Chapter 13.

The following week, Sirius is sitting in the Common Room with his arm around Jess' shoulders, bored. It's a Friday afternoon, and there's hardly anyone around. He sees Peter slouching across the room toward the portrait hole.

"Pete, where are you off to?" he calls, and Peter walks over to him, seemingly relieved to meet a distraction.

"Library," he groans. "I asked Remus to help me with that Charms homework, and he said he wasn't going to do it for me, but that I could join that study group that he always goes to with Mary and Lily. Don't suppose you fancy tagging along, do you?"

Sirius looks horrified. "Erm, no thanks…I've got other stuff to do."

Peter raises an eyebrow and leaves the room.

Next, James comes hurtling down the stairs from the dormitory into the Common Room. "James," says Sirius, "Please tell me you're doing something interesting."

James looks down at his Quidditch robes and the broom under his arm. "Quidditch practice," he says, wondering why Sirius doesn't seem able to use his eyes, or mind, or both. "You can come and watch if you want - both of you, I mean," he adds, glancing in Jess' direction but not failing to see the rolling of Sirius' eyes.

"Cheers," says Sirius.

Jess sighs. "Do we have to?"

"Of course we don't, but it'll be good for us - fresh air, change of scenery….whooshing," Sirius trails off.

"Alright then," says Jess, clearly not happy.

"Hurry up if you're coming," says James. "I'm late already."

A few minutes later, Jess and Sirius are making their way to seats in the stands whilst James is standing on the pitch, holding the case of practice balls and surrounded by his team.

"Right, I thought we'd start with a quick practice match, three against three, okay? Anna, you can ref -" Anna nods nervously, knowing that this is preparation for her future Captaincy, "- and Lou and I'll be the captains. We'll use the Quaffle and both Bludgers. Two Chasers and a Beater on each team - Andy, do you mind Chasing just for this part of the practice?" Their bulky third-year Keeper agrees easily. "Right, I'll have Kingsley, obviously, so there's a Beater on each team. Lou, choose a team member."

"Jenna."

"I'll have Andy."

"Looks like you're mine, then, Mark."

The team splits into two threes, and Anna deftly catches the whistle that James throws at her. James and Lou stand on either side of her. "Right, I'm going to release the Bludgers first," says Anna.

"Oh!" says James. "Beaters, the practice Bludgers aren't in the best condition, some of the enchantments on them are wearing off, so they might not do exactly what you expect. So be careful, okay?"

Kingsley nods his agreement and takes off, joining the rest of the players in hovering, waiting for the practice game to start. Lou leans forward, winks, and mutters to James, "It strikes me you're the ones who'll have to be careful."

"Careful not to demolish your team?"

"Careful you don't get hurt. Accidentally, of course." Lou tosses her bat into the air and catches it by the handle. "I'm very dangerous."

"Thanks for the warning. I'll bear it in mind when -"

"That's enough," says Anna, with a barely-concealed laugh. "Captains, shake hands."

They do so (James not-so-discreetly shakes his hand, in an attempt to return feeling to it), they take off, and the balls are released.

It's a good training exercise, Sirius thinks as he watches from the stands, nodding occasionally to suggest to Jess that he's listening to her. James and Lou fly superbly, as expected, and the younger players seem to be improving as every minute passes. He lets his eyes focus on Lou for a moment - flying in a seemingly haphazard fashion, but always seeming to be in the right place to hit a Bludger ferociously - then he tears his eyes away, forcing himself to look at Jess, to listen to her.

It begins to rain lightly.

Up in the air, Lou is thinking hard. Andy is flying with the Quaffle, but she knows that, as a Keeper, he won't have the confidence to shoot. He'll pass to James, who will score - unless he's prevented. Lou flies quickly - just behind and above Andy, so he won't be able to guess her plans and change his own accordingly. She speeds up slightly, keeping an eye on both Bludgers, predicting when one will be within her range. She lifts up her bat, waits for Andy to release the Quaffle, and hits the Bludger with an almighty WHACK, watching it speeding in James' direction.

James Potter is a skilful Chaser, and he hasn't been a friend and team-mate of Louisa Reece for several years without learning something of the ways of Beaters. But it's not skill or inside knowledge that help him this time - it's pure luck. Reaching out his hand to catch the Quaffle, he sees something round and black moving quickly in his direction. Instinct says move!, and before he can consciously weigh his options, he's dropped ten feet and both the Quaffle and the Bludger have gone sailing over his head.

"Fast, but not fast enough!" he calls to Lou with a grin, and he's about to swerve to claim the Quaffle when he hears a bloodcurdling scream from the stands. He turns, and sees that Sirius is the person screaming, holding his hand to his chest.

Before James can move, he's passed by Lou, who's flying at full-speed towards the stand, taking her wand from inside her robes. He follows her, seeing her immobilise the Bludger (the spell which kept it within the boundaries of the pitch must have failed, he thinks), then, as he lands, he sees Lou turn her wand on Sirius and shout "Stupefy!"

Sirius goes limp immediately, and the air feels empty in the absence of his screams. But not for long, as it's soon filled with Jess' panicking yells. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT, YOU MAD BITCH?" she shouts.

"James, keep her out of the way, will you?" says Lou quietly, quickly unbuttoning Sirius' shirt and running her hands down his sides. James stands between them and Jess, and he puts his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down, it's okay," he says.

"Okay? Okay?" she says angrily. "She attacked him with a Bludger, and then she Stunned him, and now you're letting her make the injuries worse, she's trying to kill him!"

Lou's eyes blur, and she wipes them roughly before turning around. "Jess, if you don't shut up right now, I'm going to have to put a Silencing Charm on you, okay?" she snarls. "I can't concentrate when you're whining like that."

Jess is about to protest, but James grabs her arm and leads her to some seats a little further along the stand. "Lou knows what she's doing," he says. "But shouting at her is only going to make things worse." He looks up, then calls over to Lou. "What's the damage?"

"Broke a couple of ribs," she says, pointing her wand at a spot on his right side, and muttering quietly.

Minutes pass, and Jess is getting more and more agitated, when Lou looks up and gestures to her, James and the rest of the now-gathered Quidditch team. As they all walk over to where she's sat, she revives Sirius.

Sirius wakes up totally confused. He's sitting in the Quidditch stand, surrounded by the Gryffindor team and his girlfriend. His shirt is undone and Lou's cold fingers are gently pressing on his chest.

"Erm, what?" he says. "What happened?"

"I hit you with a Bludger and broke your ribs," says Lou, avoiding his eyes. "You screamed -"

"- like a girl -"

"- shut up, James. Then I Stunned you - quickest thing I could do to stop you from hurting - and I think I've done a reasonable job of fixing the ribs." She looks up at him, finally. "Does it hurt?"

He shakes his head.

"Good, but you'd better go to the Hospital Wing anyway, just in case."

"I feel fine."

"Madam Pomfrey will kill me if she finds out I healed broken ribs and didn't even send you to her to make sure I'd done it right."

"Alright," says Sirius, buttoning up his shirt. "I'll go now."

"I'll take you," says Jess, barging past Lou and helping Sirius to his feet. They walk off together.

"I should go with them," says Lou. "Apologise."

"There's no point now," says James reasonably. "Pomfrey'll be checking him over, then he'll probably be talking to Jess. You might as well finish practice and go then."

Lou agrees reluctantly, and picks up her broom.

Sirius and Jess walk up to the school, and Jess mutters the whole way about what a liability Lou is, and how dangerous and aggressive today has proven her to be.

When they reach the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey doesn't seem pleased to see them. "What is it now?" she asks, glaring at Sirius. "More unexplained injuries? More ridiculous, unbelievable excuses?"

"Erm, no," he says uncomfortably. "I got hit by a Bludger. It broke my ribs."

Madam Pomfrey looks at him uncertainly. "You don't look like you're in any pain."

"That's because one of the players, she kind of…fixed me."

"Ah," the matron nods. "That'll be Miss Reece, will it?"

"Yeah. She said to come and get you to check me out."

She leads him into a cubicle, after asking Jess to wait outside. Sirius sits on the bed.

"Does Lou often heal people?" he asks, trying to sound indifferent.

"Oh, yes, she has it in her to be an excellent Healer. These days, if Gryffindor are involved, all the Quidditch injuries I see are at least partly healed. Take your shirt off."

Sirius obeys and allows himself to be examined.

"She's done a very good job here," says Madam Pomfrey. "However, I would like to keep you here overnight. Ribs are a tricky business, and it's not easy to tell if all of the damage has been cured."

"But -"

"- no buts, Mr. Black! I'll get some pyjamas for you, and you can have a nice relaxing evening. You can go back to your House after breakfast tomorrow. Now, would you like me to send in your young lady-friend?"

Sirius nods.

An hour or so later, he's lying in his bed, dozing lightly, when he hears the matron's voice.

"Ah, Miss Reece! Come to check on the patient?…He's in the first cubicle on the left."

Footsteps, and then Lou appears in the corner of the cubicle, just inside the curtains. She's still wearing her Quidditch robes, and her hair is damp and tousled.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "Want to sit down?"

"No chairs."

Sirius pats the bed beside him. "I won't bite."

She perches lightly on the edge of the bed. "How are you?"

"Fine. Just staying here for the night for observation. Pomfrey says you're good."

Lou reddens. "I'm sorry, about hurting you."

"Don't worry about it - you fixed me too, so we're even. Is Healing your thing? Something you want to do as a career?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"You never asked."

They fall into silence. A few seconds later, Lou asks, "Where's Jess?"

"She left ages ago. I dumped her."

Lou's eyes shoot up to meet his. "Why?"

Sirius shrugs, half-smiling. "She's no good in a crisis."

"Are you planning on having many crises?"

"I don't plan them, they just happen."

They laugh awkwardly.

"But really," she presses, "Why?"

"Because I'm not in love with her."

"But -"

"I know it's never stopped me before, but I've never been in love with someone else before." He touches her hand. "I really like you, Lou. And it doesn't matter if you don't want to be with me - it's fine, it's your choice - but it really wasn't fair on anyone for me to be going out with someone who could never make me happy purely because she wasn't you."

Lou looks shocked, but quickly gathers her wits.

"It doesn't matter if I don't want to be with you? So, you don't mind? You're happy without me?" There's a teasing tone to her voice.

"Of course I mind," Sirius replies tersely. "But it's not like I'm going to force you to be with me or anything."

"What if I changed my mind?"

"Have you?"

She squeezes his hand with both of hers. "I think so."

She knows he's going to ask for an explanation, so she gives it without being prompted.

"I didn't want to be with you because I didn't want to care, I didn't want to get hurt. And then I went and broke your ribs, and I realised, I do care. I can keep myself away from you, but I can't stop myself from wanting you, from wanting you to be happy and safe. And, if you have to leave me - if you have to get hurt, or die, or whatever - I'd rather it happened when I had memories of being with you, of us being happy together - rather than all my memories being of turning you down and trying not to like you."

Sirius doesn't speak. He's staring at her, eyes wide, as if he can't believe her.

"But, I mean," she says, "If you don't like me anymore, that's fine, I mean…whatever you want."

He still doesn't speak.

"For Merlin's sake, Sirius, say something or I'm just going to have to kiss you."

He grins, and remains determinedly silent. She leans forward, smiles slightly, and presses her lips briefly to his. It's a quick kiss, and when she pulls away, he leans toward her. "More," he mutters.

"Don't you want to talk about this?" she asks, touching his face and smiling.

"I like you," he says. "You like me. You broke my ribs. I dumped my girlfriend. You kissed me. I know it's probably not on anyone's list of the best ways to start a relationship - I'm in a hospital bed, wearing ridiculous pyjamas, and you're in Quidditch robes and your hair's a mess and you smell like rain - which is actually quite nice, by the way - and there aren't any stars or fireworks or flowers or anything, but the really brilliant thing is that you kissed me, which is the best thing that's happened to me in years, probably, and then you asked if I wanted to talk about it and that's when it started to get a bit weird, because I'm…delirious, I suppose, and rambling, and -"

He looks up. Grey eyes meet brown and they both smile.

"I think what I'm really trying to say is: normally I like talking, I love it, but you've made the talking part of my brain go a bit funny, so I'd like it if we could just please get back to the kissing, and try to sort out the talking-thing later, or tomorrow…"

"If I kiss you again, will you shut up?"

"Definitely," he says.

So she does.