Disclaimer: I won Katie. Everything else belongs to J.K.

I'm sorry it's taking so long between updates. Life gets in the way! I'm really, really in love with this chapter though. I'm digging the way things are progressing between Katie and Sirius. Ah! Please let me know what you think.

Track 5: I Know About You by Dashboard Confessional

I know the curtain and the way it falls.
I know the burden and the pain it draws.
I know you're sorry for something,
But I don't know why.

And I know about you.

Chapter 5 - And I Know About You

Wednesday, September 14, 1977

"I'm telling you, Moony. It's just not possible," Sirius said with a shake of his head. "Our Head Boy here has got Minnie wrapped around his talented, Quidditch genius finger. Detention interferes with Quidditch practice and Head duties and-"

"Understood," Remus interrupted dryly but turned to give James another pointed look just the same. "All I'm saying is she'll understand about your mum. It can't hurt to talk to her."

James was lying on his bed, feet propped against the headboard, and idly tossing his favorite Snitch hand to hand. He, like Sirius, didn't seem concerned, "I appreciate the thought, Rem. But the fewer people that know the better. My parents aren't exactly low profile Purebloods. If word gets out that my mother may be terminally ill it could be bloody disastrous."

Remus sighed. Minerva McGonagall was unlikely to be a concern in regards to James' parents' welfare but he had already realized he was fighting a losing battle. If James got landed with detention or stripped of some of his responsibilities, it was his own damn fault.

"Now gents," James began in both an effort to change the subject and to discuss something he was very much looking forward to. "This Friday is the day. The Official Gryffindor Welcome Back Party and our contribution to a storied tradition. I'm going start by saying if nothing gets set on fire then we will not have done our jobs properly. Pete, how's it coming on the firewhisky cache?"

Peter grinned, "Mission accomplished. I smuggled the last of it in this weekend. You know, the old man at Hogshead can be very helpful for the right price."

"Well done," James smirked and turned to Remus and Sirius. "And everything else?"

"On schedule," Sirius confirmed. "I'll see Prewett tonight and let her know the schedule for Friday."

"You know, Padfoot," James said with a smug look. "You're spending an awful lot of time with her."

He exchanged a knowing look with Remus and Peter before they all turned to look expectantly at Sirius.

The subject in question did not appear to care, "What of it? She's a pretty girl and I owe her a favor. It's tedious but the view is ace."

"Much as I love you brother, patience is not your strong suit," James chuckled and tossed the Snitch at him. "We promise not to laugh too hard if you've developed feelings."

Sirius caught the Snitch with ease and ignored the leering way James emphasized the word 'feelings'. He twirled the Snitch in his fingers, "Projection is unhealthy, mate. Might want to see Pomfrey about that. Find yourself in a mushy, monogamous relationship and suddenly you're seeing little hearts in everyone else's eyes."

"Prongs, did you hear he actually apologized to her?" Remus inquired, ignoring Sirius' efforts to put the conversation on James. "He truly said he was sorry and the world didn't end."

"Oy, who's a good boy then?" James exclaimed and ruffled Sirius' hair as he walked over to retrieve his Snitch and plop down on his best mate's bed. "I hope she gave you a proper treat for it, Padfoot."

"Sod off, the pair of you," Sirius grumbled and stood up feeling particularly harassed. "I'm leaving now."

"We just want you to go to a good home, Padsy!" James shouted after him as Sirius grabbed his bag and headed for the door. "Hopefully she likes dogs!"

Rolling his eyes, but happy to see his best mate back to normal, he headed down to Ancient Runes early in the hopes that by the time James and Remus joined him they would have moved on to other subjects. The laughter that followed him down the stairs, however, suggested it was unlikely.

"This translation will be the death of me," Katie moaned looking helplessly from her Ancient Runes book and back to the parchment she was supposed to be translating. This particular form of Runic language was a completely linear form, meaning every letter was formed from the same size vertical line and defined only by the number and placement of the much shorter horizontal lines along their length. In short, an eye-crossing and infuriating language.

"You've only been at it an hour," Alice reasoned. She was biting her lip in concentration as she too attempted the translation she had been assigned. "It's almost seven though. I suppose we could use a break."

"What?" Katie looked up in surprise at the clock over the fireplace and saw it was indeed five minutes to seven. "Bugger. Alice, take my things up with you when you go will you? I completely forgot I had somewhere to be."

"Where do you have to be at 7 o'clock on a Wednesday?" Alice asked in surprise but Katie was already halfway to the Portrait Hole.

"You're a peach. I'll make it up to you. Thank you!" Katie called and slipped out the door leaving Alice sputtering protests as the Fat Lady slapped closed behind her.

Considering she'd been dreading this most of the day, Katie was surprised she'd not only lost track of time but was now looking forward to the distraction. She'd seen Sirius in passing since their conversation on Saturday but they hadn't spoken. She'd have been lying if she said she wasn't curious about the lesson topic for the evening.

She heard the clock striking seven just as she began climbing the stairs of the Astronomy Tower. There didn't appear to be anyone else around which she was thankful for. The last thing she needed was for people to find out she'd been hanging about the Astronomy Tower with Sirius Black. She made it to the top without running into so much as a ghost and was surprised to find him already there waiting.

He was standing out on the observation deck smoking a cigarette and looking for all the world like the god his fellow students thought he was. His mother, she decided, had known what she was doing naming him after one of the brightest stars in the sky. He'd untied his tie and it hung carelessly around his neck, the top two buttons of his shirt undone. His hair brushed the tops of his shoulders in the evening breeze and he looked so effortlessly handsome that Katie decided it was just unfair to the female population in general.

And bad news, she reminded herself when she realized she'd paused and was staring. We aren't here for him, Prewett. We don't even like him. Remember?

Determined to ignore what she was certain was simply a bad case of hormones she moved toward the door with more confidence than she felt. Sirius looked up when she walked onto the platform and gave her the most charming, relaxed smile she'd seen from him since term started. In fact, she thought, he seemed in an especially good mood tonight.

"Hullo," he replied and took a last drag from his cigarette before tossing it over the side. "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this with a devil like me?"

Caught off guard, she laughed, "I believe you insisted I meet you here."

"And do you always do what you're told, Katie Prewett?" Sirius replied lifting an aristocratic brow. He offered her a cigarette as he pulled another from his shirt pocket for himself.

"As long as it suits me. Though I don't remember being given a choice," she replied easily and took the cigarette he offered. He wasn't the first bloke to ask her that question but she imagined he found it amusing rather than annoying. "Following the rules isn't a bad thing, you know."

"Constricting though," Sirius observed and offered her a light. "And boring."

"Well," Katie replied taking a drag and letting it out slowly. She enjoyed the way the smoke swirled with the colors of the sunset as it disappeared. "I am boring, I suppose. If I wasn't I wouldn't need your, ah, services, would I?"

He chuckled, "You aren't boring, Prewett. Just unsure of yourself around blokes you like. There's a difference."

"And how do you know that?" she glanced sideways at him and he grinned knowingly.

"You don't act that way around me," he pointed out. "As I know for a fact you can't stand my guts and I happen to know I'm a reasonably good-looking bloke, it stands to reason that you just don't know how to be yourself around someone you do like."

She choked out a laugh, "While most of that statement is true, there's also the small fact that every relationship I've managed to find myself in ended badly. Doesn't give a girl a whole lot of confidence in her abilities."

"We can fix that," Sirius replied with a shrug, bringing the cigarette to his lips again. He exhaled. "And I've brought just the thing to loosen you up."

Stooping, he pulled a bottle of wine from his bag and offered it to her. To her surprise, it happened to be her favorite variety.

She looked at him suspiciously as she took it, "Who have you been talking to?"

"Relax," he laughed. "I was asking around for the party. Alice just mentioned you enjoy it and I thought it might help tonight."

And just what did he have in mind that required wine, she wondered and felt a small flutter of panic in her stomach. Sirius, it seemed, was just full of surprises.

He pulled two cups from his bag and with a flick of his wand the cork erupted from the bottle in her hands. He handed her a cup and took the wine, pouring them each a glass. He lifted his glass to her, "Cheers."

She tapped her glass to his and took a sip as they both leaned against the wall of the tower. Taking a deep breath for courage, she finally asked, "So what exactly are we doing tonight that requires wine?"

"Talking," Sirius said.

"Talking," she repeated with a quizzical look. "And we need wine for that."

"You do," he assured her and sat down on one of the stone benches along the wall. He patted the seat next to him, "Tonight we're going to discuss the finer points of maintaining a bloke's attention through conversation."

Katie remained skeptical but took the seat next to him, "Conversation. Right."

"Try to keep up, Prewett," he replied dryly. "Okay rules and then we'll practice. Compliment him, get him talking about himself, and as a slightly more advanced technique - be suggestive without being obvious."

Katie took another sip of wine, "Doesn't sound too hard."

Sirius gave her a thoughtful glance, "We'll see. Alright, blokes like Eddie love to talk about themselves as you've obviously learned. But you don't want to let him get so carried away that he controls the conversation. So choose compliments about his interests rather than his looks. Flattery only gets you so far, but showing him that you're impressed by his Quidditch skill or his knowledge of anything really will get him talking about himself but also give you a chance to show you can also be one of his interests. You do know Quidditch, don't you?"

"Of course I know Quidditch," Katie sniffed, offended. "You really don't have a great opinion of me, do you?"

"Not the point," Sirius responded but paused when he realized her feathers were actually ruffled. "But as it stands, my opinion of you is better than most females at this school. Now if you'd wise up and forget about Eddie, I might even call it an excellent opinion."

"I'm quite aware of your opinion of Eddie," she answered dryly. " As you say, not the point. Continue."

"Thank you," he took a large swig from his cup and continued. "Now that first part is easy. Getting him talking is round one, round two is finding a way to work your agenda into the conversation. Want him to ask you out? You have to suggest it without him knowing you're doing it."

"Well that doesn't sound impossible," she grumbled and took a larger swallow of wine. "We did establish that I'm a terrible liar, yes?"

"Well it's not lying is it? Not really?" he argued and grinned suddenly. "Though I'll give it to you, it doesn't always work."

"Hmm," she hummed in amusement. "Do tell."

"We're not talking about me," he replied and considered her rosy cheeks. The wine seemed to be doing its job. So he'd share a story, he thought. Get her comfortable with him and then he'd get her talking. "But I suppose you can learn from my mistakes."

Katie snorted in amusement, "Awfully generous of you, starboy."

"Starboy?" Sirius let out a surprised chuckle. "My cousin Andromeda used to call me that. When we were kids she always claimed she was in charge of whatever game we were playing since she was named after an entire galaxy and I was only named after a star."

"I remember her," Katie replied with a smile. "I met her at one of those awful Christmas parties our parents used to throw, before the war. I heard she was disowned like y-"

She stopped short, realizing what she'd been about to say. Despite the fact that she wasn't terribly fond of him, she still didn't care to bring up something that might be painful for him. She buried her face in her wine to hide her burning cheeks.

"It's okay. You're allowed to say it," he replied easily and took a long drink from his cup. He looked absently out over the grounds as the sun finally sank behind the trees. "I'm well aware that everyone and their ancestors knows that I've been formally disowned."

Katie regarded his carefully blank face with interest. As she had thought before, there were layers to this boy that not only ran deep but that he had obviously, meticulously constructed. It was less and less surprising that he seemed so careless when it came to women. There was obviously no way in hell he would ever open up enough to have more than a surface level connection. Not when it meant someone might hurt him again. She shook her head, "It's none of my business, Sirius."

"Of course it's not," he agreed and smirked. "Doesn't stop the rest of the bloody school from running their mouths. Maybe someday I'll tell you what happened."

"Why don't we start with you telling me why you aren't as perfect as everyone seems to think," she teased. "Haven't always had a silver tongue then, starboy?"

He chuckled, "Merlin's beard, no. Her name was Lucinda, you might remember her. She graduated two years ago."

"The Captain of Slytherin's Quidditch team?" Katie exclaimed in disbelief. "You tried to hit on Lucky Lucy?"

"Mmm," he replied with a nod. "Common sense doesn't always speak clearly through the hormones at that age. And I was a confident little bugger."

"So what happened?" Katie demanded in amusement.

"James was ragging on me. Knew I'd been mooning about after her for several weeks. Called me a coward and worse for not talking to her. Basically pissed me off until I did something stupid," Sirius admitted and grinned as he remembered. "But once you take the bait with James there's no backing out. And I was crazy about Lucinda anyway so I went through with it."

"And your talk didn't go so well I'm assuming?"

"It started out all right," he laughed. "She actually acknowledged me which is more than I expected. I'd planned it all out, what I'd say, how she should react. And I did well. If it had been a different girl I might have succeeded but you can't beat a player at their own game. She listened to my proposition of a 'good time' and told me to come back when I had enough experience to actually know what that meant. Told me that I was pretty but she wasn't going to be responsible for deflowering me."

Katie hastily swallowed the wine she'd just sipped as she choked out a laugh, "She said that to you?"

Sirius grinned, "Word for word."

"What did you do?" She was trying and failing to imagine Sirius embarrassed and out done. She found she couldn't.

"Took her at her word," he lifted a brow in a decidedly suggestive manner. "Lost my virginity. Got some practice. And learned to sweet talk with the best of them."

"Did you try again?" Katie wasn't sure why she found it so fascinating, but there was just something hilariously wonderful about imagining Sirius as a much more innocent boy, still learning the ways of women. It was almost comforting to know he hadn't always been such a smooth talker.

"Oh I tried," he chuckled and it seemed almost affectionate. "But she knew all my tricks. I never did impress her."

"Poor dear," Katie laughed and sipped the last of the wine in her cup. Her cheeks were beginning to feel flushed and she had a strange urge to giggle. "I'm glad to see you're fully recovered."

"Hmm, yes well. We have to teach you not to make my mistakes," he replied in amusement. "Subtlety is largely underrated in this game, Prewett. Something I had to learn the hard way."

"So how do we begin then?" she set her empty cup down and turned to face him.

"Let's work on your compliments," he set aside his own cup and stood, offering her his hand. She took it, letting him lead her over to lean against the observation platform railing. He turned to face her, "You've got him alone. He's complaining about how Mary never understood why he spent so much time planning his Quidditch practices. What do you say?"

Katie thought for a moment. Sirius would tell her to turn his conversation into a way to get him talking about himself instead of Mary. She nodded, "Okay. I would say something like...Your devotion to your team is inspiring. It's no wonder they made you, Captain. Did you always want to be Captain?'"

"Excellent, excellent," Sirius continues and turns to face her. "Now he's going to give you his full attention. Bring back our other lessons, how do you respond."

Instinctively, Katie moved closer to Sirius and traced a finger along his hand. She looked up at him and smiled, "Maybe you could take me out to the pitch sometime and teach me to throw a Quaffle. I'm rubbish but I'm sure you're an incredible teacher."

Sirius flipped his hand, to capture hers. It was warm and rough against her skin.

He tugged her closer to him, lifted his brows, "We weren't to the being suggestive part yet."

"I'm a fast learner," she murmured and smirked.

"Definitely a fast learner," he agreed and reached up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear almost absently. He still had her hand trapped in his. "Eddie won't know what to do with you."

"I'm sure he'll thank you after this is all over," she murmured. He was looking at her so intensely that she noticed for the first time that there were flecks of gold melded into the gray of his eyes.

He brought his hand to her chin and for a brief and terrifying moment she thought he was going to kiss her. She held her breath but then he was laughing and shaking his head, "Sometimes, Prewett. I find it hard to believe you need my help at all."

He moved away from her to pour himself another cup of wine. And for some reason it left Katie feeling disappointed and mildly irritated.

She scowled, "Yes, well it's easy around you. It doesn't matter between us, there's no pressure."

"So pretend Eddie is me tomorrow when you're in that dungeon. If the boy doesn't try to get in your knickers with a performance like that he's thicker than I thought," he lifted his cup in salute.

The truth of the matter was, it hadn't been a performance and that thought was making her distinctly uncomfortable. She hadn't been thinking, she'd simply reacted. It didn't help that he was a master at the game he was teaching her to play. He instinctively knew how to push her buttons to get her to react and it just wasn't two-sided in that way with Eddie. She was doing all of the work. And besides, she wanted Eddie to do more than snog her.

She crossed her arms across her chest feeling defensive, "I wouldn't insult Eddie that way."

He rolled his eyes, "Don't get worked up. You did very well tonight."

"I'm not worked up," Katie snapped but found that she was, in fact, on the edge of being very worked up and had no idea why. "I just think this is all a stretch, that's all."

"Listen," Sirius said and leaned back against the wall of the tower. "Artificial confidence is only going to get you so far. If you don't start to believe that this stuff works because you're worthy of the attention and not just because you can put on a show, then it will be less than a stretch and you'll have wasted both of our time."

He'd said it casually but his point was like a slap in the face. Did he really think that about her? That she was just desperately seeking love and acceptance because she felt she was worthless. The thought was defeating and more than a little depressing. Especially since at that moment it felt sort of true.

Feeling like she'd had the wind taken from her sails, she abruptly sat down on the bench next to Sirius.

He lit a cigarette and turned his head to give her a pointed look, "I don't think I've ever seen you speechless."

"You know," she said grumpily. "You could be less of an arse once in a while. Being right and a jerk doesn't make you more right. It just makes you a tosser."

The left side of his mouth quirked into a small smile, "What can I say? It's a gift."

"Being right or being a tosser?" she asked dryly.

"Both," he grinned. "It's not fun being right if you don't get to enjoy it."

"Yes, well. You clearly don't know as much about women as you think you do. Occasionally you could at least let them think they're right," she lifted her eyebrows in an expression of resignation when he only laughed. "Oh, who am I kidding. I forgot who I was talking to."

"You know, Prewett," he laughed. "If I could be less of a tosser for anyone, it might be you. It's sad your taste in bloke's is such rubbish."

"That, Starboy, is a matter of opinion," she informed him with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," he tilted back his cup to finish the last swallow of wine and got to his feet. He offered her a hand, "I still reserve the right to say I told you so if you suddenly discover how big of a git he actually is."

She ignored his hand but stood up anyway, sensing the lesson was over. She gave him a wry smile, "Your fondest wish, I have no doubt."

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he gave her an amused look, "I don't want you to fail, you know."

They began to head down the stairs together as Katie gave him a doubtful look, "Sure about that?"

He rolled his eyes, "You know, I'm almost offended."

"And if you actually had feelings I might almost feel bad for you," she teased.

"You know that touches me on a very deep level, Prewett. I'd almost say you care for me," he wiggled his eyebrows at her and she let out a genuinely amused laugh.

"I'm not sure you could call what I feel for you care, exactly," she grinned.

They were both laughing as they rounded the last bend of the staircase and Sirius had just opened his mouth with what was sure to be a witty reply when they were quite suddenly interrupted by a unearthly shriek.

"What in the bloody hell are you two doing in the Astronomy Tower?"

Mary MacDonald was standing just inside the tower with Amos Diggory's arms wrapped loosely around her waist. She was glaring at them suspiciously.

Katie immediately felt her insides go cold with fear. This was it. Everything was ruined. There was no way Mary wouldn't tell Eddie about her rendezvous with Sirius. And now Eddie would think she wasn't interested in him.

"Didn't know you had to make a reservation," Sirius replied calmly and he could practically feel the panic building inside Katie. He sighed, for as smart as she was she definitely didn't know how to keep her cool.

"I mean what are you doing here with her?" Mary snapped and pointed a nasty finger at Katie. "If Lyssa finds out you've been running around on her she'll curse you into next week. Don't think I won't tell her."

Katie glanced at Sirius curiously. Lyssa Shaklebolt didn't seem his type…

However, he simply rolled his eyes, "You can tell your barmy best mate anything you please, MacDonald. I'll tell you what I told her. It was a one time deal and it was a bloody mistake. There was nothing exclusive about it."

Unconvinced, Mary turned on Katie with a snarl, "Think you're bloody brilliant for tricking him into a snog, do you? Lyssa destroys slags like you."

"Fucking enough!" Sirius suddenly barked. The look he gave Mary was so vicious that she visibly recoiled and took two steps back when he moved towards her. "Mind your bloody mouth, Mary, and get the hell out of here. Tell Lyssa if she's got a problem, she can take it up with me."

"I'm going to tell her!" Mary insisted despite looking like a cornered rabbit.

"You have my blessing," Sirius replied with a menacing growl. "Now. Leave."

With a last accusing glare over her shoulder at Katie, she dragged a mystified Amos Diggory back through the tower entrance to leave Katie and Sirius alone once more.

And then, Katie quickly started falling to pieces.

"Oh Merlin, oh no. She's going to tell the whole bloody school. This is such a mess. What are we going to do?" she took deep breaths through her nose trying to stem the raw panic in her chest. She looked desperately at Sirius, "You have to go talk to her. If Eddie finds out-"

"Which he will," Sirius agreed and made her stop babbling for a moment. "When Eddie finds out, he might start to think about you a little differently. He is fond of the Astronomy Tower after all. Honestly, you should be more worried about everyone else."

"Everyone else?" Katie replied blankly. The only thing she could think about was what Eddie would think. It hadn't yet occured to her that Mary MacDonald and Lyssa Shacklebolt were the driving force behind the gossip chain at Hogwarts.

"Yes," Sirius scowled and began gently pulling her away from the tower. He wasn't sure she could handle a run in with anyone else. "By the time you get to your first class tomorrow, the whole school will know."

"Oh bloody hell," she moaned. "What am I going to do?"

"Embrace it," he replied firmly.

"Excuse me?" she gave him a confused scowl. "And what does that mean, exactly?"

He shrugged, "Can't stop it. Might as well take advantage of it. Needed a confidence boost, didn't you? Nothing makes a bird quite so interesting to a bloke as having every other bird in the school talking about her. Trust me. It will only help your cause as long as you don't act like a miserable cow about it."

"I'm not being a miserable cow!" she snapped but let her breath out heavily when he only gave her an amused glance. "Okay fine. But don't encourage any of this okay. If anyone asks, you have nothing to say."

They had reached the Fat Lady's portrait finally and paused before going in.

He rolled his eyes but laughed, "Fine, Prewett. If it'll help you sleep tonight I'll keep my mouth closed on the subject."

"Good. Great, fine," Katie grumbled and shook her head in disbelief. It had started out as such a good evening. She frowned at him, "Now, just stay put. I don't want to be seen walking in together."

"As you wish," he chuckled and stepped aside to let her give the password.

As the portrait swung open, her dread for the next morning was interrupted for a moment by a brief feeling of guilt. She'd been acting like being seen with Sirius was akin to having the plague and all he'd been trying to do was help her. She bit her lip as she paused to look back.

"Spit it out," Sirius prompted when she continued to worry her lip with her teeth.

"Ugh," she scowled. "I hate that you can read me like that. Alright, fine. It's just that I'm sorry for going mental on you back there. Thanks for, well...you know. I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," he replied and nudged her through the Portrait Hole. "Now go before someone else sees and we have to send you to St. Mungo's for insanity."

Taking the hint, Katie disappeared through the Portrait Hole and left Sirius standing alone in the corridor, feeling particularly amused. As always, she was a constant surprise.

Though he hadn't been in the least offended by her reaction to their getting caught together, he still found it sweet that she felt bad for the way she'd reacted and apologized. Even in the midst of all the crazy he knew occupied that brain of hers, she never failed to be kind. And it wasn't just for show which was even more mystifying to him. She genuinely cared about people's feelings and he had to admit that it was something he had come to think didn't exist in his world.

Shaking his head as he finally followed her path into the Common Room, he wondered suddenly what it might do to his reputation to have people think he'd been snogging Katie Prewett.

An amused smile lifted one side of his mouth at the thought. He might also have an interesting day tomorrow. And James was going to have a bloody field day.

Thanks as always for reading and of course I'd love to here from you.

ASiriusObsession