Star Crossed Lovers {A Sirius Black/OC Story}

[Elizabeth Halliwell]

Chapter One: First Meeting

The train's whistle blew loudly over the heads of the crowd and a small family looked up at the scarlet steam engine.

"You two had better hurry up!" Said a kind lady by the name of Lorie Lupin.

"Thanks for bringing me today, Mrs. Lupin." A small boy with untidy black hair said.

"You're very welcome, James dear." Lorie said kindly, smiling down at him, "Now go. You're brothers are already on. They'll look after you." She turned to her daughter.

The pretty little girl grimaced. "Mum, I don't really have to listen to Cameron, do I?" She whined.

Lorie just shook her head indulgently. "Get going, Lizzie! You'll miss the train!" As if to confirm this statement, the whistle blew again. She hugged Lizzie and James one last time and pushed them toward the train. "Have a good term, and try to stay out of trouble!"

Lizzie and James laughed as the boarded the train. They hung out of the window in order to wave as the train began to move. It picked up speed and turned a corner, and Lorie was lost to view. They turned to each other and began to grin widely.

"This is it!" Lizzie exclaimed. "We're finally headed to Hogwarts!" Her look turned from dejected at leaving her family to excitement at the prospect.

"I know!" James was just as excited. "We've been waiting for this for years. It's about time!"

"We need to find a place to sit." Lizzie noted as she glanced up and down the corridor. "Come on."

They began to heave their trunks off down the train looking for a compartment that wasn't full. Near the end of the train they found one that was empty except for two boys. They were sitting as far from each other as possible in the small space and they were avoiding looking at each other. One of them was reading a huge book in his lap.

The boy who was reading was very small and scrawny. He had a sallow face with a pallid complextion. His hair hung in damp curtains on either side of his face. The other boy was tall for his age and undeniably handsome. His black hair fell elegantly across his forehead and his eyes were a stunning shade of grey. They both looked up as James slid open the door.

"Hey, do you mind if we sit in here? Everywhere else is full." He asked them. Both boys' eyes flickered to Lizzie. The scrawny boy looked away at once, but the handsome boy kept staring. He grinned a crooked grin at Lizzie, which she returned without hesitancy. The other boy had gone back to reading his book.

"No, I don't mind." The handsome boy said. He watched as they stowed their trunks in the luggage rack and sat down. "My name's Sirius Black. Who are you?" He asked, looking interested. His eyes kept flicking back to Lizzie.

"I'm James Potter." James told him, sounding rather proud. "And this is my friend-"

"I can introduce myself, James." Lizzie told him scathingly. She turned back to Sirius. "I'm Elizabeth Lupin. People call me Lizzie. It's nice to meet you." She said with a smile.

With that the ice was broke. They sat talking about Quidditch for a couple of minutes. It was then that the compartment door opened again and they turned to see a pretty girl with long red hair standing there. She walked over to the other boy in the compartment. They heard the girl call him Severus, but they didn't listen to rest of the words they exchanged until...

"You better be in Slytherin." They scrawny boy told the girl.

"Slytherin?" James said to him. "If they tried to put me in Slytherin, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" He asked Sirius.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin." Sirius said, looking rather haughty.

"Oh man! And I thought you were alright!" James exclaimed.

"Well, maybe I'll break the tradition." Sirius said with a smirk. "Where would you go, if you had the choice?"

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad." James said proudly. The scrawny boy snorted.

"I can see why you would want to be in Slytherin, Snivelly." James said rudely. Lizzie elbowed him in the ribs.

"Be nice." She muttered through her teeth.

"Let's go, Severus." The red haired girl said and they both got up and exited the compartment.

James and Sirius sat shaking their heads. As the train sped north, the talk turned to their families. They all had a great time eating their way through a mound of sweets and arguing over how they were to be sorted. The scenery outside the window was getting wilder when the compartment door opened yet again. There stood a pale, sickly looking boy with light brown hair and circles under his eyes.

"Remus!" Cried Lizzie, standing up to embrace him. James shook his hand with a smile.

"Hey Lizzie, James." Remus said beaming as he looked at his friends.

"Sit down, Remus." Lizzie said. She turned to Sirius once again. "This is my cousin, Remus Lupin. Remus, this is Sirius Black."

They shook hands and from then on they all sat together and talked. In no time at all it seemed that the train was slowing down and getting ready to stop. They all disembarked the train and followed a giant of a man to a small fleet of boats. They climbed happily into the boats and soon had their first view of the great castle with it's many turrets and towers. They all left the boats and headed into the castle. They stood in a small antechamber, awaiting their turn to go out and be sorted into their houses. No one talked much.

Soon, the strict looking professor came back and lead them into a great hall packed with students all wearing black. They stood still as the professor sat a three legged stool down and put on top of it and old frayed wizards hat. They stared in amazement as the brim ripped open and the hat began to sing. Lizzie couldn't help but clap with the rest of the students when the hat finished it's song.

Students began to try on the hat as their names were called. Lizzie watched as Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor and cheered with the rest of that house. Soon it was her turn. She stumbled foward and sat on the stool with the had on her head.

"Now, this is very difficult." Said a small voice in her ear. "A brilliant mind, I see. Good quality for Ravenclaw. Trouble maker too. Tons of courage. Talent and bravery. Where to put you? Ravenclaw, Slytherin, or Gryffindor?"

Lizzie sat completely silent as the hat said all of this. She was terrified of the hell she would have to deal with if she was put in Slytherin. Her brothers, all Gryffindors, would be unbearable. She heaved a sigh of relief when the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" She ran off to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Sirius.

"Well done, beautiful." Sirius said in her ear, making her blush.

Lizzie watched as Remus and then James were sorted into Gryffindor with her. They came to sit with her and Sirius. There was also a small boy with watery eyes named Peter. They included him in their conversation, feeling kind of bad for him seeing as how he knew no one. Then it was time to go to bed.

Lizzie lay in her bed late the night feeling elated. The red haired girl in the compartment had also been put into Gryffindor. They had talked a bit before bed. Lizzie liked her. She was smart and funny. She thought that they would be good friends, if James could keep his fat mouth shut.

As she turned over, Lizzie's thought turned to Sirius. She had to admit, young as she was, that he was very handsome. It was with his face in her mind that she fell asleep that night.

[Elizabeth Halliwell]

Chapter Two: Summer at the Lupins

"So, everyone is coming to my house this summer and you have to be there." It was the end of their fifth year and Lizzie was crossing back into the muggle world with her friend Lily.

"Is Potter going to be there?" Lily asked uncertainly. She didn't like James all that much. It couldn't be helped with him hitting on her left, right, and center. She wished that he would go hit on himself with a cauldron.

Lizzie laughed. "I made him promise not to bother you in any way. No flirting, no jinxing." She assured Lily. "He'll be bored, but he'll get over it. Him and Sirius can go hide somewhere and we can have all the fun."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Like you'd have any fun with Black in hiding."

Lizzie chose to ignore that comment. "Please come." She begged. "You can't leave me alone with all those guys!"

"I thought Mary was coming." Lily said innocently. Mary MacDonald was another one of their friends.

"I don't care." Lizzie said stubbornly. "I still need you. Please?"

Lily sighed. "Fine. I'll come, but Potter had better not ask me out again."

Lizzie clapped her hands happily and hugged Lily. "Thanks. I'll see you in a week." She flew off after her brother.

Lily stood looking at her, not able to stop herself from smiling. It was true that she didn't like Potter hitting on her, but for some reason she found herself softening toward him lately. She wondered why that was. She looked around for her parents and spotted Severus Snape nearby. He looked as if he was about to talk to her, but she turned her back on him and left.

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Lizzie bounced down the stairs of her house feeling excited. James, his parents, and Sirius would be arriving any minute. Her dad had just left to go and get Mary and Lily. Remus and Peter would be arriving within the hour. All would be travelling by floo powder. Her brothers were also coming. Lizzie had five brothers, only one still living at home. She was mostly excited about seeing her oldest brother Matthew. She had always been closest to him.

Lizzie turned and entered the kitchen when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She wasn't surprised to see her mother there. Baking was Lorie Lupin's favorite hobby. Right now, the scent of cookies filled the place.

"Mmm, cookies." Lizzie said happily, "Peanut butter? Can I have one?"

"Now, Lizzie. These cookies are for your guests." He mother told her.

"Please?" Lizzie begged with a cute pout.

Lorie chuckled. Her daughter was such a ham. "Okay, fine. Just one. hurry up, the Potters will be here any moment."

Lizzie triumphantly took at cookie and shoved it into her mouth. She had just finished the last bite when they heard a whooshing in the fireplace behind them.

James Potter stepped out of the emerald flames, brushing soot from his shirt. He smiled when he spotted Lizzie. "Hey Liz. Long time, no see."

Lizzie just rolled her eyes and James turned to greet her mother. Lizzie's eyes stayed on the fireplace. Any second now...

Another figure appeared spinning fast. It stopped and Sirius Black stepped out of the grate. Lizzie felt her heart flutter. She had liked Sirius Black ever since her first year at Hogwarts. He winked at her. "Hey mate." He said to her. "Miss me?" He asked with a cheeky grin.

"Terribly." Lizzie said with another roll of her eyes. "I didn't know how I would go on."

Sirius just grinned and moved out of the way as Mr. and Mrs. Potter appeared. James's parents hugged Lizzie and then turned to talk to Mrs. Lupin.

"Let's get out of here." Lizzie said, grabbing James and Sirius's hands and pulling them into the sitting room. They all sat down. "The others should be here soon."

"Is Evans coming?" James asked.

"Yes, but you better remember our deal or you'll have to deal with me!" Lizzie said sternly.

"Alright, blimey! I won't do anything." James said honestly.

They heard new voices mix with those already in the kitchen. The next thing they knew, the door opened and Lily and Mary walked in. Mary's look was excited. Lily;s was apprehensive.

"Hey chicks." Said Lizzie, not really bothering to get up. Lily threw her a smile and came to sit next to her.

"Where are Remus and Peter?" She asked Lizzie.

"They'll be here soon." Lizzie said. They had had to take extra precautions since Remus would be there for over a month. Though, Mary and Lily knew nothing about that, so Lizzie didn't bring it up.

They sat and talked about trivial things for awhile. It was then that Lizzie's brothers started turning up. Lizzie jumped up when her oldest brother Matthew entered the room. She ran into his arms and he spun her around effortlessly, laughing.

"I missed you." Lizzie told him when he had set her back down.

"I missed you too, Lizard." Matthew said, planting a kiss on her cheek and turning to his parents who had followed his other brothers into the room. "What's for dinner? I'm starved."

Everbody laughed. "Not much has changed." Lizzie's dad, Theodore, said shaking his head.

They all headed into the kitchen and Remus and Peter arrived just in time to start eating.

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The rest of the summer ran on in much the same fashion. There were many jokes and late nights. Even a couple adventures for the Marauders. Everyone was have a wonderful time. Even Lily, for James had kept his promise. She found herself friends with him now. Something that she had never expected before.

It was two days until their return to Hogwarts. The summer was winding down. Lizzie, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily, and Mary were all sitting in the living room. Remus, Peter, and James were all clustered into the far corner, finishing a bit of last minute homework. Lily and Mary were engaged in an excited game of Wizards' Chess. Lizzie and Sirius were lounging on the couch. No one was paying attention to them and they had struck up a quiet conversation.

"So, I was thinking --" Sirius said, hesitating slightly.

"What?" Lizzie asked, interested.

"Well, I was thinking that I need a girlfriend." He said. "I mean, almost everyone we know has one, and I feel a bit left out. I don't really like anyone, but I was thinking that Mary wouldn't say no.

Lizzie had stiffened. Sirius felt it, but he didn't understand it. "Mary likes you." Lizzie told him. Mary thought Sirius was very handsome, but then, she thought that about a lot of guys.

"That's exactly why I thought of her. I don't really like her in that way, but she's pretty and a nice girl. I may grow to like her. I'm not sure though. Oh well, I know a good thing when I see it." He said with a wink.

Abrubtly, Lizzie was furious. "Yeah. Sure you do." She said scathingly.

Sirius did a double take. Lizzie just didn't talk to him like that. Ever. "Lizzie, what's wrong?" He asked. James and Lily both looked up at the change in their tones.

"If you don't know, I'm not explaining it!" Lizzie very nearly shouted. She turned on her heel and ran up the stairs.

James stood up and looked at Sirius. "What the hell did you say to her?" He asked, somewhat angry.

Sirius just shrugged looking sompletely shocked. He watched as James bounded up the stairs after Lizzie.

James knocked lightly on Lizzie's bedroom door. Ther was no answer, but James was not deterred. He cracked the door open and poked his head inside. He spotted Lizzie sitting curled up on her bed with a pillow to her chest. There were silent tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Lizzie." James started.

She shook her head. "Go away, James."

He knew her too well to take that seriously. He sat on the edge of one of the camp beds set up in the room. "Lizzie, what happened? What did he say?"

Lizzie shook her head again. James waited, knowing that she would begin to talk soon.

"Fine." She said throwing the pillow across the bed. "The insensitive ass was talking about asking Mary out."

James groaned. When were these two going to get it together? They were both madly in love with each other and neither believed that the other felt the same way. "Lizzie, when are you going to realize that Sirius is in love with you?" He asked.

Lizzie laughed. "If he loved me, why in hell would he talk to me about asking out my friend?"

"Because he doesn't believe that you love him!" James exclaimed.

"Well, that's his problem." She said stubbornly. She was still pretty hurt and James could see it.

"Fine." He said, standing up. "I'm going to go talk to him."

"Good luck." Lizzie said with a snort.

James just shook his head and walked out of the room. He was going to end all of this craziness right now. At the bottome of the stairs, he looked up and saw that everyone was looking at him. He pointed straigh at Sirius. "You. Talk. Outside. Now." He said. He was still pretty angry. Seeing Lizzie hurt did that to him and he didn't care who was responsible.

Sirius got up and followed James out onto the porch feeling thoroughly depressed and confused.

James reached a spot where he knew they wouldn't be overheard and turned on his heel to face Sirius. "Why the hell did you have to go and talk to her about another girl? Are you freaking stupid, mate?"

"What's the difference? We're supposed to be friends." Sirius said.

"The difference is that she loves you, you idiot!" James said loudly. Sirius made no reply. "I don't get you two!" James was exasperated. "You can't see what's staring you right in the face! It's just stupid, you know. She loves you. I know you don't believe that, but you know how you feel about her. How do you expect to ever find out about her true feelings if you don't tell her first? Lizzie isn't the kind of girl to go blabbing about her feelings. But did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, what you're doing is hurting her?" Sirius's head snapped up at that. "Beacuse you are. You're my best friend, mate, but she is too. I don't like seeing her hurt." Having said what he wanted to, James walked back into the house, leaving Sirius to stew on his words.

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Lizzie stayed in her room for the rest of the night. When Lily and Mary came up for bed, she didn't talk much. She was feeling resentful towards Mary and she didn't want to say anything that would make the girl feel like something was wrong. The last thing Lizzie wanted to do was explain about tonight's episode.

They had just turned out the light and laid down for bed when they heard a tap on the french doors that led out to Lizzie's balcony. They all sat up and looked out.

Sirius was standing there with a broomstick in his hand. Lizzie hear Mary make a move like she was about to get up, but Sirius pointed directly at Lizzie and motioned for her to come to him. Lizzie couldn't help but feel a bit of vindictive pleasure at the look on Mary's face. She got up and opened the door. Sirius wasn't smiling and was about to speak, but Lizzie beat him to it.

"I don't feel like adventure tonight, Sirius." She said, sounding somewhat sad.

"It's not that." Sirius winced a little at the sound of her voice. "I was just wondering if you might like to take a ride with me. Just the two of us. That way we could talk." He said hopefully.

Lizzie stared at him for several heartbeats in indecision. She then made a snap decision and turned to Lily, who was smiling. "Cover for me?" she asked, unable to keep from smiling at the look on Lily's face. Her friend nodded and Lizzie closed the door behind her. She mounted the broom behind Sirius, put her arms aroung his waist, and he kicked off.

They flew over the Lupins' land, the moonlight making it look magical. They landed by a lake with a small waterfall and dismounted.

Lizzie looked up at the waterfall. "This is my favorite place to come and think when I'm home. How did you know about it?" She asked him.

"I found it the other day when I went exploring." He said, not taking his eyes off of Lizzie. "It's beautiful."

Lizzie nodded, her eyes still on the waterfall.

"Lizzie, I wanted to talk to you." He said softly, successfully bringing her eyes to his. "I've been an idiot. I never should have said those things to you. I also should have told you a long time ago how I felt about you."

Lizzie stared into his eyes, her heart beating rapidly against her ribs.

"You see, the reason I never told you before was because I didn't know how you would take it." Sirius said, trying to read her face. "Until tonight, when you confused the hell outta me, I thought that you only looked at me like a friend. After tonight, I think that maybe I was wrong."

Lizzie waited with bated breath.

"I love you, Lizzie." Sirius said slowly. "I always have and I'm pretty darn sure that I always will." He finished and waited without breathing for her answer.

Lizzie's eyes filled with tears for the second time that night. She tok a step closer to him and took his hands in hers. "I love you too." She said soflty. "Always have, always will."

Sirius reached up and brushed her tears away. He then leaned forward and touched his lips to hers.

They flew back awhile later. When Lizzie entered her room again, she found that Lily was still awake and Mary was snoring a little too loudly to pass for sleep. Lizzie beamed at Lily.

"Did he tell you he loved you?" Lily ased and Lizzie nodded. "Did he kiss you?" She asked now, sounding ecstatic.

"Yes," Lizzie whispered.

"Told you." Lily said simply and rolled over to fall asleep.

Lizzie made her way to her bed and laid down. Tonight had been weird in so many different ways, but she would always remember it as one of the best nights of her life.