The Last Marauder Standing || Sirius Black

34-The Last Straw

Christmas break was definitely not something I looked forward to these days. Last year I dreaded it because I hated spending time with my grandmother. She was awful to me, and I fear she has only gotten worse over the years. But now not only have I been stuck with her in this small house for a few days, but I am unable to see any of my friends, and that includes Sirius, who is now officially my boyfriend.

Thinking about him gives me chills. I was washing the dishes after dinner while my grandmother and Sadie read their books at the table, and couldn't help but smile to myself when I thought about how he and I are dating now, and how absolutely incredible it feels to be with him openly and not in secret.

"What are you smiling about? Get back to work," Griselda nagged, looking up from her book for a moment to catch me daydreaming. I snapped out o fit quickly and got back to scrubbing the plates.

Griselda doesn't know that Sirius and I are dating, and to keep that secret, I had to keep it from Sadie too. I felt awful about it, but I planned to tell her after the holidays were over and we were back at Hogwarts. She just loves our grandmother so much, she's never able to keep her mouth shut around her. If she found out I was dating someone, let alone a pureblood who is formerly part of the sacred 28, she would have a stroke. Although, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing...

I couldn't help but let my mind wander again back to Sirius. I thought back to our final goodbye aboard the Hogwarts express. We let everyone else leave the train ahead of us and we remained in our compartment a few minutes after arriving at the station. We would have gone with everyone else and said goodbye on the platform, but we didn't want our families seeing us together. Well, I suppose Sirius didn't mind if he saw, seeing as he's already disowned. I didn't want Griselda or Sadie to see me with him. It would have made the holidays too painful to bear.

I remember looking into his grey eyes and wishing I could go with him to James' house. All the marauders were going to the Potter's for Christmas this year, and I couldn't help but feel jealous.

"It's only two weeks. I'll see you again in no time," Sirius had smirked at me, cupping my face in both his hands. I rested my hand on him, pressing it to my face so I could feel his warmth before walking out into the cool December air.

"I just... I hate going home to that awful woman," I sighed, leaning into his touch and closing my eyes, breathing in his scent, trying to memorize it. Two weeks felt daunting. We hadn't been apart since summer, and even that was miserable. Now that we were together, I didn't even want to let him out of my sight.

"I know... trust me, I get it," He sighed, pulling his hands away from my face to grasp both my hands and swing them between us. He leaned forward and leaned his forehead against mine.

"Sorry, I feel bad complaining about it... your situation was way worse," I quickly responded, feeling guilty suddenly.

"Don't apologize, it's not a competition," He chuckled. "Just because I went through a... difficult situation, it doesn't mean yours is any less important. Just look on the bright side, after this holiday you never have to go back there. You and I can go somewhere together. I'll follow you to Romania for all I care. I just want us to be together," He sighed. I smiled a bit at the idea.

"That sounds nice," I murmured, leaning up a bit and brushing his nose against mine. I entwined our fingers together and my lips brushed against his as I spoke. "I'm going to tackle you the next time I see you" I giggled a bit.

"I wouldn't mind that one bit," He grinned, finally closing the gap between us and connecting our lips in a firm kiss. One that held all the emotions we felt in that moment; as if we would never see each other again. I quickly discarded that thought. I didn't think I could live without him anymore.