A Second Chance

by perkyshadowgirl

SBOC. Sirius Black has always been the hearthrob of Hogwarts. Now, he's found himself crushing on a girl he's always seen, but never known and she's not giving in without a fight.

AN: This is a one shot, written semi-AU in the time of the mischief makers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. I attempted to make it as realistic as I could, but I will not deny that I get a bit sloppy at the end. But, I have suffered through as much editing as I can, and thus you're getting the whole 42 page one-shot in one go. Have fun:)

Note: This story may contain spoilers to Book Six: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Read at your own risk.

This story also contains sexual references towards the end of the story (nothing graphic. Merely references). Reader discretion is once again advised.

A Second Chance

"This just isn't fair," James Potter pouted playfully, "that new Transfiguration teacher gave us TONS of homework. That WITCH!"

Sirius Black chuckled at his friend's lame joke, and leaned over and playfully ruffled the boy's hair, "Aw, come on James. She seems very interesting. Plus, she's an Animagus."

"Bugger off Black," James said, jumping out of his friend's reach.

"Come on guys, grow up," Remus Lupin said, though he was smiling at the two boys, "We are in out sixth year now, you realise."

"Yeah yeah, Remus," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "Always the perfect little prefect."

"Oh come now Sirius," Remus said airily, "If I was a perfect prefect, you would never leave detention."

"And that's what we love about you mate," James said, a playfully smirk playing on his face, as he turned to give Remus a dazzling smile. As he turned though, his eyes strayed, "Speaking of love…"

The other two boys followed their friend's gaze. It fell on a young red-headed girl, with emerald green eyes, clutching some books under her arm. She glanced up and noticed their stares. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she proceeded on as if nothing had happened. James let a sigh of longing escape his lips.

"One of these days, mates," he said, still staring after Lily Evans, as if she were an angel, "One of these days she'll see what she's been missing."

"Yeah, and she'll start dating me," Sirius said, with his charismatic smile. He dodged James' fist with a duck and roll. James tackled him and they both rolled in the grass laughing. They caught sight of Remus giving them look of pure exasperation, before settling down on the grass and opening his Transfiguration book. Apparently, he was getting started on his homework.

This pleased Sirius and James more than annoying them. Remus was like that; he had been since the day the boys had met in their first year, and probably would be long after they had moved on from Hogwarts. Of course, that had never stopped the three of them from being friends. The three boys had been inseparable since the day they met, and their antics were often the talk of the school. James and Sirius were the two most well known and well liked characters that anyone had ever met. There wasn't a single soul in all of Hogwarts (except for maybe a few book worms or first years) that didn't know the two troublemakers. Remus, though he may not have been as well known as James or Sirius (he was not nearly as comfortable in a social situation as his two friends) was still quite well known for his unmatchable brilliance and understanding. Though much more studious than Potter or Black, Lupin had definitely been in his own troublesome situations, and had his fair share of detentions.

"Apologize Black!" James said, managing to get a hold on the collar of Sirius's robes. The two boys were wrestling playfully in the grass, and attracting the playful glares and laughs of many of the students around them. It was not unfamiliar to see the two boys at each other's throats. Though, it would be unfamiliar to see either of them brandish a wand at one another.

"Never Potter!" Sirius growled out, giving a short roll, and pining James underneath him, at his mercy and he knew it. James was, and had always been, much better with a wand then he ever would be with his fists. But as Sirius lifted his fist to deliver the finishing blow, and James began his hurried cries of surrender, Sirius's gaze was suddenly distracted.

A young girl, simple at first glance, her books under her arm and her raven hair pulled neatly back with a small white ribbon, seemed to have attracted his attention. Sirius was openly staring, and didn't seem to realise it. This girl…why had he never seen her before? He thought he knew every beauty in the school… why didn't he remember her?

He paid very dearly for his moment of distraction. James managed to get the upper hand yet again, and flipped Sirius over onto his back. Not expecting it, Sirius let out a small hiss of pain. Instantly, James got off him and looked at him with concern.

"Jeez Padfoot, I'm sorry mate. Didn't think I flipped you so hard! You alright?"

"Fine Prongs…" Sirius grumbled, sitting up and massaging the back of his head. He looked wildly over his shoulder for the raven haired girl; but she seemed to have disappeared from sight, blending in easily with the crowd of students on their lunch break.

"Who're you looking at anyway, Padfoot?" James asked, trying to see around the boy.

"The pretty girl with the black hair," Remus said, without looking up from his Transformation notes, but Sirius and James both caught the satisfied smile.

Sirius stared at him, mouth open in complete amazement, Remus never ceased to amaze him; it could read two books at once: his Transfiguration notes, and his friends. "You…you…"

"Saw you staring at her? Saw the drool practically pouring out the side of your mouth? Yep. I'm not completely blind, you know. I just pretend to be," Remus glanced up to give Sirius and James a wry smile, and then returned to his Transformation homework.

James chuckled, and then turned back to Sirius, "So, tell me about her mate," he said, placing his arms behind him, open palm so that he could lean on the grass, and then crossing his legs as if expecting a story. He had given up trying to spot the girl. He was easily distracted that way.

Sirius, still a little bit thrown off guard, look at James and attempted to give him a sly grin. He failed horribly and he knew it, so he just stuttered out, "She was…wow." He seemed to have lost the use of his vocabulary.

James nodded approvingly, "Wow is always an excellent place to start mate. Evans is wow."

Sirius rolled his eyes, and settled into a relaxing position in the grass, "Must you relate everything to Evans?"

James nodded calmly, and then continued, "So tell me about your 'wow' girl."

"That's the thing," Sirius said, dropping the Evans matter without a second thought. James had been infatuated with Lily Evans for the past two years, and she had made it very clear, using a few choice words, that if she was interested in dating a fat-headed moron, she would go looking for a troll. Unfortunately for her, that just made James want her more. "I didn't recognise her."

Both James and Remus looked at Sirius for a moment, their expressions unreadable, and then they both burst into laughter.

"Oh yeah, sure," James said through gasps of merriment, "Because you know every single face in the school!"

Sirius glared at him, "Well, at least I recognize every face in the school. This is no first year we're talking about Potter!"

Remus chuckled quietly until he calmed himself down a bit, and then he looked at James seriously, "Padfoot does make a good point. He does know a lot of people in this school, and it does come as a bit of a surprise that he doesn't even recognize this one."

"Quite," James said, thinking carefully, "Perhaps she's an exchange student."

"Doubtful," Remus said. He furrowed his brow, and scratched something out with his quill, "I would've heard about it."

"Maybe it's a…just-moved-here-last-week-from-overseas transfer?" a soft and somewhat squeaky voice piped up from nearby. All three boys turned away to hide their annoyance as Peter Pettigrew joined them.

"How long have you been listening in?" Sirius growled. He never much cared for Peter Pettigrew. He didn't have much use for fools. But James had always enjoyed having someone to show off for, so he put up with the little rat.

"Peter," Remus said airily, giving Sirius a hard glare, and glancing up enough to move some books away from the grass nearby so that Peter had somewhere to sit. "Have a seat. And no, that's also quite impossible. Those kinds of things are planned much in advance."

"Not always," Peter said softly, avoiding making eye contact with the three boys.

"Yes always Peter. Magic works out that way," Remus said irritably. It was obvious he was now having difficulty concentrating on his essay, and that was greatly annoying him.

"But Remus, nothing is certain in life," Peter argued, a little bit more force coming through in his voice. Sirius watched, interested, as Remus grew more and more agitated with Peter. Remus, though he tried very hard to hide it, had quite the temper if you angered him enough.

"That's the Muggle in you showing its stupid face again Peter," Remus said, tossing his notes aside to glower at him, "Not everything is certain, no. But she would have had to be sorted, correct? Thus, I would have heard about it. Or the school would have seen a very old looking first year standing with the rest of the crowd." Satisfied that he had won the argument, Remus Lupin leaned back and turned once again to his Transfiguration notes, "Besides Wormtail, the chances of Hogwarts accepting a student on a transfer are incredibly slim. The girl would have had to finish her education at her other school anyway."

"But what if her dad just lost his job, and they had to move very suddenly very far away, and she couldn't keep going to her old-" Peter asked.

"Hey," James said suddenly, sitting up, and distracting Remus, who had just gone for his wand, and was menacingly pointing it at Peter's throat. "Who's that girl sitting with Evans?"

Three pairs of eyes turned simultaneously over to where James was staring. Sirius did a double take. It was her; the raven haired girl that he had seen earlier. He could not hold back his gasp of shock, nor could he look away.

The two girls were sitting there, laughing, working on some sort of homework. Occasionally, one of them would whisper something, and the other would sit up and stare in shock. They sent occasionally glances around to all the guys nearby, including James and Sirius. When they saw they were being looked at, they rolled there eyes, and began to mutter to each other, sometimes giggling. There didn't seem to be anything strange, or different about what they were doing, and it looked like they had been friends for years.

"Earth to Sirius," James said teasingly.

"What?" Sirius said, still unable to pull his eyes away from the raven haired girl. He wondered what colour eyes she had. It was impossible to tell from this distance.

"That's the girl, isn't it?" James mused, "Well, she's not bad, I suppose…"

"Are you blind Potter?" Sirius asked, "She's beautiful."

"She's probably a Ravenclaw," James said dismissively, sitting back and grabbing a spare piece of parchment from Remus, as well as a spare quill. "Only Ravenclaws would actually be working on a day like today. Isn't that right, Remus?"

"Only Ravenclaws," Remus said automatically, having returned to his Transformation's essay. He glanced up in time to swat James's hand away from some of his crumpled attempts. "Do your own work Potter!"

"Okay, okay!" James said, flashing his brilliant smile, and looking down with mild interest at the blank piece of parchment that he had pulled out of his bag. He wasn't really interested in doing homework on his lunch break. "I don't know mate," he said to Sirius after a moment, "Whatever you think."

"Do you even know who she is?" Peter asked, in a naïve tone that almost sounded as if he was attempting to poke fun at Sirius. Coming from anyone else, it would have been a joke…but Peter wasn't friendly enough with Sirius to get away with that kind of thing.

Sirius resisted the urge to hex him, and glanced up at Remus. After a moment, Remus looked up and saw Sirius staring. He rolled his eyes and said bitterly, "From my experience, when you don't know who someone is, the easiest way to find out is to ask them!"

"No," Sirius corrected, "The easiest way is to ask your mates."

"Well we don't know any more about her than you do Padfoot," James drawled, starting on his essay. His quill flowed over the parchment so easily that anyone else would've sworn that he was only pretending to write. Sirius knew better than to question the quality of James's work though. James never did rough drafts; the words just sort of flowed out of him, and he always had quality work.

"Are you going to go for it?" Peter asked Sirius in slight awe.

Sirius thought about this for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. "Nah," he said, reaching over to also grab and extra quill and piece of parchment from Remus. "I'll hook up with her later."

"No doubt," Remus said dryly. "And next time, bring your own quills and parchment."

"Hey, I'm a Black," Sirius said airily, his quill now holding a race against James's, "Black's always get what they want."

"Look at you, all proud of your family heritage," James teased.

"Shut up Potter, or I'll pour this ink bottle down your throat."

"I'd like to see you try it Black."

""If you're just going to waste it anyway, you might as well give it to me," a soft female voice said from above them, "I'm all out."

Rolling his eyes at the interrupting, Sirius looked up to tell the intruder just what she could do with the ink bottle, when he found himself staring into the most intense and astounding blue-grey eyes that he had ever seen.

"Ah, buh, guh…ink?" Sirius managed to stutter out, amidst laughs from the others sititng around him.

"Yes, ink," The raven-haired girl said, rolling her eyes. She seemed to have left Lily and wandered over while the boys weren't paying attention, "You could give yours to me, since I have run out, and you're just going to waste it."

Sirius stood up slowly; regaining control of his vocabulary piece by piece, "An interesting proposition…" he said. At full height; he was just about a head taller than the mysterious girl. From about a foot apart, he could tell that she just reached the bottom of his chin. "But if you want this ink bottle…it's going to cost you."

The girl rolled her eyes, as Black had known she would. Being well known around the school meant that every girl knew your lines and attitude. Each and every new face he met would know what he was planning before the words left his mouth. In fact, if you didn't know the attitude of Sirius Black…you just weren't a Hogwarts student. Remus often mused that since so many girls still agreed to go out with him, this attitude must be something that grows on you with time, and turns into something pretty eventually. Like fungus.

"What's it going to cost me Black?" the girl asked. She did not seem to be very impressed, or happy with his actions. Sirius wasn't too worried though; she'd be giggling madly by the end of his speech. They always were.

"Oh…not much…" Sirius said, moving closer to the girl, allowing his natural flirtatious charm to take over. It was much easier to talk to girls when he didn't think about what he was doing. "Just a little kiss." He smirked.

"Forget it," she said, shoving him out of her way, and turning to leave, "I'll borrow a bottle of ink for someone else, for goodness sake!"

There was no way that she was getting away that easy. Black always got what they wanted.

Sirius reached over and grabbed her arm. It amused him how quickly she responded to his touch, but the fire in her eyes was somewhat frightening. "Come on baby, I'm Sirius," he said, using the sound of his name to his advantage. He leaned in close, and said in a soft whisper, "especially about wanting you to kiss me."

No amusement in her eyes at all. This was new. "Clever," she said sharply. "So, what, now I'm supposed to giggle girlishly, and then fall to my knees and worship the very ground you are standing on?"

Without missing a beat, Sirius replied with his familiar smirk, "That would be nice, but it is not necessary."

"Oh please, allow me," the girl said, rolling her eyes. And with that, she let out a (very realistic) shrill girlish giggle and then fell to the ground at Sirius's feet. Very surprised, and unsure of how to handle this new development, Sirius moved to step back, when suddenly the girl did a forward summersault and drove her feet into his knees. Sirius immediately lost his balance and fell over, and the young girl, with barely a pause, turned her forward roll into a backwards one, and nimbly stood up, completely unharmed and unperturbed. Quick as a flash, their roles had been reversed. Sirius found himself gasping in pain, and staring at the small black shoes of the girl who had captured his heart.

She leaned down, and took his chin in her hand. Sirius swore inwardly as she pulled up his face so that she could look into his eyes. Her expression had changed, and was now as soft as the fingers holding onto his jaw. Sirius was furious to see the amusement dancing in her eyes. "Three words Black," she said calmly, "I'm not interested." And with that, she kissed him right on the lips, wrenched the ink bottle from his hands, and turned and marched back to where Lily Evans was killing herself laughing.

Sirius just sat there for a moment, completely and totally stunned. Never in his entire life had a girl actually rejected him, kissed him,and then walked away. In fact, he didn't think he could name one girl in the school who had ever dared to reject the incredibly Sirius Black. Maybe in his wildest dreams.

And, even in his wildest dreams, he had never expected her to kiss him after she had rejected him.

"Bloody hell," Black tried to yell out after a few moments, but it came out as a muffled whisper. Apparently, he was still not in control of his vocal cords. He rolled over, and bumped into James, leaning against him for support while he got himself back under control, nursing his knees.

"Wow…Sirius…are-are you okay?" James asked. There was definite concern in the young boy's voice, but Sirius could see that it was masking an unmistakeable amusement.

"That is no Ravenclaw!" Sirius spat out, "She must be a bloody Slytherin!"

"Cheers mate," James said, giving him a light shove. Sirius, wincing at the pain in his legs, forced himself into a sitting position. "Unfortunately for you, I know for a fact that Evans would not hang out with a Slytherin," he paused thoughtfully, "You're right about her not being a Ravenclaw though, I'll bet. I don't think there's a Ravenclaw in the school with the guts to stand up to you," he paused, as the realization dawned on him, "And there is most definitely not a Hufflepuff in the school that could."

"She is NOT a Gryffindor!" Sirius spat out.

Suddenly, Remus snapped his fingers in triumph. James and Sirius glanced over expectantly, and were rewarded by the look of glee on Remus' face. "I knew I recognised her!"

After a pause, Black hissed out, "Well, go on! Don't leave us in suspense!"

"Sabryna Prince!" Remus said triumphantly.

Sirius and James looked at Remus for a moment as if he had lost his mind, gazed at each other uncertainly, and then looked back at Remus with blank looks on their faces.

"Oh come on," Remus said irritably, "she's in several of our classes…or was last year…" he paused, thinking how best to explain her. "She was very plain…and very quiet." His voice trailed off as he suddenly thought of something, but the two other boys could tell that he was hesitant about revealing what he had just remembered.

"What Remus?" James asked, curiously.

"Oh…nothing…it's nothing. Probably won't help you remember a thing…"

"Are you TRYING to be cruel Remus!" Sirius barked out impatiently, trying and failing to hide the fact that he was hanging on to Remus' every word as if it was the answers to one of Professor Ashland's test, which everyone knew were ones that you spent every night of the entire week before studying for.

Remus looked at Sirius in a way that clearly suggested, 'you're going to regret this…' and then said, in a soft undertone, "She's Snape's twin sister."

Suddenly recollection spread over their faces like wildfire, and they instantly turned back to look at the girl again, "Bloody hell, you're right Moony!" James said in disgusted awe.

Remus didn't look pleased with himself, and returned to working on his essay again. Peter Pettigrew looked from each boy to the girl in a mixture of shock and awe.

"Thankfully, she looks nothing like him," Sirius said, after a moment.

"Course she doesn't, she's a Gryffindor, he's a Slytherin," James said; then he chuckled, "Wouldn't THAT be a fun way to destroy ol' Snivelly! Date his twin sister!" he smacked Sirius on the back, "You've got my approval mate."

Remus rolled his eyes, and reached for a couple of wind-blown pieces of parchment, "I do believe it's just about time to be going to our next class…and I don't believe we have similar ones?"

"We've, well, Sirius and I have got potions," James muttered. "And I know a few choice Slytherins who will be in that class."

"Alas, and I have Muggle Studies," Remus said with a small eye roll, "With…" he looked around, "where'd Peter run off to?"

Sirius shrugged, "Probably forgot his books or something. Come on, let's go to class."

"I still can't get over it Bryn! You are without a doubt the most…I don't know…I don't even think 'coolest witch ever' is enough to describe you at the moment!"

"Hardly," Sabryna Prince and Lily Evans were sitting together in Charms class discussing the lunch time events. Professor Flitwick had them working on Summoning and Banishing Charms again, because most of the class had failed it on the pop quiz earlier that day. Apparently, most of the students had forgotten their fourth year magic skills at home over the summer holidays. Lily and Bryn, both Prefects and model students, had long mastered the simple spells, and could thus carry on an easy conversation without too much worry of being overheard. "I was going for 'supreme ruler of the school'. But, I suppose I'm never going to get that title. Black will recover his dignity, after all. I'll have to savour this brief moment…or hopefully, day with having him in his place."

Lily laughed happily, "You should've seen the look on his face as he fell!" she smiled wistfully at the thought, "Ohhhh! I wish Muggle camera's worked here! I would love to be able to see it again."

Bryn smiled, and nodded sadly, "My only regret is kissing him," she said softly.

Lily immediately softened her expression very serious. "You still…"

Bryn sighed, and calmly summoned and banished her cushion. "I really don't know anymore. I didn't think so when I was talking to him…but then when I kissed him…" she sighed, exasperated. "I guess old habits die hard."

Lily gave her a weak smile, and hugged her gently. "Don't worry Bryn; it'll all work out in the end."

"Meaning I'll get over him, or will eventually give into his temptations?" Bryn teased.

Lily smiled, "There is only so much you can take, love," she smiled wistfully, and Bryn knew that she was thinking about James Potter, "And then you cave to the sheer beauty of it all."

"Beauty?" Bryn asked with a short laugh, "Nope, not me. I'm proud to say that I got over Sirius Black over the summer Evans."

"After liking him for five years, you finally decided to get over him," Lily nodded, "I'm very proud of you. Unfortunately, I know it isn't as easy as that." She smiled knowingly.

Bryn sighed, "I wish it was."

Lily gave her a soft smile, "So do we all. Unfortunately, our hearts dictate who we love, and not our heads. If our heads dictated it-"

"You probably still would have fallen head over heels for James Potter, and I would still be stuck on Sirius Black," Bryn finished.

Lily blinked at her, and then laughed, "It's true," she said, banishing and summoning a cushion, "We're hopeless cases. Stuck with a case of jerk fever that we just can't shake."

Bryn nodded, and then said, "Do you remember what Professor Slughorn said this morning in Potions?"

Lily nodded, "Our first project of the year. Who do you think you're going to get paired up with?"

Bryn shrugged her shoulders, "Just as long as it isn't Black or Potter I think I can deal."

Lily laughed, "With our luck, I'll get paired with Black and you'll get paired with Potter!"

Bryn laughed at the thought, "Yeah, that'll probably be the case. The ultimate in irony!" she grinned, "Of course, it would give us an excellent excuse to work together. Then you and I could do two projects together, rather than one alone."

"True," Lily said with a grin, "Because you're absolutely right; those two numbskulls won't help out if they don't have to."

"They aren't stupid," Bryn agreed, "Just lazy."

Lily laughed, and nodded, banishing another cushion as Professor Flitwick came around to check on their progress.

"How are you doing ladies?" He asked cheerfully. His voice had an odd high pitch to it, but not squeakily so, and his hair was only just starting to go chalk white.

"Quite well Professor," Lily said cheerfully, demonstrating by banishing and summoning another cushion expertly.

"Professor, when are we going to move on to this year's spells?" Bryn asked, her voice showing some of her annoyance and frustration.

"As soon as I am confident that the whole class will be able to keep up with me, Ms Prince," he said cheerfully. "Don't worry; once we start moving on, it'll come back to them quickly enough. But summoning and banishing charms are very important, I thought I might as well dedicate a class to relearning them," he smiled brightly at the two girls, "carry on!"

And Professor Flitwick moved on to check how the next group was doing, Bryn rolled her eyes at Lily, who smiled sympathetically. Bryn was practically the opposite of Lily, personality wise. Where Lily was optimistic and patient, Bryn was easily frustrated, and incredibly pessimistic. Of course, Bryn would argue that she was optimistically pessimistic, in that she looked at the glass as half empty, but still containing some of the best tasting water.

It was with a heavy dread that Bryn and Lily slid into potions class the next week.

None of the students were very much looking forward to this assignment. If it was tough enough that Professor Slughorn would concede to them working in pairs, then it was most likely going to be either incredibly boring, or incredibly difficult. Or worse, both incredibly boring and difficult.

In fact, the only one who seemed to be really looking forward to the assignment was Slughorn himself. It made sense really; as head of Slytherin Household, he would of course be pleased with Gryffindor's impending doom.

"Good morning students," he said cheerfully, as they all filed into the dungeons. Both Bryn and Lily hated having potions in the morning; it was the most painful thing to slide into the freezing cold dungeons when all you wanted to do was go back to bed.

"Good morning Professor Slughorn," the class echoed dully.

"Are you ready to find out your partners?" Professor Slughorn asked with a big grin, organising some papers on his desk. There was a collective groan from the class, to which Slughorn smiled, "Oh come now…it's not that bad…I've been extra careful, and selected the students who I know will work best together." He smiled brightly at them, but if he expected any sort of reaction, he was sadly disappointed. He heaved a sigh, and said, "Well, best be getting on with it. Here are the partners…Lucy Malory and James Potter…Lily Evans and Jason Trollope…Bryn Prince and Sirius Black…Sophie Peters and Lisa Hubert…"

There were more. There were many more. Bryn did not hear them. All she heard, over and over again, were the words 'Bryn Prince and Sirius Black' 'Bryn Prince and Sirius Black' 'Bryn Prince and Sirius Black'.

"Wow…" Lily whispered, "Speaking of irony, did we even consider this possibility?"

Bryn attempted to speak, but no words came out. She wasn't sure if she was incredibly happy, totally shocked, or completely furious. Maybe a mix of all three.

"I mean sure," Lily continued, "It's going to be tough, but-"

"Tough?" Bryn scoffed, trying to brush it off like it was nothing now that she had regained use of her vocal cords, though inside she was squirming awkwardly, "I feel worse for you. You got Jason Trollope, while Lucy got James. As long as Black doesn't try anything stupid, we'll get along fine."

Lily shook her head softly, "Bryn, you're going to have to accept the fact that this is going to be hard for you. Sirius is not going to let up, and if you really don't want to be with him...you're going to have to learn to resist his allure."

Bryn rolled her eyes, "You mean his non-existent allure! Honestly Lily, I'll be fine."

"Whatever you say Bryn," Lily said, rolling her eyes, "But I think that even you realise that this is going to be a lot harder than you're pretending it'll be."

Bryn shrugged nonchalantly, and tried to hide her face. Lily caught it, but didn't say anything. They both knew that this was going to be really hard fro Bryn...considering that Sirius was actually beginning to pay attention to her...and she no longer wanted it.

"You know what's ironic?" Bryn asked softly, a small chuckle at the back of her throat, though Lily knew that it wasn't because she found the situation funny. "I swore that I would not spend this year pining over him. I swore this year would be different. I would pay attention to someone else that's been craving me that I've been too oblivious to see because I've been focused on Sirius...I wasn't going to allow myself to think about him. And this is the one year that he's even acknowledged my existence." Bryn chuckled, in a bitter sort of way, and looked over at Lily, who was simply sitting there, a look similar to pity, yet more caring plastered on her face. "You know what?" Bryn said suddenly, fiery passion burning in her voice, "Forget him. He is not worth it. Not worth it AT ALL! He is an arrogant jerk, who cares about no one but himself. And I'm through waiting for him to come around. And I don't want him to have the satisfaction of getting what he wants. If I can get through this project from Hell, than I know that I will be completely and totally over him," she smiled in a satisfactory way, "He doesn't deserve me."

Lily hesitated, choosing her words carefully, and then said, "Okay."

"Okay?" Bryn asked sceptically, "Is that all you have to say?"

"No," Lily admitted, "But it is all I am going to say."

"No," Bryn said harshly, "Say what you want to say!"

"No," Lily said simply, "You've made up you're mind. I'm not going to be able to change it with my simple thoughts."

"I don't want to have secrets in this friendship," Bryn said furiously, "Tell me what you want to say!"

"It's just..." Lily said, almost exasperated, she hesitated again.

"Spit it out," Bryn snapped.

"You and Sirius would be great together..." Lily confessed.

All that they could hear for a moment was the sound of Professor Slughorn's voice calling out the last of the pairs, and the sound of students as they got together with their partners. Neither James nor Sirius had bothered to approach the two girls yet.

"You specifically asked to hear it. You cannot blame me."

"I can, and WILL blame you Lily Evans. How. Dare. You."

"Bryn...you're overreacting. Again."

"I am NOT overreacting! You're all against me!"

"Bryn. Calm down, please."

"Calm down! I am perfectly calm Lily!"

"Let it out Bryn."

"LET IT OUT!" Bryn whispered loudly, not caring any more who was looking at her. "Alright! I'll let it out! Since year one, I have wanted nothing more to be that pretty girl on Sirius's arm. One of them! One of the one week wonders! Because, for that one week, it would be...but no! Instead, I get to be another one of his fangirls, another one of the ridiculous girls who have been intoxicated by him, and are doomed to forever wonder that if maybe, just maybe, we had tried something else, gotten his attention, then maybe, just maybe, we could be the one to tame his heart." Bryn stopped, and looked at Lily wild eyed, "And now, look! I have a chance! And I can't stop thinking about all those years of rejection. All the times that I stopped him in the hall just to talk, and he blew me off with a, 'oh...hi. It's Bryn, right?' And I feel this need to stand up, and let HIM suffer rejection. Even if it's just once in his lifetime."

"There is nothing wrong with that Bryn."

"But in the process of teaching him a lesson, I'm keeping from myself the one thing that I've wanted since I can remember," Bryn growled out, "WHY!"

"The eternal struggle of womanhood Bryn," Lily said, pulling Bryn into a gentle hug. "Don't worry Sabre-tooth; it'll all work out in the end." Lily smiled softly.

Bryn smiled weakly through her tears, "There's no need to bring childhood nicknames into the mix."

"There's always a need to bring childhood nicknames into the mix doll," Lily teased, "Perhaps I should share that one with Sirius. There's no way that you could resist the allure of a sexy crush calling you, 'Sabre-tooth'." She winked.

With a light laugh, Bryn punched Lily lightly in the arm, and then glanced around. Most of the students were paired up already. James and Sirius were still sitting off to one side, glancing over occationally and waiting for Lily and Bryn to make the first move. Bryn sighed softly. "Come on Lily," she said, "We better not keep the boys waiting."

"NO Sirius," Bryn sighed, exasperated, running both hands through her hair, and resting her elbows on the table in the library, furiously pushing Sirius's arm off her shoulder, "We are here to STUDY. I am not interested in your kissy face games. You hear that Sirius? NOT. INTERESTED."

"Oh come on Bryn," Sirius whispered, in what he assumed was a seductive manor, "You know you want me."

Bryn rolled her eyes and turned back to her potions textbook. She tried for a moment to read the ingredients list, but the words were all blurring together as she felts Sirius's fingers slowly sneaking their way up her leg.

Her hand flew up without warning and struck Sirius's face sharply. "Quit it Black," she growled, "I'm here to study."

"Well, you picked a fine specimen," Sirius said, chuckling and leaning back in his chair, smirking at her playfully. "Do you want to start with my feet, and work your way up? Or would you rather start with my head and work your way down?" He winked at her playfully. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Are you going to help me with this assignment, or am I going to have to do it myself?" she snapped.

Sirius rolled his eyes, and leaned over her shoulder to read the potions textbook, "So, what are we studying anyway?"

Bryn slammed her textbook shut, and began to throw her books in her bag, "If you honestly don't know what we're studying, which I know you don't, then I don't know why I even bothered coming here in the first place," she slammed her bookbag on the table so that she could shove the last few scraps of parchment in it, "You know what Black? Forget it. I'll finish the project myself."

"Heyy...come on," Sirius teased, reaching out his legs to block her exit. "Don't be like that. Hard to get is only so attractive for so long." He smirked so easily; he was so certain that she would be a puddle of melted Bryn within seconds.

The look on his face ignited two fires at once; thankfully, her desire to see him suffer was stronger than her desire to give in right then and allow him to have his way with her.

"Goodbye Sirius," she growled, tossing her bookbog over her shoulder with ease. It made a satisfying 'thump' as it hit her back. "When…no…IF you're ready to study...I'll be in the Common Room." And with that, she turned around easily and stormed out of the library, feeling her self-esteem raise with every step. She had shut down Sirius Black. THE Sirius Black; the boy that almost every girl in their year had lusted over at some point in time!

It felt really good.

"Bryn!" she heard him call out behind her, "Bryn, hey, wait up!" She didn't even look back; she didn't want to hear what he had to say for fear that he would convince her to do something she didn't want to do.

"Sabryna Prince!" Sirius bellowed, "Turn around and talk to me!"

Bryn did a double take; how did he know her last name? Scratch that, how did he REMEMBER her last name? Sirius didn't remember names. He NEVER remembered names! But she did not turn around, simply stopped and waited for him. She was ashamed to admit it, but he had sparked her curiousity.

"Look, I'm sorry..." Sirius muttered hastily, getting in front of her, both in an attempt to block her way, and so he could look her in the eye, "It's just...you're so much different than all the other girls that I'm used to. You're smart, talented, and unnaturally beautiful..." Bryn tried, yet failed, to keep the blush out of her face, "...and I really like you." Sirius finished hastily.

Bryn looked at him; it was so difficult, one of the hardest things that she had ever done, but she knew she had to do it. "I'm sorry Sirius," she said, allowing a bit of the sympathetic emotion to seep through, so as not to sound like a complete jerk, "But I'm only interested in finishing this project."

Sirius sighed, but his eyes still danced slightly, "Well, you'll just have to get used to me hitting on you all the time then, because I'm not letting you go without a good long fight." He tossed his arm around her lazily, "You'll come around in time Bryn, I guarantee it."

"You'd be surprised at just how much I can take, Mr. Black," Bryn said, firmly reaching up and pulling his arm off her shoulder, but she was surprised at the playfulness in her voice. "You'd be surprised."

"So would you, Miss Prince," said Sirius, his eyes smiling, "Now, if you really want to get this project finished, we should head back to the library."

Time passed slowly, almost endlessly for Bryn. She had given in, and treated Sirius as an acquaintance. It was somewhat difficult not to, considering how well he seemed to know her. Halloween was the worst for her; Sirius, trickster of the tricksters, had tried to show off for her at first...and then had given up and settled on just pranking her exclusively. She had had more tricks pulled on her that day then she had ever had in her entire life. But the worst part of it was...she had loved every second of it. Girls all over the school shot her dirty look after dirty look as she discovered fake spiders, or who knows what in her spell bag. Each and every one of them, she said the same thing to, "Quit it with that crap! You think I enjoy this!" But she couldn't deny it; she enjoyed every minute.

December was most definitely a relief for many of the students. After months of hard work, most of the teachers finally decided that it was time to give the students a break. But it was one announcement that truly struck fear into Bryn's heart.

"This year," Professor McGonagall said stiffly, "We have decided that we would like to try to bring back an old Hogwarts' tradition; The Christmas Ball."

"Hey, Padfoot?" James's voice was oddly distorted.

"Mmhmm?" Sirius mumbled sleepily, without opening his eyes.

"You awake?"

"No."

"Good." Sirius was suddenly jarred awake by the sudden connection of his face to a pillow. He opened his eyes, dazed and confused, and saw James rolling around on the floor laughing.

On any other day, Sirius would've put such a strong hex on James, that Evans would've felt it. But not today.

Today was the day he was going to ask Sabryna to the Christmas Ball. His stomach contracted just thinking about it.

Sirius glanced weakly around the small room that he had come to know and love. The four poster beds that he had spent so much time in colourfully draped in the house colours of red and gold. He would never say it out loud, but silver and green would've been much more desirable house colors to have. Then again, he would much rather have Gryffindor colours than be in the Slytherin house.

"Hey…Padfoot…you okay mate?" James asked, his voice suddenly concerned. "I didn't hit you too hard, did I?"

"I'm asking her today Prongs," Sirius said. God, that can't have been his voice…could it have? It was so whiney and…pitiful.

"Aw…jeez man…" James said, looking awkward, "You don't tell me these things! Then I feel guilty because I can't help!"

Sirius smiled weakly. "Its okay mate…I'll just talk to Remus…"

James raised an eyebrow, "You sure that's wise mate?"

Sirius looked at him, "Why not? He's already got a date…"

"Yeah…but with your cousin…"

"I don't know if Narcissa is necessarily pure Black James," Sirius said, standing and stretching. He ran his fingers habitually through his shoulder-length black hair. "She is a Ravenclaw, after all…"

"Well…yeah…but she spent a lot of time with Lucius Malfoy when he was still in school…" James said, looking concerned.

"Remus is just taking her to the ball mate," Sirius said, reaching into his messy trunk and carefully picking out his robes for the day. "It's not like he's proposing. In fact, I don't think he even knows that we know yet."

James threw another pillow at Sirius. This time, he was ready, and caught the pillow before it hit him, much to James' disappointment. "I am aware of that Padfoot. I'm just concerned for our Mooney's well being. He hasn't been himself since he started fancying her, you know. And then she had to go and break his heart…"

"I've had to listen to him go on about her too James," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "I'm neither blind nor deaf."

"Could've fooled me," James said, suddenly icy. "All you can talk about is…" his voice went high pitched, "Sabryna Prince."

"All you can talk about is Evans," Sirius said, matter-of-factly, deliberately ignoring the icy tone. "We're just growing up mate."

James considered this, and then lowered his gaze. After a moment, he spoke, "I just hate how it seems to be pulling us all apart," he said, and Sirius could hear the hurt in his voice.

"Hey…" he said, sitting down on the bed next to James. "There is nothing and no one in this world who could ever replace you. You're my best mate, as is Remus, and the two of you always will be. No matter what."

James looked up at Sirius, a small smile playing on the corners of his mouth, "Really?"

"Really," Sirius confirmed, slapping James on the back, "Why would you ever think otherwise?"

"It's just this whole…girl fiasco…" James said irritably, falling back onto his bed, and glaring up at Sirius. "It was fine when I liked Evans, and neither of you were interested in any girl in particular. I mean, Remus had his thing with Narcissa…and Sy, and then you had your thing with that nut Lisa for a while…but nothing permanent. But now…" he sighed, trying to put his thought into words, "I know that I'm not going to leave you guys high and dry for Evans…but I don't…I can't…I'm no mind reader Sirius!" he spat out finally. "I don't know if you guys care as much for me as I do for…for you…" his voice faltered slightly.

Sirius looked at James with a completely serious expression, and said very carefully, "We do mate. I know for a fact that Remus would die for you, and so would I. We definitely care…" he gave James' shoulder a soft push, "So quit worrying, and help me figure out a way to ask Prince to the ball."

"Rise and shine sleepyhead, the sun rose hours ago!" Lily said, pulling the covers off Bryn's face and letting the sunlight cover her sleep filled eyelids. "Today is the day that Sirius Black is going to ask you to the ball. I can feel it in my bones!" Lily, who had been up since sunrise, was proving again that she was the complete opposite of Bryn, who was definitely a night person, and not even fully awake yet.

Bryn groaned, and pulled the covers up over her head in an effort to block out the sun. "What time is it?" she murmured sleepily, though the sound was somewhat muffled by the blankets.

"7:30, there abouts," Lily said pleasantly, pulling the covers off of Bryn causing her to convulsively shiver, and cuddle up in a small ball. "Come on sleepyhead! Sirius can't ask you to the ball if you won't get up!"

"What makes you think that Sirius is going to ask me to the ball?" Bryn asked, sitting up and wrapping her arms around herself for warmth.

"Are you joking?" Lily teased, sitting down next to Bryn on the bed. "You're gorgeous! And he's been pining over you for the past 4 months! Why wouldn't he ask you out?"

"Because he knows I'm going to say no," Bryn said bitterly, looking Lily right in the eye.

There was silence in the room for a moment, as Lily thought about this. Bryn knew that Lily had been really looking forward to Sirius and her getting together. But it just wasn't going to happen. Bryn was dead set in getting over Sirius Black once and for all, and there was nothing anybody would say that could change her mind.

"But why?" Lily asked finally.

Bryn thought about that for a good long while, and then, choosing her words carefully, she said, "Because he's not a commitment person. He's not ready for the kind of relationship I want. I'll just be another one of his puppets; he'll play with me until he gets bored, and then he'll toss me aside like a rag doll. Why would I want to put myself through that?"

Lily thought about this, and then began slowly, "Not to get your hopes up...but have you ever seen Sirius Black actually trip over his own feet to hold a door open for a girl? Have you ever seen him run across the entrance hall to help a girl who's tripped and fallen? I know I hadn't...until I saw him do it for you."

"Yeah, not to get my hopes up or anything," Bryn said sarcastically, but she was smiling. "Do you really think we might have a chance? To last longer than a month, I mean."

Lily smiled softly, "No guarantees...but I have never seen Sirius so obsessed with a girl in the entire time that I've known him. That may not be saying much...but I think it's worth something, personally."

Bryn was trying hard to hide her smile, "I wish I could believe it…"

Lily sighed, "Come on, let's go downstairs and get some breakfast."

"Sure," Bryn said with a small smile, standing slowly and grabbing some clothes.

She had never really been one to care what she wore, but it didn't really matter. She had really come out of her shell the past year. Her home life hadn't been the greatest, but once she had turned sixteen the year before she had moved out, and now lived at Lily's home with her parents. That had done wonders for her, and she had grown a lot over the summer. She knew that was one of the reasons that Sirius Black had finally noticed her.

Sliding down the railing that was on the side of the staircase, Bryn hopped off elegantly when she reached the bottom. However, Lily, who had never really gotten the hang of sliding down the railing, lost her balance at the bottom and came crashing down on Bryn. After recovering from the initial shock, both girls broke out laughing, and helped each other to their feet. Their laughing, however, was suddenly broken off by the sounds of kissing in the corner.

Neither Lily nor Bryn were particularly fond of public displays of affection. They could stand it if they absolutely had to. Molly Prewett and Arthur Weasley in third year was one of those relationships that you had to put up with, because it wasn't going away.

But Sirius Black and Cassie Malone were NOT considered the "cute couples they could deal with".

All it took was that split second. Lily could almost hear the sound of Bryn's heart breaking as she pushed past the students in the common room, pushed the portrait door open, and left.

As if on cue, Sirius took this opportunity to get away from Cassie. He staggered back, a look of absolute fury on his face, wiping his mouth furiously, and trying to find words to express how he was feeling. Cassie, somewhat confused, pushed forward to pull him in for another kiss, but was pushed back with so much force that she tripped and knocked over a chair.

"What is your PROBLEM!" Sirius finally managed to shout out to a very confused Cassie.

"Sirius, I-"

"You what? Thought that we could get back together again if you kissed me? We broke up for a reason Malone!"

"But Siri...we always get back together..." Cassie purred. She was standing now, reaching out to caress Sirius's shoulders.

He smacked her hand away, and pulled out his wand, "Back off." His voice sounded much like a snake about to strike an enemy. Cassie grew very frightened.

"But...but Sirius..."

"I'll tell you once more, so you better listen close. We. Are. Over." And with that, he turned and walked away to the stares of everyone in the common room.

Cassie watched him go, before bursting into tears and racing out the portrait hole. Lily didn't think that she would recover any time soon, and good thing to. The person she was worried about was Bryn.

It was funny how Lily knew exactly where Bryn would go. Pushing her way out of the portrait hole, she watched as Cassie raced down the hall after Sirius, who seemed on his way to the Great Hall, completely oblivious to the fact that Bryn had seen his little display with his on-again-off-again girlfriend. Lily went the other way, slowly climbing the stairs that led up to the owlery.

It was there that she found Bryn, carefully stroking all of the owls that were resting there. Since before Lily could remember, Bryn had always done better communicating with animals than she did with people. It was a weird trait that the young girl had.

Lily didn't speak. She merely watched Bryn carefully for any signs of a break down. Bryn wasn't crying, but she didn't look to be speaking much either.

"It's funny," Bry finally managed to say, "You can convince yourself of something so surely, but when it happens, you are just as surprised as if you never saw it coming."

"Oh Bryn..." Lily said, racing forward to give her friend a hug, as she broke into tears, "Sweetie...he wasn't kissing her. He gave her hell for it; if that helps...I still think that he likes you..."

"I know it was her that kissed him," Bryn muttered irritably, hugging her friend back, and trying to console her. Lily seemed to be taking it harder than Bryn was. "But it doesn't change a thing. It brought into sharper relief what I already know. Sirius is gorgeous. He is always going to have the most beautiful charming girls throwing themselves at him...and I highly doubt that he will find me pretty enough to stay with when the next one comes along. There is always going to be someone better than me…and I know that Sirius will always go for them."

"Hey..." Lily said softly, "If there's one thing to be said about Sirius...he has never cheated on a girlfriend. He's had plenty that have cheated on him, but he has never cheated on them. He's been...honest, when breaking up with them...but he has never cheated. Give him that much."

"Oh I know how honest he's been," she grumbled. "And that's what I'm worried about. I can't let him break my heart again Lily...I just can't." Her eyes narrowed, "He needs to be punished first."

"What did you have in mind?" Lily asked carefully, giving Bryn a judgemental stare, which she ignored.

"Peter Pettigrew," Bry said, a devious grin spreading over her face, "It's the perfect plan."

"So, Sirius, did you ask Prince to the ball yet?" James asked over breakfast the next morning.

"I did," Sirius said bitter, "She turned me down, as usual. But what bothers me is that she said that she was already going with someone else."

Remus's eyes widened in surprise and suspicion, "Who would possibly have asked her out? You've so clearly had her marked for the past month."

"Which has not pleased her," sniggered James, "I heard her asking Freely out the other day, he practically ran away from her, calling over his shoulder that he was not in the mood to be killed."

"So the question remains..." Remus said, brow furrowing, "Who would be stupid enough to ask out, or accept the offer from, a taken woman?"

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Peter," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, but moving his food tray over so that Peter could sit down.

"Not much Wormtail," James said, "We were just discussing who would be stupid enough to ask Sirius's girl to the ball," he smirked, "or accept her offer."

Peter's face went bright red, and he said very firmly, "Are you insinuating something Potter?"

James's eyes widened in surprise, "No!" then they narrowed, "Should I be?"

Now it was Peter's turn to squirm uncomfortably, "No...no, of course not..."

Giving Peter a look of curiosity, Remus turned back to Sirius and said, "Hate to be the barer of bad news mate...but maybe she was just...making up an excuse."

Sirius rolled his eyes at Remus, "Prince would much rather tell me that she didn't want to go with me. She may be a bitch, but she's honest one. She would tell me honestly that she wasn't interested. She wouldn't make up an excuse to spare my feelings."

"Excellent point mate," James said, grabbing a few more sausages, and stuffing his face with them.

Giving James a look of pure disgust, Remus continued to think. It was always amusing to watch Remus think. He lost sight about everything else, and would chew lightly on his bottom lip.

"So Moony, who're you taking?" Sirius asked, deciding it was high time he got off the subject. It wouldn't do to mope about it.

"Huh, me?" Remus asked, distracted from his thoughts, "Oh..." he blushed crimson, "I'm...I'm taking Narcissa."

"Narcissa?" Sirius asked, rolling his eyes, "As in my cousin Narcissa? Come on man, you could do so much better than her!"

"Yeah...yeah..." Remus said, blushing, "But she's just so..." he sighed.

James narrowed his eyes, pleased to get a chance to voice his concerns, "Are you sure you're making a wise decision? She broke your heart a while back..."

"I know..." Remus said softly, "But it's just one dance. It's not like I'm proposing!"

"Exactly what I said mate," Sirius said, punching Remus lightly on the arm. Remus smiled and blushed, then looked away. Then, quite suddenly, all knowing James turned to Peter, and said, quite casually, "And who are you taking, Peter?"

Peter let out his telltale squeak, and jumped nearly a foot in the air. Finally, he managed to gasp out, "No...no one. No one at all! I'm...I'm going stag!"

Remus and Sirius raised an eyebrow at James, and then turned to Peter, "Really," Sirius did not pose it as a question.

Peter let out a weird, and frightened chuckle, "Oh come on mates, do you really think any girl would have me?" he chuckled nervously again, and quickly grabbed his glass of pumpkin juice and drank from it deeply.

The three boys waited for him to finish, and then Sirius spoke, "Did you ask her, or did she ask you?"

Peter took a long time in replying, but then he spoke, with a confidence that surprised the others greatly, "She asked me," Peter looked Sirius right in the eye, and he looked genuinely sorry, "I'm sorry Padfoot, but I've had such a thing for her for the past two years…there was just now way that I was going to say no," he lowered his eyes, "You can't kill me for taking what you couldn't get."

Sirius raised an eyebrow in what most people with half a brain considered a very menacing way, and said very carefully, "Why would I kill you Peter?"

Peter brightened, for a moment, and then said, "So...so you're okay with it?"

"If you like a girl, go for it," Sirius said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, this is just too cool!" Peter exclaimed, enthralled with the sudden discovery that he wasn't on Sirius's killing list. He grinned from ear to ear, and quickly raced off; one could only assume he was going to tell Sabryna. Sirius glanced over the table quickly, and noted that Bryn hadn't even come to breakfast. He wondered weakly about that.

"You know…" James said suddenly, "What pretty girl, in her right mind, would ask Peter Pettigrew to the ball, when she was completely aware that Sirius Black was fawning over her like there was no tomorrow?" he easily dodged Sirius' weak punch, "Isn't that social suicide?"

"Maybe Peter has some sort of…attraction that we don't understand James," Sirius said bitterly.

"He doesn't," Remus said shortly, "If he did, he would've had a whole lot more girls." He smiled, "But I can see where you're going with this James."

"I can't," Sirius muttered stiffly, his thoughts drifting angrily over the thought of Bry with that…that…RAT!

"Think about it Sirius," James said playfully, "Who were you with in the Common Room this morning?"

"I was with…" Sirius trailed off, sudden realisation coming to the surface; a look of horror passed over his face, "You don't think…"

"She saw, and is now punishing you for ever thinking of being with another girl," James said, ruffling Sirius's hair playfully, "She likes you mate. She's doing this to make you jealous."

Sirius looked slowly from James to Remus and back again. A large smile spread slowly across his lips, and with it his appitite returned. He returned his attention once again to his forgotten breakfast, the day looking considerably brighter.

"There's the old Sirius," Remus said playfully, smiling at him.

"I can't believe you actually asked Peter Pettigrew to the ball," Lily said over the top of the Shrinking Potion that they were making. She and Bryn were the only ones that had managed to turn their potion green so far. It was remarkable how far behind their class could fall.

"I can't really believe it myself," Bryn admitted weakly, "All I could think about was that I needed to ask someone that was going to torture Sirius to no end. How about one of his best friends…the one that NEVER gets the girl?"

Lily glared at her, "He really likes you, you know. This is no way to repay him."

"I really liked him you know," Bryn snapped back, "And how did he repay me?"

Lily paused, "I wasn't talking about Sirius."

Bryn glared at Lily for a moment, and then lowered her eyes. She let out a long, low sigh, and then said, "I'm amazed at how low I'm willing to stoop just to inflict pain on Sirius."

"So you are punishing him then," Lily said. "Punishing him for daring to actually like you. Well, I'm sure he'll never make THAT mistake again."

"I'm punishing him for a lot of things," Bryn said sharply, glaring at Lily, and then she sighed softly, "Actually, I don't really know why I'm punishing him. Only that…that I feel he deserves it."

"Suit yourself sweetie," Lily said, as she stared in wonder at the nearly perfect potion in front of her, "Bryn, what does your brother teach you?"

"Just how to make wicked potions," Bryn said with a soft smile, glad to be off the subject of Sirius, and she finished stirring the potion. "There, and we've got 15 minutes to spare. Gah, Serverus is brilliant, wouldn't you say so Lily?"

"He'll be a Potions teacher someday," Lily agreed pleasantly, "Good thing too, Hogwarts could use a new teacher." She rolled her eyes, "Slughorn is just annoying."

"It is pretty bad," Bryn agreed, as she saw Slughorn coming over to inspect their work. "Especially if he likes you."

"Here here," Lily said, stifling a chuckle, as Slughorn announced to the class what fine potion students Lily and Bryn were, and how everyone would do well to follow their example.

All too soon it seemed it was the night of the Christmas Ball. Much to everyone's surprise, Sirius Black did not even bother to secure another date. He was asked by every available girl in their year, and didn't bother saying yes to any of them. James asked him about it one night.

"It's like this mate," Sirius had confessed quietly, "It just doesn't feel right, leading these girls on anymore. I don't like any of them. But I really…really like Prince. I don't know why, she's just so…" he trailed off, falling back onto his bed, and then said, so quietly that James wondered if he had heard correctly, "I think she might be the one, James."

James sat down for a moment, completely stunned. He could speak…it seemed that words would just be too much to say at this point. Finally, when he could hold in his question no longer, he blurted out, "But…Sirius…are you sure?"

Sirius had chuckled weakly, "I've never been sure about anything mate…but the thought of ever being with any girl except her is something that…that won't even cross my mind anymore. And the thought of her ever being with another guy is almost too much to bear…" he chuckled darkly, "If Peter and I were ever friends in the first place, I don't think there's a chance of it ever happening again."

James chuckled weakly, and leaned in to look closely at Sirius's love struck face, "Go for it mate. I think she feels the same way."

The Ball itself was quite dull. Sirius had never been into dancing much, and after a time got quite sick of having the girls throwing themselves at him. He couldn't find Bryn anywhere, and thus decided that this dance had been a spectacular waste of his time. Shooing away the last of the girls, he turned to find James and Remus and let them know he was going to bed, so that they could tell all the girls who asked about him.

"I'm going," he said shortly, when he found Remus. His eyes fell on Narcissa's pale form. She looked quite pretty in her silver dress, the Black in her coming out strongly. She smiled lightly at him, which he returned with a nod. Sirius had always found Narcissa very weak; she did all that was expected of her, and longed to please everyone. She was destined to be a true Black, regardless of the fact that she had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Sirius had long ago decided that she wasn't someone to grow attached to. In fact, he had decided that all of his family, including his own brother, were not people to grow attached to, not matter how appealing they seemed to be. He and his cousin Bellatrix had once been close friends; but she had turned on him when the going got tough, telling him later that it was the "Black way". It was then that he had decided that he wanted nothing to do with the "Black way", even if it meant turning on his own family. It was why he had been sorted into Gryffindor house, instead of Slytherin.

Remus nodded to show Sirius he had heard, and then said in a low undertone, "Bryn seems ready to go too. She's been pushing at Peter all night," he smirked playfully, "She doesn't seem to be having a good time."

Sirius's thoughts brightened a bit at that, "You've seen her then?"

Remus nodded, "She was over there at the punch table a few minutes ago, talking to James. He and Lily went off to get drinks a while back."

Sirius smiled, and headed over to the punch table. Sure enough, there was James and Lily engrossed in a heated conversation. From the look on James's face, Sirius guessed that it was about Quidditch.

He caught James's eye and waved, not wanted to disturb their conversation. He saw James raise an eyebrow in curiosity, but nodded curtly and then turned back to his conversation with Lily. Sirius smiled; it was great that those two had finally gotten together. James had been infatuated with Lily since practically year one, and they were the favourites for Head Boy and Girl next year. With a small sigh, Sirius pushed the girls who were coming towards him away, and pushed out into the Entrance Hall.

The sight that hit his eyes was not a pretty one. Peter and Sabryna were sitting together on one of the benches that had been set up in the Hall. They hadn't noticed him yet.

Cursing his luck, Sirius pinned himself to the wall, hiding in the shadows. He didn't want to go past them, obviously so involved in a conversation. Didn't want to witness their first kiss…

…of course, he did want to hear what they were saying to each other…

"Peter, NO! It was a lovely night, but I don't want to ruin our friendship!"

"Come on Sabryna…just one kiss…I swear I won't tell Sirius…"

"This has nothing to do with Sirius Peter! It has to do with the fact that I don't want you to kiss me!"

"It's just one little kiss Sabryna…just one little…"

"Peter get off of me!"

"Shut up, bitch and kiss me!"

Her cry was suddenly muffled. Sirius could only guess what had happened.

He felt a fire burn up inside him that he had never felt before. He turned away from his hiding place, and began walking quickly towards Peter and Sabryna, pulling out his wand as he went.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Sirius hissed at Peter, and watched with some satisfaction as Peter's body went rigid and unmoving. He turned his eyes to Bryn, who was sitting there looking like she was about to cry, her face a mixture of shock, fear and repulsion. She looked up at Sirius with a mixture of something like relief…and disgust.

"I didn't need your help Black!" she snarled out.

Sirius didn't even bother to fight her, just stepped aside so that she could push past him back into the Great Hall. This surprised her.

"You're not going to say something stupidly macho?" she pressed, "Not going to argue that it seemed very clear that I needed your help?"

Sirius looked at her very clearly. He had wondered that himself. He sighed; he was too tired to get into another argument with her about something so pointless. Choosing his words carefully, he said, "Why bother? You're just going to fight with me anyway, and I'm too tired to fight you tonight."

"Too tired?" she said, but there was no hurt to her words, "Since when has Sirius Black been too tired to hold up an argument?"

"Since I met you," he growled, "Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to bed." And with that, Sirius pushed past a very startled Sabryna, and raced up to the Gryffindor Common Room, before he could do something stupid like confessing his love to a girl that obviously didn't return it.

"And then he just walked off…" Bryn told Lily later that night in the Common Room, "He just looked so…so shot down. I felt so bad…"

Lily took a moment before speaking, "Perhaps you've gone too far. That may have really hurt him, from the sounds of it."

"What can I do to make it up to him?" Bryn asked miserably.

"Well…" Lily began slowly, "You could date him…"

Bryn glared at her, and sighed, "I don't want to give in so easily."

"Well then what do you want to do?" Lily asked quietly.

Bryn sighed heavily, and looked out the window. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes, and she finally spat out, "Why did he have to start liking me Lily? I would've been so much happier if he had just gone on ignoring me forever!"

"No you wouldn't have," Lily said softly. She chuckled softly, "I remember how I used to wish that he would just look your way, just once, because I knew that if he did…" she trailed off, "There's just so much chemistry between the two of you! You're inescapably perfect for each other!"

"Perfect?" Bryn snorted, "Yeah right. There's no one in the world that is perfect for Sirius Black. Especially not me…" she burst into full out tears now, "He's the type who's going to be so involved in the upcoming war, that people will look back and say, 'Sirius Black? Oh wow…he really helped out…'"

"Sabryna Prince? She was that spy that gave us so much!" Lily argued. "She was married to Black! What a couple they made!"

Blushing furiously, Bryn looked up at Lily, "Lily Potter? Her son defeated Lord Voldemort alongside his father!"

Lily smiled weakly, and then leaned back on her bed, "Do you think we'll still be friends then?"

"Us?" Bryn said, smiling through her tears, "We'll be friends forever Lily, and don't you forget it!"

"Not just us," Lily said softly, "I mean all of us. James, Sirius, Remus…obviously, Peter's out of it for taking you to the ball, but still…you and I…will we still be friends in 10 years? Will the war tear us apart?" her eyes began to fill with tears, "I was talking to Lisa, 7th year, this morning. She was telling me about how her parents have sided with The Dark Lord. They've become death eaters. She was saying how she's moved in with her best friend Carol because of it…how many people that we've grown up with will side with him Bryn? How many friends will we lose?"

"Hush…" Bryn said softly, pulling Lily into a hug, "We can't think about that right now. Those are thoughts best saved for when we leave school."

Lily let out one last dry sob, and then nodded, wiping her eyes, "You're right. There's been enough crying tonight. Let's go to sleep."

"And excellent plan," Bryn said, wiping her eyes and smiling, "I was just thinking the same thing."

The next day passed in a blur to Bryn. She just remembered that Sirius practically shunned her at every opportunity, and that Remus wasn't in classes again. This was understandable, Remus had a sick mother, and left class once a month to visit her.

It seemed all too soon that it was time for dinner. Bryn tried to hide her sadness that Sirius hadn't even so much as looked her way all day, but it was really hard for her not to look crestfallen as he deliberately pulled James far down the table from her and Lily, even though it was obvious that James wanted to stay where he was. She was already downhearted; it was the last day before Christmas break, and she was one of the few students who was planning on staying at the school. The only other students in her year that were staying were Lily and James...and Sirius. She cursed herself for the sixteenth time that day for being so stupid as to take Peter to the ball. Her intention had been to upset Sirius...but now she greatly regretted it. After all, Sirius wasn't much of a mind reader. She hardly expected him to know that she had really wanted to be at the ball with him. She sighed wearily; sometimes life just came back and bit you in the butt. It wasn't fair.

After saying goodbye to all of the departing students (Peter would not be returning until March for his little stunt, and for that Bryn was eternally grateful to Dumbledore) Lily and Bryn headed up to the Common Room.

"Royal blue," Lily told the portrait of the Fat Lady. She swung calmly aside to admit them. The two girls slid inside the portrait hole in time to see Sirius and James stand up from their chairs and head up to the boys dormitories. Bryn couldn't help the few tears that slid down her face. She turned away to hide them...but Lily saw.

"Coincidence," she said gently, wiping the tears off Bryn's face, "It was a coincidence. He is just being a boy about this Bryn...but you're going to have to tell him if you want him to stop."

Bryn sighed, looking at Lily with a soft smile, "I can't tell him. I won't tell him. He is an arrogant jerk who doesn't deserve to win!"

"Granted," Lily said softly, "But you are not an arrogant jerk, and you deserve to get something that you want at least once. And you want Sirius Black. Here he is, presented to you on a silver platter, and you are rejecting him because you want to punish him for being arrogant!" Lily rolled her eyes, "You know, if you took what was being offered, you could punish him for being arrogant in completely different ways! I've heard withholding sex can be a powerful tool…"

"Lily!" Bryn burst out, shocked, her tone icy, "Just drop it, okay?" The look of shock on Lily's face made her instantly regret her words, and her expression showed that, but she didn't say anything else.

Lily moved to say something, and then changed her mind. Bryn obviously was under a lot of stress and pressure from herself, and Lily didn't need to add to it. She decided that it would be better to just leave her to her thoughts; she gave Bryn a small hug, and then headed slowly up to the girls' dormitories.

Bryn collapsed into a chair next to the fire and stared into the flames. If you had told her two years before that she would be crying because she had rejected Sirius Black, she would have told you you were mad. And yet here she was, wishing to Merlin for the answers to what she was supposed to do now.

She lost track of just how long she sat there, lost in thought. In fact, by the time she come back to reality, it was getting quite late. Knowing that Lily was probably not going to get to sleep until she came up to the dormitory, she slipped towards the stairs that led up to her room, when she suddenly heard a noise.

Making a sudden, very rash decision, Bryn slipped into the shadows, out of plain view from whoever was coming down the stairs. She was very good at blending in with a crowd.

Sirius and James came into view at the bottom on the stairs. They were perfect visions of troublemakers, with identical looks of mischief on their faces. James was holding a piece of silver cloth in his hands.

"All right, it looks clear," James murmured softly to Sirius, and in the same breath, he flung the silvery material over both him and Sirius, and they both disappeared.

Bryn held back her gasp quite well, considering the situation. An invisibility cloak! How had James Potter managed to come into possession of an invisibility cloak!

"Alright, let's go," She heard Sirius' voice say. She immediately made the decision to follow them.

She decided to follow them at a small distance, not wanting them to see her. She knew that, as long as she was quiet and careful, they would have no reason to look over their shoulder. Besides, the hallways were dark at night. As long as she kept to the shadows, the boys would never see her. She ignored the fearful shrieks of the Fat Lady as she slid out behind James and Sirius, as they did, and followed their footsteps through, and then out of the castle.

This is when she began to get a bit nervous. It was a lot harder to follow footsteps outside...especially in the dark. She soon lost track of Sirius and James, and didn't seem to be able to find them again. She was about to turn back and go back to her room to get some sleep, when she noticed something a bit out of the ordinary.

The Whomping Willow, a rather nasty tree that had been planted on the grounds the year she had come to Hogwarts, seemed to be awakening. The only reason she could think of was that it had heard something nearby. She became instantly fearful; they were going to break their necks! Literally! She quickly began to run in the direction of the tree, but what she saw made her stop in her tracks.

A stick seemed to be floating in mid air, just in front of the tree. The Whomping Willow was swinging its braches madly, trying to get at the stick, but it was cleverly avoiding getting hit. The stick quivered slightly (Bryn assumed it was heavy) and then slipped forward and pressed one of the knots on the base of the tree. The tree froze, unmoving, and the stick fell to the ground.

Bry was so amazed that she couldn't move. She almost forgot what she was there for...and by the time she had remembered the Whomping Willow had started to move again. Bryn walked, very nervously, over to the tree. She didn't really want to go back inside he castle, and she wanted to make sure that Sirius was safe...though she didn't really know what she could do to help him at this point. She didn't trust herself to be able to press the right knot in the tree without getting hurt, so she sat down on the grass in front of some nearby bushes to wait for Sirius and James to return.

She had waited for nearly an hour, and was beginning to think about forgetting Sirius and going back to bed. Or maybe they had returned and she had missed them...though she expected that she would've heard their shock at seeing her sitting there. Suddenly, she heard a soft sound that sounded almost like a growl come from the base of the tree. Then she saw movement at the base of the tree. She straightened herself up. She was a Prefect! That's why she was here. She was going to dock points off the two boys for being outside the castle after hours. Yes...that was it. And then the creature emerged from the tree...and such thoughts left her mind.

The werewolf growled again, and sniffed the air. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe...all she could think about was how stupid she had been for leaving the castle on the night of a full moon. Suddenly, the werewolf glanced over and saw her, and the only thing she thought was 'Run!'

And she did; she ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She could feel hot breath on the back of her neck, and she was struggling to hold back her screams, but failing. She was running so frantically, that she was surprised the werewolf hadn't caught up to her. She realized with a sinking feeling that it was playing with her. What a sick game. She screamed out for help that she knew wouldn't come, and then she tripped and fell.

The werewolf was on top of her, growling in her face. She screamed again; she had never been this scared in her entire life. She closed her eyes, waiting for the feeling of its teeth in her side. This was it...she was going to die, or be bitten...

Suddenly, a large black creature dove forward and knocked the werewolf off of her. The creature began to fight it; she could see it out of the corner of her eye. Sitting up quickly, she saw that her savoir was a large black and somewhat scraggly dog. The relief filled her body so completely that she almost forgot to get up and run.

When she remembered, she jumped to her feet and turned to go. She nearly smashed into a large and beautiful stag. She jumped back in surprise. It fell to its knees, giving her the obvious signal that she was supposed to get on and ride it. She didn't need to be told twice. Quickly jumping onto its back, she threw her arms around its neck, and allowed herself to be carried into the forest.

Trees whipped past her face; she lost all sense of direction. All she knew was that she was going to be alright. But as she was riding a sudden thought hit her. The werewolf had come out of the place where she had last seen Sirius and James go. And the chances of surviving a werewolf attack were very slim.

"Sirius..." she whispered into the stag's shoulder, "No..." she couldn't stop the tears that came crashing down her face like a heavy rainfall.

Suddenly, the stag came to a slow stop. He stood still in the middle of a large clearing, and Bryn got the hint that she was supposed to get off now. Sliding to her knees, unable to support herself, she continued to cry. The stag nuzzled her hair gently, in a way that told her that everything would be okay. Then it shot off through the trees, and she lost sight of it.

Bryn lost track of how long she sat there crying. Sirius...was he dead? Something told her no...but how could he have survived against a werewolf? Maybe he was the werewolf...the thought caused her pain, but it was the only way that he could still be alive...but could he have seen the moonlight under there? And why hadn't he transformed on the grounds?

Bryn lost track of her thoughts when she heard a soft growl somewhere behind her. She stumbled to her feet, and turned around, moving slowly backwards until she hit a tree. Worst case scenario was it was the werewolf again, and she would go off to meet Sirius in the afterlife..."Sirius..." she heard herself gasp out softly.

The growling stopped suddenly, and a moment later, the large black dog stumbled out from behind the trees. Bryn let out a soft sigh of relief, but was still anxious. Why had this dog saved her? She did not approach the strange animal.

Suddenly with a small 'pop' the large black dog transformed into Sirius Black.

Bryn gasped out in surprise and awe. He looked terrible! There were large gashes all over his body, and his eyes were somewhat bloodshot. But he was Sirius, and he was alive.

"Sirius!" she cried out, feeling the tears returning. She raced forward and threw her arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder.

Sirius was surprised, and returned the hug for a moment, allowing her to cry in his arms. Then he pulled away, and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look him right in the eye, "What are you doing out of the castle, and WHY were you by that tree!" he growled out angrily.

"I...you...you're an Animagus!"

"Yes. James and I have been Animagui since last year; he was the stag that brought you here. Now answer the question: why did you leave the castle?"

"I...I followed you out of the Common Room..."

"What on Earth possessed you to do that you twit! You could've been bitten! Or worse, KILLED!"

"Don't you think I'm aware of that Sirius?" Bryn said, as the tears began to fall again. She felt a strange mix of emotions inside of her: relief that Sirius was all right, anger at herself for not realising that Sirius and James were capable of handling themselves, and fear that Sirius would not care for her any longer, now that he knew what a pathetic little cry-baby she was.

Sirius moved to speak, and then stopped. He sat down and put his head in his hands, and let out a low growl that sounded almost dog like. He didn't speak for a moment, but then the words came out slowly, "What on Earth possessed you to follow us out of the Common Room?"

"I…I don't know!" Bryn managed to mutter out, wiping the tears away shamefully. She couldn't look Sirius in the eyes anymore. How stupid could she have been! Sirius and James were two of the smartest students in their year! How could she think that she could be of any help to them!

Sirius looked at Bry, his anger slowly ebbing away. In a moment he understood; she cared about him, and she didn't want to admit it. The idea shocked him, but filled him with a joy that he had never before experienced. Yet, he did not smirk. When he spoke next, his words were softer, "Do you know where you are?"

Bryn shook her head sadly, and Sirius saw to his great displeasure a few tears fall and hit the grass below her feet. And yet, he resisted the urge to walk forward and put his arms around her. He could not be sure that his gesture would be received well.

"You're at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, right near Hagrid's cabin," he said carefully, "If you walk over there for a few steps, you'll find a path. Turn left on the path, and follow it and you'll come out of the forest just in front of the castle," now he smirked, "It's a path that James and I discovered in our second year."

Bryn glanced up at him, and gave him a weak smile, "You would, wouldn't you?" Sirius could see the tears in her eyes. He longed to ask her why she was crying…and yet he didn't. She seemed so ashamed of her tears, and he knew that she would feel better if he said nothing.

After a moment, Sirius worked up the courage to ask her, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Bryn looked up suddenly, a look of complete surprise on her face, and considered this. Then, she softly shook her head, "I actually just want to sit here for a while…"

Sirius nodded, and smiled to show that he understood. "Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow, Sabryna." He turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Bry called out suddenly.

Sirius turned, one eyebrow raised in mild curiosity. Did she want to walk with him after all?

"I…" Bryn faltered slightly, a blush creeping onto her face. Sirius did not speak, merely waited for her to say what she wanted to say. "Goodnight, Sirius," she whispered softly.

Sirius smiled softly, "Goodnight Bryn," he murmured softly, and then he turned onto the path back to the castle.

Bryn turned away and threw herself happily down onto the grass, a small giggle escaping her throat. He still liked her. Sirius Black still liked her, even though he knew that she was a pathetic little wimp, he still liked her. The fates were trying to tell her something, trying to show her that the time to hide was past, and now it was time for the future. Their future. And she had never been more excited.

She heard a sudden rustling in the bushes. It startled her. She wondered curiously if Sirius had returned, not wanting to leave her after all! The thought made her ridiculously happy! She turned and smiled as the lone figure stepped out of the trees and into the clearing.

And as the moonlight hit his face, Bryn gasped out in fear, and stumbled backwards. For it wasn't Sirius at all!

It was Peter.

"Well well well," he said, licking his lips playfully, "Look what I found here in the woods. Someone's left a pretty little toy for me to play with. Finders keepers, you know."

"Bryn!" Lily's worried voice caused the guilt Bryn felt to rise horribly to the surface, "You've been out all night! I was so worried! And when I came down to the Common Room, you weren't there! And…oh…" Lily smirked as she saw a rather large bruise on Bryn's neck. "Oh, I see…"

Bryn looked at Lily once, and Lily saw absolutely nothing in Bryn's eyes. It was almost like the girl had forgotten how to cry.

Lily's smugness turned immediately to fear again, "Oh gosh Bryn, I'm sorry! I thought you'd be happy, I mean, Sirius is the desire of almost every girl in school…"

"Sirius didn't give me this…" Bryn said, "Sirius wouldn't take take take and leave only this as proof."

Lily's eyes widened in surprise, which slowly turned to an unspeakable horror. She put her arms around Bryn and pulled her close, "Oh Bryn…I'm…I'm so sorry…I didn't know…Shhhh…sweetie, it's going to be okay…we'll just find Professor Dumbledore and that little rat…oooohhhhh…he'll be expelled for this!" Lily was beginning to get angry. Carefully she led Bryn over to one of the Common Room chairs, "Shhh…Bryn, you just stay here…I'm going to go find James and Sirius…they left for breakfast about a half-hour ago…"

"NO!" Bryn shouted out, suddenly fearful, "He…he knows the password! What if he comes back! I can't do it Lily! I can't stand him! And he'll…he'll…DON'T LEAVE ME!" And quite suddenly, without warning, Bryn was coming dangerously close to hysterics, and Lily was beginning to get very frightened.

"Okay…okay, calm down Bryn…I…I won't go farther than the Fat Lady's portrait, okay? I'm just going out into the hall…"

"You're lying!" Bryn screamed, standing up suddenly, anger covering every crease in her face, "You're lying to me! You're going to go off and find Peter and then the two of you will have a nice laugh about my situation! I BET YOU PUT HIM UP TO THIS!"

Lily was horrified; she didn't know what to do. Bryn was losing herself very quickly and oh…Lily was not very good in these kinds of situations. She made a quick decision, and made a break for the Portrait Hole, Bryn right behind her. She slammed the Portrait shut in Bryn's face, feeling incredibly guilty about it, but knowing it was her only choice.

"Quickly!" she said to the Fat Lady, who seemed quite shocked to have someone leaning up against her Portrait.

"Now see here…all students with the password have access to…"

"Sabryna Prince has gone into hysterics! She won't listen to reason! Please, go get Madam Pomphry…or…or Professor Dumbledore…someone, anyone! She's going insane!"

"What?" the Fat Lady asked, suddenly worried.

"I NEED A TEACHER!" Lily cried out, and then she quickly said, "Ozbodikins!"

Out of habit, the Fat Lady swung forward to admit her, mumbling about how she needed to get to the Staff Room…one of the students was in trouble. When Lily had scrambled inside, Bryn was back in her chair, crying.

"Come to have another laugh at my expense?" she growled out when she saw Lily, "Come to admit that you aren't the perfect person you make yourself out to be?"

"Help is coming Bryn –" Lily managed to get out before she was cut off.

"WELL THEY'RE A LITTLE LATE!" Bry shouted out, "Peter is LONG GONE Lily, YOU'RE TOO LATE! I'LL KILL HIM…I KILLED HIM! HAHAHAHAHA!" Bry looked up at Lily with a maddened look in her eye, "And now I'll kill you."

Lily was now truly petrified. She couldn't move, couldn't speak. Her best friend was coming at her, wand raised, when suddenly.

"Petrificus Totalus!" cried out a sudden voice from somewhere behind her.

Bryn went suddenly rigid, and then fell to the floor face first. Lily could not stop shivering.

"It's alright, Miss Pot…erm…Miss Evans," said the new transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall. "It isn't your fault…"

"She…she was raped Professor," Lily managed to gasp out, "Last…last night, on the grounds."

Professor McGonagall was silent for a moment, and then said very clearly, "Who did it, Miss Evans?"

"Peter Pettigrew, ma'am…" she turned, "I know that must sound ridiculous, but I swear that he is still on the grounds somewhere! He has to be! Bryn just wouldn't lie! And it had to have been something big to throw her over the top like this…"

McGonagall held up a hand to stop her, and then turned as another person entered the Common Room. Madam Pomphry immediately went to Bryn's side, and rolled her over. "She'll be okay…she's just suffered a great shock…" Pomphry turned to Lily, "You did the right thing, informing the Portrait what had happened…but do you know what might have caused the shock?"

Lily burst into sudden tears. Placing a comforting hand on Lily's shoulder, Professor McGonagall spoke softly, "it is what Albus feared, Poppy. Someone should inform him immediately."

It was around midday before Sirius worked up the nerve to go see Bryn in the Hospital Wing. News had travelled quickly through the few students that had remained at school for the break, but Sirius never listened to gossip. A true mischief maker was on a first name basis with all of the portraits in the school.

"Sirius, did you hear?" Wendelin the Weird, a witch who had loved being burned with frozen flames during the times when Muggles burnt witches, asked Sirius as he made his way back to the Common Room after breakfast.

"I hear a lot of things Wendelin," Sirius had said, turning to face the witch. "What is the latest news?"

"Well, I haven't heard much...but the Fat Lady came bursting through her a while ago claiming that Sabryna Prince had gone into hysterics about something quite serious...well, serious according to Lily Evans..."

Wendelin had Sirius' full attention, something she was very pleased about, "Can you find out more?" he asked firmly.

"I can try..." Wendelin said, "Wait here." Sirius watched with mild interest as she raced off through the other portraits in the direction of the Fat Lady's portrait.

Nerves began to flood through Sirius. Bryn...what had happened? He shouldn't have been so careless as to leave her there in the forest...but he had assumed that it was safe after the clouds had covered the moon, and Remus had transformed back into a human. It had been so close to sunrise...

Wendelin returned quickly, and Sirius looked up, eager to hear what she had to say. "The Fat Lady wouldn't tell me much," she muttered, sounding annoyed, "But she did mention that the poor girl was raped just this morning, and that she is being taken to the Hospital Wing now."

Sirius was shocked by the news. He couldn't speak. He looked away from Wendelin without turning his body, and his mouth hanging open. He mumbled a soft thanks, and then raced quickly in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

But when he got there, and had his hand on the handle, he lost his nerve. She was obviously very distressed. What good would seeing him, the boy who had practically stalked her all year do? Plus, if she was truly in hysterics, she might not have given the name of her attacker. Sirius might be unjustly blamed. No...it would be better to come back later...when she had had a chance to calm down. He quickly walked away before someone opened the door...or he changed his mind.

When he finally did manage to get inside the Hospital Wing, both Lily and James were already there...and holding hands. Sirius smiled weakly, but it was mostly forced. As the door closed with a soft click behind him, all three students looked up and smiled. Lily and James stood up slowly, still holding hands.

"We'll come back later," Lily said softly to Bryn, "We have to...erm...talk to each other...without using words."

"Just our mouths," James said, with a soft smirk. Everyone chuckled at the lame joke, and the two lovebirds left the Hospital Wing, leaving Sirius and Bryn alone. Sirius was surprised to see that even Madam Pomphry wasn't around. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and approached Bryn's bed. He didn't make eye contact with her.

Bryn smiled weakly. She looked so helpless in her hospital gown, sitting up with covers to her waste; Sirius could hardly stand it. "It's okay," she said softly, her voice had an almost rasp to it, "I won't bite."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that," Sirius said before he could stop himself. He smacked himself on the forehead, and then said, "I mean, no, of course you won't bite!" he said sincerely, muttering a curse under his breath.

Bryn smiled and looked down at her hands, which were playing with the top of her covers, "You're blaming yourself for what happened."

"Of course I am!" Sirius burst out, "I should've stayed with you! The forest is a dangerous place! It wasn't right of me to leave you there unattended!"

"You were respecting my wishes," Bryn said softly, still not meeting his eyes, "by your logic, it's my fault for sending you away."

"No, of course not," Sirius said, kneeling by her side and taking her hand. Her eyes stayed over to see him looking right into hers, and she did not pull away. "I shouldn't have listened to you. I should've stayed."

"Don't try to take the blame for this Sirius," Bryn teased, "I know Peter is your friend but –"

"Peter!" Sirius spat out, "Peter did this to you! I'll kill him!"

"Shhh..." Bry said softly, putting her hand on his shoulder and softly rubbing it. Sirius calmed down somewhat, but was still angry, "Allow him to take responsibility for his own actions. You can't take responsibility for him; he has to grow up sometime."

Sirius sighed heavily, and looked at her hands, "I suppose you're right," he admitted, "I just feel so bad..."

"I just feel embarrassed," Bryn admitted. Sirius was amazed to hear the honesty behind the words, and looked at her in surprise. She avoided his gaze, but he was still amazed that Bryn was being honest with him. "I can't believe I let myself lose control like that." Her eyes suddenly widened, "I mean when I went into hysterics, not when he… "

Sirius looked at her incredulously, "It was a big deal Bryn! You had every right to lose control!" He closed his eyes in anger, "If I had only been there..."

Bryn began to rub his shoulder softly again, "I know that you wish you could've been there to save me. I wish that too. But unless you have a time turner somewhere...it isn't going to happen. And even then it's unlikely. And that's okay Sirius...really, I'm just glad that now he'll be expelled. And good riddance."

Her hand on his shoulder brought Sirius to the realisation that he was still holding her hand. He quickly let go and stood up, turning away and brushing his hands on his robes in what he hoped was an innocent boyish way. His blush was evident on his face though, and it gave him away.

"Sirius," Bryn said in soft surprise, "are you blushing?"

Sirius looked at her with the intention of denying it, but the 'no' melted like ice on his tongue as he looked into her eyes. "Yes..." he muttered out weakly.

"But...but..." was all Bryn could say. She was at a loss for words, "You...you never blush!"

Sirius gave her a wry smile, and then said carefully, "You never cry."

Bryn thought about this for a moment, and then smiled. Her smiled grew into a giggle, and then into a laugh, "You have a point!"

Sirius grinned at her playfully, a grin she mirrored as she took his hand again, "I guess today's the day that Hell froze over."

Sirius stared at her hand in his as if he couldn't believe it. His disbelief quickly turned into a deep content and he looked at Bryn. The same look was on her face as she smiled at him. "I've wanted this since the first day I met you..." she confessed weakly, blushing in embarrassment.

"Since first year?" Sirius said in amazement, his eyebrows rising in shock. Then he smiled the familiar suave joyous smile that defined Sirius, and he leaned in close to her, "Then I have some making up to do..." he said wryly, and he kissed her.

Neither of them thought that they had ever been happier in their entire lives, as they were in that moment…with each other.

THE END