Chapter 20

"Hey Lily!"

"Morning, Ro."

"What's up?"

Roseline drew out a chair beside her friend at the Gryffindor table. Pink and red confetti was drifting down from the ceiling, and all around them other students were giving and receiving Valentine's cards. Lily was looking decidedly moody, shooting frequent glares at the Marauders end of the table. Cennia, who was sitting on Roseline's right, drew her to one side.

"James," she said quietly, nodding at the pile of untouched cards in front of Lily.

"Oh dear," said Roseline softly, sliding back into position. She looked across at James, who appeared to be sulking. She opened her mouth to say something to Lily, but just at that moment Roseline was distracted by a large screech owl skidding to a halt in front of her, sending her plate flying. She frowned: the owl had a red envelope in its beak. Who would be sending a Valentine's card to her? She opened it. It was a poem, and someone had done little cartoon drawings of cupids and hearts all around it.

Roses are stupid

Violets are too

But I'm doing this anyway

Because I miss you.

Roses are pretty

And you can bet you are too,

But a violet can't make you laugh

So I have to choose you.

Love Sirius.

"Aw!" cooed Cennia, who was reading over Roseline's shoulder. "That's so cute!"

Roseline read over it again. You had to admit, it was sort of sweet, in a weird kind of way, she thought. She glanced over at Sirius. She caught his eye and he looked down at the table, scarlet faced and looking extremely sheepish. Roseline smiled and got to her feet. She went over to where Sirius was sitting and planted a kiss on his cheek, ignoring the cat-calls of the other boys.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"I'm forgiven then?" he asked.

Roseline grinned. "Absolutely."

"See? You can't live without me," he drawled, pouting and fluttering his eyelashes.

Roseline raised an eyebrow. "Watch it, buster," she warned.

"Sorry, your majesty," said Sirius, "Do you think you could possibly spare some of your valuable time to allow me to apologise to you?" he smirked. "On the Hogsmeade trip, perhaps?"

Roseline slapped him on the arm, but she was grinning. "You're on."

"Till later then, fair Roseline," he said, pretending to swoon.

Roseline rolled her eyes. "See you later, Sirius."

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"Hey, careful!"

Roseline dodged back into her seat, eyeing the owl that had knocked into her, and now seemed to be on a collision course with their table.

"Erm, Cennia-"she began. Too late. The owl landed at high speed, nearly tumbling over as it sent food flying in all directions. Finally, it came to a halt, barrelling into Cennia and falling into her lap.

"What the....?"

"It's a Valentine!" squealed Daniea, pointing to the owl's beak. Sure enough the dazed bird was miraculously still clutching its delivery – a plain white envelope with Cennia's name written on it in neat, loopy writing.

Cennia's puzzled expression deepened. "But who'd be sending me a Valentine?" she wondered aloud.

"Well, why don't you open it and find out?" said Lily, who was watching the scene with obvious amusement.

Wordlessly, Cennia opened the envelope and took out the card, handing it to Roseline to read. They all huddled together, listening eagerly. The card itself was simple, red with a single heart outlined in black on the front. Intrigued, Roseline opened it, and read the message inside.

To Cennia,

I really like you.

From ?

"Ooh, a mystery admirer," breathed Shonelle, who had joined them. "Wonder who it is?" The others all looked equally puzzled, especially Cennia. Roseline, however, had a hunch as to who it might be, and decided to test her theory. She glanced up quickly, and caught Remus' eye before he could look away. She raised her eyebrows in enquiry. He flushed, and turned away. Theory proven, thought Roseline triumphantly. Roseline opened her mouth to say something, but just then, all the students remaining in the hall rose as one and started to head towards the door.

Roseline glanced at her watch. 10 o'clock. Of course, she thought, Hogsmeade. She turned to follow the others, but someone stopped her. She turned around and saw Remus. She looked at him questioningly, but he shook his head and beckoned her over to a corner, away from the crowd.

"Look," he said quietly. "I know you know I sent the card. I'm not going to deny it. But please, Roseline, do me a favour. Don't tell Cennia."

Roseline frowned.

"Why not? You sent the card, surely you wanted to be found out?"

Remus ran his hands through his hair absentmindedly, making the sandy mop even untidier.

"Yes, no, I don't know. I shouldn't have sent it. It's stupid. I wish I hadn't done it."

"Oh come on, Remus, what's the worst that could happen?"

Remus looked her in the eye.

"The worst?" he said hoarsely. "The worst thing that could happen would be that she liked me back. Not-"he snorted. "that there's any danger of that."

"The worst?" said Roseline blankly, utterly confused. "But- you like her, don't you?"

Remus nodded. "I do. But I don't want her to like me. A girl like her needs someone better. Someone without problems. I don't know why I sent it."

Roseline stared at him for a moment, utterly uncomprehending. Then Sirius' voice filled her mind. Something Sirius had told her, months ago.

"He had a terrible secret, which he had been hiding all his life. But we guessed the truth, so he gave in and confirmed it himself. Remus Lupin is a werewolf...."

A werewolf.

She hadn't thought about those words in a long time. But now it all made sense.

"Oh, Remus," she said softly.

He shook his head.

"Look Roseline. It doesn't matter about me. You can't understand, but it's not important. Just don't tell her."

And with that, he was gone.

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"Roseline, have you seen my jacket?"

Daniea hurried in from the bathroom and started dismantling the room, trying to find her jacket.

"It's here, Danni," said Cennia, entering the room with Daniea's jacket over her arm.

Daniea grabbed it. "Thank you," she chirped, putting it on and bouncing out of the room.

"Somebody's happy," remarked Shonelle as she followed Cennia through the door.

Lily looked up from the article she was reading.

"Yeah, Patrick said he had a special surprise for her. And anyway, it's Daniea, she's always happy."

The Gryffindor girls were up in their dormitory, getting reading for the trip into Hogsmeade. Shonelle and Cennia didn't have dates, so they hadn't bothered too much about their appearance, but Roseline, Daniea and Lily had been getting ready together, as all three of them had dates.

Lily, who was going with Timothy Phelke (who was her boyfriend at this stage, much to James' disgust), had just finished getting ready, and was lying on her bed flicking through one of Daniea's Witch Weekly magazines as she waited for Roseline.

Roseline was standing in front of the mirror, putting the finishing touches to her outfit. She was wearing runners, a pair of faded, slim-fitting jeans and a pink and orange striped woollen turtle-neck. She was wearing hardly any make-up and as usual her hair was tied up in a high ponytail. She grabbed her bag from the chair and turned to Lily.

"Do I look alright?"

"You look fine, now let's go!"

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"So where do you want to go first?"

Roseline and Sirius were walking down the main-street of Hogsmeade, exhaling little silver clouds into the frosty morning air.

"Zonko's?" suggested Sirius, turning puppy dog eyes on her.

Roseline laughed. "All right, fine, we can go to Zonko's, I need to get some stuff anyway."

A few hours later they were sitting at a small table in the Three Broomsticks, sipping their butterbeers and chatting about nothing in particular. They had spent the last few hours wandering round the shops and stocking up on supplies (prank stuff for Sirius, sweets for Roseline. She was something of a sugar addict).

"I'm glad you're talking to me again," said Sirius after a few moments of comfortable silence. "I missed you."

"Yeah, me too," Roseline admitted. "Although you have to understand it didn't look too good from the outside."

Sirius chuckled. "Last time I protect you!"

Roseline laughed, and slid closer to him. Her hand brushed his and he shivered visibly, making her smile.

"I'll listen to you next time, I promise," she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder. She felt him slip his arm around her waist, pulling her closer, and she relaxed, snuggling into him.

"We always seem to be fighting," he mused.

"The anger of lovers renews their love," said Roseline softly.

Sirius frowned. "What's that?"

"It's a quotation," she explained. "My mum always says it. I think it's from a play or a book or something."

"Oh," said Sirius, picking up his bottle and draining the last of the butterbeer. "I see. I think."

"Let me explain it to you," whispered Roseline, reaching up and running her hand along Sirius' cheek, before cupping his chin and pulling him closer. She felt his lips brush against hers and she closed her eyes, feeling him pull her in as he wrapped both arms around her waist. Their lips brushed again and he deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue between her lips, as she slid her arm around his neck, absentmindedly playing with his long curls of hair.

Just then, however, the sudden slam of the door brought them back to reality. They looked up in surprise, arms still entwined.

It was Professor Dumbledore, who saw them looking and smiled, causing them both to blush furiously and separate.

"So, erm," said Sirius awkwardly after a few moments of silence. "What do you want to do now?"

Roseline shrugged. "I don't mind. Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Okay then. It's not like we've got anything better to do."

They stepped out of the pub, shivering in the cool air.

"Ooh, it's cold!" remarked Roseline, wrapping her arms around herself and wishing she'd brought a jacket.

"I know," said Sirius, rubbing his hands furiously in a bid to warm them up. He gave up eventually, and bounded off down the street after Roseline, who had gone ahead.

"Don't wait for me, or anything," he said sulkily, coming up behind her and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Sorry," she said casually, slipping her own arm around Sirius's waist – under his jumper.

He gasped and stiffened as her freezing cold hand came into contact with his warm skin, causing her to smirk. He recovered quickly though. Without saying a word, he responded, slipping his own hand up under her jumper, and trailing an icy finger delicately along her spine. Roseline bit her lip, trying not to react as Sirius continued the torture.

"Fine! I give in!" she gasped eventually, as Sirius, showing no signs of relenting, started to trace words on her skin.

Sirius smirked and removed her own hand first, then his own.

"Never try to out-irritate Padfoot of the Marauders," he said sagely. But a split second later-

"OI!"

Roseline laughed and ran off, juggling the frosty slush she'd collected from a dried-up fountain. Sirius remained where he was, swearing under his breath and contorting his body in an attempt to rid himself of the ice which had just been tipped down his collar by Roseline. He gave up eventually and took off after her, who, seeing him coming laughed again and took off towards the road that led to Hogwarts. Sirius chased her for the best part of thirty minutes, but she had a head start and was just as fast as him anyway.

"Oh, I give up," he moaned, collapsing onto the grass at the roadside. Smiling, Roseline approached, sitting down beside him, and earning herself a glare.

"Fancy seeing you here, Mr. Black," she said casually, trying not to laugh at Sirius' murderous expression.

"Shut up," he muttered half-heartedly.

Roseline grinned. "Gladly," she said, planting her lips on Sirius'. It took Sirius a moment to realise what was happening, but when he did he took full advantage of the situation. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and once he judged he had a secure enough hold, stood up, still holding Roseline in his arms.

Roseline yelped in surprise, and tried to wriggle free, but Sirius was having none of it.

"Oh no you don't," he said, swinging her around so that she was riding piggy-bag. "You don't get off that easily." And with that he took off full speed for the castle.

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"God, Roseline, you weigh a ton!" gasped Sirius, dumping her on the couch in the Gryffindor common room before flopping down beside her.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Gee, thanks. I'm so sorry I made you carry me. I should have made you put me down," she said sarcastically.

Sirius grinned. "You're a hard taskmistress, Miss Kehst, no doubt about that. I won't be carrying you next time," he replied, getting up to leave.

Roseline threw a cushion at him. "Git."

He smirked. "Thank you. I do my best."

And with that he disappeared into the dormitory.

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A/N: As always please please please read and review!

And thanks to badmoony for reviewing – You rock!