Decima spent the next couple of weeks ignoring Sirius, since avoiding him was out of the question. That boy had more tentacles than the Giant Squid. She hadn't told Regulus about his brother's behavior. It was difficult to say why, but Decima supposed it was because she didn't want Regulus in any unnecessary trouble. She didn't want him losing his badge, and Slytherin couldn't afford to lose him at Quidditch. They'd never beat Gryffindor without him.

Two weeks into school, the Quidditch training season began and Decima was thrilled. She and Regulus made their way down to the pitch for their first team practice. Olwen Fysshwyk, a Slytherin seventh year prefect, was captain, and he, Decima, and Gwen played Chaser. Christa was Keeper, Regulus was Seeker, and the Beaters were the other male prefect, Ioan DeForest, and a third year named Fred McPhail.

It was a good team, and Fysshwyk held high hopes of beating Gryffindor if Decima could keep up with James Potter, which was no small task. They headed to the changing rooms in high spirits. Gwen and Christa engaged Decima in a water fight in the showers, so she was the last one in the changing rooms, absolutely soaking wet. She had just yelled to Regulus that she would meet him up in the common room when Sirius Black appeared in the corner, pulling off some cloak and just popping out of thin air. She nearly screamed, but he crossed the distance between them in three short steps and covered her mouth with his hand before she could get the sound out.

His eyes looked her up and down before he whispered, "I just wanted to talk."

Snorting into his hand and rolling her eyes, Decima crossed her soggy arms and leaned against the wall, giving him an opening to speak. He took the hand from her mouth and sat down on the bench, almost collapsing, running his hands through his hair.

"Has – has my brother…" he began. His voice caught in his throat and he looked up at her with tear-filled eyes.

Decima gasped and instinctively sat next to him, petting him comfortingly before she realized this was Sirius, not Regulus. Her hand dropped awkwardly, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Have you talked about his plans for when he leaves Hogwarts?"

She stared at him. He was shaking violently. Had he really ambushed her in the changing rooms to interrogate her about his brother's career plans? Why was he so distressed? She rolled her eyes and lied down on the bench, exhausted.

"No," she said finally. "Anything else you'd like to bug me about?"

At first, Sirius didn't say anything. They just sat in silence, waiting for someone to break it as Sirius absently traced his fingertips across the damp fabric covering her thigh and Decima wondered absently why she didn't stop him.

"I'm not just doing it to bug him, Zimmerman," he said finally. "You're beautiful and I want you. He's not good enough for you."

Decima scoffed and said, "How would you know if he's good enough for me? You don't know me, Black! You don't want me; you want a shag to add to your list of conquests. I'm not interested."

He leaned over her so that their noses almost touched and whispered, "I want to know you, if you'll let me, whatever pace you'd like. Once we know each other, you can make up your mind, but in my defense, you don't know me either, love."

She should have said no. She should have pushed him off her and stormed out, full of righteous anger. She shouldn't have let him talk to her in the first place. Why did Decima make so many stupid mistakes where he was concerned? It had to have something to do with those pretty eyes.

"Fine," she muttered. "First thing you should know about me is I have a personal space bubble."

He grinned and kissed her cheek softly.

"Well, that's too bad, babe, because I don't respect those."

"Of course you don't," she groaned. "Now get off me so I can get changed."

She was surprised when Sirius Black got up and turned around, letting her change in something akin to privacy.

"When can I see you again?" he said, again, shocking her with the sincerity in his voice. He really was good at this caring act. No wonder girls had delusions that he loved them. One thing was certain, Decima Zimmerman wasn't about to spill her guts to the boy because he was a good actor. She wasn't about to reward his behavior. He might get ideas, and that couldn't be good for his ungodly large ego.

She snorted as she pulled a dry shirt over her head and said, "What, you mean you're not just going to pop out of thin air whenever you want to talk to me?"

He laughed and said, "Well, I could do that, but I seem to recall promising to do this at your pace, which means on your terms, which would actually be a lot easier on me than appearing out of thin air all of the time."

She pulled on her robes and said, "Well, my suggestion is that you get to know me like a normal person. You know, eat with my friends and talk to me in groups and things."

"That goes both ways, love," he said, somehow sensing she was dressed and turning around. "You could join me every once in a while, too."

She groaned and said, "Tell you what, how about for every three times you hang out with my group, I owe you once with yours?"

He frowned, his brow furrowed.

"Now, I'm not the best at maths, love, but that's not entirely fair."

"Well," she reasoned, "I'm not bloody Sirius Black, who can sit wherever he wants without any questions asked. And you don't conveniently pal around with any of my relatives. Consider it my sacrifice. Besides, you'll be seeing an awful lot of me soon enough."

"What?"

"I'm staying with your family over Christmas."

He visibly swallowed.

"You don't want to do that."

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yes, because you know me well enough to know what I want." She grabbed her bag and turned to storm out, but changed her mind and faced him one last time. "And Black? I have a name. It's Decima. Use it."

She couldn't wipe the image of that grin from her mind as she headed back to her common room, acutely aware of the fact that she had taken far too long in the changing room and Regulus was probably freaking out in the common room with worry at that very moment. For a while, Decima tried to think of plausible excuses, but decided it would be easier if she just kissed him. He couldn't think clearly enough to yell at her after a good kiss.

However, she was disturbed not to find him pacing the common room on her arrival. In fact, he wasn't even in the common room. Austin was missing as well. Now she was the one pacing the common room like a maniac. Hadn't she told him she would meet him here? Her mind was so jumbled from dealing with Sirius that she couldn't remember. She went to check his dormitory, which was empty, before returning to her pacing frantically around the common room. Maybe she had been gone so long that he had actually organized a search party. What if dozens of Slytherins were combing the castle for her this very minute?

Just then, her best friends entered the common room carrying their book bags.

"Oh, there you are," said Christa casually. "We were looking for you."

Oh, Merlin, all her worst fears were confirmed. He had finally done it. Regulus black had become paranoid enough to organize search parties.

Decima sighed and said, "How many people are looking for me?"

Gwen looked confused as she said, "As far as I know, just the three of us. Why? Did you prank someone or something?"

Or maybe his paranoia hadn't reached that point yet.

"Oh, never mind. Have you guys seen Regulus?"

"Yeah," said Philomela. "He said he had to go meet with some guys from his Ancient Runes class for a study session and he's sorry he forgot to mention it, but he'll see you at dinner."

"Oh, okay, thanks. Have you finished your Transfiguration essay yet, Gwen? McGonagall's going to kill me if I screw up as badly as I did on the last one."

"Yes," said Gwen solemnly, "writing on the wrong topic twice in a row would be far from promising."

"Oh, I got accosted by Sirius Black yesterday in Transfiguration," mused Christa casually over her Potions notes. "He was asking about you, CiCi."

"What?" squeaked Philomela.

Decima froze, hoping this wasn't real life. She repeatedly pinched the inside of her wrist, hoping that this was just some sort of ridiculous nightmare. No such luck, of course.

"Yeah, he asked about Decima."

"What did he say?" she said, attempting to sound only mildly curious.

"He wanted to know if there was a chance you would go to Hogsmeade with him."

"And what did you say?"

"I told him it wasn't bloody likely, considering you happened to be seeing his brother, and not to get his hopes up that you'd rendezvous in the prefect's bath either. He just laughed."

Decima just made a sort of noncommittal sound in her throat. There was no way Philomela could look any more horrified.

"And then Remus Lupin and James Potter proceeded to tell me after he left that he's got this weird obsession with you and he rarely sleeps, but apparently when he does he mumbles your name all night. A few times, he's woken up half of Gryffindor screaming it."

She didn't want to know what those dreams had been about. If Decima had though Philomela looked horrified before, she had been sorely mistaken. She thought her dear friend might combust. Unfortunately, that was the time Regulus chose to enter the common room, because Philomela shrieked, "Why in the name of Merlin is Sirius Black dreaming about you?"

Regulus's jaw dropped. Fantastic. This would take some serious damage control.

"How the hell should I know?"

"But he's screaming your name!"

"So he's probably having nightmares about me coming at him with knives! Don't think the idea hasn't crossed my mind. Anyway, it's time for dinner and I've got better things to do than contemplate the mind of that wanker." She smiled at Regulus. "Hey, sweetie, how was your study session?"

And before he could answer, she crossed the distance between them and planted her lips onto his until his tension faded and he began to respond her kiss as though they hadn't just been discussing his brother screaming her name.

"All right, you two," said Christa. "Dinner time, let's go. Don't make me separate you."

But dinner didn't improve things at all. Unfortunately, Sirius had chosen that meal to start taking her advice and he sat down between Gwen and Philomela once more, which was becoming his customary seat. Decima began examining her fork as he sat, Regulus growled, Gwen rolled her eyes, and Christa had the good sense to ask Regulus for the beets before he could jump across the table and tackle his brother on impulse.

Decima had been wondering how Philomela would respond when Sirius turned to her, holding out his hand and saying, "Hi, I don't think we've ever been properly introduced. My name's Sirius, what's yours?"

And with that, the poor girl burst into tears and stormed out of the Great Hall. Whoops.

Sirius frowned.

"Was it something I said?"

"That's Philomela Hayes, and she's desperately in love with you," said Christa casually. "And I suppose it is something you said because she just found out about you yelling her best friend's name in your sleep."

Sirius's eyes widened with shock as he looked around at the accusing faces. Decima's was not among them, as she had not the energy for looking at him or for looking accusing, and certainly not both at once.

"Who told you about that?"

"Your best mates," said Christa casually. "Could you hand me the salt, Sirius?"

He handed her the seasoning and said, "Okay, now Regulus, before you flip out, let me explain…"

"Yes, Sirius," said Regulus through clenched teeth, his gray eyes flashing. "Please, explain."

Sirius gulped.

"So I've been having this recurring dream about being chased by the Giant Squid and then it morphs into Decima coming at me with a knife." He took a spoonful of potatoes and heaped it onto his plate. "I don't know if she's ever come at you with a knife, but it's bloody terrifying, mate."

Nice save. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about all of this was that Decima and Sirius thought alike. That didn't bode particularly well in Decima's mind. Regulus, however, had begun to breathe normally again and his grip loosened on his fork.

Somehow, Decima survived dinner. In fact, she managed to enjoy it. When it began, she though there was no way either was possible, but somehow, by the end, even Regulus was laughing at Sirius's jokes and they told stories from their childhood. Decima was shocked at how much like brothers they seemed when they were getting along. She wondered which side of them she would be seeing over Christmas holidays. Judging by Sirius's take that her going with them was a bad idea, she guessed it wasn't this side.

When they got back to the Slytherin common room, Philomela was nowhere to be found. Decima poked her head into her friend's dormitory, and there was the sound of an abrupt halting of sobs.

"FiFi?" she cooed softly. "Are you up?"

There was no reply.

"Well, I love you. Sleep well."

Decima made her way to her own room and collapsed on her bed.

"How's FiFi?" said Gwen from the next bed over.

With a great sigh, Decima responded, "How do you think? She's crying her eyes out."

"That knife story's bullshit. He wants you," said Gwen in the tone of someone who had just suggested that the sky might be blue.

Decima sighed again.

"I know that, you know that, and KiKi knows that, but it's better if Regulus believes the knife story. I thought he was going to strangle Sirius on the spot."

"So what's the deal with the prefect's bath?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," snapped Decima, a little too hastily.

Gwen laughed.

"You can't hide from me, CiCi. I saw your face when KiKi mentioned it, just like I saw your face just now. Spill."

"Well," groaned Decima, "we might have accidentally spent time in the prefect's bath alone. And he may have made some advances. But nothing happened."

"I believe you. FiFi won't."

"I know. I swear, I've got to be the one girl in this school who's praying he'll leave her alone, and I also happen to be the girl he's developed a weird obsession for. Don't you dare tell Regulus."

"Not a word," promised Gwen. "You're going to have an interesting Christmas, dear."

"I don't even want to think about that. I want to wake up tomorrow and have this whole day be a freakishly bad dream. Good night."

"Sweet dreams."

Decima drifted off to sleep and was awakened by a boy climbing into her bed. At first, she thought it was Regulus, but then he smirked at her. It was Sirius. He took off his shirt and crawled on top of her, catching her lips in a kiss before she could protest.

She kissed him back. He moved to take off her shirt and as he pulled it over her head he whispered, "I got tired of waiting."

Sirius began to trail hot kisses down her jawbone to her neck, and then down to her collarbone, where he left a couple well-placed love bites. She let a moan escape her lips as he pulled her pajama pants off her. Then his claws dug into her thighs.

Claws?

Decima sat up to find her roommate Catarina Boatright's cat settling on her legs for the night. It had been a dream. Actually, it had been a really, really good dream.

Curse Gwen and her seemingly innocuous nighttime pleasantries. The next person to wish her sweet dreams would wind up in St. Mungo's.

She didn't bother to change or cover up as she displaced the poor, well-meaning cat and stumbled out of her dormitory, out of the common room, and up to the kitchens, where she asked for a cup of strong tea. She had only just began sipping her tea and calming her heart rate when was joined by none other than Sirius Black himself.

"Hey, Decima," he said. "What's got you up at night?"

She couldn't say the truth. Decima didn't want to think about what it would do to his ego to tell him he was keeping her up. She shrugged and didn't return the question, already fairly certain she knew his answer.

"I hope your friend's all right," he said. "She seemed pretty distraught."

This must be his sick idea of small talk.

"Oh, peachy," said Decima, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "She only just cried herself to sleep and completely avoided me. I believe she's under the impression that we're secretly shagging and that's why you're having sex dreams about me."

"Now, now," he joked, "someone's mighty full of herself. Who says I was lying about the knife?"

She scoffed.

"Please, Sirius, nobody bought that but Regulus, and I'm thrilled he did, but don't play that game with me."

He shrugged and said, "So you won't go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"No," she said slowly, "but if you want to spend time with me, I may have just thought of a way to kill two birds with one stone."

"Really?"

"Take FiFi, that way she gets her dream and isn't mad at me, and you have an excuse to sit with us."

He considered her for a moment before nodding and saying, "I might just take you up on that. So, is it me, or are you coming up with ways to spend time with me?"

Decima rolled her eyes.

"In your dreams, Sirius."

"Yup," he said with a wink, "and in yours, too. Don't deny it."

As Sirius Black walked away, Decima became aware that this boy was going to be the death of her.