NOTE: This story is primarily focused on SiriusOC and is only written for fun.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter and the world JK Rowling created. I only own the characters you do not recognize from Harry Potter.

I had a hard time getting this chapter to come out how I wanted. Hopefully I pulled it off alright. Also, I've noticed that I seem to have a weekly update schedule going on, at least in the past few updates. This is not on purpose, it just happens to be when I finish what I need. I'll try my best to keep up the pace, but I just wanted to warn you that this is not a set schedule so an update may take longer.

Fate

Chapter Ten

"Don't forget about the passage behind the fourth floor mirror."

"Should we map the one under the Whomping Willow?"

"Why not? No one's going to be able to read it but us."

"Hopefully. I haven't quite figured out those charms yet."

"What about the Room of Requirement?"

"We already tried that; it's un-plottable."

James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were sitting at a table in the back of the Gryffindor common room, their heads bent together over a piece of old parchment. For the past couple of weeks, they had been working on their map, recently dubbed the Marauders Map. They'd finished drawing out the castle, and were adding up the finishing touches before they placed the charms on it.

Or, attempted to place the charms at least. Remus was in charge of that, naturally, but he was a bit worried about being able to do them successfully. They would be complicated, and he planned on closing his curtains around his bed to work privately. He was sure his friends would become impatient; it would take longer than they wanted. But hopefully it would be worth the hard work in the end if he managed the charms.

"Alright," James said, sitting away from the map. "I think that's it."

"Fantastic," Sirius replied. "It's time for you to add your touch to it, Moony."

Remus sighed and glanced around at the three of them. "You don't honestly expect me to do that tonight, do you? It's going to take awhile. I thought I would work on it this Saturday."

"Fine," James grumbled. "I suppose we can wait a few more days."

"It'll help you work on your patience, Prongs," Remus said.

"What about Sirius?" Peter asked, gesturing at the boy who looked even more disappointed than James about having to wait.

"No," Remus replied with a shake of his head. "He's far worse than James. I don't think patience will ever be anything he ever has."

"I'm sitting right here, you know," Sirius spoke up, arms crossed over his chest.

"We know," the other three boys said at once. Sirius's lips twitched downwards into what dangerously looked like a pout and they burst out laughing.

"I wasn't the one who was complaining; Prongs was," Sirius protested. "I'm well aware that good magic takes patience."

"And that's why you never do good magic," Remus said with a grin.

Sirius brought his hand up to cover his heart. "You wound me, Moony."

He did not look wounded for long. Samantha and Amber had just entered the common room and were crossing the large room towards the staircase to the girls' rooms. Sirius caught sight of them instantly, and his eyes followed her across the room. Halfway through, Samantha glanced their way and when her eyes met Sirius's, she flashed him a smile and waved. He nodded at her, grinning broadly at her. As quick as it had happened, it was gone, and Sirius turned back to his friends to find them all staring at him.

"What?" he asked with a frown.

"Don't you 'what' us," Peter said with a smirk.

"That was too similar to how James is when Lily walks through the room to not comment on it," Remus added.

Sirius scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sirius, we need to get going to practice."

Their attention turned to James, who's voice sounded strangely strained. Sirius's eyebrows rose. "But practice isn't for another hour."

James shrugged. "I want to go early." He stood from his chair. "Let's go Padfoot."

"Alright, alright."

Sirius stood as well and, shrugging at Remus and Peter, followed James out of the common room. At first, their walk was silent. James's jaw was tight, his shoulders stiff. Sirius wasn't quite sure what his problem was, but he was smart enough to know not to speak first for the possibility of setting him off.

After a long, and to Sirius awkward, silence, James finally spoke. His voice was low and distant.

"Sirius, tell me the truth."

Sirius turned his grey eyes to James, his steps faltering. He was not sure to what his friend was referring to, but his tone of voice worried him.

James stopped and turned to Sirius. "Do you fancy Samantha?"

"Wha…fancy….Samantha….?" Sirius spluttered, surprised. This was not what he had expected. "No," he shook his head furiously. "No. I remember what you told me, James."

"I didn't ask if you remembered what I told you, mate. I just….I've seen the way you look at her. I've watched the two of you together for weeks. You've really gotten to know her since school started. And I want to know. Do you fancy her?"

"I…" He sighed heavily. "I don't know, James. If you'd asked me two months ago, I would have said no and meant it. But now…She's different, y'know?" He began to slowly walk down the corridor and James fell into step with him. "She doesn't keep my company because of my reputation or because of who I am, the money I have- of course I don't have any bloody money now. She keeps my company because she likes me for me and I'm not used to that. From you lot, yes, but not from any of the girls I've ever been around. It's different. I like it. It made me realize just how empty my previous relationships have been, and I've had no interest for them lately.

"We've talked about our families, amongst other things. I feel like I could tell her anything and she wouldn't judge me. There's something about her, James. I didn't mean for it to happen, I swear. But she's gotten under my skin."

James was silent for several minutes as they continued to walk down the corridor. He turned Sirius's words over in his head, allowing them to sink in. Sirius seemed to be waiting for James to shout, to threaten to take his head off or worse. But he didn't. His face remained calm save for a little worry that showed in his eyes.

"I should be mad at you," James said finally. "I should have seen this coming, even though there's no way for me to have. I should have told you not to talk to her at all. But I'm not. And I didn't. So, if you wanted to ask her on the Hogsmeade trip next month…I wouldn't protest it."

Sirius froze in his tracks and turned a shocked look towards James. "Ask her to Hogsmeade? I'm not…I'm not even sure if I fancy her or not, mate. I don't know if I…"

James shook his head. "Were you even listening to yourself when you were talking about her just a moment ago? I know you're new to this whole liking a girl for who she is thing, but mate, you fancy her."

"But…I've never had more of a relationship than…well, you know. I'm not sure if a real relationship is what I want. I've never given having one any thought before."

"Well," James shrugged. "There's only one way to find out. It's not like asking her to Hogsmeade means you'll spend the rest of your lives together. Just go on one date, and if you want more, well, these things have ways of just happening."

Sirius shoved his hands into his pockets. "D'you really think I should, Prongs?"

"Yes. Because I think that if you don't, you'll end up regretting it."

Sirius nodded. "Alright-"

"But, I'll have you know that if you hurt her in any way, you'll be regretting that for the rest of your life."

"If there's one thing I do know James, it's that I don't think I could ever hurt her."

"She's already been through enough when it comes to relationships." Sirius did not know most of the story, but he did know that James was referring to her past relationship with Oliver McCalman. "She's insecure; it won't be easy to get her to agree. But I think it would be good for her, even if it doesn't go past going to Hogsmeade."

Sirius nodded. "I still want to think on it. It's a month away."

"Wait until you're certain."

"I will," Sirius replied. "Can we keep this between the two of us? Remus and Peter won't let me hear the end of it."

James nodded. "For now, at least. And only because I don't want Sam to hear about it."

"Thanks, mate," Sirius said dryly.

James grinned. "Anytime, Padfoot. Anytime."

By now they had reached the entrance hall, and they still had about half an hour until practice was set to start.

"How about a quick game, just you and me?" James suggested. "We haven't done that since the summer."

Sirius grinned. "Alright. Just don't whine too much when I beat your arse."

"Ha!" James exclaimed loudly as they began to set off across the grounds. "We'll see about that."

By the time the rest of the team wandered down to the pitch, the two of them were in a heated game. They would never know who won. They were having too good a time to keep score.

Over the next few days, Sirius turned James's words over in his head several times. He'd told him he'd give it some thought, but he found himself unable to get it out of his head. James asked him several times if he'd made up his mind until Sirius finally admitted that he couldn't stop thinking about it. James had then called him mental and told him to get his arse moving.

But it was easier said than done. It was nearly impossible to get her alone. The crowded common room was not the ideal place to talk to her. Neither were the corridors between classes or the Great Hall at meals. James told him he was only stalling, which was partially true. He wasn't quite sure what to say to her, and he was nervous since James seemed unsure as to how she would react.

Nearly a week after their conversation, Sirius was no longer able to put it off. Transfiguration was the last class of the day, and when the bell rang and students began gathering their things, McGonagall asked Samantha to stay back for a moment.

As Sirius filed out of the room with his friends, James hung back and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Now's your chance," he hissed.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked, wincing and rubbing the spot where James had jabbed him.

"Stay back and walk to her dinner," James said. He gestured ahead of them, where Lily and Amber were already heading to the Great Hall. "She'll be alone."

"I dunno, James. I'm not sure what to say."

James rolled his eyes. "You're Sirius Black. You always have something to say. Just wait for her."

"Fine." Sirius sighed and leaned against the wall opposite the door to the classroom. James watched him for a moment as if he were making sure he was going to stay. He left only when Sirius shot a warning look at him.

It did not take long for Samantha to emerge from the classroom. She looked genuinely surprised to find Sirius waiting for her, but that surprise quickly shifted into a smile.

"What did McGonagall want?" Sirius asked her, shoving away from the wall and falling into step with her.

"She just wanted to compliment on my recent improvement in her class," Samantha said.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And did you tell her what I told you to tell her?"

"I may have made you sound a bit less arrogant, but yes, I did mention that you were helping. She seemed surprised that you were acting as a tutor."

"It's really not what I would call tutoring. More of helping out a friend."

She shrugged. "Either way, McGonagall told me to keep it up. So I think you're stuck with helping me for the time being."

Sirius sighed and feigned an averse look. "If I must."

Samantha smiled and shook her head at him. "I can always go to James. Even if he isn't as patient with me as you are."

He pulled a face. "I'll help you whenever you want. Just don't abandon me for James. I'd never hear the end of it."

"Don't worry," she assured him. "You're a lot easier to work with."

Sirius smirked. "Mind if I tell James you said that? I believe he'd be jealous."

She let out a soft laugh. "I would have told it to his face," she informed him, "If he'd waited behind for me as well."

Just like that, Samantha brought up a way for Sirius to bring up the reason he'd hung back to walk with her and his heart began to pound harder in his chest. Silently, he berated himself. He was Sirius Black. He didn't get nervous, lest of all about things such as this. But he had never been turned down before, and with James's warning that she would likely not agree as willingly as most girls, he was worried that she would say no.

"I wanted to ask you something," Sirius told her, the words slipping from his tongue surprisingly easily.

"What?" she asked, looking at him expectantly. "If you're wanting me to help you in a class in exchange for helping me with Transfiguration, I feel inclined to let you know that Lily is a much better tutor."

"Noted, but not quite what I wanted to ask," Sirius replied with a shake of his head and a small smile.

"Oh." She furrowed her brow. "Well then, what is it?"

"Well," he took a deep breath, preparing himself, "There's a Hogsmeade trip next month and I was wondering if you might accompany me."

Her face fell instantly, her eyes dropping to the floor, refusing to meet his gaze. Silently, Sirius began to curse James. This was what he had been afraid of. Even if he had begun to fancy her, he liked where they were and didn't want anything to ruin their friendship. He hadn't even thought about asking her on a date until James had begun talking to him about it.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, still staring at the floor beneath their feet. "But I…can't. I've…I've got to go."

It was not until she had turned and begun to head back the way they had come that he realized just how much he had wanted her to say yes.

"Sam!" he called, jogging down the corridor to catch up to her. "Sam, wait a moment." He stepped into her path, grasping her shoulders to stop her. She met his gaze hesitantly and he saw that her blue eyes held worry, doubt…fear. A part of him wished he could take it all back, but a larger part urged him to try again.

"Look," he said softly, "I know I have a reputation when it comes to girls. But I want to move past that. I…like you, Samantha."

She shook her head. "No you don't."

"Sam-"

"I've heard it before," she interrupted him. "That I'm different than other girls, that you're not just looking for a quick moment in the broom cupboard. The last time I believed that, I gave him a year and he threw it away in one night. So forgive me for not believing you. The answer is no."

She moved out of his grasp and stepped around him, continuing down the corridor. He did not wait but a moment before he began to follow her.

"Do you know what I think?" he asked her, keeping stride with her.

She spun around to face him, frowning deeply, hints of anger showing in her eyes. He was surprised when she snapped at him.

"What do you think? Please, I absolutely must know what Sirius Black thinks."

"I think you want to find out what this is, too," he told her. "I think you're just too scared."

"'This'? There is no 'this', Sirius!"

"There could be," he argued. "If you'd give it even the smallest of chances."

"I disagree," she said coolly. "I don't think there's anything here."

"Oh, really?"

He was suddenly standing close enough that she could smell the sweet scent of his aftershave, that she felt small with him towering over her. His hands moved to cup her face gently and he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers. Slowly, he moved against her mouth and for several long seconds, she was too taken aback to react. She finally managed to gather her senses and roughly broke his grip, pulling away from him. Her eyes were angry and his heart sunk when he saw the hurt shine through. She said nothing to him as she brushed past him, rushing away as fast as she could.

"Damn it," he muttered, turning to watch her go, running a hand through his hair.

But he had to wonder, right before she pulled away from him, why she had begun to kiss him back.

"There you are," James said, bent over his trunk, when Sirius entered their dorm nearly an hour later. "I was wondering what had happened but neither one of you showed up at dinner. I was going to go looking for you when I remembered we have the map now that Moony finished the charms. I was just getting it."

Sirius did not reply as he moved to his bed, falling onto his back, throwing his arm over his forehead.

James turned to look at him, shooting him an annoyed look, when he did not answer. "So?" he asked impatiently, seating himself on the edge of his own bed, leaning towards him. "How did it go?"

Sirius took so long to reply that James was nearly vibrating with irritation and was close to going to more drastic measures to make him talk when he finally said, "I didn't mean to upset her. I swear mate, I didn't mean to."

"Oh." James deflated, becoming more subdued. "So she didn't take it well then?"

"No, Prongs," Sirius snapped, turning his head to glare at James. "And some warning would have been nice."

"I did warn you."

"You told me it wouldn't be easy," Sirius argued, pushing himself up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed to better look at him. "You didn't tell me that she would panic and accuse me of lying. This is why I was hesitant. I didn't want to mess things up between us."

"I didn't realize she'd react that badly," James admitted. "It's been nearly a year since they broke up."

"A year?" Sirius asked, voice dry. "Is that all?"

"Stuff it," James muttered. "I thought she'd be ready."

"Those things don't just disappear overnight, James," Sirius pointed out.

"I know," James sighed. His eyes suddenly brightened, his back straightening. "Perhaps if you pushed a little more. Maybe she just needs some convincing."

Sirius snorted. "Believe me, mate. I pushed. She walked away from me three times. I followed twice, tried to convince her I meant it. At least in the best way I knew how. I'm not as good at these things as one would think," Sirius admitted. "A date is completely different than a few hours spent together then going on your way until the next time."

"Perhaps you could try again?"

"No way," Sirius replied with a shake of his head. "I think I've already done enough damage. I want to apologize to her, if she'll listen. Then maybe things can go back to normal between us."

"Apologize? For asking her on a date?"

"More for pushing her more than I probably should." Sirius ran a hand through his hair, shifting uncomfortably. "And for kissing her," he mumbled.

"You kissed her? Well, no wonder she didn't take it well," James exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation.

"I know, James," Sirius said, voice irritated. "I told you, I'm not good at these things. I didn't even think about how bad of an idea it was until I saw the look on her face when she pulled away. Now I wish I could just take it back."

"This seems to be a reoccurring problem with you." At Sirius's answering glare, James shrugged. "It's true."

"I need to work on my people skills," Sirius snapped. "I am well aware. Can we get back to the conversation."

"I wasn't aware that we'd left the conversation," James replied, continuing to ignore Sirius's irritation. "Since it's your bad people skills that got you in this mess in the first place."

"But my bad people skills aren't going to help fix it," Sirius shot back. "So if you could stop getting off track and tell me how to fix it, I would greatly appreciate it."

James shrugged. "I dunno how to fix it. What makes you think I know how?"

"You've known her your whole life! You know how her mind works better than anyone."

"That does not mean," James sniffed, "That I know how to fix this. She's a very complex person. She changes depending on what's happened. She's not one of those people who you can figure out what's wrong and therefore know just how to fix it depending on past experiences. And even if she were, I wouldn't know how to fix this."

Sirius sighed heavily and fell back onto his bed, his eyes staring at the ceiling. "What if I tried to apologize to her?"

"It can't hurt," James replied. "I mean, I highly doubt it will magically fix everything. I don't know if things will ever be the same; you've done a wonderful job of scaring her off." Sirius pushed himself up onto his elbows to shoot James a withering glare, which was pointedly ignored. "But yeah, I think you should apologize. If she'll let you."

"Yeah," Sirius allowed himself to drop back down to the bed again. "She probably wants nothing to do with me anymore."

"Probably not," James agreed. "But before this summer she didn't want anything to do with you either. It might take some time, but I'll bet she'll speak to you again. Give her some time before you apologize even. Give her space. That way she'll know you didn't mean it."

Sirius sighed again, but did not reply. James watched him a moment longer before he stood and headed down into the common room to find Peter and Remus, leaving Sirius alone with his guilt.

"It's not as bad as you're making it out to be," Amber said from her bed as she watched Samantha pace their bedroom furiously, as she had been since she'd shown up after two hours of Amber and Lily having no idea where she'd been. She'd been very visibly upset, and the two girls had immediately drug her up to their bedroom where, luckily, Morgan and Courtney had not been, and Samantha had told them what had happened. Amber seemed to be much less worried about it than the other two girls were.

"Why would he do that?" Samantha asked, paying no attention to what Amber had said. "I told him no; why couldn't he understand that I didn't want to? Why did he have to keep pushing?"

"Because he's Sirius Black," Lily said crossly from the foot of her own bed. "He doesn't know what 'no' means, especially when it's a girl who's saying it to him. I'm fairly certain all he gets from them is 'yes'."

"I thought he knew me well enough to know I'm not like those girls," Samantha argued.

"It's not a big deal," Amber replied. "He just asked you on a date."

"It's not asking me on a date I'm mad about. I didn't like it, no, but he didn't mean any harm. It was the pushing. And the…"

"Kiss?" Amber supplied. Heat rose in Samantha's cheeks and Amber smiled. "That's not that big of a deal either, really. I mean, when was the last time you kissed a boy?"

"You know the answer to that," Samantha snapped.

Amber shrugged. "It's been a long while, then. It was harmless."

"He had no right," Lily spoke up, causing Amber to turn a glare onto her.

"Thank you," Samantha exclaimed. "At least one of you gets it."

"You should reconsider," Amber continued as if they had not spoken. "Sirius never asks a girl on a date. Not to Hogsmeade at least. His definition of a date has always been a bit of snogging here and there. He's always with his friends on Hogsmeade trips. He obviously fancies you. And you can't say you're not at least a little attracted to him."

"I…I am not," Samantha stuttered, earning a knowing smirk from Amber and an appalled look from Lily.

"He's gotten to you," Lily accused. "I knew something like this would happen when you started hanging around him so much."

"And what's so bad about that?" Amber demanded to know.

"He's Sirius Black. That's enough reason right there."

"Well, I've been hoping they would fall together eventually," Amber informed her. "I think they'd make a good couple."

"Sirius doesn't do 'couple'," Lily reminded her.

"There's no reason why he can't change."

"The two of you do realize I'm still right here, don't you?" Samantha said, finally ceasing her pacing, turning to face the two of them, placing her hands on her hips. "He's not as bad as you make him out to be," she said to Lily before turning her gaze to Amber. "And I don't want to go on a date with him."

"Don't want to?" Amber asked. "Or too scared to?"

It was too close to what Sirius had said to her earlier, and turning on her heel, Samantha stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Perfect," Lily muttered, drawing Amber's attention.

"Well, I for one think that went swimmingly."

Lily shook her head. "You're mental."

End Chapter