The Marauders: Padfoot

"Now Are You Ready For Some Real Dueling Mr Black?"

"Stop going easy on me!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are! Will Voldemort be easy on me? No!"

"You won't be fighting Voldemort."

"You never know!"

"Trust me on this one Seren."

I slumped back onto my chair in annoyance. Sirius and I had been dueling for the last hour, and somehow I had won every round. He was slower, more predictable, and I knew he was doing this to give me a confidence boost but honestly I needed the practice.

"Sirius please." I begged, looking up at him as he made his way over to me.

He crouched down in front of me so that we were eye level, looking at me with an unreadable expression.

He sighed and stood back up, towering over me.

"Come on." He said, nodding his head to the side as he turned around and walked away, leaving me confused.

He stood at the other end of the room, his wand drawn.

I nodded, letting him know I was ready.

"Expelliarmus!" He yelled, forcing my wand to fly out of my hand.

I crossed my arms, waiting for him to throw it back.

He cocked up an eyebrow, challenging me as he tightened his grip on my wand in his hand.

"Sirius. Give it back."

"Make me blondie."

"Cut the blondie crap."

"Make me blondie." He said, a smirk arising to his lips.

I huffed as I began marching over to him, my heavy footsteps echoing throughout the empty room.

I stopped just as my toes touched his, so close that I could feel his breath on my face.

I gripped the wand and pulled it from his grasp before marching back to my previous position.

"Now are you ready for some real dueling Mr Black?"

"Back to Mr Black now are we?" He asked, teasing evident in his voice.

I nodded slowly, pulling my bottom lip into my mouth with my teeth.

"Are you ready or do we need a countdown from three?" I asked, cocking my head to the side, teasing him.

"I think I can manage." He replied.

I nodded my head, smiling a little.

"Rictusempra!" I yelled, making him fall to the floor in a fit of laughter.

I kept my wand trained on him as he rolled on the floor, laughter escaping his mouth.

"Ser... Help... Stop!" He managed between fits of giggles. I stood there watching in amusement for a few brief moments before lowering my wand.

"I'm going to get you back for that." He said, standing up, his face red from laughing and his eyes a dangerously dark shade of grey.

I shivered upon witnessing his expression. It was frightening and thrilling all at once.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" I asked, smirking.

This was way too easy.

"Aguamenti!" He shouted, drenching me in a large jet of water from his wand.

I stood in shock for a moment, before lunging towards him. He darted swiftly out of the way, laughing hysterically at the sight in front of him.

"Sirius Black I am going to kill you!" I exclaimed, grabbing the back of his jumper.

He was too quick and escaped my grasp, shooting a quick 'brachiabindo' over his shoulder, binding my arms and legs so that I swayed for a moment before losing my balance and falling to the floor, dropping my wand in the process.

He fell to the floor in a fit of laughter once more, while I frowned up at the ceiling, waiting to be released. I complained and groaned and muttered until he finally stopped laughing enough to set me free.

I sat on the floor with my arms crossed, pouting with him but secretly relieved that he had given me some real fight.

He strolled over to me and offered me his hand, pulling me to my feet.

"Come on, we're going somewhere."

"Where?"

"It's a surprise." He said, not letting go of my hand as he lead me towards the door.

I shoved my wand in the back pocket of my trousers as I willingly followed him through the door.

If there's one thing you must know, it's that I hate surprises. But I was trying to be more open minded, more willing to try new things, so I didn't complain as he lead me down the corridor and out into the cold dark world.

We walked in the subtle moonlight until we reached the tree. The one we always used to sit under. Well, at the time I hadn't known that 'Snuffles' was actually an animagus, but you get the idea.

Sirius waved his wand and silently conjured a blanket, placing it on the cold damp grass and gesturing towards it with his hand, giving an overly exaggerated bow as he did so.

I rolled my eyes, although secretly thrilled by the sweet gesture as I sat down cross legged on the blanket, overlooking the black lake, the soft waves coated with silver tips of moon dust.

He lay with his head across my lap, as he always used to, and out of familiarity, I began to run my hand through his thick black hair.

I heard him sigh, and watched as a small cloud of hot air escaped his lips and made its way upwards, vanishing as it did so.

"For a while now, I've been wanting to tell you just how much you mean to me, but I haven't been able to find the right words." He said, his voice only just audible.

A small smile graced my lips at his words.

He sat up and faced me, his dark eyes alight in the moon light. His brows were furrowed, as if he were worried and I had to suppress the urge to use my fingers to smooth out the creases on his pretty face.

"Seren, I'm so utterly in love with you, and it scares me. I want it to stop and I want it to never end all at the same time and it's doing strange things to my head."

My breath caught.

"Sirius-"

"-No. I know I try to hide it because it scares me and I'm scared of losing you. There's a war coming Seren, and the thing I want to do most is to just run away with you, somewhere we'll never be found, somewhere we'll be safe... But I can't... I have to fight this war." He pleaded, biting down on his bottom lip as his words vanished into the cold night air.

"It scares me too. That I'm so in love with you, after such a short amount of time, and the uncertainty of the future... Sometimes it's all too much." I whispered, gripping his hand so tightly that he may have winced.

He gripped my hand back, and I could feel the warmth from his begin to radiate through me.

He closed his eyes tightly and his lips parted just a fraction before he began to speak.

"We can do this. Together."

"Together."