DISCLAIMER: I don't own J.K.s characters. Only Katie.

Track 8: About a Girl by The Academy Is

I'm not in love

This is not your song

I'm not gonna waste these words

About a girl

Chapter 8

Saturday, September 17, 1977

Katie felt like she was floating. A gradual, almost luxurious reaching for consciousness that told her she'd slept better than she likely had since her parents had died. It was blissful and perfect and she very much wanted to snuggle in for a bit more. The trouble was she couldn't quite remember going to sleep or why she was positive she wasn't in her own bed and that was a bit concerning.

With her eyes still closed, she took stock of the situation.

Properly cozy. So wherever she was the pillows and blankets were divine. Not a bad start.

She also appeared to be in her knickers which meant at some point she had decided to take her clothes off. However, she wasn't naked so no immediate cause for alarm there.

She let herself edge further towards wakefulness and as she widened her blind sensory exploration she realized two things simultaneously. One, someone was lightly snoring next to her and, two, she quite suddenly remembered where she was.

Her first thought was 'oh, bollocks' and then, 'perhaps it's just a really barmy dream'.

To confirm, she opened a single eye to further assess things.

What she saw made her squeeze it tight again.

Because wouldn't it be Sirius Black sound asleep next to her? Not a dream then.

Careful not to move and wake him, she slowly opened her eyes and took a moment to just look at him.

He looked younger, she decided, with his face relaxed and his signature smirk gone. He was much less god-like when he wasn't strutting around the castle and one could almost imagine he was a flawed human like the rest of them.

And he'd been kind, she suddenly recalled and felt her stomach do a sort of uncomfortable flip flop. More than kind, he'd been understanding.

She glanced interestedly around his room. Every available wall space was plastered over with posters of wizard and muggle rock bands, the bed was a glorious mess but she could tell from the feel of the blankets that it was quality, and across the room the dresser and it's mirror were littered with pictures of Sirius with James, Remus, and Peter along with bits of mismatched Quidditch paraphernalia. Out the window, the view told her she was in a flat somewhere in London (despite knowing she was still in a castle in Scotland).

She glanced back at Sirius. The boy really was an enigma. All sorts of muddled up emotions and moods wrapped up inside a ridiculously handsome package. It could totally sweep a girl off her feet if she wasn't careful.

The thought made her stomach do another weird turn and she promptly decided that it was time to plan her escape.

Because really, she wasn't sure she could face Sirius Black after everything the night before. The scene with Mary and the pity party that followed were one thing, but then she had unashamedly asked him to stay with her, something she had no right to do and absolutely shouldn't have done. And he had done it anyway. He had stayed.

And what did that mean?

Bollocks, she thought again. If word of this got out she'd never live it down. She'd have to kiss Eddie goodbye, not to mention her nice, shiny reputation.

So why wasn't she running for the door? She quickly shot another look at Sirius to make sure her panicky thoughts hadn't woken him. She wasn't sure what was likely to happen if he suddenly opened his eyes and offered a sleepy 'good morning'.

Though she was starting to think she could guess.

But that was madness, she chastised herself. She was over romanticizing the situation. He'd only been nice that didn't mean he was in love with her for Merlin's sake. In fact, he'd been particularly drunk the night before and was likely to regret this whole situation entirely.

Which meant, she resolved, it was time to go. With any luck, he wouldn't remember much and they could both avoid a very awkward conversation.

She gently slipped from under the blankets, her eyes flying nervously back to Sirius' face with every creak of the bed. All in all, it felt like the longest sixty seconds of her life.

But finally she freed herself from the covers and dressing quickly found herself standing hesitantly at the door that led back to the castle corridor. She let her gaze rest once more on Sirius. It seemed wrong to leave without a proper thank you but somehow she suspected he'd rather not hear it. Her conscience content with that conclusion, she slipped silently into the corridor and left him sleeping in his own London flat inside the walls of Hogwarts.

"Blimey, do you think he's dead?" Peter asked rather loudly.

Too loudly. And why was it so bright?

"Nah, it'd take more than some whiskey and a girl to kill Padfoot," James replied equally as loudly.

Why the bloody hell was everyone so loud?

"Reckon he's got a hangover though," Remus suggested and his voice, at least, was a reasonable volume. "You can tell by the way he's scrunching up his nose."

"Should we pour some cold water on him?" Peter asked with a wicked grin.

Sirius cracked open a single, menacing eye and growled, "Try it, Wormtail, and you're a dead man."

"Ah! He lives!" James exclaimed and plopped down on the end of the bed. "Welcome back, mate. Having a good lie in, then?"

"I was until you lot barged in," Sirius pushed himself into a sitting position and glared against the bright sun coming in the windows. "This bloody room is too clever. Will someone cover the damn windows?"

Chuckling, Remus obliged and the room became blessedly dim.

"Ahh, much better," Sirius sighed and looked around the room. Katie Prewett, it seemed, was already long gone.

"You're alone," James confirmed but his face immediately split into a mocking grin. "Just a friend, eh Padsy?"

"Bugger off," Sirius responded gruffly and crawled out of bed still fully dressed. Bloody hell, he needed to eat or maybe just get ripping drunk again. Perhaps both.

"Well I would, you see, except I spotted Katie Prewett leaving this sweet little love nest this morning and inquiring minds want to know...did you shag her?" James wiggled his eyebrows expectantly and Remus and Peter laughed along with him.

Sirius lifted an elegant brow, "Do you think I'd be this irritated if I had?"

"Told you so," Remus said smugly. "You owe me five galleons, Prongs."

Despite losing the bet, James also appeared smug, "The poor girl was sad, drunk, and vulnerable and you didn't take advantage? I hate to break it to you mate, but you've got it bad."

"I haven't got anything except a fucking headache," he snapped and ran the hairbrush that sat on his dresser through his long hair. Mates, he decided, were extremely overrated. "And I'm not having this conversation. Are you lot coming to breakfast or not?"

As Sirius stalked out of the Room of Requirement, the rest of the boys scrambled after.

"D'you know what I think?" James asked Remus and Peter as they followed him down the corridor. "I think Prewett's got under his skin and now he doesn't know what to do about it."

"Hard to imagine," Peter squeaked between chuckles.

Sirius paused to look back at them and his voice became a growl again, "Harder still to imagine what you'll all suffer if you don't bloody drop it."

Ignoring him, James looked up down at Peter as they simply continued down the corridor with Sirius watching darkly after them, "I bet she'll be at breakfast. Maybe we can ask her? D'you reckon she's over Eddie yet? Maybe she just needs a nudge. We could give her a nudge, what do you think Moony?"

Remus nodded as though considering the possible outcomes, "Won't know unless we try."

"Quite right, quite right," James agreed keeping his face serious as he glanced back at Sirius and then proceeded down the marble staircase. "Poor bloke, doesn't even know what hit him."

"Oy!" Sirius exclaimed and took off after them as they headed towards the Great Hall. Considering the mood James was in, he wouldn't have put it past him to try it and the last thing he needed at that moment was an awkward conversation with Katie Prewett. Bounding down the stairs after them he shouted, "I swear on Godric Gryffindor's grave I'm going to fill all of your beds with Mooncalf dung."

They didn't seem to hear him.

Tuesday, September 20, 1977

Fortunately for Sirius, and likely to Katie's advantage as well, she wasn't at breakfast that morning and they wouldn't run into her at a single meal for the rest of the weekend.

Which, of course, she had done on purpose. Sirius never missed a meal and, knowing this, she had slipped silently in near the end of most meals to grab the nearest thing to the end of the table and escape back to her four poster with it.

Not the most subtle way to avoid talking to him. But effective.

The downside to the arrangement was spending too much time on her own and, hence, thinking far too much about how embarrassing her whole Friday evening had been. This resulted in a quite a lot of anxiety as she made her way to Potions on Tuesday morning to meet up with Eddie.

At this point, she couldn't be sure what he might have heard.

Since she'd skipped breakfast, she was likely to be one of the first students to the classroom. Thinking this would give her some time to decide how to explain everything to Eddie, she wasn't prepared to find him already in the dungeon with their potion practically set up already.

She froze and very nearly turned back around but realized she'd have to face him eventually. And it was better that it was in front of two or three people than the entire class, she reasoned miserably. Taking a deep breath she headed over to the table.

At the sound of her approach, Eddie looked up quickly and gave her a smile so sunny that she could almost imagine he hadn't heard a word about her weekend. Almost.

"Alright then, Katie?" he asked lightly as she set her bag on the table.

Katie clasped her hands together nervously and studied the table intently, "Yes, I'm alright."

"Sure about that?" he insisted and her stomach dropped to her toes. He had definitely heard about Sirius then and suddenly she felt completely, irrationally angry at the whole situation. Really, she'd been expecting this but it was still complete rubbish. There wasn't anything going on between her and Sirius and Eddie should know that.

She decided to tell him so, "Listen, Eddie. I don't know what you heard but I promise it wasn't what it sounded like. Everyone had had a lot to drink and I was upset and-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Eddie held up his hands and gave her another lovely smile. "You don't think I blame you for what happened do you?"

Katie just stared at him, "Why wouldn't you?"

"Listen, Prewett. If anyone should be apologizing for anything, it's me. I feel like I made you the perfect target for Mary and her bloody drama."

"Oh," she replied softly and considered his earnest expression. Maybe he hadn't heard about her disappearing with Sirius. Merlin, she didn't want to get her hopes up. "Well, thanks. But it's certainly not your fault she's so unstable. I suppose I do feel bad for hitting her though."

Eddie's laugh was infectious, "The way I hear it, she's lucky you didn't blow her to bits."

Katie felt her cheeks immediately flush, "It crossed my mind."

Impressed by her candor, Eddie couldn't suppress another chuckle. He shook his head in apparent approval, "Nothing sexier than a bird who can properly handle her business. No white knights for you then, eh Prewett?"

"Erm, no I s'pose not," she laughed lightly and began unpacking her books and parchment as she was having trouble looking him in the eye. "So, uh, who told you about what happened with Mary?"

"Sirius Black actually," Eddie answered and Katie nearly dropped her Potions book. "Said he wanted to make sure I got the whole story since he was sure Mary was going to come around telling her own version of it. Which she did. He seemed to think you'd suffered enough."

Katie felt an all too familiar flip flop in her stomach but at the same time an incredible weight lifted off her shoulders, "That was kind of him."

Eddie snorted, "Too right it was. Not one for that sort of thing is he?"

"No," she shook her head. "No he isn't."

At this point, their classmates had started to file in and Eddie thankfully decided to change the subject, "So! Assessment day. Do you think we'll pass?"

She couldn't repress a grin, "I think our chances are good."

"Well I've faith in you," he said with a doubtful expression. "But I could have mucked it up."

"Nonsense," she dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand and a smile just as she spotted Sirius walk in with James and Remus. He didn't even glance their way. She forced herself to look back at Eddie, "I tested it yesterday afternoon. It's textbook. Slughorn will be impressed, I promise."

Eddie looked like he wasn't convinced but with all the chaos in her life currently the one thing she did know without a doubt was that Slughorn would pass them.

And, of course, he did.

He gushed over their potion nearly as long as he had over Lily Evans' which was impressive on it's own. And then, he gave them full marks. He even questioned Eddie on some of the potion's more abstract properties and nearly fell over in his excitement when Eddie had answered perfectly.

"Miss Prewett has been a good influence on you, Mr. Bones," Slughorn declared and winked at Katie. "I expect you to keep up the good work. Nicely done, my dears."

As he moved on to the next pair, Eddie shook his head in wonder, "I've never gotten full marks on a Potions project ever. You're brilliant, you are."

"Well you did half the work," Katie insisted, though she knew she'd tweaked a few things here and there to really pull it off properly. Still, he'd answered all of Slughorn's questions with no help from her. She was starting to suspect he was much more clever than he wanted anyone to know.

"It was easy with such a lovely partner," he informed her and slung his rucksack over his shoulder as they made their way out of the dungeon together. "So are we still on for Hogsmeade?"

"Absolutely," she said and felt a bit like she was on top of the world. After all the worst case scenarios she'd worried over in her head all weekend, she couldn't have imagined the morning going half so well.

"Ace," he replied with a grin. "I was thinking we could join my mates. There will be a few couples. We usually start at the Three Broomsticks and then find someplace cozier, if you know what I mean."

She felt her heart jump a little in anticipation. Oh, she knew. Eddie was almost as famous for his snogging sessions as James Potter and Sirius Black were. She smiled up at him as they reached the top of the dungeon stairs and paused, "Sounds brilliant."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the side as their classmates started to push past them. He smirked confidently down at her, "It's a date then, Miss Prewett."

"A date", she agreed and to add a cherry on top of her perfect morning he lifted her hands and placed a skin tingling kiss on each one.

He nodded his goodbye as he headed towards the marble staircase for his next class, "See you soon, love."

"Bye," she replied softly and hugged her Potions book close to her chest in happiness while she watched him go. Merlin, what a morning.

Late that afternoon, Katie was still feeling like she was on Cloud 9 as she headed down to check on her colony of bowtruckles. They had been incredibly stubborn when she and Kettleburn had tried to transplant their tree the morning before and they'd been unable to move the tree. Perhaps, given the day she was having, she'd have more luck today.

Besides, her soul was yearning for some peace. Between her own new found social life, the party over the weekend, and term finally going full swing, she had had very little time for herself that didn't include hiding in one's four poster from a bloke you'd rather not see.

And she was longing to get her hands dirty.

As she walked down the hill towards the greenhouses, she could just make out the tiny red blurs that told her the Gryffindor Quidditch team was practicing and to the left she could see Kettleburn taking Apollo on a walk around the track behind the stables. Everyone and everything was distant for the moment and she couldn't have been happier about it.

When she arrived at Greenhouse 5, she began digging around in her pockets for the key when she noticed that the door was not only already unlocked but unlatched. Frowning in curiosity, she pushed the door open wondering who else had decided to take sanctuary in the greenhouses that evening.

She was promptly greeted by a rather profuse amount of swearing.

"Gerroff me you bloody useless fucking thing. I swear on my mother's frozen heart I'll cut all your sodding tentacles off. All of them! And I don't make empty threats, mate."

Despite the fact that she had spent the better part of three days trying to avoid him, Katie couldn't help but find herself extremely amused to find Sirius Black all alone in her greenhouse, wrapped in a juvenile Venomous Tentacula's vines, and absolutely furious about it.

In an attempt to make good on his threat, he tried to reach for the wand in his back pocket but the Tentacula had been inching its way into said pocket and promptly lifted the wand out of his reach when he made a grab for it.

"Oh this is fucking shite."

Katie cleared her throat, and watched in even greater amusement as Sirius froze and slowly turned to look at his guest. She tilted her head to the side contemplating his situation, "Need some help?"

He scowled darkly at her, "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," she lifted a brow. "Looks like you're having a bit of trouble there. Is she a friend of yours?"

"I wouldn't call her a friend," Sirius snapped and let out a particularly menacing growl when the plant wrapped another of its vines around his right leg.

"You know, you're lucky it's a baby. If it was full grown you'd be unconscious right now," she began making her way over to a large metal bin across from Sirius. Inside, Chizpurfles were held in a sort of stasis until they were ready to be fed to the Tentaculas. Lifting the lid, she pointed her wand at the plant wrapped around Sirius and murmured, "Lumos duo."

A beam of light shot straight from her wand to the plant and immediately the Chizpurfles began to move and dart about. When four or five of them had attached to the beam from her wand, she quickly closed the bin and waited while the Tentacula gobbled up it's treat and slowly began releasing Sirius.

As the vines released their grasp, Sirius quickly brushed the thin arms off his own body parts and quickly moved a safe distance away.

Katie couldn't help the laugh that erupted from her chest. She hadn't thought it possible to see Sirius quite so out of his element.

"Think this is funny do you?" he scowled at her and pushed his long hair out of his eyes. There were tears in his sleeves and pants and a few spots here and there had begun to bleed where the Tentacula had gripped too hard. All in all, he was very nearly on the verge of drowning the damn plant in the Black Lake and just taking the failing grade.

"Of course it's funny," Katie laughed again and brought Sirius back from his murderous thoughts. "It's not everyday Sirius Black needs rescuing, is it?"

"I didn't need rescuing," he insisted but sucked in a quick breath when he bent over to pick up his rucksack and felt a sharp pain along his ribcage. He winced, "It's lucky you came along or it would be at the bottom of the lake by now."

"Oh now is that anyway to talk about such a sweet baby," she cooed and walked over to give the plant a scratch along it's stalk all the while keeping an eye on Sirius as he investigated the rather nasty cut on his side. The plant immediately curled it's vines in ecstasy and released Sirius' wand as it wiggled the rest of it's leaves appreciatively. She scooped up the wand and sighed, "There now. You just have to be nice to it, that's all. What are you doing with the poor thing, anyway?"

Sirius hissed out another breath as he pressed on the cut, it was considerably worse than he'd thought and was starting to look distinctly green around the edges. Damn it all, he was going to have to go see Pomfrey. He sent a sideways glance at Katie and his traitorous Herbology project, "Sprout has us researching ways to increase the potency of venomous plants for defensive purposes. James had the bright idea of volunteering me to take that bloody, overgrown flytrap."

"And where's James then? Shouldn't you both be at Quidditch practice?" Katie turned the heating lamp on above the Tentacula but kept her eyes on Sirius. He was beginning to look paler than she liked. If he'd been messing with the plant's venom he might have gotten worse than a few scratches.

"Aye, we should. And he is, the bloody git," he winced again and suddenly decided a stool sounded better than a walk up to the castle. He was beginning to feel slightly sick. "He thought up some clever plan to get us all out of Herbology early this afternoon and I ended up taking the blame for it when it went sour. He wasn't after another lecture from Dumbledore. Sprout made me stay late to feed all the plants as punishment. Have I mentioned how rubbish mates are?"

Another kindness, she marveled. He was proving to be less and less the bloke she had always thought he was.

"Oh they're not so bad," she soothed and moved quickly when she realized he was beginning to tilt sideways off the stool. She caught his arm and propped him back up against the table. She frowned, "Where does it hurt, then?"

Feeling like he might throw up if he opened his mouth, he pointed to his side under the arm she had just grabbed. It felt like a large needle had just stabbed itself between his ribs.

Moving his arm gently out of the way, she investigated through the hole in his shirt and was not pleased with the green, puffy wound on his side. She sighed and handed him his wand back, "Take off your shirt."

"This is hardly the time to get frisky, Prewett," he ground out between his teeth as he took the wand. "Not sure I'm in top form at the moment."

"If I'm going to help I need to see properly, you big randy idiot," she snapped and the grin he sent her way made her feel better about his condition. "Now off with it and give me some light."

"Alright, alright Nurse Ratched," he grumbled and painfully lifted his shirt over his head. He glanced down at the wound and then quickly away as he lit his wand. He didn't need any help with the rolling of his stomach. "What do you intend to do?"

"Healing hands, remember?" she said in exasperation and wiggled her fingers at him. "Now hold still, this will likely hurt."

"I'm not going to let you - BLOODY HELL, WOMAN!"

Katied grinned, holding the venomous spike in front of his face, "Getting that out will help speed things along. Now stop being such a bloody hero and let me take care of it."

"I'm not going to let you poison yourself for-"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, shut up!" she exclaimed and glared at him when he opened his mouth to protest again. "I'm not a helpless maiden. I can handle a little pain. Now keep. still."

Sensing he wasn't in any condition to argue and feeling uncomfortably like he was going to vomit again, he finally nodded his head and lifted his wand again for light.

"Thank you," she replied and pressed cool fingers around the wound as she investigated. It appeared she had gotten the entire thorn out and the skin was warm to the touch but not hot. It would it only take a moment to draw the poison out and close up the wound. She closed her eyes and began to imagine the process in her mind.

Merlin, she smelled good was the first thought that crossed Sirius' mind as she bent over him and closed her eyes. The thought distracted from the nausea so he let it wander. This was twice now she'd healed him and too many times to count now where they'd been intimately alone. He was starting to wonder why he even bothered protesting it anymore.

When he felt the familiar tingle of the pain leaving his skin, he closed his eyes and tried not to think about the pain echoing in her own body. It was one thing to let her help, it was another to let her suffer for him. If he hadn't felt quite like dying a few moments before he might have fought a little harder. Still, her hands on his skin had definitely improved his mood.

"So who is Nurse Ratched, anyway?" she asked quizzically, blessedly pulling him from a train of thought that was going nowhere good.

Sirius opened his eyes hesitantly. She was standing in front of him with an expectant look on her face, not visibly in any pain, and his side felt brilliantly better. He rolled his shoulders and ribs to test it and found not so much as an ache leftover. He shook his head impressed, "You've more than magic in those hands, I swear."

"You're welcome. But you didn't answer my question."

"Nurse Ratched?" he repeated and pulled his shirt back on over his head. "Not a fan of Muggle films then, eh?"

"You watch Muggle films?" she laughed and shook her head. "Bet your mum loved that."

"Oh she hated it," he grinned. "Which of course is why I insisted upon collecting them. Nurse Ratched was a character in one of my favorite American films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It's about a man in a mental ward and Nurse Ratched is his warden. Cruel and cold as women come, that one. She's brilliant."

"Charming," Katie replied dryly.

"I do have my moments," he agreed and began collecting his things. "Is it working?"

"Hardly," she rolled her eyes and grimaced a little as the phantom pain in her side throbbed.

His eyes narrowed, "I knew I shouldn't have let you do that."

"Oh calm down," she waved a hand dismissively at him as she sat down on a nearby stool. "It'll pass in a moment. And it's nothing compared to what you were feeling. Besides, I owe you a few favors."

"I told you you don't owe me anything, Prewett," he answered coldy and she suddenly sensed a wall go up that she'd never felt from him before. "Whatever it is you think you owe me, forget about it."

"I tried," she said softly and sighed as the pain finally passed. "I was going to let you have your hero moment after rescuing me this weekend, Merlin knows I was mortified enough. But then you had to go and do it again, didn't you? Does anyone else know about this charitable streak you've got, Starboy?"

"What are you on about?' he fixed her with a scowl. "I didn't do anything."

"You went and spoke to Eddie," she insisted. "Found him before Mary could, warned him off. Told him the truth but conveniently left out that you spent the night with me. Why is that?"

She hadn't consciously decided to call him out but finding him defensive and simply refusing to let her say thank you made her want to poke him a little harder. There was something going on under all those defensive layers that didn't quite make sense to her yet.

Sirius, however, knew exactly what she was poking at and had firmly locked the door on it. She could poke all she wanted, he'd made his choice. And so he shrugged indifferently, "I only told him what he needed to know."

"I see. Well thank you," she responded softly.

"I told you not to thank me. You don't owe me anything," he snapped uncomfortably. Godric's beard, why couldn't she just let well enough alone.

"Fine," she said firmly. "Then let me do this because I want to. You're never going to pass this project without some help. Tentaculas don't respond well to profanity and I happen to be particularly good with them."

"I don't need your help," he argued and began shaking his head. "I can handle-"

"Handle her like you did tonight?" she asked innocently.

Sirius glared at her, "I had it under control."

"You're lucky I didn't find you unconscious on the floor when I got here," she snorted.

"I would have taken care of it," he insisted but Katie wasn't giving up.

She lifted both brows, "I suppose you could have drowned it, poor thing. But Sprout won't pass you without proper marks on this project. What will James say when you don't enter Auror training together next year?"

"My marks are better than his any day," Sirius scoffed and shook his head again. "I don't need your help."

"Right well, I'll just let her finish working her way up your leg again then," she told him and laughed when he jumped to his feet effectively dislodging the plant. She grinned, "Perhaps she fancies you after all."

"Oy!" he exclaimed. "You could have warned me."

"Face it," she said ignoring his half-hearted outrage. "You do need my help. Sprout is never going to pass you if you don't do something truly clever with this plant and at this point you can't even get it to behave."

Sirius gave her a distinctly harassed look and grumbled, "I'm never going to be rid of you, am I?"

One side of her mouth lifted in a half smile, the same thought had crossed her own mind, "Seems not."

He shook his head, "I'm going to regret this."

"I knew you were too clever to turn me down," she beamed at him and stuck a hand out. "Mates, then?"

Sirius contemplated her hand for a moment, wondering just where he had gone wrong. She wanted to be mates and he thought regularly about getting her out of her knickers. He glanced up at her wondering if she truly knew what she was getting herself into and decided it served her right. He'd tried to stay away and she simply hadn't let him. If she wanted to jump off the proverbial cliff the consequences were on her head now. It seemed she truly did have a knack for getting involved with the worst blokes.

He took her hand with a look that was both challenge and acceptance, "Mates then."

"Right," she said, pleased and as yet unaware of just what she had set in motion. "We'll begin your lessons tomorrow night. 7pm sharp."

"You're tutoring, Sirius Black?" Alice replied skeptically after Katie had explained the odd and amusing encounter she had had earlier that day. Alice was laying across Katie's four poster, periodically digging through the bag of Bertie Bott's sitting between them and looking as though her best mate was totally batty.

"Not tutoring," Katie corrected and casually chose a purple jelly bean. "Helping."

"Call it what you like but since when aren't you terrified that Eddie will find out about your little one on one sessions with Sirius? I thought he was enemy number one. Ugh, that one was earwax," Alice made a face and pushed the bag of jelly beans closer to Katie.

"Well I suppose he's not as bad as I thought and he and Eddie talked this weekend after all that ridiculousness and everything was fine," Katie shrugged and chose another jelly bean. "If you'd seen him today you'd understand why I have to help. You know how important that project is in Advanced Herbology. We're going to need people like him if we're about to fight a war when we leave here and to do that he has to pass Herbology first."

"Oh I understand it all perfectly," Alice replied dryly and sat up. "You fancy him."

Katie nearly choked on her jelly bean, "Pardon?"

"You heard me," she laughed and shook her head. "You are head over your bloody heels for the bloke. Merlin help us."

"I do not fancy Sirius Black," Katie sputtered and her insides fluttered a little with suppressed panic. What the panic stemmed from, however, she was unsure about. "Can't a girl just be friends with a bloke? We get on. We have things to talk about, he's kind to me. And what are you shaking you head at?"

Alice was chuckling to herself like Katie had truly lost her mind, "Do you even hear yourself? When was the last time you knew Sirius Black to spend any amount of time with a witch and just be her mate? It's a physical impossibility for him."

Katie's brain started stumbling over her excuses and she looked at Alice helplessly, "But I swear it's not like that. Don't you think he would have done something if that's where this was going. Since we're on the subject of things Sirius doesn't do, I'm pretty sure he doesn't do patience."

Alice gave her a knowing look, "Oh my sweet, innocent girl. A good hunter knows not to spook it's prey. And you my dear are easily scared off. Plus, think about it. Has he spent a single moment with any other witch since term started?"

"How should I know?" Katie jumped to her feet and began pacing back and forth in front of Alice. "I don't keep track of his romantic habits. For Merlin's sake, he's been helping me date another bloke. This is madness."

"I couldn't agree more," Alice laughed and grinned at her best mate.

"Then how can you even think that I fancy him?" Katie demanded and threw her hands in the air.

"Because I know you," Alice answered simply and tilted her head to the side. "You've been looking at Eddie Bones like a love sick puppy since the third year and since you started this business with Sirius Black you never even talk about him anymore. You have a bloody date with him soon, he kissed you in public today, and the only person you've talked about all evening is Sirius."

"I was going to tell you about Eddie!" Katie protested and scowled. "But you started in on this madness about Sirius and have very nearly given me a panic attack."

Alice sighed and climbed off the bed to stop her friend pacing, "Okay, okay, Prewett. Calm down. Maybe I'm crazy and you're right. Maybe there isn't anything going on but I need to say this at least this one time. Be careful, with either of them okay? You're better than either of them deserve."

Katie let out a breath she'd been holding, "Of course I'll be careful."

"Good," Alice said and gave her a quick, tight hug and a grin. "Now. How's your Charms essay coming? I'm three inches short and I'm completely out of ideas."

xoxo ASiriusObsession