September First

The Black Brothers

December crashed in like a lion. Winds howled and froze, snow fell in heavy flurries... and Daxia Lestrange tried her best to avoid Sirius Black at all cost.

Which was, of course, why she was waking up, yet again, to his fingers creeping up her pyjama top "You're terrible," she whispered, arching her back with his touch as she smiled against his grinning lips.

"Not what you were saying last night Lestrange," he breathed, his lips brushing hers with each word he spoke. Sliding calloused hands up her back he fiddled with the strap of her bra. His eyebrows wriggled as she reached up to bury her fingers in his hair.

"Padfoot! Vix! We're gunna be late for Transfiguration!" James called from outside Sirius's drawn curtains. Daxia had been hanging around the boys' dorm a few nights a week since her attack and, though it was really due to the sudden development within her relationship with Sirius (something which they still hadn't discussed), each of the fellow dorm occupants assumed it was simply where she felt safe.

"Just a-" he hid his slight intake of breath with an over exaggerated yawn as a smirking Daxia placed her lips on his weak spot just beneath his ear "-minute! Won't be long!"

They listened out as James left the room, Sirius pulling Daxia up to face-level as the door slammed shut behind their best friend "Look who's terrible now eh?" he teased as he rubbed her nose with his, fingertips tracing patterns down her spine.

"Time to get up Black," she winked, pressing a short, hard kiss against his mouth before rolling away from him "Wouldn't want to miss Transfiguration now would we?"

She had squealed a laugh as he dove out of the sheets after her pouting "Little bit longer?" as he caught her sound the waist and placed a kiss on her neck.

"Well," she replied, a smirk lazily crossing her lips as she turned in his hold and looped her arms around his neck "I could use a shower."

A bark of a laugh left his lips as he dropped his hands to her backside and threw her over his shoulder. They practically fell into the small bathroom, Daxia giggling as he set her back in her feet and she pulled his tank top with her.

He looked down at her, impressed "How did..." his sentence trailed off when he noticed the soft expression now gracing her pretty face "Dax," he sighed with slight disappointment, watching as her sad eyes glanced over his bare torso. He hadn't allowed her to properly see him shirtless since they were fourteen years old, usually hurrying to get dressed before she saw or keeping their night time antics in the dark where she couldn't quite make him out, and he wasn't as mouthy around his family.

"Sirius," she breathed as her small hands traced the paling scars scattered across his bare chest and stomach "They did this to you?" she asked as she looked up to him, spotting a few more scars stretching over his shoulders and wondering what state his back was in. James had always dealt with the deeper injuries, pulling Sirius into the bathroom to clean him up while Daxia hid the alcohol and made the tea.

His hair fell over his face as his head bowed, his eyes trained on a spot of floor by her feet.

"You don't have to talk about it," she said quickly, stepping closer into his embrace as she wrapped her arms around him. He had never spoken of what had happened during his time in the Black family home but she had never expected to see anything like this.

They showered quickly and separately; Sirius seeming almost ashamed of the marks scarring his body as he turned away from her. They dressed just as quickly, Daxia into the spare uniform she kept in his spare bedside drawer, and without a word.

She slipped her hand into his with a supporting smile as they crossed the deserted common room but he simply stared ahead. The cold and distant Sirius Black who would hole himself up in the Potter's spare room (now, finally and officially, named as his) seemed to have moved in on her warm, smiling Sirius she had been cuddling only a half hour previously.