A/N: Oh my Rowling! It was the 8th of April the last time I updated! Crikey! Without delay, here is another chapter for you!

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And finally, a mahoosive thank you to all the lovely people who have stuck with the story and read it too! It means so much to me that you read the story and seem to like Amelia-Jean! Thank you!

xYruniwyliox


"The very essence of romance is uncertainty." – Oscar Wilde

September the first came sweetly and quickly. Thank. Merlin. Upon reaching King's Cross with Sirius – both of us unescorted now, as we were supposed to be able to arrive via floo together without Mother or Father - we were both terrified of the reaction of the whole student populous. The majority of the students would be catching the train from London, apart from a select few who would get on at Chester, and they would see Sirius and I 'coming out', for want of a better phrase. And it was all an act to keep our families peaceful.

Well.

It turns out that it's all an act for him.

I had come to accept my realisation shortly after my debut. Sirius had come around the next day with a bouquet of Daffodils for me. He knew my favourite flower. I didn't quite know how to react to that. But he came, and we spent time together, grasping hands when mother or father were near, and whispering what would look like sweet nothings in each other's' ears. What we were actually doing was non-verbally attempting Legilimancy and Occlumency. It was bloody hard. We both had the basics down. I was better at Occlumency – probably because I had already begun perfecting my heartless emotionless mask for people I didn't care to know, and I was the only person Sirius was comfortable to let into his mind, when the spell was deflected. Seeing how his family treated him made my blood boil.

Anyway – I digress. We entered the platform, hand in hand. I was wearing my smartest muggle clothing – a knee length black dress with an ivory underdress a few inches longer, along with smart black stockings and high heeled shoes. I wore my mothers' old string of pearls and a headband made of ivory lace held my burgundy tresses from my face. My left index finger glinted with Sirius' house ring. He pushed the trolley with our effects on – note that both of our trunks were on one trolley, and in his hand he held a single shrunken daffodil. As soon as he was certain he had enough of the platform's attention, he gently placed it behind my ear, leaving a soft kiss on my cheek, his silvery gaze twinkling, as he pushed the trolley on towards the train.

I bit my lip, but lifted my chin. If any girl was questioned of wealth and status to determine worthiness to date Sirius Black, even if this was a con – that girl would be me. I would not shy away and ruin this now. I stood tall, my face blank, but my dark green gaze locked on Sirius, only shifting to meet the confused face of James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin and Bellatrix Black. When meeting her gaze, I allowed a smirk to grace my features. Sirius moved his hand to my waist then, gently kissing my knuckles as I stepped onto the train.

"I'll find James, find a compartment and we'll find you." He breathed, his face millimetres from mine. I nodded once and kissed his cheek. He jumped down as I moved my trunk to the nearest empty compartment. I charmed the door shut and closed the curtains, pulling out my school robes and changing immediately. I sat, knees together, hands together in my lap, head down, my fringe covering my face and my eyes screwed tightly shut. What was going on with me? I was fourteen for the love of Morgana. Fourteen year olds knew absolutely nothing about love. It must be an infatuation. There.

I was startled back to reality by raucous laughter. I looked up to see James and Sirius standing over me, a grin spread wide over James' face and a smile on Sirius'.

"Don't worry, Fletcher, Sirius has explained it all to me. I know you both aren't dating, but be careful – Lils is out for your blood!" he grinned.

Oh Holy Magical Merlin.

Just the thought of the sharp-green-eyed-red-headed-Gryffindor had my knees shaking. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Don't. Tell." He seethed. I shrugged. "You told him!" I pointed into the bespectacled face of James Potter, who blinked owlishly before turning to Sirius. "She's got a point there, old chap." He sighed and began wiping his glasses on the clean part of his jumper, before plopping into the seat beside his best friend. Sirius sighed.

"Fine. But you can't do it now. It has to be private. The more people who know, the more likely it is that someone will find out. We'll even have to pretend to Remus and Peter. And it'll have to be good so they don't suspect." Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose and bit his lip. At that moment, we could hear Remus chastising Peter for whatever stupid thing he'd attempted to do in the corridor. I stood from my seat and patted down the front of my robes, before sliding into the tiniest space beside Sirius, shooting him a proud smirk.

"Is this good enough for you?" I hissed. He seemed taken aback by my ire.

Too bloody rights he should!

I schooled my features, and closed my eyes, leaning into him, rather enjoying the feel of his arm around me, and my heart clenched. This was going to be a long year. The train journey began and we were settled in quietly. I was starting to fidget under Remus' puzzled stare. He seemed betrayed, and I couldn't look him in the eyes.

I knew what this was about. We had kept in touch over the summer, and I hadn't mentioned this. It was like I betrayed his trust. His honey gaze kept flickering to the arm Sirius had around my shoulders, as we both were reading a Transfiguration book together. We'd realised that to become Animagi, we needed a decent grasp on Transfiguration, and so it wasn't completely out of the ordinary for us to have bought a companion text to the transfiguration text set by McGonagall.

"D'you guys think Minnie's going to hate us for the pranks she knows we're going to make this year?" James asked, a sly grin on his face. "I have several planned for Snape." He grinned. I rolled my eyes. "When are you ever going to listen to my wisdom, Potter?" I queried.

He raised a slender eyebrow, his hazel eyes shining in question. "Lils is never even going to regard you as less than a bulltoad if you keep bullying her friend."

"Jesus, Fletcher. Stop saying that."

"What? That he's her friend? He is. They live near each other." I smirked as the grin slid from his face. "So they…like…spend time together outside of school?" he asked. I nodded. "I think so. Her family is lovely, but her sister is a bit of a pain, so she and Snape often avoid her together." I shrugged. It was none of my business.

"But what if he jinxes her?" he demanded indignant. Honestly, that boy was clearly clueless. "What? What if he uses underage magic?" I asked him, turning to look at him now. "Underage magic as in, against the Wizarding law, underage magic? Then Lils will be all good and punch him in the face like her Daddy taught her. She can fight. Don't you worry about that." I stated, turning back to the book.

It wasn't long before the compartment door slid open and a red headed young woman entered, her green gaze narrowing in hatred towards the messy haired Gryffindor, staring in awe at her. "Hey Lils," I breathed, without even looking up from the book. "I'll be with you in a sec." I added, silencing her open mouth. Sirius' lips quirked upwards. As I stood, he reached out and twined our hands together. "You'll be back soon?" he asked, ghosting his lips over my hand. I nodded, and smiled, bending and kissing his cheek, my lips a hairs breadth from his ear, I whispered "You need to behave a little more, you're beginning to act like a puppy." I smirked, standing tall again, before throwing a wink his way, clapping James on the shoulder on the way out and stepping from the compartment.

Lils led me to her compartment without complaint, or anything, really. It was stony and stoic, and totally Lily. I wasn't even scared. I could probably predict what she was going to say verbatim. It would start with an exclamation against my sanity, a string of questions she wouldn't let me reply to before firing onto the next one, then a complete negative assessment on his character, another exclamation of my sanity, then she'd run out of steam and tag someone else in to the discussion to talk some sense into me.

We had been in her compartment, with only Alice and Mary present, all of seven seconds, before the door was slammed shut, the blinds closed, a silencing and locking charm on the door, before she wheeled around, her green eyes blazing.

"Are you freaking out. Of. Your. Freaking. MIND!?" she screeched. I scrunched my nose at her volume. See. Know you too well Lils. I put up a hand and smiled softly at her. She had never judged me for anything before, and I was worried that we were both growing up, but growing into different people.

"Yes, Lily, I am perfectly sane, and before you ask – no he hasn't pressured me into this, it is totally consensual, yes I am aware of his reputation and the string of girls he has dated, no I am not worried, yes I trust him, I didn't tell you because of this exact reaction, and yes I am happy." I finished, biting my lower lip, fighting the urge to tell her everything.

The only thing stopping me was that if – a very large one at that – if my father were to introduce me to Him, then I would not be able to involve Lily. I swore that to myself immediately after hearing my father. I would die to keep her safe, whatever the cost. She seemed to deflate before me, and then I realised she was paler than usual. And thinner.

"Lils? Are…are you okay?" I asked her. I sat beside her as her eyes watered and she shook her head. "It's Severus. It's Petunia. It's my family. It's bloody Potter! It's everything!" she cried, before bursting into tears. I looked at Mary who shrugged, and Alice who was now sat the other side of Lily, rubbing her shoulder gently.

She shook her head, wiping her eyes, and refused to tell us exactly what it was that was the matter. She told us that she thought we shouldn't be bloody burdened by it! And after much pestering, and zero results, I stood and shook out my burgundy tresses, before turning to the carriage door.

"Ooh! Look, she's off back to her boyfriend!" cooed Mary, her black curls bobbing back and forth as she laughed. I narrowed my green eyes at her. "What's it to you?" I snarled in challenge. Her eyes widened and she shook her head, her palms up showing she meant no harm.

"Please, A.J.," Lily tried. "Don't you think we're all a little young to be courting anyone yet? I mean, we're only fourteen!" she cried. I shook my head. "It might be a little out of place in the muggle world, Lils, but in the Wizarding world, it's not. Father organised my Debut ball for this summer, and there were a few young men that asked my father's permission to court me. In the end, he left the choice to me." I explained softly. "It's where Sirius and I got together." I shrugged. "It could have been worse," I said patiently as she opened her mouth to protest. "Lucius Malfoy was there, along with the Lestrange brothers." I shuddered.

Lils cracked a grin at that, before I nodded to the girls in farewell, and returned to my carriage, to my friends, and him. Sirius Black. My Boyfriend.