Author's Note

Hey everybody! Here's chapter 20! I can't write much (though I doubt many people read these author's notes anyway, lol. But if you do, hi!) because the battery on my computer is about to die so... please enjoy! And review! Every single one makes me so incredibly happy, and motivates me to write more! Pretty, pretty please!

Also, I put up pictures of how I imagine Sirius on my profile (and a long rambling description)! Check it out!

Read, enjoy, review! Ciao!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP!

20. Brilliant

"James Potter does not have a single brain cell in that ruddy, handsome head of his." Lily muttered, sitting down on my empty bed with a huff and burying herself in my sheets.

I walked out of the bathroom after my morning shower, dried my hair with a flick of my wand, and sat down next to her, patting the bedding-covered blob that was Lily sympathetically. "Do tell, my dear." I said.

"The entire night, I flirt." She told me, frustration evident in her tone. "I flirt, I flirt, and I flirt."

"I take it he didn't respond the way you expected him to?"

"He bloody well did not." she agreed, sitting up and leaning against my bed frame. "After six years of love proclamations, near-constant begging, and endless flirting, all on his end, I try to return the favor, and he just becomes all gentlemanly. That bloody fool!"

I could have laughed, had Lily not looked close to mental, her eyes wide and her pale skin flushed in anger. Instead I laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, and decided to be judicial. "Well, Lils." I said, trying to make her see reason. "The boy has finally snagged a real date with you. He doesn't want to scare you off with all the stuff that used to drive you completely insane."

She looked ready to argue, but I cut her off. "So, obviously, you need to tell him that you want more. After the initial shock, I'm sure he will respond exactly how you want him to. James is nothing if not enthusiastic."

Lily looked doubtful, but seemed to be taking my advice seriously enough. "Well all right then, little Miss Relationship guru—" she stopped talking abruptly, then looked at me with wide eyes, before screaming at the top of her lungs. I was surprised no one burst through the door, expecting a murder to be taking place.

"Oh. My. God. Adeline." said Lily, practically tackling me off the bed. "What happened with you and Sirius? Give me all the details!"

I rolled my eyes at my best friend's antics, but smiled shyly, a blush appearing almost immediately on my face. "Oh, this is going to be good." said Lily, nodding seriously. "Did you kiss? Did he proclaim his undying—?"

"We did kiss." I said, rolling my eyes again. After a brief pause, where Lily looked ready to strangle me if I didn't offer up more details, I added, "And bloody hell, it was magnificent."

She grinned, looking kind of like a maniac, to be honest. "When? Where? For how long?"

I told her, feeling happier by the second. I also really, really wanted to see Sirius. Checking the clock, I noticed that it was almost a half hour later than it usually was when we met the boys for breakfast. "Come, come." I said after finishing my synopsis of the night's events, pulling Lily off my bed and throwing clothes at her. In typical, dramatic Lily fashion, she was still in her pajamas.

"But wait!" she said, changing quickly while I checked my reflection. It was a little silly, but I wanted to look good for—

"Is Sirius your boyfriend? Are you two officially a couple now?" asked Lily, eyebrows raised, as she hopped around the room, trying to put on socks.

I thought about this.

I didn't really know the answer.

"I certainly hope so." I said, my hand on the doorknob. "But it would be rather nice if he asked me."

Lily nodded seriously. "And it would be nice if James laid a single finger on me, the git." she followed me out the door, shutting it behind her. "Let's just hope our boys have gained some wisdom overnight."

Seeing Sirius after all that had transpired the night before was as exciting and nerve-racking as I had ever imagined.

Lily and I descended the stairs to find the two boys waiting for us in the otherwise deserted common room. James was pacing wildly in front of the ever-roaring fireplace, while Sirius was stretched out on a nearby loveseat, hands clasped behind his head.

It was a classic scene, as was the way they both jumped when they noticed us, Sirius grinning widely at me, while James looked as though he was about to jump off a mile-high cliff.

I grinned back at Sirius, feeling almost dizzy with happiness, the butterflies in my stomach going full-force.

"James," Lily was saying, marching right up to the tall, bespectacled boy in front of the fire. "Come. We need to talk."

She pulled him out of the room—as she was always doing, it seemed—leaving Sirius and I quite alone.

"So," he said, hands in his pockets, blushing slightly. "I wanted to ask you something."

I smirked at him, though inside I was insanely relieved that he seemed just as nervous as I was. Walking forwards, I stopped right in front of him. He took my hands in his, smiling shyly at me. "Yes?" I asked.

"Adeline Villori, you amazing girl." said Sirius, seemingly emboldened by my actions. "Will you do me the great honor of being my girlfriend?"

I smiled widely, then stretched up to whisper in his ear, before kissing him softly on the lips.

"Of course I will, Sirius Black, you wonderful boy."

"This all seems rather surreal." I said, as Sirius and I made our way down to breakfast, hand in hand. His palm was warm against mine and wonderfully comforting. Neither of us could stop smiling, I realized. Not even the hostile looks from most of the girls we passed in the hallway could dampen my mood.

Ignore them, I told myself firmly.

"Yes," agreed Sirius, grinning at me as we walked into the Great Hall. "I think you might need to pinch me. This seems eerily similar to practically every dream I've had in the past few months."

We came upon Remus and Peter, the former looking sleepy but pleased to see us, while the latter was busy munching on his breakfast.

"It's reality," said Remus in a flat voice, having heard the end of Sirius' response. He was looking through the Daily Prophet with a tired expression. "I promise."

Sirius and I both laughed, and Remus looked up at us, eyebrows raised, when he noticed our rather sheepish expressions, and our hands, which were still entwined.

"Well I certainly missed something," he said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"That you did, Moony," said Sirius, looking slightly regretful as he let go of my hand in order to properly gorge himself on breakfast. Boys.

I ate my oatmeal in mostly silence as Sirius told Remus of our new relationship status.

"About damn time," said Remus as Sirius's thankfully short rendition of last night's events came to an end, but he smiled kindly at me, and I smiled back. Then I remembered.

"Remus!" I near shouted, practically spilling my pumpkin juice as I recalled his date from the night before and her odd past. Sirius and Remus looked at me quizzically, and even Peter looked up from his meal at my rather spontaneous outburst.

"Er…" I said, glancing around nervously. "How was your date last night?"

Remus flushed, which was actually rather adorable, because he was simply so hard to fluster. "It was great," he said, ignoring Sirius's suggestive eyebrow-raising. "Jeanette is very nice. And very smart." He added, when I opened my mouth to press him for more details.

"Did you kiss her?" asked Sirius, leaning forward slightly, eyes narrowed, apparently thinking it was his turn to do the questioning. "Did you dance with her? Slow dance? Fast dance? Did you walk her to the Ravenclaw commonroom? Did you ask her out again? Trip to Hogsmeade? A stroll around the grounds?"

"Are you my mother?" asked Remus, looking amused.

I burst out laughing as Sirius sat back in a huff, arms crossed.

"Well, you know Moony, you don't do a lot of dating! I'm—"

"Being nosy."

"Adeline was the one to ask in the first place." grumbled Sirius, pouting, but he winked at me when I swatted his shoulder jokingly.

"Thanks Sirius." I said, laughing at the two Marauders' antics. "Very boyfriend-like of you, throwing me under the bus like that."

Just then, Lily and James joined us, Lily looking flushed and frustrated, while James just looked scared.

"Morning," muttered the red-haired girl, sitting down with an exasperated sigh and stabbing at the stack of waffles I'd already laid out on a plate for her with barely contained exasperation.

No one said anything as we watched Lily attack her food, quite literally. My gaze, along with Remus's, Sirius's, and Peter's, then went to James.

He was blushing to the tips of his ears, avoiding our confused looks.

"Well," said Sirius, glancing back and forth between the unhappy couple (that apparently, was not an actual couple yet). "This is weird."

"I agree." I said, finally catching the eye of James, who gave me a helpless look, glanced quickly at his beloved Lily, and trained his gaze again on his pumpkin juice. I sighed, then grabbed Lily's arm, pulling her off the bench and towards the doors of the Great Hall. "We obviously need a girl moment," I called to the marauders as I led my best friend away.

"Okay, Lils." I said, once we'd reached the steps outside the great hall. "What's got your—?"

"James," said Lily scathingly, looking rather terrifying. "That stupid, clueless, air-headed, unobservant…"

She was still listing adjectives as I led her over to the side of the huge entry hall and attempted to get a word in.

"…considerate, kind, wonderful…" she was now saying, her eyes filling with tears.

I was rather used to Lily's constantly changing attitude towards our bespectacled friend, and smoothed her hair soothingly as she wiped her eyes impatiently with the sleeve of her school robes.

"Oh Addy!" she said now, throwing her arms around me and sniffing loudly. "I'm afraid I've blown it with him forever. I can't believe it!"

"Lily, Lily…" I said, patting her back comfortingly. "I seriously doubt that. What happened?"

She told me, with much sniffling and woeful proclamations of regret.

The story was, apparently, that Lily had decided to take my advice to heart, and, ultimately, matters into her own hands.

But instead of calmly telling him how she felt, Lily had harnessed the hormonal teenage girl within, and more or less thrown herself at the poor boy in the middle of a deserted hallway.

"He was so freaked out." She muttered, transfiguring a leaf from a nearby plant into a handkerchief and blowing her nose loudly. "He told me that he wanted our first kiss to be special, and that we needed to talk again when I wasn't so distraught." She shuddered at the memory, then held up both hands (the handkerchief still tightly seized in her right), her face streaked with tears, and her nose the color of her hair. "I am not distraught!"

I barely contained my laughter at my crazy friend and instead leaned my head against the wall behind us, trying to appear wise and all-knowing.

"James is a romantic, Lils. And, knowing him, he's probably played over the scene of you two having your first kiss and professing your undying love for each other about a million times in his head." I said, looking at her seriously. "And I doubt that you ambushing him in the middle of the hallway was what he had in mind."

"I know." said Lily mournfully, looking off in the distance with a forlorn expression. "But, well, I'm ready for this to happen! I can't wait around for the perfect moment my entire life!"

"Lily." I said, eyebrows raised. "You just decided that you didn't hate this boy a few months ago. You have to give him—and yourself—time."

She sniffed, but seemed to mull over my words in her head. Finally, she nodded.

"I suppose you have a point." She conceded, still looking slightly put out. "It's going to be so weird though! I mean, how am I going to look him in the eye ever again?"

"Oh I'm sure you'll find away." I said, just as two Slytherin girls walked by us on their way to breakfast, sending nasty looks at me as they passed.

"What is their problem?" said Lily, rather loudly, her own tragedy momentarily forgotten after noticing their animosity towards me.

"I'm assuming all the intimidating glares I've been receiving from Hogwarts' female population is due to me and Sirius becoming… official." I told her, shrugging.

"Like they didn't see it coming!" muttered Lily, rolling her eyes.

"Very comforting."

"I'm just saying!" she said, throwing her hands up in defense. "Sirius has been following you around like a puppy dog for months! He's always carrying your books, watching you when you aren't looking, laughing at everything you say… Plus, he gets all kinds of jealous whenever a boy so much as looks at you—oh come on Addy, don't pull that face, guys can't take their eyes off you! You have that whole untouchablee, mysterious, Dark Magic royalty thing going for you. Plus your looks, I mean, really, it's a wonder any guy in our classes can concentrate—oh, anyway, Sirius has been head over heels for ages. Those silly girls should have been expecting this."

I blushed slightly at Lily's little speech, though I doubted that many guys paid attention to me. "Well, I don't know about all that. But, I mean, the looks some of these girls are giving me in the hallways… it's like they all have a personal vendetta against me or something!"

"They do." She said, nodding seriously. I raised my eyebrows at her, skeptical. "Oh come on, Adeline, practically every girl at this school wants to be with Sirius Black. He's smart, charming, handsome…"

"Yeah, he is," I said with a smile.

"Exactly. And well, he has a bit of a reputation for being a bit of a—"

"player," I interjected, wincing slightly.

"Well, I was actually going to say 'womanizer', but I suppose they are one in the same…"

I frowned. The Sirius I knew wasn't either of those things. He was sweet, and funny, and made me feel safe and special.

"…but," said Lily, taking my hands in hers and looking at me with the utmost sincerity. "I've known Sirius a long time, Addy, and ever since he met you, he has completely changed. He's matured, he's happier, and…" she smiled widely at me. "he definitely only has eyes for one girl."

I smiled back, hoping, and feeling, deep down in my heart of hearts, that this was the truth.

Despite the fact that the most powerful dark wizard in the world wanted me dead, I felt incredibly happy and incredibly thankful for the way my life was turning out. I pondered this as Lily and I made our way back to the Great Hall, where I could hear the chattering and laughing of my fellow students as they sat and ate their morning meal.

I was at Hogwarts, for one thing, a place I had dreamed of for so long, holed up in my parents' big, intimidating house. I was free of the untrue and evil ideas that my parents had forced upon me during my life, and I now knew what was really worth fighting for: Love. Family. Friendship. Happiness.

And as I took my spot between Sirius and Lily, I couldn't help but smile and feel like everything I had been through—and everything that was surely to come—was and would be very well worth these few moment of togetherness, surrounded by the people I had come to care so much about.

And so I laughed along with everyone else as Lily and James's hands bumped while reaching for the juice pitcher and they both turned beet red. I cheered as—after much prodding by his fellow marauders—Remus admitted that yes, he and Jeanette were going to go to Hogsmeade together this weekend. And I felt as though my heart would burst with contentment when Sirius's hand found mine under the table, and he leaned over, whispering in my ear.

"I just can't stop watching you smile."