Sorry for not updating again guys, I've had some real trouble with how I was going to go about this chapter, but alas, here it is…

Anyway, again, I'm telling you what music I was listening to while writing this chapter so if you feel like it you can listen to it while reading or something... This time it was 'Little Talks', 'Mountain Sound', 'Your Bones' and 'King and Lionheart' all by the epic band Of Monsters and Men (I love their name and their music so much!).

And I realised that the name Ariana is also the name of Dumbledore's sister. Just to be clear, there is no connection between the two nor is it any kind of plot point in the story. It's just a mistake. Sorry guys.

"There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back,

Well tell her that I miss our little talks,

Soon it will be over and buried with our past,

We used to play outside when we were young,

And full of life and full of love,"

–Of Monsters and Men 'Little Talks'

Chapter Twenty-Five:

I was good at keeping secrets. I've kept many important secrets over the years; never said a word about the boy's being animagus, or Remus being a werewolf. My lips were sealed when my sister Sarah asked me not to preform magic or talk about wizardry in front of her two-year-old son Marcus. Yes, I was quite good at it indeed, but that was mainly because I never actually wanted to tell. I'd never had the inclination to grass to another about anything, but now… now all I wanted was to run up to Sirius, jump on his bed and tell him all about the Order and tell Remus that Dumbledore knew it wasn't werewolves causing the disappearances and tell James that his parents were here and tell Peter… actually I didn't want to tell Peter anything…

"Hey Riley, wait up!" Called a voice from down the corridor and I turned, glad to see that it was Frank and no one else.

"Howzit goin' Frank," I smiled genuinely.

He wore a giant grin on his face, "I asked out Alice,"

"'Bout time, mate," I rolled my eyes, "What she say?"

He laughed, "Oh, she said yes, but she looked kinda confused at the start… I guess I mumbled a bit,"

"You do tend to do that when you're nervous…" I nodded in agreement.

"So how're things with Sirius going?" he asked casually, but there was genuine concern in his eyes.

I gave him quite a shocked look. How did he know of my purposefully-kept-secret crush on Sirius? For a second I stared at him blankly before mumbling stupidly, "W-what?"

"Alice said you were fighting… I was just wondering…" he said slowly unsure if he was right or wrong after my unusual reaction.

Realisation washed over me like a wave and I remembered that as well as crushing on Sirius, I currently hated him too, or well, I was desperately trying to. I don't even care if that makes no sense.

I managed to mumble out an answer, "I haven't spoken to him yet… I've been busy."

Now it was his turn to give me a shocked look, "Did I just hear Riley O'Conner say she was putting something else above her best friend? Are you sure you're not avoidinghim, by any chance?"

I sighed.

"Okay, yes, I'm avoiding him…" I muttered bitterly.

Frank clapped his hand on my shoulder, "Don't give up, go talk to him. You too have the strongest friendship I've ever seen in my life and it'd be a shame to waste it over a petty fight,"

I looked up at the tall, lanky boy, "What if he doesn't want to talk to me? What if I'm too late?"

"Hey, think of it like this, if Sirius is half the good a friend he seems to be, he'd wait forever – just like I knew you would for him. Loyal to the bone and blood you two are," he winked.

I smiled slightly, "Thanks Frank,"

"Don't mention it, but I've gota run, I'm meeting Alice soon…" he grinned and walked off whistling.

"Good luck!" I called after him, but I was unsure on whether he heard. Hitching my bag higher on my shoulder I sighed deeply; it was time to set something straight.

I started with the simple one; Lily Evans. Okay, maybe not that simple, but it was simpler than facing Sirius and his cold grey eyes…

Not knowing where she'd be, I made my way towards our dorm room. Inside sat three of my other dorm mates, two of which were complete bitches and I did my best to avoid most days (unless I'm looking for a fight) and the other I didn't know very well, but chose to approach her instead of having to face down with the others. I didn't have time for a verbal battle of wits today.

"Hey, do you know where Lily is?" I asked the mousey looking girl.

She peered up from her book, looking slightly startled, "Are you talking to me?"

I rolled my eyes, "No shit. So, do you know where she is or not?"

The girl nodded, pushing her glasses up her nose, "The Prefect meeting should be ending around now…"

"Kay, thanks… what's your name again?" I asked as I headed to the door.

"Emma Bell… we've shared a room for five years," She frowned.

"Right, well, see ya' later!" I called and ran out the door towards the Library. As I approached I saw Remus and Lily walking out the door and walked straight up to them.

"Hey guys," I grinned.

Remus smirked, "What's up, Riley? What's the rush? James blow himself up or something?"

Lily snorted, "Only in my dreams…"

"Actually, I'm here to talk to Lily…" I smiled.

His eyebrows shot up and Lily gave me a questioning look, "Huh?"

"You want to talk to me? Well, there's a first for everything, ain't there…" Lily shook her head in disbelief, "So what do you want?" I could hear the habitual edge of suspicion and animosity in her voice, but I ignored it.

"I just wanted to say thank you, and ask that you not mention any of what happened the other day to anybody…" I trailed off, eyeing Remus who looked more confused than ever before (which was quite a feat).

Lily looked shocked by my thanks, but did her best to hide it, "Oh… o-okay," she replied uneasily.

"Thank you," I smiled very slightly, "But this doesn't mean I like you,"

She nodded in agreement, "Don't worry, I still don't like you either,"

"Okay then, well, goodbye – you coming Remus?" I asked.

He gave me a slightly dazed look, "Y-yeah… see you later Lily,"

She waved and walked off in the other direction.

Remus stoped to look at me for a moment, "You are so weird," was all he said.

"It's a gift," I grinned.

He looked at me with a lopsided grin, "So what was that about anyway?"

"She helped me out; I was just sayin' thanks," I shrugged, "Even if she is a joy-sucking bitch most of the time,"

He sighed and mumbled, "And that's why I love you,"

I stopped walking, the smile falling of my face replaced with a frown, "Remus… I–"

"I know, I know… you don't feel like that, I didn't mean to say it, I won't say anything again," he spoke hastily.

I shook my head, "No, you're allowed to feel however you want, I just was you to understand that the feeling not returned. I do love you, but as a friend and nothing more, I'm sorry Remus,"

He looked up at me with sad smile, "I know, how could anybody love me anyway? I'm a werewolf for Merlin's sake. I should stop kidding myself,"

I graved his shoulders and looked directly into his blue eyes, "Remus, one day, you'll find a wonderful girl who loves you for you and all of your furry-little-problem. And although your wolf-ish nature means nothing to me, I'm not that girl, but she's out there somewhere waiting and when you find her make sure you never let go, okay?"

"Okay, I won't," he nodded.

I smiled at him up at him, "Good, because you really are a great guy and although you may not see it yourself, others do,"

"Thanks Riley, you're a good friend," he returned the smile.

"I know. I'm absolutely bloody fantastic, and don't you go forgetting it, mister," I joked and we kept walking.

When we reached the Common Room I said goodbye to Remus who had an Arithmetic's essay to write. I scanned my eyes around the room, and couldn't find Sirius so I began walking towards our usual spot hoping he'd be there.

"Hey Riley,"

I spun around to find Sirius standing behind me. Why does everybody always sneak up on me?

At first I kinda gaped at him, "Sirius? Uh…"

"Please don't run away… I know you've been avoiding me,"

I evaded Sirius's eyes, "Sorry 'bout that,"

"I also got yelled at by Lily…" he said slowly.

My eyes snapped up, "What?"

"She told me about how she found you in the bathroom," he said calmly, "I'm so sorry, Riley,"

"Excuse me, when was this?" I asked sharply – angry at Lily, not Sirius.

"After she told you to go to the Prefect bathroom, she stormed into our dorm and hit me repetitively for being such a dick," he smiled sheepishly.

I nodded in agreement, "Well you were being a dick, but I was acting like a complete bitch so we're even… I'm sorry too, and I do think Ariana's good for you, even if my drunk-self disagrees,"

Merlin, how it hurt to say that, but it was true. I did believe

He laughed slightly, "And I shouldn't draw conclusions about things when I don't understand them… I just saw you to hugging in the library and assumed…"

"It's alright, I've been really stressed recently and I guess I kinda cracked and took it all out on you," I sighed.

Sirius huffed, "But there's the problem, you're my best friend, and I didn't even notice how strained you were in the first place when I should have. I'm a horrible friend,"

I laughed, "Well, you've been pretty busy yourself,"

He smiled slightly, "I guess I have, Ariana can be quite a handful sometimes, and with the death of Caroline... it hurts to see the tear stains on her cheeks,"

"Do you love her?" I asked in a quiet voice.

He looked up at me, right in the eyes, "I… I don't know,"

Hope this was better than last chapter. It's quite packed with stuffs.

Now, I was thinking of doing a Remus/Tonks story later on. Depending on what you guys want, Riley might feature in it also. Let me know in your reviews what you want.

PLEASE REVIEW!