Disclaimer: No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Furthermore, this was written in accordance to the Ministry of Magick's Public Fiction Code Article X and brings no harm or hex to the reader before, after or during the reading of the piece. However, it was not written in accordance with the Ministry of Magick's Public Fiction Code ILII which states that, beyond holding hands, relationships between two men or two women are strictly forbidden.

Pairings: sbxrl, rianxquin

Summary: next verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit worse.

This one's to all my fangirls who have been waiting twenty-two agonising, angsty chapters for the time that the esteemed author decided to be 'nice' to her favourite puppies.

I apologise now for the fluffy, over-exaggerated, bizarre, cheesy sap.

Twenty-Two

In which a chance is offered.

I fingered the heavy chain with its charm before I slipped it back under my uniform. Sirius had given it to me. I didn't care what his intentions were, he had given it to me and that was all that mattered. As a Sixth Year prefect, I had some duties to perform before and after dinner. During dinner I sat in-between Lily and James. James was next to Peter, and Sirius across from me. I didn't pay the other Marauders any attention, just chatted lightly with Lily the entire time. After dinner we helped see the First Years to the dorm and let all the Gryffindors know the password ('placebo') before we went to a prefect meeting. The Head Boy and Girl were both Ravenclaws that year, but they usually were, and they sat next to each other as the meeting commenced. I didn't pay much attention, but I was sure that Lily and/or Perri would fill me in later if I asked.

I walked back to my room behind the other Gryffindor prefects, as I wanted to wait as long as I could before I confronted the others. Peter and James were sitting on the former's bed talking quietly as I entered the room. Sirius was scribbling something on some scrap parchment. He looked up at me, his expression unreadable. His eyes were wide. I swore I saw a faint red tint to his cheeks before he ducked his head back down to what he was doing before. I had become an alien in my own group. Lovely. I readied for bed and pulled my curtains. Sleep was far from my thoughts. Soon I heard James' snoring and then I heard Peter's. I could see a faint light, Sirius'. It was far into the night, probably somewhere around midnight, when I saw my curtains open, I quickly shut my eyes.

'Moony,' he whispered, 'are you awake? We need to talk.' I said nothing. After a few minutes of watching my 'sleeping' form, he left, presumably to return to his own bed. I needed more time before I told him off again. It was thing to do it in a letter, it was quite another to do it to his face.

We didn't have class together on the first day, Thursday. James and Sirius were in all the same classes, and I was into heavy Defence and History classes. Peter was… well, he had everything in moderation. I had breakfast like I always did, with the girls, and then I had lunch a Gryffindor-prefect meeting with McGonagall during lunch. After my classes I went to the library. Theoretically I was studying, but I just stared at my books.

'Moony.' I looked up and met Sirius' eyes. He sat slowly, deliberately next to me. 'Moony,' he repeated. 'We need to talk.' I dropped my gaze. He put a hand on mine and reached the other one up to cup my face. 'Moony, what's wrong?' I said nothing. 'I don't want you to be just another boyfriend. Moony, I, I love you too much for that. Please listen!'

I shook his hand off. 'Sirius. Stop toying with me. You know what I am. Werewolves mate for life. For life, Sirius. You can hardly stay with someone for a month. Why would I let you use me and then toss me aside? I love you, Sirius, but you don't know what love is. Don't pretend you do!' I ran out of the library then, leaving my things on the table. Looking back would be my undoing. It was for the best.

I ran out of the castle into the pouring rain. It was September, gone was whatever had existed of the August 'heat'. It wasn't an English rain, it was a Scottish one. It was hard and windy. And cold. It didn't usually get that bad until October or November. I ignored it as I pressed against the wind in the rain. I didn't know where I was going, I didn't care. How could I have been a Gryffindor? I was a weakling and a coward. I was avoiding confrontation and I knew it. Sirius said he wanted to be with me, but I kept thinking of his past infatuations. A blond girl one week and a brunette boy the next. Cadman Bicriu. I ran until I was out of breath, and found myself at the Whomping Willow. I hit the knot and staggered through to the Shack. I hated the Shack. I usually waited out the moon, well before my friends became Animagi, in the base floor of the Shack, and the claw marks were there to prove it. There was a ladder that led up to a loft, and I climbed it. The loft was probably once a bedroom; there was a table, a lantern and a cot on the floor. The small window bore signs of the curtains that had once been there. I dropped my sodden robes on the floor, followed by my muddy shoes and socks. After a minute of consideration, my trousers followed. I crawled under the blanket on the cot and curled in a fatal position. Moony roared in my head; but I ignored him.

The rain hit against the window and I felt the occasional drop against my face, testament to the shabbiness of the shanty. The lantern I left unlit, it wouldn't do to have some adventuresome wizards come see what was amidst in the 'haunted' Shack that night. No, the howling was reserved to the full moon.

I heard the creaking of the floorboards and attributed it to the making of my sanctuary. Then the ladder creaked. Okay, maybe not my imagination. 'Moony?' a light question floated in the air. He had followed me. Who did he think he was?

'Moony…' he climbed into the room and made his way to me. He, too, was sopping wet. He dropped his robes and leaned down to me. In the meagre light the moon gave off, I could see his hair plastered to his face; his eyeliner and mascara formed a black line down his cheeks. His brilliant blue eyes glowed. He steered my face to his so that I had no choice but to look at him.

'Moony, will you listen to me?' he begged. 'All of the others, I don't want them. I never did. I had them to keep me company because the one that I did want didn't pay any attention to me. Not the way that I wanted him to. I could only take it for so long. Soon… every kiss, every caress… it wasn't fair to the one I was with that I was always thinking of someone else. You, Remy. It was always you, and it always will be you. I don't want to fool around, I want to be with you, I want to see you smile and know that it was me that caused it. I want forever, Remus.'

'You don't love me,' I told him, teary eyed, 'You don't love me and you can't love me. I'm not one of your toys and I will not kiss the ground you walk on. You don't know what you're talking about, Padfoot, you're confusing "love" and "lust". That works for others perhaps, but not for me.' He started to protest and I cut him off with a sharp look, 'no-one can love me. No-one can love a dark creature. No-one can one to spend their entire life mated to a dark creature. Please don't say something you don't mean, Pad——'

His lips descended on mine, his hands holding my head still. I jerked away and started to protest, but he pulled me back and continued. 'Moony,' he finished the kiss and ran a hand through my hair, caressing it like it was silk. 'Moony… Moony… I don't understand….' he shook his head, 'no, I don't. How can someone as perfect as you are be so pessimistic and cynical?'

'Experience?'

'I'm not toying with you, Moony,' he sighed, 'I could never do that. I tried everything else I could think of to get you to love me, but all they did was distance you from me. And the most direct route makes you hate me. What can I do, Moony? How the hells can I get your attention?'

'Try awakening the wolf with a kiss… Try Third Year,' I mumbled sadly trying to move my head and failing.

'Third… Blimey! You're… Look, Moony. Give me a chance, then. I know I don't deserve you, but that doesn't mean I don't want you any less.'

I shivered. 'Sirius… just go. Leave, it's the best for… for both of us.'

'No,' he said. He pressed his lips against mine, briefly. 'Not an option. Give me a chance. Deny not thyself. Prongs… he told me you were… mooning over me. Deny not thyself. Deny not the wolf. Remus, I can prove it to you.' He looked into my eyes, the sapphire orbs bearing into my soul. The eyes are the window to the soul. 'Just give me a chance and I'll prove myself to you. Once chance, Moony. That's all I ask. Please.'

Yes! Yes! The wolf screamed. Remus wasn't quite so sure. It took a moment, and I don't know why. I found myself wrapping my arms around him, burying my head in the crevice of his neck and shoulder. 'Yes, Sirius, yes.'