"Sirius, don't!" Melina screamed at one of her best guy friends. She tried pushing herself away from him; he was too strong and too tall.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun," he said, pulling her to the middle of the pitch. He mounted his broom and sat her in front of him. Her eyes were shut and she was shaking badly.

"Are you really that afraid to fly?" he whispered in her ear. She nodded her head. He knew she was afraid of heights, but some unknown force had possessed him to take her out here.

"I never wanted to come out here," she said. "I hate coming out here except to watch you and James. But you just pulled me out of the common room and – AHH!"

He had kicked off the ground. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him for dear life. They rose a bit more and slowly descended.

"Well that settles it then," Sirius said once they were on the ground again. She collapsed onto the floor.

"Settles what?" she asked, looking up at him. He offered his hand and pulled her up.

"I'm definitely not taking her flying," he replied, walking away. What was wrong with him? Melina ran to catch up with him.

"Her? Her who?" she inquired, taking two steps for every one of his strides.

"Only the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts," he answered, not looking at her.

Her heart sank a little, though she didn't know why. "Oh," she replied quietly. She walked faster until she was practically sprinting back to Gryffindor Tower. She ran up to her dorm and threw herself on her bed.

"What was that about?" her best friend Lily asked. She shook her head. What had come over her?

"I don't think it's nothing," Lily said. She cautiously sat on the edge of Melina's bed. "What did Sirius want? He kind of rushed in, grabbed you, and rushed out."

"He bloody took me flying," Melina practically yelled as she sat up. "He knows how much I hate flying, yet he drags me out there a little before we're supposed to be in bed and we zoom up into the air. When we get back down he says that it's settled. He's not taking her flying." Her amber eyes blazed with anger.

"I'm sure he meant no harm," Lily said, trying to calm her friend.

"But—"

An owl bumped into their dormitory window, interrupting her. Lily got up and let it into the room. It landed on Melina's bed and stuck its leg out patiently. Melina slowly took the parchment off and unrolled it. It was a note from Sirius.

Melina,

Sorry about earlier. Meet me in the common room in a few minutes.

Sirius

"Well?" Lily asked, looking over her shoulder at the note.

"Well what?" Melina asked back.

"Aren't you going to go down?"

"I'm thinking no."

"Please, just go," Lily said a little too hastily. Melina thought she saw the smallest hint of a smile on her friend's lips. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but I'm not going to enjoy it," she said walking to the door.

"Yes you will!" Lily almost screamed as she pushed her. Melina whipped around.

"Lily Evans!" But the door was already closed and she could hear the other girl giggling. "I am so going to get her for this." She walked slowly down the stairs, bracing herself for whatever Sirius had to say.

She didn't see anybody when she arrived in the common room. She looked on the couches and in all of the chairs and under all of the tables. She gave up and went to sit in her favorite armchair by the fireplace.

"Eep!" she exclaimed as she sat down on something on her chair. She heard Sirius' bark of a laugh. He was wearing James' invisibility cloak and she was sitting on him. She stood up and hit him.

"What is with you tonight, Sirius?" she asked in exasperation. "Whatever it is, I've had enough of it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to bed." She turned on her heel and started walking away, but Sirius grabbed her wrist.

"I'm sorry. Don't leave," he said. She could hear the pleading in his voice. She turned around to face him. He had taken off the invisibility cloak.

"What is with you tonight?" Melina repeated.

"You."

"What?" she asked in surprise. Sirius looked down at his hands and back at her face, as if it contained the answer to her question.

"I love you," he whispered. He put a hand on the side of her face and rubbed his thumb on her cheek. Their faces slowly came together until their noses almost touched.

"I love you too," she breathed. Sirius closed the gap in between them and Melina experienced the most amazing, breath-taking kiss she had ever had in her short sixteen years.


Melina sat upright in bed. Why was she dreaming about the first kiss she had shared with the man she loved? She hadn't seen him in fourteen or fifteen years. The last time she had seen him had been before the dementors came to take him away…


"Sirius, don't!" Melina screamed. But it was too late; he had already cast the spell at Peter. The twelve Muggles and Peter disappeared. He threw his head back and barked his laugh.

"SIRIUS!" she screamed again. She ran towards him. He looked down at her as she threw her arms around him. He held her.

"It's alright, he's gone now," he murmured. He stoked her beautiful brown curls.

"Alright? Alright!" she said looking up at him. Tears were falling rapidly from her eyes. "Look what you've done! We've already lost James and Lily and now I'm going to lose you too! They're going to take you away!"

A look of sorrow clouded his eyes. He wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"I'm not going anywhere." And as he said it, Aurors and Ministry people Apparated around them. With them were the dementors.


A chill ran down Melina's spine. It was raining outside. She walked to the kitchen and got a glass of water. She looked out the window and thought she saw a huge, black dog.

"Sirius," she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. When she looked again, it was gone, if it had been there at all.