a/n: I was extremely hesitant on posting this final chapter because I had a feeling Sirius smiled too much. Why wouldn't he though if he was in love? Anyway, I decided to go ahead and post it with this warning: Sirius smiles enough to be OOC.
Again the days seemed to pass by quickly, and to Ginny’s dismay, she would be returning to school the following day. As she sorrowfully packed her trunk, she couldn’t help, but think how much she was going to miss him again. Her only solace was that on her next return, the summer would hold more uninterrupted days together, many more than winter holidays could ever make up for.
Finishing her packing, she slammed the trunk closed and sat on it with a sigh. She was hurting inside at having to leave and thinking about it brought a tear to her eye. She rubbed furiously at her cheek just as the tear slid from her eye. She told herself she wouldn’t cry, but she was finding it easier said than done.
“Is that for me?” came a familiar, soothing voice from her door.
She looked up and rubbed her cheek again, shaking her head. Sirius walked over to her, his Christmas gift in hand. As he sat beside her, he pointed to show her what he saw, the hand of the watch was pointing at ‘Crying.’ I knew I shouldn’t have added that one, she thought to herself.
“No need to cry, we still have tonight.”
She looked imploringly into his gray eyes, trying to grasp what he was thinking. His smile made her melt and she simply nodded her head. He stood up again and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the door.
“You’re Mum is sending everyone to bed early tonight. Would you like to join me on the roof before tea tonight?”
She nodded her head again and followed his lead. He helped her climb to the roof and they sat down in peaceful silence. He wrapped his arm warmly around her and as they laid back to stare into the inky, black sky, she set her head softly on his chest.
Listening to his rhythmic breathing, she thought back to the first night on the roof, the night it all started. A small smile spread on her lips and she reached for his hand, entwining their fingers. They stayed in each others arms for what seemed like hours, while they waited for everyone to drift off to sleep below them.
Time passed steadily and Sirius realized that Ginny had fallen asleep in his arms. He carefully slid his arm out from under her so he could stand up to carry her. He scooped her up gently and proceeded to carry her to bed as he had done so many times before. The only difference was this time they hadn’t had their tea, and they had spent the night staring at the stars.
As he laid Ginny gently in her bed and stepped back to tuck her in, her eyes fluttered open and she gripped his arm. “Don’t go,” she said sleepily.
Not wanting to upset her, he sat shakily on the edge of the bed. Still not satisfied, she pulled his arm again until he lay down next to her. She placed her hand on his chest and lifted herself slightly to kiss him.
Placing her lips tenderly on his own, she hesitated before parting. She closed her eyes and inhaled his comforting scent as she kissed him again. He returned each kiss with equal fervor and ran his hands through her long red hair.
As their kisses grew more passionate, she raised herself again, tossing her leg over his body and gently straddling him. She kissed him deeply again before sitting up and grabbing the bottom of her shirt. She lifted slowly, revealing her smooth stomach, and he traced the lines of her abdominal muscles with one finger.
She lifted her shirt further, and he placed his hands at the small of her back. As she removed her shirt and tossed it to the floor, he pulled her to him, tenderly kissing her again. He kissed her repeatedly while caressing her soft body, sending tingles through her spine as he traced lines on her back.
Neither knew it would be their last night together, the last time they’d ever see each other, but both knew they needed each other. They both needed an affection they had never felt, an affection they held for each other. No one knew of their love and it was a love, a moment, which neither would forget.
***
Ginny was in pain, though she couldn’t express it around anyone. She had spent many nights crying herself to sleep since his death, and she had spent many days drifting off in class. Her thoughts swam around all their beautiful moments together, and she always paused on the same one, their last night together. It was her most beautiful memory of him.
As she sat in her Astronomy class, tears formed in her eyes. It wasn’t enough that she already thought of him constantly, but she remembered him telling her that this was his favorite class. She was upset that she never did find out why it was his favorite class. He had told her if she just paid attention, she would learn a little more about him.
She took a deep breath, fighting hard against her emotions as more tears threatened to spill over. She knew she had to be strong if she wanted to keep their love a secret. Trying to take her mind off of everything, she stared vacantly at Professor Sinistra. Failing horribly at paying attention, her mind wandered again, and her gaze fell upon the bright stars outside.
“Sirius...” said Professor Sinistra.
Ginny’s head perked up at hearing her lover’s name, and her attention turned to her Professor with full interest. She watched her lips, her heart skipping a beat, as she desperately waited for her to continue.
“...is the brightest star in the sky. It can be seen on your charts, here,” she said pointing to a chart she held for the class to see.
Ginny looked briefly at the spot on her chart, making note of it blindly with her quill as she hung on Professor Sinistra’s every word.
“Sirius is also known as the dog star...”
Dogstar, thought Ginny with a smirk, thinking of his animagus form, my dogstar. As the Professor went on about more stars, Ginny’s thoughts wandered again. Her happy memories lingered as she finally pieced together the clues he had left her. She looked into the sky, her eyes caught in the light of that bright star and a single tear rolled down her cheek.
Though he was gone in body, he would always be with her in spirit; all she had to do was look into the sky. Sirius, the Dogstar, would always be there for her to find, to confide in. She gripped the thin chain around her neck, and pulled the small glass pendant out of her robes. As she clasped her hand around the glass ball, she could feel the heat of the flame still burning inside.
As long as the flame burned, he would love her, and as long as the Dogstar lit up the sky, he would be there for her. He wasn’t truly gone from her life. Finally finding her strength to go on, she knew she had to fulfill her promise to Sirius, and be there for Harry.
She had to do it for her love, the love of Wild Fire for Padfoot. It was only a short romance, and nobody would ever know it had been, but she would not forget. She could never forget her Dogstar...
a/n: I really hope everyone enjoyed this story. I'm sad that it's finally over, but thanks to his death in the book, I had no choice. Sirius Black, we will miss you. R.I.P.