Circe had left the common room that night, Sirius's words still ringing in her head. Did he really care that much about her? He had told her before that he loved her and she had believed him, but if he really did would he have slept with Fiona. Part of her mind was telling Circe that she should forget about Sirius, another was telling her that he really did love her. Circe was beyond confused.
When she finally reached the spot where she and Seamus had agreed to meet he wasn't there. Circe stood there, leaned against the wall nervously. She couldn't help but think that what she was about to do was wrong. She didn't want to have sex with Seamus, and deep down she knew that the only reason she was doing it was to get back at Sirius.
Seamus was a few minutes late showing up, and when he did he kissed her. She smiled up at him, but it didn't reach her eyes and he instantly knew something was wrong.
"Everything ok Circe?" He stared at her apprehensively and Circe couldn't help but think about all the times Sirius had comforted her when she had her nightmares. He didn't stare at her confused, he held her, made her feel loved.
"I can't do this," Circe whispered. It was a moment before what she was saying dawned on Seamus and Circe could tell that he was disappointed. She could also see annoyance in his countenance and knew that if she went through with it there would be no turning back and she would regret it. Without another word – not wanting to deal with the confrontation she knew was coming – Circe turned on her heel and left, leaving Seamus standing alone in the hallway, confused.
They didn't talk about what had happened that night, even though Circe knew Seamus wanted too. Two weeks went by where Circe avoided Sirius. She wasn't avoiding him because she didn't want to talk to him, only because she had to sort things out in her own mind before she made everything worse. She cared about Sirius, she cared about him a lot and she was finally beginning to realize it.
It was there last free day before leaving Hogwarts when everything became clear as crystal for Circe. She knew exactly what she was going to do to make everything right. Circe got up in search for Sirius; she desperately needed to talk to him.
Sirius was devastated. He cut classes the day after his confrontation with Circe and spent the whole day in his dorm, starring at the ceiling and feeling the pain of a broken heart. It felt as though she had ripped his heart from his chest. He couldn't believe it was finally over with her. James, Remus and Peter tried to cheer him up but they couldn't. When he finally left his common room he avoided her at all costs, which wasn't hard because she was using the same strategy with him. He went through his exams and right before the school year ended he broke up with Fiona.
When the day finally came for him to leave Hogwarts at the end of his sixth year he would be relieved. Hopefully, with two months spent away from Circe he would be able to get over her. Hopefully he would be able to forget her …
It was the last free day before school ended and the Marauders were frantically trying to pack. The boys were all having fun as they stuffed and crammed things into their trunks, joking around and reminiscing about the years gone by, and making plans for their next and final year. After close to a half hour of packing the door opened and Adriana and Circe walked in. Sirius mood instantly darkened. He didn't say "hi" as they took a seat on Remus's bed, Circe desperately trying to catch his eye. She gave up for a moment and Sirius went on ignoring her, feeling sick to his stomach with the pain of it all.
After about ten minutes Adriana spoke, shooting a haughty look at Remus. "If only you had listened and packed before, like we had tried to tell you." Sirius barked a laugh; he had always liked Adriana and was glad that her and Remus were finally together.
James joined in on the banter as he finally opted out for the magical solution and began to magically fold his clothes and place them in his trunk with a flick of his wand. "Always the haughty one, aren't you?" Sirius heard Circe laugh at James and the sound felt like a physical blow. He couldn't take it, being in the same room with her. As Remus began to magically pack too Sirius thought of an excuse.
He placed his hands on his hips and made a show of looking around the room, avoiding the direction that Circe was in at all costs. "Bloody hell! Where's my pocket knife?"
"Couldn't tell you mate," James answered without sparring him a glance.
"I'm going to go check the common room," Sirius said, leaving the room hastily. Once out the door he stopped for a moment to breathe and then rushed down to the common room, stuffing his hands into his pockets where he felt the cold metal of the magic knife. When he finally reached the common room he noticed it was virtually empty, aside from one student who had fallen asleep on the window seat. Everyone was outside enjoying their last day as Sirius sullenly walked over to a couch and took a seat.
Before he had even gotten comfortable Sirius was surprised by the shock of James hitting him in the back of the head. He glared at James but didn't say anything as his best friend took a seat across from him, Peter stopping to stand off to the side.
"You stupid prat." James said, getting right to the point.
"Sod off Prongs." Sirius replied, knowing exactly what his best mate was about to say and not wanting to hear any of it.
"Obviously Bloom desperately wants to talk to you, although I don't see why she would-"
"Why do you automatically take her side? She's the one who-"
"- When you treat her so horribly -"
"- Strung me around like a bloody puppet."
"- And won't even give her a chance to explain herself."
Both boys stopped talking when they had finished, and belatedly realized that neither one had been listening to the other. They stared at each other for a moment before James spoke again. "Look Padfoot, I'm only saying this for your own good. Now, I don't know everything that went on between you and Bloom this year, but I know you and I know that you've fallen harder for her than I have ever seen you fall before. And she doesn't deserve the way you've been treating her. Besides, I-" James stopped talking and stared at the staircase behind Sirius. A feeling of dread instantly overcame Sirius and he turned his head slowly around only to see Circe standing in the stairway, staring at him accusingly.
James and Peter instantly made excuses and rushed out of the room while Sirius sat still in shock. "What do you want?"
"James is right. I don't deserve the way you've been treating me! And I never strung you along." Circe said, glaring as she walked over and took the seat that James had vacated.
Sirius barked a laugh despite the fact that he didn't find this funny. "Than what the hell would you call what you did?"
"I didn't do anything!" Circe snapped back.
"You slept with me! You led me on constantly."
"You knew I had a boyfriend, Black."
"Yeah, I did. But did he know you had me?"
Circe recoiled almost as if he had hit her. "That's not fair." Sirius barked a laugh at her ludicrous comment. Life wasn't fair.
"Did you even know that you had me?" He whispered harshly. "I fell over backwards for you this year, and a lot of good it did me-"
"I never asked you too!" Circe looked as if she wished to hit him, and Sirius almost wished she would; he was desperate for a reason to hate her.
"No, you didn't ask me. You only took everything you wanted and didn't give a damn about the effect it had on anybody else." Sirius didn't even give Circe a chance to answer; he just walked as fast as he could out of the room, not even sparing her a second glance.
Circe stared after him as he stormed out of the common room, feeling tears prickle her eyes. She blinked them back as she slowly made her way up to her empty dorm room. How could he have said those hurtful things to her? Easily she thought. What he said was true and he had been right, it wasn't fair. She had strung him along, but in her defense it was only because she was afraid to let him go. She cared about him a lot, but his reputation had kept her from trusting him completely. And now it was too late.
But if he still loved her …
Circe wiped the tears off her face with a new resolve. She was going to make things right with Sirius if it was the last thing she did. And the first thing she had to do was to break up with Seamus.
A/N: Sorry for another bad-ish chapter, but I just needed to connect some ideas together. Only around 7 chapters left and then this baby is finished. And for those of you reading Broken I should be updating it soon now that both stories are caught up. Thanks to my reviewers!!
