Hello, hello! Okay, so this is dreadfully late. And I am sincerely sorry about making you all wait so long. It seemed that every time I wanted to write, I couldn't. And then more recently I had so many tests and papers to write that there simply was no way for me to take the time and write. But hopefully it won't happen again, because I have already started writing the next chapter and it will be on time. So I will probably be able to keep my chapter lead, since I've got a good bit of later chapters written.

Anyway, enough rambling. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! (Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. Not that I would want to.)

Chapter 6

I glared at the armful of dresses Lily shoved at me. "No."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Alyssa Jones, I swear to Merlin, if you don't go put those on–"

"You'll what? Force them on me?"

"Don't tempt me." She pointed a finger to the back of the crowded shop, where a line was forming for a changing room. I groaned.

I really didn't want to be dress shopping right now. I would much rather be enjoying a date with Adam, but no, Lily insisted on dress shopping. And yeah, I had been the one to suggest shopping first, date later. But in hindsight, I should have realized that every minute I spent in a dress shop was a minute less that I spent with Adam.

"You are cruel, you know that?" I grumbled to Lily. She pulled another dress from the rack right before I walked off and added it to my pile.

"And I want to see all of them!" She smiled innocently.

I stalked off to the changing rooms and got in line behind two twittering girls. I rolled my eyes. A minute later, Brooke appeared behind me, also laden with dresses.

"Lily got to you, too?" I asked, eyeing her pile.

"Yeah." She winced at the pink dress on top. "I told her I didn't want pink, but she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"She's just trying to look for what styles look best," I told her. "Once she figures out the style, she looks for the colors." I shrugged. "I've been on many a forced shopping trip with her; I daresay I've figured her out by now."

The line moved up little by little as each girl decided on a dress and moved to pay. Brooke and I had a good laugh when we saw Alice and Marlene arguing a little bit away.

"Hear me out," Alice wheedled, sounding desperate. "Don't you want to wear a nice, classy dress and look like a nice, classy lady to attract nice, classy men?"

Marlene held up a dress to her body and studied it. Once she put it on, it would show a long strip of skin from the slit on the skirt, and the neckline would dip low, almost too low. She contemplated it for a moment, tilting her head to the side. "No, I kind of want to look like a slut," she said casually.

"Oh," said Alice. She blinked. "Um. Okay, then."

I laughed as the line moved forward. Lily had joined us by this point, and she nearly shoved me forward when the next stall opened up and a girl left with her chosen dress. I stumbled but righted myself just in time to keep from falling on my face. Tossing a glare her way, I locked myself in the stall and resigned myself to at least the next half hour of modeling dresses for my best friend.

The first dress wouldn't even zip up, and it was in my usual size. I sucked in a huge breath and tried to zip it again, but it hardly moved an inch. I exhaled heavily and felt the fabric tighten around my waist. What a confidence booster.

The second one would have looked better on Alice. Yellow simply was not my color, and this one looked like a daffodil. I showed Lily only because she would kill me if I didn't, and it took less than a full second for her to reject it and send me back for the next one.

So the cycle went. I tried on dress after dress and showed them to Lily, who quickly found her dress and was done before Brooke and I had even made a dent in our selections. Some of them were pretty decent, but most of them were the kind I didn't ever want to be seen in.

I stepped out in my last dress and sighed, rotating for Lily. "I don't like the color," I told her. How many times did I have to say that yellow made me look like a rotting squash?

"No, but I like the design," she muttered, turning me around again. Her gaze moved up and down critically.

Brooke stepped out and Lily did the same for her. Then she got a crazy glint in her eye and said, "Be right back!"

She disappeared, leaving Brooke and I staring after her.

Across from us, a girl poked her head from behind the curtain. "Sirius?" she called timidly.

My shoulders immediately tensed. What was Black doing here?! With a girl?! I mean, yeah, there were a few boys here with their dates, but Black?!

The devil himself strode around the corner from the men's side of the shop, which was really just a small corner in comparison to the rest of the space dedicated to women's clothing. He had an easy smile on his face, and I half expected him to make eye contact with me and insult me as he always did. But he didn't. Was it even him? Or had someone used a polyjuice potion to get a date with this girl?

Usually I'm not one to eavesdrop, but I was too stunned to tear my eyes away.

"What do you think?" The girl stepped out fully. The dress fit her nicely, and the pale green was stunning on her.

Black seemed to think so too. "You look great, Cassie." There wasn't even a hint of sarcasm in his tone– it was, in fact, a tone I often heard my parents speaking in with each other, gentle and sweet– which nearly cemented my thought that someone was impersonating him. I mean, come on, Sirius Black didn't have a heart. There was no way he could make himself sound so… soft.

Cassie fidgeted, looking in the mirror on the wall. "Are you sure? I don't know, maybe I should keep looking–"

"Hey," Black interrupted, laughing and taking her hand. "You're beautiful. You trust me, right?"

Cassie's cheeks took on a pink tinge. "Yeah…"

I tried to drown out the rest of their conversation. Now thoroughly uncomfortable, I looked at Brooke, who was picking at the nail polish Marlene had forced on her the other night.

"Brooke," I whispered. She looked up and I subtly nodded my head in Black and Cassie's direction. "When did that happen?"

She followed my gaze, failing to hide her grin. "They're not 'official' yet, but I think they will be soon. He's had a thing for Cassie since last year, and I'm pretty sure she has too."

I nodded. I'd seen her around, but I'd never seen the two of them together and I never would have guessed that they had a thing. The way he looked at her…

It was like he was seeing the only person in the room.

I had to wonder if anyone had ever looked at me like that, and if they eve would.

Lily returned then, cutting off my train of thought. She shoved a dress at each of us and sent us back to change.

This dress was by far my favorite of the lot. It was a deep, royal blue with silver embellishments on the shoulder and at the waist, looking like a sort of belt. A sheer piece of fabric covered the bodice and neckline, crossing over my shoulder and held in place by the silver accents, billowing out behind me and almost reaching the hemline.

I finally stepped out from behind the curtain. Lily beamed and had me spin around for her. "Oh, that's perfect!" she breathed. I grinned, finally pleased.

Lily's eyes slid over to a point next to my shoulder, and an awed look took over her face. I turned and my jaw fell slack.

There couldn't have been a more perfect fit for Brooke. It was a lacy, champagne colored dress that covered her shoulders. At Lily's insistence, she turned around and showed us the back, a good portion of which was open while still covering enough to be modest. The hem of the dress trailed behind her in a short train.

Lily pushed us both toward the larger mirrors situated on the wall and positioned us next to each other. I took a long look at our reflection, and dare I say it, we looked beautiful.

"Well," said Lily. "I think we're ready."

With that, she sent us back to change into our normal clothes, and when we came out she took the dress from my arms and told me. "Since you behaved, you can leave early."

I immediately straightened. "Really?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. Now get out of here before I change my mind.

I handed over a small sack of money and called over my shoulder, "You're the best, Lils!" as I hurried out.

But in spite of my haste to leave the dreaded store, I forced myself to slow down when I got outside. I didn't want to look worn out, breathless, and entirely too eager when I met Adam, did I?

He was propped up against the outside wall of the Three Broomsticks when I arrived. He saw me first, and a smile spread across his face. "Alyssa! Hey!"

I smiled back. "Hi, Adam."

"Hi," he repeated, then realizing what he'd done, blushed. I bit my lip to keep my laughter at bay. "So, um… are you ready?"

I nodded, and instead of going in the Three Broomsticks like I'd thought, Adam led me down the street at a slow pace.

"I figured we could come back here last, to warm up," he explained, then nodded in the direction of a quill shop. "Mind if we pop in here and look around?"

And that's basically how our date went. We went in nearly every shop on the street, making sure to go on a obligatory Honeydukes run, and the entire time Adam was asking me questions. What was my family like? What were my favorite classes? What did I want to do after graduating? They were all the normal questions one usually asks on the first date… or at least that's what I assumed, as I'd never been on a real date before.

We reached the end of the street and kept walking. Adam led me up a hill, where we were met with a wire fence. Beyond it, a tumbledown cottage stood in the middle of a blank expanse of land.

Adam nodded his head toward the cottage. "Have you heard of this place?"

"It's the Shrieking Shack, isn't it?" I'd heard of it from many people, but I'd never come up here. Sightseeing wasn't really on my to-do list on Hogsmeade weekends, so I'd steered clear.

He propped his arms up against one of the rotten wood posts. "Yeah. People say it's haunted, but I don't think so."

I raised an eyebrow. That was new. "Why not?"

"Well, I snuck out of the castle last year with some friends," he said, flashing a grin. "They wanted to see if it was really haunted, so I tagged along. But they chickened out when they heard the screaming…"

"So it's really haunted?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. The scream… it was human, but… not at the same time. I don't know how to explain it, but it wasn't a ghost. It was so alive, so… pained."

A chill settled in my bones, tingles rippling under my skin. The Shrieking Shack seemed to hold so much more mystery now, but even that didn't make me want to try going inside. Of all things, it seemed like a safe haven, not a place of fear. But it was a place I didn't belong, so I would keep my distance.

"Well," Adam began somewhat awkwardly. "Shall we head back?"

I tore my eyes away from the shack and tried to smile. "Yeah." I nudged his shoulder. "But this time, it's your turn to tell me about yourself."

o0o0o0o

"Tell us everything!" Marlene squealed, dragging me into the dormitory that evening.

I rolled my eyes and sat down on the end of my bed. "I don't think you'll be too impressed. We didn't do much other than talk."

Marlene visibly deflated. "Talk? What kind of a date is that? You didn't even get one kiss?"

"No!" My face heated up.

"It was only the first date, Marlene!" Alice chided.

She pouted. "What a waste."

Alice smacked her on the shoulder, eliciting a pained yelp from Marlene, and said, "Don't listen to her. I think it's great that you're taking things slow."

"It's not like you're officially a couple, either," Lily added. "But really, what happened?"

I sighed and flopped back onto my pillows. "Nothing. We went in a few shops, walked up and down the street, went back to the Three Broomsticks and talked some more over butterbeer. Outside of that, nothing."

It wasn't that I was disappointed with how it turned out; I actually had a pretty good time. Not that I would ever tell her this, but I was kind of hoping for something along the lines of what Marlene was picturing: a kiss. I would have even settled for holding hands, but… I didn't even get that.

I told myself it was too soon for that. Far too soon. I wasn't going to rush into a relationship. Not now, not ever.

Right?

o0o0o0o

Brooke leaned across the table in the library the following Monday. She lowered her voice and said with a tiny bit of nervousness, "Can I ask you something, Alyssa?"

I looked up from my Charms textbook and scrunched my eyebrows together. "Sure. Is everything all right?"

She began to nod, but stopped herself and shrugged instead. "Maybe. It's… it's about the ball." She paused and chewed on her lower lip. "I need a date, don't I?"

"Lily and I don't have dates," I pointed out.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Not yet, you don't. You're obviously going with Adam, even if he hasn't asked you yet. Someone will inevitably ask Lily in the next couple weeks."

She was right. I couldn't even pretend that she was wrong, and I briefly allowed a giddy rush of excitement take over at the prospect of Adam asking me to the ball.

"So anyway," Brooke continued, and I pulled my focus back to the matter at hand. "There's… there's this boy I'm thinking about asking to the ball."

I sat up a little straighter, excited even as she blushed all the way down to her neck. I followed her gaze when her eyes drifted over to a point over my shoulder, and I saw Remus sitting at a table alone with a huge stack of books in front of him, writing rapidly on a scroll of parchment. A grin spread across my face so widely that it was already beginning to hurt my cheeks.

"Really, now?" I whispered, turning back around. "And… you don't want him to ask you instead? You know, drop a few hints here and there?"

She shook her head with a light laugh. "No, I don't think he'd get it, to be honest."

I laughed along with her. It was true; Remus was brilliant, but sometimes he didn't notice the fine details.

"So what do you think I should do?" Brooke asked, a crease of worry erasing her smile.

I tapped my quill on the table. "Well, I can't say I have experience being the instigator in this type of situation, but…" I shrugged my shoulders. "I would say, just take a chance. Ask him. I don't think he'll say no."

Brooke seemed to have a huge weight taken off her shoulders. "Really?"

"Really." I nudged her arm. "Go on."

She stood up shakily, but I had to give her credit for lifting her chin and not hesitating to walk to Remus's table.

Except she didn't go to Remus's table. No, she went slightly to the left of that area, leaving me totally confused as to what she was doing. But then I saw the two boys standing in that very aisle where Brooke was and my heart sank. She hadn't been talking about Remus at all.

Brooke tapped on the taller boy's shoulder. He turned around, and I felt every drop of blood drain from my face.

Oh no. No, not him! Merlin, of all the boys in Hogwarts, why did it have to be–

"Sorry I'm late," Lily said breathlessly, sliding into the seat across from me and effectively blocking my view. My eyes met hers and she frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Lily," I whispered. "I think…"

"What?" she asked, leaning in.

"I think I just told Brooke to ask Regulus Black to the ball."

"You did what?!"

I didn't stay long enough to explain. I jumped out of my seat so suddenly that my chair slid back a few feet with a loud screech. This is not happening, this is not happening, I repeated to myself as I hurried over to Brooke. Or, at least, the aisle right next to her.

So focused was I on trying to hear what was going on that I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. I ran smack into a solid mass, an apology already on my lips. But a hand flew out and clamped itself over my mouth, the other hand gripping my shoulder to keep me in place. I looked up and Sirius Black was there, looking more grave than I'd ever seen him. He nodded his head to the bookcase separating our aisle and the one Brooke and Regulus stood in.

"…did you just ask me?" That was Regulus's voice. Another voice, the one belonging to Regulus's companion, snickered. Oh no.

Brooke didn't answer right away, and when she did it was in such a soft and frail voice that I couldn't hear every word, but got the idea of it. "I-I… ball… with m-me?"

Regulus did the worst thing he ever could have done: he laughed. Like she was joking. I flinched, and the hand that gripped my shoulder squeezed a little tighter. The frown on the other Black's face deepened. Regulus's laugh wasn't necessarily loud, but I felt it resonate around me. It was a cold, lifeless sound that sent chills up my arms.

"What would possibly give you the idea that I would go to the bloody ball with you, Mudblood?" He was chuckling again, but it died away. The silence that fell was worse than his laugh had been. His voice had gotten much lower when he spoke again. "One day, your sort won't even be able to walk next to wizards like me. Why?" Another long pause. "Because you, Mudblood, are nothing. Just another pest to be exterminated."

I heard the sound of heavy feet walking away, but only one pair. Brooke, who I'd come to notice was light on her feet, stayed put. I tore myself away from Black's grip and rushed over to the next aisle. Brooke stood stock still, arms crossed protectively over her chest and looking like she was trying not to cry.

I strode over and pulled her into a hug. "Oh, Brooke, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you meant… I shouldn't have–"

"It's not your fault," she sniffled. "I should have known better. I–" A choked sob cut off her words.

A familiar hand fell on Brooke's shoulder. "It'll be all right," said Black. I didn't even know he'd followed me. "I promise, Brooke, it's going to be okay."

With that, he strode out of the library with an expression that said he was on a mission, leaving me to comfort my heartbroken friend.

Please leave a review and tell me what you think! :)

~AMQ