Summary: A sleek Scandinavian, detention romance, a summer fling, the one girl he never expected, and more. Read all about Sirius Black's twisted love-life and the girls who made it click.

Rated: M, though this chapter is pretty clean.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

A/N: See? I updated quickly! I think I'm trying to make up for my abysmal job of updating over the past seven months. Besides, I've come up with loads more ideas for this story, and I'd better write them down quickly before I forget them!

Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

Summer's End, and All That Goes With It

Sirius was sitting at a large, round table atop the mown area of grass behind Thestrel's Perch. James sat two seats to his right, Tara sat opposite him, and a horde of assorted cousins and acquaintances of the Potters', all within the age range of fifteen to eighteen, sat at the remaining nine chairs.

The moon was full overhead; this was a harvest festival of sorts. "Of sorts" was the operative term; fabulous food was being served on silver platters and the Heathland – which was, ironically enough, itself a product of over-farming – was illuminated by the light of the many cast-iron torches Mrs. Potter had ordered positioned along the stone wall.

Tara kept trying to catch Sirius's eye from over her many-faceted crystal goblet, but any response he gave her was completely insincere and accidental. He had received a postcard from Claire that morning, embossed with a picture of a rather ugly camel. He guessed she was somewhere in North Africa, probably with Hector's family.

The postcard had said simply:

Hey, pal.

Hope this finds you well.

x x (one for each cheek!)

In reading those three simple lines, Sirius had experienced more emotion than he had accumulatively felt in months.

His first emotion was one of deep-seated sorrow. He missed Claire immensely. He missed her bitchiness, her sense of humor, her wry intelligence, her violet eyes. Most of all, he missed the feeling of being with a girl he truly cared about. Tara was endearing, sure, and she had a good heart, but she was also somewhat awkward and – this was the worst part – insecure. Indeed, in many ways, Tara epitomized the opposite of everything Sirius had loved about Claire.

Tara was still looking at Sirius from across the table, raising her eyebrows now in a blatant bid for his attention. Her hair was pulled back and clipped in a half ponytail, and she was clad in a flattering green semi-formal summer dress.

Ever since he had started hooking up with her, Sirius had decided that Tara was better looking than he had previously given her credit for. He rather enjoyed running his fingers through her long, silky hair, which nowadays fell to the middle of her back. He was fond of the gleam in her green and gold eyes. Her nose was straight, her face was narrow, and he liked how he could only see her subtle freckles at close range.

But at the same time, Tara was Tara. Hooking up was fun, obviously, but he knew he never, ever would want to date her.

Across the table, Tara cleared her throat slightly, but Sirius stared into his goblet and pretended not to notice.

The second emotion Sirius had felt upon reading Claire's postcard had been intense dislike of Hector Zabini, but that had quickly faded into a new emotion: resolve. Sirius remembered deciding back in the spring that he would some day find himself a girl who made him feel the same way Claire had, and his dedication to this goal had sprung back into his consciousness.

His first thoughts on the subject were rather crude.

Fuck Tara Nevan.

Then he had laughed slightly, because this was a terrible, insensitive thing to think, and he knew it. He did not really wish Tara any harm. Then he had smiled again; the phrase "Fuck Tara Nevan" had two meanings. Being a teenage boy, he found this funny.

Actually, because he wished Tara no harm, he wasn't about to go and take her virginity, even though he knew she wouldn't mind. But in spite of his horniness, Sirius knew that having sex was not for casual summer flings; it was for actual dating relationships.

Everything else but sex was fair game, though.

Poor Tara; he was corrupting her so…

Sirius returned to the present as James kicked him under the table.

"What's up?" he asked distractedly.

James glanced from side to side discreetly and then pointed to Sirius, pointed to himself, and pantomimed taking a shot.

Sirius barked out a laugh and shrugged in confirmation. There was no reason not to get pleasantly drunk tonight; the adults were already tipsy off of the Potters' expensive wine, and the teenagers might as well follow suit.

Sirius idly examined the chive sauce with which his potatoes had been served, his mind drifting back to Claire again. Having nothing pressing on his schedule that afternoon – obviously, seeing as it was summer; and besides, James's mother had been preparing for the ball and had wanted him and James out of the house anyway – he had flown down to the village on his motorcycle, bought a cheap Muggle postcard (with difficulty; he hadn't understood any of the money until the nice man behind the counter had offered to help him), and flown back up to the Heathland.

The postcard had a picture of the fields of Devon on it, complete with a smattering of sheep. Sirius had scrawled on the back,

I wish there were a camel.

Also, that you're well.

X (I don't kiss cheeks!)

He had sent it before he could change his mind.

-

Sirius was with James on the roof. They were sitting on the patio outside of the servants' quarters, having flown there on broomsticks from the Heathland below. It was the middle of the day and James had ordered one of the house elves to bring them cold drinks. School was set to resume in three weeks, and equipment lists for the coming school year had arrived that morning, as well as a note informing James that he was to be Head Boy.

"What the hell?" he had said, flabbergasted, upon opening the letter. He had looked up at Sirius in shock. "What, did my parents donate a lot of gold to the school, or something?"

Sirius had laughed, equally bewildered. "I don't know, mate, but it's certainly good news, isn't it?"

James had looked queasy. "I'm not sure…" Then he laughed. "Aw, who am I kidding? This is going to be bloody brilliant!"

Additionally, three personal letters had arrived that morning. The first was from Remus.

Dear Prongs and Padfoot,

I hope this finds you well. I'm in France and it's terrible. We're on the Côte d'Azur and I'm bored as hell. Luckily we're leaving in a week and then maybe I'll come down and stay with you lot for the last week of summer, yeah? We can all go to Diagon Alley together.

I was not at all surprised to hear about Padfoot and dear Tara. I definitely had a good chuckle when I got your letter, James. I won't lecture you (yet... heheheh), but Sirius, please imagine what I would have to say about everything, were I there. In this way, I hope you can moderate yourself. Or not.

Anyway, see you all in a couple weeks.

-Moony

The next letter was from Peter.

Dear Padfoot and Prongs,

I'm back! Drop me a line when you lot want to meet up, I hope we can all go to Diagon Alley, and what-not.

Summer's been grand. I'll tell you more later.

-Wormtail


P.S. Sirius and Tara, ha HA!

The final letter was the latest from Savannah.

Dear Sirius,

I hope you've been staying out of trouble. I sure haven't! Haha, anyway, I'm back on the island and would really love to meet up with you at Diagon Alley. Probably can't get down to James's before the start of term, though it was nice of you to suggest it. Tell him I'll drag Lily along if you lot want to shop with us.

I've got reams of stories to tell you from my wild adventures in Italy. I can't wait to see you!

Molti baci (See! I learned loads),

Annie

Sirius had smiled after reading it. He had indeed suggested to Savannah that she come down to Devon before the start of term, even though he knew that mixing Savannah and Tara would probably be a teensy bit uncomfortable.

No matter; he would see her at Diagon Alley.

Thinking about it, Sirius realized he wasn't entirely sure where their relationship stood. They had definitely both spent the last two months hooking up with other people; leaping back into a committed relationship straight off the bat was probably not the wisest of moves. Still, Sirius was looking forward to seeing Savannah, and – though this was probably a tad disloyal to Tara, but whatever – hooking up with her again. For that was one thing they could surely do, regardless of whether or not they were technically a couple.

-

"Sirius, where does our relationship stand?"

He was lying in bed half-naked with Tara, and she was tracing her fingers over his chest and asking that oh-so-awkward question.

"Mmm…" he mumbled incoherently. He really was not in the mood to answer. Wasn't it obvious? They were a summer fling, a casual hook up, and nothing more. But of course, Tara – innocent (well, sort of), pretty, naïve Tara – could not have known this.

Sirius chose to ignore the subject, knowing this was a decision he would regret even as he made it.

"Why does it matter?" he asked, and leaned over to kiss her passionately, ceasing all talk.

He felt like he was letting James down. James had asked him the same question the other day, followed by the reassurance of,

"I mean, I know that it's not going to continue into the school year, but mate, she probably doesn't know that."

Sirius had shrugged. "I'll figure it out later."

James had winced slightly. "Sirius…"

Sirius had rolled his eyes. "Oh hush it already."

James had smiled. "Sirius, what would Moony say?"

Sirius had barked out a laugh. "I'd rather not know."

-

It looked as if he was going to be finding out was Remus would say remarkably soon; he and Peter were both set to arrive that evening, and Mrs. Potter had prepared a feast for the occasion.

Earlier in the morning, Tara had set off to Evetta Niall's house, telling Sirius cheerfully,

"And I'll see you and James at Diagon Alley, or at least on the Hogwarts Express!"

Then she had kissed him brusquely, and he wrapped his arms around her and forced her to make it more passionate until they both pulled away, laughing.

Oh, Tara.

As he relaxed in the swimming hole with James, killing time until Remus and Peter turned up, Sirius felt supremely refreshed.

"So are you going to get back together with Savannah, mate?" James asked idly from where he was floating beneath an overhanging tree.

Sirius shrugged, feeling the water move on either side of him. "I'm not sure yet."

James stared up through the branches above him. "I really hope this is my year… you know, with Lily."

Sirius smiled slightly, though he knew James was not looking at him. "It will be, mate. I have faith."

James sighed audibly. "Yeah..." He trailed off for a moment, and then continued, "…And what about Moony, man? And Peter? They need girls, too!"

Sirius barked out a laugh. "You got that right." He grinned. "Maybe I should just step out of the rink this year and set the two of them up with girls instead… y'know, put my expertise to the test."

James laughed, too. "You could never manage to stay out of 'the rink' all year, and you know it."

Sirius snorted indignantly. "Well, fine! I can see when I'm not trusted."

James grinned. "Of course." Then he sounded more serious. "Did Annie really say she was going to make Lily come shopping with us?"

Sirius nodded, though he was floating on his back at this point so it didn't really matter how he moved his head. "Yeah, man, she did." He smiled a bit. "Don't stress over it; she'll absolutely love you. Just… I don't know, act like you've completely reformed over the summer, or something."

James laughed. "Reformed! You don't think me reformed enough?"

Sirius laughed too. "No, mate; of course I see your inner goodness; it's just that she… well, quite honestly, is a bit thick." He shook his head. "Why didn't you pick somebody smart to obsess over?"

James chuckled, but then sighed and was quiet.

-

Sirius, James, Peter and Remus were playing a drinking game and downing shots of rum. The game involved wizard's chess; every time a piece was taken (it was Sirius and Remus to one side, James and Peter to the other) the player in question had to take a shot. Of course, everybody wanted to drink so it was more a contest of how long one could avoid taking any other pieces while still having as many of one's own pieces taken as possible.

They were in James's room, sitting in a circle on his bed. Tomorrow morning they would be taking the Flu to Diagon Alley and all that that insinuated, but at the moment they were merely relaxing after a week's fun at Thestrel's Perch.

They had heard about Remus's bland summer ("I hate France" had been his summary of the past two months); they had heard about Peter's slightly more interesting summer ("And then it turned out my cousin's best friend from Lancashire was also going to be in Amsterdam, and then she turned out to be gorgeous, and then we ended up snogging up in the Oude Kerk tower" had been the bulk of his summary); they – well, Remus, Peter and James – had debated the morality of Sirius's situation with Tara Nevan; they had mused over what romantic fodder the coming year would bring; they had swum, eaten, slept, flown, explored the Heathland as Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, with Remus flying overhead on a broomstick; and in general reunited and had an excellent time.

As often happened when the four of them were tipsy, James, Sirius and Peter started bugging Remus about his love life – for indeed, Remus rarely had a girlfriend (though he had admittedly had plenty of crushes). There had been that stint with Brynn Merwyn last autumn, and his short, sweet, chaste relationship with Savannah Baron when they had been – what, thirteen? They had never kissed, never hugged, and had only allegedly held hands one night in the common room. Then they had drifted apart because they were both too embarrassed to be seen together.

That Savannah Baron… she sure did work her way through Marauders.

"There must be some girl, somewhere who will have you!" Sirius said amicably.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Oh do tell."

Sirius grinned. "Well, take Inessa Barrington, for example! She would have loved to date you – but no! For whatever reason, you 'weren't interested!'"

James heaved a great sigh, as if at the waste of it all.

Remus laughed and rolled his eyes again. "And then two days later she got drunk and hooked up with you!"

Sirius brushed this accusation aside with a wave of his hand. "So what? She still liked you; I just happened to be drunk at the same time and very in the mood to snog!" He shook his head in mock pity. "Gosh, Remus! Inessa Barrington is a very pretty girl! And it probably took half of her self-resolve just to let word get out that she was into you, and still you didn't go and take advantage of the situation!"

Remus laughed again. "We have nothing in common!"

James waved that aside. "Like it matters! She figures you as a sweet, smart, sensitive little boy–" and here James winked at him cheekily "–and mighty attractive, too! Cripes, Moony – what more do you want?"

Remus laughed a third time. Actually, by this point he had flopped back onto James's bed and was giggling hysterically. He was clearly quite tipsy.

Sirius joined in, finally gasping out, "She's still into you, Moony – I'm sure of it! We'll set the two of you up this year, what d'you say?"

Remus shook his head, still quivering slightly in laughter. "But I… don't… like Inessa!" he gasped.

Peter giggled, but only slightly; he was evidently the most sober. "Why ever not, mate?"

Remus shrugged and did not answer. Actually, he had admitted to liking Inessa Barrington – to a certain extent, anyway – back when she had openly been interested in him. But still, Remus would not allow himself to get into a committed relationship. At the time, Sirius hadn't been sure if Remus's hesitancy had sprung from embarrassment over his lycanthropy, discomfort over his introverted nature, or emotional scarring from having been dumped by Brynn Merwyn. At any rate, after Sirius had hooked up with Inessa, the matter had been dropped.

Sometimes Sirius wished there were more Gryffindor girls in his year. He frequently felt that Astrid Kierkegaard's transfer to that Norwegian school all those years ago had been the biggest injustice of the century.

Currently, apart from Savannah and Lily, there was Vivian Briar, who was a bit heavy, had bouncy ringlets of blonde hair and a cute, turned-up nose, and spent much of her time obsessing over Divination, her favorite subject.

There was also the hauntingly beautiful Isolde O'Connor, whom Sirius had twice hooked up with – and man, had that been awkward afterward – who read romantic novels and only dated older boys. Isolde was tall and slender, had a wavy mane of loose dark hair, a narrow, finely-featured face, and large blue eyes. Her skin was pale white, and the blue of her veins stood out distinctly on her wrists and the backs of her hands. Sirius had been so fond of looking at her that he had half expected hooking up – both times had been in fifth year while Isolde was between seventh-year boyfriends – to be equally enjoyable.

Alas, Isolde was, in Sirius's opinion, "Pretty fucking crazy." He and Savannah had often cheerfully discussed how weird she was; though Isolde got along well enough with her roommates, she often snuck down to Hogsmeade on weekends to spend time with her latest 20-something boyfriend. Savannah had told Sirius that she was pretty sure Isolde was into weird sex stuff too.

Ohhh Isolde O'Connor…

"You could get with Isolde, if you grew a few years older and were into Tantric sex," Sirius suggested to Remus, who burst out laughing; normally he would frown slightly at Sirius for making fun of Isolde, but when he was drunk Remus was just as big a dick as the rest of them.

"Have you ever hooked up with Vivian, Sirius?" Peter chirped curiously, clearly also thinking over the four Gryffindor girls in their year.

Sirius frowned and shook his head. Then he grinned. "Never got the chance," he explained, grinning still more broadly. "She's always up in that damn Divination tower… I'd be up for it, though; you know what they say, 'more to love…'"

It was true; hooking up with Vivian Briar could potentially be loads of fun. She had dated an older Ravenclaw boy (Sirius didn't really know him, but from afar he had gauged that the lad was tall, gangly, studious, wore large rectangular glasses, and frequently doted upon Vivian and waited at her beck and call, the lucky girl) for a good seven months. Thus, Sirius reckoned that Vivian had plenty of experience.

Meanwhile, James was laughing. Then, suddenly, he pouted. "I want Lily, damn it!"

Sirius rolled his eyes and Remus, far too drunk by this point, burst out laughing again.

"You'll be with her soon, Prongs," Peter reassured him kindly, patting James soothingly on the arm. "Don't worry."

-

"The Leaky Cauldron!"

Sirius stepped into the fireplace and felt the pleasant warmth of the flames swirling around him as he was whisked up the Flu toward London.

He stepped out of the grate in the Leaky Cauldron's side parlor, dusting himself off and stepping nimbly to one side to avoid knocking into Peter and Remus, who had already arrived. James came stumbling out of the fireplace a few moments later, coughing a bit on some ash and fanning the air.

"Have a nice trip, mate?" Sirius asked earnestly as Peter chuckled.

James grinned sarcastically as he wiped off his glasses and brushed soot off his jeans. "Oh, terrific."

Sirius barked out a laugh.

"Well, let's get a move on," Remus said, glancing at his watch and ignoring his friends' antics. "We told the girls we'd meet them ten minutes ago."

Together, the crossed the parlor and entered the Leaky Cauldron's central dining room.

Sirius spotted Savannah and Lily at once; they were sitting on the far side of the bar counter, swilling iced drinks and watching the clock in aggravation. Savannah had tied a brown ribbon in her golden-blonde hair, which was streaked with sun highlights, no doubt from her summer on the Mediterranean. She looked as pleasantly attractive as Sirius remembered, albeit a bit more tan. Lily's pretty auburn hair was plaited in a French braid, and for some reason she looked more beautiful than Sirius had ever bothered noticing. He wasn't sure if this was because Lily had put additional effort into her appearance in order to drive James even crazier – indeed, this seemed the type of a thing a girl would do – or if the summer sun had enhanced her generally pale complexion, but for a moment Sirius immensely regretted that Lily did not have a twin sister.

Savannah spotted him and grinned, though Lily looked put out, presumably because she was inherently opposed to this shopping excursion.

"Hey, you lot! Way to be on time!" Savannah had stood up and dragged a reluctant Lily toward them.

"Well, why were you so damn early?" Sirius retorted, coming up to Savannah and giving her a warm hug – no kisses yet; he still hadn't decided where he wanted to steer their relationship.

Savannah hugged James, Remus and Peter as well; James turned to Lily and asked, "Hug for me as well, Lily?"

Lily rolled her eyes and smiled slightly, evidently not in too bad a mood after all.

"I don't do hugs," she replied pleasantly.

James pouted exaggeratedly and Sirius observed, "Well if that's not a crying shame, I don't know what is."

Savannah giggled and shoved him in the arm; Sirius smiled at her and linked his arm through hers serenely.

"Hey Lily, are you Head Girl?" James asked suddenly, grinning in anticipation.

Lily stared at him, her mouth open in shock as she read his expression. "You're Head Boy? What, did your parents donate a lot of gold to the school, or something?"

James grinned still more broadly. "Not to my knowledge, and why, yes I am!"

Lily suddenly burst out laughing. She shook her head for about thirty seconds and finally said, "Well, congratulations, I guess." She laughed again at the irony of it all. "We'll have a… fun year, I'm sure," she said consolingly.

Savannah was grinning, and Sirius couldn't help but join in.

"Oh, stop that!" Lily insisted, rounding on them.

James was grinning more broadly than any of them. Sirius decided this was taking too long.

He cleared his throat. "Well ladies? Are we shopping or are we shopping?"

James nodded seriously, snapping out of it at once. "Oh, we're shopping all right." He linked his arm through Remus's.

Lily smiled again and turned to Peter expectantly; he laughed and offered her his arm, causing James to groan under his breath at the wasted opportunity as the six of them left the dining room and headed into the back courtyard toward the entrance to Diagon Alley.

Sirius rolled his eyes and kicked James discreetly, causing Savannah to giggle again. "I missed you!" she whispered in Sirius's ear.

He smiled. "Who wouldn't?"

She giggled a third time and shoved him playfully; Sirius stood up straighter than usual and pretended to ignore her before grinning at her and shoving her back.

"I guess I sort of missed you too…"

This wasn't entirely true; he had missed Claire Delacour one hell of a lot, but other than that, his missing of girls had been minimal. Sirius supposed the closest he had come to missing Savannah had been the brief moments of envy at her summer excursions he had experienced while reading her letters from Italy.

But as always, there was no reason to tell any girl that.

"Sort of?" Savannah demanded, glaring at him with her dark eyes and attempting to sound as indignant as possible.

Sirius gave her an exaggeratedly sincere look. "Well, if you must know, I sobbed myself to sleep every night." He brought a hand up and traced a finger down one cheek to simulate the path of a tear.

Savannah nodded. "That's what I like to hear!"

Sirius barked out a laugh, and they smiled at each other for a few moments. The ambiguity was so awkward.

Sirius laughed internally. What an excellent situation this was! He knew he could steer it in whatever direction he chose; Savannah would just hang on for the ride.

Meanwhile, they had entered Diagon Alley and were walking along the cobblestone street between the shops and buildings.

"What have you been doing all summer, Lily?" James asked politely. He had since dropped Remus's arm – indeed, Sirius and Savannah were now the only pair still walking together – and was edging toward Lily hopefully.

She ignored his gesture and replied pleasantly, "Spent time with my family, went to France, went to London…"

"I hate France!" Remus interjected helpfully.

Lily laughed. "Really?"

Remus nodded sincerely. "Uh huh. Worst country ever."

Lily laughed again. "Well, I had fun, somehow."

James jumped in quickly. "Yeah, I like France. I don't know what Moony's on."

Remus grinned. "Oh, you know me and those Muggle drugs..."

Peter smiled and turned to Lily from the other side. "Crazy boy, that Remus," he remarked.

Lily grinned prettily and nodded.

James watched her for a few moments and then turned away. He seemed to be having difficulty breathing. He swallowed repeatedly and continued to walk stiffly down the alleyway, staring determinedly ahead of him. Lily turned toward Savannah and – so discreetly that Sirius almost thought he had imagined it – winked.

He skidded to a stop; the rest of the party walked on casually as Savannah turned to him and smiled innocently. "What?"

Sirius frowned at her, though inside he was rather amused – and, indeed, somewhat impressed.

"What are you trying to pull on my boy Jamie?" he demanded.

Savannah grinned. "Heh… nothing."

Sirius felt his mouth twitch slightly, but he fought hard to avoid full-out smiling. "What, is Lily into him now, or something?"

Savannah glanced from side to side in feigned guilt, and then shook her head, smiled broadly at Sirius and leaning close whispered, "Okay, so… I've been telling Lily all about how James is all reformed and what-not now, yeah? Because let's face it – you and me, James and her? It'd be so much fun!"

Sirius smiled slightly; it could indeed be a lot of fun.

Savannah was still talking quickly. "Lily's still pretty off him," she confessed, "but then I told her she just had to come shopping with us, and she was still kind of against it, but then I said, 'Lily, at the very least, make him know what he's missing out on!'"

Sirius grinned despite himself. "Is that why she looks so damn hot?" he asked, craning his neck up to get a glance of Lily farther up the road.

Savannah giggled. "Yep! It's working pretty well, don't you think?"

Sirius rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "Girls are so mean. All you lot ever do is try to manipulate people into lusting after you."

Savannah grinned. "Pretty much."

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Well, I am in favor of James getting with Lily; being his sole other romantic interest myself, the constant demand for pity-sex is getting tiring."

Savannah laughed and shook her head at him; he grinned and gallantly tightened his grip on her arm, leading them on down the street.

-

They were at Florian Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, folding chairs crammed around a small outdoor table. As Sirius stole a bite of Savannah's strawberry sundae, prompting her to shout, "Hey!" and bat at his arm with her free hand, he noticed a good-looking boy standing on the other side of the patio – Regulus, his little brother.

Regulus had just arrived with a few of his friends; they were loitering around a table at which several seventh-year Slytherins were sitting. In the farthest chair sat Severus Snape, looking pale and out of place and awkward, clearly wanting to be somewhere else. To his left perched Kelly Drake, tanned and unremarkable, laughing wildly at some immense joke, and on his right, Evan Rosier, smiling at Kelly's reaction to the joke and looking darkly freckled and muscular. Rabastan Lestrange, sinister and brooding, as always, was trying to catch the eye of the girl sitting opposite him. Audrey Granada, curtly avoiding Lestrange's gaze, was smiling pleasantly at Regulus, that pimp. Two other girls Sirius did not know, both also from Slytherin, were gossiping loudly to one another.

Sirius found himself oddly transfixed by Regulus. People had always said it, and now Sirius himself could see it: Regulus looked an awful lot like him. Though Regulus's eyes were dark brown rather than silvery gray, he had the same regal nose, the same strong chin. And he clearly had an appreciable charm with the ladies; Audrey Granada was now laughing at something he had said and tugging idly at a strand of her hair, which was longer than Sirius had remembered it – where before her hair had fanned out stylishly at her chin, it now brushed her shoulders.

"Oh, joy," James, who had just noticed the Slytherins as well, muttered sarcastically, sliding back his chair as if in preparation to stand. He pointed toward the table across the patio. "It's Snape."

Lily looked up sharply from her sundae and gave James a condescending look. "Oh, please."

James winced slightly, but lowered himself back into his seat. Sirius glanced from James to Snape and back again; Snape had clearly noticed James as well. He was glaring at him with the utmost loathing.

Savannah inhaled sharply and glanced at Lily; the two must have exchanged some secret girl message, for they both laughed lightly and then continued to eat their ice cream.

Girls…

Sirius rolled his eyes and turned back toward the Slytherins. He accidentally caught Regulus's eye for a moment, but then shifted his gaze. Snape was rigid; Rosier and Lestrange were glaring; the two anonymous Slytherin girls were looking on eagerly; and Kelly Drake was on the edge of her seat in anticipation. Only Audrey Granada looked bored and unconcerned. A moment later, Regulus jerked his head and he and his fifth-year friends melted away into the crowd.

Sirius cleared his throat and turned to look at James, who was glaring back at Snape despite Lily's condescension. Personally, Sirius was all for sending a few hexes toward the Slytherins – they were all of age now, after all, and could use magic outside of school without penalty.

Peter, too, looked eager, but Remus winced and prompted, "C'mon, we probably should go."

James nodded uncomfortably, breaking Snape's gaze to look at Remus. "Yeah," he choked out, glancing quickly at Lily as if in need of her support. She smiled at him approvingly and he grinned.

As the six of them moved away from Florian Fortescue's, leftover ice cream left to melt on the table, Sirius glanced back. The Slytherins were jeering now, the girls shrieking with laughter and the boys chuckling – all except Audrey Granada, who smiled, shook her head, and caught Sirius's eye for a moment.

He pretended not to notice. She could flirt with his brother, sure, but there was no way he was going to let her make a game of pulling that shit on him.

-

Sirius lazily stretched an arm across the back of Savannah's chair. It was suppertime and James had suggested that everybody stay to eat at the Leaky Cauldron before Fluing home.

Lily and was sitting beside James – she had politely concealed her chagrin when they had first reached their table – and talking animatedly to Remus while James offered helpful comments and tried to be witty.

Actually, he was doing a fairly good job of it. James had often lamented to Sirius that he grew too self conscious and so lost his sense of humor whenever he was around Lily, but she had been surprisingly nice to him all day, and his confidence level betrayed it.

In the back of his mind, Sirius was mildly worried that James was going to get over-confident and say something to ruin the magic. What was really dominating his thoughts, however, was a strong interest in hooking up with Savannah Baron. Shopping had been entertaining, as he had known it would be, but Sirius's greatest gleaning from the perusal of store after store had been how incredibly down he still was for her.

He trailed one finger down her far arm gently, and Savannah turned to look at him, smiling.

Sirius smiled broadly back at her. She was so pretty, with her long bangs brushed out of her eyes and that brown silk ribbon in her blonde hair. Her eyes were as warm as he remembered, her dark eyebrows and sharp nose contrasting with her light hair in that way he had always loved.

Sirius raised one eyebrow at her as if in suggestion, and she giggled and raised both of her eyebrows inquisitively. He coughed slightly and stood up. "If you all don't mind, I'm going excuse myself for a moment."

As he strolled out of the dining room and around the corner of the bar toward the stairwell, he wondered how long he would have to wait before Savannah caught on.

He didn't have to wait very long. A few moments later, Savannah came stumbling through the doorframe, shaking her head and laughing at his brazenness. Sirius grinned, grabbed her by the hips, and kissed her fully. As he slid his tongue into her mouth, Sirius recalled happily that Savannah was a way better kisser than Tara.

But then again, go figure.

They stood in the middle of the tiny, cramped hallway at the base of the staircase, kissing one another passionately, for several moments. It all felt very familiar and comforting. Sirius trailed one hand around to the base of Savannah's back and then trailed it back to her hipbone. She ran her fingers through his hair and couldn't help but smile through the kissing.

Eventually they both pulled back. "You're pretty discreet," Savannah giggled, referring to his absurdly blatant manner of leaving the dinner table.

Sirius shrugged, and grinned at her despite himself. "Well, I had to get you alone somehow…"

Savannah leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips. Then she looked up into his gray eyes searchingly.

She took a deep breath, and then said quickly, "Um… I kind of got with like four different guys in Italy… well, six, if you count that last night. Do you mind?"

Sirius laughed easily and shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He hesitated for a moment, and then, figuring – what the hell? – he had to spill this some time, he put on an expression of wincing remorse and said, "Actually, I kind of got drunk and hooked up with Tara Nevan."

Savannah raised her eyebrows for a moment, but then she smiled acceptingly. "So I guess we're both whores!"

Sirius grinned at her. "Guess so."

Savannah then frowned a bit. "Tara Nevan, though?" she repeated. "I thought you hated her."

Sirius shrugged. "I never hated her, I just… thought she was really annoying." Then he looked into Savannah's dark eyes and pouted out his lower lip. "Oh, come on, Annie; she was the only girl for miles and, what with your letters from Italy hinting at how much I was missing out on, how could I resist?"

Savannah grinned despite herself. "I hope you didn't break her heart, Sirius."

Sirius pretended to look affronted. "Who, me?"

Savannah giggled and Sirius, refusing to feel guilty, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again. Didn't break Tara's heart… well, technically, he hadn't broken it yet.

-

They were at King's Cross, about to board the Hogwarts Express. Sirius lugged his trunk onto the train behind James, who was looking chipper. "Bye, Mum! Bye, Dad! See you at Christmas!" he shouted over Sirius's head, turning around to face his parents, who were waving.

"See you, Mr. Potter… and you, Mrs. Potter," Sirius added sincerely, turning to face them. "Thanks for everything."

"Oh, it was no trouble, dear!" Mrs. Potter chirped.

Sirius grinned at her and continued to force his trunk onto the train.

Once inside, James veered off toward the Heads compartment, and Sirius followed Remus and Peter down the cars until they found an empty room for themselves. They had just finished stowing their trunks when the door slid open, revealing, not Savannah, who had promised to join him on the train while James and Lily were otherwise occupied, but Tara Nevan and Evetta Niall.

Groan.

"Hey!" Tara remarked cheerfully. She was wearing corduroy shorts and a white T-shirt. Her long hair hung loosely down her back and she looked as cute and semi-innocent as ever. Sirius almost felt guilty. One of these days he would have to break the news to her that they were most definitely not a couple.

Nevertheless, he smiled suavely. "Hey there."

Tara led Evetta into the compartment and kissed Sirius on the cheek, but not before he had given Evetta a complete double-take.

She had certainly gotten good-looking over the summer; sixteen was clearly a good age. Evetta Niall was taller now, with less acne and more bust. Her wavy ebony hair was no longer limp, but shiny, and shorter than it had been last spring. Her brown eyes, always pretty, were framed by a flattering, if largely unnoticeable, amount of liner and makeup, and she was wearing a cute red polo.

I am so going to tap that, Sirius decided promptly. After all, he wasn't back together with Savannah yet; there was still time to have some fun.

"How's it going, Evie?" he asked pleasantly, at long last responding to her age-old wish for him to call her by her nickname, rather than by her surname.

She smiled at him hesitantly. "Great," she responded, sitting down next to Remus and leaning back against the seat cushion as Sirius sat down opposite.

"What did you do all summer?" Remus asked her.

Evetta smiled at him as well, clearly gaining confidence now. "Traveled a bit… hung around at home… saw relatives…"

Remus nodded. "Sounds fun."

As Evetta inquired into Remus's summer, prompting a lengthy rant against French tourism, Tara finished greeting Peter and whispered breathily in Sirius's ear, "Miss me?"

What was it with girls always assuming that he missed them?

"A little bit," he whispered back, quirking one side of his mouth into a smile.

Tara giggled. "Yeah, I haven't kissed anybody in weeks!"

Sirius forced himself to bark out a laugh. Ugh, he was already sick of Tara, and the train hadn't even left the station yet.

A moment later, Savannah slid the door of the compartment open, glancing from Sirius to Tara to Peter to Remus to Evetta Niall, then back to Sirius and Tara. Tara looked from Savannah to Sirius and leaned unconsciously toward Sirius in an inadvertent demonstration of possession.

Savannah hesitated for a moment, the cogs turning in her head. Sirius considered that maybe he should have mentioned to her earlier that he had been getting with Tara all summer, rather than just during one drunken night. But Savannah was a smart girl; evidently sick of thinking, she caught his eye and asked, "Room for one more?"

Sirius smiled at her in an attempt to be consoling. Oh man, was this going to be awkward! He was getting apprehensively excited just thinking about it. Tara or Savannah, Tara or Savannah, Tara or Savannah? Hell – or Evetta! He grinned internally at the potential torment of it all.

"There always is," he said, trying not to sound resigned, as he beckoned Savannah into the compartment with a sweep of his hand.

Tara watched as Savannah entered the room and sat down on Remus's other side. She exhaled loudly and turned to Sirius as if demanding an explanation.

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment, visualizing the situation:

Across from him sat Evetta Niall, the girl he had just now resolved to hook up with. Two seats over sat Savannah Baron, the girl he had hooked up with only last night and with whom he was still in ambiguous boyfriend-girlfriend waters. On his left sat Tara Nevan, the girl he had spent the last two months corrupting, snogging, and in general leading to incorrect assumptions regarding his devotion level.

All three of them were seated within a few feet of one other in the same compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

As Remus and Peter glanced at one another apprehensively, Sirius grinned. This would make a good story some day.

---

A/N: Wow! I was going to keep going, but I generally upload at about 100 KB, so I figured I'd just end it here. Who do you think he should choose?

Reviews for the last chapter!

Cat Wood – I did!

Potpoury – Thank you!

MaraudingChick – I dunno, I was thinking I'd make it keep going through the end of seventh year, but we'll see. Eventually he's going to end up with just one girl (guess who?), and then the months/story will speed along by. It'll all end with an epilogue saying what all the girls mentioned in the story were doing when they heard Sirius got taken to prison, or something along those lines.

Lainia26 – Thanks!

dixio – Thank you!

beckers123 – Thank you!

tulips car – Thank you!

...And thanks to those of you who reviewed other chapters, too!

Review, please.

Much Love, Simone