Disclamer: is not, was not, and never will be mine! All credit to the incredible JK Rowling, the source of my life. I do own the plot and some of the characters though!

Sirius stood in front of the mirror as he desperately tried to assemble his dress robes into the correct manner. In a bid to show his family, the Black's, that he was now truly independent form them, Sirius had swayed from tradition and bought a set of very modern dress robes. He had not, however, anticipated that the style would be so different that he was completely at a loss as to how to wear the damn things. He stood by his decision to not wear the traditional Black family robes, and he had to admit that he looked good in these newly designed clothes. The inner waistcoat and trousers were a very dark grey, lined with silver to bring out his eyes. The shirt was a simple white; it was his tie that added the colour. Marlene had organised for Sirius to have a bowtie which perfectly matched Hermione's dress. James' matched Lily's, Evanna had arranged for her dress to match Xenophilius' and Marlene's matched no ones; she was still 'available'. Sofia had sent a matching bowtie to Benjy Fenwick, praying they could sort out their differences; she really did love him too much. Over the inner robes was a deep black cloak with a velvet collar. All in all, he looked incredibly sharp and handsome. If only he could work out how they fitted correctly... The cloak was the problem here. But he had to look good, it wasn't an option. Tonight he had to convince Hermione that they deserved a chance together, because he needed her to give in. She had kissed him, for Merlin's sake!

Hermione watched Sirius in amusement, as he appeared to check himself out in his mirror. His dress robes were not dissimilar to those worn in her time, particularly in her fourth year during the Yule Ball. He looked ten times better than any boy had done that day though; she didn't know how much longer she could resist her feelings for him. It was too late for her to deny them now, she was caught up in silver bindings. Taking a deep breath, she pushed his door open, "You look like you could do with a hand?". She giggled at his wide-eyed expression as he whipped around. "You're wearing your cloak wrong. That style means it fastens more openly, it looks like you haven't used the cloak clasp. The idea is that it shows more of your inner clothes". Hermione felt herself rambling as she gently picked up the cloak clasp from a chair and attached it to one side, and then fastened the cloak in the correct style.

Sirius wasn't paying attention to her rambling, even if he found her rambling to be a particularly cute habit. Her close proximity was making the room feel warmer by the second. Even after she had corrected his cloak, she left her hand lightly resting on his chest; it seemed she was also affected by their closeness. He placed his hand on the arm which was raised as she had the hand on his chest, and gently pulled her closer. He leaned his head down until they were nose to nose, and got the satisfaction of hearing her breath hitch. "Come on Mione, you know you want this. I would never hurt you" He whispered it, and even as her head finally rose and she met his eyes, he gently bore down and pressed his lips against hers.

As soon as his lips touched hers, her head was spinning. It was impossibly sweet, yet her knees still became weak and she clutched on to his shirt with both her hands now, as his arms snaked around her waist and she was grateful as they were now holding her up. Very quickly though, the intensity of the kiss knocked up a few notches and her toes curled; she had never been left feeling like this from only a single kiss. His hands travelled up her sides until one tangled in her hair at the bottom of her scalp, and the other ran fingers through her hair. He slowly backed her up until she was leaning against the wall and her hands, in turn tangled her hands in his previously perfect hair, pulling him closer. After what seemed like hours, she knew she had to stop because her willpower was nearly at an end. She couldn't have it this way, because she wasn't sure if she was ready for it. Her feelings for Sirius, quite frankly, scared her because they were too overpowering. She knew she had loved Ron, but even those feelings were nothing compared to what she felt for Sirius. She was not saying she was in love with him, she hadn't known him long enough for that. But her control lapsed simply because of his presence. Prime example being now of course, except this one wasn't a simple lapse. She'd completely lost her control. She had to stop now, for her own safety.

With her last remaining willpower, she pushed him away. Catching her breath, and cursing the blush that she could feel rushing to her cheeks, she sidestepped him. "I – I need to change, I should go and get ready and... And help Lily" she stumbled backwards out of his room before she turned and fled.

Sirius gritted his teeth and punched the bedpost in annoyance. Why couldn't she just top playing games? He had never given her any cause to believe that he would ever hurt her. He had waited for her for months, maintaining hope that she would finally come around. He had given her space and time, and at the end of that, it was her that initiated the first move by kissing him on Christmas day! Then she had spent days avoiding him or pretending like it never happened. It was one step behind the situation they had found themselves in after the Hogsmead incident. He'd been dancing around her feelings and misgivings for weeks, because he did understand where she was coming from. She was hurting from being ripped from her old life and thrust into something that was completely different to what she was accustomed to, and the people she loved were gone. He couldn't begin to understand how she felt, but he sympathised with her and wanted to help her. Yet she was resisting; something else was stopping her.

"And that, boys and girls, is an 'I've just been kissed' face. So tell us Mione, was he as good as the girls say?" Marlene grinned at Hermione, correctly interpreting her flushed cheeks and ragged breath.

"Shut up Marls, just stop. Please... Anyway, girls! It's time to get ready!". Hermione worked up a smile, but her excitement was not entirely faked. She couldn't wait for all of them to get into their dresses, they were the best purchases the girls had made in a while.

"Mione stop avoiding it now. Yes, we all understand that you've been through a lot of shit, but we can also all see how much you like Sirius, and likewise. He could and would make you so much happier than you are now!" Sofia stared at Mione in earnest, all the girls nodding along with her. They had been talking about this very subject before Hermione had returned, and they were all tired of keeping quiet while Hermione put her happiness at bay, hurting Sirius in the process.

"Guys... I understand where you're coming from and we'll talk about this later. But we genuinely need to get ready now, we've got just over an hour for all of us to get ready! We have got to look hot tonight" Hermione smiled weakly around at the group, before going to the wardrobe and taking out five dress holders and handing them out to the girls. Ten minutes later, all of the girls were successfully zipped up, with heels and jewellery donned. Hermione wore a light pink strapless dress with a silver beaded bodice, and a silk fitted skirt which stopped a little above the knee. This was paired with some open-toed silver high heels, diamante dangling heart earrings and a matching necklace. Sofia's dress was a turquoise halter neck, with a chiffon bodice, with gold embroidery coming from each side to meet in the middle at a point, both forming triangles. From there, the dress fell loosely and in a floating manner all the way to the floor. She wore pale gold heels with earrings of a similar colour shaped in infinity symbols, and a delicate woven necklace which hung just below her breasts. Marlene was dressed true to her style in a tight, bodycon deep purple dress with silver stilettos and hoop earrings with a simple silver chain. Lily, from Hermione's recommendation, was wearing a green dress which matched the colour of her eyes to perfection. It was a simple, one strapped dress which was not at all fitted, but held in a Grecian style by a silver studded belt matched with heels, earrings and a necklace. Evanna wore a dark grey dress which matched her eyes, it was a sheer silk dress which fell to her heels with a thigh-high split on the right side. She wore silver heels, with silver jewellery. Hermione donned a smoky-eyed eyed effect with her makeup, enhancing her eyes with subtle black eyeliner and lots of mascara. Creamy foundation gave her the perfect complexion, and added definition to her chocolate eyes. Marlene did everyone's makeup as well as her own, as it was her speciality. Sofia's makeup was simple, in that she refused any eye shadow from Marlene, and after putting up a fight she agreed. Instead, she wore bold and thick eyeliner, which made her eyes especially large, which was effective as with her Indian features, it made her especially beautiful. Marlene had smoky-eyes, thick eyeliner and blusher; the whole package just as Marlene would. Lily had barely any makeup at all, simple blusher and some mascara. After Marlene practically pinned her down in her chair, she managed to administer a small amount of eyeliner as well. All the girls envied Lily's perfect skin, so she didn't require any foundation at all. Evanna wore a similar makeup to Hermione, and five minutes before the ball was due to start, they were all ready. After taking many photos on Hermione's camera and vowing to develop them into moving photos later, the girls set off.

The boys lingered at the bottom of the stairs which led into the ballroom, waiting upon the girls. Baited breath was released, as first to descend was Lily. Everyone in close vicinity to James heard his strangled gasp as he openly gaped at the girl he had been after since first year; she was breathtaking. Next, Evanna skipped down the stairs, and was swept up by a yellow-wearing Xenophilius, who spun her around and kissed her forehead. Marlene practically strutted down next, revelling in the attention she felt from having nearly every man's eyes trailed on her. Sofia nervously walked down, concentrating on not tripping in an attempt to avoid looking to see if a certain dark haired wizard awaited her. Sirius was transfixed as he stared Hermione. She looked beyond gorgeous, the dress emphasised her perfect figure, and he did his upmost hardest not to gape; it would seriously tarnish his reputation. She really did look incredible.

Of course, things would not go as smoothly as they all had hoped.

A/N

Part 1 guys! Sorry, but I just couldn't fit it in to one chapter, with all of the development I have planned in the next part.

Thanks for the reviews! I haven't answered them in a while, so I'll adress them all in my next A/N :D

Love you all,

Rads x x