𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍.
chapter fifty; Family Lives At Hogwarts
" You don't like it when you're the one left out, do you? "

  HOGWARTS WAS OVER. Alright, this was an exaggeration, it was the day before Madeline would leave Hogwarts and never return as a student. It felt a bit too surreal for her taste.

  Things had wrapped up within the past week, no more NEWTs, Gryffindor winning the house cup (and Madeline telling James she allowed them to win), but she still wanted one more thing. One last memory to cement the memory of Hogwarts into her brain— the one that would sum up her schooling and friendships and everything that felt like it mattered at the time.

  "Sirius!" The brunette announced herself as she barged into the Marauders' dorm, making the boy himself groan, "It is nearly 10, why are you sleeping?"

  "Bored," Sirius mumbled into his pillow, reaching a hand out and waving it around until Madeline grabbed it, "Hi."

  "It's our last night," Madeline laughed, tugging on his arm, "I wanna do something."

  "That can be arranged—"

  A laugh escaped Madeline's lips as Sirius pulled her into the four-poster bed, peppering exaggerated and sloppy kisses all over her face.

  "Sirius!"

  "Maddie!" He mocked, pausing his attack and smiling down at the girl, "Yes?"

  "Get dressed, we have things to do," She said seriously but was back to laughing in an instant as Sirius resumed his antics. "Doll— Sirius—"

  "Okay, okay," Sirius sighed dramatically, rolling off of the girl and slipping into a puddle on the ground, "I'll get dressed."

  Madeline smiled as Sirius slunk towards his trunk, digging through the clothes lazily. But her happiness melted into annoyance after Sirius traded outfits for the fourth time. At some point, she'd reached her breaking point and stood from the bed without much regard for the new clothes he'd spread across the floor.

  "Come on," Madeline's voice turned to a whine, tugging on Sirius Black's leather jacket. The boy chuckled, pulling her under his arm falling in step.

  "Where are we going?"

  "The pitch," She answered easily, one arm curling around Sirius' middle, "Do you remember the night. . . everything happened?"

  "Not an easy thing to forget."

  "I want a redo," Madeline said softly, a small smile playing on her lips, "A better memory. And since tonight is the last night I can do that. . ."

  Sirius let out another breathy chuckle, pressing an exaggerated kiss to the top of Madeline's head. They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, Madeline's free hand toyed with Sirius' fingers as they made their way through the twisting castle.

  Sirius only stopped walking when he saw a small crowd huddled on the pitch.

  Sure, he'd made up with everyone. Things were supposed to be alright, but the pitch festered anxiety and insecurity within the boy, the sight of his friends happily sitting down made him panic— would he ruin it?

  "Mads—"

  "Trust me," Madeline almost whispered, blocking Sirius' view. She gave him a soft smile, reaching out and entangling her fingers with his, "Redo."

  He hesitated for a moment but ultimately allowed the girl to pull him along. The happiness was contagious, and Sirius Black was not immune.

  Remus Lupin was laying on a handmade quilt, his lanky body taking up its full length, eyes cast to the stars that seemed especially bright, Lily Evans laying beside him with a half-smile, the duo talking about something obviously amusing. Peter Pettigrew was talking to Kai Declan, the latter hardly able to keep a straight face as he did, with Bluebelle Walters grinning just as brightly under his arm. James Potter was sitting beside Lily, her red hair splayed on his thigh, his eyes focused on the small snitch that hovered around him.

  Madeline walked ahead of Sirius, the group letting out an obnoxious cheer. Lily sat up, making James frown slightly, but when the redhead pulled his sister down onto the blanket he snorted. Madeline retaliated, ruffling his hair, to which he cried out.

  "Sirius?"

  How had he missed him? The mirror image, some would say. Just smaller. Regulus Black was sitting criss-cross, nervously tugging at his long, black locks. The air in Sirius' lungs left instantly, his blood running cold.

  "Reg?"

  "I hope it's okay I invited him," Madeline said, her voice like honey compared to that of the Black brothers'.

  "Yea— Yeah," Sirius nodded rapidly, eyes flitting between his girlfriend and his brother, "More than okay— yeah."

  Sirius swore a smile crossed Regulus' face.

  "C'mon, mate, are you gonna stand there all night?" James questioned loudly, Sirius' smile blossomed quickly, making his way to the small spot between Madeline and Regulus.

  Madeline tucked herself into Sirius' side, laughing as she accepted a bottle of firewhiskey Remus produced from a cardigan pocket. Quickly enough, the thing was being passed around, the summer night air not doing enough to keep the teens cool.

  But Sirius was happy. He sat back, watching Madeline and James chat animatedly— no argument brewing on the horizon. Lily had moved to sit between James' legs, leaning back against his chest, she too taking part in the reminiscing. Bluebelle had brought up the first quidditch game Madeline played in which caused a round of laughter, and a small blush on James' cheeks.

  All was going smoothly until Peter made a joke about the moon that was far too obvious for the trip of Ravenclaws not to put it together.

  "Wait, Remus is a werewolf?" Madeline questioned, baffled.

  "She didn't know?" Marlene asked.

  "They're all anamagi, too," Lily said after sipping the fire whiskey.

  Madeline just looked around at the Marauders, astonished. No one aside Bluebelle and Kai looked as shocked as she, which only fueled her confusion.

  "You don't like it when you're the one left out, do you?"

  Madeline scoffed, thumping James on the back of his head for the comment. Remus has been on edge, until the brunette leaned over Sirius to briefly squeeze his hand. The boy relaxed, returning Madeline's smile with one of his own.

  Sirius accepted the firewhiskey from Kai, taking a swig before offering it to Regulus. The boy seemed to hesitate, and just as Sirius frowned, turning to pass it to James, his brother pulled the bottle from his hands, taking a large drink.

  And then coughing half of it back up.

  Sirius snorted, making Regulus glare, but when all Sirius could do was cover his mouth, the boy began laughing too.

  After what felt like hours of festivities, the teens had all taken to laying on the sea of quilts. Eyes cast up at the stars, shining just for them. The ones on the precipice of adulthood, a war had been incited outside the walls of Hogwarts that could only protect them for one more night.

  But, for the first time in their short lives, that didn't seem so scary.

  Because they were together. A family that would make it out the other side. A little broken, yes, some would call them dysfunctional. But they were a family.

  And wasn't that the point?

( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
before i get into the sequel info,
I just want to quickly say thank you
all so much, I never imagined this 
would hit 160k reads (as I'm writing this),
as stated many times before this plot
wasn't ever thought out that much,
i just knew I love Sirius Black SO MUCH
and needed to write a story and here
we are???
Okay, sequel, I'm trying to decide if 
I want to start from sorcerer's stone or
POA so, input? Other than that it's basically
ready to post and will probably be up this week?
I'm really excited to continue this story
into golden trio era :') so thank you
guys so much for all this support and
feedback I continue to be shellshocked by it.