Change of Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own most of this story. That privilege belongs to the great JK Rowling––and she's friggin' rich because of it. Which makes me wonder why she would even bother to sue little old me even if I did claim to own Harry Potter. Which I don't. So don't sue me.

Summary: James and Lily are finally together, but does Lily actually like James, or is she just going out with him for his sake? James vows to make her love him like he loves her, but he'll have to work hard to make Lily have a change of heart.

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Chapter Twenty: A Little Romantic Get-Together

A week passed, and, despite James's initial disbelief, the Marauders and Lily and Colleen had gotten on with their lives. Selena's death, which had hung over them like a cloud, had dissipated somewhat and become merely a light mist. It no longer bogged them down, and they could talk and laugh again.

Sirius sat at a small, round table in the Gryffindor common room, scribbling down some answers to the Transfiguration homework he hadn't done. Remus, Peter, and Colleen were off, having done their homework already, winning money off of first years in a game of Exploding Snap. Sirius, although bitter about being stuck doing his worthless (in his opinion – he'd already mastered being an Animagus, after all) Transfigs homework, was glad to see Colleen enjoying herself when only a few days ago she'd been in the depths of despair over Selena.

Sirius himself had tried not to think much about Selena since the day Colleen had slugged Martinez (he still smirked at the memory) – unused to tragedy, it made him even more distraught than most. However, what he had thought of was what Selena had asked of Colleen that night. Something about Colleen and him getting together? Had she been serious?

"Of course not," he muttered to himself. "I'm Sirius. Gohoho!"

But really, he continued thinking, returning to his homework, had she been?

Sirius reprimanded himself at that: She'd been dying. How much closer can you get to being literally dead serious?

Colleen hadn't taken it literally, though, had she? Nah, of course not... Although she did say she'd go out with him... but she'd seemed committed to doing whatever Selena wanted. But then again, she might've just said that to ease Selena's mind.

"Argh!" exclaimed Sirius, as his ink blotted on the parchment, smearing all over his work. He crumpled up the parchment, tossed it into the fire, and started a new one. Fortunately, he knew most of the answers to the questions, and those that he didn't know, he made up, so soon he was back to where he'd messed up. Of course, by then, he'd let his thoughts drift back to where they'd been earlier. He groaned and tried to focus on his paper.

"Looking pretty serious, Sirius," said Colleen with a grin, as she took a seat across from him. Her pockets jingled with the few Knuts she'd conned off the small first years.

"Ha, ha," laughed Sirius sarcastically.

"Betcha never heard that one before," she said sheepishly.

"Not today, no," Sirius replied dryly. "Why'd you leave the steady income of conned cash?"

Colleen shrugged. "Eh, too easy. I got bored," she said. "The first years are just so gullible. I almost feel guilty taking their money."

"The operative word there being 'almost'," Sirius pointed out.

"Exactly." Colleen jingled the change in her pocket with a sly grin.

A short silence descended upon the two of them – a very rare occurrence between the two extroverts. Sirius wondered if he should bring up what had been on his mind for the past few days. It certainly had been haunting him.

"So, what're you doing?" she asked, with almost certain disinterest.

"Transfigs," Sirius answered.

Colleen leaned back in her chair, folding her hands behind her head. "Transfiguration, my arch-nemesis," she sighed. "Makes me wonder why I'm even at Hogwarts, you know."

Sirius glanced at her inquiringly, indicating that she explain herself.

"Well, you must've noticed by now, Black," she answered. "I've got the magical power of a teaspoon. Three-quarters Squib, I'm sure, 'specially when it comes to Transfigs."

"Huh," grunted Sirius, staring at his paper without really seeing it. Colleen seemed not to take that as an invitation to continue, and so there was another silence between them, one that seemed to drag on and on…

"Sirius, I've been thinking," Colleen suddenly said, "about what Selena asked of me."

Sirius started from his thoughts and blinked at Colleen. "Me, too," he admitted.

"Really? Well… what do you think?" she asked.

"Huh? Of what?" said Sirius in confusion.

Colleen chewed her bottom lip. "I was thinking that – you know – we could give it a try – just for Selena's sake," she said haltingly. "'Cause I like you fine. I just never really thought of you romantically."

"Oh, that's great. Because, you know, I can never hear that enough," said Sirius wryly.

Colleen grinned. "So, what do you say, Black? Want to go for it?"

"Sure," replied Sirius, "if you think you can take a Sirius relationship. Hahaha."

Colleen stared at him for a moment, and then finally said, "That was so hot."

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"So, what're you guys planning on doing tonight?" asked Peter over dinner, popping a forkful of honey-glazed ham into his mouth.

"Well, Lily and I were thinking of spending some quality time together," said James, his arm draped around his girlfriend's shoulders.

Lily looked up from the book she'd been reading. "We were?" she asked in surprise.

"Okay, I was," James admitted sheepishly.

"What about you, Moony? Got any plans?" asked Peter.

Remus nodded sadly. "I have a Muggle Studies project due soon, on the importance of the telephone." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Peter. I'll be working in the library all night."

"Well, then, looks like it's just us three," said Peter, turning to Sirius and Colleen. "Maybe we can land us another detention, eh?"

"Uhh..." Sirius glanced at Colleen and then looked back to Peter. "Actually, Pete... We kinda already have plans..."

Peter blinked at the two of them. "Well, can't I come along?" he inquired innocently.

Again, Sirius said, "Uhh..." He glanced at Colleen again and shook his head. "Not really, no."

Colleen rolled her eyes behind her cup of pumpkin juice.

"Why not?" Peter continued.

It suddenly seemed to Sirius that every single person at the table – no, in the Great Hall – was staring at him. He loosened his collar and cleared his throat. "Well, um – er – you see – it's not really – it's kind of – "

"Kind of a date," Colleen said, more loudly than Sirius thought she could have. "It's called a date, Sirius. A date. An outing. A little romantic get-together between a man and a woman."

Sirius shrugged embarrassedly, looking sideways at his other friends. "Yeah. We're going out on a date," he said to the agape Marauders and Lily.

Finally, James said, "Well, I was always rootin' for you two to get together, you know, once Lily and I did. Just one question, Sirius."

"Yeah?"

"Did anyone ever tell you about the 'love handshake'?" James said with a grin. He held up his hands; the fingers of his left hand made a circle while the forefinger of his right was extended. "You see, when a man and a woman love each other very much, they do what's called a 'love handshake' – " James started to insert his right forefinger into the circle of his left hand, but Lily grabbed them.

"No, no, no, James," she said quickly, setting his hands back into his own lap. "I think they understand." James grinned as Lily went back to her book. Then, when he was sure she was fully into her read, he mimed the "love handshake" to Sirius. Sirius flashed a thumbs-up. Colleen punched him on the shoulder.

- - - - -

"So... what do you want to do?" Sirius asked of Colleen later that night. They had decided on the common room as their "date", because they couldn't really go anywhere else; there was no Hogsmeade weekend in sight, and a chilly Hogwarts corridor was not the most romantic place. Sirius was pleased at their decision, because it made it somewhat more like a friendly meeting, but awkwardness still reigned between them.

She shrugged. "Whatever you want to do."

"I don't know what to do. That's why I asked you," he pointed out.

"Well, I don't know what to do either," Colleen said defensively.

Silence.

"Yeah, I can so see why Selena wanted us to get together," said Colleen, rolling her eyes and folding her arms across her chest.

Sirius laughed. "I know," he said. "What's up with that? Like just because our personalities are slightly similar, we'd be perfect for each other."

"Exactly!" agreed Colleen, nodding strongly. "I don't understand why everyone wanted us to get together. We barely even knew each other at all until this year."

"Which is a bit strange," mused Sirius, "seeing as we've been in pretty much the same classes since first year."

Colleen shrugged. "Still, assigned seating never brought us together, and in the other classes, I'd sit with Lily and Selena."

"Yeah. I'm surprised Lily and James hadn't gotten together sooner."

"Aw, they're so cute," said Colleen. "If Lily hadn't hated James from the moment she saw him, they'd be one of Hogwarts's longest couples, I bet."

"Probably," Sirius admitted. He grinned competitively at her. "If we'd gotten together, we would have outlasted them."

"Pssh, yeah!" snorted Colleen, as if it were obvious. "We could beat the pants of any other couple in longevity and passion and whatever other categories there are in couple-dom!"

"Yeah! Go S and C!" exclaimed Sirius, and he and Colleen high-fived.

"That's right," said Colleen, smiling. She sat back against the Gryffindor common room couch. "So, Black. What've you been up to these past six and a half years?"

Sirius shrugged. "Not much," he said. "Pranking people – especially Snape – and goofing off."

"Any illegal activity?" inquired Colleen innocently.

Becoming an unregistered Animagus crossed Sirius's mind, but he said, "Why? Gonna turn me in or something?"

"Depends on how much money they'd give me," replied Colleen easily.

Sirius smiled and changed the subject. "What about you, O'Brian? Where have you been all my life?" he asked huskily, putting romantic spin on the question.

"Right here, Hot Stuff," answered Colleen just as sexily, blowing a kiss Sirius's way. Seeing Sirius's smirk, she shrugged and said, "Eh... same as you, pretty much. Only Lily and Selena weren't really the pranking type, so not much of that. Not so much goofing off, either. So actually, not the same as you. I've just been playing Quidditch since second year, same time James started."

"You know, I'm not a bad Beater, myself," bragged Sirius.

Colleen raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Well, why aren't you on the team, then?"

"Oh, I could do it if I wanted to. I just don't want to," said Sirius.

Colleen's cough sounded suspiciously like a snort of cynicism.

"What? You think I couldn't do it? I could do it," he said defensively. "I could beat your head right off your shoulders if I wanted to."

"Love isn't supposed to hurt, Sirius," Colleen told him seriously. Then she snort-coughed some more.

"Oh, yes," said Sirius sarcastically, folding his arms over his chest, "this is the best date ever."

Colleen tried to stop herself giggling and said, "I'm sorry, Sirius. I apologize, I apologize. Could you ever forgive me?"

"On one condition," he said.

"Yes?" asked Colleen.

Sirius grinned. "Do a strip tease for me!"

The next thing he knew, his face was buried between the couch cushions, and Colleen sat triumphantly on his back, pinning his arms behind him. "What now, Sirius? What now?" she cried, much to the bewilderment of the surrounding first and second years.

Sirius's voice was severely muffled by the cushions, but Colleen could still make out: "Definitely – the – best – date – EVER!"

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Tempest: Hey, all. Wow, this has been my first update in a while that came within a month after the previous one. Isn't that amazing?! I was originally going to have this chapter be longer, but... I figured you guys would rather have it sooner than wait for me to have the chance to get writer's block and then not write for all eternity and never finish this story... which I promise I WILL DO eventually. And now I know I had something to say that I forgot to say last time, but I can't remember it... Crapdangit!

OH WAIT! I remember now! Okay, after I finish this story, I might be writing another Harry Potter fanfic that would most likely be called Doublemint Gum, and would center on Fred and George Weasley. It'd be a Fred/Hermione/George triangle, and I have something in mind for it, so it could be interesting... Anyway, if any of you are interested, after I finish this one, look for it. Tell your friends. And review it, because I'm really proud of the response I got for this story, and I'd like to repeat it... Speaking of which... I should respond so some reviews, shouldn't I?!

Alright, here we go. Sammy Solo: I'm glad you liked that I killed Selena off. I was worried people might be mad or upset or something about it. Cherry: James was thinking how lonely he felt, not just that Lily wasn't there. Kind of the aftermath of Selena's death... And Remus had black and blue bags under his eyes 1) because of Selena's death and 2) because he'd gone werewolf just a few nights before, if I remember correctly. Silvercrystal77: Martinez said, "What's going on here?" and "Well, of course," and he called Colleen "little girl". I'm jumping from Honors Spanish II to AP Spanish Language, so I'd better know my stuff... Marauder23: It's always nice to get new blood! I'm glad you like it, and that you like my OCs... As I've said before, I love it when people like people I came up with. It lets me know I'm not really that bad of a writer and, you know, can actually make up stuff without help from a woman worth more than the Queen of England. To Star in the Sky: Was there something between Remus and Selena? A good question... One I'll leave up to you to decide. Don't you just love me? Haha. And to everyone else who reviewed... Thank you so much! Keep reviewing; it makes me very, very happy!!

Well, until next time. May it be even sooner than this. Review, review, review! Buhbye!!

8-15-07: This chapter has been revamped! Hope you enjoy it more than before.