I do not own the rights to anything related to Harry Potter, though original characters are obviously my own.

November

Sirius wasn't really sure what drew him down to the pitch that day. He had woken up with the rising sun and despite his desperation he could not fall back to sleep. He was reminded of a few early mornings at Grimmauld Place when he couldn't fall back to sleep, he would sneak down into the kitchen only to find his brother, Regulus, suffering from the same plight.

"I hate being awake this early, but I couldn't sleep," he'd say with his hair all out of place, something he'd never dare let happen while mother was around. Regulus would sip his steaming tea and watch Sirius sit down across from him with bleary eyes. They'd share comfortable silence once Kreacher would fetch Sirius some tea, listening to the roaring fire and the silence of the old house. A luxury that was rare in the House of Black. A few words would be spoken about mother or Hogwarts in the years before the brothers had been separated. It never ceased to amaze Sirius that Regulus was always waiting in the kitchen for him every time he couldn't fall back to sleep. He wondered how many times Regulus came down here without Sirius. They would finish their tea, mumble something about mother not being pleased about them sitting around in their pajamas, then head upstairs and go to their separate bedrooms.

The relationship between the brothers became strained after they had both started Hogwarts. Sirius only went down to the kitchen early in the morning once on Christmas Eve. Regulus wasn't there.

It had been a while since Sirius had woken up like this, wide awake, no hope for falling back to sleep. Remus was in the hospital wing resting after a particularly rough full moon, James had a serious cold that had kept him up all night, and Peter had pissed Sirius off the day before for calling him Remus's boyfriend. Flying seemed like the only reasonable way to pass the time alone. Sirius propped open the window between his and James's bed to test the air. It was absolutely frigid and for some reason Sirius felt the reckless impulse to dress for much warmer weather; irrationally hoping that the cold air would do him good. He decided to, at the very least, wear a coat so that he wouldn't end up like James, but left his scarf and gloves on top of his trunk.

As he walked through the castle and out toward the Quidditch pitch Sirius kept thinking about Moony alone in the hospital wing. James would need PepperUp potion, no doubt, so maybe Sirius could stop by and visit Remus under the guise of picking up the potion. Sirius's stomach twisted at the thought. He shouldn't need an excuse to visit his best friend when he's alone in that place, but he felt like he needed an excuse. Madame Pomfrey wasn't the only person to question his frequent visits to Remus. Sirius threw the curtain back angrily as he entered the Gryffindor changing room. The more he thought about it the angrier he got. Sirius grabbed his broom from the closet and gripped the handle tightly; he just needed a few good laps to clear his mind, a few cold breaths to calm him down. He was glad to have some alone time, but when he stepped out onto the pitch he realized he wasn't the only one there. High is the sky someone was circling the pitch at an alarming rate. No Quidditch brooms could fly that fast because the speed often sacrificed stopping and turning abilities. It didn't take long for it to occur to Sirius that the person in the air was on a racing broom, and that that person was probably Moira.

"Hey!" he shouted up to the her. At first he thought she hadn't heard him, but she started to descend towards him. He liked Moira. She was sarcastic and quick with a come back and not bad to look at either. She was a bit gangly like her brother, but she was a little better at carrying herself than he was. Sirius had a lot on his mind since Halloween, but he wouldn't deny that kissing Moira hadn't slipped in there every once in a while. Part of the appeal of her was that she wasn't throwing herself at him like a few girls in their year, which was a nightmare most days because he had more important things to worry about than a bunch of silly girls.

Moira had her glasses on, which was rare for her because she really hated how they looked. She'd sit herself in the front of every class just to guarantee that she wouldn't have to wear the thick frames in front of everyone. Even with her glasses on, though, Moira didn't have the best eyesight and it took her a while to realize that it was Sirius Black who had called up to her. She started to feel a little nervous especially since it was way too late to pretend like she hadn't noticed him and continue flying. She had spent half the month thinking about what a mess the Halloween party was, but based on everyone's gossip the next few days, no one seemed to notice that her and Lily had been in rare form and they all had much better things to talk about. Things with Remus had gotten weird and she couldn't help but feel like he was mad at her, maybe for kissing Sirius? That was yet another thing that had been bothering her for the past few weeks. She could not decipher her feelings for Sirius no matter how much she thought about it. She forced herself to fly early every morning in an attempt to have something else to focus on, but here was her very problem standing right in her sanctuary.

"I thought that was you," Sirius said holding his hand over his eyes and smiling as Moira came to a hover above him.

"I never took you for a morning person," Moira responded casually. On the inside she kept repeating 'be cool, nothing to freak out about.'

"Yeah," Sirius drawled as he scratched the back of his neck, "I'm not usually, but I needed to clear my head."

"I can understand that," Moira said, mostly to herself.

"Mind if I join you?" Sirius said holding out his broom slightly to prove his intentions.

"Sure," Moira said. She considered saying something like 'If you can keep up,' but it was too early and Moira decided on her last flight that she didn't want to flirt with Sirius anymore. The attention was nice, but Moira could feel it wasn't going anywhere.

They took off into the sky and Moira paced herself off of Sirius. Her racing broom was capable of much higher speeds, but what good was flying with someone if you were always one lap ahead? She started to notice their speed was slowing considerably and they found themselves in a casual conversation. Talk of brooms, quidditch, annoying housemates, and classes somehow kept leading to Sirius bringing up Remus, the one person Moira did not necessarily want to talk about. Remus hadn't been to a Slug Club meeting in ages, which wasn't all bad because at least Moira had Lily. But Remus wouldn't sit next to her in class, wouldn't look at her in the halls, and sure he had been sick the past few days, but she doubted that if he was well things would be going any better. The whole time Moira and Sirius talked this gnawed at her, finally she couldn't stop herself from asking: "Is Remus avoiding me?"

Sirius stopped in mid-air and Moira had to spin her broom around to face him.

"Well, he's been sick," Sirius said in a confused tone.

"I know, I mean before that," Moira pressed. She didn't know why she was burdening Sirius with her insecurities. Sirius seemed to have lost interest in Moira as well, but now he struck her as someone who could be a decent friend. They could have just flown around in silence this whole time, after all.

Sirius screwed up his face, as if he was trying to remember every single conversation he had ever had with Remus since the beginning of the year. With the way Sirius talked about him, he probably did. "I honestly don't know," he said finally, with a sigh. "We haven't really talked much lately, I think he's mad at me." Sirius seemed deflated and Moira was never one to miss something like that.

"Is that why you came out here to clear your head?" Moira asked carefully, fully expecting a brush off. Sirius struggled to find an answer, starting and stopping several times. Moira fixed him with a stare that she hoped said 'You can trust me,' though she felt it probably looked more like 'Don't bother lying because I'll know.'

"It's just- I don't know. I guess so," Sirius responded, deflating even more.

"I get it, he's your best mate-"

"I don't know," but Sirius stopped himself and closed his mouth. Moira continued to look him dead in the eye and simply raised an eyebrow, but she did not press him for more. It was obvious there was more Sirius wanted to say, but was obviously not ready to share. Sirius looked towards the sun, which by this point had fully broken over the Forbidden Forest. The sky was no longer that inky blue mixed with the soft pinks of a sunrise.

"I don't want to offend you, Mor, but I think I'd like to keep you around as just a friend. I'm sorry about Halloween," Sirius said still squinting at the sun.

"That's fine," she responded simply, "As long as you're not offended that I feel the same way." Sirius turned his head back to face Moira and fixed her with a toothy grin.

"Rad! My arse is going numb on this thing, let's get some breakfast," Sirius said cheerfully before directing his broom towards the ground. Moira followed him, purely amazed at the different facets of Sirius Black. Quiet and thoughtful in the air at dawn, loud and obnoxious in the castle. Moira had to wonder which Sirius was the real Sirius, though she knew which one she definitely preferred.

The weather changed rapidly within the next week and by the end of November it had already snowed twice. Flying in the snow wasn't much of a comfort to Moira so she started to buckle down in the library with Lily. Sixth year was considerably more difficult than the previous years and it was becoming obvious that Moira couldn't get away with not studying and completing assignments last minute for much longer. She didn't entirely mind the change in routine, though, because she was getting much closer with Lily, and it was nice to have a girl friend that wasn't related to her.

"Have you talked to Remus recently?" Lily asked after less than twenty minutes of silent work. As usual Moira didn't want to talk about it, but she had been staring at her parchment all this time with nothing more than her name, title, and thesis written down.

"Not since Halloween," Moira admitted quietly.

"That was nearly a month ago!"

"Yes, I've realized," Moira said tersely.

"Do you still like him?" Lily pressed.

"I might, but it's a waste of my time. He's so hot an cold and secretive. Not exactly great qualities for a relationship," Moira said, finally making eye contact with Lily. This conclusion had taken her a lot of thinking to get to, but it felt right when she said it. Lily looked down at the table and seemed to think about what to say next.

"There's always Sirius," she finally said in a a sarcastic tone that clearly implied that Sirius was not even a little bit of an option. Moira laughed a little, she hadn't even needed to tell Lily about the conversation on the quidditch pitch for her to know. "You wanna know what I think?" Lily asked in a hushed tone that sounded like she was about to spill a big secret. Moira knew her response would not determine whether or not Lily would continue, but she nodded her head anyway.

"I think Remus is gay."

"Look, Lils I know you're just trying to make me feel better-"

"No, seriously, listen. You said he got all mad when Sirius kissed you, right? Well, he hasn't done anything since the party to show he likes you, maybe he wasn't jealous of Sirius, he was jealous of you!"

"What?" Moira interjected, forgetting to keep her voice down. Lily just folded her arms and looked proud of her deduction skills. Lowering her voice, Moira continued, "You think Remus likes Sirius?"

"You said it yourself a few weeks ago, he seems like he's afraid of girls, he's shy, and quiet. And I've noticed his relationship with Sirius is different from his relationship with James and Peter, ya know?" Moira shook her head, she didn't know. She was far too busy pining after Remus to notice any signs that he might like someone else, especially Sirius.

"Sirius talks about Remus a lot," Moira said slowly, as if what Lily was saying was beginning to sink in.

"Really? Do you think Sirius likes Remus? Oh Merlin do you think they both know the other likes them or do you think they're hiding their feelings? Still doesn't explain why Sirius would kiss you, unless he's confused," Lily whispered excitedly.

"Merlin, Lily calm down! Sirius did apologize for that, he said he'd rather just be my friend," Moira answered.

"Then Sirius is gay too! I mean look at you, you're pretty and a famous racer-"

"Not like I have many other takers," Moira cut in. "It doesn't make him or Remus gay, though," Moira persisted.

"Whatever, I just wanted to say what I thought," Lily said still smiling proudly.

"You're ridiculous," Moira said with a slight laugh, "Since when did you pay so much attention to them anyway, I thought you couldn't stand them?" Lily stood from the table, shrugged still with that stupid grin on her face and walked off down one of the book aisles. Moira just grinned and shook her head and continued wracking her brain for something to say in her Potions essay.

"Have you completed Slughorn's essay yet?" Moira asked Lily as she returned from her latest search for a book that might make some kind of sense out of her Ancient Runes homework.

"No, but obviously I'm not too worried; I could pull the answers out of my arse and Slughorn would still eat them up," Lily said after taking a seat and leaning back confidently.

"Cheeky," Moira said under her breath, which Lily responded to by tossing a roll of parchment at her.

"Astronomy, though, is a different story entirely," Lily said mournfully while rifling through her bag on the floor.

"Well now, you know Jamesie is quite good at Astronomy," said a voice from behind Moira. Lily popped back up from under the table and frowned slightly. Moira turned around to find James and Sirius behind her, each holding a sizable stack of books.

"Mind if we sit?" James asked looking to Lily. All the other tables seemed to be full so out of pure politeness Lily gave a tight nod and shifted her books and papers closer to herself. The boys dropped their stacks onto the table unceremoniously and seated themselves; James next to Moira and Sirius next to Lily.

"Haven't seen either of you around much," Sirius said conversationally. Lily turned her her head towards him with a face that would've been better suited as a response to an inappropriate joke.

"Been here," Moira said without looking up from her Potions essay. She didn't want to be rude, especially considering her and Sirius were basically friends, but she could feel Lily's discomfort radiating off her and maybe it was just better to forgo all conversation at this time. Sirius thankfully took the hint to keep his mouth shut after Moira made some deliberate eye contact while nodding her head in Lily's direction and then shaking her head. James and Lily missed the entire exchange because each was equally wrapped up in what they were doing.

After some time, Moira started to notice Lily getting more and more restless. She kept rifling through her papers, digging around in her bag, and opening and closing different books without reading more than a page. Soon, Moira noticed the others noticing until Lily was all but frantically trying to find something to do. James, Sirius, and Moira were all staring at Lily until she seemed to sense their eyes and looked up. A little surprised to find all three of them looking at her, she quickly looked at James then returned her gaze to the table. Putting her pride aside Lily forced herself to say, "James, will you help me with the Astronomy assignment?"

James's face lit up and he grinned briefly before trying to compose himself and try to say in a cool tone, "Sure- er- I'll help you." He coughed slightly because in trying to sound calm and collected, he dropped his voice to a strangely low octave. Sirius snickered and Moira tried very hard not to laugh herself, but James continued in his normal voice, "There's a few great books in the Astronomy aisle that I used on the last assignment that might really help."

"Okay," said Lily hesitantly. She was taking a big leap of faith in trusting James with anything, but Sirius and Moira weren't taking Astronomy, so he was her only hope.

"Here, I'll show you," James said standing. Lily followed his lead and disappeared behind the shelves. Sirius and Moira watched even after they were out of sight, half expecting an explosion or yelling or both.

"Well, that went well," Moira finally said in disbelief.

"Looks like Evans has finally matured a little," Sirius said turning back around to face Moira.

"Evans has matured? Don't you mean Potter? Obviously Lily is more mature than James," Moira said defensively.

"In every other instance, yeah," Sirius admitted, "but James is not the one that's been holding onto a first year grudge."

"I'm sorry, I distinctly remember you two terrorizing her best friend just last year," Moira said even more defensively. Of course Moira could never stand Snape, and yeah maybe she found the nickname Snivellus a little fitting, but Lily was still kind of traumatized over the whole ordeal. She had gone five years without really making any other friends then her only close friend called her a 'Mudblood,' and Moira being a half-blood herself knew exactly how much that word was worth. At Moira's last comment Sirius shut up immediately, even paled a little.

"He kept sticking his long nose places it didn't belong. Almost cost me my friendship with Remus! You don't know what he did to us," Sirius said angrily, his voice raising with each sentence. Moira was surprised to hear any of these statements. She held up her hands, "Sirius calm down, I'm sorry. You're right, I don't know- I didn't know- what happened?"

"We don't like to talk about it," Sirius said looking down at the parchment in front of him, "All is forgiven as long as Snape keeps up his end of the bargain and leaves us alone." Moira didn't have a single word to say to that. She had never seen this side of Sirius. She wished she could talk to Lily about it, but Lily didn't talk about Snape as much anymore. It was probably best to just leave it all alone. By the time Lily and James got back it was nearly curfew, so they all packed up their books and left. Moira purposefully took her time and told the boys to go on ahead because Lily had not stopped smiling since she had returned with James, and Moira wanted to know why.

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