AN: Hello, fanfiction and Harry Potter fans. I do not own Harry Potter, but feel free to enjoy this or hate it. If you enjoy it please leave a lovely comment, if you hate it, then leave some constructive criticism, thanks!

Can You Take the Jump?

Chapter 19

The day after the Gryffindor victory party was a lazy one. Students woke up to a late breakfast, or skipped the meal to sleep in, but Sirius was up unusually bright and early in the morning, his eyes searching for a particular red head. He watched as the Great Hall slowly fill up with students, but it was a particular duo that made him blink multiple times.

Lily Evans and James Potter walked side to side, smiling and laughing with each other, casually chatting. There was no yelling, there was no argument. In fact, they seemed to be friendly.

Sirius did a double take at their interaction. It was…too friendly. When did this development occur? He'd only been gone for the last 20 minutes of the party last night.

He looked around at the other Gryffindors to see if anyone else found this weird, but other than impressed looks and odd looks from other Houses, no one seemed as shocked as he was.

"When did they-" He started to mutter, but was interrupted when a flurry of flutters and hoots came from above as the owls delivered their posts.

The owls came by the dozens, delivering packages, allowances and letters. It was busier than normal, but considering it was Hogsmeade weekend, it wasn't very shocking. Sirius soon had a big pile of letters, all invitations from chits who wanted to go to Hogsmeade together, although he'd already said yes to a 5th year Ravenclaw 2 weeks in advance.

Until last night, he was anticipating this date for weeks. Stephanie Wallace was a very sexy 16 year old. Although Sirius was two years her junior, she had been intent on getting a date out of him, hinting at something...more...happening on the date than a snog. Suddenly, his date with the pretty Ravenclaw senior didn't sound very appealing at all.

"We should all hang out at Hogsmeade today. The first round of drinks is on me!" Sirius promised. "Evans, you should invite your sister too." He suggested, hoping he sounded casual.

"Don't you have a date?" Lily asked knowingly. Everyone knew by now, Sirius Black never went to Hogsmeade alone. Even if he met up with is mates at one point, he always spent the morning half or the afternoon half of the day with a date.

"Besides, Hermione doesn't go to Hogsmeade."

"WHAT?!" The Gryffindors shouted in unison.

"Why?" Alice asked softly.

Lily shrugged, "One of her oddities, I guess. I always ask, but she always says no."

"Sorry Black," Lyana patted her Quidditch teammate on the shoulder. "I guess you'll have to spend the day with your date. Alice has her date with Frank, Lily with Amos, Mary with Sean—"

"Actually, it's Markus." Mary interrupted.

"What?" Marlene frowned. "What happened to Sean Bennet?"

Mary shrugged, as if to say, it is what it is.

The girls became distracted, talking about Mary McDonald's new beau, but that suited Sirius just fine as he internally grumbled at the missed opportunity to see Hermione. The girl was notoriously well known to be impossible to find in the castle, often leading professors on a pointless hunt to try to track the girl down to retrieve her missing assignments, homework, and essays.

Sirius tapped James, keeping his voice low and quiet, "How much of the Map is done?"

James raised his brow. "Are you really going to go all the way with Stephanie Wallace tonight?"

"Just answer the question, James." Sirius jabbed his best mate in the ribs.

While wincing at the jab, James snickered. "We got the Great Hall, most of the first three floors, and the seventh floor with Gryffindor tower."

"So that still leaves the 4th, 5th, 6th floors, the library, all the other House common rooms, dungeons and kitchens, the hospital wing, the greenhouses and the grounds. That's a lot of uncharted ground."

"There are plenty of empty classrooms and big broom closets in the floors that we've finished."

"Right…" Sirius agreed, pretending he was still talking about sex with Stephanie Wallace. It felt weird keeping a secret from James. He hadn't done it since they've known each other, but now a girl kisses him and he's keeping things from his best mate?

"Actu—"

"I better get going if I want to get to the Owlery in time. I should be a good gentleman and respond quickly, right?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius watched perplexed as James flipped through his Hogsmeade invitations. "But I thought…" he trailed off, his eyes flickering back and forth between James and Lily Evans who was chatting with her friends, unaware of Sirius's mindfuck.

"I think I'm finally going to say yes to one of these." James chose one of the five letters and scrunched the rest. "Wish me luck!"

Seriously, what the fuck happened last night?

…

Hermione sat at the deepest corner table in the library. It was the most private, but also the one with the least amount of sunlight, making it an unfavourable spot to everyone else, but a favorite of hers. Her eyes scanned the pages of the book she was holding without really reading.

The pressure of his lips against hers, his warmth enveloping her, his build was large and dependable like the old tree that she loved at St. Mungo's.

Her heart fluttered uneasily at the memory.

"What are you thinking, Hermione Granger." She muttered to herself.

"Evans." Harry corrected in an annoyingly upbeat tone. "You kissed Sirius, you kissed Sirius." He teased like a child.

"It was an impulsive decision to snub Severus." She argued.

"I think you're forgetting that I'm your subconscious, 'Mione." Harry deadpanned. "I know all, at least when it regards you."

Hermione clenched her jaw, and made a tight fist, turning her knuckles white and make crescent indentations in her palms.

"Why won't you allow yourself to admit that you liked it?" Harry asked curiously, innocence pouring out of those green eyes.

"I thought you knew all."

"You never say anything out loud unless you've fully comprehended it. The fact that you can't vocalize that night is telling me that you're either in denial or you don't understand what happened last night. Maybe even both?"

"I'm not here for… a relationship. I chose life again to save you from hell, not to date Hogwarts' most eligible bachelor."

"Why not both? I did both, saved the world and got the girl."

"You didn't save the world or else I wouldn't be here."

"Right." Harry grimaced, as if he had the luxury of forgetting such a terrible day. "Well, you're a lot smarter than I am, so I'm sure you'll be able to do both. This isn't our timeline. Sirius is…whole still, and you're not his godson's best friend. I think it'll be good for both of you."

"Evans?"

Hermione jerked up from her seat, shocked at the sight of Sirius poking his head out from behind the bookshelves.

"Were you talking to someone?" He looked around the empty library.

"No, just talking to myself."

"Right, yeah. I do that too. Helps me organize my thoughts." He smiled at her, like she was worth a million galleons, and though she didn't want to admit it, it did something to her.

No, she scolded herself. "I'm sorry."

The two words felt crushing in Sirius's ears. They weren't what he wanted to hear.

"I shouldn't have kissed you last night. I was…" Hermione hung her head, embarrassed by her actions. She was a bloody adult for godsake. "I never asked for your consent and it was rude and uncalled for. You must've been shocked and I completely understand if you're upset."

He blinked.

This hadn't been what he was expecting.

"No! I'm not—I mean, yes I was shocked, but I'm not upset."

"You're not?" Hermione looked perplexed. "But I thought you were seeing that girl. You know, the Ravenclaw from the party."

"It won't happen again." Hermione promised, "It never even happened. No one needs to know. Actually, what time is it? Why aren't you already at the village with your date?"

There was a tight pain in the back of his neck, as if he had whiplash. Sirius was getting the feeling of rejection before he even got the chance to ask anything. He didn't even know what he was going to ask in the first place.

"Uh," Sirius paused. He knew an avoidance tactic when he saw one, he was the king of those. He contemplated leaving right then, but his eyes drifted to her lips, the chapped lips from the previous night had bitten raw. The rest of her was immaculately put together, no dark circles or puffy eyes, but the state of her lips told him that she had thought about their kiss as much as he did.

"I don't need to go though." It wasn't even a real date request, but his heart pounded in his chest. How did James do this every other day? "I can cancel. It's not a big deal."

Sirius tried to make it sound like a casual suggestion, yet both of them knew that it wasn't. Their kiss had changed their relationship, not that there was much of one to begin with. He looked at her with something akin to hope in his eyes. It was discomforting to know that she would be the one to extinguish that hope.

"Go on your date, Sirius." She told him sincerely and heavily. She wanted him to know she meant it. She didn't want him thinking she was playing coy and saying things she didn't mean.

He wasn't even smiling in the first place, but there was a drop in his expression. His gaze wavered and his shoulders drooped, while the corners of his mouth tilted down slightly. It wasn't a frown, it wasn't a smile, it was just blank, like he wasn't sure what expression he was supposed to give as a response.

"Enjoy your date. You're only truly 14 once." Hermione gave him a sad smile, then got up from her seat, leaving Sirius staring at the back of her head.

…

"Do you know what Sirius asked me last night?" James asked Lily, finally breaking the silence between the two of them. He had offered to accompany Lily down to Entrance Hall where Lily promised to meet Diggory.

Lily knew that the two had come into an agreement that they'd try to be friends, if only for the sake of peace for the rest of their time in Hogwarts, but she was still unsure how to behave herself in their newfound friendship. She still half expected for Potter to say, "Ha! Gotcha!" and pull a nasty prank.

"What he did he ask?" Lily perked at the chance for a conversation.

"He was asking what constituted as a kiss." James informed her. "He came to the common room looking all floaty and touching his lips."

"Wouldn't Sirius know the answer to that question better than anyone else?"

James laughed and nodded, "That's what I said! But he smacked me on the shoulder and told me to be serious."

"Sirius told you to be serious, and he wasn't trying to make a stupid pun?"

James shook his head.

"It must've been one heck of an ambiguous kiss."

"Or one heck of a girl."

Lily looked up at James and saw him smiling at her. It was genuine and warm, making his eyes soften. It was the same smile he gave his friends. It suited him extraordinarily well, so much so that it made her insides pause. His smile changed his eyes, and for the first time, Lily realized how kind they were. They looked at her with no judgement, malice or annoyance. This wasn't some nasty prank, he was being genuine with her.

What Lily failed to realize was, James never looked at her with judgement or malice in the past. She simply imagined them there due to her animosity towards him.

"Think about it," James looked away and continued to talk. "A peck on the lips?" James shrugged. "It's not such a huge deal. We do it under a mistletoe for Christmas with whoever we get stuck with."

Lily smirked, remembering how in 2nd year James and Peter got stuck underneath said tradition weaved with magic that you could not move away unless lips touched.

"My point is," James turned red, immediately knowing what Lily was thinking about. He cleared his throat, trying to push the embarrassing memory away. "Unless the person you're giving a peck on the lips is significant, the act can be meaningless."

Lily shook her head. "How can you say it's meaningless? It's certainly no marriage proposal, but it's not nothing. A kiss is a kiss. If you thought it so meaningless, you wouldn't have blushed at the memory of you and Pettigrew last year."

"But we're talking about Sirius." James denied. "You think Sirius would put so much meaning into a simple peck?"

"How you even know if it was just a peck?"

"He asked me what constitutes as a kiss, then I'm guessing he didn't get a full-blown snog session, but it wasn't just a grazing of the lips."

"Who did he kiss?"

James shrugged, "He never said, but it's the same question I've been asking myself since he asked."

"Who's he going on a date with today?"

"Stephanie Wallace"

"The 5th year Ravenclaw?"

James nodded.

"How do you know it's not her?"

"Well, I don't." James sighed, "but I don't think it is. I remember him telling me that he landed a date with Wallace. He was proud, but not… you know, floaty."

"It could still be her." Lily reasoned, but James tilted his head to the side, clearly unconvinced.

"Why do you care so much?"

"I've never seen Sirius act like that before. I think it'd be good for Sirius to be in a less superficial relationship with the girls he goes on dates with."

"Have none of them wanted anything more?" Lily asked in disbelief.

James chuckled, "Oh, plenty of them want something more, but he makes it pretty clear from the beginning that he doesn't want a real relationship. He doesn't let them hope or dream of anything."

Lily nodded in understanding, "Which is why you're so invested in finding out who kissed him last night."

"Well, that and he's never acted like that before. I just want to make sure he doesn't lose his chance. I worry that he won't fully understand his feelings, so he'll push someone special aside."

"You feel pretty deeply about this stuff, huh?"

"About what?"

"Soulmates, true love, instant connections, thinks like that."

"Yeah," James nodded. "I guess I do. I believe that there's someone out there for everyone. It's how my parents met."

Lily blinked at James's passion for true love. Perhaps it was because such frivolities were often associated with women, but until James spoke about it, she didn't even realize that she had preconceived notions that dreaming of true love was for women. But in reality, true love was for everyone.

"Lily!"

The Gryffindor duo looked up to see Amos Diggory smiling and waving his arms at the red head.

James awkwardly chuckled, "Was the walk down from Gryffindor tower to the main hall always so short?"

Lily couldn't help but internally agree, they'd arrived in such an instant, that Amos's presence had taken her by surprise.

"I guess it's because I was with such great company." Lily smiled at James.

Unbeknownst to Lily, her smile made James's heart go mad. He always thought Lily looked pretty when angry, but it was only now he realized she was 1000 times more beautiful when she was happy. It only reaffirmed his love for her. She was it and he knew it.

James returned the smile. The same warm smile that made Lily's insides pause again.

"I guess this is where we part." James gave her a wave. "I have to wait for my date." He explained as he hung back.

"Your date?" Lily froze. "You have a date?"

"Yeah, uhh, one of the Hogsmeade invites this morning at breakfast. I thought it'd be fun."

"W-who?" Lily stuttered. "Sorry, not that it's any of my business. You don't have to tell me."

"Her name is Roen Greer," James informed. "I'm not entirely sure who she is, but her letter was the kindest, so I said yes."

"Roen?" Lily's eyes widened. "She's a 4th year Ravenclaw."

"Oh, really? That's good to know. Thanks." James laughed awkwardly. "Anyway, enjoy your day in Hogsmeade, Lily."

The sound of her name coming out of Potter's lips made Lily involuntarily gasp. She never realized the significance of being call her name until he said it. They were always Potter and Evans, until they now.

"Enjoy your day as well, James."

The name felt silly leaving her lips, leaving behind a tingly odd feeling, but James's response made it worth it. The smile that bloomed on his face was contagious and the light in his eyes brightened. He was practically glowing with joy.

"Did you just—"

"Bye!" She interrupted him. For some reason, she felt embarrassed at how openly he expressed his happiness by simply being called his name.

"What was that?" Amos asked, as he looked behind her. James was waving wildly and smiling broadly. "Since when have you two been so friendly?"

Lily walked up to her boyfriend and stood on her tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. Amos smiled sweetly at her, but his smile didn't feel the same as the one she just saw on her fellow Housemate. It didn't reach his eyes; the same way James's smile reached his.

"Uh, it's a new development. We decided to bury the hatchet, so to speak. Our bickering was putting a strain on our mutual friends."

"Wow, that's mature of you Lily flower. I'm proud of you."

Lily let out a weak laugh. She thought back to the conversation she's just finished with James. She looked to her boyfriend's brown eyes and wondered, "Are you my soulmate?"

She knew the answer almost instantly.

"Ready to go?" Amos asked brightly.

Lily smiled back at him, "Sure."

…

It was late, the Hogsmeade outing was coming to a close as most of the students returned back to the castle with their friends or their beau, however there were still a handful of couples in their own hiding spots, hidden from patrolling professors. These couples weren't the innocent and cute couples that did nothing more than an occasional passionate kiss. The couples that remained behind needed the cover of darkness.

One such couple was in the midst of a passionate snog fest, preparing their minds and hearts to go all the way.

"Urg," Sirius grunted into Stephanie Wallace's mouth when she pushed him against the rough wall behind one of Hogsmeade's lesser known shops.

He rolled his tongue in her mouth and she moaned, notifying him that he'd done a particularly good job. Feeling nearly out of breath, he released her lips and started nibbling her earlobe and suckling on the tender spot behind the ears.

"Sirius," the girl moaned.

Yes, this was what a kiss was supposed to be like. Hot, wet, mind-numbing and with tons of frictions. Hands should be trying to touch and grip every part of the body, bodies should be pressed, and eyes should be closed. What he had shared with Hermione Evans was drier than a desert. There was no passion or lust that poured out of it. It was simply skin touching skin.

Right?

"Argh!" Sirius pushed the Ravenclaw away from him, cutting their kiss short when he realized what he was thinking about. He just claimed that kisses were supposed to be this mind-numbing euphoric thing, yet here he was thinking about Hermione Evans's desert dry kiss, instead of the hot and steamy one he was participating in this very moment!

"Sirius? You alright?" The older girl looked a little taken aback by Sirius's rejection. She looked at him almost worriedly, trying to make out his facial features in the dark alley.

"Uh," Sirius shook his head, trying to Hermione Evans's face out of his mind. "Yeah Evans, I'm fine." He stepped forward to kiss her again, but she stepped back.

"Who?" She demanded.

Sirius grimaced, realizing he's just called her Evans. "I mean, Stephanie. Of course, I meant Stephanie."

"Did you just say Evans?"

Sirius didn't even need to look at her to know that any hopes of continuing the kiss just evaporated. The best he could do was try to fix this situation before he woke up tomorrow morning and everyone in Hogwarts and their mother finds out that he called some girl 'Evans' in the middle of a snog session.

"No," Sirius scoffed, trying to play it off. "I accidentally called you Ev—mily."

"That's not even close." Wallace shook her head. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for that? I'm a bloody Ravenclaw."

"Of course, I don't think you're stupid," Sirius attempted to console, he stepped forward to take her hand, but she slipped it out of his grasp.

"You should go back to the castle. Alone." She stormed off.

"No, wait! Stephanie!" Sirius called after her, "Let me—" her long legs had already taken her out of the alley and into the street, "…explain." He watched her back as she angrily walked away, then let out a sigh of frustration.

"Fuck!"

…

"James, you cheated!"

"I do not appreciate such accusations! I may be a prankster, but I'm never a cheater, it doesn't show sportsmanship. You're just sour that you lost for the 3rd time in a row, Peter."

The three Marauders looked up when the door to their dorm swung open with force.

"Sirius?" Remus, who was lying on his bed, looked up from this book. "I thought you said you weren't coming in tonight."

"Yeah, what happened?" James asked. "You look like shite, mate."

"Did she suddenly back out?" Peter asked.

"Sex isn't just some deal where you 'back out'. There was always a chance that she was going to say no." Sirius glared as he sank onto his bed.

The boys moved to Sirius's bed and surrounded him.

"Of course, there's a chance that she might say no, but we were all pretty sure she wouldn't." Peter countered. "It's not like you'd be her first and it's not like she wasn't interested. She's been making eyes at you for weeks!"

Remus nodded, "Yeah, she was the one who asked you to Hogsmeade and suggested to stay overnight. Then for her to suddenly say no? You spent the entire day with her, ditching us, to make sure to set the right mood."

"Yeah, well she still said no. What am I going to do, grab her and force her?!"

The three boys were taken aback by Sirius's sudden anger.

James studied his best friend's face, noticing that he hadn't met their eyes since he walked into the room.

"Something else happened, didn't it? What is it? What happened?"

Sirius looked up to James's knowing eyes and flinched. It wasn't like they weren't going to find out tomorrow morning. Stephanie Wallace was a lousy secret keeper.

Sirius sighed, "Fine. Last night, after most of the victory party wrapped up…"

…

"Sirius? Are you sleeping?" James whispered.

"No." Sirius sighed.

The two turned around and faced each other from their respective beds.

"Common room?" James asked.

Sirius responded by getting up from bed and sliding his feet into his slippers.

The two sat on one of the common room sofas in the dark. James looked like he was taking a moment to collect his thoughts, but during this time, Sirius got more and more nervous. He wasn't sure what James was going to say, but he knew that what James said would matter the most. Sirius didn't know what he wanted his brother to say, making it all the more nerve wrecking.

When another minute passed with no words, Sirius's patience broke. "Will you please start talking?"

"Sorry, I'm just gathering my thoughts."

"On what?"

"On how to explain to you how I knew I liked Lily from the moment I saw her."

"What?"

"I know you think I'm crazy sometimes when it comes to Lily. You don't understand why I act the way I do and I understand that it's difficult to understand, because look," He pointed to himself. "I can't even explain it."

"You think I like Hermione Evans?"

"Sirius, be honest." James spoke simply. "What was the first thing you thought of, when you woke up today?"

"The kiss." Sirius spoke without reservation. "But only because it was so shocking. I mean I got kissed by the Hermione Evans. The Ice Queen herself."

"It was barely a kiss. And the whole purpose was to get back at Snivellus for being such a bad friend." James pointed out. "But you woke up and the first thought in your conscious mind was the kiss? On the day you planned to lose your virginity with Stephanie Wallace, the girl you've been eyeing since the beginning of this year? AND you called Hermione's name during the kiss?"

"It wasn't during—"

"Fine, when you were taking a breather between kisses, you called out a different name. The only reason people do that is because they're thinking of that person. The fact is, you were thinking about Hermione Evans's 'non-kiss' during your real kiss with Wallace."

Sirius opened his mouth, but closed it, unable to find any words to rebuke James's statement.

"Sirius," James tried to calm down, thinking back on how to explain 'liking' someone. To James, liking someone was so simple and easy to understand. It was straightforward, nothing to be confused or unsure about. "Liking someone is all encompassing. The first thing I think about when I wake up is usually Lily, and the last thing I think before I go to bed is Lily. I always want to see her, and I think I spend around 70% of my day thinking about her."

Sirius turned thoughtful when he realized he heard himself in James's words. "That sounds like an absolute pain in the arse."

"No, it's not—"

"And it's not like you and Lily are dating. She has a boyfriend, who she seems to like a lot. Why in hells would you put yourself through that?" Sirius asked, appalled at the thought. "Why in hells do you think I would be a part of that?"

"Sirius, you can't just shut off your feelings."

"Like bloody hell I can't. James, I'm one lazy son of a bitch. There's no way I'm putting that much effort when there's no chance."

"You don't know that there's no chance for you!"

"We're talking about Hermione Evans! She told me to go on the date! She encouraged it! There's a reason why we call her the ICE queen! If we thought she was nice and soft enough to reciprocate any level of feelings that I might have for her, then she would have been called the NICE queen."

"So what, you're just going to ignore her now? Even after feeling something for her?"

"Yeah, I was perfectly able to ignore her for 3 years. What's so hard about doing it now?"

…

Apparently being two academic years ahead of Sirius didn't make Stephanie Wallace more forgiving or mature. The news that Sirius called Wallace 'Evans' after they kissed spread amongst the students before lunch. Of course, the news became more and more distorted as the chain of 'word of mouth' grew longer. By the time it reached back to Remus's ears, the rumor was Sirius had called out Evans's name in at the height of intercourse, then told Wallace to quote on quote, "fuck off".

Most of the students seemed to first automatically assume that the 'Evans' Sirius had referred to was Lily. However, several people of all ages had seen Lily and her boyfriend on their date in Hogsmeade that day, providing a natural alibi for her whereabouts.

By the time Slytherin and Gryffindor had afternoon double Potions, Hermione Evans became public enemy #1 again. The majority of the female population in Hogwarts as well as the Ravenclaws took Wallace's side, and the Slytherins naturally latched onto another chance to humiliate and ridicule Hermione.

Despite being the instigator of this fiasco, Sirius was coined as a 'bad boy' by everyone, while the brunt of the animosity fell on Hermione's small shoulders. It had become a witch hunt and she was the sacrifice.

"Whore." Someone scathingly called her as she walked past them to get to her next class.

"What did you call me?" She swirled around to the passerby who had no business passing judgement on her. "Say that to my face."

The group of Ravenclaws seemed shocked to hear her response. People in the school thought her docile because she didn't fight back when the Slytherins bullied her, but that was because they were future Death Eaters, students who could easily cross the line from bullying to crime, but she was not going to stand by as a couple of skittish Ravenclaws called her a whore.

"I said," Hermione took a step toward them, fury burning in her eyes. "Say that to my face."

"Evans," someone pulled back by gripping her shoulders. They placed themselves in between Hermione and the Ravenclaw. "Stop. They're not worth it."

The sound of his voice and scent of his expensive cologne was enough for Hermione to immediately know who was holding her. She pushed his hands off and walked off, but not before she glared at the Ravenclaws.

"If looks could kill." Sirius chuckled as he followed after her.

"Stop." She put her hand up, stopping him from coming any closer. The students in the hall whispered as they watched the two interact. It was like throwing oil into a fire.

"Sirius," Hermione turned to him with a serious expression. "I don't know what you did in Hogsmeade, and honestly, I don't care. I get that you're trying to help, but just stop. I'll deal with it."

"But—"

"No." She cut him off.

Sirius watched as her chest moved up and down with deep breaths. Her words were terse, as if she was speaking through her teeth with a tightly shut jaw. She was like a bundle of control, a minute away from breaking.

"It'll be over soon, you know how fast the Hogwarts rumor mill spins."

"Apparently you and I attended two very different schools in the last three years. Black, I'm always part of that rumor mill. I have constantly been the butt of everyone's whispers, but I've made peace with being called a mudblood, loser, weird, creepy, a monster. But this?" She waved her arm around at the students who were now blatantly staring. "I-I can't. So please stop trying to help. You're only making things worse."

Hermione turned around and walked away without bothering to look back at the hurt expression she knew Sirius would be wearing.

Attending the Gryffindor Victory party had been a mistake and the kiss had been a mistake. She should have known when he found her in the library to cancel his date, something like this was going to happen.

"You didn't have to hurt him like that." Harry matched her brisk pace as he stared at her disappointedly.

She ignored him. Harry would be biased because Sirius was his godfather; if she were Hermione Granger, she would feel guilty and turn around to apologize at the sulking Gryffindor she'd just left behind, but she was Hermione Evans, and Sirius Black meant nothing to her.

…