Chapter Seven

The next few days passed without incident. Which was remarkable in itself. The occupant of Hogwarts couldn't remember ever going so long without a Ryan/Sirius blow up, and they had certainly never gone so long without a Marauder induced laugh. One the rare occasion that all was quiet on the Marauder front, with sent panic throughout the staff and excitement throughout three of the four houses because it meant a prank that required much planning, it could be counted on that there was going to be a prank from their rival group. This, in turn, would lead to a bigger prank from the Marauders. But the recent silence led the populace to two conclusions.

Whatever had cause Ryan to hug Sirius had make them somewhat acquaintances

It seemed that eh Marauders were fighting!

Now number two hardly ever happened and when it did it was always Remus who was fighting with James and Sirius over something stupid that they had done, like when they lit themselves on fire or the one memorable time when James had somehow turned himself inside-out. But this time was definitely a first. It seemed that James and Sirius were fighting. They avoided each other at all costs. And no on e seemed to know what to make of it. There were many rumors going around and the one favored by most of the boys, as they were jealous, and the Slytherins was that they had had a lovers spat and broken up.

That assumption was, in fact, false.

"Just talk to him James." Remus urged one night. "This is getting ridiculous. No on even knows why you're fighting."

"It's not my fault!" James agued back. "He's the one not talking to me. I'm not talking to Ryan and now all of a sudden, since they're friends now, he's mad at me. That's off and he knows it."

Remus just glared at him. "I don't give a flying rat's ass whose fault it is James. You're best friends. Brothers. Marauders. Fix this."

It had been a week since Sirius and James' talk in the dorm, five days since they had spoken to each other, and twenty-four hours since Remus' talk with James, and nothing had been done to fix the gap. Finally Remus had had enough and corned Sirius in the common room after dinner that night. "I'm only going to say this once so listen closely. I'll tell you the same thing I told James. I don't give a flying rat's ass whose faulty it is. You're best friends. Brothers. Marauders. Fix this." And he walked away before Sirius had a chance to say anything.

The next day found Sirius sitting on the couch by the fire brooding. Lessons had just finished but he had a free period last lesson so he was already out of his uniform and waiting for someone to come and distract him from his misery. He hated fighting with James.

The first person to walk through the portrait was Ryan. He jumped up and ran to her before she could go up girl's stairs.

"Yes. Finally someone I know. Entertain me."

Ryan just looked at him for a minute before asking slowly, "Do I look like a performing monkey to you?"

Sirius' head tilted to the side in an adorable manner. 'Almost like a puppy when you're chastising it.' Ryan thought.

"No but I could turn you into one if it would make you feel better about the entertaining." Sirius was advancing on her, pulling out his wand.

Ryan just shook her head. "Don't even think about it. Besides it's not my job to entertain you." Ryan paused, realizing why he was so bored. "This is ridiculous. Just make up with James already! I'm sick of you moping around!"

Neither had noticed that people were starting to get back from classes, and that they were all crowding in the common room to watch what they hoped would be a huge fight.

"You're sick of me moping?! The only reason that I'm not talking to him is because of how he's acting towards you."

"Bollocks!" By now they were both at full volume and most of Gryffindor, the other six seventh years were conspicuously absent, was crammed into the common room. "You and James went all PMS on each other and that's why you're not talking to each other. It's got nothing to do with me. And it's all your fault James isn't talking to me in the first place."

Sirius just started at her, trying to figure out how this had come back to him. "How the hell do you come to the conclusion that this is my fault? I had nothing to do with your fight with James."

Ryan just scoffed. "How is this NOT your fault? You feel the need to pick a fight with me every time I started dating somebody. We get into horrible rows in the middle of the corridors in front of the entire school. You piss me off so much that I loose all control over what comes out of my mouth, and now James isn't talking to me. How do you come to the conclusion that this is anyone's fault but yours?"

Sirius let out a cruel laugh. Everyone in the room was surprised and confused. They had never heard Sirius sound like that before. "It's not my fault that you're giving it to any guy that asks. I didn't make you announce to the whole school that you're a whore." The room let out a collective gasp. "That's why James is mad at you so don't try to pin this all on me."

Everyone was frozen, waiting to see what Ryan would do.

Ryan was so shocked that she didn't know what to say. In the seven years that she had known him, Sirius had never said anything like that to her. Sure, they fought and she had said some nasty things about him, but he had never reciprocated. He would just shake his head and walk away, and they would avoid each other like the plague for a while.

Sirius couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth. He'd just called the love of his life a whore. He had never said that to anyone before. (Okay, he may have said it to his mother but that was completely called for and understandable.) Here he was, mad at his best friend for hurting Ryan and he had just hurt her more than James ever would. He had never hated himself more than he did at that moment.

Ryan saw Sirius open his mouth to say something, but she didn't want to hear it. She just shook her head and walked away, just like she had seen him do so many times before.

Sirius was left standing in the common room realizing that he had been wrong before. As soon as he had seen the tears in her eyes that she was trying to hide from him, he had known that it wasn't possible to hat himself more then at the moment right before she turned away and a solitary tear had escaped and trickled down her cheek.

James walked into the boy's dorm later that night to find it pitch black. After much stumbling, many obscenities and one very sore toe, he finally managed to get to the window and open the curtains. He looked around and wasn't overly surprised to find Sirius lying on his bed, just staring at the ceiling.

"Hi James." He muttered without looked up.

James just sighed. "We have to stop doing this Padfoot."

"Doing what?" Sirius still hadn't looked away from the ceiling.

"Fighting with each other over someone else's fight."

Sirius let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Well we won't have to worry about that anymore Prongs. Considering Ryan is never going to talk to me again. And I don't blame her."

"Yeah, I heard you and R.P. got into it earlier." James couldn't keep the laughter out of his voice.

Sirius finally looked away from the ceiling and at James, but James immediately wished that he hadn't. One look at Sirius' face was enough to know that this was no laughing matter. "What did you hear?" He asked James hesitantly.

"Nothing other than you fought. No one would say anything." James paused. 'It must be bad if Sirius is this upset.' He thought. "So why don't you tell me what happened."

Sirius sighed and nodded, knowing that while James would take this horribly, it would be worse if he heard it from someone else. "You know how our fights get. I'm trying to look out for her and she gets bitch and says nasty things about me." James nodded. As sad as it was, that's just how the two of them worked. "And I walk away James. I always walk away."

"I know you do Padfoot." James cut in. "And I know I don't say this very often because, well, it would be weird, but I'm proud of you for walking away." As he watched, Sirius got a pained look on his face. "You didn't walk away this time did you Sirius?"

Sirius looked at the floor and slowly shook his head. James almost laughed. He looked every bit like a puppy who'd just been caught peeing on the rug.

"What was different about this time?"

Sirius threw his hands up. "That's just it. I don't know Prongs. It was nowhere near the worst thing she's ever said to me, but for some reason I just lost it."

"Tell me what you were fighting about."

"I was bored—"

James closed his eyes and made a choking noise. "Please tell me that you didn't pick a fight with her because you were bored." It almost sounded like he was begging.

"Of course not. What kind of moron do you take me for?" James just shot him a look. "Okay, point taken. But no. So I was bored and she walked into the common room and I said something like 'Entertain me.' Then she asked if she looked like a performing monkey to me, and, of course, being me, I offered to turn her into one if it made her feel better about the entertaining." James just sat there smiling. He thought it was funny and couldn't figure out why this had caused a fight. "I guess she finally figured out why I was so bored and yelled that I needed to stop fighting with you because she was tired of watching me mope around. Me! I do not mope!" James wisely kept his mouth shut, because Sirius did indeed mope. But now was obviously not the time to tell him that.

"Wait, how did she know you were bored because you weren't talking to me?"

Sirius shrugged. "She said that it wasn't her job to entertain me. So I guess she realized that it's your job, but we're not talking." James nodded. It was his job to entertain Sirius just like it was Sirius' job to entertain him. Bad things tended to happen when one of them was bored, never mine when both of them were bored. Then Remus was in trouble. "Anyway, I told her that the only reason I wasn't talking to you was because you weren't talking to her." Here Sirius paused, looking at the floor again. "I'm sorry James. I never should have been an arse to you because Ryan was finally talking to me. I just thought that maybe if she was that I was, I don't know, taking her side I guess, then she would like me more. Which is stupid, but I love her James."

He sounded so hopeless when he said that, that James couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "I know you really like her Padfoot, but agreeing with her on everything won't anything. She'll just work harder to pick a fight."

Sirius nodded in understanding. "But I don't just like her James. I know you're thinking 'We're seventeen we don't know what love is.' But really for the first time I can see myself spending my life with her. I would do anything to make her happy. I hate that I'm the one who hurt her, when all I want to do is protect her."

James was stunned. Sirius had never wanted a future with a girl. He wanted to stay single forever. Or at least as long as possible. "Wow." was all he seemed capable of saying.

"Yeah. Wow."

James shook his head, trying to get back on track. "So what happened after you told her that you were only not talking to me because of her?"

"She told me that I was lying. That you and I went 'PMS' on each other and that's why we weren't talking. Then she said that it was my fault that the two of you were fighting!"

"How did she come up with that? You have nothing to do with why I'm mad at her."

"That's what I said!" Sirius yelled. James could tell that he was getting to the part where he lost his temper and said something stupid because Sirius was getting worked up just talking about it now. "And she said that I start fights with her whenever she gets a new boyfriend and that we get into horrible rows in the middle of the corridors in front of the whole school and that I make so mad that she looses control of her speech. And how could it be anyone's fault but mine that you aren't talking to her!"

"Bollocks. You've got nothing to do with it and she knows it."

"I know! That's what got me so mad." Sirius had been practically shouting at this point, but he suddenly stopped and mumbled something that James couldn't make out.

"What? I can't understand when you talk to your knees and mumble Padfoot."

Sirius looked up, and James had never seen him look so guilty or ashamed. "I said 'I may have said something along the lines of "It's not my fault that you're giving it to any guy who asks."'. . . Oh just wait for it." Sirius said as James stared at him with his mouth hanging open. "It gets better. I might have then proceeded to tell her that I didn't force her to announce to the whole school that she's a whore and that's why you're not talking so don't try and pin it all on me."

Sirius finished and just sat waiting. While James was speechless and completely disbelieving now, any minute he was either going to start laughing or throwing punches. Actually now that he thought about it James could laugh while throwing punches.

"You called her a whore." James whispered.

Sirius just nodded sadly.

"Wow. Well it's going to take some work to get her to talk to you again."

Sirius' jaw dropped. "You mean you're not going to beat me into a bloody pulp. Because I completely deserve it."

James just shook his head and gave a small smile. "Nah. Nothing I could do would hurt you as much as you're hurting right now between Ryan not talking to you and you beating yourself up over it. Just get some sleep tonight and think of ways to beg for forgiveness in the morning. And you better believe that you will definitely have to beg."

The next morning Sirius woke up feeling much better than he had the night before. He was talking to James again and James was going to the help him talk to Ryan. He sat up to start planning with James only to find his bed empty. He heard movement coming from Remus' bed and asked "Hey Rem, you know where James went?"

Remus peeked his head around his bed curtains. "You mean you don't know?" He asked in a confused voice. Sirius just shook his head. "I got back around midnight and he was in bed. I couldn't sleep and heard him get up and sneak out about one. I just figured that the two of you were up to something because he told me when I came in that the two of you were okay again."

Sirius' jaw dropped. "He snuck out without me. The nerve of him. How could he do that to me? The hurt. The pain. The betrayal. He's found someone else hasn't he? You can tell me the truth Remus, I can handle it!"

"You want the truth Sirius?" He asked with a wryly grin. Sirius just nodded. "Yes, it's true!" He ignored Sirius' distressed wail. "You are the biggest drama queen in the whole school. James just couldn't lie to you anymore. He couldn't stand not telling you but there's just no denying it. No one even comes close to you."

Sirius' jaw dropped again. "Drama queen?!" He stuck an offended look on his face. "I can't believe you would say that to me!" He jumped onto his bed, striking a pose. "I should at least be The Drama King. It doesn't get more manly than this Rem." He gestured up and down his body.

Remus let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh yes, it doesn't get more manly than screeching like a little girl that your best guy friend has replaced you."

"I'm glad you agree and finally submit to my superiority." Sirius replied smugly.

"Sarcasm is lost on you isn't it." It was more of a statement than a question but Sirius responded anyway.

"I understand sarcasm perfectly. I just choose not to recognize it unless I'm the one employing it. Now let's go get breakfast. I'm hungry." And with that he proceeded to bound out of the room, still in his pajamas.

Sirius bounced through the doors of the Great Hall and came to a stop. There, sitting calmly at the Gryffindor table was James. But he wasn't sitting alone. No, he was sitting with Peia.

'Very odd.' Sirius thought, but he immediately dismissed it. 'They must be talking about Ry. I hope she wasn't too upset last night.' A smile then crossed his face as he came up with a plan.

Wiping the smile off his face, Sirius let out a high pitched wail that caught the attention of everyone in the Hall. Remus, who had just walked in, and who was actually dressed, just shook his head and walked to the table to get breakfast and enjoy the show.

"James!" Sirius cried running to the table. "How could you?"

James was far to use to this to worry that something was actually wrong. "How could I what Sirius?"

"Don't try that innocent act with me mister. You know exactly what I'm talking about! Just admit it!"

James turned to Remus. "A little help here Rem?"

Remus shook his head and sighed. Leaning in he mock whispered, "He thinks you're cheating on him."

James started to laugh, along with most everyone else, but Sirius let out a distressed wail that had everyone in the near vicinity covering their ears.

"There's no thinking about it! It's true. He's been annoyingly happy for days. And he always has that stupid grin on his face!"

James cut Sirius off. "You mean the same one you have on your face whenever you're thinking about—" He was but off by a hand slapped over his mouth and a pointed look at Peia. He sent Remus an unimpressed glare, since Remus was nodding in agreement with Sirius and shoved Remus' hand off his mouth.

Sirius continued as if no one had interrupted him. "Then last night was the final straw! You snuck out. Without me! The only explanation is that you found someone else. Someone sneakier. Sexier. Better looking." Here Sirius paused and let out a laugh. "Who am I kidding? There's no one alive that's sneakier, sexier or better looking than me! Never mind. I accept your apology for sneaking out without me." With that Sirius plopped down on the bench and started to fill his plate with everything within reach.

James and Remus both started laughing while Peia just stared at him with a disbelieving look on her face. For the next few minutes the boys tried to finalize their plans for their next prank, thinking nothing of Peia listening inn. They were almost finished when Remus had the most fantastic idea.

"What if, instead of doing it to everyone at breakfast, we time it and only have it happen to a few people?"

Identical smirks crossed the faces of James and Sirius.

"That's brilliant Rem. Everyone would spend the whole day paranoid that they were next!" James was bouncing up and down on the bench.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Sirius was practically vibrating with excitement. "We could time it so one or two people would change every hour. From midnight to midnight."

James broke back in with his next thought. "We could do all the changing one day and then the next day have them change back twenty-four hours after they change. That way everyone has to do to classes changed."

The three of them shared a grin and stated laughing.

"This could be our best prank yet! Let them try to top this!" James and Remus nodded in agreement, not needing clarification on who 'them' was.

Peia didn't need clarification either and silently she was agreeing with Sirius. 'Damn. That is really good. If only they had said what the change was.'

Suddenly, Sirius turned to Peia and asked in a soft voice, "How bad was Ryan last night?"

"What do you mean?" Peia asked, looking slightly confused.

"He means was she too upset after their fight yesterday." James broke in, looking concerned for Ryan and surprised that Peia didn't seem to know.

"You guys fought yesterday?" Peia looked totally lost now. "You were getting along so well. And she never said anything about it."

'That doesn't sound like R.P. at all.' James thought. 'Usually after a fight with Sirius she ranted to whoever would listen.' "So nothing seemed off when you saw her?" He asked out loud.

"There had to have been." Sirius protested. "She was crying, well trying not to, when she walked away from me."

Pea's mouth dropped at that and she registered that Remus looked just as shocked. 'So he's out of the loop too.' She noted. "You made Ryan cry?! What the hell did you do to her? The only time I've ever seen her cry was when her first boyfriend dumped her and even then she swore she would never cry over a guy again. Other than that only when James and her are fighting."

The entire time she was talking, Peia was getting closer and closer to Sirius. By the end she was practically in his lap and looked ready to strangle him.

"What . . . did . . . you . . . do?" She growled softly.

As one, each of the three boys leaned back as far as they could while staying on the bench. As if that would help. Remus turned curious eyes on Sirius, knowing that he'd rather kiss Snape than hurt Ryan. James found himself fidgeting uncomfortably and he didn't even do anything wrong.

Sirius however reacted completely different. He actually growled back at her. "Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because I'm her best friend."

Sirius let out a cruel and sarcastic chuckle. Belatedly he recognized it as the same one from his fight with Ryan and knew he was about to say something awful, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. It was like his mouth had mutinied from his brain. "Best friend, huh? Some best friend. You didn't even know we had a fight, that she was crying. Where were you last night, when she probably could have used her best friend? You sure as hell weren't there for her."

"She wouldn't have wanted to talk about it." Peia tried to defend herself.

"Who the fuck cared if she didn't want to talk." They all winced at his shout. Sirius didn't use that language in front of the girls. "You should have been there even to just sit there with her; like Remus did for me for hours, in dead silence, before he had to leave. Or waited her out and listened when she was ready like James. And then you do whatever you can to make it better. But you never, ever, abandon them like that. Yeah, you're a fabulous best friend." With that he got up and calmly waked out, leaving a stunned silence throughout the entire hall. No one in the whole school besides the Marauders had ever seen Sirius like that and they were shocked.

The anger and cruelty and, dare she say, hate was so out of character for Sirius that Peia was frozen, not realizing that there were tears running down her face. She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Remus watching, concerned.

"Don't take what he said seriously. I've only seen Sirius like that three times since I've known him and it's only when he gets defensive about something. He was probably feeling guilty about making Ryan cry and decided to take his anger at himself out on you."

"He called her a whore." James said quietly. "This stays between the three of us." He clarified, but knew he didn't need to. They would never tell anyone. "They were talking and it came up how he was only not talking to me because I was hurting her and then somehow she got to it was all his fault that her and I are fighting, which is crap. But knowing Sirius, he was feeling guilty about the hallway fight and that caused him to get defensive. He most likely let out that same dark laugh and had that exact tome. I think his exact words were 'I may have said something along the times of "It's not my fault you're giving it to any guy who asks"' Knowing Sirius that was an exact quote. He then proceeded to tell her that he didn't make her announce to the whole school that she's a whore."

Remus and Peia were both staring at him, dumbfounded.

"But he was right." Peia whispered. She saw the pissed off glares being sent her way by two very intimidating boys and quickly amended her statement. "No, no not about that. He couldn't be farther from the truth there. No he was right; I am an awful best friend."

Both boys were quick to deny it but she wouldn't listen.

"I ignored her." They fell silent, waiting for her to explain. "I walked into the room late, probably around eleven. Al and Tay were sitting on Ry's bed rubbing her back and hugging her. But I was tired so I ignored her and went to bed. I just figured she was upset about you and that we'd talk about it in the morning, but she was still asleep when I got up."

She hadn't spoken above the softest whisper, but neither boy had missed a word.

"Okay." James said. "You probably could have handled that better." He broke off as Remus elbowed him in the ribs and he had to scramble to stay on the bench. "Damn it Remus, how many times do we have to tell you? Watch the elbows. That's gonna leave a bruise." He studiously ignored Remus' scoff of "Girl" and Peia's small giggle. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted—" he glared at Remus who looked back innocently "you could have handled that better." As Remus raised his elbow for another vicious jab to the lung, James hurried on. "But, she'll forgive you. Ry knows that you love her. Almost as much as I do." Remus hesitated for a second before slowly lowering his elbow. James let out the breath he'd been holding only to suck it back in when he was hit upside the head. "What the hell was that for?!"

"'Almost as much as I do'?" Remus mocked. "You couldn't just leave that off. It was almost thoughtful of you before that."

They stopped bickering at the sound of another small giggle from Peia. The girls always thought it was funny when Remus got like that. It was just so out of character for the serious, quiet Marauder. She looked at them hopefully. "Do you really think she will forgive me?"

"Of course she will." Remus was quick to reassure her before James could say something else stupid. "Just explain to her that you didn't realize something was honestly wrong and she will in no time. Now Sirius, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about."

Peia got up and smiled at both of them. "Thanks guys, I needed that." Then she let out a sigh and straightened her shoulders. "I better go find Ry and make sure she's not planning a horrific murder."

James stood too. "I better so too. I was supposed to help Sirius form a game plan for his groveling."

They left Remus sitting there chuckling, wonder how oblivious those two thought he was.

Ryan lay awake in her bed, thinking about what happened yesterday. Every time she heard Sirius' words in her head her eyes filled with tears again. He had never spoken to anyone in that tone before that tone before and it gave her a funny feeling in her stomach that she was the one he used it on.

She didn't like thinking about that, so she thought back to her talk with Al and Tay.

She saw the door open slowly, and she watched Peia stick her head in. Ryan's face darkened a little as she ignored her best friend. Peia slowly walked over to Ryan's bed and sat on the edge. Al and Tay, who had been sitting around wanting to make sure Ryan wasn't alone, got the hint that this was going to be an awkward talk and snuck silently out of the room. Peia shifted uncomfortably while Ryan continued to ignore her.

"Hey Ryan." She whispered.

"Cassiopeia." Ryan replied.

Peia flinched but nodded her head. "I understand. I totally deserve that."

The made Ry sit up, no longer apathetic. "I don't want your understanding." She hissed. "I don't want anything from you now. What I wanted was my best friend last night." Peia flinched again as she was forcibly reminded of Sirius growling 'Where were you last night when she could have used her best friend?'. Ryan didn't soften at the sight of her best friend recoiling as if she'd been slapped. If anything, it made Ryan even madder. "Where were you last night? Huh. I sat here for hours crying my eyes out waiting for you. Tay was worried sick because I wouldn't talk and Al was threatening bodily harm to whoever had hurt me. I never said a word, but they never left. Then you finally show up and I go to fling myself at my BEST FRIEND and have her tell me everything's going to be okay; to make it better. But does that happen? No, my BEST FRIEND ignores me and goes to sleep. You abandoned me when I needed you most Peia."

There was nothing Peia could say to that, so she just stared at Ryan's bed, fighting back the tears. It was all too close to what Sirius had said.

Ryan thought back to what Tay had said after Peia had ignored her. 'Give her a chance to explain. Maybe something's wrong. Don't just to conclusions.'

"Why Peia?" Ryan whispered, sounding as if she was broken. "Why?"

Peia didn't say anything. There was nothing that could make this better.

"Make me understand Peia." Ryan's voice was growing louder, the anger from earlier coming back. "Make me understand why my best friend, someone who swears she loves me more than anyone else in the world, MY SISTER," she screamed the last part, pointing at her wrist. The girls all considered the tattoos the scars from their blood sister ceremony. "would walk away from me seeing how upset I was. I needed you Peia." Ryan's voice broke here, becoming softer as she fought back the tears again. "Al and Tay were there but it just wasn't the same. I needed you to tell me he was wrong." She quickly dashed away the one tear that fell. "Like James would have done." She broke off then, comprehension dawning. She was having a very insightful few days. First seeing what was making Sirius so dependant on her, and now with Peia. "That it, isn't it. You thought that I was crying about James again, and you didn't want to deal with it. So you ignored me." She paused, waiting, hoping for Peia to deny it. She waited in vain. There was nothing but silence. No vehement exclamation of lies, no hurt disbelief that she could think that. Nothing.

Ryan let out a small laugh. "Unbelievable." She jumped off the bed, unable to sit still. "Why Oppi?"

Peia winced at the use of her nickname. Only Ryan knew or used it. They had come up with their nicknames for each other in first year. Ryan called her 'Oppi' and she called Ry 'P.K.' for Peyton Kogan. It also stood for penalty kick because Ry was obsessed with American soccer. Ryan paused in her pacing when Peia finally spoke.

"I don't know P.K.. There's just been a lot going on and I don't want to upset you, so I feel like I can't talk to you. I was so happy last night and I didn't want to hurt you by being happy while you're upset. But as happy as I am, I'm confused and I couldn't talk to you about it"

Ryan didn't know how it happened, but she had gone from being irate with Piea to consoling her in a heartbeat. "Oppi, look at me." Peia finally pulled her eyes from the apparently fascinating quilt. "Now you listen to me closely because I'm only going to say this once. No matter what happens, don't ever feel like you can't talk to me. Ever. Especially when you're confused. And when I'm upset I need your problems to distract me from mine."

Peia smiled and Ryan gasped. She had never seen that look on Peia's face. It was shy!

"I know right." Peia cried. "But there's this boy." Again the gasp from Ryan and the cry of "I know!" from Peia. "I never call them boys. But that's what he is. The smallest things make him deliriously happy, and he constantly has a smile on his face, and his eyes just seem to sparkle. It's like nothing bad can happen to him. But the way he looks at me and makes me feel? Nothing boyish about it."

"He sounds perfect Oppi. So what's the problem? Why the confusion?"

"It's complicated. We've been talking a lot lately but he's never made it seem like he's interested. Maybe he's not into me P.K.."

Ryan was quick to reassure her. "Of course he is Oppi. It's not possible that he isn't."

Peia just smiled. Ryan was always convinced that no one could not like her. She didn't deserve a best friend like that. Especially after last night. Suddenly, something that Ryan had said earlier sank in. "What do you mean, you needed me to tell you he was wrong?" 'She better not mean what I think she means otherwise someone was going to be missing a very important part of his anatomy. A part he was very fond of. And then she would curse him bald. A fate worse than death to him.'

It was Ryan's turn to stare at the quilt with tears in her eyes, as she remembered Sirius' words. "He called me–"

She was cut off by Peia. "I know what he called you! And you had better never even contemplate the possibility that he might be anything other than completely wrong."

Ryan couldn't help but smile. Only Peia could use a sentence like that and have it sound completely normal. The smile faded as she thought about it again. "But what if he's right Oppi? I mean, who has sex right after turning fourteen?!"

"Don't! This boy, he's important to you?"

"Very."

"And you love him?"

"Yes."

"Then don't you dare let anything that that selfish, stupid, over-grown child says to you make what happened between you and him any less special. I don't care if you were fourteen or forty, you could never be a whore."

Ryan scooted down the bed, curling into a tiny ball at Peia's side and Peia wrapped her arms around her.

"Thanks Oppi. You're right, he doesn't know jack about what happened so what gives him the right to call me a whore. And this boy? Whoever he is, he sounds perfect for you and I'll do whatever I have to in order to make it work. It will work Oppi. Promise."

Peia just squeezed Ryan tighter, hoping she was right. "And P.K.?" Ryan looked up at her and smiled. "I'm going to make things right between you and Sirius if it's the last thing I do."

"Why?" Ryan asked, stunned, with a small blush.

"Because I know how mush you care about him."

"How?" She was more than stunned now.

"You're my best friend. It's my job. And I will make it happen. Promise."

Bother girls leaned farther into the hug, and Peia's arms tightened when she felt Ryan's tears on her skin.

"I really like him Oppi. And he thinks I'm a whore."

Oh yeah. He was so bald.

Two hours later the girls were lying together on Ryan's bed, side by side with arms lopped together. They hadn't moved or spoken at all. Ryan thought Peia had fallen asleep when she suddenly spoke up.

"Why is he so important P.K.? Not long ago you wouldn't voluntarily talk to him."

"I know and I'm confused about it too. But that day he ran to find me, he was so sweet. He's been nothing but amazing since then, well except today. And he's never been mean. Sure he fights with me but that's usually just him being protective about the boys I date, and I go and be a bitch to him and he always walks away. He never says anything awful back. And-" She broke off and blushed. And not just a little one, her whole face was practically maroon.

Peia let out a squeal of delight. "Spill! Now!" She was bouncing on the bed in excitement.

"It's just . . . umm . . . well you see . . ." She couldn't seem to spit out the words. "Okay, so that day in the common room you weren't there but I . . . I hugged him. And my arms were around his waist and my face was in his chest. I fit perfectly against him, and he put his arms around me and put his cheek on top of my head. And it was just . . ." She couldn't seem to find an appropriate word, so she turned to Peia accusatorially. "Why was I not informed of the body that that boy posses?!"

Peia let out a shriek and tackled Ryan, while laughing hysterically. "That is so fabulous. And I know what you mean. Even at fifteen that boy had the body of a greek god. So I can only imagine what it's like now." She looked at Ryan to see that she was turning an even brighter red than before. She let out another squeal. "Oh my god! You've been thinking about him naked!!!" She fell off the bed trying to avoid the pillow that she was being pummeled with while laughing hysterically again.

"Will you shut you're trap!" Ryan hissed down at her.

"Why? Who's going to hear us? All of the people crouched outside the door listening to us be silent for the last two hours?" Peia shot back sarcastically. Ryan just glared at her as she bounced back onto the bed.

"Fine. But I was not picturing him naked!" Peia shot her an amused look that clearly stated 'Sure you weren't'. "I wasn't." She paused. "Consciously." Peia looked confused now. "It was a dream. They best dirty dream I've ever had." Once again Peia couldn't control her laugher and ended up on the floor. Ryan seemed indignant now. "It was not funny. It was amazing."

Peia sprawled out on the bed, looking at Ryan expectantly. "Don't leave me hanging P.K.. Give me all the details."

Ryan giggled and managed to only turn a pale pink. "Not happening." She was Peia's pout and revised. "At least not right now Oppi. Give me a little time to get used to the fact that I had one about him and then we'll talk." Peia brightened at that before a mischievous smile that scared Ryan broke over her face.

"So P.K., I'm curious" she said with a wicked smirk.

"And now I'm scared."

"You said that it was the best dirty dream of your life. Well that stands to reason that you've had a couple before." Ryan had started out a dull pink that was steadily getting darker.

"You're enjoying this way too much Oppi."

"Hey, you've been teasing me for sleeping with him for a year and a half, and now you tell me you've been having eye sex with him for over a week! And you've had dreams about a boy that you didn't tell me about!?! How can you expect me not to enjoy this?"

Ryan snorted. "Eye sex?"

"Yes! Eye sex!" Peia sounded completely put out that Ryan was laughing at her expression. "Undressing him with your mind. Imagining his package. Boinking (boynking) him with you eyes! Eye sex!"

Ryan let out another snort. "Boinking?"

"Yes boinking! Banging. Doing. Fu-" She broke off as she saw Ryan trying in vain to control her giggles. "Don't thing that distracting me will keep you from telling me who you've been screwing in you're sleep!" Both girls locked eyes for a few seconds before falling into hysterics.

They passed the rest of the day together just talking and laughing; the fight from earlier completely forgotten and Peia completely absolved from her lapse of friendship. They talked more about Sirius and Peia's mysterious crush that she refused to name and Peia helped Ryan come up with a plan to have Sirius begging on his knees for forgiveness.

Little did they know that in another part of the castle Sirius and James were planning his strategy to do just that.