CHAPTER 3

Sirius walked back to Gryffindor Tower on Cloud Nine, not really thinking about anything. His head was too full of Vesper, and he barely even registered when Remus started talking to him.

"PADFOOT!"

Sirius looked up, startled, into the confused, worried and angry faces of his three best friends.

"No need to shout," he mumbled.

"Remus has asked you four times to move your chair. His bag's strap is caught under the leg."

Sirius obligingly moved his chair. Remus smiled at him, but James was not so forgiving.

"What the hell is going on, Padfoot?" James demanded. "You've been distracted all week, and you don't really seem to be yourself."

Sirius bristled. "I have not been distracted all week."

"Yes, you have."

All week…that would mean he'd been acting distracted since Vesper had told him, in no uncertain terms, to leave her alone. Oh. Well, maybe he had been a little distracted...

"Sorry. I'll try to do better."

"Why don't you just tell us what's going on?" James suggested.

Sirius shook his head. "No."

Remus gave him a searching look. "Does this have to do with Vesper Malfoy?" he asked intuitively.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and turned his head slowly to look at his friend. "What on earth brought that on?" he asked.

Remus shrugged. "I forgot my Herbology book in the library last Thursday. I saw you two talking."

"What were you talking about?" James demanded.

"None of your damn business," Sirius snapped, furious. Remus had sold him out. He would pay for that.

"Sirius," Remus said quietly. "We're your best mates."

"Not after that comment you're not," Sirius snarled in reply.

"Moony only told because he's worried about you," James snapped. "We all are. You can't be with her. Her family won't allow it. Remember?"

"I remember," Sirius snapped. "And I see you're still chasing Evans, despite her repeated retorts that she won't go out with you."

"That was low, Black," James snapped.

"No, it's true," Sirius replied. "You can't get over her, even though you can't have her. Do you know how many women I've dated, trying to get over Vesper?"

"A hundred?" Peter offered up helpfully.

"That's probably a close guess, Wormtail," Sirius agreed. "I don't expect you to understand why I love her, any more than I understand what you see in Lily. But I at least expected you, of all people, to understand that it's not easy to move on!" he spun on his heel and left the dormitory, crawling through the portrait hole when he'd made his way through the common room.

After such an unexpected turn for the better in his relationship with Vesper earlier (at least he hoped it was a turn for the better), Sirius had not expected to be in such a foul mood again so quickly. He sighed and made his way to his favourite window seat on the seventh floor as he tried, yet again, to forget about the girl he loved.

Vesper sat in her dorm room, still reeling from her meeting with Sirius in the library.

"Vesper?"

She started at the sound of Kyler's voice.

"Kyler. Hi."

Kyler fixed her with a worried look. "You look distracted."

Vesper shook her head. "Nope."

Kyler raised an eyebrow. "Vesper, I know you better than that. What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Vesper!"

"I don't want to talk about it, Kyler."

"That's better. Can you at least give me a hint?"

Vesper sighed. "Kyler. Stop. I don't want to talk about it."

Kyler shrugged. "Fine. I'm going back downstairs then."

"Fine."

After Kyler left, Vesper grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and wrote a quick note to Sirius, hiding it under her pillow for delivery in the morning before putting on her pyjamas and getting into bed.

At breakfast on Thursday, Sirius was didn't pay any attention to the post until a small barn owl landed in his cereal.

"Who's it from, Padfoot?" Remus asked curiously.

"I dunno," he replied, frowning and slitting the envelope.

Dear Mr Black,

You cannot go around kissing people whenever you feel like it. Others could make life difficult for both you and the girl if you do. Please be careful.

VC

"Who's VC?" Chloe asked, reading over his shoulder.

"I have no idea," Sirius lied, folding the letter and putting it in his pocket.

"Liar," Chloe hissed.

"It's rude to read other people's mail," Sirius countered.

"Who'd you kiss?" Chloe pressed.

"Sod off, Chloe," Sirius muttered, irritated.

"Sirius kissing someone is hardly breaking news, Chlo," Char said, sitting down across the table from Sirius.

"But usually they don't send him letters telling him not to do it again," Chloe countered.

"Which I never really understood," Char replied. "I probably wouldn't do it in a letter, but if Sirius ever kissed me he wouldn't do it again."

"Like I would ever want to kiss you," Sirius snapped.

Char shrugged. "Good."

Remus mercifully changed the subject to talk about the potions essay they had due that day, but Chloe kept staring at Sirius, looking like she was trying hard to figure out his secret.

Vesper tried to forget about what had happened in the library with Sirius, but it was impossible. She knew she could not allow her housemates to find out, so she treated all the Gryffindors with more contempt than usual over the next week. She channelled her pent up frustration into insults and snide remarks against her year-mates. Kyler noticed.

"Vesper, what the hell is going on?" she hissed as they sat down in Potions after Vesper had made a particularly scathing remark to Charlotte, causing a disruption which earned them both detention.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kyler," Vesper replied.

Kyler glared at her. "You're telling me that you are not frustrated about anything in particular?"

"Nope. Why would I be frustrated?"

"That's what I'm wondering," Kyler replied, giving her friend a piercing glare.

"You're looking for problems where there aren't any, Kyler," Vesper said haughtily. "I think Professor Slughorn would like to begin the lesson."

Kyler dropped it for the moment, but Vesper knew her friend was not done with this line of questioning.

"So."

Sirius looked up from his breakfast, perplexed. "So."

"VC."

Sirius choked on his toast. "What?"

"VC," Chloe repeated. "I have some guesses."

"I told you to drop that," Sirius hissed. "I meant it."

Chloe looked taken aback by his fury. "Come on, Sirius, it's all in fun."

"No, it's not," he retorted, standing. "Drop it, Chloe. I'm not joking. Let. It. Go."

Chloe watched his retreating back in shock.

"Ves, what the hell is going on with you and Black?"

Vesper looked up from her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay to gape at Neil. "What?" she breathed.

"You know what I'm talking about," Neil snapped, sitting down across from her in the nearly empty Great Hall. "You've been worse than usual to him. What happened?"

Vesper refused to look at him. "Have you been talking to Kyler?"

"Among others. What happened?"

"Nothing!"

"Did he kiss you?"

Vesper's head snapped up.

"Asshole. I'll kill him."

"Don't bother," Vesper drawled.

"What happened?"

"Lorin appeared less than five seconds after he kissed me. What if he'd seen?"

"What if he had? Why is that so terrible?"

Vesper gaped at him. "Are you kidding me? Lorin and Rabastan-"

"-are cowards who wouldn't lift a finger if they saw you snogging Black. Not everyone worships Lucius the way you do, Ves," he snapped. "I notice the only complaint you seem to have is that you could have been seen, not the actual kiss."

Vesper glared at him for a moment before going back to her essay. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

"Because you know I'm right," Neil said, smirking and standing. "When are you going to stop lying to yourself, Ves?"

"Never," Vesper said firmly. "Sod off, Hayden."

Neil chuckled under his breath but left his friend in peace.

Things between Sirius and Chloe had been strained, to say the least, since she had tried to guess who VC was. Chloe was avoiding him, giving him space to cool down (according to Remus), and Sirius was still fuming. He wanted Vesper. He wanted to be with her, more than he had ever wanted anything before. But he also didn't want to cause any trouble for her. He didn't want her getting hurt because of what he did. He knew what they said about secrets, and he couldn't take any chances. He knew from experience that his mates could keep secrets, but he couldn't take chances with anyone else.

A week after his spat with Chloe, a handsome tawny owl landed in Sirius' cereal bowl, causing him to jump back in surprise, milk spraying the front of his robes.

"Bloody hell!" he cried as he jumped back. "What the...?"

"Who's it from?" James asked, leaning across the table.

"How bout you let me open it so I can find out?" Sirius asked. James glared at him.

Sirius untied the letter and unrolled the parchment, curious.

Black,

Don't give up. She likes you. Be careful.

"Who's it from?" James demanded again.

"No idea," Sirius replied, pulling out his wand. "Incendio."

The parchment burst into flames and Sirius let it burn for a moment before dropping it in his cereal bowl. He had no idea who had sent the note, but it gave him hope. He was grinning like a maniac as he made his way to the dungeons for Potions with the rest of his housemates.

"Do me a solid, Potter."

James looked up in surprise at Charlotte's voice. "What?"

"Kick Malfoy's ass at Quidditch next weekend."

James grinned widely. "My pleasure."

A/N: Hi, all, sorry this is so short and terrible. It will likely be edited in the future, but for now it's here. R&R please :)