Written for A Myraid of Challenges, posted by Zylaxidia. Number 27, where a character 'comes out.'

Peter, Remus, and James shot nervous looks at each other as they stood outside the door to their dormitory. "This isn't going to be easy mates," James said, running a hand through his hair out of habit. "You know how he hates confrontation. This might get real ugly real fast."

The other two nodded seriously. Quietly opening the door, Remus stuck his head in. "It's safe guys. I think he might be in the loo."

The three wizards stepped into the room, still on alert. The only sound was the stifled mutterings coming from the direction of the large wooden door that led to the shower. "How dare she...No right at all, exposing me, us, like that..."

Peter walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it lightly. "Sirius?" he called. "Do you want to come out and talk about it?"

"NO!" shouted a masculine voice.

Looking rejected, Peter stepped away from the door. Remus gave a small cough and said gently, "Padfoot, you might feel better if you talk about it. It's not good to keep all your feelings bottled up."

"Shuddup Moony, and stop reading those parenting books."

Somewhat insulted, Remus stood next to Peter. James went on looking perfectly innocent. Remus shot him a pointed look and James gave a large sigh. He hated confrontation almost as much as Sirius did. "Padfoot, I'm coming in," he called.

Walking into the loo, his first thought was that no one was there. But sitting under the counter was Sirius, dressed in all black with a hood covering most of his face. "Sirius...what are you doing?"

"Mourning," was his melancholy reply.

When he did not continue, James asked, "Mourning what?"

"The death of my dignity, reputation, and best secret ever. They're all gone, dead because of what your girlfriend did."

Kneeling down to look Sirius in the eye James said awkwardly, "She didn't mean to mate..."

"What do you mean she didn't mean to? She practically announced it to the entire Great Hall. My reputation is mud now. All those years of building it up, with all those girls. It's all ruined now! Ruined!"

James sighed and sat next to Sirius, pulling his own hood up. This must have looked remarkably funny to anyone else - two seventeen-year-old boys cramped under the sink counter in the bathroom.

James began cautiously, "Maybe it's for the best mate. You know, that it comes out of the closet. Keeping a secret that big was unhealthy."

"Everything was going fine between us until she came along. We were so happy..." Looking his best friend straight in the eye, he took a deep breath and continued, "I...I really care about him. It was the perfect secret, no one knew about it, save you guys."

James nodded and asked, "Just out of curiosity, how did Lily find out?"

"We were in an unused Charms classroom together. I guess we were playing with each other too loudly, because she must have heard us. She walked in and saw us, but I didn't notice it. Then she told me at lunch, and Rita overheard her and everything snowballed from there." The black haired boy pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face in his arms.

James stayed quiet for a minute and then said, "I know this has to be embarrassing for you, but I really do think it's for the best. For the past two months, you've been keeping him a secret and neglecting him just to keep it all hidden. That's not really fair to him, is it?"

"No," came Sirius' muffled reply.

"And you really care about Ian, right?"

"Yeah," said Sirius. "But what if everyone makes fun of me?"

"Look at it this way - all those times Lily rejected me, I didn't give up...People called me crazy, said that she'd never give me a chance. Look at us now - we've been going steady for four months!"

"So?"

"So? So, you shouldn't care what people think about you. If you like Ian, that should be enough for other people. I'm sure they'll go crazy for him too, once they meet him."

"Wanna know what Prongs," Sirius said, "You're right. I don't care what people think. Because I l-love Ian Hewitt McCumquat!"

James sniggered at this. "Ian Hewitt McCumquat? What a horrible name!"

Sirius snorted at him and said, "I think it's very cute and I don't care what you think!"

James just laughed harder and said, "Wow, Ian really has changed you. I don't think I've ever heard you call anything cute before."

"Ahh well, let's get out of here. It's time for dinner."

The two exited the bathroom and stepped into the dorm. Sirius walked over to the small closet in their room and pulled out a large basket. Remus walked behind him and clapped him on the back. "You're doing the right thing, mate."

With a determined look in his eye, Sirius said, "I know. I really do."

The four boys walked confidently to the Great Hall, whispers following them as they went. As soon as he had stepped across the entrance, Sirius was attacked by a red blur. "Sirius I am so sorry. I had no idea he was a secret," Lily whispered into his shoulder. "Please, will you forgive me?" she asked, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.

Patting her on the back, Sirius replied, "Absolutely. And actually, thank you. Now if you excuse me, I have an announcement to make."

Striding up to the front of the Great Hall, Sirius had hundreds of eyes following his every move. Stopping right in front of the teachers' table, he turned around to face his peers as the fell silent. "I have an announcement." Taking a deep he looked back at his friends who smiled at him in assurance. "As some of you might have heard, I have a secret. I stand before you now to present said secret."

The hall was filled with 'Awwws' from many girls as Sirius gently took a black kitten from the basket. "This is Ian, my kitty. Just thought you should all meet him."

Sitting down as if nothing had happened, Sirius began to eat his roast beef, slipping Ian a piece from time to time. Lily leaned over and said, "I just wanted to say before he has to be the cutest kitty ever."

Apparently, so did the rest of the female population at Hogwarts. Throughout the night, Sirius was constantly approached by admirers of both him and Ian. As they left the Great Hall, Sirius muttered into the basket, "Had I known you were such a babe magnet, I would have brought you ought of that closet a long time ago."

Hahaha Ian's a cat! Just thought it would be different.

Isabel

Hey, I've decided to come back and add this just to clear some things up...The school does not know that Sirius is gay because he isn't. In this story Sirius is completely straight. 'Coming Out' refers to Ian coming out of the closet where Sirius keeps him. I don't have a problem with gay people or slash, this just is not a Gay!Sirius story.

Isabel