I broke your jaw once before; I spilled your blood upon the floor. You broke my leg in return, so sit back and watch the bed burn. Love sticks; sweat drips; break the lock if it don't fit. A kick in the teeth is good for some; a kiss with a fist is better than none. — Florence and the Machine

September 2, 1977

Layla groaned as she woke, burying her face in the pillow against the light. A hand stroked her hair soothingly as a husky voice whispered in her ear, "Come on, darling. We're going to miss breakfast if you don't get up."

Layla took a deep breath, her lungs filling with the smells of cologne, sex, sweat, and — was that a hint of stale cigarettes? She was too sleepy still to be sure. "I don't want breakfast," she grumbled, still not entirely aware of who she was talking to.

She heard a chuckle and felt her pillow vibrate with the sound of it as she became more alert. "Yes, but you need breakfast, and I certainly do. I can't get out of bed until you get off me, though, so get up." She shook her head, closing her eyes tighter. Suddenly the hand caressing her hair gripped her hair tightly, tugging her face up. She gasped, then lips were on hers. His tongue stroked hers for a moment, then they broke apart. Layla's eyes flew open as she panted for breath and tried to lean back in to recapture Sirius's lips, but he held her back easily by her wavy black hair, smirking at her eagerness. "You awake now?" he teased.

Layla nodded, her breathing still a bit ragged. "Incredibly awake," she mumbled breathlessly.

"Good." Sirius leaned in and gave her a chaste peck on the nose. "Breakfast," he said, his gray eyes sparkling with mischief.

Sirius left the bed, disappearing behind the bed curtains. Layla sighed as she threw the random t-shirt she found in his bed over her head to fight the chill of the morning, following after him saying, "Oh, no you don't, Black; get back here and —" She stopped suddenly and gasped when she brushed the curtain back and found herself facing James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew.

Pettigrew squeaked in surprise and dashed away, grabbing his bag and racing out the door. A lustful glint flashed in Remus's eyes for a moment before he forced his eyes away, busying himself with collecting his books, but James glowered at Sirius, who was disappearing into the bathroom laughing. Layla remained frozen in horror, bare legs dangling from the edge of the bed, her face as red as the bed curtains. She could hear Sirius still laughing as James called, "Sirius Orion Black, explain yourself."

Sirius re-entered the room wearing his trousers, throwing a clean white shirt over his shoulders. "Layla slept over last night," he said with a shrug and a smirk.

James groaned. "Sirius, you were the one who insisted she needed to sleep off the Veritaserum last night. What the bloody hell happened between Dumbledore's office and Ravenclaw tower that you two somehow ended up in bed together?"

"Veritaserum happened," Layla mumbled as she remembered the previous night.

James frowned. "What?"

Chuckling, Sirius explained, "The Veritaserum made her very brave and, well, horny."

"Sirius!" Layla gasped, pulling the blankets off the bed and burying her face in them.

Remus looked up then, startled. "Did you have sex with her, Sirius?"

Sirius grinned, leaning down and giving Layla a kiss on the top of her head as he picked up his Gryffindor tie from next to her on the bed. His gray eyes caught her blue ones full attention, and for a moment, it was just the two of them alone in that space. Layla couldn't help herself in that moment, reaching out and grasping Sirius's hair near the base of his skull and pulling him down to her, their lips clashing violently. She felt his free hand slide between her shoulder blades and pull her flush against his chest, forcing her back to arch. Sirius's tongue found its way into her mouth again and traced the underside of her tongue, making Layla shiver and whimper in the most delightful way. "All right, all right. Enough. We get it; you two shagged," James said with an annoyed flick of his wand, forcing air between them until they were no longer touching each other and panting for breath. "We don't want to hear or see any more about it. Just get to breakfast already, the both of you."

"Prongs, come on," Sirius said, growing more solemn.

James shook his head, slinging his bag violently over his shoulder before storming out of the room. Sirius turned to Remus, but the werewolf was shaking his head as well. "You really messed up this time, Sirius," Remus said quietly, almost angrily, before he followed James out of the room and down the stairs as well.

Frowning, Layla didn't know quite what to make of the situation until suddenly Sirius was handing her clothes. "Get dressed; go get some food," he said quietly, all the spark drained from his voice.

Layla took the clothes shoved into her hands and quickly began to dress. As she tied the tie he'd handed her around her neck, Layla said softly, "But… Sirius… I mean…"

"Just go, Layla," Sirius snapped abruptly, his sudden temper startling Layla into obedience.

Layla grabbed her wand from where Sirius had placed it on the nightstand the night before and ran as fast as she could out of the room, out of Gryffindor, and down to the Great Hall, where she collapsed on one of the benches at the empty end of the Ravenclaw table, the only one of the four house tables to be mostly deserted. Layla knew that was normal for the time of day, though. Ravenclaws all either got up ridiculously early and had breakfast, or slept so late that they missed it altogether. Layla used to belong to the ridiculously early crowd, though she had a feeling that this year she'd more often than not find herself mixing with the crowd of Ravenclaws who were eating waffles for lunch because they'd slept through breakfast. Layla started to help herself to some breakfast, but then she realized she felt more sick and upset than hungry. Instead, she waved her wand, summoning her messenger bag full of schoolbooks from her dormitory, giggling slightly when it came flying into the Great Hall, knocking over a couple Slytherin first years on its way. She held on tightly to the bag when it landed in her lap simply for the feeling of holding onto something as she bit her lip, tears stinging her eyes. A sense of absolute rejection had taken hold in the pit of her stomach, and she absolutely hated it. It got even worse when she spotted Sirius joining the other three Marauders at the Gryffindor table. None of them seemed particularly happy with each other, but that didn't make it any easier for Layla when Sirius locked eyes with her across the hall, then looked away without any form of acknowledgment. Layla was just about to run from the Great Hall when suddenly Regulus sat down next to her. Layla quickly stared down at her empty plate as he said, "Hi, Layla. How are you this morning?"

Sniffing, Layla said, "I'm fine."

She felt Regulus watching her intently. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Layla mumbled, shaking her head, refusing to meet his gaze.

Regulus took a fork and stabbed a stack of waffles with it, dropping them onto the plate in front of Layla. "Eat," he commanded, shoving the fork into her hand. Sighing, Layla poured maple syrup on the waffles and took a few scant bites of it. Finally, he pressed, "What'd my brother do now?"

Layla frowned, pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth. "What makes you think that your brother did anything?"

Regulus snorted. "The fact that you're wearing his tie instead of yours might have been a tip-off. Unless, of course, you're going to surprise me by telling me that it was one of his friends instead."

Groaning, Layla's chin fell to her chest, eyes widening when she saw the red and gold tie around her neck. "Oh, Merlin," she moaned. "Do you think anyone else has noticed?"

Regulus shrugged. "Well, I'm sure Sirius did, but he's a git, so naturally, he wouldn't say anything about it. It's just the sort of thing he'd find hilarious. So, what happened between you two?"

After a moment of hesitation, Layla admitted quietly, "I slept with him. I'm not entirely sure how things spiraled so far out of control. One minute, he's walking me to my dorm, then the next we're in his instead and things got very heated very quickly and…"

"Yeah, all right, I get the picture," Regulus said, scrunching up his nose. "I don't exactly want a play by play of my brother's sex life. But here, I can do this at least." He muttered something under his breath and tapped her tie with his wand. Instantly, the red and gold deepened and twisted until the tie was blue and bronze instead. "At least now no one will be able to tell it's not yours, and you won't have to give it back to the git," Regulus said with a smirk.

Layla smiled a little at that, resuming eating her waffles. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"You're welcome," Regulus said cheerfully, picking up another fork and stealing a bite of Layla's waffles.

Chuckling, Layla said, "Why are you here, anyway? You don't have to sit here with me. Why not sit at your own table?"

Regulus shrugged. "I happen to like you," he said, pilfering another bite of her waffles after Layla hadn't resisted the first theft. "Besides, Lucius asked me to be your friend, remember? So, I'm being your friend."

Layla thought for a moment as Regulus continued to eat her waffles for her. She watched him curiously; she noticed for the first time that his eyes were the deepest shade of brown, bordering on black, unlike Sirius's light gray eyes. His face was much more emotionally guarded than Sirius's open, easily read expressions. It made Layla wonder exactly what secrets he was keeping so close to the chest. Finally, she nodded. "I think you'll make a very good friend," she decided.

Regulus paused mid-bite for a moment, then swallowed. His eyes went to Layla for a moment as she took the last bite from her plate and ate it. He seemed as though he were about to say something, but then Professor Flitwick appeared between them, holding a piece of paper out to Layla. "Here you are, Miss Danes, your class schedule," Flitwick squeaked. "Welcome to my house, by the way. Despite not getting to watch you grow up in my house like the rest of my students, I'm still quite proud of the grades that you've made, and I look forward to seeing how you flourish in your N.E.W.T. classes while living in Ravenclaw tower."

"Thank you, Professor Flitwick," Layla said, quickly taking her class schedule from the short man.

Noticing Regulus for the first time, Flitwick piped, "Why, Mr. Black! Whatever are you doing at my house's table?"

Regulus smirked slightly at Layla before answering the teacher, "Just being friendly, sir."

Flitwick nodded. "Yes, yes, very good, but Professor Slughorn will be looking for you! He's over at the Slytherin table right now handing out class schedules! It wouldn't do for you to miss your classes."

Regulus gave the small Charms professor his most charming smile. "Don't worry, Professor. I'll be sure to get it from him straight away."

"Excellent," Flitwick said excitedly. "Well, I'll be off, more schedules to give out. I'll see you both in class!"

With that, Flitwick scurried on down the table to speak with other students. Regulus snickered, "What an odd little man."

"I like him," Layla said, silencing Regulus's laughter. She looked down at her schedule, Regulus reading over her shoulder. Her first class that day was Defense Against the Dark Arts. "I'd better go to class before I'm late," Layla said, picking up her bag from her lap and tossing it over her shoulder.

"Maybe you'd care to sit with me at my table for lunch?" Regulus asked.

Layla stopped as she stood, thinking for a moment. She shook her head. "You can join me if you like, but I don't think I'll ever want anything to do with your Slytherin friends, truthfully."

Regulus nodded slowly, thinking, and she quickly walked away, leaving the Great Hall and heading straight to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. The room was full of students, all seventh years like herself from all four houses, but the professor was nowhere to be seen. Layla sat down at an empty desk with a heavy sigh, dropping her bag to the floor. She was finally beginning to feel the effects of not getting enough sleep the night before, in addition to all the sore and strangely stretched muscles that only sex ever used. The soreness left flashes of the Snatchers that held her captive, their own personal sex slave, flickering across her eyelids every time she blinked as she took her defense book from her bag. As she set the book on the desk, a pair of hands and a Slytherin tie appeared in her vision as someone leaned on her desk. Layla looked up and saw a young man with short dark hair and dark eyes smiling charmingly down at her. "Hello," he said. "I'm Rabastan LeStrange."

Layla shivered slightly as she recognized the name of Bellatrix LeStrange's brother-in-law, one of the Death Eaters that escaped Azkaban her fifth year and one of the Death Eaters that she knew had helped Bellatrix torture her friend Neville Longbottom's parents into insanity. "Layla Danes," she said simply, too afraid of the Slytherin in front of her to say more.

"Yes, my friend Lucius Malfoy told me all about you," Rabastan said with a grin. "Asked me to look after you and make sure you don't get into any trouble. Of course, based on the colors of your tie this morning at breakfast, I suppose you've already been up to all sorts of naughty things, haven't you, dearie?"

Face reddening, Layla glanced down at Sirius's now blue and bronze tie, then growled, "Shut up, LeStrange."

"Hey, leave her alone." Sirius's voice came from behind her seat, forcing Layla to turn around to see him. "She doesn't want anything to do with your lot, LeStrange."

Rabastan chuckled. "Blood traitor Black," he sneered. "You here to defend the honor of your new girlfriend?" Layla noticed Sirius clenching his fists around his wand. "She deserves better than a blood traitor like you, you know."

"She seemed to think I was plenty good enough when she was —"

"Enough, Black," Layla hissed. "I can decide what friends I want for myself, thank you very much."

"Yeah, Black," Rabastan snickered. "Maybe Layla prefers me and my lot to you and yours."

Sirius fingered his wand in his pocket as his eyes clouded with anger, and Layla noticed. She reached for his arm to place a steadying hand on it, only for him to recoil from her touch. She let her hand fall, rejection boiling in her chest again. She bit her lip as Sirius said coldly, "Well if she'd like to run around with Death Eater scum like you and my brother, I don't want anything to do with her anyway."

The room went silent then as everyone's attention turned to the trio. Layla suddenly heard the deep, rich voice of Severus Snape saying, "What's the matter, Black? Can't control your woman?"

"Stay out of it, Snivellus," Sirius growled.

James, who'd been standing across the room talking with Remus and a red-haired girl with familiar green eyes that Layla could only guess was the future Lily Potter, cautioned, "Easy, Padfoot. Might want to take a breath."

Layla bristled as Sirius snapped, "No. Layla, come on. Why don't you tell these pureblood maniacs to back the hell off?"

"Because they've been a hell of a lot kinder to me than you have," Layla bit back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius barked. "You sure as hell seemed to think I was plenty nice last night."

"Even when you were being nice you were still a git about it," Layla lashed out, letting the feelings of hurt and rejection ferment into pure anger.

"Doesn't surprise me to hear it," Rabastan said with a laugh. "I bet he put you under some kind of potion or spell to get you to sleep with him too, didn't he? That's one thing you'd never have to worry about with us Slytherins. We actually give a damn about other people's feelings, unlike those bloody Gryffindors."

"I did no such thing," Sirius snarled. "I didn't have to even ask for it. She threw herself at me. She was absolutely gagging for it —"

"That's a bloody lie!" Layla gasped. She saw out of the corner of her eye where Rabastan had pulled his wand slowly out of his pocket, holding it firmly in his grasp as though prepared to use it.

"'Oh, Sirius, I'm so curious about sex," Sirius mocked. "'I trust you, Sirius. I don't want to be alone tonight, Sirius.' Ringing any bells yet?"

"Padfoot —" Remus warned, far too late.

Layla pulled her own wand and pointed it at Sirius. "Shut up, Black," she spat, rage flooding her veins like venom, leaving her sweaty and shaky.

"You wanted me, sweetheart, and you know it," Sirius taunted, smirking at her.

Layla growled, "I wanted the man I was in bed with this morning, who was kind and considerate and caring. Apparently, though, that's not you, because one disapproving word from your bloody friends, and you're tossing me out on my arse like a common whore."

Sirius had his wand at his side now, prepared to defend himself. James said slowly, "All right, let's all just calm down now. Don't want this blowing out of proportion, do we?"

"You seriously allowed this beautiful creature to escape your bed feeling less than what she is?" Rabastan said, his voice hard. Layla glanced at him briefly, surprised to see that the teasing, mocking expression was gone from his place, replaced by sincere shock and anger. "Anyone with a brain who's lucky enough to pull a girl like her would have to be incredibly stupid to not make her feel loved and cherished. She's worth a thousand of your little mudblood slags…"

"It's none of your business, LeStrange," Sirius shouted, raising his voice so suddenly that it made Layla flinch. "We've all had more than enough of your vile."

James interrupted again, "Layla, Sirius, why don't you two discuss this later in private? Before things get out of hand —"

Layla grinned bitterly as she said, "Things are already out of hand, Potter."

"I needed space to think, Layla," Sirius said, more quietly though still fuming. "I certainly didn't mean for you to go away thinking that you were just —"

"Yes, but I did, didn't I?" Layla shrieked. "And now the whole bloody school knows that I'm just your little plaything. You're making me out to be a completely deranged lunatic!"

"I think you're doing a fine job of that yourself!" Sirius snapped back. "Wearing my tie and running around with Slytherins, making a scene —"

"You made this scene! You started the whole bloody thing!" Layla accused. "And if it weren't for that bloody awful Veritaserum none of this would have ever happened in the first place!"

"Veritaserum?" Snape repeated, dumbfounded.

"You knew," Layla said, waving the point of her wand at him. "You knew I was too vulnerable dosed with Veritaserum to be around people, and you took me off alone and took me to your bed!"

"It wasn't bloody like that, and you know it!" Sirius denounced. "You know damn well that I didn't take advantage of you!"

"You really gave her Veritaserum to get her in your bed? That's simply cruel, like shooting fish in a barrel," Rabastan scoffed.

"Enough of this!" Sirius barked. "Stupefy!"

A jet of red light flew at Rabastan, but Layla blocked it with an easy shield charm. Sirius stared at her in pained confusion, betrayed that she would defend his enemy, but she stood her ground. Rabastan seemed a bit surprised at first as well, but then he grinned at his new ally. "Stupefy!" Rabastan snarled, throwing his own Stunning Spell at Sirius, but Layla shielded Sirius as well.

Then both boys looked at her, confused, until Layla whipped her own wand, hitting Sirius on the shoulder with a potent Stinging Jinx. He cried out and grasped the joint with one hand, preparing with his wand in the other to retaliate. Layla didn't allow him time, though, before transfiguring every loose piece of parchment in the classroom into birds using a spell Hermione Granger had taught her fifth year. "Opuggno," she muttered, and the birds all flew at Sirius, attempting to peck his face. Sirius waved his wand and transfigured the birds into individual feathers that fluttered harmlessly to the floor, thereby escaping all damage. She followed the attack by crying, "Bombarda!" Sirius barely blocked the spell with a desk, which exploded and shattered, pieces flying across the room. Sirius shot a spell at Layla that she didn't recognize, and the blue light bounced off her small shield charm and clipped her shoulder, the sting quickly forgotten as Rabastan fired another Stunning Spell at Sirius, only for the Gryffindor to block it. Sirius waved his wand, and the feathers on the floor transfigured into small shards of glass, flying at Rabastan. Layla gasped as a few misfired at her, but a shield from Rabastan protected them both, turning the glass to water, which soaked the Slytherin and Ravenclaw to the bone.

James stepped forward, wand in hand. "All right, that's enough!" James shouted, but Layla ignored him.

Water dripping from her robes and bitter resentment filling her chest, Layla waved her wand as a spell passed through her mind so quickly she couldn't filter it if she had wanted. It wasn't even a spell she properly knew; Harry Potter had asked her what the spell did during sixth year, and she hadn't known. She knew now, though, and deeply wished she didn't. Sectumsempra, she'd thought as she waved her wand at Sirius, and she gasped in horror as his clean white shirt blossomed into a horrifyingly deep shade of red. Sirius grunted upon the impact of the spell, dropping his wand and clutching at his chest as his severed flesh gushed blood. Several girls screamed as Layla covered her mouth in revulsion at her own actions, stepping back from Sirius as he fell to the ground, his blood now pooling on the stone floor as his face went white as a ghost. Then she remembered that Hermione had told her that the book Harry had gotten the spell from was Snape's, and she turned to the young version of her Potions professor now. "Snape, you have to fix him," Layla pleaded.

Snape arched an eyebrow at her. "How did you know that spell?"

"It doesn't matter now; you have to fix him!" Layla begged, starting to gasp for breath.

"Why should I?" Snape said, his eyes dancing with deranged glee. "He nearly killed me last year, you know. It's only just."

Hysterical now, Layla said shrilly, "I don't care if you think he's not worth it; just please, Snape, fix him!"

Snape huffed. "Fine, but only because Malfoy would murder me if you were thrown in Azkaban for murdering him." He stepped over Sirius, ignoring protests from James on his approach, and began slowly tracing the wounds with his wand, muttering unhappily under his breath, and Sirius's wounds stopped hemorrhaging blood, the deep gash stitching itself together. Finally, the healing work was done, and Snape snapped, "Get to the Hospital Wing and get yourself a Blood-Replenishing Potion, Black."

Snape stood and backed away as Sirius ever so slowly sat up, glaring at Snape's back. James snapped, "One hundred house points each from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin for this ridiculous and senseless violence. There was no good reason for such nasty fighting."

"Where did you learn that spell?" Snape hissed, grabbing Layla's arm roughly.

Layla gasped, stumbling a couple steps backward, but Snape followed, keeping the distance between them constantly the same. Rabastan stepped up beside her, pushing Snape back easily with a hand on Snape's chest as Layla lied, "Malfoy. Malfoy taught it to me."

Snape stared at her with hard black eyes, disbelieving, but Rabastan stopped any protests from his fellow Slytherin by saying, "Layla, you have to get to the Hospital Wing."

Layla shook her head. "No, I'm ok. Will Sirius be ok? I-I didn't think… I didn't mean to hurt him so horribly…"

Rabastan insisted, "Black's fine. You need to go to the Hospital Wing."

"I'm fine," Layla protested.

Rabastan stepped fully in front of her, facing her and placing his hands on her arms. When she wouldn't meet his dark gaze, he stooped a little to try to force her to make eye contact. "Layla, listen to me. You are seriously hurt. You have to go see Madame Pomfrey."

Layla finally looked down at her soaking wet self then as she realized that her left shoulder still burned painfully. When she saw the bleeding she finally realized that Sirius's spell had done considerable damage. Her shirt had burned away, leaving her shoulder joint wholly exposed, which was almost completely covered by an oozing, yellow and red second-degree burn. Layla gagged at the sight and wrenched her head away. Her stomach roiled, and she suddenly felt very lightheaded, but Rabastan's hands on her arms held her firmly upright. Sirius noticed her injury and said tiredly, "Layla, I'm sorry. I didn't mean —"

"Oh, shut up, Black," Rabastan snapped. "Haven't you done enough damage for one day?" Placing Layla's arm around his waist, he forced her to lean on him for support, and she was too sick to fight him on it. "Come on, dearie. Let's get you to the Hospital Wing."

"I can go by myself," Layla protested.

"Oh please, you've not even been at Hogwarts five minutes. You don't actually know where the Hospital Wing is. Just let me take you," Rabastan insisted.

"No, I'll take her," Remus interrupted, forcing his way between Layla and Rabastan and taking her weight on himself.

"That works for me," Layla said, relieved, and Remus quickly escorted her from the room. When they were far enough down the hall to not be overheard, Layla sighed, "Thank you, Lupin." He grunted in acknowledgment but said nothing. "I didn't mean to cast that spell at Sirius," Layla said quietly. "I was waving my wand, and I just thought it and —"

"What even was that spell?" Remus demanded. "That looked like awfully dark magic to me."

The pair stopped at the bottom of the stairs up to the next floor, and Remus swept her off her feet, picking her up in a bridal carry to speed the trip to the hospital wing. As he carried her up the stairs, Layla confessed, "It was dark magic. Snape invented it… I suppose last year? Anyway, my friends and I all sort of learned it by accident, but we didn't know what it did until one of us accidentally almost killed another kid with it in a fight. I never even found out what exactly it did to him, just that it was too dangerous to use. I hadn't meant to ever use it, and certainly not against Sirius…"

"All right, all right," Remus said. "I believe you. But you'd better tell Sirius that, or he may never forgive you." After a moment's pause, he added, "Sirius has been a right git to you today, but you've got to cut him some slack. There are extenuating circumstances that you don't know about, and he really didn't mean for you to get hurt. Just talk to him." Layla nodded as they reached the Hospital Wing, and Madame Pomfrey swept her away from him before she could reply, fussing over her injury.

At dinner that night, Layla sat with Regulus Black at the Ravenclaw table once again, still unable to have gotten Sirius alone to speak with him about the fight. She picked over her meatloaf and mashed potatoes with a sigh, not actually eating, as Regulus watched her with worried eyes. Finally, he said, "I wouldn't even bother patching things up with my brother if I were you."

Layla jumped slightly; the pair had been quiet for so long that the sudden break in the silence was unexpected. "Why's that?" Layla asked.

"He'll just do it again."

Layla frowned. "I don't follow."

"He'll leave you alone again. It's what he does," Regulus said bitterly. "He only cares about what's best for him. He doesn't think about what his actions will do to other people like you. Not that he'd care even if he did think about it. Not caring is his specialty."

Thinking back to that morning, Layla said slowly, "I don't know, Regulus. He sure seemed like he cared about how I was feeling…"

"Right," Regulus sneered. "Maybe when you were still naked in his bed."

"Hey!" Layla exclaimed indignantly.

"Nothing against you for it, of course," Regulus went on. "But Sirius wants what he wants, he takes it, and he leaves everyone else broken and hurt in his wake. He's chaotic and dangerous, and he doesn't care. Even as a kid, he'd always play with his toys as hard as he could until he finally broke them, and then he'd toss them away and move along to the next one. He'll treat you the same."

Shaking her head, Layla said, "People aren't the same as toys. I think he knows that."

Snorting, Regulus retorted, "He replaced me and my family with those Marauders of his when he'd had enough of us. He'll easily do the same to you. Ever since he met them, the only people he cares about are those three friends of his, and that will never change. They'll always be his first priority."

Before Layla could reply, a massive eagle owl flew into the Great Hall and swept down on the Ravenclaw table, landing next to her plate. She dropped her fork on her plate and stared at the bird in total shock, unmoving, until Regulus sighed and tried to take the small package from the bird, who quickly nipped at his hand. He cried out and jerked his hand away, then grumbled, "I think it's for you."

Coming back to herself, Layla slowly reached out to the bird and took the parcel from it along with a letter. The moment it was sure she had taken everything, the large owl took off again, disappearing out an open window high above. Layla opened the bundle to find a small bag of her favorite treats inside. Ripping open the letter, hoping that perhaps this was Sirius's attempt to mend things between them, she found instead an elegant emerald green script greeting her. "My Dearest Layla, My apologies for not having checked in with you sooner. I received an owl from Rabastan LeStrange this afternoon detailing some concern for the company you're keeping at Hogwarts. Apparently, Sirius Black has become quite the fixture in your social life, ending in a dramatic scene where he wounded you rather severely, and you nearly killed him. I thought that perhaps, then, a small care package might be appropriate. I had to guess at the sort of sweets you might like, so I do apologize if they are not to your taste. If there's anything that you need at all, please let me know, and I will do everything in my power to obtain your heart's desire. As far as the Gryffindor boy goes, I would advise you to stay as far away from him as you can. He and his friends are well on their way to meeting a sticky end, and I would truly hate it if you were endangered by your attachment to them. I suggest sticking quite closely to Regulus Black; he's a good sort of fellow, and I believe you two would get along splendidly. Stay safe and keep your grades up, my dear. Affectionately, Lucius Malfoy"

Hands shaking, Layla dropped the letter and the bag of candy as if they had burned her. Regulus frowned at her, but she stayed silent, refusing to look at him. Giving up on her speaking first, Regulus asked, "What's the matter now?"

Layla shook her head. "Nothing," she lied, unconvincingly.

Scoffing, Regulus seized the letter from the table and read over it. "What's the matter with this? Sounds to me like he's just looking out for you, trying to keep you safe. And he sent you a care package; it's rather sweet, really."

Shaking her head again, Layla said quietly, "You don't understand, though. He… He's Malfoy."

"So?"

"Don't you know what he's done?" Layla hissed. "Can't you just imagine all the horrible, wretched things he's done for… for You-Know-Who?"

Regulus frowned at that. "Are you saying you don't like him because he's a Death Eater?" he whispered, careful not to be overheard.

Layla nodded. "He's absolutely vile," she snarled. "No amount of care packages in the world could change my mind about that."

"That's not very fair," Regulus said quietly. "You don't know why he might have become a Death Eater. Maybe the things he's done make him feel absolutely sick, but he doesn't have any choice. Maybe he never actually wanted to be a Death Eater, but he didn't have any way out like —" Regulus cut himself off suddenly, unwilling to finish his sentence.

After watching his terrified gray eyes for a moment, Layla's eyes widened as she realized, "Is that what you think is going to happen to you? Do you really think there's no way out of the Death Eaters for you, that you'll have to become one?"

Regulus mumbled, "Sirius took the only way out, and I couldn't follow him. So, yeah, with my mother and my cousins around, I'll never get out."

"Surely that's not true," Layla protested. "Why can't you just walk out like Sirius did?"

"It's not the same!" Regulus snapped, making Layla flinch. "Mother let Sirius walk away. He'd been a terrible son, a Gryffindor, and a blood traitor all his life, so fine, let the bloody bastard walk away when he refused to take the Dark Mark. But me… she and Bella will kill me before they allow me to walk away as well because I'm the only male Black left of this generation. I'm the only proper pureblood of the family left that can pass on the family name. I'm trapped, Layla, and it's all his bloody fault."

"I'm sorry," Layla retorted, snatching the letter out of Regulus's hand and grabbing the candy and shoving it in her messenger bag with her books. "I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard, but you could do it. And I'm quite certain that Lucius Malfoy very willingly chose his profession as well, and I think he's the lowest sort of vile filth there is for it." She stood and stormed off, only to stop when a hand shot out from the Gryffindor table and caught her elbow. "Leave me the bloody hell alo—" her voice died in her throat when she met Sirius Black's concerned gray eyes.

The two stared at each other in tense silence for a minute, Layla's heart thudding in her ears. Sirius broke the silence first. "Are you ok?" Layla nodded, suddenly noticing that her black hair had gotten static in it and was sticking to her skin. Sirius nodded back, then after an awkward moment, said, "About this morning, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to —"

Layla rushed, "Oh, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you with that awful spell this morning. I didn't mean to cast it at all; I just thought it and then you were bleeding —"

"I'm ok now," Sirius said, surprisingly calmly. "Are you ok? That spell I threw at you was a right nasty piece of work too."

"Yeah, I'm ok," she said softly, Sirius's thumb working in slow, deep circles on her arm where he still held her, soothing her temper.

Sirius's jaw worked for a moment as if he were holding something back, then he said quietly, "This morning, in the dorm, I —"

"Sirius," Layla murmured. "I don't know if I want to hear this."

"Please, just let me say this," Sirius said, pulling her along behind him out into the Entrance Hall where they would have more privacy. "I didn't mean to hurt you this morning, ok? I really didn't. I'm not heartless; I really do care about your feelings; I do. But this morning, the boys… and James, especially… Oh hell, I'm just going to tell you because I think you have a right to know. James was starting to develop a bit of a crush on you, and he'd already determined that he wasn't going to chase Lily Evans again this year, so when he saw you with me, well. He flipped his top. I realized all that this morning when all that happened, but I needed some time alone to figure out how to patch things up between me and him."

"But James and Lily are meant to be together," Layla said, surprised. "Why on earth would he have a crush on me?"

"You mean those two actually manage to get together?" Sirius said, equally surprised.

Layla nodded. "Yes, and… Well, this is just all rather bloody stupid, isn't it? So, what now?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know exactly. No one else would know, but James and I are still sort of… well, things are tense is all… Even aside from his crush, he doesn't approve of the way things happened between us, and honestly, Remus doesn't either… and Peter's too much of a coward to ever actually say what he thinks of me I think…"

"Maybe I should just leave you four alone then," Layla said. "Although James… I could never agree to date him. Knowing one of the best people I know — knew — would never exist because of me getting in the way of true love? I could never."

"Why not?"

"Come again?"

"Why not?" Sirius repeated. "I mean, you just know the future you lived through. I get that, but didn't the future you lived in turn to total shit?" Layla floundered for a response. "I mean, maybe if you just lived your life and didn't worry about the consequences, maybe somehow things will change for the better by the time that you were growing up. Who knows? Maybe if you dated James something will change for the better."

Scoffing, Layla said, "Are you seriously trying to play wingman for James Potter within twenty-four hours of sleeping with me yourself?"

Sirius scowled. "That's not… Damn it, Layla," he growled. "I don't actually bloody care if you decide to go out with Potter or not, but I don't think you should limit your choices based on things that may not even happen in the future anymore."

Layla huffed, "Well, maybe I'll just make my choices myself. You certainly won't have any influence on them, I can assure you of that."

"Layla —"

She ignored him, spinning on her heel and running away until she found herself inside her Ravenclaw dorm room for the first time since she'd arrived at Hogwarts for the year, ignoring the only other girl in the dorm room and hiding in her bed behind the slate blue curtains with her school books. She flung herself into studying her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. As it grew late and she began to grow hungry, Layla pulled the bag of sweets Malfoy had sent her out of her bag, deciding that as much as she hated Malfoy, a bag of treats as good as that one ought not to go to waste.