Tara woke up early one November morning to one of her best friends, Adara Falcon straddling her on her bed in the dorm they shared with three other girls. Tara's other best friend Lilly Evans, a girl named Elizabeth Milner and another girl named Alanna Hucklemen.

"She's awake!" Adara yelled.

Suddenly there was something white over her head. Tara realized what it was and shrieked as a bucket of cold water was dumped on her. She wiped the water off her face and struggled to get out of bed

"Happy 16th birthday!" Lilly screamed, her red hair sticking up behind her in a ponytail.

"Get off me!" Tara shrieked at Adara who jumped quickly off of her to avoid being thrown on the floor by Tara's wild attempt to get free.

Tara, after throwing the now drenched blankets off of her and glairing in turn at her two best friends made her way to the hall and into the girl's washroom. Adara and Lilly exchanged looks and followed the fuming brunette into the washroom giggling to them selves.

"That was well worth it," Adara whispered to Lilly as they watched Tara storm around the bathroom and into the shower.

"I can still hear you Adara." Tara said sourly.

"Yes, but it was well worth the attitude I think," Lilly giggled. "You should have seen your face!" Lilly and Adara broke into hysterics as Tara threw a bar of soap at them from the shower.

Fifteen minutes later Adara had her platinum waist length hair brushed and pulled into a tight ponytail and was applying mascara to her bright green eyes. Lilly was looking into the mirror trying to tame her wavy dark red hair without much hope. Finally giving up she applied eyeliner to her emerald green eyes. Tara stepped out of the shower in a towel and made her way around a clump of third year girls to her two friends at the sixth year sinks.

Tara admired herself in the mirror. Her full but not to full lips that any guy would dream of kissing, her button nose that her friends were envious of. Finally she stopped at her smoky blue eyes, which she noticed were more blue than gray that morning. She then pulled her hair out of the towel on her head and watched the dark brown hair as it fell around her shoulders and land at her chest. She then magically dried her hair and body with a quick spell and flick of her wand.

"What do you guys have planned today?" Tara asked noticing Lilly glance nervously glance at her muggle watch and throw Adara quick glances.

"Now why would we ruin the surprise?" Adara asked checking herself out in the mirror her perfect size 2 figure stretching as she raised her arms above her head letting her purple tank top show off her stomach. Putting her arms back down she rolled her boy short underwear down so they were lower on her hips and she walked smoothly out of the washroom and back into their room to change.

Lilly grinned at Tara's questioning face then followed the tall blonde out of the room.

Rolling her eyes at herself in the mirror Tara quickly applied some black eyeliner and mascara to her eyes and followed the two into the other room.

"Wear that," Adara instructed pointing to Tara's four-poster bed to her right.

Tara wondered over and saw a black pleated mini skirt that buttoned up at the side and a slinky black lace halter-top. Smiling Tara pulled off her heart-covered boxers and pulled the skirt on and buttoned it up. She then took the forest green tank top off and put a black lace bra on and the lace halter over that allowing Lilly to button it at the back of her neck.

Adara and Lilly stood back and admired Tara in the outfit. Adara smiled with pride at Tara's super model body that was even more perfect than her own.

"You look marvelous, Sirius will die when he sees you," Lilly said smiling

Adara grinned as Tara scowled at their friend "he may love you now but when he sees you in that he will be your slave for the rest of eternity."

Tara's blue eyes turned gray. They only did this when she was extremely turned on or extremely angry. Tara let everyone think it was the latter one when it came to Sirius black. She kept it secret that it was truly the first. "He can go to hell in a handbag," Tara said and sat on her bed waiting to the other two to get dressed.

Finally half an hour later the girls went down the stairs. Adara went first in a slinky baby blue halter-top and white mini skirt to assemble the boys. James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black who was already waiting at the foot of the stairs and finally Peter Pettigrew. Others joined the five as well. Tara, Adara and Lilly were the most beautiful, most popular and most sought after girls at Hogwarts. Along with their fourth member Christina White that Tara and Adara had grown up with but was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Second Lilly walked down the stairs in an emerald green crop top and jean mini skirt. She stopped on the opposite side of the door than Adara. The two exchanged looks then said, "Presenting Tara Michelle Moriarty!"

Tara gracefully walked down the stairs stopping between her friends. She shyly looked up to see Sirius's reaction. He was the best looking guy in Hogwarts and London. He had a fan club at the school. Tara smiled to herself he was staring at her his mouth open his face beet red. His eyes traveled up Tara's toned legs to her skirt and then paused at her navel then working their way slowly up her torso and pausing longer on her full breasts that were barely covered by the top and bra then up to her lips where he paused at longer and moved his lips together wanting to kiss her. He then looked up at her eyes, which locked with hers. They were gray he noted. She was angry with him for looking at her like that. He tried to look away but he couldn't. Finally Tara blinked and looked away and around the room Sirius continued to watch and admire her though out the morning as she opened her presents from their friends. He loved how she threw back her head when she laughed. He looked into her eyes again. They were the smoky blue, which told him she was happy.

All morning Tara was extremely aware of Sirius. Everywhere she went she felt the warm feeling she had denied for the past 10 years since she moved to London from Italy and into Sirius's life. That meant that Sirius was watching her. Tara opened her gifts excitedly as she ignored him. She laughed at the dung bombs James had bought her, she hugged Adara for the silver earrings and hugged Lilly for the silver friendship braclette and handed one of the four to Lilly and Adara keeping the other two. Leaving one to give to Christina later that day. Remus had bought her the fourth book of a series she was reading. Her last gift was a small silver box, which had her name in gold lettering on it. It didn't say whom it was from but she knew. She pretended that she didn't as she opened it and saw the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. Dangling from it was a rose with a black onyx stem that she knew represented the name she had been given when she was younger from her grandmother.

Flash back

Tara sat crying on the back steps of the veranda that surrounded her grandparent's house in Italy. She was 10 and her family was there for her grandmother's funeral. She sat holding a letter addressed to her from her grandmothers will which stated that the manor and land were to be hers on her eighteenth birthday. She was also left with a huge sum of her grandparents fortune which she couldn't touch until she was 21. Her siblings had been extremely jealous. Her middle sister Brina who was 12 had received the summer villa in Prague, Her older sister Erin who was 14 had received all of her grandmother's jewelry and the grand piano along with a small amount of the fortune that was left over from what Tara had received. Her eldest brother Michael had received the company her grandfather had started Nimbus Co. Michael was only 16 at the time.

Tara read the letter again

Bella,

My dear sweet Tara Never forget you are my rose and my heart

You are the fallen rose of the future

. Love Mami

Reading the letter for the second time Tara had begun to cry harder. Adara and Christina were busy playing in the stables with the manors horses. Tara had believed she was alone. She had whispered between sobs "I will forever be your fallen rose mami," She had then felt an arm go around her shoulders as Sirius who had come with his family sat down beside her.

Reality

Tears stained Tara's eyes as she pulled the necklace out of the box. She then noticed a note under the padding. She pulled it out and unfolded it.

To my fallen rose.

Flash back

"Why does Pappy call you his fallen rose mami?" Tara had been six at the time and was sitting the parlor at her grandparent's manor.

"Because Bella, when you're pappy first fell in love with me, I had been kicked thrown out of home. He had photographed me on the corner selling roses," Her grandmother paused and picked a rose out of a vase on the table beside her Tara had been in awe of her grandmother. Tara was out of place at her own home because her siblings and parents were all book smart. Tara was brilliant but showed it in more artistic ways. Her grandmother fiddled with the rose she had taken.

"Then?" Tara had asked in an awed whisper.

"Then" her grandmother repeated, "I had dropped the rose I had been holding and in the photograph I had my back turned to your pappy but you could see the profile of my face, a lone tear was falling as I reached out for the falling rose. Your pappy had rushed over and picked it up paying for it." Her grandmother smiled, " he had said then 'you will forever be my rose, my heart. To you will always be a fallen rose. I will pick you up. Come with me' I took his hand and followed him to his manor. We were married the next week." Her grandmother had begun to tear and Tara went to her. She knelt on the ground infront of her and rested her head on her lap while hugging her legs. Her grandmother quietly placed the rose in Tara's hair. And lifted her chin.

"You my heart, you are my rose. And one day a boy will come along when you have fallen. He will pick you up and you will no longer be a fallen rose," Tara's grandmother then kissed the top of Tara's head and they sat there in their own worlds thinking about the future and the past.

Reality

Sirius watched Tara wishing he could take her in his arms like he had when they were 10. On the day Tara had become the fallen rose her grandmother had told her about. After her grandmother had died Tara had felt completely lost and alone in the world.

Tara felt the rose pendant at her neck and thought about her grandmother, and then she thought of Sirius. He had come to her that day on the veranda so long ago now and had told her that she was his rose that he would pick up and love when she was ready for him. He had said he would always love her and be hers. The fact that someone could speak like that at the age of 10 had scared her senseless. She had run away from him telling him she didn't love him and that she was not his fallen rose. She had dropped the letter. Sirius had picked it up and read it as Tara went to her grandmother's room and cried on her bed for the rest of the night.

Tara looked up now at the 16 year old boy who had kept his promise all these years while she had continually hurt him and told him all one big lie to keep herself from living, from being happy and from her grandmothers memory.

Sirius looked up at Tara and their eyes locked. They looked sadly at each other secretly wanting the other to hold.

"Tara," Adara said as she waved her hand in front of her eyes.

"Huh?" Tara looked up from the trance Sirius had put her under.

"What does the note say?" Adara asked again hiding a smile at the look she has broken between Sirius and Tara knowing it wasn't hatred in her eyes but a love so deep there wasn't any way to make it real between them.

"Oh uh nothing just the place its from," Tara lied. She had never told anyone about the name her grandmother had given her. Only Sirius knew. She shot Adara a pleading look.

Adara nodded and looked over at Sirius who was now sitting on the couch eating a cracker and listening to James and Remus discuss the last quiditch game.