And so the next one. Thank you all for the wonderful comments, keep them coming - i thrive on them!

Disclaimed.


And so Sirius was determined to give her a rose every day. He had somehow discovered that she loved red, white, and pink roses and so surprised her at different times during the day. By Thursday Laurie had to get a vase for them and set it on her nightstand.

Laurie had noticed the grimaces thrown her way by James and wanted to ignore them, which she did mostly, but finally in Defense Against the Dark Arts James threw her a note. Well, it was more sending but instead of a bird it was a dragon and snipped her fingers. She wanted to hex James when the evil dragon note gave her her fifth paper cut. She finally stopped being gentle with it and smashed it with her fist. Looking around when it made a thump on the wooden desk top. Only Sirius gave her a half amused look, though he was much too busy with threading her hair through his fingers. He seemed to really enjoy that simple action and even though it was slightly embarrassing in public, she really didn't mind. It felt really good.

She gave a smile to Sirius and then opened the now crumpled paper. James's scrawl was liberally on the parchment and it looked as if he felt the need to jab the quill tip hard enough so it tore the paper in a few places. Laurie decided that he must be aggravated about her and Sirius but would have to read the missive in order to gain the proper perspective on the situation.

"Laurie,

You have now stolen my friend permanently from my side and have left me to deal with Wor-Peter by myself. First Remus now Sirius. I've lost half of my friends to you and your friend. I do not appreciate it. If you have any care for me you will send them back.

James"

Laurie stared at the scrawled handwriting and reread the message. She stole

Sirius? How in the world would she have done that? Sirius was as free as a bird. It wasn't her fault that he chose to spend all of her free time with her. He was certainly allowed to spend time with his friends. She sighed. She supposed she should tell Sirius to spend time with James before she had to kill him.

She looked up at Professor Wickley who was answering a question and then tore out a piece of parchment from her notebook. And wrote:

Have you talked to James recently?

She then slid the piece of parchment to Sirius who looked at her curiously before picking up his pen and scribbling a reply.

"Not in a few days. Why?"

Your friend has decided that I have stolen you from him. Would you hang out with him so I can continue being mostly paper cut free?

"I suppose. He was talking about something before your birthday. I guess I can talk to him later about it."

Thank you. You've saved my hands from a dastardly fate.

Sirius then picked up her hand and kissed her fingertips. Right there in class. Laurie's eyes widened dramatically and sucked her breath in. She tried to tug her hand free but he wouldn't let go until his lips brushed all five digits.

He then picked up his pen and scribbled one word.

"Better?"

Laurie looked down then rolled her eyes. This had to be the oddest relationship ever. She would swear that he was trying to seduce her, but they were both way to young for seduction. Maybe if they were together in a couple years. But she doubted that they would still be together. She'd have to go back to the States and there was no way they could carry on an overseas relationship. That was too ridiculous.

Laurie's eyes darted around and focused on Amber and Remus. She really hadn't spent time on that "furry little problem" that Remus had apparently had. She really needed to discuss it with Amber but it would have to wait until they could be alone and talk without disruptions. The whole problem had fled her mind with the whole Sirius thing and she just now thought about watching him for anything suspicious.

Sirius, of course, was determined to recapture her attention. He intertwined their fingers under the desk, holding them in his lap as he stretched his other arm along the back of Laurie's chair. She decided it was exceedingly prosperous that they were in the back corner that was relatively dark compared to the rest of the classroom. She didn't think that Professor Wickley would be very pleased if he saw what Sirius was doing.

So for the rest of the day Laurie discreetly watched Amber and Remus and tried to figure out if she could see something physically wrong with him. She couldn't see anything besides a few scars, but everyone got scars. He had a good posture, he talked quietly and looked into Amber's eyes as he did so. Laurie wondered if Sirius and her were as oblivious to the world as Amber and Remus. She supposed they were if James was hassling her to release his friends. Oh well. James could live with disappointment.

During that night's study group, Laurie couldn't focus on anything. Her mind flitted between two subjects: Sirius and the "furry little problem". Of course, it was mostly preoccupied by the former, but the furry problem snuck into her thoughts every time she glanced at Amber. It was a totally worthless study period for Laurie who was continually prodded by her friends to bring her back to reality. Of course, they eventually gave up and let her sit at the table staring into nowhere. She would just have to catch up on work later.

At dinner Sirius informed Laurie that both he and Remus would join James the following day to prevent any further injuries to her by pieces of parchment. Laurie was incredibly thankful.

They were headed back to Gryffindor Tower when Sirius darted into a concealed passageway that was covered by tapestries at either ends. He conjured a pastel yellow rose and handed it to her, lighting his wand directly after to see her expression.

"How did you know I like yellow roses too?"

"You tell your friends too many details of your life. You've given me plenty of ideas."

Laurie looked up at him and realized that he was only a few inches from her. His eyes were half closed and he was staring at her lips. He then slowly bent his head and captured them with his own and Laurie was clutching onto the stem of the rose until she thought that it would break for sure.

Sirius eventually took a step back and looked somewhat relieved.

"I've been wanting to do that all day."

Laurie's lips parted in astonishment but she closed her mouth directly when his gaze was again focused there.

"Come on, before the others notice," Sirius said and took her hand in his, leading her out of the hidden passageway and back into reality.

---

In Astronomy the following night Sirius was continually coming over on the perception that Laurie needed help with her work. Which of course she did not. Amber and Remus were working alongside each other and Laurie turned back to her telescope. Throughout the night her eyes would flit over them and make sure they were ok.

"Is something wrong?" Sirius asked from behind her.

"No, why?" Laurie jotted down a star and looked over her shoulder.

"You seem to look at Amber and Remus a lot tonight."

Laurie realized she must look extremely suspicious.

"Oh, I don't know. I guess I have a feeling that they'll do something."

"Really?" he whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"What are you doing?" Laurie hissed trying to pry his arms from around her.

"I'm hugging you, what do you think I'm doing?"

"Well, stop! We're in the middle of class!" Laurie continued to try and push his arms away.

"I don't want to."

"That's not a good reason."

"It's good enough for me." Sirius nuzzled her hair and she tried to get away. Her gaze scanned the surrounding students and trying to find the teacher. Her eyes, however, fell on a very surprising sight. Remus was bending over Amber and whispering something in her ear. Laurie stilled immediately and felt Sirius look in the same direction.

Amber giggled and looked up at him before Remus bent his head and kissed her right next to her telescope. Laurie's mouth dropped open and she heard Sirius start to chuckle. She would never picture Remus ever kissing Amber out in the open with a teacher almost looking on.

Sirius continued to chuckle behind her back and abruptly turned her around. Laurie was so close to him that she felt his breath on her lips.

"I can't have him outdo me now, can I?" he whispered and then kissed her. And if anyone would have asked her about it, Laurie would have said that it was the nicest kiss yet. She had to grip on to his shoulders for balance though as Sirius held her waist.

Laurie broke the kiss after a few moments and took a deep breath. She'd have to remember that his lips were lethal.

"Sirius!" James shouted, making Sirius reluctantly turn his head. "C'mon!"

Sirius turned back to Laurie, who was trying to fix her clothing. "Alas, my sweet, I must go." He quickly conjured a red rose. "I hope to resume this later."

"Hope all you like," Laurie muttered, grabbing the rose and pushing him playfully toward James then said aloud, "Have a great time. I'll see you later."

Sirius gave her a knowing smile, quickly kissed her cheek and ran off to join James who was standing with Peter and Remus near the staircase down. Laurie just stared after him for a second and felt a hand tap her arm. Amber was standing there watching Remus go down the stairs.

"We should probably go too," she said and handed Laurie her telescope, which she had already put in its case.

"Oh, thanks. Yeah, I guess we should."

So they made their way to the common room, sure that the boys were probably far away from it. It was getting closer to ten o'clock and the girls settled in a couple chairs in the corner. Laurie caught up on the work that she couldn't do while in study group and talked to Amber about her suspicions.

Laurie had written half of her essay for Charms when she brought up the subject.

"Do you remember the first morning that you and Remus were together?"

Amber looked over at her with a confused tilt to her head. "Of course, why?"

Laurie set down her quill. "Well, I heard James and Sirius discuss you two and your relationship that morning. They said something that didn't seem quite right to me."

"What did they say?" Amber was clearly surprised that Remus's friends would have talked about them.

"Well, they said something along the lines of Remus having a 'furry little problem' and I have no idea what that means."

"Maybe he has a rabbit."

"You know he doesn't have a rabbit."

"Maybe his pet dog or cat or squirrel at home is problematic."

"Squirrel?"

"Fine. He doesn't have a squirrel."

"But why would the animal be problematic to your relationship if it's not even here?"

"Maybe he thinks I may be allergic to them and…"

"I know," Laurie said, firmly cutting Amber off. "He knows you don't have allergies. Something's not right, Amber."

Amber looked at her slightly panicked. "Something's wrong with him? What?"

"I don't know. But I have to make sure you're not hurt. I mean, it can't be all that bad right? He's great to you, especially considering that daring kiss in the Astronomy tower."

Amber blushed. "Yeah…" she hesitated. "Do you really think something might be wrong with him?"

Laurie looked at her for a minute. "I think that I want to make sure he's perfect for you. And that includes making sure he's fine."

Amber nodded. "I'm not sure if I believe you. I mean, I'm sure you're positive something's wrong, but I have to be sure. I'll watch and see what happens." She looked down at her hands. "I severely hope that he doesn't have what all of his relatives have."

Laurie reached over and patted her hands. "I'm sure he doesn't. But we'll watch and make sure nothing happens."

Amber nodded again. "Thanks. For telling me."

"No problem. It's my job to look out for you."

"As long as you don't look too hard."

"I believe Sirius would have a fit if my focus wasn't totally on him," Laurie laughed, causing Amber to laugh as well.

"I'm sure."

Laurie picked up the rose that she had set by her books. "How many do you think I'll have by the end?"

"The end of the school year? Probably enough to fill our tower room."

Laurie inhaled the perfume the flower was giving off. "I hope so," she murmured.

Her statement was drowned out, however, by the great cacophony of sound just outside of the portrait door. Laurie lifted her head and watched the doorway and noticed Amber did too. It was a bunch of male voices and Laurie bet she knew who they belonged to.

"C'mon, it was funny!" James shouted as he walked through the portrait hole.

"Maybe to you, but I'm sure that student didn't really need to be hexed," Remus said in a somewhat placating tone.

"I agree with James, it was funny," Sirius said. "The Hufflepuff deserved it anyway. It was the one who's always following you and Amber around."

"Be that as it may, he still didn't need to have his teeth elongated."

"Madame Pomfrey will fix him up in no time," James shrugged. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Apparently still hiding in my closet," Remus murmured and took in the room, his eyes landing on Amber who was seated on a loveseat.

He walked directly over and smiled at Amber after absently nodding to Laurie. His eyes never left her and Laurie smiled in delight as Remus sat next to Amber and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

Laurie flicked her gaze back to the other three boys who were still talking but she noticed that Sirius was nonchalantly backing up toward her. She however was not sitting in a chair that would permit two people to share it so she stood and leaned on the table. She quickly stole the pillow from the chair before Sirius gracefully fell backwards into it and saw his momentary confusion about where she had gone. He found her in a second and gave a half smile that made Laurie's knees go weak. She quickly threw the pillow on the ground and sat on it, leaning against Sirius's legs. On arm was propped on his knee and she rested her chin on it following the conversation which was apparently detailing the hexing of the stalker kid following Remus and Amber.

James eventually stopped his recitation and headed to bed, dragging Peter behind him. Laurie watched the two leave and then looked over to Amber who was smiling shyly in Remus's direction.

Laurie decided that if this was all she was able to do for the rest of her life, she'd be happy to take it. It was just two couples, four friends and an extremely comfortable atmosphere. Laurie watched Amber and Remus while Sirius played with her hair and she herself reveled in her relationship with him. She felt her eyes start to droop and her head dropped to rest on Sirius's knee. She didn't stay there long, however, as Sirius pulled her up and placed her on the couch. This was definitely beginning to become a habit. But she wasn't sure if it was all that bad.


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Ever yours.