A/N: Underlined words is Devery writing.


"Slow is smooth; smooth is fast."

― Jack Coughlin

Chapter 3: Slow

To avoid any smart aleck remarks the next morning about Lily sleeping in the same bed as Devery, the girls waited until James left the tower before making their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Devery still wore her school uniform from yesterday but they were nice and fresh again thanks to a few cleaning spells she knew. She borrowed Lily's pajamas to sleep in last night. It was pure luck that the girls were nearly the same size so they often shared clothes.

Devery also let Lily do her makeup and hair that morning. Lily kept her makeup light and pulled some of her hair back with intricate braiding. Devery then did the same for her best friend so they could look like twins.

Breakfast went smoothly and so did classes that morning. The professors were done talking about NEWTs and this year's curriculum. The homework pile was now rising up and Lily wanted to get a head start. So after a quick lunch and since they had a spare period, Devery suggested they studied in a place Lily never expected: the hospital wing.


Sirius Black started to dream that morning and he dreamed of the most bizarre things.

James and Lily were not trying to kill each other for once. They were dating and were quite serious about their relationship.

Peter was hanging out with his deranged younger brother Regulus and cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa from Slytherin house. He saw his old friend sneak out of the common room late at night to visit the dungeons.

He saw Remus as an older man and he was wearing a tweed suit. Remus was a professor at Hogwarts.

And then he saw snakes. A lot of snakes, hissing and climbing on top of each other in this dark hole in the ground.

Sirius dreamed up the most bizarre things but that wasn't a new thing for him. His dreams were always screwed up and haunting. Particularly the ones he had about his family. He briefly dreamed that he had lovely parents who didn't disown him for being sorted into Gryffindor house.

Then he started to dream about Devery and how she was dating someone that was not him. He saw a faceless bloke with her smiling face and she was laughing. Actually laughing with sound carrying and everything. For some reason, Devery was never mute in his dreams.

A bright light suddenly flickers in the distance and Sirius's awareness starts to shift. He starts to feel his body and move his body. His legs are stiff like they haven't moved for a while and he needs to pee like really badly.

"Bathroom… I need the bathroom," his croaky voice grumbled and he can feel someone touching his forehead. Someone he did not know and with that realization, adrenaline kicks his body hard into gear.

Sirius forces one eye open and immediately groans at the brightness when he opens the other, Madame Pomfrey was checking his temperature and waving a lit up wand in his face.

"Welcome back to land of the living Mr Black," Madame Pomfrey greeted, her eyes concentrating on her patient.

"Um… Madame Pomfrey," Sirius groans again at the light and cringes.

"Follow the light with your eyes, Mr Black, come on, you can do this lad," Madame Pomfrey instructed and feeling like he was backed up to a corner, Sirius did what he was told.

He forced his squinting eyes to follow her wand: up, down and side-to-side.

"Very good," Madame Pomfrey smiled and extinguished the light on her wand with a muttered "nox." That was when Sirius groaned real loudly but for a whole other different reason. The side of his head started to hurt and he could feel a migraine coming along.

Madame Pomfrey then slapped his heads away when he tried to feel his head. His fingertips felt a bandage of some kind and that was when it all hit him.

"Remus punched me and then Evans hexed me. My head hurts," he blurted and Madame Pomfrey hummed in affirmative. She started to create a concoction for him to drink to ease his headache.

"Nothing wrong with your memory, good good," Madame Pomfrey muttered.

"Evans hexed me and knocked me out!" Sirius exclaimed in outrage. The anger just bloomed up in his gut out of nowhere and his mind buzzed with a sudden need to get back at her. Lily hexed him for kissing her best friend and Sirius groaned out loudly again when he remembered that rather small but humongous detail.

He kissed Deveral Leafwood.

He bloody kissed Deveral Leafwood.

He was so fucked.

He was so going to kill James for this. The git helped him over the summer to brew the Draught of Peace to calm his nerves so he could approach Devery and try to be friends with her. He wanted to take things slow with her. Get her to like him in her own time. He did not plan to literally jump down her throat with his tongue.

The potion worked too well. Way too well.

Madame Pomfrey didn't give Sirius's outrage much notice and she calmly handed him a potion to drink.

Sirius could only frown at the cup, Madame Pomfrey handed to him. The potion was a blue-green and smelled way too much like cough syrup for his liking.

"Down the hatch," Madame Pomfrey prompted and Sirius glared at the matron.

"You want me to drink squid piss?" Sirius scowled and Madame Pomfrey shot him a stern look.

"While it is also good to see you haven't lost your sarcasm and prickly mood swings, Mr Black, I will also remind you that I still have the power to administer medicine to unwilling patients. The choice is up to you, Mr Black," Madame Pomfrey outlined strongly and Sirius unwillingly started to scull down the potion.

It did taste like squid piss, well what he thought it would taste like. The potion had a fishy aftertaste and he gagged a bit. Madame Pomfrey kept giving him a stern look until he swallowed the entire potion down and with a sour looking expression, Sirius handed back the empty cup. Madame Pomfrey took it with a pleased look.

"That should clear up your headache in no time. I will remove your bandages after you use the bathroom. I left your toothbrush and toothpaste by the sink."

Sirius then kicked his bed sheets off and with a grumble about pestering nurses under his breath; he made a conscious effort to storm towards the hospital wing's bathroom at the end of the great hall. But he looked more like a stumbling child trying to throw a tantrum. He felt weak all over and he accidently smacked into the hospital beds a few times. He hated being ill and stuck in the hospital wing.

"Do you need a hand, dear?" Madame Pomfrey asked, sounding a little bit nicer and Sirius stubbornly shook his head.

"I'll be fine, thanks Poppy," he grumbled and then disappeared into the bathroom.

"Just call out if you need a hand, dear! I have seen it all before!" Madame Pomfrey shouted at the closed door and she chuckled silently when she heard Sirius grumble about something again. The moody teenager she knew to be Sirius Black was back indeed in the land of the living.

While Sirius cleaned up in the bathroom, Madame Pomfrey magically put new bed sheets on his bed and wheeled out a meal tray. There was some turkey sandwiches and pumpkin soup from the Hogwarts's kitchens.

And then Madame Pomfrey sat down and waited for her patient to return which wasn't very long at all. Sirius also snuck in a shower and Madame Pomfrey tsked at the state he walked back in. His black hair and bandages were soaking wet and he opted to not put his shirt back on. He only put his socks and trousers back on.

But Sirius did do well in the fact that he didn't remove his bandages without her supervision and Madame Pomfrey was grateful for that. It meant he listened.

In the school's experience, Sirius Black always had a problem following authority.

"Merlin, I am starving," Sirius muttered and his face lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw the meal tray. He crawled back into his bed and Madame Pomfrey placed the tray on his lap.

"Oh, turkey sandwiches! My favourite! You're too good to me, as always Poppy, you are a rock star kind of witch!" Sirius cheered and Madame Pomfrey shook her head at him. It was scary how his mood changed in a blink of an eye sometimes. Sirius then dug into his food.

"Thanks Poppy," he said around a mouth full of food and Madame Pomfrey rolled her eyes.

"No talking with food in your mouth, Mr Black," she scolded and Sirius smirked.

"Impossible," Madame Pomfrey muttered and she removed his bandages. His injury looked ten times better. The gash was nice and healed up. Only a red and pink scratch remained. Sirius still had a lot of green and yellow bruising on the side of his head though but that would disappear in another couple of days.

"Mind the goods Poppy!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed when she felt around his rather tender skull with firm fingers.

"Your ability to escape serious injury, Mr Black, never ceases to amaze me. No fractures," Madame Pomfrey diagnosed.

"So, when can I get out of here?" Sirius asked and took a big bite of his sandwich.

"Today's Wednesday so I am thinking by Saturday. I want to keep you for further observation just in case you experience a delayed concussion due to the sleep I put you in," Madame Pomfrey answered.

"I am stuck here for two more days?!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Three more days if you count Saturday, Mr Black," Madame Pomfrey corrected with a little smirk of her own. Sirius narrowed his eyes on the aging nurse.

"I take back what I said, you are an evil witch Poppy," he grumbled and Madame Pomfrey's smirk turned into a stern purse of her lips.

"I will let the professors know you are mentally fit to start your school work again," Madame Pomfrey muttered.

"Evil, evil, evil, nurse witch," Sirius looked away and mumbled underneath his breath.

"Nothing seems to be wrong with that ever resilient mind of yours."

Sirius then perked up with a mischievous idea.

"Oh but there is, Poppy. I can't remember my first name. Please tell me what it is," Sirius pleaded and Madame Pomfrey looked at him with concern.

"You can't remember your first name, Mr Black?"

"I am Sirius."

Madame Pomfrey scowled and Sirius grinned.

"Impossible," she mumbled with a shake of her head and Madame Pomfrey finally walked away from his bed. Sirius chuckled at her disappearing back and he continued to eat his rather delicious turkey sandwiches.

At least he had Madame Pomfrey to play tricks on while he was stuck in the hospital wing. The aging matron always fell for that old prank. It was his signature move. He finished eating his sandwiches and then pure boredom crept upon him and like that his mind returned to the complicated issue of Devery Leafwood. Sirius let out a deep sigh and he started to think up a plan.

Step one: kill James. No, kill was too harsh a word to use when it came to his best mate. Maim sounded a lot nicer and yell. Yes, there will be a lot of yelling and it will do him good to release his frustration in a nonviolent way. Maybe, maiming James was too much too. So he settled on a prank. The Marauders played pranks on each other all the time so it was nothing new for them. That was step one settled.

Step two was getting back at Evans and Sirius thought to save him some time; he should kill two birds with one stone. He will prank James and Lily, together, in one go and it will be epic! And that was step one.

The new step two was thank moony for punching out his lights. He understood why Remus did it. He was being protective of Devery and Sirius couldn't fault him for that. He was glad Devery had such a good friendship with Remus. Sirius also wanted to thank him because his old friend stopped him before he could do something really stupid.

Something more stupid then kiss Devery and that was reveal how he truly felt about the girl. If Remus didn't punch him, he was going to ask Devery to be his girlfriend and that was taking things way too fast. He was going to get Remus a year supply of chocolate frogs.

And step three was deal with the backlash from Devery and hope they can make it work. Whatever the girl was going to throw his way for kissing her out of the blue, Sirius was going to accept with open arms after a lot of resisting at first. He hasn't given up yet and Sirius rubbed his eyes in distress.

His mind was drifting again and he was thinking about Devery's mouth. He loved the taste of her lips. They were soft and tasted like strawberries. Her mouth was like strawberry ice cream and he wanted more. Strawberry was his favorite kind of ice cream and Sirius Black loved his sweets. He had a sweet tooth and was proud of it.

Devery didn't do too badly for her first kiss. She did brilliantly now that Sirius could think back on it. Sirius has kissed a lot of girls in his short time but none could've come close to Devery. Sure, she was in shock at first but she soon got with the program. Her lips cushioned his. He remembered that. A spark then seemed to rip right through him, it cleared the noise in his head and he remembered just feeling alive. A buzzing kind of joy.

Despite the circumstances, it was the best kiss of his life. Sirius felt his lower gut tinge with desire and he knew without a doubt that he wanted to kiss Devery again and he also knew he was going to have a harder time, restraining himself around her now.

"Bloody prongs," he cursed James once again about the Draught of Peace and he stared at the glass wall.

He expected the silence of pure boredom to envelop him once again but he strangely heard two sets of feet walk his way. Curious, Sirius looked over to his right and saw something quiet unexpected.

Lily Evans giving him the stink eye and the apple of his eye, Deveral, Devery for short, Leafwood. Sirius felt like he lost all feeling in his body when his eyes connected with her hazel ones.

As always, she looked beautiful beyond words to him with her long black hair, Mediterranean skin he now knew was soft to touch and her neat school uniform with her signature black choker and black robes.

In that moment, Devery took all of his attention and Sirius quickly moved to sit up properly in his bed. His bed sheets around his naked shoulders tumbled down and that was when he remembered he still had a meal tray with a full bowl of soup on his lap. A meal tray he was now knocking over by accident. Sirius fumbled for the meal tray with a curse but he wasn't fast enough. The bowl of soup went everywhere.

"Shit balls on a stick!" He cursed at the spillage.

"I still can't believe you kissed that foul mouth. He curses like a drunk sailor," Lily muttered and Sirius grew wide-eyed when it looked like Devery told her to shut it with her hands.

Lily rolled her eyes and Sirius grew speechless when Devery smiled at him. It wasn't a huge smile. It was a tiny quirk of her lips but it was still a smile in his book. Hell, Devery could flatter her eyelashes at him and he would think she just winked at him.

"He's clumsy like a drunk sailor too," Lily folded her arms.

"Lily, be nice, please," Devery warned her telepathically. She knew it wasn't going to be easy for Lily to deal with. Her best friend attempting to have some kind of a relationship with a boy she didn't like. But that didn't mean Devery was going to put up with snide comments either.

"Okay, okay, I will but I don't like it," Lily huffed and Devery rubbed her arm affectionately before she moved to help Sirius. A half naked and devilishly handsome Sirius covered in soup.

Sirius looked at her like a doe caught in headlights when she neared his bed.

"Hi," he breathed and Devery mouthed out a 'hey' with a quick smile. She unsheathed her wand and Sirius freaked out.

"Whoa there, Leafwood! I am sure we can resolve this without any violence!" Sirius quickly stood out of his bed and held up his hands in surrender. Lily might've put him in the hospital wing but Devery was more dangerous with a wand. His girl was freakishly good at wandless magic. Devery just looked at him weirdly. Lily started to laugh in the background.

"Black is scared of you, Devery! Who would've thought?" She laughed out harder and Devery threw her a frown over her shoulder.

"You are not helping, Lily!"

Lily covered her mouth to silence her giggles and Devery looked back at Sirius. The guy was now holding a pillow in front of him for protection and that pillow was now covering up all that lean muscle she enjoyed to see earlier.

Sirius was really fit for his age and he had nice abs. Devery felt her cheeks grow warm when she caught sight of his snail trail behind the pillow and she cleared her throat to snap out of her trance. Sirius ducked behind his pillow when Devery started to wave her wand about. He braced himself for a hex. Anything really and when he didn't feel anything coming his way, he bravely peeked around his pillow.

Devery quickly cleaned up his bedspread and the floor. She then clicked her fingers at the meal tray, utensils, plates and bowls. They levitated up and resettled on the trolley Madame Pomfrey left behind beside his bed. She then sheathed her wand and physically fixed his bedspreads. She straightened them and then took a seat on his bed with her school bag on her lap. Sirius watched all of this with wide eyes.

Devery motioned for him to come closer and she patted the spot next to her on the bed. She wanted him to sit next to her. Sirius gulped.

"I think I am going to go now. I'll be in the library if you need me, Devery," Lily suddenly spoke and Sirius looked at her way in alarm.

"Thanks Lily," Devery smiled her way briefly before returning her gaze to Sirius.

"Harm one hair on her head, Black and I will turn you into a toad," Lily warned Sirius with dark green eyes and Sirius just cleared his throat in response.

Devery Leafwood was sitting on his bed. He was beyond his depth in that moment and he barely noticed Lily leave before Devery again, patted the spot beside her with a soft smile.

"You want me to sit there?" He asked and he knew he looked like a complete idiot asking her that. Devery nodded.

"Okay," he breathed and her hazel eyes analyzed his every move. Sirius took small steps towards the bed before he quickly took a seat beside her. She was making him nervous. She could just tell. Sirius was now quietly looking at his hands and he was grinding down on his teeth. His whole body was bunched up with tension. He left a large gap between them and dropped his pillow at the head of the bed.

Devery raised her eyebrows at the gap he left between them and she found that she didn't like it. Apart of her expected Sirius to take advantage of the opportunity to get close. He was the one that grabbed her for a kiss a few days ago. But today, it looked like she had to make the first move so with quick hands; she reached into her school bag for a notebook and pen.

Sirius's grey eyes watched her every move closely and he held his breath when Devery moved to sit right next to him. Their bodies touched from knee to shoulder and he got shivers. His hand tinged with the sudden urge to caress her knee and he bit his lower lip to restrain himself. This was intense. Too intense for him and his body went into hyper drive. His heartbeat speeded up and his stomach started to do that butterfly dance, Devery could only cause inside of him. Her scent overwhelmed his nose and Sirius started to feel light headed. Whatever vanilla scent Devery wore today made her smell really good. Too good.

He had to say something and Sirius cleared his throat again. Where was that famed Gryffindor courage?

Devery opened her notebook and placed it on his lap so he could see it. She kept her pen and with her wandless magic, she started to write.

"Hi," she wrote in her neat cursive and Sirius released a deep breath, feeling really unsure about the entire situation but at the same time, he felt happy. Apart of him did feel happy to simply sit there with Devery.

"Sirius?" Devery asked and Sirius really liked how she wrote his name. His eyes marveled at the neat strokes for a minute before he cleared his throat again. Now he really needed to speak up.

"I am really sorry, Devery."

The soft apology spilled out of nowhere but Sirius knew he meant every word. It wasn't meant to happen like this. He froze when Devery reached out to hold his hand and his body finally started to relax. Devery squeezed his hand and he couldn't believe it. His fingers laced together with hers and his chest grew warm. He usually never liked holding hands so much before but with Devery, he couldn't not enjoy it. Devery then rested her head against his shoulder.

"Why did you kiss me, Sirius?"

"I knew that question was coming," Sirius laughed to relieve some of the tension he felt and his palms started to sweat. His stomach started to roll onto itself and he nervously looked down at Devery.

'Why?' She mouthed and he didn't need to be great at lip-reading to understand her properly.

"It was a mistake Devery and I am so sorry for every bit of it," Sirius stressed and when Devery suddenly let go of his hand, he looked at her in a panic.

'Oh?' She mouthed with downcast eyes and her lower lip started to tremble. Devery looked like she was about to cry. So he didn't like her after all, she realized.

"Oh fuck," Sirius cursed when he realized his mistake. He didn't mean it that way and he had to fix it quickly. He quickly kneeled in front of her just in case she tried to leave. But Devery kept her head down to hide behind her long black hair. Sirius squeezed her hands gently.

"I didn't mean it that way, Devery! I am really shit at this expressing myself stuff. I speak before I think," he confessed but Devery still kept her face hidden and that was when Sirius knew he had to force the legendary Gryffindor courage. His voice shook but he closed his eyes and knew he had to be honest.

"The thing is Devery. I do like you. I have liked you for a very long time but I was scared of how you would react. I haven't really approached you before and coming into seventh year, I wanted to change that but I went about it the wrong way and that is what I am apologizing for. Kisses are for the third date."

Sirius then released the breath he was holding in and he forced himself to open his eyes. Devery looked down at him with shocked but wet hazel eyes.

"To tell you the truth Devery, Lily is probably right about me. I am an idiot… well… when it comes to you, I am," Sirius laughed at himself and in that moment, he strangely felt a million times lighter. The secret was out. He wasn't holding it in anymore. Devery patted the spot beside her on the bed again and Sirius did what she wanted. He sat beside her again. This time, shoulder to her shoulder and knee to her knee. Devery put the notebook back on his lap and she started to write with a shaky hand.

"I think you have a cool nose too."

Sirius laughed at that. He always told her, he thought she had cool looking body parts in the past. The last time, he did that was in sixth year and he complimented her nose.

"I like you too, Sirius," Devery wrote and Sirius beamed down at her in wonder.

"Seriously?" he blurted and Devery agreed with a shy nod.

"I thought you were cute in sixth year and I still do. I was scared to be around you last year though but I don't feel scared anymore. I like kissing you."

Devery let out a shaky breath when she wrote that and she braced herself for Sirius's reaction. She couldn't believe she just wrote that and she couldn't believe the way Sirius started to touch her. He rubbed her back, up and down, with his right hand and she closed her eyes briefly when she felt him kiss her forehead.

"I really like kissing you too and I wouldn't mind doing it again," he whispered and Devery looked into his grey eyes. They were staring at her face with a heat again she couldn't decipher.

"But you deserve better, Devery," he held the side of her face and Devery shook her head with a frown.

"No! I want this! Whatever this is with you Sirius! I want to see what happens!" She wrote with a passion she never felt before and Sirius quickly rubbed her arms to calm her down.

"I do too, Devery but I don't think we should rush it. I want to take things slowly with you. Do things properly. Let you get to know me at your own pace," Sirius explained.

'Oh,' Devery mouthed in understanding and she nodded. She wanted the same too. They barely knew each other so taking it slow was a great idea. Sirius smiled.

"You're not allowed to date anyone else though or kiss anyone else for that matter."

Devery had no idea where that came from but she wanted to be sure that whatever they were was an exclusive thing.

Sirius laughed when he read that and he still couldn't believe how lucky he just got.

"But I like making out with James," he pouted and Devery grimaced. Sirius laughed again and he held her hands.

"Okay, deal but the same goes for you too. If I see a bloke putting his nose where it doesn't belong, I am putting him in the hospital wing Devery," Sirius warned with serious grey eyes and Devery felt warmed by Sirius's overprotectiveness even if it did seem territorial.

"And you really need to teach me sign language," he sighed.

"I will," Devery wrote and she wrote down another question she needed answering.

"So what are we now? Are we dating? Seeing each other? Are we exclusive snog buddies?"

"Um…" Sirius breathed and Devery waited for her answer, patiently.

"How about, two new friends who are exclusively dating slowly… while they are getting to know each other with a few snogging sessions thrown in?" Sirius bit his lower lip nervously and Devery grabbing his face to kiss his cheek repeatedly was his answer.

"This is really going to shake up the Potter and Evans dynamic," Sirius mumbled and Devery reached for the notebook.

"Good friends support each other no matter what. Bad ones don't," she wrote and Sirius agreed with a thoughtful nod.

"There is a lot more to you Devery than what meets the eye and I look forward to getting to know you better but I am really liking what I am seeing so far," Sirius confessed with a shy glance and when Devery kissed his cheek again he couldn't help but turn it into a kiss, he did not feel sorry one bit for taking.