Mitigate [S. Black]

thirteen | kreacher

"Never thought I'd be going back to that bloody place," Sirius muttered to Remus and Alessia as they walked through the streets of London. They'd cast a charm on each other so that no one would be able to recognize who they were, since targets had been placed on them due to their loyalty to the Potters. Alessia walked between the two young men, something she was sure they did deliberately as some sort of determination to make certain she was safe. Even though she'd thought her duels against Rodolphus and Bellatrix should have proved she could (for the most part) handle her own now, Sirius was adamant on protecting her and Remus was, as well.

Alessia was glad to have grown so close to these people. Remus and James had become to be like brothers to her: Remus the one with the good advice and a level head, James the one with the funny jokes and ability to always make her laugh. And Lily was her best friend, easily just as much as a sister to her as Millie was. Sirius... Well, Sirius meant something entirely different to her. She'd known that, to an extent, of course; but it wasn't until he kissed her last night, and again this morning, that she truly realized the depth of her feelings for him.

They were so different... opposing sides of the same coin. Sirius was impulsive and brazen, his entire demeanor screaming 'devil-may-care.' Alessia, on the other hand, was more cautious and tentative, thoughtful, and mostly soft-spoken. But even with all their differences, neither of them could deny how well they worked with each other; she kept him steady and calm when he needed to be, and he encouraged her and pushed her out of her comfort zone when it was necessary. And somehow, they were good together.

It scared her, how comfortable she'd allowed her to get with the presence of someone in her life. How easily she'd allowed herself to become close with him, to the point that by the time she realized she was falling in love, she had already fallen too far to catch herself and back-track on it. Sirius Black, however much she was terrified to admit it, had created the most special of places inside her heart for himself.

"Are you sure your parents won't be home, mate?" Remus's question distracted Alessia from her thoughts, and she glanced at Sirius while waiting for the answer, as well. "Because while I imagine Kreacher will be a task on his own, I doubt we can get much accomplished with your parents around; especially if Regulus told the house-elf not to tell anyone about it."

"Pretty positive," Sirius answered, trying not to scowl as he thought of his wretched parents. Alas, it proved quite the difficult task for him, especially when disgust was already laced within his voice while speaking about them. "They always meet with the Greengrass family for some bloody stupid brunch every Saturday afternoon." He rolled his eyes.

Remus cast him a sympathetic look. "You don't have to come in with us if you don't want to, mate. I'm sure Alessia knows where Kreacher hid the necklace—"

"I'm coming in," Sirius interrupted him firmly, and the expression on his face made it clear that there was no room for debate on the matter. Alessia hesitated, and then shyly brushed her hand across Sirius's. She wanted to comfort him, but did not know if she truly could, nor if he would welcome it. Sirius normally always liked to push aside any hurt feelings he may have and pretend like they weren't there, after all.

Feeling her soft touch, Sirius glanced down at the brunette to find her keeping her gaze on their surroundings. She wasn't sure where they really stood with each other; two kisses didn't exactly mean they were an item, no matter how glorious she thought they had been. In truth, Sirius didn't really know where they stood, either— though as far as he was concerned, he simply wanted to be near her. And so his hand chased after hers when she began to pull it away, his fingers brushing her inner palm as they slid down to interlock with hers. Alessia did not look up at him, but he could see the smallest of smiles tug at the corner of her lips as she squeezed his hand. And for a moment, the storm in him settled.