Sirius and Emma reluctantly made their way to the Charms corridor to do their detention. Buckets of soapy water and rags were waiting for them, because unfortunately, they could not use magic. They glared at each other for a while, then they each picked up a rag and a bucket of water, and got to work cleaning the corridor. Sirius took the left side, Emma the right. They worked in complete silence, not even asking for a new rag from each other. Soon they were done with the corridor, and they made their way into one of the Charms classrooms. Their hands were getting shriveled from all the soap and water, and their robes were getting soaked. They kept cleaning in silence for quite a while, until Emma spoke up.

"So why did you frame me, Black? And how?" She glared at him.

"I didn't frame you," he snarled. "You framed me! So stop acting so innocent. It had to be you who framed me, because you wanted to see me again, isn't that right?" he smirked, and crossed his arms as if to prove his point.

Emma's mouth dropped. "No, it is not correct! You framed me so you could see me again, didn't you?"

Sirius dropped his rag, stunned. "Oh come off it, Clearwater! Admit it! You still love me and you wanted to see me again! Well, I've got news for you, woman. I'm over you. I was over you a long time ago."

Emma looked extremely hurt. "Well I suppose that makes two of us, seeing as I'm over you too," she lied.

It was now Sirius' turn to look hurt, but he quickly covered it up. "Good. I wouldn't want you to wait for me forever, because there's no chance whatsoever of us getting back together."

Emma blinked, forcing back the tears. "Right. Good. That's the way I want it to be! I can't believe I ever dated you in the first place!" she shouted, and turned her back on Sirius, scrubbing the floor with vigor.

Sirius wasn't done with her. "YOU CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DATED ME! I CAN'T BELIEVE I DATED YOU! You're so…so…bubbly!"

Emma glared at him, now having to try extremely hard to force back the tears. "What is wrong with being bubbly? At least I'm not snogging obsessed, like you! You and your nasty dark arts family!"

"KEEP MY FAMILY OUT OF THIS! You know bloody well I hate them! I'm not like them at all!" he roared.

Emma scowled. "Just leave me alone, alright? Let's just get through these damn detentions, and then we'll never have to see each other again."

"Fine with me," Sirius scoffed.

They continued their cleaning, each making a point to stay far away from the other. They made their way to Flitwick's office, which had parrot feathers scattered everywhere. Sirius went to go get some brooms from a janitor closet. Emma sighed, and sat on the floor, waiting for Sirius to come back with the brooms. I wonder if he's really over me, she thought. It sure seems like it. He's dating Jessica now, and they seem quite happy together. She could no longer hold back her tears. He hates me, she thought. What did I do to make him hate me? Can't he give me just one more chance? She cried even harder, thinking of all the hurtful things Sirius had said to her in the past few days. Just then, Sirius walked into the office, carrying two brooms, whistling merrily, seemingly forgetting about the argument they'd had. He looked at Emma, and stopped in his tracks. Damn it!, he thought. She's crying AGAIN! Women. Why are they so emotionally vulnerable? Now what am I supposed to do? I don't want to get yelled at again, and I don't want to be the one to give in to this argument! I hate it when women cry. Why can't they hide their emotions, like men? Then it would be so much easier to understand them! He looked at her cautiously. Perhaps I could carefully walk over to her and place the broom near her, and then go back to my cleaning? Would that seem careless of me, though? Or maybe I should just improvise? If she cracks again I'll just run away to the other end of the room and start cleaning, ignoring her. Yes, that's what I will do.

Sirius walked over to Emma cautiously. She saw him for the first time and quickly tried to hide her tears, however was unsuccessful. "Erm…here's your broom," he handed the broom to her.

"Thanks, Black," said Emma, standing up and walking over to the other side of the room, starting to sweep up the parrot feathers.

Sirius followed her with his eyes. "Erm…are…er…are you ok, Clearwater?" he asked her softly.

"I'M FINE, BLACK! WHY WOULDN'T I BE?" she shouted.

I shouldn't have said anything, Sirius thought. That was stupid of me. Rule one with women. When they're emotional, LEAVE THEM ALONE! You don't want to get dragged into it as well! Isn't that what you've always done? Why does she, in particular, make you forget all of those rules? What is so damn special about HER that makes you feel horrible when she's sad?

"Er…I dunno, it was a stupid question, I guess," replied Sirius uncomfortably.

Emma sniffed, but said nothing.

They continued cleaning, their backs to each other. Once in a while, however, one of them would sneak a glance at the other.

"I still cannot believe you framed me!" Emma said, apparently not ready to give up.

"We've been through this, Clearwater! I DIDN'T FRAME YOU! I had no part in this whatsoever! Although, I give whoever did it kudos. Making Snivellus' costume bright pink-that was good," he laughed.

Emma joined him, and soon they were rolling around on the floor, laughing uncontrollably. Suddenly, Emma stopped laughing and sat up, realizing they, for once, were not arguing with each other. That was just not right, she thought.

"BLACK! YOU DISTRACTED ME! You probably just wanted me to believe it wasn't you who did this prank," she accused. "You are very good at changing the subject, I'll admit that."

Sirius looked at her, very confused. "Er…what?"

" 'Making Snivellus' costume bright pink-that was good.' Great at changing the subject, aren't you? UGH! I can't believe I fell for it!"

"But…I…wasn't changing the subject," Sirius stuttered.

"COME ON, BLACK! ADMIT IT! You set up this prank, and you just wanted to get me into trouble, didn't you?" asked Emma coldly.

Sirius glowered at her. "That's not true at all! You just wanted to get me into trouble, not the other way round!"

They faced each other, and glared directly into the other's eyes for quite a few seconds.

"Admit it, Black. Then maybe I won't hate you so much."

"NO! I didn't do it! And even if I did, why would I admit it, if it meant you would like me more?" asked Sirius coolly.

Emma gave him an icy glare. "SHOVE OFF, BLACK!" She aimed her wand at the pile of rags on the floor, and they immediately flew at Sirius' face, one after the other. Sirius ran away from them, and they chased after him. Emma snickered. As a finale, she levitated all the dirty water buckets above his head, and at the same time, all the buckets dumped their contents onto his head. Sirius glared at her, and quickly drew out his wand. Before he could hex her, however, she was already out of Flitwick's office, and running down the corridor, laughing hysterically, leaving Sirius to do the rest of the cleaning.

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"What makes you think Sirius framed you, Em?" asked Lily, after Emma entered the common room. Little did Emma know that she had interrupted a long snogging session between James and Lily. James scowled at Emma, but soon got over his frustration.

"He left his mark, a dungbomb wrapper! And…and…he put my notebook next to it! Did he tell you anything about the prank, James?"

"What? Huh?" James was still distractedly thinking of his and Lily's snogging session. "Oh! No, no he didn't. But really, why does it have to be Sirius who framed you two? It could be anyone…well, not anyone. Not a slytherin, because they wouldn't make Snivellus' costume pink…" he laughed.

"We can't eliminate the Slytherins, James. They could hate him as much as everyone else does. So, really, Emma. It could have been anyone! Who doesn't like you?"

Emma scowled. "Black."

James and Lily sighed. "Besides him, Emma," James said.

"I dunno. I guess I shouldn't just assume it was Black." James and Lily nodded eagerly. Just then, Sirius walked through the portrait hole, soaking wet and scowling, receiving many funny looks from students in the common room. James couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Oi! Clearwater! WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME TO CLEAN THE REST OF THE OFFICE, HUH? And I'm still soaking wet from when you dumped all those buckets on my head! And WHY ARE YOU TALKING WITH MY FRIENDS?" Now the entire common room focused on Emma and Sirius' argument. They were quite well known by now, as many people heard their argument in the Great Hall that morning.

"BLACK! GET OUT OF MY FACE!"

"SHOVE OFF!"

"YOU SHOVE OFF!"

"I TOLD YOU TO SHOVE OFF FIRST!"

"SO?"

"GO AWAY, CLEARWATER!"

"YOU GO AWAY!"

"I TOLD YOU TO GO AWAY FIRST!"

"WE'RE DOING THIS AGAIN?"

"I GUESS WE ARE!"

"DO YOU WANT ME TO HEX YOU AGAIN, BLACK?"

"LIKE YOU WOULD! I'M BETTER AT HEXING THAN YOU, AND YOU KNOW THAT!"

"YOU? BETTER AT HEXING THAN ME? Please, Black!"

"EVERYONE! SHUT UP! RIGHT NOW! BOTH OF YOU! ENOUGH!" James screamed, shocking both Emma and Sirius. They stopped arguing and scowled at him. The students in the common room groaned. It seemed like the show was over.

"What is with you two, eh?" he asked them, pulling both of them onto the couch opposite the one he and Lily were sitting on. They glared at each other, grimacing, and scooted as far away from the other as possible. "You two are acting just like Lily and I used to, except far worse! Let's get this settled right now!"

Suddenly, both Sirius and Emma started talking at the same time.

"Well, you see, he wouldn't do…you know, with me."

"She wasn't ready! Neither was I!"

"He is being very rude! You should have heard him in detention tonight, James!"

"She compared me with my family, James! MY DAMN FAMILY!"

"He was being very unfair about the situation, making fun of me-"

"I tried to comfort her when she was sobbing her head off, James, but she snapped at me"

"It's all his fault. He did the prank, you know-"

"It's all her fault. She started it-"

"One at a time, you two!" James shouted over their explanations. Lily was surprised at how good he was at taking leadership, and how Emma and Sirius instantly obeyed his commands. It must be from all that ordering around he has to do in quidditch, she thought. It is very attractive. She rested her head on his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Emma, you may start," James nodded to her. Emma beamed at him.

"Prongs! No fair! I'm-"

"You will get your turn, Padfoot. I promise. Now, Emma, please get on with it."

"You see, it all started at the New Years Ball. We were both ready, and Lily had told me that he was planning to…well…you know, with me," Emma blushed, making James very uncomfortable. "Then, when we get to my dormitory, he says he can't do it! He says 'we can still date, you know.' Please. Obviously, I was very hurt. I thought he loved me, but apparently, he didn't. So I said we were broken up-" Sirius made a loud, protesting sound.

"You will have a chance to say your own story, Padfoot! Now let Emma finish!" said James. Emma smirked.

"So, I said we were broken up, and he should leave. So he left me all alone, crying on my bed. Then, a few days later, he has a new girlfriend, out of the blue! Jessica Sparks. And of course he has to rub it in that I don't have a boyfriend every chance he gets. He's really hurtful, you know. Always criticizing me. Just today, in detention, he said I was bubbly! That really hurt, you know. I don't know what his problem is! Anyway, I'm done with my story now."

"Alright, Padfoot, your turn," said James, showing no signs of emotion, trying to be fair between the two.

"Ok. So, I thought we were ready, but when we got to her dormitory, I realized we weren't! I mean, we're only sixteen! And, ok, for some people sixteen is old enough, but not for me! You know how immature I am, Prongs!" James grinned, and nodded.

"So I calmly told her I wasn't ready, and we could still date. Then she said 'we'll talk about it later, maybe,' and makes me leave! And I was under the impression that we were still dating, but then the next day, I find out from Lily that we've supposedly broken up! So I get a new girlfriend, and she blames me for moving on too quickly! I say, what am I supposed to do? Wait around for you? And she says yes, you are! It's not me whose been lying, Prongs. It's her! And then today, she frames me and makes me get two detentions with her! And in today's detention, she starts sobbing randomly, and I try to comfort her, and what does she do? Scream at me, that's what! All I was trying to do was make her feel better! Honestly! And then, later on, she sends the rags flying at my face, and dumps the dirty water buckets on my head! And THEN, she leaves me to clean the rest of Flitwick's office! Without saying a word!"

"YOU DESERVED IT, BLACK!"

"CLEARWATER! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO-"

"THAT'S RIGHT! IT'S TRUE! YOU ONLY HAVE HALF A MIND!

"CLEARWATER! I'VE HAD ABOUT ENOUGH OF YOU AND YOUR PETTY BULL-"

"ENOUGH! EMMA! PADFOOT! STOP IT, RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" shouted James. They instantly became quiet, looking at James apologetically. James has a lot of power over them, Lily thought. I've never noticed that before. "Now, Padfoot, are you done with your side of the story?" James asked Sirius. Sirius nodded. "Alright then! Can you two just apologize to each other and be civil for a change?" he asked them.

"BE CIVIL!"

"TO HER, PRONGS? IS IT POSSIBLE?"

"SEE? SEE? ALWAYS CRITICIZING ME!"

"STOP IT, CLEARWATER! I'M TRYING TO TALK TO MY FRIEND!"

"YOUR FRIEND!"

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU! HONESTLY! Can't you say one nice thing to each other?" This time it was Lily who broke them apart.

James grinned at her. "Thanks, Lily. Ok, you two, apologize to each other. NOW!" he ordered.

Emma and Sirius glowered at each other, as if it were the other's fault that they had to do this. They grimaced.

"sorry," they murmured to each other, scowling at the other.

"Alright! I apologized! Are you happy now, Prongs? I'm going to bed!" Sirius stomped off to his dormitory.

"UGH! HE MAKES ME SICK!" Emma complained, as she ran up the stairs to her dormitory.

"Kids these days," James joked. "No respect at all."

Lily laughed. "What will we do with them, James? I dunno what to-"

She was cut off by a long, intimate kiss from James. She instantly returned the favor, melting into his arms.