By the beginning of March, the teachers were already starting to increase the amount of homework and revision for the O.W.L.s in June. It hadn't yet reached the point where the top students were struggling, but for everyone else, it was definitely starting to add up. Julianne and Nettie were struggling to balance Quidditch with all of their work and even Alice was having trouble trying to deal with her prefect duties on top of everything else. There was hardly a fifth year in the school that wasn't starting to stress out over the impending exams.

There were exceptions to this and it didn't take a genius to figure out who those exceptions were. It seemed like the Gryffindor boys had taken it upon themselves to lighten the mood around the castle and while the numerous pranks were more than a bit annoying at times, they did offer a welcome distraction to the monotony of reviewing.

Julianne and Nettie were making their way down to the Great Hall to try and get something to eat before practice when they were pulled aside as they got to the entrance hall. "Trust me, you do not want to go in there," Sirius said as the two girls realized who had stopped them.

"But we really do," Julianne shot back, throwing a glance back over her shoulder.

James nodded to where a group of fourth years were walking towards the Great Hall. "Just watch, and then decide if you really want to go in." Julianne and Nettie turned to watch. The fourth years walked through the doors and for a few seconds, nothing really seemed to happen. Then, all of a sudden, they were all shot backwards, hair growing white and their skin wrinkling, bright white beards growing on all of their faces. After a few seconds, they scrambled up from the floor and instantly made their way back down the corridor, obviously going to the hospital wing.

"What did you guys do?" Nettie asked, turning back to look at them.

"Age line," Peter piped up from his spot behind James.

"Anyone above the age of seven who tries to get in there will end up looking like them," Sirius continued, pointing in the direction of the group that had just run by.

Julianne and Nettie shared a look. "So you basically made it impossible for anyone to eat," Julianne said, looking at the four of them. "How is this supposed to be funny?"

James and Sirius both looked at each other and Remus gave them a smug look, mumbling something that sounded like "I told you so." Julianne just rolled her eyes as they tried to justify their prank, already trying to figure out if she and Nettie had enough time to stop by the kitchens before practice.

"Wait, you guys know how to make an age line?" Nettie said, looking between the four boys.

"You're really surprised about that?" Julianne said before they could answer, looking behind her when she heard more footsteps. Once she realized that it was Professor McGonagall walking towards them, she turned back. "Well, that would be our cue to leave," she said, looking over at Nettie. They moved a bit further back down the entrance hall, deciding that it would be quicker to wait for McGonagall to take the age line down than go all the way to the kitchens. Once she had removed the age line and had moved on chastising the boys, Julianne and Nettie quickly made their way in and scarfed down some food before heading out to the Quidditch pitch.

Practice that night was especially difficult with the wind that had picked up over the past couple days. They had tried their best, but it was difficult to keep the brooms steady, Fitz and Mara having the most trouble since they were the smallest on the team. By the end, all of them were exhausted from trying to stay on their brooms and ready to get back up to the castle, so by the time Julianne and Nettie left, Cameron was the only one left at the pitch.

"Hey, I told Cardoc that I'd meet him in the library after practice," Nettie said as they reached the castle. "Will you be fine walking back by yourself?"

"Yeah, of course," she said, brushing off her friend's concern. "Go have fun with your boyfriend." Nettie rolled her eyes, but gave her a wave before heading in the direction of the library. Julianne pulled her bag further up her shoulder and started on her way to Ravenclaw Tower.

She had just turned a corner, not focused on where she was going, and almost ran straight into someone. "Sorry," she mumbled, moving so she could walk around them. Right as she was about to go past, they stepped in front of her and when she looked up, she realized who it was.

"Where are they?" Snape growled and Julianne had to bite her lip from busting out laughing. His hair and robes were very vibrant shades of red and gold and the fact that his face from rather red from anger did nothing to help. He seemed to get angrier at her silence. "I know you know where they are."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Julianne finally managed to say, trying and failing to keep the amused smile off her face.

"Don't lie to me," he snapped and she instinctively reached for where her wand was tucked into her bag. "Potter and Black, where are they?"

"It's not my job to know where they are," she said coolly. "But I have to say, this is a nice look, I'd be thanking them if I were you."

Snape raised his hand, apparently going to reach for his wand, but Julianne pulled hers out before he could get to it and he lowered his hand. She smiled again, twirling her wand lazily in her hands. Sometimes there were benefits to having known James Potter since birth and being one of the best in the year at Defense was definitely one of them. "What, not so tough without your little Lily to protect you, Snivellus?" she taunted, knowing full well that she was going a bit overboard, but she couldn't help it. He glared at her as she continued to smile at him and she would have been lying if she said she wasn't enjoying it. "Now, can I get by?"

She could tell that he was itching to hex her or something, but he just moved out of the way and let her walk by. She gave him a patronizing smile as she walked by, her wand still out. Normally she wouldn't worry about being hit when her back was turned, but she wouldn't put anything past Snape, especially given who she was and was not friends with.

She briefly considered casting a Shield Charm behind her and was about to cast it when she was yanked upwards by her ankle. Before she could process what was happening, she was suddenly falling and hit the floor hard, banging her head in the process. Sharp pain shot through most of her body and her vision instantly began to blur and darken around the edges. Footsteps came closer to her and she knew they were Snape's, but she was already having trouble focusing and the distinct ringing in her ears was not helping.

The footsteps continued past her and she tried to get up, but between the dizziness and the pain from her entire left side, she instantly laid back down on the floor. She had no idea how to tell if she was going in and out of consciousness or how much time had passed, but the next thing she knew, someone was kneeling beside her and she could just barely concentrate enough to figure out who it was.

"Oh, my god, Julianne, are you okay?" the person said and it took her a few seconds to realize that it was Cameron. "What happened?"

With his help, she was able to sit up and she figured out that the pain was concentrated in her arm, side, and leg. "I, uh, might have, um, pissed off Snape," she said, blinking against the sudden rush of dizziness.

"I'm going to take you to the hospital wing," he said, looking at her with a concerned expression. He took her right hand and started to help her up.

"I can get up," she said, but as soon as she got to her feet, a sense of vertigo swept over her and if Cameron hadn't been holding her arm, she would have fallen over again. "Ok, maybe I do need help."

Cameron grabbed her bag from where it had fallen and then put his arm around her so he could help her to the hospital. She winced as he put his arm on her side, taking her good hand and sliding his hand to her waist. "Sorry," she said as she put her good arm around his neck. He didn't say anything, starting on the way to the hospital wing. They didn't say anything on the way, but that may have been more to do with the fact that Julianne was trying to stay conscious.

"Ms. Meyers, Mr. Stewart, I do hope that this will not become a regular occurrence," Madame Pomfrey said as they entered the hospital wing.

"No, ma'am, it's not a Quidditch injury," Cameron explained as he helped Julianne to a bed.

"Could have fooled me," she muttered as she shooed Cameron away from the bed and began to figure out exactly what was wrong. Julianne winced as the matron poked and prodded, trying to find where the damage was. "Are you sure you didn't fall from a broom?" she asked, looking between Julianne and Cameron.

"No," Julianne answered, closing her eyes and putting her hand to her head. "I fell, but not from a broom." Both the matron and Cameron gave her a confused look. Before she could say anything else to convince them that she wasn't crazy, the hospital wing doors opened again and Professor McGonagall walked in, closely followed by Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter.

"Ms. Meyers," the professor said as she reached the bed. "I understand you have had a run in with Severus Snape this evening?"

Julianne nodded, but then instantly regretted it when the dizziness got worse. "Yes, ma'am," she said. James and Sirius both started to say something, but they were silenced by a quick look from the professor. She turned back towards Julianne, motioning her to continue. "I ran into him when I was walking back from Quidditch practice. We said a few things to each other and when I walked past him, he must have cast some spell on me because I was pulled into the air and then dropped. The next thing I knew, Cameron was there and he was helping me down here."

"And did you do anything to provoke this attack?" McGonagall asked and immediately there were sounds of protest from James and Sirius.

"We saw the whole thing, Professor," Remus said, jumping in before James or Sirius could get going. "Snape attacked her when her back was turned, she only drew her wand for self-defense. She's telling the truth."

"I believe you both," Professor McGonagall said, casting another look at James and Sirius who were barely keeping it together. "We just need all of the facts before any sort of punishment can be given out.

"But…I didn't see you guys," Julianne said, trying to ignore the pounding in her head when she was trying to concentrate.

"And that would be the concussion talking," Madame Pomfrey said as she hurried back over with her hands full of different potions. "She needs to rest, you can continue this in the morning." McGonagall nodded.

"Of course," she said and when she turned to leave, she gave all the boys a look that said they should do the same. Cameron took the hint, putting his hand on her shoulder and told her to feel better before making his way out of the hospital wing, leaving a good bit of distance between him and the boys as he did so. Remus and Peter seemed ready to follow him, but James and Sirius refused to leave.

"Can't we just talk to her for a minute?" Sirius pleaded as Madame Pomfrey started pouring the potions Julianne needed to drink.

"Black, Potter, I can assure you that Ms. Meyers will still be here in the morning, which is when you can talk to her," Professor McGonagall said. They both opened their mouths like they were going to protest, but one look from the professor and they relented, reluctantly following Remus and Peter out of the hospital wing.

Julianne watched them go until Madame Pomfrey shoved one of the potions into her hands. "Drink," she ordered and Julianne obliged, grimacing at the taste and then wincing as she felt the various bones on her left side mending themselves. "Now, you will be woken up every two or three hours," the matron ordered, handing her another drink. "And you will stay here for at least a day to make sure that it is nothing more serious." She paused, waiting for Julianne to take the potion. Julianne noticed her gaze and downed the potion, grimacing again at the taste.

"Sounds like fun," she muttered as the matron took the cup from her, already dreading being stuck in the hospital.


"Get me out of here," Julianne said as soon as she saw Ivory and Nettie walk in. It was already the second day that she was stuck in the hospital wing and the one day that Madame Pomfrey had originally promised was then altered to three, her reasoning being that she wanted to make sure that there weren't any complications.

Ivory just smiled as she sat down in one of the chairs next to the bed. "I'm sure it's not that bad," she said, handing Julianne the chocolate she had asked for yesterday.

"No, it's that bad," Nettie said, breaking off a bit of the chocolate before Julianne could get any. "Trust me, you're lucky it's only three days."

"Yeah, no, I can't imagine being stuck in here for over a week," Julianne said, stuffing her face with the chocolate. "So, what have I missed?" Nettie and Ivory shared a glance.

"James and Sirius got detention for attacking Snape yesterday," Ivory said and Julianne nodded.

"Yeah, I saw him when he came in here," she said, smiling. "Looked like they had a bit of fun."

"That's an understatement," Nettie said, reaching for more chocolate. "Thank god you're friends with them, they'd be terrifying as enemies." Ivory nodded in agreement, grabbing some chocolate as well.

"Whatever spell Snape used on you, it's exploded," Ivory said, popping a piece in her mouth. "I guess Lily knew what it was so she let the other Gryffindor girls know and now you can barely walk five feet without getting lifted in the air."

"Better start wearing shorts under your robe," Nettie added and reached for more chocolate, Julianne pulling it away from her. Nettie frowned and Ivory just rolled her eyes, looking down at her watch.

"We have to get to class," she said and Nettie heaved a sigh before standing up as well.

"No, don't leave me," Julianne begged, setting the chocolate down on the table beside her bed. "I might die of boredom."

"Calm down, drama queen," Ivory said, picking up her bag from where she had set it down. "We'll be back later." They both said goodbye and headed off to class, leaving her alone again.

She sighed and leaned back against the pillows, grabbing a section of her hair and starting to braid it. Ever since she was a little girl, she had hated being confined and forced to sit still for too long. Having to sit in the hospital wing with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling was slowly driving her crazy. The brief visits from her friends helped slightly, but Madame Pomfrey was extremely strict about visiting hours, so her amount of human interaction was extremely limited.

Ivory and Nettie kept their promise, stopping by after dinner, but all too soon, Madame Pomfrey was shooing them out. Julianne sighed as the doors closed behind her friends and settled back into the bed, resigned to spending one more day stuck doing nothing. She tried not to think about how much she was missing in her classes since Madame Pomfrey had ordered her not to do any schoolwork to give her brain time to heal. Ivory and Nettie were giving her the basics of what was going on, but she wasn't allowed to do anything with it.

She was just about to try and go to sleep since she had nothing better to do when she heard the doors open and close. She sat up and looked around, not seeing anyone. She threw a look over to the matron's office and when she looked back, she almost had a heart attack.

"Holy…," she said, jumping and her breath catching in her throat. "What the fuck, Sirius, you almost gave me a heart attack."

She could still feel her heart pounding as he said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He sat down beside the bed, putting something on the floor beside him.

"Could have fooled me, sneaking around under that stupid cloak," she muttered, glaring down at what Sirius had put down. "Why couldn't you have just come during the day?"

He shrugged, leaning back in the chair. "Figured you would want some company. But if you'd rather I just leave," he said, starting to get up.

"No," Julianne said quickly and Sirius sat back down, smiling. "Just, keep your voice down, I don't want her to kick you out."

Sirius had leaned back in the chair again as he said, "Don't worry about that, she can't hear us." When Julianne gave him a questioning look, he held up his wand as answer. "Muffliato." She nodded, looking down at her hands.

"So," she said, suddenly blanking on what to talk about. "How many detentions are you guys stuck in?"

"Only a couple," Sirius said, glancing over at the bedside table. "Lost a bunch of points, though, don't think anyone was too happy about that."

"Well, you're lucky you didn't get anything worse," Julianne said, messing with the edge of one of her blankets. "I saw him when he came in here. I think you guys had a bit too much fun with it."

Sirius shrugged, seemingly unconcerned with how much trouble they had managed to avoid. "He had it coming and I'm not too sure anyone was too upset about what we did. Well, except maybe Evans." He reached out for the Daily Prophet that Ivory had left behind earlier. "You read this?'

"Uh, yeah," she said, trying to wrap her head around the abrupt subject change. "I read bits when Madame Pomfrey isn't around. She thinks if I concentrate on something too much, it'll make the concussion worse."

"Is it that bad?" Sirius asked, leaning forward with a concerned expression.

"She seems to think so," Julianne said, watching as he put the newspaper back on the table. "But I'm fine, she said I can get out of here tomorrow."

"Good, good," he said, leaning back in the chair. They two of them sat without saying anything for a minute, Julianne looking down at the blankets until she broke silence.

"So did you want to talk about something?" she asked, looking back up at him. "As much as I enjoy the company, I know that's not all that you came down here to do."

"I'm insulted that you think so little of me," Sirius said, crossing his arms. "Can't someone just want to keep a friend company without some ulterior motive?"

"Well, they can," Julianne said, a grin on her face, "but you didn't. So what did you want to talk about?"

Sirius shifted in his seat. "Nothing," he said, looking down so he didn't have to meet her gaze.

"Please, I'm not stupid," she said. "I know you have something to say something, I've known you long enough to figure that out."

"Ok, just because James let me come down here-" Sirius stopped midsentence when he saw Julianne's face and realized what he had said.

"Oh, he let you come down here," she repeated, a grin on her face. "So you do want to talk about something."

She couldn't stop grinning as she watched him try to figure out what to say. Getting under his skin like that had become one of her favorite activities since the 'Mistletoe Incident," as she liked to call it. It was even easier than it had been before Christmas and as soon as she realized that, the smile started to slip off her face as she began putting two and two together. Being able to get under his skin, the weird looks he would give her sometimes, the whole business with Cameron, and the conversation they had had during that detention right afterwards…

"Oh, my god," she breathed, causing him to look up at her and abandon trying to form a coherent thought. "Oh, my god, they were right. You like me."

He just looked at her, completely unsure of where she was going. "'Course I like you," he said. "We're friends, aren't we?"

She shook her head, her mind still buzzing with what she thought she had figured out. "No, I mean you like me," she said. She dropped her gaze, looking back down at the blankets and starting to mess with them again. "As more than just a friend."

She looked back up at him when he didn't say anything. She watched as he tried to figure out what to say and she knew without him saying it that she was right. Her mind kept flashing back to those little moments that she had overlooked, chalking them up to her own feelings. "I don't know what you're talking about," Sirius finally said.

"Please don't lie to me," she whispered, gripping the blankets tighter.

"I'm not lying," he defended. "I don't-"

"Sirius, please," she said. "I just want to know."

"There's nothing to know," he said.

"Come on, you and I both know that's not true-"

"Fine, Julianne, you really want to know?" he said, his eyes flashing and almost involuntarily Julianne shrunk back against her pillows. "Yes, I like you, probably a lot more than I should. Happy now?"

"Sirius," she said, instantly regretting pushing him.

"This is what you wanted to hear, right?" he continued to rant, ignoring her interruption. "I realized it last year and I just knew it was going to end badly. Why would someone like you ever even consider a guy like me?" Julianne wanted to say something, but she kept her mouth shut. "And then this year, I thought maybe I had a chance, but then you started dating Cameron and I just…lost it and then you were so mad at me. But after that kiss, I figured, maybe, but you were so distant after that and I just didn't know what to do and I don't know why I'm still talking."

Julianne sat quietly for a moment, taking everything in. Sirius sat looking at her, like he expected her to say something. When she didn't, he gave a short, humorless laugh before standing up and starting to the door. "This was a mistake, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, wait," she said, moving to the edge of her bed so she could reach out to stop him. He hesitated briefly before stopping and turning back to her. She paused for a second before blurting out, "I've had a crush on you for a long time." The defensive attitude Sirius had fell apart as soon as she said that. She took a deep breath and continued. "Since second year. I told myself last summer that it wasn't worth it and that I was over you, so that's why I started dating Cameron." Sirius sat down on the bed next to her and she looked down at her hands. "But I really never got over you, but I was worried that if I admitted that then it would ruin our friendship and I didn't want that."

She was aware of Sirius shifting next to her, but she didn't look up at him. She reached up to grab a section of her hair and started twirling it around her finger, waiting for him to say something. "So where does that leave us?" Sirius finally said and Julianne rubbed her arms as she turned to look at him.

"I don't know," she said and put her head in her hands, covering her face. "Shit, this is exactly what I didn't want to happen. Now it's going to be all awkward and eventually it'll be too much, so we agree to try a relationship and then it doesn't work so then we can't even be around each other-"

"Okay, slow down," Sirius said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "That's not going to happen."

"How do you know?" she asked, turning towards him.

"Well, for one, do you really think that James is going to let something like that happen?" Sirius said, smiling at her and when she didn't return it, he continued. "I know nothing like that is going to happen, because we've been friends for five years, so you're kind of stuck with me at this point." Julianne smiled a bit at that, looking back down at her hands as she did so. "But, if you wanted to skip the awkwardness, we could, I mean…"

Julianne looked back up, the smile growing on her face. "Sirius Black, are you actually suggesting a relationship?"

"No, I mean, I guess, but only if you, uh," Sirius stuttered, trying to backtrack. Julianne just smiled, watching as he struggled for words. "Alright, you're enjoying this a little too much."

"Yeah, just a bit," she said, scrunching her nose as she answered. They were both quiet for a minute before Julianne said, "But what if that doesn't work. We have the same friends, it would just-"

Sirius gave her shoulder a squeeze and she stopped midsentence. "You know, sometimes I forget that you're actually smart and think way too much," he said. She gave him a look, but before she could say anything else, he continued. "If they don't know, then none of that can happen."

"A secret relationship?" she said. "What are we, twelve?"

Sirius held up his hands in defense. "Hey, you are the one finding all of these problems with it," he said. "I'm just throwing out some options." Julianne sat quietly, trying to take in everything that had just happened. Twenty minutes ago she was lying in bed, bored out of her mind and now Sirius Black was (very indirectly) asking her out. To say that her mind was jumbled was a bit of an understatement.

"Alright," she said. "It wouldn't hurt to try." She watched as his face lit up and before she could stop herself, she put her hand on his shoulder and leaned up to give him a quick kiss. "Now get out of here before you get kicked out."

He stood up, a grin on his face. He bent down, putting his hands on either side of her face and kissing her again. "As you wish," he said as he pulled back, grabbing the cloak from the floor and making his way out of the hospital wing. Julianne put her hand up to her mouth and she could feel the smile that covered her entire face. She moved back in the bed, pulling the covers up and laying down.

"I'm dating Sirius Black," she whispered to no one, closing her eyes as she tried to fall asleep.


So I'm not too happy with this chapter as a whole, but I felt bad making you wait so long, so I figured I'd give you this :)

I'd love to hear what all of you think of this chapter, so please don't forget to leave a review!