Usagi stopped breathing all together. Her stomach churned, and before she could really distinguish what was happening, she jerked away from the taller boy. Before anything could be said, the blonde turned, dropped to her knees, and hurled the contents of her breakfast into the layers of snow. Sirius winced, the taste of alcohol still lingered on his own lips; he knew this was the side effect of Usagi's drinking.

The pigtailed girl tried to stand, her legs wobbling beneath her, and her arms shivering under her weight. Her whole body felt drained, exhausted, so as soon as she made it to her feet her knees collapsed completely. Sirius caught her around the waist, shaking his head, and lifted her into his arms once more.

Usagi wanted to protest, she wanted ask Sirius why, why did he kiss her? She felt like she was exploding with questions, but everything she tried to say ended up slurred. Mentally cursing, she vowed to never touch alcohol again. Her world spun, her dizziness agitated by Sirius's walking, so she buried her face in his robes.

"...smells like pancakes..." she mumbled, before losing her battle with consciousness.


As soon as Sirius walked into the common room, he found that he was not so lucky as to find it empty. James and Peter were there, dully working on their homework, but as soon as he entered the two jumped up. When they entered hearing range, Sirius immediately turned to Peter.

"Hey, go send an owl to Remus and Lily. Tell them I found her." The jittery boy nodded, scurrying off to do his appointed task. Sirius motioned James to follow him. Considering the curse on the stairs, the black-haired Gryffindor knew he wouldn't be getting into the girl's dorms, so he headed up the stairs to the boy's. James opened the door for him, and Sirius put the blonde down on his bed.

"Merlin, she's heavy," he panted, stretching his now weightless arms. Usagi chose that exact moment to kick her leg outwards, pegging Sirius right in the thigh. He cursed violently, rubbing the sore spot while James laughed at him. The two waited, in silence, for the arrival of Lily and Remus. James wanted to ask what happened, even though he had a vague idea, but decided it would be better to wait.

Lily was the first person to come bursting through the door, and as soon as her eyes fell on Usagi, she assumed the worst. Breathlessly, she ran to the side of Sirius's bed and knelt next to her best friend. "What happened, Sirius? Is she hurt?"

"No, if anything she's just a little drunk." He grumbled, sounded quite miffed. Remus and Peter had entered in time to hear this declaration, and Lily looked more than a little surprised. There was a moment of quiet, before Sirius sighed and said, "Anyway, we should let her sleep it off." The group nodded their consent, leaving the passed out blonde to her sleep/unconsciousness.


By the time Usagi rolled out of bed to an abrupt wakening, the clock already indicated six in the evening. It took a split second after she sat up straight for everything that'd happened to rush back to her, and for a moment she wished she could evaporate. Everyone has that wish from time to time, so the blonde picked herself up and turned to what she assumed was her trunk.

Of course, she quickly realized it wasn't hers after all, and a brief glance around her made her realize where she was; the boy's dormitory. Taking a deep breath, she plopped back down on the bed and buried her face in her hands.

'I've made a complete fool of myself.' Reaching up, the blonde let loose her messy pigtails and worked to pull her hair into a messy ponytail. As she pondered, she knew that her friends were most likely waiting for her in the common room. She had two options; make an escape, of which would probably be quite easy, or go down and face them. Making an escape sounded most inviting, but she knew she'd have to face her friends eventually.

Sighing, Usagi vied for just waiting for someone to come up and discover her awake. Resignedly she walked to the window and hoisted herself onto the sill. She curled against the glass, pressing her forehead against it, and watched the drab activity taking place across the grounds. Her eyes settled on the giant squid, which was making a rare above-water appearance.

Simultaneously, the sun was setting over Hogwarts, making the water beast glimmer in the glowing light. The orange rays stretched across the blonde girl's face, making her cheeks warm, and forcing her eyes to squint. To her, it felt she was only sitting there for mere seconds before the door to the dormitory opened softly. It closed just as quietly, and she didn't dare turn to see who it was.

"You can be a real bitch sometimes, you know?" The voice was easily recognizable; she'd heard it so often. Usagi couldn't bear to turn her head and look the person in the eyes. Her now watery eyes stayed glued to the lake.

"Yeah, I know that," she replied in a whisper, feeling completely ashamed. The faint sound of feet across the floor told her he was coming closer to her. Subconsciously, she drew closer to the window.

"Lily is worried sick, and Remus is looking kind of pale, too. What are you going to tell them, Usagi?" His voice was almost in her ear he was so close now, and she could feel herself losing control of her emotions. After everything else she'd done to embarrass herself, the only thing that could possibly make it worse was to cry, and that looked to be where she was headed.

"That I'm sorry, or that I'm stupid. What do you need to hear from me, Sirius?" The first tear slithering down her cheek seemed to almost mock her, she knew any remaining dignity she'd had was completely unsalvageable. To say the least, the arm around her shoulders startled her. Sirius pulled Usagi towards him, until her head rested against him, but she didn't make any move to respond.

"I think that'll do just fine." He said quietly. For a moment, Usagi thought she must still be sleeping, because she'd never, ever heard that tone from Sirius. It only took a few seconds for her to realize she was being stupid again, just sitting there. She threw her arms around his middle, clinging for dear life, just in case he was suffering from momentarily delirium.

"Did you meant it? When you kissed me, did you mean it?" Her voice was low, almost whispering, and slightly muffled by Sirius's robes. It didn't matter, though; he knew exactly what she said.

"Yes."

"Oh, sorry," The two jumped, startled, and looked over at an embarrassed Lily, the color of her face matching wonderfully with her fiery red hair. Usagi smiled at her friend, though somewhat red in the face herself, and let go of Sirius. Literally pouncing on the redhead, she hugged her quite tightly for several moments.

"Sorry for worrying you," she muttered. Lily shook her head dismissively, breaking off the hug and rolling her eyes.

"Oh please, I'm just glad you didn't do anything worse." The two best friends shared a grinning glance, and they both knew the subject wouldn't be brought up again between them. Usagi looped her arm through Lily's, and sent a backwards glance at Sirius.

"Siri, are you coming?" Down in the common room, a loud shout was heard, followed by hysterical laughter. Usagi appeared at the bottom of the dormitory stairs moments later with Lily in tow, both of them flushed with laughter and still giggling. They both rushed to the opposite side of the common room before Sirius joined them at the stairs, and began looking over the bulletin board nonchalantly. It was then, Usagi noticed the newest announcement.

"Lily, look! They're having a Costume Ball for Halloween!" The blonde exclaimed, drawing the attentions of most of the common room. In undertones, she added, "You should go with James."

"Usagi!" Lily hissed, blushing furiously as James leaned over their shoulders to read the sign himself. Usagi was doing the best she could to not laugh at the look on her friend's face. Sirius had flopped into one of the more comfortable arm chairs, running off a first year in the process, and looked rather sulk-ish. Grinning to herself, she sat next to Remus on the couch and winked at the werewolf before straddling his arm.

"Remus, will you go to the ball with me? We could be vampires!" It didn't take long for Remus to figure out what Usagi was doing. From Usagi's point of view, it looked like he was trying to suppress a smile. Sirius, if possible, looked even sulkier than he had a minute ago. Usagi picked up a couch cushion and chucked it at his head. "You're such a crybaby! I'm going to raid the kitchens, see you guys later."

The blonde stuck her tongue out before she disappeared out of the portrait hole.


I know, short. Everyone take a moment, and thank samisweet for this chapter, because I wouldn't have been working on it if not for her. Was Usagi's reaction to the kiss what you expected? Of course not, because if you expected that, you're just weird. -laughs-

I'm sorry if the kiss didn't work out exactly how you guys wanted, tune in next chapter and I promise to make up for it. I think Sirius seemed a little mean in this chapter. Ah well. Review!

♥SachiNyoko♥

"But you know where it all went wrong was the day they started the spelling bee. Because up until that day I was an idiot but nobody else knew. When the spelling bee day popped up…

Announcer: Alright, kids, up against the wall. It's time for public humiliation.

Spell a word wrong—sit down in front of your friends. That's great for little egos. "Hey, look at me. I'm a moron. I wasn't even close. I was usin' numbers and stuff."

That's why I admired that kid who spelled it wrong on purpose so he could sit down. He knew he wasn't going to win, so why stand there for 3 hours.

First round, "Cat, K-A-T, I'm outta here." Then as he passed you, "Ha! I know there's 2 T's."

(Brian Regan stand-up)

By the way, Usagi and Sirius's theme song is currently Barenaked Ladies "One Week."