No Shrinking Violet

Such A Charming Family

It was an hour and a half later when Lily and I were met with the sight of our boyfriends pulling up to the warehouse on a motorbike, we waited for them to come greet us but only James did, Lily punched his arm.

'Where in the name of Merlin's hairy armpits have you been James Potter?'

'We would have been here much sooner, but we got chased by Muggle police.' he defended.

I left them to their tiff and made my way over to where Sirius sat on his motorbike with his helmet in his hands as he fiddled with the straps.

'I won't be long, you said.' I admonished as I came closer to him. 'I was worried about you.'

'Sorry about that, there was an incident with the Muggle police.' his voice was flat and emotionless, and a hot knife of fear flashed through my chest.

'Are you okay?'

He rose his head to meet my eyes and his usually smoky eyes were darkened to a steely grey.

'Wanna come for a drive?' he asked in a taut voice.

'Okay.'

He slipped on his helmet and I grabbed James' one from where he had left it on the seat, without a word I climbed onto the bike behind Sirius and slipped my arms around his waist, he adjusted my hands, so we were more comfortable, and the bike roared to life before we tore out of the lot and into traffic. We zoomed through the streets and I swear I felt like I was flying, I was never a huge fan of flying on a broom, but this was different, despite Sirius' weird mood I felt safe with my arms wrapped around him as we broke all kinds of traffic laws speeding through London. Soon we started to slow down and then we really did fly, the bike lifted into the air and flew over a wall, we stayed in the air for a few more minutes before we finally landed on the ground again. I unwound my arms from around Sirius' waist and climbed off the bike, removing my helmet I laughed freely.

'That was amazing!'

Sirius smiled a bit at the little dance I did after climbing off the bike and it lifted my spirits ever so slightly, he took my hand and led me to the steps of a crumbling old manor, we sat down, and he pulled me towards him burying his face in my hair. I hugged him tightly and played with the ends of his hair, we stayed like that for ages, just the two of us revelling in each other's warmth and comfort. Eventually he spoke, so quiet I almost didn't hear him.

'Regulus is missing.'

I pulled away from him suddenly and searched his face for an explanation, his dark eyes were filled with sadness and his face looked weary.

'What happened?' I asked with a shock filled voice.

'He was allowed to leave school a few days ago after some distant family member died, and he hasn't been seen since. I went back to my mother and father's house with James to collect my bike and I could hear my mother wailing from outside the front door. Mother and Father wouldn't even look at me, let alone inform me that my brother is missing, one of the older house elves was very fond of me as a child and she told me. My brother is just gone Violet.'

I stared at him for a minute, at a loss for words – what words would even comfort someone in a time like this? If it were Lily or Petunia – despite her horrid attitude – missing, no words would be enough to assuage my fears. I climbed onto Sirius' lap and straddled him so that I could wrap my arms around his neck, his own arms wrapped around the small of my back as he crushed me in a hug so tight I could barely breathe, I didn't mind though. He buried his head in the crook of my shoulder and I felt my neck get damp as tears slipped from his eyes, I made no comment as I played with the ends of his hair and rested my head against his shoulder.

^.^

Half an hour later we were still sitting on the steps of the old manor, Sirius's tears had dried long before that, but we just sat together for a while, when Sirius finally rose to his feet it took me by surprise and I fell to the ground while emitting a rather embarrassing squeak. Sirius looked at me on the ground with a blank expression for a second before he started laughing, quite heartily might I add, to the point where he sounded like he was barking. He helped me up from the ground and asked if I was okay in between chuckles.

'I'm fine, a bit of warning would have been nice you know.' I said as I brushed dirt off my bum.

'I am truly, deeply sorry darling.' Sirius pulled me closer and closer as he said this and pecked me on the lips. 'Thank you for being here.'

'Anytime, where exactly is here though?' I asked with a laugh.

'This is the original Black family manor. Years back my great grandfather decided he wanted Grimmauld Place so he...persuaded the Muggles who lived there to leave and cast spells and charms on the place, so it would be undetectable, and we've been there ever since. My family is so charming.' he spoke the last part with tangible sarcasm.

'Well I don't know about the rest of your family but you're certainly charming enough.' I teased.

'Miss Evans are you trying to flatter me? Please continue.'

I slapped his shoulder lightly. 'I don't think that's wise, how would we ever get back to the party with your big ego throwing us off balance?'

'Are you saying that I, Sirius Black, am conceited?' he asked with mock horror.

'Who's the most beautiful person in Hogwarts?' I tested him.

'You.' he answered without hesitation.

'Okay I wasn't expecting that.' I chuckled. 'You really are a charmer.'

'Only for you darling.' he said with a wink.

We climbed back onto his bike and began to make our way back to the party which was just beginning to wind down, people were pouring out as we came to a stop and Lily called out to us.

'Sirius Black did you have sex with my baby sister!'

Heads turned towards us and Sirius laughed loudly as I buried my head in his chest out of shame, I could hear James lecturing Lily on inside voices but in her drunken mind that just meant to shout even louder.

'They were gone for ages! James punch him!' she shouted indignantly.

'Lily, I'm not going to -'

'If you love me you'll punch him for having sex with my baby sister!' she slurred.

'I do love you but I'm not punching my best friend on the off chance that he took your sister into the woods for a quick shag.' James tried to explain.

'The woods?! The woods?! Not even somewhere nice?! I'm gonna punch him!'

Lily attempted to lunge at Sirius much to the amusement of the onlookers, but he grabbed her wrists gently and carefully handed her off to James who wrapped his arms around her to restrict her movement.

'Lily calm down.' I said with a laugh as she struggled against her boyfriend's hold. 'We didn't have sex, I promise.'

As I watched my sister sway on her feet I made a mental note to monitor her drinks in future, it was not going to be easy getting her to bed in this state.