Awakening

by Stardust3 ANNOYED WAUG.2nd

AU. For seventeen years they've been apart but now she's back and so is Black. When it all comes together it just might prove deadly. And to complicate an already twisted love story, a poem reawakens a murderous spirit. Sequel to The Last Laugh. FINISHED.

7. The Shocking Truth

Awakening Chapter Seven: The Shocking Truth By Star*dust

A/N: Wow, it has been quite a long time. And since the last time I spoke to you about a billion things happened. I've been to California, Florida, Ohio, and Michigan and all over Indiana. I've barely seen my house the past month! Anyway, not important.

I apologize for not better explaining things last chapter and for leaving out thank-you's but I was in a rush to finish the chapter. I posted hours before I left for California and hours before the fifth Harry Potter book came out (and as I expected damned the fanfiction world to hell). But, in case you were wondering, I still am going to continue with this story in mock ignorance of the impossibility of it. I do urge you to keep reading because the plot will be interesting no matter what.

OK, someone requested a chapter summary. I can't remember if I posted one last chapter or not but I'm guessing not, since I was so rushed. I will try to always post one from now on especially when I take such a long period of time to update. So, last chapter was the fifth one and it was entitled November Third strictly because it's an inside joke between me and one of my readers, the title has no bearing on the story or the chapter.

SUMMARY:

Halloween is a major part of this last chapter. Sirius and Angie have a rather violent confrontation and afterwards Angie and her sister Holly go to the graveyard to pay respects to their dead relatives. (To put it bluntly) Sirius and Sierra have a long conversation and we discovered that in a technical sort of way Angie and Sirius are still hitched. We also discovered just what happened on that fateful Halloween night. Sirius goes to explain things to Angie and witnesses a rather shocking romantic display between Remus and Angie. Harry has a huge confrontation with Kirsten and Ron and the entire school rallies against the traitors. We discover Remus and Holly are having an on and off relationship. Angie finally gets things explained to her. And Josh sends an evil letter to Angie, who vows to not let Josh 'get away with it'. (That is as far as I elaborated last chapter.) And don't forget Bill's brilliant plan which won't be discovered until much later.

Well, that summary may not be entirely adequate but for this one I am going to write the summary as I am writing the chapter so that I won't have to look back at the chapter to remember what happened. Well.never mind.

Now, keep in mind that this was developed all before events in the fifth book took place. Just go with the story and enjoy it, please. I certainly enjoy writing it. Thank you!

~Star*dust

* * *

As people began filing out after the end of the meeting Sirius spoke in a hurried undertone to Remus. "Distract Holly and Sierra, I'll meet you later." When Remus didn't immediately act Sirius added an emphatic look and gesture. Without further communication Remus set out to do what he had been assigned. Sirius slunk into a corner avoiding everyone until they had gone. Nikki had followed them downstairs and was unaware that Sirius lay in wait for her upstairs. She was muttering to herself in French when she entered. Upon seeing him she broke off with an expletive.

"Bonjour Monsieur," She said smoothly recovering herself. "To what do I owe the occasion?" Sirius, not having decided how he was going to approach the topic of conversation that had brought him to her, decided to start with business.

"You're not actually going to let Bill and his cronies go through with their plan are you?" She gave a mild shrug.

"It did have quite a lot of loose ends but if pulled off the result would be extremely interesting, no?"

"They're mad, all of them." An uneasy silence ensued but Nikki wasn't the kind of person to let something like that continue.

"I presume you didn't stay behind to talk about the sanity of certain of our members."

"That is correct," Sirius replied, but said no more.

"Well, if you're waiting for an apology you're going to be sadly disappointed."

"No, I didn't expect you to apologize. You generally stick to your guns and I didn't expect that to change on my account. I'm sure what I had in mind, really. A lecture on ethics perhaps, but in view of the fact that you run this-er-establishment I believe that would fall on deaf ears.

"I just wanted you to know, it's nothing personal, in fact if I were younger and the circumstances were a little different. Well, what I mean to say is that I suppose I overreacted, slightly, but I intend to keep our relationship professional, strictly."

"Fair enough." Nikki replied; her face was rather tighter than normal. "I'll see you at the next meeting then." She indicated the door with that same stiffness. Sirius hesitated and then exited.

* * *

Life for Ron and Kirsten was uncomfortable enough without mealtimes. In class they were snubbed, glared at, and on one memorable occasion even spat upon. In the halls they could feel stares and stinging comments following them. They never held hands, and wouldn't have even walked together if the alternative hadn't been walking alone. They studied by themselves, sitting at the same table, sometimes even having a conversation, and then went up to bed with a murmured goodnight. If it were that easy, Ron could have dealt with it.

Meals were the killer.

No one in the entire Gryffindor House would speak to either of them. Hermione was okay, Ron guessed, seeing as she went out of her way to be friendly in class, but her feelings for Harry rendered her as snobby as everyone else at meals. She sat by Harry, talked to Harry, helped Harry with homework, without so much as a glance at her other "best friend". Ron was disgusted, and Kirsten claimed she was too.

Therefore it was understandable that Ron was very relieved when the November Hogsmeade Saturday arrived. He and Kirsten had decided early in the week that they would rather stay in the castle and take a break from the glares and nasty comments, and furthermore the only meal they would have to go to was breakfast. Ron had steeled himself for the usual, but was taken completely aback when Ginny came over from the Slytherin table and sat next to him.

"Hey Gin," he said.

"Good morning, Harry!" she chirped, completely ignoring her brother's greeting and flashing Harry her most sunny smile. "What's up?"

"Not much," Harry replied with a shrug.

"Draco's going to Hogsmeade with some Slytherin friends today, so I was wondering if I could hang out with you and Hermione."

"No problem," Harry shrugged. "Right Herm?"

"You're always welcome, Ginny," Hermione smiled.

"Ginny-" Ron attempted desperately to get his sister's attention.

"I was hoping we could stop by my brothers' store," Ginny continued, pointedly raising her voice to drown Ron out. "They've come out with the greatest new candies to give to your enemies, and I really want to get a few for certain people."

This comment was meant with utter silence. Everyone in earshot looked shocked, their gaze on Ron to see how he would react to this comment obviously aimed at him. Even Harry was staring in his direction, his emerald eyes frosty. Without warning Ron stood and half ran out of the room.

Kirsten looked after him in dismay. She knew this was all her fault. Her gaze went back to the Gryffindors, who were now looking at her, then to the doors Ron had passed through. This had gone far enough, she decided. She was already breaking up one of the strongest friendships in the school and she felt bad enough about that without causing problems within a close family. Smiling pointedly and falsely at her peers she stood and strode out of the Great Hall. In the doors she turned and blew a kiss to the disbelieving Gryffindors then continued in her pursuit of Ron.

She found him in the deserted common room, curled like an oversized cat into an armchair all but hidden by the shadows of the corner in which it was placed. She approached him cautiously; uncertain to what was going through his mind. Either he hadn't noticed her or he was pointedly ignoring her presence.

"Ron?" she finally mustered the courage to murmur. He raised his head, his blue eyes as clear as ever and his face set in a whirlwind of emotion.

"What do you want?" he snapped. She bit her lip.

"I.I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen-"

"You have no idea what this is like, Kirsten. You just.don't GET IT!"

"Okay, look, you're not the only one with relatives who disapprove!" she snapped, remembering the letter from her father.

"I know," Ron replied. "I know, but.you just don't understand. Harry and I.we're like brothers. We've been best friends for SEVEN YEARS and we've only really fought once and then I was the thing he'd miss the most.and I thought NOTHING could change that, but then YOU come along and mess up everything!" he shouted miserably. Kirsten stared, taken aback.

"I.I." she stuttered. "Ron, I said I was sorry! I didn't mean it, you know I didn't! And besides, YOU kissed ME if I remember correctly."

"I know," he replied miserably. "I just want to be alone for a while, okay?" He turned his back to her and buried his face in his arms again.

Kirsten looked at the pathetic sight and felt anger within her. This was so STUPID! How could Ron, or Harry, or Ginny, or ANY of them get worked up over something so STUPID? Sure, Ron had kissed her, and sure, she had technically been dating Harry at the time. But it wasn't like she and Harry weren't about to break up anyway, and she had intended to break up with Harry after the kisses in the library-she had seen what her father's cheating had done to her mother and she didn't intend on inflicting that kind of pain on anyone. Looking at Ron being so completely miserable, Kirsten vowed that she would fix what she had broken.

"If you and Harry are going to stop being friends over me, you're not as good of friends as I thought you were," she said suddenly, and Ron looked up the surprise on his face a mixture of his reaction to her statement and the fact that she was still there.

"Well, it's not like I can do anything about it," he replied. "Even Hermione-"

"Hermione!" Kirsten suddenly exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "That's it, Ron! If anyone can convince Harry that you two should make up, it's her."

"But Hermione hates you," Ron pointed out logically.

"She doesn't hate me," Kirsten corrected. "She's jealous and hopping mad that I would dare cheat on the guy she's liked for years. But now that I'm out of the way, she'll be much more open to the idea of being friends."

"I don't think so," Ron replied. "You don't know how Hermione works."

"And you don't know how women work," she smirked and was rewarded with a roll of the eyes and a smile.

"Whatever," Ron replied. "I don't know what you're planning, but I hope it works."

"Oh, it will," she replied. She hesitated for a moment before giving him a quick kiss. "I'll be back later."

"Okay," he replied, not in the mood for more argument.

* * *

Sirius being innocent did nothing to change Angie's mood or relieve any of her stress. The stress was now caused by other problems related to Sirius and to Josh. If she continued on in this particular state Josh would be the death of her, but she was determined to not let him have that advantage. So, when she drank away her supply of liquor she resorted to swearing a lot rather than getting more.for the time being. It was a rather healthier bad habit to have. Sleep was quite impossible. Sleeping pills no longer had much effect on her, though she was probably addicted to them by now.

She spent hours pacing; racking her brain for any way she could counteract what was happening. Nothing was working particularly well and she wasn't giving the best lessons these days.

She was angry at everyone being so nice to her! She was doing a terrible job at teaching and she hardly ever came to meals. She must look like hell. She'd lost weight and her face resembled a zombie. Though not even Kirsten said anything to her. She was getting pissed at their polite indifference.

It was for these reasons that she welcomed the Hogsmeade weekend. She vowed that she would not get drunk until she had first made one very important telephone call. (Yes that is correct, a telephone call.) And then she decided she was perfectly entitled to get hammered.

She refused Remus and Sierra's offers to escort her around Hogsmeade. Both of them argued but she was on a mission and she wasn't about to let anyone get in the way.

Kirsten and Ron had resigned to Gryffindor tower to spend another boring day with the first years. They didn't much fancy going to Hogsmeade, away from teachers, where the ruthless Harry-followers might do their worst.

Angie was pleased to find that they had a muggle telephone in the post office though it looked as though it hadn't been used or dusted in years. She supposed some people might have muggle relatives who needed to get in touch. At any rate she impatiently placed the call to New Jersey, USA to the law offices of Lou West and Associates.

It was Mary Ann, the secretary who answered the phone in her usual drawl. "Hi Mary Ann, can I please be put through to Lou?"

"Mr. West is out to lunch. May I ask who is calling?"

"Mary Ann, you and I both know Lou never goes to lunch, especially on Saturdays when he doesn't come in until ten." Angie snapped. She'd worked at Lou's office for too long to fall for that.

"Who is this?"

"This is Angela Star, please put me through."

"Angie!" Mary Ann squealed as if she had been friends with Angie or something.they occasionally spoke in the corridors but Angie barely knew the woman. "How have you been? Are you in Europe right now? Mr. West talks about you all the time!"

"Put me through, damn it!" Angie yelled, her nerves were shot and she needed a drink. She was in no mood to make small talk with Lou's secretary.

"Angie, he really is meeting with Eric Van Wert. But, they should be done soon."

"Don't you dare put me on hold!" Angie warned through gritted teeth. "Just tell him I'm on the phone." The line clicked and a moment later Lou's voice was on the line.

"I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, just one last moment." He said importantly. "I'm sorry Eric, I'm going to have to take this, and I think we're done here anyway. Mary Ann can schedule you for another appointment." The door clicked and he came back to Angie.

"Angie, baby! What's shaking? Why haven't I heard from you yet, it's been over four months?!" Angie bit her lip trying to think of a way to side-step the question. She knew he'd want to know where he could contact her as well. "I was worried. I had no idea how to get a hold of you."

"I'm sorry, Lou. I've been working, you know."

"Hey, is everything OK, you don't sound yourself." His voice sounded genuinely concerned. She found emotion rising in her throat and clouding her eyes. All at once everything was hitting her and she started to cry.

"I don't know what to do. Josh is suing me for everything. He's got some new lawyer and she claims things were settled wrong during the divorce. That alimony is too high and he's suing for the all the money he shouldn't have lost and all this money for emotional damage, or some shit like that and I can't handle it. I don't have the money for this, Lou. I don't have the money to get a lawyer myself. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Angela, my god, calm down, honey. Jesus Christ, why don't you just come home?"

"What would that solve?" She demanded, sniffing loudly and wiping her eyes. She was aware people were staring at her but she didn't care.

"At least I could be there for you and you wouldn't have to cry all alone."

"Lou, tell me what to do."

"Dammit honey, I don't know. Like I told you ten years ago, I'm no divorce lawyer."

"No, no, no!" She started sobbing again. It was like a bad dream. This couldn't be happening. "Tell me he can't do this. Tell me that he's wrong!"

"He is wrong, the bastard! And he can't do this. Not to you, you don't deserve this torture. Honey, I'd tell you anything to make you feel better, but I honestly don't know what to tell you. Please, just come home."

"No, I can't just quit this job and move Kirsten around again." There was a long and heavy silence and Angie finally spoke. She knew what was going through his mind. "No. Don't even think it. I don't need you to fly out here to the rescue. I'll be fine."

"God damn it! You call me up bawling and then tell me you'll be fine. I've got vacation time, you know, I never use it. Let me come and see you."

"No. Don't come, that would just make things worse." That had not come out at all the way Angie was intended.

"Why don't you come home for the holidays then?" He asked.

"Oh God, Lou!" She was starting to get agitated. "I don't have the money for that! Listen, don't worry about me, I'll figure something out."

"Angie! Wait a minute, for Christ's sake! Look, I'll get Mary Ann to do some research and send you what I find out. In the mean time I'd say get a lawyer. If you need me to wire some money I'll do it. You can pay me back later."

"I don't need your damn money!"

"Calm down, honey. I didn't mean anything by it. Why don't you take a break, have a drink and a cigarette and sort out your thoughts. Then fax me copies of all these legal statements from this hot shot lawyer and I'll get back to you. But honey, I need to know how to contact you."

Angie swore under her breath. Now what was she going to tell him? And where the hell was she going to find a fax machine? She'd have to go to London for that. She gave him the muggle address at the ministry, hoping that they would re-route her mail when it arrived.

"Angie, he'll never get away with it."

"Thank you, Lou."

"We do miss you here."

"I'll get back to you. Bye." She said with finality. She was tired of this conversation. It had been hard enough to leave and now all he could talk about was her coming back.

"Ang-" She hung up, threw a bunch of coins at the man behind the desk and quickly found her way to the street. She found she didn't care what people thought or who saw her. She took out a cigarette and walked along swearing at anyone who bumped her.

After Angie passed some of her students who were staring she tossed away her cigarette, stood up straighter and walked into The Three Broomsticks. She marched straight up to the bar. Madame Rosmerta stared openly at Angie for a while trying to place her. Angie got a little over agitated and sent a rude remark at her.

"My apologies," Madame said to her. "I was trying to place you. But now I know why I recognized you. You were Sirius Black's girlfriend, weren't you?" Angie quickly glanced around the room half-expecting to see Sirius grinning at her somewhere.

"Yeah. And?" She snapped. She stuttered for a few moments before she found something to say.

"Have a nice day." And she retreated. Angie set her jaw and walked out. Everything was pissing her off. She was ready to go to London, find Josh wherever he was, and strangle him.

A little bit of searching and she found a nice bottle of vodka. Not anxious to go back to the castle she walked along until she found her way up to the little cave that held so many memories. Sitting on a rock inside the entrance she opened the bottle and lit a cigarette. She was all alone, the world was against her, and nobody loved her. She took another drink.

In an hours time she smoked half a dozen cigarettes, had a sizable amount of vodka and had managed to have a half a dozen discarded nasty letters to Josh spread around her. Nothing was turning out the way she wanted it to. It all came back to continual swearing, which was getting her nowhere.

As Harry was making to leave Hogsmeade he glanced up the side of the slope and did a double take. He caught glimpses of curling smoke and there was definitely a person up there. But who? Certainly not Sirius, he wasn't as thick as that. and yet, certain recent events were not evidence supporting that statement. On an impulse Harry scrambled up the slope. He wasn't sure what he would do if it was a complete stranger.

Fortunately, he didn't have to make up an answer to that question for he beheld a shocking sight. His Professor, drinking, smoking, and swearing, swearing at a piece of parchment she had not yet discarded. Upon seeing Harry she swore some more.

"Afternoon Potter," She said, with as much dignity as she could muster. Harry stayed silent. He was slightly embarrassed, but not nearly as much as Angie. "I suppose the damage is done. No use using discretion is there?" She asked taking a large gulp from her bottle of vodka.

"I.I thought maybe you were someone else." Harry stammered. "I'll just be going then." Angie took in a sharp breath.

"I'm sorry Harry," She said. He spun around; she didn't normally call him by her first name.

"For what?" He blurted out.

"I'm just having a bad day, you know?" She said waving her hand at the mess around her. "Look, I don't care if you tell Dumbledore about this, I deserve to be fired, but please don't tell Kirsten about it."

"I wasn't going to tell anyone." Harry said quietly. He had been rather shocked about the whole situation.

"No, no. I won't hold it against you." She assured him. "I'm being sued for more than I have, being jobless and homeless wouldn't be much worse." She hadn't really meant to say that aloud but she had had quite a lot to drink. Harry really had no idea what he was expected to do or what on earth he should say.

"Sirius doesn't have anything to do with this, does he?"

"No, for once. Uh, look, Harry," Angie said gathering up the parchment and things around her. "I'm sorry you had to see this. This is what happens when you stop caring. Consider it a lesson. You wouldn't want to turn out like me." Harry was frowning. He really felt bad for her, and at a total loss as to what to do. To him, it really looked as if she needed someone.

"I know; I'm just a student. But if you ever need an unbiased listener.or just a friend." He said trying not to sound stupid and yet be sympathetic. For some reason she had started to cry.

"You would be a good friend, just like your father." She whispered. And then she laughed. "I wouldn't pour out my troubles on anyone. No one else should have to experience them. I'm sorry for ruining the image you probably had of me."

"I still think you know more about languages than anyone I've ever met, possibly even Dumbledore."

"Not if I go on killing brain cells like this, eh?" She asked, trying to smile. Sighing, she poured out what was left of the vodka.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"What do you when all hope is gone and everyone is against you?" Angie asked. It was a rather personal and abrupt question.

"I look for something good to focus on, I suppose." He ought to be able to answer that question better. How many times had he felt so alone? He would always feel that way, no matter what happened. He was singled out constantly.would he turn out to be like his professor? Drinking away his problems?

"That's good advice," Angie agreed. "You know what I would say to you? Don't keep secrets; always say exactly what your heart tells you." Angie shook herself. Where had that come from? Did she honestly believe that things would have turned out differently if she hadn't kept that one secret? Her logical mind was telling her that she was not under that delusion, and yet, she had said it.

Harry gave her a searching look. He was not sure what had prompted that statement, but there must have been some reason. "Now!" Angie said, abruptly. "Give me your arm, Potter. I imagine I'm a bit unsteady on my feet." Her manner had completely changed. It caught Harry off guard. She had suddenly stopped caring and took on a lighter state of mind, joking about her state of inebriation.

* * *

Harry had a long and serious discussion with his godfather who stayed unusually silent. Harry had decided he had better tell him about Professor Star, but like it was stated before, Sirius didn't say much. He nodded and frowned and listened well, asking a few questions. "I suppose I should go and talk to her. We have quite a few unresolved issues." Harry raised his eyebrows.

"To put it lightly." He replied.

"I wouldn't trouble myself over it if I were you. It's like she said, she just had a bad day." Sirius said to Harry, though he, himself, was worried. It somehow did not seem like Angie. Harry nodded.

"You'll find out what's going on, won't you?" Harry asked.

"I'll try," Sirius said uneasily. It wasn't as if he was going to ask her point blank about it.

He did however work up the resolve to go and see her. He sent a brief note to Dumbledore telling him simply that he would be entering the castle so he could discuss certain things with Angie. He didn't realize how much worry that would cause the man when he sent it, but the worry was perhaps not without reason.

He picked a night when she wouldn't have class the next morning. He tried not to come at a horribly late hour, but as he explained to her, it wasn't easy for a fugitive to enter an establishment at any hour. She was awake, and her eyes looked as if she'd been awake for days. Again, Sirius wondered about what Harry told him. But he wasn't going to dwell on it just yet, he had more important things to discuss with this woman and he was determined to get some answers.

He noticed she was very unsteady as she poured herself a glass. She didn't offer him one. "I came because there are some things that we need to talk about."

She closed her eyes, briefly. *Here it comes, Angie.* She told herself. *You never thought this would happen. You knew better the day you married Josh, but you still married him.* Even though she knew what he wanted to discuss she wasn't going to introduce the conversation though she knew she'd have to defend herself. An argument was the only way she'd be able to keep her composure.

"Why didn't you.what made you marry Josh?"

"He asked me to marry him. I was desperate, I needed someone." She surprisingly spoke from the heart on that one, though she hadn't said EVERYTHING that had come to mind.

"I can understand WHY you married Josh. What I don't understand is.well, HOW?"

"I made a mistake, OK? I knew that we were." She trailed off. "I couldn't bring myself to deal with that. It wasn't easy for me, after everything happened. I.I had a rough time," She said, feeling desperate. How was she to explain this? He knew she was talking about her attempted suicide, but if she didn't want to say it he wasn't going to drag that out.

"I realize that it was rough for you. But I didn't have it very easy either!" He said, his voice rising slightly, in spite of himself.

"I didn't mean that. but, well, how was I to know? At the time I thought." She took a nervous sip.

"You didn't have to marry him Angela, it's not like he forced you." Sirius fixed his eyes on her but she refused to meet them. He wasn't there; he didn't know what it was like for her.

"What else was I supposed to do?" She asked, finally looking at him. "I was living with him-because I didn't have a job, I knew no one. It was just Kirsten, Josh, and me."

"You could have come back home."

"Oh, yeah. It would have been so easy. Helped by the fact that I was totally broke and had no job or place to live. Who the hell do you think you are? I know what situation I was in!" It was Angie's turn to get angry. She had been drinking and was started to loosen up.

"You know what, that's fine. You HAD to marry Thompson, but might you have at LEAST sent a letter to your OTHER husband?" Angie closed her eyes and looked away. She was angry, but she didn't have an argument for that. At least, she didn't have one that he would be able to comprehend.

"I don't really think we were married, LEGALLY. It was barely a wedding anyway.I mean, we just threw it together in a couple of minutes, it all happened so fast. And then, you were gone." Sirius felt like exploding. There she was, relatively calm and collected, telling him in a quite rational voice that their wedding more or less didn't mean much to her.

"GOD DAMN IT! I SWORE TO LOVE YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!" If Angie hadn't been so out of sorts at the time she might have made a rather interesting comment at that point in time. However, she was feeling distraught and a number of other horrible feelings at the time, and made no comment of the sort.

Sirius, who was being completely serious, was slightly disappointed at what he had said. He had meant to convey his message a little differently than that. It sounded more as if he had hurt feelings the way he had put it.

"I.well, I didn't mean." Angie stuttered, afraid of what she might say, and not really knowing how to respond. Sirius just stood with his eyes closed for a minute trying to regain control of himself.

"Never mind," He said in disgust. "Just, never mind. Pour me a drink, will you?" Shaking, Angie obliged and handed him a glass. She sat down at the table and lit a cigarette. There was quite a long period of silence.

"I never meant anything by it. You have to look at it from my point of view. I just wanted to forget everything that had ever happened between us." Angie spoke.

"Everything?" Sirius asked, looking at her. She felt the tears coming on. "Even.the good things?"

"It was just too much," She whispered, fighting off the tears reddening her nose and eyes. Another period of guilty silence ensued. "How did you find out I re-married?" She asked, after she had consumed a good quantity of liquor and smoked a cigarette.

"Fudge left the newspaper, and one of, Josh's friends probably, had the announcement published in the newspaper. And I, of course, read the damned thing cover to cover. I hadn't anything else to do." He added, bitterly.

"I'm so sorry." She said, as if this would help make it right.

"I am too," He replied. "I wish things would have turned out differently. I suppose I'll see you around." Sirius said with a sidelong glance at her. He set his glass down and slowly walked to the door.once again leaving her to herself.

* * *

Ron suspected that there were a great number of reasons which led him to his current situation. However, he was too tired to list them all in his head. Suffice it to say that Ronald Weasley was developing a particularly annoying sleeping disorder. Sleep was impossible in coming and, if it did, he was plagued by vivid dreams.

Ron was in one of those dreams at the moment, or so he believed. He had just entered into a grand room that looked like it had just fallen off sixteenth century. The tapestries and extravagant decorations left him somewhat breathless. The sheer size and richness of the room had a humbling effect on him.

The fireplace was absolutely massive, and, it was the most ornately carved object Ron had ever laid eyes on. The colors were rich gold and maroons. and the far wall was covered in a huge tapestry of a lion. (Warning bells started ringing.)

Ron suddenly felt himself slipping away. He was just telling himself that he was about to wake up in bed when he suddenly felt solid stone beneath his feet. Looking around he discovered that he was NOT in his bed. He was in a corridor that was barely lighted by two lonely torches.

He shivered and thought he heard a whisper from behind him. He spun around and came face to face with a window.at least, it looked like a window. In fact, it was a window, but a painted one. Shaking himself he set off at a quickened pace.

He was in Hogwarts, he must be, but where was the question? And how had he got there? Feeling slightly more panicked then was strictly necessary his pace quickened even more. He finally broke into a run as he sped around a corner and down another corridor.

His heart was beating faster. He swore he could hear footsteps behind him. And then, he suddenly came to a halt, overbalancing slightly. He looked around and realized he knew where he was.

Ducking behind a tapestry and taking an immediate right he found himself right in front of the Fat Lady, snoozing in her frame. He was back at Gryffindor Tower.

* * *

Sierra, Remus, and Sirius all had a meeting in the shrieking shack late on Thursday night. It was Sirius who had suggested the idea and Remus and Sierra naturally agreed with the suggestion.

As Sirius waited for the night to wear on, he paced around the shrieking shack reliving his most recent conversation with Angie. He had taken her father's ring off its chain and was turning it over and over in his hand.

He wondered for the millionth time why he had been allowed to keep it. The pessimist in him said it was the fates toying with him. Torturing him. He'd have to look at it and think of Angie. Now it was a symbol of guilt. Sirius had nearly caused Angie to take her own life.

He slid it on his finger and stared at it, trying to remember what it had originally symbolized.

Sirius watched with amusement as the pair walked in holding hands like cute teenagers. Remus proceeded to help Sierra out of her traveling cloak and help her find a seat on a broken crate.

Sierra took one look at Sirius and said exactly what was on her mind. "I think you're having a bad effect on Angie." Sirius was so surprised by this direct statement that he nearly toppled off his backless chair.

"How so?" He inquired politely, after recovering himself.

"She's drinking heavily and smoking more. I haven't seen her at a meal for three days and she has heavy dark circles under her eyes," Remus said.

"Not to mention her eyes are bloodshot and Hermione says she's been late to class three times. She wore the same thing today that she did yesterday," Sierra added.

"Listen, it might not be because of me. Harry told me that he ran into Angie on their last Hogsmeade weekend. He said she was smoking and drinking, totally smashed. He had to help her walk back to the castle. She told him that someone was suing her for everything she owned.

"I don't know what's going on. But I went to see her. We talked, and while it wasn't exactly a friendly conversation we came to a point of agreement. She didn't seem to be that affected by what happened." Sierra saw Sirius's eyes shift and knew they had talked about Josh. Remus frowned and shook his head.

"Who would be suing her?" Remus asked. Sirius shrugged.

"How should I know? The two of you are.friends," Sirius amended. A new wave of anger hit him. Remus was still at it. Pretending to be a good, good, friend to Angie but taking Sierra out on the side. And then, when Holly came to town. Sirius shook his head, they weren't in Hogwarts anymore.

"I'll see if I can figure out what's going on," Remus said and Sierra nodded.

"The two of you have everything worked out, do you?" Sierra asked Sirius, trying to sound off hand and trying not to pique Remus' curiosity.

Sirius shrugged. "Sure," He said.

"Sirius!" Sierra said harshly. "It's not good for either of you to leave these things just hanging. You need to get these issues out in the open so you can finally bury them and move on," Sirius was trying his best to ignore her. "I think this is important." Sierra continued gravely. "She tried to commit suicide once." Sirius's eyes locked with Sierra's. It was like she had read his mind earlier.

Sierra had to admit, that had been a rather calculated blow. She intended to remind him that he probably was responsible for that attempted suicide. She felt bad for making him feel guilty though. It wasn't like he could have changed things. After a moment Sirius scowled and looked away again.

Remus was anxious to change the subject, and so he did. "Sirius, where are you staying?"

"Wherever," he mumbled. Remus raised his eyebrows.

"It's getting colder. Are you heading back to Paris soon?" Sirius gave Remus a hateful look. He was fishing for information. Remus was aware that something was going on between him and Nikki but he didn't know what.

"Possibly."

"Are you sure it's safe to stay.wherever?"

"What do you want me to do Remus? Check into the inn?" The three of them sat around in silence for a while and then Sierra's eyes focused in on something. It was a wonder she'd seen it in the dark but sure enough, it was Sirius's gold wedding band, on his ring finger.

It didn't take Sirius long to realize that Sierra was staring at something. He jerked involuntarily when he realized what it was. "Shit!" He declared under his breath, quickly removing it and sliding it into his pocket. Remus hadn't noticed anything unusual but Sierra was staring at him with her mouth open.

Sirius couldn't help himself. He found himself grinning at Sierra. The situation was rather comical. When she recovered from her shock she managed to do something. Fake yawning, rather loudly she declared that she had classes the next day and needed to get some rest.

They said their "take cares" and Remus escorted her out. She managed to get a good look at Sirius that said "STAY PUT". She was back in record time and she looked rather crazy. Her hair was wind swept and her cloak was twisted from flying out behind her, and she was breathing rather heavily. Sirius chuckled softly.

"I hate to disappoint you, but that little demonstration didn't mean anything," Sirius informed her.

"Bull shit," She managed to say between breaths. Sirius took a seat and waited for her to catch her breath. "There was a reason you had that ring on." Sirius explained what had happened.

"It's not right for the two of you to be like this. You should be friends. All this happened sixteen years ago, can't you put it behind you?" Sierra asked.

"This is the first chance we've had to talk about it, Sierra. Angie's only just discovered that I'm innocent and I'm not everything she's believed me to be all these years."

"And you've only just discovered she's divorced,"

"I don't see how that changes anything!" He snapped, just a little too quickly. Sierra raised her eyebrows quizzically. It was time for Sierra to get some answers. Ambush, and study the reaction.

"Sirius, are you still in love with her?" Sierra 'ambushed'. Sirius really did fall over this time. He totally blanched and Sierra was sure he was several shades paler than normal. As expected, he starting swearing at her, but the damage was done, and he knew it too.

* * *

"Hermione?" Kirsten asked timidly one night. "I'd like to ask you a question. if that's OK?" Hermione frowned and glanced over at Harry. He was doing a first rate job at ignoring Kirsten with his nose stuck in a book and a quill in his hand. Hermione finally shrugged; there would be no harm in it.

Kirsten indicated a secluded corner and they situated themselves comfortably. "Look, let me just get to the point here," Kirsten started. "It is not right for Ron and Harry to be opposing each other like this. They are too good of friends to get all touchy over this sort of thing. We need to do something about it."

Hermione had literally been paralyzed with shock. What did this girl care for? What did she even know about Ron and Harry's friendship?

"Um.did you have something in mind.?" Hermione asked, still reeling from the shock of the situation.

"Well, nothing specific, I was just hoping you could use your influence with Harry, well, and Ron and we could set something up. Because, this is seriously unhealthy." Hermione was quite aware that her eyebrows were climbing with every word Kirsten said, but she did nothing to stop them.

"Well, sure, I agree."

"Good. So, we'll call this a temporary alliance for the common good.or something."

"You do realize that Harry is still going to hate you," Hermione said to Kirsten who smiled and nodded brightly.

"Oh, of course. I suppose he's justified. But, this is about Ron and Harry. I really thought they were better friends than this." Hermione's eyes were now widening and her mouth slowly opening.

"Right," She said vaguely.

"Ok, we'll talk later. Thanks so much!" And the blonde bounced away immensely pleased with herself.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and wondered what she was up to. She quickly dashed up to her dorm and immediately wrote to Sirius. She knew he was in town so she asked to talk to him. They set the date for the following night.

* * *

Sirius spent a good deal of time wondering what new and melodramatic thing had happened to Hermione that she needed to talk to him. She didn't seem to be upset, that was a good sign. Had something transpired between her and Harry?

Sirius stopped himself when he realized what he was doing. Shaking his head he wondered how he had gotten into this life. The kids and their woes were almost the only things to think about these days. it was a welcome relief from Angie, anyway.

Sirius made up his mind to go and talk to her anyway. Sierra and Remus had seemed genuinely concerned about her, and there was this issue of who's suing and for what, that he needed to figure out. Therefore, he told Hermione to meet him in the building. He planned to talk to Angie and then talk to Hermione.

Odd, he thought to himself.

~*~

Angie had been pacing. Every once in a while she would stop, take a drink, look nervously at the parchment full of numbers in front of her and pace again. Money was getting tighter and Josh's lawyer was sending documents by the truckload. And, not only did she have no place to put them, but she also had no place to put the rest of her possessions that had made the trip over from America.

She had paid a small fortune to transport her things to a storage unit. It was a temporary arrangement until she bought a house or a flat. But, that plan wasn't working at all and she was paying, what she now considered, an obscene amount of money for the two storage units. Something was going to have to give.

She stopped short when she heard the loud knock on her door. "A moment," She called hastily as she scrambled toward the table.

"Angie, quickly." Sirius's voice said urgently from the other side of the doorway. She was suddenly caught in an annoying situation. It was dangerous for him to stand out there but she didn't want him to see the mess she was in the middle of. She switched directions mid-step and jumped to the door, quickly unbolting it and promptly slamming it behind Sirius.

"What do you want?" She demanded, hoping to be quick and keep him away from her papers.

"I just thought I'd drop by. I thought you might like someone to talk to." To her utter horror, Angie found herself thinking that it was a nice thought. Trying to force this from her mind she decided she'd better say something caustic.

"You mean you have nothing better to do and were a little lonely yourself." She looked away and inadvertently walked to the table to get her drink as she said this. Of course, this was a mistake, seeing as Sirius followed her.

It didn't really matter. Sirius wasn't a subtle person and he got right to the point. "Angie, I'm worried about you. We all are. Tell me what is going on. And start by explaining who is suing you." Sirius realized only too late that he had made a slight error. He shouldn't have made demands. He should have asked questions and tried to be a little more sensitive.

She scowled at him. "It's not YOUR business," She informed him with a rather straight face. Apparently it wasn't as life-shattering as they had all thought. She seemed to be emotionally fragile and he rather expected her to get a little teary-eyed.

"I didn't say it was, but honey, don't keep this to yourself. If you need something, talk to one of us. We're a hell of a lot more comforting than that drink." Her face hardened and she looked away. Strategically, the table stood between them, but, the damning papers were strewn across it.

Sirius planted both hands firmly on the table and leaned towards her. "It won't hurt to just talk about it. Who am I going to tell?" There was no immediate response, so Sirius took the liberty of looking down at the numbers and bills and bank statements below him. It didn't look like she was in great shape.

Angie knew he was reading her things and swallowed a gulp. "I didn't want to talk about it because I don't want your pity or your charity. Not that you, in particular, have any to offer, but the rest of them."

"What's going on?" Sirius asked softly. Angie heaved a huge sigh and indicated he should sit down, which he did.

"In the divorce settlement, ten years ago, I got a rather good deal. A nice amount of alimony and so on. Josh, out of nowhere, hires a new lawyer and comes up with some bullshit. He's suing me for damages to his emotions and his pride and for money he shouldn't have lost. All this crap! And, the only reason he's doing it, because he doesn't need the money, is to piss me off!" She had managed to explain the situation pretty accurately without an undue amount of emotion.

"How can he do that? Does he claim to have new evidence or something?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, the bastard!" She suddenly screeched. "I don't know how the sneak did it but he managed to get one of the secretaries who used to work with me at my former job to say that I was having an affair with my boss at the time of the divorce, which is absolutely horse shit!"

"Why would she say that?"

"What, you don't believe me?" She shouted.

"Calm down, I never said that."

"She always was a jealous bitch. I got paid less than her and my job wasn't as important, but Lou liked me as a person a lot better. So what if we exchanged Christmas presents and he bought my daughter a broom for her birthday? He was a good guy. I won't say he didn't like me but the last thing I needed right then was an affair!

"She knew there was nothing going on! She has no reason to say anything like that.unless! Oh that bastard. He probably paid her or took her on a date or something!" After blinking for a moment Sirius thought he fully understood everything that had so quickly poured from her mouth. He needed to run on a three second delay to fully comprehend her.

"Well, there's no evidence of an affair. It's just her word. That'll never hold," Sirius said reasonably.

"But Josh is draining me in the mean time. Everything is suspended including child support! And I'm supposed to pay for a lawyer and work and find and buy a house all at the same god damn time. And then you show up. No offense or anything, but you haven't had a particularly settling effect on me!"

"I could say the same about you," Sirius responded. Angie frowned slightly and studied him. "Anyway," He continued. "Is there anything I can help you with?" Angie sighed.

"I don't think so. I'm just trying to crunch numbers. I'm thinking I'm going to have to sell half my stuff and only have one storage unit."

"We could cram some more stuff into one and bring some of the rest of it here. I'm sure Sierra would keep your stuff for you, or Remus," Sirius said.

"I don't want to bring them into this," Angie insisted. "They'll just get all flustered and try to give me money and rant and rave about Josh. That's not what I want."

"Look, I could help you bring some of the stuff here, anyway. I'm not making fun of you or looking down on you by offering my help. I just want to be there for you," Sirius realized too late that that last sentence sounded a little strange and it seemed to have an effect on Angie.

The muscles in her face strained and she took a long pull on her drink. Her eyes did seem rather wet. "That would be great," She said in a rather husky voice as she stared into her glass.

Sirius suddenly got the insane urge to take her in his arms. Instead, he crushed a letter from Josh in his hands and gritted his teeth.

* * *

Hermione glanced down at the letter from Sirius checking the time and place they were supposed to meet. She felt eyes upon her. Looking up, she discovered she was partially correct. The eyes were staring at the piece of parchment and they belonged to Harry. She hastily tucked the letter away and made her excuses muttering about Head Girl and leaving the common room.

Harry sat in stiff silence wondering if his eyes had tricked him. He distinctly saw the words, "I hope you'll wear my favorite little black dress!"

~*~

Hermione and Sirius met up both eager to chat. "So, what's the scoop?" Sirius asked. Hermione explained her most recent encounter with the American Barbie Doll and was greeted with a perplexed expression.

"It is rather peculiar behavior, I agree. But, it seems to be from the heart. Besides, Ron and Harry are due for some apologizing. This is getting old. James and I learned early on that no girl is worth fighting about. Lily nearly knocked us down though.but that's another story."

"So you think I should go along with this?" Hermione asked; one eyebrow rose in question. Sirius shrugged.

"Why not, it can't do much harm."

"Well, I'm glad we had this discussion. I was really stumped on what to do. Very odd. Speaking of odd, you still owe me some explanations. AND, I just wanted to say that I appreciate very much our little talks and if there is something bothering you, don't hesitate to unload, I'm a rather unbiased confidante." Sirius smiled at the humor in her words. It sounded rather funny coming from her.

"I don't think I should really talk about my issues right now. They're not exactly subject matter that I should be discussing with you," Hermione raised both eyebrows and Sirius chuckled at her expression. "I mean, it involves certain of your superiors,"

"Ah, well, still." She said hopefully. "You do seem to be rather down and out lately. You've been spending a lot of time around the castle.again. Does this have anything to do with what happened on Halloween?"

"It has a lot to do with that, yes," Sirius admitted. "But it would take an awful lot of explaining,"

"You're in luck, I have loads of time," Sirius sighed. He decided it couldn't hurt too much to talk to her a little. Besides, he ought to do what he preached to Angie. Keeping it to himself wouldn't do much good. And so, he started from the beginning and told her nearly everything.

By the end, Hermione knew about Sirius's history with Angie and all the recent problems he'd been having with her. She was a very good listener and really did seem interested.

"Oh my God," She kept saying. "This is so unfortunate! I still don't understand how she could have gotten pregnant with your relationship hanging in the balance the way it was. And then, marrying Thompson! How could she?"

"I don't know for sure what happened after.after everything, but I know she nearly died. She tried to commit suicide. It was probably best that Josh married her. Helped her through the bad times."

"How can you say that?" Hermione gasped. Sirius was rather shocked at himself; he had gotten so worked up over the whole affair and was now justifying her. "The two of you were married! In fact, you're still married! Oh my God!" She repeated.

"Listen, Hermione, I really appreciate having someone to talk to and all but you can't mention ANY of this to ANYONE. And you can't act any different around your professor,"

"But Sirius! What if I talked to her for you, I could give her a little encouragement, and you two could back together!" She looked positively delighted at the very thought.

"GOOD GOD NO!" Sirius shouted. "Are you mad? Hermione, that's over and dead! Just leave it alone,"

"It is not," She insisted. "If it were over you wouldn't be talking about it. You must still have feelings for her. You married her, and that kind of sentiment just doesn't go away."

"Maybe not overnight but I've had many years.How would you know, anyway? AND, it takes two people to make a couple, even IF I still had feelings for her, which I don't. Not that way, anyway," Sirius didn't realize how completely idiotic he sounded babbling and making up WAY too many excuses. "Just stay out of it, please."

"OK, it's really none of my business; you just privileged me with information. But Sirius, I understand how seeing her again is tearing you up. Maybe you should talk to her, a little more in depth than you did on Halloween."

"I did, or I tried. We didn't really get too far. It's really late, and, you have classes tomorrow," Sirius said, indicating the end of the discussion.

"OK, ok," Hermione agreed. She was very pleased with herself. She'd gotten more information than she'd ever dreamed of. "Thank you, Sirius. Keep in touch," She said giving him a quick hug.

"Give a hey to Harry for me!"

* * *

"Hey Kirsten!" Hermione called one morning. They were both descending the stairs into the common room. Kirsten turned around and looked up expectantly at Hermione who was catching her up. "I've been thinking. It would be really great if we could get your Mum to partner up Harry and Ron to work together on a project. It would force them to have some contact." Kirsten nodded.

"I'll definitely talk to her about it. She'll be all for it if I explain the situation. In the meantime, we can force them to work together in potions. We'll make sure they are the only two without partners so that they have to work together by default."

"That's a great idea!" Hermione agreed as they reached the common room.

"We could make them sit next to each other at dinner," Kirsten contributed.

"Kirsten," Hermione said suddenly coming to a halt. She was staring at two familiar forms in front of them. "Look." Kirsten looked up to see Ron sitting next to Harry on the squashy couch. They were holding a parchment with quidditch plays on it.

Ron had just decided that he would talk to Harry. And so, when he saw Harry studying a quidditch play he grabbed his chance. "So, are you going to explain this new play to me, or what?" Ron asked taking a seat beside Harry, who glanced at him.

"Oh, NOW I'm allowed to explain this to you?" Harry asked, referring to the fact that they were still mad at each other.

"So, how about those Cannons?" Ron asked, his face breaking into a grin. Harry's face followed suit and they burst out into friendly laughter.

Hermione and Kirsten stared in absolutely stunned silence. Several minutes later on the walk to Hogsmeade the boys preceded the girls, talking excitedly. They had a lot of catching up to do. "I can't believe they're friends again," Kirsten said, in that still shocked sort of voice, to Hermione.

"Neither can I," Hermione agreed, watching them press on ahead. It was just like old times, like nothing had ever happened.

"I mean, who would have thought they had the maturity to make it up on their own?" Kirsten continued. Hermione couldn't help it, as much as she wanted to hate the girl, she just couldn't, at that moment; she smiled. "It wasn't fair. We had it all worked out. Our plans were brilliant. Life is so bloody ironic! They decide to grow up on us as soon as we've discovered a way to fix it."

The two girls suddenly found themselves all alone, so to speak. They were in a village full of people, but the boys had gone on without them and, for some strange reason, Hermione couldn't locate anyone she knew. "Well." Kirsten said uncomfortably.

"Yes, well." Hermione agreed, just as uncomfortable.

"Um.listen, I have a hair appointment in twenty minutes at the salon." Kirsten said. "So.I'll see you,"

"Yeah, I have lots of Christmas shopping." Hermione said.

"OK. you didn't want to come along did you?" Kirsten asked suddenly.

*Come along? To the salon? With KIRSTEN! As if!---Whoa! Did I just think that?* Kirsten frowned as she watched Hermione's face, anxious for a reaction. "Um. well, I don't."

"It would be fun!" Kirsten bubbled, suddenly extremely excited. "We could get your hair cut done so cute! And your nails too! And then, we can go shopping for some new dress robes! It would be so much fun! Come on, Hermione!" She exclaimed, grabbing her hand and leading her to the shop.

"Oh.but."Hermione protested half-heartedly.

"Look, I promise, this is will be great. With a little bit of highlights and the cutest style your hair would be GORGEOUS! And, you can help me decide what to do to my hair," She said.

A couple of wild hours later Hermione stepped outside with a new confidence and a silly grin on her face. It was strange for her to feel so good about looking good. She had always told herself that things like that didn't really matter to her. But she really did feel better.

Kirsten had convinced her to get her hair cut short. Really short. It was cut in a neat, voluminous bob that shaped her face. One wild blonde bang hung down in front of her face. Her nails were painted Gryffindor red to match her lips. Kirsten had spent at least an hour gushing over how they should do Hermione's make-up. And, Hermione had to admit, it was fun.

Next they went and bought themselves Christmas presents, a new pair of gloves and a handbag each. Giggling the two entered the Three Broomsticks. Once seated Hermione ran her hand through her hair.

"I still can't believe I cut it this short!" She exclaimed.

"It looks absolutely adorable!"

"And you, with your red streaks!"

"Well, you know, I do what I can to represent for Gryffindor! This will be great at the next quidditch game. Hey listen, I know you've been trying to get Harry's attention. Trust me, if you wear your boots and that one skirt we talked about, you'll have his full attention. How can you not?" Hermione felt herself blushing and Kirsten smiled.

"How did you know?" Hermione asked.

"Oh come on, I'm not stupid! Personally, I think Harry is a prat for not noticing you before this. You've been right there all this time." Their conversation continued like that for the rest of the day. And not once, did Hermione regret her decision to hang out with Kirsten that day.

~*~

Ron and Harry were in deep discussion about possible careers when Kirsten- and Hermione-entered into the common room. They were giggling about something, like girls do, but Hermione was not just another girl.

Both Ron and Harry stopped dead. Seven years and they had only seen her done-up once. And that, of course, was for the Yule Ball.at least there was an occasion that time. Now? She had undergone a complete transformation, and what was more, she was giggling with her archenemy.

They strolled casually by, still giggling and talking, neither one paying the slightest BIT of attention to the two, absolutely paralyzed individuals. It took them a rather good deal of time to get enough wits to make a coherent sentence. Ron was the first to recover enough to get his sense of humor back.

"Now why can't we do something like that with Draco?" He asked. Harry raised an eyebrow at Ron. "Not like THAT! But, how is it, that in one day, they can totally change and be best friends? And how does Hermione look like THAT!?"

~*~

As soon as the door to the girl's dormitory was closed shut the two girls screamed with mirth. "Did you see them? I mean, did you SEE THEM?" Kirsten was shouting. Hermione was laughing madly.

"I think that was the most fun I've had in years!" Hermione declared. They had well planned their entrance and their cool pass-by. Everything went according to plan.

"They looked absolutely astounded!"

"Brilliant!" Hermione declared. "It was just brilliant!"

* * *

Sunday afternoon was a positive blizzard. Hermione was glad she had gotten all her Christmas shopping done the previous day because she DID NOT want to go outside in THAT. As luck would have it, she got a cute little summons from "Apollo." He must have known she wouldn't want to come because of the way he wrote his little message.

"Dearest, please come and see me. Little black dress, usual place, as soon as you can. Love, your dearest Apollo. PS You need to give some SERIOUS thought to the little black dress. I'm serious." Grumbling under her breath she layered herself in what felt like half of her wardrobe.

Of course, the thought that ultimately made her go was the fact that she couldn't bear to think about Sirius in his patched and fraying robes out in the unbearably cold snow. Bitching all the way she found him shortly after receiving the letter.

"You know, I'm not on call twenty-four seven, rain or shine, or bloody blizzard!" Hermione said indignantly as she approached Sirius.

"Hermione, you know I love you, so very much," He said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah," She said dryly, but she grinned all the same.

"There's something different about you," He remarked casually as they made their way back to the castle. The only good thing about the weather was that the wind covered their tracks almost immediately. Not that anyone could see them in the first place. And no one else would be retarded enough to come outside in this weather.

"Different?"

"Hermione, are you wearing make-up?" Sirius asked. She couldn't tell if he was pleased or disgusted.

"Yes, I got my hair cut and my nails done too! It was the strangest thing. Kirsten and I had a girl's day out, I suppose. You should have seen us Sirius. It was wild!"

"You and Kirsten?" Sirius asked skeptically.

"Yes, I know. But, call me crazy, she really not that bad of a person. I think I actually had fun yesterday. Plus, she gave me some really good advice about Harry."

"Who are you?"

"Oh stop it!"

"Speaking of Harry, what did he have to say about your little make-over?" Sirius asked provocatively.

"I haven't seen him yet," Hermione replied.

"Really? Well, you'll have to tell me all about it."

"Oh, I will. Where are you going anyway?" She asked, suddenly realizing she had no idea what the purpose of the meeting was.

"I need to see your Professor," He said formally.

"Professor Star!" Hermione squealed. "Are you going to talk things out?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"If only we could just talk it out and then make up. Reality check, this is real life." Sirius said sarcastically. He muttered instructions to her until she was sufficiently lost inside the castle. This, as head girl, extremely annoyed her. "Through that wall there," He instructed.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked. Sirius sighed exasperatedly as if he expected her to know what to do.

"Put your left hand flat on the wall and say 'golf balls'." Hermione did so and to her disbelief the wall melted away to reveal a long corridor filled with identical looking doors.

"I never knew this was here!" Hermione exclaimed, now VERY annoyed.

"And you're not supposed to, so you can just keep this to yourself. Most students would DIE to know where the teacher's dormitories were. The passwords change daily, mind you." Hermione was still looking around as if she were trying to drink the sight with her eyes. She was startled to hear a knock nearby.

A second later Sirius appeared in front of a doorway smoothing his hair. He hastily shoved the invisibility cloak into her hands. "Why don't you go and talk with your new best friend Kirsten," He suggested quickly. Hermione would have replied, had she the chance.

The door suddenly opened and Angie appeared in the doorway. Hermione saw the whites of her eyes expand. "Oh God!" She cried, taking one look at Sirius. She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him inside, slamming and locking the door behind him.

~*~

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Angie cried. "What if someone saw you?"

"Calm down," Sirius said grinning.

"Don't smirk at me! Don't you realize the danger of the situation?" She continued, visibly concerned and angered.

"Angela, I've been doing this for four years, I realize what I'm doing."

"Well, I've heard a lot of things about your close calls lately. You need to get out of the area. You shouldn't be here at all. If anyone found you here."

"Well, I'll just leave then.?" He said turning toward the door.

"NO!" Angie exclaimed a little louder than she meant to. "I mean, you don't have to.if you don't want to. You know, since you're already here." Sirius couldn't help but grin. Angie noticed he was sort of shivering and most definitely wet.

"For goodness sakes, come in. Let me get you something to warm you up." Sirius gladly allowed himself to be sat down on the comfortable couch and was fully expecting a blanket but was handed a glass of vodka and tonic instead. It would warm him up.

After he had sipped his drink for a while and he watched Angie down one of hers and pour herself another he decided he had better say what was on his mind. "When did you start smoking?" He asked in a would-be normal voice.

"What?" Angie asked, not expecting the question. "Oh.I don't know, it's been years," She replied casually.

"You've certainly graduated from the wine we used to drink." He said, trying to sound casual, and indicating the bottle on the table. Angie shrugged, not liking the conversation. She was determined not to give him an inch since she didn't feel like discussing it. She took a large gulp.

"Do you drink a lot?" He asked, in the same would-be normal voice.

"What's a lot?" She asked, keeping his tone.

"Oh.I don't know, two glasses of vodka a day, I'd say, was quite enough." He said, as she was reaching for the bottle a third time. She caught herself and met his steady glare.

"What's your point?" She asked in a much more hostile tone than before.

"My point is, that it isn't very healthy--"

"I'm not an alcoholic!" She snapped, cutting him off. Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"I never said. Well, you never used to smoke cigarettes. That's definitely not good for you," Sirius pointed out.

"How is this any of your business?" Angie shot back. She seemed to find this statement legitimate and went ahead and poured herself another drink.

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I'm just worried about you, Angie," He said in a soft, concerned tone.

"You and Remus both," Angie said dryly.

"You know, Remus and I are pretty smart guys," Sirius said, trying to ease back into some humor. Angie rolled her eyes.

"Don't you mean wise guys?"

"Well, that too," Sirius admitted. They sat together in silence for a while. It was a pleasant silence, not an awkward one, both sort of lost in their own thoughts. Their own thoughts probably about the same subject.

"Tell me about finding the house," Angie said suddenly.

"What?"

"The Potter's.that night." Sirius gave her a searching look that asked her 'why?' before speaking.

"The house was completely desecrated. It was still smoldering. I remember feeling like I was dying. I was violently sick when I looked into the sky and saw." He shifted uncomfortably. "I found Harry and held him in my arms. I succumbed to emotion for quite a long time. By the time Hagrid arrived on Dumbledore's orders I had some time to work out what had happened. I had murder in mind." Sirius said bluntly. Angie brushed away tears as she saw Sirius's expression harden and his jaw set.

"All those years I spent trying to hate you for what I thought you had done."

"And now?" Sirius asked.

"Now?" She repeated more to herself than anything. She started to raise her glass to hr lips but Sirius's hand suddenly stopped her arm. Her eyes traveled to him and he gently shook his head.

She swallowed and slowly replaced her glass on the table. "I know it wasn't easy for you either. I, um. I heard you tried to make it all go away," Sirius said delicately.

Angie let out a breath of laughter and a brief smile, acknowledging his consideration. "So you heard about that did you?"

"I'm so sorry," Sirius whispered compassionately.

"Sorry it didn't work out?" She asked grinning, but she was obviously handling the subject much more lightly than Sirius was.

"Why?" He asked simply. He was still kneeling in front of her from when he prevented her from taking a drink of salvation.

*WHY? Like he didn't understand!* "I'll tell you why!" She suddenly burst out. "Because I couldn't live without you! And I couldn't live with myself for loving a murderous traitor! And because I had lost my three best friends, whom I practically grew up with, all in a couple of hours! That's why! I didn't know what else to do! I didn't see the point! I wasn't ready to commit myself to living with that torturous knowledge." Sirius's countenance displayed his wide variety of emotions quite clearly.

"And what would have happened if you hadn't lived all these last years?" Sirius asked, horrified, leaning back on his heels.

"I'd be rid of my confounded ex-husband.s," Angie could tell that Sirius was taking that last statement the wrong way and continued on quickly. "No, I'm not still suicidal, Sirius. I know that Kirsten has needed a mother. She wouldn't be the same person if Josh had raised her.

"It's funny actually. If it hadn't been for Josh I just might have completed what I set out to do. The first time-"

"There was more than one time!?" He shouted rocking forward.

"The first time was the day after everything happened. I locked myself in the bathroom and I read every single thing I could possibly get about what happened. And I drank and I remember taking a lot of pills, and I remember slashing my wrists and watching the blood pour out. And I remember hearing Josh banging on the door.then I blacked out and I woke up at St. Mungo's. I was so pissed! I wouldn't talk for a hell of a long time."

Sirius gently pushed back her sleeve and delicately traced her scar with one finger. "My god," He whispered looking up at her. She couldn't think of anything to say so she shrugged. "You act like it's nothing."

"Trying to kill myself was not the worst part of that situation," She reminded him and he fell silent. "Sirius, stop looking like you're in pain,"

"I am in pain! Just thinking about it.I'm sorry,"

"What do you have to be sorry about?"

"Angie," He said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I." Angie suddenly found his eyes very engaging. He suddenly inhaled mightily. "I think I should go." Angie broke eye contact and nodded quickly. She followed him to the door.

He paused with his hand resting on the doorknob and looked at her. Their eyes locked again and a tremor ran through her. "I don't think we should see each other again," She heard herself saying. She almost felt like her stomach was ripping in two as a slight wave of emotion passed across his face. It was nearly imperceptible but she saw it. He nodded gravely.

"You're right," He said softly. He slowly opened the door and closed it behind him. Angie felt a wave of emotion welling up inside of her. She couldn't contain it and it all burst forth at once. She fell against the wall and sobbed viciously.

Sirius had every intention of walking away, quickly, but he heard her cry and he stopped short. It felt like someone was painfully squeezing his heart each time her heard her.

Carefully he re-opened the door. Once he was inside again she started crying harder. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," She kept repeating she was sorry over and over again. He grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her chin.

"Stop," He commanded. "Don't ever apologize to me again," His was voice was so grave Angie stopped crying all at once. But she wasn't ready to give up.

"No!" She argued. "No, I.it wasn't fair." She collapsed against him and starting sobbing again.

"Angie, please," He begged pulling into a strong embrace. It was rather painful for him to have her crying. For some reason, he felt incredibly guilty. All at once he remembered Halloween and what he had done to her. It felt like a staggering blow. "I should be the one apologizing. All those times, all those things I did to you. Every time I hurt you when we were younger and.more recently,"

"No," She kept arguing between sobs. "It's my fault, I'm sorry." He lifted her easily off the ground and set her firmly on the bed. Taking hold of her hands he spoke pointed to her.

"Listen to me. Whatever it is or was doesn't matter anymore. I've done far worse things to you. I don't deserve that kind of apology,"

"You don't understand," She started, but he wouldn't let her finish.

"No, stop,"

"No, you stop!" She cried. "I didn't trust you. I didn't even try to find out what REALLY happened. I just ignored the fact that we were married-"

"Then why did you keep the ring all these years?" She did not respond because she didn't have a ready answer. Sirius lifted her chin and pressed his lips firmly to hers. Angie felt a shockwave rip through her body. Needles to say, her train of thought was interrupted.

It was Sirius who pulled back but Angie was the first to speak, or sing, as the case was. "I don't know whether to kill you or to kiss you," She sang softly.

"Come again?" Sirius asked, caught off guard.

"Both options have their appeal," She continued with a grin. "Do you remember when we wrote that song?"

"Of course, you busted my lip open with your grandmother's plate,"

"But I kissed it to make it feel better,"

"But your grandmother's plate was never the same again,"

"I'm sure granny is turning over in her grave," Sirius laughed.

"I think I need the contents of that second drawer," Angie declared pointing to her bedside table. Sirius reached over and peered inside. He should have expected it to be liquor but was still mildly surprised.

He agreed, only because he needed a drink just as much as she did. But, he poured, and it was a moderate amount, and didn't allow a second drink.

They sat side by side leaning against the headboard for support. "How did things end up this way?" Sirius asked with a sigh.

"WHY did things up this way?" Angie corrected, or added, whichever way one looks at it.

"What do you think Lily and James would be doing right now, if they were still alive?" Sirius asked.

"That's an interesting question."

"That's not an answer," Sirius pointed out.

"Well, I don't suppose they would be sitting in Hogwarts talking about the past." Angie replied.

"Also, not really an answer," Angie laughed. "What do you think they'd be doing?"

"Who knows? They'd be filthy rich. James would be minister of magic and Lily would be a best-selling author and Harry would be famous anyway! And they'd probably have a dozen children running around."

"A dozen! James never wanted children in the first place. Don't you remember the war of the child, as you so poetically deemed it?"

"Yes, I remember it, but Lily won that war. She wrenched the truth out of him. It was rather cruel, what she did to him.but then again,"

They talked and talked until Angie eventually couldn't keep her eyes open. For nearly an hour Sirius lay there, in the dark and wondered where HE would be if Peter hadn't betrayed them all. An odd thought crossed his mind as he considered his immediate position. He realized that if things had continued on without interruption he might very well have ended up in the exact same place that he was at this very moment.

~*~

After a while, he gently moved Angie and got out of bed. There was no point in laying there when he could be doing something productive. He quietly gathered up whatever alcohol he could find and disposed of it, one way or another.

Watching her sleep he noticed how thin and frail she looked. Her eyes looked sunken in and there were many lines in her face that were never there before. He had keep reminding himself that he hadn't seen her in sixteen years.

He gently moved the hair away from her face and her eyes fluttered open. He found himself smiling down at her as she returned the smile. All at once she sat up. "What time is it?" She asked, suddenly fully awake.

"It's seven o'clock in the morning; your first class starts soon," Sirius replied.

"I've got to find my notes for today!" She exclaimed jumping off the bed. She rushed around getting ready and finding things. When she had stuffed all she needed into her bag, changed her clothes, brushed her hair and teeth she suddenly realized Sirius was still there reclining comfortably on her sofa.

She was struck with a feeling of speechlessness. What was there to say? "Thank you, Sirius," She said, not entirely certain what she was thanking him for. As she looked at his face she saw the dark circles and the somewhat bloodshot eyes. "Did you sleep at all?" She asked, concerned.

"I'll be fine," Sirius insisted.

"Why didn't you sleep? Or wake me up at least?"

"You needed some rest, not that I can say you got much," He admitted, but she brushed that mark aside.

"You need something to eat," She said, looking at him with a critical eye. While the thought of food was appealing to him, he didn't really feel like eating anything at the moment.

"A nice hot shower might be best," He said.

"Oh sure! Feel free to make yourself at home, anything you need."

"You had better get to your class,"

"Right," She agreed. "Will you be here later?" She inquired. Sirius shrugged, he didn't really know himself.

"Oh, OK," She said, and left.

~*~

All the way down to her classroom she thought about the situation. She was itching for a cigarette but that was out of the question. By the time she reached her desk she had formulated a plan and immediately attacked a piece of parchment with a quill.

She introduced the lesson and didn't leave anything out, for once. She had them all taking notes before she called Hermione up to her desk. "It's all explained in here," She said, handing Hermione a rolled up piece of parchment. "Go outside to read it, Kirsten can give you the notes," Hermione nodded and took the parchment with a nod. Once outside she studied it curiously and nearly burst into laughter when she read it.

Sirius had not left the castle since she dropped him off the previous day. And now, her professor had commissioned her to go and collect him some breakfast. She had even outlined some things he might like. And, included a reason for why she might found in the teacher's section of the school.

Hermione had an overactive imagination and was positively bursting with anticipation by the time she reached Professor Star's room. She rapped sharply on the door. Frowning, Sirius crept quietly to the door and peered out the peep hole. He sprang away and flattened himself against the wall. Immediately he felt stupid for doing so. The person was on the other side of the door and couldn't see in. They couldn't possibly know he was inside.

"Snuffles, open up, it's Hermione," A voice said from the other side of the door. And, Sirius did recognize the voice, but he was sure the girl he had seen was not Hermione. He peeped out again and realized that it, in fact, was she. But she looked very different.

He opened the door and she stepped inside. She was pleased by his open- mouthed reaction. "I told you," Hermione said.

"I'd say this is the equivalent of a little black dress, dear. You've done all right."

Hermione beamed. "Now where shall I put this?" She asked, indicating the tray of food she held in front of her.

"Right over here," He said, leading her to the table with a little too much enthusiasm. He began to attack the food immediately, he was quite hungry and this platter had all his favorite foods. It wasn't until some time later that he realized Hermione was standing over him watching with a strange grin on her face. He stopped eating and returned her stare.

"So, you're still here, are you?" She asked slyly.

"Oh," He replied shortly, realizing why she looked the way she did. "Professor Star and I had a long chat and it was easier for me to stay here last night."

"Uh-uh," Hermione replied.

"I hate to burst your melodramatic bubble, but that was it."

* * *

Harry found he couldn't concentrate on his homework that weekend. Not even thinking of Snape and his foot long essay due could put Harry in a foul mood. He kept stealing glances at Hermione and Kirsten who always looked happy, and always looked stunningly gorgeous. Naturally, Harry was not the only one to notice Hermione's miraculous transformation. She was gathering quite a following of gawkers, many of the girls' who had known her all through Hogwarts among them. (And with good reason!)

In seventh year, it was the talk of the school. And, Hermione being head girl, news spread around. She had gotten rather maddened by it all. "Suddenly, because I look different people pay attention to me! The looks don't make a person," Hermione remarked hotly to Kirsten one night.

"I know, but that's not what it's about. Looking nice is for you. You feel good when you know you look good. It is also particularly gratifying when a particular person takes a notice," She said, tilting her head toward Harry. Hermione's eyes focused on him just as he looked away. A smile played on her lips.

"People are going to notice, some for the wrong reasons and others because they feel good for you. Just because they notice that you're outward appearance has changed doesn't mean that you're different. They'll calm down, eventually. Besides, it's so much fun!" Hermione rolled her eyes at the end, but the rest was appreciated. Kirsten really was a good person and a good friend, once you got past that valley-girl exterior.

Ron gazed across the room at Hermione and Kirsten. Hermione was positively beaming. She looked wonderful and she was happy. Strange that the person who brought all this on was Kirsten. At first, Ron had thought Kirsten and all the change she brought with her was not a good thing. And now, watching her, he changed his mind.

* * *

That night Ron dreamed of Kirsten, except she didn't look herself. This girl was wearing something Kirsten would never wear. It was a hideous shade of brown and very large and full of fabric. Not at all the sort of thing Kirsten would wear.

This girl was screaming and screaming and screaming and Ron was trying to make himself stop. He was shaking himself. His eyes flew open and he was nearly blinded by the huge fire blazing in front of him.

He found himself in the room decorated in rich gold and maroons. At closer inspection the walls were covered with many tapestries the fireplace was made of intricately carved designs. Shelves lined one wall and old leather- bound books filled them.

Over the fireplace he recognized the symbol, the crest. It was Gryffindor, the proud lion, in the most gigantic form Ron had ever encountered. Suddenly he felt a chill come over his body and whispers seemed to creep up on him. Everywhere. He couldn't understand what they were saying but he had the queerest feeling of fear and he fled from the room.

This time he vaguely recognized his surroundings and was somewhat able to retrace his steps. For the second time he found himself looking up at the picture of the Fat Lady.

* * *

It was snowing again. But softly, peacefully, and Angie found it calming. She was tired of the same room and had to get out. Sleep was not doing her any good and she felt guilty every time she took a drink. Curse Sirius!

She wandered around aimlessly, letting her mind travel freely. She thought of Kirsten and about her future. She thought of Remus and how she was unsure of their relationship at the moment and she thought of Sirius and how she was PAINFULLY unaware as to where she stood with him.

Every time she happened to see him there were so many things she wanted to say but just couldn't. So many things she wanted to do, to talk about, but they were also things that she would rather have left in the past, where they belonged.

And there was always the thought of SHOULD she tell him. Dare she tell him now, after all these years?

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a snowball hit her square on the shoulder and sent a shower of snow upon her. Sirius appeared, laughing, from under the invisibility cloak.

Angie retaliated and Sirius tripped in his efforts to evade her retaliation. Angie laughed now but suddenly found herself caught in a snow battle. When Sirius slipped the final time and struggled in the snow Angie stopped, and instead approached him.

She reached him just as he was standing. They began brushing snow off each other. "That was refreshing," Sirius remarked.

"Yes," Angie agreed. "I haven't had snowball fight for years and years." Angie suddenly stopped brushing snow off of Sirius's robes and looked into his eyes. A distant fire rekindled there as a shiver past through them both.

Angie felt herself leaning slightly, when all at once Sirius slipped and they ended up in a heap in the snow. Laughing, Angie rolled onto her back. "So, what brings you outdoors?" Sirius asked. They were lying side by side in the snow looking up into the sky.

"I could ask you the same question," She pointed out.

"I'm almost always outdoors, in winter, you are almost always indoors. Therefore you should answer my question."

"Very well. I had to come outside to get some fresh air and a clear mind. I've got a lot on my mind right now," She admitted.

"I'm sure. Have you decided what you're going to do yet?"

"No, but I had better do it quickly. I'm running out of money faster than I can say it."

"What if we moved as much stuff as we could out of storage on Saturday? During the quidditch game we should have absolutely no trouble getting it inside. That is, you shouldn't. I'm afraid I can't do much in the broad expanse of daylight and human vision. It just wouldn't do."

"No, not at all," Angie agreed.

"But, I can help you transport some things from one storage space to the other in order to consolidate. And I can help you unpack," He offered.

"That's a definite plan."

"Have you talked to your boss back in the United States?"

"I talked to him two days ago. He's so pissed off. I thought he was going to go straight to the airport. I convinced him the best thing to do would be to stay as far away as possible." If they were going to make a case they would eventually have to go and talk to Lou, but Angie had the feeling they were expecting her to go bankrupt or settle.

"OK, we'll meet when the quidditch game starts then," Sirius said.

"Yes, when the quidditch game starts."

"I must leave before someone gets the midnight urge to peer out their window. Go to your bed and get some rest. Good night, Angela,"

"Good night," She replied, smiling even as she heard the crunch of snow retreat. It was good to have a friend.

* * *

Angie hauled in the last of the boxes and sank down into the chair. "Pour me a drink, will you?" She asked Sirius who gave her a Look, but obliged. Taking a sip she looked around at the depressing sight. "Where am I going to put all this?"

Sirius opened the nearest box with the intention of unpacking it and finding places for all the stuff. He found a hell of a lot of candle holders and candles. So, they busied themselves with those for a good portion of time. Sirius made a crack at how romantic all the candles would be if they were lit and then they moved on.

Sirius found a box of Kirsten's baby and toddler things that Angie held on to for sentimental value. "What have we here?" He asked, opening the next box. He picked up the little book on top and flipped it open. "Oh, an old diary!"

Angie laughed. "You're likely to find something about you in there," She said. With a look of positive excitement he began reading.

"'My mother is driving me MAD! I've got my own job and my own flat but she writes to me daily and still manages to tell me what to do! And then, she heard about me singing with the marauders at the club and she threw a FIT! Like I'd be retarded enough to enter into a permanent business situation with the likes of those four! I just want to have fun. And I love to sing.' "

Sirius looked up and smiled. "Those were the days," He remarked whimsically. "I stayed at James's house and I lived off a gig for a couple of weeks at a time. I didn't have a care in the world."

"Except for which girl you were taking out. I'm surprised you had money at all," Angie remarked.

"When I'd go broke I'd come get you," He replied with a grin.

"Gee, thanks," She said dryly.

"You always did have a beautiful voice," He said reverting to a previous subject. "I bet you don't sing anymore, do you?"

"I haven't sung for years."

"That's too bad," He remarked and then flipped a few pages. "'July 27th, I cannot STAND Sirius Black!'" Sirius laughed. "This is ought to be good. 'I don't know WHY Lily lets him stay with her. He's a lazy jerk, and a lot of other things that I won't even bother to write down. But he's so DAMNED cute!' "

"Aw Angie," Sirius said putting a hand to his heart. "I think you're damned cute too!" Angie was laughing so hard she started coughing. "Bad weather that day." Sirius commented. "Oh, shouldn't have bet James, he always wins. Hey, I remember that. OK, Christmas, New Years. Here's a long one. 'April 17th'."

The smile immediately left Angie's face.

*IT certainly couldn't be THAT year. IT wasn't THAT April 17th, was it?*

She lunged at the diary but Sirius was too quick for her. "Must be something good," He said, laughing.

"Sirius! Give it to me," She demanded, making a grab and missing. Sirius stood up evasively and she followed suit.

"'I wish this were a nightmare and not real.' " He started to read, grinning from ear to ear.

"NO!" Angie cried, jumping onto his back and desperately trying to take possession of her diary. Defiantly, Sirius kept reading.

"'I've come to a shocking conclusion that must be the right one-' "

"SIRIUS!" Angie's voice reached a shocking pitch as she fell back onto the bed. This was not the way she wanted him to find out.

"'The baby is not Josh's. The baby must belong to." Sirius's eyes widened in absolute shock and his breath caught. All support left his knees and he dropped to the bed. He managed to look up just in time to see a flurry of cloaks and the door shut.

* * *

A/N: Well, it's been a long time coming but many of you expected it LONG before this. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. To me, it seemed like it had a different feel than the others. Anyway, on to thank-yous!

harrypfanatic1111: I LOVED your review for The Last Laugh. "Wicked awesome story" You said all that was needed, right there. Thank you!

~*Obsessed~With~Snuffles*~: OK, well, I do apologize. I probably would have gotten the chapter out about two weeks sooner but school started when I was literally like five pages from the finish of the chapter. Don't worry about the review, you were totally justified.

Raining Blood: I realize it's been over a month since you reviewed, so I hope that you will come back and read this chapter. Anyway, thank you for saying my story was excellent. Sorry that there was no mention of Bill and his brilliance that comes back later.

kangaroo: Sorry about Bill, he'll come back later but thank you for the things you said about The Last Laugh.

Jamila: OK, well, I put a summary, and if I haven't been doing it before, EXTREMELY sorry. It's really the least I could do after taking so long to write.

Jasmine: I know that this isn't the best writing and I apologize for that. It's just that this is a secondary kind of writing priority and it takes me a while to post so I generally don't take the time to edit and re-write like I would with a normal piece of writing. I appreciate that you're still interested in the story.

Legman Limes: Yes, well, I'm not usually the sort of person who likes to read Harry's generation stories either. But, it just works and the story is really about Sirius and Angie anyway. I mean, it's not, but it is. Well, anyway, thanks for the song. You are totally right, it conveys Angie's character, at this point, very well.

Lily Lupin the first: thanks for the review. Sorry about the total lack of Bill and the Weasley's in this chapter but I hadn't planned to bring that back until later. And you are totally right, someone really needs to tell Remus that ONE of his girlfriends is married to his best friend. You know, when you say it like that it sounds like a REALLY BAD soap opera.

Lily Skylo: I'm so glad you feel like hitting Josh. I do too. But just wait, he gets even nastier before he gets better. And I'm sorry that it's been so long since you've read this. I realize that it was probably EXTREMELY difficult to follow the story, so thank you so much for still reading.

Crystal Potter: Well, I am REALLY sorry to disappoint you. Bill won't come back for a while and Ginny and Draco and Ron and all that will be inserted whenever I need something to put somewhere. And, um, quidditch, well don't ask about that, it's complicated to explain. Thanks for the review; I'm sorry if you're having a hard time keeping track of this story.

Serena Serenity: well, if you ever make it this far: SHOUT OUT TO THE GUARD MEMBER!!!! YOU ROCK!

nkittyhawk: Well, thank you for your review and for reading and all that. And, as an answer to your question I'd have to say that I don't really know. This story has just kind of carried over reviewers from the other story. But that one was REALLY slow in originating reviewers. It takes it a while. The best way to get reviewers, I think, is to update regularly and often. Neither of which I do, but back in the day, I did, and it helps. And then, hopefully, you'll keep readers attention.

kevin luver: I apologize for the lack of prompt response to your review but thanks for reading anyways!

THANKS TO ALL MY FANFICTION FRIENDS WHO I TALK TO ALL THE TIME AND WHO I OWE SO MUCH! IF I TRIED TO SAY IT ALL HERE THIS WOULD NEVER GET POSTED!

SPECIAL THANKS TO HARMONY SLYTHERIN FOR GETTING THROUGH THE TOUGH SPOTS AND ACTUALLY WRITING VERY SMALL PORTIONS OF THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU GET A CHANCE THANK HER BY READING ONE OF HER AWESOME STORIES!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!

~Star*dust (By the way, I REALLY think this new August 2nd name thing is way off because I should NOT have a number. I have been on this website for a long time and I have published stories and I am the ONLY Star*dust with an asterisk in between the two words! :P!)