Corinne avoids Sirius for two days.

His words replay in her mind over and over again and she can't get them out.

It does. It scares you because deep down in that place you can't lie to yourself, you want it too.

It's absurd, really, because if she could choose anyone to go out with, it most certainly would not be Sirius Black. Sure, he is probably the best looking bloke in their year- arguably in the entire school- and sure, he can make her laugh with one look, and he is so bloody brilliant that it both irritates and impresses her, but she doesn't want to date him, and even if she did- which she most certainly doesn't- it would never scare her. Why should it scare her?

It does, however, make her feel awkward, and if there is one thing Corinne Johnson does not do, it's awkward. So she dodges him in hallways and keeps to Ravenclaw Tower during her free time and uses her friends as a shield in classes for two very long days. Then, on the third day, something happens that changes the situation.

It happens as she's walking to her common room to study during her free period. In a corner of an empty fourth floor corridor, she spots Sirius- or rather, his back- speaking with someone whose face she cannot see on account of Sirius standing in the way. Based on their postures and body language, Corinne determines that it's heated, and though it isn't any of her business, something compels her forward all the same. Call it intuition or snooping or guilt or whatever, but Sirius looks agitated and that, in turn, bothers Corinne.

As she nears the arguing pair, Corinne recognizes the other boy as none other than Regulus Black, Sirius' brother. When the boy becomes aware of her presence, he stops their conversation abruptly and leaves before she can hear what transpired. Sirius turns to see why his brother left and is surprised to find Corinne there.

"Johnson."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, brilliant. I have to go."

"You have a free period right now."

"Doesn't mean I don't have stuff to do."

"I know that was your brother."

Everyone knows that's his brother. "Your powers of foresight are astounding."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Corinne asks, ignoring his acerbic remark.

"Oh so now you want to talk?"

"I wasn't ignoring-"

"Please, like it's new. You always push me away whenever I get too close. Why, Johnson? Can't you handle honesty? Or is-"

"Don't act like a saint, Black! You never let me in close enough to have to push me away! Why do we always talk about me? Why are the only things I know about your life outside of Hogwarts what everyone else knows?"

"Have you ever asked?"

Corinne hesitates. Of course she had never asked because it never came up and it isn't as if Sirius is the type to volunteer that sort of information. Besides, she didn't want to pry into something so personal, especially not when they were first getting to know each other. "I'm asking now," she says quietly, not backing down but keeping her temper in check.

"Well now I don't want to talk about it."

"Because you're upset about how I avoided you?"

"Your mood swings drive me insane! One day you want to talk, the next day you don't. Make up your bloody mind!"

"Don't yell at me!"

"I'm not yelling!" He steps away, runs a hand through his hair, and takes a deep breath before turning back to her. "Look, I can't talk about this right now, I want to be alone. Alright?" he says, hoping she understands.

"Alright," Corinne nods. As Sirius begins to walk away, she calls out after him. "Sirius, wait. Are we- are we okay?"

He turns back and appraises her for a second. "We'll always be okay."

OoOoO

"So who are you rooting for?" Lisa asks Corinne as the three girls make their way to the Quidditch stadium.

"Gryffindor, of course," Corinne says, her thoughts inevitably straying to Sirius. They haven't spoken since their small dispute yesterday. His ambiguous response kept her up half the night wondering what he could have possibly meant by it. She's almost certain he meant that he had forgiven her, but there is a small part of her that wonders if he didn't mean something else. "The Slytherins need to be dethroned. How about you?"

"Same, I don't care for Slytherin," Lisa answers.

"Well I'm going for Slytherin because Sirius Black is a git," Kelly says.

Corinne doesn't rise to the bait. She likes Kelly, but she has learned to keep her mouth shut where Sirius is concerned. Whatever he did to her, she hasn't forgotten it.

"Oh Kel, you crack me up," Lisa laughs.

"What?" she says. "It's true! He's an awful excuse for a human. You used to think so too, Corinne."

Kelly seems particularly moody today, and Corinne wonders if it's her time of the month. "I used to, yes," she says mildly, hoping it ends there.

No such luck. "And now you think he's Merlin himself," Kelly says bitingly.

Corinne refrains from rolling her eyes as she responds. There's no way to stay out of it now. "I wouldn't go that far either. He's just not who I thought he was."

"He's a prick! I can't believe you're defending him."

"He isn't a prick," Corinne says, trying to remain calm. While she doesn't want to fight with Kelly, she isn't going to stand there and let her insult Sirius. "He's a good, loyal friend-"

"Admit it, Corinne! You're only his friend because you think that'll get him to notice you and finally ask you out!"

"Kelly!" Lisa admonishes.

Kelly ignores her friend and continues. "Well guess what? It isn't going to happen! He would never fall for someone like you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Corinne asks icily.

"That you're not up to Black's standards, obviously."

Apparently you weren't either, Corinne wants to shout, but since she doesn't know what exactly happened between them, she settles for: "I'll have you know that he happens to fancy me."

"Right, and the Giant Squid can fly. Get over yourself."

Lisa looks uncomfortable and tries to stop the squabbling. "Kelly, stop. You-"

"I'll prove it," Corinne cuts in.

"I'd like to see you try," Kelly says, also ignoring Lisa.

"Follow me." Corinne stomps down the bleachers and makes her way to the Gryffindor locker room. The team is walking out when the girls arrive. "Sirius!"

The beater turns at the sound of his name. "Corinne? Is everything okay?" he asks, walking over to her.

"Yeah, I, er . . ." She trails off, not having had a plan. What is she supposed to do now? Since no brilliant idea comes to her, she pulls his face down and presses her lips against his for a second. "Good luck." She instantly regrets her hasty act and starts to leave before she can see his reaction.

Sirius is taken by surprise, and it doesn't happen often, but he's left speechless. He gathers his senses quickly enough and manages to grab Corinne's arm before she's too far. He pulls her around and gives her a kiss of his own. This kiss is different from the peck she gave him or the one he surprised her with two weeks ago. Instead of registering nothing but shock or guilt, Corinne feels his warm lips moving with her own, she smells the mint on his breath. One of his arms wraps around her waist and pulls her closer to deepen the kiss. When his tongue slips into her mouth, she pulls away. Sirius presses his forehead to hers and grins. "This is all the luck I need."

James interrupts them before anything else transpires. "Oi, lovebirds! That's all very cute, but we have a match to win here!"

"I'll find you after," he says before catching up to his teammates.

Corinne is as shocked as the girls behind her, but she plasters a triumphant smile on her face before turning to Kelly. "I reckon that's proof enough?"

The blonde girl walks away in a huff.

"I'm really sorry about this, Corinne. I know it's not a good excuse, but she's having a bad week. I'm sorry again, and congratulations with Sirius," Lisa says before hurrying after her friend.

Now that Corinne is alone, she tries to reflect on what happened. What was she thinking? Why did she let the stupid girl get to her? She shouldn't have done that. Now Sirius thinks she fancies him and-

"Hi Corinne, would you like to watch the match with us?"

Corinne turns around and sees Lily standing with Peter and Remus. "Oh, hello. Er, I would love to but Jenna is waiting for me back at our common room. I just wanted to, er, see Sirius before the match, to, er, wish him luck."

"That was some luck you wished him," Peter chortles.

Remus looks at Corinne suspiciously, but says nothing. "Oh do you really have to go?" Lily asks. "Sirius would love if you watched him play."

Corinne groans internally. What has she gotten herself into? She just bloody kissed the bloke, she can't very well not watch his match. "Well, I reckon she has Steve to keep her company, so sure. Where are you lot sitting?"

"Great," Lily beams. "The girls saved us seats, though finding them might be a little hard. Let's hurry before it starts."

OoOoO

I must be the unluckiest person alive, Corinne thinks to herself as she marches to the field behind the Gryffindors to greet their champions.

She had hoped that the match would last at the very least two hours, but she would have settled for one. It was over in thirty-seven minutes. Thirty-seven! Slytherin had scored twice and Gryffindor was about to take their first shot when the Gryffindor seeker, Greene, caught the snitch. That gave Corinne very little time to think and no time at all to plan. Before she knew what was happening, she was being herded with the crowd toward the celebrations on the pitch.

She sees Sirius pushing through the crowd until he reaches them. Remus and Peter are in front of her and he gives them each brief hugs. When he reaches her, he pulls her close and kisses her deeply for the world (or at least everyone around them) to see. A cheer goes up, though Corinne suspects it is simply because everyone is caught up in the excitement of the victory and not because of the public display of affection. She pulls away, flushed, though whether it's from the attention or the kiss, she doesn't know.

The Gryffindor crowd eventually makes its way up to their common room where party preparations are well under way. Corinne hesitates at the entrance- is she allowed inside?- until Sirius tugs her hand and pulls her in with him. The common room is round, like Ravenclaw's, but that is where the similarities end. It lacks the towering bookcases, the domed starry ceiling, and the many large arched windows with incredible views of the school grounds. It is, however, cozier, and much more crowded- right now at least. Everyone on the Quidditch team is the center of attention, though, because of their popularity and general boisterous personalities, James and Sirius get the lion's share of attention. They split their time between their group of friends and the rest of the common room. Corinne finds herself enjoying the party with Lily, Mary, Remus, and Peter and she realizes that she had Lily all wrong. So wrong, in fact, that she was going to have to stop calling her 'Miss Priss'.

"Let's play Exploding Snap," Peter suggests when Sirius and James are, not literally, carried away by another group.

"Let's try to build a house with Exploding Snap cards, using every single card, and if we can't do it before they explode, we all take a shot of Firewhisky."

Corinne eyes the redhead with newfound interest. "Head Girl Evans is okay with underage drinking?"

"Some of us are seventeen. As for the others, well, don't tell anyone," she winks as she summons a bottle to their table.

Mary hands each of them approximately one-fifth of the deck, and they immediately set about building a card house. It's chaotic with so many hands, but after managing to build a decent foundation, the rest of the cards stack rather easily. They nearly finish making a house with the entire deck before the cards explode.

"You had one card, Peter!" Mary exclaims.

"Maybe I wanted some firewhisky," he grins.

"Well here you go then," Lily says, handing him a shot glass of the liquor. Once everyone has a glass, she raises her own. "Bottoms up!"

Their successive attempts are increasingly worse as their intoxication level rises. It does, however, make for a great time. Somewhere around their fifth attempt, Sirius and James return to the group.

"Looks like they're having a good time without us, mate," James says to Sirius. Sirius holds up the empty bottle of firewhisky and James lets out a low whistle. "A really good time."

Corinne tilts her head back upon hearing the boys and sees Sirius standing behind her armchair. She reaches up and he leans over, letting her wrap her arms around his neck and bring him down. "You need to get on our level," she tells him.

"It'll take a lot more than that to get me on your level," he grins, kissing her.

"Get a room!" Remus shouts.

"You lot managed to get Remus sloshed?" Sirius asks.

"M'not sloshed," Remus says, getting to his feet and stumbling over to the spiked punch bowl. It is difficult to say how it happens, but the punch bowl somehow falls to the ground with a loud crash. Luckily, it was nearly empty, and the glass doesn't shatter as much as it cracks and breaks apart slightly. The crash, however, turns everyone's attention to Remus, who stands by dumbfounded, unsure of what has just occurred. The music continues to blare on, but all other noise stops.

James jumps over the mess and comes to Remus' side, grabs his arm, throws it up in the air, and shouts, "yeah!"

Other fists join his in the air with accompanying shouts of "yeah!" and the party continues as if there had been no interruption. Lily, who had walked over to the two boys, pulls out her wand and repairs the glass while James cleans up the remaining punch off the floor.

"That was a nice save," Sirius comments. "Let's go for a walk, get away from the noise for a bit," he says, coming around to extend a hand to help Corinne to her feet. She, like Remus, is unsteady, but Sirius' firm hold is enough to keep her upright.

Corinne follows him out of the stuffy common room and is surprised to find that night has fallen; it is so hard to tell from the one window in Gryffindor Tower, but outside of the common room it's clear. The corridors are mostly empty, but it isn't past curfew yet, another surprise to Corinne who was sure it was near midnight. She looks up at Sirius as if seeing him for the first time. She brings a hand up to his face and begins rambling. "You're very handsome. Ridiculously so. I mean, were you created in a lab with all the perfect features? It's-"

"You should drink more often," Sirius laughs.

"I think so too. It's so . . . liberating!" she says, throwing her hands up, just missing hitting Sirius in the head. "I can do and say whatever I want!"

Sirius takes hold of her arm again to steady her. "Then tell me, what changed your mind?"

"I've never been against drinking-"

"No, I mean about us, today before the match."

"Oh." Corinne stops walking. The question, along with the drafty corridors, sobers her slightly. "I reckon you were right. I was afraid. I mean, I know you're not him, but I was afraid of letting anyone in, but especially you."

"Especially me?"

"You're Sirius Black. Half of the castle either wants to be you or be with you. I'm just . . . me. So that's why especially you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, look at James and Lily. They're meant to be together. They're both really good-looking and popular and smart. Now, back in third year when I thought she and Severus were going out, well that was so lopsided because she was still all of the above and he was, well, not."

"Are you trying to say you're out of my league?" Sirius jokes, knowing perfectly well what she's trying to say.

Corinne rolls her eyes, which isn't a good idea considering it makes the room spin. "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm trying to say."

Sirius steadies her. "You're being absurd."

"No, you're being absurd. You've never been interested in a serious relationship, and now all of a sudden you are, with me. Why? I mean, it doesn't surprise me that James is the relationship type, but you-" and then, even in her inebriated state, something clicks in her mind. "James."

"Yes, I'm insanely envious and I'm trying to make him jealous by going out with you."

"No," she says, her gaze still far away. "He found someone and you don't want to be left behind."

"That's not it."

"Yes it is."

"No, it's not."

"Then what is it?"

He sighs, ready to be serious. "He found something real and he's so much happier with it than I've ever been with my not real stuff, but there was no one who interested me enough to have something real with until you, quite literally, came crashing into my life this year."

"You're talking about the trolley incident."

"I'm talking about the trolley incident," he agrees.

They resume their walk, both in silent thought, until Corinne speaks again. "And you think this is real?"

"Don't you?"

"I think it could be."

Sirius stops and turns to stare at her. "Why does that sound like it scares you?"

"Because real is risky."

"What's life without a little risk?"

"Safe."

"I don't know if you've heard, but safe is overrated," he says, leaning down to brush his lips against hers. It's the perfect ending to a day with such an uncertain beginning, and all Corinne can think about is what a fool she was in ever doubting that she wanted a relationship with Sirius Black.

OoOoO

"Morning," Sirius greets as he takes a seat next to Corinne at the Ravenclaw table. "Your group is small today."

"Hey," Corinne says, genuinely happy to see him. Rumor had spread quickly regarding the newfound couple, so no one at the table was surprised to see Sirius among them.

"Good morning," Benjamin says. "Yeah, Steve and Jen stayed in the common room."

"Said weekends are the only time they get to 'talk' alone," Jeremy smirks, air quoting the work talk.

"Jeremy!" the blonde next to him exclaims. "That's how rumors get started."

Jeremy's smirk widens. "So, what brings you to our side of town?"

"Oh, I just wanted to 'talk' to Corinne," Sirius winks.

Corinne laughs and smacks him lightly on the arm. "That's all you're getting from me."

"You were much nicer at the victory party yesterday," Sirius says.

"That was because you were a victor. Today you're back to being as normal as the rest of us," Corinne tells him.

"I left normal a long time ago. You're just going to have to deal with it."

"What if I don't want to?"

Sirius steals a kiss from her. "You don't seem to mind."

Corinne grins, loving everything about his kiss and the fact that he's there with her. "No, I reckon I don't."

Kelly, who has had enough of this, leans over Lisa and addresses the group. "You won the bet already, Corinne. There's no need to flaunt him in front of us."

Corinne's stomach sinks. There's no way Sirius didn't catch that.

"Bet? What are you talking about, Kelly?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Kelly grins. "How rude of you, Corinne. Let me explain."

"No, Sirius, don't listen to her-"

"Before the match, Corinne told me that you fancy her. I didn't believe her so she said she'd prove it to me, which is when she went to snog you. Cute love story, right?"

Sirius turns to Corinne, not quite sure what to think. "Is that true?"

"It didn't happen like that. Let me explain-"

"You two should go outside," Benjamin says quietly.

Sirius stalks out of the Great Hall with Corinne close behind. Once they reach the grounds, Corinne tries to explain. "She wouldn't stop insulting you and I tried to stay quiet so I wouldn't start an argument, but I couldn't. I started defending you and then she said the only reason I wanted to be your friend is because I was pathetically hoping you would fall for me, but that it would never happen."

"So you needed to prove her wrong and decided to make a bet of it?"

"No, I mean- it sounds awful when you put it that way. You're a good friend and I never meant to hurt you."

"A good friend? So yesterday, last night, was all a lie? Was this like with Steven all over again? Were you just biding your time, too afraid of hurting me to tell me that you don't actually care about me, that it was all a stupid bet?"

"No, of course I care about you! I-"

"You don't toy with the emotions of people you care about to win a bet, Corinne!"

"It wasn't-"

"No, I get it. After the way I've acted in the past, I deserve something like this. What goes around comes around, right? I just never expected it to come from you."

"Sirius-"

"I hope winning was worth it."

"Sirius!" Corinne calls after him, but he continues walking. "Sirius!"

She doesn't know what to do. He's too upset to go after right now; she knows it's best to give him some space before she tries talking to him again. It hurts though, the thought of losing him. Their relationship lasted less than a day, but so much changed in 24 hours. She doesn't want to go back to being friends, though even that offer doesn't seem to be on the table.

Jenna finds Corinne outside staring at the lake. "What happened?"

"He's furious."

She takes a seat on the grass and motions for her to do the same. "I think he might be more hurt than upset."

"What do I do?"

"Was it true?"

"Do you really think I'm capable of that?"

"I think that you may have let your pride get the best of you."

"I never meant to hurt him. It's just that Kelly kept insulting him and when I said something in his defense, she turned on me and said that the only reason I'm his friend is because I'm pathetically hoping he'll fall in love with me."

"So, naturally, it upset you and you made a bet of it. Did you know Sirius fancied you before the bet or was it a shot in the dark?"

"I knew. He told me about two weeks ago." Jenna nods but says nothing. "What do I do?" Corinne asks again.

"That depends on how you feel about him. Do you fancy him, or was it really all just to win a bet?"

Corinne frowns. "It's not that simple. It was to win a bet, but then it became more. I fancy him, Jen."

"Then what are you sitting around talking to me for? Go after him."

OoOoO

James stops his story when they're approached by a timid second year girl. "Hi, what's your name?" he asks kindly.

The girl turns red but her voice is surprisingly clear when she speaks. "Linda. Er, I'm here because there's someone named Corinne waiting outside to speak to Sirius."

"Thank you for the message, Linda," Remus responds.

Once Linda is gone, Sirius turns to his friends. "Can one of you go out there and get rid of her? I don't want to talk to her."

"You sure? Maybe you should let her explain-"

"She used me to win a bet. What's there to explain?"

"I'll go," Peter volunteers.

"Thanks Worm, just be nice about it, alright?"

"Nice is my middle name. I'll be back."

"We'll be in our room finishing tonight's plans."

"Okay, I'll meet you up there."

Sirius feels a pang of guilt sending Peter instead of going himself and actually talking to her, but he can't. He needs space because if he talks to her when he's this angry, well, it would make matters worse. He leads the way up to their dormitory and takes no more than three steps inside when he trips over the strewn clothes on the floor. He almost lands on Peter's bed but falls short and ends up sprawled on the carpet.

James and Remus fall over themselves in laughter. "Graceful, mate!"

"Bloody, stupid, clothes," Sirius mutters angrily. He picks up the offending garments and tosses them at James and Remus.

"Blame Worm, that's his robe!"

"Oh I will," he says darkly.

"Come on, let's get started," James says, pulling out the Marauder's Map, snickering quietly to himself.

They get as far as huddling around the map before Peter walks in.

"How is she?" Sirius asks in spite of himself.

"I dunno," he shrugs. "I reckon she looked sad, but I can never really tell."

"Talk to her," Remus urges. "We can all see you care. Stop being proud and let her try to explain. If you don't like what she has to say, go back to ignoring her."

"I can't, Moony."

"Why not? What's so hard about it?"

"He wore his heart on his sleeve and she used him," James says plainly. "But that doesn't mean she did it maliciously. I'm sure she wasn't laughing about it in her head. It wasn't some evil plan to make you look stupid. It was Corinne being Corinne. You know her better than we do, and you know that she has a nasty temper and she thinks before she acts sometimes."

"Why are you both defending her?"

"Because I hate to see you like this, mate, and because there's a reason she's trying so hard."

"She's just trying to make herself feel better."

"Or maybe she really cares about you. Either way, don't you think it's worth finding out?"

"No," Sirius says curtly. There are some things that cannot be forgiven. "Let's get on with this."


Considering how long I usually take to update, this is fast, no? No, I s'pose not. Sorry for keeping you all waiting, but I'm working really hard on finishing this before the new year. I have two ideas for the next (and likely final) chapter, and one is dark and the other light. I was set on the dark, original plot, but then I thought that I wanted to keep the story light so I created the other one, and how I'm back to dark because, I mean, it is dark. It's the beginning of the war. Still undecided, but I'm working on both. Maybe I'll combine them somehow. Who knows?

Anyway, I will finish this story by December 31st! Siriusly. Haha. I know I have no right to ask for reviews after taking years (1 year?)to finish this, but, y'know, Christmas just passed and it would be a fantastic gift ;)