the_debt_of_time

She paled. "What did you just say?"
"Don't tell Mia, though," he mumbled as he began falling asleep. A part of her felt
bad for staying, inadvertently eavesdropping on a conversation she probably should not be
having with him considering he was not fully aware with whom he was speaking. "You
know how she gets. Reads into every bloody thing, an' I don't want her thinkin' I'm just
waitin' for her to drop Remus any second."
Was he?
"Are you?"
"No. She belongs with Remus," Sirius insisted. "That's love. Have you seen them?
Wow. So bloody happy. I'm not gonna ruin that. B'sides I don't know what all this
means... fuckin' bonds."
Fuckin' bonds indeed, Mia thought.
"Sirius, why haven't you been with anyone since m—since Mia?"
She had never once thought that he would stop sleeping around. He was Sirius
Black, for crying out loud. He had more rumours and "legends" about him in Hogwarts
than Draco Malfoy ever had. A part of her realised that she had bought into all of those
rumours that were apparently untrue. Certainly, Sirius had a past, he'd as much as admitted
it arrogantly throughout the years, but this past year, girls were simply taking his rejection
and then lying about it to... to what? Plant themselves in the Sirius Black Hall of Fame?
Was there a monthly newsletter? Did everyone wear secret badges? Mia growled at the
thought, feeling defensive on his behalf.
"She thinks I'm a good man, you know." He smiled sadly, and Mia was pulled from
her angry thoughts. "Gotta try an' be one. S'fuckin hard sometimes. Gotta do it, made a
promise. Ours to protect. Ours to keep safe. Ours to make happy." He breathed in deep and
exhaled slowly.
After several moments of silence, Mia thought he had fallen asleep. She threw her
legs over the side of her bed and stood, knowing that she could not very well stay there.
Sirius's voice pulled her attention back. "Do you think she'd be happy if I was a
good man?"
She frowned, her heart clenching. "You are a good man, Sirius."
"That's nice," he said with a dopey smile and then slowly opened his eyes, looking
up at her. "Mia? You should go back to your own room." His eyes fluttered shut once