Waiting For Love

Chapter One: Electricity

A/N: So, this is just my first chapter—hope you guys like! 

"Mum! I. Will. Be. Fine!"

"But sweetheart—"

"NO! Mum, this is my seventh year at Hogwarts, I'm going to be bloody fine—"

"But—"

"Love you, see you at Christmas!!"

Rosemary Cadogan issued a sigh of relief as she ran her way through the wall at Platform 9 ¾. It wasn't that she didn't love her mother, but…

'That woman is way too overprotective.'

Rosie was an only child, and really her only relative was her mother. Her father, Anton, had died after a risky trip to Egypt to observe some highly poisonous snakes. Well, it turned out to be too risky and he ended up getting bitten. Of course, he was immediately admitted to St. Mungo's, but sadly, the poison was too fast-acting and not even magic could save him. Rosie was only 6 years old at the time, but she was still crushed at the death of her father, whom she had always been closer to. However, Rosie also thought of her father's death as a blessing in disguise, though she'd never tell anyone. Anton's death had brought her closer to her mother. After Anton's death, Rosie and her mother, Kathleen, moved away and ended up neighboring a certain Black family.

Of course, Sirius and Rosie hit it off immediately and became best friends. Although Rosie and Sirius both had other friends, they had always felt a closer connection to each other than their same-sex counterparts. Their differences had always made them an odd pair, but they rarely left each other's side and spent most summer nights in each other's rooms talking. Well, in reality, they spent most of their time in Rosie's room due to the fact that Sirius' mother was well, completely against Rosie's heritage of "mud-bloods". In fact, Narcissa Black detested the friendship of her son and Rosie entirely, and would not stand to have her in the house. So, after the time of when Sirius was booted from his own home and moved in with James Potter, his other best friend, who lived quite a distance away, Rosie began spending time with her own other best friend, Alecia Raleigh, who lived about a kilometer away.

In reality, Rosie was now becoming increasingly worried about seeing Sirius, whom she hadn't seen since the summer. She and Sirius had…well, they had sex after James had a "summer celebration". Of course, Alecia walked in on them, and they quickly resolved not to discuss the situation ever. Of course, that never worked out and they attempted dating for a while. Naturally, the relationship ended due to their friendship and their lack of ability to even kiss. Rosie headed back home for the rest of the summer and hadn't spoken to Sirius or James since.

And now was the time to approach Sirius for the first time in over a month. Rosie could clearly see him—he was standing alone, looking extremely nervous and on edge.

"Oh fuck!" Sirius had caught her eye, and was about to wave her over when she was interrupted by a certain someone.

"ALECIA! Thank God!!" She pulled her best friend in to a hug.

"Um…hey, Ro-Ro…I saw you yesterday." She looked concerned. "Are you losing your short-term memory, Ro? Cos that happened to my granddad and it can really turn—"

"Ally, shut up."

"But I was just saying—"

"No. Shut up." Rosie glanced meaningfully over at Sirius, who was now deeply involved in conversation with his non-Marauder friend, Brandon Fiore.

"Oh," came Alecia's meager reply. Her voice then dropped to a whisper. "Have you talked to him since…you know…"

"Since we "broke up"? No. I don't know what to say to him! There is nothing to say! Our friendship is now completely shattered cos I had to go be an adolescent alcoholic and drink an entire bottle of champagne! What do I do, Ally? Help me, please. I'm going to have a nervous breakdown—what if we don't talk ever again? What if he says—"

"Ro-Ro—calm down. You're having a spasm. Just go over to Sirius and just talk to him."

"ABOUT WHAT, ALLY?!" Alecia clamped her hand over Rosie's mouth as her shouts began to encourage staring.

"Rosie. Calm. Down." Alecia grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly.

"But what if he won't talk to me?" Rosie could feel tears welling up in her eyes. The look that Alecia saw on her best friend's face was completely heartbreaking and she immediately pulled her friend in to a tight hug. A loud wolf whistle issued from a third year.

"OI! YOU! FUCK OFF, YOU BLOODY ARSE!" The third year immediately withdrew into a corner and waited for Alecia to turn back to Rosie before scurrying away, as onlookers backed away from her.

"Bloody kids." Alecia muttered. A small giggle came from Rosie's throat and she smiled.

"There we go!" Alecia cheered. "Now, let's go over to Sirius. I'll come with you. After all, you can talk to that really cute guy that's with him…I think his name's Brandon? He's gorge. Let's go, sweetheart."

Rosie laughed. "I love how you can turn any situation in to a guy-spotting time. Little slag," she kidded, as Alecia gasped and lightly smacked her arm.

"Let's go. Now." At those words fear immediately shot back in to Rosie's eyes.

"Okay…I guess…" Alecia led her over to Sirius and Brandon, and Rosie followed like a lost puppy. The dread bubbling up in Rosie's stomach felt nauseating; she almost felt as though she could throw up. She stood a meter away from Sirius, glancing up only once to meet his gray eyes. However, she did not see the normal light that she always expected from his eyes: she saw that same look of dread that she felt exactly.

"Hiii!" Alecia said, almost a little too enthusiastically. She pulled Sirius in to a tight forced hug, and once she pulled away she shoved Rosie in to Sirius' still open arms. Rosie put her arms around her best friend awkwardly, and inhaled deeply. She immediately noticed the fresh smell of his cologne—the one that she missed for so long. She always remembered her best friend smelling so sweetly, and was immediately calmed by it. She pulled away, and managed to whisper hoarsely, "Hey, love."

He looked back at her and smiled awkwardly. "Hey, you," he whispered in return. He still held her, but at a distance. He knew that look on her face—she was unsure. Unsure of how Sirius felt, and unsure of how she herself felt. He, in fact, did feel the same way, and tried not to let it show.

"Umm, so, how was everyone's summer? I mean, except for the—oh shit, um, bad question, so, um, yeah, wow, so, um—I mean—oh shit, no…how is everybody?!!!" Alecia questioned, attempting and failing miserably to break the ice.

"My summer was great. I played Quidditch with my brother—he's going in to his second year, he's so tall though, Jesus—he just towers over everybody. The chicks think he's the hottest thing ever, though, so I guess—" Brandon, noticing that his go at small talk was fading and fast, shut his mouth.

"Um, cool. Oh shit, we should get on the train. Let's go get a compartment."

Alecia pushed everyone on to the train with their trunks and they set off down the corridor looking for a compartment. They came across one, and piled in to it. They sat in silence for quite a long time—Sirius tapped his foot on the ground, Alecia picked at her nails, Brandon playing piano on his thigh, and Rosie twisted her curly hair in her fingers. After what felt like an eternity, loud voices could be heard down the corridor and finally entered the compartment—the rest of the Marauders.

"Bloody hell, there you are! We've been looking for you for ages, mate! What've you been doing? I mean—" James immediately shut his mouth at the sight of Rosie. "Oh. Um, well. Hey, Ro-Ro! Great to see you…yeah." James, Peter and Remus all took seats—James in between Sirius and Brandon, Peter in the corner by the window, and Remus next to Rosie opposite Sirius. They all sat in silence, until Alecia suddenly leapt up and said, "Sirius? May I have a quick word with you? Now?"

Sirius glanced up from his foot-tapping and considered his options. 'I could go talk to Alecia about God-knows what, or I could stay here and want to kill myself.' At the thought of remaining in the same compartment as Rosie, he leapt up and followed Alecia out.

"What is it?" He looked down at his feet.

"I have one question: do you want to get back together with Rosie?"

"Oh, hell no!" Sirius exclaimed almost angrily. "I mean, no. I can't go down that road again. Why, does she want to? I mean, that must be why it's so awkward between us, cos if she didn't than—"

"She doesn't."

"What?!"

"She doesn't want to date you. She thinks you still do though, which is why it's so awkward between you two." Alecia crossed her arms over what Sirius noticed to be her well-developed chest and blew her fringe over her eyes. Sirius had just come to the realization that he, yes, had seen Alecia before, but he'd never really seen seen her. He now noticed that she was quite attractive—deep brown eyes, full red hair, and beautiful porcelain skin. She stood only a few inches below Sirius' height, and wore gray skinny jeans and a plain white form-fitting collared t-shirt. He stood there, giving her the once over while barely noticing that she was still talking to him.

"SIRIUS!"

"Huh?" Sirius, still mesmerized by Alecia's beauty, didn't seem to care that she had finally noticed that he was checking her out.

"You're totally eyeing me, Sirius. Not cool."

"Oh, um, was I? Well, you kno—I mean, no I wasn't! I was…looking at your jeans."

Alecia scoffed. "Yeah, like you really care about jeans. I'm trying to help you solve your problems with Rosie, not hook up with you. Okay?" She attempted to keep her cool, but she could feel heat rising up to her cheeks—this was what she had wanted since first year: Sirius finally noticed her.

Sirius nodded slowly, as though processing what she had just said. Rosie began to tell him her "plan". But in reality, Sirius didn't notice her talking…just leaned in closer and closer to her, while she, without realizing, was doing just the same.

Meanwhile, back in the compartment, Brandon and Rosie were talking as if they were old friends—but strangely enough, just two years before Rosie had hated him and thought that the feeling was mutual. However, she was now finding out that she was completely wrong.

"You know, I was only an ass to you because I really liked you." Rosie giggled. "Really? I was only an arse to you cos you were American. How childish of me. Funny how I find that accent of yours so charming right now."

Brandon laughed quietly. "Hey, I'm not the one with the accent, hun." Rosie blushed crimson and looked at her knees, while Brandon laughed and looked at her. 'How could things have not worked out between her and Sirius?' He wondered. 'She's so cute—her smile, that gorgeous curly brown hair, those icy eyes…I'd fall for her in a second!' Brandon kept looking at her, and she looked back up at him. They sat there, across from each other, locked in each other's eyes. Rosie could feel herself slowly inching forward—their knees were now touching. He seemed startled by the contact—he broke the eye contact and went as far back as he could in to his seat. Rosie quickly cleared her throat—but she knew something was there. She had this feeling—one that she had longed for for so long, but now she wondered:

Did he feel the same electricity she did?