11:00 THAT NIGHT…

Shelby's POV…

As we sat on the couch in the Shrieking Shack, the rain continued to pour outside. Sirius had his arms wrapped around me, holding me to him. My head rested on his chest as I listened to him breathe and the rain pounding the roof. I said contently, "This is nice."

He answered, "Yeah, it is. But…is it love?"

I looked up at him in confusion. "What?" I sat up straight, wondering why both Black brothers appeared to have decided to accost me with this subject in the same day. "What do you mean? Of course it is. I mean, what else could it be?"

He looked away from me, finding sudden interest in the rug on the floor. He asked, "Are you sure? 'Cause sometimes it doesn't seem like you're so sure about that." I stared at him, wondering where all this was coming from. Seeing Sirius so insecure was something I had never seen before, and it worried her. Then I caught a glimpse of his eyes, and saw for the first time the pain he was in…the pain I was causing him. A wave of guilt suddenly washed over me. He continued, "I mean, I try to be the guy of your dreams, the perfect boyfriend, the prince charming on a white horse, the knight in shining armor that every girl dreams of, but you still don't love me. I…I don't know what else I can do. It's obvious to me that you don't love me. Maybe, when this first started out, maybe than you thought you felt that way toward me, but as of right now, it's been obvious to everyone for a while now that whatever you felt for me in the beginning for me is long gone." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair, a habit he had picked up at a very young age. "Now I'm just wondering if I should have just given up and let things end between us when I first saw that you didn't love me. Let things end with as clean a break as possible."

I replied, "No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous. There is no reason to end things. Do you honestly think that I would have dated you for two and a half years if I didn't love you? Of course not. So stop worrying about this; I'm all yours."

Sirius suddenly turned on me and grabbed my wrists in a painfully tight grip. I stared at him in fear, his gray eyes stormy with anger and hurt. "Listen to yourself," he hissed in a low voice so as not to wake James, who was asleep upstairs. "You're fighting to keep a relationship that you don't even want to be in!" He searched my eyes for a moment. "Don't lie to me, Shelby," he begged. "I think you would, and did, stay with me, to avoid hurting me, even though you knew you didn't love me. You don't love me, but you still care about me. I know you; you can't stand hurting the people you care about. And no, you aren't all mine. Your heart belongs to Regulus. It's always been his, ever since you two met. You've been lying to yourself and fooling yourself into thinking you don't love him, but you do. Everyone who's ever seen you two together can see it…except the other Slytherins, but that's just because they're idiots. But besides them, everyone sees it. Ask anyone. They'll tell you; it's not just me who thinks this."

I sighed as he relinquished his grip on my wrists. "So it's true; he was right. You really do feel like that. I thought he might be wrong, but…I guess I was the one who was wrong this time." I paused, contemplating the mirror implications of his accusation. "Regulus is in love with me? Are you sure?"

Sirius laughed softly. "Of course he is. You and his Slytherins are the only ones who don't see it, making you the only sensible person he is capable of fooling into thinking that he doesn't love you. He's absolutely crazy about you, Shelby."

"Oh." I sighed. "So…is this, um, the end?"

Sirius frowned. "Looks like it is."

I nodded. "Um, ok. Well, I guess I'll see you later."

By now, I was standing up and putting on my gray hoodie over my dark pink T-shirt and blue jeans. Sirius, who was still sitting on the couch, asked, "Where are you going?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Hogsmeade I guess."

Sirius laughed. "Well, if you decide to get drunk, make sure you call someone to come get you instead of trying to stumble up to Hogwarts on your own."

I giggled. "All right, but that's probably not going to happen. I'll probably see you tomorrow; I'm coming back to spend some more time with James. See ya."

"Later." I ran out the front door, into the rain, and down to Hogsmeade.

I decided to get something to eat, so I went to the Hog's Head. When I walked in, it was empty except for Aberforth behind the bar and a drunken Regulus on a barstool. I sat down at the bar next to the younger Black and ordered a hamburger, chips, and a cup of coffee for Regulus. "Regulus, are you feeling ok?" I asked tentatively after he had drunk some of the coffee.

He answered, "I guess; I'd feel a lot better if you could see how I've loved you for so long, instead of remaining blissfully ignorant of my love for you."

I stared at him, not sure if I could believe what he's saying in this state of mind. "Regulus, you're drunk. I think that maybe…"

He cut me off. "That doesn't change how I feel about you, Shelby. Look, I've loved you ever since the day we met on the train. You have no idea how many times I doodled your name in classes, or how many times I've dreamed of your smile actually being directed at me because I was making you happy. All those kisses, accidents or not, had real emotions behind them, at least for me. How you've never seen it, I'll never know, but I love you." He took each of my hands in one of his. "Shelby Kristen Potter, I love you, and I don't think I'll ever be able to stop loving you as long as I'm alive. I just wish I had told you sooner."

It was silent for a minute as we sat there, the only sound being the sound of the rain pouring outside. Aberforth had left to give us some privacy. I said quietly, "Regulus, Sirius and I broke up a few minutes ago. Turns out that you were right; I didn't love him. Staying would have only made things worse, so we just agreed to end it. Turns out I'm in love with someone else. Someone rather similar to him." I grinned mischievously at him, hoping that he would understand whom I was talking about.

Regulus suddenly got up and left. I immediately chased after him, wondering whom he must have thought I was talking about that could have made him so upset. I grabbed onto his arm like the seeker I was and pulled as hard as I could, trying to make him stop. But it was a fruitless effort, the Slytherin was much stronger than I was, and soon I had fallen into a mud puddle, having lost my grip on his arm. He turned around sharply, his eyes wide. When he saw me sitting in a puddle, looking dejected, he couldn't keep himself from panicking. "Oh my god! Shelby, are you ok? I am so so sorry! I didn't mean for you to get hurt! Please please forgive me!" He stared at me with pleading eyes as his hands lightly traced my body, searching for any breaks or sore spots that he might have caused.

I gave him a confused look, but answered, "Of course, Regulus. I know you didn't mean for that to happen, and I'm not hurt, so no big deal." I paused and waited for him to stop looking for injuries. When he finally did, he stood up and offered me a hand to help me up, which was promptly accepted, and I pulled him down into the mud next to me. He laughed and pulled me so that I rolled over, covering my front and back with mud. I threw mud onto his shirt before he pinned me down underneath him to prevent me from throwing any more mud. As we lay there, I asked, "Why did you run away like that? You scared me."

Regulus's mood turned dark, and he rolled off of me and stood up. I stood up and watched him as he formed an answer in his head. "Because I felt betrayed. I had just confessed that I loved you, and you told me that you were in love with someone similar to him, which means he's most likely a Gryffindor. My guess would be that Lupin fellow, or did you find someone in your own year?" He smirked down at me as he said the last part, his time around the other Slytherins showing in that one look.

I shook my head. "No, no, no. You completely missed it. I was actually talking about someone who looks rather similar to Sirius, not acts just like him. Not to mention they have the same last name, and if you don't pick it up after that last hint then you are the biggest idiot in the world."

Regulus grabbed me by the waist and pulled my mud-covered body up against his, giving me a kiss that poured every emotion he was feeling into the simple movement. When we finally broke apart gasping for air, he asked, "Shelby, will you go to the Halloween dance with me?"