We drew our mouths away gasping. Sirius gave me a lazy grin and licked his lips. I felt my head spinning. He doesn't hate me. He said he liked me liked me. Oh god.
A cough from the side brought me hurtling back into reality. James Potter had his arm draped around Remus's neck, with Peter wide eyed lurking at his elbow.

"Like I said, you trying to make us late for Care or what?" James sniggered, fixing his glasses.
My arms were off Sirius like he was on fire. I took a hasty step backwards and cleared my throat, feeling clearly more embarrassed than Sirius. He pushed back his dark curls confidently and started to stride outside, a slight swagger in his step.
"Um," I pointed after Sirius, "I should…" My cheeks were burning. As I scurried away, I heard the three boys dissolve in peals of laughter.

I caught up with Sirius halfway down the slope to the paddock where Grubby-Plank was waiting to begin the lesson. Without saying a word, the boy slung his arm across my shoulders naturally. I bit my lip with a smile and fell in step with him, my bad mood from earlier melting away.

We joined up with the Hufflepuffs and waited for the last remaining Gryffindors to arrive. Although the sun was bright in the sky, there was a chilly wind scurrying through the grounds. Sirius removed his arm and curled his fingers in mine to keep them warm. James appeared at Sirius's side and pretended to throw up.
"Everyone here? Yes? Good. Gather round, gather round," Grubby-Plank held up her gloved hands and ushered us closer. We were right at the edge of the forest line. "I've got something special for you today. Boys might want to stay back; Unicorn foals are more trusting of girls."
She turned to the forest, stepping into the first line of trees to collect two beautifully pale foals, one silver and the other gold.

I gasped, thinking they were most graceful and striking creatures I'd ever seen. Grubby-Plank led them into the paddock and let them trot about majestically, their golden hooves denting the dark grass.
"Unicorn foals are born pure gold in colour. Can anyone tell me at what age they start to change silver?"
Cece spoke up nearby, her oval eyes watching the foals intently, "Two. And their horns grow in at around 4."
"Brilliant, take ten points. It's at about seven that their coat turns a snowy white colour, completing their change into adulthood."

Some of the girls were starting to inch closer to the golden foal – the more inquisitive of the two. I let my hand fall from Sirius's as I moved closer. A small whine left his mouth as I did, making me twist my head to raise my eyebrows at him.
"I don't want you to go. You were keeping me warm," he pouts, still under the influence of the Veritaserum.
"But I want to pet the unicorn," I told him truthfully, before leaving him behind and going to stand at Cece's side.

The gold foal sniffed in our direction and I let out a squeak.
"I know, it's so adorable!" Cece whispered in my ear, not wanting to frighten the creature.
"I want one," I nodded, lifting my hand, very slowly, with my palm facing the unicorns muzzle. It sniffed and blinked its cerulean eyes. I tried hard not to blink, knowing that some animals mistrust humans who can't hold their gaze. Gently, the unicorn pressed its nose into my hand.
I emit a squee and petted its cheek, grinning at Cece when she joined in, waving her dark fingers in its golden mane.

A kerfuffle from over to our left made us turn our heads. The silver, older unicorn was pressing his nose into Remus's side, whinnying and demanding his attention. Remus's cheeks were red as he awkwardly patted its head. And the foal was more than happy to let James tickle its neck and let Sirius rub noses with it.
"That's certainly a first!" Grubby-Plank remarked, "It's extremely unusual to have a foal approach a male, especially when there is a large crowd of females around. You must have animal instincts!" She laughed, before patting the flank of the foal in front of me and leaning down to inspect the tail hair, explaining about its properties and many uses.

Something made me halt at her words, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. None of the Professor's explanation reached my ears. I watched the boys playing with the foal, the niggling feeling in my head frustrating me. Peter was running a hand down its mane and it shook its head in delight. The foal clopped its feet on the spot and ran in a circle as if it wanted to run and let the boys chase it. Nearby, two Hufflepuff girls stood to the side, ignored by the creature. Something definitely wasn't right…

Abruptly turning away from my gorgeous foal, I trod over to the boys, frosty grass crunching under my feet.
"Good girl! You love Prongsy, don't you! Yes you do!" James was cooing, cuddling his cheek against the poor unicorn. It whinnied in response and fluttered its eyelashes.
"Wouldn't let Lily over hear you talking like that," I laughed, joining them. "She might get jealous."
The comment would have gone unnoticed if I hadn't suddenly whacked my hand over my mouth in shock. It was one of those remarks that slipped out without me thinking about it.
James straightened up with a strange expression on his face. He pushed his glasses up his nose and wobbled his mouth open.
"Wait…. Do you mean Lily does actually like me?"
"James!" Remus cried out, "Don't!"
"Well she's-" I started before a hand slapped over my mouth. I mumbled the rest of my answer into Sirius's palm, sighing when I was done. That was too close.
"Worth a shot," James shrugged and turned back to the foal as if my answer hadn't meant a great deal to him anyway. I knew better than to believe that.

"Where is she anyway?" Peter asked, flicking his eyes along the path back to the castle.
"She'll be here soon, don't worry guys. If anyone can brew an antidote in a limited amount of time, it's Evans," James coolly said, messing up his hair as if Lily would benefit from it.
I grinned, knowing my friend would probably roll her eyes at his comment and repress a smile.

As the foal went back to cuddling up to Remus, Sirius turned and quietly spoke to me.
"What are you doing this weekend?" He inquired, with a lazy grin.
"Homework. Nothing much… Sirius Black, are you asking me out on a date?" I purred, raising my eyebrows.
"Yes- damn it. I was meant to play that cool," Sirius scowled.
I leant my weight on one hip and beamed at him, "Well then my answer is: I'm busy going to Hogsmede with my dorky, loveable crush."
He looked delighted for a moment before his expression went crestfallen. Sirius squinted at me, "You think I'm dorky?"
"I just said, didn't I?"

"Sirius, Erin! There she is!" Remus called to us, pointing over to the castle where red hair was swinging side to side behind crimson lined robes. Her pace was fast, one hand on the strap of her bag, the other curled into a fist, in which I hoped there was an antidote to our problem.

"Would it be really awful of me to ask you something before you take that antidote?" I placed my hand on Sirius's arm, my heart beat suddenly racing with the idea. I made sure my words were carefully formed, so that he wouldn't be forced to answer.
He cocked his head curiously, "Depends what the question was, I guess?"
"The same one I asked you last night. The one you wouldn't answer."

Sirius's mouth fell open slightly and he gave the foal playing with Remus a long stare. Avoiding my gaze, he replied with a clenched jaw.
"I really don't want you to ask me that."
I nodded acceptingly, surprised that I didn't completely freak out and get angry for once.
"Sure. I won't then."
His silver eyes found mine.
"You're fine with that?"
I shrugged, "I'm not quite sure yet, but I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do. That's unfair. You must have a good reason behind it."
Sirius squeezed my hand gratefully whilst we watched Lily reach the class.

"Sorry, Professor, I had to run to the Hospital Wing," Lily apologised to Grubby-Plank as she entered the paddock, sparing the golden foal an excited glance.
Grubby-Plank waved at her, not all that bothered at Lily's lateness. Another perk of being a perfect student – you get away with anything. "Yes, yes, just make sure you catch up on the information you've missed," the Professor told her before turning back to the foal.
Lily skipped over to us hurriedly, her cheeks red from her walk.

"Done it!" She declared, opening her pale palm to reveal a vial of silvery liquid.
"Lily, you are the cleverest person I know!" I cried, leaping to throw my arms around her.
"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, offended by my honesty.
"We'd be nowhere without Lils, don't sulk," I chided him, lifting the vial out of her hand like it might explode at any second.

"There's enough for both of you. Take a swig," She told me, glancing over her shoulder to check Grubby-Plank was still occupied.
Without waiting another moment, I chugged down a mouthful of the liquid and passed it to Sirius, who glanced at an extremely relieved Remus. After swallowing the rest of the potion, he passed the empty bottle back to Lily and licked his lips expectantly.

"What now?" He asked.
"Someone ask him something really embarrassing," I urged, with a grin on my face. A pressure had lifted from my chest, assuring me that the antidote had worked. I, thankfully, no longer felt like I had to bite down on my tongue.
"If you had to date one of the Marauders, who would it be?" James chortled, tickling the foal under the chin as he did.
Sirius leaned over to his mate and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek, "You only asked me that so I'd say you."
"Of course!"

Lily and I exchanged exasperated glances.
"Honestly, Lils, you're the best. Thank you," I reaffirmed.
"It was no problem. What are friends for?" She replied, walking to stand next to James so she could pet the silvery foal. It nuzzled her hand happily.