Sirius Black was not happy to say the least and for once his situation couldn’t be blamed on anyone but himself a fact that made even more annoyed then he was to begin with.

He had thought that he had made things perfectly clear to his ex girlfriend Melissa Phillips when they had last spoken that he wanted nothing to do with the baby she was carrying at the time, as far as he was concerned she and the baby were on their own.

Deep down he felt awful that he could discard his own flesh and blood so easily not to mention the only woman he had ever loved but he had decided it was for the best. Sirius knew nothing about raising a child nor did he want to know, he would just end up like his parents and he wasn’t ready at 23 to deal with that responsibility. He stayed awake at night often thinking about the pair of them but his mind was made up and that was that.

He hadn’t been in contact with her since, not even when she had owled him telling him that they had a son and she had called him Aidan, the money he paid her for their sons keep was sent through the bank so he hadn’t even seen them since, he heard from his adopted sister Carys, who was friends with Melissa, that the older girl was coping remarkably well but other than that she said nothing more. That had been the state of thing up until the previous day when things changed.

He had been in his large bachelor flat where he lived, cooking himself some pasta while he read an article in the Daily prophet that was making him laugh when the phone that had been installed before he had brought the flat, rang.

He had assumed that it was Carys or his older adopted sister Sophie, even though both of them were married with homes to run and jobs, not to mention two small boys in the case of Carys, both rang him weekly to make sure he was ok, they were not very happy that he was living alone but as Sirius told them several times he didn’t have much choice, James Potter and Remus Lupin were both happily married, Remus to Carys herself and Peter Pettigrew was shacked up with his girlfriend of several years Sarah Robertson and Sirius didn’t want to live with anyone else.

He certainly had not expected a soft, slightly husky feminine voice speak

“Sirius?” he had blinked in surprise and lowered the heat of the pasta before leaning against the fridge, a slight frown on his face as he tried to remember if he had given his number to any girls recently.

“Speaking” he had replied. There was a slight pause and then the girl took in a deep breath he could hear and spoke hesitantly

“It’s Melissa” Sirius froze staring into the distance his thoughts running riot

“Oh” was all he managed before she began talking, her voice hypnotising him before he realised it. The conversation was mercifully brief but strained and each word seemed to cut deeper into Sirius then the previous one had. He had almost hung up several times but in the end he didn’t. He had listened to every word she had said and in the end had agreed that she was in a dilemma and he would help Carys look after their son tomorrow for 4 hours since Carys would be stretched with making dinner for 11 people to begin with, 12 now with Aidan not to mention taking care of her own small family.

It was a bit of relief to him that she hadn’t asked him to take care of the baby by himself nor had she asked him to take the baby to his house. She had just rang to warn him that the baby was there and that Carys had asked for his assistance, she had also stated that it would make her feel better if Sirius was there as well though she hadn’t said anything more on the subject.

As soon as the conversation was over he had rang up the Lupin’s house ready to give his younger sister a piece of his mind, firstly for giving Melissa his number in the first place and secondly for interfering. It was quite lucky then that the phone was answered by a calm Irish voice that belonged to his best friend Remus.

Sirius had informed Remus of everything that had happened and once he had finished a silence met him Remus had eventually spoken and informed Sirius that his wife had nothing to do with it, Melissa had asked for the number and Carys hadn’t thought anything of it and given it, it was only afterwards that she realised and as for the baby being there Melissa and Carys were friends so it was natural that Melissa would turn to Carys in her hour of need. He told Sirius he was there for him and then he had to go because his Son Dominic had just whacked his head again a chair leg and was screaming his woe to the world.

Sirius slept badly that night and arrived at the Lupin’s small but charming house looking pale and tired looking, his face in a frown that made Remus, who had answered the door holding a curly haired baby, give him a sympathetic look and clap him on the shoulder squeezing it in a move of comfort.

He had led the other man into the large kitchen where Carys was preparing the food looking in her element as she sang along with the radio dancing slightly with the beat, she had glanced up and opened her mouth to speak when Remus had stopped her with a look, he had passed the baby to Sirius and smiled at the look of relief that Sirius had given him, throughout their time at school Sirius had undertaken the protection of Remus himself and now it seemed that Remus was returning the favour.

It didn’t take long for Lily and James Potter to turn up with their two children Harry and Louise and Peter and Sarah had followed about 30 minutes later. The conversation flowed and even Sirius began to loosen up, that was until 11.15 when the doorbell had rang reducing them all to silence. Carys had glanced up from the mixture she was stirring and shared a look with Remus before wiping her floury hands on the nearest towel.

“Excuse me” she said in her quiet voice and had slipped out of the room; Sirius dropped his eyes from James’s, his face falling into a frown even as his hands curled into fist, he felt sick and he wanted to get out of there more than he had wanted anything else but he couldn’t. It certainly didn’t help when they all heard Carys call out

“Oh Melissa, he’s beautiful isn’t he, look at that eye colour and that smile” they didn’t hear anything after that, just murmurs and the faint sound of laughter. The door opened a second later and Carys entered, her pale cheeks flushed and her eyes twinkling as she giggled at something “Come in Sweetie, you know you’re welcome here” she sent a look at James, Remus, Peter and Sirius warning them what would happen if they said anything.
She glanced back at the door as a beautiful girl of about 22 entered, she was tallish and slim, her figure was hidden by a long black coat but it was clear that she was wearing a skirt if the show of legs and the high heels were anything to go by. Her hair was a rich brown and currently tied up in a chignon with tendrils escaping to surround an oval face with clear, creamy skin and rosy cheeks. Her eyes were large and bright stunning blue that seemed to pierce the soul and that were currently twinkling merrily and she smiled brightly in a way that produced dimples in her cheeks. They couldn’t see what the baby in her arms looked like because his face was buried in his mother’s shoulder, he was wearing dark jeans and a blue coats that matched his woolly blue hat which hid his hair colour from them.

“Morning everyone” she said hesitantly her smile lessening slightly, she shifted awkwardly at the silence and her eyes found Carys’s.

“It’s great to see you again Mel” Lily said briskly, she had always gotten on well with the younger girl and she didn’t see any reason to make her feel worse then she obviously already did, it couldn’t have been easy being there after all. Melissa eyes met the emerald green ones in relief and she smiled