Author's Note: Ok, so here's the beta-ed version of last chapter. Sorry to disappoint you guys who were hoping for a brand new chapter, but don't loose your hopes as the next chapter is actually written and off to beta. So just one day or so.

Thanks a lot, lot, lot, to all my reviewers (both this chapters and earlier) and thanks to beta.

Chapter 12: Jamie's New Date

James Potter did his signature gesture once again – pulling a hand through his hair and messing it up even worse than it already was.

"So," Sirius said, "I've confirmed things with Rosanna, and she will be waiting for you outside the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room at seven o'clock."

"Which is in," Remus filled in after having glanced at his watch, "exactly two minutes."

"Oh crap," James muttered, picked up his wallet and wand from his messy bed and shoved them into his pocket. "How do I look?"

"Lovely, Jamie dear," Sirius said in a high-pitched voice and Peter giggled while Remus merely looked bored. "To be quite honest, Prongs, you've gotta get rid of them female characteristics you've been sporting lately."

"One minute to seven," Remus reported.

"So," James said, "anything I should know about this Rosanna girl? Um, allergies? Preferences? Um-"

"Just go!" Sirius, Remus and Peter said in chorus.

"Well isn't this an exciting way to spend a Friday evening!" Aurora said sarcastically and looked at her two best friends.

The three girls were sprawled out on Lily's bed, books sprawled around them. Elisabeth looked up irritated –there had finally been some peace and quiet for the past half an hour since their two dorm mates had finished getting ready for their big dates or wherever they were going.

"Why haven't you gotten yourself a date or something then?" she asked.

Aurora glared at her. "A girl shouldn't be out and about with some new guy every week, you know."

"This has never bothered you before…"

"Well yeah, but I've decided to get rid of this slut reputation you so often refer to," Aurora snapped. "No boys for a month."

At this announcement even Lily, who until then had been doing her best to ignore her friends' normal squabble, looked up from the essay she was writing. "You're serious?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Aurora said.

"What?"

"Serious, Sirius, ha ha, never gets old, does it?"

"Actually," Lily said, "I wasn't trying to joke. I was simply wondering whether or not you're really… meaning this."

"Yes!"

"Well fine then!"

There was a short silence before Aurora spoke again, "Either way – as I said, I'm bored."

Elisabeth put her book aside and said, "My concentration is lost. What do you suggest we do?"

"Well I'm not going anywhere," Lily declared. "I am so far behind with this week's homework." This was true, although a slight exaggeration. She was not as far behind as she ought to be considering the time she had spent agonizing over James. "Besides," she added in a quieter voice, "I don't want to go anywhere in case I'd bump into… them."

Aurora shot Elisabeth a glare saying that she hadn't done the right thing telling Lily about James's upcoming date. Now Lily was confined to their dorm in order to avoid an embarrassing encounter, and her friends were confined there as well as they couldn't leave their friend behind. Not on the evening when her crush, love, whatever it was, was out on a date with another girl.

"Fine, we'll stay in," Aurora said. "But how about we skip the homework for a while – it's nine o'clock on a Friday night. Honestly."

"I'm not in the mood," Lily said. "But you two can leave if you want to. It's okay."

"No, that's fine," Elisabeth said quickly and picked up her book. "I really should be doing this assignment anyway…"

"Maybe we ought to talk about this, Lily," Aurora tried.

"Talk about what?" Lily said briskly. "There's nothing to talk about!"

"But-"

"Nothing!"

"Fine!"

They sat in silence for a while – Elisabeth and Lily seemingly absorbed in their homework, while Aurora stared out into space.

"I'm off," she abruptly announced before getting down from Lily's bed and heading out of the room.

Aurora went down the stairs to the boys' dormitories and knocked on the door to the sixth years'. There was no response, so she squeezed the door knob and opened the door, peaking inside. The room was empty.

"Looking something? Or someone?" a voice said behind her.

Aurora spun around and came to stand face to face with Sirius.

"Shit," she muttered but gathered herself quickly. "Yes, you."

"Oh?"

"We need to talk."

"I thought you said last time that if I left, I could never come back. This is it, off limits, remember?"

"Not about us, you idiot. About" – she lowered her voice and glanced around to make sure they weren't overheard – "James and Lily."

"Well-"

"In here," she said and pushed him into the dorm.

"So," James said desperately to break the silence, "you like quidditch?"

"I like flying," Rosanna said and threw her long dark hair over her shoulder. "But I have no ball sense whatsoever."

"You like flying?"

"I love flying!"

"So… you wanna go for a ride, then?" James made a mental note to thank God for this brainwave. Finally he might be able to break this uncomfortable silence and lack of subjects to talk of or things to do that had imbued their date.

"Sure," she said enthusiastically.

James summoned his broom and mounted it, Rosanna climbed on behind her and slid her arms around his waist. He kicked off from the ground and they zoomed into the air.

The scenery was incredibly beautiful and picturesque. The grounds were dark but the lake glimmered in the dim light from the half moon. It was a clear night and the stars were reflected in the lake. The castle was dark and magnificent as always with its towers. It wasn't more than nine o'clock so no one had gone to bed; therefore, most windows showed lit rooms.

He circled a few times around the castle, but it was getting a tad cold – he could feel Rosanna shivering behind him – so he decided to subside when he got back to the quidditch pitch that they had taken off from. Before they had gotten there, though, he glanced towards one of the lit windows in what happened to be the Gryffindor tower. It also happened to be – though this, he did now know at the moment – the sixth years girls' dormitories. Due to their high speed it was hard to discern, but he definitely saw a glance of auburn hair and what seemed to be Lily Evans.

All of a sudden he wanted nothing more than dismounting the broom and finishing off the date with some lame excuse. But as he a minute or two later did so while frantically trying to figure out with excuse he should use, Rosanna graciously jumped off the broom, flung her arms around his neck and kissed him.

At first he didn't really do anything. She had most definitely caught him off guard. When returning to his senses and realizing what was happening, though, he pulled away abruptly.

"What are you-" he began but she cut her off.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He looked down at his feet for a moment before deciding to be a man and look her into the eye. "Listen, Rosanna, I've had a great time but… I don't feel that way about you."

"You're not gay, are you?"

"No!"

"Well then what's the problem?!"

He didn't say anything at first, before repeating, "I… just don't feel that way about you."

She looked as though she just had a brain wave in the style of Einstein. "It's Evans, isn't it. You're still in love with her."

"I…" He did not deny it.

"Sirius is so dead… He told me you were over her, that idiot! Oh, you're both idiots, by the way. Had I known you were still in love with her I'd never have gone out with you…" she muttered while stomping away towards the castle.

Only minutes after Aurora had left, there was another knock on the door to the sixth years Gryffindor boys' dormitory.

"Yeah," Sirius called out, "who is it?"

He was expecting Remus and Peter to get back soon, but he didn't figure they would knock.

The door was opened and there stood one of his fellow housemates. Anna or Annabelle or something.

"Hi, I don't know if you remember me…"

He sat up abruptly. "We weren't supposed to meet or something, were we?" He groaned on the inside. He didn't forget an appointment with some girl whose name he didn't remember again, did he?

"No," she blushed, "but if you-"

"Um, maybe another time," he said quickly. "But… what's the occasion for this… visit?"

"There's a girl waiting for you outside the common room," Anna or Annabelle or something reported. "Rosanna from Ravenclaw. Says she knows you."

"Right," Sirius said and jumped of his bed. Why was Rosanna here? James hadn't messed up their date so badly, had he? Why was Rosanna back before James?

James, if I'm getting one of Rosanna's tantrums tonight because of you, then I'll kill you.

"Right, thanks," he said to Anna or Annabelle or something before sprinting down the stairs, through the common room and out through the portrait hole.

Indeed, she did not look happy. She stood a meter from the portrait hole, arms crossed and tapping her foot impatiently. Upon seeing Sirius, she stepped forward and slapped his arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"What were you thinking, Sirius Black?!" she exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?!"

"You idiot! I thought we were friends."

"We are!"

"You said he was over Evans! You bloody liar! He's not over her at all, I –"

"What happened?" Sirius asked tiredly.

"I tried to kiss him but he pulled the whole 'I just don't feel that way about you'-crap. Right. It's so obvious!" she gestured wildly. "He's not over Evans. I didn't have a bloody chance. I –"

"I'm sorry," Sirius apologized. "I thought –"

"What?! You thought you'd use me to try and get him to get over her or what?"

"Er –"

"You did, didn't you? You idiot!" she slapped his arm again. "Aaaargh!" she exclaimed and stomped off, leaving a stunned Sirius behind, clutching his aching arm.

After Rosanna's tantrum, Sirius waited for two hours for James so that he could confront him. That idiot, he would –

The door opened and James came in.

"Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed. "What the –"

"Not now, Padfoot," James said tiredly. "Date was fine. I'm tired. G'night." And with that, he jumped onto his bed and slammed the hangings shut.

So, Sirius mused, James isn't over Lily at all, like he's been claiming since the beginning of this year. Not that he was surprised – this was what he had been suspecting and arguing the whole year.

And Lily was in love with him – that was that Aurora had said. "We've got to do something," she had said, "Lily's a pain in the ass in this state. And we all know James still loves her."

"I'm not so sure about that," Sirius had responded, "he's actually on a date right now –"

Aurora waved her hand impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, I know, you fixed them up, you idiot. But –"

"Just wait and see," Sirius said, "I'll get back to you."

Oh yeah. He'd have to get back to her.

Author's Note: As you might know, I originally posted this chapter un-betaed in the absence of my beta, in order to lift my Writer's Block. I don't feel very blocked at the moment but you know these things can always change, so why don't you drop me a nice little review to prevent this?