The Marauders Era

Well, that's Sirius for you.

The common room, which usually was filled with many of its students, now stood almost empty. As the clock had struck twelve, most of the students had already retreated to their dormitories to catch up with their friends and get settled back into their room.

The room didn't lack any spirit as the walls were decorated with warm colors of red and gold. Along with a few banners here and there, with the symbol of a lion on it. One look into the room and you could immediately recognize it as Gryffindor common room.

 Currently, the only two people in there had occupied the sofa in front of the fireplace while watching the fire continued to burn and give off a soft warmth.

These past few months had been the longest the two had ever gone without seeing or properly talking to each other, between Cassies' newly founded engagement and their mother obsessively planning the most significant moment of her daughter's life, as she calls it. The opportunity to sneak off to James's house hadn't presented itself.

She let her eyes wander to his face and noticed the positive changes that the Potter manor had acquired him with. His hair had grown slightly longer while the dark rings under his eyes had disappeared. His skin now had a more healthy complexion, and the twinkle in his eyes had returned. He looked happier than he had been in a long time.

Sirius turned to face his sister, his grey eyes met her brown, and a soft smile was sent her way. However, he felt the knot in this stomach grow slightly more prominent than before and let out a small sigh trying to figure out a way to make this somehow easier. Before he could even open his mouth, she beat him to it.

"You don't have to say anything, I know. I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong."

"Cassie.."

She shook her head, took his hand in hers, and gave it a gentle squeeze, the look she gave him was full of determination. He didn't want to bring it up. He didn't even want to think about it, but during the summer, Remus had told him that there was nothing that they could do. However, talking about it might make it easier for her.

At least she would know that he supported her no matter what happened. Remus had also said that sometimes the only thing that helps is talking about it. Pretending that it never happened or that it won't happen will only make it worse.

"It would have happened sooner or later, we all know that. And trust me with this, it could have been worse."

Her eyes left his face as her voice trailed off. She hadn't heard anything from Rabastan since the moment their engagement had been announced. However, it wasn't as if she had tried to contact him herself. Not that she would let her mother know about that.

She knew that just because he was a Lestrange didn't necessarily mean that he was the same as his brother, and she hoped that was the case. Though she wouldn't admit it, her mind wandered to him from time to time.

She wondered what he thought about this arrangement. Did he also agree to be put in an arranged marriage to please their parents? Most likely, as it was quite usual with the pureblood families, whose goal was to keep their blood as pure as possible.

She could live with spending the rest of her life with someone who might or might not come to love or like her. But what she couldn't live with was that her older brother felt guilty and blamed himself. Most of the letters from Remus over the time he had been at the Potter manor had been about Sirius.

She understood that it wasn't like he could talk to James, he was a terrible liar, and he couldn't keep a secret even if his life depended on it. Not that Remus would have had any problem, he was the one that could bullshit his way out of anything. Along with Peter, an excellent liar, those two managed to keep the group out of trouble.