Chapter 9 - Heartbreak

As Renee wandered through the corridors aimlessly, she thought about what had just happened. She and Tarin had been friends for ages, and now that was just over. It was a lot to process.

What Tarin had done was just flat out wrong, Renee didn't doubt that. The actual cheating wasn't that big a deal; if she was being honest, she could admit that she'd always doubted Tarin's commitment level. But she had figured that her conscious would make her tell Sirius and they'd either work through it or break up, but at least she'd be honest. Clearly, that wasn't how this was happening though.

And if Renee were still being honest with herself, she could admit that she was torn on what to do. On one hand, she hadn't been lying to Tarin; Sirius deserved to know the truth. On the other hand, though, what if Tarin was true to her word? What if it really was a one time thing? She would hate to see Sirius heartbroken because of one mistake. She had never seen him as happy as he'd been the past month with Tarin.

Finally deciding that Sirius needed to know, regardless of how upset he'd be, Renee knew she had to tell him. She checked her location and shook her head as she realized the was in the dungeons. She turned around and went to find Sirius.

A couple turns from Gryffindor Tower, she heard voices. She slowed and then froze when she recognized the speakers.

"Hey Diggory, how's it going?" Came Sirius' easy voice.

"Pretty good, though apparently not as good as you; how's Tarin?" Diggory said, giving Renee a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Sirius chuckled, clearly in the dark. "She's great, thanks."

"Yeah, I bet. I hear she's a bloody fantastic shag," Diggory's voice didn't even sound remotely amiable anymore.

Renee could easily picture how Sirius would stiffen. His voice reflected this, completely hardened. "That's really none of your damn business, Diggory."

Diggory's voice rushed out. "Yeah, well I think it is my business. Because over the break, you know, when you were here alone thinking about your oh-so-sweet gilfriend? Yeah, I was shagging her senseless all break."

Renee ran around the corner, to do what she didn't know. She was just in time to see Sirius punch Diggory in the jaw. He punched him twice more before Renee was able to hold him back.

"Sirius, hey, Sirius! Stop punching him!"

He looked down at her, his eyes black with anger. "Do you hear the lies he's saying? The git deserves it!"

Renee's heart sank. She thought he had just punched Diggory because he was angry, not because he didn't believe him. "Sirius, I agree, he's a git who deserves to be beaten to a pulp. But I really need to talk to you first."

As much to his surprise as hers, he actually let her drag him away. Diggory lay forgotten on the floor, before the idiot burst out, "Looks like Tarin's not the only one who's been cheating."

Before Sirius could turn around to punch him again, Renee whipped out her wand. With a flick, she sent Diggory flying down the corridor, before she finally pulled Sirius down the corridor and out to the grounds.

"What's going on, Renee? Why'd you pull me off the git?" Sirius demanded.

Renee sighed and looked across the lake. "Because, Sirius, he wasn't lying. It's true."

He froze. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Tarin and Diggory really did hook up over the break."

The color drained from his face. He shook his head. "No, not possible. You're lying."

It nearly broke her heart to do so, but she knew she had to finish what she started. "I'm not lying, Sirius. It's true."

She told him the whole story, every detail of her conversation with Tarin. By the end, Sirius looked inconceivably older. "I... I can't believe. After all we've said... She ruins it."

"I'm so sorry, Sirius. As soon I knew, I came to find you. Diggory just found you first." She crossed her fingers as she fibbed, but she didn't think the truth would make much of a difference.

Sirius didn't reply for a long time. When he finally looked up from the lake and at her, his eyes were different. There was no amiable light in them, the light that had separated him from his family. "Yeah, right."

Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean? You know I wouldn't lie to you about this."

His face with anger as he suddenly screamed. "BULLSHIT! You two have been planning this since the beginning. I bet you've been having a laugh the whole time!"

"No, Sirius, I swear, that's now what happened," Renee protested in astonishment.

"Bullshit!" He roared again, "Stop lying! I'm done listening to your lies! You can't trust a cheating whore or her lying best mate."

Renee recoiled, hurt that he would say that after all the grief she'd gone through. Then she fired back. "Don't talk to me like that! I tried to warn you from the start! Don't blame me because your stupid pride wouldn't let you see what was right in front of you!"

She thought she saw a flicker of something in his eyes, but she couldn't be sure before he stormed off. She thought about chasing him and setting him straight, but figured he probably needed some time to cool off. Or maybe he was going to break up with Tarin, in which case she definitely didn't want to be around.

So she was idly daydreaming and considering going for dinner later when James found her. "There you are, Ray!"

She looked up at him. "Hey, James. Still with the nickname, really?"

He grinned for a second before gushing, "Merlin, you will not believe everything that's happened."

She semi-smiled, but really grimaced, knowing the situation wasn't very amusing. "Let me guess; Tarin cheated on Sirius?"

He scowled. "How'd you know?"

"Tarin told me and I had the dubious pleasure of telling Sirius it was true after Diggory spilled the beans," she said with a shrug.

"Oh," he said, sounding deflated, "Well, yeah, but that's not all. They had a huge dramatic break up at dinner."

She turned to him, finally interested. "Merlin, what happened?"

"Well, he came in late to dinner, then went straight to the Hufflepuff table. He said something to Tarin and they went out into the Entrance Hall. Then everyone heard them screaming at each other and Tarin was crying. Sirius yelled something something about her cheating, then she was like 'But you changed, you never loved me", which was such bullshit that Sirius got well, seriously mad. So they went on for a bit before the lads and I decided they could use some privacy. So we chucked a Dungbomb onto Snivellus' plate and everyone was freaking out about that. By the time people had calmed down, the yelling had stopped. We went to find Sirius, but he wouldn't tell us anything, he just kept punching walls and looking miserable in turns. Then we decided you would know what was going on so we split up to find you. Which brings me out here," He finished, gasping for air.

"Wow," She was flabbergasted.

"Yeah, wow," James agreed, "But what happened?"

So Renee retold her story again, her conversation with Tarin, then with Sirius. When she was done he flopped down on the grass beside her. "Wow."

She nodded. "I know."

He peered at her from behind his glasses. "You didn't actually know about this, did you?"

Renee thought about getting worked up, but didn't have the energy. She shrugged. "Did I know she was talking to Diggory? No. Did I know she was a total floozy? I had my suspicions. But I did warn him, you know, before I even got them together. Remember, you thought she would change?"

"Oh yeah... And you were right all along," James said slowly.

"Thank you!" Renee said, throwing her hands in the air exasperatedly.

He laughed. "Poor Ray; you've known what was up all along and just had to watch people make arses out of themselves."

They both laughed. The laughter had faded and they were sitting in silence when Renee finally asked, "James, how bad is it?"

He instantly understood her inquiry and answered clinically. "Well, he's pretty pissed. And with Sirius, that's always a gauge for how sad he'll be. I'd rank his anger at... Just under how mad he was when he moved out of his parents last holiday. He was visibly upset about it all summer. Considering the circumstances... I'd say he should get better during the summer. It would probably be sooner if he didn't have to see her around school, but..."

"And how do you think we can help him best?" She asked, trusting his judgment.

He shrugged. "I guess just keep him distracted. Exams aren't too far away, which might help. The boys and I will think of some way or other to distract him. The final Quidditch match is coming up, so we'll have more practices. And you'll help, right?"

Renee grimaced. "I don't know if you noticed, but we aren't exactly on the best terms right now. He called me a liar, I said he was thick for not knowing about Tarin sooner, all that fun."

James shrugged. "Oh, that's easy. Give him some time to cool off and he'll be fine. Talk to him tomorrow and he'll be apologizing in two seconds."

She grinned. "Cool. I guess that is easy."

They went back to the Common Room, then to their dormitories. Renee wished James luck dealing with Sirius before they separated. Smiling to herself as she walked up the stairs, she couldn't bring herself to regret the days events. Sure, people had gotten hurt, but Tarin and Sirius weren't good for each other anyway. They'd both be happier, eventually, with other people.

AN:/ So what'd you think of the second big fight? Drama, drama, drama. But yeah, next chapter is going to calm down a bit, give everyone a breather. I had to rework the outline a bit, but it still works. I'm dying to know your thoughts. Do share :)

And I'm supersuper sorry that this took so long for me to update! I swore I wouldn't let it get like this, but I've had a very busy and very fun summer, so I can't say I regret it that much. I was in Paris! Ahem. Anyway. If I get some more reviews, then I'll update very soon. If I don't, then I'll update whenever I remember again. So you know what to do!