Oh, Merlin

epilogue

"Dad..."

"Yes, sweetheart?" Sirius turned to Morgan, who was sitting on the couch. She patted a spot next to her, which he happily took.

"Dad, can you tell me about the first time you met mum, again?"

"Well, chickadee, the first time I met your mother was when I was eleven..."

A young, preteen Sirius Black slid into the wall between platform 9 and 10, unseen and unnoticed by the muggles wandering the train station. His eyes instantly widened as they laid on the gleaming crimson red train, the words 'Hogwarts express' printed on the front.

He was bumped sideways, as a figure which just passed through the barrier ran into him.

"Oh, sorry about that." He turned around, expecting to see another student or even a parent glaring at him. Instead, he saw a small, y/h/c girl with round, gleaming y/c/e eyes staring up at him. She looked a little pale, clearly shocked to have collided with the older male, with bright red cheeks.

"I-It's okay," she stuttered over her words, something which she would never stop doing.

Before Sirius could say another word, another boy stepped through the barrier and into the tiny girl. "Sorr- Y/N! Are you okay, I didn't hurt you, did I?" He gave her a once over, before pulling her gently to the side.

"I'm fine, James."

Sirius looked between the two, clearly brother and sister, and couldn't help but feel like he'd be seeing a lot more of them.

"Little did you know," Morgan laughed slightly.

Sirius laughed too, what a fateful day that had been.

"Dad, can you please tell me about the first time you knew you liked mum?"

"Well, that was much later on..."

A now 14-year-old Sirius sat at the Gryffindor table, on his left was a brown-haired James and in front of him were Peter and Remus. They were in the middle of planning a prank when a hand came to lay on Jame's shoulder.

"Y/N, are you okay?" James asked, turning to see his sister.

"Uh, yeah." She definitely wasn't okay, as her hair was out of control and she clutched at her right cheek, almost like she was trying to hide something. "Can I- uh- sit here?" She titled her head between the two boys and they instantly separated. Sending them both grateful looks, she slid between the two.

"What happened?" James asked, running a hand through her hair to try and settle it.

"N-Nothing."

"We're not idiots, Y/N." Remus said, lowering his voice. "You can trust us."

She looked between the four, taking deep and calming breaths, before slowly removing her hand from her face. Sirius' stomach lurched at the sight and anger started to boil inside him.

There, on her right cheek, was a large red handprint.

"Who did that?" Sirius almost growled, clenching his fists to control the raging beast inside him.

He'd felt protective of the young girl since he first ran into her at platform 9 3/4. At first he was sure it was an almost brotherly feeling but he did often find his mind wandering to her lips and what they would feel like against his own. He'd always push them away, though, denying that he felt anything more than James did.