THIS CHAPTER IS AN EXPLANATORY AUTHORS NOTE
Sooo… it has come to my attention that many of you find my last chapter to be disturbing, hard to swallow, unrealistic. I'm going to try and explain my motivation as best as possible so that you understand where I'm coming from in moving forward with this story and why I feel that chapter couldn't have been written any other way.
FIRSTLY: Sirius cheats on Decima. Okay, so he's a teenage boy. It was bound to happen eventually. I know not one girl I was friends with in school who didn't get cheated on at one point or another, even by really nice boys. Sometimes, we convince ourselves that we're doing the right thing, that there's a good reason for stuff like that, and Sirius sure thought he was doing something not so terribly awful, or at least, he talked himself into thinking that. He was obviously wrong. Very, very wrong.
SECONDLY: Decima cheats on Sirius. So, revenge is a powerful motivator, and it's very eye-for-and-eye and all that. I mean, I don't think her rationale for cheating on him needs too much explanation. Hell hath no fury…
THIRDLY: Decima/James. Ah, yes, this was fun to write, mostly because it's not particularly flattering of James, who I am liking less and less the more fan fiction I read and write and the farther I get into my Harry Potter fan fiction research paper. Anyway… It's like cheating on a girl with her sister. There's just no better way to get revenge than a guy with his best friend, and if a guy has gone long enough without sex, trust me on this, he'll act first and think later, and James DOES regret this, very, very, very much. And despite Decima's attempts to take all the blame, Sirius does fine a way to make James pay for this, and it's well deserved. Trust me, this is a very important feature later in the plot.
FOURTHLY: Decima forgives Sirius. So, this was a really tough one for people to swallow, and seems unrealistic, I know, and I realize that. But I know so many girls who have been cheated on, myself included (I've been on both sides of that coin and have decided to deal in different currency altogether from now on…), and the sad fact of the matter is, very few have the strength of character it takes NOT to move on quickly. Myself included. And I know from personal experience that a broken person is not about to walk away from their security, and she knows that even with all his flaws, Sirius is the best thing that has ever happened to her. She has been trained from birth to shut up and put up, and although Sirius tries hard to break her of this terrible habit, she's still very much a creature of habit at this point and doesn't want to lose Sirius, so even though I WILL say, she hasn't ENTIRELY forgiven him, and it will come up later, she's going to forgive him on the surface and keep the peace because she really has NOTHING else left if she loses him and she knows it.
FIFTHLY: Sirius forgives Decima. Sirius doesn't really even feel like he has a right not to, after not only cheating on her first, which he already feels immensely guilty about because, GUESS WHAT, he's a good guy who knows he screwed up. Shocking. BUT, he also feels horrible about hitting her and is counting his blessings that she isn't leaving him for that mistake because he feels as though he truly doesn't deserve her at this point, so what kind of man would he be to not forgive her, especially since he feels he's done much, much worse. No, the one he hasn't forgiven yet is James. Don't forget, he's madly in love with the little bitch, and he's got quite the set of hormones. Never underestimate male hormones. NEVER.
So all in all, EVERYTHING in this chapter is actually based on real life situations I've either witnessed or experienced, so it's all actually incredibly realistic. Oh, the irony. If something's still bugging you, feel free to message me about it and I'll try to put your mind at ease, but just know that just because they've kissed, made up, and had sex doesn't mean things is all butterflies and bunnies from here on out. They've still got a lot of shit to wade through, as evidenced by their behavior and their acknowledgement of the horribleness of their behavior. Now that they're aware of it, though, they've at least got a starting point for fixing it, and that's something.
Hope this helps! Again, never hesitate to contact me if there's something you don't agree with or understand. To be honest, I was sort of expecting the reactions I got from this chapter, and I ought to have added a short note at the end of the chapter, but I was so excited about getting it up that I neglected to. Ah, well, pay now or pay more later.
Cheers!
-J