! Author's Notes ! I started this chapter inbetween parts of: "The Book Thief," by Markus Zusak. I hate to say it, but this book may be challenging a few of the Potter books for my favorite book title. This book was so moving I cried. I would reccomend it to anyone and everyone. The book is quite thick, which at first, was intimidating, but once you delve into the world of the narrating, Death, you are begging for more! The end is not a surprise, as Death prepares you for it by leaving hints. But, despite Death's anticlimatic-ness, you still manage to be shocked by every ending event. READ "THE BOOK THIEF," BY MARKUS ZUSAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ole Black 'n' Blue Eyes

It was definitely Spring. Then again, it was May, so there was no denying it. Two months had passed since Suzie rejoined the Quidditch Team. It'd been a rocky beginning with her knees knocking a little and her hands quivering. Her eyesight was shit without her glasses and she kept refusing to go an find them in her Dormitory because it'd take too long. In the end, however, she regained her strength and her backbone. Her broom was nothing compared to James' latest, but it was better than Annabelle's slug. Her talents were noticeable and they won that first game against Ravenclaw 20-5.

Suzie started sneaking out every weekend to meet up with Simon, but their lack of time together was starting to show. Simon's letters poured in, but Suzie rarely had the time to reply to them, mainly she just jotted down: Too much to do. I promise I'll write you a gigantic letter longer then I am tall. Love, Suzie. None of the letters ever really made it into Simon's hands. He was worried. She was worried.

On the other hand, Suzie and Sirius' relationship flourished and everything seemed better then average. Sirius had even discussed saying yes to a date with Valerie Foster, a pretty girl with big blue eyes in Hufflepuff, but he canceled at the last minute stating a family emergency despite the fact that he hadn't spoken to any family members since he was fifteen.

Suzie and Sirius were looking out the Astronomy Tower window, both of them staring at the twinkling, sparkling stars above them. It was hard for Sirius to bite his tongue and not say anything to her about how much he still loved her. Or about how he'd do anything for her, including pretend like he was into the whole friends only crap.

"Sirius," she said wistfully, taking a look up from her book. She couldn't help becoming attached to the couple of the story, their situation was so much unlike hers and Simon's and it scared her. Was everything supposed to be like Noah and Nicky's life? No, of course not, this was a work of fiction.

"Yah, Suzie?" he asked dreamily, taking a sip of his wine.

"Nothing," What had she been going to say? The tension between them had been released. Then her first kiss memory flooded through her. She laughed…

Suzie and Sirius were twelve and were being mistaken for a fifteen-year-old couple all over the place. Suzie had always looked too mature for her age and Sirius was absurdly tall and muscular for twelve when he was supposed to be gangly and lank.

They were at Suzie's father's house; this was when he lived in a suburb just a couple of miles away from London. Sirius' mother had deposited him off too eagerly for Jacob Donnelly's taste and he'd left them alone, doomed to come up with their own forms of entertainment.

They'd discussed calling over James, Remus, Peter, and Lily, but denied this upon realized how they'd all ditched them for the summer. Lily was in Italy with her parents and sister, Petunia; James was at some summer camp in Scotland; Remus was living in his parents' cabin in the woods in Wales; and Peter was apparently unreachable.

"What do we do now?" Suzie had asked him, picking at a daisy, the stem's juice spilling over onto her fingers.

Sirius had leaned back against the large oak tree shading them, stretching and performing the infamous yawn, slip arm on girl's shoulders maneuver on Suzie.

"Are you making a move on me?" she had hissed, slapping his arm away.

Sirius had laughed and pressed his nose against hers. "So what if I am?"

Suzie's eyes had twinkled mischievously and she shrugged, still not pulling away.

"Hey, Suzie. Can I kiss you?"

She cocked one eyebrow. "We're twelve, stupid!"

"So, there's no age limit for true love."

"Sirius Black! I am not in love with you!"

"You're right, you are truly in love with me!" he kissed her shortly, but hard.

Suzie yanked away violently and pulled out her trusty book, ignoring him until he said he was sorry and that she was a good kisser even though he hadn't ever kissed a girl before as well as that he was glad that his first kiss had been with her.

However, this firsts moment was ruined by Suzie bringing up one of her infamous: 'Sirius is so gay' discussions by asking: "Have you ever kissed a guy before?"
Typical twelve-year-olds.


In fact, they had had an abundance of firsts together: their first dance they'd skipped together and the tradition continued onwards, they'd both preformed magic together (or rather on each other) at the same time, Suzie's first boyfriend was Sirius (when they were young) and vice versa, and so many more. Together, they were unstoppable. That is, until the whole sexual stuff came into effect.

"We've been friends for a long time, huh?" she finally spoke.

Sirius nodded, refilling his wine glass. "I can't remember a Suzie Donnelly-less moment in my childhood, teenage hood, or adolescence." He smirked, sitting besides her.

She didn't speak. She couldn't say anything at all to his comments. So, she changed to subject: "What are you doing this summer?"

He paused for a moment. "I think I'll be working for the Order. That's my best bet. Maybe I'll travel a bit even."

Suzie set aside her book. "I'm traveling Asia. I don't know with whom yet. Maybe Lily or Lucy or even you."

"What about Simon?"

"He hates traveling."

"Oh,"

"Yup." She took a drink of her own wine and concentrated on the blanket of starts laid out before her. Thinking was inevitable in her situation. Whether it was about whether or not she really wanted to become an Auror or where her relationship with Simon was headed, she could not stop it all.

As if Sirius was reading her mind he asked her: "Suzie, are you positive about the Auror thing? I have known you all of my life, since we were four, and I always knew you would be a journalist. You read too much, I've read your papers and essays and they're impeccable and you know some of the largest words I've ever heard in my entire life. Money shouldn't be an issue with your future career, Suzie. It should be what you want."

She didn't reply for a couple of moments. Journalism had always been a far-off-the-coast fantasy, just like James' to become a professional chaser. It was ridiculous, only a childhood dream to look forward to. Suzie had always been told that she would never need to work, the family fortune would never run out. But this was before Jacob's gambling problem and before the mafia as well as Simon. Now, it was more or less that she wanted to work. Without a job, what would she do with her time? Go pub-crawling with a bunch of alcoholics? Have an affair with the postman? Bite her fingernails until there was nothing left?

"I don't know," she replied meekly and wondered what she should do with her spare time. She could write to Simon, that was a definite possibility, or she could stay and look at the stars with Sirius besides her and think about her life. She chose Sirius. Writing and explaining everything to Simon would be emotionally thinning.

"Do you ever picture getting married? You know, a big wedding, tons of kids, a truck load of crying relatives." Sirius pried his eyes from the sooty, starred quilt and focused on Suzie once he had asked her that fateful question.

Why should she even bother answering? "No."

"What about Simon?"

"I don't know." It nearly decapitated her to admit that she knew so much, yet so little about Simon.

"I know I never want to get married. Who the hell wants to spend all their money on just a mask of fluff?" Sirius sounded like his twelve-year-old counterpart, the one who begged Suzie for kisses, but would only receive one once, the one who managed to get Suzie off of the ground and get into trouble with him and then have to run around his house's block at least eighteen times to try and outrun Mrs. Black because they'd singed her eyebrows off.

"I don't know," she replied once more.

"Suzie… are you okay?"

"I don't know."