REVISED CHAPTER FOURTEEN!

Yeah… just that part where Lily and Vince were 'arguing' about James liking Lily. It isn't much but still, I invite you to check it out.

Also, I added something in chapter twelve. Because I said that the last time Lily called James by his last name was when she got really furious. Well, she's been calling him Potter lately and she's not really angry. I just added that because of the argument they had, Lily got used in calling him Potter.

So, before I let you read chapter fifteen, I'd like to thank all those who reviewed my story for the past two chapters:

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Lily's Guardian Angel

Okay, warning, this chapter might make you go crazy for certain reasons that you'll find out when you've read it. I suggest just go with the flow and don't be afraid to wonder. Or get angry, whatever suits you.

i go to my room and i close my eye... i make believe that i have a new life... -- everclear, "wonderful"

~*~*~*~

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Emotions

One would say, it definitely could not take that long to study for a short exam. But with James' case that morning, well, it could.

Several – seriously several – hours ago, he sat on a chair and opened his book in Charms. Alright, so despite his being a little naughty every now and then, he wasn't Head Boy for nothing. He was pretty good in academics but Charms wasn't really something he knew by heart.

After a hundred and so positions, the sun had already risen and he was still staring blankly at his book. He flipped the pages from time to time… and then he would flip them back again, realizing that he didn't understand a thing he just read.

The clock kept ticking and still he wasn't himself. One time, he yelled at his book, "Dammit, what are you trying to say?!" using the highest decibel his voice could go that might possibly very well wake up the whole dormitory.

Peter sat up in his bed, quite startled of the sudden thunder of James' voice. Lost for a while, he waited for his mind and vision to clear up. Then, he saw James was sitting at the desk beside his bed with both hands desperately on his head. "What is the matter with you?" he demanded, with eyes still half-closed.

James glanced up at Peter. "I'm trying to study for Charms," he replied, going back to his book.

"Well, it hasn't talked back to you, has it?" Peter said sarcastically, apparently annoyed that his sleep was just interrupted by James' insane yelling; before he went back to sleep.

A couple of hours later, Remus and Peter had gone down to eat their breakfast. They had Charms as first period that day and both of them left James still staring into space, although he had fairly absorbed something that would get him by through the test.

It was fifteen minutes before first period and he had finally given up on studying. But, he was still having that out-of-body experience and somehow, his line of vision was focused on Sirius, who looked like even an earthquake that could destroy the whole of Hogwarts wouldn't be able to wake him up.

Suddenly, Sirius stirred in his bed, and saw James absent-mindedly looking at him. "What are you doing?" he asked, yawning. He stretched his arms while waiting for a reply, but when he got no answer, he looked at his friend again. "Hey, James!" he yelled.

James shook his head and realized that someone was calling his name. "Huh?" he mumbled, now consciously looking at his best friend.

Sirius smiled mischievously, quite amused by this state that his friend was in. "Were you staring at me?" he said, mocking a seductive tone.

"No…!" James denied firmly, flashing a disgusted look on his face. "I was lost in thought and my head just happened to be facing towards you."

"Well then, stop it," Sirius muttered. "I'm trying to sleep and you, staring at my half-naked body, is uncomfortable," he joked, indicating that he was only wearing a pair of boxers, as he kiddingly pulled up his blanket to 'cover' himself from James' 'stares.'

James put down his book, stood up and picked up the pillow under Sirius' head. And then, playfully threw it hard at his best friend.

"Hey!" Sirius complained.

"That's so perverted, Black," James commented as he went for the door. "And, if you remember, we have Charms test today," he added as he held the door open, leaning against it. "And it's ten minutes before class."

And as fast as a lightning, James' statement registered in Sirius' brain. "What?!" he suddenly yelled, as he tried to scramble out of his bed. "Ten minutes?! James, you are such a friend!" he exclaimed, hurrying to his closet, while cursing his friend. "You were staring at me that whole time and you didn't even bother to wake me up?" he demanded.

"You're demented," James said, shaking his head. "Say that one more time, and I'm telling Toni you're fantasizing about me," he kidded. "I'm going ahead," he said with a chuckle as he closed the door, leaving Sirius wrestling with his uniform.

* * * * *

It wasn't like it would make a big difference if Sirius were on time for class. He was pretty good with the course and he could probably finish the test in half the time.

Somehow, it took him longer than usual to get dressed, probably because of panic. When he arrived, the students had already started their exams. Good thing their professor was not very strict when it came to punctuality during exams. He didn't care what time the student came in as long as the papers were passed at the end of the period.

Sirius entered the room fifteen minutes late, while still struggling with his robes. His tie was dangling from his pocket, which he planned to put on after the class. He passed by James who smiled annoyingly wide at him. And as a reply, he smirked at him.

Then, he approached the professor with an angelic and apologetic look on his face that anyone would laugh if only they weren't busy with their exams. "Professor, I'm – I'm sorry—"

"Oh, oh, Mr. Black," the professor replied, handing him a piece of parchment, which was the test, while motioning his other hand for him to shush. "Sit down, sit down and take your exam," he said.

With that, Sirius took the parchment and took his seat.

"You have until the end of the period only," the professor reminded him.

"Alright," Sirius nodded.

As was said, Sirius was pretty good with Charms and the test was pretty easy. But he had a late start so by the time most of the students were through with their exams, the only students left were him, Kiara, James, and a few other Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.

After a while, though, James finally finished his test. He passed the parchment, and before he went out, he passed by Sirius. "See you down in the grounds," he whispered.

They did not have classes for second period that day just like many of the seniors and some of the sixth and fifth graders. They preferred it because all the lower classmen were having their classes and that meant that the school grounds were pretty much bare.

And everywhere during that time was perfect for cramming for exams – aside from studying in the library.

Or doing, like what they were planning to do that winter morning – play like five-year-olds in the snow-covered school grounds.

After a couple of minutes more later, Sirius wrote the answer to the last test question then placed his parchment on top of those that were now stacked on the teacher's table. And quite excitedly, he strolled out of the room.

About ten minutes before the end of first period, it was Kiara's turn to pass her parchment to the professor.

* * * * *

Since it was freezing outside, Kiara decided to go back to the common room in order to sit by the fireplace and feel some actual warmth in her. She walked out of Charms classroom and was sauntering down the hall when she saw someone, she hadn't talked to in a while, lurking in the halls.

She crossed her arms and smiled. "Hey, look what we have here," she greeted. The hall was very much deserted as the other students were still having their classes so it was pretty much clear that she was only talking to that person.

Sirius, that someone that Kiara hadn't talked with in a while, looked up. He walked up to her slowly with a smile playing in the corner of his lips that it looked almost like a sneer. "Kiara," he greeted back, raising an eyebrow.

"It's pretty unusual to see you without Toni," Kiara uttered. "You're barely talking to me anymore," she added, in a tone like they had never seen each other for years. Well, just like she said before, Sirius had been serious being with Toni lately.

Sirius chuckled lightly, looking quite amused. "Well, she's not gonna go anywhere, is she?" he said, as he gazed at Kiara from head to foot.

Kiara blinked. She was a bit surprised by what Sirius just said. But she tried to hide it, assuming that he was just in one of those crazy moments. "Yeah? I think it's the other way around," she teased. "Cause last time I checked, you are so into her," she joked, although most of it she knew were true.

Sirius was now towering Kiara that she had to raise her head up in order to see him eye to eye. Then, without taking his mischievous gaze off her, he stepped a little closer to her that she had to step back from him.

"What's the matter?" he muttered under his breath. It was almost inaudible, but the way he was standing close to Kiara, every word he said was clearly heard. "Suddenly you don't like me near you?"

Kiara didn't know why but she was starting to fear her situation. "Sirius," she mumbled, her mouth going dry. "What's gotten into you?" she demanded as the tone of fright in her voice rapidly becoming evident.

Sirius stepped even closer to her. And as an instinct, Kiara stepped back to keep away from him. But she found herself leaning back against the wall.

She looked around hoping to find someone or maybe hoping for someone to find her.

She looked back at Sirius and flinched when he ran a finger through her hair. "Sirius, you're scaring me," she confessed, her voice shaky.

Kiara tried to push him away but to no avail. Sirius even pressed her back to the wall with his body and started smelling her hair.

"Sirius, this is not funny!" Kiara shrieked, now in a panic.

Sirius put a finger on her lips and shushed her. "Admit it. You're jealous because you didn't get to have me," he said, whispering in her ear. "Guess what?" he chuckled, apparently taking pleasure out of her fear. "I'm making your wish come true."

And without any warning, he leaned over and kissed her, pushing her back to the wall.

When Kiara tried to fight him, he grabbed her hand and gripped one of her arms so tight that it would surely leave a mark.

Kiara pushed him back again with no luck, which just apparently fascinated Sirius even more. He pressed harder against her and started kissing her on the neck while she was desperately trying to get him off her.

"Sirius, cut it out!" Kiara yelled at the top of her lungs, hoping that somebody would be able to hear her.

And with luck, just then, Chloe, a fellow Gryffindor who just finished her exams in Charms, saw them after hearing Kiara's cry. "Hey, what's going on?" she demanded, running to them.

When Sirius heard Chloe, he stopped. But instead of running away as fast as he could, he looked at her – or maybe, he wanted her to look at him – as if wanting her to remember his face. And when he saw the expression on her face that seemed to tell that she knew who he was, that was when he slowly walked away.

Slowly.

His pace didn't even increased a bit.

When Sirius finally let go, Kiara broke down out of fear, anger, and confusion. She didn't know what just happened and how it happened. All she knew that she didn't feel so violated by anyone before. She was crying so hard that she let herself drop to the ground and sat there, where Sirius left her.

Chloe ran to Kiara's side, perplexed herself on what occurred in that hallway. She knelt down beside her, not really knowing what to do or what to say. "Are you alright?" she said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

* * * * *

Kiara somehow got to her feet and marched to where she originally wanted to go. She barged into the common room, trying to hide that she couldn't stop crying. She planned to go straight up the stairs into the dormitory but since the common room was almost empty, her friends heard her and saw the look on her face.

"Kiara?" Lily called. She stood up from her seat in front of the fireplace and looked at Kiara with apparent concern in her eyes.

Vince and Toni – who knew that Sirius was hanging out with his friends that day so she didn't bother trying to spend time with him that morning – were sitting beside Lily. They looked up when Lily suddenly stood and called their friend's name in a very worried tone.

Kiara tried to ignore Lily and pretend like she didn't hear her. But Lily quickly ran to her and held her back. "Kiara, what's wrong?" she said, as she sat her in a chair by the corner of the room.

Vince suddenly stood up. It was something when Kiara would burst in complaining about her life. But it was definitely… definitely different when she would come in with eyes red and face blotched with tears. That was something else. "Kiara, what happened? What's wrong?" he said, trying to catch her eyes.

Kiara didn't look back at him but at Toni. "It's – it's…" she hesitated.

"It's Sirius," Chloe, who followed after Kiara, continued, feeling that Kiara was having a hard time recuperating from what just happened to her.

Toni all of a sudden was appearing to be getting confused. "What? What about Sirius?"

Chloe was uncertain at first if she would tell what was in her mind. After all, it would be her word against probably all of them. "I know this sounds unlike him…" she trailed as she took a deep breath. "I saw him harassing Kiara after I left Charms. He – he had her pressed against the wall and – and he was kissing her."

Toni's eyes suddenly widened. She couldn't believe what was just said. Sirius? Her Sirius? "What?" she choked, her voice cracking. "Are you… kidding?"

"Toni," Kiara started, looking up to her friend and gazing into her eyes for her to know that she was telling the truth. "I don't know what's gotten into him—"

"Huh!" Toni exclaimed. "This is insane—" she wasn't even halfway through her sentence when she saw Kiara's arm red with hand marks, where Sirius had gripped her. She still didn't want to believe it but those marks were not ordinarily gained from simple touch of a hand. It had to be a pretty tight grip. "What – what did he do to you?" she asked weakly, as she knelt in front of Kiara, looking straight into her eyes.

Kiara hadn't even opened her mouth to answer Toni's question when suddenly, Vince stormed out of the room without even saying anything.

But one thing was for sure.

He wasn't very pleased.

"No, wait!" Toni called. She was still struggling to get up to her feet when she heard the portrait swung shut. "Vince!" she called to deaf ears, following her friend outside.

* * * * *

As was the day before, the whole Hogwarts school grounds were covered with thick snow. And what better way to pass the free class period than to play in the snow like there was no tomorrow?

James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius were scattered amongst the wide snow-covered land enjoying their winter activity of throwing snowballs at each other.

And out of nowhere, Vince came marching out of the castle. His face flashed a look like he had never been so angry in all his life. It almost seemed like he was a different person. He didn't even slow down to give way to the other students who were partly in his way. He just kept walking blindly to one direction.

And with fists firmly closed, he knocked Sirius hard on the face.

He didn't even blink or flinch. He just stood there as Sirius knelt from the sudden blow that was unreadily received.

"What was that about?" Sirius demanded as he stood up.

When Sirius was back to his feet, Vince gave him a hard push and pointed angrily at him. "Don't you dare touch her again!" he shouted like the harder he said it, the more it would sink in Sirius' head.

They were apparently already making a scene that Sirius' friends started to gather around them.

"Okay, what's going on?" James demanded, holding up his hands to tell that he wasn't trying to make any more trouble.

Vince, now aware that there were other people around him except for that sick bastard who was standing in front of him, turned to James and yelled. "Your – your twisted friend—!" he couldn't even finish giving his reasons because of too much anger building up inside him. So, he turned back to Sirius. "You don't get near Kiara ever again," he muttered, trying to calm down.

Sirius held his face where a bruise was starting to form. "What did I do?" he asked quite innocently, flashing a look of confusion.

Vince couldn't believe it. It was one thing that this person just violated the only person he loved, it was another thing that he denied it. As a result, it only amplified his anger even more, and one more time, he sent a hard punch on Sirius' face.

It could be said that he was defending himself that Sirius hit Vince in the eye just a split second after he was punched himself.

A brawl broke out between them. And this was when James tried to pull Sirius out of the fight. And Remus, on the other hand, tried to pull Vince from the scuffle.

James and Remus were having a difficult time separating the two when Toni came running to them. "Stop it! Stop it!" she screamed, trying to squeeze herself in between Vince and Sirius. And this was when, finally, the two fighting schoolboys let themselves be pulled out by James and Remus. While Peter stood between them, with his hands spread sideways to keep a safe distance between the two.

"Alright, that's enough!" James commanded in a furious yell when Sirius tried to struggle free from him.

Toni looked at Sirius and for the first time, she felt afraid of even looking at him.

Sirius' eyes were boring on Vince's angry ones. And when he finally realized that Toni was looking at him, all of a sudden his expression became calm. He looked at her with confused eyes.

And this appearance only perplexed Toni even more.

What really happened?

She didn't know.

And she felt that she didn't even want to know.

~*~*~*~

you say that you're happy... well you should know better... -- five for fighting, "white picket fence"

What was that about?

Hmmm…

I hope you didn't get confused. Just go with it… the answers are coming soon…

Meanwhile while you're waiting for the update this weekend (I promise), don't be shy… submit a review! :)