Laughing Fountain: Thanks for the review :) I guess that most of them are busy in reading "The Girl Who Lived" as most of the reviews are there.

Chapter 7 - I Can't Tell You My Secret.

Sirius and Christine decided to keep their relationship a secret. Sirius didn't want anyone to know about it, because he thought that someone would try to ruin it. His main concern was Lucius. Christine assured him that she wouldn't tell Lucius no matter how close they were.

Remus was feeling tired and looked rather ill as the full moon approached. Sirius was feeling sorry for him and wanted to be with Remus and the others that night. They had been going through this for quite a while now and Sirius didn't know how would he feel if he didn't go this time. He wanted to ask Christine for an advice, but he knew that Remus didn't want anyone to know that he's a werewolf, as the wizarding community doesn't accept them as normal people, fearing that they would cause casualties.

Sirius kept an eye on Remus during classes and Remus turned to look at him from the front row from time to time (Sirius kept sitting in the last rows so he would keep himself away from the others.), as to tell him to be there at night.

After their last class with the Slytherins Sirius went to the lake to meet Christine. This was becoming their secret meeting place after classes and after Sirius' detentions.

"Hi." Christine said happily as she threw herself in Sirius' arms.

"Did you miss me?" Sirius asked her playfully as he placed a kiss on her lips.

"Yeah, I missed you." She replied.

"How was your day?" Sirius asked.

"Boring." Christine replied. "I felt lonely."

"I can imagine that. I felt lonely, too."

They sat under a tree and Sirius put his head on Christine's lap as he lay down on the grass.

"I wish this could last forever." Sirius said with closed eyes. "No classes, no detention and one to bother us while we're together."

Christine smiled as she stroked his dark hair. "You know, sometimes I want to stand in the middle of the Great Hall and tell everyone about us."

"I want that too." Sirius said. "But I don't think that this is the best time to do so."

"At least no one would bother us." Christine said understandingly.

Sirius looked at his watch. "I hate to say this, but I better go now. I don't want to be late for detention."

"Alright. How about meeting each other after that?" Christine asked.

"I… I have to go somewhere tonight." Sirius said as he sat up.

"Where?"

"May I ask you not to ask me that one? Please?" Sirius asked.

Christine sighed. "Alright. But I do hope that you're not going to hurt someone again." She told him.

"Not unless I get hurt." Sirius muttered to himself.

"What did you say?" Christine asked.

"Oh… don't worry. I won't hurt anyone." He smiled.

"Good. Now you better hurry to your detention. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Of course. I can't wait for tomorrow to come." Sirius said and got up. How true it was. He wanted this night to pass very fast, and he felt sorry for not being able to meet Christine after detention. He took her hand and helped her to get up and pulled her close to him.

"I'm going to miss you." He said, his hand touching her jaw line.

"I already miss you. But at least we have double potions tomorrow and we can pair up in the class." Christine said with a smile.

"Good idea!" he gave her a kiss. "I better run now."

"Take care."

"Okay, you too." Sirius said and ran back to the castle.

Christine stayed near the lake for a while. She didn't know what Sirius was up to. However, he sounded strange when he spoke about 'going somewhere' tonight. She remembered Lily telling her to be careful with him, and it seemed that Lily was right.

"I'll keep an eye on you Sirius Black." Christine told herself and walked back to the castle.

Sirius entered the classroom and saw McGonagall sitting there reading a book.

"You're early Mr. Black." She said calmly without looking at him.

"Didn't have anything else to do." Sirius replied as he sat down. "What am I going to write today?"

"You're not going to write anything. I have other assignment for you and your friends." McGonagall said. "We'll wait for them to come and then I'll tell you about it."

"Okay." Sirius replied.

As soon as James and Peter came in, McGonagall smiled. "Now that you're here, you will go to the Trophy Room with Mr. Filch. He'll tell you about the details."

"Professor, you know what night it is tonight. Don't you?" James asked.

"Yes Mr. Potter, and don't worry. I have asked Mr. Filch to let you go at nine o'clock. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time until Mr. Lupin's transformation." McGonagall replied.

"Yes, thanks professor." James said. "Remus is at the Shrieking Shack now. He wasn't feeling good."

"I know. Thankfully, he has such good friends as you who are ready to risk their own lives to be with him on the hardest nights of his life." McGonagall smiled. "Now go or you'll be late."

The three sixth years walked out of the classroom and headed to Filch's office.

Christine reached the Entrance Hall and met Lucius who left his friends and approached her with a charming smile on his face.

"Hello Chris." He said playfully and put his arm around her shoulder and walked along with her.

"Hi Lucius." Christine replied with a smile.

"Where were you?"

"Outside as you can see. I needed a walk."

"Is something bothering you? You go for a walk alone only when there's something wrong." Lucius said.

"Don't worry. Everything is fine." Christine smiled.

"Want to join us for dinner?"

"Maybe some other time. I have homework to do and I don't want to leave it for the night."

"Alright. If you need any help, you know where to find me."

"Okay."

Lucius went back to his friends as Christine went to the Hufflepuff common room.

"Hello Christine!" said Jane, the first year student who was jinxed by Peter.

"Hi Jane." Christine replied. "How was your day?"

"It was fine. I earned five points for our house today at Transfiguration!"

"How nice!" Christine said as she sat on a couch next to Jane. "What did you do?"

"I turned a match into a needle! I never managed to do it since the beginning of term, and today I made it!"

"That's wonderful!" Christine said and gave Jane a hug.

"And how was your day?" Jane asked.

"It was good." Christine smiled. "I went to the lake."

"I've never been there before. How does it look like? Is it nice?" Jane asked.

"Yes, we'll take you there next time." Christine said and put her hand on her mouth. She was about to tell Sirius' name.

"Oh, so you don't go there alone." Jane said excitedly, without noticing Christine's sudden blush. "You're dating someone?"

"Er… no." Christine said. "I went there with… with Lily. Yeah, Lily Evans. She's a Gryffindor and we are friends."

"How nice! And you will take me with you to the lake?"

"Of course we will. I'll let you know the next time we go there." Christine said. "Now I have to go to my room. I need to change my clothes and get my books to do some homework."

"Okay, see you later." Jane said.

Christine smiled and went to the Girls' Dormitories and headed to her room. She changed her school uniform with more comfortable clothes and lay on her bed. She was going to wait until Sirius' detention ends so she would go and follow him wherever he was going to.

Something bothered her though. Christine could feel that Sirius was hiding something from her and she wanted to know what was it. If they were supposed to be together, then they shouldn't keep secrets from each other.

"How can I think about that if I have my own secrets that I can't reveal?" She said to herself.

Christine was one of the best students that Beauxbatons. She was excellent in all her classes. Teachers never complained about her and her parents were proud of her. She was a loyal friend. Her classmates trusted her in everything but only some of them became her closest friends. Although, some other students used to call her bookworm, as she used to keep studying all the time but she has never complained about it.

Everything seemed perfect for Christine at her old school. She passed her O.W.L.s and even managed to become a registered animagus. Lucky for her, the French Ministry of Magic allowed sixth year students to register their animagus forms and Christine was one of the firsts in her class who registered. Her happy life at Beauxbatons came to its end when one night at the end of September she tried to help her best friend Helene.

Helene was on her way to a date with a Muggle boy whom she liked. She managed to sneak out of the school one night and Christine was the only person who knew about it.

Christine was reading a book when she heard a scream not so far from the school. She looked out of the window of her room and saw a small figure of a girl running and a guy was chasing her. Christine recognized her friend at once. As there was no one else outside at that time.

The guy managed to catch Helene and started beating her. Christine knew that there was something wrong. She took her wand and ran out of the school. She reached the part of the school grounds where the guy was beating her best friend. She pointed her wand at him and stunned him. Then she went to see how her friend was.

Helene was unconscious. She had several cuts and bruises on her body and face. Christine tried to carry Helene to the Hospital wing, but she was hit from the back. She dropped Helene to the ground and turned to see the guy holding a wand in his hand. She realized that her friend was tricked and her supposed-to-be boyfriend wasn't a Muggle at all. He was a wizard. They dueled and Christine did a lethal mistake by using one of the unforgivable curses. She used the Cruciatus curse on him and at that moment one of the teachers who has also heard their shouts and screams came to that spot.

Helene was dead. The wizard has caused damage to her brain as he hit her continuously. He was sent to Azkaban for murder. Christine was convicted for using an unforgivable curse, and she was expelled from school.

Her parents decided that it was best for them to return back to England and live there. They contacted with Albus Dumbledore and he agreed to interview Christine for a chance to study at Hogwarts. Christine told Dumbledore what had actually happened the night her friend died and she even convinced him to use Veritaserum on her. Of course, Dumbledore believed her and didn't use the truth potion, and gave her the chance to continue her education at Hogwarts as a transferred student. No one was to know that Christine was expelled. The British Ministry of Magic agreed on giving her a second chance and also registered her animagus form. As they knew that she would use her animagus ability weather she was registered or not. Therefore, it was better to make it legal.

Christine wiped her tears as she remembered the night that Helene died. How was she supposed to make Sirius tell her about his secrets if she wasn't going to tell him about her own? She hasn't even told her childhood friend Lucius about her expulsion from Beauxbatons.

She got up from her bed and looked at her watch. It was nine o'clock. Sirius was about to finish his detention and she was determined to follow him wherever he was going to. She went to look out of the window. The moon was full and it was already dark outside. Only the sounds of the night creatures and the happy sounds of the Hufflepuff students who were at the common room could be heard.

Christine pulled a jacket on and took her wand with her. She walked out of the room and headed to the common room. Jane noticed her immediately.

"Christine! Where are you going at this time? If Filch saw you…"

"Don't worry Jane. I'm going to see Professor McGonagall. I forgot to take a… book from her." Christine replied and walked out quickly.

She let out a sigh of relief when she was in the corridors. She looked around and when she was sure there was no one there, she continued walking, until she heard two boys speaking in a whisper and heading to her direction. She hid in a corner and waited for them to pass. Then she walked to the direction of McGonagall's office. She saw Sirius getting out of the office and she opened the closest classroom door and entered. She waited for him to pass and then she took her head out and made sure he was far enough to be followed without noticing her.

Christine walked out of the classroom and followed Sirius. He went to the Entrance Hall and then he went out to the school grounds. Christine followed him, wondering where he was heading.

Her eyes widened at the sight of an enormous tree that seemed to go crazy at the moment Sirius reached it. She didn't notice what Sirius did that caused the tree to stop waving its branches, and she decided to wait where she was until he came out. She chose a spot for her under a tree and sat down.

Sirius entered the passage that led to the Shrieking Shack and walked slowly. He didn't know how would his friends treat him, but he wanted to be with them tonight.

As he reached the Shrieking Shack he went straight to the room on the second floor where he heard voices. He pushed the door open slowly and walked in.

The three Marauders stared at him with a shock. They didn't expect to see him there.

"What do you want?" James said as he got up.

Sirius looked at the ground as he spoke. "I… I wanted to apologize to you all." He said. "I'm really sorry that I acted like a jerk."

James sighed and looked at the others. Remus was smiling and Peter was still shocked. Remus nodded to James and he turned back to Sirius. He walked to him and put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"No need to be sorry mate." James said. "We all have our share of mistakes."

Sirius looked at James' eyes and smiled. "I wanted to be with you all the time. I couldn't stand being alone with no one to talk to all day, and I wanted to thank you all for getting yourself into detention just to be there with me."

"Finally! His brain is back!!" Remus said happily.

James smiled at Sirius and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry for not talking to you all these days Padfoot!"

"I'm sorry too Prongs!"

"Welcome back Padfoot!" Remus said as he slowly got up and gave Sirius a hug.

"Thanks Moony." Sirius replied.

"It's good to see us together again." Peter said.

"It sure is!" Sirius said and hugged Peter too. "I missed you guys! You can't believe how hard it was for me to stay away from you. Now I understand that I shouldn't have treated you that way."

"It was hard for us to see you away too Padfoot." Remus said. "And I'm glad you came tonight."

"I had to turn down a date to come here instead, you know!" Sirius said.

"You did what?" James exclaimed. "A date? With whom??"

"Sorry, can't tell you right now. I promised her." Sirius said.

"Oh come on mate! You can trust us! We won't tell a bug!" James said excitedly.

"Prongs, he promised her not to tell anyone!" Remus said. "I'm sure we'll be the first to know when he decides to speak."

"Yeah, I promise that you'll be the first to know." Sirius said.

"Oh alright." James whined. "Can you tell us the first letter of her name?"

"Nope."

"How about her house? Which house is she from?" Peter asked.

"I'm not telling. I promised her!" Sirius said. "I don't want to ruin this relationship. She makes me feel different, and that's what I like in her. I don't want to lose her just for having a big mouth!"

"Alright, no more questions about her until you decide to answer them." James said.

"Thanks for understanding." Sirius said with a large smile on his face.