Chapter 17: Gaining A Friend And Losing Another

Confidence washed over me as I cupped my hands around her face and leaned in quickly. I let my lips press against hers. She was shocked at first but returned the kiss willingly. Time seemed to stop around us as we morphed into one.

When we finally parted though, I crashed back to reality. Lora looked up at me, shocked.

"What just happened?" she asked me.

"The best moment of my life," I blurted out. I immediately blushed as she laughed at my embarrassment. I couldn't help but laugh too. She stepped into me and looked up at me, her laughter turning into a small, curious smile. I felt nervous with her so close to me, examining me so closely.

She reached her hands up toward my face. Her fingertips touched the corners of my mask-

"No. You can't do that," I said firmly. I noticed that my voice had cracked though. Amidst the deep voice that I had temporarily acquired, I heard my normal voice for a split second.

"Oh no," I said, my voice growing less and less deep.

"What? What's wrong?" Lora asked me.

"I…I have to go. Thank you so much for the best night of my life," I said quickly as I grabbed my coat off of her shoulders and ran out of the courtyard.

"But wait! What's your name?" she yelled after me.

"Maybe one day you'll find out," I replied, trying to put on a deep voice. I kept running though, down the corridor, down another corridor and finally turning into the Gryffindor common room. I sprinted up the stairs to the room I had been in just a few hours previous and flung myself on my bed.

"Yes!" I yelled to no one. The ripped off my mask and looked at it. Without warning, I burst into a fit of laughter, I was so happy. After I had finished laughing, I put my mask safely in the bedstand drawer next to my bed and set my cloak down on my trunk. After I slid off my shoes, I laid back onto my bed, replaying the night over in my mind.

I heard people begin to come through the common room door and soon enough, I heard the familiar footsteps up to the dormitory.

"Hey mate, how'd tonight go?" James asked me eagerly as he and Remus perched down on the edge of my bed.

"Best-night-ever," I breathed to him as I leaned over and let myself drift to sleep with thoughts of that kiss fresh in my head.

Best night ever.

-17-

"And then he kissed me Lily! I mean, he just leaned down and kissed me! I tried to take off his mask but he freaked out and ran off. It was so sweet though because he said it was the best moment of his life! Can you believe that Lily? I mean, it was…crazy! To think that some guy at Hogwarts thinks of me like that! It was-"

"Crazy. I know. You've only told me this story about a million times," Lily replied as she sighed and continued working on her Transfiguration homework. James and Remus smirked at me as I petted Jack's back.

"Who do you think it was? Not a Slytherin, I know that," Lora said, wrinkling her brown as she tried to figure out who it was. When she saw that I was petting Jack she called him over to her and gave me a mean look. We still weren't friends.

"What if he was in this very room with us?" James asked suddenly, his eyes getting big as he looked around the room. When he looked at me he burst out laughing.

"Oh, you're right James! But who could it be? Hmm…Remus! Was it you?" Lora asked sweetly as she looked up at Remus. She was seated on the floor next to the fireplace and Remus was in the armchair next to her.

"Oh, you've caught me, love. It was me," Remus replied, giving her a quick wink as he blew her a kiss.

"Really Remus? It was you?" she asked, surprise and excitement in her voice as she perched up onto her knees.

"No," he laughed as she made a face at him and sat back down, pulling Jack into her laugh.

She looked down and lifted Jack up to her eye level. "Was it you, Jacky-poo? Did you kiss me?" Jack barked once and moved his small, furry feet quickly as a sign that he wanted to be put down. She set him back onto the floor and he scampered over to me. He looked up and started barking loudly at me, pawing the ground as he did so. He would turn to get Lora's attention and then shake his head up to me.

"Ew, get away from him Jack!" Lora exclaimed, grabbing Jack and holding him in her arms, despite his movements to get set free. Lora wrinkled her nose up at me in disgust and resumed her place next to the fire.

"When are you and Sirius going to be friends again?" James asked Lora, his annoyance at the situation coming through in his voice.

"Never," she replied angrily.

"Lora, I said I was sorry," I said to her, making my eyes plead for her forgiveness.

"No! Until you tell me the whole situation, no," she stubbornly answered.

"Lora, just shut up!" Lily exclaimed out of no where. Annoyance was written all over her face. The common room remained silent for a moment, taking in the surprise it had just been given.

"What?" Lora asked, shocked at her best mates outburst.

"Lora, sometimes you just have to take what people tell you! Sirius is sorry! You walked in on him saying something awful. He apologized though! You two are best mates, why can't you just forgive him? You aren't always going to get the whole situation, but as a friend, you have to take what he gives you and trust him! Sirius would never hurt you, he cares about you. We all do. That's why I'm saying this. I just want all of us to be friends again," Lily said to Lora, care shining in her eyes.

I looked over to Lora. She was just sitting there, looking at the carpet and shaking her head. I watched her stand up and walk briskly out of the common room. Lily stood up to go after her but James told her to sit down. He motioned for me to go instead.

I walked briskly out of the common room, in hot pursuit of Lora. I saw her walking quickly down the hallway.

"Lora!" I called out after her. When she heard me though, she began running and sprinted down a side hall. I ran faster after her and finally caught up with her. I grabbed her waist and pulled her in close to me. She tried to pull away at first but then she just kind of collapsed into my arms. I walked her into a nearby empty classroom and we perched ourselves on the teachers desk.

"Lor," I whispered to her. "What's wrong?" She leaned into me and set her head down on my shoulder.

"I never meant for things to get so out of hand, Sirius. It just…it just hurt me when I heard you say that. And I wasn't ready to forgive you yet. I wanted you to know how upset I was. And then I told you to go find a new mate or whatever and I just…I just hated myself for saying that to you! You're my best mate, Sirius. I don't want you to go find a new one. You're mine." I heard her sobbing through her words and I pulled her in closer to me.

"It's okay. It's okay, Lor," I whispered to her as I set my head on hers.

"No it's not!" she exclaimed, looking up at me. Her eyes were red from crying and she had a pout on her face. "I was awful to you and now I was awful to Lily and I've just been-"

"Awful? Yeah, so have I. But it's okay Lora. Let's just forget that that whole thing ever happened, okay?" I said to, stroking her hair.

"Okay. Merlin, how could any guy ever like me with the way I treat my friends?" she asked herself, shaking her head.

"Maybe he hates you now," I joked.

"Shut up, you wanker," she laughed, hitting me on the shoulder with a book that was lying on the desk.

"See, I bet he's scared you'll beat him up now!" I said, laughing as she slapped my shoulder with her hand.

"Not like it matters. It was probably just some sick joke formed by the Slytherin's," she said, getting up off the desk.

"Nah," I said as I followed suit, "they could never plan something like that." She laughed as we walked out of the room together.

"I'm glad that we're friends again, Siri," Lora said as we made our way back to the common room.

"Me too, I missed you," I replied, wrapping my arm around her shoulder.

I quickly pulled Lora behind a wall.

"Look who's coming down the hall," I whispered to her.

We both glanced down the hallway and saw Addie walking with Malfoy and his posse. They were all whispering quietly and urgently with each other. Something definitely seemed off with Addie though. She just seemed…darker.

Lora jumped out from behind the wall, surprising Addie and the Slytherins. I groaned and followed her lead.

"Add, what are you doing?" Lora asked her, concern shining brightly in her blue eyes.

"Oh, erm, nothing Lora. What are you doing?" Addie countered, nervousness blatant in her voice.

"Uh, walking down the hallway. Why are you with Malfoy?" my naïve friend asked, anger beginning to boil in her voice.

"That's none of your business, Clense," Malfoy spat at Lora. I walked forward angrily to defend her but Lora held me back.

"Look Lora, I'll see you later, okay?" Addie whispered, giving Lora and I a convincing look.

"Fine," Lora replied after a moment of pondering. She eyed her carefully one more time before pulling me back in our original direction.

A few minutes later we entered the common room. Remus was still sitting in his armchair but Lily had moved over to where James was on the couch. She was lying in his arms, her face burrowed into his neck. Her arms were clutched around his torso tightly.

"Lily, you just told her the truth. You didn't do anything wrong," he whispered to her as he kissed her forehead gently. Lily shook her head violently in his neck and I heard a sob escape from her lips. I motioned for Lora to go over.

"Lily, you didn't do anything wrong. I was just being a wanker," Lora said to Lily as she patted her back gently.

"I was just trying to help, Lor," Lily said, sitting up and facing Lora. She wiped away a few of the tears that were trickling down her face.

"I know. But Sirius and I are friends again," Lora replied, giving Lily a big, bright smile.

"Really?" Lily asked, sniffing a little. James clutched on to her hand tightly and leaned his head on her shoulder.

"Yeah," Lora answered, giving Lily a hug.

"Now that we're all good, have any of you noticed Addie lately?" I asked, eager to find out what was going on with Remus' ex-girlfriend. When they looked at me in confusion, I told them what Lora and I had just encountered in the hallway.

"She hasn't been going to bed in our dormitory lately. She'll sneak in early in the morning, take a shower, change and leave," Lily answered, still sniffing.

"Really?" Remus asked curiously. I could see that it still hurt him a little to talk about her but I was eager to find out why she was hanging out with Slytherins. Lily nodded in response to this question.

"How come I never knew this?" Lora asked, shocked by Lily's statement.

"Because you're always asleep! I swear, a fleet of hippogriffs and trolls could attack the school and you wouldn't even stir!" Lily exclaimed while laughing. We laughed but then sobered up at the thought of what Addie might be doing so late at night and with Slytherins.

"Maybe they're partnered up for a project?" Lily offered.

"A project that would require her to leave every night and ditch her friends?" Lora countered.

"She's stopped being a Gryffindor and started being a Slytherin," Remus stated from across the room. His hollow eyes were transfixed on the ground.

"That's crazy! She-She… she's one of us!" Lily argued, worry growing in her throat.

"Not any more, Lil. She's chosen a different path from us," James said quietly, wrapping a comforting arm around Lily. Her eyes were shining with worry for her former friend.

"So what do we do about it?" Lora asked, looking around at all of us.

"There's nothing we can do. She's gone," I replied somberly.