It had been eleven days since Adeline Potter had said a word to him. Of course, he had tried, but her murderous stares always stopped him in his tracks. Sirius knew he had completely messed up this time.
He was sitting in the middle of the empty pitch. The game had ended hours ago, and Sirius hadn't had the energy to celebrate. Gryffindor had clobbered Ravenclaw 310- 20 and he had a slight suspicion that Addie was upset enough that she had let the two goals in. She was such an exceptional flyer and Sirius missed her being a constant presence in his life. Now, he realized, he had taken the one girl who took him seriously for granted and now she may never talk to him again.
"I thought I would find you out here," Sirius heard his good friend say as he saw him walk across the pitch.
"Well, I was trying to hide," Sirius confessed, his usual air of confidence absent from his demeanor.
"Ah, I take it your plan has completely foiled," Remus said kindly, but in a knowing tone.
"I just wanted to make her notice me. And not just as James' friend. Or as a Marauder. If one person was to really see me, I wanted it to be her," Sirius said, not able to look Remus in the eyes.
Remus looked kindly at his friend whom he had known for five years. Sirius Black never ceased to amaze him, despite his more abrasive personality. Remus knew it was mostly an act, a defense mechanism to survive his family. But now, the typically confident boy looked smaller somehow, sitting in the middle of a field Remus always thought Sirius looked at home in. Riding a broom for him and James had always come easier. Probably easier than learning to walk.
"Have you talked to her?" Sirius asked in a quiet voice.
If it hadn't been a still evening, Remus thought he might not have heard him.
"Yes, I have," Remus answered carefully.
Addie was still his friend, and the prospect of becoming an owl did not seem tempting.
"Do you know how she found out?" Sirius continued.
"Yes," Remus said knowingly. "When I asked her about it she told me. Apparently, she heard Peter on the train. Something about climbing into the air vent to hear if James was whining about Lily again," Remus answered amusedly.
He hadn't been upset to learn that Adeline had found out about his condition. He had actually felt relieved that another one of his friends could share his burden. However, he had never been worried about Addie's reaction. Remus knew she was a lot like James, and both of them didn't have the capacity to judge Remus for what he was. Remus had also been grateful that she had kept it a secret and respected his wishes for keeping it private. Being called a blood traitor probably helped to understand the kind of tenfold isolation and ostracization Remus would surely endure if his secret got out.
"Do you think she can forgive me?" Sirius asked after several moments of contemplative silence.
Remus paused, and gave his friend a small smile. He could be extremely dense to the feelings of those around him. It was even worse whenever it came to Adeline.
"Of course, she will. But this time, I think you need to do something about it and stop waiting for her to come around," Remus answered kindly.
Sirius sighed and finally was able to look up at Remus.
"I guess asking Maddie out was a terrible idea," Sirius continued, giving Remus a small smile in return.
Remus chuckled at this.
"No, keeping her around for almost four months was the terrible mistake," Remus chided lightly.
"Yea, I suppose you're right. I just thought it would change things," Sirius stopped like he was in mid thought, and then gave up on whatever it was he had been thinking.
"Sirius, Adeline and Maddie are both girls who care for you a lot. Trying to make Addie jealous was juvenile and unfair while leading Maddie on for this long is cruel. You need to make up your mind and stop only thinking of yourself," Remus replied more sternly.
He was always the voice of reason in their little group.
Sirius sighed again.
"Yea, I guess you are right," he said resignedly.
Remus offered his hand to his friend to help him off the ground. The two boys then returned to the castle, both with a sense of satisfaction. Remus was thankful that Sirius had finally come to his senses and Sirius felt clearer about what he wanted than he had at New Year's. Things may actually start to turn around.
XXX
Sirius walked into the Great Hall rather quickly the next morning and spotted the individual he was looking for. His unruly, black hair always stuck out from the Gryffindor table, and Sirius had never been so relieved for the untidy beacon.
"James, I need your help for a moment," Sirius muttered hastily, forgetting any greeting for his best friend.
Sirius heard a scoff, but it hadn't come from James. Sirius somehow hadn't noticed that Addie was sitting beside her brother, mostly because she had her nose stuck in the Daily Prophet. He frowned. She was probably looking for anything regarding her parents. James and Sirius were both aware this was the reason Adeline was always grabbing Fern's copy every morning when she was finished, but never mentioned it to her since they felt it would only worsen her anxiety. Plus, they selfishly new that Addie would tell them if she ever did find anything.
"What is it mate? I just loaded everything onto my plate," James whined before he turned to see Sirius' expression.
"Oh, right," he said before he obligingly started to get up.
"Trouble in paradise?" Sirius heard before he surprisingly looked down to see Addie looking right at him.
This was the first time in twelve days that Addie had said a word to him. Sirius was also aware that the rest of the fourth years who had been talking amongst themselves also went quiet. Everyone seemed just as shocked as he was.
"Something like that," Sirius said, unsure of what was going on.
He couldn't take his eyes off of hers, he was afraid he would break whatever was going on and Addie would return to ignoring him.
"Well I think it's about time someone told you that Maddie is absolutely horrible. None of us can even fathom why you are still dating her and if we took a vote right now, it would be unanimous," Addie added pointedly.
Sirius was trying to stifle his own smile. Maybe, somehow, his plan had worked after all.
"Here, here!" James added enthusiastically, probably more so than was acceptable with regards to your mate's girlfriend.
Sirius decided then to sit down on the other side of James and discuss what he had come to say, in front of everyone else. He hadn't noticed before, that aside from Addie's apparent annoyance and James' loathing of Maddie, it seemed the others also had a pretty strong opinion on the matter.
"Well, I'm actually trying to figure out what to do about my current situation," Sirius said delicately.
"Break-up with her!" James said still a little too eagerly.
"Well, there's the thing. I did break up with her," Sirius continued.
He heard Max and even Blythe surprisingly, give a whoop from the other end of their group.
"So, what's the problem?" Addie asked skeptically.
Sirius was caught off guard again. Addie was looking expectantly towards him, still with a hint of anger in her expression. Her silence had been deafening over the past week and a half and now he didn't know how to act.
"I think she just chose to ignore the fact that I ended it last night," Sirius explained.
He saw the confused gazes of the others, but before he could continue, he heard a voice that threatened to send him running back up to the common room.
"Siri!" the voice yelled, obviously approaching his location.
This had been the reason Sirius had wanted to pull James into private, he had been dodging Maddie all morning. But, Addie had given him a reason to stay.
"Siri!" the voice yelled, now more desperately for his attention.
Sirius knew Maddie Baker was not used to being ignored, by anyone.
He also knew he would have to turn around since she was probably only 50 feet from his seat.
But, before he could, he heard Addie expel a gruff sigh before standing up and walking behind James to stand right beside him. Without a word she took both of her hands and grabbed onto his face to turn him towards her. Her eyes looked as if she was feeling turmoil and something else Sirius couldn't decipher.
"Siri?" he heard Maddie ask in confusion before he saw Addie's expression transform into determination.
She pulled his face upwards and swiftly bent down and planted her soft lips onto his. It took a few seconds for Sirius to recover but he didn't want to waste the moment. His chest felt the lightest it had ever been, more so than New Year's Eve. Adeline Potter was kissing him, forming her firm lips over his and spreading her warmth throughout his body. She was so close, he inhaled deeply through his nose and smelled her fresh scent, peppermint and rose petals. He was also sure he could smell traces from her birch broomstick, imprinted on her skin from hundreds of hours of practice. Too soon, she was pulling away from him and he almost leaned forward to bring her back.
"What the hell, Potter?" Maddie asked in a disbelieving tone.
"Oh, I thought it was you who said I had all of the boys looking at me?" Addie asked in a provoking voice.
Maddie looked taken aback, not used to people talking back to her.
"Siri?" Maddie asked in her whiny tone, obviously choosing to ignore Addie's bait.
"Maddie, you know I broke up with you. You can't just choose to ignore that," Sirius said simply, somehow finding his voice after Addie's kiss.
Maddie's face was fuming red by this point and everyone was expecting her to explode.
"Sirius Black, you are a foul git who isn't worth my time," Maddie scoffed before whipping around and storming off towards the Ravenclaw table.
Peter was laughing hysterically, and Sirius was surprised to hear him since he hadn't seen him and Remus arrive during the confrontation.
The others joined in and Sirius was relieved to that it was finally over; he was finally rid of her. Sirius also saw that Addie had returned to her seat beside James, who was also very red in the face.
"What the hell was that?" James fumed.
Sirius could see Addie roll her eyes and he had to stifle his own laugh.
"James, I did it so we're even. He kissed me when I didn't want him to so now I am just returning the favour. Plus, I saved all of us from that horrible banshee of a girl," Addie answered James with no room for objection.
Addie was one of the few people who could contain James' outbursts.
But, Sirius still watched him nervously, waiting to see if he had gotten away with kissing his sister.
James sighed heavily after a few moments. "I guess you're right. But that was the last time!"
Addie rolled her eyes but bent down and kissed her brother on the forehead, almost like she was the older sibling.
"Of course, brother," she said before collecting her things and standing up to leave.
"Can I walk you to class?" Sirius asked before Addie could walk by.
He also ignored James' scowl as he waited for Addie to reply.
"Sure," she said simply.
He couldn't tell what she was thinking.
They fell into stride beside one another as they headed for the Charms hallway. Even though the fifth years had Care of Magical Creatures, Sirius didn't want to waste the opportunity to talk with Addie.
"I'm still angry with you," she started once they were out of the Great Hall.
It was always like Addie to get right to the point and take the upper hand.
"I deserve that," Sirius answered honestly.
Addie turned her expression towards him and he knew she was trying to figure out what he was thinking.
"And I kissed you for everyone else's benefit, so we will never have to see that ogre again," Addie continued.
Sirius couldn't help but smiling at all the creative names Addie had apparently come up with. But, he was disappointed to hear her explanation of the kiss, even if he wasn't surprised.
"So, what can I do to make it up to you?" Sirius asked earnestly.
He desperately wanted things to go back to normal.
Adeline stopped and turned to face him directly.
"This is your one do-over," she said evenly.
"You fucked up Sirius, very badly. If Snape had been hurt, the consequences would have been catastrophic, not to mention the position you put Remus in," she continued sternly.
He waited for her to continue but she just looked at him, waiting for his response.
"Wait, you're forgiving me?" Sirius asked unabashedly.
She narrowed her eyes.
"Yes. But if anything like this ever happens again, I will no longer talk to you. I will walk out of your life and never reconsider," she said with an air of finality.
It was obvious she had given this a lot of thought.
Sirius didn't feel like he deserved this chance, but knew he was too selfish when it came to Addie. He needed her back.
"I solemnly swear," he replied in a whispered voice.
She looked evenly at him again before breaking her reserve and smiling back at him.
"You are really a foul git," she said through her smile.
"I am a Black," he replied, both jokingly and serious.
"No, you're just Sirius."
They continued towards the Charms hall, unaware of their sneaking audience.
"You know, it wasn't Maddie that was the girl who would come in between James and Sirius," Blythe said to Remus who was walking beside her.
He only looked down at her and smiled knowingly before turning to look at James who looked just as conflicted as expected.
The next few years were going to be very long.