NOTE: This story is primarily focused on SiriusOC and is only written for fun.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter and the world JK Rowling created. I only own the characters you do not recognize from Harry Potter.

Sorry for the wait. This just didn't seem to want to come out and I didn't want to force it. I think I like the finished product though. It's a little bit of a shorter update than normal. I was going to put in another scene between this one and Christmas break, but I think now I'm going ahead to Christmas, so this seemed like a good place to cut off the chapter. As always, a huge thanks to those that reviewed. I really love your feedback!

Fate

Chapter Fourteen

The week leading up to the Hogsmeade trip seemed to pass by quickly enough. Samantha quickly learned to just ignore the stares and whispers that followed her through the corridors. It was no secret that Sirius Black was taking Samantha Dawson to Hogsmeade, and it seemed like a popular topic between numerous groups of girls. Sirius didn't even seem to notice the stares that followed him or the sour looks Morgan would occasionally throw in his direction.

With the Christmas holidays fast approaching, the homework load seemed heavier than ever. But come Saturday morning, their homework was the last thing on the student's minds, and they instead were looking forward to a day spent in the village, being around their friends and shopping for Christmas presents for their loved ones.

After breakfast, Amber was quick to drag Samantha back to their room to get ready for the day in Hogsmeade. Lily tagged along, and tried to keep herself from laughing as she watched the two of them argue back and forth as Amber insisted Samantha make herself more presentable for her date.

"I'm not wearing that."

Samantha glared at the lipstick Amber was currently holding out to her, her arms crossed across her chest.

"Why not?" Amber asked. "It's always a good idea to emphasize the lips. And boys are always appreciative of makeup."

"I wear hardly any makeup," Samantha argued. "And Sirius asked me on a date anyway. I don't feel as if I need to put on heavier makeup for the date. It's not formal or anything."

Amber rolled her eyes, but dropped her hand and turned her attention back to her own makeup. "Suit yourself."

"Don't listen to her," Lily spoke up with a smile. "She's just bitter because we rarely listen to her."

Amber used the mirror to shoot Lily a foul look, but the way her eyes were dancing in amusement gave away the fact that she was only joking. Samantha laughed at them both as she moved into the bedroom, grabbing her cloak off of her bed and slipping it on.

"I've got to go meet Sirius," she told them, picking up her scarf. "I'll see you later?"

"At dinner," Amber called back. "Where we expect to hear every last detail."

"Have fun," Lily told her. After a moment's though, she added, "But not too much."

"Thanks, mum," Samantha replied as she waved at them before slipping from the room.

She wasn't sure what to expect when she stepped into the common room. She glanced around warily, nearly expecting James to burst towards her from out of nowhere. But she found the only Marauder in sight to be her date for the day, who was leaning against the back of the sofa with his hands stuffed in his pockets as he waited for her. He chuckled when he saw the look on her face.

"Don't worry," he told her. "Remus and Peter have already taken him to Hogsmeade with the promise to keep him out of our sight."

She laughed softly. "How big of a fight did he put up?"

"Well, he was planning to wait for Lily to come down so he could give her one more chance to agree to go with him. So he was a bit difficult. But nothing we couldn't handle."

She shook her head with a small smile as Sirius pushed away from the back of the couch.

"Shall we?" he asked, sweeping his hand towards the common room entrance.

Her smile grew as she stepped forward. When they stepped into the corridor, Sirius offered her his arm, and after only a brief hesitation, she slid her arm through his and allowed him to lead her through the castle. They chatted as they walked, ignoring anyone they passed. The castle was fairly empty; most students who would be going to Hogsmeade had already left.

Though their arms were linked together, she kept a certain distance between them, a line that she unconsciously drew that he knew better to try and cross without permission. But when they stepped out into the brisk air, she stepped a little closer to him in an attempt to ward off the chill. The walk to the village was a bit slow; a fresh snow had fallen overnight, leaving them with quite a bit of snow to trek through. Luckily, the students who had made the walk before them had packed the snow down to where they did not have to fight through the deep powder, though the packed down snow was more slippery.

"Well," Sirius said when they finally stepped into the village. "Where would you like to go first?"

She glanced around at the different shops, all packed with students.

"I don't particularly care," she told him with a shrug. "You pick."

"Alright," he agreed. "But just remember that you told me that I could pick."

That was how she found herself in Zonko's, as Sirius claimed that he needed to replenish his stock of Dungbombs. Sirius spent several minutes browsing the store and Samantha followed, not having anything in particular that she wanted to buy, though she was tempted to seek out something for James.

"Hmmm," Sirius said thoughtfully, scrutinizing an unlabeled jar of murky green liquid, stopping so suddenly that Samantha nearly ran into him. He took it off of the shelf to study it more closely.

"I wonder what this stuff does."

She moved to stand beside him, studying the jar in his hands. "You could always test it on some poor, unsuspecting Slytherin," she suggested.

Sirius turned his attention away from the jar to grin at her. "I knew there was a reason I liked you."

Sirius ended up purchasing the mysterious jar as well as several packs of Dungbombs to get him well through Christmas. They made their way back onto the cold, crowded streets and Sirius looked at her expectantly.

"Now you have to choose," he told her. "Since you made me choose the last time."

She sighed and rolled her eyes slightly. "Fine. Honeydukes, then."

He grinned down at her. "Is your chocolate frog stash depleted or something?"

"Yes," she replied, turning and making her way towards the sweets shop. "Severely depleted. And I'd rather not run out."

He laughed and moved to fall into step with her. "If your chocolate frog obsession is anything like Remus's obsession with all things chocolate, I'm afraid the whole school would be in danger if you ran out."

"It's not an obsession," she argued. "I don't need them."

"Right," he said as they reached to door, watching as she pulled it open. "So let's skip Honeydukes, then."

"That would just be mental," she replied with a shake of her head before stepping into the shop.

Sirius smiled as he followed her inside. He had wanted to stop by Honeydukes, anyway. He already had a book that he planned to give Remus for Christmas, but he, James, and Peter learned long ago that their gifts would always be even more appreciated if they added a bit of something sweet to the package.

In the end, Sirius walked out of the store with a bag filled with Drooble's Best Blowing Gum for Peter, a large chunk of fudge for Remus, and a couple of packages of chocolate frogs that he had managed to slip past Samantha, which he intended to gift to her at Christmas.

Placing a hand on the small of her back, Sirius suggested that they go warm up in the Three Broomsticks, which she agreed to and allowed him to steer her towards the pub. The pub was packed, which came to no surprise considering how cold it was outside, and after pushing their way through the crowd for a few minutes, Sirius managed to find a small table in the back. Shedding their cloaks in the heat of the pub, they seated themselves at the table. Despite the crowd, it only took Madame Rosmerta a few moments to appear to take their orders. With a grin and a wink, Sirius ordered two mugs of warm butterbeer and Madame Rosmerta left them alone once more.

"So," Sirius said as Madame Rosmerta disappeared into the crowd. "Have you done Slughorn's essay yet?"

Samantha folded her arms on the table and leaned forward. "Have you?"

He chuckled and raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you really need me to answer that, Sam?"

She shook her head with a smile. "No, I don't. It was a rather stupid question. But to answer yours, no, I haven't actually. With the Christmas holidays coming up I'm finding it harder and harder to make myself do homework."

Sirius smirked at her. "I think it's my bad habits rubbing off on you, personally."

"Perhaps," Samantha agreed. "Or it could have something to do with the obnoxiously loud uproar in the common room last night while I was making an honest attempt at my homework. You wouldn't know anything about that, though, would you?"

Sirius's smirk widened into a grin, and he launched into a story about how the Marauders had charmed every seat in the common room to send a small jolt of electricity through any first years that sat in them. In the middle of his story, Madame Rosmerta reappeared and set two large mugs of butterbeer in front of them.

Despite the fact that the commotion they had caused, she found herself smiling at his story. She'd always found their harmless pranks amusing. As Sirius talked, she began to feel eyes on her and she glanced over Sirius's should to find Oliver turned in his seat, watching her and Sirius with narrowed eyes. She forced herself to look away, and Sirius broke off mid-sentence from where he was talking about a boy's particularly loud reaction to the prank when he saw the look on her face.

"What is it?"

He turned around and immediately found Oliver, who glared hatefully at him for a moment before turning back around. Sirius was frowning deeply when he turned back to Samantha.

"It was nothing," she told him.

He opened his mouth to argue, but the look on her face made him pause before closing his mouth again, allowing the subject to drop.

"After dinner tonight how would you feel about getting together and working on the potions essay?" he asked her instead.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you asking me on a second date before our first one is over?"

"Well, I wouldn't count homework as a second date, but I can think of a few things we could do to make it count as a date," Sirius replied, giving her a lopsided grin.

Samantha did not answer, only smiled and took a sip of her butterbeer.

"Is that a yes then?" Sirius asked her.

She set her mug back down and replied, "Homework would be great."

He let out a short laugh. "You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?"

Her smile only widened as she took another sip of her butterbeer. As they finished up their drinks, they spoke of whatever came to mind. They were in no hurry to go back out into the cold. What felt like all too soon, the decided that they'd taken up space for long enough in the pub and decided they should probably leave. They realized, with some surprise, that the pub around them had emptied considerably. They had been talking a lot longer than they realized.

"We probably ought to start heading back," Sirius said to her, glancing around. "I'm afraid we've allowed the time to slip right through our fingers."

She was certain that she heard a reluctance in his voice. She felt a little reluctant herself when she agreed and they both stood. Samantha reached into her pocket, pulling out enough coins to cover her drink. Sirius's eyes dropped down to her hand, eying it suspiciously. She frowned at him when she saw the look on his face.

"What?" she asked him.

"What are you doing?"

His eyes were still glued to her hand.

Her frown deepened, her brow furrowing, and she glanced down at the hand that was clutching her coins.

"Paying for my drink," she replied in a voice that suggested she thought he was rather daft for asking when she believed what she was doing was obvious. "I doubt Madame Rosmerta would take it kindly if I were to not pay."

Despite her slightly insulting tone, Sirius laughed and shook his head. "Put those away."

He reached into his own pocket, drawing out enough coins to cover both drinks, setting them down on the table.

"You're not paying. This is a date. On a proper date, the guy," he grinned at her, pointing to himself, "That's me, pays for his date. Which is you."

He stared at her with raised eyebrows until she gave in, stuffing her coins back into her pocket with a glare, though he knew the foul look was only in jest. He chuckled at her as he grabbed both of their cloaks, handing her hers. She slipped into it before wrapping her scarf around her neck, scowling when her long hair became tangled in the material, a problem she seemed to have no matter how many times she put her scarf on.

Sirius watched her attempt to free her hair with a smile tugging at his lips. When she glanced his way, her scowl deepened.

"Is this funny for you?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head, his smile growing. "Not at all."

"Oh, stuff it," she snapped.

Still grinning, Sirius stepped close to her.

"Let me," he said softly, pushing her hands away.

Gently, he unwrapped her scarf, untangling her hair, before rewrapping it around her neck, carefully pulling her hair from it. She ignored the shiver that went up her spine when his fingers brushed against her neck.

She smiled up at him with a quiet 'Thank you,' highly aware of the fact that he still held the ends of the scarf in his hands. She found herself unable to look away from his gaze, and though her mind had danced around the subject for weeks, she asked herself how she had fallen for Sirius Black.

The spell was broken when he began to tilt his head towards hers. She stepped back, immediately halting his movement.

"We probably ought to be heading back," she told him. "Lest James send out a search party."
Sirius chuckled, releasing her scarf and taking the slightest step back. "You're probably right. Shall we?"

His hand returned to the small of her back. Even though the pub was no longer crowded, he still steered her as they wove between tables, heading towards the exit. When they once again stepped out into the streets of Hogsmeade, there were not nearly as many students around, the cold weather having driven many of them back to the castle early. In no particular hurry, they slowly began to make their way back towards Hogwarts, picking their way up the now well-worn, snow-covered path.

"So was it as painful as you imagined it to be?" he asked her as they walked.

She glanced at him, crossing her arms over her chest with a shrug. She did not answer, and he realized how much it drove him crazy when she opted to remain silent.

"It couldn't have been that bad," he said rather indignantly when she remained silent.

She laughed at the look he was giving her, and shook her head, deciding to put him out of his misery.

"It was fun," she admitted, and Sirius's face instantly lit up.

"So you're saying that you enjoyed yourself?"

Her lips tilted into a smile. "Yes."

"That it wasn't as scary as you anticipated?"

"Yes."

"That you made an initial mistake when you turned me down?"

"Sirius," she sighed heavily, shaking her head. "I admitted that I had fun. Is that not enough?"

"For me?" He grinned down at her. "Never."

She was unable to stop herself from returning his grin. "I had a lot of fun. It was a mistake when I turned you down." She hesitated before she added softly, "It wasn't anything like I anticipated."

He stopped then, turning to face her. She looked up at him, several emotions playing about her face.

"You know I would never hurt you, don't you?" he asked her softly, his hand coming up to rest on her shoulders.

She gave him a small smile. "It's taken me awhile," she replied. "But I think I'm beginning to see that now."

"I like you a lot, Samantha," he told her, his grey eyes searching hers carefully to make sure he would not press too far. One of his hands came up to brush a few stray hairs out of her face. "But I don't want anything to come between us, to make you uncomfortable. So it's all up to you. If you want things to end here, they can. And we'll stay friends."

She stared up at him for so long that he began to think that he had said something wrong. Her eyes gave away nothing, and he wished that he could read her mind. Perhaps all of this had been a mistake.

"Sam, I'm sorry," he said in an attempt to fill the silence. "I should have never pressed you into this. We can just pretend it didn't happen. We can-"

A small shake of her head cut him off, and she smiled up at him.

"There's one problem about pretending this didn't happen."

His brow furrowed, and once again he found himself wanting to know what was going on in her mind.

"What's that?"

She was suddenly on her toes, her right hand resting on the back of his head, pulling him closer. Their lips met, and though Sirius was surprised, he only hesitated for a brief moment before he kissed her back. Their kiss only lasted a few seconds, but he did not care. It had still happened.

"We'd have to pretend that that didn't happen," she whispered as she pulled away.

For once in his life, Sirius was speechless. She stood there smiling at him before she turned and began walking towards the castle once again. He recovered quickly, he would not be Sirius Black if he hadn't, and he jogged to catch up to her, falling into step with her.

"Does this mean that if I asked you on another date, you'd say yes?"

"Well," she replied, "I happen to know someone who has yet to do his potions essay. And I still need to do mine." She glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye.

He smiled, letting out a short laugh. "I thought we'd agreed that homework doesn't exactly count as a date?"

"I guess not," she said with a small shrug. "But if you play your cards right, perhaps I'll let you kiss me again."

"And that," he took her hand in his, "Sounds like the perfect way to spend the evening."

End Chapter