A/N: Yay! So many reviews on like the prologue! I can't tell you how encouraging that is! And everyone is a returning reader! Wow. I am so thrilled!

To answer a few questions:

Pastyglue – yes…it would be around that time, wouldn't it? That's why I got pissed at myself for messing up the timelines. I'm just so stupidly annoying sometimes because now I have to go back and like fix it.

Wipriddle – yes, Tom (or I should probably say Lord V) will be making an appearance sometime in this story, but I won't say when!

Anyways on to the story!

Chapter 1 – A Stormy Encounter

One year later - 1974

She watched as the rain beat continuously on the windows of the Hogwarts express.

She was sitting in a compartment alone, her straight black hair falling around her shoulders. She was sitting with her fingers drumming on the window pane, thinking.

She was a beautiful girl, there was no question. However, she gave off an intimidating sense which made her beauty more like that of an ice-queen: cold, forbidding, yet intriguingly stunning. For a girl of fifteen, soon to turn sixteen, she was tall for her age, standing around 5'5 feet. She had very fair skin, and was nicely proportioned. Her face was heart-shaped, but due to her attitude, it seemed cold. Her mouth was pleasantly shaped but it was obviousy it was not accustomed to smiling very often. Her eyebrows were nicely sculpted, and her bangs fell gently over her forehead.

The most striking aspect of her appearance however, were her eyes. Though lined with black kohl and shadow, and partly hidden underneath her bangs, they were a smoky blue. And, with her ivory skin, they stood out like small pools of darkness.

She watched the drops of rain trickle down the window and found herself thinking about the upcoming year. Just then, there was a loud knocking at her compartment door, before it opened.

Annoyed, she turned to see who was intruding on her solitude.

Vibrant gray eyes and messy black hair.

Adara rolled her eyes.

"Can I help you?" She asked, a bit sharply. Her first reply was a grin.

"Actually I was wondering if this compartment was full," He said, still smiling.

"I'm afraid it is," She said, crossing her arms across her chest and letting her icy glare focus on him. She had just noticed two other boys standing outside the door and couldn't help but clench her teeth in irritation.

He looked around the compartment slowly.

"It seems pretty empty to me," He said.

"Well I said it's full," She replied. When he didn't say anything, she began losing her patience, as much as she had anyways.

"Now is your turn to leave," She said, as the door opened and another boy she recognized with black hair and hazel eyes poked his head in.

"Hey Sirius, Remus has found another one at the back," He said, before disappearing again with the other boy who had been outside with him.

Adara flicked her gaze back to the boy, only to find him sitting down on the chair opposite her. She frowned.

"Aren't you leaving?" She asked, surprised and annoyed he was still there.

"No, I think I'll stay and give you a little company. You seem lonely," He said.

"I'm quite fine, I assure you," She said. He smirked in response.

A few minutes passed before a frustrated sigh escaped Adara.

"Can you please just leave?" She cried. Sirius smirked again.

"Am I really bothering you that much?" He asked.

"Yes," She said simply.

"Why?" He asked slowly. She frowned again.

"Because I don't like you," She said matter-of-factly.

"Is that so?" He said.

"Yes," She said, hoping he might take the hint and leave.

"Well, that's quite disappointing. I was kind of hoping we could be friends this year," He said.

"I'm not friends with Gryffindors," She said.

"And I'm not normally acquainted with Slytherins," He said.

"Then why are you here?" She asked. He smiled, but didn't answer. Instead, he began sifting through the bags that sat next to him: her bags.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She cried, jumping up. He pulled out a black leather-bound book and started flipping through the pages.

That did it.

She walked the short distance from her seat to his and stood in front of his legs, her hand extended.

"Give it back," She said quietly. He smiled at her, a roguish grin and continued moving through the pages.

"I said," She spoke louder," Give. It. Back."

"What is it?" He asked.

"None of your business," She retorted, making a grab for it. He moved his arm out of the way.

Frustrated, she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, before taking out her wand and pointing it at him. His eyebrows raised in surprise, and Adara noticed, amusement.

Bastard!

"What are you going to do, curse me?" He asked.

"Give it back," She said. He smirked.

"No," He said. She opened her mouth, surprised.

"Are you stupid? Do you think I can't use my wand?" She asked.

"No," He said languidly, "I just know you're smarter than to try anything that will get you in trouble and indirectly more attention."

Adara hesitated, her cheeks coloring slightly.

How the hell had he known that? She asked herself. It was strange to hear something that she had a hard time admitting to herself being uttered from the lips of a stranger. True he was a classmate, even in her same year, but she hardly every spoke to him. Actually, now that she thought of it, this was probably the first time they had ever spoken.

"Wow. Is the great Adara actually blushing?" He asked, laughing slightly. She frowned and her blush slightly darkened.

"Can I please have my book back? " She asked, taking the edge out of her voice.

"Well…." He said, toying with the book, "how much do you want it?"

She glared, her anger coming back.

"What do you want?" She asked almost sharply.

He pretended to think about it, and Adara began tapping her foot in annoyance.

After a minute, with still no words spoken from Sirius, she let out an irritated sigh.

"Ok," He said, looking up. "Have you ever played dice before?"

She frowned.

"No," She said, "I haven't." He smiled.

"Well, let me teach you then," He said. Her frown deepened.

"Why?" She asked.

"Well, we'll play three games." He said, pulling out a pair of die from his pockets. "We'll take turns rolling these, and whoever gets the highest score out of the three games, wins."

"So, if I win, I get my book back?" She asked skeptically.

"Exactly," He said. She hesitated.

"And what happens if I lose?" She asked. He smiled.

"Then I win something," He said. She frowned again.

"What?" She asked suspiciously.

"A kiss," He said.

"Excuse me?" She asked, her cheeks blushing lightly.

"If you win, you get your book back. If I win, I get a kiss. It sounds like a fair deal to me," He said.

"No," She said hurriedly, "I don't agree to those terms."

"Why not?" He asked. "Are you scared you're going to lose?"

"No," She said quickly, "I'll win."

"Oh you will, will you?" He asked.

"Yes," She said simply, moving her bags over to sit down next to him.

"Now, let's go," She said.

---

"Ladies first," He said as she took a seat next to him. Adara picked up the dice and shook them gently in her hand for a moment before letting them spill out onto the seat.

"A three and a five," He said as he read the dice.

"So that brings me to an eight," She said, satisfied. He smiled at her before taking the dice and shaking them in his hand.

"I have a two and a three," He said, reading the dice.

"Which is only a five," Adara announced. He smiled softly at her.

"Now you go again," He said. She picked up the dice and shook them in her hand again.

"A one and a three!" She cried, disappointed. "That's only a four."

"You're still ahead of me," He said, picking up the dice in his hand. He shook them for a second before letting them fall.

"A four and a five," He read, smugly. He looked up to see Adara frowning.

"So now you have 12, and I have 14," He said. "You can still win."

"Oh don't worry, I will," She said, quickly grabbing up the dice. She let them fall and read them silently.

"Two threes," She said softly. "Which makes six. Which brings my total to 18."

Sirius didn't say anything, but merely picked up the dice and rolled his last turn.

They were both silent as they read his two and his four.

"So with that six, " Adara said quietly, "it brings your total up to –"

"20," He said softly. Adara looked at the ground, blushing slightly.

"You won," She said, her voice a little more than a whisper. He smiled.

"I guess so," He said. Adara cleared her throat.

"Well then," She said, leaning in to let him take his prize. She closed her eyes and sighed, waiting for the feel of his lips upon hers.

It never came.

She heard a sigh, and felt him get up. Her dark lashes fluttered open, her cheeks blushing.

He merely smiled at her and handed her the book. She took it, confused.

"But you won?" She said, frowning slightly. He reached down and picked up her other hand. Slowly, he bent down and kissed her hand softly, his eyes fixed upon her. She felt herself blush deeper, but couldn't bring herself to look away.

"I'm sorry I took up so much of your time," He said as he let go of her hand and turned to leave. But when he reached the door, he turned back.

"I hope I'll see more of you this year," He said, before leaving her alone once more.

Adara sat, stunned in the compartment. With one hand, she held the other as she tried to grasp what had just happened. And, watching the rain once more falling against the window, she tried to push out of her mind the unpleasant and strange feelings of being self-conscious and embarrassed.