Chapter Text
Epilogue
~o~
Spring and summer passed in somewhat of a blur. Mary stayed at the manor to watch after the boys, and Sirius enjoyed every moment he had with her. They’d taken long walks and talked late into the night. He felt he knew her so much better and understood her in a way his eleven-year-old self couldn’t have imagined.
So, it was a total shock when he walked into her suite one day to find her packing.
“You’re leaving,” he said, dumbfounded.
Mary turned around and looked at him with a sad smile. “You knew it would happen one day.”
“I suppose I did,” he said. He walked in and closed the door behind him. “I guess I just started to believe that you wouldn’t leave. I thought the longer you stayed, the less likely you were to go. Silly, it seems.”
“Not silly,” she said. She took a step toward him. “Hopeful. Hope is one of the lessons I was trying to teach you all those years ago. I’m glad you’ve finally learned it.”
“It’s a painful lesson,” he whispered.
“I won’t be gone forever,” she said.
“I suppose we can look forward to you visiting when Harry’s children are young,” he said, flashing her a weak smile.
She closed the distance between them and placed her hand on his cheek. “You’re the only one I ever wanted to come back to. Lady Magic granted me that wish, and she’s allowed me to stay longer than I’ve ever stayed with any family. She knows my heart is here with you.”
“But you’re still leaving,” he said morosely.
“And when I’ve finished my next assignment, I’ll return to Blackwell Manor,” she said. “If you’ll have me.”
His face lit up. “Really?”
“Really,” she said. “I can’t promise she won’t still send me on assignments, but I think there will be fewer, at least for a while. Perhaps it’s because of the war and the potential for Voldemort to return. I don’t know. All I know is that she needs me here more than anywhere else.”
“I had no idea how I was going to let you go this time,” he said. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I’m so glad I don’t have to.”
“I’m already making plans for Yule,” she said as if she was sharing a secret.
“You think you’ll be back by then?”
“Of course,” Mary said. “I plan to spend it with my family, after all.”
Sirius smiled helplessly. He was so happy he felt like his body couldn’t contain it all. Without giving it a second thought, he leaned in and kissed her. He felt that same sizzle as the last time, but he also felt its rightness all the way down to his toes.
“I’ll miss you when you’re gone,” he said when he finally pulled back. “Will you at least write and let me know when you’re coming back?”
“And miss that utterly gobsmacked expression on your face when I just show up? Not on your life.”
He smiled, caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Ah, Mary Poppins, I do love you. I’m glad I get to keep you, at least for a little longer.”
“You get to keep me as long as you like, Sirius Black,” she said. “You have my heart and all my love for as long as you want it.”
“Well, then, how does forever sound?”
Mary smiled. “It sounds practically perfect in every way.”
~Finis