Title: Making Tomorrow Yesterday: Chapter Eight

Summary: Salene Snape transfers to Hogwarts after she runs away from her parents. Immediately, she catches the eye of Sirius Black. However, she refuses to like him because of his immaturity and...she doesn't want to just be another one of his one week flings. When Professor Carter, the DADA professor, finds out Durmstrang didn't teach defense, she assigns Black to tutor her, because he is the best student. And that is when it all begins. It would be easier, of course, if her cousin Severus wasn't breathing down her neck all the time.

Pairings: SB/OC RL/SS JP/LE

Feedback: ALL feedback is appreciated, as long as it is not needless flames. Those you can keep to yourself.

Rating/Warnings: This is M (R) for language, romance, and torture. If you don't like that, don't read it.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Notes: Um...Happy New Year! This chapter is, either the longest or second longest, which is good because I've taken longer than normal to update. Sorry if there are any glaring erorrs in the spelling/grammar - I checked it over several times, but I'm not a beta. :( Anyway...enjoy!


The following Monday, Salene opened the door to her tutoring room and took a seat. She was prepared to wait ten minutes for Sirius to show up, after having wasted a total of two hours trying to, once again, get her way out of tutoring. She had tried for half an hour to convince Bellamaire, her head of house, to allow her to stop being tutored, but had only succeeded in losing twenty house points and being sneered at for thinking about marrying her cousin. Obviously, Bellamaire held grudges.

Then, another half an hour had been wasted as she had attempted to convince Carter she needed no tutoring, but had finally stomped off, flustered and irritated to no end at the professor's lack of sanity. She had spent an hour 'persuading' the headmaster, once more, to see her views and let Severus tutor her. Professor Dumbledore had more sense than the other two put together and doubled; she had thought that he would understand. However, just when she suspected he was cracking, he had smiled blandly and ever so politely dismissed her. Just thinking about it infuriated her and she charmed the time into the air, frowning. Was he really not going to come?

Just as she had pocketed her wand and stood to leave, the door opened and Sirius walked in briskly, avoiding her eyes. "Oh, you just got here too?" he asked, sitting down and pulling out his wand and a dusty book from the library. "I was researching in the library and came across this book. It's about defense and why your magic weakens without it. You might find it interesting." He pushed the text across the table and chanced a smile.

She nodded back, opening to the middle of the book and skimming the page briefly, a bit distracted by his sudden maturity. "You smell good," she noted absently, turning the page. She froze as she realized what she said, but recovered just as his head shot up to stare at her.

"What?" She looked up at the note of surprised caution in his voice and smiled lazily.

"The book. I said the book smells good. I love the smell of old books," she replied, shutting it and ignoring the pounding in her head. "Thank you for checking it out. I promise to let you pay the late fee." He grinned, though made a half-hearted attempt to hide it behind his hand as he rubbed his nose. "What are we learning today?"

"Actually..." he trailed off, looking suddenly discomforted and embarrassed. "I was hoping I could catch up on some homework while you read the book."

"Been up all night with the latest girlfriend?" she asked, shaking her head. "That's pathetic. You could be the top of the school if you actually worked hard."

"You didn't mind when it was you I was losing sleep over," he muttered. She caught his eye and frowned.

"Don't," she warned sharply and he stood, eyes suddenly fiery, his hands gripping the table tightly.

"You're the one who brought up girlfriends, Salene. You were asking me to say something, anything. What do you want me to say? That I was so deeply overwhelmed by relief You-Know-Who hadn't branded you I couldn't speak? That I haven't been with the latest girlfriend; that I've been missing you? What do you want to hear?" She responded by looking him directly into the eye, refusing to be the first to leave this time.

"I wanted to hear that you've gotten over me." Her eyes prickled with tears as she watched his face flash with an unrecognizable emotion. He sank into his seat, dropping his head into his hands. Silence ensued for several moments before he spoke, voice shaking slightly.

"I can't get over you. I don't want to get over you. How do I explain how I feel about you, Salene? You know how I am. Get in, get out, get away. It's like my mind was stuck in look-out mode for easy girls and every time I found them, I'd flash a smile and have them in bed that night. I positively loved it that way. I was happy. Or at least I thought I was. Looking back now, I wish I could shoot myself for what I must have put those girls through. I even heard I got one pregnant. I'm lucky I didn't get a disease..." He trailed off and looked up, directly into her eyes.

"Then I met you, Salene. And by most standards, you're not a pretty woman." He flashed her an apologetic smile and she waved it off, entranced by his speech. "But the first time I saw you, I thought you were gorgeous, and I still do now. And I was jealous that you were sitting with Snivellus, of all people. I charmed you the way I did everyone, and you didn't do anything other than sneer. It was...refreshing. I think the first I realized that what I felt was more than a physical attraction was when you agreed to be my friend. No girls wanted to be my friend. You know, all or nothing." He took a breath and sent her a lopsided grin. "And what happened at the lockers...I wasn't even angry at you. I was angry at the situation, that as far as I was concerned you barely tolerated by presence and then you were seeing me naked, and that look in your eyes. I thought it was disgust. Then I heard you talking to yourself, and I knew I was in lo-"

"Don't," she protested hoarsely. She was unaware that her tears had long since spilled over and she was silently crying until Sirius reached out and wiped away several tears. "It had only been three days. You didn't know that."

"But I still love you now," he said earnestly. "You don't have to love me back, but please...I can't take it when you hate me." His voice cracked at the last bit. Salene regarded him emotionlessly for a moment before walking to the other side of the table and kneeling before him.

"Sirius, I could never hate you," she admitted, truthfully. "Even if you became an insane murderer of Muggles and betrayed everyone around you," she added thoughtfully. He looked up, eyes narrowed, only to find a teasing look on her face. She would relive this moment, over and over and over, when her words came back to haunt her.

"Maybe I should become one just to test it," he teased.

"Maybe." There were a few beats of silence and she felt compelled to add, "But wait a few years. You do have to graduate." They exchanged silly grins and, without warning, strong arms pulled Salene into a warm embrace. "I won't leave you again," she whispered, feeling his unasked question in the strength of his hug. At the time, she didn't know she was lying.


"What are you doing for holiday?" Severus asked, glancing up from his homework briefly. Salene met his gaze guiltily and quickly scratched out the many embellishments of S.B. from her parchment. It was such a childish thing to do, really, and she wished it would stop happening every time her mind wandered. Especially as her newly rebuilt relationship was being kept a secret from everyone, though she suspected Sirius' friends knew. Perhaps not Lupin, though, as that was the reason she was withholding the secret from Severus.

"Staying at the castle. You're going home?" she asked, frowning deeply. Despite having been legally emancipated on his sixteenth birthday, he had returned to the manor for the past two (four, really) holidays and was planning on returning once again for winter holidays.

"Yes, as I have told you countless times. Believe me, I would prefer to stay at Hogwarts but to receive Snape Manor and the rest of my inheritance there are certain obligations I have. As such, I must return for holidays." He dipped his quill in the ink and continued writing, ignoring her rolled eyes.

"Too bad you have a younger brother," she told him. "Otherwise, you could've been a Gryffindor and Uncle Sev would still have given you everything when he died, rather than let it go to charity." He responded with a low growl and she sighed. He was putting up the mask he did for everyone else and she found it very nerve grating. "Speaking of, do you write to Septimus?" Septimus was Severus' younger brother, who had attended Durmstrang and was currently in his fourth year. He and Salene hadn't gotten on quite as well at school as they did when they were younger, but they were on civil terms.

"No," he growled. "Don't remind me of that brat." Salene sighed and balled her parchment up and dropped it in her drawer.

"Sometimes, Severus-"

"Black made you soft," he snapped, effectively cutting off her would-be reprimand. She tensed but a look at him revealed nothing.

"Yeah, but I'm over him," she answered slowly, watching him closely, trying to determine if he was hinting at her new relationship. To her relief, he rolled his eyes and relaxed into the couch, fingers drumming the wooden armrest.

"Of course. Though how you were ever interested in an imbecile like him, I'll never know," he said. There was a pause, before he shot her a look. "What are you doing for holidays?"

"Subtle," she said dryly. "But as to your question, where would I go? If I returned to my manor, I would surely be killed. After all, not only did I refuse the mark, 'make friends' with a blood traitor, and - though this is only a guess - make a mockery of the Snapes, I also put Bellatrix into Azkaban." She ticked everything off her fingers as she spoke and, once finished, copied his position, settling back into the couch. "Yes, of course I'll go home," she mocked. He scowled but the let the sarcasm pass. "As for other options...Claire would be the only person I consider a friend, or close enough, and she left Hogwarts. Not to mention, she would hardly welcome me after what happened with Zabini. And I would enjoy going home with you, if your father wouldn't be there. So, I will be left to my own devices for the next three weeks." She sighed dramatically and sent him a sly look, careful to keep her tone sarcastic. "Or I could go home with S-Black." He raised a single eyebrow at her slip.

"Yes, if you want to be surrounded by Potter and Lupin the entire home." At her look of confusion, he continued. "From what I've heard, Black ran away from home this past summer and stayed at Potter's house. And for every winter holiday, they've gone to either Lupin's house or Potter's. I'm assuming, due to the fact Black supposedly lives there now, this holiday they'll be going to Potter's."

"You seem to have researched this a lot," she said, knowing exactly where he got this information.

"Yes, well, it wasn't like I asked," he said bitterly. "He liked to ramble on and on."

"You liked to listen." Her eyes met his intently and they sat that way for an endless moment, understanding passing between them, before Severus got to his feet.

"Please, don't bring this up again," he implored softly and she nodded. "I'll see you later." Before she could say her own words of parting, he had disappeared up the stairs to the privacy of his Head Boy quarters.


The last day the sign-up sheet for staying at Hogwarts was available, Salene finally got around to going to the Great Hall to sign up. She was not sure why she had put it off, as she considered herself a prompt person, but every time she thought about writing her name down it was either at meals where the sheet was not available, or a foreboding premonition overwhelmed her to the point she couldn't go. But just as she'd had enough of the silliness and left the comfort of the common rooms, Sirius had kidnapped her - literally. He had thrown a cloak of some sort over her head and, as he dragged her up the stairs, warned her to keep the hood up and follow him closely once he let go. "I'm trusting you, Black," she hissed to him as she followed him into the Gryffindor common room, expecting to be greeted with glares. However, no one seemed to notice her at all, and when she happened to glance down she saw nothing, which in itself made her bite back a shriek. Then he took her into the Gryffindor boys' dormitory before whipping off the Invisibility Cloak, as she assumed it was.

Lupin and Potter, who were lounging on their beds, looked at her with various degrees in interest. The other boy in the room, named Frank Long...something, looked alarmed and annoyed, all at once. "What is she doing here Sirius?"

"Revenge on Snivellus," he explained. "But you have to pretend you didn't see her...After all, you were conveniently in the bathroom when she came in and when you went into the common room straight from there you, so didn't notice. Right?" Frank, who Salene guessed had ignored countless pranks over the year, nodded and went into the bathroom. There was silence for the two or so minutes he was in the bathroom, and then he came back out, heading for the common room with his head turned.

"Frank's nice like that," Lupin offered, misreading her disgust.

"And you're taking advantage of it, you...you..." she trailed off, unable to find a word for what she was feeling, settling for a noise of irritation. After glancing at the trunks, she found Sirius' bed and sat down on it, leaning against the headboard and surveying the three boys without emotion. In truth, her heart was beating wildly at the fact she was on Sirius' bed, which still smelled extremely strong of him. "Which one of you had the idiotic whim that possessed you to kidnap me?"

"Careful, you sound like Snivellus," he warned, sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed.

"Don't call him that," she said sharply. "The only reason he's been so nasty as of late is the stupid werewolf you so fondly refer to as a friend."

"If you don't behave you won't get the surprise," he reprimanded, though he was smiling slightly.

"Unlike you, Sirius, I am not a child and do not appreciate surprises."

"Sirius...you're willing to give up a different gorgeous woman every night for her?" Potter asked, eyebrows rising. Sirius opened his mouth to retort but Salene beat him to it.

"You would do the same for Evans," she said evenly, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Everyone shut up!" Sirius yelled, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting. "Salene, if you stopped talking the surprise wouldn't be a surprise anymore, so the fact you hate surprises would be irrelevant...what?" The 'what' had been caused by the fact that at the end of his sentence the mouths of Lupin and Potter had dropped.

"You know a word that is not found in a color picture dictionary," Potter said brightly with a tinge of pride. It was a joke, as everyone knew Sirius was extremely smart, but she thought it a bit cruel anyway.

"LISTEN!" Sirius' shout was so loud, the noise from the common room went silent for a moment, and he went bright red and hesitated before continuing. "Salene, I was wondering if you'd like to stay with me for Christmas?" Her mouth dried up and she blinked in surprise, mostly at the question but partly because of the earnest expression on his face.

"I'm not sure I could spend three weeks around Potter and Lupin without murdering one, or both, of them," she said apologetically, hating to turn down the offer but knowing it wouldn't work. Besides, Severus would notice if she got on the train and left Hogwarts. What could be her excuse, 'I just felt like riding there and back for the heck of it, you know how fun it is to waste time!'? She snorted and shook her head.

"Well, I kind of figured that out," he said with a lopsided grin. "Which is why I invited you for Christmas and the rest of the holiday afterwards." At her expression, he went on to explain. "You see, I wanted to invite you for the whole holidays but then I got to thinking and realized it would be impossible to hide it from Sn-your cousin if you did, and so I went to Professor Dumbledore. When I explained the situation, he seemed really surprised but-" he cut off at her cringe. "What?"

"Well, remember the tutoring session that we made up during? Well...I spent half an hour respectively trying to convince Bellamaire and Carter to stop my tutoring, and then an hour trying to convince Professor Dumbledore the same thing," she explained in a rush, studiously ignoring his face.

"You hated me that much?" he asked in such a hurt tone that drew her eyes to him.

"I told you I could never hate you," she said softly as she stood, feeling extremely uncomfortable admitting this in front of Potter and Lupin. He had probably told them everything that had happened (minus his crying) but she was not used to being so open. "Remember?" He nodded, looking away briefly before he met her eyes again.

"So, as I was saying, Professor Dumbledore said you could floo to James' house on Christmas day, if you wanted to. Do you want to?"

"You're as subtle as changing the subject as Severus," she muttered. Immediately, an identical expression of disgust was plastered on the Marauders' faces and she couldn't hide her grin. "Never mind. He's much better when he wants to be, but lately he's been...distracted." She paused and her eyes flicked over to Lupin briefly. Despite the fact their break up had been over a month ago and Severus' mask was firmly in place again, she knew he would never stop hurting. "But I'm sure you don't care about your hated enemy, especially when you're waiting to find out if your beloved girlfriend will spend Christmas with you." He rolled his eyes as she smirked. "Does Potter's parents know about it?" At the nod, she smiled and hugged him briefly. "I guess I can restrain my homicidal impulses for a couple of days."

"And nights," he replied, a smirk blossoming.

"Potter does have a sister, right? Or I am allowed to have a private room? I know you've been deprived of your usual late night activities, and I'm not going to be the one to re-engage you in them."

"You think I only want you for the sex?" he asked, trying to raise a single eyebrow but ending up looking constipated.

"First and most importantly, leave that expression to the Slytherins. Gryffindors' face muscles are hopelessly incompetent. Second, I never suspected you only wanted me only for that. However, I am more than aware of how...active...a man's libido is. Believe me, I spent the last three years rooming with two males and my younger sister, and ignoring how well the three got along at night, they-" She broke off and drew in a sharp breath, surprised at the sudden waves of emotions assaulting her.

"And you never told the headmaster?" he asked, brow furrowing. She looked away, jaw clenching.

"Look, I'm sorry I brought it up. Can we just...drop it?" She was surprised when Sirius pulled her into a hug and they stayed that way until Salene broke the silence, her voice oozing awkwardness. "What are you doing?"

"Hugging you," he said simply. She knew she was going to say something nasty and spiteful but could not keep her mouth closed.

"I assure you Sirius, I am not about to break down and cry. I believe that is your job." He let go of her, flushing in anger, and his eyes narrowed.

"Excuse me for caring."

"Excused," she said politely, smiling stiffly at him.

"I know this upsets you, but please don't-"

"Please don't what? I came to terms my sister is-" She broke off once more and carefully avoided Sirius' eyes, knowing he would see how truly distressed she was if he saw her face. "I can't leave without that cloak." Sirius looked taken aback and he hesitantly took her hand.

"You don't have to leave. I'll stop talking about it if you want. But please stay." For a moment she was uncertain but then nodded and squeezed his hand before letting go and smiling at him.

"I think we both need to learn some control," she said lightly.

"I'm not the moody one," he snapped, scowling and she realized immediately he was mocking her.

"And I'm not the one suffering from immaturity, so there." And to 'emphasize' that statement, she stuck out her tongue.


End Author's Notes: First and foremost, huge thanks to CerealKiller. And although I promised I wouldn't do this, after using my handy-dandy calculator, I found that less than one percent of the hits I'm getting are reviewed hits (I have a feeling that doesn't make much sense). I discounted the first chapter, because that was about 400 hits right there and it threw off the balance. Basically, would it terribly bother some people to just drop a quick review. I would even LOVE one-liners. But, enough about that and I will not mention that again for the rest of the story.

And although this more useless rambling, I really liked the scene that starts out with Salene and Severus talking about what to do for the holidays. This is kind of self-promoting, but I thought it really expressed the way I always like to imagine them interacting and their tone with each other; stuff like that.