After lunch, I had two free periods. It was usually my time to nap or finish last-minute homework, but for some reason, I didn't feel like going all the way back to the girls' dorm. So, I walked out to the Black Lake.

It was probably one of my favorite places at Hogwarts. I'm usually not a calm and collected person, like Liz, but sitting beside the Lake, just watching the water move slowly, seemed to give me some peace of mind. I sat down beside my favorite beech tree. It's my favorite because it's, well, huge and easy to spot. Leaning against the heavy bark, I closed my eyes, recounting memories that happened around the tree; Sirius leaving me (sleeping) out here in fourth year to talk to his then-girlfriend, Harper; the whole ordeal with Evans and Snape; my first kiss with Remus -- all of that seemed so distant, so out of my reach. Not that I would want to cling to Evans and Snape's used-to-be friendship, or anything.

"You know, it's not safe to fall asleep outside, especially here."

I open my eyes to see Liz, hands on her hips, smiling down at me. "Hello to you, too." I moved over a little and motioned for her to sit beside me. She obliged, threw her bag down and dug into it, eventually pulling out some sketches.

"Are those new?" I asked tentatively, eyeing the drawings.

Liz nodded. "Yeah, I sketched them last night. Here, take a look at them." She handed them over to me and I began flipping through them, looking at each sketch carefully. Sketches of blouses, dress robes, trousers, trainers, bags. I gazed at the sketches with envy. Liz was known for her artistic abilities; she was known for painting sunflowers, and sketching caricatures. She planned on opening up her own clothing store after she graduated. She had this idea of designing and creating Muggle clothes of the twenty-first century. At first, I was wary of the idea. I mean, why would a witch or wizard want to wear Muggle-like clothes? Then Liz showed me her sketches and shared her ideas with me - I loved everything.

I handed the sketches back to her. "Those are amazing, as usual."

She didn't bother to blush at my compliment, but just smiled dreamily. "I can't wait to get my own business started, you know? I can take care of the kids then." The kids were, of course, Liz's three brothers and single sister. They were all younger than her, and she had been taking care of them ever since her dad died when she was fourteen. The family had been left helpless, poor and Liz had done everything in her power to make sure they were able to meet ends meet. Her mother had no real education, so she wasn't much of a help when it came to making money.

"You take care of them now," I reminded her.

"I know. I just want a better life for them. Did I tell you that Daniel and Darren are already showing signs of magic?" Her voice took on a much sadder tone. I knew not to mention anything about it to her, because she hated being questioned, but I shook my head at her question. "Yeah, Daniel turned Jane's hair blue, and Darren levitated the couch. Mum was ecstatic."

"What about Jane?" Her ten year-old sister, Jane, always reminded me so much of Liz; she was like the third mum in their household.

"If she's showing any signs, I don't know about it."

We sat in silence for a while after that. It was no secret that Liz, sweet and caring Liz, was a pacifist. I remember she would always cry back when I got into a lot of trouble during class. She hated yelling and fighting; absolutely detested it. It was one of the main reasons she seemed to have a dislike for magic. Not that she didn't like who she was, of course, she just didn't like using magic for defensive purposes. I've questioned her plenty of times on the matter, but she always responded with the same thing: "We should use our magic for prosperity." I never hid my annoyance. A lot of the time, her pacifist ways got my arse in trouble; I was always the one to defend her and fight, which, she would later lecture me over. I didn't care how many times I got lectured; nobody picked on my friends without experiencing some dire consequences.

"So...how's your boyfriend?" I asked nonchalantly, forgetting the name of her boyfriend of two years. Yes, I am forgetful.

She laughed at my stupidity. "Ronald?" Her voice took on a dreamy tone. "He's great; we're great."

"He hasn't tried to pressure you into anything, has he?"

"No," she gasped, amusement on her face. "Why would you think that?"

I shrugged. "Just wondering."

After a while, Liz stood. "I've got to get to Muggle Studies."

I shook my head. "I'll never understand why you take a Muggle Studies class when you're Muggle-born."

She laughed and shrugged. "Addie, you'll never understand a lot of things."

I chose not to reply to that, instead I nudged her with my foot. "Don't think I'll forget about your birthday," I reminded her.

"You never do." I could sense a little pride in her tone. Her mum usually forgot her birthdays, so I always made sure to throw her a birthday party. Liz told me she'd see me later (I dryly reminded her she probably wouldn't, I'd be in detention), and left. I sighed and leaned against the tree once more, closing my eyes, bloody dreading the afternoon I'd have to spend with Sirius.

 
Detention came sooner than I expected. I over-napped after Liz left, and was late for Potions. Slughorn seemed to be in a rather good mood, so I didn't get another detention, thank Merlin. After classes were over, I walked up to the girls' dorms, changed out of my rooms robes, put my hair up, and walked down to the common room to wait on Sirius. He never mentioned anything about us walking to detention together, but I assumed we would, considering we did every other time we had detention together.

He never showed up. It was five minutes before our detention began, and he was going to be late. I battled whether I should wait for him or go on and deal with McGonagall. I decided on the latter. I walked out of the common room, accidentally knocking over a younger girl. "Watch where you're going, Zamore," she snapped at me. Her black hair and green eyes reminded me of someone, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"You watch where I'm going," I retorted stupidly. "Wait- how do you know my last name?"

She rolled her eyes. "Look, I don't have time for this. I have to get to Quidditch tryouts." With a flick of her hair, she walked away. I was tempted to whip out my wand and Petrificus Totalus her little arse, but I decided against it. Just by looking at her, I knew she'd probably tattle on me and honestly, I didn't think I needed another detention.

Trying to calm myself down by mentally saying the alphabet to myself, I began making my way to McGonagall's room. Both Sirius and myself being late was going to piss her off pretty badly. At least I wasn't the only one late. I came up to her room and knocked. I heard a distinct "come in" before walking in. McGonagall didn't look happy. Her bun been must've too tight or something. "You're late," she snapped.

"I know." Way to state the obvious. "What about Sirius? By the looks of it, he's going to be later than what I was."

"Mr. Black arrived here five minutes early." What? I must have heard her wrong. Sirius arriving early for detention? That was like saying you were excited about going to detention! As if on cue, Sirius stood from a table (how I didn't notice him before, I'll never know) and walked over to us.

"You're kidding?"

"No, Miss Zamore, I am not." We stood in silence until McGonagall held out her hands. "You two will be cleaning the trophies in the trophy room, without magic, Muggle style. Hand over your wands." I was about to object, but thought it better not to. Both Sirius and I handed over our wands, and neither of us said a word. "Good," McGonagall nodded. "Now, when you two are finished cleaning the trophies, your detention will be over. Follow me." She led us to the trophy room.

Sirius and I walked in the room, McGonagall stayed at the door. "I'm locking this door so neither of you will leave," she informed us.

"But, how we you know when we're finished?" Sirius asked.

"That is not your concern, Mr. Black." She then shut the door, and a clicking sound confirmed that she had locked it.

I turned to Sirius. "Why did you show up early?" I asked suspiciously, trying not to let my bubbling anger get the best of me.

He shrugged and began cleaning a trophy with the cleaning utensils McGonagall left us. "I knew you'd wait on me in the common room, so I decided to show up early."

"Just to annoy me and get me in trouble for being late?"

"Pretty much." That earned him a hard punch on the shoulder. He gasped and moved away from me.

We began cleaning the trophies in silence. Soon, my hands began to cramp, so I stopped cleaning long enough to rest them. "What do you see in him?" Sirius asked suddenly, not even bothering to look at me.

"Who? John?" I knew who he was talking about. It was obvious to everyone that Sirius hated John and didn't approve of our relationship. He didn't talk to me for weeks when he first found out that we were together. Sirius had hated John ever since he had accidentally broken my arm in a Quidditch match our fourth year -- he had apologized, and had even quit playing Quidditch, but Sirius still insisted on hating him.

"No, Remus," Sirius replied sarcastically. I bit my tongue. I had almost let it slip that I actually had dated Remus, but I figured that it wouldn't be beneficial to anyone if Sirius threw another fit. "Yes, John."

I shrugged. "I dunno." I then realized just how bad that might sound and tried to cover it up. "I mean, he's caring, sweet, and a real gentleman - who wouldn't like that?"

"I was thinking you." Sirius chose then to look at me. I felt strangely naked, as his eyes found mine. "He doesn't seem like your type."

"What do you know about my type?" I snapped.

"I know that you don't like the marrying type."

"Marrying type?"

It was then his turn to grow impatient. "You know what he's going to want after we leave Hogwarts."

"A good shag?" I tried to ask innocently, knowing it would piss Sirius off.

His jaw clenched and he began cleaning the trophy in his hand a little rougher. "Forget about it."

I was purposefully avoiding the subject he tried to bring up. Of course I knew John would want marriage after graduation, he was the type of guy that would. Sirius knew that marriage was something I was terrified of. I hated the thought of living and being devoted to only one person my entire life. Not that I would be a slag or anything like that- I was just scared of commitment.

We didn't speak anymore after that, which I was thankful for. Knowing Sirius, he probably would've brought up having children, another thing I'm terrified of. When we were finished, the door unlocked and McGonagall walked in, handed both of us our wands and telling told us not to make any detours on our way back to the common room. Really, like we were going to go to the nearest broom closest and shag. Sirius and I walked in silence. Surprisingly, it wasn't an awkward silence but a comfortable one. I said the password as we approached the Fat Lady and she swung her portrait open, allowing us into the Gryffindor Common Room. James, Remus and Peter were sitting on the sofa nearest to the fireplace. When we walked up to them, I took my place in the recliner while Sirius leaned against the arm of it.

"How did tryouts go?" I asked, immediately regretting the question when I saw the expression on James' face. He looked worn out and…scared? "Was it that bad?"

Giggles came from the stairs and I looked over to see the little girl I bumped into earlier. James stood, shifting nervously. "Er, Addie, I have to tell you something," he said.

"What?" I asked rather lazily.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Sarah here," he gestured toward the girl, who smirked, "has replaced you as our Seeker."


AN) Before I say anything else, I want to thank my amazing beta, Tanya! :) Really, she is quite an amazing beta and second-brain. Now, this is officially beta'd! Please review :)