Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. (sadness...)
Peoples, I love y'all, but I would really love some reviews as well. =D
Okay, so this chapter takes place right after Faith storms out of the hospital wing.
Enjoy...
Third Person
"What the hell just happened?" Remus asked tiredly.
"Bloody good question." James answered angrily, wrenching back the curtain around Sirius's bed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Sitting." Sirius said defiantly.
Lily marched up to him. "What the hell were you thinking?" She said, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"Telling her exactly what I think of her and her stupid family!" Sirius retorted.
"Tell me, did it ever cross your terrifyingly tiny mind that she might not be like them? For one thing, she was having an argument with her brother in which he called her scum. Point number two - She's a GRYFFINDOR! And lastly, she's already gone and made friends with a 'mudblood'!" Lily yelled.
"Don't call yourself that Evans..." James protested quietly.
"Shut up Potter. Well Black? Did you ever stop to think that maybe she's different than the rest of them?"
Sirius seemed to be having trouble speaking, leaving Lily to just shake her head, and storm out to find Faith.
"Padfoot, what did you do?" Remus asked, quietly sitting on the end of his bed. "And Wormtail, the shoutings stopped. You can stop hiding down there."
Peter crept out from under the bed and sat on it, only to have James shove him off, and sit down himself.
"He only went and told the poor girl that she was not to hang around with us or exist due to the fact that she's a Malfoy." James said angrily. "She's a nice girl Sirius. Why the hell did you do that?"
"Do you have any idea...any idea...what that 'nice girl' is capable of?" Sirius shuddered.
"No. But I know perfectly well what you're capable of!" Remus snapped.
"Oh, just because you think she's hot, doesn't mean that she isn't a bitch!" Sirius retorted angrily.
"I...I do not...hot? What?" Remus blushed.
Sirius raised his eyebrows, then continued. "She made my life a living hell. Her and Lucius and Regulus. Tortured me when I was a kid. Hexed me. Locked me in cupboards. Laughed at me. Different aren't I?" he raised his voice, angry tears in his eyes. "Different!"
The he stood up, and stormed from the hospital wing.
"We really cocked it up this time, Moony." James said softly. "Now what do we do?"
"You're call. You're Sirius's best friend. And you're the one that's talked to the Faith girl most." Remus shrugged.
"Shall we just pretend it never happened?" Peter suggested.
"But it did happen." Remus sighed.
"We can pretend. Marauders are good at pretending." James said.
"Not from each other." Remus pointed out.
"Right you are Moony." James admitted sadly.
"But I suppose we don't have a choice." Remus sighed heavily.
"So Prongs, Moony, it never happened?" Peter confirmed.
"What never happened?" James frowns bemusedly, making the other two laugh.
Faith POV
"FAITH! OI, FAITH!" Sirius yelled, spotting my retreating back down a corridor.
"WHAT? COME TO HAVE ANOTHER GO AT ME!" I shouted back at him.
"NO! CAN YOU JUST..." He realized that he was still shouting, even though he'd caught up with me, and people started to look. I'd had enough looking for one day. "Can you just hear me out?"
"Waiting." I said, tapping my foot, still not meeting his gaze.
"I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have blown my top like that. It was wrong, and I believe you. You're not that little girl anymore. I'm sorry."
"That means so much to me." I responded sarcastically, swivelling around to leave.
He grabbed me by the wrist and turned me back around to face him again.
"It means a lot to me." He said seriously, inching closer so I could feel his breath on my face. "Am I forgiven?"
I thought for a second. Well, what harm would it do?
"Sure, why not?" I said honoring him with a fleeting smile.
"So James thinks your ideal marauder material then." Sirius said backing off slightly, and walking alongside me down the corridor.
"Yeah. I guess so." I sighed.
"You're not too thrilled, then?"
"You and your friends..." I shook my head. "...not my type of people. I prefer to operate alone."
"Which is why your still a virgin, right?"
I snorted, and then saw the look on his face. "Yeah. I'm a virgin. We're only in out fifth year, Black. Oh don't tell me you're not."
"It's Sirius, not Black. And no I'm not. If you had any idea how many girlfriends I'd had..."
"I have some idea. It really pisses off Regulus. I heard him bitching about it to Lucius. How you got all the girls." I laughed.
"Not all the girls." He said quietly.
"No? Who has managed to resist the Black charm?"
He sighed. "When I was growing up I knew this one girl. Sweet as can be. Pretty. Smart. Funny. You know the whole caboodle. But she was misguided. She changed under the influence of her family. Became a royal bitch."
My breath caught in my throat. Surely he couldn't be talking about...me? "What happened to her and you?" I asked quietly.
"Well...I drifted away from the Black family traditions and hardly saw her again. Last thing I heard she was...well...she was walking along beside me, completely reformed."
I stopped in my tracks, as did he.
He looked down at me.
"Sirius..." I said quietly. "I...Sirius..."
"What?" He said, stepping closer.
"Sirius..." I said again.
"Thank you for teaching me my name." He rolled his eyes, and then grew serious, stepping closer still.
Then his lips crashed onto mine with unquestionable certainty. Passion and hatred and years and years of ignorance pass between you - all of it misunderstood. He drew away.
"Wow..." I whispered.
He leaned in to kiss me again, but I jumped backwards.
"What?" He frowned.
I shook my head slowly.
"Is someone frigid?" He teased.
"I'd rather be frigid than a whore." I retorted breathlessly.
"I'd rather be your boyfriend than spend another moment without you." He said, looking at me intently.
I burst out laughing. "Good one!"
"I'm not joking." He said softly.
I froze. "You're not?"
He shook his head.
"Oh." I said quietly. Then I turned and ran; ran fast back to the common room.
I leaned up against the closed portrait hole. "Bastard." I breathed.
Then the portrait hole opened, and a couple of people came in knocking me to the floor.
"Faith?" It was the boy that was asleep in the hospital wing.
"Yuh-huh." I muttered rubbing, my head.
He helped me to my feet.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Who are you?" I frowned.
"Oh - of course. Sorry. Remus Lupin." He held out his hand.
I shook it. "Yeah I'm fine."
"Hey." James said. "I'm really sorry about Sirius."
"Don't worry. He's already told me." I said slowly.
"He did? That's not like Padfoot." James mused.
"Right before he asked me out." I muttered.
"He...he what?" Remus said slowly.
"Asked her out." James supplied surprisedly.
"Did I hear that right?" Lily said from behind me.
You jump about a mile, and turned around to see her scowling.
"C'mon." She growled. "We need to have a serious chat about this."
She took my by the hand, and lead me up to my dorm.
"What did you say?" She asked.
"I didn't say anything. I kind of...well I kind of ran away."
A smile spread across her face, and she started to laugh. "You are clueless. You don't run away when someone asks you out!"
"I do." I said.
"Well..." She prompted, still chuckling. "What are you going to say?"
I paused. A memory of him flashed into my head.
We were both five years old, lying in the field outside Malfoy Manor.
'You are probably the nicest Malfoy in your family. You know that?' He remarked to me, letting a handful of wheat go and watching it be swept away by the wind.
'That may be the nicest thing you've ever said to me Mr Black.' I giggled.
'No. It was the nicest.' he said, leaning over and tickling you.
Then, two black shadows passed across us, blocking out the sun.
'Faith! What do you think you're doing?' Lucius snapped, yanking me to my feet.
'I'm just playing, Lucy.' I laughed uneasily.
'Don't want to hang around with him Faith.' Regulus said. 'He's bad news. He's disgrace to the family.'
'You're a disgrace to the whole world!' Sirius hissed at him.
The memory punctuated, and jolted forward to a few years later.
'You're turn Faith. You remember the spell?' Lucius said, kicking out at the crying young boy in front of him.
'Of course.' I snapped. 'How many times...'
'Faith...please...We used to be friends...' Sirius begged, coughing feebly into his fist.
'Before she knew better. She's with us now.' Regulus smirked.
I smiled proudly.
'You should be real proud Faith. You've managed to sink to the bottom of the bottom.' Sirius spat at my feet. 'Real proud.'
'Shut up!' I yelled.
'Impudent cur!' Lucius roared. 'CRUCIO!'
I watched, feeling, but not showing a single sign of remorse as Sirius writhed in pain.
"Yes." I said finally to Lily. "I'm going to say yes. He deserves that."
"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into." Lily smiled.
"I hope so too." I smiled fleetingly.
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-Snicker