Chapter 16: Repercussions

Kelria and Khyana apparated back to Khyana's house after the banquet, talking and laughing.

"That was fun, I'm glad I went," Kelria commented.

"Yeah, it was fun, wasn't it?"

"Well, I should get going. I'll see you Monday at work."

"Yep, see you."

Kelria spun on the spot and apparated back to her own house, leaving Khyana alone. The younger girl sat on her couch and thought about the evening for about five minutes, before going to bed.

About ten minutes after she'd settled in to her bed, the doorbell rang. Thinking it might be someone important, she hurried downstairs and opened the door. Her boyfriend stood on the porch.

"Oh," she said, "it's you."

"Well, you don't need to sound so excited. Can I come in?"

"No."

Sirius looked confused. "Why not?"

"I don't want to talk to you."

Sirius' confusion increased. "Why not?"

Khyana raised an eyebrow and made to close the door. "Think about it, Sirius. I shouldn't have to explain everything to you, you're not a child."

With that, she closed the door in his face, and in confusion, he apparated to Kelria's, pounding on the door.

The redhead answered the door, looking like she'd cut short her make-up-removal process to do so. Her face clouded in anger when she saw him.

"Oh, it's you."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You too? I was just over at Yana's and she wouldn't even talk to me."

"I wouldn't either if I was her," Kelria replied.

"Why not?"

Kelria sighed in exasperation. "Think, Sirius! What's today?"

"Um…Saturday?"

"Yes, Saturday. Saturday the what?"

"Um…"

"The THIRD, Sirius! Saturday, August 3rd! What's so important about August 3rd?"

Sirius looked confused for a second, then smacked himself in the forehead. "Tonight was that dinner, wasn't it? For Yana's class?"

"Yes, it was. And you know what? I went with her. You know what award she got? Most improved student, Sirius. I have never been more proud of her. It shouldn't have been me sitting there with her, it should have been you! Your lack of commitment is starting to annoy me, Sirius, so how do you think it's affecting Yana? Huh? She's not going to wait around forever for you to mature, you know. There are tons of guys lined up to date her, but she keeps turning them down. 'I have a boyfriend,' she says. When they point out that you don't really have much commitment, she says, 'but that's just the way he is.' Well, that's not good enough anymore, Sirius. One of these days, she's going to wake up and realise that you're never going to change! And then she'll ditch you for one of those other guys, the ones who remember little things like anniversaries and dinner plans and don't go running off to Quidditch games, no matter how much they want to. Alright? So you better get your act together soon, or you're going to find yourself single faster than you can say "Quidditch". And then you can go to as many Quidditch games as you like."

With those words, Kelria too shut the door in Sirius' face, and he heard her going back upstairs to finish her make-up removal.

Having been told in no uncertain terms that he was not wanted there, Sirius left Kelria's house feeling more than a little rejected and down. In fact, he felt horrible! How could he have been such a jerk to Khyana? He knew better than to go back to her house while she was still angry, so he walked down Kelria's street, kicking loose stones as he went. If commitment was what Khyana wanted, then commitment she would get.

'Who are you kidding, Black?' he asked himself. 'Commitment? You? Ha! That's a laugh. You couldn't even commit to do homework at Hogwarts, what makes you think you're ready for a commitment like a girlfriend?'

"I'm going to prove you wrong," he said aloud. "I'm going to be the perfect boyfriend!"

The baby was crying…again. James moaned and rolled over, and was just about to go get him when there was a loud pounding on the door.

Suddenly, he and Lily were both wide awake.

"You get the door, I've got Harry," Lily said quietly, and James nodded, grabbing his wand from the night table.

He walked downstairs cautiously, and looked through the peephole and saw…

"Good God, Sirius, you scared me half out of my wits!" James cried, opening the door to admit his best friend.

"I've got a problem, James," Sirius said, entering the house as Lily came down the stairs with the baby in her arms.

"Well, yes, we're aware, Sirius," Lily said teasingly.

"No, Lil, I'm being serious."

"You're always serious, Sirius!" James said.

Sirius glared at the couple. "Alright, enough! I'm in big trouble, James."

"Did you kill someone?"

"No."

"Then it's nothing we can't handle. What'd you do?"

"I blew of Khyana to go to the Quidditch game with you."

"On second thought, mate, maybe you better hire a professional. I'm not so good at the whole "dealing with Khyana" thing."

"But Lily is. Lil, help?"

Lily sighed. "You blew her off to go to the Quidditch game? How important was the thing you blew off?"

"Very. It was her awards banquet for her French class."

"That's it, mate, you might as well Avada Kedavra yourself right now, she's never going to forgive you."

Sirius looked even more dejected. "That's what Kelria said."

"Oh, don't listen to them, Sirius. Khyana may have Malfoy tendencies, and it might take her a long time to get over it, and you're going to have to work really hard to regain her trust-"

"So basically, give up now," James interrupted.

Lily hit him. "No, don't give up. You love Khyana, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, you're going to have to put some effort into this relationship, Sirius Black. You may have been able to coast along until now with your pretty face, but from now on, I have a feeling that Khyana's not going to be so lenient with you."

"Well, thanks for the encouragement, Lil," Sirius said sarcastically. "So, where do I start, guru?"

"Well, flowers would be a nice way to start," Lily replied thoughtfully. "Maybe…um…I dunno. What kind of flowers does Khyana like?"

"Lilies," Sirius replied. "She likes lilies."

"So do I," Lily replied with a grin. "So, send her lilies…and then you need to send her chocolates, and take her out to lunch, and say you're sorry a million times, and promise to make it up to her, but she won't believe you so then you'll have to prove it, because she's done with just believing everything you say…and I think that's about it," she finished, finally taking a breath.

Both Sirius and James were gaping at Lily with confused and blank looks on their faces.

"Care to repeat all that?" Sirius said. "Slowly?"

Lily shrugged. "Apparently it's not that important to you. Start with the flowers and chocolate, and see where it goes from there."

Sirius nodded decisively. "Flowers and chocolate. Right. Got it. Thanks, Lily, you're the greatest," he said, kissing her on the cheek and hurrying out the door."

"I know," Lily said smugly, smiling to herself.

"Yes, you are the greatest," James replied, kissing her soundly and then returning to bed.

Sunday morning, when Khyana woke up, there was something strange tickling her nose. She opened her eyes in alarm, and saw a bouquet of lilies floating beside her bed, bouncing against her face every now and then. She sat up and grabbed them out of the air, reading the small card attached with a distant look on her face.

To my favourite girl,

I'm proud of you.

Sirius

She rolled her eyes. It seemed a shame to waste good flowers, however, so she took them downstairs and put them in a vase with some water, and sat down to eat her breakfast.

About ten o'clock, there was a loud knock at her door, and she opened it to reveal her three best friends.

"Good morning, Khyana!" Alice said cheerfully as the three girls pushed their way into the house.

"Um…hi?" Khyana replied, looking after them, very confused.

"We've come to cheer you up," Lily explained, and she waved her wand, creating a playpen for Harry and Neville. She and Alice placed the babies in the enclosure, and then the three ladies sat themselves comfortably around Khyana's table, leaving their hostess still a little shocked and confused.

"Who said I needed cheering up?" Khyana demanded, recovering enough to remember that she should probably put on a pot of tea and coffee.

The three at the table exchanged looks that clearly said "poor, dear, confused, blonde Khyana".

"You obviously need cheering up," Kelria explained, "After last night."

"Last night? I had a blast last night."

"We mean the part about Sirius," Alice said.

"Who?"

"See what I mean?"

Khyana sighed and sat down in the last chair with a sigh.

"Nice lilies. Courtesy of Sirius, I assume?" Lily said with a small smile.

"Yes," Khyana replied. "But just because I'm keeping his flowers doesn't mean I forgive him."

"Oh I know," Lily replied. "I had a little chat with him last night."

"So did I," Kelria added. "And I told him in no uncertain terms that he better get his act together or you're going to ditch him for one of the other million guys chasing after you."

"There aren't a million guys chasing after me…there isn't even one!" Khyana protested.

"I know. But I figured I'd stretch the truth a little, make him sweat a bit. No need to thank me, I know you'd do the same if Remus were being a jerk."

"But Remus would never be a jerk," Alice pointed out, "Because it's Remus."

"True," Kelria agreed thoughtfully. "Ah well. I'm sure Khyana knows what I meant."

Khyana, who was still a little confused and shocked, merely nodded her head. In truth, she had no idea what she would do if Remus were being a jerk…because that would be so unlike Remus, she figured she'd probably be even more confused than she was at that moment.

"And I had a little chat with him, too," Lily added. "He came to my house looking for help from James, and I ended up telling him that he needed to get his act together too…although I don't think I used quite the same wording as Kel here…"

Once Khyana got over the shock of having her three best friends presume that she needed cheering up and invading her house, she actually relaxed and the four friends spent the day drinking all the tea and coffee Khyana had in the house, reliving their Hogwarts days, and bashing Sirius, all before tea time…not that they much cared about tea time, since they'd been drinking tea all day anyway!

It wasn't until about 11 o'clock, when the four friends could no longer keep their eyes open without assistance and they were all yawning so widely and so often that they couldn't even speak, that the three visitors decided that maybe it was time to get on home.

"I'll see you all at the Order meeting on Tuesday, right?" Lily asked, as Kelria helped her into her coat.

"Of course."

"Great. Until Tuesday, then!"

Once she was alone, Khyana thought back over the day. It had been good to just have a talk with her girlfriends. She couldn't remember the last time the four of them had had a chat like the one they'd had today. They were all so busy, she and Kelria with their auror stuff (and Lily until very recently) and now Lily and Alice with their babies…it was good to suspend reality for a little while and pretend they were still at school.

Khyana waved her wand once and her house was in impeccable order again. She then headed up to bed, where she slept uninterrupted until the alarm clock woke her at 6 30.

A/N: Well, there you go...I hope it works this time. Anyway, as I said the LAST time I put this chapter up mutters darkly under her breath about stupid sites that don't work... after this next chapter, I'll prolly skip to Christmas...because I'm running out of ideas. And that wouldn't be good. So R&R...if this works.