Disclaimer: I don't own canon Harry Potter. I merely write Harry Potter fanfiction for enjoyment.

Keeping it Simple

"Y'know, she's changed quite a bit," James Potter murmured as he glanced down at the moving yearbook picture and back up at the curly-haired brunette sitting on Roland Wood's lap.

"D'ya mean in looks or in actions? I mean, we all know Brewer's always been a little flirty," Sirius Black muttered as he stared at the lollipop he was twirling in his hand.

James laughed at Sirius' joke and turned to Remus Lupin, another of their Marauders group, and smirked at Remus' contorted face.

"Very funny, Sirius," Remus muttered as he rolled up his used parchment.

"Yeah, I thought so," Sirius laughed tauntingly. "Remember when little greasy Adelaide Brewer would fawn all over you?"

"Don't be rude, Sirius. She was really smart and nice – still is." Remus stood up next to the coffee table and stretched with his back to the fire.

"Doesn't change the fact that she was greasy," James whispered to Sirius, which caused Sirius to grin.

He turned his gaze back towards Adelaide and squinted in concentration. A few years ago her hair seemed to be a dark brown, but over the years it had slowly grown much lighter. Her eyes were a bright blue and stood out on her face, which was extremely tan.

"What do you think?" James asked Sirius, noticing the way he had been staring at her.

"I think she looks like any other girl. Nothing special about her," Sirius said, trying to elude the real question James was asking.

"C'mon Sirius. You haven't liked a girl at all this year – and you almost never ask a girl out. Why don't you try it, just this once?" James pressed.

"It'd be good for you," Remus agreed.

"What would be good for whom?" Peter asked as he set down the large amount of pastries from the kitchen on the table.

"Don't you think having Sirius date would be a good for him?" James asked fervently.

Sirius rolled his eyes and adjusted himself in the red plush armchair so then his legs were hanging over one arm while his head rested on the other.

"Yeah. It'd be great!" Peter agreed. It wasn't really a surprise, of course. Peter agreed to everything.

Sirius quickly swung himself around until he was sitting up and leaning on his knees. "The only problem with you guys telling me this is that none of you have dated. I'm the only one. Who are you all to tell me who I should date and when? Did you guys ever think that maybe I really don't care for Brewer?"

Remus pursed his lips and Peter shuffled his feet.

"I've dated," James said indignantly.

Sirius shook his head and looked around the packed Common Room and found Susie Parker, a bushy haired blonde with glasses. "You've dated a total of one girl in this room – and you ditched her thirty minutes in to go follow Evans. That bloody well doesn't count and you know it!"

"Well, it's not as if you've got a good reason for not dating someone," James said, his voice beginning to falter.

Sirius grunted in reply and shrugged. There was no way he was going to admit exactly why he had given up on dating. Prongs and Wormtail wouldn't understand. Moony probably would, but he would never admit it. Instead, Moony would probably try to find a way to say that their situations weren't similar; that a girl would marry into Sirius' family while, on the other hand, a girl would never ever marry a werewolf. And, to be honest, at this point most girls expected long-term relationships with marriage in the end.

"Nothing's ever stopped you before," Moony muttered. "What's stopping you now?"

"It's none of your business," growled Sirius. He pushed himself off the chair and stomped off towards the Portrait, leaving the Gryffindor Common Room. At a brisk pace, he began his walk down the many flights of stairs, knowingly taking the long way to the Entrance Hall instead of one of the many shortcuts he knew. Sirius was going to need a long time away from the other Maurauders – he needed time to himself.

Once Sirius reached the Entrance Hall, he was surprised to find that there were still quite a few people roaming around. Generally, most went to their respective Common Rooms by seven thirty, but it was now eight. Sirius gave a quiet groan and, with the idea of avoiding people, walked out the front doors of Hogwarts to the frigid leaf-infested grounds.

The doors clanged shut behind him and so he squinted and took in his surroundings. Growing up he had been the child that would quietly sit until he had gathered a sense of his surroundings, and would then present himself. At Hogwarts, he didn't use this ploy as much, but since Sirius needed alone time, this was the perfect opportunity. He needed to make sure he avoided where people were already, and that he kept a safe distance from anyone who would try to talk to him. There were only about ten people, of course, but you could never be too careful.

After Sirius had finished judging, he began to trudge over to the lake. Considering it was a breezy night, and the lake was icy, not many were willing to hang out by it. Therefore, it was the perfect spot for Sirius Black.

Upon arriving, he quickly went to the big willow tree on the lake border and found the perfect alcove for him to sit in and sulk.

"Aren't you cold?"

Sirius glanced up and a shiver went up his spine. It was Adelaide Brewer. He could've simply answered "no" as he wasn't cold in the special cloak he was wearing, but he didn't feel like being civil. "What's it to you? Did you follow me or something?"

Adelaide blushed and pushed her hair back self-consciously. "I don't know. Just a question."

After a few seconds of Sirius ignoring her and looking out at the lake, he was surprised to hear a rustle of leaves and looked over to where she had been standing before. This time, she was sitting and bundling herself up as best as she could in her cloak.

"Is there a reason why you're not sitting on Wood's lap right now?" Sirius snapped.

Instead of anger, like Sirius expected, Adelaide laughed. "Well – no, never mind," she said while shaking her head.

Now intrigued, Sirius flashed a sexy grin. "C'mon. It can't be that bad."

"I suppose it isn't," Adelaide agreed. "But I just – never mind."

Sirius gave a wishful sigh and leaned back into the tree.

"Er. Sirius," Adelaide prompted.

"What?" Sirius gave another smile, finding himself elated that she had said his name.

"I saw you when you left the Common Room. Why were you so upset?"

Sirius shook his head and gave her another smile. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it."

Adelaide smiled back. "Well, Sirius. If I didn't know you well enough I'd wonder if you were hitting on me."

"What does that mean?" Sirius slowly stood up, mimicking Adelaide's movements.

"It means that I know that you're hitting on me."

Sirius shrugged his shoulders, slowly beginning the walk up to the castle. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Adelaide scrunched up her nose, trying to hide a smile, and then consented to hitting him playfully on the arm. "C'mon, Black. You know I've always been a sucker for flirting."

Sirius laughed and began a fake yawn, stretching his arms and placing one arm around her shoulders so he could bring her closer. "Well, if I didn't know it before, I certainly found out when you were with Wood in the Common Room."

Adelaide laughed and slipped her arm around his back. "Roland wouldn't really let go of me to be honest."

"And what does that mean?" Sirius asked, surprised that she didn't seem to want to be with Nathan.

"Well, I don't like getting that physically close with someone unless I'm dating him," Adelaide said.

They were about halfway up the castle and it had taken a surprisingly short time, as it was now around eight fifteen, which many portraits pointed out obnoxiously. And strangely enough, the suits of armor had changed positions so they were leaning forward and yielding their weapons threateningly.

"So you've dated a lot," Sirius stated, trying to ignore how Adelaide squeezed him tighter as they passed the suits of armor and weapons.

"No," Adelaide dragged out.

Sirius shot her a surprised glance. "So you string along all those boys even when you don't like it?"

Adelaide blushed and brought her other arm around Sirius' stomach. "Well, there are some times when I like it."

"I certainly hope you haven't told anyone else about your dating policy," Sirius joked.

"Why is that?" Adelaide asked as she pulled away from Sirius. They were now in front of the Fat Lady, staring each other in the eyes as if in a showdown.

"Because then many will think that we are dating," Sirius said while waggling his eyebrows.

Adelaide shot back a smile. "Well, don't you want to?"

Sirius blew out hot air and mussed up his hair, the smile falling from his face. He had to admit he was surprised that she had asked him that. His first reaction was to say "yes", but he held back. Saying yes was the same as saying "yes, I'll condemn you to be related to my family who will probably purposefully hurt you and ruin your life" because, he had to face it, most girls were looking for long-term relationships. He didn't know if he could do that. Sirius hadn't admitted it, but he liked Adelaide the moment he saw her on the train at the beginning of the year, and he couldn't do that to someone he liked. It was like hurting her with his own hands.

Adelaide blushed and clasped her hands together, staring down at the floor. "I mean, we don't have to be serious. We could just try it out a-and see – we could just…"

Sirius breathed a silent sigh of relief and lifted her chin until she was looking him in the eye, and then softly grabbed one of her hands. This girl really was perfect – she wasn't expecting an everlasting relationship. "We could go on a date into Hogsmeade next week."

Adelaide slowly smiled. "Yeah. Sounds like a plan."

A/N: This was written for the Birthday Ficathon at the Reviews Lounge. It is chapter eleven of "The Reviews Lounge Birthday Ficathon" which is a compilation of all responses to the challenge under the Reviews Lounge profile. The whole idea of the ficathon was for every person who signed up to write a small one-shot anonymously for another person who signed up. The link to the Reviews Lounge profile and all else associated with the Reviews Lounge is on myprofile. Go check it out!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this - I'd love to hear your thoughts!