It was any ordinary day of passing through the the hallway to the library for Valerie. The young witch was there every Thursday with Remus to study, it had become a scheduled thing for them. However, this time when the brunette arrived at their usual table Remus was nowhere to be found. All that was there was a blank sheet of parchment. Valerie had gotten quite used to this, so she took out her wand and tapped the parchment before speaking.

"I am the receiver," she muttered, and the words revealed themselves.

Val,

I'm going to be visiting my mother for the next couple days, you know she's been ill. I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you.

-RJL

Valerie sighed, tapping the note with her wand again. It wasn't the first time Remus had to leave for more than one day at a time. So the bubbly witch made her way to James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter's dorm. Valerie had become a frequent visitor to the room, preferring it over her own. While she had thought Dorcas and Marlene seemed nice, they were actually quite rude. Marlene in particular had taken personal interest in knocking Valerie's confidence, with Dorcas as her sidekick. Their common points of teasing were Val's curly hair and her apparent crush on Sirius. The brunette never admitted to such a thing, but Marlene insisted that Valerie had a crush on the boy who surely didn't feel the same way.

Of course, any person at Hogwarts with half a brain understood that Sirius had a huge crush on Valerie. It was the latina who wasn't smitten by him. She thought Sirius was plenty nice and cute enough, but just a friend. So it was, admittedly, slightly awkward when Valerie arrived in the dorm and only Sirius was there. The boy was sitting on the floor and leaning against his bed, writing the potions essay Valerie was supposed to be working on with Remus.

"Hey," the girl greeted as she shut the door behind her, tossing her bag next to him. Sirius instantly tore his eyes away from his paper and seemed to light up.

"Hey Sugar," he greeted her, placing his paper, book and quill on the ground next to him.

"James isn't here? Or Peter?" Valerie asked. Sirius shook his head.

"They're in the common room, I think playing Exploding Snap," he said. Valerie made her way to sit next to him, getting parchment, her books, and a quill out.

"Ah. Surprised I didn't notice them," she said. There was a bit of an awkward lull in the conversation. The two made eye contact for a brief moment.

"So," they said in unison. They held the eye contact, unsure of what to do. Their faces were only inches away.

"Sirius?"

"Val?"

"Do you think being twelve and never having kissed anyone is bad?" the brunette asked quietly.

"No, course not. Why?" he asked in the same hushed tone.

"Marlene and Dorcas were teasing me for it," she answered. Sirius looked irritated.

"They've probably never kissed anyone but their parents," he assured her. Valerie smiled. Sirius seemed to always know what to say to her. So when Sirius' hands both went on either side of her face, she didn't stop him. When he leaned in just a bit more, she still didn't stop him. When Sirius quietly muttered, "is this okay?" she still didn't stop him.

"Yes," she whispered as he closed his eyes and pressed his lips against hers. Valerie closed her eyes the second she felt his lips, unsure of what to do. The fiery young girl could only describe the feeling as pure electricity. She pulled back, but too quickly for her liking. Her hands went on his chest and she kissed him, just a small peck. Enough to say that she had enjoyed the first one. The two curious minds didn't seem to notice footsteps coming towards the door, or the door swinging open. So James Potter walked in on his two best friends, Sirius' hands on her face and Valerie's on his chest, their lips only having just disconnected. The two held eye contact, unsure of what to say and not noticing James.

"Uh… guys?" James finally managed to choke out. Sirius and Valerie nearly jumped apart.

"James!" Valerie cried in embarrassment.

"James, uh, weren't you and Peter playing Exploding Snap?" Sirius asked, confused. The look on James' face was a mix of excitement for both his friends and awkwardness of having witnessed his best friends sitting all too close together.

"Uh. Yeah, we were playing Bavarian Rules, Pete touched the card right when it exploded. He's got a bad burn and he's with Madam Pomfrey," he explained.

"Oh. Well," Valerie said, unsure of what to do.

"Were you two just.. um..?" James started.

"Yeah," the pair said in unison rather sheepishly. James nodded, blushing.

"Well," he started, "I'm gonna go check on Peter. I'll see you two at dinner then," he said. He shot Valerie one of their looks, and she understood that he was giving them time alone. Valerie's brown eyes met Sirius' grey ones yet again, and this time neither of them truly knew what to say.

"Was that… alright?" Valerie asked.

"I liked it," he answered awkwardly.

"I liked it too. A lot," the girl started. "I just don't… we're twelve. We're such good friends," she rambled, unable to finish any of the sentences. Sirius simply nodded.

"I get it," he said. "I feel the same, honestly. It was just to say we've done it, y'know?"

"Yes, exactly," she agreed. "Um, Sirius?" she said shyly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think… maybe we could do it one more time? Now that we won't get interrupted?" she said quickly. In response, Sirius only took her face in his hands again and kissed her softly. This one lasted a bit longer, he noticed. It felt less like electricity, and more like a warm vibration in her heart, she thought. When Sirius pulled away she immediately leaned forward to steal one more peck yet again. The onyx haired boy grinned after removing his hands from her once she pulled away.

"You gonna do that every time?" he asked.

"Do what?" she asked nervously.

"Right when I think I'm done kissing you, I get pulled back in for another," he said with a chuckle. She giggled in response.

"Oh, I didn't really notice I was even doing it," she replied. "You said every time… does that mean there's gonna be more?" she asked hopefully. Sirius couldn't stop smiling.

"I think that's enough for now," he said. "Like we said. We're young, and we're best friends. We probably shouldn't complicate it," he reasoned. Valerie couldn't help but smile.

"You're right. Sirius Black of all people is keeping me level headed," she said with a giggle. "We should probably get on to doing that potions essay, right? Remus isn't here to do it with me,".

Sirius nodded, grabbing their things. Neither of the pair wanted to admit it at the time, but this event was sure to change the dynamic of their friendship. For now, however, they were fine with quick stolen kisses when nobody was watching and refusing to acknowledge their feelings. They were fine with just being friends. Best friends, who sometimes kissed. Not because it was romantic, but to share their happiness with each other. Or at least, they told themselves that.

In the Gryffindor girls dormitory that night, Valerie and Lily sat on their beds, discussing the days' events. Dorcas and Marlene were in their beds as well, flipping through Witch Weekly and ignoring the other two girls. When Marlene mentioned how cute Sirius' hair looked to Dorcas, Valerie finally came clean.

"Lily, I kissed Sirius Black today. Four times."

Any other conversation in the room ceased, and Marlene whipped her head around to look at Valerie.

"What?" Lily asked, completely shocked.

"Yeah. What?!" Marlene asked. Dorcas could only look surprised. Valerie blushed.

"Well, I was in their dorm. I went up to do the potions essay with him, James, and Peter since Remus isn't here. I sat with him, I asked if he thought I should've already had my first kiss by twelve, and he said no. He put both of his hands on my face, asked if it was okay with me, and he kissed me," she said.

"Then?" Dorcas asked.

"Well, I pulled away initially. It was kind of a weird feeling and I was surprised. So I leaned forward again and kissed him back. Then James walked in," she said, laughing.

"Oh no," Lily said with laughter.

"Yeah. He just kinda asked if we were doing what he thought we were, then left to find Peter," she said through her giggles.

"Then Sirius kissed you again?" Marlene asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice. Valerie nodded.

"I asked if we could do it again, without interruptions. So he did it again, and when he pulled away I kissed him again," she finished explaining. The girls all looked at her in awe.

"Was he good at it?" Dorcas asked. Valerie went bright red.

"I think so. I don't have much to judge by, he was my first kiss after all," she answered despite her embarrassment.

"Are you two a couple now or something?" Marlene asked, definitely sounding slightly bitter.

"Um, no," Val answered.

"Why not?" Lily immediately asked. Valerie sighed.

"We were just doing it to do it, you know? We're so young, and it would just complicate things anyways. He's my best friend," she said.

"You're crazy not to stick with Sirius Black," Dorcas said. "Marlene would kill to be with him," she muttered. Marlene tossed a pillow at her. With that, the girls decided to get some sleep. That night was when Marlene McKinnon began being truly nasty to Valerie.

Remus came back the next day, and was filled in on everything that had happened by James. Once coming to terms with his two best friends kissing, he congratulated Sirius and gave Valerie a good whack on the head with a pillow for not being Sirius' girlfriend. Remus wasn't surprised by the development. The boy thought if he had a sickle for every time Sirius and Valerie spoke about each other while one of them wasn't present, he'd be filthy rich. Peter didn't seem all too surprised either, but gave Sirius a high five when he heard the news. Much to Sirius and Valerie's shock, the news seemed to spread about the castle rather quickly. The brunette felt silly for telling Marlene and Dorcas without expecting them to gossip. The next day, a busy Friday night, Valerie confronted Marlene about her gossiping in the common room.

"Why would you tell people about Sirius and I kissing? That was a perfectly private matter," she said, somewhat irritated. Marlene only smirked.

"You never said it was private until now. Sorry Valley," she explained rudely. Val frowned at the ridiculous nickname.

"Valley?" she repeated. Marlene gave her a dirty look.

"You are wide like a valley, after all," she said with a laugh. Valerie was shocked by the outright insult. With tears starting to build in her eyes she turned and walked away quickly, not wanting Marlene to know it had gotten to her. The brunette nearly ran up to the boys dormitory. They were all in the library, hanging around while Remus did some research for a prank. So Valerie tossed herself onto the nearest bed, which happened to be Sirius', and cried. The last time she'd been taunted about her size, it came from her mother who did it frequently. Her quiet sobs only reminded herself of those times. The door flung open, and Valerie remained facing the opposite way.

"Why'd you go telling people about our kiss?" an all too familiar voice asked. Valerie remained silent, unsure of what to do. She was crying in Sirius' bed and he was upset with her.

"Sugar?" he called, walking up to her. She turned and laid on her side, facing him. He nearly gasped at the puffy, red, tear-stained face. The boy instantly sat beside her, wiping the last tear away and stroking her hair.

"What's wrong? Why were you crying?" he immediately asked. Valerie took a deep breath.

"I told Lily about our kiss in our dorm last night. Dorcas and Marlene heard too, and I guess they were gossiping about it. So I just confronted Marlene about it a few minutes ago and she… she called me fat," she managed to get out. Sirius looked shocked.

"What? That doesn't make any sense, you're perfect," he instantly responded. Valerie frowned.

"It just hurt so bad because my mother was always saying stuff to me about watching my weight," she said quietly.

"Your mum's got no idea what she's talking about, alright? Now sit up," he said. Valerie did so, and Sirius moved his hand to grab hers.

"You are not fat. Understand that first," he said. Valerie nodded. "Now, understand that if you suddenly gained 50 pounds, I would still find you to look wonderful. You'd still be fun, smart, awesome and hilarious. Your size doesn't change you," he said. She instantly felt more tears welling up in her eyes.

"Thank you so much for saying that, Sirius," she said, throwing herself on him for a tight hug. Sirius could only smile and gently rub her back while hugging her. Sirius' cousin Andromeda had given him a similar speech about blood purity years ago, and he'd held on to those words tightly. Similarly, Valerie would hold on to the words that Sirius had spoken even tighter.

A/N: Hi guys! So this chapter's on the shorter side, but I tried to get lots of good stuff in there to make up for it. The beginning of Sirius and Valerie's little young love, the beginning of her bullying, etc. Oh and I'm aware Marlene is probably a nice girl, I'm sorry if you don't like how I write her, it's just needed for the time being. Please review! I'd love to know how you guys are enjoying it if at all.