Harley Potter and her world famous twin

Bunking Class

They -Sirius and Harley- got out of the ministry to the muggle London. No one had told her anything about when to go back. Not Snape, not Dumbledore. So Harley decided to give herself a day off. Or maybe two.

They wandered through the crowd, without any particular destination. Sirius was enjoying being out in public without having to hide. And Harley was enjoying his presence.

Then Sirius stopped as if struck by a sudden realization
"Harley, weren't you supposed to return to Hogwarts by floo? ", He asked

"Maybe "Harley shrugged. "No one really told me anything about going back "
"How will you get back then? "

"I don't know. When did you start worrying so much? "
"I'm not worried. I'm just calculating just how much time we have "

"Time? "
"For fun of course! How long has it been since I took my little goddaughter for shopping? "

A grin slowly lit Harley's face .
"Long. Very long. I hope you are going to compensate "
"That's what I have been planning "

It had been longer since Sirius bought something for himself ,Harley thought. But that thought she kept to herself. No use spoiling the good mood.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

"I hope this is the first time you are cutting classes young lady? "
Sirius asked with mock sternness. He was actually hoping it wasn't. Little prongslette should have it in her blood to break rules.

"Not first- "
"What did you do then ? " Sirius interrupted her with excitement. He wanted to know all about all the trouble she had been up to.

"Nothing much, really. At least nothing like what you are expecting. I cut Binns' class sometimes to just have some 'me' time. "

Sirius was partly dissapointed. But he didn't show it. At least she cut classes instead of being a little bookworm .Or maybe Harley did do something fun but wasn't telling him for some reason.

"Okay. We all need a little personal time. But what exactly did you do in these 'me times' Nothing troublesome I hope "
Sirius made air quotes for 'me times'

"Honestly Sirius, I wish you stop hoping for trouble. I just read stuff. Harry is the one for trouble, not me"

That wasn't the Harley he knew. Harley loved having a good time and had no problem breaking rules all the time he was with her.
The number of times he had to go to the all those muggle schools she went to... Yeah, Harley had an affinity for trouble.
She was a troublemaker worthy of the legacy of marauders.

Something made her change. And Sirius was pretty sure what it was – him. It must've been him, getting caught, leaving her alone to fend for herself... he  had unknowingly pushed her to change.

No, not unknowingly. He had known of the risks when he kept her with him. He had known that they might catch him. It was by some miracle that Harley was not found that day. But no miracle could have protected her from life.

It was completely his fault that the fun loving, happy go lucky girl had turned out to be this - sad, bookwormy girl. If he had let her be with her relatives, if he had not selfishly kept her with him, Harley would have been happier.

Even now, she had been reading instead of sleeping, for him. Maybe that's what she did when she cut classes, reading for Sirius's trial,  not for fun. Looking at her dark circles which looked quite like bruises –Harley had varying degrees of sleep deprivation signs every time he saw her after Azkaban – it was plausible that the girl had not had fun in ages.
Because of him.
Perhaps, Sirius thought, she would be better off without him

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Sirius was awfully, uncharacteristically silent while they walked through the poetically beautiful streets of London. Harley didn't think it was because he was admiring the view ,though.

She could see that he was looking at her - or more like analysing her - from time to time with an expression that looked like disappointment.

If anyone else had looked at her like that she would have thought they were disappointed in her. But not Sirius. Not that Sirius was incapable of being disappointed in her, but because she knew that look on his face.
He was disappointed at himself.

Harley knew Sirius better than she knew herself, so she could spot the minor difference between when he was disappointed in her and when he was disappointed in himself.

He had made a habit of blaming himself for things that were out his control. Things he had nothing to do with. From the death of her parents ,  to the time Harley broke four of her ribs while falling off a tree... Sirius blamed himself for many things he had no hands in.

It was an unhealthy habit which seemed to have gotten even more intense after Azkaban. Which was one of the reasons she never told him-nor plan on ever telling him - of her experience in the orphanage. It'd make him go down the guilt spiral again.

Harley didn't know what to do to help him . As a kid she would have hugged him or gave him candies, but neither were they any help nor were they an option at fourteen.

Harley wanted Sirius to be happy, not pretending to be happy but truly happy. But what could she do for it. Nothing came to her mind. She could do many things to make him smile, giving him momentary happiness. But for something more everlasting....

There was actually an answer- Remus Lupin.

Now that Sirius is cleared of all charges, Harley could get the matchmaking business started.
Until it succeed, she'll just provide him with momentary happiness. Many moments of it.