This is the second-last chapter, apart from the epilogue. Enjoy!

They all, Tulah and Sirius included, threw themselves with renewed vigour into revision for N.E.W.Ts, which looked scarily close this side of Christmas. Tulah in particular was hardly ever seen out of the common room; when she started missing meals, Lily intervened.

Tulah realised that she was trying to fill the gap that Sirius had left; she also realised that Advanced Transfiguration wasn't helping, but there wasn't anything else she could think of to do.

Remus dumped his books on the table beside Tulah's with a thump and seated himself next to her. Tulah ignored him with the ease of long practice.

"The others are playing Quidditch," he told her despairingly. "You need a rest."

"Nonsense," Tulah told him firmly without looking up. "I just have to finish this…"

James and Lily joined them. "Sirius stayed behind to do some beating practice with Peter," Lily said; then, catching sight of Tulah, "Honestly Tuls, are you still working?"

"Yes."

"Actually, I need to revise as well," put in James, shamefaced. "Let's all do half an hour or so."

Lily looked disgusted; Remus shrugged; Tulah smiled triumphantly into her books and they all sat down; some with more enthusiasm than others…

Half an hour passed; then three quarters, and still no one looked up or spoke. Tulah settled into the comfortable silence with some relief.

When they had been working for around an hour (A/N; wish I could do that…) the portrait hole banged open and Sirius bounded in, his hair windswept from Quidditch practice. (A/N; Mmm…)

"Study break!" he yelled, slamming James and Remus' books shut and flinging himself down into the nearest chair. He sat jiggling impatiently until Remus shot him a warning look; whereupon he subsided, but not for long…"Lets go flying again, c'mon; I wanna go out, Peter's boring! Tulah will you come flying…with…me…" His voice died away. Tulah flicked her gaze back to her books and pretended she hadn't heard.

Awkwardness hung unspoken in the air; the atmosphere tightened noticeably. Sirius rose abruptly and strode out, slamming the portrait hole shut behind him.

Tulah bit back a tiny sob, the others exchanged glances and Remus opened his mouth to speak, but Lily shook her head.

"'Sort it out themselves,'" she mouthed, and Remus subsided, glowering.

Sirius smashed his fist into the wall of his bike shed, let out a stream of eloquent expletives and sucked his hand, shooting an injured look at the wall. He had wanted to ride his bike; to blow the memories of Tulah out of his head with the sound of the wind roaring in his ears, but even the bike reminded him of that day in the holidays…

He pressed his forehead against the cold windowpane and exhaled noisily, watching his breath mist on the glass.

"Dammit, get out of my head!"

"Talking to yourself again, Sirius?" came a mocking voice from the doorway. "First sign of madness, you know." Sirius turned to glare at the speaker.

Lindsay just smiled. His anger had always bounced right off her, and now was no exception.

"Get out," he spat.

Lindsay shrugged, still smiling.

"When I'm ready."

"Which will be when?" Sirius growled, impatient for solitude.

"Unsociable today. Had a fight with our little girlfriend, have we?"

It was too close to the truth for Sirius to bear; he grabbed her by the arms and hauled her bodily out of the door, ignoring her protests. Then he went back inside, locked the shed behind him, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Tulah hung back after Charms, wanting to ask Professor Flitwick something. "Catch you up," she called to Remus and Lily, who nodded and departed. She caught Sirius' eye as he left, but neither of them spoke.

Tulah found herself turning to watch him leave, and when she turned back she was facing an empty room; Professor Flitwick had vanished with the rest of the class.

Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she began to gather her books, humming softly.

"All alone?" said a mocking voice from behind her. Tulah spun around to see Lindsay leaning against the doorframe, smiling sweetly and twirling a lock of hair around her finger. Tulah took no notice of her; Lindsay came closer, still smiling her sickly-sweet smile. (A/N; *does the alliteration dance* YAY!!!! We all love alliteration, tra la la la laJ)

"I heard you and Sirius had a fight," Lindsay observed.

Her smile was getting a little weird. Tulah stared at her. ::Does she need medical help?:: she wondered, concerned. (A/N; hehe...ahehe…AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…excuse me. *Turns to face the wall in hysterics at her completely unfunny comment*) "Yeah, you could say that," she muttered – because not to answer might provoke her, and all Tulah was concentrating on right now was just backing away...

"Does that mean I'm in with a chance, then?" asked Lindsay.

Tulah frowned. "What?"

"Now that you're out of the picture…maybe…I don't know what he saw in you, you know," she said, surveying Tulah thoughtfully. Tulah made no comment; some of the old shyness had crept back, and she was feeling rather small. "Last term he was mine," Lindsay continued, slightly hysterically. "I did what I wanted…I had him. We had an arrangement.

"Then you come along, and suddenly he's all, 'if you lay a finger on her, I'll kill you,' and he doesn't want me any more…he wants you, the frigid little mudblood. He even played that joke…God, I was so angry, I could have…you've got no idea…but he's popular, he's powerful, and he's perfectly capable of making a fool out of me…so, I left you alone. Bet you thought you'd got off, didn't you?" Tulah said nothing; she was too busy staring at her feet.

::Why is it that whatever she says makes me feel like shit?:: she wondered, blinking back tears.

Lindsay's eyes had narrowed to slits. "Crying already? Well, well…not so brave, are you, without the Marauders to protect you? It's back where it used to be. He's mine now…and you're nothing but a loser with no life, no boyfriend, no looks and no brains. You're pathetic." She turned on her heel, confident and perfect, and walked out without looking back. Tulah sank against the wall, and gave way to tears.

**FLASHBACK**

Tulah caught Sirius' eye as he followed Lily and Remus out of Charms, but neither of them spoke. Sirius stopped abruptly, motioning to the others to carry on without him. ::This is ridiculous…I'm just going to go in there and apologise. Even though this isn't my fault.::

He turned back towards the door and stopped. "…Frigid little mudblood…" Sirius frowned, moving closer. That was Lindsay's voice, and – he peered around the door – she was talking to Tulah. He backed off again, not at all willing to get involved in a catfight. Nevertheless, the next words which drifted through the door made him start forward. "…Crying already? Well, well...He's mine now…you're nothing…pathetic…"

**END FLASHBACK**

Then came the clicking of heels on a hard floor, and next second the door had opened and Lindsay had come out, a tiny smile of triumph playing around her lips.

Sirius couldn't have stopped himself, even if he had bothered to; he seized Lindsay's arm and shoved her up against the wall. Her smile widened. "Hello Siri. Want to go play?"

"You vindictive little cow," he hissed in her face, feeling savage pleasure when her smile faltered. "Like hell I'm yours."

"You – you heard," she stammered.

"Oh, I heard. Bitch."

"Siri! You don't understand…it wasn't me…it was her…"

"Bullshit. It was all you, it's always you," he retorted, refusing to loosen his grip when she struggled. "And if you even dare speak to Tulah, I'll hurt you. Understand? Really hurt you."

Lindsay made no reply; droplets had begun to form in the corners of her blue eyes.

"Do you understand?" he repeated.

Lindsay nodded tearfully, and he let go of her arms, looking down at her coldly.

"You really thought I'd want anything more to do with you? You're the pathetic one."

She scrambled silently to her feet without meeting his eyes.

"Now get out," he ordered. She obeyed without protest. He watched her leaving, her shoulders hunched in defeat, then went into the empty Charms classroom to put things right.

Tulah was leaning against the wall; her cheeks were flushed and although her eyes were dry now, they were also rimmed with red. Sirius walked up and put his arms around her; she resisted.

"I owe you an apology…" he said in her ear. Tulah looked up. "Yeah, you do," she responded simply, and waited for it to come.

"…but you owe me one, too," Sirius continued, letting go of her. "You assumed the worst from the beginning," he accused quietly. "You didn't even give me a chance."

"I know…sorry."

"Sorry."

Tulah, happier than she had been for weeks, hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "I should have given you a chance, at least."

"Does this mean we're…?" Sirius began, his heart leaping in his chest.

"Friends."

Sirius didn't hide his disappointment; he had kept his feelings a secret for too long already. "That's all?"

"That's all…listen," Tulah carried on as Sirius started to protest, "every time we talk about getting together, we end up arguing, or one of us walks out, or…I just don't want to lose you as a friend, that's all."

Sirius sighed, inwardly shouting with frustration. "Ok. Fine. We'll do it your way. But if you change your mind…"

Tulah nodded, grinning. "I'll know where to come."

"Quidditch match tomorrow," James reminded them that evening; looking pointedly at Sirius and Remus, who were both on the team. "Gryffindor V Slytherin and we have to win this one, or we lose the cup. So get some rest tonight, right?"

Sirius looked doubtful; Remus shrugged, a gesture which coming from him could have meant anything from 'yeah, sure' to 'are you asking me to commit suicide? James had told them the same thing every match night since he had become captain, and Sirius had still never had a decent night's sleep before a game.

About half an hour later James, a manic 'I'm the Quidditch Captain' glint in his eye, bawled, "Bed, team!"

Most of the team, used by now to his somewhat fanatic leadership, left resignedly for their dormitories; Remus and James followed them. James shot Sirius a warning look – which Sirius calmly ignored – as he went out.

"Honestly, he's obsessed," Lily muttered to Tulah, who agreed heartily but didn't like to say so. Sirius, who had no qualms whatsoever about saying so, nodded vigorously.

"Mental," he agreed. "We had a practice at six in the morning yesterday. Six!" He closed his eyes in horror at the thought. Lily eyed him shrewdly.

"Did you go?" she inquired.

Sirius looked offended. "Of course I didn't! What d'you take me for, some kind of…of…energetic person?"

"Of course not," Tulah soothed, winking at Lily. "No one thinks that."

"Good!"

Another half an hour passed in comfortable silence – apart from the unsettling noise of Sirius flicking Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans into the air and catching them in his mouth, and the even more unsettling choking sounds when he found a vomit-flavoured one.

Lily stood up, yawning. "I'm going up to bed. Coming?" she added to Tulah who stood up beside her, stretched, and nodded, watching Sirius out of the corner of her eye. She could see him itching to make a dodgy comment, and she was impressed when he restricted himself to a smile – only a hint of smirk – and a composed goodnight.

On the way upstairs Lily turned to Tulah. "I want to go and say goodnight to James," she told her quietly. "I…um…might not be back for a while. Don't bother to wait up."

"Ok," Tulah smiled, carrying on up the stairs alone as Lily went through the door leading to James' room.

Freshly changed into her favourite blue rugby shirt and boxers, she slid between the sheets, lay down, then sat up once more. ::Forgot to brush my teeth.:: She got up, brushed her teeth, examined them in the mirror, wrinkled her nose and got back into bed. Ten minutes later she arose yet again. ::Hair.:: She dragged her brush through it, sitting up in bed, then flicked it to one side and laid her head back on the pillow.

After half an hour of tossing and turning, she was ready to scream with frustration. ::Whatever happened to falling asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow?:: She tried shoving her head under the duvet, which only made her too hot, then threw the duvet off altogether to try and cool down. Ten minutes later she bent over to get it, shivering. ::Now I know how Sirius feels…::

Sirius would be down in the common room now, probably still eating Bertie Bott's, she thought with a smile. With that comforting thought she disentangled herself from the duvet and tiptoed down the stairs to find him.

"Boo," she said glumly to Sirius' shadow, which twisted around on the wall. Sirius appeared around the edge of the armchair, his cheeks rather flushed with the heat from the fire. "What're you doing here?" he asked bluntly, looking confused. "I thought you went to bed."

"Couldn't sleep."

"Have you tried?"

"That's rich, coming from you!" Tulah exclaimed indignantly. "You haven't even been upstairs yet!" Sirius looked mildly ashamed of himself.

"Sorry."

Tulah took the chair opposite him, a smile lifting one corner of her mouth. "Was that a sincere apology I just heard? Do you feel ok?" she asked, leaning forward and pretending to check his pulse. Sirius caught her hand, his eyes holding hers, and pulled her to her feet. Tulah was suddenly very aware of how close he was...too close, in fact. ::Merlin, not again!:: was the first thought to enter her head, but then… ::Oh yes:: she thought dazedly, as his lips brushed hers. ::Far, far too close.::

She pulled back. "We shouldn't be doing this."

Sirius, angry but just about capable of hiding it, shrugged and sat back down without looking at her.

::Oh…shit…what the hell.:: "I never said stop," she protested, seating herself comfortably on his lap and turning her face up expectantly. "Well?" she asked, when he didn't move. "Are you going to kiss me again, or what?"

Sirius did so, numb with shock. He hadn't expected her to agree to it. He hadn't even been going to kiss her at all. ::Still…wasn't a bad idea, was it? Not in the end…:: He rested one hand in her hair and cupped her chin in the other. Kissing her when she actually wanted to be kissed was even better than kissing her when she didn't.

(A/N; Well, duh!)

He lifted his mouth away and pressed his forehead to hers. "What made you change your mind?" he asked hoarsely, shifting her around so she faced away from him, wrapping his arms firmly around her waist and planting a kiss on her flushed cheek. Tulah's brow wrinkled in thought. "I don't know…does it matter?"

"No. I couldn't think of anything else to say," he confessed.

Tulah smirked. "I have the perfect solution."

"Mmm? What's that?" Sirius inquired lazily, kissing her other cheek.

"Don't talk."

Laughing, Sirius scooped her hair off her neck and began to kiss it, sliding one warm hand under her rugby shirt. Tulah shivered happily, enjoying the feel of his skin against hers. She wriggled around on his lap and pressed her mouth to his, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. Halfway through, she paused – half to admire his spectacular six-pack, (A/N; *Is lying on floor, drooling*) and half because a thought had just occurred to her. Sirius regarded her warily. "You're not going to back out on me again, are you?"

"No…" said Tulah slowly, "But I was just thinking, the common room isn't really the best place for…um…this. Is it?"

"Probably not the best place for…um…this, no," Sirius agreed solemnly. He stood up suddenly, tipping her ungently off his lap in the process. Tulah frowned up at him from the floor. "What was that for?"

"I know where we can go," Sirius told her excitedly, holding out his hand and pulling her quickly to her feet. A moment later they were in the corridor, kissing again. "This wasn't what I had in mind either," Tulah admitted carefully.

"Oh, we're not there yet," Sirius grinned. "I was just checking."

They set off again, walking swiftly and quietly, and peering around corners before advancing. Once they caught sight of the new caretaker, Argus Filch, with his cat trotting along beside him. Sirius pulled her quickly into the next corridor. "Run," he instructed urgently, taking her hand.

She obeyed. "Why?" she asked, as they rounded a corner and came to an abrupt stop.

"I swear, that cat has the sixth sense or something," Sirius panted, "It can hear students coming a mile off. We needed to get out of there before we're caught."

He gave her a breathless but triumphant kiss, pushing open the door of a room that seemed vaguely familiar…

"Room of Requirement," Sirius explained, before returning his attention to her lips.

"Last time you brought me here, it was to shout at me," said Tulah nervously.

"I can assure you," grinned Sirius, pushing her gently down onto the bed. "This time I'm going to do exactly the opposite."

There just is a bed, ok? Room of Requirement, after all…