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

CHAPTER 20

Nora watched Sirius as he ran off, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide in surprise. She turned towards Dana and Remus only to see that they were both now looking at her. Dana seemed to be over her shock and now looked absolutely murderous. Remus, on the other hand, looked like he was trying not to laugh.

Nora looked at both of them with bewilderment. Dana's eye twitched and her mouth formed a thin line. Her eyes narrowed down onto Nora and she turned on her heel and stormed away wordlessly.

Nora turned her attention to Remus again and looked at him expectantly, hoping to get an explanation for his friend's behavior.

"Hey," Remus said with his hands up in defeat, "don't look at me, I'm just as surprised as you are."

"Did you just see what he did?" Nora asked him, her face still looking baffled

"I dunno." Remus said. "I just walked through here on my way to dinner and I saw you guys kissing and Dana gaping at you. And then Sirius looked scared and ran away."

"Wait a sec. We weren't kissing. He kissed me. And he only did it because Dana was there and he wanted to get rid of her. But then…I dunno." Nora's face started to feel warm now that she was thinking about what had just happened.

Remus could sense Nora's discomfort and tried to lighten the situation. "Well, I don't know what was going through his head, but this 'kiss-and-run' syndrome seems to be becoming more common these days."

"Yeah." Nora said, looking deep in a thought. She bit her lip nervously and asked, "Do you think Dana went off and told the entire school what just happened?"

"Er…I'm not sure." said Remus, although Nora knew that he was pretty sure she would.

"Great." Nora said sarcastically. "I have a bloody date with Anthony tomorrow. What if he finds out?"

"You have a date with Chang?" Remus asked curiously.

"Yeah." Nora replied.

"Does Sirius know?" he asked her.

"Uh…I don't think so. I mean, we just started talking again like five minutes ago before he decided to kiss me." Nora said, starting to feel a little frustrated. Gees. Why did he run away like that? I know he's going to be all weird and stuff. Great. Just when we were finally friends again. Good one, Black. Good one. Nora shook her head to herself.

"So…are you coming to dinner?" Remus asked her.

"Yeah right." Nora said, rolling her eyes. "Dana probably made an announcement to the whole hall about what just happened. No way am I going in there."


"Holy shit, what did I do?" Sirius said to himself when he finally stopped running. He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair in aggravation. What was I thinking? I must've been completely off my rocker to even think about doing such a thing. How am I ever going to face Remus again? How could I do that to him? I have got to be the most selfish bastard in the entire world! He leaned against a corridor wall and tried to think of what he should do. Where do I go? I can't go back to the common room. Remus will be there eventually, and he might want to beat the shit out of me. Good thing it's not the full moon tonight. God, I am such an ass. I'll just have to hide out in the castle tonight…or maybe I'll just sneak my way to Hogsmeade…
Nora was in her dorm, trying to read a book later on that night. She was on the same page for the last half an hour; she couldn't focus on what she was reading. She kept thinking about Sirius and the kiss. She was dying to know where he was and what he was thinking. She knew that he had only kissed her to get rid of Dana, but something inside her was hoping that maybe it meant something more. It wasn't a short kiss, and he was holding me pretty damn close. I don't know…I'm really confused. She was thinking to herself just as Lily walked into the dormitory room.

"Hey, Nora." she said, "Why didn't you come to dinner?"

"I wasn't hungry." Nora lied, putting her book away. She cleared her throat to hide the sound of hunger growls coming from her stomach.

"Oh." Lily said with a slight frown but then sat down next to Nora and said in a hushed voice, "So listen, I heard some interesting news about you today."

"Great." Nora said dryly, rolling her eyes. "She told everyone after all, eh?"

"Who?" Lily asked.

"Dana." Nora replied.

"Dana? No it wasn't Dana. Remus told me." Lily corrected her.

"Remus?" Nora asked with surprise. "Why that traitor!"

"Was it supposed to be a secret?" asked Lily with a little confusion.

"Well, I thought he knew that I didn't want anyone to know what happened." Nora replied, feeling a little angry.

"But what's the big deal?" Lily asked. "It's just—"

"A kiss, I know." Nora said, finishing Lily's sentence for her. "But still. It was weird."

"You kissed him already?" Lily asked with wide eyes.

"I didn't kiss him! He kissed me!" Nora said defensively. "And it was only 'cause he wanted to get rid of Dana. It's not like he would've done it otherwise."

"You mean Dana has a thing for Chang too?" Lily asked, now looking thoroughly perplexed.

"Chang?" Nora asked. Now she was confused. "What do you mean?"

"You just said that Anthony kissed you…" Lily said.

"Anthony? What the hell are you talking about?" Nora asked then said, "Wait…what exactly did Remus tell you?"

"He said that you had a date with Anthony tomorrow at Hogsmeade." replied Lily.

"Oh my gosh." Nora said, feeling like an idiot. "Is that what he said? Okay. I thought you were talking about something else."

"Hold on…so who were you talking about?" Lily asked Nora with curiosity. "Who kissed you today?"

"Ah, nuts." Nora said smacking her head in frustration. "I was trying not to tell anyone about this. Okay, I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone."

"Of course not." Lily said assuredly, and Nora started to tell her what Sirius had done that evening.

"And he ran away?" Lily asked with wide eyes again after Nora had finished talking.

"Yeah." Nora replied.

"That's just…odd." Lily said, looking like she was deep in thought.

"I know." Nora agreed with her. "I dunno what to make out of it. First of all, I can't believe he actually had the audacity to use me like that to get rid of Dana. And then, I really don't get why he ran." Lily looked at Nora like she might have had some clue as to what was going on, but seeing Michelle and Shelby suddenly walk into the room, decided against telling her what was on her mind. Nora and Lily quickly changed the subject and started to get ready for bed.


The next afternoon, Nora found herself strolling on the streets of Hogsmeade Village with Anthony at her side, but Sirius on her mind. She didn't see him the night before or that morning. She was dreading the awkwardness that she knew would be awaiting them when they did eventually meet. She especially didn't want to bump into him with Anthony around her. That will just make everything so much more awkward. And I don't really want Anthony to know what happened. She contemplated to herself. It's not like there's anything serious going on between Anthony and me, but if anything does develop, it would just be weird. And plus, I think I'm a little ticked off at Sirius for using me like that to get rid of Dana!

"So do you want to go do Madam Puddifoot's?"

"What? Oh." Nora had been so engrossed in her thoughts about Sirius that she had almost forgotten that she was walking with Anthony. "Um…well, why don't we just go to the Three Broomsticks instead?" Nora asked him. There was no way that Nora would go to Madam Puddifoot's. She and Bert used to make fun of all the couples that used to meet in the teashop and would never be able to face Bert again if he found out that she went on date there as well. Besides, she knew that more people would be hanging out at the Three Broomsticks, and really didn't mind bumping into anyone else; Nora was starting to feel a little bored with Anthony; or perhaps her mind was too preoccupied with Sirius to appreciate his company. When they entered, they ordered two butterbeers and took one of the last few empty tables in the crowded room. Students around them were all chatting and laughing loudly and it wasn't long until a familiar face popped up in front of them.

"Hey, what are you two doing here?" It was Lanie and her big blue eyes were shining with excitement as usual.

"Having a butterbeer." Anthony replied a little dryly, as if he was annoyed that she had interrupted their nonexistent conversation.

"Together?" she asked eyeing them both suggestively.

"No, alone." Anthony said, rolling his eyes slightly.

Lanie seemed oblivious to Anthony's irritation at her presence and she turned her attention to Nora. She pulled a chair over and sat close to her and said with gleaming eyes, "So guess what? I talked to Dana today."

"Oh?" Nora asked casually. Shit! I knew that stupid hussy was going to say something.

"Yes." Lanie said, leaning a little closer to Nora. "Apparently she broke up with Sirius."

"Broke up?" Nora asked her. "What, were they actually seriously dating or something?"

"Um…yeah." Lanie said, "Well at least she thought so."

"Why did she break up with him?" Anthony asked, getting into the conversation. Nora felt herself tense up, afraid to hear what Lanie was going to say.

Lanie shrugged, "She just said that he wasn't her type. Too big of a flirt or something. Oh and she said he's actually a terrible kisser."

"What?" Nora exclaimed at the obvious lie, but feeling relieved at the same time that Dana didn't tell anyone what had happened. "He's not a….er….big flirt." Nora said, changing what she was about to say at the last second.

Anthony, who was laughing at Dana calling him a bad kisser, suddenly looked at Nora disbelievingly.

"Well, he's not really." Nora said, feeling a little annoyed at Anthony for laughing at Sirius. "Girls usually pour themselves on him."

"Why are you defending him so much?" Anthony asked her with narrowed eyes.

"Well," Nora said, suddenly feeling pretty stupid. Why am I defending him? But now that she started she had to finish, "he is my friend. And it's true about the girls going after him."

"Oh look!" Lanie said getting up. "There's Remus Lupin. I'll bet he knows what really happened." She left Anthony and Nora alone and they both continued to drink their beers in silence. Nora wondered if Sirius was at Hogsmeade and if Dana talked to him again. She noticed Anthony eyeing her a few times and it made her feel a little uncomfortable. Hmm. She thought as she took a sip of her drink. I don't think Anthony is my type at all. He might seem like a nice guy and he's pretty good looking, but there's something missing here…


Meanwhile, outside near the lake, James and Lily were sitting on the grass together when they saw Sirius walk up to them.

"Hey!" James called out to him. "Where have you been?"

"Here." Sirius said lying down tiredly onto the grass. He was exhausted. He didn't sleep the whole night. He spent most of the night at the Three Broomsticks pouring his heart out to Madam Rosmerta until her eyes started to droop. She let him stay the rest of the night in the back of the shop, but he barely slept. He headed back out to roam the streets as soon as the sun was out, hoping he could find some way to redeem himself in front of Remus. When he realized there wasn't anything he could buy or do that would make it up to him, he started to sulk around, hoping that it was all just a bad dream.

"Was it that bad that you had to run away?" James asked with a smirk. And Sirius popped his head up to look at him questioningly and James said, "Remus told me what happened last night."

"He did?" Sirius asked, feeling tense.

"Yeah." James said nodding his head and Lily tried to stifle a smile.

"Oh." Sirius said quietly, feeling the guilt and shame of what he did come over him. "Was he really mad?"

"Mad?" James asked looking a little puzzled. "Uh…no, I don't think so. He thought it was kind of funny actually. Especially considering I did the same thing to Lily a few weeks ago."

"What?" Sirius asked, sitting up straight, thinking that maybe he didn't hear James properly. "He thought it was funny?"

"Yep." James answered.

Sirius felt thoroughly confused. "So where is he now? With…her?"

"With who?" James asked and then said quickly, "No he's not with Nora. Nora's on a date with Chang. I think Remus is—"

"Hold on." Sirius stopped James, feeling his heart pounding in his chest now. "Did you just say that she's on a date? With Chang?"

"Yes…" James said slowly.

"How could Remus let her go on a date with Chang?" Sirius asked in bewilderment.

"Er…" James looked a little uncertain and then asked, "Why wouldn't he?" He exchanged a look with Lily and then she pointed across from them.

"Look there's Remus coming now with Peter." she said. Sirius, who was now dying for some straight answers, got up from the grass and marched up to Remus.

"Oi, Moony!" he called.

"Ah, there you are. Thought you'd be hiding away after what you did yesterday." Remus said with a smile. He shook his head with a grin still on his face and said, "Even I was surprised you actually did that. Poor Nora was so confused."

"Okay just give me a second here." Sirius said as Remus took a swig of a bottle of butterbeer he was holding. "I thought you and Nora were going out together."

Remus, who was still chugging down his butterbeer, suddenly spit out the contents of his mouth.

"WHAT?" he exclaimed, wiping his face with his sleeve. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You guys aren't together then?" Sirius asked him, suddenly feeling very hopeful.

"Me and Nora?" Remus asked with surprise. "Where the hell would you get in idea like—oh hold on a second." He looked at Sirius with a raised eyebrow. "Don't tell me Dana said anything to you…and you believed her…"

"Er…" Sirius said, now starting to feel like a complete idiot. James, who was listening to their conversation with amusement, came forward to join them.

"What an idiot." Remus said shaking his head in disapproval this time. "First of all, you know that I don't want a girlfriend. Second of all, I know that you like her."

"You do?" Sirius asked with astonishment.

"Yeah, it's pretty damn obvious." Remus replied. "Well to me anyways. I don't think Nora really has a clue."

"Yeah." James added into the conversation. "She's just as stupid as you are. You'd be perfect together!"

"But I thought for sure she liked you." Sirius said to Remus, still trying to get over his shock, and his stupidity.

"Uh…not that I know if." Remus said looking at him a little strangely.

"And you knew she was going out with Chang?" Sirius asked him.

"Yeah she told me last night after you ran away." Remus replied.

"Oh shit." Sirius said, smacking his head. "I'm such an ass. What do I do?"

"Go find her." James said matter-of-factly.

"But she's with bloody Chang!" Sirius exclaimed. "What if it's too late? What if he's already swept her off her feet and she's madly in love with him?"

"Don't be thick." James said.

"If he touches her, I'll kill him." Sirius said, now feeling the spread of hot jealousy go through his entire body.

"I just saw them at the Three Broomsticks." Remus said. "Maybe they're still there."

Sirius quickly left his friends and made his way to the pub, but he couldn't see Nora and Anthony anywhere in the crowd of students. He cursed to himself and walked back out, not sure of where to go. He decided to just head back to where his friends were, realizing that it would be a waste of time to actually try to find them with no leads. As he was making his way to the lake, he thought he saw a curly set of dark brown hair next to an old tree. He walked a little closer to her until he could see that it really was Nora, and she looked like she was alone. Sirius felt his heart skip a beat. He was about to call out to her when he saw Chang come out from behind the tree. Sirius stopped walking and watched with horror as Anthony suddenly pinned Nora to the tree and kissed her. Sirius felt his fists clench up and his face burn with a mixture of anger and jealousy. He wanted nothing more than to run up to Chang and hex him into a million pieces. But he didn't. Instead, he took a deep breath, turned around, and stormed away silently towards Hogwarts Castle.


A/N: Aw, poor Sirius. hehehe. So the story is winding down now I guess. Only two more chapters! They should be up soon. I don't think there's too much to change in these last few chapters. Anyhoos, I hope you guys enjoyed this one...tell me what you thought of it!