Chapter Sixteen

And the Plot Thickens

Author's Note: All right. Thank you to all of those who reviewed. Much love to you all!

Disclaimer: As always, none of these characters are ours. Well, some of them. But not most.

Dedications: To all of those who have given us constructive criticism. Thank you, ever so kindly.

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Bria was walking dejectedly down the corridors. She was very upset to realize her true feeling for Sirius. They weren't fair. Now I am going to be forced to date people I don't actually like. That is not fair! Why do I have to hate someone who won't like me?

She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn't even see the person she was about to crash into until she walked over them. "Oof."

Bria looked down at her feet. "Sirius? What are you doing on the ground?" Bria asked with less than her usual vehement anger toward him for being where she was walking.

"Well, I wasn't until you knocked me down." Sirius said, getting back to his feet and dusting his uniform off.

Bria blinked at him for a moment, thinking how handsome he looked in his terribly dusty uniform before responding to his comment. "You actually expect me to believe that I, a small girl of hardly 5'4", could not over such a tall, brawny, boy of 6'2"? I mean, A tall, terribly annoying manwhorish boy of 6'2"."

Sirius looked at her strangely. "Right, Cheese, are you sure that you're feeling all right? You are acting a bit strangely. Not to mention, you've never been walking with enough force to knock someone as large as I" Sirius puffed himself up a bit. "(And I assure you, I am quite large) am before."

Bria stared at him in disgust. "Wow. Thanks for the over share, Black. And who said you were still allowed to call me Cheese? You betrayed me. We are no longer even on a first name basis."

"But, Bria—" He was cut off by Bria placing her hand over his mouth.

"No first names, Black." She said, pulling her hand away from his mouth.

Sirius looked very hurt at her insistence that he was no longer allowed to call her by her first name. "All right. Travystar," He all but whispered. "I never thought you would let something as trivial as bathroom gossip ruin our friendship."

With that, Sirius began to walk away from Bria. Bria watched him go in minor shock. "But, Sirius." She said so quietly that she was certain that he couldn't hear her. "This is far more than bathroom gossip."

Sirius just shook his head, and continued to walk away from the one girl who he had never thought he would need to leave.

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Snape was still not entirely sure what had happened with Bria two evenings ago. She had asked him out, and he had been ecstatic as she had leaned in to kiss him, but then…"Black! You ruin everything!" Snape snarled

Snape had never liked Sirius, but his hatred of him was growing as their years at Hogwarts were drawing to a close. He had everything Snape wanted. He had many loyal friends, girls who chased him everywhere, better hair, and a family that worshipped the Dark Lord. Sirius not only did not appreciate all that he had, but he was downright scornful of his family. He didn't deserve to have Bria, but every time he almost had her, he was there, and she was leaving because of him. "Black. How I loathe that name."

"Severus, why are you talking to yourself?" A small boy with watery blue eyes was staring up at him.

"I'm not talking to myself, Pettigrew. And how many times must I tell you, do not address me by my first name in public. You are only to call me by my surname."

"Right. Sorry Snape. I came to give you my report."

Snape looked at him, and then pulled him suddenly into an empty classroom. "All right, Peter. What do you have to report?"

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James walked into the Boys' Dormitories after a four hour planning session with Lily, only to find a very dejected looking Sirius, a still rather annoyed looking Remus, and no Peter. Also a still love struck Justin, and a sleeping Frank.

"Um, what's wrong with Padfoot?" James asked, putting his cloak in his wardrobe.

"He got in yet another fight with Bria." Remus explained.

"Oh dear. What was it about this time?" James sat down on the edge of Sirius' bed, only to be physically kicked off. "Ow! What was that for?" James asked, rubbing his sore bum.

"Mmmph. Fuck you." Sirius said into his blankets.

"Fuck me?" James said angrily, rubbing him bum. "What the hell, mate? All sympathy I might have previously had for you is gone, I'll let you know. I think my tailbone is fractured. Is it, Moony? Look at it and see."

"James, I am not going to look at or touch your tailbone area so you might as well pull you trousers back up."

"Fine." James said, doing so. "But I wasn't going to pull my pants all the way off, if that's what you were worried about. Do you think I'll need a cast?"

"No, James. I do not think you're doing to need a cast. Besides, unless you have a tail, I don't think that's possible."

"Well, I do have a tail bone, so it would stand to reason that I have a tail. I am just not sure where it is."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Well, James, it is in your pre-evolutionary form. If you can find that, I will not only give you a cast, but also a medal. You will deserve them both."

"Would you two bugger off?" Sirius asked into his pillows.

"No, we are not going to bugger off." James said, trying again to sit on his bed, only narrowly avoiding Sirius' foot, which was trying once more to eject him from his sleeping area. "Well, that wasn't terribly kind of you, Sirius."

"Fuck you. My bed. Get off."

"Now, now, mate. We both know that you don't mean all that. Why don't you just tell us what the problem is?" James said, patting his friend's shoulder rather more hard than he might have if Sirius had not caused his tailbone so much pain.

"The problem is Bria. Why can't she just believe that I didn't sleep with Rose? Then it would all be well again. But, no! She has to be female, and everyone knows that females blow everything out of proportion."

"Now, Sirius. That is hardly a fair accusation. Not all girls over react as badly as Bria has." Remus said, trying to talk some sense back into his lovelorn friend.

"Oh? Name one girl who wouldn't have reacted as Bria has?" Sirius challenged.

"Well, there's Emma. She is being sane about this whole situation, and I am sure she would continue to be sane even if she was in Bria's position."

"You only say that because you fancy Emma yourself. If she were truly in Bria's position, she would be trying to behead you, I am sure. Though that is still, better than trying to de-man you, at any rate."

"Why do you both believe that I fancy Emma? When have I ever said that I thought of Emma as anything other than a friend?" Remus shouted, turning slightly purple, and almost waking Frank, who, instead, just turned over and let out a loud snore.

"Wow, Moony. Way to overreact." James said, backing away from Remus ever so slightly.

Remus grunted and opened a book. "I am not overreacting. You lot are so eager to forget your own dismal love lives that you constantly make up imaginary ones for me. And it gets to be too much after a while. Why don't you stop focusing on me and my nonexistent love life and start making a bit of an effort for fix your own because it's not going to do it on its own. Now kindly shut up and leave me alone."

There was silence. And then, "Wow," said Justin, "You guys just got served."

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As this conversation was taking place, Lily walked into a female version of the same problem. Bria was lying sprawled across her comforter, mascara streaks all across her cheeks, with someone actually sitting on the edge of her bed attempting to comfort her.

"Oh dear." Lily said, taking in the scene before her. "What's happened now?"

"I walked on Sirius. And then told him not to call me Bria, and then he said he never thought I would be one to believe bathroom gossip!" Bria wailed, more mascara streaking its way across her normally pale, flawless skin.

"Oh dear. That isn't good." Lily said, trying to take a seat beside Emma.

"NO SITTING ON MY BED!" Bria shouted, as she sat up very quickly.

"Right! Sorry!" Lily said, jumping back off her bed. "But why don't you tell me the long version of the story?"

As Bria told Lily and Emma of her earlier encounter with Sirius, and how much it had hurt her. "…And then, I said that it wasn't about bathroom gossip. And he just walked away." Bria finally finished her story, and rolled over so that she could sob more effectively into her pillows. "Now what am I going to do?"

Emma and Lily exchanged glances. "Well, you could always just tell him how you feel. I mean, maybe he feels the same way. I mean, surely there is a reason he is upset that you believe Rose over him."

"No. He made his decision, and now he has to live with it. But it is not fair that I also have to live with it! I am getting back at him! Should I sleep with Justin or Snivellus?"

"Justin!" Lily shouted

"Yes. Justin! Definitely Justin." Emma quickly agreed.

"All right. That shouldn't be too terribly difficult. Except that I am disgusted by him." Bria said, sitting up and trying to fix her makeup.

"Then, Brie, don't sleep with him. You should save yourself! Yes!" Emma said, quickly warming to the idea.

"Too late." Bria admitted.

"Well, it is never to late to join a convent." Samantha suggested helpfully.

"Samantha? Why are you butting into our conversation?" Lily asked, very politely, considering her dislike of the girl.

"I just heard you talking about doing wicked, wicked things, so I decided to make a suggestion myself. She could go somewhere where everyone would accept her."

"Yeah, but why would I want to do that?" Bria asked, finally remembering that she could fix her makeup with magic.

"Bria," Lily said before Samantha could answer, "I really think this is a bad idea. You'd just be doing the same thing to him as he did to you except worse."

"How on earth is sleeping with Justin any worse than sleeping with Rose, Lily? You make no sense."

"I talked to James and he says that Sirius actually didn't sleep with her."

"Oh please, how do you know he wasn't just lying? He's Sirius' best friend; it's his job to lie for him."

"I just really think that it'd be a good idea to talk to Sirius about all this before you make any rash decisions."

"Fine." Bria snapped. "I won't sleep with him. But I am taking him to the carnival."

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Wheeee! And yet another update has come forth from the abyss that is Mariah's computer! If you hope to ever again see an update, I suggest that you review. Please? We, as always, adore constructive criticism. Just, please no flames. They aren't appreciated.