"The hottest love has the coldest end."
-Socrates

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The group of friends had been standing around talking, laughing, and eating for a little while, when one of Lily's favorite slow songs came on. She squealed loudly, causing a very surprised James to drop his chocolate cookie. James was just about to retrieve it, but Lily grabbed his arm and dragged him out to the dance floor before he got the chance. Exchanging glances and laughing, Joey and Sirius quickly ditched the drinks and cookies that they were holding onto a near by table with Flam, and ran out onto the dance floor with Lily and James.

They got out to the middle of the floor, somewhere near where their friends were. Sirius stood just a couple inches taller than Joey did, now that she had her heels on. They faced each other, and Joey took a step closer to Sirius as her brilliant jade-blue eyes pierced through his silvery-grey ones. He gulped audibly, but luckily no one could hear it, considering the music was loud enough to mask it.

At first, they both were wondering if it would be a little awkward to have to get so close in such a couple sort of way. They both knew it shouldn't seem weird, considering they had hugged each other a thousand times before this, but now it just seemed . . . different. After all, they were out on the dance floor with a bunch of other couples that were practically making out while dancing.

Taking a deep breath, Joey looked down to be sure she didn't step on his toes, and took another step closer to put her smooth arms around his neck. When she looked back up into his face, however, their noses were practically touching and she could feel his sweet breath brush across her moist lips. She tried to silently breathe out the scent, but her heart was beating so fast that it came out more like a giant sigh in Sirius' ear. Sirius could feel his ears and neck burning up. His mind was reeling.

Joey laid her head down at the base of his neck. She closed her eyes as they began swaying as one to the music. The candles floating above them seemed to illuminate the enchanted ceiling (which was dark and ominous due to the rain that was still going on out side), but it had an odd effect on it because it caused the room to feel very warm and inviting rather than gloomy and overcast. Breathing deeply, she could smell his crisp, signature scent. It filled her lungs, and her heart fluttered from the enticing smell. The dancing, the music, and the warmth was extraordinarily calming. She was so relaxed, she felt as though she could fall asleep.

Sirius, on the other hand, was no where near about to fall asleep. He was trying so hard to focus on getting his erratic heart beat back to a normal rate, but his adrenaline was pumping so quickly, that he found it hard to even concentrate. And to say the least, the gentle breathing in and out from the beauty lying on his neck was NOT helping at all.

The song was over by the time Sirius had relaxed, but Joey hadn't even noticed. She still had her head burrowed into the base of his neck, and she was closer to being asleep than she was awake. Sirius and Joey just stood there, in the middle of the dance floor with her head resting on him, as a quicker song came on. Sirius didn't know what to do. He desperately didn't want her to take her head off his shoulder, but they were standing in the middle of a dance floor where people were now starting to wildly get their groove on. He started stroking the back of her hair gently to get her attention to perk up a bit. Her silky hair felt so good against his fingers, and he really found himself wishing that he was the guy who could always hold and touch her like this. She eventually pulled her head away from him and looked up into his face with a sweet smile.

"That was nice," she said, still sounding a little drowsy. Sirius relaxed and just nodded at her comment. It was obvious that she had no idea how restless he became when he held her like that. It was just too close for him to hold her without being able to actually know that it was alright for him to enjoy it.

They wandered back over to the table where they left their stuff and Flam, who had now begun pigging out on all of the little tea cookies that had been left with him. Joey had found herself glancing around the great hall to see if she could spot where Amos and that slutty little Barbie look-alike' had run off to . . . not that she was harboring bad feelings towards them or anything. The problem was that she didn't see them around anywhere . . .

'No,' she tried to convince herself. 'they're around here somewhere . . . they've got to be . . .' She did her best to dismiss the idea. They MUST have been in the crowd of people dancing somewhere, and she just couldn't see them because . . . the lighting was so bad . . . Surely, that was the reason.

When Peter and the boisterous Suzy Pudgiegutt approached them, Joey was both grateful and relieved that she could take her mind away from the panicked thoughts. She was really enjoying herself in the conversation she was having with the others. Suddenly, Remus and Laura trotted off the dance floor and joined them, too, while they began drinking heartily from big glasses of pumpkin juice. It turned out that Peter, Suzy, and Laura were all in the same 'care of magical creatures' class together, because they all started getting into a conversation about it, and Sirius, Joey, and Remus were not following. Suddenly, Remus looked all around him and then turned back to Joey and Sirius.

"So where's Lily and James?" he asked under his breath so that only the two others could hear him. Sirius and Joey exchanged looks of confusion.

"You mean they aren't out on the dance floor!" Sirius practically yelled from excitement. Remus shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't see them!" Remus said, practically jumping up and down. Then his face looked very gossipy and interested. "So where do you think they are?" he said with almost a suggestive tone. Sirius and Joey exchanged excited looks again.

"Well, come on! Let's go try to find them!" Joey said with a squeal of delight. This was working out better than they had planned. The three of them started leaving the other group of friends and heading over towards the dining hall's door, when Remus stopped.

"I can't leave Laura here!" he said trying to keep his voice down so she couldn't hear.

"Alright, mate," Sirius said with a quick pat on his arm. "We'll find out the details and fill you in on them later!" Remus nodded reluctantly and went back to his place by Laura's side. Sirius nodded at Joey and they continued on their way out the door, trying to keep unnoticed by everyone.

They reached the door, and slid through it into the silent great hall. The contrast of the hushed corridor they were now standing in contrasted greatly with the deafeningly loud music that was being played in the dining hall. They were having a little bit of trouble hearing each other whisper the plan.

"I think we should check the closets and then the old classrooms first," Sirius barely voiced.

"WHAT!" Joey bellowed through the echoing great hall. The deafening effects from the loud music hadn't quite worn off yet, and she was still having a hard time even hearing herself talk.

"SHHHHHHH!" Sirius practically snapped back as he broke into laughter. Here they were, making a huge effort to be silent, and neither one of them could hear each other properly. His contagious laughter got Joey into a fit of giggles, and they proceeded down the hallway doing their best to keep their talking to a minimum and their laughter stifled.

They finally came across two doors that were across the hall from each other. One was a broom closet, and the other was an old classroom. Now that their hearing had come back for the most part, they could pretty easily hear each other whisper.

"I'll take this door, you take that one," Sirius spoke softly. Joey nodded, and they both crept up to their doors. In Unison, they each put an ear up to their doors, and both had to immediately put their hands to their mouths to keep themselves from laughing.

"There's a couple in here!" Joey barely voiced to Sirius as she crouched down in her dress.

"There's one in here, too!" he whispered with a smothered laugh.

"How do we know which one's them?" Joey asked with an excited pitch in her voice.

"Peek into the window!" he laughed as he gestured towards the little window that sat three-quarters of the way up on the door.

"You want me to PEEK at them!" she said with an almost shocked look on her face. Sirius gave a guilty looking smile and just shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not?" he asked with a laugh. "They'd never know . . ." Joey rolled her eyes, but the amused smile that was across her face never wavered. They both stood up slowly at the same time. Joey slowly peeked over the edge of the window and peered inside. She almost felt sick with herself because of what she was doing. This was wrong, wrong, very, very wrong! She couldn't help it though! There was way too much curiosity . . . and besides, Lily and James were two of her best friends. That had to have made it okay . . . right!

It was pretty dark inside the closet, but Joey could make out two figures necking in the shadows. She tried desperately to oppress her laughter, but she was shaking all over. Trying to look closer, she could kind of see a . . . red-head . . . who was wearing . . . a jade-green gown with elegant lacy trim around the edges! Omigod, Omigod! Lily and James were snogging in that very broom closet, and Joey was watching them!

She was almost crying from excitement when she flung herself around. Leaning up against the door, she slid down it into a crumpled up position, snorting with laughter. Joey couldn't get a hold of herself while she was desperately trying to smother her laughter. When she was almost composed, she tried to call over to Sirius who was still standing across the corridor from her, leaning up with his back against the door he had peeked into.

"Sirius!" she tried to whisper and get his attention. Getting an even better control over her giggling, she decided that Sirius hadn't heard her. Maybe his ears were still a little screwy from the noisy ball they had just left . . . Joey picked herself up off the floor, careful not to tear her gown, and tiptoed over to where Sirius was leaning up against the wall. "Sirius?" she whispered with an uncertain tone in her voice. Suddenly she noticed his face was looking rather pale and grave . . . almost like he was deeply pondering something. "Sirius . . . what's the matter?"

He didn't answer; just stared straight ahead of him. Now he was really scaring her. She reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder. It was almost like he was startled back to consciousness when she placed her hand on his arm. He looked over at her and just stared. He had a look across his face that made it look like he was about to start crying. This was too much for Joey to handle.

"Is it something you saw?" she asked a little bewildered. When she didn't get an answer besides the extremely horrified look that was coming across Sirius' face, she continued "here . . . let me see. That way I-"

"NO!" Sirius practically screamed at her. Realizing the suspiciousness of his actions, he quickly tried to recover. "I mean . . . no, I don't think that's a good idea," he finished in a tone that obviously revealed his forceful calmness.

"Sirius, let me see what's in there!"

"How about I just tell you, and that way you won't have to look . . ." Sirius was almost pleading with her now.

"No, because I won't believe you. You'll lie to me . . . I know you will, just out of sheer effort to protect me." With that, she tried leaning around Sirius to get a peek into the tiny window. Sirius pressed his back up against the little porthole so that it was impossible to see around him.

"Fine!" she said, "I guess I'll just have to go back to the dance and find another date who's not going to act so immature!" Sirius looked hurt, but he still refused to budge from the door.

"Please, Joey . . . I'm begging you to not look into this room . . . let's just talk about it . . . later. Please!"

"Sirius, you know this can go on all night . . . and by then I'm sure the couple in that room will be good and sick of each other, and they'll end up wandering out anyways!" Sirius shook his head adamantly. Joey was confused. What was wrong with him? Was he purposely just trying to get a rise out of her? This was just too much for her to handle. She reached behind Sirius and grabbed a hold of the door knob.

"Joey! This is a mistake! You don't want to do this!" Joey ignored him, twisted the handle and jerked. The door didn't budge. Sirius had thrown all of his weight against the door, and now it was refusing to move in the slightest. Joey moved onto plan 'B.' She began shoving wildly at the side of Sirius to try and get him to budge. The two began struggling, and in a whirl of excitement, the two flung back, yanking the door open with them, and giving the people inside quite a surprise. Joey looked up from the spot that she had landed in the fall, and glanced over at the couple in the room.

An ice-cold chill ran all the way down her spine from what she saw. There, in the darkness that had been shattered with light from the intensely bright corridor, stood two figures standing in their underwear; clothes strewn across the floor. Amongst the clothing was a stunning red dress and a crimson red rose. Joey looked up at the two half-naked people who stood in front of her. Amos Diggory had a very shocked look across his face that did not go well with the red lipstick that was smeared across it, and his torso, as well.

Joey could feel a boiling heat rise from the pit of her stomach all the way up to her ears and neck. The burning soon spread into the back of her throat, and all the way up to her eyes. Her eyes had hot tears welling up in them, and she knew in her brain that she needed to get out of there before she started crying. She practically sprung off the floor into a standing position, where she began sprinting away from what she had just seen. The heels she was wearing were not helping her run, so she just kicked them off and darted out into the great hall. Her mind was racing, and the only thing she could think to do was to get away from people.

Now bursting with anger and grief, she made a quick dash for the front door of the school, and went flying out into the cold, stormy, wet of the night. She was so frantic, she didn't even hear Sirius yelling and racing after her as she fled into the bitter cold of the violent downpour.

Thanks to all of you who take the time to review! much love, SJ