About a week after Remus departed with his father, there was another attack. Isabelle Stuart was orphaned. She and Myles sped off to go visit the rest of her family. It was after this that Professor Slughorn announced his retirement. He claimed that he was an old man who was ready to live his life in even more comfort than he already did. Everyone knew, however, that Slughorn was terrified of the things that were happening and the people who were doing them. He just wanted to disappear.

Even with Slughorn's impending retirement, he was still piling work on the 7th years who had N.E.W.T's coming up at the end of term. The middle of February was especially bad. Dorcas and Lily were spending every waking moment in the library; looking up antidotes and effects and who knows what else that could show up on the exam. James and Sirius had always hated Potions.

One night, Dorcas was there until the very last moment Madam Pince would let her. Lily had left her hours ago; completely exhausted. She checked out the books that she had been using. Well, she checked out one of the books she was using, since the rest were in the restricted section. Exiting the library, she yawned loudly. She really needed to sleep. The thought of going up to Sirius crossed her mind, but she dismissed it quickly. They hadn't quite made up since the night Remus' family was attacked. She wished he would just tell her. Whatever had happened that night couldn't have been that scandalous. And she was sorry that she didn't stay at Christmas the way Lily did. Part of her had been screaming for her to stay, but another part had been screaming at her to leave. She knew she should have stayed, but in the end, she just left. Merlin, she was such a bloody coward.

As she rounded the corner, Dorcas suddenly felt her body completely stiffen. She fell to the ground hard. When she tried to get up, she found she couldn't move. She tried again. Her arm wouldn't bend. Complete terror filled her and she tried to scream, but she couldn't get the air out. Suddenly she heard an evil chuckle and footsteps. Evan Rosier was smiling evilly over her.

"I'd hoped that I would catch the mudblood," he said, his dark eyes squinting. "But this will work well too."

Dorcas' eyes, the only part of her body that could move, grew exponentially.

"Move Dorcas," she screamed at herself; knowing that she couldn't.

She tried to move her arm again, but the spell had her frozen. Her eyes must have betrayed her because Rosier laughed.

"I wouldn't try anymore, Meadowes," he laughed again. "That's an awfully strong freezing spell."

Dorcas tried to scream again and Rosier laughed again.

"I can't wait for Black to find you," he snarled. Then he grabbed both of her legs and dragged her into an open classroom. Her hair caught on a jagged spot on the stone floor. It pulled painfully as Rosier continued to drag her and finally a few hairs were ripped from her scalp. Her arms banged painfully as he pulled her over the threshold of the classroom Finally, he threw down her legs in front of the large desk at the front of the room. The pain was so intense that Dorcas was sure her entire body would be bruised tomorrow. If she lived until tomorrow. Rosier went back to the door and kicked it shut; leering at her and rubbing his hands together. Dorcas noticed that the door didn't close all the way.

Sirius was not going to tell Dorcas what had happened that night. That was it. She would just have to get used to it. And he was still angry about Christmas. But all the same, he hated being mad at her. He was pacing his dormitory; trying to figure out some solution.

After a few minutes, he plopped down on his bed. The only thing he could do was explain to her that he wanted to tell her, but that it was something Remus had to tell her. Did he actually want to tell her the truth? He'd never considered it.

He pondered this question, but decided that the answer really didn't matter. Eager to have this thing over and done with, he walked out of his dormitory and down to the common room. Remus and Gwen were sitting by the couch talking. Peter was off to the side; attempting to be part of the conversation.

"Oy Moony," he yelled. "Do you know where Dorcas is?"

Gwen answered for him. "She's still in the library."

Sirius made a noise that expressed his deep-seated hatred for the library and exited the portrait hole. He made his way down to the library quickly; scratching his head in anxiety the whole way. She had better accept this. He didn't have any other options.

As he turned into the corridor to the library, he noticed that a door on the right side of the corridor was ajar. As he passed it, he turned his head to look inside. The door was only cracked so he couldn't see anything, but he did hear a voice.

"There's nothing you can do," someone drawled; malicious laughter in the male voice. "This will teach that blood-traitor to ignore the power that we have."

Sure that Lily had been attacked by some disgusting pure-blood-maniac, Sirius burst open the door. He was completely shocked to see that it wasn't Lily frozen on the floor with Evan Rosier poised over her, but Dorcas. Her robes were disheveled and her hair was tangled all around her head. It was obvious she had been dragged in here. The anger Sirius felt was like nothing he had ever known. His hatred for Cade Bradley seemed like a flicker compared with the burning Sirius felt in his stomach.

"LET HER GO!" he yelled; pulling out his wand. "NOW!"

Rosier turned and scowled slightly. "Black," he spat.

"I said let her go," he gestured to Dorcas, whose fear-filled eyes fueled Sirius' anger even more.

"Why should I?" Rosier growled, smirking.

"Because if you don't, I'm going to kill you," Sirius advanced on Rosier, who finally pulled out his wand.

"You seem to enjoy threatening to kill me, Black, but you don't have the courage to ever actually do it."

"I don't, do I?" Sirius' wand was now pressed up against Rosier's neck. "If you don't let her go, I'll show you exactly how wrong you are."

Rosier scowled a little. "You seem angry, Black," he said. "Is she really that important? I mean I'm sure I would have loved to fuck her, but…"

Sirius jammed his wand hard against Rosier's neck; so hard that Rosier couldn't breathe for a few seconds.

"LET HER GO!"

Rosier glanced over at Dorcas; still frozen on the floor. Then he looked back at Sirius' furious eyes. After a second, he flicked his wrist and Dorcas was freed. She curled up into a ball and pulled herself into a sitting position; huddling against the large desk next to her. Sirius dropped his arm.

"Going to kill me now, Black?" Rosier scowled, as he scrambled around him to the door and ran out of the room.

Sirius stood there for a second; watching Dorcas curl tighter and tighter into a ball.

"Are you alright?" he asked; watching the door that Rosier had just bolted from.

She didn't answer.

"Dorcas?" he walked slowly towards her; leaning over and placing a hand on her hair. She flinched.

"Come on," he said; offering her his hand. "Let's go."

She didn't move. He crouched down to her level. She wouldn't look at him.

"You can't stay here all night," he said.

IHt was obvious that that was exactly what Dorcas wanted to do. She kept staring at the floor. He reached out a hand again; laying it on her shoulder. She didn't react; but her breathing became a little louder.

Very slowly, Sirius slid an arm under her bent knees and another around her back.

"Come on," he whispered. She finally looked at his kind eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted her slowly. She remained in that tight ball and snuggled her head tightly against his chest. He held his wand in the hand under her legs. Pointing it in front of them, he began walking back to Griffindor tower. As he walked, the tension in her body grew. The arm around her back tightened its grasp.

Climbing in through the portrait hole with Dorcas in his arms was a little difficult, but somehow Sirius was able to. The minute he entered the room, everyone turned to stare at them.

"Sirius," Remus stood. "What…?"

He shook his head; a look of urgency in his eyes and Remus stopped talking. Sirius walked up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. With the hand that held his wand, he fumbled with the door knob, but was able to turn it. He gently kicked the door open and carried Dorcas to his bed. As gently as he possibly could, he laid her down on his bed. She immediately tightened up in an even smaller ball than before; her hands wrapped around each other in a ball at her neck. Sirius sat next to Dorcas; a large hand splayed on her shoulder blade.

He took a huge breath and was brutally aware of her complete silence. He brushed the hair that covered her face away. She was white: ghost white. He was surprised to find that her face was completely emotionless; her eyes frozen in their open position. She looked dead. It absolutely terrified him. She wasn't even trembling. He had no idea what to do with this overwhelming feeling of protectiveness he had for this girl.

Sighing, he laid next to her, resting his chin on her shoulder and kissing it. She didn't react. Desperate to give her some sort of life, he pressed his body as close to hers as he could; hopeful that his warmth would somehow transfer to her. As he pressed closer to her, her muscles began to relax a bit. His legs bent around hers and one arm slipped through the space between her waist and the bed. The other he draped over her middle. Cautiously, while kissing her shoulder again, he wrapped both of his hands around hers so that every inch of their bodies was lined up and touching.

He didn't say anything as they laid there wrapped around her. Occasionally would kiss the place where her neck became her shoulder or rub her forearms. At some point a few hours later, the other boys came up to the dormitory. Sirius caught Remus' eye and gestured at the posts with his head. Remus nodded, understanding, and began close the curtains around Sirius' bed. Sirius smiled his thanks and Remus nodded again. Then looking at Dorcas, a concerned look crossed his face and biting a lip, he closed the final curtain.

Sirius wasn't sure exactly when, but at some point that night, Dorcas had fallen asleep. He was so relieved when felt her back moving against his chest that he had actually let out a loud sigh of relief. Then he had been terrified that he'd woken her and raised his head a little to look at her face. She was still in a peaceful, deep sleep. The calm look on her sleeping face had given him even more relief than the pressure of her breath. He lay his head back on her shoulder; kissing her long neck, her jaw, her cheek on the way there. Then he let his head fall into her thick, dark hair and breathed her in. The arm under her had begun to tingle rather nastily, but Sirius didn't dare move it. At this moment, he couldn't imagine anything worse than waking her.

Sighing, he tightened around her and felt the most amazing sort of pain-filled happiness run through his entire body. He had nothing to even compare it to; it was so all-consuming. It felt like something inside of him had cracked, but some warm liquid had burst from it and now flowed all through his veins; mingling with his blood.

He rubbed his cheek against hers to get even closer. For the first time, Sirius understood exactly what James had said the night the pulled that prank in the Ravenclaw common room because for the first time, he understood that what he and Dorcas had was not about sex. It was an amazing revelation for Sirius Black – ladies' man of Hogwarts. He never thought that he was this kind of bloke. James had always been the romantic one and Remus the sensitive one. He was just the one girls went to for a quick shag, and he had always been happy to give it to them. But Sirius no longer wanted a quick shag. He just wanted Dorcas. Only Dorcas. He loved her.