Chapter One

Vanity

"Vanity is an excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise."

Sirius Black admired his reflection in the mirror. Yeah, he was looking good today. His slick black hair was falling about his face gracefully, and his school shirt was just tight enough to show off his chiselled arms and toned chest. How could Daisy turn him down when he looked like this?

He sighed, not taking his eyes of his mirror. He had really messed up this time.

He had fallen in love with a girl so different from any other he had liked before that he hadn't been able to handle it. All the girls he was used to were tall, blonde and as intelligent as a bag of frozen peas. But Daisy Parks was the complete opposite. She was tiny, brittle and very virginal. Her hair was an off-gold colour which most people referred to as "ginger" but what she insisted was "strawberry blonde." She was rarely seen without her nose in a book and was usually to be found on the floor as she had a tendency to fall over a lot.

Daisy was a year younger than Sirius, and a muggle born. Her sister, Emily, was in Sirius' year. To say him and Emily didn't get on would be quite the understatement. He had only started talking to Daisy in an attempt to piss off her sister. He knew it would infuriate her. What he didn't know was how intrigued he would become by Daisy. She was such an oddball. But a very cute one. Pretty quirky and highly strung, it had been hard for Sirius not to fall in love with her.

Sirius had to get her back. He just wished she wasn't so… well, frigid. There was no nicer word for it. Sure, they had fooled around, but they had never slept together. He respected that she wanted to wait, but still.. It was frustrating. Gorgeous Sirius Black was used to having sex whenever he wanted while being single. And when he had actually settled down, he had gotten nothing. He wasn't used to it. And yes, he had had a moment of weakness last night. But he was going to fix it today. Being with Daisy was more important than having a pretty bimbo in his bed. He just would have to wait.

He cast one more glance at his impeccable reflection, and then made his way out of the room, making his way to the Gryffindor common room. As he entered, he gloated inwardly at the amount of female heads that had turned admiringly in his direction. But his bubble was soon burst as he caught sight of Daisy. She was sat in the good chairs next to the fireplace surrounded by a large group of her girl friends. She didn't look up when he entered, only continued talking to her friends.

He walked cautiously towards them. For the first time in his life, he felt nervous about approaching a girl. He stopped on his way to say good morning to James, who merely grunted and didn't take his eyes off his long time love Lily Evans. Sirius shook his head. James had more chance of getting with Professor Dumbledore than he did with Lily.

Daisy was squashed into a chair with her best friend in her year, a Scottish girl called Flora Moss. Flora glared at him as he made his way to stand in front of them all. He felt like he was on trial.

"Um.. Daisy, baby, can I have a word?" He asked timidly. She looked at him. Her brow furrowed slightly and she pouted her lips. Sirius felt a guilty lump rise in his throat. He knew that expression all too well. He may have to depend on a bit more than his looks to get her back… As crazy as that sounded.

"No" she answered stubbornly. Then she turned from him to Flora. "Do you want to go to breakfast soon? I'm starving, I didn't have any dinner last night."

"Why didn't you have dinner?!" asked Flora, a shocked expression on her face. Flora was renowned for her large appetite.

"I had detention. Slughorn gave me it for reading in class…" she said.

Sirius stood there, watching. She had refused to speak to him, and it was pretty obvious she wasn't going to change her mind, but still… he didn't want to stop looking at her. Her pale skin looked luminous next to her crimson school jumper. And her long hair was hanging gracefully across her shoulders. She looked particularly ginger today… but that was ok. Sirius liked ginger's.

Daisy looked up at him again. Her eyes were still stubborn.

"Can I help you? Or are you just standing here to see if you can entice any of my friends into bed with you?"

Flora hissed. "We aren't interested, Black."

Sirius opened his mouth to reply. He just couldn't let her get away that easily. He was also slightly shocked. He thought he was looking great today, but apparently not good enough. He'd have to fix that before he did anything else…

"Daisy, please.. I'm sorry, it was a mistake!"

Daisy scoffed. "A mistake?! What, did your clothes just accidentally fall off, and you and that girl just happened to fall into bed together? Go away Sirius."

"No! you have to hear me out!" He was getting desperate. Just as he was preparing to spill his heart out, a shriek cut him off.

"SIRIUS BLACK! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

He turned around and saw Emily striding across the room, followed by a reluctant Remus. Remus was trying to disguise a smile as he watched his girlfriend storm angrily towards Sirius. He loved it when she was angry.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO HER AFTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE. OOH, YOUR LUCKY IM NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO BREAK YOU IN TWO, CAUSE I'M TELLING YOU-"

"Wow, careful now!" Remus warned. He had given up on hiding his smile. Emily looked at him.

"Remus, I know he is your friend, but don't stand up for him. He's an idiot, and he has left my sister in bits for the last time."

Daisy cleared her throat. "I'm not in bits Emily. I really don't care, he isn't worth it."

"Baby please…" Sirius began, but daisy shot him down with a look.

"I'm done here. Breakfast?"

She gave flora and Emily a meaningful look and then turned and left the common room. Flora followed suit, but Emily stayed back.

"I warned you to stay away from her, Black. Don't you think you've done enough to hurt her? She couldn't stop crying last night."

Sirius felt guilty, but somehow elated at the same time. If she had been crying all night then obviously he had meant something to her. Maybe, just maybe.

He needed a second opinion. Without saying another word to Emily, he turned and crossed the room to talk to James. James was no stranger to rejection, he could perhaps shine some light on the situation.

Emily turned to Remus, who was still smiling absently at her. Although she was the polar opposite of her sister, she was just as beautiful. She had long, dark brown hair that fell to just above her clipped waist, and silky, olive coloured skin. Her slanted, almond shaped eyes were a deep hazelnut colour so intriguing that it was hard for anyone not to get lost in them.

"What?" asked Emily suspiciously. She hated it when he looked at her like that, she could never tell what he was thinking.

"I love you," Remus replied simply in his rough, edgy voice. Emily face relaxed into a smile. She stood on her tip toes and pecked his lips with her own before grasping his hand and leading him out of the common room.