"What don't I know?" Remus repeated. He met Bellissia's eyes. She quickly looked away.

"I'll say it," Sirius said at last.

"No, Siri—" Bellissia began, but Sirius put a hand up to silence her.

"Bellissia, it needs to be said," he began solemnly. "Remus, we have something to tell you." The rest of the people in the room tried to act natural. Finally, Lily took James's hand and led him out of the room. To everyone's surprise, he didn't even protest.

"Alright, we have two things to say," Sirius began. Bellissia wasn't quite sure where he was going with this, but she went with it. Scarily, she completely trusted Sirius to do the right thing. Was this love? No, she couldn't love someone who didn't even know who her father was or Massimo. Perhaps it was just a very strong fondness.

"The first thing is, we want to make sure you and Annie are playing it safe if you catch my drift. I saw you in the cellar, don't lie!"

"Ew, Sirius!" Bellissia broke in. Remus looked disgusted as well.

"What? It's a legitimate worry! No one wants kids at this age!" Sirius was saying. His last comment caused her eyes to narrow, but she controlled her emotions. She knew he didn't mean anything by it.

Remus calmed down and looked at Sirius. "What's the second thing?" Sirius hesitated. He really didn't want to tell him. He had been dreading this since the first time he and Bellissia kissed. Then he had pushed it out of his mind. He had thought about it again that Sunday when he and Bellissia almost had sex. He had told her it wasn't right with Remus not knowing. He still felt that way, but that didn't make it any easier to tell Remus. He knew he had to. It was better for Remus to hear it from them than someone else.

"Bellissia and I…" he began. He gulped. This was so hard. "Bellissia and I are going…" Why couldn't he just say it? One word left. Say it! He took a deep breath. He could feel Bellissia's stare bore into him. He began again for the third time. "Bellissia and I are going out…for the quiddich team," he added hastily.

Bellissia was shocked. She desperately tried to make it look like this was not a new story, but she knew her wide eyes betrayed her. You would have to be a moron to believe that. Remus knew she hated sports. She sent up a silent pray to Mary for protection for when Remus goes crazy. But instead of shouting, eye-rolling, or a snort of disbelief, Remus gave her a clap on the shoulder.

"Good for you, Bella. I know you're not very athletic, but this will be good for you! You'll meet all the other players, get some fresh air, and Sirius can show you the ropes. This is really fantastic. I'm happy for you both!" Remus said.

James and Lily burst through the door the minute Remus was saying the last two sentences. They began hugging all of them and saying things like, "I'm so glad it's finally out in the open," and "Good, no more secrets." Sirius and Bellissia kept trying to signal to them to stop talking, but to no avail. Bellissia finally cleared her throat.

"Yes, Sirius and I will be going out for the quiddich team, so wish us luck before tryouts. Now, I'm pretty tired, so if you will all excuse me, I'm going to put on my pajamas." Remus couldn't help noticing her glare at Sirius as she left the room. The slammed door didn't help, either.

0000000000

It was three days after Remus almost found out about them, and Bellissia still refused to talk to Sirius. It was killing him. Every time he tried to approach her, she would glare at him and grab Lily's arm. Finally, at lunch that day, when he had tried yet again to talk to Bellissia, Lily exploded.

"Oh my GOSH, Sirius! Can't you see she doesn't want to talk to you? Just leave her alone," she said. Bellissia saw Sirius's eyes knit together in concern, and then at once, his stare hardened. His expression became blank, impossible to read.

"If that's the way you feel, Bellissia, then I'll just leave you to it. I'm sorry for wasting your precious time," he sneered at her. The way he talked to her…it was so cold. It hurt her more than anything, but she had to top it.

"I was wrong about you, Black," she spat. "You are just like your father." She heard James's spoon clatter to his plate, Lily's sharp intake of breath. She knew the second she said it that she shouldn't have, but it was out. There was no taking it back. She began to back away, and then stopped. She raised her head to meet Sirius's glare. It was one of pure hatred. It killed her seeing him like that, but for some reason, she couldn't make herself apologize or shy away. His eyes had turned from their once warm blue color to steel gray. They burned behind his heavy lashes. She saw him shake his head. Then he took one step back, turned and calmly walked out of the Great Hall.

Bellissia was not that calm. She screamed in anguish and threw her book down before stomping off. She didn't care if she did miss her classes, she was too frustrated. She began running. She had no idea where her feet were taking her; they seemed to have a mind of their own. She ran up stairs and down, through tapestries and past paintings. She finally stopped, panting. She backed up to a wall and began sobbing as she slid down. She suddenly heard something. Or someone. She quickly wiped her eyes and silently stood up. The noise was near, but somewhat muffled. She cautiously tiptoed down the hall. Pausing to listen, she noticed the noise was increasing in volume. It sounded like thud thud thud thud. She then noticed a door to one of the broom closets was shaking. The knob was rattling. Something told her to turn around and get back with her sobbing, but she couldn't just leave not knowing what was doing that. Perhaps she should have listened to the first voice, as when she threw open the door, she was met with a punch in the face.

Her world spun and began looking fuzzy around the edges. She couldn't focus on anything except a mane of rumpled black hair.

"Sirius," she croaked, "I'm sorry."

Sirius Black was officially freaking out. He had found this closet and had decided to get out some of his "pent up rage" by punching the door. Stupid? Yes. Painful? Very. Therapeutic? Amazingly. With each punch, he imagined it was his father, his mother, his brother, but never her. Bellissia had really hurt him with that comment, but he wouldn't dream of hurting her. And now, of all the broom closets in Hogwarts, she comes waltzing into his. He couldn't even answer her as he pulled her into the closet and shut the door. All that was running through his mind was "I-punched-a-girl, I-punched-a-girl, I-punched-a-girl,"

He lit his wand and looked at her. In the dim light, she looked positively angelic, with her hair fanned out around her head and her eyes closed. The only non-angelic thing about her was the shiner beginning to form on her right eye. He groaned. What had he done?

"Owww," she moaned. "That hurt, you bastard." He laughed, in spite of himself. She sat up and put her hand over her eye. "Did you hear me? I wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I was just frustrated that we didn't tell Remus about us. Can you ever forgive me?" she pleaded.

"Can you forgive me? I mean I punched you in the eye! I am so sorry, I didn't hear you open the door! I—" but he was cut off when she attached her lips to his and began feverishly kissing him. He was shocked at first, but then he relaxed and kissed her back. They stood up and she shoved him against the wall. She was satisfied until she felt his hands on her hip. Slowly, they slid up her bare skin under her shirt, under her bra. She couldn't help feeling like getting punched in the eye was worth it if he did this to make it up to her. Maggie was right, make up sex rocked. She felt like he shouldn't miss out, so her hands found the waistband of his jeans and ran her fingers between them and his bare skin. She grinned on his lips when she felt him shiver. This was it. The time was right. To hell with Remus. She flicked the button to his jean open and unzipped them. Just then, she heard an unmistakable throat clear. Heh-heh-hem.

She and Sirius froze. They both opened their eyes and slowly turned their heads to the door. Naturally, they saw none other than Remus, staring at them with a look of pure shock. All of a sudden, they became all too aware of how this must have looked. They frantically tried to untangle themselves, but this proved rather comical to anyone other than the three present. Sirius tried to pull his hands away, but, forgetting they were under a bra and a shirt, they went nowhere. The only thing this gesture did was make it incredibly obvious where his hands had been. He finally slipped one of his hands out from under Bellissia's bra and zipped his jeans. Unfortunately, Bellissia's sleeve got caught on the zipper. They both gasped and looked down at the mess, but they bumped heads in the process. As Bellissia rubbed her head, Sirius began trying to fix the mess that was his zipper. He was having no luck whatsoever. Finally, after several minutes, he glanced up at Remus.

Remus had a very strange look on his face. He really wasn't sure whether to yell or laugh. He just shook his head, he was speechless.

"Er, Moony, old pal, could you give us a hand?" Sirius asked cautiously. Bellissia just shook her head. Remus stared at them for a minute. Finally, he stepped inside the threshold of the closet, shut the door, and knelt down to help try to free Bellissia's sleeve. As he worked, Sirius became more relaxed.

"So, how was your lunch?" he asked conversationally. Remus looked up. "Sirius, now is definitely not the time," he said evenly.

Bellissia tried to suppress a giggle, but failed miserably. Both boys glared at her. "What? This is probably the funniest thing that has happened to us in a long time. You might as well enjoy it." Remus just sighed.

"Well, I hope you two were planning on playing it safe," he sighed again.

Sirius broke into laughter. "That's the spirit!" he said. What seemed like hours later, in reality it was just a few minutes, Bellissia's sleeve was free. She shook her arm a little, to get the feeling back, and thanked Remus.

"Not at all, Bella. But before we leave here, there are a few things we need to get straight," Remus said.

Sirius sighed. "I was afraid of that." He sat down and pulled the other two down with him.

"Now, start from the beginning. When did you two get together, when did you plan on telling me, and who else knows?" Remus asked.

"The first night at Hogwarts, eventually, and James and Lily," Bellissia ticked off.

"You mean to tell me that you were together all those times I couldn't find you? When I had you act like her boyfriend?" Remus demanded. Sirius just nodded. "Oh my God! Bella, it was you in Honeyduke's that day!" She nodded. Remus had a look of horror on his face. "That was what you were going to tell me, wasn't it!" he concluded. They both nodded. He sat back, exhausted.

"I'm so sorry to go behind your back, Remus. I just didn't know how to tell you. I knew you wouldn't take it very well, so I thought, I dunno, like I could keep it from you forever. It was wrong. I'm sorry," Bellissia said.

"Yeah, I never wanted to hurt you or anything, you're still one of my best friends, Remus. I hope you can accept me and Bella," Sirius said. Remus nodded. It was looking up…

"YOU were the one that brought her flowers in the Hospital Wing, not Peter!" Remus said suddenly. Bellissia rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air.

"Oh for goodness's sake, Remus either accept us or don't. But it would be better to accept us, because right now you're risking losing a cousin and a friend," she told him emphatically.

"Alright, alright," Remus began, "I'm sorry I got so mad, it's just hard. I was looking for you guys because you weren't in charms, and then I open this door, and my best friend is banging my baby cousin!"

Sirius stood up and helped Bellissia up. They each then grabbed one of Remus's hands and helped him up. They all then proceeded to walk to transfiguration. As they rounded one corner, Remus suddenly looked up.

"Hey, Bellissia, what happened to your eye?"

000000

Bel-

I'm so glad you told your cousin about your brutally hot boyfriend. No kidding, do all English guys look like that? If so, get me on the next plane out of Newark!

I really don't mean to worry you, but things aren't going so well here. Your grandmother is sick, Bel. She begged me not to tell you, but I couldn't keep this from you. Massimo misses you more than ever. But the worst is Luca. I don't know what's going on, but he seems so smug lately. Yesterday, he told me it shouldn't be too long before I see you again. He also told me I need to start "looking for a dress." What the hell is that supposed to mean? When I asked that very question he just did his little asshole smirk and stalked off. I don't want you to do anything stupid, I just wanted you to know. Maybe this will give you some heads up.

Well, Happy Thanksgiving. This was officially the most depressing letter ever.

Your worst friend,

Magenta

Bellissia sat in the common room rereading the letter from Magenta over and over again. What was Luca planning? Why did he tell Magenta? He knows she and Maggie write to each other all the time. It was as if…as if…

"He wanted me to know," she said out loud. She sat up straight. Everyone was now staring at her. The Marauders and the girls were all doing homework by the fire. It was the end of November and everyone was eagerly anticipating the coming Holiday break. Bellissia was looking forward to visiting Remus's Grandpa Lupin in Scotland with the rest of the family. Sirius and James were going to James' house, Annie and Lily were going to Lily's house, and Peter was staying at the castle. James had offered Peter a room at his house, but he, strangely, declined.

Schoolwork had been getting better, Bellissia was still no potions whiz, but, with Lily's help, they were making small breakthroughs. Remus's Italian was improving by the minute. Recently, he wrote his mother a letter completely in her language. There were tear-stains on the reply he received. Annette had made little progress, but it was not for lack of effort. Lily had decided they should give it a rest until they got back from break, but they both knew Lily would pester Annette about it all day and night when Annie stayed with her.

"Who wanted you to know what, babe?" Sirius asked, concerned. He was sitting next to Bellissia on the couch. Close, but not close enough to make Remus uncomfortable.

"Luca," she said. Sirius sighed. He knew how much she hated him. He hated him too, but it seemed like that was all she was thinking about lately. The others clearly had no idea who Luca was, but they seemed concerned.

"Bella?" Remus asked uncertainly. She just shook her head.

"I'm going for a walk," she said at last. Sirius met Remus's eyes. After Remus nodded slightly, Sirius took off after her.

"Bellissia, wait," Sirius said. She stopped and held out her hand. He immediately grasped it in his. She then handed him the letter. He scanned it quickly. "I don't know what it means," he said.

"Me either," she said. "That's what's scary. And my grandmother is sick, and Ma—" she looked away, guiltily.

"Who's Massimo?" Sirius asked.

"No one you need to worry about, Sirius," she sighed. He looked like he wanted to protest, but he saw the weariness in her face, and dropped it.

They found themselves walking the grounds, hand in hand. It was relaxing, soothing. They were halfway to Hogsmead when they heard a squaking. Sirius looked up and saw something very large heading towards them in the sky. He pushed Bellissia to the ground and pulled out his wand. All the bird did was drop a piece of paper in front of them and fly off.

Bellissia sat up and reached for the paper. It was a letter, addressed to her. Sirius sat down next to her as she opened it.

Beautiful,

I miss you, baby. I need you with me. Enclosed is a one-way ticket to New York, first class, like the girl you are. Hop on the plane and I'll meet you at the airport. You know you want to come.

Love, Luca

Bellissia threw the letter down, disgusted. Sirius had read it over her shoulder. She felt him tense up, but what could she do about it?

"Yeah right I'm going to see that asshole," she muttered as she moved to Sirius's lap, her favorite spot. He relaxed and began rubbing her back. Suddenly, they heard a rustling sound. Bellissia turned around to see a tall figure clothed in all black. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Now, Bellissia, tsk, tsk, is that any way to speak to your fiancé?" Luca DiRenzo asked.