OK, Chapter two...hope you liked chapter one. I know it's kinda boring but it's necessary exposition. OK...prolly not, I hate exposition in most stories, especially in LotR...I mean come on, do you really have to waste 3 chapters explaining how Aragorn and Legolas are running?? Geez...OK, this chapter is a bit of an internal monologue thing...it's fun for characters to share their feelings, and due to my amazing skills learned in LIt, this story is written from an omniscient third person PoV...or maybe it was semi-omniscient...oh well...I did get an A on my lit finals...if it weren't for that stupid A- in econ, I'd still have a 4.0....grrr....*growls some more* Well...I suppose a 3.98 is fine too...

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Chapter Two :: Sirius

Sirius woke up the next morning a bit more groggy than he usually was. He shook his head a few times, trying to clear it up. Something had happened last night. It was something big. There was an awful lot of yelling and dirty looks from Lily...and Star...there was an awful lot of yelling from her too. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. His stomach gave an unpleasant lurch and he gulped. Sirius clambered out of bed and groped his way to James' four-poster, pulled back the hangings and shook James awake.

"Wha?" James slurred.

"Did what I think happen last night really happen?" Sirius asked.

"Well, what'd you think happened?" James replied.

"Did Star scream her head off at me?"

"Oh, yeah," James answered, "I never knew she had a thing for you though, or I wouldn't have told you to go for Hallicomb."

Sirius groaned and ran his hand through his shaggy black hair. Steorra? His Star? They've been friends for years and he never thought about her as more than a friend at all. He didn't think so anyway. There was that one time when one of her boyfriends made her cry and he'd transfigured the guy into a rat and kept it in a cage by his bed for three days until the teachers finally issued a search and found the rat nearly dead from starvation. Even Sirius had admitted that that incident was overdone, but it was only because he didn't want Star to be hurt. Star had never seemed to been interested in himself beyond a friend either. Well, that is, unless you count that time in fourth year when Star shoved him against a wall in the corridors and kissed him passionately on the lips. But as Steorra later revealed, it was because some creepy Slytherin sixth year had been trying to get a date with her for two months and had resorted to stalking her. The Slytherin ended up becoming a plant and Sirius placed it right in Professor McGonagall's office. Professor McGonagall didn't notice until the spell started wearing off a week later and it talked. Sirius had almost been expelled for that if Steorra hadn't stepped in and taken the blame. Now that he thought about it, Sirius had transfigured almost every one of Steorra's past ten boyfriends into a plant or animal of some sort and Steorra had never complained other than to plead him to change them back so that he didn't get into trouble. For all he'd done in Steorra's social life, he was surprised people still dared to approach her, much less himself. Sirius knew that so many girls wanted him only because he was good looking, a pretty boy almost. He was a symbol of social status, a statue in a display case for someone to show off to all their friends. Not that he minded that much, because he got what he wanted out of it, which was sex, but it did get old after a while.

Sirius looked at the clock mounted on one wall. It was only six. He wondered what caused him to be up so early, but decided that he couldn't sleep anymore. He quickly dressed, threw some fresh quills, wrinkled homework papers and books into his bag and set off for the Great Hall. There were two more days until Christmas and the Great Hall was already decked with decorations. Wreaths and garlands of pine and holly emitted a fresh, outdoor smell. Tiny golden fairies flitted around them. Giant Christmas Trees stood at each corner of the hall, each laden with candles, glittering and shimmering ornaments, and fake snow, which looked so real though as if it had just come from the outside. The hall was empty and Sirius was feeling very small at the moment for some reason. However, food was already there. Sirius supposed that there were always a few insomniacs crazy enough to be up this early, but they weren't here yet. He sat down at his usual seat at the Gryffindor table and helped himself to some sausages and french toast. The clanking of his knife and fork echoed oddly in the empty hall, which was usually so full with the hustle and bustle of students.

There was the click of high-heeled shoes across the stone floor behind him and Sirius turned around. It was Steorra. She seemed surprised to see Sirius up so early and paused a bit but then kept on going. She took her usual seat across from him and started shoveling down food ravenously, chewing noisily, as she usually did. So this was when Star woke up. She was always here with Lily before himself, James, Remus, and Peter, as they usually only had ten minutes to gulp down some juice for breakfast. Steorra didn't talk as she usually would have, but just continued to eat. Sirius stared at her, then her quickly-emptied plate which was just as quickly refilled, the her again. It seemed that the chewing grew louder with each bite of sausages she took.

"Do you have to chew so lout?" Sirius asked in annoyance. He'd never noticed just how loud Star chewed. Maybe everything seemed louder due to the lack of the usual noise, or maybe she was doing it on purpose. It could have even been his imagination, but the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

Steorra looked up. She wasn't wearing her glasses. She was probably wearing those invisible muggle glasses...contats or whatever they were called. Even Sirius had only seen her without those dark framed glasses once or twice. Her eyes seemed much more bright and life-like without them. He liked it. Steorra said nothing, and if anything, grabbed a piece of toast and crunched into it extra-loudly. More people arrived for breakfast, including Lily and James, who chose to sit at the ed of the table, talking quietly, and once in a while, throwing a furtive glance in Sirius' direction.

Finally, the Great Hall was filled up enough so that the loud crunching was blocked out and Sirius felt that whatever he had to say wouldn't be overheard. He leaned forward to try to talk to Steorra.

"Hi," he started, a bit awkward, although he didn't quite know why. He'd always been relaxed and completely at east with Star. They'd always found something random or obscure, or both to talk about; whether it was the weather, the overly large piles of homework, or the dinginess of the bathrooms by the Charms room.

"What do you want?" Steorra snapped, still eating at the pace she was going at almost an hour ago.

"Nothing much, just wanted to talk to you," Sirus replied.

"About what?"

"You know...about what happened last night," Sirius gave a casual shrug.

Steorra gave him a piercing look that was so venomous and full of hate, it seemed to go through his soul, ravaging and tearing it apart. "I told you already, Sirius, I don't need your pity. You want to go out with a bimbette, go ahead."

Sirius. Star had never called him that before. It was always Siri, which sounded rather girly but Sirius didn't mind, or eye candy. "I...I really would rather go out with you than her," Sirius said after a bit of thought.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself? I don't need your pity. Save it for someone who needs it, Sirius," she stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder, "And I never have wanted to go out with you and become another trophy in your display case, and I don't think I'll start now." She left leaving Sirius alone.

Is that really what she thought she would become? A trophy on display as his girlfriends displayed him? He supposed it was true. He always chose his girlfriends for shallow reasons, they were hot, perfect, pretty... did he always do it to prove he was more of a man or something? Sirius wasn't left with his thoughts for long as a cloyingly sweet scent of some imported perfume filled his nostrils and two long, slender arms wrapped themselves around Sirius.

"Come on, Siri. Let's go somewhere...private," Marie purred and kissed him on the neck.

"Don't call me Siri, okay?"

It took Marie a while to get this but in the end, she just smiled and kissed Sirius some more, pulling him away from the Great Hall.

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Um...Reviews, anyone? Please?