Chapter Thirteen

My bed so cold, so lonely,

No arms just sheets to hold me

Has this world stopped turning?

Are we forever to be apart?

Forever to be apart.

'WHEN WILL YOU EVER GROW UP?! CURSING JACOB LIKE THAT! AND IT'S BEEN MORE THAN A WEEK SINCE MY DATE WHICH YOU SABOTAGED AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T SAID SORRY!'

'WHAT IF I DON'T EVER WANT TO SAY SORRY AND I'M JUST GOING TO KEEP ON HEXING YOUR PRAT OF A BOYFRIEND!'

'WHAT THE HELL DID HE EVER DO TO YOU TO DESERVE IT?!'

WELL, LET'S SEE, HE'S A COMPLETE PRAT WHO USES PEOPLE AND YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!'

'OH PLEASE, AS IF YOU WOULD KNOW. NO ACTUALLY YOU WOULD, BECAUSE YOU'RE A COMPLETE PRAT WHO USES PEOPLE!'

'THANKS FOR THE UPDATE, YOU'VE TOLD ME A THOUSAND TIMES ALREADY!'

'WELL THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE, YOU'LL NEVER CHANGE! YOU'LL ALWAYS BE THAT INSOLENT USER WHO SHAGS WHO HE WANTS WHEN HE WANTS!'

Lily and Izzy glanced at each other, sending apologetic looks at everyone who walked past, as if to apologise for the noise of their two bickering friends who were screaming and yelling at each other as they walked down the corridor. After Sirius had confunded Jacob in the Three Broomsticks the week before, Evangeline had taken extreme offence to what he had done and ignored Sirius completely until he apologised. Of course, Sirius being as stubborn as he was, didn't and continued to curse and hex Evangeline's boyfriend at every available opportunity, only this time Evangeline had caught him in the act and disarmed him before roaring insults and accusations at him. Once they made their way down to the dungeons, Evangeline and Sirius still yelling, they met Professor Slughorn who was standing outside of his classroom, his arms folded.

'MISS POTTER, MR BLACK I WOULD APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH IF THE BOTH OF YOU WOULD STOP SHOUTING AT THE TOP OF YOUR VOICES!' the professor yelled, causing Evangeline's and Sirius' mouths to snap shut, 'In, now!' Slughorn said pointing into the room. They obeyed their Professor and trudged into the classroom, sending glares at each other.

'Finally some peace and quiet,' Lily sighed as her and Izzy followed the rest of their classmates.

'It's about time too, every time they look at each other they start yelling insults towards one another,' Izzy said as she pulled her Potions book out of her bag, set it on the table and sat down on her stool.

'Maybe them being partners in almost every subject wasn't such a great idea,' Lily said as she copied Izzy's action, 'Look at them now,' she said nodding over to Evangeline and Sirius sitting a the front in silence, but everyone could tell that they were wordlessly fuming, 'I can just sense something is going to go very wrong today, and it might happen pretty soon.'

'I guess we should make sure Evangeline doesn't murder him,' Izzy suggested, 'I'll tell Remus to keep an eye on Sirius,' she said and ripped a piece of parchment in half and began to scratch away on it with her quill, when she had finished she folded it up and using her wand she levitated it over to Remus' and James' desk where it landed on top of Remus' book.

Remus read the note and caught her eye, he nodded acceptingly. Izzy smiled and mouthed, 'Thanks,' across the classroom.

'May I have your attention please,' Slughorn began from the front of the dungeon, 'Today we shall be making the most powerful love potion in the world,' Evangeline rolled her eyes, this will be enjoyable, she said to herself sarcasticly, 'Now, turn to page one hundred and ninety four in your textbooks, follow the instructions carefully and the result should be superior. Now can anyone tell me some of the characteristics of Amortentia?'

Immediately Lily's hand shot up, 'Ah yes, Miss Evans?'

Lily smiled, 'It has a distinct mother-of-pearl sheen to it, it has very distinguishing spirals of steam that arise from the potion itself and-'

'Thank you very much Miss Evans,' Slughorn said, 'Now there is one more characteristic that Miss Evans has left out. Can anyone tell me what that is?' asked the Professor.

Evangeline slowly and hesitantly put her hand up, hoping that Slughorn would not notice her, 'Oh Miss Potter, how nice of you to contribute!' Slughorn said, everyone's eyes where on Evangeline, she could feel their stares drilling towards her, 'What is the final characteristic then Miss Potter?'

'Um … it's supposed to smell completely different to each and every person,' Evangeline said quietly, pausing slightly before she continued, ' … By what attracts us,' she finished with a feeble smile.

'Very good Miss Potter,' Slughorn said joyously, 'Five points to Gryffindor. Yes, Miss Potter is quite correct, the Amortentia smells of what attracts us. I find that when I take a whiff of Amortentia I smell crystallized pineapple, brandy and the saltiness of the sea, and I shall be very eager to hear what attracts you all,' the professor said, chuckling, 'You may now begin.' he said and tottered over to his desk.

'Why don't you get the ingredients? The sooner we get this finished the sooner we can keep ignoring each other,' Evangeline said as she opened her textbook at the right page.

'Right,' Sirius grunted, and he flipped Evangeline's textbook over so that he could read the list of ingredients that he had to get. Evangeline glared at him as he brashly threw he book across the table towards her. She watched him as he stalked into the store room and disappeared from view, after about five minutes of waiting he finally returned, his arms filled with the ingredients.

'You took your time,' Evangeline pointed out crudely as she grabbed the first ingredient and began to prepare it so that it could be put into the potion.

'I couldn't find the valerian roots actually,' Sirius said haughtily as he lit the cauldron, and began to watch Evangeline measuring portions of components, 'I take it you're preparing the ingredients, I guess I'll just do the stirring,' he said disdainfully.

'Good idea, it seems simple enough for you to cope, maybe then you won't mess anything up,' Evangeline growled as she rashly chopped the roots.

'Jesus, what's got your bloody wand in a knot?' Sirius questioned recklessly, his face screwed in annoyance.

'You,' Evangeline snapped as she flung the chopped valerian roots into the cauldron.

'You're still going on about that date?!' Sirius exclaimed as he began to stir the potion.

'He's my boyfriend Sirius, you had no right to do that. Show some respect will you,' Evangeline said as she began to crush the juice out of the Monignetous Bean.

'Aw come on Angel, aren't you going to forgive me?' Sirius pleaded.

'Not until you apologise to me,' she said draining the juice from the bean into the potion, Sirius smiled, 'Fine, I'm sorry Angel.'

But then Evangeline continued, 'And Jacob.' Sirius' smile faded.

'There is no way in hell that I'm apologising to him!' Sirius said exasperatedly.

'Fine by me, but if you don't, you do realise that I will continue to ignore you,' Evangeline stated as she added the final ingredient to the potion, 'Quickly, stir three times clock wise and then twice counter clock wise,' she said cursorily to Sirius.

'Okay,' Sirius said, who began to follow Evangeline's instruction, 'But why do I have to apologise to him, it's not as if I want to speak to him again, because I have never spoken to him,' he said honestly.

'Technically it should be him that you should apologise to, not me, because of the things you did to him. But you had to say sorry to me because you hurt my feelings,' Evangeline said sullenly as she watched him stir the potion, which now had a pink tint to it.

'Well, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, I hate doing that to you,' Sirius admitted, 'But I didn't really do that much to him.'

Evangeline laughed sarcasticly, 'Yes you did! He's told me everything you did to him! On Monday you trip jinxed him every time you seen him, on Tuesday you jinxed him so that he had celery sticking out of his ears, that meant I didn't see him all day, on Wednesday you ordered Peeves to drop objects on his head,' Sirius gaped at her, 'Yes Sirius, you are the only person Peeves listens to – apart from James – not to mention he was singing "Mr Black wants me-me-me to torture Mr Cairnryan".'

Sirius rolled his eyes, 'That stupid crazy ghost … thing,' he muttered.

Evangeline raised her eyebrow, 'He's a poltergeist, Sirius,' she said.

'That's what I meant!' Sirius said smiling foolishly, Evangeline couldn't help but chuckle.

'Sirius? What did you mean when you said Jacob was a prat who uses people?' Evangeline asked cautiously, watching him continue to stir the potion until he raised his gaze and met her eyes.

'That's what he is,' he said simply, shrugging and turning back to watch the potion.

'He's not,' Evangeline countered, 'He really cares about me Sirius, and if you can't-'

'I'm glad he cares about you, and as long as he does, I promise to you that I won't curse him again,' Sirius said, 'But if he hurts you worse than what I have, I'll kill him,' he threatened.

'Gosh, you're even more protective over me than what James is!' Evangeline exclaimed, as she watched his mouth tighten and went on in a gentler voice, 'Not that it's a bad thing, but sometimes it can get overpowering,'

'We're just looking out for you,' Sirius shrugged, and peered into the cauldron, 'Do you think this is ready yet?' he asked.

Evangeline glanced over the side of the cauldron to see, in her mind, what looked like the perfect Amortentia potion, it was a glossy, pearl coloured liquid with small spirals of steam which where arising from the surface. She moved closer and breathed in, until the aroma of her true loves drifted up into her nostrils. The mixture of smells wasn't particularly hard to identify, rich creamy chocolate and the murky, woodland smell of the outdoors. The third sensation was harder to determine, it was a musky cinnamon odour, mixed with what she thought to be the smell of quidditch robes after a match, even as she thought, she could not figure out what this third smell belonged to, 'Hmm …' she breathed in admiration, forgetting that she was in the middle of a classroom.

'Angel?' arose a voice from beside her, Evangeline snapped out of her daydream, 'What do you think? Should we get old Sluggy over here?' Sirius asked as he conveyed her lackadaisical expression.

'It – It's great …' Evangeline said quietly, but her voice got louder, 'Oh, yes, I'll get Slughorn … um why don't you take a whiff of it?' she suggested.

'Yeah, I will. What did you smell?' Sirius asked curiously, as he watched her stare into space again.

'Um .. chocolate, the outdoors and I – I couldn't identify the last one, 'Evangeline said honestly, she shrugged and turned the discussion elsewhere,' I'll go and find Sluggy,' she said smiling faintly and brushed past him, walking down the aisle between the other desks towards their Professor who was currently evaluating Lily and Izzy's potion.

'Professor?' Evangeline interrupted, 'Sirius and I have finished our potion,' she said glancing over to her desk where Sirius was bent over the cauldron.

'Oh jolly good,' Slughorn said waving his hands in the air, 'I shall be over in just one moment,' he assured her.

'Thank you Professor,' Evangeline said and began to walk back across the room towards Sirius. He was still bent over the cauldron, an emphatically confused look on his face, it almost looked as if he was trying to prove the potion wrong, 'Thanks for pointing out the blatantly obvious, not that it matters anyway,' he muttered as Evangeline approached him.

'What's wrong?' she asked suspiciously, as he shot up once he realised she was standing beside him.

'Nothing,' Sirius smiled, then his face turned sincere, 'I am sorry you know, 'he began, but avoided contact with her memorising green eyes that lay upon him, 'I really shouldn't have done that to you … or Cairnryan for that matter,' he continued, this time glancing at Evangeline, searching her face for a reaction, 'I promise it won't happen again.'

Evangeline smiled at his apology, 'Maybe I could forgive you,' she said courteously, watching Sirius' 'I melt girls' hearts' smile appear on his face, 'I mean, what was I thinking? Asking you to grow up … That'll never happen,' she laughed.

'I guess you're right,' Sirius said, 'Just think, when we're forty the Maurauders still pulling pranks,' a huge grin appearing on his face as he imagined the very thought of it.

'Gosh, I feel sorry for your future wives,' Evangeline said bluntly, 'I can just imagine your wife-'

'Ah, Miss Potter, Mr Black, finished are we?' Professor Slughorn interrupted, as he looked into the cauldron, his eyes widened and he let out a small gasp, 'Why, that's amazing! Probably the strongest love potion I have seen made here all this time I have been at Hogwarts, well done the pair of you! Forty points to Gryffindor for this outstanding effort,' he said whilst thumping Sirius on the back in congratulation.

'Thanks Professor,' Evangeline smiled, Sirius mumbled the same.

'Now are you going to tell me what your unique aromas are?' Their Professor asked nosily.

'Um … I – I had um …' Evangeline stuttered, glancing around uncomfortably.

'Oh come now Miss Potter, it's not like you to be shy,' Professor Slughorn noted, looking at her enthusiastically.

'Um, rich creamy chocolate, the woods – well the outdoors – and I – I couldn't figure out the last one,' Evangeline admitted.

'Very good, very good, and you Mr Black?' Slughorn said, turning to Sirius who was standing awkwardly behind him hoping that he had forgotten that he was standing there.

'The smell of a newly polished broomstick, food in general,' he paused slightly before going on, 'And a – a friend of mine,' Sirius concluded.

'I'm very sure that this 'friend' of yours is incredibly lucky to have you as an … admirer, Mr Black,' Slughorn said, but Sirius was far from listening he was too busy watching Evangeline as she smiled across the room to her boyfriend, who was grinning back, 'From what I hear, you are an irresistible charmer,' Slughorn continued before realising that Sirius was not paying attention, and waddled over to his desk, muttering, 'Kids these days, don't listen to a word I say.'

'Okay class, please clear away any leftover ingredients and put them in the designated area provided, once you are finished you may leave,' Professor Slughorn announced from the from of the room.

Sirius watched Evangeline call across the room to Jacob as he waited at the door for her, 'I'll be two minutes!' she said before turning to help Sirius pour the potion into the glass bottles that Professor Slughorn had supplied them with.

'You don't have to stay you know, I can clean it up myself,' Sirius said as he watched her scrubbing aimlessly at burnt cinders on the table.

'Oh no, no, It's as much my mess as it is yours,' Evangeline said gazing up at him before turning to resume her scrubbing.

'No seriously, your boyfriend's waiting outside for you. I can manage,' Sirius said, pulling the cloth out of her hand and pushing her towards the door, 'Anyway, Moony can help me,' he said nodding over at Remus who was sitting on the table opposite.

'Are you sure? He can wait for a couple more minutes, I'm sure he won't mind,' Evangeline said.

'Yes! Now go!' Sirius exclaimed, shoving her playfully away from himself.

'You're amazing Sirius,' Evangeline said, affectionately touching his arm in thanks. Sirius smiled as she skipped out of the room and into Jacob's arms, she kissed his cheek, turned around and waved goodbye to him. He lifted his hand in return and nodded towards Jacob, before returning to clean the table.

'What was that all about?' Remus questioned as he jumped off the table and walked over to Sirius, 'I thought you were ripping each other's throats out on the way to this class, now you're like best friends again,' he said looking at Sirius, baffled.

'I apologised, and she forgave me,' Sirius said, looking up, 'It's as simple as that.'

'Really?' Remus asked curiously, 'It wouldn't be like you to give her up to … let me see what do you call him? Prat. User. Scum. Pilfering bastard. Let list goes on.'

'You forgot possessive wanker,' Sirius said, who threw the cloth into the sink, turned on the tap and began to wash his hands, 'And I figured that if I … ' he said quietly but quickly changed his mind, 'Never mind.'

'Oh come on Padfoot! I know all your secrets, what's stopping you from telling me what you were going to say?' Remus said, reasoning with his best friend.

'Fine, I'll tell you!' Sirius snapped, spinning round to face his friend, 'I knew before I smelt that potion that it was Angel, and I was right, the smell of her apricot and almond shampoo,' he said, running his hands through his wavy raven hair, 'That perfume that she always wears, the smell of pine trees and lavender,' he said closing his eyes longingly, 'It smelt exactly like what she did, until she met that Cairnryan,' Sirius spat, 'I'll not be allowed to be any closer than five metres from her.'

Remus looked at him sympathetically, 'I'm sure Evie wouldn't like that any more than what you would, she still likes your company Pads. Maybe you should just tell her.'

'I know,' Sirius said, 'But you seen how happy she looked Moony, I don't want to ruin it for her by telling her that I bloody well love her and that I always have,' he said glumly.

'But if you did, it might help her see things more clearly and she wouldn't be confused about how she feels. I know Evie and she hates being emotionally confused, she thinks that it makes her look weak,' Remus explained.

'That's exactly what I mean though, all these arguments with her mum, her cursing my godforsaken cousin, then when she got lost in the forest and if I tell her that I love her after specifically telling her that I didn't feel like that about her it'll confuse her even more,' Sirius said reasoned, even though he wanted more than anything to tell her.

'I suppose you do have a point, but it's not fair on you either Sirius!' Remus said, 'You've always been there for her to pick up the pieces, even though parts of the time it's your fault anyway, but you're going to have to watch her as she goes through guy after guy knowing that it'll never be you,' he said, trying to help his friend see sense, 'And what if this Jacob really is just using her? She'll get hurt and who will it be kicking his arse? You and possibly James. Who will it be comforting her? You. Who'll be there to make her laugh and smile again? You. Do you see my point?' Remus said, 'If you tell her now then she won't go through all that.'

'I'll tell her when the time is right, and that isn't now,' Sirius said, 'All I want is for her to be happy, and if she is then I'll leave her be and let her live her life the way she wants to. And if anyone ever hurts her, I'll be there for her,' he said lovingly.

'But Sirius, it's not fair on you!'

'If I really love her, like I do, then I'll let her go.'

Hope you liked it!! It's not as long as I had hoped, but I wanted to end it on a good line (: REVIEWS!! I love them, I thank everyone who takes the time to and that I appreciate it very much (: Lyrics at the start of the chapter – Hearts Burst Into Fire by Bullet For My Valentine. I'm thinking about writing a sequel or two, what do you think? Hugs, Tori xox