Disclaimer- I own nothing.
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"It's kind of like you killed a part of her happiness."
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Sirius was never good with love. At least, not until he met Reese.
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They met during their first year. She was sorted into Gryffindor, and she was as Gryffindor as they get.
She's brave, but she has a bubbly personality and when she sits across from him at the Gryffindor table he notices she has on yellow nail polish.
"I'm Sirius." He introduces himself as she finally takes notice in him.
"I'm Reese." She says happily, smiling and reaching out her tiny hand for him to shake. Sirius shakes it, staring at her bright nails before looking back up at her.
"I'm James." James introduces smoothly, reaching out his hand as well. She continues to smile as she shakes his hand as well.
When the introducing is over, she goes back to cheering for other first years.
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"Hey Sirius." Reese says, plopping beside him in the Common Room. He glares at her as she pulls her shoulder blade length blonde hair back in a messy ponytail.
"What do you want Esther?" He grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest as he crumbles his parent's letter. Its fifth year and they still send him hate letters about being in Gryffindor. Reese looks a little put down when he uses her last name, but she quickly covers it up like putting make- up on to cover blemishes.
"Nothing. I'm lonely. James ticked Lily off and now she's complaining about him in the dorms. But I like James, so I don't want to hear the stuff she says about him." She explains quickly, pulling her legs up to show her feet in fuzzy yellow socks to match her still yellow finger nails.
"Then why don't you go find James?" He asks, turning his glare to the fire.
"Because I like you better." She replies happily, like announcing the weather. He looks over at her with a confused look, but she's looking down at her nails happily to make sure there aren't chips in her nail polish.
"You're a strange one Reese." He chuckles, making her giggle and nod.
"I know." She sighs, yawning and laying her head gently in his lap. He smiles as he realizes the real time and her reason for coming down.
It's weird because most girls simply fall over for the womanizer, but would never come to cheer him up. So, he pulls a blanket from over the edge of the couch and lays it over her while putting his legs up on the coffee table in front of him and leans back to fall asleep like the girl with the yellow nail polish and thanks Merlin it's Friday.
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Whenever Sirius is upset, he goes to Reese from that fateful Friday. She always cheers him up.
By the end of fifth year she is almost as close to him as James and Remus.
They know all of each other's secrets, from the fact that Sirius hates his parents, to Reese's love for drawing.
But she keeps one secret to herself. She has fallen for the famous womanizer, Sirius Black.
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Seventh year comes too quickly and Sirius feels like his life is spinning out of control. He left his parents' house and moved into an apartment not far from James' house.
He can't find Reese on the train and, not that he'd ever admit it, he panicked a little. When the train reaches its destination, he looks around until he finally sees her blond hair going straight down her tiny back.
He races to her and lifts her up, hugging her so tightly all the wind is knocked from her.
"Don't scare me like that again." He breathes, her sweet scent filling his senses.
"Sorry." She giggles, hugging him around his neck. He laughs and sets her down, waiting for the other Marauders to catch up.
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"Sirius, have you ever liked anyone more than just a conquest?" Reese asks him out of the blue as she sits on his bed, helping Sirius pick out a shirt for his date with Bonnie, a Sixth Year Ravenclaw.
"Hmm, I don't know. I think once." He says, turning to look at her. She nods before looking up at his shirt.
"That's the one." She says, forcing a smile and getting up.
"Where are you going?" He asks, running a hand through his hair.
"I dunno. I'll find someone to go to Hogsmade with." She says, shrugging and going down the steps.
Sirius sighs and sits on the side of his bed. If only she knew.
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Their relationship starts going downhill from there. She starts avoiding him by getting up early and eating then going to the library to 'study' then gets to class just before the bell so she has to sit in the back.
He tries to keep up with her, to talk to her, but she keeps running.
But he simply runs right after her.
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She's sitting in the library, sketching while she daydreams. Sirius and James stand behind in an aisle a few feet away from her and watch her back while they whisper.
"Just do it. The worse that can happen is she laughs at you." James urges, giving him a light push. Sirius sighs and heads toward her slowly, setting a large hand on her tiny shoulder, making her jump.
"Hey." He says, watching her blush while she smiles up at him.
"Hey." She says quietly, hiding her drawing and stuffing it into her bag.
He lightly takes her hand and pulls her gently so she's standing before him, the top of her head just reaching his chin. He tilts her head up using his pointer under her chin and kisses her. And so what if he has kissed many girls in the past? This kiss was the best kiss of his life.
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Seventh Year ends with many goodbyes. Surprisingly Lily gave into James and they were a couple, alongside Sirius and Reese.
Sirius fully moved into his new apartment with some (a lot) of help from Reese.
"You love me." She states one night while they watch a television show, sitting on the couch. He looks over at her to find her looking at him with a small smile on her face. He busies himself by rubbing her small; jean clad calves and looks back at the screen.
"Do I?" He asks, his voice a little rough.
"Yeah… It's okay though. Because I guess I love you back." She says, pulling her legs back and crawling over to him. She pulls his arm around her shoulders and lays her head on his chest, closing her eyes. He smiles and twirls a piece of her hair around his long finger.
"That's a relief." He jokes finally, making her giggle and smack him lightly in the stomach.
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One day while getting the mail, Sirius meets Jackie, the girl next door. She's about his height with long dark hair and curvy body.
"Hey, you must be the new guy. I'm Jackie." She introduces a glint in her eyes that makes Sirius' mouth water.
"Sirius." He says, shaking her hand as he remembers Reese.
"So, if that girlfriend of yours isn't around, come see me. I'm across the hall from you." She winks before going up the steps back to her room.
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"Where did you get this?" Reese asks, tracing a black and blue hickey one his shoulder as they lay in bed together.
"I dunno. You?" He says, shrugging. But truthfully, he knows it's from Jackie.
"Maybe." She sighs, laying her ear on his heart and closing her eyes.
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Over the month, Sirius starts canceling dates and honestly, it hurts Reese.
On his birthday she planned to surprise him with some doughnuts from his favorite coffee shop down the block.
She came in and set the doughnuts on his counter when she hears noises from one of the back rooms. Slowly, she moves to the bedroom and pushes open the door to find Sirius on the floor with a girl she didn't know. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and shut the door softly. She quickly moves to the doughnuts and grabs them, leaving his flat.
She goes to the first person she thinks of, Lily.
James was over but she didn't care. "He's cheating." She whispers, biting her lip and clutching her box of doughnuts in her hands.
Lily listens and hugs her while she cries and shoves doughnuts down her throat.
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She pretends nothing happens, though she seems to get more depressed by every canceled date.
When he finally decides to see her, her hair is straight, her jewelry is missing and her nails are painted black.
"Reese? Babe, what's wrong?" He asks, quickly slides in the booth across from her. That was another stab to the heart. They usually sat on the same side. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before looking up at him. No happiness or bubbliness.
"This isn't working Sirius." She whispers.
"Why not? I'm sorry I haven't been able to see-" He began.
"I saw you Sirius. With your neighbor." She sighs, reaching in her purse and grabbing a small package.
"I don't know what you're talking about. It wasn't me." He says instantly, lying easily.
"Why would two people shag in your house?" She snaps, glaring at him before sighing and quickly wiping at her eyes. "I've tried to pretend, but I've had enough Sirius."
She gets up quickly, throwing the package at him and a few galleons for the drinks she had before leaving the Leaky Cauldron.
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Sirius opens the package when he gets home, looking at the pictures of them that were taken through the years and the ones of them as a couple. He shifts through the pressed flowers and small gifts he had given before finding a picture of him kissing Jackie furiously. He sighs and sits on his bed, wishing he could take it all back.
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"It's kind of like you killed a part of her happiness." James tells him while they drink at a club.
"Has she gone back to the yellow nail polish yet?" Sirius asks, sighing in defeat when his mate shakes his head.
"It's been two months mate. She's got a job offer in Ireland and she doesn't need to worry about you." James said, taking a gulp of his drink.
"I've screwed everything up." Sirius sighs, closing his eyes.
"Yeah, you deserve what you're getting." James says, making Sirius flinch. Sirius knew he was doing this because James was like Reese's older brother and he would do anything for her.
"Thanks mate." Sirius says, getting up.
"For what?" The messy haired man asks, looking up at him.
"For not taking it easy on me." Sirius says before leaving the club.
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Sirius races through the Ministry, trying to reach the International Floo as fast as he could. He finally reaches it, spotting Reese.
"Reese!" He yells, pushing people aside to get to her. She turns and smiles, a real happy smile, and moves from the fireplace to meet him halfway. She drops her two suitcases and jumps into his arms, her legs going around his waist.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He breathes while kissing her face all over. She's crying and laughing and smiling all at the same time and they feel whole again. "I promise, this is just a bump in the road."
When he takes her home, she takes time to change her black nail polish back to yellow.
And yeah, it's kind of cliché, but it's also perfect.