Hi! So, we're going to see a bit of a reversal from last chapter as these poor kids struggle into a secure relationship, bless them.

Don't expect this to be the last time one of their insecurities rears its ugly head.

Read and Review!

Love, Essie

If the truth is you're a liar
When you say that you're okay
I'm sleeping on your side of the bed
Goin' out of my head now

I'll leave the door unlatched
If you ever come back, if you ever come back
There'll be a light in the hall and the key under the mat
If you ever come back
There'll be a smile on my face and the kettle on
And it will be just like you were never gone
There'll be a light in the hall and the key under the mat
If you ever come back if you ever come back now

~If You Ever Come Back, The Script

The next morning on his way to breakfast—Dany and Sirius had decided to skip running in the wake of the dance—Sirius walked down to the Great Hall only to catch the end of some rather unflattering whispers.

He recognized Lauren Thomas, one of Kenzie's good friends, and a Ravenclaw girl that he didn't know. Lauren's back was turned to him so she didn't see him.

"…Honestly, it only makes sense: Black's just taking Brady's sloppy seconds." The Ravenclaw girl said. Sirius stopped to listen and neither girl seemed to notice.

"From what I hear, Masters has been shagging around ever since Brady dumped her anyways. One of my friends says that she sees her with different blokes all the time—obviously this is late at night when she isn't with her 'boyfriend'." Lauren said. Sirius raised an eyebrow and tried to dismiss it.

"Makes sense. I mean, Brady's did say that she's a pretty easy shag—said that she didn't even wait until the end of their first date." The Ravenclaw said and Sirius took that time to walk away and head towards the Great Hall, where Dany was sitting—alone for once. He sat down next to her and had to force himself to smile. She smiled back happily.

"Morning. Sleep well?" She asked, taking a bite of her toast. Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, fine. Yourself?" She nodded.

"I collapsed right into bed. I think being caught snogging by McGonagall exhausted me." She joked.

"No Lily, Alice, or Marlene?" He asked, unable to help himself from sounding accusing. The odds of Dany actually cheating or sleeping around were slim to none, but he couldn't help the nagging doubt.

"I woke up late and the other girls had already left to revise in the library. I thought I'd come down and eat before I met up with them." She said. He nodded and didn't say anything, looking away from her. "Are you okay, Sirius? You seem…different—upset even."

"I'm fine, Dan. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked tightly and she shrugged.

"Not a clue, but I thought I'd ask in case you wanted to talk." She said before finishing off her toast. "Well, I should go catch up with the girls. I need to get revision done now because we have detention at five, yeah?" She said, standing up. "Not my ideal date, but I'll take it, I suppose." She added with a laugh before kissing his cheek and leaving.

It suddenly seemed like the roles had reversed. Last night, Dany had been on edge about their relationship—irrationally concerned that he was going to break up with her for no reason—and now he was unable to help himself from thinking that she might be cheating, just because he had heard one of Kenzie's friends and a girl that knew Brady saying that.

Because Brady was a beacon of truth and definitely told his friends the truth all the time. Right.

Now, she seemed happy and secure—he had soothed her fears last night, insisting that he wasn't going to breakup with her and telling her that he loved her (which he did). Now, he was the one worrying about rumors.

Great.

The entire day, Sirius spent reading stupid magazines or trying to do his homework, only to come back to what he had heard that morning. When 4:30 came around, he slowly made his way to McGonagall's office, wondering if he'd make it through detention without shouting at Dany, demanding to know whether she was shagging other men—and if she had actually shagged Brady on their first date.

Dany showed up a couple minutes after him and McGonagall set them to lines—apparently too annoyed to come up with something more inventive. She locked them in her office and left them to it.

Dany didn't make an effort to talk—probably wanting to get out of this bloody office as quickly as possible—and that somehow infuriated Sirius. The scratching of her quill was irrationally pissing him off. He looked over at her and she was concentrating on her lines. She apparently noticed and smiled warmly at him.

"Are you sleeping around?" Came out of his mouth before he could stop it and the smile vanished and she looked more shocked than anything.

"What? Is this your idea of a joke?" When he didn't answer, the shock morphed into hurt and Sirius realized very quickly that she wasn't cheating and he had just seriously hurt her. Not to mention the fact that this could very well be the end of their relationship. "Do you really think I'd do that?" She said, her eyes welling up. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but Filch walked in—sent by McGonagall to make sure they weren't sitting around snogging. She didn't have anything to worry about. Dany quickly returned to her lines and Filch told Sirius to get back to it as well.

The caretaker sat there impassively as Sirius wrote his lines and heard his girlfriend—who was probably going to be an ex after this—sniffle occasionally as she wrote. Dany finished before him and handed the parchment to Filch before leaving, slamming the door behind her.

Sirius finished as quickly as he could and pulled out the Map to try and find her. Her searched for her and found her in a mostly unused corridor not far from McGonagall's classroom. Sirius quietly walked there and stopped when he heard something from down the hall. He peeked down the hall and realized that he had been hearing his Dany's muffled crying. She was sitting against the wall, knees under her chin, with her hands over her face, quietly crying.

"Dany?" He said quietly. She looked over at him, not bothering to get up.

"What do you want Sirius? Do you want to know if I've been shagging just blokes or girls too?" She said tiredly. The closer he got, the worse she looked. She hadn't been crying; she had been sobbing.

"No, I—"

"How could you think I would do that to you—or anyone else? I know what it's like to be cheated on, Sirius—in case you've forgotten—and it really fucking hurts. I wouldn't wish it on anyone—let alone someone I care for." She said quietly.

"Dan, look can I just explain?" He said and she raised an eyebrow.

"Why bother? I'm just a cheating whore, apparently." She said, standing up.

"Because I want you to hear this."

"You better make it fucking good. If there isn't a really good reason for this, we're done." She snapped, crossing her arms. Sirius felt the pressure triple just thinking about how good her follow-through was.

"This morning I was walking down to breakfast and overheard a couple of girls talking about how you've been sleeping around ever since you and Brady broke up and that apparently one of her friends sees you all the time with different blokes late at night and this sounds so bad out loud." Dany nodded as if to say 'yeah, it sounds fucking terrible, you twat'. "I just—it was like what Kenzie was doing with telling you that we were going to break up. It's stupid, but it's there and I obviously don't have your self-control and didn't stop myself from actually asking." She looked at him like she was waiting on something and when he didn't say anything—not knowing what she wanted—she walked away. She was actually going to leave and he was about to become intimately familiar with what heartbreak felt like.

"Dany! Wait! Please, just let me finish." He called after her and she turned around and raised an eyebrow. "I—obviously—now realize that you're not and I'm a moron and I shouldn't have believed them because that isn't fair to you and if I had bothered to actually think about it, this is probably just Brady—and probably Kenzie—trying to get us to breakup or something." He said in a single breath and she nodded slowly, appraising him silently. "Also, I really think you could do a lot better than me, so if you leave, I get it. I really do; I don't blame you—who would? I'm a mess as it is and I just accused you of something terrible that you didn't do because I overheard some girls gossiping."

She slowly walked back towards him so he didn't have to keep shouting at her from down the hall.

"Well, keep on groveling." She said, crossing her arms. "Go ahead." She added, a small smile appearing for a second before it vanished.

"Should I get on my knees and beg?" He asked and she raised an eyebrow, arms still crossed.

"If that's what you think you should do. You have one week to make it up to me and after that—if I still don't have a reason to forgive you, we're over." She said. "I want to forgive you Sirius, but I'm not doing what I did with Brady. I'm not going to look the other way and let you treat me poorly because you don't trust me." Sirius nodded. That was understandable. "One week. Make it worth both of our whiles." Dany added before walking away, leaving him in the corridor.

Lily knew something was wrong with Dany—as soon as she had walked into their room, her eyes had narrowed. Dany couldn't really find it in her to care right now and she certainly couldn't find it in herself to talk about what had just happened. She sat down on her bed and pulled out her schoolwork, starting to read their Potions reading. Lily didn't bring it up, just continuously eyed her friend until it was time for dinner. Dany saw her doing it and knew that she was going to be hearing about this later from her friends.

"Did you eat dinner, Dan?" She asked. Dany shook her head.

"No, but I have so much work I think I'll pass tonight." She fibbed. Lily narrowed her eyes, but nodded.

"I'll bring something back for you, okay? I'm meeting Al and Marles down in the Great Hall." Dany nodded, smiling a little.

"Thanks, Lils."

"Of course. And after dinner, the four of us are going to sit down and talk about what's going on." She added and vanished. Dany closed her book and flopped back onto her bed and started at the ceiling. She had almost fallen out of her chair when Sirius had asked her if she was cheating and had to fight the urge to simultaneously slap him, run out of the room, and cry. Honestly, where's the trust?

He had known as soon as they words had left his mouth that he had made a mistake—it had been all over his face—but that still couldn't take it back. She wanted to forgive him, call it water under the bridge and move on, but she couldn't. She had done that for far too long with Brady and like hell was she getting caught in that cycle again. So what if she ended up being one of Sirius' one-month relationships? It wasn't a crime to breakup with someone, although Dany strongly suspected that if they didn't reconcile as a couple, they weren't going to stay friends. Not to mention the fact that he hadn't actually said 'I'm sorry'. He had said a lot, but an apology hadn't been in there.

The three girls came back just as she thought this, bringing her food.

"What's the problem, Dan? Lily said that you're upset and won't tell her why." Marlene said, giving her the plate of food and sitting next to her on her bed. Dany slowly took the food and placed it in her lap.

"Sirius asked me if I was cheating on him during detention." She murmured.

"What?!" They all simultaneously shouted.

"Please explain so I can go castrate him." Lily said. Her face matched her hair.

"I don't know, I mean we were just in detention and he'd been a little touchy when I saw him this morning, but we were doing lines and he just kind of shouted 'are you sleeping around' at me." She said. "I asked him if it was a joke and what was wrong with him and he chased me down after detention and said that he had heard girls talking today and they were saying that I'd been shagging everything that moves ever since Brady and I split."

"Are you over?" Alice asked.

"You dumped him, right?" Lily said evenly. Dany shrugged.

"I told him that he had a week to make it up to me and if I still wasn't convinced, then we were done. I haven't broken up with him, but we're not really together right now. I think we're somewhere in limbo for the next week." Dany said and everyone nodded. "I thought that was fair, I mean I want to forgive him and figured I should at least give him a chance to change my mind." Marlene and Alice nodded and Lily took that time to storm out. "Lily?" They heard her going downstairs and exchanged looks. She was going to go find Sirius.

"Lily!" They all shouted before running after her. By the time they reached the common room, she was already halfway up the stairs to the boys' room. They all scrambled after her, but they were too late to stop her from walking right over to Sirius—who had apparently been in conversation with Remus—and punching him in the mouth. Marlene, Alice, and Dany exchanged looks and jumped forward to wrestle Lily off him.

"You're going to get yourself bloody expelled, Lily!" Dany shouted at her as the redhead started issuing death threats.

"Calm down, Lily! Jesus, we get it: you're pissed and Black's a twat!" Marlene screamed as she and Alice tried to keep Lily from digging her nails into Sirius' eyes. Dany was occupied with trying to pull her away from around the waist.

"I'm going to fucking murder him!" She was screaming. "Let me go so I can kill him!" She kept going, trying to shake her friends off. Remus was inspecting Sirius' face and James appeared to be just coming out of the shower.

"What in the bloody hell is going on out here?" He asked, shocked.

"I told you that if you hurt her, I'd kill you and I fucking meant it!" Lily continued to scream over everyone else telling her to stop. "Just let me get one more punch in, Marles! Just one more! He deserves it and you know it!"

"Marlene—" Dany started, but Marlene had relinquished her grip on Lily, who took that opportunity to sock Sirius in the stomach.

"She could do so much better than you." She hissed before stalking out of the room, leaving everyone standing shocked in her wake. The guys all exchanged looks.

"What the fuck was that?" Frank asked from his bed. Marlene and Alice both ignored him and put their arms around Dany before guiding her out of the room before she could break down and make sure that Lily hadn't seriously hurt Sirius.

They got back to their room and Lily was already there, fuming.

"Sorry about the vase, Dan. It just kind of…broke." She said, gesturing to the vase that was in pieces on the ground. Water had spilled everywhere and there were tulips everywhere as well. Dany waved a hand.

"It's fine. I was going to pitch them anyways." She said and waved her wand, vanishing them. "I think I'm going to call it a night, alright?" She said and the other girls nodded, wishing her a goodnight.

The next morning was when the first one appeared. Dany decided that she wasn't going to go down and run with Sirius as she was still pissed at him and hurt in general, so when she woke up at seven with her roommates, it felt like sleeping in.

She stumbled out of bed and opened her trunk to blearily pull out her uniform, only to rub her eyes to make sure she was seeing right.

"Al? You're really big into flower meanings."

"Yeah…"

"What do tulips mean?" She asked. Alice looked over from her own trunk.

"They really can mean anything. Depends on the color."

"What about purple?" Dany held up the flower in her trunk for her to see. Marlene and Lily looked over as well.

"Say what you want, but he moves fast." Marlene commented.

"Forgiveness. They're apology flowers. " Alice said softly before finally extracting her uniform from her trunk. Dany set it down on her bed and pulled her own uniform out—too busy to think much about where to put it.

The girls were walking down to breakfast, talking about nothing in particular, when they started hearing rumors that Brady Harris was in the hospital wing. They all exchanged looks, at least mildly relieved to hear that he was just in the Hospital Wing and not in St. Mungo's. Eventually, Lily stopped a younger girl from Ravenclaw in the hallway and asked what had happened.

"No one's sure, but he has these awful boils all over his body. Apparently he just woke up with them this morning. One of my friends saw him leaving the tower with his friends and said that the boils spelled 'liar' on his forehead in big letters." She said. "Not a clue who did it though." Lily nodded before thanking the girl and continuing down to breakfast.

They all sat down and exchanged looks.

"You don't think that…?" Alice trailed off.

"Absolutely." Marlene and Lily said at the same time from either side of Dany. Dany raised an eyebrow and had to admit that it sounded like Sirius and possibly James. She guessed that James wasn't very thrilled with Sirius if he had gotten the entire story, but she doubted that he'd turn down a prank—pissed or not.

The guys walked in and all four girls looked up to stare. Sirius made direct eye contact with Dany—who had to admit that he looked like someone had shot his puppy and was also sporting a bruised jaw from Lily—before James jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow and pulled him to the other end of the table to sit down. It was the first time in a really long time since the boys hadn't sat with them. Dany looked down at her food and continued to eat.

"Marles, pass me the pumpkin juice?" She asked and Marlene passed her the pitcher. Dany went to pour juice, but nothing came out. It didn't feel empty.

"All out?" Lily asked. "I have one by me."

"It doesn't feel empty." She said to Lily, shaking it a bit only to hear liquid inside. "Maybe the spout's broken." She said and popped the lid off the pitcher to look inside.

"…Or maybe flowers are following you everywhere now." Marlene said, looking into the pitcher to see an identical flower to the one she had found in her trunk. Dany pulled it out and examined it.

"Apparently." She said. Alice looked impressed.

"How he managed that is beyond me. Lils?"

"Not a clue. As idiotic as those boys are, they're smart idiots." She sighed.

"I'll take it up to the room. I have to run back up to grab my charms book anyways." Alice said. "I can never remember the damn thing. See you all in Defense." Dany nodded and handed it to her as she left. Dany went back to eating—the rest of her meal flower free.

They reached Defense and saw that desks were all shoved to the side. Another practical.

"Hello, all! Now, we're going to be doing something exciting today!" Everyone started whispering. "Has anyone ever heard of the Patronus Charm?" A few people nodded, Dany included. Her parents had taught it to her and her brother years ago.

Their professor went into an explanation about how it worked and Dany mostly tuned it out, instead looking around the room and trying to decide what their Patronus would be.

They were set to practice about half an hour into class.

"Ever done it, Dan?" Alice asked. "I feel like your parents would've taught you." She added and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I have. It's been a while though."

"Ohh, what's your Patronus? It's form, I mean." Lily asked interestedly.

"It's a horse. It's the same as my dad's. His is bigger though—more manly and all of that." Dany said, waving her wand and focusing on her happiest memories. A horse came out of her wand and even though she wasn't real, she looked friendly and nuzzled Dany's shoulder, pushing her gently with her nose. Lily smiled and Marlene and Alice cooed.

"Well done, Miss Masters! Ten points to Gryffindor!" Their professor called. Dany smiled a little and turned her attention back to her Patronus so she didn't lose it. She momentarily turned her attention to the other half of the room, where it appeared that James had conjured his own stag. Remus produced a wolf—which Dany thought was actually quite sad—and Sirius produced a dog, which was completely unsurprising, just as James' stag had been. Those were their Animagi forms after all. Lily managed to get something that was almost corporeal by the end of the class and the rest of them had gotten as far as indistinct mist.

The purple tulips continued to appear. Dany found one in her bag during Charms and one in the place that her quill had been in moments before while she was in the library that night. Over the next week, five more a day appeared in increasingly inventive places—ranging from inside a book she checked out of the library to in the jar of crushed unicorn horn that Slughorn gave her and Lily for Potions.

Word had spread that Sirius and Dany's relationship was on the rocks, as they hadn't been seen talking since the dance and word had also spread that Dany was now finding flowers in the most random places, completely unannounced. Most people had put this together to assume that she was pissed off at Sirius and he was trying to get back into her good graces, which was exactly what was happening.

As for their relationship, Sirius hadn't tried to approach her, which Dany found simultaneously strange and insightful. She suspected that he was doing it because that was what he thought she wanted—which it actually was—and that he was keeping out of her way to prove a point: he knew that she wouldn't want to see him. He might not be around, but the floral arrangement he was sending her one flower at a time was.

She was finding flowers everywhere and everyday the flower changed—despite them all being apology flowers, according to Alice. The first day it had been the purple tulips. The second day was white tulips. The third was pink carnations. The fourth was purple hyacinths. The fifth day—Friday—was roses and they were showing up everywhere.

Dany started out her day with breakfast, where she dropped her fork. When she looked back up from retrieving it, there was a white rose in her water glass when she went to take a drink. She pulled it out and her friends all exchanged looks.

"Alice?" Dany asked blandly, putting it down and taking a drink.

"Humility and innocence. Back before red roses were popular, they meant love." She said before returning to her coffee and studying. "Do you have a quill I can borrow?" Dany nodded and reached into her bag for her quill only to touch something else. "Paired with red roses it's the universal sign of 'I'm so sorry and I'm a terrible human being please forgive me'." She added as she read.

"Like this?" Dany asked, pulling a red rose out of her backpack. Alice looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, exactly like that. So, I'm going to say that that's a no on the quill?" She asked and Dany reached in again for her quill only to pull out another rose—white—and another—red—and another and another, alternating between red and white. Dany picked up her bag and looked in. There was nothing in there. She was going insane.

"You all see those too, right?" She asked and her friends looked up, nodding. "And there's nothing in my bag, right?" She asked, showing Lily her bag. Lily nodded in confirmation. "So, I'm not insane right?" Lily shook her head.

"No you're not insane. Those are real and they seem to be coming from nowhere." She said and Dany looked in her bag for a quill successfully extracting one and handing it to Alice.

Charms was next on their schedule and Dany found a white rose on her chair and when she picked her book up from her desk to leave at the end of class, there was a red rose hiding under it. Lily, who was sitting next to her, looked like she was mildly in awe. Dany looked around to find Sirius and he appeared to be in conversation with James, not paying attention. She would have thought that she was completely misreading it and it wasn't him at all, if it wasn't for the fact that Remus caught her eye and winked knowingly. She wasn't misunderstanding this at all.

"That makes eight today, Dan." Alice said as they walked to their next class.

"Yeah, and we still have the rest of classes." Marlene said. "You have to admit that it's sweet." Lily rolled her eyes. "Come on, Lily—it is and you know it. Different flowers everyday all with special meanings? What do you want from the boy?"

"I want him to get down on his knees and beg for her forgiveness." Lily sniffed, although she did seem to be softening. "He hasn't even tried to talk to her."

"Lily, I kind of appreciate that." Dany added into the conversation.

"Well, I know that, but he doesn't!" Lily exclaimed, making a couple people look over at where Dany was holding her growing bouquet.

"I've already thought about that and I think he actually does know it. I think that's why he's doing it. Because he knows that I want space." Dany admitted.

"Yeah, if he thought that would help, he already would've tried it. It's not like he isn't putting the effort in." Alice said, gesturing to the flowers in Dany's hands. "He obviously wants her back."

"Just admit that it's sweet, Lily." Marlene sighed.

"Fine! It's really sweet. Happy?" Lily said, making the other girls laugh.

"Overjoyed." Marlene said as they walked into Transfiguration. "If he's sending her roses like there's a never-ending supply on day five, I don't want to even think about tomorrow. It's the last day before his week's up." She added.

"I doubt he'll do anything. Tomorrow's Quidditch." Dany said, shrugging. "We're all still going to the game, yeah?" She asked and they nodded.

"Yeah, if you don't mind—"

"Gryffindor's still my team and James is like my brother. I'll go to support him, if nothing else." Dany said and they all nodded as class started. Apparently Sirius wasn't feeling bold enough to perform magic right under McGonagall's nose and Dany didn't find any flowers during that class. Smart boy.

Muggle Studies was a different story. Professor Burbage was oblivious to everything to ever grace this planet and Dany found three more in that class.

Add that to the eight from that morning, the three more she found at lunch, the two more from Potions, and the three at dinner that night, and she had a total of twenty roses from within an eight-hour period. By the time she made it back to her dorm, she was practically drowning in flowers and Lily had to conjure a vase for them because the two they had were full from the first four days of the week.

"Are you going to forgive him? He's sent you like forty flowers." Marlene asked. "You're going to have to make a decision tomorrow, Dan." Dany nodded.

"I know. I want to, but I don't know…I'll figure it out." She sighed.

"I think he needs to do something personally instead of trying to magic his way out of this." Lily sniffed before Dany spent the rest of the night staring at the flowers that were all over their room in various vases.

The girls woke up on game day and got dressed. Dany ate her breakfast waiting for flowers to spring up and none did. Instead of being a relief, it actually only managed to set her on edge.

"Told you he wouldn't do anything on game day." Dany said as they made their way down to the Pitch for the game against Hufflepuff. "Those boys and their Quidditch." The other three nodded and just then, Dany heard James call her name.

"Oi! Dan!" She looked over to see him outside the locker rooms. "Come here." She waved to the girls, telling them to save her a seat. She walked over.

"Yeah, James? Is everything okay?" She asked, wondering why he was talking to her right before a game. He shrugged.

"That has yet to be seen. Sirius wants to talk to you before the game starts." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow.

"What? James—"

"Just talk to him. Please. Even if you break it off, at least he'll bloody know and you both won't be stuck in limbo." He said and Dany smiled a little.

"You know, I call it that too." She said and James smiled. "I'll talk to him, but like hell am I going in that locker room. He can come out here." Dany added and James grinned, kissing her forehead.

"Wait right here." He said and left. Dany sighed and frantically tried to make up her mind. She honestly had no idea what she was going to do—despite the week she had to think it over. She started to examine her cuticles as she waited for someone to walk back out of the locker rooms.

"Dany?" She looked back up. It was Sirius and it was oddly welcoming to hear him say her name.

"James said you wanted to talk." She said. "For the first time in a week."

"I figured you'd want the time to yourself. I think that if I'd followed you around saying sorry you would have told me to piss off on about Tuesday." He admitted and she tried not to smile.

"Well, you're not wrong. Since we haven't spoken since it started, I haven't been able to say thank you for the flowers. They're really beautiful." She said softly.

"I'm glad you liked them. I figured you'd find them less annoying than having to actually see me." He said and she shrugged.

"I just—even after a week of thinking about it, I don't understand how you could think that I was cheating on you." She said softly, tears starting to well up.

"Logically, I didn't think that and I knew it was ridiculous. On the other hand, hearing people say it—just casually passing that around—put the doubt there. It was awful and even though I knew that you weren't, it bothered me that people were saying it—as if that made it real." He laughed scornfully at himself. Dany didn't like the sound. It sounded ugly and self-degrading. "And of course I didn't just ignore it because I'm not that secure in any of my relationships, let alone romantic ones because this is—or was, depending on how this conversation ends—really new to me and I don't know how it's supposed to work." Dany nodded.

"Is there anything else you want to say or tell me?" She asked, giving him the chance to say anything he wanted.

"Is this a trick question?" She shook her head, not missing the wary tone.

"No, I really meant it. Is there anything else?"

"Not really. There isn't anything else I can say. I'm sorry and I know I can't take it back no matter how much I regret it and I can't expect you to forgive me. Break up with me if you want—it's your right." He said and she bit her lip and then something set in. The last sentence: break up with me if you want.

Ever since this had started, she had been nonstop comparing what was happening with Sirius to what had happened with Brady—except Sirius wasn't Brady. Brady had told her the exact opposite of that. Brady had told her that only he could end their relationship. This wasn't the same abusive relationship she had been in and it took this long for her to fully realize it.

Not to mention that Sirius literally never apologized to anyone—well, he did but in a lot of words that weren't 'I'm sorry'.

Dany nodded a little without thinking, meaning 'yeah, I forgive you'. Judging by his face, Sirius took it as 'yeah, I'm breaking up with you'. In case Dany had been wondering if he actually loved her, that facial expression erased any doubt.

"Right, well I'll see you around I suppose." He mumbled and went to turn around. Dany rolled her eyes to herself, grabbed him by the Quidditch jersey, turned him back towards her, and kissed him. It took him a second to realize what was happening, but he kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her and trapping her hands between their chests. She broke off the kiss, but didn't move out of his arms.

"I meant that I forgive you, not that I'm breaking up with you, you idiot." She murmured and he smiled. "But if this happens again, I will let Lily kill you."

"I've missed you so much." He said and touched her face gently. "God, I've missed you." He whispered and kissed her again, much less enthusiastically and much more gently.

"Oi, Black! Stop snogging your girlfriend and get into the locker room!" Dany heard Toby shout and Sirius ignored him, making Dany smile against his mouth.

"Yeah, Padfoot! Stop snogging your—wait, never mind!" That was James, apparently just now realizing that if they were snogging, then they weren't breaking up. "Please continue if that's what needs to be done." Dany felt Sirius move a hand off her back and suspected that he was flipping James off as he kissed her. He broke off the kiss a couple moments later and smiled a little.

"I should probably go. I think Toby's going to murder me." He said and Dany tried not to laugh. "I've already made him wait long enough." Dany looked around Sirius to see Toby standing in the doorway to the locker room, arms crossed and tapping his foot.

"Probably. Kick Hufflepuff's ass, yeah?" She said, trying not to giggle.

"Obviously." He said and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Dan." He murmured into her skin and she smiled a little.

"I love you too. Don't die." She said and started to walk away, waving cheerily at Toby as she went.

Much to their friends' excitement—and the rest of the castle's shock—two weeks later, Dany and Sirius were actually stronger as a couple and Sirius largely credited the fact that they had managed to come out the other side of a major fight intact. He didn't know if that was the sign of a strong relationship or if the fight itself had made it stronger and he didn't really care as long as they stayed together.

Also, they were back to snogging in obscure places in the castle and McGonagall was continuously catching them. The third time she caught them, she decided to write home to their families (or in Sirius' case, the Potters. She wanted discipline, not for the Blacks to murder Sirius).

Dany and Sirius had been called into her office a day after being caught and it appeared that Daniel had written Professor McGonagall back. The letter started out highly official, coming in an envelope sealed with wax stamped with the seal of the Minister's office and on parchment marked as from the desk of the Minister of Magic. McGonagall broke the seal in front of them, probably wanting them to hear the earful that Daniel was about to give his daughter about how terrible this all was. She was expecting Daniel Masters to demand that his daughter value her chastity or modesty more than she was.

He did just the opposite.

Daniel started by very politely thanking Professor McGonagall for writing him. He then proceeded to tell her that his daughter's sexuality was her choice and if Dany chose to snog Sirius in broom cupboards, then that was okay with him because humans are sexual creatures. He finished by adding that if she ever needed to learn more about contraceptives, she just needed to write home to either of her parents.

Sirius pretty much had to carry Dany out of McGonagall's office she was laughing so hard and he was pretty sure that he had cracked a rib himself.

A day after that, McGonagall called them back once more because Charlie and Dorea had written back on Sirius' behalf and McGonagall was looking for justice from at least one set of parents.

She didn't get it.

Dorea and Charlie said the same as Daniel—Charlie emphasizing that while safe sex meant contraceptives, it also meant a loving relationship where both partners trusted the other. Dorea proceeded to write that as long as they were safe, then there was nothing wrong with physical affection and that neither her nor her husband were going to shame their son for it.

It was Dany's turn to carry Sirius out of McGonagall's office through her tears because that was legitimately the best thing he'd ever received in a letter and was about in hysterics from laughter.

A few days later, Dany received a letter from her mother directly and not through McGonagall. She was slightly more disapproving than Daniel had been, but she had written her daughter to tell her that if they were going to have sex, then both of them—and not just Sirius because "honestly with all those girlfriends you say he's had, he's not a virgin"—should be aware of contraceptive options. She gave a list of options and then had enclosed mail away forms for the potion.

"Only your family, Dan." Sirius had laughed when she had shown it to him. "Should we bother telling them that we haven't shagged?" He added. Dany laughed loudly before looking around hastily for Madam Pince. She had dragged Sirius into the library to study with her because—even though he didn't want to admit it, OWLs were approaching quickly and everyone was scrambling to get their heads wrapped around everything they had learned in the past five years.

"I think they know. If Mom thought we were shagging, she wouldn't have sent order forms—she would have sent the real thing." Dany said, her cheeks noticeably flushing. "Can you explain this to me? Charms and I are having a disagreement and this book as about as dense as they come." She said, quickly changing the subject and pointing to a passage in the textbook in front of her. Sirius let her shift the topic away from her burning red cheeks and read what she was pointing at.

"Do you think we have time for a slight detour before we head to dinner?" Dany asked as they walked from the library to the Great Hall. Sirius raised an eyebrow and looked over at her. She looked like she was asking to detour to Charms to ask Professor Flitwick a question—and not the broom cupboard or empty classroom he knew she was talking about.

"I reckon so. I also reckon McGonagall's at dinner." He said and she grinned.

"Excellent because all of this studying is really stressing me out." She sighed dramatically as they turned into a much less populated part of the castle.

"I really think you need to do something about that. It's just not healthy." Sirius said with a straight face.

"Care to help?" She asked, laughing as she pulled him into a broom cupboard and locked the door behind them, covering them both in darkness. Sirius went to light his wand, but Dany caught his hand—well, she tried to and touched his arm. "Don't." She murmured from somewhere in front of him. He couldn't see at all and wouldn't have known where Dany was if she hadn't been pushed against him.

He put his wand away and felt her fingers tracing up his arm, trying to find his face. She kissed him gently once she located his mouth, sucking on his bottom lip as her hands fumbled, trying to pull his shirt off. Sirius kissed her back, realizing that he hadn't ever snogged—or shagged—someone in the complete dark either and he was definitely clumsier like this. Dany finally pushed his shirt off him and Sirius heard her moan quietly as he kissed her neck, his hands moving to slip up her shirt to grip her hips. Except her shirt was gone.

"Dan? Where did your shirt go?" He murmured.

"Hm? Oh, it's on the floor I think." She mumbled into his neck. "Right next to my bra." She added, running her fingers down his chest. Sirius momentarily had heart palpitations as he realized that she was completely topless and he couldn't see. He reached around and ran a finger down her spine and sure enough, it was just skin—no bra strap, no shirt, nothing.

"Can I turn a light on?"

"Lights stay off. You can touch, but you can't look." She murmured.

"That's opposite how most things work." He said and he heard her laugh and could feel her smile against where she was kissing his neck.

"I suppose it is, isn't it?" She said as Sirius pulled her closer to him and felt her bare chest against his, her heart rapidly beating. "Take what you can get, Sirius. This is further than anyone's ever gotten." She added.

"One question." He mumbled as they both gasped for air a moment later.

"Hm?"

"What color are your nipples?" He asked while reaching down and tracing patterns on one of her breasts until he found her nipple. He heard her breath hitch for a second when he brushed it with a finger. "What color, love?" He whispered into her ear when she didn't answer.

"Pink." She whispered back. "They're pink."

"What kind of pink?" He murmured, bending down to suck on the aforementioned nipple. He felt her fingers run through his hair as she whimpered. "Light? Dark? Let me use my imagination, love." He asked, returning to her neck.

"Light pink." She whispered. Sirius didn't need to hear anymore before he could more than happily snog his topless girlfriend, substituting actually seeing her breasts with a lovely mental image and the feeling of her pressed against him.

"Decent?" He asked her in the dark and got an affirmative answer before unlocking the door and peeking outside. No one. "Alright, let's go." Sirius said, turning around to look at Dany for the first time since they had entered the broom cupboard. Dany looked pretty disheveled, although she was quickly remedying that with various cosmetic spells, resetting her lipstick and unwrinkling her shirt magically before pulling her hair back into a French braid. She smiled at him cheerily and walked out, taking his hand. "Feel better?" He asked and she laughed.

"So much better. Thanks for the stress relief."

"Thanks for the incredibly lewd and inappropriate thoughts you've managed to put in my head." Sirius replied and she shrugged. "Brady really never saw you topless?" He asked suddenly.

"Neither have you, you know." She said. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "No, he didn't. He never saw—or touched—me without a shirt and bra." Dany said and Sirius realized quite quickly why she had chosen to keep the lights off: it was her version of easing into sex. She was more self-conscious about how she looked (quite ridiculously) than she cared about him touching her. It wasn't a fear of vulnerability or intimacy: it was fear of judgment.

"Well, it's his loss because from what I could feel, you have a body that could start wars." He said and her face turned bright red.

"Oh, um thanks. Do you know what time it is?" She asked suddenly, once again diverting attention from herself.

"It's…fuck were we really in there for over an hour?" Sirius said. Dany grabbed his wrist to examine his watch.

"We were in a broom cupboard for over an hour." She said faintly. "No wonder I'm bloody starved."

"Kitchens?"

"Kitchens." Dany agreed, letting Sirius pull her in a different direction by her hand, towards the kitchens. "I never asked how you made Brady break out into boils all over his body." She said after a couple minutes of silent walking. Sirius froze. How she had figured out it was him was anyone's guess.

"Who said that was me? There are plenty of blokes who have it out for him." Sirius said and Dany snorted.

"Please. You hear a rumor that Brady's been telling people that I'm easy and the next day he shows up with boils everywhere that spell out 'liar' on his forehead?" She said skeptically. "I'm not stupid enough to call that chance or coincidence." She had a point. "So, how'd you do it?"

"I paid a First Year to go put some…unfortunate potions into his soap." Sirius admitted and Dany laughed, rolling his eyes.

"At least tell me that you paid the kid well."

"Five galleons. I figured he wouldn't talk if I overpaid him." Sirius said and Dany chuckled again.

"Well, it was ingenious—and also very fitting. Now, I have to know: where they everywhere?"

"Anywhere he washes, so probably." Sirius said and Dany started really and truly laughing. "Maybe his bits and pieces will still be painful when we play Ravenclaw next weekend." She smiled.

"The Cup—I almost forgot. Excited?" She asked and Sirius nodded.

"Obviously. I mean Toby thinks our chances are almost 100%. That's no reason to get overconfident—but still." Sirius said, grinning at the idea of winning the Quidditch Cup again for Gryffindor. "Can't wait to kick their asses."

"Well, you're going to have to wait another week to do that."

"What do you want to do this weekend?" Sirius asked and Dany shrugged. "We haven't had any time together without either studying or snogging since the fight and as much as I love both of those things—"

"We need to spend some time talking." Dany finished off and he nodded.

"Normally, I'd say Hogsmeade date, but I'm not feeling it this weekend." Sirius said and Dany nodded.

"Me neither. I'll leave it up to you, yeah?"

He should have known what he was getting into when he started dating a girl whose father treated her mother like she was more precious than diamonds—it was only natural for Dany to expect the same from her partner. Oddly, as stressful as he found trying to plan things, he didn't really mind if it made her happy.