She never truly expected him to take her at her word and leave, but he did, in all senses of the word. Since returning to Hogwarts he had not so much as glanced in her direction. Not when she could catch him at it anyway. True, it was what she had asked for, but she hadn't anticipated the deafening void his absence would leave in its wake.

The panic that had so overwhelmed her just a week before was gone, but so too was her ability to feel. When she walked through the corridors, when she sat down in class, when she spoke to people, she wasn't fully there. Only half so. A dark, thick fog had begun to spread itself deep into the recesses of her mind and settle. More than once she found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror, eyes roving over the scars on her neck, icy cold glare staring back at her. She felt completely numb.

Sirius had finally confided in James and Remus all that had happened between him and Mira. He left out a few things of course but he figured it was futile at this point to pretend that nothing was going on. After all, he had begun to change. There was an overwhelming hostility he carried with him now that hadn't been there before.

"No good can come of this,' James fixed a stern look in Sirius' direction.

Remus stayed conspicuously silent, arms folded, as his eyes darted from one friend to the other.

Sirius had expected him to react negatively but hearing it actually come to fruition didn't make it any easier to listen to, "There are things about it you don't understand."

"Like what? We are talking about the same girl here right? Best friend is Severus Snape, champion of the Dark Arts, for Merlin's sake do I need to keep going?"

"You don't know her the way I do,' he paused and exhaled sharply, 'I didn't even know her the way I thought I did...' he looked away, consumed by his own thoughts and continued, 'She is the way she is because she has to be, not because she wants to be, she doesn't have a choice."

Remus interjected, "Has she ever actually said that to you?"

James responded instead, "I don't buy that."

Sirius narrowed his eyes back at him, "I'm not selling it, it's a fact."

"Yeah? Well in case you've forgotten my family's pureblood too."

The tone in Sirius' voice now decidedly more aggressive he looked at James condescendingly, "Not like we are mate. Sorry."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Remus attempted to intervene, "Alright alright, listen, you're obviously both a bit bent out of shape at the moment, why don't you just take a minute and—

"You know exactly what it means. Your blood's diluted, ours isn't. Plain and simple. You know fuck-all about that burden. "

Affronted at being on the receiving end of his best friend's unquestioned authority for once he tensed up, "Are you serious with this right now?!"

"Yeah I bloody well am!"

The tension in the room increased about tenfold and Remus walked over to stand between the two of them, "Listen, you're BOTH out of line!"

Despite Remus' physical barricade between them they continued to eye each other threateningly.

Remus then turned and spoke specifically to James, "Give it a rest!"

Thinking it wise to step away before he could act on his anger Sirius shot daggers in James' direction and left the room, slamming the door shut of the empty classroom they were in behind him.

The swagger in his step not the same as it usually was he angrily paced down the corridor avoiding anyone's eyes, clenching and unclenching his fists as he walked.

Finally he slipped into the boy's lavatory, walked quickly towards the nearest sink and without bothering to look and see who else was there, pulled up his sleeves, turned on the tap and though hesitating at first, proceeded to splash the ice cold water onto his face. His head bent over the sink he gripped the sides and let the water drip down his jaw, his chin, his nose, his eyelashes, eyes firmly closed, hoping to cleanse himself mentally of the thoughts so oppressively weighing him down.

The voice of Evan Rosier and his friend suddenly entered the room and Sirius opened his eyes but did not move. He caught what Evan was saying mid conversation.

"Yeah well if she's still not persuaded to teach me by the end of the month I'll force her to."

Evan's friend chuckled, "You're bloody barmy you know that right? Unless you snap her wand in half first you don't stand a chance."

He looked put off, "We'll see about that."

He wondered briefly who they were talking about as the two of them walked up to the urinals and kept talking to each other. Sirius kept quiet as he reached to dry his hands on the towel next to him, all the while his ears perked up trying to hear the rest of their conversation.

"You should've seen her last week at the wedding,' Evan smirked as he stood facing the wall remembering every detail in his mind, 'with a body like that it's no wonder her father never lets her out of his sight."

And like a kick to the chest it dawned on Sirius that it was Mira they were talking about. He felt rage course through his blood as he dropped the towel he was holding and walked around the sinks directly towards them. He waited for the sound of Evan zipping up his trousers and then violently grabbed the back of his necktie so hard his feet nearly lifted off the ground.

Evan clutched at his neck and stumbled backwards as Sirius violently let go. His friend had moved back out of harm's way, a look of confusion written across his face.

Evan spun around in shock, coughing and spluttering.

Sirius' eyes narrowed, "What was that you said before Rosier?"

"The fuck's it to you Black?!"

His body was shaking, his breathing ragged. In one sharp blow he head-butted his skull, knocking him down to the ground.

He watched with pleasure as Evan lay there clutching his head, struggling to regain composure and lift himself up. Just as he was about to Sirius grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifted him back up to his feet for him and then punched him hard across the jaw. He fell again, this time his eyes beginning to close as he struggled to maintain consciousness. His friend had long since vanished from the room.

He could see that he was in no condition to even attempt to fight back. Frustrated Sirius lifted him up again, "LOOK AT ME!"

Somehow he managed to open his eyes and look up at him, attempted a swing, upon which Sirius punched him again, almost certain this time that he had broken something as his knuckles were soaked in blood. Finally letting him drop to the floor Sirius, by now out of breath, stood over him, "…Lay one finger on her and I will murder you."