Miriam Daniels had, only moments ago, been fast asleep and snoring lightly in her comfortably small, second-story bedroom.

But now, after being jerked suddenly awake, Miriam sat straight up and blinked rapidly in an attempt to adjust her eyes to the darkness. She was very still, anxiously waiting for the misty haze of sleep to fade and for her senses to rouse. Something, a noise, had awoken her; she was sure of it.

Miriam considered herself far to practical to be the paranoid sort. Normally, she would reason with herself that it was nothing more than a cat in the bushes, or an owl hunting for it’s nighttime snack, and plunge blissfully back into her slumber. But her foggy memory of the sound and the uncomfortable clench in her stomach warned her that whatever had made that noise was not alive.

So she listened. Trying to ignore the heavy drum of her own pulse in her ears, Miriam’s attention snagged as she listened to a subtle humming sound that was growing progressively louder each moment.

Grabbing her wand from the small table next to the bed, Miriam threw back the covers and climbed out and towards the window. Home for the holidays, she knew very well that Hogwarts students were forbidden to use magic outside of school; however, she also knew there were exceptions to the rule, particularly in the face of danger. Miriam’s mother, a witch, had died during childbirth, and she knew that her father, a muggle, would be hopelessly defenseless against any threat from the wizarding world. Now the hum was more like a growl, vicious and formidable, still growing louder and louder. Bracing herself, she flung back the shutters and watched the baffling scene unveiling before her.

The light from the full moon flooded into her bedroom, and had her raising a hand to shade her eyes. After a moment, Miriam realized that it was not just the moon illuminating the humble room; there was a curious figure silhouetted against the perfectly circular orb, growing, like the noise, larger each second, and shining a bright beam of light directly into her window. For a moment, Miriam was reminded of the pictures in her children’s books of witches, with their pointed hats and warted noses, flying against the full, round moon. But one glance and Miriam was sure that this was no witch, and whatever the creature was riding on was no broomstick, for now she was positive that there was both a passenger and a vehicle of some sort speeding rapidly towards her bedroom.

And finally, she was able to recognize the roar as the sound of an engine. The silhouette against the moonlight was just distinguishable as a man with broad shoulders and a slim frame. There was a pile of boxes she made out to be suitcases strapped to the back of the bike.

Miriam’s heart lifted, and a giddy, completely out of character grin spread wide across her face. The pulse pounding in her eardrums and chest was no longer due to nerves. She felt something inside of her go all mushy and soft; it was a sensation she had reluctantly grown accustomed to over the months, yet still managed to baffle and catch her completely off guard at the most random moments.

The sharp-looking motorcycle suddenly dropped out of the air into a nosedive, and with only inches to spare, pulled out just in time to glide smoothly onto the grassy back yard. But as it approached the house, the bike did not stop. Rather, it simply drove straight up the wall to right beneath her bedroom window, as if it were as flat as the ground, causing her walls to shake in response to the powerful vehicle.

Miriam cast a fretful glance to the door behind her. Miriam’s father, a wonderfully warm and humble man, was very knowledgeable about the world of magic, and had married her mother gladly, knowing full well of her differences. However, as understanding and accepting as he was, he was still a father, and Miriam didn’t much think that he would appreciate walking in to find his sixteen-year-old daughter alone in her bedroom with a teenage male wizard in the middle of the night.

And then that teenage male wizard hauled himself through her window, and Miriam was suddenly unconcerned, her worries vanishing out just as Sirius Black climbed in.

It was mortifying the way that, after almost six months together, he could still make her go weak in the knees, still take her breath away. Like some dangerously handsome fallen angel, he was dressed in all black, including the helmet Miriam had bought him for Christmas in the vain hope that he would wear it, at least once in a while. Even now, she knew that he had probably slipped it on just as he was approaching her neighborhood; still, she appreciated the sentiment.

Miriam didn’t say anything. She could feel her body aching to jump at him, to take one huge bite from that mouth of a doomed poet. But she simply stood back, very still, and watched as he pulled off the helmet and shook out his long, black hair. When he grinned at her, she felt her knees wobble.

And for a minute that was it. They simply stood there, staring across the room at each other, Sirius beaming, Miriam a mess of thoughts and feelings. Then finally, shaking his head as if in defeat, Sirius sighed deeply and said, “Kiss me, Miriam.”

It was all she needed. She leapt at him, circling her arms tightly around his neck, her legs clamped around his waist. She reared back to crush her mouth against his, and felt her insides gloriously begin to sizzle and hiss.

Finally, she drew back and buried her face against his neck, sniffing and nuzzling like a puppy. Sirius stroked a hand against her hair and pressed a kiss to her brow.

“What in God’s name are you doing here?” Miriam demanded, her voice muffled against his skin. Sirius smiled.

“I‘ve missed you, too,” he said.

She sighed, happily. Then, like a flash of lightening, her face transformed into a mask of anger and frustration; she jumped down from his arms and gave him one, hard shove in the chest that had him blowing out a sharp breath.

“You’ve had me worried half to death,” she accused in a half-whisper, half-scream. “What was the big idea with that note? I nearly wore out a hole in my floor, I was pacing so much!”

Sirius opened his mouth, as if to say something, but Miriam plowed on.

“And why are there suitcases on your bike? The Easter holidays aren’t over for nearly a week still. Are you going somewhere? When are you coming back? And why-”

Sirius grabbed her chin and pressed a firm kiss to her racing lips to stop her tirade. Pulling away, he saw that she was still considerably huffed up, and resisted the urge to chuckle. So instead, he took the hand that had shoved him, and led her over to the bed.

Miriam had to bite her tongue to keep from breaking into another string of questions. Just days before, she had received a letter to her window from an unfamiliar owl. Seeing Sirius’ scrawl on the envelope, she ripped it open to find a cryptic and unnerving note tucked inside:

Darling Miriam,

Something’s happened, we need to talk. I’ll explain everything soon.

Love,

Sirius

Miriam had done nothing but worry and fret since. She had bitten her nails into nubbins, and indeed, there was a definite imprint in her carpet showing the obvious track of her constant pacing. So now, she mustered all the calm she could and managed to keep the shake out of her voice.

“You said you’d explain everything. So…”

Sitting on her bed, Sirius reached out to touch just the tips of her hair, and then dropped his hand to hers, and began to toy absently with her fingertips. Whenever they were together, Sirius always managed some way to touch her, whether it was in an embrace, or simply a brush of fingers against her hair. Miriam wasn’t even sure that he was always aware of it; yet it was one of those things Miriam had been forced to get used to when they began dating, and had become one of those things she now missed when they were apart. Sometimes it frightened her just how much she missed the little things like that. How much she had come to depend on them.

“I’ve decided to leave my family and move out of my house.”

“Move out?” Miriam knew that Sirius did not get along particularly well with his family. However, he was not yet an adult, and the idea seemed very drastic. “But, why? What happened? Where will you go? What will �“”

“You could say there was a…disagreement. A very substantial disagreement. My mother and I didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye on a particular issue, so I left.” Seeing her wide-eyed expression, Sirius laughed. “It’s really not that big of a deal. James and his family offered to let me stay with them for the rest of vacation, and after the school year for however long it takes me to find my own place. I’ll be of age then, and I’ll finally be able to have a place of my own,” he said, and smiled reassuringly.

Miriam frowned. He made it sound so simple, so casual, that Miriam found it hard to take issue with any of it. But still, something nagged at the back of her mind.

“I was thinking somewhere in London,” Sirius continued, oblivious to the concern on Miriam’s face. “It’s close to Diagon Alley, and a lot of other wizard neighborhoods. And it’s much closer to you than where I was living before, so we’ll be able to see each other more often. So, it’s really for the best, you see.”

Miriam nodded vaguely, and staring straight into his eyes, asked, “What did you disagree about?”

Sirius’ smile flickered, just for an instant. Then he shrugged indifferently. “Does that really matter?”

“It matters enough to have you moving out of your house.” Something was beginning to churn uncomfortably in Miriam’s stomach, and a dark sort of knowledge crept up sinuously from behind her. “Sirius, what did you and your mother have a disagreement about?”

Sirius pushed himself up from the bed and began to pace the same worn path Miriam had been following for the past few days. He pressed a hand to his forehead in a mixture of impatience, frustration, and reluctance. But Miriam held her ground.

“Listen,” he began, refusing to look at her. “You’ve never met my family. You don’t know what they’re like. They’ve got this whole…pure-blood arrogance about them, it’s ridiculous. They’re convinced that the name ‘Black’ makes you as good as royal.”

“I know all of this,” Miriam said, reaching out to take his hand in a gesture of comfort. “You’ve already explained it to me.”

“Yeah, well,” muttered Sirius, his jaw visibly clenching and unclenching his jaw in temper at the memory. “I’ve never explained you to them. I knew what would happen if they ever found out I was in love with…with a…y’know. A half-blood.”

And at the word “love,” all of the blood drained out of Miriam’s face, gushing into her stomach where it undulated around into knots and loops. She suddenly found it very difficult to breathe. But Sirius, who had begun pacing again, hadn’t noticed.

“My idiot brother, Regulus, ratted me out. He’s apparently been spying on us since the Halloween ball and was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to prove what a loyal and devoted son he is, and what a blood-traitor I am.” Sirius found he wanted very badly to kick something. “Stupid git. They were all so worried when I got sorted into Gryffindor, thought he might end up with the same abominable fate,” he said, laughing sardonically. “I could have told them they had nothing to worry about.”

Now as he turned back to face her, he noticed for the first time the blanched skin, the wide, unseeing eyes.

“Hey,” he said, and dropped to his knees in front of her, taking her face firmly in both hands. “Don’t,” he ordered harshly, forcing her to focus on him. “Don’t you ever for a moment think that I’m ashamed of you. Understand? Bloody hell, Miriam, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Miriam felt something burning in the back of her throat. She shook her head.

“It’s not that,” she said. “It’s just…Sirius, you can’t do this. Think about it. You’re upset and your head is all muddled up. You’re not looking at the big picture. You have to try to look past us, there are more important things �“”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” he bit off, dangerously. Miriam could hear the temper bubbling beneath the surface. She took a bracing breath.

“I’m trying to say that…I….I think you should go back to your mother and apologize, and ask her to take you back in.”

Miriam felt another twinge in her stomach as something angry and dangerous flashed in Sirius’ eyes. He released her and strode to the window, leaning with his back faced to her.

“I’m never stepping foot inside that house again for as long as I live. Damn it Miriam, I thought you of all people would understand.”

Miriam felt that twinge sharpen into a stinging prick.

“Didn’t you hear a word I just said? They’re trying to use my family heritage to break us apart. My mother, my family, is never going to accept us, and you want me to go crawling back begging for forgiveness?”

She could hear the barely controlled fury in his voice, but she gritted her teeth against something she couldn’t quite identify that was threatening to surge up and overwhelm. Her throat suddenly felt very sore.

“I’m trying to be realistic here,” she managed.

“Then tell me Miriam,” Sirius barked, swirling around to face her. “Just what is this reality that I’m so obviously blinded to?”

“The reality is,” she said, rising along with her temper, “That this…us,” she said, motioning between them with her hands, “is not going to last forever! We’re still kids, for goodness’ sake. What will you do when this is over, and you’ve completely severed all ties with your family? When this thing between us ends, they will still be your family, and you can’t just �“”

“Planning on ending things, are you?” interrupted Sirius, giving Miriam a look that made her feel very, very small.

“I didn’t say that,” Miriam said carefully. “That’s not what I said.”

“Well then, this certainly explains a lot. You’re absolutely right, how could I have been so blind? I should have seen this coming from a mile off.”

“Stop,” she said, beginning to feel a trickle of panic down her throat. “You’re twisting my words around. You’re thinking with your heart, with your emotions, not reason --”

“In that case, excuse me for not having a heart carved from solid ice, unlike yourself.”

The prick turned into a knife. She gaped at him.

“That’s not true,” she said very quietly, shaking her head from side to side in a detached, dreamy sort of way. Breathing was becoming a very difficult labor. “That’s not true.”

“Oh excuse me, I forgot,” he sneered. “The hospital, the patients. You’re not afraid to care for them, are you? No, that’s easy, and you know why? Because you can care for them without ever having to offer up anything of yourself. Never have to open up, to risk, heaven forbid, having to expose any bit of yourself you might not want people to see.”

Miriam went very stiff.

“You’re out of line, Sirius.”

“You’re a coward, Miriam.”

Miriam felt as if she had been slapped in the face. He knees gave out and she sank to the bed, stunned. She doubted if any physical blow, curse, or hex could have possibly had a greater effect, could have somehow been more painful.

She thought she caught something like remorse glint in his eyes, but a moment later it was gone and replaced with the icy fury she would have gladly traded for blazing temper. Temper, at least, she could match. But she was defenseless against this controlled, bitingly cold anger that made her want to shrink back and melt into the walls.

“I’m sick of this,” he said, walking to the window once more. “I’m tired of having to justify my feelings to you, of embarrassing myself, only to have it all tossed back in my face. God, what an idiot I’ve been. Do you realize, Miriam, that you have never once been the first to approach me? Not once have you ever been the one to initiate any sort of intimacy, conversation, anything. My God, we wouldn’t even speak to each other if it were left up to you. No. No, you just like to sit back and let someone else do all the work, let someone else take all the risks, all the chances. Heaven forbid you actually having to put yourself out there and be the vulnerable one for once in your life. Well, I’m tired of being played for a fool. I’m not going to throw myself at you anymore like a trained dog. I don’t need this, and I certainly don’t need you.”

Sirius began to climb out of the window, but he paused and looked at her one last time, a pained expression on his face.

“I mean it, Miriam. I’m not going to come to you anymore. If you want to talk, then, that’s fine. But God knows I’m not going to be holding my breath.”

Miriam had no idea how long she had been sitting, stiff as a board, on her mattress. She vaguely remembered hearing the faint roar of an engine speeding off, but it had all seemed very far away. Miriam couldn’t be totally sure of anything, really. Some while ago, her entire body had grown utterly and wholly numb. Her eyes were glazed over, unfocused, and it seemed as though she had forgotten how to breathe.

She sensed pain, but that too seemed very distant. It was as if she were floating in midair, unable to feel the carpet at her feet, the soft sheets beneath her legs. She was shivering, but would never feel the icy cold sweat beaded at her forehead, trickling down her back. Miriam would never notice the copious tears that dripped gracefully down her colorless, deadened cheeks.