a/n I'm soooooooooo sorry I've taken so long to get this posted. I've been writing it in rough and then typing it up. Plus, I've been *really* busy, revising for ^evil^ mock exams!!! If you'd like me to add you to my mailing list the just leave your e-mail address in your review (that is supposing you do review!) I love getting feedback, and any suggestions, hints, criticism is more than welcome!
P.S. The story is going to get darker and (hopefully) will go into more depth about Tiff's past.
Disclaimers to J.K.Rowling and Coupling.
Chapter Six - A Whiter Shade of Pale
As Wednesday drew ever closer, both Tiff and Sirius were increasingly on edge. It hadn't taken Sirius five minutes to guess that she was up to something, and judging from the smirk on her face it wasn't likely to be something pleasant.
"What're you planning?" he'd asked her on Monday morning, when she'd had trouble keeping Amber from falling off her chair hysterical with laughter.
"Nothing, why? What makes you think that, dear?" Tiff had answered, bearing a smile that was a little too innocent. Sirius narrowed his eyes, regarding her suspiciously; he glanced quickly at Amber, who was still giggling mirthfully.
"Well the fact that every time Amber looks at me she bursts into huge fits of laughter might make me suspect that something is amiss," he said coolly; Amber snorted, then buried her head in her arms in an attempt to control her laughter. Sirius raised his eyebrows as if to say, 'see, I was right.'
"That proves nothing. See you on Wednesday," Tiff walked away smirking, dragging Amber along by the arm.
Around dusk on Tuesday, Tiff and Amber told Lily and James the plan for tomorrow. Lily had laughed loudly; James smiled widely, evidently now knowing both Sirius and Tiff's schemes and what their outcome would be.
The atmosphere in the common room was tense: Tiff and Sirius were sitting opposite each other shooting daggers; Peter and Remus were playing chess; Lily and James sat together in an armchair, cuddling each other lovingly; and Amber was trying to engage Tiff in conversation.
"Amber. Did you go and see Remus when he was in the hospital wing?" Tiff asked her quietly. Amber shook her head sadly.
"No, Pomfrey chucked me out just as I was about to walk in the door," she replied.
"So... you haven't spoken to him at all?" said Tiff incredulously. "But why not? What's stopping you? Obviously you still like him or you wouldn't be so bothered..."
"Shut up," Amber snapped loudly, drawing a few stares. "I don't know ok, I just... can't," she said more quietly, sighing with frustration. "Maybe it's because I know I'll hate whatever it is, or I won't be able to deal with it."
Tiff frowned at her, then rolled her eyes and giggled.
"Amber, you talk crap," she snickered. "You make it sound like he's a Death Eater with a part time career as an amateur porn star. Honestly, it's not that bad." Amber laughed in reply then stopped abruptly; she regarded Tiff with fierce brown eyes.
"You know." she said rhetorically, her tone cold.
"Yes I know, but it's up to Remus to tell you." Tiff retorted, immediately regretting saying this as it would only infuriate Amber more.
"So I'm the only person who doesn't know. Well fine, I don't really care anymore," she said emotionally, her eyes filled with unshed tears. Amber retreated to her dormitory without a backward glance, where she collapsed on her bed and sobbed. Why did she lose everything? Her uncle (to Voldemort), her boyfriend, her friends? To Amber, it seemed that no-one trusted her with their secrets... not even the man she loved...
She didn't hear the door creak softly open, or the careful footsteps which shuffled across the floor towards her. The person sat next to her on the bed and gently stroked her cheek.
"Leave me alone," Amber said defiantly.
"No. I owe you an explanation," said Remus softly. Amber sniffed before wiping her eyes on her cover and sitting next to him.
"I don't care. I don't even want to know anymore, it can't be that important can it?" Her voice raised bitterly.
"Amber, I want to tell you." Remus argued, standing up.
"Well go and tell it to the wall because I'm not interested. We're not a couple anymore so you don't owe me anything, especially not out of pity." Amber shrieked. In one swift movement, Remus grabbed Amber's wrists in one hand and covered her mouth in the other. She struggled violently.
"Now, listen because I'm only going to say this once." He took his hand away from her mouth. "Amber. I'm a werewolf." Amber held her breath for several long seconds before replying.
"You're a what?" she shrieked, wrenching her arms out of his grasp.
"I knew you'd react like this, that's why I didn't tell you before." he snapped back.
"How did it happen?" she said icily. Her eyes avoided meeting his gaze.
"I got bitten when I was six," he said softly. Amber fumed silently for a few seconds, then...
"How on earth could you keep that from me? I'm supposed to be your girlfriend for gods sake!" she erupted.
"Excuse me, but you 'were' my girlfriend. You're the one who ended it if I recall."
"Well I'm the one with the power in our relationship and I say that I AM your girlfriend. I can't believe you! What if we got married and then suddenly I had a litter of puppies, what would you have told me then?" she shrieked, unaware that the Marauders, plus Tiff and Lily were at the door hanging on every word.
"I would've told you before it got that far, and technically it's 'cubs' not puppies." he replied, grinning slightly. Amber gave a small smile.
"You're so stupid. Do I really seem that shallow?" she asked, her large brown eyes full of hurt.
"No. Of course not. I just have a hard time trusting people, because of what I am..." he said softly, eyes lowered to the floor. Amber touched his arm sympathetically.
"You aren't a 'what' Remus, you're a 'who'. Being a werewolf doesn't make you less of a person. I mean, look at Malfoy and Snape. They actually dare to call themselves people yet they're totally evil and you're.... you're lovely. A lot nicer than you should be considering the way some people treat your kind." Amber smiled at him as her fingers intertwined with his. "Anyway, you didn't have any trouble trusting Tiff and Lily," she said with a mock glare.
"That's because they guessed. I didn't really have a choice." He sighed heavily. Amber put her arms around Remus and held him close.
""I'm sorry for being a bitch," she said after a few moments. Remus cupped her face gently then planted a soft kiss on her lips.
"Me too," he whispered, before kissing her again.
Outside the door, Lily strained her ears to catch the slightest sound. Nothing... which meant... She caught Tiff's eye and flashed her a huge grin which Tiff returned excitedly.
"Yess..." she heard Tiff hiss triumphantly.
* * *
Wednesday morning arrived with blue sky and strong, fresh winds. Sirius got up early, around six (which he considered almost night!), to accompany James to Quidditch practise as usual. James was a seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and was constantly trying to get one over on Snape, who was also a seeker, yet an abysmally poor one, having fallen off his broom more times than he'd caught the snitch. Sirius did the commentary, and often made a spectacle of Snape and his underpants which still got everyone giggling.
The Great Hall was almost empty, with only a handful of students and the Gryffindor team eating breakfast. James greeted his team-mates with a yawn and a grunt.
"When's the next match?" asked Sirius sleepily. James blinked in reply, whilst trying to flatten his outrageously messy hair.
"Saturday. Against Slytherin. Maybe I'll try and knock Snape off his broom again, it almost worked last time."
"Yeah, and maybe this time you won't crash into a tree just because a certain 'Tiger' bats her pretty little eyes at you." Sirius grinned sneakily. James frowned worriedly.
"How did you know that I call Lily, Tiger? I've never told anyone that," he said suspiciously, blanching slightly at Sirius' fiendish smirk.
"Aha, you'll never know my 'saucy little stag'!" Sirius quoted cackling evilly. James turned crimson.
"You..." he exclaimed angrily.
""Lets just say I'm a light sleeper, and hear thing that go bump in the night." Sirius winked, backing away slightly with apprehension as James glowered like a raging bull.
"I'm just going to fetch the bacon..." Sirius scarpered to the other end of the table.
James was then joined by Tiff, who looked exceptionally cute with her hair in two long bunches that fell over her shoulders with a wispy fringe which perfectly framed her face.
"Hi James," she said cheerily, a 'cheshire cat' smile plastered across her face.
"'Lo Tiff," replied James, his face returning to it's normal colour. He glanced along the table at Sirius, who had been snared by Ilianna and was desperately looking for a way to escape. James grinned at Tiff.
"You do realise that he's going to kill you in precisely three minutes."
"How could he possible blame me?" she said, batting her large violet eyes innocently. James snorted, She's in for a shock, he thought with a snicker.
As Tiff reached for a piece of toast, a large tawny owl came soaring through the window and landed on her plate. She untied the letter from it's leg and fed it a piece of crust.
"Hello Caesar," she greeted the family owl who nipped her in a friendly way. "Hmm, finally a letter from home..." she muttered to herself as the owl ignorantly took flight. Tiff unfolded the letter, turning slightly away from James so he couldn't read it.
Dearest Tiffany,
Sorry we haven't written for so long but your father and I have been extremely busy at the Ministry with the recent Death Eater attacks on Hogsmeade, ("I didn't know there was an attack on Hogsmeade!" she exclaimed.) Diagon Alley and Little Farthing. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we had to sell Trojan... Tiff felt tears springing to her eyes. Trojan was her pony, whom she loved more than anything in the world. "Sold..." she whispered to herself, desperately fighting the tears.
We're so sorry Tiffany, but we just haven't got the time to look after him properly. We found him a good home, please don't get too upset... Another thing is that your father and I feel that it would be safer for you to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas. We miss you lots and even Alexandria keeps asking when you're coming home. Bless her, she's far too young to understand what's happening. We feel that you should know we're sending her to a boarding school, it's called the Academy for Young Witches and is in Toton, for her own safety. Our house is constantly under surveillance by both the Death Eaters and the Ministry. Harold Potter - your friend James' father- is the head of a protection scheme of Hit Wizards for us. Your father refused your uncle Zak's invitation to join the ranks of Voldemort. We may have to go into hiding soon if things carry on the way they're going...
We love you Tiffany, we're so sorry for selling Trojan, but it was the best thing for him. Hope you are well, if you ever need us don't hesitate to write.
Please don't worry.
Love
Mum, Dad & Alexia
X X X
Tiff's eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth twitched into an unmistakable look of immense hatred as she read the word Zak. Tiff sighed heavily. She'd known things were bad at home, but she'd never thought that they were this bad. Her parents worked for the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry. Their work was crucial to the fight against Voldemort. Tiff didn't know exactly what they did, but she knew that it caused a lot of strain on the family, more than her parents knew. She breathed deeply, willing herself not to burst into tears over Trojan.
"Are you ok Tiff?" James' voice brought her back to reality.
"Yes I'm fine. Nothing to worry about really..." she lied, giving a fake smile that definitely didn't reach her eyes.
"The Brat's going to boarding school," she smirked in reference to her six year old sister who looked as innocent as an angel, but was really the cheekiest child ever known to mankind.
"You mean little Alexia? The one who wants to marry Sirius when she's sixteen?" said James, accepting Tiff's quick change of subject.
"Yep, and the same one that; sent pages of my diary to Teen Witch Weekly, plagued me with levitating china dolls (Tiff shuddered), and terrorised the neighbours' cat so much that it ran away five months ago and hasn't been seen since. Yeah, that's our little 'Lexie! She brings a whole new meaning to the word 'evil,' don't'cha think?" She grinned, pushing the contents of the letter to the back of her mind.
"Ahh, I think she's cute. Anyway, she likes me," said James smugly.
"Only because you told her that she was the prettiest little girl that you'd ever met! Honestly James, you could get locked up for that!" She said jokingly, yet her eyes grew dark for a reason currently unknown to anyone but herself.
James snorted, "I..." he started, when another letter dropped onto Tiff's plate. She looked up to see a school screech owl land on the table. It waited patiently for her to read and reply.
Tiff looked at it strangely, then placed her parents letter in her jeans pocket. She unfolded the new letter carefully, unaware of James who was watching her with interest.
James glanced over at Sirius. He was laughing forcefully with Ilianna. James noted the glare he shot at the back of Tiff's head, which soon turned into a smirk as he saw what she was reading. Sirius whispered something to Ilianna then walked slowly back to the Griffindor table whilst Ilianna skipped away, shrieking excitedly.
James waved at Lily who entered the Hall chatting animatedly with Amber and Remus, Peter tagging along behind. The four sat away from Tiff, leaving her secluded to read her letter. James joined Lily, greeting her with a look of pure adoration. Lily squeezed his hand gently, both of them felt that there was no need for words.
Tiff read the letter meticulously, taking care to keep her face expressionless, except for the odd raised eyebrow or quirky smile. The letter was of standard school parchment, and was written in green ink by an italic hand. It read:
Dear Tiffany,
I am unsure as to whether the letter which I received several days ago, supposedly sent by you, was a joke by Potter and Black. If this is the case then I am very sorry for troubling you, however, if the letter was indeed genuine then I apologise most sincerely for doubting you. Whatever the case may be, I have taken your offer with total seriousness. It would give me great pleasure to accompany you to the Christmas Ball. Please send a reply promptly, whatever your answer may be.
Sincerely
Severus Snape
Tiff looked up feeling eyes on her. She smiled serenely, then took a quill out of her bag and scrawled a reply on the reverse side of the letter.
They all watched in silence as the owl flew over to the Slytherin table, dropped the letter on Snape's greasy head, then exited via the open window. There was a tense moment, in which Lily shot Tiff an incredulous, half disapproving half amused look.
"What did you say?" she asked tentatively. Tiff smiled, a little too sweetly, in a way that was almost scary.
"Thanks for warning me Lily, you too James. It really gives me great pleasure to call you my friends." She said, her voice oozing with sarcasm.
Sirius sat down opposite her, both of them glared furiously. Lily and James stared guiltily at their plates whilst Remus and Amber just looked puzzled.
"You just had to choose her didn't you," Sirius hissed venomously, which was very unusual for him.
"And you just had to choose him, Sirius. At least your date has decent hair," she said, equally as cold. Sirius just glared then:
"So, what did he write?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that, he asked me to the ball, nothing big," she said airily.
"What?!" Exclaimed Remus, Amber and Peter. Sirius just smirked.
"And what was your answer?"
"What was your answer for Ilianna?"
"Well I couldn't exactly get out of it, could I?" he said with a hint of bitterness. "And you said...?" he persisted.
"I said that I'd be delighted to go with him as he put it so nicely." Sirius snickered, yet his eyes narrowed slightly as though his plan wasn't actually intended to be a success.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the library to carve 'Tiff 4 Sev" into the back desk," she raised her eyebrows and then left the Hall, stopping to say hello to Arabella before proceeding to the library. Lily, James, Remus, Amber and Sirius sat in silence, not knowing what to say. Only Peter, who had no idea that the whole thing had been set up said;
"Well that was unexpected wasn't it?"
* * *
As November swiftly drew to a close, Sirius and Tiff continued to gloat, each confident that they had the better deal and determined to completely humiliate the other at the Christmas Ball. Lily and Amber talked non-stop about their dresses for the ball and whether they should match their shoes with their nails or shoes with their handbag.
Remus followed Amber around like a lost sheep as she fussed him and spoilt him; James seemed slightly withdrawn and had been sending and receiving many letters from home. Peter, having finally realised that he was the only Marauder without a date, had somehow managed to convince Arabella Figg to go with him. This had amazed everyone as Arabella was both very pretty and very intelligent. She was also two years his senior. Tiffany quietly chuckled to herself as she thought of how ridiculous tubby little Peter would look dancing with tall, long-legged Arabella.
Tiff had taken to smiling sweetly and chatting to Snape in classes as well as in the corridors. This had only made Sirius retaliate by turning Ilianna into a mindless giggling idiot by flashing her one of his famous 'weak at the knees' grins.
However, unbeknown to Tiff, Zane Zabini had been meticulously watching her every move. His father Zachariah, Voldemort's right hand man had requested that his son keep a close watch on her. And that he report anything irregular. Whereas Zane didn't want to give away any information which might land her in trouble with Voldemort, the reasons for which remained unknown, he couldn't turn against his family and the Dark Lord. He knew that his father had a significant interest in Tiff's whereabouts, he had always favoured her, and Zane knew better than to go against his father's wishes...
One day in early December, the castle awoke to find the grounds covered with a fresh, crisp frost. It looked as though someone had sprinkled icing sugar over the entire grounds. Luckily this was a Hogsmeade weekend, in which Lily, Amber and Tiff planned to buy their dresses. The security on the trip was very tight. Teachers accompanied them almost everywhere which dampened everyone's mood. Everyone that was except Ilianna, who flirted and generally acted her dizzy self around the dashing Mondoc, who seemed to genuinely enjoy her company. The three girls finally managed to shake off Madam Hooch, who was magnetically drawn towards, 'Quidditch Supplies for the Queer and Quaint,' whilst they darted into 'Robes for all Occasions'.
Lily and Amber both bought beautiful gowns for an absurd amount of money (they some borrowed from Tiff). Tiff didn't buy a dress, as she felt that none of them really suited her. The boys spent ages in Jonko's, stocking up on dungbombs, and other various joke items. The product which really caught their eyes however, was new to the shop.
"Magic Markers. Sixteen Sickles for a pack of ten. Bring your drawings to life, make your animations move, without the use of a wand..." bellowed the salesperson, in a very market trader-esque kind of way. Sirius bought three packs, feeling that they could come in handy for the future.
* * *
As Christmas drew ever closer, there was a rush to book seats on the Hogwarts Express. Everyone wanted to be with their familes as the number of Death Eater attacks was rising swiftly.
The rivalry between Tiff and Sirius became more intense than anyone could have imagined. The only time they actually spoke to one another was to trade a snide comment or have a blazing row, which became a regular occurrence in the Gryffindor Common Room. The most eventful fight stuck in everyone's mind for a long while after.
It was a normal evening in the common room where it all started. Most students were either doing homework or relaxing after a stressful day of tiring lessons. No-one was quite sure what started the argument, but it swiftly grew more violent and the language stronger.
"You're just a spoilt little princess who has to get her own way!" shouted Sirius, completely oblivious to the frightened stares of the little first years.
"Ha! You can talk. You're the one who struts around like a constipated chicken, thinking he's God!" Tiff shrieked back. Lily and James' heads snapped back and forth as they watched them hurl verbal abuse at each other; it was like watching a very violent tennis match.
"Says you, ya' filthy slut! Even the bloody Slytherins can't keep their hands off you! It wouldn't surprise me if you'd slept with half of them already. Including Malfoy and your cousin!" He screamed, not really caring what he was saying, but just wanting to hurt Tiff as much as possible at that moment.
There was a brief silence in which everyone stared at Tiff, who had gone deathly pale. She walked towards Sirius, then...
SMACK!!! She slapped him round the face with all the strength she could muster. To say she was quite small, Tiff actually managed to knock the 6' Sirius back a few paces.
"I am not a slut," she said in a deadly whisper, her eyes blazing with a ferocious violet fire. Sirius glared, his face a few shades paler than the purple-crimson of his cheek.
"No, you're a whore," he replied coldly. Lily's hands flew to her mouth in shock as she gasped loudly.
Tiff exploded. She kicked him in the groin and then scratched his face with her claw-like nails as he doubled over.
"Bastard," she muttered maliciously, her eyes full of a darkness that made her face almost unrecognisable in its fury. She gripped Sirius's face hard, holding it inches from hers. There was an unfamiliar look in her eyes; of pain, fury and regret. She looked somewhat manic.
"I've never been your slut, you sadistic, perverted old man. Never..." she whispered slowly and furiously, so that only he could hear. Then, without another word, she turned and stormed off to her room, turning on the stairs.
"Just fuck off Black," she said fiercely with an icy glare, then left.
Sirius sat, where he had collapsed on the floor. He'd been beaten up by a girl... and in front of people. He skulked off to his dorm, ignoring the disapproving stares and whispers. One thing stuck in his mind however. The last sentence Tiff had said, hadn't made any sense to him at all... It was almost as if she saw him as someone else....
The room remained silent for a couple of minute as the Gryffindors tried to digest what had just happened. Normal conversation resumed in the room, James and Lily just looked at one another. Neither of them knew what to say or do.
"What... was that...?" said Lily incredulously, her green eyes wide and worried, she looked as though she could cry.
"I don't know, Lils. I just don't know..." replied James, putting a comforting arm around her as she leaned into him. "They'll get over it... eventually. They always do." But James had a feeling that there was more to this than just arguments and rivalry. Some things could never be forgotten...
* * *
A couple of days later, Sirius and Tiff still hadn't ventured outside their dorms. Their friends bought them food and drink, but both were reluctant to converse with anyone. Sirius's face was half purple. He also had three surprisingly deep scratch marks in the centre of the bruise. Despite Remus and James's persuasion, he refused to go to Madam Pomfrey.
Tiff was practically mute. She sat in silence, only speaking to Professor McGonagall who came to see how she was after Lily and Amber told her that Tiff was 'ill' and couldn't attend lessons. James and Peter said the same about Sirius. Lily noticed that Tiff always had red, puffy eyes, evidently showing that she'd been crying.
Lily and James talked about 'the incident' in the common room. Sharing opinions of Tiff and Sirius, and trying to determine the reason for the outburst.
"I'm sure we never fought like that... did we?" Lily looked doubtful as she cast her mind back to when she and James had been sworn enemies throughout the first and second year.
"No...... we were never that violent," he replied, smiling with slight amusement. "God we hated each other didn't we?" he grinned as Lily giggled at the memories.
"Remember when Tiff and Sirius used to be best friends? They adored each other, and always left us to argue," Lily smiled.
James gave a short laugh.
"Yeah, and then we'd throw hexes at each other, ending up in the hospital wing with extra legs or green skin."
"Remember the time you tried to snog Tiff in third year, and she gave you a black eye then called you an impotent twat who was visited by the Melty Man every other night!" Lily chortled.
James' face reddened.
"She never told us what that meant, did she?" he said naively. Lily withheld a laugh.
"I believe the phrase she used was 'he will come, but you wont'!" she said sedately, before collapsing into a fit of giggles.
(a/n Don't get it? Think about it... think hard! ;)
"Ah, we did have some funny times," sighed James happily.
"Yep, we sure did... Four Eyes!" she snickered at the old nickname. James gave a mock frown.
""You think it's funny eh? Carrots?" He grinned as Lily punched his arm jokily.
"You promised you'd never call me that again! And my hair is red!!! Not ginger!" She pounced on him, tickling madly.
"Stop...!" he gasped, wheezing with laughter. "Stop... I surrender!" Lily stopped tickling him, and gazed into his eyes. She leant towards James, and kissed him softly. James pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her as he deepened the kiss. After what seemed like an eternity, Lily pulled back and settled herself into James' arms. She sighed peacefully, pushing all thoughts of Tiff and Sirius to the back of her mind.
"I love you Jamie," she said softly.
"I love you too Lily," he replied, kissing her forehead lovingly.
* * *
'Slut, slut, slut, slut...' The word echoed throughout Tiff's mind, bringing forth a fresh wave of pain with each recurrence. And she cried. Not loud, racking sobs. But just quiet tears, the kind which only appeared in moments of intense physical or emotional pain. Everyone had their demons, but hers were more terrifying and traumatic than anyone could begin to imagine. Tiffany's past was a dark one. Full of shadows, deceit, and a great misjudgement which she knew would haunt her for the rest of her life. The 'thing' that had gotten Tiffany so worked up was her secret. It was a shocking secret. Such so that no-one knew it; no-one could even come close to guessing it.
'Slut...' That word held so many memories. Sirius could never have imagined the pain it had caused Tiffany just to hear that word directed towards her again. It wasn't his fault... he could never have known...
~ ~ ~
Sirius lay on is bed, brooding. The chorus of snores told them that James, Peter and Remus had finally fallen asleep, after spending days trying to stop him from sulking.
He couldn't sleep. No matter how hard he tried, his eyes refused to stay closed for more than a second.
What's wrong with me? He thought. That was the problem. He couldn't stop thinking about the fight he'd had with Tiff. He touched his cheek tenderly, wincing slightly as his fingers and over three deep scratch marks, the result of Tiff's nails.
I said some terrible things... He felt very bruised, both inside and out. Sirius sat brooding about Tiff. This was a strange experience for him as he never brooded. In his opinion, only 'pretty boys' were allowed to brood and get away with it. And Sirius didn't consider himself 'pretty'. Even through all the jokes about his supposed sexiness, he'd never thought he was attractive. He knew of course, that some girls found in cute, in what he supposed was a roguish way. He had absolutely no idea of how many girls rated him the sexiest boy in the school. Sirius' thoughts were cut short by a noise from down-stairs. He decided to go for a midnight wander in an attempt to clear his head.
He entered the common room, with the intention of making himself a cup of hot chocolate to help him sleep. What he ended up doing however, was a completely different matter.
Sirius immediately recognised Tiff's platinum head, wrapped up in a blanket, curled up on the sofa in front if the fire. At first, he totally ignored her, and set about making a drink. However, when he heard a soft, snuffling sound which was unmistakeably a sob; he paused thoughtfully. A minute later, Sirius set down two steaming mugs on a side table. He sat next to Tiff who was dabbing at her eyes with the frayed edge of her blanket.
"Come to have another go?" she tried to say coldly, but failed miserably, sniffling sadly.
"No, I've come to apologise." He started, looking at the floor. "I'm really sorry for what I said. I didn't mean any of it. I'm... so sorry..." he said dejectedly, looking thoroughly ashamed.
"Ha!" She gave a short scornful laugh. There was a moment of silence, then; "If you didn't mean it then why did you say it? I'm not a -" She said quietly, her eyes averted to the floor.
Sirius tried to touch her hand, but she shrank backwards. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was saying. I know you're not a whore, or a slag.. I'm really, really sorry..." he pleaded, his voice on the edge of desperation. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... Please forgive me" He looked at the floor as Tiff studied his face.
"Why should I forgive you? I never thought anyone would ever be able to hurt me like that again. Guess I was wrong," she sighed. Sirius opened his mouth to question her, but Tiff cut him short. "And don't even bother asking because I won't tell you. Ever." She said conclusively.
"Right. I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you so badly." he muttered, looking at the floor again.
"I think I hurt you more." She glanced at his purple cheek. "Anyway, I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to get all... violent and ... grr-y." She said screwing her nose up, in her usual cute way. Sirius smiled slightly.
"It's ok. I'll live, plus I'll have a very interesting scar!" He raised his eyebrows.
"You could always get Madam Pomfrey to fix it," she suggested.
"Maybe. So... shall we call it a truce, then?" He offered his and, and they shook in agreement.
"Can you tell me why you were so upset?" he asked cautiously. Tiff pulled her hand back sharply, shaking her head.
"No. I've already said I won't." she replied bluntly, making it clear that she didn't want to talk about it.
"Please... you can trust me," he said, giving her a puppy dog look, pouting sorrowfully.
You could almost see the emotion leaking out of Tiff's eyes, like the tears, which she desperately tried to stop from falling.
Sirius instinctively reached out for he, but she pushed his arm away.
"Are you ok?" he asked softly, as she wiped her eyes with shaky hands.
"Not really... God, I bet you think I'm an idiot." She said in between soft sobs.
"Of course not," he said kindly, moving closer to her, desperately wanting to comfort Tiff. He carefully put his arm around her and to his relief she didn't object. In fact, she leaned into him as he held her tighter.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked her tentatively, feeling her tense up immediately.
"No," she whispered, shaking her head as she sobbed into his pyjama shirt. Sirius wrapped his arms around Tiff, gently rocking her and stroking her hair. They stayed like that for a while, just holding each other.
"Are you alright, sweetheart?" he asked softly. She'd calmed down a lot, but still clung to him. She gave a soft laugh.
"Sweetheart, eh?" She smiled, snuggling deeper into his arms.
"Tiffany?" he said quietly.
"Hmm?" she looked up at him, her eyes a startling shade of violet.
"What upset you so much? I've never seen you that worked up before..." He felt her tense up again, she pulled herself out of his arms and sat at the opposite end of the sofa. She looked into the dancing golden flames in the hearth.
"I can't tell you. I wish I could, but... no..."
His eyes narrowed with concern. He'd never really thought of Tiff as a secretive person. She was normally very open minded, and always said what she was thinking, either by accident or on purpose. He hated to see her like this, secretive and withdrawn, something was obviously hurting her deep inside. But what......?
"Please. I want to help you."
"No. Just leave it Sirius. And don't mention this to anyone else... I'm going to bed," she said, getting up.
"Tiff, wait," Sirius caught her arm, and as she turned round he hugged her. "I'm here if you ever need someone to talk to," he said, cupping her face gently and staring into her violet eyes. Tiff smiled slightly.
"Ok," she whispered, standing on her tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks for being such a good friend." She gave his hand a squeeze before walking away, slowly. At the foot of the stairs, she turned.
"Oh, and Sirius? If you ever feel the need to refer to me as a prostitute or some other variation with the same meaning, please use the 'kid-friendly' term, 'Lady of the Night'!" she winked then exited the room.
He watched the stone steps grow dim as the light of her candle melted away into the darkness. Sirius knew that Tiff wasn't telling him the truth, but why? Didn't she think he was trustworthy? After the way he'd behaved towards her, he didn't blame her for not wanting to tell him anything. He sighed heavily, wishing that he could tell her how sorry he really was and just how deeply he cared for her.
"Oh well, it's never going to happen anyway," he muttered to himself, on his way back to bed.
The two cups of chocolate remained untouched until morning.
a/n So... in the next chapter, we find out:
more about Tiff's *dark* past
what happens at the Christmas Ball
why James has been writing *secret letters*
and............ lots more!!!