Out of My Life, Chapter 6 – Good Day, Bad Day

Summary: Kate Brink has hated Sirius Black almost all her life, and she wishes that he never came into her life. But sooner or later Kate has to realize that no matter how hard she tries, she just can't get him out of her life. Full summary inside.
Full Summary: Kate Brink is the arch nemesis of Sirius Black, and is almost as bad as the Slytherins, which is saying a lot in his eyes. Sirius Black is the arch nemesis of Kate Brink, and is almost as bad as her mother, which is saying a lot in her eyes. She has hated him almost all her life, perhaps even more than her best friend Lily Evans has hated James Potter. And perhaps even more than her other best friend Emmy Parsons has hated cotton balls. But even Kate, one of the two smartest people in her house, has to take a while to realize that however hard she tries she just can't get Sirius Black out of her life.

Disclaimer: I own Kate Brink, Emmy Parsons, Selena and Serena Nevine, and anybody not in the HP series ONLY. The rest of the characters belong to JK Rowling, and so does everything else in the Potterverse.


Gideon Prewett came into the Common Room with a horde of people stampeding after him, James Potter and Sirius Black among them. The quidditch captain looked reasonably irritated. "Calm down, or I won't post the results!" He finally shouted, glaring at all of them, and in an instant the crowd shut up.

Lily was curled up in her favorite armchair and was reading her favorite Jane Austin book when she looked up and realized what was going on. The final list for the Gryffindor Quidditch team was in Gid's hand, and Lily, having no particular interest (or skill) in the sport, shrugged to herself and went back to reading. Until she realized who did.

She jumped up and raced up to the girls' dormitories. "Kate! Emmy!"

Meanwhile, Kate was taking a soothing shower after a stressing day of classes. History of Magic was simply horrible: Not only did she fail to stay awake, she was the only student (in twenty-six years, according to Remus) to get caught by the ghostly Professor Binns and get twenty points taken from Gryffindor. After that, she found that she could not complete even the simplest tasks in Potions. Kate ended up with many cuts, gashes, burns, boils, and blisters on her hands by the end of the period. She and James' potion blew up in Slughorn's face and they both promptly received a 'Troll', plus a lecture from Lily. Even her best classes, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, were far from being good. All in all, it was a dreadful day.

So she was understandably not very pleased when a screaming redhead burst into their room and rudely disrupted her relaxing shower.

"Kate! Emmy!" Lily called loudly, and Kate heard a muffled, annoyed complaint, undoubtedly from Emmy, who was (for once) trying to finish a Transfiguration essay with Alice's help.

"In here!" Kate called. "Taking a shower!"

"Obviously, what else would you be doing in there?"

"… Going to the bathroom?"

"You went before I left for the Common Room, why would you need to go again?"

"… Damn it."

Kate could hear Lily rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I thought you'd like to know that the tryout results have been posted. For quidditch, I mean."

There was a pause, and then Kate and Emmy shrieked at the same time. "WHAT?"

"DID I MAKE IT?"

"DID YOU GET A LOOK?"

The door slammed shut and Kate knew that Emmy had abandoned her essay for the results. After all, who wouldn't? Lily, maybe, but definitely not any sane person.

Kate, thankfully having already rinsed the hair conditioner out of her dark locks, stopped the flow of the shower with a flick of her wand which was lying on the counter, and hopped out of the stall. She used a strong Hot Air Charm to dry her hair and body, and then got stuck on untangling her hair. Kate rushed out of the bathroom, still in her underwear, and searched frantically for something to wear. She pulled the shorts and tank top on, and ran for the door… only to be met by Lily and Alice's wand-tips.

"Er, what are you two doing…?" Kate stared in surprise, and the two girls simultaneously uttered a stream of spells. Kate jumped back and tried to shield herself when she realized that her hair was now untangled, soft, smooth, and straight. She grinned sheepishly at Lily and Alice. "Thanks." With that, she shoved her two friends roughly out of the way and sprinted downstairs to the Common Room.

"We got in! We got in!" Was the first thing she heard, and it was Emmy screaming into her ear.

"What?" Kate pushed Emmy away and went to see for herself, weaving through the throng of eager students. Wolf whistles and catcalls followed her, and it was then that she realized how scantily clad she was. She had really thrown on the first thing she had seen, and now all that was covering her body was a thin white tank-top (unfortunately, her bra was black) and tiny denim shorts. Kate's face flushed a dark crimson, but her excitement to see the results were too much; she brushed it away and found the piece of parchment magically stuck onto the notice board.

Gryffindor Quidditch Team

Keeper: Alexander Wood

Seeker: James Potter

Chasers: Emmalyn Parsons

Alexa Bell

Gideon Prewett

Beaters: Sirius Black

Caitlyn Brink

Kate's jaw hit the floor. Actually, no: her jaw went through eight floors and hit the dungeons, where the Potions classroom was. "Oh, my Merlin. Oh, my Merlin," she whispered. Her hands flew to her mouth, and her eyes stretched wide. She whipped around and saw Remus grinning broadly, and Kate jumped at him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him hard. "I made it! I made it!" She was yelling joyfully. Behind him, Sirius was glaring at Remus' back and James was laughing. Kate spotted James and ran to him as well, knocking the werewolf to the floor.

"James! Oh, my Merlin! We both made it!" She hugged him as well, kissing him on the cheek in her elation. He went bright red but still beamed at her nonetheless.

She turned and saw Sirius. Her smile didn't fall, though her body tensed. Kate stuck out her hand, and Sirius slowly took it. "Congratulations." She shook it, and then let go quickly.

Kate spotted Emmy jumping up and down with Alexa Bell, a talented chaser in the year above them, and threw herself onto her blonde best friend with a shriek. "We got on the team!" She squealed, and Emmy laughed and hugged her back.

"We did!" She agreed, and the two girls linked arms and did a little victory dance, both of them tripping over themselves in their giggles.

Suddenly, Kate's day wasn't so terrible anymore.


Kate exchanged smirks with her friends as they made their way down to dinner in the Great Hall. "You all remember the plan, right?" Lily murmured quietly, and Kate rolled her eyes.

"Do you have to say that every time? We've all had the plan drilled into our brains five times a day for the past two weeks, Lils." Kate glanced around to check that nobody was listening in, and then looked upwards to see if Peeves was lurking in the corners of a ceiling.

Emmy and Alice laughed. "She's right," Alice grinned at Lily. "We know Plan A. And Plan B."

The four arrived at the Great Hall, and exchanged looks once more before sitting down at the side farthest away from the Marauders. They took their food calmly, and ate, talking animatedly for five minutes before Lily, after making sure there was nobody looking, cast 'Wingardium Leviosa' and levitated the golden tube of lipstick to their the first Sirius-obsessed girl she saw.

Kate, seeing who it was, held back her laughter, and pointed her wand discreetly under the table at the girl, whispering under her breath, "Confundus." Marlene McKinnon, with a slightly dazed expression on her face, ducked under the table and picked up the lipstick by her feet, and slathered some sloppily all over lips. Kate frowned and strengthened the concentration and power behind the charm. Marlene smiled at her friends, got up, stumbled a bit, and made her way to the Gryffindor table. She tapped Sirius on the shoulder, and when he looked up, smirked, and said something. Marlene rolled her eyes, grabbed Sirius with surprising strength, turned him around, and kissed him hard on the mouth.

Kate realized that the lipstick wasn't getting in his mouth, so she made Marlene pull away, lick her lips, and plunge her tongue inside Sirius' mouth. Satisfied, Kate released Marlene from the spell, leaving the girl to realize a moment later what she was doing and jump away with a horrified expression on her face, running back to the Ravenclaw table.

An embarrassed flush warmed Kate's cheeks when she realized that she had been imitating the movements of Marlene's mouth and tongue in her concentration, and her friends were laughing at her. "Shut up," she grumbled, but the corner of her lip twitched as Kate imagined what she must have looked like. She saw Sirius narrow his eyes suspiciously, and she flashed danger colors on the rings. The four friends simultaneously began talking and laughing about the time Kate had detention and Slughorn slipped and fell on the freshly scrubbed floors of the potions room. She had received another two weeks worth of detention.

Dinner was almost over and the effects of the potion would start to show, and Kate knew they wouldn't be able to pretend to not have a part in the prank. She got up. "I'm way too full, and I've still got McGonagall's essay," she announced loudly, but Lily understood what she meant.

"It wouldn't hurt to study," Lily agreed, standing up as well.

Emmy, catching on, rolled her eyes. "Lily, I think all you do is study."

"And all you do is not study," Alice smirked, climbing out of her seat and making her way to the staircase with the other girls.

Emmy couldn't deny that, and laughed with her friends. "Touché," she said, grinning.

And Kate, imagining what her arch enemy would look like after the potion had been properly triggered by the lipstick, smiled widely. Her day was just getting better.


Kate was curled up next to Lily with a Muggle novel in her hands, called "The Tale of Two Cities", by a bloke named Charles Dickens, when Sirius stormed into the Common Room in such fury that his face was as red as Lily's hair.

"Padfoot, what's wrong with—Oh, Great Merlin," James gaped, catching sight of his puke green, greasy, sticky hair. It was

"Padfoot, calm down." Remus stood up to cool Sirius down but the dog animagus glared so intensely at Remus that the boy stopped in his tracks.

"I WILL NOT FUCKING CALM DOWN!" He bellowed, and whipped his head around to glower at Kate, who had pretended not to notice. "BRINK!"

"Yes?" She smiled sweetly, glancing up at him. "Good Lord, what did you do with your—"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Sirius raged on. "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IT, YOU BITCH?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Kate faked innocence, sitting up and closing the book in her lap. She was surprised and somewhat proud to realize that she had not ever seen Sirius this mad before, and that it was her who had managed to do it.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I FUCKING MEAN! I MEAN THIS!" Sirius pulled so hard at his hair that a clump of it fell out, but he was too irate to care.

"Don't pull your hair out like that, you'll lose all of it," Kate shook her finger at him, as if he was a little boy, her tone conscending.

Sirius' voice turned a deadly quiet, and when his stormy grey eyes met Kate's amber ones she flinched, but ever so slightly that only Lily who was sitting next to her heard her nearly silent sharp intake of breath. "This is my reputation," he hissed, fists clenching and unclenching. "My hair and my reputation are not okay."

Kate faked shock. "Oh, Merlin, your reputation? I would never have done it if I knew it was your popularity at stake," she gasped, her hand at her chest, and Lily giggled a bit. Kate's eyes grew serious. "You know you had it coming. You made everyone think we slept together—"

"This is my hair, Brink!" Sirius interrupted, glaring at her.

"And that was my dignity! I know it's your hair, you blithering idiot!" Kate spat. "You care so much about your stupid playboy reputation you can't see that what you really are is a man-whore!"

Sirius' eyes darkened and he stepped toward her, his voice dripping with hatred and venom. "I hate you, Brink. You disgust me, and I wish you were just dead."

Kate's head suddenly rushed with so many emotions that she wasn't sure which one to listen to. In all their fights and arguments, he had never said he hated her, or wished she were dead, she realized vaguely. Her eyes flashed with shock and something else, but it quickly disappeared as she regained control. She stood up, her face hard and cold. "Do you now?" Kate said, her eyes so ice cold that James behind Sirius shivered. Remus stared in surprise, anger, and pity. "Well, good for you. The feeling's mutual." She walked right past him, pushed Remus out of the way, and stalked out of the Common Room. And that joy from pulling a successful prank and becoming a Beater of the Gryffindor Quidditch team vanished faster than it would if someone used "Evanesco" on it.

There was a tense silence in the room, and then Lily stood up, walking towards the stock-straight Sirius in the middle of the room. She promptly struck him so hard across the face he staggered to the side, clutching at his cheek and eye. When James quickly got up to help his friend Lily fixed him with a look so severe he stopped right in his tracks. "Don't you dare," she snarled, and ran after her friend. Emmy rose, from her seat, kicked Sirius in the stomach, sending him bending over in pain, and sprinted after Lily. Alice, who was too kind to do such a thing, just gave Sirius a glare so full of fury that Sirius took a step back. Sweet, little Alice looked more deadly than Lily at the moment, and that was saying something. She turned and dashed after her friends.


Remus grabbed Sirius' arm, and began to drag him up the stairs, his features rigid with anger. James, bewildered, followed his friends up to the boys' dormitory. Remus healed Sirius with two flicks of his wand and pushed him into the corner. "I'm going to leave you there," he growled at him, his wand pointing at his face. "And I'm going to have you think of what you did. You're going to realize something, and I'm going to come back, and say several things to you." Remus was dead serious, and Sirius was very, very confused.

"Er, what?"

Remus' face turned bright red. "YOU HURT HER!" He roared, and Sirius flinched at the furious Moony. He didn't usually get angry, but when he did, it was frightening to watch.

"YOU SAW WHAT SHE DID!" Sirius shouted back after he had recovered.

"AND I SAW WHAT YOU DID AS WELL!" Remus yelled, and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pressing him against the wall. "You saw that look in her eyes, Sirius," he whispered, using his real name for the first time in ages, and Sirius knew that Remus meant business. "She was shocked and injured, instead of angry. You hurt her in a way nobody else could have, and that's not okay with me."

"Why the hell do you care, anyway?" Sirius snapped, pushing Remus back and pulling out his wand in case he flew at him again.

"Because you do!" Remus' eyes flashed. "You don't know it, but you care for her! You like her!"

"Don't tell me who I like or not!" Sirius barked, pointing his wand at Remus, who raised his own wand. "Why are you protecting her?"

"She's my friend as well!" Remus growled, and opened his mouth to utter a spell at the same time as Sirius did. Sirius was faster, and James jumped into the middle of the two before it hit Remus and cast a shield charm. The Stunning Spell ricocheted off the wall and hit a glass of water, which exploded.

"You're on his side?" Sirius exclaimed disbelievingly. "You're choosing him over me?"

"Padfoot, listen to yourself!" James said in exasperation.

"No, Prongs, you listen to yourself! It was her fault! She did that stunt with my hair!"

"She had every right to!" Remus snapped. "The underwear prank was bad and—"

"You participated in it, you retard!" Sirius exclaimed, and Remus looked so enraged James was afraid that he would combust.

"That's because this would be your reaction if I didn't, and I'm almost as much as a coward as you are!" With this, Remus turned and marched out of the room.

James sighed, removed the shield, and gave his best mate a sad look. "Please, Padfoot. Just… please." He lowered his wand, and slowly followed Remus out of the dormitories, leaving Sirius alone in the middle of the 6th Gryffindor Boy's room, not sure what to feel.


Kate ran right after she left the Common Room. She ran, and ran, and ran until she reached the Room of Requirement. I need a place where nobody else can find me, Kate begged of the Room, and after a couple seconds a little wooden door swung open, revealing a little cabin on the beach. She flung herself at the tiny couch, curled into a ball, and cried. Kate didn't know why, but Sirius' words had hurt her in a way nothing else had ever wounded her. The look in his eyes, the tone of his voice… the overwhelming feeling of despair clenched her heart and Kate cried until her eyes grew tired and she drifted off to sleep, holding her stuffed black dog to her chest.

The next morning she woke up at five-thirty in the morning, feeling determined to give Sirius a treatment that she thought worked best for her and ticked him off as well: The Silent Treatment. Old school, but still very effective. Smiling slightly, she put on a happy face and sneaked out of the Room of Requirement, leaving her stuffed dog behind. Kate put a Disillusionment Charm on herself and sneaked into Gryffindor tower, waking up a disgruntled Fat Lady with "Dragon eggs" and made her way silently to her bed in the Girls' Dormitories.

It was seven in the morning when Kate 'woke up' and faked a yawn like the one that she made every morning, climbing out of bed and shook Emmy awake. "Em, wake up. Lily's already in the shower!"

The blonde shot up instantly at her voice and stared. "Where the hell were you last night?"

Kate grinned. "I would have blown off Black's head if I didn't leave, so I left to the Room of Requirement," she laughed. The truth wasn't all too far away- but it was her head that would have blown off if she had stayed any longer. "I exploded some things and sneaked to the Kitchens to get some food, and came back, but you were all asleep," she explained, lying easily through her teeth, the guilt running through her.

"Oh." Emmy sat there, absorbing the information, wondering whether she should believe it or not. Going with the fact that she hadn't known Kate to lie to her, she accepted it. "Okay."

There was an uncertain silence, and Alice got up. The two heads turned at the sound, and both split into wide smiles at the sight of their other best friend: One real, one fake. "Lissy!" Kate grinned.

"Kate! Great Merlin! When did you get back? Are you alright?" Alice immediately ran out of bed, her short black hair bouncing on her neck.

Kate laughed. "I'm fine, I swear," she assured her friend. "I vented my anger on some unfortunate fake Blacks in the Room of Requirement." She smirked.

Alice giggled. "I'm glad you're okay." Lily stepped out of the shower, steam floating out. The redhead froze.

"Hi, Lily," Kate greeted her. "Didn't you see me in bed when you woke up?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "I saw you sneak in at five-thirty in the morning," she told Kate suspiciously.

"I thought you got back last night!" Emmy exclaimed, and crossed her arms.

"I meant this morning, sorry," Kate grinned sheepishly, trying to hide the panic. "I guess I didn't notice how long I was spending in there."

"In where?" Lily said sharply.

"The Room of Requirement," Alice answered for Kate. "She was destroying some Black dummies in there, she said."

"Thank you, Alice," Kate smiled, avoiding Lily's penetrating gaze. Lily was her oldest friend – she and Jean Granger had been Kate's best friends in Muggle primary school. Only a tiny portion of Kate's lies had ever gone past the ginger prefect. There was a small chance that it would now.

"I see," Lily said finally. "Well, go and take a shower, Kate. You're next on the schedule." In the middle of their first year, Lily had made a shower schedule to prevent them fighting over their washing rights in the morning.

Kate gave Lily a grateful look, and, grabbing a clean set of robes, she ran into the bathroom as Emmy got up and stepped into the other one.


When the Gryffindor 6th year girls made their way to the Common Room with Kate desperately hoping that Sirius wasn't there, they were immensely happy to see Remus Lupin sitting at the other side of the room from the fireplace, away from his usual spot. "Remus!" Kate exclaimed happily, and Lily beamed at her friend. Emmy offered a "Morning, Remus," and Alice bounced over to sit down. The other three quickly crossed the room and plopped down around him.

"Kate," Remus began, chocolate brown eyes meeting her amber ones, "Are you alright? Are you—you know, after—"

"I'm fine, Remus, I swear." Kate smiled softly at him. "Don't worry about me."

He cocked his head thoughtfully at her for a second, before nodding. "Okay," he said simply, and Kate grinned.

"So, how's the schoolwork been for you?" She asked conversationally.

Remus groaned. "Horrible," he sighed, and Lily nodded her head in agreement. Kate looked bemused.

"Horrible? It's only the third week of school, for Merlin's sake! Why would it be horrible?"

"NEWTs," Lily and Remus explained at the same time.

Kate stared. "They aren't for another eight months. Why the hell are you studying for them?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "They aren't called the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests for no reason, you know," she told her friends importantly. "It'd do good to study early."

Alice giggled. "Not that you ever study, Kate," she commented, and everybody but Kate laughed.

"I study! Well, two days before the exams, but I get O's and E's!" Kate protested, crossing her arms across her chest. She shot a smirk at Emmy. "Unlike Miss Emmalyn over there, who doesn't study, period."

Emmy sat up straight. "I've gotten straight O's for D.A.D.A for five years now, thank you very much!" She exclaimed hotly.

Lily looked reasonably put out after that. She'd always gotten E's for those, never O's for their practical exams in D.A.D.A.

Kate's POV

I smirked at Emmy. "Unlike Miss Emmalyn over there, who doesn't study, period." I knew how much she hated her name Emmalyn, just like how I hated my Caitlyn.

She sat up straight indignantly. "I've gotten straight O's for D.A.D.A for five years now, thank you very much!" She exclaimed hotly.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lily pout slightly. She wasn't the best at practical exams though she did great with the written exams in Defense. She had never gotten past an E for the practicals.

Just then, James and Black descended the stairs to the Common Room, with a sleepy Peter trailing behind them, rubbing his eyes groggily. Did he never get enough sleep? Or eat enough food, for that matter?

James and Black stared at me for a second or two before they snapped out of it. Well, James snapped out of it. Black kept goggling with a weird look on his face. What an idiot.

"Kate?" James was the first to speak. I pretended to just notice them and turned around quickly.

"Jamesy-poo!" I squealed, and bowled him over in an overenthusiastic hug. We burst out laughing on the floor, and Remus seemed to find great pleasure in seeing Black's face twist in a scowl. Did they have a row or something…?

I sat up, grinning at James. With a sudden pang, I realized that I loved him like I loved Spencer… like a brother. My smile grew as I smoothed my robes. He returned the smile and got up, extending a hand for me. As he pulled me up, I could feel two glares directed at the back of my head. Turning around, I spotted them. Lily and Black. Lily I understood, no matter how much she denied it, I knew she loved James. But Black? Why would he be mad at me? Besides the fact that he hated me, that is. I flinched inwardly at his cold words yesterday evening. Brushing the memory away, I gave Lily an apologetic look, and stepped away from James.

"Run off crying yesterday, did you, Brink?" The arrogant voice was detectable from miles away. It took all my strength to give no reaction at all. I didn't even blink. Instead, I looked curiously at Remus' suddenly furious face, his usually soft chocolate brown eyes dark with menace. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Lily, Emmy, and Alice glancing at each other, confusion evident in their expressions.

"Can't answer me, for fear of bursting into sobs?" Black continued on. It really was hard, acting like he wasn't there. I giggled at Emmy's expression.

"You look retarded, Em. What's with that look on your face?" Of course I knew. She was just as confused as the most of them as to why Remus looked ready to murder and why I wasn't sending my best series of curses and hexes at Black. Only Lily and James at the moment looked like they understood. Stupid perceptive people. No wonder they were so great for each other.

Remus suddenly stood up stiffly. "Come to breakfast with me, ladies?" He forced a smile at the four of us girls. I exchanged a look with the other three, and we simultaneously nodded.

"Gladly," I curtsied deeply, giggling. "Come along, Jamesy, Pettigrew!" I grasped the two boys' wrists, dragging them out of the Common Room, with Remus and the girls laughing and running to catch up to me.

Peter squeaked, looking very frightened. "Where are we going?"

"The Great Hall, Pettigrew! Where else would we eat breakfast?" I rolled my eyes, finally letting them both go. The Gryffindor 7th years, minus Black, made our way, laughing and joking, to eat breakfast. I pretended not to know how much his words had sliced me in half.

Sirius' POV

She hadn't even looked at me. And when she did, it looked like she was staring right through me.

It shouldn't bother me, but it did. I honestly had no idea why.

Okay, I did. But I wasn't about to admit it, not now, not to myself, because there was no way I could convince people that I didn't feel attracted to Brink—

Don't even think about it. Seriously. Siriusly.

The rest of the day was simply horrible. I acted worse than usual, taunting her with my worst jaunts and insults. She didn't even seem to know I was there. It was like being in Prongs' invisibility cloak. Except that it was way worse. Especially in Transfiguration, when I thought that she must crack then. After all, she was sitting right next to me, and would be my partner for the entire term.

Brink studiously took her notes, and did her work, and passed notes to James, and giggled at what he wrote back in return. The only thing worse than my jealousy (Of course, I had no idea why it was there in the first place; if I was only… the A-word to her, why would I be jealous?) was the fact that nothing worked. Because I was Sirius Black. Everything I wanted, I had. People, especially girls, melted before me.

Brink didn't.

Oooh….. draaamaaa….

If you liked the drama here, you'll like the drama in the next chapter…

**Overly excited squeal of a writer anticipating writing the next chapter**

Whatever. This was the only chapter I'm at least half-proud of. I liked the fight, I liked the crying, I liked the ending, I liked Sirius' pain…

MUAHAHHA

Anyway, stay tuned, and review! It makes me happy, and happiness fuels my excitement for the Chappie 7, and that makes me post quicker!

Toodles, my faithful bunny minions!
~Fflight

P.S. Oh yeah, and sorry the chapter's a little shorter than usual. I hope everything else made up for it. ^^