Chapter 11

Lounging against a doorway between two large rooms which had been converted into the 'Potter's ball area', consequently blocking the entrance to both, Sirius was dejected. The party was in full swing, and there was a lot of older eye-candy, as well as many young girls pestering him, but the only thing on his mind at the moment was the memory of his kiss with Raine.

Please Merlin, don't let Raine realise there was no mistletoe! I don't want to die an early death…though she does look lovely when she's shouting at me…no, no just don't let her find out.

Sirius shifted his weight to the other leg and scanned the rooms for any familiar faces. James' parents were having a grand old time talking with another couple who actually looked enthralled. Too busy looking the other way, Black didn't registered the tapping on his shoulder until the person yelled in his ear.

"Earth to Padfoot! Can you hear me?"

Rubbing his ear to make sure no permanent damage had been done, Sirius smiled at his best friend James, who held Lily round the waist and was beaming with happiness.

"So are you guys official now, or have you just got Lily drunk enough to stand human contact," he joked.

James chuckled while Lily hit his arm.

"Behave Sirius," smiled Lily. She turned round to James and kissed him on the cheek. "There, would I do that, voluntarily, if I was drunk?"

"Probably," answered Sirius.

James jumped in before Lily could express her opinion on Sirius' behaviour. "Now, now, dear Padfoot, just wait 'til you're in love and have having a hellish time trying to act normal."

"Does he ever?" murmured Lily. James smiled at the comment while Black barked a laugh.

"How do you know I'm not feeling that pain right now? I might be in love with…with… someone really special." Sirius wanted to disappear right now. His stuttering at the end of his bloody remark wouldn't fool James. If only Raine hadn't popped into my head when I was saying that! Seriously, this girl is definitely trouble…and trouble is my middle name.

"Black, when have you are been in love?" scoffed Lily, incredulous.

Sirius just gave her a charming smile and a blank face, hoping that they would just drop the whole thing. Fat chance.

"My dear Lily flower, I think I can enlighten you to the heartache of Sirius' soul," said James, looking extremely happy that the tables had turned and thanking Remus for being so observant in this sort of thing.

"Who is it?"

Sirius was trying to give James a look that said don't you dare or I'll do something really horrible to you! However Prongs, in very high spirits, totally ignored any signals from Sirius and answered. "Raine Jenkins, of course."

"But… but she's not as pretty as most of the girls Sirius goes for," stated a confused Lily, "and she's awfully shy in large crowds, and she's intelligent enough to ward off Black's advances. So why her?"

The last part was directed at Sirius, who was now looking uncomfortably at the floor as if he found it the most amazing thing in the world. He thought that spending ten minutes gazing at the ground would give them enough of a hint to leave him alone. Unfortunately not; Sirius glanced up, meeting vivid green and hazel eyes looking at him expectantly and patiently.

"She's different," whispered Black. How embarrassing can this get! Please Merlin, if you have any feelings, swallow me up whole now!

James nodded in satisfaction at the answer. Unlike Lily, Prongs had the advantage of several years of friendship, during which time Sirius had become like a brother to him, and he had actually witness changes in Padfoot's demeanour as of late. No longer did he jump at the chance at rendezvousing with any and every girl in the astronomy tower; now he always searched the halls for his 'pupil', and had mostly dropped his façade of being a git and not caring about anything. This new Sirius was the Sirius that James knew behind closed doors. It was nice to see the real him in the real world.

"Sirius, can I have word privately," asked Lily, so sweetly that both James and Sirius raised their eyebrows in fear and confusion.

"Ermm…sure…this way." Sirius lead Lily through a side door into the gardens which had been dressed in fairy lights.

"I'll come for you in five," James shouted when they walked off. "Hopefully you'll still be alive."

"Now," said Lily in a quiet yet determined voice. Her back was facing Sirius as she closed the doors leading to the garden and put a silencing spell around the two of them. "What exactly are your intentions with Raine, Sirius?"

This is embarrassing. Lily is obviously doing the 'I'm looking after my friend in a mothering way so watch your step', thought Sirius as he tried to answer with an honest reply. Usually when it came to mothers, he would flash them a cheeky grin and flirt a little, but that wouldn't work on Evans, and besides he didn't want to ruin his friendship with Prongs.

"I was thinking about maybe asking her out sometime," replied Sirius hesitantly, trying to gauge the outcome of this interrogation.

"Listen here, Black," voiced Lily in her 'I'll get angry if I have to' tone, "If you use Raine just to add another knob to your bedpost then beware! I'll take great pleasure in removing your only asset that attracts the girls…"

"What!" gasped Black sarcastically. "Lily, dearest, what can you do?" He folded his arms across his chest and watched in amusement as the petite redhead started to fume.

Quicker than James, Lily whipped out her wand and backed Sirius into a pillar, her wand focused on his nether regions. "Believe me Black, I'll make your manhood forgettable."

Black paled considerably. Why did James have to fall in love with a crazy woman?

A loud cough interrupted the staring contest. They both looked up and noticed a grinning James standing behind them, his hazel eyes twinkling with hidden laughter.

"James…how fortune that you stopped this madwoman," said Black. Lily scowled at Black as she moved to James. "She was going to take the only thing I hold dear!"

"Now, now Padfoot don't get too emotional," chuckled James, " Lily only curses you physically if you've done something to annoy her."

"Well, still…just in case keep Feisty here away from me," whispered Black as he made his escape to freedom while the love birds occupied themselves with gazing at the night sky.

This whole revealing your soul to your friends was hard work, so Sirius made his way to the buffet table to grab some munchies and thought about finding an empty room to think on things. He didn't want to be surround by fawning girls when he had to work out a strategy to make one fall for him. This needed the Marauder's touch.

The table was very long and the food looked gorgeous in every way. The house elves have done themselves a grand job, mused Black. Grabbing a plate, Sirius began to pick out his favourite nibbles, mostly of the chicken variety, but as he headed to the middle section of the table, two other males blocked him from continuing. Usually Sirius wouldn't wait, just skip around them and head for the pudding and drinks.

However, Sirius stopped when he saw it was Snape talking with a tall guy who looked to be in his early twenties with brown hair, and blue eyes that made him look slightly familiar. The way the two were whispering intrigued Black, who hovered behind them so that he was in range to pick up anything worthy.

Sirius would bet his life that Snape had joined the Voldemort's death eaters, and he was willing to bet that the other man was a follower too. Pretending to be engrossed in picking food, Sirius kept one ear on the whispers, but he went cold as he picked out a name.

Raine.

The older man had said it with a certain amount of assurance. Sirius' heart went into overdrive. Raine - a death eater! Black would as soon believe that as marry Dumbledore. Moving closer until he was right behind them, he caught parts of their converstion.

"Theo think!" hissed Snape. "She wouldn't want to…"

"She might be in Gryffindor," spat the stranger, "but in her heart she's a Sytherin like me…"

"Raine would never join...her father…"

"Father was a fool trying to befriend the Dark Lord…she is my sister…will follow me…"

"You know best," replied Snape.

"Of course," grinned the man coldly, "let's not discuss it so openly - time will come soon when we can stand proud of our master's work."

He walked off into the crowd. Snape turned to face Sirius.

"Surprise, surprise," Snape drawled out. "Did you like what you heard?"

"Leave Raine out of your little evil, twisted plans, Snivellus," growled Black. "She would never become what you are."

"Of course she won't, why do you think I allowed you to overhear?" answered Snape smoothly. "Her brother, however," he indicated the man who had just left, "has other ideas, and he will stop at nothing to mould Raine into her rightful place with the purebloods."

Sirius was shocked for two things. The fact that Raine could be related to such a cruel man was strange enough, but to hear Snape agreeing with him was out of this world.

"She wouldn't do anything to harm anyone," stated Sirius.

"She doesn't even know the extent of her brother's feelings," said Snape. "But do not put it past Theo to charm her into doing his bidding. Watch out for her."

With that said Snape turned around suddenly and disappeared in the thickness of the crowd. Black remained at the table processing everything. Raine, the girl he loved, had a brother who supported He Who Must Not Be Named. There goes my chance of an easy life! thought Black. Snape was right - I hate to admit that he is right - Raine needs a guardian angel. He devilish smile slowly spread across his handsome features for the first time that night. Surely a halo would suit my complexion.

Leaving his filled plate on the table, Sirius went to share the information with his partner-in-crime James to discuss tactics. Black started to weave through the group of people, nodding occasionally to others and stopping to smile at pretty girls. I'm not in a relationship…yet. I can still flirt if I know not to touch.

Just as he noticed the messy black haired man standing close to a small redhead, a pair of arms encircled his waist. Trapped, Black could do nothing but watch his opportunity to talk about the problem walk away. James and Lily were heading towards the Potters'. Great! Fantastic! Black was fuming inside.

Pulling slightly roughly on the arms to see the face of the culprit, Sirius' angry statement went up in smoke. Here was Sara, dressed in a blue dress with a very low back to it, smiling like a cat who'd caught the cream and pouting slightly.

"Will you dance with Sirius?" she purred as she led him to the dance floor without waiting for an answer. "I haven't seen you all night. Bet all the girls wanted a piece of you." This last remark had a jealous sting to it, but Black chose to ignore it.

Her arms snaked around his neck bringing his face closer to hers' as they swayed to the slow music. Sirius noticed the smell of alcohol on her breath and cursed inside himself.

"Could you let me have some room to breathe, Sara?" Sirius removed her hands clasped at his neck.

She pouted, annoyed that her seduction was not working. She tried again. "Do you like my dress?" she asked, her eyes fluttering up at him. "I knew that you liked it when Raine had it on, but green isn't really my colour."

Her rambling was going in one ear and out the other until she hit a nerve with mentioning Raine. The green dress which had started Black thinking about the concept of love. Raine had looked extremely gorgeous because she was herself an elegant, honest, and kind person.

"I wore it for you."

"What…sorry?" Sirius broke his train of thought and looked down at Sara.

"I wanted to look special for you since I know how much you like me."

I'm in shit! Why in Merlin's beard does this have to happen to me!.

"Look, Sara, I think we should stop dancing and get you a glass of water, hmm?" said Sirius softly.

"I don't care. As long as I'm here with you," she replied husky tones. With that she grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down for a kiss.

Sirius was trapped in the middle of the dance floor with a girl kissing him as if her life depended on it. To break it off and make a scene would cause the Potters
embarrassment. He did not want to lose the only family he had.

She finished, leaning her head on his chest. "I knew you felt the same way."

Please forgive me for taking so long with this chapter! I like to thank you all for being patient. My exams are now finished so I should have time to doa fair a mount of writing now. Please review and tell me what you think about the plot. Thanks!