Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.

CHAPTER 16

I am going completely mental. Sirius thought to himself as he stormed out of the Great Hall. What the hell did I just do? I am so thick. She is going to think I'm the biggest jerk in the whole world now. He strolled around aimlessly, cursing to himself, until he found that he was right in front of Gryffindor Tower. He walked through the portrait hole and went straight up to the boys' dormitory. As soon as he walked into his room, he slammed the door shut and plopped himself onto his bed. He didn't feel like going to any more classes today.

Back in the Great Hall where Sirius had left a very bewildered Nora, she was still trying to figure out from James and Remus what was wrong with their friend.

"I don't get it." Nora said to them, feeling agitated. "I mean, he was totally fine with me over the break. Okay that day we went to the hospital, on our way back, I might've been a little upset, but I apologized and he was totally fine!"

"Hmm." James said. "Now that I think about it, he did seem a bit cranky when he came back that day."

"He was?" Nora asked, "Well, he was a little on the cranky side, but I figured that was just 'cause he was tired from the night before."

"Don't worry." Remus said. "I'm sure he's just got some family problems or something. I'm sure it isn't you personally."

"Remus is right." James agreed with him. "Sirius does get a bit moody every once in a while. He'll be fine."

"Whatever." Nora said indifferently, finishing her lunch. "If he wants to be moody with me then that's his problem. I don't care."

Nora didn't see Sirius again the rest of the day, and she told herself again that she didn't care. She didn't care when she noticed he didn't come to Muggle Studies class. She didn't care when she didn't see him at dinner. And she didn't care when she didn't spot him in the common room later that evening as she passed through on her way to the library to a group meeting. Where the hell did he go?


Where the hell should I go? I'm bored out of my mind. Stupid Four-eyes. I can't stop thinking about her.
Sirius had finally left his dormitory while the other students were attending the last class of the day. He walked around the halls, doing nothing in particular, until he felt his belly grumble. Dinner in the Great Hall would be served very soon, but he didn't feel like talking to anybody or seeing Nora, so he found his way to the kitchens and helped himself to some food. He stayed there until he knew everyone would be done eating, and then crept out of the kitchens and started to walk around the school.

Now that it was dark and there was nobody around, Sirius began to feel restless. He walked around the castle until he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower. He wanted to go into the common room to be with his friends, but he was afraid of seeing Nora inside. Why is she affecting me this way? Every time I see her, I just end up saying something stupid and pissing her off. So I try to avoid her but then she notices and starts asking all these stupid questions, which just piss me off. Man, isn't it obvious that I like her? Is she that thick that she doesn't realize it? Is she so in love with Remus that she doesn't notice anything or anyone else around her? I think she really did need those stupid glasses. After a few minutes of doing absolutely nothing, Sirius couldn't take it anymore. I don't care if she's in there. I'm going in. When Sirius entered the common room through the portrait hole, he was relieved to see that Nora wasn't there. James, Remus and Peter were near the fireplace playing a game of exploding snap.

"Hey, there you are." James said to Sirius, looking up from the game. "Where've you been all day?"

"Around." Sirius said slumping onto a couch. He surveyed the common room and glanced in the direction of the girls' dormitory.

"She's not here." said James.

"Who's not?" Sirius asked grumpily.

"Nobody." Remus said, giving James a covert look. James gave Remus a small smile and Remus tried very hard to keep a straight face. He cleared his throat and furrowed his brows, to try and hide his smile. He kept his eyes on his cards and asked Sirius, "Do you want to play?" Sirius looked up at Remus and saw that he had a slight frown on his face.

Oh no. Sirius suddenly thought to himself. Remus thinks I like Nora. If he likes her too and he knows that she likes him, then what the hell am I doing? I'm going to be in his way. I can't do that to him. He's already got it rough…


Nora was sitting at a table in the library with Anthony Chang. She was working on a group assignment with him and another Ravenclaw girl, Lanie Lovegood, for their Herbology class. Lanie had gone to search for some books while Nora and Anthony were working on another part of the project.

Nora was scribbling some notes down when Anthony suddenly said to her, "Did you know that your eyes are different colors?"

Nora looked up at Anthony with a slight puzzled look and said, "Er…yes." Nora had to fight the urge to yell out: No way! You're kidding me! They are? I had nooo idea! I mean, I've never looked at my eyes before….

"They're very pretty." Anthony said shyly.

"Oh." Nora said, suddenly feeling guilty for the tirade she just had in her head. "Thanks."

"Sorry I took so long." said Lanie, who had just come back to the table with a pile of books. "I just ran into Dana Abbott and she was telling me about how yesterday she and Sirius—"

"Lanie," Anthony suddenly interrupted her, "We don't really care about the latest gossip going around the school. We need to finish this project." Nora would've felt the same sentiments if it weren't for the fact that Lanie had peaked her interest by mentioning Sirius's name.

Lanie looked a little offended and Anthony smiled and shook his head, "You're worse than your brother. I swear he used to make up the craziest stories when he was in school."

"He doesn't make stuff up." Lanie said defensively. While she and Anthony continued to argue about the merit of Lanie's brother's stories, Nora's mind was wandering back to Sirius. I wonder what's going on between him and Dana. And where has he been the whole day? With her?


Nora did end up seeing Sirius the next day, but she decidedly ignored him as she was still angry about their last confrontation, and he seemed to be doing the same thing. For three days, they didn't exchange a single word with each other. It wasn't until after dinner one evening that Nora spoke to him. She was in the girls' dormitory, changing out of her school robes when she realized that she had a group meeting for Herbology scheduled at the same time as her Prefect duty the next day. She decided that she would ask Remus if he could switch shifts with her. She went down to the common room and didn't see him down there so she thought maybe he went up to the dorms.

Nora went up and knocked on the boys' dormitory door. After a few seconds, the door opened and holding it was a mildly surprised looking Sirius…without a shirt on.

"Oh." Nora said, trying very hard not to stare at his naked chest. She forced herself to keep her eyes on his face and she said, in an even tone. "I see. It's you."

"Yes it is." Sirius said, leaning a little against the door frame. Nora could've sworn that she saw his muscles flex a little, and he asked, with a bit of attitude, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah…uh…" Nora tried to remember what it was that she wanted, but she was concentrating too hard on trying not to stare at Sirius's body. She kept her eyes on his and noticed that he was furrowing his brows a bit, waiting for answer. Wait a second. Nora reasoned with herself. What the hell am I getting all flustered for? It's just this idiot. She finally remembered what she came for but before asking about it, she looked at Sirius with a slight frown, "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"Because I knew it was you knocking on the door and I wanted to seduce you into coming in to the empty room with me." said Sirius in a bored tone and Nora stared at him looking very unimpressed. Sirius rolled his eyes slightly and said impatiently, "I just came out of the shower."

"Oh." Nora said blandly. "Anyways, is Remus there?"

Sirius put his arm down and stood up straight. He had the sudden urge to slam the door on her face but he just said, clenching his jaw a little, "No. He's at the library."

"Oh. Okay." Nora said, starting to wrestle with her eyes again.

"Is that all you wanted?" he asked her.

"Yeah." Nora replied.

"Okay then if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready to meet someone." Sirius said importantly. He could see Nora frown a little and her mouth start to open like she was going to say something but he quickly shut the door on her before she could.

Sirius leaned his back against the door and let out a breath and said out loud. "I don't know how long I'm going to be able to keep this up."


Nora and Remus were at their Prefect duty later that night when James suddenly came sprinting down the hall. "Shit!" he exclaimed when he reached them.

"What happened?" Nora asked him worriedly.

"What did I just do?" James looked completely panicky.

"What did you do?" Remus asked him, looking concerned.

"I dunno." James said, running his hands nervously through his untidy hair. "I…we were just talking…and I dunno why I did it."

"Did what?" Nora asked him, looking very confused now.

"I kissed her." James said pathetically and buried his face in his hands.

"Kissed who?" Nora asked, her eyes wide.

"Lily." James's muffled voice replied.

"Oh." Nora said, she was about to crack a smile when she noticed that Remus didn't look as amused as she felt.

"So what did she do?" Remus asked James.

"I have no idea." James said, picking his head up. "I ran as soon as I realized what I did!"

"Oh my God. James!" Nora exclaimed. "You kissed her and ran away?"

"I freaked out! She's probably really mad! Oh bugger, what do I do? She's going to hate me now for sure. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" James said smacking his head.

"She's not going to hate you." Remus said reassuringly.

"She'll probably come around this way." James said, taking a look behind him. He turned back to Nora and Remus and said pleadingly. "Listen, if she asks…she probably won't but just in case she does…don't tell her I was here or where I went. Okay?"

"Yeah sure, don't worry." Nora said and James ran off, still cursing to himself.

Sure enough, just a minute after James disappeared, Lily came strolling through the hall, looking a little flushed.

When she approached Nora and Remus, she asked them, a little nervously, "Hey, have you guys by any chance seen James?"

Without saying a word, Remus and Nora both pointed in the direction that James had went in. Lily looked at them a little strangely, her face turned a deep pink and she quickly left in the advised direction.

"She didn't look too mad, did she?" Nora said with a grin.

"Nope." Remus said grimly.

"I hope she isn't. I think they'd be so good together. Don't you think so?" Nora asked Remus.

"Yeah." Remus said nodding his head slowly, but looking like he was far away. "Definitely."

Nora noticed he was a little out of it and asked him, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Remus said, rubbing his neck. "Just tired."

"Are you sure?" Nora asked him suspiciously. Nora had the creeping feeling that maybe Remus had a crush on Lily.

"Yeah." Remus said taking a seat on the ground and leaning against the wall. "It's nothing really. Just sometimes I start thinking about what I'm going to do after school's over and stuff…I just get a little stressed out."

"Oh." Nora said and sat down next to him. "So you don't have any plans?"

"Well, it'll be a little hard to get a job with my situation." he said to Nora. "And it's not just the whole job situation either. I mean, I can't even have a normal social life. How hard do you think it would be for me to even get a date? 'Hi, nice to meet you. I'm a werewolf. Would you like to go out with me?'" Remus imitated himself sarcastically.

"Remus," Nora said disapprovingly, "First of all you wouldn't meet people that way. Second of all, once any girl gets to know you, they won't care about your problem. Trust me."

Remus gave her a wry smile. "You're just being nice. Ah, it doesn't matter anyways. I don't think I'll ever be able to have a serious relationship with anyone. I'm just way too dangerous."

"Oh please." Nora said rolling her eyes. "Are you crazy?"

"No really." Remus said. "You don't know what it's like when I transform."

Nora was still looking at him critically and he said with a smile, "Oh well. I shouldn't even be thinking about relationships right now. I'm only seventeen anyways. Maybe by the time I'm thirty and they've come up with a cure I think about having a girlfriend."

"Oh." Nora thought that hearing something like this coming from Remus would have completely shattered her world, but strangely, the news seemed to have little effect on her. It was almost as if she was expecting it.

"I think I'd rather just keep friends." Remus said resolutely. "Especially when I leave this place and get into the real world. I'll need as many as I can get."

"Well, you're very likeable." Nora said. "You're bound to make friends wherever you go."

Remus shook his head with a smile and leaned his head back on the wall. "So you think Lily found James?" he asked her.

"I dunno." Nora shrugged. "I hope so. Those two just need to get together quickly. I dunno why they're taking forever."

"Me neither." Remus said. "They seem pretty perfect for each other."

"A lot of girls are going to be disappointed." Nora said with a grin.

"Guys too." Remus added. "But, if anyone deserves a girl like Lily, it's James."

"And vice versa." said Nora.

"Of course." Remus agreed with her.

At the same time Remus and Nora were having their tête-à-tête, Sirius was just leaving his "meeting" with Dana. He was walking down a corridor when he spotted the two of them, sitting close together on the ground. Sirius couldn't hear what they were saying, but it seemed to him like they were having an intense conversation. He stopped in his tracks, looked at them for a moment, and then turned around. He felt a knot in his stomach tighten, and something hot bubbling up inside him as he walked alone in the dark.

"So what's up with you and Sirius?" Remus suddenly asked Nora.

"What do you mean?" Nora asked him.

"I don't know…" Remus shrugged, "I thought you two were going to hook up or something."

"What?" Nora said with a confused smile. "Why would you think that?"

"Well I thought it was pretty obvious that you liked each other." Remus replied.

Nora laughed at the absurdity of the idea and said, "Sirius doesn't like me."

"How do you know?" Remus inquired.

"Because I know." Nora said confidently. "He always used to tease me about liking…someone else."

"Well," Remus said. "I've never seen him give any other girl the amount of attention he used to give you."

"Used to." Nora emphasized. "Anyways, we're just friends. I don't know what his problem is now though. He hardly talks to me." Nora frowned a little just thinking about how much Sirius had suddenly changed towards her.

"Yeah I noticed." Remus said, and a thought seemed to have crossed his mind. "So you never like Sirius either?

"Me?" Nora asked and laughed out loud. "No I…I didn't…I mean don't." Nora's thoughts suddenly became a little jumbled and she felt something stir inside her stomach. As she sat there, staring at the corridor wall across from her, she started to see flashes of memories passing by: Sirius teasing her during Quidditch practice…her and Sirius working on their assignments late at night together…the day they lost Yolk at Hogsmeade…the night Bert was attacked and he came to see if she was alright…Sirius coming with her to St. Mungo's….Sirius standing at the dorm door shirtless…. No, no, no. Wait a second….Nora tried to clear her head but she kept seeing his face.

"Nora?" Her thoughts were finally interrupted as she heard Remus's voice next to her.

"Yeah?" she asked him.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, looking a little concerned.

"What? Oh. Yeah! Fine." Nora said quickly with a fake smile. Inside, Nora could feel herself start to panic. Oh bugger. What is going on? I don't like…no. Don't even think it. It's impossible. It's ridiculous. Anyways, I still have a thing for Remus. Don't I?

Nora turned her head slightly and took a good look at Remus. He was with no doubt, good looking, but she realized that she just wasn't attracted to him like she was before. He looked up at her and gave her a friendly smile, the same one that used to make her cheeks burn. But now, she just smiled back and turned her head forward again, feeling…nothing. She became suddenly became conscious of the fact that it had been a while since she felt nervous about being around him. So is that it? She asked herself. Is that why I didn't care so much when I thought he had a thing for Lily and then found out that he doesn't want a relationship with anyone? Was my mother right? Was I mistaking pity for love?


A/N: Not much to change in this one either...I don't know why, but for some reason, I didn't get any e-mail alerts for the last chapter. I hope this chapter goes through. Well, tell me how you liked this chapter!