A/N: Alright, I had a hard time writing this chapter, and I don't know why . . . I just did. So I'm sorry if it's not excellent or anything, but I tried! Oh, and sorry if you're a Nickelback hater - which I've found a lot of people are - 'cause there's a quote at the end. Not a big fan myself, but I thought it went good with the chapter. :)

Worst Apology Ever

Sirius held his breath for a frighteningly long time. He could very well be punched, slapped, cursed, hexed or all of the above in about two seconds.

Was she worth it . . . ?

Yeah. She was.

He slowly let out the breath and tentatively knocked on the door. It swung open sooner than he was prepared for and resisted the urge to flinch - he knew very well the wrath of women. A scowling Lily stood there, one hand on her hip and the other on the door, as if to slam it in his face any second.

"Oh, for the love of Merlin, Sirius, you are honestly the most obnoxiously audacious male I've ever met!" she exclaimed, and Sirius was pretty sure his eye slightly twitched at her extensive vocabularly. "How about you refrain from being an arse for once in your life and leave her alone?"

Cursed - check. And he hadn't even seen Dorcas yet.

"Look, I just - "

"Lily who are you . . . ?"

Dorcas came into view, and, when she saw Sirius, she didn't get angry, as he suspected. Her face just fell and she became very weary, which was even worse.

"What do you want, Sirius?" she sighed.

"Dorcas, you don't have to - " Lily started, but Dorcas shook her head.

"It's fine." she assured her. Lily sighed and nodded, passing by Sirius to go down to the common room. She didn't even miss a beat in giving him a 'you-mess-with-her-you-die' stare-down, which he frowned and looked away from hastily.

"Dorcas," Sirius started when Lily was gone, "I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am - "

"Save it, Sirius," she cut him off, "You and I both know you meant it. You may be sorry - but you meant it."

"Well, can you prove me wrong?" he countered.

She stared, then protested hastily, "This is officially the worst apology ever, Sirius, I - "

"I know," he sighed, "Just humor me."

She glared at him. "I don't have to prove myself to you. In fact, I don't want to be associated with you at all, so you can just . . . "

Sh trailed off, realizing she was proving him right just by that statement and he raised his eyebrows in an 'I-told-you-so' sort of manner. It seemed like she wanted to snap at him, but then she just gave up, sighing.

"You're right." she whispered, biting her lip.

Sirius didn't really know what he should do at that point, so he just did what he wanted - he took her in his arms and made her feel safe. They stood like that for a moment, her head buried in his shoulder and his chin on her head, when he felt Dorcas' heart speed up ever so slightly.

"Sirius . . . " she whispered, looking up at him. He furrowed his brow slightly at her troubled expression, but then she continued, "I'm in love with you."

She looked extremely scared. Sirius understood that this was huge for her - she never made herself feel vulnerable, and he was warmed by the fact that she'd done it for him. Of course, he was exasperated that she looked frightened - she should've known that he felt the same.

As these thoughts went thought his head, he realized he hadn't replied, and she was biting her lip nervously.

Finally, he smiled and put a hand on her cheek, admitting, "I've loved you all along."

"I love you - I have loved you all along . . . I keep dreaming you'll be with me and you'll never go . . . hold onto me and never let me go. . . ."

- Nickelback