Being left at Hogwarts when everyone that I associated with had left was very depressing. I tried to distract myself from the rejection by finishing Sirius and I's Muggle Studies project but I finished it within a few hours, leaving me without any distraction. I did every assignment that was assigned to me days before it was due, just trying to keep myself from thinking about everything that had happened.

"That bitch is not going anywhere near my father's funeral! He might be dead but you're not going to disrespect his memory by bringing a whore to his funeral!" I knew that Potter's words shouldn't have been so hurtful but it was. I'd been with Sirius for weeks at that point and Potter just wasn't changing his mind around me. He wasn't nearly as blatantly vicious as Evans but he definitely wasn't a member of my fan club. Actually, I think he was a member of the "Let's Make Cherry Clark Crash and Burn" club. If Sirius didn't value him so much then I might not have minded so much. If the most important thing a girlfriend could do was make her boyfriend's mates like her then having her boyfriend's mate/brother stand her was exponentially more important. The problem was that I wasn't going to probably ever make Potter like me. I could take the abuse, hold my tongue and let him run rampant over me but I was never going to be able to make him look at me like I wasn't something particularly disgusting stuck to the bottom of his shoe. I didn't know how much of that was Evans' influence but even if she wasn't a factor then he probably still wouldn't like me. He might have tolerated me more but that was about it. I just didn't understand why they were being like this.

It was true that Evans and I had been warring for all of eternity but things had changed. I changed my habits, cleaned up my act and I was just never going to meet her expectations. I had a better chance of making my parents accept me than her. My parents despised me because I despised their beliefs but Evans? Sure, I'd given her a hard time but so many things had changed. I'd given up drinking, drugs, skipping class and harassing her but it just wasn't good enough. Maybe that was the point. Maybe the point was that I was never going to be good enough for her to like me. She was never going to get over her prejudice against me and that meant that Sirius and I were never going to work out in the end. It was a sad truth but it was the truth nonetheless.

I needed to talk to Sirius about this. I needed to explain to him all that was happening and just try to make a clean break. I didn't know if a clean break was possible given all of the circumstances but I had to try. He and I weren't going to be able to be mates after this, mostly because it was going to make my heart feel like I was going to explode if I was next to him and I couldn't have him. I needed to put an end to this. After things calmed down and the grief of Mr. Potter's death was a little less potent, I was going to break up with him.

Just thinking about Sirius and I not being together was painful. I didn't know how I was going to manage to even say the words and tell him that I had to say goodbye. I had time to prepare for it but I wasn't sure that I was ever going to be truly prepared for what had to be done. I wished that things were different, that I didn't have to come to this. The circumstances weren't anything that I could change. I couldn't make Potter and Evans like me and I couldn't make them matter less to Sirius. I probably wouldn't if I could. He needed them, especially Potter. I could never ask him to choose between us so I was just going to have to bow out as gracefully as I could.

I spent the rest of the time that everyone was gone at the funeral to try and prepare myself as much as I could for everything that was going to have to happen. I tried to think of all the things that I was going to have to tell him to try to make him understand. I would show him all of Evans' Rules and I would use as many examples as I could of Potter and Evans' hatred towards him. I would tell him that I couldn't live like this anymore and that I loved him but I couldn't keep doing this to myself. Then I would walk away, probably to cry my eyes out and wallow like I was mourning the death of a person rather than a relationship. Finally, after I finished my crying and wallowing then I was going to make Evans' life hell for her rules. I was going to make one last appearance as the old Cherry Clark and I was going to use all my old techniques to make her regret ever ruining my life. And then, finally, I was going to throw myself into my NEWTs and try to survive the rest of the school year.

My plan seemed relatively foolproof but I knew that it probably wasn't going to work out as smoothly as I planned in real life. Maybe Evans would retaliate and I'd have to strike back or maybe Potter would make it his mission in life to make me regret getting involved with Sirius. I didn't know exactly what was going to happen but I wasn't worried. Once I told Sirius goodbye then the worst of it would be over. If Potter wanted a piece of me then he could try. It'd been weeks since I got into my last toe-to-toe with someone properly and I was itching to get back to being able to confront people.

The only thing that I knew for sure about this break up was that I wasn't going back to my old habits when it was over. No more Firewhiskey. No more pills. No more smoking. No more shagging at random. I couldn't relapse. It was going to be hard, especially since the pain of Sirius and I's breakup was going to be fresh, but I had to fight through it. I had my pride to think about it. Though it'd been battered and bruised during the past few weeks, I couldn't risk everyone seeing me as some sort of train wreck because of the breakup. Potter and Evans would take too much pleasure in seeing a breakup that they'd helped orchestrate destroy me. NEWTs were coming up too and I needed to be sober and alert for them anyways.

Preparing for the breakup wasn't the only thing that happened while everyone was gone to the funeral. Riley approached me one morning during breakfast. I was sitting alone and this was probably the only time that he could have come to me without Sirius being there to growl at him for being too close to me.

"Hi," he told me, somewhat uncomfortably as he took a seat across from me.

"Wotcher," I gave him a small smile before diverting my eyes back to the plate in front of me. I hadn't spoken to him since before the Gryffindor victory party that sparked this all. I wasn't necessarily sure that I knew what to say to him.

"So - Where's your chaperone?" he questioned, helping himself to a piece of toast.

"'Chaperone'?" I inquired curiously. "Which one?"

"Black," he answered gruffly, a bit of irritation in his voice. "I didn't think he liked to leave you alone for more than a few minutes at a time."

I ignored his angry tone, slathering marmalade along my toast, "He's at a funeral right now."

He looked surprised at that. I would have thought that everyone under the sun would know about Potter's dad's death. That was the kind of thing that the rumor mill was designed for. "I didn't know," his tone didn't soften and the anger was still evidently there. "Why aren't you with him then? You must not be too serious if he won't even take you to funerals with him."

I felt a spark of annoyance at his inference, "It's complicated. He did ask me to go but I couldn't. I don't see why it concerns you though. I didn't think you cared about Sirius, let alone who he takes to funerals."

"I don't care about Black," he informed me. "I care about you."

I sighed. I was hoping that this wasn't going to happen but the universe really didn't seem to like me very much lately. "Riley, I don't know what you thought you could accomplish by coming to me. I'm sorry about what happened between us but that doesn't mean anything."

"You're sorry that you slept with me or you're sorry that you've been ignoring me for the past few months?" he demanded.

"Both." It was true. I did regret almost everything that happened with him. "Most of all, I'm sorry that I apparently led you on. It was never my intention to but it apparently happened. I never wanted it to happen. I should have been more honest with you."

"Honest about what? That I was just holding a place for Black?" he shot back with a scoff.

"Yes." I'd never mentioned out-loud before that I'd used him but now it didn't matter. "I used you as a distraction from Sirius and I'm sorry."

"Why?" he questioned, his voice losing the anger and becoming softer with hurt. "Why would you do that to me?"

I sighed, pushing my cold eggs around my plate with my fork, "Because I thought you'd understand that I didn't want any strings attached. I was confused with everything that was going on with Sirius and he had a girlfriend and I was trying to keep it together. You and I had been friendly and I thought that you were probably one of the only people I knew that could handle just being friends. I was obviously wrong and I'm sorry about that. I know I should have come to you and told you what was really going on but I didn't know what to say. I'm sorry that things happened the way that they did but it doesn't change anything."

"So you're done using me now so you just don't have any room for me in your life?" he incredulously demanded, his temper flaring again. "My purpose is served so you can't be arsed with me?"

"That's not it," I told him, shaking my head. "Merlin, how did things get like this? It's not that I don't have room for you in my life. It's just - You're bad for me, Riley. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf and I'm trying to get my life together. I can't do that with you around. I'm not the girl that I once was. I don't do the same things that I used to and I don't look at the world the same way anymore. I can't move on with you still in my life. I know that it sounds selfish but I need you to let me go. After Robin –" I shook my head again, this time to try to shake off the tears that always seemed to follow whenever I said her name. "We both just need you to let go. You can't let me drag you down like this and you have to let me be happy with Sirius. Just let go, alright? Do it for me but more importantly for yourself."

"And for me too," I heard a gruff voice that I immediately recognized as Sirius.

I looked up, surprised to see him so quickly. I'd figured that it'd at least be another day before he arrived. He had a stony expression on his face and I could just imagine all the thoughts going through his mind. Most of them probably involved him physically assaulting Riley. Thankfully he'd heard me telling Riley to let me go so I didn't think that he was likely to accuse me of cheating. At least, I hoped he didn't. That drama was the last thing that I needed.

Riley looked up at Sirius, giving him a cold glare. He nodded, removing himself from the table. He gave Sirius one last hateful look before stalking off, making me feel a mixture between guilt and relief.

Sirius took the seat that Riley had just occupied, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand, "He wasn't giving you too much trouble, was he?"

I shook my head, "No. He's just – Well, I don't know. I think he'll leave me alone from now on or at least I hope he does. Why are you back so early?"

"Why? Were you hoping that you could have a one-on-one with all of your ex-boyfriends before I got back?" he joked. His tone might have been joking but his eyes were accusatory.

I rolled my eyes, hoping that I could shrug this off and make him understand, "Haha. For your information, I didn't want to talk to him but he came to me. And I don't know if you could call him an 'ex-boyfriend'. He's more like an 'ex-fiasco'. Now don't try to distract me. How are you? Are you okay?"

"Better," he nodded. "The funeral was helpful, I think. It would have been better if you were there though."

I squeezed his hand consolingly, "I'm sorry I couldn't go. I didn't want to make James' head explode. I figured one funeral was more than enough."

"What about James' head exploding?" I heard the devil himself question as he and his Ginger Hellspawn arrived. He took a seat next to Sirius and the Hellspawn sat next to me. I was surprised that she would so willingly sit next to me when there were so many other open seats for her to choose from.

She gave me a sickening smile, reaching for the butter with her left hand. I only noticed that it was her left hand because it had a diamond that was almost blinding me on it. An engagement ring. It was almost as if she were trying to talk to me without words, telling me, "See? I'm not going anywhere." I wanted to reply "Except hell" but I didn't. Her engagement meant one thing: She was very comfortable in her position of power with Potter. It also meant that the end to Sirius and I's relationship was closer than I thought.

"Oh, Clark, I have those notes that I promised you," she informed me, digging into the pocket of her cloak. "Make sure you pay close attention to these ones, okay? McGonagall isn't going to be happy if you don't pay attention." She forced the parchment into my hand before returning her attention back to her breakfast.

I looked down at the parchment. I'd never asked her for notes, especially since she'd missed the past few Transfiguration lessons. It was a good cover-up for her handing me the newest additions to the Evans' Rules though.

Rule 45. Wearing the color red is forbidden

Rule 46. The use of non-Latin-based words is forbidden

Rule 47. You may not speak more than fifty words each day

Rule 48. You may not use any words that contain more than four letters

Rule 49. You may not spend more than thirty minutes a day in the lavatory

Rule 50. The use of owl post is forbidden

Rule 51. You are not allowed to leave Gryffindor Tower unless going to meals or lessons

Rule 52. A drug test is mandatory every two weeks

Rule 53. Attending Hogsmeade visits is forbidden

I sighed. The moment that I'd been dreading was finally here. This was finally my breaking point. I'd wanted to wait a while after the funeral until this happened but Evans was forcing my hand. "Sirius? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Evan glared at me as soon as I spoke, probably because some of my words have more than four letters or because some of them were bound to not be based in Latin. Who even cared what the origin of a word was, anyways? It was just another of her ridiculous rules that she made with no greater purpose than to make my life difficult.

"Of course. Lily, James," Sirius nodded his acknowledgement at the engaged couple. His almost cold attitude towards them made me wonder if he'd been this cold to them the whole time they were gone. Was it because of what Potter said about me? Was he mad that I couldn't go with him? Did this have to do with the engagement? Was it something completely different?

I followed him out of the Great Hall, wondering if maybe I'd been wrong about the whole situation. Maybe he really would have taken my side if he knew everything that was going on. Maybe, maybe not. The only way I was going to find out was by telling him what happened and see how he reacted.

I clenched his hand in mind, wanting to get as much as I could get of him in case that I had to let him go. I also wanted to give him as much support as I could about Mr. Potter's death before I demanded his attention on other matters. I felt a little selfish about bringing everything up now but I had to get it over with. I'd been putting this off for too long and there was no way that I could put it off any longer, despite the circumstances. Evans' new rules were just too unlivable.

We arrived at an empty classroom on the first floor within a few minutes, making me realize how many of Evans' Rules I was breaking. This really was it. I wasn't going to be able to change my mind now and go back to living under her thumb. I guess I was at what people call "the point of no return".

He sat on top of an empty desk and I stood in front of him, my arms tightly around his middle. I knew that this wasn't going to make anything any easier but I didn't care. I just needed to hold him.

"What's wrong?" he inquired worriedly, his thumb gingerly running along my jawline. "Did something happen while I was gone?"

I took a deep breath, trying to will myself to have the confidence to answer honestly, "This isn't working, Sirius."

"What – What are you talking about?" he questioned, his thumb freezing against me.

"I think you know what I'm talking about. I think you've been ignoring it but I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," I informed him, my voice struggling to stay even. "You're a lot of things but you've never been stupid. I think you've been just turning a blind eye to what's been going on."

"Lily." It was a short reply but it enforced the fact that I was right. He knew exactly what I was talking about.

"So you know what I'm talking about," I commented, my grasp on him not loosening. "You probably don't know the specifics but you've got the general gist. Fifty three rules. Fifty three rules that I have to obey so that Evans doesn't use her power over Potter to make us break up. It started with just ten rules but it's been growing ever since. The first few ones almost made sense. No drugs, no skipping class, no alcohol, etc. They've gotten worse. Do you know what one of her latest rules was? No using words that aren't Latin-based. What does that even have to do with anything? Maybe once upon a time I could have played it all off as Evans trying to protect your best interest. Having an alcoholic for a girlfriend wouldn't be good for you. Now, however, it's pretty clear that the only thing she's concerned with is making my life miserable."

"Cherry –" His voice was so soft that it almost sounded more like a breath than my name.

I ignored him, "I've been trying to put this off because I know that this is going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done. I know that this means that I'm letting Potter and Evans win, which hurts a bit. I also know that I can't survive like this anymore. Evans has been ordering me around since you and I started dating and I thought that I could handle losing you better if I tried to make the most of this. I thought that if I could have you for as long as I could then this would be easier. I was wrong. I should have told Evan to go to hell and walked away because this is a lot harder now than it would have been before."

"What's harder?" he questioned, his voice full of mixed emotions. "I don't understand."

I exhaled deeply, laying my head against his chest. This would be the last time that I'd have the opportunity to do this and that made it almost taste bittersweet. "I can't keep you. I can't have a psychotic bitch running my life. I can't live like I'm dead anymore. It's too hard. This is never going to get any better if I stay with you. Potter and Evans will never like me. Potter isn't going to disappear out of your life and the diamond on Evans' hand tells me that she's not disappearing out of Potter's life."

"Is that why you're doing this? Because of their engagement?" he questioned, a combination of shock and hurt in his voice. "Love, that doesn't change anything."

"That's my point, Sirius. It doesn't change anything because it's never going to change. Do you remember that day when they told you that they saw me with Riley? That day where you practically broke everything glass in the Common Room? They lied, love. Evans was punishing me for breaking one of her rules. I called her by her surname, which is breaking rule number even I think. They almost broke you and I up because I called her Evans. I can't rationalize with them and I can't make them like me so the only options I have left are to endure more of it or walk away. Trust me, if I could survive the first option then I would take it."

"So you're making me choose? You're making me choose between my best mate and the woman I love?" he incredulously demanded. "How can you ask me to make that decision?"

"I'm not," I pointed out calmly. "I can't ask you to choose and that's why I have to go. Besides, I think you've chosen whose side you were on when you decided to ignore the fact how miserable I was."

"You're blaming me? How could I know if you never told me?" His voice was rising quickly from indignation.

"Because I knew what you'd say," I replied honestly. "I knew that I told you what was happening then you'd take their side. I knew it then and I know it now. That's why I never told you. I knew that once I told you that you'd side with them and then I'd have to leave. I didn't tell you because I wanted to do everything in my power to make this work for as long as it could. It wasn't like I could say 'Oh well you don't mind your best mate and his girlfriend abusing me? Oh well that's fine. So you fancy a snog then?' It doesn't work like that, Sirius. I've held onto you as long as I can but I can't do it anymore so don't ask me to."

"But – But it's going to get better," he assured me almost hysterically. "It's going to get better. They just need to come around."

"When? When is it going to get better? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Graduation? Next year? When we're old and on our deathbeds? When exactly are they going to stop amusing themselves by making my life difficult, huh? That's exactly what they're doing. They're playing with me like some sort of toy. It's like they're trying to see how much they can push and pull until I tell them to go to hell. If you were wondering, this is the breaking point. I'm not playing anymore. I can't give you anything else and even if I could…" I trailed off, shaking my head as I unattached myself from him. "If I stay with you any longer then it's going to taint the way I feel about you. I'm struggling to still love you now and things are just going to get more and more toxic. I don't want to look back at my time with you with contempt. You're the honestly the only person that I've ever been in love with but that doesn't change the fact that being with you is killing me."

"Cherry, just – Just give it some time, alright? I promise you that it's going to get better. I promise that James and Lily will come around," he was practically begging by then.

I gave him a weak smile, feeling the tears beginning to build up. I reached up, giving him a faint kiss on the lips. I pulled away, leaving a growing smile on his face. "Goodbye, Sirius," I told him plainly.

His smile quickly disappeared, "What? No, Cherry, please!"

He scrambled to get to his feet as I started towards the door. I felt a lot like I did after our romp in the abandoned classroom on the sixth floor. I was struggling to hold back tears and I felt like someone had just crushed my ribs and squeezed my heart. If I was any older than I might have thought that I was having a heart attack.

"Cherry!" Sirius continued to call after me. "Cherry, wait! Please!"

I tried to ignore him, knowing that my willpower would be completely zapped if I had to have another conversation with him. Not with him looking so desperate, his gray eyes begging me to endure just a little while longer in my personal hell. I'd been avoiding his eyes for that exact reason. I knew that eye contact was going to make things harder than they already were.

I quickened my pace, trying to appear composed while making it to my dormitory as fast as possible. That was the only place that was safe from him. He'd probably have followed me into a girls' lavatory if I'd thought to go there. The dormitory was protected from him; there were charms in place to make sure that no male, him included, would get in.

Everyone seemed to be in Gryffindor Tower when I arrived. Ali and Remus were on the couch, talking softly amongst themselves and looking almost disgustingly adorable. Potter and Evans were waiting almost expectantly at the portrait hole. Evans had her arms crossed in front of her, her engagement ring still proudly displayed. Potter had a scowl on his face with his hands stuffed into his trouser pockets.

I approached Evans first, returning one of the sickeningly sweet smiles that she'd once given me, "Game's over, Evans. You don't have any power over me anymore so I won't be following any of your ridiculous rules. Oh and how should I put this? Sleep with one eye open. I'm going to be coming out for blood very, very soon."

Her expression quickly changed from stony to jostled, "I – Erm – I –"

My smile increased in size. Leaving her speechless was enough for me for now. I could have another go at her and made her sweat but right then I didn't feel like it. I just wanted to go upstairs and mourn the death of Sirius and I's relationship before he showed up.

I managed to walk across the Common Room and up the dormitory stairs with my composure still intact. I noticed right away that I was being followed but I knew that it wasn't Evans. She wasn't likely to confront me after I so blatantly threatened her. She was probably downstairs with Potter, scoffing and huffing over my nerve to say such things to her. That meant that it must have been Ali, the only person who even resembled an ally at the moment.

Once I reached the dormitory, I stiffly took a seat on my bed. I didn't know if she was coming as my mate or Evans'. She'd been Evans' friend for longer and she probably didn't take kindly to me threatening her.

Ali silently took a seat next to me. I waited for her to say something, for her to give me some sort of indication of what she was there for. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, she spoke. "What happened?" There wasn't any accusation to her tone and there weren't any insults. It was just a two word question that made it sound like she was actually concerned about hearing both sides of the story.

I reached into my bedside drawer, taking out all of the old pieces of parchment that Evans had given me with her rules on them. I added the newest addition of rules from my pocket to the pile. I handed them to her without hesitation, "I hit my breaking point."

She looked at me in surprise before taking the pieces of parchment. She stayed quiet as she read them, not even letting out a gasp or a sigh at how ridiculous they were. She poured over each piece of parchment, thoroughly reading each word with polite interest. When she finished reading them, she handed them back to me. "I'm going to kill her."

I looked at her with a sense of relief. She was on my side, not Evans'. She chose my side over the side of the girl who'd been her best mate for years. I felt the sudden urge to hug her but I restrained myself. "No, you aren't. She ruined my relationship so I'm going to be the one to kill her," I decided to reply. "Or at least I'm going to make her life hell."

"I knew that something was going on but you wouldn't talk about it. What happened with Sirius? Did you tell him?" she inquired.

I nodded with a sigh, "Yeah. I broke up with him."

"What? Why?" Her expression nearly made me laugh. It was the kind that you'd actually expect from a girl's best mate when she heard the news. I suppose Ali really had become my new best mate.

I exhaled deeply, unsure how exactly to answer. "When Evans came to me right after Sirius and I got together, I knew that I wasn't going to last forever under her thumb. I thought that I should try to endure it as long as I could because once I told Sirius then he –" I sighed again, "Potter is Sirius' best mate. They're practically brothers. Evans is practically Potter's whole life. She was going to use her influence over Potter to make him use his influence over Sirius to make him break up with me if I broke any of her rules. I knew that I couldn't make Evans or Potter like me or even stand me. I'm never going to be able to make them look at me like anything other than the bug in their cereal. Potter's opinion is important to Sirius, though. If I told Sirius what happened then I knew he'd have to choose. He'd either have to tell Potter to get over himself or he'd have to tell me to suck it up. I knew that he was going to side with Potter. He's incredibly loyal, especially to his mates. I wanted to have him as long as I could and I couldn't have him after I confronted him."

"But you did? You did confront him, right?" she demanded, her blue eyes wide with curiosity and horror.

I nodded, "I told him what happened. I told him that I'd been trying to survive it as long as I could and that I couldn't do it anymore. I told him that I couldn't make him choose and that I was going to bow out as gracefully as I could. He – He begged me to give it more time but I told him that it wasn't going to matter. A millennia isn't going to change how Potter and Evans feel about me. A millennia isn't going to lessen Potter's grip on him. It was never going to get better so I told him goodbye."

She looked absolutely horrified at the thought, "I – Wow, you – I can't believe it. You didn't even give him a chance to choose you."

I let out a humorless laugh, trying to keep any hint of contempt out of my voice, "If he was going to choose me then he would have done it. He knew I was miserable. I couldn't tell him because then I'd have to give him up but he knew it. I think part of him was just hoping that I'd endure it longer."

She went silent before nodding, "I confronted him about it a while ago. You were so depressed and I tried to talk to him about doing something about it. He told me not to meddle and that everything was fine."

It hurt to hear her say that. It felt like the proof that he turned the other cheek when he saw me miserable made it worse. I nodded, "It doesn't matter now. What's done is done."

She gave me a sympathetic smile, "What are you going to do now?"

My plan hadn't changed. I was going to do the same thing I was going to do when I planned the breakup before but now I was just going to do it sooner. "First, I'm going to wallow. I'm going to probably cry a lot and eat my weight in chocolate while cursing the existence of men. Then I'm going to terrorize the hell out of Evans. Maybe I'll make her cry too for the hell of it. After that I'm going to fade into the crowd. I'm going to keep my head down, study my arse off, make the NEWTs my bitch and graduate. I don't think there's anything else I could do. Well, except go back into the habit of drowning my emotions with Firewhiskey but that's never done anyone any good."

"You're really not going to go back to him, are you?" she almost sounded sad when she said it. I didn't know if she was upset that I was upset or whether she just wanted Sirius and I together or both.

I shook my head, "I can't. I want to. It's like every molecule inside of me wants to go running back to him, yell 'April Fools!' about everything and just accept Evans' wrath but I can't. I've come too far to go back now. It'd be too counterproductive."

She nodded with a sad smile, "I understand. Wait, how do you even know what a 'molecule' is? You're a pureblood! What do you know about Muggle science?"

I laughed, though it hurt my chest, "I was really bored when everyone was gone. I spent most of the time in the library, trying to distract myself. It was actually kind of more pleasant than when everyone's here, minus the boredom and loneliness."

"Was it that horrible dating him when we were around?" she inquired curiously. "Were you that miserable?"

I nodded without a second thought, "He was amazing but the strings – Loving someone when their loved ones despise and reject you is hard. Actually, Robin probably would have killed me if she were alive to see me take all of Evans' shit. She probably tossed in her grave every time that I called Evans 'Lily'." I laughed at the thought, mentioning Robin for the first time without my heart feeling like it was going to explode with grief. I gave her a small smile, "Now I'm going to start wallowing now so it's going to be very depressing to be around. I suggest that you go back to your boyfriend. He'll probably be better company than I'm going to be."

"Are you sure? If you want me to stay then I will. I can understand if you don't want to be alone." The overly-selfless Hufflepuff I remembered from asking me to test her boyfriend's fidelity appeared. "I don't mind staying if you want me to."

I shook my head, "No, you go. I'll be fine on my own. I just need to mull some things over. Tell Remus 'hi' for me, okay? You know, if he doesn't hate me for threatening one of his best mates' girlfriends."

"He won't," she assured me, getting to her feet. "He'll understand." She gave me one last small smile before returning back to the Common Room, probably to the arms of her awaiting boyfriend.

I sighed, finally being alone to mull over my feelings now that Sirius and I were over. For the first time since Robin's death, I really regretted ever giving up drinking.