-1A/N Hey, guys, I wanted to give you all my deepest apologizes for taking so long with this chapter. Nevertheless, I really hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 8

Dinner that night was unusual, to say the least. Though it wasn't as if anything particularly bizarre happened, several minor differences were apparent. Any one of these events alone wouldn't have been decisive but with all of them occurring at the same time, it seemed like a phenomenon. Outside of the Great Hall, Lily became formally acquainted to Dean Vessel, a somewhat lanky, brown-haired boy. Dean was a whole head taller than Faith, whose height had never been her strong suit. The two made an odd pair but seemed to balance each other out. The three headed into the Hall, and being from a different House, Dean walked over to the Ravenclaw table, only to join Faith at Gryffindor moments later. Everyone noticed that Sirius and Summer were missing. The final, and probably most humorous, thing was the fact that James, Carmen, and Kevin could not look at each other without shifting awkwardly in their seats. After dinner, everyone went their separate ways: Faith and Dean retired to the library; James and the guys walked with Lily and Carmen to the Common Room where they all departed to their dorms.

"Bloody hell," Carmen said when she and Lily reached their room. "I didn't think I was going to make it through dinner."

Lily smiled. "I figured it must've been pretty bad when Faith said James looked horrified."

Carmen shook her head. "You have no idea," she mumbled. "So, Faith and Dean finally got together," she said, changing the subject.

"Yep."

"I'm going to go get a shower," Carmen told Lily, who was sitting on her bed, cross-legged with her books spread out in front of her.

While Carmen was in the bathroom, the bedroom door opened and Robyn, literally, stumbled into the room, tripping over her own feet. Lily could smell the alcohol and looked up to find her drunken roommate sneering at her, daring her to say something about her condition. Lily considered handing out some form of punishment but decided it wasn't worth it and went back to work. She could practically see Robyn's triumphant grin.

A few minutes later, Carmen emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body. She immediately picked up the pungent scent.

"Blimey, Robyn, did you leave any Firewhiskey for the rest of the world?"

The girl threw Carmen a dirty look before tripping into the bathroom, yelping as her toe hit the tub. Carmen snorted while Lily shook her head with a smile.

"I don't see why she drinks," Carmen began. "I mean, she's hardly graceful sober."

Lily laughed as the door opened once again. Carmen and Lily looked over to see Summer make a more quiet and practical entrance than her friend had minutes before.

"Where's Robyn?" Summer asked.

As if summoned, the drunken girl emerged from behind the bathroom door.

"Hey," she crooned with a mischievous smile. "You missed dinner. Sirius wasn't there either."

Summer smiled. "Yeah, we were...busy."

"So, you two..."

Summer nodded, still smiling.

"Well, all I can say is it's about time," slurred Robyn. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to give it up."

Lily noticed Summer's smile falter a bit. However, it could have been her imagination because in the next second, she was smirking.

"Hey, a girl's gotta have standards. You can't just shag the first guy bloke that offers. We can't all be you," she added in a teasing tone.

"What's wrong with being me?"

Carmen scoffed. "You got a while?"

Robyn turned to her with a scowl. "Was anyone talking to you?"

Carmen met her scowl. "You asked a question and I answered. Is it my fault that the truth hurts?" She smirked.

Robyn glared at Carmen, but before she had a chance to retort, the door opened and Faith walked in, wearing a smile. Robyn merely huffed and turned on her heel.

"Have fun studying with Dean?" Lily asked.

Before Faith had a chance to answer, a different, more annoying voice broke in.

"That's right, you're dating Dean Vessel. You could do so much better than him." Robyn eyed her up and down. "On second thought, maybe not."

"Don't mind her," Carmen told Faith. "She's just pissed because I told her off. So, studying, huh? What was the subject?"

"Each other." Noticing Lily and Carmen's exchange of glances, Faith added, "Not like that. We talked-about our families, likes, dislikes." Faith sighed dreamily. "He's such a gentleman."

"Someone gag me, please." Robyn's voice broke in. This time, Lily was certain of the glare she threw at Summer.

"Seriously," the girl agreed, though her heart didn't seem in it.

"--I can't wait until Saturday," Faith continued, ignoring the interruptions. "Dean and I will get to spend the whole day together. Just the two of us." She let out another dreamy sigh.

"Put a sock in it already," Robyn snapped, earning a glare from Lily.

Nevertheless, Faith was unfazed, the grin on her face remained. Lily admired her friends' insouciance: only Faith could be completely insulted and not pay a lick of attention or care. If anyone deserved a happy ending, it was Faith.

"I'm glad for you, Faith," Lily said.

"Yeah, me too," Carmen assented.

"Thanks, you guys," Faith said, pulling them into a hug.

Lily yawned. "I'm going to hit the sack. I'm knackered; it's been a long day." She bid the others goodnight and changed into her pajamas before climbing into bed.

Hours later, after the rest of the girls retired to bed, Lily thought she heard the sound of a door opening and closing but assumed it was just someone in the bathroom. A bit later, having woken up completely, Lily pulled back the hangings. The first thing she noticed was the bathroom light was off. The second was that Summer's bed was empty. Lily figured she was in Sirius' room, which only annoyed her; Sirius knew how much trouble she and James could get in for two students of the opposite sex sleeping in the same dorm, especially when both of those students were from their own dorms. Throwing the covers off, she climbed out of bed and left the room. As she reached the common room, the distinct sound of crying filled her ears. Not like a sob, but more of a muffled cry. Moving closer, Lily noticed a crumpled heap on the couch.

"Summer?"

The girl looked up, startled. The dying fire provided enough light to make out the large teardrops sliding down her cheeks. More spilling from red and puffy eyes when she blinked. Summer hastened to wipe off her face but broke into a fresh wave of sobs before she could actually achieve anything. Her face disappeared behind her hands. Lily shouldn't have cared; Summer had never been anything but a complete cow to Lily and her friends, but her heart was too soft to just walk away. It was clear this girl was seriously hurting, regardless of past behavior.

"Summer, are you all right?" Lily asked, sitting on the couch. She remained seated even though her only response was crying. "I know we've never really...gotten along, but if you need to talk, I'm here," she offered softly.

She waited a few more minutes before getting a reply.

"I didn't want to," Summer finally said before sobs as she fought to catch her breath. "I-I was...saving myself," was all she managed before breaking down again.

Lily had a pretty good idea what Summer was talking about but was still confused. Sure, Sirius was a bit...hormonal, but he would never pressure a girl into doing something they didn't want to do. Lily waited patiently as Summer composed herself.

"Robyn has always sort of hassled me because I was a virgin, and the past two years, she's really been pushing me. I've always managed to avoid it: I'd say the guy was a bad kisser; I'd heard other girls say he wasn't good." She paused and drew a shaky breath. "When I started dating Sirius, I knew it was only a matter of time. I was out of excuses. He was everything I could ask for: He was kind, considerate, and I even...you know. The only problem was that I don't love him. It's not as if I was saving myself for marriage, but I was waiting until I fell in love with someone. I've always wanted my first time to be with someone I truly loved, someone who loved me back. Sirius is great and all, but there's just not that over-the-moon feeling. I see other girls hooking up with random blokes and I just don't get that. I believe that your first time, or any other time for that matter, should be special and shared with someone you love.

"I'm never going to have that. Especially now that I've already done it, Robyn's going to be on to me about not being choosy. I mean, before, she at least attempted to understand why I was so particular, but now..."

Lily was speechless; this was a side of her roommate that she had never seen before. Fortunately, there was no need for her to find words of comfort. Summer was speaking again.

"I've lost the chance to have that ultimate first time where I was head-over-heels in love, overcome with it. Instead, I wasted it on a fling--a shallow, practically meaningless relationship. And I can never get it back--"

"Summer?"

The two girls looked up to see a figure standing at the foot of the steps leading to the boys' dorm. Though his face was lost in the shadows, they could tell it was Sirius by his voice.

"Is...is what you just said...true?"

"Oh, God." Summer buried her head in her hands again.

Guilt spread across Sirius' face as he hurried over to scoop Summer into his lap.

Lily stood from the couch awkwardly. "I'll just leave you two alone."

"I had no idea," Sirius said, searching his mind for clues he might have missed. Some sort of indication of hesitance: a missed look, an ambivalent sigh. He couldn't recall a single one. In fact, she had been the one to initiate it.

"I made sure you didn't." Her voice was surrounded by a sob.

"Oh, Summer." Sirius hugged her tighter. "Why did you go through with it if you were saving yourself?"

"I was sick of Robyn mocking me." She repeated what she had told Lily.

Sirius sat dumbstruck, not sure of what to say, how to make this better. He didn't love Summer, by any means, but that didn't mean he wanted to take something that didn't belong to him, see her falling a part like this.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized. Wishing the words could take away the pain he had caused but realistically knowing they couldn't, which only made him feel worse. "For everything. The way Robyn was, ruining your first time, everything."

Summer glanced up at him, tears streaming from her swollen eyes. Sirius saw the pain on her face, the guilt. What he didn't expect was the conviction.

"You can't blame yourself. You didn't do anything wrong. I initiated the sex; I gave no indication that I wanted it any other way. This whole thing was nobody's fault but my own. Mine! I was so dumb, so stupid. I was too weak to stand up for myself. Too weak to tell Robyn to shove it. I got what I deserved."

"Don't say that!" Sirius' low growl startled her. She jumped and glanced up at him. Sirius immediately softened his voice, wiping away her tears. "You didn't deserve any of this. Not Robyn being a bitch, not being denied your first time. None of it. You were entitled to wait as long as you wanted, to save yourself until you found the right guy. Robyn had no right to make you feel you had to sacrifice that in order to be her friend. A true friend would understand. Your body is your own. And sex is a big deal. No matter what anyone says." As Sirius said this, he wondered how many more were like her. How many other lives had he affected? He never initiated it in his relationships, and if the girl was even just a bit hesitant, he always stopped. But how many other girls had played it cool like Summer? Most importantly, what could he do to help?