Disclaimer: I own Katie. The rest of the cast/HP Universe is J.K. Rowling's.

Hullo! I'm so terribly sorry that it's taken this long to get the next chapter up. Holidays were crazy, started a new job, and the list goes on. But this story is still sitting in my head and I'm trying to get it to you when I can. Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I think this chapter has some interesting dynamic changes happening between Sirius and Katie.

Track 4: Toes by LIGHTS

If you are a cliffhanger ending
I'm the one that doesn't know anything
Like a magpie and a ring,
I'm always going to be looking right to you

Oh, you capture my attention
Carefully listening,
Don't wanna miss a thing,
Keeping my eyes on you
Got me on my toes

Chapter Four - Toes

September 8, 1977

Katie rolled onto her right side for what felt like the millionth time that morning. It was becoming increasingly obvious that she wasn't going to sleep and, despite the fact that the sun wasn't up yet, she decided to give it up as a bad job and start her day early. It wasn't worth the nightmares coming back anyway, she mused.

Despite the dream potions and the counseling she'd had from McGonagall, she still had nights where her imagination dreamed up scene after scene that forced her to relive how her parents might have died. And on those nights she often decided it was better to go without sleep than wake up feeling like she'd had a fresh hole punched in her chest. It was better to be sleep deprived, in her opinion, than severely depressed.

Unfortunately this time it was her own fault, she admitted as she climbed out of her four poster and headed to the showers. If she hadn't agreed to Sirius' stupid plan and laid awake anxiously the night before, she'd likely have been able to sleep. The nightmares only came when she was truly exhausted and her guard was down.

And she was definitely exhausted, she thought, inspecting the bruise colored bags under her eyes in the mirror before turning on one of the showers. She hadn't been sleeping well before school started and it didn't look like it was going to be getting better anytime soon.

Maybe she should just call everything off with Sirius.

She sighed as she slipped under the stream of hot water and let her muscles relax under the heat. If Eddie hadn't acknowledged her existence as more than a classmate so far he was unlikely to change his habits. Still, the echo of his comment that they should 'hang out sometime' tugged at her brain enough to have her sighing all over again. Just like she never would have been able to let Sirius stay mad at her, she was never going to be able to let this lie with Eddie. She had to know.

Deserved to know, she amended as she rinsed the shampoo from her hair. There had to be a reason she was so attracted to Eddie and after all she'd been through in the last year the universe owed her a little love. Maybe Eddie just needed someone to show him the light. Bolstered by the thought, she took extra time pampering herself in the shower, spent longer than necessary picking out an outfit, and even added a glamor spell to hide the bags under her eyes. If she was going to snag Eddie, she had to pull out all the stops. It was time to stop messing around.

By the time she sat down to breakfast, she was feeling confident again and ready to take on the day.

"Well aren't you looking bright and shiny this morning. Hot date?"

Katie bit back a groan. Sirius would be an early riser. She ignored him and helped herself to some toast and a fried egg instead.

"Bright and shiny, but grumpy," Sirius observed but sat down across from her anyway. He poured two cups of tea and offered her one. "Tea?"

"Don't you have someone else to bother this early in the morning?" Katie asked but grudgingly took the tea from him. She'd been just about to pour one herself.

"As it happens, I did," he replied with a wink but shrugged indifferently. "Unfortunately, she was a Stage 5 Cuddler and that tends to end badly."

Despite herself, Katie couldn't help the snort of laughter, "Stage 5 Cuddler? Merlin's beard, you're actually the worst."

He cocked a brow, "I don't pretend to be anything I'm not, Prewett."

"Don't I know it," she replied with a roll of her eyes and took in his pristine appearance. Clearly he'd made his escape from the morning's conquest fairly early but it didn't seem to have affected his usual air of perfection. She watched with some amusement as he absently tucked a piece of hair behind his ear only to have it fall across his face again. Occasionally, it wasn't hard to understand what the female population of Hogwarts saw in him. "Been up for a while, have you?"

"Didn't have much time for sleep," he informed her matter-of-factly and loaded a plate with waffles. He gave her a mischievous glance. "What about you? Anxious to start the day?"

She shrugged and avoided making eye contact, "Something like that." Just because she was willing to let him help with her love life didn't mean she had to share everything else with him.

Sirius lifted a brow as he chewed and seemed about to call her bluff when Peter Pettigrew suddenly appeared at his side jumping anxiously from foot to foot, "Padfoot! I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Alright, calm your knickers, Pete," Sirius replied through a mouthful of waffle. "Moony knew where I was. What's happening?"

"James is in a fit," Peter informed him, his eyes nervously darting back and forth between his mate and Katie. "News from home. He won't even see Evans. It must be bad, Padfoot."

Katie glanced between the two curiously. It was odd she'd never noticed the strange nicknames they had for each other. What on earth did Padfoot mean?

"Shit," Sirius swore and got to his feet. "Head Rooms?"

Peter nodded.

Sirius rolled his eyes but nodded, "Alright, go find Remus. I'll go defuse the bomb."

Immediately calmed by the prospect of Sirius' rescue, Peter agreed enthusiastically and scurried away to find Remus. .

With Peter gone, Sirius immediately let out a small growl and Katie watched curiously as an impressive array of emotions crossed his face. It surprised her to see him lose his typically cool demeanor. Like everyone else at Hogwarts, she was aware that James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew shared an almost unnaturally close bond but it was startling to see just how tightly knit they were when one of them was in distress.

"Is everything alright?" Katie asked with interest.

His head snapped up at her voice as though he'd forgotten she was sitting there. He shrugged like he was shaking off an annoying insect, "Too soon to tell. James can be a loose cannon when he's angry and I have no idea what sort of news his parents sent him. It's likely that they've taken an assignment that he doesn't think is acceptable."

"They're Aurors aren't they?" she asked.

"Yeah, incredibly high-ranking ones," Sirius replied and shook his head sadly. "Which means they get a lot of dangerous assignments."

"That's got to be hard," she replied sympathetically. She knew exactly what James was feeling right about now. An only child herself, she understood what it would do to him if he lost them.

Instead of sympathy on Sirius' face, however, she saw annoyance. He scowled, "Of course it's hard but he's being a bloody baby about it all. He's not the only one that's had family trouble. Shit, he's not the only one with parents on the front lines. He's so desperate to make sure that he doesn't end up alone he's even latched himself irrationally to Evans. It's fucking madness."

There, Katie thought. Just when she thought there might be more to Sirius than people thought he proved her wrong again. Even loving James the way he clearly did, he still couldn't admit that Lily and James were meant to be together. It made her wonder not for the first time why real love seemed to genuinely scare him.

"Anyway, I've got to go talk him off this ledge," Sirius muttered but still managed to give her a rather lewd grin as he turned to go. "Tell Eddie hullo for me tonight, won't you?"

"Probably not in my best interest," Katie replied dryly and ignored his goodbye salute. She watched him walk away and let her breath out in a huff wondering yet again why she was putting up with him. Eddie would be worth it, she told herself. But would he be worth the complete loss of her sanity in the process?

She took another sip of tea and decided it was too soon to tell.

By the time 7 o'clock rolled around the night, Katie was completely and thoroughly done with the day and revising her earlier thought that Eddie was indeed worth all her trouble. Because there'd been trouble. Heaps of it. Everywhere she went today.

In Herbology, Mary MacDonald had yet again gotten herself tangled in the juvenile Venomous Tentacular forcing Professor Sprout to take Mary to the Hospital Wing and leave Katie in charge of her classmates who promptly ignored all her instructions.

Then in Transfiguration, they had started their first unit on non-verbal spells and had been tasked with changing a single tomato into a teacup without their wands. McGonagall had insisted it was a simple place to start. Unless, that is, one happened to be furious with an idiotic classmate who couldn't pay attention to what fragile venomous plants she was standing too close to.

And because she was so furious over Mary, her mind had not been able to focus and instead of a teacup she'd managed to make her tomato rot and then promptly explode on half the class. The angry mutters and sulfur-like smell of rotten tomato followed her to Charms and then again to Care of Magical Creatures which in turn had her so irritated and fed up that Kettleburn wouldn't let her help at all with harvesting Doxy eggs for fear of setting off a riot in the Doxy colony.

It was safe to say, by the time she reached her dormitory that night she wasn't in any mood to flirt with Eddie Bones.

"Maybe I should just reschedule," Katie suggested for the third time as Alice scooted her out the door fifteen minutes before she was supposed to meet Eddie. "I'm sure Eddie won't care. And Slughorn will understand if I explain."

"You're not getting out of this, Prewett," Alice planted herself firmly in the doorway to the dormitory and didn't look the least bit sympathetic. "You've been over the moon for this boy since you were eleven. Now get your cute butt down to the dungeons and show him what he's been missing."

"But I smell like rotten tomatoes," Katie whined.

"You do not," Alice insisted and rolled her eyes. "Now get going. You're going to be late."

"Why do you hate me?" Katie pouted but Alice didn't look put off.

"You know I'm doing this for your own good. And I expect a full update when you get back," she called as Katie reluctantly stomped down the stairs.

Mates, Katie decided, weren't worth the trouble. They were always sticking their noses in where they weren't wanted. Couldn't Alice see she was never going to dazzle Eddie smelling like rotten tomatoes and carrying around a streak of bad luck the size of Scotland? Sirius had told her first thing that a bloke notices the way you smell. What was Eddie going to think of the unfortunate sulfury odor hanging about her person?

Probably that she lacked decent hygiene. Obviously.

She started to panic. How did she ever think she could pull this off?

"Reckon you're going to scare him off if you walk in looking like that," a voice interrupted the beginnings of her hyperventilation and had her eyes snapping up in relief. Sirius was leaning against the wall beside the entrance to the dungeons looking far too amused. He shook his head, "I knew you'd go mental about this."

"I'm not going mental," she denied hotly but could see from the pointed look he gave her that it was written all over her face that she'd been about to turn and run. She heaved a miserable sigh, "I just had a wretched day, okay? Just leave me alone, Sirius."

"It's in the bloody air," he replied with a roll of his eyes and pushed himself off the wall. "Come here."

She stopped dead in her tracks and eyed him suspiciously, "Why?"

"Because you look like you've had a wretched day and I'm going to help," he sighed with impatience. "Now come here."

"Well I don't know what you think you can do about it," she muttered but made her way over to him anyway.

"Give me your sweater," he began and held out a hand as he inspected the rest of her attire. "And let your hair down."

"But it's freezing in the dungeons," she exclaimed and tugged her sweater closer to her chest. "Why do you want my sweater?"

He gave her an exasperated glance and reached up to tug the band out of her hair, "Do you want to get this right, or not?"

As her hair tumbled around her shoulders, she realized the scent of her shampoo still clung nicely to it and she relaxed a bit, "Fine then. I still don't see why I have to freeze to flirt with a boy."

"Because that sweet little button down you've got on underneath is much more interesting," Sirius replied and walked a circle around her. He nodded seemingly satisfied, "Much better."

"It's bloody cold in here," she complained but Sirius just gave her an absent look.

"I'll give Alice your sweater. Don't get all worked up on me now, Prewett. Remember what we talked about," he tugged teasingly on a piece of her hair. "Smell, touch, personal space."

"Yes, yes," she muttered and pushed past him to head down the stairs. "My memory works just fine, thanks."

She heard him chuckle behind her but he seemed satisfied for the moment and she continued down to the dungeons by herself. Thank Merlin. If she didn't know better she could have sworn he'd been waiting for her. She tried to ignore the nagging feeling in her brain that something about that fact was odd.

At least she wasn't anxious anymore, she mused ungratefully. Perhaps she could do this after all.

When she stepped into the dungeon, Eddie had already set up the cauldron and had just bent over to light the fire beneath it giving her a fairly nice view of his bum. Dear Merlin and Agrippa, it was dangerous to give a boy a bum like that. Clearing her throat as much for her sake as his, she made her way across the room as he glanced up at her with a lopsided smile.

"Sorry I'm late," she murmured and wasn't pleased to see Sirius had been right about her shirt. Eddie's eyes went straight to her chest.

He gave her another lazy smile, "It's no problem. You look great tonight."

Katie began to brush off the compliment but almost immediately heard Sirius' voice in her head. Be confident, and don't act invested.

"You're sweet," she replied, letting the left side of her mouth lift in an inviting smile as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I haven't looked in a mirror all day. Anyway, are you ready to get started?"

"Sure thing," he replied and started setting out the ingredients Slughorn had left for them. "Say, I heard about Mary in Herbology today. She's such a clutz."

Taken by surprise, Katie had to force herself not to roll her eyes. Lovely, he wanted to talk about Mary. She busied herself measuring out the Honeywater that they would need to start brewing the potion. She kept her eyes down, "I'd say she's more than a clutz. That's the second time Sprout's had to rescue her from the same plant."

"She always was pretty oblivious," Eddie agreed and began chopping mint leaves for the second step of the potion. "One time she tripped and fell all the way down the dormitory steps, did you know? She broke her arm."

"You don't say," Katie replied dryly and winced as he crushed half the sprig of mint he was chopping. For a Quidditch player, he was surprisingly uncoordinated. She tried to change the subject, "How did team tryouts go? You replaced your Seeker this year, right?"

"We're going to be ace this year," he replied enthusiastically, nearly cutting off his finger. "I didn't know you followed Quidditch."

"Lifelong Harpies fan, but I'm rubbish on a broom," she informed him and tossed her hair over her shoulder as she reached across him to dump the Honeywater in the cauldron. "Couldn't throw a Quaffle or hit a Bludger if my life depended on it."

"That's a shame," he replied absently but seemed to lean in closer to her as she paused beside him.

Interesting, she thought.

"My lack of Quidditch abilities or my choice in team?" she murmured, turning her face toward him. She watched with some amusement when his eyes dropped to her lips for half a second.

"Hmm, what was that?" he seemed to shake himself mentally and she smiled sweetly, placing a hand on his arm.

"I said, is it my lack of Quidditch abilities or my choice in team that's a shame?"

"Oh, huh, lack of Quidditch abilities I suppose. The Harpies are alright," he rubbed the back of his head as though trying to figure out how he got sidetracked. "I think Mary liked them too."

Katie had to force herself not to scowl. Merlin, the boy had a one track mind. She looked around for inspiration. There had to be a way to distract him again. She spotted the stewed Mandrake on the top shelf of the ingredients cabinet and decided maybe her bum might have the same effect on him as his did on her. Time for a little stretch.

"So why did you decide to take N.E.W.T level Potions? Do you want to be a healer?" she asked as she stood on tiptoe to grab the jar of mandrake. Perhaps if she started intelligent conversation with him, he'd stop talking about Mary.

"Nah," he replied easily but snapped his eyes back up to hers when she glanced over her shoulder at him.

She smirked, mission accomplished, "Then what?"

"Auror most likely," he said and gave her a matching smirk. "But I'm planning on playing Quidditch professionally when I get out so I'm not too worried about the alternative."

Katie had to keep herself from snorting in laughter. Sirius' impression of Eddie had been far too accurate. But at least he wasn't talking about Mary anymore. She measured out the mandrake and handed it to him to add to the potion, "Aren't you worried about job security? There is a war going on."

"People always need entertainment and heroes to look up to," he replied confidently. "I think I could do the most good on the Quidditch pitch."

While perhaps slightly narcissistic, she had to agree he had a point. She imagined they would need all the distractions from reality they could get until the war was over. She smiled, "I'm sure you'll be brilliant."

He grinned, "I don't know why but I knew you'd understand. Mary was always going on about how I needed to have a real career. But you get it, you understand the importance of Quidditch. You're a cool bird, Prewett."

Well at least the discussion of Mary was in Katie's favor this time, she mused. At least it got him talking to her about himself. They were getting somewhere albeit slowly.

She placed a hand on Eddie's arm for good measure, "Keeping people's passions alive is important. Anyone with eyes could see that."

"Man, I wish Mary had understood that," he touched her hand almost unconsciously. "Your boyfriend is a lucky bloke. You're with Vance right?"

"No," Katie replied firmly and was pleased to see he noticed when she lifted her hand and moved away to start stirring the potion. "We broke up last term."

"Oh I guess Mary did mention something about that. Had to do with your parents or something right?"

Mary had a big mouth, Katie decided but figured it couldn't hurt to tell him about Charlie. After all, the break up had been mutual and common knowledge.

"That's right," she replied. "He said that he couldn't be there for me and he wanted me to find someone who could. It was mutual."

"Shame," Eddie said shaking his head. "He let one of the prettiest girls in Hogwarts get away."

Katie felt a genuine blush begin to creep into her cheeks and for a moment forgot Sirius' advice and gave in to the self-consciousness that always came with talking about Charlie Vance, "I'm sure he doesn't see it that way."

"His loss then," he shrugged and gave her one of what she was beginning to think of as his signature lazy smile. Slow and easy like pouring honey into tea, which also made her want to turn into a puddle at his feet. "So are we good here? I've got to meet up with Mary. I promised her we could talk tonight."

Katie immediately felt the smile die on her lips.

It was like having cold water dumped on her. All the warm feelings left in a rush as he started putting his things away. He'd switched gears so quickly from complimenting her to running to his ex-girlfriend that she felt like he'd knocked the wind out of her.

"Oh, uh, sure," she stammered and looked helplessly around at the mess they'd made. "No worries. You go on, I'll clean up here."

"Brill," he said and without missing a beat dropped a quick kiss on her cheek. "You really are a gem. I got clean up next time. See you in class tomorrow."

And then he was gone.

"Right, sure. See you in class. Not like I was flirting with you or anything here," she muttered in frustration. She glared around at the mess he'd left her as if daring it to talk back but when it didn't and the dungeon remained silent she collapsed on a stool in defeat.

Who was she kidding? She'd never be able to compete with a girl like Mary. What was the point? This whole stupid bet with Sirius was a waste of time and she was going to put a stop to it. First thing tomorrow, she'd find SIrius at breakfast and tell him the whole plan was off and she didn't want anything to do with him or Eddie ever again.

In fact, by the time she reached her dormitory she'd even convinced herself that she didn't actually like Eddie that she only thought he was handsome and that she'd be much better off without him. She was so content with her decision that Alice didn't even bother her with more questions when she told her the evening had gone brilliantly.

Too bad her life was never that simple.

Friday, September 9, 1977

It was like someone had tipped him off. From breakfast until dinner the next day, she'd catch quick glimpses of Sirius but most of the time he was sliding into his seat just as class began and by the time she tried to catch up with him after class he had vanished. Imagining she'd finally get her chance at dinner, she was absolutely furious when he was nowhere to be found.

It was like he knew she was looking for him.

"Um, Katie," Alice decided it was time to address the growing storm clouds above her mate's head. They'd been brewing all day but for some reason supper seemed to have set off the storm. "You going to share with the class why you're growling at the Great Hall?"

"What?" Katie snapped and glared at Alice suspiciously. "I wasn't growling."

"Yeah," Marlene agreed and considered Katie's defensive expression. "I suppose you could say it was more like muttering. Like you were cursing someone's first born. Creepy either way."

The thought was mildly appealing but Katie was fairly certain Sirius was never going to have children. She shrugged and tried to get control of her expression, "It's nothing. Just some stuff I need to take care of."

"What stuff?" Alice insisted, narrowing her eyes. "I swear you've been watching like a hawk for someone all day. C'mon, why all the secrecy?"

Katie took a deep, calming breath. Alice wasn't likely to let it go but Katie also wasn't about to get into the details sitting in the middle of the Great Hall. She let her breath out through her nose. Sometimes compromise was necessary with Alice, "I'll tell you later, when we get back upstairs. In the meantime, tell me the plan for tonight."

"Oh you know, all the necessities. Gossip, face masks, and plenty of chocolate," Marlene sighed. "I can't bloody wait. And the best part is Mary and Lyssa won't even be around!"

"What?" Katie asked feeling suddenly like her stomach had turned to knots. "Why not?"

"Study group or some nonsense. If I hadn't overheard Remus Lupin talking about joining them in the library after dinner tonight I wouldn't have believed it," Marlene replied.

Katie relaxed. She had been sure it was going to have something to do with Mary and Eddie.

"What about Lily?" Alice asked and took a bite of roasted carrot. "Is James still giving her the silent treatment because of that letter he got?"

Marlene rolled her eyes, "Who knows? But she'll be there. She needs to get her mind off that bloody, spoiled ponce. I made her promise she'd be up after dinner. Speaking of which, I'm recruiting you two to help me drag her away from the Head dormitory. She's just been sitting outside his door in her free time."

Alice nodded in agreement but Katie was already shaking her head 'no'. Alice's mention of the letter James had received had just given her a brilliant idea. Why hadn't she thought of it earlier? If she couldn't get her hands on Sirius then she'd simply send him a letter explaining her intention to withdraw from their agreement. The best part was she wouldn't even have to speak to him!

"Sorry Marley," Katie replied when both Alice and Marlene frowned at her. "I've got something to do before girl's night tonight."

"What in the world is going on with you?" Alice demanded. "You're like Frank when it's Quidditch finals. All twitchy."

"I'll see you guys upstairs," Katie replied as she stood and slung her rucksack over her arm. She purposely ignored Alice's question. "Bye!"

And with that, she escaped from the Great Hall and headed up the marble staircase to the Tower to get some parchment. She'd sort out later how much she was actually going to tell Alice. If she was calling it quits with Sirius and his ridiculous lessons then there was really no point in letting Alice poke fun at her for it. She would just tell her she had to send an owl to Molly or something.

Considering Molly and her husband Arthur were on the front lines, Alice would absolutely believe it reason enough to be distracted all day.

And maybe she should actually send a letter to Arthur and Molly, she thought guiltily as she climbed through the Portrait Hole. She still hadn't responded to the letter with the news that they were going to have another baby. Bill and Charlie would be ecstatic in the hopes of another brother, she had no doubt. It was the first happy news they'd all had in a long time.

Intent on writing to her cousin, she nearly missed him sitting in an armchair by the fire as she made her way through the Common Room.

As if he hadn't been maddeningly elusive the entire day and nothing were out of the ordinary.

Except perhaps the dark look of brooding on his face, she mused. But what did she care? She was only going to give him one less thing to worry about after all. He would deal with it.

"Can I help you with something, Prewett?" he didn't look up but she could see the frown on his features darken slightly in the firelight. "I can hear you bloody thinking from over here."

She bristled angrily. He wouldn't make this easy on her.

"As a matter of fact you can," she snapped and strode over to him. "I've been looking all over for you today. Where the hell have you been?"

He glanced up at her blankly, "Around. Last I checked you weren't my keeper."

"Of course I'm not your keeper. But you should be in class like every other normal person in this castle. I swear you're the-"

"I'm what, exactly?" Sirius snapped and finally turned his scowl on her full force. She blinked and took a step back. "I've had a shit day, Prewett. So if you don't mind just cut the verbal abuse short and say what you clearly have been waiting all day to say. Some of us have more important things going on than trying to earn the attention of some pompous prat who doesn't care one fucking bit about anyone but himself."

"I knew you weren't actually trying to help me!" Katie cried as her chest burned in mortification. "I knew this was some sort of game for you. I'm so stupid! You hate Eddie so why would you do anything that might help him? Or me for that matter."

"Oh here we go," he rolled his eyes. "Here comes the 'woe is me' shite."

"You know, I can't believe I actually thought this was a good idea," she exclaimed and wrapped shaking fingers around the book in her hands so she wouldn't throw it at him. "I don't know why I thought you might actually have some human decency inside that bitter shell."

"That's me," he sneered and curled his lip like a dog about to bite. "Heartless to the last. I'm glad I didn't ruin your expectations, love."

"This is over. I'm done with whatever this stupid thing was between us," she replied hotly. "I'm done. I hope you choke on your bloody advice."

"Oh we hadn't even gotten started," Sirius smirked. "But best of luck on your own, Prewett. You're going to need it with a git like Eddie."

Because she thought she might cry if she opened her mouth again and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of witnessing it, she gave him one more dirty look and spun on her heel towards the staircase only letting the tears fall hot down her face when she reached the landing to her dormitory.

Sirius watched her go with an annoyed detachment before settling his scowl back on the fire.

"That was cruel, Padfoot," Remus appeared from the shadows and stretched his lanky frame on the couch next to his best mate.

"Piss off, Remus," Sirius muttered and rubbed his knuckles absently. They still twinged a bit from hitting the wall earlier that afternoon. It hadn't helped. "I'm not in the mood for a lesson in manners."

"And I'm sure taking it out on Katie made it all better," Remus patronized.

"Do you have something to say, Moony?" Sirius curled his lip with a dangerous expression that a fellow Black would have recognized and likely gotten far away from.

Remus didn't seem phased, "James finally let Lily into his room. Thought it might make you feel better."

Sirius snorted, "It'll make her feel better at least. Shit, Rem you should have seen him this morning."

Remus ran his hands over his face, feeling a lot older than his seventeen years, "I can imagine. Has he had any other news about his mum?"

"No," Sirius replied with a shake of his head. "Nothing. There's probably nothing new to tell. His dad said the doctors still had more tests to run. It's hard to imagine Euphemia being taken down by sickness. I always figured she'd go with her wand blazing."

"So did James," Remus agreed and they both stared sadly into the fire.

They'd been prepared for death but somehow the slow, dragging death of illness was far worse to contemplate.

"Damn it," Sirius said and ran his fingers through his hair in agitation. "I was thinking about this summer when I moved into my apartment and she and James brought dinner over to break in the place."

"When?" Remus asked quietly.

"When Katie walked up," Sirius replied with a sigh. The helpless anger finally seemed to be releasing its grip on him. Remus usually had that effect. "She just had this look on her face like she was looking for a fight. So I gave her one. I'm an arse, eh Moony?"

"Probably worse than an arse. But you're going to apologize to her so that's something," Remus chuckled when Sirius grimaced.

"I don't do apologies," he said flatly.

Remus watched interestedly at the decision that was already on his mate's face. No, Sirius Black didn't do apologies but he had already come to terms with the fact that he was going to make an exception this time. Remus wondered briefly if it was the girl or Sirius' guilt over James' mum. Either way, he considered it a healthy change of pace, "There are worse things than being humble."

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius agreed grudgingly and tried not to think about the fact that the last person who had said that to him was Euphemia Potter.

He'd bloody well apologize to Katie Prewett.

But he wouldn't enjoy it.

Saturday, September 10, 1977

In the end, girls' night never happened.

By the time Alice and Marlene realized they were fighting a losing battle trying to get Lily away from James for the night, Katie had cried herself to sleep buried under a mountain of blankets and Alice and Marlene had decided to leave her be.

That was why when she woke the next morning to the sun shining in her eyes, she had no idea what day it was or why the dormitory was completely empty. She sat up in a panic thinking she was late to class when suddenly her memories of the night before came rushing back.

Ah yes. She'd gone toe to toe with Sirius Black.

And hadn't that been a bunch of laughs.

She gingerly touched the puffy bags under her eyes and sighed. Just once she wished a boy would cry over her instead of the other way around. She was quite through with feeling sorry for herself but, dear Merlin, she was sick of the men of Hogwarts and their madness.

What she needed was a nice quiet afternoon in the greenhouses. No boys. No people in general. And definitely no flirting lessons. The perfect cure for her questionable decisions and the uncomfortable consequences.

Determined to find some peace, she was striding across the grounds half an hour later enjoying the September sunshine and happy that the sounds of the Quidditch practice going on meant anyone she didn't care to run into was occupied.

She let herself into Greenhouse 4 and just stood for a moment enjoying the peace and quiet of the glass building. Just like Kettleburn's barn, the greenhouse always had a calming effect on her.

Beginning to feel like herself again, she approached the Hawthorn sapling near the back of the greenhouse and set down her things.

"Hello little ones, have you missed me?" she peered through the branches of the young tree as slowly they came to life. The oldest bowtruckle from the colony that lived there, and her favorite, swung down from where it had been sleeping and landed in her outstretched hand. "Hello brave Roland. And how are you then?"

The tiny green creature chirped happily at her and immediately grabbed onto the finger she offered. She set him on her shoulder and went to collect some mulch for the tree. Roland chattered excitedly in her ear and she laughed, "I've missed you too, my friend. We're going to grow your home nice and strong so that one day I can climb up to visit you where no one can bother us. How does that sound?"

Taking the mulch back to the tree, she began mixing it into the soil around the base of the sapling as more of the bowtruckles made their way out to say hello. Roland was alternating between greeting his friends and rubbing his stalk like fingers along her cheek. It was, she had learned, how the little fellow showed affection and it was a sweet comfort as she worked.

Soon enough she was covered in dirt from head to toe and grinning like a madwoman. After the tree had been tended to, she trimmed the dead leaves and flowers from the aconite, tended the growing tendrils of Devil's Snare creeping up the back wall, and added more water to the pond of Witch's Ganglion.

All in all, by the time she was finished she was feeling quite herself again and plopped down next to the tree as she placed Roland back into it. He clung to her finger for a moment before dashing down the branch to join two young bowtruckles teasing him from near the trunk.

"Behave you," she laughed and poked Roland playfully as he tried to knock one of his mates from the branch. "And thank you for cheering me up."

"You know they say talking to yourself is the first sign of madness."

Katie paused and considered sending the bucket next to her feet flying towards the intruder's head but imagined it would probably be more trouble than it was worth. Instead, she glanced up to offer him an unimpressed look, "Madness is only another word for genius, Black."

Sirius was leaning against the doorframe in his Quidditch uniform. He lifted a brow, "Coming from you, I'd believe it."

"Flattery?" she scoffed and clenched her hands together to stop them from wanting to shake in anger. "That's new."

"What can I say? I'm a man of many talents," he returned easily.

"That's funny. I was sure you were only good at being a total arse," she snapped and couldn't help the emotion shaking in her voice.

"Alright," he winced. "I suppose I deserved that."

Deserved that? She thought bitterly. What he deserved was a slap across the face. She glared, "Why are you here?"

"Well shit, Prewett. Can't let me work up to it?" he ran a hand through his hair. "Alright fine. I came to apologize for last night."

Apologize? Katie stared at him for a moment. He appeared to be sincere but what in the great wide world would make him apologize to her? She doubted the word had even existed in his vocabulary before this moment. And she really doubted that he'd ever said it to a female.

Whatever game he was playing she wasn't interested.

"No need to apologize," she replied coldly.

"We both know that's not true," he argued and walked over to join her near the Hawthorn tree. He looked down at her. "I had a crap night and you walked into the middle of it. You didn't deserve that."

She glanced briefly up at him. While he didn't look particularly sorry, he did look exhausted and what she might have called sad if she hadn't known any better. She frowned and tucked her knees under her chin, "I don't know if you were expecting an apology to just magically fix everything but it doesn't. I meant it last night. I'm done with this."

"Look," he began and dropped down onto the dirt floor next to her. "I'm rubbish at this and I'm likely just going to say something else to piss you off but I reckon if you know why I was mad you might cut me some slack."

"Unlikely," she sniffed.

He began taking off his gloves and pads and gave her a pointed look, "Then just listen."

"Fine," she let her breath out in a huff. "But I'm not promising anything."

"Fine," he repeated but lifted a warning brow. "One thing first. You tell no one about this, got it? It's not my secret to share and I don't need you gossiping with those nosy birds you share a dormitory with."

She nodded stiffly in agreement and he ran his hands through his hair in an effort to settle himself.

"So James got that letter from his parents Thursday, right?" he began and she nodded when he glanced at her. "Well I assumed it was bad news but it was worse than that."

Katie blew her breath out of her nose doubtfully, "Sirius, what kind of news is worse than bad news?"

"The dying kind," he answered shortly and his jaw clenched automatically. "The kind that tells you someone you love is dead or dying."

Katie instantly felt sorry, "I didn't know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made fun."

She felt her anger start to burn away as sympathy for James crept in. If one or both of his parents had died, he was likely a wreck.

Sirius brushed off her apology, "It's fine. No one's died...yet. But James' mum is sick."

"What kind of sick?" she asked curiously."Surely St. Mungo's can help."

Sirius just shook his head, "They don't know what's wrong with her. She just keeps getting worse."

"That's terrible. James must be devastated," she sympathized and thought about the only time she'd met Euphemia Potter. She was a striking and intense woman. It was hard to imagine something as silly as sickness being her downfall.

"That's putting it lightly," Sirius replied and began absently rubbing his knuckles. "He's a basket case."

Katie could see from his agitation that it was wearing on him and she felt a bit of the ice in her chest melt. She sighed, "I suppose you're the only one he'll talk to. You were probably pretty stressed last night. I get it."

Sirius began shaking his head again and this time it wasn't enough to soothe him so he got to his feet. Following suit, Katie frowned, "Is there more?"

"Not about James no," Sirius replied and patted his pockets distractedly in the hopes of a spare cigarette. He glanced at her, "You don't have a smoke do you?"

"Um, no," she replied and almost wanted to laugh at how twitchy he'd suddenly become. "Are you alright?"

He took a deep breath, wishing he had a damn cigarette. Why had he thought coming here to apologize had been a good idea? He should have just let her stew about it instead of digging up all of his own emotions.

He shrugged, "I'll be fine. It's just that-"

He paused. Scowled. And seemed about to decide not to share his next sentence.

She frowned, seeing the mild distress on his face, "Just what?"

He growled a bit in frustration, "Dunno why I'm telling you all this."

When Katie only lifted her brows in response, he scowled and wandered over to the Hawthorn tree. If he had to do this, it didn't mean he had to look her in the eye. James would call him a coward, he judged. And Remus would have hovered over him, silently sympathetic and comforting. All of which made him angry. He didn't care to see how this girl who he had no relationship with would react. In the end it wouldn't matter, really, but he was sick to death of the constant looks of pity and sympathy people had for him. And for some strange reason, the prospect of that same thing from Katie seemed especially infuriating.

"Euphemia has treated me like her own son since the summer after my first year at Hogwarts. It's not just James that is upset. I shouldn't have blown up at you the way I did. I'm sorry."

Katie considered the visibly tense muscles in Sirius' back and wondered what that simple statement had cost him. More than he'd probably care to admit, she mused, judging by the fact that he couldn't look her in the face and say it. If any of Sirius' mates had confided in her like this, she'd have instantly felt the need to soothe and comfort. Like so many of the lost and broken animals she was known for rescuing.

But this animal wasn't looking to be rescued.

"Apology accepted," Katie finally replied with a lightness she was surprised to find she felt. "Grief makes us say and do stupid things."

Sirius instantly relaxed at the nonchalance and ease of her response. He turned, glanced briefly at her, "I guess you know a bit about that."

"Guess I do," she shrugged and hugged her arms close to her middle. She tilted her head, "I think I owe you an apology as well. I went in looking for a fight last night. The truth is, there's a part of me that doesn't honestly believe that someone like Eddie could want me. And it's not your fault that I can't compete with girls like Mary MacDonald."

If he hadn't seen the sincerity on her face when she said it, he might've laughed. But the hurt she was trying to mask as she said it was much too apparent. He sighed, "You're more competition than you give yourself credit for."

Katie snorted and sat down on one of the stools, "I think, from you, that's a compliment. Even if it is just a lie to make me feel better."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "There you go with that woe is me rubbish again. If the bloke was looking for anything more than an easy snog he'd have to be blind to ignore you."

"Sirius," she warned. "You don't have to do this anymore. We agreed lessons were over last night."

"I didn't agree to anything," he argued and sat down next to her. "And it's not a lesson. It's the truth. Girls like Mary MacDonald hold a bloke's interest for about as long as it takes to get her out of her clothes and past that we're not particularly interested in letting her manipulate us any longer. She's pretty but her personality could kill Professor Binns again."

Katie laughed, "I can't argue with that. But I mean it. Eddie spent our whole Potions session talking about her. I haven't got a chance and I'm wasting your time."

"Listen Prewett. While I'm sure the thought of getting me naked in the Great Hall is appealing to you, I'm not quite ready to lose this bet yet," Sirius slapped a hand on the table for emphasis. "We'll pick up with our lessons on Wednesday."

She rolled her eyes, "I don't expect that-"

He held up a hand to stop her, "No arguments. Meet me in the Astronomy Tower Wednesday night at 7 o'clock."

He grinned when she only gave him an exasperated look.

"Even when you're irritated you're pretty," he replied and hopped off the stool as she gaped openly at him. He winked, "We can use that to our advantage. See you around, Prewett."

He had transitioned so quickly from serious to playful that she felt mildly like she'd dreamed the last half hour. She wondered briefly if she would always feel this unsteady around him.

"See you," she finally answered weakly and watched him gather up his Quidditch things before heading out of the greenhouse. From anxious, to annoyed, to gracious, to mischievous in a matter of moments, the boy would forever be a mystery to her. And somehow she was still involved in his ridiculous plot to get her a date with Eddie. She was beginning to feel a bit out of her league.

Thanks, as always, for reading and I'd love to hear from you in the reviews!

ASiriusObsession