Hello, duckies! Thanks for the reviews for last chappie. Very much appreciated. Sarah's odd reaction will be explained in this chapter - it was all in the wording he used.

Chapter Eleven

The Aftermath of the Kiss

'I don't understand her, Prongs,' he said, a little too loudly. 'She runs hot and cold.'

'Shh!' James hissed, making sure the curtains were closed properly around his bed so as not to wake the others.

Sirius looked irritated but lowered his voice. 'She kissed me back then went all cold again,' he said again, frustration obvious in his voice. 'She kissed me back …'

He stopped, losing his breath for a moment when he remembered how it felt to have her kiss him back.

God, I've never been kissed like that before.

He had told Sarah the truth the other day - his reputation was slightly exaggerated. He had been with many girls. Many, many girls actually, but he hadn't had sex with them all. In fact, he could still easily count the girls he'd shagged on two hands - which, granted, was an achievement for a seventeen and a half year old but the numbers were nowhere near the estimated tally that the other boys kept.

He sighed heavily. The other girls - they all just seemed so…blah now. They fell into one of two categories: they either lay there passively and waited for him to work his reputed magic or they were too aggressive, going at him like a rabid dog. And, while in the past he'd never particularly minded either approach, he'd never had anything else to compare it to so he never knew that there could be a third category - whatever the hell it was that had happened tonight.

Tonight being the night when he found out what it was like to have someone set him on fire.

James heard his friends' voice falter and saw his face soften by the light of their lit wands as his eyes glazed over.

'Padfoot,' he said, drawing the other boy's attention back to him. 'You like her?'

Sirius frowned then sat up straighter, pulling himself together.

'Course not,' he said scathingly. 'She's just a bit more challenging than the others…'

'Sirius, you don't have to act like that with me,' James said softly. 'We can call the bet off if you really like her…'

'I'm acting exactly like I always do,' the black haired boy retorted, sliding off his friend's bed. He wasn't comfortable talking about how he was feeling so reverted back to type to cover his unease. 'And you're just worried I'm getting somewhere with the Ice Princess. Those Galleons are practically in my pocket, Prongs.'

He opened the curtains and walked over to his own bed, throwing himself down then waving his wand to close his own curtains so he could try and relieve some of the ache in his body in private.

Sarah frowned at her reflection the next morning.

I look like shit.

She had dark marks under her eyes and was a little pale from her sleepless night. For a while last night, she'd forgotten what she was doing this for; that she was after revenge. It wasn't until he said the word 'bet' that she remembered and had to get as far away from him as possible right away.

Too damn bad I couldn't remember that before I let him snog the hell out of me.

That kiss.

Holy hell, he could've asked her to drop to her knees and she would have blown him in the middle of the corridor. That's how hot she'd been…

With one fucking kiss!

'I'm not falling for him,' she muttered, yanking a brush viciously through her hair. 'I am going to go at this like he is - no emotion. Focus on the end result…seeing him bought down a peg or two and, maybe, have another one or two of those kisses but I am not going to sleep with him.'

Heat swirled low in her belly at the thought of Sirius touching her: her bare skin against his; his tongue making her scream; her tongue tasting him; his body inside…

'God!'

She slammed the hair brush down and stomped, irritated and horny, down the stairs and out of her common room.

'Morning, gorgeous,' Sirius said softly, creeping up behind her and kissing the back of her neck.

'Black!' she hissed, taking a swipe at him as she turned around. 'Don't do that.'

He chuckled and squeezed in between Sarah and Kate, giving Kate a smile before he turned back to Sarah.

'You snogged me in the middle of the corridor last night, Sar,' he said, mercifully keeping his voice down. 'I think we've passed the 'no kissing in public' thing.'

'No one was around last night,' she snapped quietly, glaring at him. 'We're in the middle of the Dining Hall.'

And drawing plenty of looks. Dirty looks.

'So, you haven't heard?' he said with a smile. 'We are the hottest gossip to hit Hogwarts since…well, since the last time we kissed. I'm afraid we weren't as alone in that corridor as we thought last night.'

Sarah looked horrified and Sirius cocked his head, immediately on the defensive. Was she embarrassed about people knowing she'd been with him? Didn't she know how many girls were glaring at her and planning her slow and painful demise right now?

'What's the matter? Are you ashamed of being seen with a Gryffindor? Or is it me in particular that you're embarrassed to be seen with?' he asked and she heard the ill disguised hurt in his voice.

He must have heard it too because he cleared his throat and stood up quickly.

'I'm going to have breakfast. Catch me up later - if you want,' he said casually, tossing his hair a bit then walking off, trying desperately not to look back at her.

What she thinks of me shouldn't worry me this much. It doesn't worry me. Ten Galleons. That's my new mantra. Ten Galleons. Ten Galleons. Ten Galleons.

Sarah watched him go then turned back to her cereal, stabbing her spoon distractedly into the remaining mush. She felt bad that she'd hurt him - she just didn't want people knowing about them. She didn't want people's eyes on them, making them feel like a couple. Not when he was just trying to win a bet and she was trying to get revenge.

This is getting too complicated. I wanted to embarrass him a little, deflate his ego a bit. I don't want to hurt him. Why is he hurt anyway? He's the one who started all this. Maybe I'm imagining things. God, this is seriously not worth seeing his ego pricked a little.

'Sar?' Kate asked, sliding back over. 'You ok?'

Sarah sighed. 'Nope,' she whispered. 'I don't think I am.'

'Hi,' she said softly, swallowing her pride and making her way over to a lingering Sirius after class.

James grinned and threw his book bag over his shoulder. 'About time you came over,' he teased. 'He was running out of reasons to hang around.'

'Sod off, Prongs,' Sirius muttered as he flushed and the other boy laughed, waving as he left the room.

'I'm sorry about before,' she said, biting her lip. 'I'm not ashamed or embarrassed about seeing you or anything that's happened. I just…I'm not comfortable with people thinking we're…'

She shrugged, not sure how to end that sentence. What were they doing?

'Dating?' he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 'Sarah, this…what we're doing… is dating, sweetheart. And it's usually done in public places, although I certainly wouldn't mind carrying it on in more private places if you want…

Sarah smiled a little grimly and shook her head, disappointed. They were back to sexual innuendoes.

'You were so close, Black,' she muttered, turning around but he grabbed her arm with a smile.

'I'm teasing you, Sarah,' he said, then took her face in his hands and his smile faded. 'I like teasing you. You get this spark in your eyes when you're pissed off and I know I shouldn't do it but you just look so pretty with your eyes all dark and fiery…'

His words were cut off when she planted her lips on his - partly to get him to shut up but mostly because she just really wanted to.

Sirius' arms moved around her, pulling her tight to him and her hands slid into his hair, hearing his moan when her tongue dipped between his lips and echoing it when he met it with his. As the lip lock quickly deepened, the very same thought ran through both their minds.

I am so fucked.

Oh, look! Off to the left. A little blue button...I wonder what will happen if I just press on it...