Dinah was sure the butterflies fluttering in her chest would have caused her to levitate and float around by the time she opened the door to the bedroom she was using. Somewhere on the trip up her excitement had gotten the better of her and she had ended up in front of Severus rather than behind him, so she entered first.

Severus closed the door behind them, moving rather slowly. Dinah sat on the bed and watched him, making sure her breathing didn't get too fast. No words had been exchanged between them but she was almost certain his tiny nod had meant that that 'another opportunity' had presented itself. She didn't know what was going to happen, but that was almost the best part about it. The anticipation.

She heard him exhale, more loudly than usual, and then he turned to face her, a mildly amused expression on his face; "You certainly are anxious to organize those clothes of yours, aren't you?"

Dinah felt her face flush. "Well, organization is something that I enjoy. You've seen my office."

"I have," he came over to stand in front of her. "I admit I've never seen quite so many file folders with so many interesting labels before."

"I like to know where things are." She knew she couldn't rush him, so she didn't mind the distracted conversation. It was almost fun.

The corners of his mouth turned up in the hint of a smile, "As I said... yesterday... you truly are an interesting person. Dinah."

He had spoken her name twice in the last five minutes. And this time he made it very clear that it had been on purpose. She found herself standing up from the bed, taking a step closer to him. "I'm... so glad I amuse you."

"You do," his smile was complete and her heart nearly stopped. Every time she saw him truly smile that was what happened. It wasn't often, but it was wonderful. He tilted her chin up to face him and his face came closer. It was like déjà vu, a completely identical move to what had happened yesterday. Except this time his lips came down upon hers.

Kiss Number Three, Dinah's thoughts landed on that number for a split second before all thoughts of organization flew from her mind. Unlike their first kiss – a quick peck – or even their second kiss that had lingered for a few seconds, this kiss showed no sign of stopping. His fingers trailed from her chin and found their way to the side of her face, spreading so that some went into her hair and others behind her neck, pulling her head closer to his as his lips parted. She let her arms slide around his waist and pulled herself closer as their tongues began to move together. This was like the first kiss Lucy had described. This was like the kisses Dinah had shared with Dylan, so long ago. But this was better. So much better.

She moaned a bit and clutched him more tightly as his kisses became more urgent. She felt his body responding beneath her, and hers reciprocated. It was amazing, really, that Severus had gone on this long being a virgin just because of his undying love for Lily. But maybe now... did she dare hope that he would be willing to open to her? She had been so sure it would never happen, or at least not anytime soon, but was it happening now? At the moment she knew that if he wanted it to she would be essentially incapable of saying no.

"Severus," she breathed, when he pulled back long enough for her to get some air, "Sev..." but his next kiss cut her off before she could finish saying his name a second time. And then she felt his grip weakening and she realized what the cut-off had made her say.

"No, Lily!" Before she had a chance to think his weakened grip turned into a forceful shove as he pushed her away and stepped back, everything screeching to a halt. She didn't know what to say so she just stared as he shook his head and looked around the room, not meeting her eyes.

She felt tears springing to them. "Severus, I-"

"It's not you," he held his hand up, stopping her, but still refused to meet her gaze.

"But- but it is me," she whispered, "I could never be- I mean I'm not... enough..."

He looked up as they both heard footsteps in the room above them. In that room. Lucy must have gone up for something. Severus winced and shook his head again, "It's this place. I can't be here anymore. I have to go home."

"Go – go home? But-"

"I'll come back," he cut her off. "Tomorrow. But I need to get away tonight. Need to... think. Tell Lucy I'm sorry." He turned his back to her and apparated away without another word.

Dinah just stared for a long time, her throat so tight she could barely breathe. But she clenched her teeth and forced herself not to cry. She should have expected this, she told herself over and over in her head. It had been inevitable. No reason to be disappointed.

After all, she had gotten more out of him than she ever expected to. Shouldn't that be enough... for now?

She swiped at the tears forming in her eyes before they could fall. No. It wasn't enough. Selfish as she was, it wasn't enough. Perhaps it was time to seriously think about whether this relationship could go anywhere, like she'd been talking about to Lucy. Maybe it would be better to just... break it off.

She couldn't handle that thought right now, so she took a few deep breaths, pulling herself together. She left the room and headed down to the kitchen, snatching the bag of tortilla crisps they had used for lunch and munching on them without thinking. By the time Lucy came downstairs the bag was nearly empty.

"Oh, there you are," Dinah's face must have showed something, because Lucy's became concerned, "Is everything okay?"

"Um," Dinah forced a smile, "Sure. I..." she held up the bag, "I'm sorry. I ate all your crisps..."

"That's okay, it's one less thing we have which is one step closer to Sirius going shopping." She smiled, "I know I said we don't like grocery shopping, but it usually turns into a battle of how little food we can have before one of us gives in and goes to the store."

She chuckled, and then turned to stare at the table, "Severus left."

"Left? Like left left? What happened? Everything seemed fine when you guys went upstairs to…organize your clothes."

"He'll be back tomorrow," Dinah said, fighting back tears again, "Actually it's probably better this way. You won't have to worry about him and Sirius getting on each others nerves or anything for awhile. Although I guess it means you'll have to give us our presents tomorrow instead of tonight..." She knew she was rambling. But she was perfectly happy to wait for Lucy to ask more questions and answer them slowly. That way she wouldn't have to explain it all at once.

"I'm not worried about the presents," she said quietly, sitting down next to Dinah and calling the box of tissues over to them.

"I'm fine," Dinah waved the tissues away, and then thought better of it and snatched two, dabbing at her eyes before it could go any further. Then she growled and tossed the tissue aside, fighting with herself. "Really, I'm fine!" she exclaimed, half to the discarded tissue and half to Lucy. She sighed and turned back to her friend, "It's not that big of a deal, anyway. After all, he's at least coming back tomorrow. But maybe... maybe we shouldn't stay any more nights after that. Unless you mind me hanging around here tonight by myself. I mean, you probably don't want- I'm fine, curse you!" she turned and yelled at the tissue again.

"We don't mind having you here. You shouldn't be alone right now. I mean…I hate to keep bringing it back to me but that first night Charlie refused to leave me alone. Actually he didn't leave me until Aunt Molly got there and then she wouldn't leave me. I think my zombie-like state really unnerved her. Anyway, it's not like I would have done anything harmful but it was still good that I wasn't alone. It helped."

Dinah sighed and turned to smile at Lucy. "Thank you. I appreciate it. Really, it's just the usual stuff. It started out great, but he got reminded of Lily and well..." she shrugged helplessly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure it's not easy for him being here in this house…the Potters were such a presence in Sirius's life and…I don't really know what else to say."

"It's all right," Dinah stood and took the half bag of crisps back to the counter where she'd found it. "Let's just forget about it for awhile. If I think about it I'll be forced to consider whether or not I should... break up with him or something," she finished in a whisper, "Do you think I should?"

"Well, I don't know. I broke up with Nick because, well, because he wanted me to do his homework and bet his friends he'd sleep with me. Gawain broke up with me because he disagreed with my ideas about the Ministry. I guess it comes down to whether or not you think you can handle his…issues."

Dinah sighed again and came back to sit at the table, "I thought I could up until now. I guess it's because the moment we shared was so intimate and I wasn't..." she felt her face flush, "done when he broke it off. Maybe it's just hormones talking and not my brain or even my heart."

Lucy laughed, "Sorry. It's just…it very well could be hormones. Beginning something and then…not getting there can be really frustrating. Though the one time the Lupins came for a surprise visit was a bit dampening. Luckily we were still clothed. Anyway, I think hormones can really screw up your brain and your heart too. I mean think about it; when we're happy we're far more likely to want to…you know then when we're angry."

She nodded, "Perhaps. And maybe I'm overthinking this. It's just that logically I feel like a third party observer would say something like 'if he's clearly never going to get over her you should just break up with him because all he's going to do is keep hurting you'. I feel like if I don't listen to the obvious advice then I'm being immature and unreasonably attached to something that will never go anywhere. But," her gaze turned hopeful, "He has changed, hasn't he? I mean he did want to kiss me at first. And he's much more polite and sociable now. I mean, wouldn't it be cruel to just give up on him? I want him to find happiness too. But I shouldn't be too selfless. I also have to think about my own happiness. And decide once and for all whether he's a hopeless case or not." She groaned, "Sorry. I'm babbling more now than you ever have. I guess as usual there are no easy answers."

"I think," Lucy started hesitantly, "that if you give up on him now he'll go back to the way he was. He seems happier now and that's coming from someone who knew him as her professor. It's not exactly the same but when I first met Sirius I sort of went through something similar. He was told not to leave this house in either form but he did anyway. He's reckless and bitter. And sometimes I think being in Azkaban so long has made him a little loony. What got me, what made all that not matter so much was the way he cares about people. He's sort of an all or nothing guy in that respect. If he cares about you you get all of that emotion."

Dinah smiled, "That's nice. You know, that's good advice. It helps. Just because there are hardships, it doesn't make all the good times invalid. And there have been good times. I should try to remember that. Besides, I don't really want to leave him. I just thought that maybe that was the most logical choice. I guess sometimes you just have to follow your heart, though."

"Logic and emotion are two totally different things. Take it from someone who knows." Lucy jumped, and Dinah looked over to see a pair of arms wrapped around Lucy's waist.

"Hi."

"Stop doing that!"

Sirius's head came between the two witches and kissed Lucy's cheek. "Did you go out today?" It seemed he knew about Lucy's peculiarities. Normally, Dinah thought, you'd ask someone how their day was, not if they went out.

Lucy shook her head, "No, but we had a relatively normal day. No panic attacks or anything like that. We even decorated. Your family by the way has very weird decorations."

Dinah laughed, "Slightly."

"Dead trees…what was with those anyway? And that giant green and red snake garland with the bells hanging from it. Those got thrown away and the snake went back in the box."

"Mother had horrible tastes. Where's our dear Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts? I assumed he wouldn't be wandering around the house by himself with me about to pop back in at any moment?" he asked, sitting on the other side of Lucy.

"We're not going to talk about that," Lucy said through clenched teeth, glancing at Dinah.

Dinah shot her a grateful smile. Although not talking about it ultimately wouldn't change the overall feeling that his absence brought to her. Although she was feeling a little better, she didn't want to think too much about it for fear that she might feel more of that crushing sadness. "He'll be back tomorrow," she told Sirius, and then stood up, "I think I'm going to go out and buy his gift, now that I have an opportunity. I'll be back in a couple of hours at the most. But it probably won't take that long."

"Oh, of course," Lucy stood and put a hand on her shoulder, "You'll be all right?"

"Yes," Dinah smiled again at her friend. She was right. It was nice not to feel alone at a time like this. "Thank you. I think buying his gift will be a good thing. After all," she grinned, "he presumably has one for me too, right?"

Lucy smiled, "At this point I think he better have one."

Dinah couldn't help but laugh; "Right. I'll see you later, then." She apparated away to Diagon Alley and Flourish and Blotts.