! Author's Notes ! I had to delete the last couple of chapters because I didn't like where it was all heading. It would be too cliche and the whole Suzie/Simon, Suzie/Sirius, Suzie/Lucius, or Suzie/Tom Riddle would've been inevitable to discuss. I'm much more content with only two of those pairings being discussed.

Tinderbox

Suzie had successfully endured the release of Simon and his parents' worried bickering and now it was time for a well deserved drink at The Three Broomsticks with her moping ex-boyfriend, her gleeful best friend, her gleeful best friend's explosive boyfriend, the unreadable Remus, and the fidgety Peter.

She felt like the only sane one amongst all of their absurd, manic behavior. "How is Simon?" asked Lily, apparently unaware of Sirius sitting besides her, he pulled down his shirt and ran a hand through his hair, Suzie tried to ignore him. Lily slurped at her glowing purple drink with a mangled straw.

"I wouldn't know. I mean, he's not all open or anything, typical guy." She looked over at Sirius who avoided her gaze by taking a long swig of his butterbeer. "I would suspect annoyed, though, since his parents have officially decided the butt their heads into his life again."
"May we talk about something that doesn't have to do with each other's personal lives?" blubbered James. Ever since getting together with Lily, things had calmed down a bit in his life and thanks to Suzie's antics; his best friend was enduring the great Mourning Desert of Breaking Up and was in no mood to hang Mrs. Norris from the Great Hall ceiling as a way to get back at Filch for snitching the Marauder's Map.

"What else is there to talk about?" grumbled Sirius.

Remus' cool composure suddenly melted. What was happening to them? They'd been the best of friends for seven years, some of them even longer! It was ridiculous. "Suzie, Sirius!" he stood up abruptly, knocking his chair onto the ground with a roar. "Sirius, Suzie's got a boyfriend. Get over it. Suzie, get over Sirius, you've got a boyfriend. Lily and James, we've been waiting years for the two of you to fall for each other! Don't go ruining it; everyone has known that you both belong with each other! Get yourselves back in control! We can't let a break-up ruin everything that has been building for years and you all know that." Remus' voice cracked at the end.

They all looked down at the floor, at their shoes, or at their hands. Suzie bit at her fingernails. "Remus' right." she took a pause for effect. "Sirius, we need to talk."

Sirius followed her out into the bitter chill of the outdoors. "Was this to just get Moony to shut up or are we really going to discuss how you dumped me for a scumbag musician who's banging some other girl on the side?" His voice was pure venom.

Suzie laughed airily. "Is your memory really that terrible? We had something, Black, something that you fucked up! You slept with another girl! Kissing Simon is nothing compared to what you did. I didn't get wasted, I didn't go rummaging through your things, and I didn't fucking sleep with Simon and then expect you to forgive me and forget all about it!" Tears started bubbling over. She tried to ward them off with her sweater's sleeve.

Sirius was quite for a moment. His voice was cracking and out of control, but soft and sincere at the same time. "It's killing me, Suzie."
"I-I wish I could say the same. But… it just hurts, you know? It isn't haunting me every second, I guess I've let you slip my mind." The magnetic force that stood between them both went back into action and yanked them together. It began to snow.

"Can we promise each other something?" he asked, lacing her fingers with his. She pressed their hands against his shoulder blade.

"Anything."

"Let's promise that we'll never forget each other. That everyday, we'll think about each other, whether it's : 'What would Suzie say about this?' or 'Sirius used to love these chocolates'. We won't say these things out loud, we'll just think about them. I know, that everyday of my life, I'll always think 'What if'." His eyes spoke of what he wanted: He wanted her back.

There was a question Suzie needed to ask herself once more: Simon or Sirius. It seemed like it would never be answered. It was either what her heart wanted or needed. Her heart needed Simon, but her heart wanted Sirius.

"I need to check something." They were dangerously close, but that is what Suzie needed to lean forward, forget about Simon for a milli-second and kiss Sirius slowly and borderline innocent/passionate. Her lips tingled for a moment and then her fingertips, her head felt like it was about the combust. There was that spark, the one that kept Sirius and her together. Simon. What did Simon's kisses feel like? Her body flooded of all thoughts relating to Sirius and filled with those of Simon.

The Romanian trailer park, the absolute horror on his face before spazzing out about her being a witch, the sound and pleading in his voice for her in Weeping Willows. He needed her. She needed him.

"I'm sorry, Sirius. There will be no February vacation fling." She kissed him on the cheek, lingering too long to be a friend's kiss, but going too quickly to be a lover's.