Thank you for all reviews guys- I try to reply personally to everyone but will post any messages to reviewers not signed in on the next chapter.

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WARNING: Sweet as sugar Sirius - brush your teeth after you read this or they'll rot! Oh, I wish he was mine. He could come and live in my cupboard with Remus and they could spend the day playing naked ... right, um, you read the fic while I go and have a cold shower.

Chapter Fourteen

The Three Words He Never Thought He'd Say

Over the following days, they spent every available minute together, Sirius sulking when he saw her study time as time they should be with each other as well but the more responsible Ravenclaw disagreed. When he continued complaining that he wanted to see her, Sarah told him that he'd just have to come with her and, to James' absolute horror, Sirius started to join her in the library. He was supposedly studying but usually just doodled absently on his parchment. Once, she'd caught sight of it before he threw it out, and was surprised and touched that her initials featured prominently on the paper, with little flourishes around them.

'What do you want to do after you've finished school?' he asked on Thursday night, with only three weeks left until the bet deadline.

Sarah glanced up and looked at him over her mountain of books. He'd been so quiet until now that she had jumped a little when he spoke.

'I applied for an internship in the Ministry at the beginning of the year,' she said, leaning back, surreptitiously trying to see what he'd been scribbling on the parchment tonight.

He oh-so-casually covered the paper with his hands when he saw her peeking. 'Doing what?' he asked and she looked up at his face, seeing the slight flush over his cheekbones.

'Junior assistant in the Minister's office,' she told him, checking the time and closing her books when she saw it was nearly curfew. 'They take a new person on every year and I…I got accepted. As long as my marks don't drastically change …'

She shrugged and he smiled. 'But that's a big deal, isn't it?' he asked, leaning towards her. 'I haven't heard of anyone getting accepted before they finished school.'

'Don't know,' she mumbled, going a little pink as she packed up her books. 'S'pose.'

His grin broadened and he was slightly taken aback by how proud he felt. His girlfriend had been accepted into the highly desirable position a year early - she must be even more brilliant than he thought if the Ministry was snapping her up so quickly. He lost his smile for a second when he realised he'd thought of her as his girlfriend again.

NOT my girlfriend. God, Sarah and her incredible lips just keep messing with my head.

'Are you staying? Have I converted you to the wonders of being prepared for class?' she asked, breaking through his reverie.

He saw she'd packed up and hastily threw his books into his bag. 'Never,' he said with a smile, snatching the parchment off the desk and walking beside her out of the library.

'What are you going to do?' she asked. 'After school.'

'I'm not sure,' he admitted. 'James wants to apply to be an Auror so I could do that if my marks are good enough.'

Sarah smiled. 'It is very annoying that you manage to get decent grades without cracking open a book,' she muttered and he put his arm around her with a smirk.

'Just naturally talented,' he bragged and heard her murmur, 'Yes you are.'

Her double entendre was obvious and he was delighted, squeezing her waist. 'You've been hanging around me too much,' he laughed. 'You've developed a filthy mind.'

'I could hardly have helped it with the path your mind is constantly fixed on,' she retorted and he kissed her cheek, making it deliberately sloppy.

'Gross, Black,' she squealed, pushing him away.

The parchment he held slipped from his grasp and fluttered to the ground. Sarah picked it up before he could stop her, holding it out of his reach with a laugh.

'No,' she said, turning away from him. 'I want to see what you've been up to since you're obviously far too cool to study.'

She unfolded the parchment, fending off his attempts to grab it off her. Her amusement faded, though, when she saw what he'd been doing and she looked up at him, seeing his face turn red.

'It's not very good,' he mumbled, trying to take it off her again but she turned her body so it was out of his grasp.

'It's amazing,' she said, looking back down at the parchment. 'Sirius, it's…'

She shook her head and just stared at the sketch he'd been working on. It was her - he'd captured her face while she was studying. She swallowed hard. He'd obviously put a lot of effort into it - it wasn't a hastily put together drawing. It was precise; every stroke of the quill carefully considered, with a warmth that made it come to life. It was simple but he'd made her look beautiful.

'It's not finished,' he explained, looking critically at it. 'I…you weren't meant to see it until I'd finished. You weren't meant to see it at all, actually.'

'Why didn't you say you could draw?' she said softly, unable to take her eyes off the sketch.

He shrugged. 'Never came up,' he replied, then bit his lip, feeling an insecurity he hadn't felt since his first trip to Hogwarts. 'You…really like it? Don't try and…spare my feelings or anything, if it's rubbish I'd rather you said…'

'Sirius, it's wonderful,' she told him staring at the parchment as, for the first time, she struggled to communicate. 'It's…you made me look…'

'Beautiful,' he said softly, staring at her. 'I can't take credit for that. I'm only drawing what I see, Sarah.'

She looked up at him and he gave her a little smile, his grey eyes dark and watching her with an intensity that made her shiver.

Could he really look at me like that, say those things to me, just for a bet?

She was unable to put her muddled thoughts together and instead chose to allow her actions to speak louder than words ever could as she kissed him, quickly deepening it. Her arms slipped around his neck and she pressed herself close. Her book bag slid down her arm and she shook it off, hearing it hit the floor hard.

A second thump told her Sirius had dropped his bag as well, confirmed when he wrapped his arms around her hips and held her to him, kissing her back urgently.

They heard a wolf whistle and looked up to see some Sixth Years walking past. They glared at them as they pulled apart then picked up their bags.

Sirius grinned. 'I wish you'd told me that showing you my etchings would do it for you,' he said, his voice hoarse. 'I would have put on a showing weeks ago.' Sarah smiled somewhat distractedly as she fought an inner battle.

Take the chance. Go up to his room. Let him do what you both want him to do.

That was her heart talking -- or was it her hormones -- screaming for her to let him in. She wasn't used to listening to anything other than her brain which now kicked in with it's own opinion.

No. He's only doing this for a bet. He'll break your heart.

She bit her lip: her heart or her head? Which should she trust?

'Sar?' he said, seeing her frown.

She took a calming breath when she made her decision, feeling her heart race as she touched his shirt lightly and whispered, 'You know, I've never seen Gryffindor Tower.'

She chanced a glance up at his face and saw his grey eyes widen. 'No,' he breathed. 'You haven't. Would…would you like to see it tonight?'

Sarah nodded and he felt his already turgid cock become rock hard. 'O…Ok,' he stammered, annoyed that he was so nervous.

He was far from a virgin - why the hell was the thought of taking the next step with Sarah so scary?

This is what I wanted. This is what I'm supposed to be doing - getting her into bed. Get over it, Black and fuck her senseless.

He took her hand and they walked to his Common Room, getting a dirty look from the Fat Lady portrait as they woke her. The common room was nearly deserted - a few of his classmates looking up and smirking when they saw Sarah.

'Come on,' he said, frowning at them before leading her up the stairs.

He was relieved that no one was in the room, though he heard the water running in the adjoining shower. 'My, um, bed is…'

'No,' she said quickly. 'Let me guess.'

He smiled and watched her examine the beds. 'Remus,' she said immediately, pointing at the werewolf's bed.

'Should I be jealous that you knew which was his straight away?' he asked, feeling an uncomfortable gnawing in his stomach as he remembered Remus saying what a good kisser Sarah was.

'The books gave him away,' she told him, indicating the stack of reading material on the side table.

'Frank.' She pointed to Frank 'Mr Herbology' Longbottoms' bed and Sirius guessed the plant on the side table had let her to that conclusion.

'Peter.' She pointed at the bed with the candy wrappers piled up next to it.

She turned to stare at the two remaining side by side beds. She moved over and stood between them then sat on his.

'Yours,' she said confidently. 'Do I want to know how many other girls have sat in this very spot?'

'No,' he answered then asked her, 'How did you know?'

'Could it be that it wasn't made properly?' she teased. 'Or all the Quidditch magazines…?'

'Could have been James',' he said and she smiled.

'It smells like you,' she told him and his face lit up with a smile.

'Is that good or bad?' he asked, sniffing loudly and she chuckled.

'Very good,' she said softly, then pulled his face to hers.

He stopped just short of her lips and said quietly, 'No other girl has been in my bed. You're the first,' seeing her look of surprise before he closed the distance between their mouths.

They fell back onto the bed, quickly taking up from where they'd left off in the corridor. Vaguely, Sirius heard the shower turn off and pushed himself off Sarah.

'Hang on,' he said, pulling his wand out of his pocket and waving it.

The curtain flew closed and all outside noise disappeared. He looked down at Sarah with her mussed up hair and her kiss swollen lips and felt his chest squeeze tight. He pressed his mouth back to hers, softly, letting it get needier as his hands wandered, tracing the soft curves of her body. He felt her hands exploring him as well, coming up under the back of his t-shirt and tracing up his spine, sending a violent tremor through him.

'Sirius,' she whispered, tugging at his shirt and his breath caught at the sound of his name coming so tremulously from her lips. He raised himself up and pulled the shirt over his head, dropping back onto her and again claiming her lips.

Her hands didn't hesitate, running down the bare skin of his back, then sliding around to run up his arms. Sirius groaned a little at the sensation of her hands heating his flesh and his lips left hers, pressing against her jaw then moving down her neck. Sarah's head fell back, allowing him easier access and shivered when she felt his hands come up under her shirt.

She pushed him off her chest and, together, they pulled her shirt off. Sirius bit his lip when he saw her cream coloured skin, her breasts rising and falling quickly with each breath. He wanted so desperately to tear the rest of her clothes off and sink inside her but the now all too familiar feeling of guilt began to bite at him and he groaned in frustration.

'Damn it,' he muttered and Sarah frowned.

'What?' she asked and he looked at her, debating. He really wanted to touch her, to be with her but his guilt over the still running bet ate at him.

Bloody James and his bloody bet -- stopping me getting laid.

He took a breath and uttered three words he'd never thought he'd hear himself say to a half naked woman.

'I'm not ready.'

Sarah's frown deepened and she sat up. 'You're not ready? You're not ready?' she said disbelievingly. 'Aren't you always ready?'

He smiled grimly and sat back on the bed. 'I'm sorry,' he said.

You have no idea how sorry I am.

'I…maybe we could just fool around a bit?' he muttered. 'Get to know each other a bit better, you know... physically before we...go further?'

'Ok,' she said uncertainly then crossed her arms over her chest, not sure if she was happy or insulted by this turn of events.

'Is it me?' she asked softly. 'If it is, you should tell me. I'm not very good at this and if I'm doing something wrong, or if you don't find me as attractive…'

He stopped her words, very effectively, by kissing her and falling backwards onto the bed. 'Baby, I want you so badly,' he murmured, pressing nibbling kisses down her throat.

Now that he'd made the decision to not have sex tonight, he felt freer to explore without expectations and nerves inhibiting them. His hand moved to cup her breast, running a thumb over her taut nipple, then moaning when he heard her sharp intake of breath.

'Sarah, I have never wanted anyone like this,' he whispered, letting his lips moved over the rounded flesh above her pink bra. 'I've never wanted to go slow.'

He looked up and saw her watching him. 'But I don't want to rush this. This is different. You are different.'

He was surprised by the flash of guilt he saw in her eyes. 'Do you want me to stop?' he asked, confused as to why she'd feel guilty.

'No,' she said softly. 'I'll do whatever you're comfortable with.'

He smiled and lowered his head to her lips. 'Leaving me with a lot of scope there,' he whispered and Sarah grinned.

'Sex or not, you've got a reputation to live up to, Black,' she said, reaching up to tangle her fingers in those soft black tresses. 'So how about you stop talking and get on with it?'