Dawnelle woke the next morning when the door creaked open and someone came in. She opened her eyes reluctantly and looked past Sirius to the doorway.

"Sorry Dawnelle, I didn't mean to wake you," Remus said from the doorway.

"Not a problem. This is your room after all," she smiled at him and motioned for him to come in. She wrapped a sheet around her. Sirius was still sleeping next to her and as she moved to sit up he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close again. She laughed and pushed him away playfully. "Sirius, get up," she said. He mumbled something she couldn't understand and opened his eyes.

"Good morning," he muttered sleepily.

"Good morning," she replied smiling at him.

"I'm leaving, thanks for letting me in Dawnelle," Remus said.

"Anytime." Remus left the room and Sirius woke himself up completely. Dawnelle pulled one of the sheets away from him and wrapped herself in it. "I'm taking a shower." She got up and walked to the bathroom. Sirius sat up and stretched, nodding sleepily. She looked back at him and smiled. Then she disappeared into the bathroom.

When she came out the room was empty. She pulled on one of Sirius' shirts, which fell down to her knees, just as he came back into the room carrying a plate of food and a cup of tea for her.

"Thanks," she whispered. He set the plate down on the bed side table.

"I like that shirt on you," he said smiling. She laughed at him and looked at herself.

"It's a little big."

"Um, no it's a lot big. But you look cute in it."

"Hmm, thanks. I needed something to throw on."

"I see. So are you going to stay here for a while?"

"That depends. Are you leaving? And does Remus want access to his room again?"

"Oh I'm sure he can manage somehow. But now it's my turn to shower."

"Ok," she answered. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She leaned against him and wrapped her arms around him. He let go and went into the bathroom. She sank down onto the bed and grabbed the tea. She didn't know why she was staying here today, she didn't know why she was allowing herself to get involved with him again. It was true, he'd been different since the beginning of the year, but Sirius Black did not do relationships. By opening herself up, she was inviting pain in. Just like every other girl who had ever caught Sirius' eye. But could she pull herself back now? Well, maybe she would just allow herself one more day before she worked on pulling away from him again.

He came back into the room wearing his jeans but he apparently forgot a shirt. She watched him walk across the room and grab a shirt from the floor of his closet. He pulled it over his head which messed up his wet hair. He ignored it however and sat on the bed next to Dawnelle. He swung his legs up onto the bed and leaned against the headboard. She leaned against him and he wrapped his arms around her. He brushed his hand across her cheek and tangled his fingers gently in her hair. He pulled a book off the table and propped it open against his leg. He was having no luck concentrating on reading so he shut the book and looked down at her but she was asleep. Asleep in his arms.

He sighed and reached for the box sitting on the table next to his bed. He opened it with one hand and looked at the necklace sitting inside. It was a white gold pendant with a sapphire stone in it. It had been in James' family for a long time. Before he and James went back to school this year they had each received a piece of jewelry from his mom. She told them that, since this was their last year at Hogwarts it was only natural that, once they were out they would want to settle down. She had said that they should only give the pieces to the girls they saw themselves living with for the rest of their lives. For James, the choice had been obvious. Sirius knew that, regardless of what anyone else believed James would be deeply in love with Lily Evans until the day he died and though he joked with him about it, truth was, Sirius was jealous that James had the courage to make that commitment to one girl. How could he ever find a girl like that? Of course, he had always had strange feelings for Dawnelle, but he never really thought anything of it. After all, she had dumped him. That had been the end of their relationship. Maybe it was because she had had the brains to dump him or maybe it was because she rivaled him in relationships, or maybe it was something else but he always knew there was something there but he knew he'd blown his chances years ago. It wasn't until he saw her, getting on the train with Amber and Lily, that he knew he would chase this girl into the ground. She was the girl that Mrs. Potter had told him to find. This was the girl who wasn't going to drool all over him or beg him to date her. She was the girl with a fiery passionate nature who wouldn't let him get away with everything. She was the girl. The only one for him.

He hadn't told anyone that, but James knew. Of course James knew. The two of them always knew everything about each other. Just like he knew James would love Lily forever.

"He'll chase that girl into the ground," he muttered quietly to himself. Dawnelle lifted her head slightly from his chest and questioned him sleepily. "Shh, it's nothing," he said. He ran his hand through her hair and allowed her to drift back into sleep. He sat there looking at the necklace for a while longer. Finally he put it back and replaced the box.

"I think I love you," he whispered into her hair.