A huge thanks to all my reviewers. Laura Johnston (I have no idea where I'm going!), Lady of Masbolle, Typen Away, Sapphire gurl11, Sarah L, Gryffindor Goddess28, Kim (In Miss Baker speak), Devilym, Droplets of Hope, Bellaluna, Trinity Day, Dee, Amorette, Hypercaz, maroon5sin, Emily… there are so many of you and I am too lazy to thank you all.

BUT I have great news. I am writing a joint fic with Lizzabeth Turner!!!! It will be really good! And it will be under her name so don't forget to read it!!!!!!!!!

Now, on with the story!


Chapter 22

Truth or dare

"Truth or dare." Sirius said for the hundredth time that night.

"Truth." Kim replied for the hundredth time.

"Gosh, you're boring. Okay…just let me think of a question. Ummm, I know. Will you ever pick dare instead of truth?"

"No. Your turn." Kim laughed.

The others had been gone for ages and Sirius was nervous. Yes, Sirius Black was nervous about a girl. But this wasn't just a girl. She was his lifelong friend. They'd never been very close in their childhood, but they often found themselves at boring functions together. They would find a private space and spend hours pretending they were somewhere else. The moon, the beach, the playground. They pretended they were at places any normal child would want to be, but they were eventually found and dragged out by their parents who wanted then to meet some relative or old family friend.

Then Kim went to Hogwarts and Sirius was left alone. The first few months of functions he found himself sitting alone, away from the boring adults.

One night it all changed. This night he was feeling particularly bored. This night there were more wizards in one building than he'd ever seen before. More wizards meant more children. More obnoxious, stuck-up brats who thought they could get away with anything. The kind of child Sirius' parents wanted him to be.

So Sirius found a window with plenty of space between the glass and the curtain and hid away, looking out into the darkness and watching the Hippogriff's graze in the soft moonlight. He was interrupted by a nearby scream and the sounds of running footsteps. He was surprised when a boy about his age slid in from behind the curtains and gave him a shocked look.

"Please don't tell anyone I'm here." The boy pleaded.

"As long as you don't tell anyone I'm here." Sirius whispered back.

"Deal." The boy replied as they shook hands.

The two boys crouched behind the curtain as a girls voice came closer.

"It was that horrible boy with glasses and messy black hair. He told me that there were treats in the other room and then when I went in there a tub of honey fell on me. I was ever so embarrassed." She gave a sob.

Sirius looked over at the boy with messy black hair and glasses. He was grinning mischievously and holding back laughter.

"Don't worry Alyssa, we'll get you washed up and soon you'll forget the whole thing ever happened." An older female voice replied.

"Memory charm." Sirius muttered under his breath and the boy had to fight harder to hold back his laughter.

When the footsteps had faded away, the boy turned to Sirius and stuck out his hand again.

"James Potter." He said reaching out and shaking hands with Sirius.

"Sirius Black. Did you really do that to Alyssa Smith?"

"Yes! It was brilliant." He chuckled.

"I've always hated her. I wish I was there to see it."

"Then lets do it again! If you're right and they put a memory charm on her, she'll be dumb enough to fall for the same thing twice. Are you in?"

So Sirius and James spent the rest of the evening playing tricks on the other children and their friendship was formed. They continued causing mischief and even when James wasn't at a function, Sirius found himself letting off dung bombs in the girls toilets or releasing his collection of cockroaches in the kitchens. He still missed Kim, but James was his first real friend, the first person to make him smile and have fun.

"Dare."

"Of cause. I dare you to say truth."

"Damn, you finally got me." Sirius was glad to be alone with Kim, as they had been as children. It was the first time they'd ever spent more than ten minutes alone together since Kim had started Hogwarts. "Okay then, truth."

"Sirius Black." Kim paused for suspense. "Is there anything you're scared of?"

"Yes. A billion things. But this is the only truth you'll get out of me so I'll tell you something I've never told anyone before, not even Prongs. You have to promise me you won't tell anyone though."

"Of course I won't."

"Okay." Sirius thought about the words for a moment. "I'm scared shitless when I think about the future. In eighteen months, I'll be finished school. What will I do? Truth is, I don't want to leave Hogwarts. I know it seems like I hate it, but we have fun, you know?"

"Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about. But why are you telling me? Why are you telling me something you're too scared to tell James about?"

"Because James has a future. He has a million opportunities and can do whatever he wants to do, Famous Quidditch player, Auror, Teacher, rocket scientist, minister of magic. He can do all that stuff. I can't. James doesn't get that. Mooney and Lily and even fucking Wormtail don't get it. Ebony has her future all laid out for her. Jim and Jack even know what they're gonna do when they leave. I feel like you're the only one who can possibly understand me."

"Why? Because I have no future?" Kim didn't know whether to be offended or not.

"No. You're a Slytherin. Everyone accepts, and even expect for you to be…dark. But why should you be? Just because you're a Slytherin it doesn't mean you're evil. Why should I become like everyone else in my family? Just because I'm a black, it doesn't mean I want to have power. I just want to have a good time and enjoy life. I don't want to rule the world."

"Who says you have to?" Kim sat up with motivation in her voice. "Do you want to know what I have to say? Fuck them! I say stop thinking about them and start thinking about the people who want to have a good time with you. Don't think about tomorrow because what if it never comes?"

"Well if today is the last day, I guess there's something I want you to know before it ends." Sirius said feeling oddly motivated himself. "I want to see you more often than I see you now. I want you to be one of the people who have a good time with me."

"What exactly are you getting at?"

Sirius was lost for words. There was only one other way he could let her know how he felt.

He kissed her.

It wasn't like any other kiss he had kissed. It came from the heart. It was short simple and real. When he saw how happy she looked he kissed her again and he didn't stop kissing her until his lips were sore and his tongue was no longer soft against hers. He looked into her eyes and saw how tired she was. He moved her head to rest on his chest. She fell asleep to the sound of his heart beating…beating for her.

I'm really proud of this chapter and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, don't forget to send me a review telling me all about it. Just remember, the more reviews I get, the more I'm motivated to stay up all night writing more chapters.

And I'm loving the fact that I can edit on Fanfiction now. I can write this NOW!!!! WOOHOO!!!