Hi!

So, this chapter is a huge turning point and there is so much going on in it that it kind of made my head a spin a little! It might seem a bit rushed, but I really just wanted to get the ending out of the way because I felt like that particular part of the plot was just getting really tired.

Now, this chapter crams summer and the first two months of Fifth Year into about 7,000 words, so watching what happens!

Also, i had someone ask how long it would be until Dany and Sirius hookup (which they obviously do, I mean there's a sequel) and I'm not going to give you a specific answer but sometime within Fifth Year. If you're really that curious, there's an illusion to how they get together in one of the chapters, so you can try and figure it out that way if you want to.

Anyways, Read and Review!

Love, Essie

The story starts when it was hot and it was summer and...
I had it all, I had him right there where I wanted him
She came along, got him alone and let's hear the applause
She took him faster than you could say "sabotage"

I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it
I underestimated just who I was dealing with
She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum
She underestimated just who she was stealing from

~Better Than Revenge, Taylor Swift

The morning they were set to leave Hogwarts, Sirius had pulled Dany aside during breakfast, just before they got on the train. They had walked out into the Entrance Hall and Dany had been quite curious as to what was going on.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I have a couple of…weird things to ask of you. And I can't give you a real explanation, okay?" She hesitated. "Just go with me on this, please." He looked like he was getting ready to start begging.

"Yeah, yeah what do you need?"

"When you inevitably see my parents on the platform, make it really obvious that you're holing hands with Brady." He said and she raised an eyebrow. She reminded herself that she wasn't going to pry.

"Um, okay…what's the other thing?" She asked warily. She had no idea what her holding hands with her boyfriend had to do with Walburga and Orion Black.

"Pretend like we're friends only in the sense that we have mutual friends when we're on the platform." He said bluntly and she couldn't stop herself.

"Do you mind if I ask why?" She said.

"I know this sounds so weird, but I swear there's a reason, okay? Can you please just trust me with this one?" He asked and he looked desperate. There was more to this than met the eye. She nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I can do that. How does one act with a 'friend in the sense that we have mutual friends'?" She asked and he seemed relieved.

"Um, I don't know, but it doesn't involve an emotional goodbye. This sounds so terrible, doesn't it?" That stung a little.

"At this point, it's mildly offensive." She admitted. He shook his head.

"No, don't be offended. It's just…my parents, they're—I just like to keep my friends out of their sight and minds as much as possible." He said and she nodded.

"I still want to have an emotional goodbye. None of us ever know if you're going to come back alive." She said and then slapped her hand over her mouth. That hadn't been supposed to come out. "Shit, sorry." She added and he shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like the thought's never crossed my mind." He said and she nodded. "Well people are going to be getting on the train in less than an hour, so is now close enough to departure for you?" He asked after checking the time and she nodded. He quickly closed the couple of feet between them and hugged her tightly, resting his chin on top of her head. She hugged him back, not particularly caring to ever let go. Neither of them let go, choosing to stand that way. It was nice to hug someone that was so much taller than her. Brady was probably only 5 foot 8 on a good day, leaving him about six inches taller than her, which, considering she was so short, wasn't much. Sirius was 6 foot 4 to the best of her knowledge; he was at least fourteen inches taller than she was and she found that oddly comforting.

"Hey Sirius? Can you do something for me?" She asked quietly.

"Of course. What is it?"

"Don't die." She whispered into his chest, which was the body part she was eyelevel with. "Just come back whole, okay?" She said and he sighed.

"I think I can manage that for you. But only because you asked." He said into her hair, adding the last part with a chuckle. They needed to let go before Dany started crying, someone saw them and got the wrong idea, or a line was crossed.

"Promise?"

"I promise, Dan." He said and she let go of him.

"Thank you." She had murmured.

Dany had been home almost a month and was still trying to figure out why the hell Sirius had been so set on her holding hands with Brady; he hated Brady and he had all but begged her to hold the other boy's hand.

"Hey, Dad!" Dany yelled and a few moments later, her father appeared in the doorway to her room. "Can I talk to you about something?" She asked quietly and he closed the door behind him and sat in her desk chair, facing where she was sitting at the foot of her bed.

"What's on your mind, Sweetheart?" He asked and she bit her lip. She had never actually told her dad that she had a thing for Sirius—no, she had liked him before she started dating Brady. It was over and it was a friend thing now, she corrected herself.

"It's about Sirius."

"Do you think he's in danger? I've told you before that I need evidence before I can send Aurors to take him away from his parents." He said and Dany shrugged.

"No more danger than usual, to the best of my knowledge…it's just that right before we left Hogwarts, like an hour before we got on the train, he pulled me aside and asked me to do a couple of things for him and it made absolutely no sense." She said and her father looked simultaneously interested and like he wasn't sure he wanted to know what exactly it was he had asked Dany to do.

"What did he want?"

"He asked me to make it really obvious that I was holding hands with Brady when I inevitably saw his parents on the platform." Her father raised an eyebrow. "He also asked if I'd pretend like we were only friends because we have mutual friends, if that makes sense. I've been trying to make heads or tails of it ever since, but I've got nothing." She admitted and her father nodded.

"That is rather out of the ordinary, especially because you two are quite close—more so than friends of opposite genders usually are. I think it would be safe to assume that it involves his parents. I know what you're thinking about the last part, Dan—I promise you that he doesn't actually hate you, okay? Sweetheart, it probably has to do with his home life. Maybe he wants to keep you away from his parents or maybe he thinks that distancing himself from you will make his life easier at home. As for holding hands with Brady, I'm not sure; keep in mind that we don't know what truly goes on in his home. He must have his reasons." Her father said.

"That's not his home." Dany said automatically. "His home is with the Potters. That place is a prison." She said quietly and her father sighed.

"I know you worry after him, and you have every right to, but trust that he has his reasons. All good relationships are built on trust." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow.

"No one said anything about a relationship." She said and her father shrugged, but still smiled a little.

"I know how you feel about him, Dan; I've known for years." Her father said and Dany felt her mouth drop open.

"What? Did Rhaegar tell you? If he did, I'm actually going to kill him." She idly rambled. "It's too bad that he just graduated because he isn't going to be doing much with that diploma in the afterlife. Shame he wasted his entire life in school."

"No one told me so please spare your brother's life. I know you better than almost anyone and it's all over you, if you know where to look." He said and Dany felt her face turn red.

"I have a boyfriend." She said softly and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. Her father nodded.

"I know you do."

"When did you figure it out?"

"The night I met him. I knew the moment I saw you two together." He said and Dany felt her face turn red again.

"You knew and you never had a problem with it?" She asked disbelievingly.

"He seems like a nice boy who cares for you greatly. His name doesn't define him anymore than yours defines you." He said and she nodded.

"I know it doesn't. Rae doesn't approve—at least, he didn't when I wasn't dating Brady. But I have a boyfriend now and that crush is long gone." She said softly. Liar. Shut up, she hissed at the voice in her head that reminded her of Lily.

"Of course it is…Dan, I just want you to make sure that you're staying with Brady for the right reasons." He said gently and she looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Have I ever told you how I started dating your mother?" He asked randomly and she shook her head. "Yes, well I asked her out our Sixth Year but I had loved her for a very long time before that. We were friends, good friends even, but I never asked her out because I knew that as soon as I got serious with a girl, my father—your grandfather—would push me to marry her. He wanted to retire, you see, and I needed a wife because I didn't have a sister. So, I never asked her out because I didn't want to get her involved with my controlling father; he got better after he retired, but I never had the freedoms that your mother and I have given you and your brother. So instead of dating her, I dated everyone but her. It helped a bit, but I never got over her…then we were talking one day and I just kind of thought about asking her out and then I just kind of…blurted it out." Dany laughed a little.

"What's the point of this? It's very enlightening, but I don't see the direction."

"My point is that I was with all of those girls for all of the wrong reasons. Just make sure that you're not taking up that particular bit of the family mantle. Don't deny yourself the right to love. Life's too short for that." He said and she nodded.

"I don't love Brady."

"I know you don't."

"I like him well enough, but I don't love him. He's just—he's so boring. Sometimes it seems like he'll never understand me at all."

"It's a terrible feeling—it makes you feel alone." He said and she nodded.

"We argue all of the time."

"I'd guessed as much."

"He wants me to sleep with him. I don't want to." She said quietly. That probably wasn't the best thing to tell her father, but she couldn't really stop it from coming out of her mouth.

"He's a year older, Dan—you're ready for different things. Don't do anything that makes you uncomfortable and always be safe." He said and Dany was surprised that he hadn't gone into raging-mad-dad mode.

"I know. He…he drinks a lot." This did make her father look concerned.

"How much is 'a lot'? I know you kids drink, I'm not an idiot and I was your age once, but you shouldn't be getting wasted every night." He said warily.

"He doesn't drink often, but when he does he drinks a lot. He binges." She said and her father looked less than impressed.

"That's not healthy, Dan. Please tell me that you don't binge drink." He said and she shook her head.

"No, I don't; neither do my friends except sometimes Marlene has one too many. I refuse to see him when he's drunk. I hang out with the girls or James or Sirius when he decides to get wasted." She said and her father relaxed.

"I'm glad to hear that. I don't know what to tell you about Sirius, but I'd just take a little bit to think about your relationship with Brady. Ask yourself why you want to be with him; the answers might surprise you." He said and she nodded.

"I will. Thanks, Daddy." She said quietly and he smiled before standing and kissing the top of her head.

"No problem, Sweetheart. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go yell at your brother for not taking out the trash today." He said and she laughed before her father left the room.

"I honestly don't see why Sirius has to come with us, Mother." Regulus said blandly and Sirius rolled his eyes, despite not knowing the answer either.

"Because it would look strange not to bring him, Regulus. He is still our heir." Orion said, as Sirius' mother wasn't paying attention to her children and was too busy yelling at Kreacher.

"Yes, Father." Sirius fought the urge to roll his eyes again at his pliant brother. Walburga came back and she and her husband Apparated their children to Diagon Alley. They were standing in the Leaky Cauldron. People looked over and Sirius noticed that Tom the Bartender, who was good friends with Dany and someone that Sirius got on with fine, didn't seem very impressed. People started to whisper and stare. Fantastic. Of course, his parents had forced him onto some atrocious rich pretentious asshole robes that itched like all get out and were too thick for the mid-August heat. His parents ate up all of the attention and Sirius hated these bloody robes. Suddenly, no one was paying any attention to them, which Sirius was relieved about, but it only meant one thing: someone more interesting had just walked in. Then he noticed all of the people in the pub standing up.

"Sweetheart, I really think that we have a right—a duty even—to eat candy while your mother's not looking." Someone said and Sirius winced when he recognized the voice. Fuck. "I love her to pieces, but she just…she cares almost too much about our health." There was a pealing laugh that Sirius would recognize anywhere. Sirius looked around and saw that Dany and her father had just walked in from the streets of Muggle London, completely on their own. There was no security, no Aurors, and no Rhea or Rhaegar. They were absolutely alone and were dressed in casual Muggle clothes. Sirius honestly thought that they had never looked more alike. He also really envied the jeans and t-shirt the Minister was wearing right now.

"I do believe that you're right." Dany absently commented as she looked around and noticed the people standing. "Ah, there goes our day of anonymity." She said. They had apparently been going through Muggle London somehow unseen.

"It appears so." He said quietly. Neither the father nor daughter had recognized the Blacks standing near the entrance into Diagon Alley. Sirius was surprised that their parents hadn't pushed he and Regulus out of the pub yet. "Oh, Tom; I've been meaning to ask how you think the Cannons are going to hold up this year in the Cup." Daniel said from across the room.

"No way in hell the Cannons make to within spitting distance of the Cup, Minister. " Tom laughed and people laughed or smiled into their drinks. The sudden respectful and serious atmosphere broke and people started laughing and the room was immediately put at ease. It seemed cheerful again, if not more so than before.

"I tell him that every year, but he never seems to believe me." Dany mused as she leaned up against the bar. "You know Dad, last summer me and Tom decided that your favorite underdogs are officially beyond repair." She laughed and a few people nodded in agreement. She suppressed a smile and finally Dany noticed them. Her eyes widened and Sirius hoped that she would have understood why he wanted her away from him in front of his parents. She apparently did because she smiled slightly, courteously even, but didn't come over. She started talking to Tom lightly and Daniel was slowly making the rounds, talking to random people and asking about their kids. The man knew literally everyone. At long last, the Minister noticed them and walked over. Dany looked over from where she was talking to Tom.

"Walburga. Orion." Daniel said and his eyes flicked towards Sirius for a minute. He knew more than he let on. Dany had probably told him about his weird requests at the platform.

"Minister." They both said like someone had stuck lemons down their throats. Sirius glanced over at Dany, who was watching from over by the bar. She obviously looked at his parents, who were being forced to listen to the Minister airily talk to them, then grinned at him. He smiled back quickly and she stuck her tongue out at him. 'Nice robes.' She mouthed at him. He rolled his eyes and she suppressed laughter. 'Shut up' he mouthed back and she made a face before going back to being straight-faced as soon as her father's conversation ended with his parents. He shook Orion's hand and nodded politely at Sirius' mother before rejoining his daughter at the bar. Walburga and Orion shoved their children out of the pub.

"Absolutely disgusting. People don't even realize that it's all a publicity stunt to them. The sweet and caring Danilynn Masters. It's enough to make any self-respecting person vomit." His mother sniffed. He had never really thought about how much he enjoyed pissing his mother off until he made a conscious effort not to. He kind of hated that he had told Dany that he'd come back whole. Not that it was Dany's fault, but he really regretted telling her that he'd come back completely unharmed.

"Honestly, it wears on one's patience." Regulus commented. "I think she might be wearing off on Sirius, with all of the time they spend together." Oh, he was going to fucking kill Regulus next time he got a chance.

"You agree with those white-haired, Blood Traitor monstrosities?" His mother snapped. "They do not deserve the power they have and they are not the ones who should be in control of the Wizarding World. The Dark Lord would be doing us all a favor by finishing them off, honestly." Regulus looked rather horrified.

"Mother—"

"Like the bloody Minister isn't horrible enough, the wife is just as bad, not mention the kids. Rhaegar Masters is becoming a bigger pain in the ass by the day and Daddy's Little Girl is just about as dumb and unfit to lead as they come."

"Mother!" Regulus yelled.

"Don't raise your voice at me." She snapped. For once, Regulus ignored her.

"The Minister is right behind you." He said and sure enough, Dany and her father were both standing right behind her. This was too perfect.

"Oh, please continue, Walburga. It seemed like you were just getting warmed up." Daniel said dryly. "Is there anything else you'd like to add?" He said and Dany looked unhappy at best. "No? I thought not." He said and Dany glanced at Sirius sympathetically before looking his mother up and down so critically that it surprised him. This was hardly the same person that had helped a little girl up and mended her knees. "I think we're done here, Sweetheart." Daniel said quietly to Dany and she nodded. They started to walk away and Dany turned around.

"Oh, Lady Black; I'd think about getting that hemmed. It's not becoming to have your robes dragging in the dirt." She said sweetly and Sirius raised an eyebrow and Daniel looked amused. She turned back around and resumed talking to her father as they walked away. His mother looked pissed and he wondered what part of the 'innocent' comment would have made her so angry. Then he got it. Dany had subtly taken a jab at the touchiest subject in their family: status. She had commented on what she was wearing and it had a slight undertone of 'you'll never be as good as us so stop pretending you are'. Of course, Dany didn't believe in the blood purity bullshit, but she knew his mother did.

Then again, Dany and her father had both been in Muggle clothes and they still looked powerful and Daniel looked downright commanding wherever he went. Sometimes he wondered if the Masters blood did have a little something extra in it.

Needless to say, the rest of the day was a huge letdown.

"Where were you?" Brady said Dany two months into term as she sat down next to him in Muggle Studies, almost late due to the classroom being clear on the opposite side of the castle from the Room of Requirement, where she and Sirius had gotten caught up talking. Brady was in her Muggle Studies class even though he was a year older due to a weird scheduling conflict that caused him to have to sit though the Fifth Year lecture and do Sixth Year work. She considered lying but figured that it would only crash and burn if she got caught.

"I was with my friends. Why?" She replied, hoping that he would take that answer and not press for more details.

"Really? Because I saw your friends and you weren't with them. I asked Marlene if she'd seen you and she said last she saw you, you were by the astronomy tower with Black." Brady said knowingly, like he'd caught her in some great crime.

"Regulus? You've got to be joking me. I don't know Regulus hardly at all, Brady." She said and then she realized that he meant Sirius.

"You know I'm not taking about Black Jr., who by the way you should probably avoid anyways. What were you doing with Sirius?" Brady snapped and Dany rolled her eyes. Like hell she was going to say, 'Yeah you know we were just talking about being kids and literally reliving childhood memories together'.

"Talking, you know because we're friends; it's what friends do. Seriously, Brady I know what you're thinking and nothing's going on. Besides, we're both in relationships." She responded as she pulled her textbook out of her bag.

"Oh please, as if you could call those...things he does with girls 'relationships'. He's essentially single. You're in a relationship and he should be mindful of that is all I'm saying." Brady said and Dany shrugged.

"He is. He's never come onto me, never tried to flirt; it's platonic so leave it be." She said and Brady seemed to be looking for a way to argue with this, which was a mistake. For as long as they'd been dating, he still didn't know when to let things go with her; that tone meant 'back off'—that she was running out of patience.

"Look, all I'm saying Dan is that—"

"I said to leave it alone, Brady. I'm friends with him and I'm sorry that you don't like it but we were friends long before I started dating you." She snapped, rather loudly. Lily and Marlene looked over from two desks over and Alice turned around from her seat in front of the couple. No one else seemed to notice, Dany was thankful to see. Brady looked pissed but said nothing more on the topic.

"Alright sorry. How about we meet up later and we can...make up?" He whispered and she shook her head. She knew what he wanted; it was what he always wanted these days.

"Not right now, Brady. I'm just not ready." She whispered back, for what felt like the thousandth time since the start of the year, and he said nothing in return.

The rest of class passed uneventfully, mainly because it was a nonstop lecture, Dany suspected. They were dismissed about twenty minutes early because apparently Professor Burbage ran out of things to talk about.

"I'm going to head back to my room real quick, before my next class." Brady said and Dany nodded.

"Alright, see you at dinner." She said and he nodded before leaving the room. Lily leaned on Dany's desk.

"Everything okay? I heard the end of that…discussion you two were having at the start of class." She said and Dany stood up as she ran her hand through her hair; it was getting too long and the white ends were almost see-through they were so thin. She needed a haircut.

"Yeah, everything's fine…just a misunderstanding." She said and Marlene and Alice walked over as the girls exited the classroom.

"No way are you getting away with that crap answer, Danilynn. Spill." Marlene said and Dany sighed.

"I mean it's the same thing as always; he doesn't like that I'm friends with guys that aren't him or James, who's practically family so that doesn't even count."

"Sirius. He's pissed you're friends with Sirius." Alice said blandly.

"And then he wanted me to go sleep with him as a way to 'make up'. Like sorry, but I'm not having my first time be a 'please forgive me' thing."

"That's a dick move." Lily observed and the other two girls nodded in agreement. "Good for you for telling him no like that. You're quite the role model for us single girls." She laughed and Dany shrugged.

"I have to go drop a book off at the library real quick so I'll catch you guys back in the common room, alright?" She said, thankful they had a free period next; the girls were going to really want to hash this out.

"Sure, I have rounds with Remus anyways so I'm off in the other direction." Lily said and started to walk away.

"We'll be in the common room when you girls are done with your chores." Marlene laughed and the four girls went in different directions.

Dany was walking down the corridor to the library after returning her book when she could have sworn she heard Brady's voice from inside one of the empty classrooms nearby. She debated about looking in the room, but it probably wasn't him, it was probably just another kid who sounded like him doing something he wasn't supposed to. He had said he was going to Ravenclaw tower. She heard the voice again and it was definitively Brady, so she opened the classroom door and felt her mouth drop open. He looked up from kissing the girl that was currently straddling his lap and swore.

"Fuck. Dany, this isn't what it looks like, honestly." He said and she couldn't really see an alternative to the fact her shirtless boyfriend had a girl's legs wrapped around him in an empty classroom.

"Really? Because it really looks like you're cheating on me with some whore." She snapped and he rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, Danilynn I'm a man and I need to get some of my…frustration out somehow and when you weren't willing to help me, I had to find another way is all."

"You need to realize that you just were too uptight for him, Masters." The girl he was with said. Dany realized it was Kenzie Levitt, Sirius' ex from Fourth Year that had been dubbed Crazy Kenzie.

"Kenzie?" She asked blankly and the other girl stood up, nodding.

"Miss me?" She asked sweetly.

"Not particularly, now that you mention it. How are you involved with this? Other than the obvious, I mean." Dany asked, still trying to wrap her head around what she was seeing.

"Well, first of all you don't keep secrets as well as you think you do…I suppose that's rather hard to do with people watching you 24/7. I know why my boyfriend cancelled last minute summer before your Fourth Year; I know that he split to be with you. He was mine at the time and you just couldn't stay away, could you? You ruined my relationship, so when Brady looked all…pent up at the start of the year, I decided that I'd like to ruin yours." She said and Dany nodded faintly.

"Well…this has been enlightening. You can fuck off," She said to Kenzie, "And you, if I ever see you again—actually, forget it…I'm not going to see you again. Ever." She said to Brady and left.

"Dany! Danilynn!" She heard Brady say as he apparently followed her down the hall. He finally caught up to her near the charms classroom, frantically buttoning his shirt up. "Seriously, this relationship isn't over. You can't break up with me." He said and she crossed her arms.

"Really? Am I not allowed to?" She asked scathingly.

"No, you're not. We're not over. And I know that you and Black have had something going on for a while so don't act like a victim." He said. Dany fought the urge to start laughing at that, despite the very unfunny nature of the conversation.

"You've got to be joking." She snapped and he rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to fuck someone to be unfaithful. Kenzie would know."

"Well, please enlighten me to Kenzie's great words of wisdom." She said and was becoming increasingly pissed. The worst part was that she knew exactly what he was talking about as soon as he said it.

"There's more than one way to carry on an affair. You can guess the rest; you're a smart girl." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not cheating on you, Brady." She said and no longer really cared if he believed her, but was just rising to the argument. "She can keep you; I'm done." She said and he grabbed her arm as she tried to back away.

"We're not done. I just said that I'm the only one that can end this relationship, you understand?"

"I understand how repulsive of a human being you are, if that's what you're asking, now let go of me." She snapped.

"What did you just say to me?"

"You heard me. Now let me go and go fuck yourself or she can do it for you—whichever makes you feel more like a man." She said and she could recognize the venom in her own voice. The next thing she processed was pain across her face.

Lily and Remus were doing Prefects rounds right after class and Sirius and James had decided to accompany them—it was long before curfew so Lily had no problem with it, as long as they didn't cause too much of a problem.

A little while into their rounds, the group heard raised voices bouncing down a corridor. She recognized Brady's voice almost immediately and seconds later she heard Dany. They were fighting and from the sound of it, it wasn't pretty. The four exchanged a look and turned the corner to see Dany and Brady arguing heatedly when suddenly Brady backhanded her. Dany looked at him like she wasn't exactly sure what had just happened, but James and Sirius had no questions about it.

James got to him first and Sirius wasn't far behind him. Remus ran forward to grab his friend before she could be caught in the crossfire. Dany looked at him and she was clearly relieved when he led her back towards Lily. Lily wrapped an arm around her and Remus quietly stood next to the girls.

Dany looked too in shock to stop Sirius or James and Lily had no motivation to. They were going to rip him to pieces. Sure enough, Brady started to beg for them to stop beating the shit out of him. They didn't listen to him and continued to hit him. Lily was certain that not one wand had been drawn. They let it go on, neither Lily nor Remus wanting James or Sirius to take mercy and Dany looked like she hadn't really processed the last five minutes at all. Finally, James pulled Sirius by the shoulder and he nodded.

"Don't look." Remus said to them. Lily averted her eyes, but Dany didn't bother. They hadn't been able to see Brady because of the bulk of Sirius and James but once they moved, Lily had a feeling that it was going to be gruesome. Dany continued to stare. Seconds later, Remus guided them out of the hallway and Lily finally looked ahead, no longer trying to avoid seeing what was right in front of her. Remus was off to the side, looking rather disturbed but like he wasn't surprised in the least. James and Sirius were both still standing and didn't look any worse for wear, except it appeared that Sirius had some bloody knuckles and one of James' fingers was swelling like it might be broken.

"Now Dany, sweetheart I'm only going to ask once so you're just going to tell me. What happened?" James said calmly, like he hadn't just almost killed someone.

"I…I was going to the library and I thought I heard Brady's voice inside one of the empty rooms so I opened the door and he was…with someone, a girl." She said softly. Lily put a hand over her mouth. "And long story short, I told him it was over and well, you saw the rest." She said.

"Who was the girl? I need to know whose hair I'm pulling out." Lily said and she saw Dany's eyes flick towards Sirius so quick that she doubted that anyone but her had seen it.

"Kenzie. It was Kenzie." She said and Lily saw Sirius' look of shock.

"Kenzie as in Crazy Kenzie? As in Sirius' ex?" James asked, trying to clarify.

"Yes, James. Sirius' ex-girlfriend was in an empty classroom with her legs around my boyfriend. Is that what you want to hear?" She snapped.

"What I don't understand is why." Remus added and Dany shrugged.

"Why Kenzie you mean?" She asked and Remus nodded. "She said I ruined her relationship so she wanted to ruin mine. That was all she would say." She said and everyone looked at Sirius. Lily thought about putting her arm back around her but held off. She and Sirius would need to talk this out on their own. She caught James' eye and moved her head towards the other end of the hallway.

"Um, guys we're just going to wait over there while you discuss this." James said and the two of them and Remus walked towards the end of the hall.

"So should I just start calling myself home wrecker now? I do ruin people's relationships, you know." Dany asked with a half-hearted smile. Sirius shook his head.

"Nah, I wouldn't bother. I heard what he was saying, you know, about him being the only one that could end it." He said. She looked ashamed, looking down.

"Yeah…you can go ahead and tell me that you told me so; because you did tell me so and I didn't listen. My first boyfriend was a possessive, fanatical, cheater. It's a great way to kick off my love life." She said hollowly and Sirius felt bad for her.

"For what it's worth, I didn't want to be right."

"Well that's a first. I…I just don't understand why." She said softly, finally looking up from the ground. Her eyes were huge and unsure and he was pretty sure she was trying to hold back tears. "Did I cause this?" She said quietly and Sirius felt his eyes widen. He wanted to go back and kick Brady an extra time in the head for somehow spinning this to make her feel like it was her fault.

"Dan…you didn't cause this. You weren't responsible for his actions. He can try to toss blame onto you all he wants but the truth is that he did this, all of this. You didn't make him cheat and you didn't make him hit you. Why would you think that this was your fault?" He asked her softly. She looked back down at the ground.

"…Because I wouldn't sleep with him." She said quietly. Sirius was surprised by the answer. They had dated for a pretty long time and he had just assumed that they had been at it for a while now. "That's why he cheated, because I wouldn't put out for him." She said quietly. "I just wasn't ready and he knew it, I'd only told him a thousand times." He really looked at the side of her face for the first time; there was a violently red handprint on the left side of her face and it became quickly apparent that it was going to be bad; her face was swollen in the shape of Brady's hand.

"That looks awful…what the hell did he do to you?" He said, more to himself.

Dany looked up at him quietly. Before he really thought about it, he touched the handprint; she winced a little but said nothing. He watched her finally start to cry. One of her tears ran down her cheek and clung onto his ring finger. As soon as that happened, the handprint on her face started to quickly fade around where his fingers were and seconds later it looked like nothing had ever happened. "Holy shit. It's gone." He said suddenly and Dany touched her face, feeling for anything that was abnormal or tender. She smiled a little as she continued to let tears silently fall.

"Thank you." She said quietly and he still had no idea what was happening.

"What happened? What was that?" He asked as she wiped her eyes.

"Do you remember the story I told you about my brother's birth defect?" She said and he nodded.

"Yeah, your mom healed it, well her aura did…I don't really see what that has to do with the fact there's no longer a handprint on your face." He said and she smiled a little at him. "Did I just fix it? Did I just do that?" He asked.

"Yeah, you did. That's the first time that anything like that's happened to you, isn't it?" He nodded. "I thought so…it's powerful magic, obviously."

"How did I do that?" He said and she shrugged.

"No one knows why it happens, but it's rooted in emotion." She said gently.

"Oh well I'm glad you don't look like you've been abused anymore." He said awkwardly. Suddenly, a girl screamed in the next hallway. Someone had found Brady. "We should probably leave before we get expelled or arrested. Or both." He said and they walked quickly down the hallway to the rest of their friends, who also looked alarmed at the sudden sound. Before they made it to their friends Dany stopped him and hugged him before kissing him on the cheek. She had soft lips.

"Thank you, for everything." She said quietly and then caught up with Lily. James and Remus fell into step with him and James looked like he wasn't quite sure what had just happened. Remus simply looked amused by the whole thing.

"Mate, did she just kiss you?" James said and Sirius nodded silently. "Do you mind if I ask why?" he said and Sirius shrugged.

James was damn concerned about Dany and he had heard more than anyone else, he suspected. He had heard their argument before they had seen the couple.

"…And I know that you and Black have had something going on for a while so don't act like a victim." "You've got to be joking." They had been yelling at each other. Brady had apparently gotten sick of how close his now ex-girlfriend was with someone that wasn't him. James thought it might be a really bad idea to share this, so he pretended he hadn't heard anything. He needed to talk to Remus, and maybe Lily, before he considered telling Sirius he was a main factor in the breakup.

Before he could do anything, Dany decided that she wanted to talk. She tracked him down after Quidditch practice, only two days after. He was just on his way out of the Pitch by himself; Sirius had gotten caught up in the locker room.

"Dan. What's up?" He asked and she shrugged. She hadn't looked quite the same since Brady; there was something off about her and he couldn't pinpoint it.

"Not much…I was just wondering how much of my argument with, uh—"

"How much I heard?" He asked and she nodded. "I heard more than anyone else except maybe Moony because of his wolf ears. I heard what he said about you and Sirius, if that's what you're asking." He said and Dany's eyes got huge.

"James, there's nothing going on. You know that, right?" She said. He nodded.

"I know, I know. But he had a point, Dan. I'm not saying that he was in the right, or right at all, but he had a point. You don't have to give him your body if he already has your heart." He said quietly and Dany shook her head and her eyes started swimming with tears.

"I just wanted to make sure that you hadn't said anything about that part to anyone. That's a rumor that doesn't need to go around." She said and he nodded.

"I won't tell anyone. They're friends, but you're family." He said and hugged her. Sirius picked this time to appear. Dany immediately dried the tears up and James was rather impressed with the way she could put them away so quickly.

"Hey guys. Dan, not to be rude but what are you…?"

"Doing out here? I just needed to ask James something real quick. I better go; besides, you two smell." She said and quickly walked off.

"She looks horrible." Sirius observed and James looked at him.

"She doesn't look that bad, mate. She's not very happy at the moment but she isn't tearing apart at the seams." He said and Sirius was clearly in disagreement.

"I don't know…I'm just saying that something's not right. Something else has her worried." He said and James looked at him. That would be an understatement.

"Whatever you say, man. I still think that you're overly concerned." James said and Sirius rolled his eyes. "It's probably because you're in love." He teased and Sirius hit him over the head.

"Don't say that too loud. Jessie might think you're talking about her and then that would be a train wreck if there ever was one." He said and James remembered that Sirius was, in fact, in a relationship.

"Because we all know that Jessie just isn't for you, right?" He said and Sirius rolled his eyes but said nothing on the topic.

"Do you think that I had anything to do with Dany and Harris splitting? I mean with Kenzie being involved, it all just kind of…doesn't add up." He said and James shrugged. He had so much to do with Dany and Brady splitting. Dany might have snogged Brady Harris, but she never let him in. The fact that Dany had adamantly refused to cut Sirius out pissed Brady off. Not to mention that she refused to sleep with him. Brady felt cheated because she wouldn't give him her body and she had already given her heart away. She had left nothing for him to have.

"Outside of Kenzie? I don't think so; I really think it boils down to Harris is an asshole and wanted a quickie in a broom cupboard." He said with a shrug. Sirius nodded. James had watched how they'd hug for just a bit too long, make a bit too much eye contact, or sit just a little too close for years and apparently Brady hadn't missed it either. They were deeply in love and not with their significant others.