Author's Note

Hey, everybody! Here's chapter 18! Not much to say up here in the author's note... it's a relatively short chapter, but oh well! Hope you guys enjoy it!

Read, enjoy, review! :)

I don't own HP!

18. Favors

I was frozen, watching Sirius with wide eyes. The sudden realization that the other returned our feelings wholeheartedly had dawned on us both at the exact same moment. My heart was beating wildly as he moved closer to me on the blanket, his face mere inches from mine.

My eyes fluttered closed on instinct, and I felt his sweet, cool breath on my lips, and then, finally, after such a long wait, Sirius was kissing me, softly…

"James!" I heard someone call out in a hushed voice, and Sirius and I broke apart, him cursing loudly, as we both looked up to see none other than our two best friends, hand in hand, staring at us, shocked and red-faced.

"Oh bloody hell." said Lily loudly, stamping her foot, having recovered from the shock of discovering me and Sirius. "I knew we should have stayed at the castle. We've just barged in on their romantic, perfect little moment. Damn. Sorry Addy!" Then she whirled around, pulling James along behind her, in the direction of the castle. James, good-natured as always, shot Sirius a thumbs up and wide smile before he was dragged out of sight.

"Oh my," I said, looking back at Sirius, who was staring at the spot our friends had just vacated with a rather annoyed look on his face. "Did Lily just curse? Twice?"

He laughed at this, his expression transforming back into its regular good-natured smirk, and looked back down at me, a twinkle in his eye. "I think it was a suitable response, given the circumstances."

He sat up, and I could feel the intense atmosphere from just a few moments prior dissipating like a fog being lifted. I sat up too, looking shyly at him. "Pity they had to interrupt." I said, as I began helping him pack up our food, then stood, picking up one side of the table cloth to be folded.

"I've probably played over the way that scene would go in my head a hundred different ways." He told me, picking up the opposite corners of the plaid linen, blushing slightly. "And I must admit, I never imagined that Lily and James would be involved in any capacity."

Our walk back to the castle was oddly void of tension. We didn't talk much, but I felt so at ease, walking beside Sirius, not quite touching, but still fully aware of his warm, positive presence next to me.

We made it to the great hall just as the sun was setting, painting the sky a brilliant mix of pinks, oranges, and yellows.

Sirius headed for the kitchens, saying he wanted to thank the house elves and drop off our picnic supplies, and I headed for our usual spot at the Gryffindor table, spotting Lily's flaming red hair from across the room. She was at my side in an instant, pulling me over to where Remus sat, watching us with an amused look on his face.

"Oh Addy!" she said as she tugged me along. "I cannot even begin to describe how utterly sorry I am for—"

"It's alright," I said, cutting her off as we sat back down, partly because I knew that it was better to stop Lily before she really got into apology-mode, and partly because I didn't want the entire world knowing about my kiss (or almost kiss?) with Sirius. At least not yet.

"Oh." said Lily, raising her ginger eyebrows at me. "Worried about Rem? He already knows. He took one look at my face when I walked in the hall and demanded I tell him what was the matter."

Lily's attention was momentarily distracted by something across the hall, and I glanced over at Remus, who shook his head, rolling his eyes at Lily with a small smile on his lips.

"Right," I said, as Lily returned her interest to me. "Well, anyway, it's no bother. There will be other opportunities for—"

"Absolutely." said Lily, once again peering through the crowd towards something behind me. "It just happened, you know? James and I decided to go for a walk near the lake and BOOM, there you two were. By the time we noticed you it was too late to sneak away quietly, and James was right near about to step on—" she stopped her monologue, which I had only been half-listening anyway to as I served myself some shepard's pie, abruptly. "Oh dear," she said, watching something over my shoulder.

"What?" I asked, turning around in my seat, following her gaze. Then I saw them, grinning widely as they made their way over to us.

Sirius Black and James Potter, each carrying large bouquets of flowers, marched along the Gryffindor table, coming to a stop right in front of Lily and I, where we sat, watching them suspiciously.

"Dearest Lily," said James in a booming voice, full of bravado, as the entire hall turned to watch the boys, and us.

"And my lovely Adeline," said Sirius, giving a little bow.

"Would you do us lowly, undeserving—" that was James.

"—but deeply admiring men—" Sirius.

"—the honor of accompanying us—" James.

"—to the Spring-time ball—" Sirius.

"—next Friday, on the 23rd of March?" ended James, with another bow, and a heartbreaking grin aimed at Lily. Sirius matched this gallantly, winking at me.

They presented us with the flowers, tulips for me, and, unsurprisingly, lilies for Lily, then raised their eyebrows, looking for a response.

Lily and I exchanged a look as the entire hall waited, hardly saying a word. Then Lily giggled slightly as I said, smirking at Sirius. "I suppose we could help you boys out."

An eruption of cheers—mostly, I noticed, from the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff houses—greeted my words. James and Sirius high-fived, then waved at McGonagall, who was sitting at the teacher's table, watching approvingly.

"Well that went well," said Sirius, kissing me on the cheek and causing me to blush fiercely as he sat down on the bench next to me, James sitting across from Lily, next to Remus.

"I'd say so," said James, tucking into the plate that Lily had already served for him with an appreciative smile. "McGonagall seemed pleased, anyway."

"Right-o," said Sirius, catching my eye. "Oh!" he said in response to Lily and I's looks of confusion. "It was all McGonagall's idea, you know. Ask you girls in front of everyone, get people excited for the ball and such. It looks like it worked."

"Ah," said Lily, eyebrows raised. "So that was a publicity stunt, was it?"

The boys looked taken aback. Shaking his head wildly, James said, "Of course not! We would have asked you two anyway, naturally. We just wanted to help Minnie out. She works so hard, and all…" he added authoritatively as Lily nodded, smirking at him.

"If it was my choice," Sirius whispered in my ear, as the conversation at our table fell on some different subject, "I would have asked you somewhere more… private." He winked at me, and I flushed, as I so often did lately.

"So basically," I whispered back, making him shiver slightly, "you did this to get out of detention with McGonagall?"

"Precisely." he said, kissing my cheek again.