Thanks for the reviews for last chapter guys. Glad you all liked Sirius getting smacked down. :-)

Realised that in the two fics I've got going right now, both my girls smacked someone in the face last night - Sarah slapped Sirius and Ashlin smashed Bellatrix in the nose (ohh, want to read more? Go to 'Things Worth Dying For' - yes, that was a completely blatant hint)


Chapter Seven

The Apology

Christmas came and went and classes began again. Sirius had backed off, leaving Sarah to her own devices and she was startled to realise she missed his constant, annoying presence. He wouldn't look at her when they were in the same class and had moved back to his usual seat. Although she still caught him looking at her occasionally, he didn't approach her, just looked away when their eyes met.

This is what I wanted. I wanted him to leave me alone.

So why did she feel like she'd done something awful?


It was now half way through January and she was shivering in the library, trying to concentrate on her Defence notes rather than how damn cold it was.

Would it kill them to organise some heating?

'Hi, Sarah,' a familiar voice said and she looked up and smiled at Remus Lupin.

'Hi,' she murmured, moving her books when he sat down next to her. 'Defence?'

'Transfiguration,' he said, holding up the textbook. 'Sirius is supposed to be studying with me but…' He shrugged. 'Apparently watching James show off for Lily is far more interesting than the theory behind Human Transfiguration.'

'Sirius studies?' she asked sceptically. 'I thought you did all the thinking for that lot.'

Remus smiled but shook his head. 'It kills me to admit this, and I'll deny I ever said it if you tell anyone, but he's a pretty smart guy. Naturally talented.'

Sarah raised an eyebrow and mumbled, 'So I've heard,' before looking back down at her book.

They studied quietly for several minutes then Remus broke the silence.

'He, um, told me what you said to him,' he said softly and she lifted her head, a puzzled expression on her face. 'Sirius, I mean.'

'What did I say to him?' she said, frowning. She hadn't spoken to Sirius in weeks.

'That he was a spoilt brat,' he reminded her gently. 'That there was nothing about him you could like or respect.'

Sarah's frowned deepened and she sat back. 'What about it?' she asked, refusing to apologise for her words (which now sounded unreasonably harsh - even to her ears). 'I'm not going to say sorry to him, if that's what you want. Remus, he'd been practically stalking me…'

'Sirius isn't a bad guy,' he interrupted, turning towards her. 'He can be impulsive and thoughtless but…he wouldn't hurt a fly.'

'I know several girls who'd probably like to challenge that statement, Remus,' she retorted and he grimaced.

'Yeah, I know,' he admitted. 'He doesn't treat girls very well sometimes but he doesn't ever set out to hurt anyone. Sarah, he'd kill me if he knew I was telling you this but I think you need to know something. You called him a spoilt brat - he's not. He's had a pretty hard home life - you know he doesn't live with his family?'

Sarah shook her head, listening attentively despite herself. 'He left under pretty bad terms,' he continued. 'They treated him very badly but in spite of that, it really hurt him when they disowned him.'

'His parent's disowned him?' she said, horrified when Remus nodded.

'He refused to live the way they do - you know they're big supporters of the Dark Arts?'

'I've heard the rumours,' she murmured, looking down at her text book. Now she felt guilty. 'He got his own place just before we came back to school - he was staying with James last year.'

He sighed. 'What you said…he tried to laugh it off but I could see it upset him. He's tried so hard to leave his family's reputation behind and…well, it hurt him.'

Sarah looked pained and blinked. She felt ashamed of herself. She hadn't realised that the seemingly privileged boy had been rejected by the very people who should have loved him the most.

I know what that feels like. At least in part. God, I was such a bitch to him.

'He also told me he'd kissed you and…' Remus smiled. 'You shook him up, Sarah. I've never seen him this rattled by a girl before and I don't think he knows quite what to do about it. God, he would absolutely murder me if he knew I'd told you all of this.'

Sarah flushed and bit her lip. Maybe she hadn't imagined the confusion on his face afterward their kiss; maybe it had affected him as much as it had her.

'If I tell you something, will it get back to Sirius?' she asked and he shook his head.

'Not unless you want it to,' he assured her.

She hesitated then said, 'That kiss shook me up too. I…I hate that a guy that annoys me so thoroughly also manages to turn me on so completely.'

'You like him?' Remus asked and she sighed heavily.

'No,' she mumbled, fiddling with her quill. 'It's an attraction. That's all. But why the hell does it have to be him - he's such a pain in the ass. Why couldn't it be you? You're nice. I like you.'

Remus smiled absently then frowned and seemed to be debating with himself about something. After an inward struggle, he obviously decided against whatever he was going to say and he sighed, saying instead, 'He's a really great guy, Sarah. He's been a very good friend to me and he had every reason not to. Underneath all the boasting and arrogance, he feels a lot and he hurts just as easily as everyone else. If you give him a chance, I'm sure you won't regret it.'

She sighed heavily and packed her book away. 'I don't know,' she said softly. 'I don't know if he's worth taking the chance for.'


Two days later, Sarah approached Sirius as he was heading to the Quidditch Pitch for practice.

'Could I have a private word?' she asked and he looked surprised.

'I guess,' he said then waved James off.

When they were alone, he looked curiously at her. 'Should I have a cup on or something?' he asked, only half serious. 'Are you going to hit me again?'

Her cheeks flushed and she shook her head. 'No,' she mumbled, staring at the ground. 'Iwntopolgiz.'

'Excuse me?' he said and she sighed, lifting her chin.

'I want to apologize for what I said to you,' she said, gathering all her courage for what she was about to do. 'I was way out of line and…I'm sorry. Um, you freaked me out a bit - you came on pretty strong and I'm not used to guys being so…aggressive. I shouldn't have said what I said though. Or hit you.'

He looked like he was waiting for the punch line and she shrugged. 'So…that's it.'

She turned away but only got a few steps before he stopped her. 'Sarah,' he said, quickly moving to stand in front of her. 'I'm…sorry as well. I came on strong but…well, I think there's a bit of a spark between us and I'd like to get to know you better.'

'Stalking me is probably not the most effective way of doing that, Black,' she said and he smiled, making her insides quiver.

'No,' he agreed. 'Maybe we could go for a walk or meet up somewhere. We could go to Hogsmeade - Seventh Years can go whenever they like…'

She looked at him, those blue eyes doing strange things to his stomach, then she nodded, somewhat reluctantly he thought.

'Hogsmeade,' she said softly. 'Sunday. I'll meet you in the Entry Hall at nine o'clock. And I refuse to be gossiped about. If I hear about this from anyone else, you will need a cup.'

Sirius chuckled and nodded. 'Great!' he said enthusiastically. 'Sunday. Nine o'clock. See you then.'

He watched as she moved away, walking back into the castle. His eyes were firmly on her denim covered ass, for the first time noticing the usual robes were missing.

Boy, was that backside worth waiting for!

His body stirred as he imagined his hands clutching that lush looking flesh and he took a deep breath, turning and running down to the Quidditch Pitch.


'Remus!' he called, seeing the werewolf in the stands. He ignored James' call to him to hurry up and joined Remus.

'What did you say to Sarah?' he asked and Remus looked a little wary.

'Why?' he said quickly. 'What did she say?'

'Nothing. But it worked,' he told him with a grin. 'Whatever you said to her, it worked. She came and apologised and we're going to Hogsmeade on Sunday.'

Remus smiled. Sirius had asked him for a little advice after he and Sarah kissed and the werewolf had advised giving her some space.

'She's as stubborn as you, Pads,' he'd told him. 'The more you push, the harder she'll resist. Give her some space and she might just come to you.'

But, ever impatient, Sirius had begged him to talk to the girl on his behalf. 'Just tell her what a nice guy I am,' Sirius had pleaded.

'So...lie?' Remus teased, before finally agreeing.

'So the "back off and send the friend in" plan worked,' he murmured now. 'Congratulations. Looks like James' Galleons are in danger after all.'

Sirius laughed. 'Was there ever any doubt?' he said then ran onto the pitch.


'Remus, I still don't understand,' Peter whined that night in the library and Remus closed his eyes, praying for patience. Peter was taking an extraordinary amount of time to get the hang of the theory behind wandless magic - even for him.

'Let's take a bit of a break from it,' he said, chuckling at the look of relief on Peter's face.

Peter stretched, then let out a laugh. 'Sirius was happy you talked to Sarah,' he said and Remus smiled.

'He wouldn't be if he knew what I told her,' he mumbled and Peter frowned.

'Huh?' he grunted but Remus shook his head.

'Nothing,' he said then looked at Peter. 'Do you think he's going to win this bet?'

'Get the Ice Princess to have sex with him?' Peter said, sceptically. 'Doubt it. Definitely not by the Easter holidays. She hates him.'

'Don't call her that name,' Remus said with a frown at the other boy. 'And maybe he can. Sarah's really nice but she's tough too. I reckon they'd be really good together. She wouldn't take any of his crap anyway. I kind of hope James loses his ten Galleons - don't tell him that though.'

Peter laughed loudly then stopped when Madam Pince glared at them. 'We'd better get back to it,' Remus said softly, smiling when Peter groaned.

Neither of them heard muffled footsteps from the other side of the book shelves as Sarah, white with fury, walked away.