It's dance time! Enjoy the cute couple-y moment why you have it! It's my gift to you for all the love I've been getting!

Also, to address one of the reviews, Sirius is going to have a hard time being in a stable and happy relationship because of his past (family and romantically) and he's just learning to trust in a romantic partner (as we'll see next chapter).

Read and Review!

Love, Essie

When you looked over your shoulder
For a minute, I forget that I'm older
I wanna dance with you right now, oh
And you look as beautiful as ever
And I swear that every day you'll get better
You make me feel this way somehow

~Say You Won't Let Go, James Arthur

James was talking to Dany the next morning before classes when Sirius pulled her away from him. James winked at his mate before telling Dan he wasn't going to wait on them. He made it down to the Great Hall and saw that everyone was already there.

"Hey." Remus said. "Where's Padfoot?"

"With Dan. I think they'll be down soon." He said, not giving anyone details. Poor Padfoot was stressed out enough about this without James spreading word that he was now buying his girlfriend flowers. Remus seemed to accept that and went back to simultaneously reading and eating. It was an art form, honestly.

Dany and Sirius didn't show up to breakfast, but they were both in Charms immediately after. They walked in just before class started and James didn't miss how they both looked just slightly disheveled and how Dany's cheeks were a tiny bit more flushed than usual.

Ew.

Sirius sat down next to James and Dany took her seat between Lily and Marlene, who both started questioning her. She said something in response and when Dany turned her head to say something to Lily, James could see that she was smiling, even with her pink cheeks.

"Everything go okay?" James murmured and Sirius nodded. "Did you enjoy your snog?" He added and Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Actually, don't answer that." He changed his mind, his attention turning to the girls two desks in front of him. "You made her really happy, you know." He commented and glanced over at Sirius to see his reaction. He looked up at Dany and nodded slowly.

"I hope so."

"You know it's really weird getting ready without a bowtie." James said and there was a sound of general agreement from the other guys. James glanced at the dress pants and button down.

"I feel like I'm in my school clothes." Sirius said and James had to agree.

"It's pretty close except for the fact that it's not wrinkled as hell." Remus commented from where he was digging through his trunk and looking for his nicer shoes. "The real difference is going to be for the girls though; they're all going to be in dresses." He added on and James thought about Lily in a dress and he smiled a little, despite the fact that she really wanted very little to do with him, especially now that their friends were dating and they had no common cause.

"Oh yeah…I forgot about that. At least it'll be a nice change of pace from school skirts." James said and there was another sound of agreement. "Well, let's get to it. Oh, and Padfoot mate? Keep your hands off my Godsister, at least in public, tonight." He added on and Sirius rolled his eyes. The party was starting just before sundown and would last for at least four hours.

"I'll do my best, Prongs." He said and James shrugged.

"I'm just saying. The press would love to have a good picture of you groping her ass." He said and Sirius looked interested by that.

"We're at school, James. There's no press." He said and James shook his head slightly. He didn't understand yet. He'd figure it out soon enough, James thought; he'd have to.

"There's always press, man. If they're not here, someone'll sell them pictures. Watch yourself." He said warningly and Sirius nodded before the guys left their room and walked down the stairs, changing the subject to more lighthearted topics. James took a bet with Remus about how long Sirius would stare at Dany before he said anything to her. James was saying for more than five minutes between when she was visible on the stairs and when he finally spoke and Remus said less. Sirius had no idea this was happening. They all thought that Frank wouldn't have this problem seeing that he and Alice was an established couple and the allure of dresses wore off eventually. Sirius told Remus not to start drooling when Marlene finally came downstairs.

"Be nice, boys. Remus just has it bad for a girl he thinks he can't have; one would think that Sirius would be more understanding considering it took him three years to finally get the girl." Alice said from behind them all. Frank smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"You look gorgeous, Al." He said and James thought that this was rather cute, despite also thinking that it was uncomfortable to be around.

"Thank you. But be nice to Remus, he's just…blind to the obvious." She said and Marlene suddenly appeared.

"What's Remus oblivious to?" She asked and Al shrugged.

"Not much, outside of the fact that Potter and Black are gay for each other." She said dismissively and James and Sirius both protested.

"Oi, I'm no such thing, Prewett!" James said. Sirius looked unhappy with that.

"We're not gay, thank you very much. Prongs is still desperately in love with Lily and I have a girlfriend. I think we're taken, and definitely not with each other." He said and suddenly a couple of people started laughing at the top of the stairs. It was Dany and Lily. Lily was in a simple green sundress and white wedges and she looked absolutely stunning, even though James was normally opposed to the color green purely because he didn't like the association with Slytherin. Dany looked lovely as well, in a thick-strapped blue sundress with red flowers on it and a pair of tall red wedges.

"It's nice to know that I'm not being compared to James all of the time." She said lightly and both girls started to walk down the stairs, obviously watching each other in case one tripped. Sure enough, Lily started to stumble and everyone gasped. Dany caught her and steadied her; she was much more used to the heels and was able to not only keep her balance, but also save her friend from a nosedive. Lily looked at her friend gratefully.

"This is why we can't survive without each other." She said and Dany laughed and shrugged.

"It all comes with practice Lillian. Now, let's get you on the ground before you have a broken nose." She said and the girls finally were on flat ground, with both of their faces intact. Dany let go of Lily and walked over to her boyfriend. James watched keenly, waiting to see Sirius talk. He had been looking at her like he had no intention of ever looking away but had still said nothing. Four minutes. James noticed that she was still much smaller than him, even though she was in heels that had to be at least four inches tall. He didn't have to look down so much though. She said something to him and he still didn't say anything but continued to stare. James exchanged a look with Remus, who looked like he knew he was losing his money. Five minutes. Another second later, he finally said something and she laughed and visibly said "thank you" and he kissed her, not having to stoop like James had seen him do on countless occasions to kiss his short girlfriend.

They really fucking loved each other; James thought he was glad to see that it was working out for them. He suspected that even as their relationship aged, he'd probably still look at her like he had never seen her before.

Suddenly, James caught a glimpse of Kenzie and tried to pretend he hadn't seen her. Maybe she wouldn't notice Dany looking extremely pretty and being complimented by her boyfriend if she didn't notice any of them. Maybe she wouldn't see the girl that had finally gotten the guy. No luck.

Kenzie looked over and saw them. James watched her as she caught Dany's eye; Sirius was looking away, talking to Remus despite having a hand on his girlfriend's waist at a perfectly respectable spot on her back. Sirius apparently knew more than he let on in terms of etiquette because that was a very strategic hand placement: it was far too low for friends but also high enough that it was clean. Kenzie smirked at her and mouthed something to her. James thought she had said "one week". He had no idea what that meant but it appeared that Dany knew exactly what she was referencing, judging by the look on her face that could only be classified as worried. Suddenly, her expression changed and she turned around, with a flip of her white hair. It was like Kenzie had only existed for the brief moment that Dany had allowed her to.

Lily looked pissed and walked over to Kenzie with Marlene by her side, clearly trying to avoid the attention of their best friend who undoubtedly wouldn't want them fighting her battles for her. Lily said something to Kenzie that clearly didn't go over well and Marlene added something that looked nasty. The blonde looked outraged before walking away. Lily waved patronizingly at her and Marlene smirked. James wanted to bloody kiss them both for that. He walked over to them.

"What, James?" Lily asked dryly.

"I saw what she said to Dan. What does she mean?" He asked.

"What? That 'one week' bullshit? She meant one more week until they break up." Marlene said and James raised an eyebrow.

"What? There's no way." He said and Lily nodded.

"Of course there isn't. It's a mind game; she's trying to get in Dany's head. She's trying to put her on edge and get her to start acting crazy so he'll dump her." Lily said and this interested James as much as it revolted him.

"Seriously? That actually works?"

"Yeah…it's been going on for a while, actually. She isn't the first one this has happened to. It's actually been pretty effective before." Lily added on and Marlene nodded in agreement.

"Does Sirius know?" He asked and they both shrugged.

"Doubt it. If he did, I'd be shocked." Marlene said.

"What? Why not?" He could probably get it to stop if anyone could.

"Because she's embarrassed that it's working. They're really fucking with her head and she's so…insecure, for lack of a better word, after Brady. And the girls are careful that he doesn't see; it's abundantly clear that he doesn't take kindly to her being mistreated or harassed and they don't want to be on the receiving end of that." Lily said and James could barely believe what was coming out of her mouth.

"The fact that she's in no position to stop it makes it worse, I think. She can't force them to stop because they won't listen to her, she can't go to a professor because they can't micromanage half of the female population of the school, and I know that she doesn't want to tell Sirius because she's embarrassed that she can't handle it herself. Unfortunately, he's probably the only person that could get them to shut up and leave her alone." Marlene added.

"Well take it from someone that knows, she has nothing to be worried about. He loves her—he'd probably bloody die for her if she asked him to." James said absently and Lily and Marlene looked at him sharply.

"What did you just say?" Lily asked and he shrugged.

"What? That he loves her? He does." He said.

"No, the other part." Marlene said, waving a hand and watching him intently.

"That he'd die for her? He probably would. Almost has, if we're counting his parents. That's how Spring Break happened; he wouldn't give them up, Dan and her family, I mean." He said, referencing Sirius' near-death experience.

"Does Dany know?" Lily asked and James shrugged.

"I'm not sure; I think she knows that she was involved to some extent but I don't think she's aware that she was at the heart of the argument." He said and Marlene and Lily looked over at where Dany was talking to Sirius. Sirius had no idea that his girlfriend was worried about being dumped on her ass in less than a week.

"It's lovely." Dany heard herself say as she looked around the grounds, which had been transformed into a space fit for a party. There were tables and chairs and flowers and it was all under the darkening sky.

"Yeah, it's nice." Sirius said absently and she rolled her eyes. The boy just couldn't see the beauty in a lot of things.

"It's gorgeous, Sirius Black. Look around and pretend that you don't have to be super masculine all of the time. Really look and tell me again that it's just 'nice'." She said and he laughed and she stared at him, not joking.

"Alright, alright." He said and looked around. "It's pretty. Now can we please move on? Because I totally think that you're prettier than the scenery." He said and she laughed.

"Well thank you. You know you probably just think that because you don't have to double over to see me because of these shoes." She joked and he laughed.

"Maybe a little, but I still think you're prettier than the scenery when you're your usual, shorter self." He said and she smiled as they sat down at a table.

"That's awfully kind of you." She commented and she heard Kenzie's words bouncing around. One week. One week. She tried to ignore it, she really did, but the more and more consistent the whispers became, the harder they became to ignore. It had been one thing when the guesses had ranged over the span of a month and most of them were obviously wrong because clearly no one had any idea…but now they were all saying the same thing: one week. One week until Sirius moved onto girlfriend number twelve and she joined the ever-growing list of exes.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked suddenly and Dany realized that she had been absently staring off for a good while.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." She said and forced herself to smile. "Sorry, I spaced out for a minute. What were you saying?" She said and he smiled.

"Nothing important…are you sure you're okay? You look…off." He said and looked at her face closely. It would be so easy. All she had to do was say, 'no' and there would be no going back.

"Yeah, I'm sure. So what do you think's going to happen when James inevitably asks Lily to dance tonight?" She asked and he looked at her keenly one more time before answering. He wasn't buying her line about being okay. He knew something was wrong and she could tell. She was a good liar, but so was he.

"I think she's probably going to be oddly embarrassed and then hex him out of habit." He said and looked over at where Lily, James, and Marlene were all talking. Marlene seemed to be in disagreement with the other two and Dany wondered what could possibly have Lily and James taking the same side against Marlene. Suddenly, James and Lily started walking towards Dany and Sirius.

"Dan, I need to borrow your boyfriend for a bit." James said and Sirius looked at him curiously but nodded and left with James. Lily took his seat.

"What was that all about?" She asked the redhead, who shrugged.

"Don't know. Probably something about the full moons or Quidditch or something." She said dismissively and Dany saw a muscle in her neck twitch. She was lying. Her best friend was lying to her for some reason. She let it slide. It better be a damn good reason.

"Probably…so, nice party huh? It's a good idea. I don't get outside nearly enough." Dany said and Lily nodded. She kept her eye on Sirius and James. James was doing most of the talking and suddenly, Sirius looked very pissed. Uh-oh. He said something back to James, who looked like he was saying something along the lines of "don't shoot the messenger". Sirius looked hurt momentarily and then nodded before clapping James on the shoulder and walking back towards the girls.

"Lily, if you don't mind…" He trailed off and Lily was already out of her seat.

"I'll go find Marles." She said quietly and Sirius took the chair that they had been trading back and forth.

"Why didn't you tell me about Kenzie?" He asked suddenly. Dany looked at him in surprise.

"What? How did you—?"

"Find out? Not from you and I'd really like to know why that is." He said and she raised an eyebrow. He was obviously caught somewhere between pissed and hurt, more towards pissed.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to." She said and he looked like he didn't even know how to respond.

"I'm not asking you to share everything with me, but I really want to know why you didn't tell me that they've all been screwing with you the way that they have been. Don't get me wrong, I respect your right to privacy, but I'd like to know why I heard this from James and not from you." He said and Dany wanted to kick herself for not realizing that this was what Lily and James had been in agreement on. She needed to thank Marlene for not interfering in her relationship.

"I'm going to kill Lily. She told James." She said absently.

"Will you please talk to me about this? I normally wouldn't pry but this is directly related to me; please talk to me." He asked, obviously becoming impatient and irritated with this being held back from him.

"I didn't want to tell you what they were saying because it wasn't going to do anything. And if we're going to be honest, I was embarrassed that I couldn't handle it myself. Not to mention that even though we're dating, I'm not going to be your whiny girlfriend that wants you to fix everything. It's my problem, so please let me handle it." She said and he looked like he wanted to say something but didn't. "What?" She said and he hesitated.

"Why are you so embarrassed by this? You shouldn't be embarrassed because you're being harassed by some bitchy girls; it's not your fault."

"Because I don't want to admit that it's working!" Dany finally snapped, raising her voice slightly. "This stupid little mind game is actually working and that's so fucking embarrassing because I spend my life so worried about what other people think about me." She said with a sarcastic, hard laugh. "It's pathetic really." She added, tears starting to build. She tried to push them back—she didn't want Sirius to start saying anything just to stop her from crying.

"It's working? How could they possibly convince you that we're going to break up within the next week? Are you that unhappy?" He looked genuinely hurt.

"I'm not unhappy at all, it's actually the opposite, but it's not terribly hard to convince me—ever since Brady. It's stupid but it's always there, nagging in the back of my mind." Dany said. "Like I said: pathetic." She continued to study her hands and blink in hopes of blinking her tears away.

"Hey, Dan?" He said quietly and she looked up at him from her hands.

"Yeah?" She said and he was staring at her, obviously thinking.

"I don't think I've ever actually told you this intentionally, but I love you." He said suddenly and she was shocked.

"What?" She said blankly. She was pretty sure she had heard wrong.

"I love you, I really do—and you're not pathetic. Not at all. Not even a little." James had mentioned that those words had never come out of his mouth intentionally and of his own volition. Those three little words burned the mouths of most people in his family. It was one of the most powerful arrangements of eight letters in the English language. "You shouldn't be afraid of me breaking up with you." He said and she smiled and kissed him.

"I love you too." She said quietly and he smiled a little. That was a huge step for him. Big enough to consider writing home about.

"I think Kenzie's plan might have just backfired." He said quietly and she laughed into her hand.

"I think it might have. This is all very awkward for her." Dany said with a smile and he kissed her again.

"Please let me talk to her." He said softly and she shook her head.

"No. I'm not letting you fight my fights for me. Kenzie has a problem with me so she can talk to me." She said and he nodded.

"Alright…just talk to me about what they're saying. That's all I'm asking. You shouldn't be walking around with all of that up here," he tapped her forehead and she smiled a little, "and have no one to share it with." She nodded. "So, how about dancing?" He said suddenly and she laughed.

"Are you willing to voluntarily dance? This is a landmark day for you, Sirius Black." She said and he shrugged.

"Well I have this girlfriend who really likes to dance so I think that I'm willing to—to make her happy and to make those tears go away." She rolled her eyes.

"You're just being a sap now." She said and he shrugged. "But I'm not going to turn that opportunity down. Let's go." She added on and stood up. He stood up with her and laughed. Lily caught Dany's eye and waved them over. Everyone was standing in the same general area and dancing. Sirius was distracted by James and Dany drifted over to Lily.

"I should kick your ass, Lily Evans." Dany said and Lily shrugged.

"But it worked, didn't it? Oh, I love this song!" She said and Dany laughed and allowed Lily to get her to start dancing with her. Marlene and Alice came over and started dancing with them. It was upbeat and oddly related to sex for a school-sanctioned event. Alice grabbed her boyfriend and tried to get him to do more than stand there. She was slightly successful. Dany, Marlene, and Lily, for their parts were dancing with each other. Dany enjoyed dancing and not having to worry about stepping on her dress for once. Lily was starting to really get down and Dany grinned and moved her hips roughly to the beat as an excuse for dancing so she could unabashedly laugh at her friend's horrible dancing. Suddenly someone touched her waist from behind and she turned around to say something less than friendly and along the lines of 'fuck off'. She was nose to nose with Sirius.

"Nice dancing." He said quietly and she shrugged and didn't move her face. They were about an inch away from bumping noses.

"I was busy laughing at Lily's awful dancing. Sorry it wasn't very intricate." She said and he chuckled.

"I was being serious. I didn't know that my girlfriend could move her hips like that. Please don't stop. Ever." He said seriously and she rolled her eyes.

"You should take me dancing more then." She said and he shook his head.

"I don't think it would be smiled upon if you danced and I just watched. It would probably seem a little creepy." He said and she shrugged.

"Alright, maybe a little. But you're not bad at all and should stop being so worried about it." She said and he kissed her suddenly but still carefully. That was something that always stood out between him and Brady; he was never in a hurry to stick his tongue down her throat. Brady had been pushy and invasive, even in public—especially in public, as if he wanted everyone to think that they were about ready to go off and shag. She kissed him back and then suddenly smiled a little.

"We should probably do more than stand here. People are starting to stare." He said quietly and she laughed a little and, funnily enough, the music slowed way down and people started to couple off and dance. "Would you like to dance?" He asked quietly and she smiled, allowing him to put his hands on her waist.

"I don't think I mentioned that you look different when you're not in your school clothes." She said and kissed him gently. "I kind of like it. Don't get me wrong, your normal look is good too but it's a nice change." She said quietly and he chuckled.

"Well I still feel like I'm in my school clothes. And I have to say that your dress is incredible. I don't know how women never repeat their dresses. So much money spent." He said and she shrugged.

"It's the burden that we have to carry, I suppose. Besides, it's not too bad as long as you know where to shop." She said and he didn't seem to believe her.

"Whatever you say. I'd still rather keep wearing the same dress shirt over and over again." He said and Dany shook her head slightly.

"Where's the fun in that? Variety is the spice of life." She said and he rolled his eyes. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask, but how did you know that I love tulips?" She said suddenly, referring to the red flowers he had given her when he had asked her to the dance.

"James." He said and she smiled a little, nodding.

"Not surprised. When Easter comes around, he and Charlie send Dorea, Mom, and me flowers. It's actually quite sweet." She added thoughtfully. "He usually sends yellow though. I think yellow is less associated with romance than red is, so that would probably explain it."

"I'd be having words with James if he was sending my girlfriend flowers with romantic meanings." Sirius said and Dany laughed.

"Honestly, if he did that, it'd probably be on accident. I somehow doubt that James bothers to really make sure that the flowers are super platonic before he sends them." She said and Sirius snorted, probably imagining James interrogating a florist. The mental image was really quite hilarious.

"Speaking of James, he told me to be on my good behavior tonight." Sirius said idly and Dany raised an eyebrow. "I believe he said 'there'll likely be reporters and please don't get caught touching your girlfriend's bum in public'." Dany started laughing, shaking her head.

"Oh, James. I mean he's probably right, but still. I'm afraid that if you want to touch my bum, it'll have to be in private." She sighed dramatically.

"Is the broom cupboard on our way back to the common room private enough for you?" Sirius asked and Dany felt herself blush at the mildly graphic image that brought to mind.

"That's plenty private enough. It has four walls and a door that locks and that's all that really matters." She said and he grinned.

"Excellent. We'll be sure to make a stop there after the dance."

And that's how Dany found herself in a broom cupboard on the third floor, snogging her boyfriend and eagerly trying to undo his shirt, untucking it as quickly as she could before pulling at the buttons.

"So impatient." He murmured into her neck as she removed his shirt.

"Shut up and kiss me." She whispered back before pulling his face back to hers, letting her fingers trace the defined muscles on his arms and chest. Sirius easily lifted her up and wrapped her legs around him—probably so he didn't have to continue to lean down to snog her—with his hands holding her up by her thighs, pressing her against the wall.

Dany and Sirius were perfectly happy with this arrangement for a good half hour, until they heard footsteps. They quickly dismissed them and while Dany was more concerned than Sirius, she was having a difficult time being that concerned while her boyfriend was gently kissing her jawline and neck. She sighed as he gently sucked on a particular spot on her neck before forgetting the footsteps completely and returning to actively snogging her boyfriend, her legs still around him.

Unfortunately, they didn't hear the footsteps stop outside the door—which they had forgotten to lock—and didn't realize that they were no longer alone until Professor McGonagall was standing in the open doorway, clearing her throat. They both looked over and Dany felt her face turn a flaming color of red: say what you want about Brady, but they hadn't gotten caught snogging—by a professor no less.

"Mr. Black, please place Miss Masters back on the ground." She said patiently and Sirius let Dany's legs drop, steadying her as she put her weight back onto her heels. "I'd say to explain yourselves, but I don't want to hear one nor do I think I need one. Detention tomorrow night. Come see me in my office at five. Now, I suggest going to your common room. And staying there." She said and walked away.

"Sorry about the detention." Sirius muttered, putting his shirt on quickly as Dany adjusted her dress and tried to tame her hair. She shrugged.

"It's fine. It was bound to happen eventually and as embarrassing as that was, it could have been a lot worse." She said as they started to walk back to the common room. "Do I want to ask how many times you've been caught snogging girls in broom cupboards? McGonagall didn't look very surprised."

"Caught? Never. I've never not paid attention to what was happening in the hallways before. Unfortunately for us—or fortunately, depending on how you look at it—I was giving you all of my attention and didn't bother with listening to much more than the adorable noises that you make when I kiss your neck." He said airily and Dany felt her face turn a bright shade of red at that, despite him sounding like he was talking about the weather. "I promise not to tell anyone." He added at her red face. "It can be our secret, as I somehow doubt that Brady was very satisfying and that the odds of him knowing are zero." Well, he wasn't wrong.

"I'll hand you that one. Thank you for being a good kisser. I didn't know what I was missing." She laughed as they reached the Seventh Floor. Suddenly, Peeves appeared out of nowhere. "Shit." She muttered. The poltergeist never failed to throw something at her, mainly insults. He looked excited at the prospect of terrorizing children, but didn't do anything when he actually looked at them.

"Peeves." Sirius said, nodding at the little man floating in the air. Peeves nodded back and eyed Dany, looking like he was going to start throwing something at her, like inkwells (her personal favorite). Sirius wrapped an arm around her and Peeves seemed to deflate and vanished with a pop. Dany looked over at her boyfriend questioningly. "We leave each other alone on the condition that we help each other in the battle against Flitch." He explained and Dany nodded.

"Unbelievable. You actually have an understanding with Peeves."

"It came about Third Year. It's been wonderful. He leaves James and I alone completely, but he still gives Remus some shit though. We take what we can get. He can be downright useful if we push it a bit too far and get caught; he can take the blame—they can't expel him and Dumbledore won't banish him." Sirius said.

"You crafty bastards." She said. "How didn't I know how clever you lot are?" Dany added as they walked into the common room, which was empty. Everyone had come back and gone to bed while Dany and Sirius had been snogging.

"You chose to underestimate us. Now, this is where I leave you, Miss Masters." He said pretentiously, making her laugh. Dany pulled him towards her by his shirt and kissed him deeply.

"Tell me goodnight like you bloody well mean it, Black." She whispered once she had broken off the kiss for air.

"As much as I'd love to, we've already got caught snogging once tonight. Do you really want to go for twice in one night?" Sirius said quietly as they were standing incredibly close.

"It can't possibly be worse than getting caught by McGonagall." Dany whispered back. Sirius grinned and kissed her gently, not like he had been snogging her silly in the broom cupboard half an hour ago. It seemed—there really wasn't another word for it—loving.

"Goodnight, Dan." He whispered, kissing her forehead. She closed her eyes and took in the feeling of standing there with his lips on her forehead. It was soothing in its own way.

"I love you." She whispered and she felt him smile up against her forehead.

"I love you too." He said, moving away from her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Dany." She smiled and kissed his cheek quickly before walking upstairs, leaving him behind her in the common room. When she walked into her own room, her friends were all still awake.

"And where have you been? Why didn't you tell us you'd be back late? We're in a war, you know." Lily asked somewhat accusingly.

"She's been snogging Black, now leave her alone Lily." Alice said from where she was removing her makeup. "Where was it this time?"

"Broom cupboard." Dany muttered. "How did you know?" She asked. Alice laughed and so did Marlene.

"Go look at yourself." Marles said, gesturing to the nearest mirror. Dany looked in and felt her face turn red again. Her hair was tangled and her lipstick was completely smudged. Not to mention the super-flattering bruise that was forming on the side of her neck from Sirius' mouth.

"No wonder McGonagall didn't ask for a bloody explanation." She muttered absently. Everyone gasped and looked at her.

"What did you just say?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah…I have detention tomorrow evening." Dany mumbled. "Because McGonagall caught us." She added.

"McGonagall caught you and Sirius snogging in a broom cupboard?" Lily asked. "Please tell me that you were just snogging."

"Oh my God, yes Lily! We were definitely just snogging." Dany said loudly. "Maybe Sirius wasn't completely clothed, but we were just snogging." She added on without thinking and then wanted to kick herself.

"What?!" The other three girls screamed and Dany ran into the bathroom.

"Going to shower!" She said through the door, hoping to outlast her roommates and that they'd go to sleep.