Title: Love from the Other Side
Word count: 2292
Rating: PG
Pairing: Sirius/OC, Lily/James
POV: Second

The year is 1978. Disco and glam rock are in full swing; bell bottoms and mo hawks have taken Hogwarts by storm. Free love has taken over the hallways, noticed increasingly by patrolling prefects and teachers.

People are happy. Even in this dark time with Voldemort on the rise, and more attacks every day, the energy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has never been higher. Except, of course, for the objects of our story.

If you were to enter the girl's seventh year Gryffindor dormitory, the tension in the air would be immediately noticeable. The curtains are drawn around one bed, and the other four members of the dormitory are clustered around the bed, whispering. They appear to be having a heated discussion regarding the bed and it's owner.

"I'm not going in there first!" Exclaims the brunette, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms defiantly.

"Isabelle, stop being such a baby. It's not like it's some rabid animal in there––It's Lauren," admonishes the tall girl next to her, while tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. The blonde across from the pair shakes her head.

"Well I'm with Isabelle. I'm not going in there either, Lily." The redhead sighs. She looks sidelong at the fourth member of their dorm.

Charlie puts her hands up, palms outward. "Absolutely not." She widens her blue eyes, shaking her curly blonde mane.

"You three are useless," the girl they called Lily cries, exasperated. She reaches over and throws open the curtains.

"Lauren. Get up. Right now. We let you sulk the whole weekend. We have classes today, and you need to tell us what happened between you and Sirius before we're late to breakfast."

The girl they all seemed so frightened of sits up in bed, bleary-eyed and tousle-haired. She doesn't look particularly terrifying; in fact, she doesn't look like she would hurt anyone even if she was provoked. Her eyes are definitely red rimmed, as if the poor girl had cried herself to sleep, repeatedly. She takes one look at the girls around her, and flops back on her pillows. She looks at them expectantly.

"Come on, get on the bed…I know you're dying to." She easily breaks the tension in the room, you can feel it shatter with the nervous laughs of four other girls. They all climb onto the bed, surrounding their fifth member protectively.

Lily sits next to her, Lily's arm wrapping around Lauren's shoulders, and Lauren rolls into Lily's form, curling up against her. Isabelle climbs over the two of them, and sits on Lauren's other side, rubbing her back comfortingly. Charlie and the other blonde, Jessica, both lay down on their stomachs, propping themselves up on their elbows, on either side of Lauren's still form.

"So," Jessica prompts Lauren.

"So," She replies, closing her eyes, but it is unclear whether from pain or memory. She sighs.

"So," Lauren starts again, "we went out on Friday night, and he took me to the little restaurant in Hogsmeade…you know, the one on the end of the street?" All of the girls nod. Of course they know. Lauren continues, not having seen the nods as you can tell her eyes are still shut, but she knows they all have been there.

"And so we ate dinner, and talked, and everything was going great. He had brought me a flower, told me I looked pretty, was being a perfect gentleman, as usual. And so he paid, of course, and then we started to walk back from Hogsmeade." At this point, Lily jumps slightly. Lauren's hands, which were resting on Lily's stomach, had clenched, grabbing a part of Lily's stomach in the process.

"Oh, sorry," Lauren's eyes flew open at Lily's movement. Lily shakes her head.

"No problem," she replies. "So you were walking back…?"

"Right. And then he just stops me, and turns to face me. And his hair is blowing across his face in the wind, and his cheeks are a little pink from the cold and his eyes are staring right at me like he always does. And he's already holding my left hand with his right, but he takes my right hand too. And he's just staring at me. So I ask him what's wrong, but he doesn't say anything for a while. And so I start to get a little nervous, and I start shivering from the cold. So my teeth start chattering, and he comes out of his trance thing and pulls me close and just holds me. And then he whispers…" Lauren falters again.

You can see that all four girls are completely enthralled in Lauren's story. Jessica and Charlie are leaning in from their position on their stomachs, and even Isabelle's hand has stopped it's circling motion on Lauren's back. Charlie pokes Lauren in the thigh.

"Whispers what?" She exclaims. You can tell she's the least patient of the group.

"He told me he loved me!" Lauren bursts out, completely losing track of the story. She dissolves into tears on Lily's chest.

The four other girls look at each other in confusion. Isabelle's eyebrows have drawn together, and she's turned towards Lauren, looking at her like she's crazy.

"And this is a bad thing?" She asks, completely bewildered.

"No, it's amazing." Lauren sobs, pushing her matted hair out of her face, and sitting up straight in her bed.

"Then why have you been miserable for the last two days?" Jessica asks.

"Well that's the problem," Lauren moans. "When he said it, I completely froze. And when he pulled away to look at me after he said it, I couldn't look at him. And then I ran back to the castle, and he just stood there and let me go."

Charlie sits up, and pushes Lauren's shoulder. "Why? You told us you were head over heels for him on Monday during Potions."

"I don't know!" Lauren flings herself violently over Lily's body, crying again. "But now I've ruined everything."

"You do still love him, right?" Lily asks, pulling Lauren's hair to the side so that she can clearly see Lauren's face.

"Yes, and it's killing me, because there's no way he still loves me. He hasn't written to me or anything."

Jessica rolls onto her back, thinking. "Well, the guy must be crushed, no offense to you, Lauren. But would you really try to contact someone who ran away from you after you decided to put your heart on your sleeve? I wouldn't––I'd stay as far away from them as possible."

"She's right. You need to talk to him first…but just know he might not be so open to talking to you." Isabelle peers into Lauren's face, first leaning over Lily. Lily leans back, rolling her eyes at everyone who's lying on top of her.

"I'm just wondering, but could you all get off me now? It's really not all that comfortable." She complains. Isabelle sits up, followed by Lauren, who still looks completely miserable.

"So what do I do now?" She sits, her elbows in her lap, chin in her hands, looking completely dejected from your point of view.

"Well I'm going to go to breakfast…the rest of you can join me." Charlie declares, standing up. "And for one, I suggest you shower, Lauren. And second, you should write a letter to Sirius, and ask him to talk. And third, I think you should ask Lily to talk to James about Sirius."

You focus on Charlie when she says your name. You smirk, and pull off your Invisibility cloak. Your sudden appearance is met with five different screams, not unfamiliar to you.

"Ladies…why not ask me now?" You say. Lily stands up and walks over to you. You open your arms for a kiss, and she cuffs you around the head.

"Darling, what was that for?" You complain.

"For listening in on us! And for being in the girl's dorm!" She cries. You decide action needs to be taken. You step forward and lean in, taking advantage of Lily's mouth being wide open, and kiss her thoroughly. Her eyes flutter closed.

"Okay, you're forgiven," She concedes, once she gets her breath back. You look up and realize the other four girls are still staring in shock. You walk over to the bed and sit down next to Lauren. You open your arms.

"Come here, darling." She falls into your embrace, relaxing as you encircle her body.

"Sirius still loves you, you know. And just because you're an absolute idiot, doesn't mean he's not ready to forgive you." You appraise her disheveled hair and red eyes. "After all, from the looks of it, your weekend was as rough as his."

You release her. "Charlie was completely right, for once." The girl in question glares at you, however good naturedly. "Go shower, and write a letter." You push her off the bed, in the direction of the bathroom.

Lauren stands up, a little unsteadily, and makes her way into the bathroom. The door closes and within seconds the sound of running water fills the room.

The group outside the bathroom is silent for a few seconds.

"What was she thinking?" Isabelle asks the question on everyone's mind.

"Well, this is her first serious relationship," Lily says, thoughtfully. You snigger. "No pun intended," Lily glares. You put your arm around her waist; she melts into you. Lily continues.

"She was probably just shocked, and didn't know what to do." The other girls nod, agreeing. You glance at your watch.

"Damn." You say, under your breath. Lily's head turns towards you, so do three others.

"We're going to miss breakfast," you explain. Charlie sighs. Lily looks at her watch.

"Okay, both Lauren and I have first period off. You four go to breakfast, I'll wait for her, and we'll go to the kitchens after she writes her letter. Okay?" She questions, but she isn't really asking, she's telling. And everyone in the room knows it.

You grin and kiss her on the cheek. "So organized," you tease. You turn and offer your arm to the three girls before you.

"Shall we, ladies?" You ask, bowing deeply. Lily smacks your bum. You yelp, standing up straight, rubbing the sore sport.

"Just go," She says, laughing.

You leave the room, Charlie, Isabelle and Jessica close behind with their bags slung over their shoulders. Lily turns and sits on Lauren's bed to wait.

A nervous cough fills the air behind Sirius. He's standing outside, just through the doors to the castle. His hands are in his pockets, shoved deep inside, causing his shoulders to hunch over. He whirls around, taking his hands out of his pockets, looking for the source of the noise, but knowing who it is before he looked.

"Lauren," he breathes, barely audible. She smiles as she walks towards him, shyly, then remembers that he hates her, and the corners of her mouth slip back down, and she bites her lip. She stops an arm's length away, her body painfully aware of how close he is, even from this distance. It reacts violently, the nervous twitch of her innards, her heart so loud she can feel it in her ears and her breaths come ragged as her throat feels like it's about to close up on her.

"I just––" She starts, falters, and closes her eyes. She breathes, regaining herself, while Sirius' clear eyes never leave her face. She takes a step closer and looks up into Sirius' face.

"I'm sorry." She says, strongly. No cowardice, no chance for hesitation or any sign that she was forced to say it. She looks into his eyes, hers flicking back and forth from eye to eye, as if trying to gauge his reaction.

He looks away, her stare is too intense. He can't help but remember the way she ran. He feels fingertips on his chin, pulling.

Lauren's hands are cupping his face, fingers behind his ears, making him look at her.

"I was scared. I shouldn't have…run, but I can't take it back now. And I wouldn't. It just made me realize how much I loved you. Spending two entire days without seeing you was torture. And if I wasn't sure when I was lying in my bed that I loved you, I am now. Seeing you just standing like that made me fall for you all over again." She tries to read Sirius' face but she can't. She lets her hands fall back to her sides, and takes a step back.

"I––" Lauren shuts her mouth. She can't think of anything else to say. Sirius' eyes still rest on her face. Lauren breathes in sharply, and take two steps forward. She grabs Sirius' head and pulls his down to her level and kisses him. Deeply. Passionately. Her arms find their way around his neck, her eyes slide shut.

At first he doesn't respond, but Sirius catches on quickly. His arms find her waist, and he lifts her, pressing her body to him.

Lauren smiles into the kiss, and wraps her legs around his slim hips. She pulls away and looks at him, grinning. He looks back at her, his smile just as wide.

"Well, that was better than our first kiss," She teases. "At least I can aim properly." She bursts into giggles at the memory from earlier this year.

Sirius pouts for a second, injured, then realizes she's still in his arms. He kisses her, quieting her immediately. He leans back so he can see her face entirely.

"Just so you know, I meant to kiss your ear." At this, Lauren bursts into laughter. Sirius grumbles.

"It's a good thing I love you, or I'd drop you right now for laughing at me." Lauren's chuckles subside and she looks at him, seriously,

"I love you, too."

You grin, again hidden underneath your Invisibility cloak. Lily sighs next to you.

"Oh please," you whisper. Lily's hand finds it's way into yours. You tug it, making her fall into you.

"I love you too, beautiful."

This one makes me squeal, and I wrote it. Sad, huh?