The grass was lush under their small feet and the light from the pond glistened on their faces. A small girl smiled widely at her opponent on the other side of the body of water.

"I told you that you couldn't catch me." Victoria stuck her tongue out and laughed. "Just give up now."

Her counterpart, a small boy, placed his hands on his hips.

"Small victories, 'Tori." Sirius knew he was losing the battle, be refused to forfeit the war. "You'll probably fall in yourself soon enough."

The children started to run again. Carefree and blissfully unaware of what life had in store for them. She tried to hide behind a play set but he leaped over the swings easily. Victoria jumped as Sirius almost grabbed her arm but slipped on a lily-pad that had been carried by the wind from its resting place. Sirius ignored his brother's laugh as his brows etched in determination.

Victoria ran again, always jumping slightly out of his grasp. When they stopped they ended up on opposite sides. "You're way too slow give it up."

"Never." Sirius motioned to Regulus, the kind of gesture only siblings would understand. Victoria was too busy trying to mock her opponent to see Regulus when he jumped out and tackled her over with all the strength he had.

"Gotcha!"

Victoria was caught in a fit of uncontrollable laughter as the brothers delivered an onslaught of tickled on to her.

"This...haha...is...cruel..hahaha."

Victoria was ignored and tried to wriggle her way out from under them to no avail. "Stop"

"Not unti-" Sirius stopped as he felt water hit his face; he raised his head to see dark clouds looming.

Victoria took her opportunity to attempt another escape. She was successful this time and triumphantly stood up.

"I knew you couldn't keep me down."

Sirius opened his mouth to retort, but turned his head when he heard a familiar calling.

"Boys it time to go."

Regulus ran inside to his mother throwing a quick goodbye Victoria's way. Sirius looked back at her, making a five-minute motion with his hands. This seemed to placate her as she was more preoccupied by the wrinkles and grass stains on her youngest's shirt.

"Why do you always have to go so soon?"

The rain was picking up. If it bothered them they didn't show any signs of it.

"You know how protective my mother is of us." Sirius said, a thoughtfulness that didn't belong on a young face. "Whenever Auntie comes over Mum never wants us around." Sirius placed a hand on his face in thought.

Victoria merely cocked her head in interest. She didn't understand the Blacks. Yes sometimes her family would fight as well. But, for the most part, all of them cared for one another. With the Blacks it was all about who was the best. Or who's children were the best. She didn't like it. Hearing Sirius talk about it always made her sad because she knew he didn't like it either but there was noting they could do.

"I think its because she has all girls and Mum only has boys." Sirius waved it off nonchalantly, "Something about family legacy or some rubbish like that."

Their clothes started to feel heavier now and they darkened in color.

Victoria pondered his statement and nodded with understanding. "I just hate that we don't get to spend as much time together anymore." Her voice trailed off at the end, she wriggled her toes into the grass her eyes were averted to.

"That gonna change now!" Sirius put a hand on her shoulder. "Now that we're gonna be at Hogwarts."

Victoria's face lit up in remembrance. "How could I forget?" She ignored the snide comment Sirius threw her way about her hair color. "I hope we get to be in the same house so we can be together all the time."

"Me too!"

"Sirius."

"Hmm."

Victoria paused slightly.

"What is it?"

Another pause. "Promise me we'll always be friends."

"Of course we are silly." Sirius shook his head at her.

"I know, but promise."

His smiled faded a bit when he heard the pleading in her voice. He couldn't blame her. Victoria didn't make friends often, mostly for the same reasons he didn't. They never knew when someone was being genuine. Or if their parents had sent them to be friends so that they could gain favor with their respective families.

That was probably why they became such good friends. They knew that the other was genuine and that they were on the same level. Even though Sirius' mother tired to put them above even the Malfoy's. He couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts so him and Victoria could break away. So they could be somewhat normal.

"I promise."

"Sirius Orion Black! Don't make me levitate you!"

"I'm coming."

They were soaking wet now. Neither cared though.

"A wand would come in handy right now." Sirius remarked.

"You probably wouldn't know how to use it anyway."

"What-"

"SIRIUS!"

"Gotta go."

"Bye."

The two stood there for another few moments before engaging in a hug.

Victoria smiled as walked into the house after Sirius to watch him Floo home.

Later, as her mother made a potion for her hair, she couldn't shake the feeling. The feeling that something was about to go wrong. But, she ignored it.

You should always go with your gut instinct.

;;

"Miss Malfoy!"

Victoria snapped up from a nap she didn't realize she was taking. Wiping the drool from her mouth, while making a disgusted face, she turned to be face Madame. Pinch. Groaning, she tried, to no avail, to wipe the wetness from the pages, not aware of the location of her wand at the moment.

"This is the third time this week I've caught you in here after curfew." Madame Pinch didn't seem to notice her victim had tuned out. "I could have sworn O.W.L's were last year."

Victoria sighed exasperatedly, "I'm sorry it won't happen again."

"I know you're a good girl Victoria." Pinch offered. "I just wish you would take better care of yourself."

"I have all for Spring Recess for that." Victoria started to gather her belongings and pulled back her hair that had fallen from the bun she so politely placed it in. Ungrateful hair. "Just let me stress over midterms for my last five days."

"I'll see you tomorrow." Madame Pinch gave a rare smile. "Same time."

"You know me too well."

Victoria said her goodbyes and walked down the empty corridors. She enjoyed these nightly walks. Without the pressure of having to do rounds, a nice walk is always refreshing.

Such a strange dream. Third time this week. So much has changed since then. She couldn't remember the last time Sirius and her had a conversation that didn't entail house pride. And that one time they got partnered in Potions. It wasn't that they didn't like each other. They just couldn't talk. It was complicated. She didn't like to think about it.

"Stop it!" A young woman's giggle caught her ears. "You're so bad."

Victoria made a sour face. She could just ignore it; she wasn't on rounds after all.

Yes, just go to your room and sleep.

Actually, maybe she would get an apple from the kitchens first.

"Haha." Another obnoxious giggle. "I'm serious."

Who was she kidding? Victoria knew that her Prefect senses were too strong to let this go.

Victoria opened the classroom door, prepared to dock points. Very happily, they sounded like Gryffindors.

"Sirius stop!" As she opened the door, ready to reprimand, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Sirius rolled his eyes as the door opened. His ran a hand through his head and turned around towards the door irritably.

He stared at Victoria and she stared back. They were locked in for what seemed like hours. Until Marlene made a noise.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor."

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh Malfoy."

Victoria never had a problem with Marlene before. She actually could tolerate her and acknowledged that she had vast skill. But for some reason seeing her now, she couldn't stand her.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you started sucking face past curfew."

Victoria stormed out and made her way down the corridor briskly. What was wrong with her? She couldn't get the lump out of her throat and her irritation level was through the roof.

"Victoria wait!"

She stopped is her tracks for a second before picking up her pace. But he was too fast.

Sirius ran forward and turned to face Victoria. "What was that about?"

"Well you were breaking the rules." Victoria started shifting through her bag. "Just doing my job."

"I still feel like that was unwarranted."

She wanted to slap that knowing smirk of his face. Who did he think he was?

"I hate you."

"Now we both know that's not true."

She sighed conceding. He was right. As per usual and she hated it.

The walked together at a slow pace. The moon was high. Not full as yet, but as close as it could get. The blue light shined on Sirius' face illuminating his handsome features.

"Where is McKinnon?" She wasn't really that interested. But she couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"You upset her." Sirius shrugged. "I hate dealing with her when she gets upset. She gets really irritated. So, I let her walk it off."

"Isn't she your girlfriend?"

"No."

Victoria turned to Sirius who was looking towards the windows of the hallway. Victoria tried to decipher what he was thinking. But then again, even when they were young she was never good at it.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not ready yet."

Victoria rolled her eyes, "You're a sixteen your old boy. Of course you think like that."

"I'm waiting for someone." He stated simply.

"Who?" Victoria could tell by the look on his face and his silence that she wasn't going to get anymore out of him.

"Sirius."

They had stopped in front of Gryffindor tower. The Fat Lady observed the two as the faced each other. She knew better than to disturb. A pregnant pause hung in the air.

"What happened with us?" Victoria didn't seem to be speaking to Sirius. She seemed lost in her own thoughts. "How did it get so bad?"

Sirius observed her in interest.

"Victoria."

She snapped out of her reverie. Victoria ran a hand through her hair and sighed disheartedly. "I gotta go."

Not waiting for reaction, Victoria walked past him and started her way back to her dorm.

Sirius didn't try to stop her. He ignored The Fat Lady's concerned looks as he walked in. If he was honest, it wasn't a conversation that he was ready to have yet if not at all.

;;

She hated this dress. Nothing made it look good. She tried to smooth out the creases. She put her hair up, she put it down. Settling for a mixture of both, she pulled on her silver flats. Green has never been her color. She much preferred red.

Sighing, she pulled on her favorite necklace. Lucius had brought it from France with him after a Ministry trip he had to take. It was beautiful. Bright pearls and glistening gems.

The Black's were coming over for Christmas Eve dinner. She hadn't seen Sirius since they last spoke. Hopefully, they could both subconsciously agree never to talk about the situation again.

"Victoria."

Victoria jumped slightly, turning to see her mother at her door.

"They're here darling."

"Alright, I'll be down in a second."

Her mother nodded and exited. Victoria took a deep breath and walked out after her mother.

Everyone was already seated by the time she had reached down the staircase. The lights from the festive celling brightened the faces of the table's inhabitants.

He looked irritated. It was obvious that there was some tension between mother and son. But Wallburga knew how to keep up her appearances. Sirius didn't care.

"Good night Mrs. Black, Mr. Black." She nodded her head slightly in respect.

"Hello Victoria. You look beautiful as always." Wallburga greeted. "I know you must be excited about your match with Evan. He's a wonderful boy."

Victoria jabbed her fork into her chicken. "Yes. He's very...wonderful."

She could see him trying to get her to make eye contact with him. She wasn't going to rise to it. She almost felt sorry for the chicken, lying there sadly with angry holes riddled through it.

Victoria felt a small kick. She pulled her legs into the table so his long ones couldn't reach. She could see him smirking through the corner of her eye. Still she ignored him. He stopped his antics when Wallburga silently reprimanded him with a look.

Dinner passed rather uneventfully after that. Only a friendly but heated but friendly debate about the Minister's new policies, stirred. But died down quickly.

After dinner, the adults made their way into the parlor to continue conversation. Regulus took to irritating Dobby, in jest of course. Victoria walked outside and, just as expected, Sirius followed her.

She sat down on her old swing set. She heard him sit on one adjacent to her. Victoria started to swing slightly back and forth, the wind was picking up and the momentum from the swing wasn't making it any better for her hair.

"I haven't been back here in years."

"Not my decision."

Sirius sighed. He turned his head toward her. "Are we ever going to talk about that night?"

She was silent, for a minute he wasn't sure if she had heard him. The creaking from the swing stopped and she put her feet upon the dirt below.

Victoria just turned to face him and rose silently.

Sirius followed her moments and moved to get up after her.

"Tag! You're it."

It took a moment for Sirius to register before he took off after her. She ran around the swing set and ended up in front of the pond.

"You're still too slow." She mocked. "I thought all those years of Quidditch would count for something."

"That's because you cheated." He called back. " You caught me completely off guard."

The chase began again. This time lasting longer than the last. All you could here is laugher and the sound of feet against the ground.

"Caught you!"

Victoria struggled under him; "You're much heavier now."

Sirius ignored her. "I think I deserve some praise. This is like catching a pixie. Let me enjoy it."

Victoria shook her head, biting her lip to hold in her giggles.

"Are you sure you want to make that decision?"

Victoria nodded mirth shining in her eyes.

She burst out into laughter as he launched an attack on her ribcage. She rolled around and tried to escape, but she was pinned to the ground below her.

"It's dirty!" She tried to say through her laughter. "Stop!"

"Say Sirius Black is the most amazing, handsome and wonderful person you have ever met."

"It's not good to lie. HAHA!" Victoria laughed so loud she could swear that her parents would hear. "Okay! Okay! Sirius Black is awesome! That's all you're getting."

Victoria took deep breaths as he let her go and laid down next to her.

"I'll take what I can get."

They lay there staring at the moon. They didn't need to talk. It was enough to just lie there together after all the time that passed.

"Why did we stop being friends?"

Victoria turned to Sirius, pondering his question. She turned her body to face his as he tilted his head towards her.

"Because you have more courage than anyone will ever know."

Sirius turned to her fully then. "You could too you know. Break away."

"I know I can." Victoria twirled her toe into the grass. "But do I want to? My parents have been good to me. They've given me everything I've ever wanted. It would be unfair to them. Especially now. I feel like I owe them, you know."

"You're they're kid. You don't owe them anything." Sirius inched his body closer to hers. "This is about Rosier isn't it?"

Victoria didn't answer. She continued to fidget her toe. There was now a small hole in the dirt.

"You don't have to do it you know." Victoria's silence told him she didn't enjoy talking about the subject.

"Let's go for a swim." Sirius jumped up and pulled Victoria with him.

Before she could protest Sirius has pulled her into the water. The fish fled to escape them. Victoria gasped for breath as she resurfaced.

"I can't believe you just did that." She splashed him with water when he came up.

Sirius merely just laughed. Louder than she's ever heard him laugh.

"They make you happy?" Victoria smiled. "Your friends."

"Yes." Sirius swam circles around her. "But they're not who I'm with right now are they?"

Victoria opened her mouth to answer stopping when she felt water fall on top of her from above. She looked up letting the rain wash down on her face. Shaking her soaked hair from side to side, raising her arms she smiled.

Rain always made her happy. Maybe it was because of her childhood memories. But mostly because the rain washed away all of her problems. In the rain she could forget about everything and just be.

Sirius watched her take in the rain in awe. Where was this this person? He hadn't seen here in years. This was the Victoria he remembered.

"'Tori."

"Hmm"

Before he could stop himself, it happened.

Even though water surrounded them, she felt as if she was on fire. She didn't think she just acted. She ran her hands through his hair as they kissed. He pulled her closer to him as the kiss deepened.

There were years and years of unspoken words in that kiss. Years of forgotten companionship.

They intertwined their fingers together as they pulled away from each other. They stared at each other. No words were necessary.

Sirius pushed her hair out of her face placing a small kiss on here forehead. Victoria tried to regulate her breathing. The warmth was gone and now she felt extremely cold. Incomplete.

"I love you."

Victoria's head snapped up. Had she just heard correctly or was her imagination playing a cruel game with her. She scanned his face for signs of jest but found none.

He looked down on her with such earnest emotion she felt as if she wanted to forget everything and just be with him.

"I think I've always known. That it would be you." Sirius continued. "That's why I haven't really been with anyone."

"I love you too." Victoria placed her hands in his again. "It hurt me so much when we couldn't be friends anymore. I thought you had forgotten about me."

"That can never happen. Even if things don't work out," He trailed off. "Just know that I will always love you."

Victoria didn't want to hear him talk about the inevitable any longer. She placed her mouth on his and tried to forget about the future.

It was unfair. They were good people. They had done nothing to share such a fate. Especially Sirius. Victoria couldn't count the nights she cried for him. But he took it in stride just like everything in his life. She envied his bravery. The sorting hat most certainly picked correctly.

"Boy! It's time to go."

The lopsided grin on Sirius' face faded as he heard his mothers summon. His eyes narrowed as he looked in her direction. He didn't bother to answer her back before she walked inside. They pulled themselves out of the pond trying to sake the water off.

He turned to Victoria, doing a quick charm to dry their clothing.

"You're not supposed to do that."

Sirius just smirked at her as she shook her head. "I have to go."

"I know."

Neither wanted to let go of the other. They stayed standing together looking down. Sirius pulled Victoria into a huge hug. She just held him trying not to let the tears fall from her eyes. They were getting wet again but neither cared.

It wasn't until Wallburga came out with another threat when they let go.

"Bye."

"Bye."

;;

Victoria looked up into the sky when he was out of her sight. She stayed out there well after the Blacks had left. Her parents leaving her to her own devices. But no matter how long she stayed, the rain couldn't wash this away.

Victoria closed her book and swung her feet off the bed. She slipped on her shoes, pining her badge onto her blouse.

When she reached down the staircase, Regulus walked inside the common room. He spotted her and nodded in her direction.

Victoria waved and moved to walk past him.

"He asks about you all the time you know." She stopped in her path hearing his words.

"We don't talk much. But when ever we do he asks."

"Why does he care?" Victoria turned on him, "He has his girlfriend to content with?"

Victoria hadn't talk to Sirius since they got back. It was like an unspoken pact to forget the night ever happened. It was easier that way. The only thing they shared since their return was a few awkward glances.

"He has to move on with his life, Victoria." Regulus looked sympathetic. "So do you."

Victoria played with her hands and they stood in an awkward silence.

"Well I have to go to my room." He trailed off. "Hey Victoria."

She looked up at him. Even though he was two years younger than her she still had to look up at him. They got their height from their mother.

"Yes."

He stared at her for a few seconds then turned back towards the staircase. "Nothing. Forget it." Sighing he walked up and the sound of the door shutting came soon after.

;;

It was another boring summer day. Curled up on the bed with a book and a cool breeze, Victoria was content.

Crash

She jumped up in shock as Sirius came flying through her window.

"Oh my God!"

She ran over and helped him up from his place on the floor. Sirius looked up at her with a wild grin on his face.

"Hi."

"You come flying into my room after months of not talking and all you can say is 'Hi'?" He had gone mad. It's finally happened.

"I left." They sat down on Victoria's bed; Victoria brushed leaves off of his shoulders. He was flying recklessly again. She scowled.

"What?" He wasn't listening to her. He continued with his story.

"I feel so exilerated right now. Like I could do anything."

Victoria melted as he moved his lips against hers. Sirius pulled the back of her head toward him. He held her face in front of hers. He looked into her eyes and smiled.

"Come with me."

Victoria knew what he was going to ask before the words came out of his mouth. She placed her hands on his and removed them from her face. She held his hand in her and kissed it. Not taking her eyes off of him.

Sirius sighed in understanding. "I know. It was selfish of me to ask."

"No. That's not it." She reassured him. "I just hope that this will make you happy."

A few moments later they stood in front of the window. Breeze was blowing the curtains into the room, falling over their faces. Sirius held his broom next to him ready to take off into the warm night's sky.

Victoria pulled him into a hug. "I'll miss you."

Sirius didn't say anything.

Every time he kissed her it was different. The first time it was new and full of passion. The second was softer, more emotion filled. The last filled with sorrow and regret.

She cried for three days after he left. It hurt to think about. It hurt do anything.

Victoria never really saw Sirius again after that. When they graduated she got married and settled into her life. She was never happy. But, she was content because she knew that no one else was for her but him. And it hurt.