*trigger warning: explicit parental abuse later in the chapter- I'll mark when and where to stop and start reading again if you choose to skip that part*

Sirius ignored the way his heart started racing when he made his way up to his room on Christmas and seen a wrapped box on his bed. He hoped it was from Savannah, but he knew that it was highly unlikely that she would send him something even since they became friends nearly two months ago. But, then again, who else would send him something?

When he stepped closer, he noticed that the wrapping was neat, but not too neat. It was the slightest bit messy, making Sirius assume it was from Savannah. This would be the way she would wrap presents, he thought.

He opened it to find two shirts from muggle bands he and Savannah both liked, making him smile. He also seen a bottle of potion that promised to make his broom "shiny clean and good as new!"

Sirius,

I know I'm a bit late but I couldn't decide which one to get you. I was going to give you one for Christmas and one for your next birthday.

I was still debating about which one to send now when I received your present. It's absolutely gorgeous, Sirius. Thank you.

So once I seen what you had gotten me, I still felt like I didn't get you quite enough even though I am sending you both things. I'm sorry it couldn't be more.

Savannah

Sirius felt his chest swell with happiness. Since when have I been this mushy?

He didn't understand it, especially since he grew up in a house that didn't know love. He grew up waiting for the next jab or smack, not for the next hug or 'I love you.' It had taken him quite a bit of time to even fully trust James and the other Marauders. They were his family now, not those horrid people at 12 Grimmauld Place. And yet, he still hadn't let his guard down completely. He hadn't told James everything that his parents put him through. He supposed that his parents were the reason he snogged and shagged so many girls; to actually feel wanted and loved. He had strung Marlene along for three years because she made him feel wanted and he was scared that when she was gone, no one else would make him feel that way. When they were together, they didn't shag. The farthest they went was Sirius pulling off Marlene's shirt, as they were too young to engage in such frisky behavior at the time. And yet, with pining over Savannah, he had something to distract him from the mess that was his home life. He had come a long, long way from how he was when he first came to Hogwarts, but he still had a bit to go.

When he came to Hogwarts, he just assumed that everyone shared the same prejudices that his parents did. James and the others opened his eyes, especially since Dalton-a muggleborn- was just as good at quidditch and magic in general as he was. Anytime he would make a rude comment without knowing it, the others would elbow him and then explain what was wrong with what he said later. That's how they helped him. They taught him things that his parents couldn't. When he lived with his parents before Hogwarts, he was taught French, the history of Grindelwald, ballroom dancing, 'proper' etiquette, etc. The Marauders taught him love, politeness, fun, and so many other things.

He tried to let down his walls, but eleven years of building those walls took over; he seemed to be physically incapable of doing so. He had a feeling, however, that Savannah could help him.
——
Dearest Savannah,

The girls owled me back. We're set to meet at Lily's on December 30. We're staying together until New Year's Day. We're also going to visit the boys and have a small party of our own on New Year's Eve.

Please come. Marlene and I are going to take the Knight Bus to Lily's, so I'd come like that if I were you.

Do you know how to summon the Knight Bus? If you don't, you go out onto a secluded street and wave your wand in the road. It should show up.

Lily said that James was going to owl Dalton about him going over to James's.

I hope we see you on December 30th!

Love,
Alice

Savannah felt her heart start to beat faster at the thought of spending New Year's Eve with Sirius, although she refused to accept the fact that she could even possibly be developing feelings for Sirius. I'm just excited to be back with my friends.

Savannah grinned before tucking the letter away. She sat on her bed and wrote a quick response saying she'd be there before sending it back with Alice's family's owl.

Maybe I can still be normal. Maybe my parents haven't fucked me up to the point of no return.

Savannah and Dalton managed to avoid their parents for most of the holidays, which was easy enough since most of the time they were drunk off their asses.

Savannah was quite happy with her new tattoos, especially since they didn't take near as much time to heal as the two she got from muggle tattoo parlors did. They healed within twenty-four hours, whereas the other ones took weeks.

"Hey, Sava, did you get a letter from the girls?" Dalton asked as he sauntered into her room like it was his.

"Yeah," Savannah replied, moving to get her pajamas out of her trunk. The floors creaked as she moved, which wasn't anything new. The house was borderline unlivable. The bath in the bathroom the family shared had mold in the corners with cracks everywhere. Savannah avoided taking showers there as much as possible.

"I got one from the guys too," Dalton replied, plopping down on Savannah's bed.

Savannah nodded, staying silent as she didn't want to wake up her father. He was definitely not pleasant when he was woken up.

"I wish we could just stay with them the rest of the break," Dalton added after a moment of silence, seemingly not caring about waking up their parents who were sleeping just down the hall.

"Me too," she responded quietly.
——
The next morning the twins approached their parents about staying at their friends'.

"Just stay the rest of your break," their father replied in a gruff voice as he grabbed a beer from the fridge, even though it was still eight o'clock in the morning.

"Okay, Father," Dalton responded politely.

(STOP READING)

I was getting tired of seeing your filthy faces around here anyway," he continued, ignoring Dalton's response.

Savannah really did try to stay silent.

"Seeing our filthy faces?! You've both gotten drunk off your asses every single day! You've stayed locked up in that nasty room of yours every day! You don't see us! You know what, you weren't meant to be parents!" She shrieked, waving her arms around.

"You shut the hell up, girl!" Her father yelled again, raising a hand to backhand her.

Before he could, Dalton reached up and grabbed his wrist. Dalton was big and strong, thanks to quidditch, so he knew he could take his drunk father. "Don't you dare touch her," he growled, angry. He wasn't the same scrawny boy he had been years ago.

Their father spat in Dalton's face, but Dalton didn't loosen his grip. Both he and Savannah were done with their shit.

He threw a punch at Dalton, put Dalton punched him right back and tackled him to the ground.

(START READING)

He pushed Dalton off of him, getting up and growling, "Get out of my house. And don't come back," before stalking off to get another beer.

Where was Suzanne, you ask? She was watching silently from the kitchen sink. She didn't care.

"Gladly," Savannah spat back, storming off to get her trunk. She threw her things in her trunk before pulling it out of her room. She met Dalton in the hall. She glanced into his room to see it bare of all the personalizations Dalton had added through the years. She suspected he had already had an Undetectable Extension and Weightless Charm on his trunk so he could fit his bean bag in it. She had the same thing on her trunk to make it easier to transport.

They stomped past their parents, not sparing them another glance as they shot out the door and made their way to an abandoned street. Savannah remembered the directions Alice gave her to summon the Knight Bus, so she waved her wand in the road.

In mere seconds, a humongous triple-decker purple bus rolled to a stop in front of them, leaving them breathless in awe of it. Savannah and Dalton had heard about the Knight Bus but had yet to experience it in person.

The conductor introduced himself, but Savannah didn't really pay any attention to him as she continued to gawk at the bus.

"Where ya needing to go?" The conductor asked, drawing Savannah's attention.

"Godric's Hollow," Dalton quickly told him. He knew that Euphemia and Fleamont would house them for the rest of break.

"Alrighty. Just follow me to your chairs," he replied.

He led them up the stairs to the very top deck. The other two decks weren't full so Savannah didn't understand why he took them to the very top deck. Nonetheless, she did like the view they got from the top. The chairs were comfortable, almost like the chairs in the Gryffindor common room.
——
One hell of a ride later, they were at Godric's Hollow, looking up at a massive house Dalton knew belonged to Fleamont and Euphemia Potter.