Disclaimer: I don't own any of J.K. Rowling's world. Only Katie belongs to meeee :)

THANK YOU so much for all of the lovely reviews. I'm sorry I haven't been very good about responding because I'm usually at work when I receive them but please know that I've loved all your notes and feedback and you guys are just amazing. So thanks. I'll apologize now for the angst in this chapter - it couldn't be helped lol

Track 10: Flavor of the Weak by American Hi-Fi

He's connected to the sound

And he's got pictures on the wall

Of all the girls he's loved before

And she knows all his favorite songs

Her boyfriend, he don't know

Anything about her

He's too stoned, Nintendo

I wish that I could make her see

She's just the flavor of the weak

But she makes me weak

CHAPTER TEN

"I can't do this anymore, Katie."

The words seemed to echo and magnify off the walls around her like they were made of metal and without warning her legs suddenly refused to hold her up any longer. Sliding to the floor, the stone under her bare legs was bitterly cold but she didn't feel it. Her body seemed to have gone numb.

"C'mon Prew, don't be like that."

"Don't you dare call me that," she cried and felt the tears erupt from her eyes. After what felt like months of crying, she was honestly impressed that she had anymore tears to give. Clearly, she wasn't completely broken. Yet.

Charlie's pleading look became somewhat colder. He frowned, "This is what I'm talking about. You're always crying over something."

But it wasn't just something, she wanted to scream at him. It was her whole bloody world. In the instant she learned of her parents' murder, it had been as though a piece of her soul had simply crumbled into dust. The only people in the world who remembered her first words, her first steps, or that she cried when they said goodbye to her before her first train ride to Hogwarts were just gone. No warning, no goodbyes. Just gone forever. She would never spend the afternoon gardening with her father again, never smell her mother's perfume.

Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around her torso as though it might protect her from her memories and this next gut wrenching loss that had come far too soon. Only weeks ago, he'd told her he loved her and now it was all too much for him? Something inside her broke with a sharp, stabbing pain and her tears became sobs.

Distantly she was aware that Charlie was talking to her but she was having trouble focusing. The world around her had started to go fuzzy.

Charlie's words became a muffled stream and her only conscious thought was that perhaps she might freeze to death if she simply stretched out on the freezing stone floor and went to sleep.

As the world began to gray around her, she thought she heard Alice shouting but couldn't bring herself to look round. The dark was welcoming her with open arms and she had quite simply lost the will to resist.

Friday, September 23, 1977

Katie woke from the dream with her face buried in her pillow and her body curled defensively around her middle as though she had been fiercely protecting something inside herself. And for the second morning in a row, her pillow was damp with tears.

She rolled onto her back with a groan and stared up at the canopy over her with a mixture of misery and fury. Charlie Vance didn't deserve a single second more of her life than he'd already had and reliving his betrayal was both torturous and infuriating.

And it was all bloody Sirius Black's fault.

It had been almost two days. And in those two days the feelings he'd stirred with his stupid kiss had awakened a lot of memories she'd worked hard to forget. While she could absolutely ignore Sirius for as long as necessary, he had been right when he said the kiss would be harder to forget.

Ruddy bastard.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she sat up and ran her hands through her hair in agitation.

It just wasn't fair! Why should one kiss turn her whole world upside down? Until last night, she hadn't even thought about Sirius like that. Not truly. And now her insides were all twisted up and she really didn't want to think about why.

All of this had become such a muddled, painful mess.

As though sensing she needed comfort, Luna appeared like a sleek shadow and hopped up on the bed next to her with an insistent 'meow' and a soothing purr.

Katie sighed and scratched her ears, "What have I gotten myself into, Luna? I should never have toyed with Sirius or Eddie. I promised myself I wouldn't and now look where it's gotten me. What am I going to do?"

The cat pushed her head into her hand sympathetically and curled up in a ball next to her with a sleepy look.

"Helpful that," Katie muttered grumpily but gave her one last affectionate scratch as she stood up to dig an outfit from her trunk. The day would start whether she was ready or not. "I may just run away with you one day Luna. No problems, no boys, no worries. We can live wild in the forest together, what do you say?"

Luna promptly tucked her face under a paw and closed her eyes suggesting she much preferred the safe, warm comfort of the castle.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Katie sighed and threw her skirt and button down over her arm as she headed to the showers. Though the temptation to just run away was uncomfortably real as she contemplated a whole day of classes with Sirius. "I guess we can't always run away from our problems."

"Whew, Padfoot," James whistled and threw an arm around Sirius' shoulders as Katie breezed past them after breakfast as if they were merely part of the stone wall they were leaning against. "You really created an ice queen with that one."

Sirius wrinkled his nose and shoved at James' face to remove his arm, "She's just trying to make a point."

"I'd say she's doing a pretty fine job of it," Remus offered dryly. "How many days did you say she'd hold out again?"

"I believe he said three," James replied helpfully when Sirius only scowled at him. "She's still got one more day to get it out of her system. Don't worry your pretty little head, Pads."

"She seems pretty mad," Peter disagreed watching her stalk out of sight.

"Again," Sirius growled in annoyance. "She's just being stubborn. She thinks I might give it up if she can hold out long enough."

"Is it working yet?" Remus asked in amusement and James ruffled Sirius' hair so that he promptly shoved him into the wall.

"You're all a bunch of gits," a female voice informed them, interrupting their amused contemplation of the icy wake Katie had left behind her on her way to Charms.

Sirius groaned. He wasn't look for unsolicited advice from everyone's favorite red head, "No one asked you, Evans."

"I'd like to see you fix this on your own," Lily replied with a tight smile and she gave James a pointed look, falling into step between him and Sirius as they too headed to Charms. "Because so far you're feeble attempts to seduce her aren't working."

"Feeble?" Sirius scoffed and seriously contemplated dumping one of the dungbombs in his bag on her. Honestly, how dare she? "The seduction was already a success or Prewett wouldn't be trying so hard to pretend I don't exist. She just has to stop denying it long enough to see the light."

"Are you joking?" Lily exclaimed and swatted at James when he sniggered. "Do you idiots know how long she's had a crush on Eddie Bones? And now Sirius just swoops in out of nowhere and confuses the hell out of her? What did you think was going to happen?"

"To be fair, Lily," Remus offered democratically. "We did warn him."

"For fuck's sake," Sirius said in irritation. When had his personal life become common knowledge? He sent an accusatory glance James' way knowing full well where Lily, at least, had come by her information. "It's not like she owes Eddie anything at this point. There hasn't been a date yet and he's snogged her one time. I don't see the problem. It's not like I asked her to marry me."

Though to be fair, he thought darkly. The interaction between them had been decidedly more intense than he'd been anticipating. But he wasn't about to admit that to Lily Evans.

Lily pursed her lips, "Katie's just not that kind of girl, Sirius."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "I really hate to repeat myself, Evans, but it's not like I'm breaking up a happy couple here. He just started acknowledging her existence a few weeks ago."

"Sounds like someone else we know," Lily replied tartly and Sirius finally had the capacity to look slightly guilty. She smirked as they paused outside Flitwick's classroom, "Well it's good to see you have some form of conscience behind that pretty face. Now listen, all I'm saying is you need to give her a little time. She's shaken, you managed that much at least. Now let her work it out."

Sirius scowled, "She can take all the time she needs to work it out. But if she needs a few reminders along the way..."

He trailed off with a suggestive smile.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" Lily moaned and looked to James for help. James, however, knew better than to try and reason with Sirius. Especially about a girl.

"I'm with Black!" Alice announced, popping out from around the corner where she'd been listening. She simply grinned at them when they all turned, "Our darling Katie isn't going to come quietly but I promise she's halfway there. She's just really good at lying to herself. So! Do yourself a favor, Sirius, and don't mess it up on round two, yeah?"

Content that she'd said her piece, she turned on her heel and disappeared into the classroom.

They all starred after her in surprise.

Everyone, that is, except Sirius who's lips lifted in a triumphant smirk as he followed her in.

He always knew he liked Alice Nott.

"He has not stopped staring at me since he walked in here," Katie's teeth were clenched in frustration. "Why can't he just leave me alone?"

Alice glanced to their right at Sirius who had his chin propped on one hand and a bored look on his face. He didn't appear to be staring at anyone or anything at the moment.

Alice raised an eyebrow and looked back at her best mate, "Darling, I think you might be a little paranoid."

From the corner of her eye, Katie saw the corner of Sirius' mouth lift in a smirk and she very nearly hexed him. If he wasn't looking he was certainly listening. She wasn't being paranoid. He was just being clever...and obnoxious. And driving her mad.

Which she was sure was the point.

She sank lower into her seat and blocked her peripheral view of Sirius with her hand as Flitwick droned on about Morphing Shield Charms. She'd been lulled into a false sense of security when Sirius had just let her ignore him the whole previous day and apparently now his chivalry had dried up with the sun.

Exhibit A. The second she'd walked into breakfast that morning he made direct eye contact with her. And winked. The moron.

Then he'd proceeded to ask her to kindly pass the syrup for his pancakes...from five feet down the table.

And now, Exhibit B. He was silently mocking her from two desks over without actually having to do anything and it was infuriating.

The worst part of it was that she couldn't react properly to any of it or she would risk the whole school finding out what had happened. And she'd be damned if she was going to let him ruin her date with Eddie - the one good thing that had come from all this.

"So am I allowed to say I told you so yet?" Alice whispered and propped her own chin on her hand with a smug smile.

Katie gave her a dark look, "If I recall correctly you said I was in love with him."

Alice raised her eyebrows with a flat expression, "So you're in love with each other. Same thing."

"Alice. Not helpful," Katie groaned and hoped desperately that Sirius couldn't hear her. "And besides. No one's in love with anyone. He just wants to shag me."

"Sure about that?" Alice asked because she wasn't convinced. Even if Katie could ignore the fact that Sirius very rarely put this much effort into anything, she was going to have a harder time explaining to herself why she was so worked up about it. Because honestly, Alice reasoned, a girl didn't get this upset about a boy kissing her unless there were feelings involved.

"I don't know what you want me to say," Katie hissed exasperated. The truth of the matter was that Katie wasn't sure about anything with Sirius and that was part of the problem. Everyone just needed to mind their own business. Alice included. This was an all too familiar road. "I'm not going to play this game again. Not for anyone."

Alice pressed her lips together in sympathy. She had been wondering if this had something to do with Charlie Vance. An older boy, a charmer that had broken her best mate's heart. She tapped Katie's arm with her quill, "He's not Charlie, you know."

"You're right," Katie replied sarcastically. "At least he's honest about the fact that he's just a womanizing playboy with no regard for anyone's feelings."

Alice saw Sirius snort, clearly listening to the discussion, and she caught his glance with a look of warning. He grinned good naturedly and offered her a shrug before leaning in to listen to something James was saying. Oh boy, Alice thought.

"Besides," Katie continued letting her breath out in a huff. "I really like Eddie. And it's not fair to him to not give things a chance."

"I get it and I think you should absolutely give Eddie a chance first," Alice promised and, noting that Sirius seemed absorbed in his conversation with James, leaned in closer to Katie with a grin. "And it's going to drive Sirius barmy no matter the result so I'd say that's also a plus."

Amused and feeling slightly better that Alice was on her side, she shook her head, "A girl like me driving Sirius barmy? It's a mad time to be alive, Alice."

And they both laughed as some of the tension drained away.

Despite his earlier mischief, whatever Sirius had been discussing with James seemed to have required most of his attention for the rest of Charms and by the time Flitwick dismissed them Katie was feeling better about the whole situation. There was very little reason that Eddie would find out about what had happened between her and Sirius and, despite some bad dreams and her overall annoyance with Sirius and his shenanigans, she was still looking forward to going to Hogsmeade with him.

And she could hold onto that until something or someone else caught Sirius' attention. It was only a matter of time.

"You going to be okay?" Alice asked as they packed up their books.

"Of course," Katie assured her and tucked her notes and book under her arm as they headed out into the corridor. She made a face, "I've just got to avoid and resist. Simple. I'll see you at lunch."

"My hero," Alice grinned and waved as she took off towards the Astronomy Tower.

Katie watched for a moment until the blonde had disappeared and then turned with a sigh in the other direction.

And ran smack into Sirius' chest.

"Whoa," he exclaimed and caught her against his chest so that the books and notes in her hands didn't go flying. He hadn't planned it but he wasn't upset to suddenly find her in his arms. "Alright, Prewett?"

"Yes, fine," she snapped and could tell her cheeks were burning. In fact, she realized slightly startled, her bare skin under his hands seemed to be tingling as well. Had she really just been thinking she could ignore this? Bloody hell, she was a mess.

"Sorry," he said looking down at her with a warm smile that set off another chain reaction of tingles. "I didn't see you coming."

I'll bet you didn't, she thought and suddenly noticed they were quite alone in the corridor. Even James had conveniently disappeared despite being the reason Sirius had still been standing outside the classroom to begin with.

"Did I hurt you?" Sirius asked, mildly concerned when she remained silent.

Shaken back to reality by the closeness of his voice, she was horrified to discover she was still in his arms.

"No, no it's fine," she repeated and took a quick step away from him and his tingle-inducing hands. "It was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I'm not complaining," he said with a sweet smile and ran a hand through his hair, looking out from under his bangs at her in a way that made her heart skip in her chest. Where did he even learn to do that?

He tilted his head slightly, she'd given him the perfect opening to share the news he and James had been discussing in Charms, "You're headed to Care of Magical Creatures next, yeah?"

Her eyes narrowed, immediately suspecting trouble, "Nice try but I'm ignoring you remember? I'm quite aware you also have Care of Magical Creatures next and I can walk myself to class, thanks."

She brushed past him but he didn't take the hint and simply lengthened his stride to keep up with her, "As a matter of fact, I wasn't going to offer to walk you to class. How presumptuous of you, Prewett."

Katie glanced sideways at him noting he seemed cool and aloof like he had during their first dating lesson. And arrogant, she thought darkly. She averted her gaze forward again when her temper sparked. She really didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that the fact that he could change his mood at the drop of a knut was maddening, "You don't say? What was it you wanted then?"

"Just thought you might want to know that Mary has finally left her sanctuary in the Hospital Wing and will be back in class today," he informed her nonchalantly but watched her carefully for a reaction. He'd known the second James told him that someone had to tell her the other girls would be there. He hadn't planned to do it like this but he doubted he'd get a better chance.

Katie's heart dropped a little in her chest. She'd been waiting for the news but she hadn't expected it from Sirius. Or the ridiculous look of concern in his eye.

She gripped her books tighter in resolve.

It didn't matter. He could give her those puppy dog eyes and be as thoughtful as he cared to be it wasn't going to change anything between them. It wasn't.

She pressed her lips together, "Thanks for the heads up."

Sirius lifted a brow impressed. He had to hand it to her, she was better at controlling her face and emotions than he'd previously thought. But the tension in her shoulders gave her away.

"The way I hear it, she won't be giving you any more trouble. You've got nothing to worry about Prewett," he said gently and for the first time since he'd kissed her felt a small stab of regret. A week ago, she'd have opened up to him about it.

He frowned slightly. A week ago he probably also would have been horrified when she did.

He swallowed the uncomfortable lump in his throat. He wasn't sure why this thing with Mary made him want to just wrap his arms around Katie like he could protect her from the world but the feeling was starting to get the better of him.

"Who's worried?" Katie snapped. Never mind that she was worried and it pissed her off that he could tell, she wasn't going to discuss it with him. "I'm a big girl. I'll handle it."

Sirius scowled darkly at her resistance, "Prewett, wait. I-"

He stepped forward to stop her with the beginnings of an apology on his lips but she stopped abruptly at the bottom of the marble staircase to glare up at him, "Sod off, Sirius. Whatever you're up to, it's not going to work."

Merlin's beard, she was beautiful when she was furious, he thought in amusement and couldn't help the smirk that formed on his lips despite his good intentions, "Who says I'm up to anything?"

Only anyone who's ever met you, she thought exasperated, and felt a bit like her head might explode if he smirked at her like that again. Which, you know, not helpful, she wanted to shout at whoever would listen. But despite her body being a traitor, the universe at least seemed to be on her side today.

"Er... am I interrupting?"

Feeling almost light headed with relief, Katie turned to find Eddie approaching them with a slight frown but looking better than any knight in shining armor she'd ever seen. Thank Merlin for small favors.

"As a matter of fact," Sirius muttered under his breath.

But Katie cut him off and gave Eddie a brilliant smile, "Uh no. Not at all."

He returned the smile but looked curiously at Sirius who had carefully let his face go blank, "Alright, Black?"

Sirius regarded him coldly, "Bones. What can we do for you?"

Eddie frowned slightly at his use of the word 'we' but glanced back at Katie with his smile intact, "I was hoping to catch you before you headed to your next class. Are you free tonight?"

Katie could see Sirius' jaw clench and decided perhaps Alice had known what she was talking about. Had things been different she would have been spending her evening with Sirius in the greenhouse. But now she could spend it with Eddie and rub it in Sirius' face.

Ah, vengeance was sweet.

"As a matter of fact," she replied sweetly mirroring Sirius' own words and turning her back on him. "I am."

"That's brill," he said with another gorgeous smile. "I was hoping we could go for that fly we talked about the other night, the sunset is supposed to be spectacular tonight. Meet me at the Quidditch pitch around seven?"

"I'd love that," she agreed and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"Perfect," he said with a grin. "I'll see you then. Wear something warm."

Amateur, Sirius thought as he watched Eddie leave. Can't offer to keep a girl warm if she comes bundled up already. Common sense.

He glanced down at Katie. She was practically glowing.

Which of course made him want to give Eddie a swift kick in the arse. But she'd be expecting that so he decided to keep her on her toes and go a different direction.

Taking a step closer to her, he said, "Prewett?"

She turned too quickly, irritated that he was still there, and suddenly found herself face to face with him. The proximity caused her to freeze in surprise and she contemplated his mouth and her subsequent reaction to it feeling slightly dazed.

"Prewett?" he repeated, once again amused at the play of emotions on her face.

"Mmm?" she hummed distracted. Her brain felt like it had suddenly been filled with sand. Were her ears ringing?

Merlin, she was lucky he had excellent self control, he thought watching her bite her lip while she stared up at him. Even still he was tempted to drag her off to the nearest broom closet.

He chuckled hoping to relieve the not entirely comfortable pressure in his gut, "I hope you have fun tonight. Try not to bring the stands down this time, eh?"

The reference to her last time on a broom, specifically when she'd climbed on the back of his own broomstick, brought her back to life and she grasped desperately for the shreds of her anger in an effort to drown out her mortification over her complete lack of control around him. Damn him, why couldn't he just let this go.

She lifted her chin defiantly, "I will have fun."

"Good," he said with a smile.

"Great," she retorted back.

"Glad to hear it," he replied and turned to head back up the stairs.

She frowned, "Wait. Where are you going? We have class."

He looked over his shoulder and gave her an innocent look, "I said I wasn't going to walk you to class. Think you can manage without me?"

He gave her a cocky grin when her face turned red but didn't say anything else and continued up the steps to leave her standing there curious, confused, and annoyed. Every time she started to think she had the hang of him she suddenly discovered she was wrong.

From mischievous to cocky to sweet and finally to concerned, he'd run the gamut of moods today and had quite succeeded in winding her up each time.

She just might have strongly underestimated him.

And what was she possibly supposed to expect from Mary?

Despite the fact that she'd been seething with anxiety when she walked into Care of Magical Creatures earlier that afternoon, Mary didn't so much as look in the general direction that Katie occupied for the entirety of the class. In fact, with the exception of a dark look from Mary's best friend Lyssa as they were leaving after class, she might have almost been able to pretend the other girl wasn't there.

Almost. But the student population wasn't known for it's subtlety and curious glances had flown between the two girls to the point that Kettleburn had finally demanded to know what was going on. Even then, the looks stopped for a few moments but then the whispers began again and Katie's anxiety started to give way to annoyance. Bloody busybodies.

Still, she made it through Kettleburn's class without a single interaction with Sirius Black or Mary MacDonald and that was a silver lining if she'd ever seen one.

And now she was going on a date. The most perfect of dates with the most perfect bloke.

And dates whether perfect or not, Katie thought, were extremely underrated.

Most of Hogwarts were uncreative, randy zombies and existed purely to get from first base to third base as quickly as possible. But in Katie's opinion, there was something to be said for a little romance.

"A sunset ride on the back of his broom," Marlene sighed and grinned as Katie pulled a black sweater over her head. "Don't put on too many layers. He might get discouraged if it takes to long to get you out of them."

Alice, Lily, and Marlene erupted into giggles from the pile they had formed on her bed but Katie rolled her eyes, "Not everything is about a snog, Marley."

"You know," Lily shook her head. "I used to think that too."

"Oh Merlin," Marlene groaned and started laughing again. "You should have seen her face the first time she came back from snogging James."

"We can only hope it goes that well tonight!" Alice agreed.

Katie shook her head but couldn't help the chuckle, "You lot are incorreggibile."

"So is Eddie Bones," Marlene pointed out gleefully.

"On the contrary," Katie argued, pulling her hair back in a braid. "He's been a perfect gentleman unlike some blokes in this castle."

"I still don't believe Eddie is a better snog than Sirius," Alice said matter-of-factly. "I think it's something about his hands. Sirius has really great hands. Like he just knows how to handle a girl, you know?"

Lily erupted in laughter, "Merlin, Alice. What would Frank say?"

All too familiar with the hands Alice was referring to and what they had done to her earlier that day, Katie tuned out the conversation as Alice grinned wickedly at Lily and suggested that Frank was particularly good with his hands as well.

Instead, she took stock in the mirror at her finished look. She was wearing her favorite bum hugging trousers, a long sleeve black shirt that hugged her in all the right places, and a matching black jumper to keep her warm. She'd kept her makeup light and her hair braided to protect it from the wind. All in all, a simple look but she hadn't wanted to seem like she was trying too hard. After the flare for dramatics that Mary had, she imagined Eddie might appreciate something more lowkey.

"Alright my slaggy mates," Katie announced, interrupting a fairly vivid conversation about the importance of good hands. "I'm off. Wish me luck!"

"Happy Snogging!" Lily said cheerfully and Alice and Marlene dissolved into laughter again as Katie rolled her eyes and left them all sitting on her bed.

As she made her way down to the pitch, she suddenly realized she was fairly nervous. She'd spent so much of the day worrying about Mary, and Sirius and his antics, that she'd almost entirely forgotten to worry about what may or may not happen with Eddie.

But she was thinking about it now and felt slightly nauseous about it. Was Marlene right? Had she worn too many layers. Was he even going to snog her? They hadn't had a truly proper snog after all and while she knew that was likely to be her entire Hogsmeade experience she wouldn't say no to a little practice and-

"Right on time," Eddie's cheerful greeting broke through her mild panic attack and she looked up at him startled, not realizing she'd reached the pitch. He laughed, "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

Smooth, Prewett.

She tried for a wobbly smile. It felt like there were about a hundred butterflies in her stomach suddenly, "No, no it's okay. I was just lost in thought."

"Don't think too hard," he teased and leaned against his broom with a playful look on his face. "This is about having fun tonight."

"Fun sounds great right about now," she said, attempting to match his easy tone.

"That's what I like to hear," he said with a grin and threw his leg over the broom. "Hop on and hold tight."

Happy to oblige, Katie lifted her leg over the broom behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Ready?" he asked over his shoulder and when she nodded he kicked off the ground and immediately went soaring up above the feel of his muscles bunching and contracting beneath her arms as he handled the broomstick made her face heat slightly and she was glad he couldn't see her.

Gliding out of the stands and across the grounds, Eddie brought the broom around to face west and she finally caught sight of the sunset.

"Wow," she breathed. He'd been right. It was pretty spectacular.

"This is my favorite view at Hogwarts," he told her and looked back at her over his shoulder. "Though I'll admit it's better with company."

She smiled and set her chin on his shoulder feeling unusually comfortable in the moment, "I have to agree."

Pressed together, their bodies were beginning to warm to one another and tilting the broom down to skim along the tops of the trees over the Forbidden Forest, Eddie settled even further into her arms. He kept a leisurely pace, flying lazily out over the trees and water of the lake as they watched the sun fall below the horizon.

When the last rays had finally disappeared below the horizon, they took the last dregs of warmth from the September air and despite her best efforts Katie found herself shivering in the breeze.

"Cold?" Eddie asked and automatically turned the broom back toward the Quidditch pitch.

"A bit," she admitted though the parts of her that were touching him were pleasantly warm. Still, it would be nice to get back on the ground. She never fully trusted herself on a broomstick anyway.

"I can fix that," he promised and moments later they landed softly in the long grass of pitch.

"You were right," Katie said as she climbed off the broom and looked up at the sky as the first light of the full moon broke over the trees. "That was beautiful."

When she returned her gaze to his, the look in his eyes had changed and she had the sudden feeling of prey caught in a trap. But the look disappeared when he smiled and he held a hand out to her as he threw his broom over his shoulder, "C'mon. Let's get this broom stored and we'll work on warming you up."

Shaking off her unease, she took his hand and followed him to the broom shed. He opened the door for her and followed her in. To her surprise, the interior was warm and cozy and a padded bench lined one wall to allow the players and Hagrid a place to lounge while servicing the brooms.

Eddie walked toward the back to store his broom and returned with a smile, "Better in here, yeah?"

"It's certainly cozy," she agreed and wasn't surprised when he stepped into her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Now then," he replied and the almost predatory look was back in his eye. "Let's see if we can't make it a little cozier."

Before Katie could respond, he dipped his head and captured her lips with his.

The kiss was gentle at first, searching, testing, and then becoming more demanding as his tongue flirted with her lower lip and then into her mouth. His hands, which he'd initially wrapped around her waist, slid lower and he hummed slightly in appreciation when his hands reached her bum.

A perfect kiss.

,And Katie found herself extremely underwhelmed.

Likely thanks to a certain aresehole who had apparently ruined her ability to truly enjoy it.

Determined that there was more here and that she was just emotionally exhausted from dealing with Sirius, she threw herself harder into the kiss and tried to stop thinking as Eddie had suggested.

He took her eager response as encouragement and without breaking his mouth from hers walked them back towards the bench against the wall. He promptly sat down and pulled her along with him, his hands now in her hair as he angled her head for a deeper kiss.

Kissing him was like sinking into a warm bath, she thought. Heavy and relaxing.

But not intoxicating, her mind insisted in betrayal.

Katie ignored it and threaded her own fingers through his hair, tugging gently.

With a low moan, Eddie broke his lips away from hers to lay her back against the cushions and run his mouth down her neck. Lightly pressing into her, his hands slid from her hair down to her waist where he began working his fingers under her jumper. His fingers were cool along her skin and she shivered slightly.

Eddie breathed a little heavier against the skin of her neck when he felt it and in response moved his hand to begin working the buttons of her pants open.

Katie's eyes flew open and she pushed herself back into a sitting position to stop Eddie's efforts.

He looked at her with heavy lidded eyes in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"I, um, I don't think I'm quite ready for that," she began unsteadily.

"You seem like you're ready for it," he argued and leaned in to press his lips and tongue along her jaw and throat again as his fingers snuck back to her trouser buttons.

She placed a hand on his chest, pushing lightly, and he sat back with an irritated sigh, "What?"

"I just said I'm not ready," she repeated and frowned at him.

His sweet eagerness from earlier in the night seemed to have disappeared and he scowled at her, "Is this about Black? Because honestly I don't care if you're shagging him. We can still have a good time."

"What?" she exclaimed in surprise. "I am not shagging Sirius Black and if I was I certainly wouldn't be here with you."

He smiled and she was strangely reminded of a dodgy cauldron salesman, "Then there's no problem here. Are you going to let me get you naked or not?"

Katie decided she'd heard enough and stood up, "Not."

"Oh come on," he argued and pulled her arm back towards him. "You can't tell me you haven't been thinking about it."

To be perfectly honest she hadn't, she suddenly realized. She had created this vision of Eddie in her head of this golden boy that would sweep her off her feet, take her in his arms, and kiss her passionately like some fairytale prince. Not some impatient, wheedling creep.

"I'm sorry Eddie," she shook her head and tried to free her arm from his grasp. "Thank you for the flight but I just...I just can't do this right now."

But he wouldn't let go of her arm and he was starting to get angry, "You know, Katie, you're an awful lot of work to be such a tease."

She reeled back as though she'd been slapped and looked at him in disbelief, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he replied in disgust and finally released the death grip he had on her arm. "A tease. Mary was right about you. I should have listened."

Katie resisted the urge to pull her wand from her back pocket and satisfied herself with a dark scowl as she backed away from him, "And everyone warned me that you were just like every other arsehole at this school. Looks like we were both fooled."

"I'm more than you even deserved," he scoffed with a dangerous glint in his eye and she was reminded strongly of her face off with Mary. Merlin, they bloody deserved each other.

Katie nodded her agreement as she finally reached the door, bumping into the handle with relief, "We'll agree to disagree on that."

When she saw Eddie's hand clench into a fist, she didn't wait around to see what else he had to say. The door knob was in her hand and with a twist she fled without a backwards glance from the broom shed and into the growing shadows of the evening. The castle loomed above her like a sanctuary and she focused on getting there hoping Eddie wouldn't follow too quickly.

As she neared the castle, she finally stopped running and as she caught her breath the full force of what had happened hit her like a ton of bricks.

Fucking hell. Was she going to spend the rest of her life cursed to fall for exactly the wrong bloody man? Always?

There was a dull throbbing in her chest that told her she was about to start crying and she fought the urge viciously. She was not going to cry over another stupid bleeding boy.

Merlin, how could she have been so stupid?

"C'mon Wormtail," Sirius growled, standing impatiently by the door of their dormitory. "Moony is a bloody werewolf. He's not going to wait around for you to grab a scarf. You won't even need it once you've transformed."

Peter made a face at him, "I'm ready, then Mum. Don't get your knickers in a twist."

Sirius ignored him.

"Did you check the map, Prongs?" he asked as he started down the staircase to the Common Room, James and Peter in to with Peter , in fact, frantically wrapping his scarf around his neck. When James didn't immediately answer, Sirius glanced behind him, "Prongs?"

James was frowning down at the Marauder's Map.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked as they paused inside the Portrait Hole.

"Lot of activity still on the grounds," he replied. "The cloak will only cover two of us at a time. We're going to have to make two trips."

"Moony has probably already changed," Sirius groaned in frustration as they climbed through the Portrait Hole and he glanced out the closest window at the moon rising over the forest. "Who the hell is in our way?"

"Katie Prewett for one," James informed him and lifted an amused eyebrow as they quietly made their way down the staircase to the sixth floor. "And she's alone."

Sirius barely acknowledged him, "And?"

"Eddie is still in the broom shed," James continued with interest and watched the dot that read 'Katherine Prewett' make it's way up the hill towards the castle. "Katie's moving pretty fast."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "She probably let the git shag her and realized how repulsive he is. I'd run too. C'mon, James we don't have time for this."

James shook his head as he and Peter took off after Sirius, "She's going to come through the front door the same time we're trying to go out."

"Then we'll hide and wait until she's gone," Sirius hissed and crept close to the wall to look around the corner as they came to the marble staircase leading down to the entrance hall.

James and Peter exchanged a knowing look. While Sirius was right to be anxious to get to Remus, the actuality of him not caring whether Katie's date had gone badly or not was unlikely.

And they were right.

Sirius was dying with curiosity. The fact that she was coming back to the castle alone probably meant that things hadn't gone as smoothly as she'd been hoping and he'd have been lying if he wasn't hoping that was the case. But he wasn't going to give James the satisfaction of knowing he was right, and they truly did need to get to Remus as soon as possible.

Seeing that the entrance way was empty, he motioned for James and Peter to follow him and they all crept down the staircase to head towards the same alcove beneath the stairs that Sirius and Katie had hid in when coming back from the kitchens.

"It's not dark enough," Peter hissed and scowled at the two larger boys as they crowded him into the alcove and James pulled out the invisibility cloak. "She could see us."

"Get down, idiot," was James only reply and as they each squatted down he threw the invisibility cloak over them and finally joined them to wait for Katie to get clear of the Entrance Hall.

The front doors started to creak open within seconds and they all held their breath instinctively. After years of creeping around the castle together, they practically moved in unison without thinking.

Sirius watched intently as Katie came through the door noting she looked behind her anxiously before shutting the doors firmly behind her. As she turned back, he caught sight of her face and he had to fight the urge to stand up.

She looked devastated.

He heard James let his breath out through his nose next to him and then felt an elbow in his rib, "Go on, Padfoot. Make sure she's all right."

"No, no she can handle it herself," Sirius whispered but was already starting to get to his feet. He looked at James undecided, "Are you sure?"

"Go," James said again. "I'll take Wormtail down and come back for you. Just get her away from the door. You've got fifteen minutes."

Sirius nodded and slipped from beneath the cloak without revealing the other two. Katie had paused near the door and seemed to be just trying to breathe. Not wanting to startle her, he slid along the base of the staircase as quietly as he could and while she was looking down, arranged himself near the base of the staircase to make it look like he'd just come down the stairs as she'd walked in the door.

He watched her silently, wanting to let her notice him first.

After a few more deep breaths, she seemed to have gotten control of herself again and lifted her head as she began moving towards the staircase. It took a few seconds for her to register that there was someone else in the entrance hall with her.

When she realized it was Sirius she stopped dead in her tracks and her face turned cold.

He sighed. Of course she was going to make this difficult, "Evening, Prewett."

"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped suspiciously. Why did he always turn up at the worst times?

"Not waiting for you, I swear," Sirius replied lightly and tried to appear unphased by her aggressive tone. "Everything all right?"

He could see quite clearly that it wasn't. But considering the last few days, he wasn't in any position to offer comfort. Still, if he needed to go kick someone's arse he was happy to oblige.

He could see her fighting to keep up her angry front but the effort was too much and her face crumbled slightly as she wrapped her arms around her torso in a clear act of self soothing. She looked at him with a look of hurt and - was that betrayal? - as she made her way over to the stairs, "No. No it's not all bloody right!"

Sirius' eyes narrowed as James and Peter slipped silently out the front doors, "Did he hurt you?"

She saw the concern in his eyes and scowled. No, Eddie Bones hadn't hurt her, not in the way Sirius meant. But on a much deeper level, he'd ripped open a deep, freshly healed scar. And yes, it hurt.

And in a way Sirius was partly responsible. Hadn't she promised herself that she wasn't going to involve herself with any boy, no matter how fit and charming because it just wasn't worth this rubbish? It was all Sirius and his stupid dating lessons, and flirting, and kissing that had made it all go wrong. What right did he have to stand there and look worried about her?

She suddenly found she didn't have to try to be angry anymore.

"It's none of your business what happened," Katie finally exploded and whipped her wand out as her temper snapped. Sirius took a cautious step back. "It was never your bloody business in the first place. If you hadn't gotten involved none of this would have ever happened."

Sirius highly doubted that but wisely decided now was not the time to point it out considering her wand was pointed at his throat.

He raised his hands defensively but couldn't prevent the slight growl in his voice, "Okay fine. It's my fault. But if he hurt you I swear I'll hang him by-"

"No!" she exclaimed again and stepped closer to him, wand raised higher in her fury. "Nope. No. You do not get to be noble. You are just as bad as him and I'm done with all of your rubbish and head games and driving me absolutely barmy and...and…"

The tears she'd fought so hard to control were starting to break through her anger and she sucked in several deep breaths, stumbling over her words as she tried to get a grip on her emotions.

Damn it, she didn't want to cry in front of him.

But the tears came anyway, and the second she dropped her wand hand Sirius stepped forward without thinking to take her face in his hands.

"Hey now," he murmured comfortingly, hardly aware of what he was saying as he brushed her tears away with his thumbs. Remus would have recognized the gentle tone as the one he often used after Remus had had a particularly rough change. "Hey, it's okay. Listen, he's shit. He's literal shit. He's not worth the ground you walk on, Prewett."

The 'I told you so' was balanced precariously on his lips but he again chose to keep that to himself. For the moment.

Katie continued to suck in breaths, letting his hands soothe her back into a state where she could think coherently. Not because she wanted them there but because she wasn't sure she would have stayed upright without them.

After a few moments, the tears slowed and her breath hitched a few more times until she found enough strength to step away from him.

Sirius let her and they stood there in silence until she finally looked up at him. And the look she gave him was unnerving. Calm, collected, and emotionless. It was honestly sort of terrifying to see and he suddenly wanted very badly to use Eddie as a punching bag for taking the light out of her eyes.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. Reason was returning as her temper ebbed and she knew it wasn't really his fault that she was hurting but some small part of her was always going to blame him anyway. She pressed her lips together suddenly uncomfortable, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this."

Sirius nodded, "Of course."

So accommodating, she mused but wasn't terribly comforted. Her reason had also opened the door for humiliation and she suddenly wanted to get as far away from Sirius as possible knowing he likely wouldn't want anything to do with her anymore now that the game was over and he no longer had any competition.

He had been right after all, she thought bitterly as she turned away to head up the stairs. Blokes like Eddie didn't go for girls like her. Not really.

"Prewett, wait," Sirius placed a hand on her arm to stop her, unsure what else he wanted to say but knowing he couldn't let her just leave like that.

She paused and simply looked back at him.

Dropping his hand, he stuck both his hands in his pockets with a shrug, "He's a complete git. Don't forget that, yeah?"

A small, jaded smile touched her lips, "I won't forget."

She wouldn't ever forget again.

Without another word, she turned and walked calmly up the stairs and out of sight, leaving Sirius standing alone on the marble steps.

"That went, er, well?" James muttered a few moments later and removed his cloak, suddenly standing just below Sirius at the foot of the staircase.

Sirius gave him a bland look, not bothering to ask how long he'd been standing there, and joined him with one last glance after Katie. He shook his head, "It could have gone better."

"What are you going to do about it?" James asked promptly and offered a wicked grin. "I've had a prank list especially for Bones for quite some time. I'd love to hear your thoughts."

Sirius snorted, "Not that I don't love the idea Prongs, but I think Katie might appreciate something more...personal in nature."

"Meaning?" James asked, his eyes glinting mischievously behind his glasses.

"Meaning I'll need to borrow your wizard's hat, I've no idea where mine is," Sirius said with a grin.

James frowned, "I don't follow."

Sirius yanked the cloak from his hands and covered them both, already planning the next morning out in his head, "I've got a bet to make good on, Prongs."

ASiriusObsession xoxo