First of all, my heart goes out to all the victims of Paris and Lebanon. May god be with all of you, please stay safe.

Chapter 32

"Um," I stared blankly. "I'm not entirely sure how to answer your question. Actually, I have absolutely no idea how to answer your question. What is it you want, exactly?"

The girl standing before me rolled her eyes, staring at me as if I was an incompetent child. For someone who was five foot one with bright, really unflattering orange hair and a baby face - she was surprisingly intimidating. Her blue eyes bore into mine, she straightened her back once more and repeated in a bored tone.

"I want to know - no, I need to know why. Why are you going out with Sirius Black?" she said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at me - her behaviour sort of reminded me of how policemen act when they interrogate a criminal.

"Because we want to?" I said, bemused.

She did not seem to like my answer.

"No, but like - how, what did you do? Did you use a love potion? Whcih one was it the Gregory's formula or the Andrew Mackaby?" she said, listing off names I had never heard of in my life.

I wasn't sure whether she was serious or not, half of me wanted to laugh in her face while the other half wanted to punch her in the face. This girl looked about thirteen, fourteen at best. It was hilarious how she sounded so upset over the fact Sirius and I were together, but I noticed the pin on her blouse which was an obvious indication of why she was talking to me. The pin clearly stated in big, bold letters:

The Sirius Black Fan Club!

Join Now!

Ah, the infamous Sirius Black Fan club. I was their sworn enemy for years under false assumption that I was his secret girlfriend. They were all extremely irritating, but they seemed to be clairvoyant because they turned out to be right! This girl was probably trying to get information out of me to report back to the fan club. I really felt like laughing now, I sometimes forgot about how popular Sirius was with the ladies.

"Hello? Are you even listening?" The girl said, looking at me strangely. "I knew she was mental." she muttered to the side, even though their was no on standing there.

I had to quickly come up with something that would not only infuriate the whole fan club but would also satisfy my urge to slap this girl in front of me.

"I didn't use any love potion. Look, the reason we're together is because we like each other. Simple as that, baby." I shrugged, "There's nothing you can do about that so don't bother trying to start a nasty rumour or trying to come up with a diabolical plan to end our relationship." I said and I turned around, beginning to walk. I had a class to get to.

"But why you?! What do you have that we don't?" She exclaimed loudly making me pause. "Winnie!"

I smirked, "I have Sirius Black." That should do it.

I could practically feel her rage from across the hallway, along with her loud scream of course.

I glanced at my watch, I had almost ten minutes to get to my next class. That meant I had enough time to scan the hallways for my friends or maybe to cry about my future, the first option seemed a lot more inviting. I slipped through the hallways with ease, lazily saying hello to my fellow classmates. I caught a glimpse of brown hair, familiar brown hair. Moony.

But before I could go say hello, my name was called out from behind me.

With his warm brown eyes, kind features and round face. It was difficult not to miss Frank Longbottom. He waved at me and smiled when he saw that I had stopped for him, he quickly made his way towards me to give me a hug.

A smile made it's way across my face, "Frank!" I said, hugging him back. "It's good to see you, how've you been? How's the wife - sorry, future wife. How's Alice?" I said an excited grin on my face.

He threw his head back in laughter, "You're going to ask about Alice, but shouldn't I be asking you about Sirius?" he said, raising his eyebrows at me, a smile on his face.

I tilted my head to one side, "Touché, Longbottom, touché." I said nodding as we began to walk, it was a good thing we both had herbology together. "I'm going out with him."

Frank laughed, "Yeah, I got that bit."

Honestly, I was tired of talking to people about my relationship with Sirius. Was there no important things going on in the world? Was our relationship more interesting than hearing about poverty, world hunger or death?

I nodded, "Oh good, that saved a lot of explaining then." I paused turning to him, "Basically, Frank - it's like this, you see - when you're older you start to like people, when they like you they go out on something called a date-" I said, jokingly.

Frank cut me off with laughter, "Okay, I get it. You don't want to talk about it, I respect that." He said, nodding.

I grinned, "Thank you for noticing. I think about a dozen people have asked me about Sirius today. So far I've gotten three death threats and one box of poisoned chocolates!" I mused, while we walked. That was only today, who knew what else awaited me. It was quite funny actually, how far they were willing to go for Sirius.

His eyes almost popped out of his eye sockets, "You got death threats? Yet, you're still dating him? Wow, you must really like him. Merline, if Alice got death threats I bet I'd never see her again." He said, sounding so shocked. This was nothing compared to the other things people had tried to do to me in the past.

As we got closer to the greenhouses behind the school, I could make out Sirius talking to the people around him. He suddenly made a funny face, making them all laugh - sort of like a trigger reaction. It was kind of mesmerizing actually. He looked so nonchalant, so at ease - like he could face the world right now with no problems whatsoever.

I shrugged, "Sometimes, it's worth it. For the right person," I said, smiling.

However his gaze was directed somewhere else, to the same crowd yet he was staring at Alice who was too busy striking up a conversation with Lizzie Diflberg to notice him. Frank smiled, his eyes still latched onto her.

"Yeah, I think so too."

Before I could retort the teacher cleared her throat, "Now everyone I want you all to pair up and to walk around the greenhouse and write down what you notice about these plants. The more detail, the better!" She said, beaming.

"D'you mind?" Frank said, ushering to Alice.

I shook my head. Who was I to stand in the way of true love? "Of course not, go ahead. Go to your other half, your twin soul, your eternal love -" I said, beginning to sprout romantic bullshit.

Frank stopped my short, "I think I get the picture, Winnie. I'll see you around," He said, gently touching my arm before walking over to Alice. Alice's face split into a grin when she saw him and I could see Frank light up like a christmas tree, it was all very cute and kind of made me want to cuddle them both very badly.

"Aren't they cute?" Sirius said from behind me. I didn't even need to turn around, the scent of his cologne hit me before he had the chance to say hello.

I nodded, "If they were cats, they would be my favorite cats. I would name them Tea and Milk because together they would make Milk tea which I love." I said, watching them with a somber smile on my face.

Sirius threw his head back in laughter, "You know if you were another girl this would've been the perfect time to say something romantically cheesy." He said, bumping his shoulder into mine.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, "Cats are romantically cheesy."

Sirius grinned, "Oh really? Cats are romantically cheesy? In what possible way?" he said, raising a brow at me.

I looked around to see if there was anyone looking at us, luckily for us everyone was too busy focusing on the vicious plants around the greenhouse. I quickly formed my hand into my cheetah paw and sliced the air with my claw.

"Don't even try to start a fight with me about cats, I will cut you." I said getting defensive while narrowing my eyes at him playfully.

He laughed, not even slightly intimidated. "Was that supposed to be scary?" He said, leaning towards me.

"No," I said a small frown on my face. I was kind of hoping that it was, but I forgot that this was the same guy who had abusive parents and fought with a werewolf once a month. "Only slightly."

Sirius pretended to study a plant when he saw the teacher approaching, once she left he turned to me and said "You know, Winnie. Dogs and cats hate each other." he said smirking.

I gave him a blank look.

"Wow, interesting discovery. How ever did you come up with this conclusion? This is groundbreaking stuff. I think I might have to alert the media." I said sarcastically, inspecting a plant.

He laughed, pulling me to the side. "Did you happen to forget what our animaguses are?" He whispered, still smiling. "Isn't that just weird?"

I nodded. "It's because we're so different, we're practically the same."

Sirius chuckled, "Yeah, that's probably it."

"Oh, were you trying to say that we're the opposite of each other? Because, I actually have a list of things we have in common." I said casually.

He gave me a strange look, "You do? Why?" he said, looking amused.

I shrugged, "I like making lists. I also have a list of favorite things to do in summer, a list of things I hate and also a list of James's favorite fruits. If you were wondering, it's mangos." I said grinning proudly.

Sirius laughed, giving me a fond smile. "This is the person I've chosen to love," He sighed. " Oh well, I guess you'll just have to do." he said jokingly.

My heart fluttered. "Yeah, well get used to it buddy." I said coolly, but I was very pleased to hear that. "You're stuck with me." I said, very happily.

"I don't think there's a better person to be stuck with. I mean, who else will make up poems about endangered animals and has a taste for peanut butter pizza sandwiches?" He said, taking a hold of my hand.

"Hey, you loved that poem." I said, pointing at him accusingly. "But, erm - thank you. That was sweet. Somewhat, I guess. Kind of. A lot. Em, cats?" I said, twisting a strand of my hair.

Sirius nodded, gravely. "Cats. Definitely cats." he then gave me a small smile, "But dogs..?" he tried. I noticed how he did not pressure me to say 'I love you too' because he realised I was still kind of uncomfortable with it. It was very considerate of him to acknowledge that and it was something that I wouldn't be forgetting any time soon.

I scoffed and shook my head. "Cats."

"All animals should be loved and taken care of equally?" He tried.

I shrugged, "Alright. I agree with that. Equality is always good."

Before Sirius could respond to me, the teacher shook her head at us. "Mr. Black and Ms. Powers unless you want to spend an hour in detention writing about the dangers of the Muldroot plant I suggest you quit chatting and start working! This isn't some sort of hangout cafe!" She said, pointing at us with her quill.

I sighed, "Alrighty, let's get to work." I said, grabbing a piece of parchment and actually getting to work.

"I heard my fanclub tried to get ahold of you." Sirius said, emulating me.

My eyes widened. "They did, how did you figure that out?"

Sirius's eyes darted to behind me where the same girl from earlier stood, "She told me. Apparently you're planning to break my heart and our relationship is a coverup for your real love towards Remus Lupin." He said, eyes twinkling with humor.

I gasped, "How ever did she find out!" I said, shaking my head. "My plan is now ruined, however will I get the attention of Remus Lupin now?" I said, a bored look on my face.

"Exactly. I knew that it only meant one thing. So, what happened? Was there any screaming of some kind? Tears maybe?" He said, scribbling something down as he studied a plant.

"Not really, she just demanded to know why or how we were together. She thought I used a love potion." I said, laughing.

Sirius's eyebrows shot up, "Really? Now that is interesting." He said, grinning. "You know, I kind of feel bad for them. My fanclub. It's hilarious of course, yet kind of sad if you really think about it."

I scoffed, "The only sad thing about your fanclub is how they terrorize whoever goes out with you."

He nodded, "Now, how can we fix this problem?" He said, tapping his finger against his chin. His face suddenly changed as an idea (I assumed) popped into his head.

"What are you planning?" I asked, confused.

Sirius tilted his head and pressed his lips against mine, kissing me gently. His hands slipped into my back and I could feel him smile into the kiss. The butterflies in my stomach were released and my body as usual, started to tingle - electricity traveled all around my body, even my fingers were buzzing. I could hear the teacher protest loudly.

"No!" I heard. It was the same screech the girl screamed earlier.

We pulled apart, I had to hide behind Sirius to conceal my burning face.

"That's it. Detention for both of you and five points deducted from both of you. Is this how you behave in a classroom? What is this disrespect? Do you not care about studying the art of herbology?" The teacher said looking extremely disappointed at both of us.

"Professor, are you honestly going to stand in the way of true love?" Sirius said, slipping his arm around my shoulder, giving the teacher an equally disappointed look.

The teacher snarled, "Shut it, Black." she said, rolling her eyes at him.

That was Sirius Orion Black for you.