Chapter 3
Sirius pulled up his car in front of Lovegood household.
Unlike Sirius's flat that was in the middle of the city on a busy street, the Lovegood house was a humble two story brick home with a diversity of different plants decorating the front. Pulling out his phone, he shot a quick text.
Sirius: come out
read 5:00 pm
Sirius frowned as he waited exactly one minute for a response, but none came. Letting out an irritated huff, he got out of the car, and walked (more like stomped) down the stone steps to the front door.
Knocking quite frantically, he repeatedly whispered to himself, "That little shit."
Before he could keep muttering curses to himself, the door open, revealing a tall blonde woman with an apron on.
Stella Lovegood was a kind woman in her mid forties. After having knowing her for so many years that Vega and Pandora have been friends for, Sirius completely knew that Vega would be safe at the Lovegood house.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, a shocked expression taking over her face. "Sirius I didn't expect you to be here so fast. Vega said you would come after dinner."
Restraining the urge to curse Vega again, he flashed a charming smile. "Yes well I got off work early, so I am able to have dinner with Vega tonight."
Stella's smile widened. "That's great! I'll call her down for you. The kids are just upstairs playing."
As Stella went to call down Vega, Sirius let a smile grace his face at her words. Her calling them kids playing upstairs gave him a warm feeling; it reminded him of the old days when they really were kids and Sirius was picking up Vega from a playdate.
Sirius had just finished his final lecture of the day as he quickly rushed to pick up Vega.
Vega was at her new friend Pandora’s house from kindergarten along with two other boys from their class. He had briefly met Pandora's mom, Stella, at school once, and she had expressed nothing but kindness, reassuring Sirius internally that she could be trusted with his baby sister.
Though Sirius still was anxious as this was the first time Vega was at a friends house.
Quickly knocking on the door as soon as he reached the doorstep, he waited impatiently for the door to open.
The door creaked as it opened.
"Sirius," Stella greeted, a warm smile on her face as she opened the door. "Nice to see you."
"You as well," replied Sirius, but he was more focused on discretely looking over the woman's shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of his baby sister.
Stella seemed to notice this as she let out a chuckle before calling out Vega's name and telling her Sirius is here.
As soon as the word Sirius escaped, footsteps were heard, and a few moments later came Vega Black flying down the stairs, throwing herself in her brother's arm who already had them open as soon as he saw her at the top of the stairs.
Vega claimed she was too old to be picked up now, but Sirius never really listened to others anyway. Placing her on his hip, he dropped a kiss to her hair.
"Hi little star," Sirius whispered, holding her close. It had been a stressful day at University, and holding his baby sister in his arms really did soothe him.
Sirius, being so absorbed by Vega's presence, didn't even notice the other three little kids watching.
Turning to face them, he recognized Pandora instantly from the times he's met her while at Vega's school. She was looking up at him curiously, her eyes shining with youth and childhood innocence. Sirius also recognized another boy, the brunette one, from when he picked up Vega. He would be sitting alone by the chair, not excitedly looking at the door each time it opened like the other kids, but instead he would be staring at his hands, acting as if he expected no one to pick him up. And instead he would stay sitting in that chair forever.
The brunette boy and Pandora waved shyly at Sirius, but the blonde spoke up.
"Hi!" the little blonde exclaimed. "I'm Evan Rosier. Are you Vega's daddy?"
Sirius chuckled at the little boy's energy. "No I'm Vega's big brother. It's very nice to meet you Evan."
Evan nodded excitedly. "It's nice to meet you too!"
Before Sirius could reply, he could hear a small huff, and that's when he noticed Vega trying to get out of his arms. "Put me down Siri! I"m not a baby!"
Sirius rolled his eyes fondly, but complied. After he set her down, he told her, "Don't be foolish. You'll always be baby to me."
The words caused Vega's three friends to giggle quietly, making Vega's cheeks reddened. "NO I won't!" she exclaimed, stomping her foot.
Before she could actually burst in anger, Sirius quickly shared his gratitude to Stella and Pandora for having Vega over before Sirius dragged Vega out.
Sirius watched as the four bodies came down the stair: Evan, Pandora, Barty, and lastly following Vega who looked quite reluctant to do so.
Sirius narrowed his eyes at his sister and her reluctancy, but Vega either didn't notice or choose to not notice as she decided to continue a conversation with her friends.
Evan, Pandora, and Barty have been best friends with Vega since primary school. The four ever since have stayed glued to each others hips, not making that many more friends outside of their little circle.
Knowing all of them since a young age made Sirius know all of them fairly well. Pandora, he had to admit, was his favorite out of the three. Just like her mother, she was kind, and was the most emotionally intelligent kid Sirius has ever came across from. She seemed to know always what was going on in the world compared to other kids her age. Hell she probably knew more than Sirius!
Evan and Barty were quite a duo, and definitely the extroverts of the group. Evan wasn’t as outgoing as Barty, but the two always teamed up to tease Vega around. Sirius never stopped it as they he knew it was all light mannered, and Sirius could tell they never showed any romantic interest, so they were good in his books.
Both Barty and Evan often came over as both boys were rather lonely at home. Barty's parents were divorced, and he lived with his wealthy politician dad who didn't seem to care much about him except for his grades. Other than checking once in a while about his grades, he was at work, and Barty was left in his flat alone. Evan was the middle child in his family, and often overlooked by his parents. And though his parents loved him, they just loved his siblings more.
So the two often stayed at Sirius's flat or the Lovegood house.
"Thanks for having Vega over," Sirius told Stella sincerely, flashing a genuine smile at the woman.
"It was no problem! Truly!" Stella replied. "Are you sure you two wouldn't want to stay for dinner?"
"As tempting as it sounds, I am taking Vega out to eat tonight," Sirius said, giving a pointed look to Vega.
Vega in response scowled at her brother, making Sirius grin.
Stella clapped her hands together. "Oh sounds fun! You two dears have fun then."
The two siblings sent their final farewells as they walked towards the car. As soon as they both got in, Sirius turned to his sister and glared.
"What the hell Vega," Sirius hissed, his glare only growing harsher when Vega refused to look at him.
Vega crossed her arms, deciding to look outside the window instead. "I told you I wanted to have dinner at Dora's tonight."
"And I told you that it's tradition we eat Subway every first day of school. So talk to me: what's wrong?"
Even with Vega turned around, Sirius could practically feel his sister's eye roll, causing his patience to become thinner.
"Vega," Sirius said, his voice sounding so tired, making Vega let out a sigh and turned to face her brother.
"Nothings wrong," she replied. "Honest. I just wanted to spend time with my friends."
A wave of hurt hit Sirius at her answer. The answer seemed so raw and honest, and even though he was happy there was nothing bothering Vega, it hurt that she just honestly rather spend time with her friends than him.
Sirius huffed. "Fine. You can go back in then." This time it was him who decided to look out the window.
"Oh don't be like that Sirius. You're supposed to be the adult," Vega said, the annoyance creeping in her voice.
Sirius only huffed again, choosing to not answer.
The car became silent for a minute before Vega spoke again. "Start driving."
Well that wasn't what he was expecting. "What?" he asked, quickly snapping his head towards Vega.
Vega rolled her eyes, but a grin creeped up on her face. "I said start driving."
Sirius narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Are you saying that because you want me to stop whining or because you actually wanna eat with me?"
Vega let out a small laugh, making Sirius feel less tense. He wanted to bottle that laugh and keep it with him forever. "I'm saying it because I actually wanna eat with you."
Sirius's smile lighted up so brightly, he really did do honor for his name in that moment.
The car was off, and the two siblings drove off, the Lovegood house becoming smaller and smaller as the distance increased.
"So how was school?" Sirius asked, sitting down at their usual booth in Subway.
Vega shrugged. "Okay."
Sirius rolled his eyes, flicking the girl's forehead. "Stop being a little shit and elaborate."
Vega scowled. "Stop calling me little shit, shithead."
Sirius scowled right back and flicked the girl's forehead again. "Don't curse."
Ignorging her brother's scolding, Vega let out a huge sigh. "School was just school. Seventh grade isn't really that special."
"Any new friends?" Sirius asked though already expected the answer
And as expected, Vega shot Sirius an incredulous look. "You're joking, right?"
Sirius snorted, ruffling the younger girl's hair, receiving a glare in return. "What about teachers, hm? You're a little swot, so there must be at least one teacher you like."
Vega's answer came instantly. "I like my English teacher a lot: Mr. Lupin."
Sirius smiled. "Oh yeah? And what do you like about this Mr. Lupin."
Vega seemed to think about it for a moment, but the answer came quick. "Well he's just different from the other teachers. He's cool, but not cool in a Marlene way. He's just.." Vega drifted off, not knowing how to word it.
Sirius thought if this guy was able to make Vega speechless then he must be a good guy.