"Chloe's missing," the second male said, fear evident in his voice, "Peter's out of his mind trying to find her!"

"Shit!" her admirer replied worriedly, a mixture of fear and annoyance showing in his tone of voice.

She cleared her throat loudly, "Chloe happens to be one of my best friends! And I want to help find her, thanks very much!"

"Yeah, Pads," the second speaker said, agreeing with Mel's reasoning, "Take the blindfold off."

Pads? What kind of name was that?! Or was it short for something? Like Paddy, or Patrick. She could feel hands working at the knot tying her blindfold on, and then she could see again. She blinked, trying to focus her eyes through the light. When she could finally see, she saw Remus standing in front of her.

"Remus!" she said, horrified with disbelief, "But Kendra-"

"It's not me who likes you, Mel," he replied, his eyes flicking to the person behind her and exchanging encouraging glances with them, "He's right behind you."

She turned, slowly, not sure if she wanted to know yet who her mysterious admirer was. She thought she had an idea of who he was, because of the reference Remus had made to Peter, and then Pads…

Padfoot.

"Padfoot?" they said simultaneously, breaking into wide, identical grins. "Who the hell?" Mel asked, frowning at the seemingly empty space the bottle had landed on. "I'm sorry Mel," the voice muttered, a slight catch being the only signal that the speaker really meant it, "I wasn't thinking."

"I believe the correct question would be; what are you doing up this early?" Sirius shot back lazily. He smirked, but of course she couldn't see it.

"And you are Melissa Anderson, the prettiest girl in school," he murmured softly.

"That's Sirius for you."

"I've decided to live life to its fullest and Sirius Black can f off because I don't give a damn what he thinks!"

Her eyes stung, "I didn't think you cared," she remarked quietly, staring at him openly, remembering what it felt like to trust him again.

Sirius grinned, "Well now you do. Mel-," he said, his voice higher than it was normally, "I love you. I've loved you ever since third year and I always will. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Mel gasped and covered her face with her hands. Sure, she loved him back, but she didn't want to be just a notch on his bedpost of conquested and bedded girls! And what about Tara? She was so confused! This was happening all too quickly for her liking. Her world was spinning out of control and she couldn't catch up!

Sirius seemed to understand what she was thinking, "Mel, you don't have to if it's too soon for you. Just tell me you feel the same way and I'll be happy," he said softly, making her blush, "And just so you know, I've royally dumped Tara."

She couldn't think. It was so frustrating! Here was the perfect situation - the guy she had liked for six years was telling her he felt the same way about her and asking her to be his girlfriend - and she didn't know what to tell him! She knew she liked him back - but would he stay faithful to her, or would he go running back to Tara the minute she agreed?

"I-I don't know what to say," she confessed shamefully, stuttering her words. Imagine - the great Melissa Anderson, undisputedly the most sought after girl in sixth year, lost for words, stammering to a boy! "I like you back, though. That much I can tell you now."

He flushed with pleasure. Mel liked him! He had never thought that possible before now and he had taken a huge risk in telling her how he felt. Imagine if she had laughed in his face and told the whole school - his reputation would have been down the drain!

"I don't mind, Melissa," he reassured her gently, treating her as he would a doll, "I'll wait for you forever."

Remus cleared his throat, obviously reluctant to break up this romantic and significant moment for one of his best friends and another of his friends in their relationship, "I hate to do this guys, but we do need to get back to the others so we can meet with Dumbledore and try and find out where Chloe is."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed wistfully, lamenting on a moment that could have been, a kiss that could have happened, and a relationship that could have been quickened, "Let's go. C'mon Mel."

And with that, the three of them walked to the Headmaster's office to meet the others.

xXoXx

"…I'm sure you all appreciate the graveness of our situation, and that I will to all in my power to locate Chloe. And so I ask you: is there any place you know of in Hogwarts that is not on this ingenious map of yours? Ah, and Mr Potter, Miss Evans, you have friends waiting at the door for you to let them in." Dumbledore was saying, as James and Lily let Sirius, Mel and Remus into his office.

James sighed, looking at Sirius, "We showed him the map. We had to, mate, for Chloe! And I think we should tell him about the Room."

Sirius sighed too, "Damn straight we should," he said righteously, looking at Dumbledore, "Dumbledore, there's a room on the fifth floor that you walk past three times, thinking about something that you need or want, and then the Room forms, equipped with the resources you thought about. We discovered it after we made the map, so it's not on there. She could be in there."

"Yeah," Lily chimed in, "She always goes there, actually."

"Then what are we waiting for?" James asked impulsively, as he hated sitting around when one of his friends was in danger, "Let's go!"

xXoXx

They found Chloe in the Room of Requirement, unconscious and unmoving. Peter cried out when he saw her and the others took this to mean that he was shocked and worried to see her unconscious, but it was really a cry of remorse and anguish because of what he had done to her. Although, he was quite proud of the intensity of the spells he had managed to produce. He was torn between his friendships with all his friends in Gryffindor and his contacts in Slytherin. They were already saying that one of these days he would get to meet the Dark Lord! How excited he was by that prospect! He could only hope that the memory charm he had produced on Chloe would be strong enough to prevent her from remembering what he had revealed to her. It would never do to let the others know!

Dumbledore took her to the Hospital Wing, where Madame Pomfrey insisted they all leave her, as she needed to administer spells to Chloe. Though they all protested very hard at this, she managed to force them all out of the room.

"Thank God!" Lily said, nearly in tears. James looked at Sirius nervously, he nodded, and James walked over to Lily and held her in his arms. She turned her head and rested it on his chest, lulled by his strong, loving embrace.

"We'll leave you two to your own devices," Melissa smirked, seeing them both look at her gratefully as Sirius, Remus, Peter, Kendra and herself left them standing there hugging each other.

Remus tugged at Kendra's arm and led her off to "do some homework," and Peter then apologized and made some feeble excuse about going to the library, which neither of the remaining two heard, as they were too busy staring at each other as if they had never seen each other properly before.

"God, Sirius-" Mel started, her eyes flicking up and down his toned body appreciatively.

Sirius shifted, looking at her boobs and athletic legs subtly, "So what do you think now?"

"I don't know," she said, confused about what she wanted, "It's just-"

"My reputation," Sirius said honestly, "I know."

"Then you know how hard I'll kick your arse if I ever see you with another girl," she said warningly.

"Does that mean you're saying yes?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded, "I love you, Sirius."

"I love you too Mel!" he replied happily. Inside he was also confused. None of his other girlfriends had made him feel this happy. Although it was also true that he had not actually liked any of his other girlfriends, but had gone out with them anyway. He loved Mel, and this made him feel better and more content than he had been in a long time.

They both leaned forward and began closing their eyes. They were both very familiar with this procedure, but this time they were looking forward to it more than ever. He gently touched her lips with his, and she responded with a playful lick before brushing against his lips slightly harder. She moaned with pleasure as his hands settled on her waist and she slid hers through his beautiful black hair. His hair was as she had always imagined it - glossy and soft. His was the best kiss she had ever had, not just because he was a bloody fantastic kisser, but because she knew she loved him and that he loved her back. She felt a tingle run down her body as his hands slid up her torso and rested on her boobs. He reached down and nibbled her neck mischievously and she retaliated by landing butterfly kisses on his ear and jaw. They stepped apart suddenly and stared at each other, captivated.

"What the hell have I been missing out on?!" Sirius said hoarsely, gazing at her with wonder.

"We're meant to be," Melissa said softly, full of awe.