12)

Sirius crashed on his bed.

"Damn it."

The pain he felt swept over him, a mixture of heartbreak and hopeless lust. He felt like crying, but he couldn't, James would be coming to comfort him any moment. His life seemed almost meaningless. The endless pain he felt caught up to him, he couldn't move.

Maybe I'll just lay here till I die, Sirius thought.

He kept replaying the scene over and over in his head. He still couldn't believe he let her get away.


"Go!" Alice whispered urgently, giving him a shove.

He ran out of the portrait hole.

"Maylea!"

She turned around, tears were streaming down her beautiful face. "You used me!"

"Maylea, No! I didn't! Please..." it was taking all of Sirius' willpower not to cry.

"You used me to get to another girl! YOU USED ME!

"No! Maylea I didn't! It's just she felt like awkward without a date and-"

"So your player kicked in..." she turned to walk away.

"Maylea! It's not his fault!" Alice said coming up behind Sirius, "Please don't blame him!"

"Alice? Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"It's not like that! He asked me to!" Alice lied.

"Yeah. Have fun with your new girlfriend Sirius..."

"Maylea! Please! It's not like that!"

"I trusted you! I can't BELIEVE I trusted you! I thought you were different... I can't... Just get away from me." she said storming off.

Sirius felt a hot tear roll down his cheek and he bolted for the dorms.

"Sirius!" Alice called after him.


He had been sitting there for almost 10 minutes when he heard the door creak open.

Sirius didn't look up. He didn't move when James stood by his bed.

"Sirius?"

Sirius still didn't move. The pain overtook him.

"Why." He muttered, "Why me. It's never going to happen! She hates my guts! I was almost there! Almost. And I just HAD to go be a nice guy didn't I?

"Sirius! My god man! Get a hold of yourself! Just keep persevering! It'll work out soon!" James kneeled beside his bed, "You two are meant to be... You guys look so... Right together. I can get Evans to talk to her if you like?"

Sirius still didn't talk.

"It. Will. Work. Out."

Sirius had it, all that heartbreak, and hopelessness turned to anger, he sat up.

"You keep saying it'll work out... Show me proof that it will. This isn't Hollywood James, this isn't a book. This is real life... And when is real life ever like those romance novels Moony reads?"

James paused... Obviously contemplating something.

"Tonight..." James said quietly.

"What?" Sirius said, "What happened?"

James sat on his own bed. "That's why it took me so long to get up here ..." he said with a smile.

"Bloody hell James, just tell me already!"

"She's gonna be pissed... I promised not to tell anyone... But you're an exception. "

"WHAT? Tell anyone WHAT?"

James looked up and smiled.

"I snogged Evans."

"WHAT? When!"

"up the stairs"

"Congrats man!"

"Only a little bit though... She realized what she was doing and freaked out." he sighed, "It was amazing though... She's like no other girl I've snogged before... She's- she's like my other half. My missing puzzle piece." he stopped and looked up at Sirius' growing sadness. "oh my god,I'm so sorry... I-I-"

"It's okay," Sirius interrupted. "I want every single bloody detail."

"What?"

"Yeah man" Sirius said as cheerfully as possible, "tell me!"

"Well... Uhm, round eleven, Peter kinda diched her, cause he was drunk, kay, and she was out in the hall. She was making paper airplanes then hexing them. The only reason I was out there is cause I was following you. Anyway, she was out there totally mauling these paper airplanes, and I sat down next to her." James looked up to see if Sirius was still listening.

Sirius nodded.

"I sat down next to her and she kinda spilled everything about how she didn't really want to come with Peter. So I asked her who she wanted to go with, and she says me. So I pulled her into a hug and asked her why she went with Peter and not me. And get this. She said she might kinda like me. And her sister Petunia told her the best way to get a guy was to go out with their best friend, make them jealous... Well since you and Remus were taken she went with Peter. But ... She said she might kinda like me! And I was like really? And those beautiful green eyes looked into mine... You following me?"

"Yepadoodle."

"okay and... I really don't know what made me do it... I just... Kissed her. The crazy thing is, she kissed me back. And it was amazing. It made me feel warm, inside and out. But then... I-I..."

"Every single bloody detail James."

" I-I breathed her name and she stopped. She just got up, tears in her eyes, and said 'Don't you tell ANYONE this happened' and walked away -and I wish I knew why..."

"man, that sucks."

"Sorry I just... It was..." James choked.

"I get it..." Sirius interrupted.

"okay," James jumped off the bed. "I'm gonna go back down and wait for midnight. You can come if you want..."

"It's fine. Really." he rolled over on the bed.

James walked out and shut the door.

Sirius took a sheet of paper, folded it into a paper airplane, and he completely mangled it. He understood why Maylea was so sensitive, but even Alice tried to back him up. He mentally kicked himself. Why didn't he keep her from leaving. If he woulda just called out her name she would've stayed. If he would've just told her how much she meant to him. If he would've just told her he loves her she would've stayed... It was taking all his willpower not to cry. He had to be a man. Or at least if he cried he couldn't let anyone see.

From the common room he heard a resounding, "3...2...1..."

It's a new year, he thought, so everything that just happened was now last year. He could still make this right. He was going to get her if it's the last thing he does.

Suddenly the door flew open and Isabella ran in.

"Sirius!" she said, "Get up. You have to go get her!"

"No."

"No?" she stopped and her expression hardened, "I thought you loved her."

Sirius sat up and stared at her.

"How did you-"

"I've known you since I was born. You've never looked at a girl like that before."

She sat down on the bed and hugged Sirius,

"She's yours."

"Isabella..." suddenly all words he had were gone. He looked at the back of Isabella's dress. She noticed where he was looking and stood up, blushing.

"Izzy...?"

She struggled to zip the back up again.

"Here."

He zipped it up for her, and she blushed.

He smiled at her, "broom closet?"

She smiled wide and sat back down next to him,

"Sirius listen to me. It'll work out. Just go and get her. That's all she wants is for you to hold her. Even if she shies away, just hold her."

"Even if I could she's in her room. I don't know the password. Plus there are others in the common room."

Isabella tossed James' invisibility cloak at his head.

"It's Sugar Plum"

"What? How do you know?"

"You think I'd take off my dress for kicks? You know me! Now GO!"

He thew the cloak over his head and weaved his way though the common room. He stopped behind James.

"I have the cloak."

James jumped at first, but he recognized the voice.

"Go get her." he whispered back.