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.

I meant to have this up earlier today, but it took me forever to get through the proof reading and editing, mostly because I've been busy. I'm in the middle of finals and on top of that, packing up to move back home, so things have been really hectic, especially the past few days. Hopefully I'll pick up on updates again over the Christmas break, but no promises. As always, a huge thanks to those of you that reviewed. I love to hear your feedback.

Enjoy!

Fate

Chapter Twenty-Five

"Did you hear about Sam's brother?" Lily asked softly, breaking a silence that had been, in her opinion, quite long enough.

From where he was walking beside her, strangely quiet, James glanced over at her and grinned. "I sure did. I can't believe Adrien's getting married. I'm never going to let him hear the end of it."

One of Lily's eyebrows rose. "Is there something wrong with marriage, James?"

"No, no," he replied quickly, waving his hands in the air. "But when we were younger, Adrien used to say that he'd never fall in love with some stupid girl." A smile spread across his lips. "But I suppose we all grow up, don't we?"

Lily stared at him for a long moment before saying slowly, "Yes, I suppose we do."
They were patrolling the corridors, checking for students out of their common room after hours. It was the first patrol they had done together in weeks. Between all of their homework and the fact that quidditch season was in full swing (James had led the Gryffindor team to victory against Hufflepuff just a few days ago), they were finding it hard to schedule patrols together. Lily had taken to patrolling with Remus on days that James was unable to attend.

"So, how are you handling everything?" Lily asked him, breaking yet another silence that had fallen around them. So far, there had been no students out after curfew, and they'd fallen into the pattern of walking through the corridors silently. They were heading back to the common room now, having given up on finding anyone stowed away in a broom cupboard.

"Handling everything?" James repeated, squinting down at her in confusion. Lily shook her head and glanced back ahead, realizing she was staring at him.

"You know, all of your responsibilities," she clarified for him. "You have your Head Boy duties, you're captain of the quidditch team, and on top of that, all of the homework the professors have been giving us. It's a lot for one person."

James shrugged and an unconcerned smile played across his lips. "I can handle it. I just have to carefully balance everything out, push less important things back on my to-do list."

Lily gave him a small smile. "Such as pranking?"

Shrugging again, he brought his hand to the back of his head to ruffle his hair. "I do it when I can, but for the most part I only have time to give the others my opinion on whatever they're planning and let them do the deed without me. But it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make…" his hazel eyes turned towards her as he stopped walking. She met his gaze, and his eyes seemed to bore into her. "To spend more time with you."

Lily seemed taken aback at this response and a light coloring of red rose in her cheeks. "James…" she said softly.

"I know I've said this a thousand times," James continued, "But I've never just told you."

Lily smiled at him as her blush deepened. "I never thought that I'd say this, but I've really been enjoying spending time with you, James." Her gaze moved downward as she fidgeted slightly.

James's breath hitched in his throat and he dared to hope that maybe, just maybe this time, it would work.

"Lily," his voice was suddenly serious, and he could not bring himself to meet her gaze. "Slughorn's having a Christmas party this year, and I know he expects us both to be there. I was wondering…I was wondering if maybe you would do me the honor of accompanying me."

For a long moment, all Lily could do was stare at him. He had not asked her on a date since returning to Hogwarts in September, and she had thought that he had given up. But instead of the dread she had once expected, hope bubbled in her stomach.

"James," she said softly, and his eyes hesitantly met her gaze. "I'd love to go to the Christmas party with you."

James sighed heavily and shook his head at her reply. "It's alright," he said quietly. "I understand. It was a long shot. I suppose we should get back to the common room then."

Lily frowned at his dejected look as he turned and began to head down the corridor. She recovered quickly and followed after him, grabbing hold of his hand to stop him. He paused his steps and turned to look at her hesitantly. She shook her head at him and smiled gently.

"I said that I'd love to go to the party with you, James," she said to him again.

He stared at her disbelieving for a long moment, allowing her words to sink in.

"You said yes?"

Her smile grew larger. "Yes."

For the remainder of their walk, James was unable to wipe the grin off of his face. They walked in a comfortable silence until James broke it when they paused outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Was what I said cheesy?" he asked her.

"Maybe just a little," Lily replied, her own smile still upon her face. "But it was sweet and I knew it was true, so cheesy is okay."

James took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips, planting a soft kiss upon her knuckles before releasing her hand and giving the password to the portrait.

"Good night, Evans," he said to her before ducking into the common room.

Lily lingered for a moment longer, her hand tingling where he had kissed her.

James did not pause in the common room, but marched straight up to the seventh year boys' dormitory. He found Sirius right where he expected to, seated upon his bed and surrounded by school work. James did not say anything, only headed for Sirius and seated himself on the foot of the bed. After a moment, Sirius slowly lifted his gaze up to look at James, an odd look upon his face.

"Is there something I can help you with, Prongs?"

"Guess what just happened," James said, ignoring Sirius's question. "I'll bet you'll never guess."

Sirius's quizzical look deepened. "Why don't you just enlighten me and save us both some time?" he suggested impatiently.

"Fine, fine," James relented. "I was just on patrol with Evans. And I asked her to go with me to Slughorn's Christmas party."

"And?" Sirius prodded, eyebrows raised.

"She said yes!" James shouted excitedly, his eyes dancing behind his glasses.

Sirius's eyebrows rose even more. "I honestly never thought I'd see the day." A grin spread across his face. "Congratulations, Prongs. Maybe you're not as mental as we thought."

James scoffed. "I told you lot that you shouldn't doubt me. It was only a matter of time before she fell for me."

The other boy rolled his eyes. "It's just one date. It's not as if she's agreed to marry you."

James's eyes gleamed. "Yet."

Sirius shook his head, but did not argue. Lily Evans had agreed to go on a date with him after all, something Sirius, Remus, and Peter had told him would never happen. Who was to say that they wouldn't get married one day?

"What about Sam?" Sirius questioned. "I thought the two of you had agreed to go together."

James's face fell and he cursed. "I forgot," he muttered. "She'll be happy for me, but she'll also never let me hear the end of it, abandoning her at Slughorn's party."

"That's the consequence of asking Evans on a date and having her actually say yes," Sirius informed him before dropping his gaze back to his homework. It did not take him long for him to feel James's gaze burning the top of his head, and almost reluctantly, he lifted his gaze back up.

"Have I got grey hairs or something?" he asked, running a hand through his hair, knowing for a face that he did not have a single one.

James ignored the snide question. "You could take her," he said instead.

Sirius frowned deeply. "Not that I'm not flattered, but wouldn't it be odd, me taking Lily to the party when she's finally agreed to go on a date with you?"

James rolled his eyes. "Not Lily. Sam."

Sirius stared at him for a long moment before he dropped his gaze once again. "You're mental."

"Oh, come on," James whined. "The two of you dated. Surely you can handle one night on a date. As just friends, I feel the need to add."

"Right. Dated, Prongs. As in the past tense." Sirius glanced up. "As in no longer are together. And it's like that for a reason."

"Is there a reason?" James challenged.

"Don't you start that again," Sirius snapped.

"And why not? You've still got feelings for her."
"I have not," Sirius protested.

For a long moment, James gave him a flat look. Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"I don't."

James still did not look like he believed him, but Sirius gave up arguing with him. When James got an idea in his head, there was no changing it.

"Well," James eventually said. "Whether you've got feelings or not, there's no reason why you can't ask her to go as friends."

Sirius was quick to say, "I've got two very good reasons. One, as you are very well aware, I avoid Slughorn's little get togethers like the plague. And two, even if I did agree, she'd never say yes."

James shrugged. "You won't know until you ask."

Sirius pinned James with a glare. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd planned this."

"Then it's a good thing you know better. But it doesn't mean that you can't go along with it."

For a long moment, Sirius only stared at him. Eventually, he sighed heavily. "If I agree, will you shut up?"

A delighted grin spread across James's face. "Really?" he asked, having not expected Sirius to give in.

"But only if she agrees," Sirius told him. "I'm only going to give her a chance to say yes or no."

"And she'll say yes, of course."

Sirius shook his head and moved his gaze back down to his homework. "We'll see."

James leaned closer to him, his hazel eyes dancing. "Lily Evans said yes to me today."

Sirius felt his bed shift as James stood and strode from the room, leaving him in peace once more. But he did not feel at peace. His stomach was beginning to knot and it only grew worse the more he wondered why he always allowed James to talk him into these things.

"Hold still," Amber admonished, pausing her work to grab hold of Samantha's shoulders and hold her steady. "Stop squirming."

Samantha glared at Amber's reflection in the mirror before her. "Maybe if you weren't taking so long, I'd had been more inclined to sit still. I don't even see why you feel the need to bother."

"Oh, stop complaining. You've got to look your best. Sirius asked you on a date. You've got to make him regret breaking up with you."

"I broke up with him," Samantha reminded her. "And we're only going to the party as friends, remember?"

Amber sighed as she ran the tip of her wand down a small strand of Samantha's normally wavy hair, causing it to become perfectly straight. "You may be going to the party as friends, but there's no telling what you'll leave as."

Samantha pulled a face. "Why aren't you putting your efforts into Lily?" she asked, glancing over at the red-head who was applying a small amount of make-up in front of another mirror. "She's going on a real date."

"Because," Amber sniffed in response, "Lily could show up to the party dressed up as a house elf and James Potter would still worship her."

"I think 'worship' is a bit strong." At the flat looks she received, Lily sighed. "Alright, perhaps he does," she relented. "But either way, I'm most certainly not showing up dressed as a house elf."

Twenty minutes later, and five more times of Amber telling Samantha to hold still, her hair was done. Amber finished off her work by pinning back some of her hair with a silver-jeweled clip that would match Samantha's dress robes. Amber could not stop telling her how nice her hair looked straightened, not to mention the length it added to the already long hair, and though she still thought it was too much, Samantha had to agree that it looked nice.

They took turns putting on their dress robes. Lily put hers on first, and when she emerged from the bathroom, Amber and Samantha exclaimed about how beautiful she looked. Giving them a small smile and tugging at her robes a bit, she asked if she really did. She hadn't dressed up much, especially in the wizarding world, and she was a tad bit uncomfortable in her robes, but they assured her that she looked wonderful.

Her robes were lavender, made out of a sleek material that hugged her body in just the right places. Two skinny straps held the robes up by her shoulders, and the skirt fell to just past her knees. She had curled her red hair lightly and had piled it into a loose bun, allowing a few loose strands to frame her face.

"Just wait," Samantha said to her. "James's eyes are going to bug out of his head when he sees you."

At their urging, Samantha moved into the bathroom to slip into her own robes. She took her time slipping into the light pink material. Her robes where strapless and fitted at the top before opening into a flowing skirt, silver jewels lining the material where the bodice ended and the skirt began. Unlike Lily's shorter robes, hers reached to the ground. It was one of her favorite pairs of dress robes, and it had been awhile since she had worn them. Since Voldemort's increase in power over the past few years, the fancy get togethers she had grown up going to had dwindled down to nearly nothing. It felt nice to be dressed up.

She'd been surprised when Sirius had approached her about going to the party as, he'd emphasized, just friends. It had been obvious when he'd explained why he was asking that James had had to practically twist his arm to get him to agree. Not that she blamed him. She would have been the same way. But between his explanation and the way James was staring at them intently across the room, she hadn't been able to bring herself to say no. This way, at least, she'd have someone to talk to.

Ignoring how nervous she had become at the thought of going on a date with Sirius, even if it was just as friends, she stepped out of the bathroom and allowed Lily and Amber to fuss over her as she and Amber had done to Lily.

Amber was busy making last minute adjustments to what she claimed to be her masterpieces when Morgan stepped into the room. When she caught sight of the three girls, she sneered.

"Look at us, all dressed up to go to our little party."

"You're just jealous because you weren't invited," Amber snapped. "Slughorn doesn't find you have enough potential to bother with."

"In case you didn't notice, you weren't invited either."

"I was, actually," Amber replied, glancing at Lily, who had been the one who had asked her to come. "But it's not really my thing. I've got more exciting plans tonight."

"I'm sure you do," Morgan sniffed, giving Amber one final condescending look before turning to her trunk.

The three girls moved towards the door. Just as they had reached it, Morgan called out, "I thought you'd learned your lesson about boys like Sirius Black. And I do hope you don't plan on winning him back wearing that. He tends to like girls dress a little…scantier."

Clenching her jaw, Samantha turned back around. "He asked me to go with him," she hissed through her teeth. "And I'm not hoping to win back anything. We're only going as friends. But I wouldn't expect you to know about that."

Before Morgan could retort, they moved out of the room, Amber whispering, "Well done," as they began to descend the stairs.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Sirius muttered, fidgeting in his dress robes as he and James stood waiting in the common room. James had lost count of how many times he had said the very same thing over the course of the day.

"Is the thought of spending the evening with Samantha really so terrible?" James asked, glancing sharply at him.

"No," Sirius replied, tugging at his tie. "The thought of the party itself is so terrible. And these robes," he fidgeted again. "I hate dress robes."

James hid a smile. "I hadn't noticed."

"Stuff it."

"You've grown up having to wear them at parties. I'd think you'd be used to them by now."

Sirius snorted. "And I suppose that means you're completely comfortable in them?"

James shrugged. "They don't bother me much. Not that I'm thrilled to be going to Slughorn's party."

Sirius gave him sideways look. "Yes you are. Because you're taking Evans."

James grinned broadly. "I know. I still can't believe it, mate."

"Neither can I," Sirius replied. "Maybe she'll realize that she made a mistake and back out at the last moment," he teased, shooting a smirk James's way. The other boy did not see that he had heard him, however. His eyes were glued across the room.

Sirius followed James's gaze to see that Lily had descended the stairs and entered the common room. He had to admit that she looked lovely, but he nudged James and told him that he was drooling a bit. James shot him a glare before wiping his mouth with his sleeve and moving to meet Lily, gushing at her about how beautiful she looked.

Sirius followed behind James, his hands shoved in his pockets. Samantha stepped off of the staircase behind Lily, and he found his steps faltering. He had never seen her dressed so beautifully before. They'd both grown up going fancy get-togethers and parties, but their families had moved in two very different circles. His family never associated with anyone deemed to be a blood-traitor. Though both pure of blood, their paths had never even crossed until he had sat in the compartment that she had been sharing with James on their first train ride to Hogwarts.

Suddenly aware that he was staring, he made himself step forward, hoping no one had noticed. She smiled when she caught sight of him, and eyed him.

"You clean up nicely," she informed him, nodding her approval.

He chuckled before saying, "So do you."

James had begun to pull Lily out of the common room, exclaiming about them being late. Normally, he would not have cared, but any time spent with Lily was valuable. He called at Sirius to hurry up as they disappeared through the portrait hole.

Rolling his eyes, Sirius said, "I suppose we ought to get going."

Samantha nodded and after she glanced back at Amber, who gave her an encouraging smile, she followed Sirius out of the common room. They did not hurry to catch up with James and Lily, who had turned a corner and disappeared right when they had emerged into the corridor, but not before they noticed that they were holding hands.

As they began to make their way down the corridor, Sirius kept glancing at Samantha out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to offer her his arm, as he would if it was any other sort of date. But this was not just any date. They had made the boundary of friends, and he was not sure what would be crossing the line and what wouldn't be. With any other girl, he would not be worried. But this was Samantha, the one girl he had ever cared for enough to have an actual relationship with. He was hesitant to admit that he still had feelings for her, even to himself, but in moments such as this, it was all that he was aware of.

Deciding that it would be the gentlemanly thing to do, he hesitantly offered her his arm. She looked surprised at first, but then she smiled and slipped her arm through his. Grinning to himself, he tightened his arm around hers.

"You do realize that you owe me for this, right?" he asked her as they made their way towards where Slughorn was hosting his party. "I've avoided Slughorn's little get togethers ever since we first started at Hogwarts, no matter how hard he tried to get me to come."

She gave him a sideways look. "I believe it's James that owes you," she told him. "It was his idea, remember? I just went along with it."

"Why?" he asked. "I've wondered ever since you agreed so easily. I thought you would be wary of a date with me."

"I was," she admitted. "I am. But…" she turned to look at him, a smile upon her face. "I didn't really fancy having to go to Slughorn's parties alone. I've always resented Adrien for getting me mixed up in his little parties."

"I can't blame you. If I survive this night, James is going to owe me."

Neither one wanted to admit that they were disappointed when they could finally hear the music from the party. They had been enjoying their walk through the castle, and the noise of the party seemed undesirable when compared to their walk.

Sirius stopped suddenly, pulling Samantha to a halt as well, and she gave him a quizzical look.

"What's wrong?"

Sirius's grey eyes were dancing as he glanced first at the party at the end of the corridor, and then back at her.

"Let's skip the party."

Her eyes filled with surprise. She glanced down the corridor from where loud chatter and music drifted towards them. A group of students dressed in their own dress robes shuffled past them.

"We can't skip," Samantha told him. "I promised Slughorn that I'd be there."

Sirius shrugged. "Tell him you were ill. We're going home in the morning; he won't ever know. He'll probably have forgotten that you didn't come by the time Christmas is over." When she cast another uncertain look towards the party, he leaned down so that his eyes were level with hers. "I know you don't want to go."

Slowly, a smile spread across her face until she was grinning. At her nod, he returned her grin and grabbed hold of her hand, pulling her back down the corridor. They went around corners and up several different flights of stairs, putting plenty of distance between themselves and the partygoers. They stopped not too far from Gryffindor Tower so that when they decided to head back to the common room, they would not have far to go.

Still smiling and slightly breathless, Samantha settled herself down on a windowsill, the moon, half full, casting an odd glow upon the grounds below. She was mindful of her dress, and though pleased at the thought of not having to go through with the party after all, she wished she could have skipped it in more comfortable clothing. Sirius was obviously thinking the same thing; as he sat down opposite her, he tugged at his tie, loosening it considerably. Following his lead, she leaned down and slipped off her uncomfortable shoes, drawing her now free feet up onto the sill, leaning her back against the wall and relaxing with a sigh.

"This may be your best idea yet," she told him. "I've been dreading that party all week."

He nodded. "And we'll get away with it, too, as long as James and Lily don't notice."

She smiled softly. "They'll be too wrapped up in each other to notice. I'll bet they spend the whole night dancing."

Sirius snorted. "I still can't believe she finally agreed to a date with him."

"I knew it was only a matter of time. I could tell she was starting to wear down."

Her gaze moved to the grounds below. He wasn't quite sure, but by the far off look in her eyes, he thought she might be thinking of her family. He knew she was looking forward to the morning, when they would board the Hogwarts Express to go home for the Christmas holidays. He had to admit that he was looking forward to it as well. It would be the first Christmas holiday that he hadn't spent at Hogwarts since he'd moved in with the Potters. He looked forward to spending Christmas with them, with the exception of the Christmas party Mrs. Potter was planning – it did not matter who was hosting the party, he still disliked them. According to James, this was the first party his parents had thrown or attended in several years, but his mother had decided that they were long overdue a night in which they could forget about the war. James had told him several members of the Order would be in attendance.

"You look beautiful tonight," he said to break the silence, causing her to turn and look at him in surprise. "I don't think I told you that earlier."

"Thank you," she said, a hand coming up to toy with the ends of her hair. "It's a shame, really. Amber went through all this work for me to spend the night sitting in the corridor. She'll kill me when she finds out."

"Then we shouldn't tell her," Sirius replied with a sly grin.

When her eyes got the far off look again, he frowned.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. She lifted her gaze to meet his. "You'll be with them tomorrow."

A smile tugged at her lips. "I forget that you can tell when I'm thinking about my family," she said softly. At his expectant look, she sighed and shrugged her shoulders, her hands playing with the skirt of her robes. "I got a letter from my father the other day. It was a normal enough letter, but I dunno. He repeated questions that I'd answered in my last letter. It seemed like he was worried about something, preoccupied."

Sirius furrowed his brow. "I'm sure it's nothing," he assured her. "He's probably just busy with work. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

She smiled slightly, nodded, and promptly changed the subject to the homework they had been assigned for over the break. He allowed the subject change, and told her that they ought to have a day where they got together and spent the entire day knocking out their homework. They'd been assigned a manageable amount; the teachers weren't heartless enough to assign them a never-ending mountain of it for their Christmas holiday. Mostly because they knew it would never get done. But they'd still assigned enough to make their students groan in frustration.

They lost track of how long they sat there talking. Later, they would not even be able to recall what they had talked about. They were enjoying this rare moment together, out of the watchful eyes of their friends, their gazes alone screaming that the two of them should stop being daft and get back together. It was nice, being away from that sort of pressure, having no one expecting anything of them. Sirius did not know about her, but he wished the moment could continue a lot longer than it would be able to. It was too rare a moment to have it be so short.

He had just finished telling her about how the full moon fell on Christmas this year and that because of this, Remus would not be able to attend the Potters' Christmas party when he noticed her shiver slightly. As she shook her head sadly, he slid closer to her, his leg brushing against hers. He slipped out of his outermost robe and pulled it around her shoulders.

"Here," he said softly. "You look chilled."

She glanced up to meet his gaze, and only then did he notice how close they were. Her breath tickled his skin, causing his breath to hitch. Her blue eyes were so close to his that he could see into their depths. He'd missed being this close to her, but he did not know how much he had missed it until this moment.

Something nearly forgotten but so very familiar moved around them, and nearly unbidden, he found himself tilting his head down towards hers. She hesitated only the briefest of moments before she tilted her head up, her eyes fluttering closed. He could nearly feel her lips upon his when-

"Oy! There you are!"

They jumped apart as if they had been shocked. Samantha ducked her head, her face burning, as James and Lily, his arm wrapped around her waist, approached them. James appeared drunk with happiness, and Sirius had half a mind to hex him right then and there. Except, somehow, James did not seem to notice what he had interrupted. Lily on the other hand, was watching them with an odd look upon her face, and he glanced at Samantha, whose gaze was still downcast, wondering if Lily knew what they had nearly done.

"Did you even come to the party at all?" James questioned, his eyes narrowed at Sirius. "I didn't see you once."

Sirius struggled with a response, but was rescued by Samantha, who had recovered from the surprise, her face nearly normal colored again.

"We were heading towards the party when I began to feel ill," she explained, glancing between James and Lily. "Sirius suggested we sit down, and I suppose we just lost track of time."

Still looking suspicious, Lily asked, "Are you feeling alright now?"

Samantha shrugged. "A bit, yes. I suppose now I'm just rather tired."

Lily smiled. "We've got six hours before we've got to be on the train. I suppose we should head up to bed."

Sirius nodded. "You two go on ahead," he said, waving them off. "We're right behind you."

James began to lead Lily towards the common room without question, and once Lily had glanced over her shoulder at them, she allowed him to lead her away, leaving Sirius and Samantha alone once more.

Sirius watched her as she bent down to slip back into her shoes.

"Should we," he asked hesitantly, "Talk about what just happened."

She straightened back up and met his gaze. "I don't think I'm ready to," she admitted quietly. "I'm still not entirely sure what that was."

He nodded. "Later, then? After break perhaps?"

She smiled and gave him a small nod, standing from the windowsill. "Perhaps."

The common room was deserted when they reached it, and he walked her to the foot of the stairs that led to the girls' dormitories.

"I'll see you on the train tomorrow, then?" he asked her.

She reached out and squeezed his hand. "See you tomorrow. And thank you for tonight. It was wonderful," she whispered before turning and ascending the stairs.

He watched her go until she disappeared into the dark. When he reached his room, he smacked James, who had collapsed on his bed without bother to shut his curtains, on the head with a pillow, earning himself a muffled, "What was that for?". Not bothering to answer, Sirius changed into his pajamas before falling into his own bed. He knew one thing for certain. Despite his carefulness at the beginning of the night, he had ended up crossing the line anyway. But so had she. And neither one of them seemed to regret it.

End Chapter