Chapter 5

A/N: Aaah, I know. Cliffie in the last chapter. Sorry! I had to do it. hehe. This chapter might be what you expected or not. My suggestion is to read it now. Quick! Don't forget to review at the end of the chapter. Next chapter will be about the ball. Yipee.

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It was still dark outside when Stephanie Valentine woke up. She laid in bed thinking about last night. Thoughts of her and Sirius kissing flooded her mind. He kissed her. But she pushed him away and ran out the Astronomy Tower. She groaned. How was she going to face him in the morning. Lily was already asleep when she came back so no one knew what happened. She wished she could consult Lily about the matter but then it'll bring in more questioning. After what seem like years of lying there in her bed, the sun came up and Lily who was sleeping next to her, got up.

"Morning, Lils."

"Hi. What are you doing up so early?"

"Um...nothing. I couldn't sleep."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yup. Everything's perfect." She forced a smile and got up herself.

She brushed her teeth and hair, got dressed, put on her shoes, and went down from the dorm room with Lily to the Great Hall.

"I am starving." Lily said. She could already taste the sausages in her mouth. Mmm. Yum.

"Me too." Steph mumbled and tried to walk slower.

"Hurry up, Steph." Lily said and walked even faster.

When they got to the Great Hall, most of the students were there already. Including Sirius. They sauntered to the their seats and Lily started talking animately with Remus. The only seat that was left was the one next to Sirius. He had a hopeful expression. Steph sat down on her seat and stared at the food.

"Hey." Sirius said.

"Hi." Steph said quietly.

"Can I speak to you privately?" He asked with hopeful eyes.

"Um..sure." Steph replied and got up.

They both left the Great Hall and went into the hallway.

"I wanted to talk to you too." She said.

"Ok. Then you go first." He said. He actually looked nervous.

She let out a deep breath. "Let's just forget about everything that happened last night." She said this quickly.

Sirius' expression changed immediately. The smile he had on fell. When he didn't reply, she asked if he was okay.

"Yes. I'm fine." He said putting on a forced smile. Steph didn't seem to notice it.

"What did you have to tell me?" She asked.

"Uh...it was nothing." He replied quickly.

"You can tell me." She insisted.

"Pretty much everything you said." He said.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Are we still going on with the plan?"

"Yes!"

Steph chuckled. "Let's go eat. I'm starving."

"I'll see you in class. I have to get something from my room."

"Sirius choosing that over food?" Steph said in horror. "What is the world coming to?"

He gave a small laugh and they both went their separate ways.

*~*~*

Stupid, stupid, stupid, he kept on thinking. Sirius buried his head in his pillow. He had went up to the dorm room to let out his frustration. He couldn't believe he was actually going to tell Steph that he was going to try to change his ways and take her on an actual date. He didn't have a chance to tell her because she decided to say they should just forget about everything. Unbelievable. He was usually the one that said that. The tables had obviously turn this time. All of a sudden, Ginger's words from yesterday came to his mind. I hope you get back what you deserve, she had said. He was getting back what he did to others. This reminded him of something that he learned in Muggle Studies. What was it again, he thought. Karma. Yeah, that was it. He was deep into his thoughts that he didn't notice James and Remus had entered the room.

"Padfoot!" James exclaimed.

Sirius jumped.

"Someone has not been listening." James said.

"Thinking about another girl?" Remus asked with a smirk.(a/n: *swoons*)

"NO!" Sirius said a little too loud. Both guys jumped and looked at each other in wonder.

"Is everything okay?" James asked.

"Yes. Everything's fine." Sirius snapped. James looked taken back. Sirius hardly ever snapped at anyone especially at his friends.

"Look Sirius, if you need someone to talk to, we're here." Remus said calmly. He was usually the peacemaker in the group. (a/n: aaah...my sweet and beloved remus. *giggles*)

"I'm fine." Sirius said again.

James and Remus looked at one another with questioning eyes. They were definitely not convinced and they were going to find out what was going on with their friend no matter what.

"Where's Wormtail?" Sirius asked noting there was only two of them.

"You know Wormtail. He's still eating." James said chuckling.

"Speaking of food. I need some of that." Sirius said. He got up and went down to the Great Hall with James and Remus, who shot each other curious glances.

*~*~*

Steph and Lily were walking to the Transfiguration classroom with Lily blithering on about how sweet John had been.

"He gave me this lily before we had Charms." Lily said holding the flower up for Steph to see.

"How nice." Steph said trying to sound as cheerful as Lily.

"This could be the epitome of me." Lily said smiling.

"Yeah, it could be." Steph said while rolling her eyes. Lily was so happy today and she was so not. She should be happy for her friend albeit it was not part of the plan. Lily was supposed to be happy with James not Johny boy.

"Where did you go last night?" Lily asked.

"No where special."

"Come on. Tell me."

"Let's just drop it okay?"

"Oooh. Now you have to tell me. You never tell me anything these days."

"It doesn't concern you."

"But it concerns you and being your best friend, you should tell me."

"Lily, can we just drop the subject?"

"No Steph, I'm concerned about you lately. You've been out of it all day and you haven't said anything about it to me."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine with me. I was just trying to help." Lily's eyes flashed at her.

When they got to the Transfiguration classroom, Lily sat down and started talking to Alisa Smith. Steph stared at the front of the room wondering why she was so depressed. Ever since she had her talk with Sirius, she actually felt worse. It was not like she was in love with the guy. They had been friends ever since she had moved to England but she never felt any sparks or tingles or whatever those people in the teen magazines called it. She sighed and looked towards the room where Sirius and the others were sitting. He didn't seem to be in his usual mood either. Maybe I'm not the only one that's not acting normal, she thought.

*~*~*

Sirius glanced towards Steph's direction. He wanted to go over there and talk to her. But he decided not to and listened to James incessant babbles about Heidi, or was it Hannah. Class started and he was still in a daze. Until...

"Mr. Black!" Professor Mcgonagall exclaimed.

"Wha-a?" Sirius asked in a dazed voice.

"Would care to share with the class what is taking your mind away from this lesson?"

Everyone was staring at him waiting for an answer. "Uh..."

"Do you want me to take 20 points off of my own house?" Professor Mcgonagall said sternly.

The Gryffindors were now glaring at him for not giving an answer. Sirius was tongue-tied so he said the only thing that was on his mind.

"Steph." He said.

*~*~*

A/N: Aaaah. *ducks all the rocks* I know, I know...another cliffie! I couldn't help it. But next chapter you'll find out more. It's the Yule Ball chapter if you don't know. Wow, I actually got this chapter up in less than a week! Go me! :D Keep on reviewing. That actually makes me write faster because all of you are pushing me to write more. hehe. I work faster under pressure. ;-)

Disclaimer: These things are so annoying but I have to write these so I won't get sued. I only own Steph, Ginger, and Hannah. All the rest belongs to J.K. Rowling.