Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.

Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy. Chapters 1 to 5 have been through a slight revision to eliminate typos and such.

The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Three

Lily watched the snow-covered landscape pass her window as the train headed toward King's Cross and their Christmas break.

"Feels a bit funny, don't you think?" Remus suddenly said. "Leaving those two all alone like that."

"They're not alone," Lily replied. "There are several others that didn't go home as well."

"Yeah," James said, "like Snivellus."

"We'll have to scrape what's left of them off the walls when we get back," Remus said shaking his head.

"Don't worry about it, they'll be fine," Lily said crossing her fingers behind her back. They fell silent, and Lily was just dozing off when James suddenly pulled a mirror out of his cloak.

"What is it, Sirius?" he said looking into the glass. For a moment, Lily thought he'd gone crazy, but then she heard Sirius' voice loud and clear.

"I need help!"

"With what?"

"Lindsey is giving me the cold shoulder," Sirius' voice was heard coming from the mirror. "I need something to soften her up."

"Lay off her," Remus suggested.

"Have fun howling at the moon this weekend, Moony," Sirius said, causing Remus' cheeks to blush a bright pink.

"Give her something she likes," James suggested.

"I don't know what she likes," Sirius admitted, embarrassed.

"Ask her."

"I told you she wasn't speaking to me," Sirius said crossly.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," Lily muttered.

"Lily, you're her friend." Sirius stated. James turned the mirror, and Lily soon found herself peering at Sirius' face. "Do you know what she likes?"

"She likes flowers, especially daisies," she said. "Orange daisies."

"Flowers?" Sirius said thoughtfully. "I can work with that."

"Good!" James said, turning the mirror back to himself. "Because from here on you're on your own."

"Just one thing," Sirius said hesitantly. "What do daisies look like?"

"Merry Christmas, Padfoot," James said and put away the mirror.

"He's so dead," Remus said, and as much as Lily hated it, she had to agree. Unless Lindsey had a major change of heart or something short of a miracle happened, there wouldn't be enough of Sirius left to fill a thimble when they came back.

Sirius took a deep breath as he entered the common room and saw Lindsey sitting at the fire reading a copy of The Daily Prophet. Nervously he clutched the bouquet of orange daisies he had in his hand and tried to navigate to her chair without being noticed. It was rather easy to achieve since she always ignored him. When he reached the side of her chair, he dropped the bouquet in her lap. Surprised, she looked up into his smiling face.

"Merry Christmas!" he said jovially.

Abruptly she got out of the chair and threw the flowers into the fire where they burst into flames. Turning on her heel, she made towards the exit.

"Hey!" Sirius called after her. "I went through a lot of trouble getting those."

"Really," she said waving her wand. The entire room was instantly covered in daisies. "Lots of trouble."

"Considering the fact that I didn't know what daisies looked like, I had to look it up," he said feeling hurt by her indifference. "I did go to a lot of trouble! Since everything conjured by magic eventually disappears, I made arrangements for Lily to send me a real bouquet."

Sirius saw something akin to regret pass swiftly over her face but it was gone so quickly he couldn't be sure it had been there in the first place.

"Then I'm sorry Lily wasted her money and you wasted your time," she retorted. She was just about to leave when Professor McGonagall entered the room.

"This just came for you, Bloodsworth," she said handing her a letter, "from your Uncle."

Sirius watched curiously as a white-faced Lindsey accepted the letter and opened it as Professor McGonagall left. Her hands were shaking before she even opened the envelope. As she read the note, her face went from white to ashen.

Sirius was about to say something when the letter fell from her hands and she stood there, her eyes had a distant look to them as she stared blankly ahead. Stunned, he saw tears streaming down her face and a great sob was torn from her as she sank to her knees sobbing.

He hurried to sit beside her, pulling her into an embrace. Oddly enough, she allowed it as she clung to him crying like there was no tomorrow. He cast a glance at the letter that was on the floor and read:

Dear Lindsey

I hope this letter finds you in good health. I'm truly sorry you couldn't spend Christmas
with us this year but know that you're always welcomed in our house.
Polly and the kids send their love, and we all wish you a Merry Christmas.

I really wish I didn't have to tell you this, love, but there is no easy way to say it.
Your father passed away last night. He died in his sleep, and I doubt he suffered...

The letter continued but Sirius found he couldn't stomach it. He felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over him. Her father has passed away. No wonder she was so upset. No wonder she allowed him to hold her, she didn't care who it was she was clinging to. To her he was just a shoulder to cry on, so to speak.

He couldn't even begin to fathom what she was feeling right now and if her current state was anything to go by, he didn't want to, ever. He felt so useless, a feeling he hadn't felt often until now. He resigned to hold her as she grieved.

He had no idea how long he sat there on the floor holding her, but by the time she had grown quiet it was dark outside. No one had bothered them though they had been sitting in the middle of the floor; Lindsey's heartbroken sobs were explanation enough.

He winced as he stretched his legs. They had become numb awhile back, and it hurt like hell to get the circulation going again. The ache in his feet returned with the blood flow, and he remembered that Madam Pomfrey had told him to avoid walking. He had obeyed except for when he searched for flowers. Lucky for him he remembered that flowers didn't grow in winter before he made a complete fool of himself, and was grateful Muggles had flower shops.

Lindsey seemed to have cried herself to sleep and had left him in a dilemma. He couldn't carry her up to the girl's dorm, and taking her to the boy's to spend the night was a very bad idea. This left him with just one solution. He carried her to the sofa and gently set her down, then placed his robe over her so she wouldn't be cold.

He sat in the chair and watched her as she slept. Her eyes were swollen from all the crying, and tears that pooled at the corner of each eye glittered in the firelight. Her face seemed to have lost some of the plumpness. He took in the shape of her mouth, the fullness of her lips, and the subtle beginnings of worry lines between her eyebrows. She had dark smudges under her eyes. He frowned as he continued to look at her. It was almost as if her face were becoming clearer, like a veil was lifted from his eyes. He knew what she looked like, and the experience was odd; he had known her for seven years.

"Am I now seeing you for the first time?" he asked softly.

"So what did you think?" Lily asked as she and James walked down the street where she lived.

"About what?" he asked, deep in thought.

"About the movie," she said with a smile.

"It was good," James said, "I especially liked those metallic wands."

Lily hid a smile behind her hand at James' comment and decided not to ask him anymore questions about the movie. She knew he was worried about Sirius and there was no denying that she was too. She was concerned for Lindsey as well. The recent changes in her personality, due to the death of her mother, and her father's illness did not bode well. Normally Lindsey was rather cheerful; laughing and smiling came easy for her, but she didn't take being made fun of lightly, and Sirius' recent behaviour could easily be interpreted as that.

Sirius had contacted her earlier today about orange daisies and she had complied, thinking it would be a nice gesture and would probably convince Lindsey not to Hex him the moment she saw him.

As they arrived at Lily's house her mother met them in the hallway with a sad look on her face.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked. "Did Petunia invite her boyfriend to Christmas dinner?"

"No, dear," her mother answered with a hint of a smile. No one in the family seemed to like her sister's boyfriend. He was a big, boorish man with no sense of humour and the only reason they tolerated him was because Petunia seemed to like him. Every time Lily saw them together the phrase 'birds of a feather, flock together' flittered through her mind.

"Then why the long face?" she asked.

"I happened to run into Polly Bloodsworth earlier today," her mother said and Lily felt the cold dread of bad news in the air. "She told me that Lindsey's father passed away."

"Oh no," she said sitting down on the stairs. "Poor Lindsey!"

"I hope Padfoot won't try anything stupid," James said quietly.

"Poor Hogwarts," Lily said, and for the first time truly doubted everything would work out fine.

Sirius was gently roused by the warmth of sunlight on his face. Opening his eyes he saw that the sun had risen hours ago. Stretching, he noticed that Lindsey was gone.

He guessed that she had woken up and retreated to the girl's dormitory. Picking up his robe that lay over the arm of the sofa, he pulled it on and decided to go downstairs for breakfast.

He was somewhat surprised to see Lindsey sitting at the table when he entered the Great Hall. He would have thought that the last thing she wanted right now was to be around people, but judging by the ominous look on her face he doubted anyone would go near her. He decided to sit with her.

"Good morning," he greeted cheerfully and she looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy from last night. "Feeling any better?"

"Hardly," she responded, her voice hoarse.

Sirius felt a tingling along his spine, and knew immediately what it meant. Of all the times the bastard could have chosen to interrupt, why now?

"What was all that noise coming from the Gryffindor tower last night?" Snape asked. Sirius clenched his fists. "Did Black try to kiss you again, Bloodsworth?"

"Brilliant, Snape! Once again you've put your keen and penetrating mind to the task and as usual come to the wrong conclusion," Sirius said as he turned to the Slytherin. "Why don't you run along and play with your chemistry set?"

"I don't recall addressing you, Black," Snape responded.

"Go bugger yourself, Snivellus," Sirius said getting up from his seat. "This doesn't concern you."

"You're pathetic," Snape said with a disgusted look. "You're making a fool out of yourself running around after Bloodsworth like a love-sick puppy."

"Shut up, you disgusting grease ball," Lindsey said, her voice loud enough to catch everyone's attention. "Don't you dare address me again, because if you do I'll shove your wand so far down your throat you'll be able to pull it out your arse."

Having said that she stalked out of the Great Hall leaving both Sirius and Snape staring after her.

"That uppity little Mudblood," Snape snarled.

"Dare say that again, Snivellus," Sirius said with a cold voice, "and you'll be eating slugs."

Sirius left Snape glaring daggers after him. As he exited the Great Hall he saw Lindsey standing in the Entrance Hall. He suppressed a burst of laughter as he noticed she had once again been caught beneath the mistletoe. Some other students weren't as considerate as they pointed and sniggered.

"Lindsey," he said coming up to her.

"Don't," she said, "just don't."

Understanding and respecting her wishes, he backed away. But he didn't go far, stopping about ten feet away before squatting down, wincing at the pain in his feet as he prepared for a long wait.

His feet were aching beyond belief but he remained in his crouched position as he had been the past hour or so. Sooner or later Lindsey would come to her senses and say the word, and he would be the one to heed the call.

Sweat was trickling down his face, stinging his eyes, but he remained where he was. All of a sudden he pitched forward and just barely managed to catch himself with his hands. Dark blotches covered his field of vision and he was panting like he had run a mile.

"Sirius," he heard Lindsey say. Looking up at her he saw that she was looking at him, her grey eyes full of sadness and something indescribable. "Please, help me."

Painfully he got to his feet and staggered over to her. He put his hands around her elbows forcing her to place her hands on his upper arms.

"Lindsey," he said, waiting for something but not knowing what.

"Just do it," she said.

He bent forward and pressed his lips to hers, and felt like he was kissing live energy. He had felt the same way the first time he kissed her. Did she mean something to him, or was it just because she was the first girl he ever kissed?

Suddenly she wrenched herself out of his grasp; the Hex was undone. She took several steps back, her face expressionless and her wand in hand. A bolt of fire shot from her wand and hit the mistletoe, turning it into cinder.

Applause broke out all over the Entrance Hall from those that had stopped to watch the scene unfold.

"It got tiresome," she said putting away her wand.

Sirius smiled and felt the tension in his body ease and the world grew black as he succumbed to exhaustion.

Lily was practically hanging out the window of the horseless carriage as it made its way to Hogwarts. She was anxious to see if it was still standing.

The Christmas break had turned into a nightmare of sleepless nights and fretful days. James, Remus and Peter had all tried to contact Sirius without success and she had tried to contact Lindsey to no avail.

"Lily," James said, "sit down before you fall out, remember you're Head Girl."

"There," she exclaimed and the boys joined her peering out of the windows, "its still standing."

Reaching the castle, they took the steps two at a time as they rushed up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. Once inside, they received the shock of their lives; Lindsey and Sirius where playing Wizard Chess, calm as you please.

"Is it just me or is anyone else feeling as though we missed something important?" Remus asked.

"What I want to know is when the world ended," James said, "because I must have missed it."

"Welcome back," said Sirius, "and please be quiet because I'm about to win."

They approached the players silently and Sirius made his move. It was a good one, because he would now Check Mate Lindsey in two moves.

"Your move," Sirius told her. Lindsey surveyed the board calmly and made her draw.

"Check Mate," she said, cornering his king. Sirius gaped at the pieces.

"I can't believe it," he said in disbelief, "and I was so sure I was going to win."

Lily let out an amused laugh and all the boys turned and looked at her as though she had gone mental. She dried her tears and tried to control herself.

"Lindsey, did you by any chance forget to mention that you where Junior Champion for four consecutive years back in school?"

"It might have slipped my mind," Lindsey said calmly.

Lily started laughing again and this time James, Remus and Peter joined her while Sirius looked incredulously at Lindsey.

"How about another round, my dear?" he asked her.

"Love to," she answered and Sirius set the board for a new game.

To Be Continued…