A/N – Thank you to my reviewers! I know I said 5, but I woke up this morning feeling generous. I think you're going to like this chapter, as it was pretty good fun to write. Just to let you know, I shall never give up on any story. I may occasionally not update for a while, but I'll never truly forget it. Well, on with the story.

I didn't get the chance to investigate further into Sirius's disappearance until that weekend. He'd been acting like nothing had happened and I didn't want to ask him about it, don't ask me why. But I had this strange feeling in the back of my head that whatever Sirius was up to wasn't good. Not when Remus, who was the most honest person I knew, felt he had to lie to cover whatever he was doing up. I was right.

I found Remus in the library early Saturday morning, his head in a book, seeming completely oblivious to the world around him. I wish I could have done that. But every time I had tried to concentrate on something the Sirius thing had come back to the front of my mind and whatever it was that required my attention was suddenly unimportant as I once again tried to figure out, without success, what was going on.

"Remus? Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked cautiously, walking up to his table. I was always annoyed when someone interrupted me when I was reading quietly. Remus, however, just put his book to the side and looked up at me.

"Sure. What's up?"

"Well…erm…it's about…Sirius." I couldn't believe I was being this stupid. He'd probably just had a detention, like Remus had said. It was just me, being paranoid. He wasn't lying and Sirius wasn't up to anything. Now I was going to look so stupid. But I forced myself to come out with it anyway.

"Where was he when I was in the Hospital Wing?" I said in a hurry, unsure whether Remus had heard me clearly.

"Has this been bothering you all week?" he asked, surprised. I nodded weakly.

"Lily," he said, looking at me sternly, "Just let it go. It's really not worth bothering yourself over. He was in detention, like I said before, that's all." I sighed, thanking Remus quietly and leaving the library. I walked down the empty corridors; presumably everyone was outside, basking in the sun that had made a rare appearance. I was deep in thought. I still had a feeling inside me that Remus was lying to me again. There was just something in his eyes that didn't show honesty. But maybe it was just me. I decided to try and catch up on my homework whilst my mind was still reassured by Remus's response and hadn't yet worked out any ridiculous theories as to what Sirius had been doing if Remus really was lying. I went back to the Head's Dorm and felt my mood sink when I saw Potter sitting there, already doing his homework on his desk in the far corner, opposite mine. That struck me as odd straight away. Why was he, the most popular guy in this school, spending a beautiful day inside, doing his homework? Didn't he have friends to hang out with and smart kids to bribe to do his homework? He looked up when he heard someone come in and I was sure his face lit up just a little when he saw it was me, but then he put his head back down again and his messy black hair covered his face enough so that I couldn't see him clearly. I dismissed it and grabbed by books for the bookshelf they were perched on. Ok, so Charms didn't have to be in until Wednesday, so that could wait a while, but Transfiguration, I silently groaned, had to be on Monday. That was my priority. It was an essay on Animagi, a topic I well and truly did not understand that well. Brilliant. I set about working, Potter completely ignoring me, like I wasn't even there.

He only acknowledged me after I threw my 6th piece of crumpled parchment at the wall behind him in frustration. I was absolutely crap at this topic.

"Evans, are you aiming for my head on purpose just to annoy me or do you need help?" he asked, although he didn't seem irritated.

"Help." I replied, although I wondered why I had just asked Potter for help, even though he did offer…sort of. He grinned, abandoning his homework and coming round to join me.

"Why are you so happy?" I asked mockingly

"I never thought Lily Evans, the smart, boring bitch who was amazing at everything, would ever ask me, James Potter, for help." He replied, trying to keep his face straight, but the corners of his mouth betrayed him as the curled up in a smile a little.

"Oh ha ha." I replied, rolling my eyes. His face split into a grin when he saw what it was I was doing.

"One of my many areas of expertise." He grinned, almost smugly. He began explaining the topic in even more detail than McGonagall had. He was surprisingly good at tutoring. Maybe I should throw paper near his head when I don't get something more often.

I'd just finished my essay, with Potter's help, when I thought of something.

"Potter, you're good friends with Sirius, aren't you?" I asked, trying desperately to sound casual.

"Wow! I cannot believe you realised that, Evans! Really, you're so smart! Have a biscuit!" He replied, his voice dripping in sarcasm. I rolled my eyes at this but otherwise ignored it. Now was not the time to get into a big argument with Potter.

"Well, I want to ask you something. Where was he when I was in the Hospital Wing? And don't even bother saying he was in detention because I know that is not true." I said, looking at him. I'd never noticed it before, but his eyes were absolutely amazing. Wait…what did I just say? Stop it, I told myself. You like Sirius, not Potter! Merlin!

"Look, Evans, I'm guessing you've already spoken to Remus about this and you haven't accepted his answer. He's told you that Sirius was in detention, right? Well, you won't accept my answer either, because it's exactly the same. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have homework to do." He walked back over to his desk and carried on with his work, not looking at me again. That was…odd" I dismissed it and turned back to the case at hand. What Sirius had really been doing. Now this was getting frustrating. But at least I knew something now. Sirius had most definitely not been in detention. Potter was a good liar, I'll give him that, but he wasn't good enough to fool me. He had the same glint in his eye when he told me Sirius had been in detention that Remus had. They were both lying. There was only one way I was going to find out the truth. I was just going to have to ask Sirius.

I found him outside by the Black Lake, messing around with some other 7th years. That struck me as odd straight away. Why wasn't he with his fellow Marauders? He was always with them. Not only were they his partners in crime, or pranking, rather, but they were the best mates he had. It looked to me like they were his brothers in a way, especially Potter, whether I liked it or not. There were some random girls grinning seductively, giggling and batting their eyelids in his direction, but I gave them my infamous dagger eyes and they scowled at me, then turned on their heels, flipped their hair and stalked off.

"Um…Sirius?" I asked as he started wrestling with a handsome Hufflepuff. He looked up when he saw me and pushed the guy off.

"Hey Lils. Erm, what are you doing here?" he asked, and I could swear he seemed nervous all of a sudden. He ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up a little, but for some reason I began thinking how cute James looked when he did that…Snap out of it, Lily! You don't like him. You will never like him. Never.

"I came to ask you something." Nerves were building inside me, put I pushed them down with force. This was not the time to be nervous.

"Oh. Sure." He got up and walked over to me, pulling me just out of earshot of his friends, who were now seeing who could throw who furthest into the Black Lake. He laughed and shook his head fondly, then turned to me. Ok, Lily, you can do this. Just come out with it.

"Where were you when I was in Hospital?" I asked, my words tumbling out of my mouth, barely having time to form on my tongue. Sirius frowned, but carried on ruffling his hair. Yes, I wasn't just imagining it. He was nervous. I frowned at that. Why would he have any reason to be nervous? Oh Merlin. He hadn't…he wouldn't. It was just my over-active imagination again. But I still felt scared of what his answer was going to be. I was silently praying that he wouldn't have done what I'd thought he'd done. He must have seen in my eyes what I was thinking, and he sighed, ruffling his hair even more.

"I guess you realised I wasn't in detention, right?" He asked, pulling me a little further away from the group of seventh years. I just nodded, not trusting me voice.

"Before I say anything else, I want you to know this Lily: I am so sorry. It was a mistake, ok? I swear it won't happen again. Promise me you won't get angry." He said, looking deeply into my eyes, but I close them, hiding the tears that were threatening to fall, and nod my head meekly. A new batch of fear was rising up, and this time I didn't push them back. He could have been doing what I think he was doing. He sounded like he had.

"I…I was in Hogsmeade." He whispered. I looked up at him, my eyes wet with the tears that I was holding back. There was still a chance I was wrong, that he had just been buying something. But I knew deep down that I was right. I just had to hear him say it before the tears would be allowed to fall.

"That's not all of it, is it?" I say, my voice just as quiet as his. I'm silently begging him to nod his head, tell me that he really was just buying something for a friend. But he doesn't nod his head. He shakes it. It was clear to me what he had done, but I still needed to hear him say it. I had to be certain.

"Who were you with, Sirius? What were you doing there?" I'm surprised he heard me. The tears are overwhelming now, but I decided something. He wasn't worth my tears. He wasn't worth anything. Not after what he'd gone and done.

"I was..." he mumbles something that I can't quite catch.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I was on a date…with Candy…from Ravenclaw. Look, Lily I am so sorry. Please. "I felt a mixture of emotion surge through me. But the strongest? Anger. Anger at Sirius, for dong such a thing whilst I was in the Hospital Wing, anger at Candy, the slut, for letting him do it, but, most of all, anger at myself. I'd let him get away with flirting before, thinking it was just harmless fun. But I should have seen it coming. I was just setting myself up for the fall by not ending it there and then.

"It's over." I turn my back on Sirius and head back into the castle. I didn't turn back. I wasn't going to let him see the tears, which I hated so much, fall.

A/N – Ah, I love this chapter. It'd definitely my favourite so far. Tell me what you think by leaving a review ;) Let's go for…7 reviews, then I'll update. Like I said, I'm feeling generous. What do you want to happen next? Tell me, and I may be able to include it. The next chapter may not be all that exciting, but we shall see. I may give you a long one and include a very exciting point in the story. We shall see. I'll be more likely it do it if you review :)