanted to babysit him?

I realised just how filthy the room was when I pulled open the curtains and clouds of dust flew off of them, making me cough. "I can't live like this," I mumbled, deciding that something had to be done.

I headed downstairs towards the room the meeting took place in, and saw Sirius sat at the end of the table with a copy of the Daily Prophet in front of him. "Fancy giving me a tour?" I asked, approaching him but he didn't look up.

"I don't need a babysitter," he said simply and I sighed.

"I didn't ask to be here Sirius, and frankly I don't know why I am," I said, folding my arms and jutting my hip out. My harsh words caused him to look up at me with slight surprise. "Look, we're in this situation so the best thing we can do is just live with it, alright? I'm gonna go unpack," I huffed, walking out the room and up to 'Reg's'. I didn't dare to actually unpack anything until I had cleaned the room up a it, looked through the chest of drawers and made sure I didn't have any odd creatures living in the nooks and cranny's of the room.

- Timeskip -

My first few nights at Grimmauld place were interesting. Sirius wasn't one to hold conversations, and I noticed that all he ever seemed to do was have breakfast, read the Daily Prophet, check on Buckbeak, make dinner then go to bed. I could understand why he wanted to escape the confines of this house, but he was limiting himself - there were so many things he could be doing, but he didn't seem interested at all.

I on the other hand felt guilty that a small, frail house-elf was doing all the work, even if he was grumpy all the time and not doing a very good job at cleaning. I took things into my own hands, and decided to start by cleaning my room. The dust was making me cough until my throat hurt, but it didn't stop me from trying to make the room as homely as possible. I scrubbed the walls to get off as much grime as possible, I soaked the curtains to restore the fabric to its former glory and I cleaned all the Slytherin decorations to bring out the familiar silver and green. 'His brother must've been a Slytherin...' I thought, taking in the banners on the walls and the scarf on the back of the door. I decided to keep them all up as they reminded me of my time at Hogwarts.

After a days work the bedroom looked as though it was completely new, meaning that all the hard work paid off. Given the fact Sirius had barely spoken a word to me since being here I took it into my own hands to explore the house, deciding that the whole place needed a clean and seeing as Kreacher didn't seem too interested in doing it, I stepped forward.

With the items I had bought to clean Reg's room, I started downstairs in the drawing room where there was two large sofas sat opposite each other, a grand piano in the corner and a large fire place on the far wall. "This is gonna take a lot of work," I muttered to myself, setting the bucket filled with soapy water on the floor, and holding the brush in my hand.

I started with the curtains, brushing all the dust away whilst trying not to breathe it all in. I was so concentrated on what I was doing that I didn't even notice the extra presence in the room until a voice spoke. "What're you doing?"

I jumped so violently I dropped my brush, sighing loudly when I realised it was just Sirius. "I'm cleaning," I said simply.

"But that's Kreacher's job," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"I hate to say it, but he's not doing a very good job, I mean look at this place," I gestured the room. "You'll thank me when I'm done."

"Will I?"

"Of course. Do you fancy helping?"

"No thanks."

"Why, have you got something better to do? Like read the Daily Prophet?" I challenged, raising my eyebrow and he gritted his teeth.

"Fine," he said, approaching me and I couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction at winning. "So what do I do?"

I handed him a brush and gestured the other curtain, the two of us working in silence at first but I realised it was the prefect chance to get to know him, and hopefully things would be less awkward between us. I began a conversation on old Hogwarts memories, Sirius being skeptical to answer them at first but he soon loosened up, if only a little bit but it was enough to get a fairly decent conversation out of someone you barely knew.

When the curtains were done we went onto the sofas. "So what house were you in?" Sirius asked, seemingly enjoying talking about Hogwarts.

"Slytherin," I answered and his face dropped into a frown making me roll my eyes. "Ah, so you're one of them people."

"What people?" Sirius frowned.

"One of those people who, just because I wore a green tie in high school, think I'm among the most evil people on the planet," I scoffed. "You're prejudice."

"No I'm not," he spoke quickly but I raised my eyebrow. "I've just never met a nice Slytherin."

"Aw you think I'm nice?" I teased. "You've probably met nice Slytherin's before, you just haven't noticed. So, why do you hate Slytherin so much?"

"No reason," Sirius said after a moments silence but I felt as though there was something he wasn't telling me.

"Come on, there must be a reason," I said, folding my arms.

"It's nothing, alright? Just drop it," he scoffed, getting angry which made me raise my eyebrows.

"Fine, whatever," I hoped my blunt tone would spark something in him but he instead stood up.

"That's enough cleaning for today," he said simply, walking out of the drawing room. I scoffed, rolling my eyes and carrying on with the task at hand. I was stubborn, and decided that I was going to complete the job by myself. Once I had I went on to the hallway, a large posh dining room and finally ended up in the kitchen where the OoTP meetings were held. I saw Sirius at the end of the long, rickety wooden table with his head in the Daily Prophet. He looked up at me when I entered, but I merely sent him a glance before I began working on one of the cabinets holding old-looking plates.

I started humming one of my favourite songs to myself: 'Let it Be' by The Beatles. Out the corner of my eye I saw Sirius' head pop up quicker than lightening when he heard me, and I began to feel a little uncomfortable as he continued to stare. "What?" I finally said, turning to him.

"Nothing," he said but I rolled my eyes. Sirius Black was definitely an enigma, someone who didn't like to share his own thoughts which is why, when he spoke again, his words shocked me. "Sorry, about earlier. It's just I have... personal issues with the Slytherin house you could say. I realise that not all Slytherins are bad, my cousin Andromeda was okay and you seem... alright," he said and I laughed.

"'Alright' huh? Well I guess that's somewhat a compliment," I said and he chuckled.

"It is, I swear," he said, standing and raising his hands. "Here, lemme help. You're right, all I ever do is read the Prophet which is surprising since I hate reading," he said, walking over to me.

"You hate reading?" I furrowed my eyebrows, ready to go on a full rant about books he needed to read. He could see it was coming, and got there first.

"Trust me, Remus has tried to offer me every book under the sun but I just can't get on with them," he said.

"Well maybe you can now that you're stuck here until we can clear your name," I said, in a harsher tone than I intended.

"Whatever, in the mean time lemme help," he picked up the polishing cloth and began to wipe down the glass on the cabinet, before surprising me by singing 'Let it Be'. It was fair to say that he surprised me by loosening up, chatting away about anything that apparently came to his mind. It was nice, and a start to getting to know him better.

- Timeskip -

I had been living at Grimmauld Place for a week now, and still didn't really know Sirius too well. He was good-looking and no doubt if he properly smiled he'd make one's heart melt, but after spending twelve years in Azkaban it seemed he didn't know what a smile was. He was firm yet still willing to chat, just not really about himself. I sensed that there was darkness to his past, even before he was wrongly accused of murder if he had to grow up in a house like this.

Despite a week having passed, I was still adamant I'd clean the entirety of the house. It gave me something to do at the very least, and I was almost done, just a few more rooms at the very top floor of the house left to do. Sirius was still pitching in from time to time, however I was currently on my own.

I reached for the dusty door handle, pushing open the door and revealing an empty room. The only thing interesting about the room was the tapestry that hung like wallpaper on each of the four walls. I stepped in, the floorboards creaking underneath me and I had a strange feeling that perhaps I shouldn't be in here.

My curious nature got the better of me though, as I approached one of the walls. I had to be true, it was a beautiful tapestry with portraits of each family member and their name underneath it, decorative tree branches connecting the portraits to their immediate families and spouses. However on closer examination I saw that a few of the portraits had been burnt off but not only that, there were some names I was surprised to see. 'Bellatrix Lestrange' featured among the portraits, but next to it was a burnt off portrait with the name 'Andromeda Black' underneath. I furrowed my eyebrows, remembering that Tonks' mother was called Andromeda and wondered whether it was at all possible it was the same person.

I carried on looking at the names, coming quite hypnotised by the gorgeous yet dark tapestry until I found something that made me gasp slightly. It was Sirius' portrait, or rather what would've been Sirius' portrait. It too had been burnt off like a few of the others, and I found myself reaching up to touch it gently. The charred tapestry crumbled a little and it made me quite sad to know that Sirius' own immediate family burnt him off of their family tree. "It's quite something, isn't it?" Sirius said making me jump out of my skin.

"Merlin Sirius, you'll give me a heart attack."

"What are you doing in here?" He asked, his tone somewhat stern.

"It's one of the few rooms I've yet to clean," I shrugged nonchalantly. I glanced back at his burnt off portrait before looking back at him. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, looking around the room uncomfortably. "Sirius... are you okay?"

"I've not been in here for a while," he admitted, walking up to me and looking at where his portrait used to be. "My darling mother did that just after I ran away from home," it was almost as if he was talking to himself but I was shocked at his words, him having never mentioned his family before other than when I moved into his brothers room.

"You ran away from home?" I whispered and he looked down at me before nodding.

"I was sixteen. I went to stay with my friend, James," he said softly.

"Did you ever regret running away from your family?" I asked and he scoffed.

"Not one bit. Well... actually, I wish I had took my brother Regulus with me... he died," Sirius whispered, and I noticed his brothers portrait next to what would've been his. "You asked me why I hated Slytherin so much? Well in my day it was a different house, and everyone I knew who ended up in Slytherin ended up choosing the wrong path, the path of evil. Some realised their mistakes, like Reg, but it was too late. Others like my parents, well they didn't exactly join You-Know-Who but their pureblood mania was enough to assume they could've been Death Eaters."

"So where does being a Slytherin fit into all of that?" I asked.

"They were all Slytherins. My darling mother and father, my grandparents, my cousins, my cousins husbands, their children... my brother," he brushed his fingertips against Regulus' portraits. "So stupid, Reg."

"How did he... y'know?"

"I don't know. I do know that he'd turned against You-Know-Who, but I don't know what happened to him. That's what makes it worse," Sirius whispered. I stared at him as he looked at his brothers portrait, and I couldn't stop myself from holding onto his hand comfortingly. His attention moved to me, apparently surprised by my gesture. A second later he let out a deep breath and pulled his hand away from me, stepping away which oddly hurt. "You know, now that I think about it not all of the Blacks were too bad."

"I suppose the 'good' Blacks are the ones your parents burnt off?" I tried to lighten the mood with a smirk and he let out a dry chuckle. "This Andromeda... she wouldn't happen to be Tonks' mother, would she?"

"Yeah, she married a muggle-born so they scorched her off. She was nice though," Sirius said and I smiled.

"Are you related to Tonks then?"

"Yeah, I guess technically I am."

"She never told me about you," I said and he shrugged.

"She probably thought I was a mass murderer," he said plainly.

"Oh... right, possibly," I muttered. There was a moment of silence where Sirius just stared at some of the portraits on the tapestry, him so clearly deep in thought. I found myself staring at him, taking in more of his features. He was an attractive man, and it was fair to say that despite a slight bit of tiredness and wariness on his face it would be impossible to tell this man had just spent the last twelve years in the worst prison imaginable.

"Thanks, (y/n)," he suddenly said, catching me off-guard.

"'Thanks'? What for?" I asked and he turned to me, wearing his first proper smile that made my heart rate excel.

"For listening to me. I feel oddly freshened... like I needed to get that off of my chest," he said and I felt my cheeks heat up.

"Sure... I guess I'm here if you need me," I said and he sat on the dusty floor with his back against the wall. I decided to join him, wanting him to get whatever was keeping him down off of his chest. "You can tell me anything," I said without even realising I had said it. He smiled at me and together we sat in the Black family tree room, talking about each other and opening up about our lives.