Throughout the past month while Jenna was gone, Sirius kept on volunteering for different missions, looking at them as a distraction. He hoped that if he was barely left alone with his thoughts, he would think of Jenna less. But it wasn't much help. He still missed her and his heart ached for her voice and her presence.

     A part of him felt guilty, because he had promised Jenna that this time wasn't like the last war, and that they were all going to make it out alive. But he had made a promise that he had no control over. People were being killed everyday, and there wasn't anything they could do to stop it.

    Sirius wanted to write to Jenna, or to see her up close, but he knew that would only risk her exposure. And even if it weren't this risky, he still didn't have the time to write letters to her, Harry, or Lexi. Sirius was away for Order business 24/7, and he didn't even have time to get enough sleep.

    Although one day, as he was returning from a mission which had cost him two nights sleep, Sirius saw a letter laying on the doorstep of the Potter Manor.

    Curious to know who it was from, Sirius went forward and picked up the envelope, only to see that it was sent by Lexi. Surprised, he quickly opened up the letter to see what was written inside.

Dear Sirius,

I hope you're doing well. I don't know where you currently are, but I need to talk to you. It's urgent.

Please send back a respond with this owl and give me a date and time as when you can meet me at Gryffindor common room's fireplace.

Please answer me as soon as possible,
Lexi

    Sirius frowned to himself, his stomach lurching. He had a hunch on what she wanted to talk to him about, but he was hoping that he was wrong.

     As fast  as he could, Sirius entered the house and took out a quill and a parchment from their bedroom drawer, and began to write back to her.

Dear Lexi,

I hope everything's fine. I'll see you in the common room tonight at midnight by the fireplace.

Sirius

***

Jenna was feeling bored out of her mind. For weeks, all she could do was to curl up on an armchair in the common room, napping or watching the students come and go. But that evening, she could feel that something was wrong.

    It was pretty late at night when Jenna noticed that while the students went up to their dorms one by one, Lexi Hooper remained in the common room, pacing around anxiously, as though something was bothering her. The girl looked highly distressed, waiting for everyone else to leave the room.

     The students were all gone before midnight, because they had classes the next morning and had to be up early, so Crookshanks soon found herself alone in the common room with Lexi.

It was a bit past midnight when the ginger cat jumped out of her skin when she suddenly saw a head appearing through the fireplace. Her yellow eyes widened when she realized who it was.

    It was Sirius

"Hey, Kiddo." He smiled at Lexi as she went by the fireplace and sat down before it. He still hadn't noticed Jenna's presence. "What's up –"

But Lexi cut him off quickly. "How long have you known?"

"Er...." Sirius started, confused. "How long have I known what?"

Lexi paused for a few seconds as she stared at him through the flames with both fury and horror in her eyes, before she finally said,

"How long have you known that Regulus Black was my father!?"

     Crookshanks stared back at the girl in shock at those words. She had no idea how Lexi had found out about this, when neither Jenna nor Sirius were sure about this matter themselves.

"How — how did you find out?" Sirius asked, looking at her through the flames in disbelief.

"I saw his picture in Slughorn's office, on his shelf," she answered. "I recognized my dad. He looked so much younger, but it was unmistakable. I was just so surprised to see him there; so I asked Slughorn for his name. I expected him to say it was Roger Hooper... but he told me it was Regulus Black. I was shocked at first... but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made."

"Lexi—"

"—It makes sense, Sirius! I've been thinking all about it. Regulus Black made everyone believe that he was dead! He flew after the war ended, afraid that the remaining Death Eaters would come after him and so changed his name to Roger Hooper."

She went on while both Sirius and Crookshanks were gaping at her in surprise, clinging to every word that she spoke,

     "He got away without anyone figuring out that he was still alive. He got with my mother after a few years, and I was born later on. He probably gave me the Concealment Potion in order to keep me away from the Wizarding World, afraid that I would get caught up in the same mess he had been through; to keep me safe."

    She took a deep breath, continuing more calmly,

     "But he sent me back to save you. To save his only brother. He knew that I was completely familiar with this world and believed in me... so he made the portal in platform 9 3/4 and sent me back in time. But I don't understand why he would do that after taking away my magic."

     Jenna's mind was a mess, as she thought of everything Lexi was saying. It was all making sense now.

"How long have you known that Regulus was my father?" Lexi asked again.

"I was never sure," said Sirius earnestly. "When I first saw you, I was immediately reminded of Lisa, your mother. But of course I didn't believe it; thought it was just a coincidence. But when Remus told me that your mother's name was Lisa Goldman, I became suspicious. I gave you the necklace, in hopes that you would recognize it. But you didn't at first. And even when you finally did, I still couldn't be completely sure."

    Sirius then went on to explain how he and Regulus were friends with her mother when they were kids, living in the same neighborhood. And then he went on to tell her how he had become suspicious of Regulus being her father.

   "Besides," Sirius went on, "Remus kept telling me that there was a lot of resemblance of the Black family in you. And I couldn't help but notice that he was right."

     "What kind of resemblance?"

      "Your eyes... they're just like mine and Regulus's, and of course our dear mother," he said bitterly.

      "That could've been just a coincidence."

      "Yes, but Kreacher had bowed to you. He would never do that. He even bows to me only because he is bound to. But with you... he didn't seem too much forced," Sirius explained.

    "With all these things... how could you have not been sure?" she mused.

      "I still couldn't believe it because Regulus had supposedly died nearly fifteen years before you were even born."

"Exactly!" said Lexi, huffing. "What on earth was he doing all those fifteen year!? And there are still so many things I don't understand!"

"Like what?"

"Like how did he manage to fake his own death? How was he able to fool the Black Family tree to show that he was no longer alive? How did kreacher know I was a Black if he hadn't seen Regulus after he supposedly had died?"

"I don't know, Lexi..." said Sirius, his voice fading away into a sigh. "I've been wondering the same thing for over a year now. But I hope things will clear out... soon enough."

     Crookshanks had now silently moved closer to the fireplace and Sirius and Lexi kept on speaking. But she could see the girl doze off every once in a while, her head probably hurting from all the information she had in a single night.

"Lexi?" Sirius called her and the girl snapped back to reality, shaking her head.

"Er... anyway," she started, clearing her throat. "Now that we're on the topic, why were you acting so protective of me? You're not the same with Harry."

"True." He chuckled. "You know, the first time that I saw you, when I said you looked familiar, do you know who you reminded me of?"

"Um... Regulus?"

Sirius shook his head. "Your mother."

Having read through her surprised expression, Sirius went on, saying, "I always looked at Lisa as a younger sister. And I guess I automatically started to feel the same protectiveness I felt for her toward you."

He then muttered mostly to himself, "Now I understand why James felt so over-protective —" but then he stopped himself, shaking his head.

    You filthy hypocrite, Jenna thought to herself in amusement.

  Soon, after a long night of talking, Lexi finally bid Sirius goodbye and thanked him for meeting up with her, before getting to her feet to leave. Although the moment she left the common room and closed the dormitory door behind her, Sirius's gaze fell upon Crookshanks, a smile automatically forming on his lips.

Making sure that it was safe in the common room, Jenna transformed back to her human form, sitting before the fireplace and in front of Sirius.

     "What a night, huh?" Jenna said with a grin, her heart beating rapidly at his usual sight.

     "You could say so, yeah." Sirius chuckled. "How's everything going?"

     "Boring, I guess." Jenna shrugged casually.

     "What!? What do you mean boring!? You're literally in the center of all the teenage drama!"

     Jenna laughed, shaking her head at him. "You're unbelievable, Black. You really are."

     Sirius smirked cockily. "So I've been told."

     Jenna's laughter soon faded into a sad smile as she hugged her knees to her chest, letting the blazing flames of the fire warm her up. "I really miss you... I wish Christmas could come sooner."

     "I miss you too, Jenny," Sirius whispered, and as he looked back into her hazel eyes, he knew that he would give the world at this very moment just to kiss her and be able to hold her in his arms again.