That November was a very cold one. Even though it was warm in Gryffindor's common room near the fire, it was freezing cold in the castle. Harry wished they could have heating, like his apartment with Sirius in London, but he knew it wasn't possible. Potions class was the worst, not just because of Snape, but because it was in the dungeons, which were even colder.

Midway through November, Harry had just finished with Care of Magical Creatures, numb with cold because those lessons took place outside. Harry told Ron and Hermione to go on to Gryffindor Tower. He wanted to say hello to Hedwig and make sure she was warm enough.

However, when Harry entered the Owlery, he was surprised to find Sirius in there, too, attaching a letter to a random owl's leg.

"Hi, Sirius," said Harry. "Who's that for?"

"It's for Barbara," Sirius explained. "She sent me a letter asking if I wanted to come home for a week or so during the holidays. I'm just letting her know I'd love to. I miss her terribly, you know."

"It seems like she misses you too," said Harry, as he watched Sirius finish tying the letter to the post owl's leg.

"Please place this letter in Barbara's letterbox," Sirius told the owl. It flew off. Then he turned to Harry and added, "Yeah, I guess she does."

"You know, that reminds me…" Harry frowned. "Remember the night right before school started, and you spent the evening with Barbara instead of me?"

"I really do feel bad about that," said Sirius.

"No, I was going to say that now I see why you did it," Harry told him. "I didn't know you were going to be a teacher at the school, remember? That was the last time you would see her until Christmas, and you were going to be seeing me every day. Now I get it."

"Thanks, Harry." Sirius smiled. "That is why we did it. She knew I was going off to Scotland."

"Everybody respects you a real lot, you know," said Harry. "Well, except the Slytherins, maybe…but the Gryffindors especially. Mostly because of your great lessons, but also because they saw you make the tourniquet on Halloween night, and capture a criminal to boot."

"Stupid idiot," said Sirius, shaking his head. "Trying to disguise himself as a common house pet."

"And you were right about something else, too," Harry continued. "I thought my friendship with Hermione was over, but then you told me it might not be, and she apologized."

Harry thought of that. It must have been his best Halloween night ever. Peter Pettigrew met his downfall on the same night he had tried to kill Harry's parents, and then being wrapped up in Hermione's arms…It was such a beautiful memory…

"Actually, Prongslet…" Sirius squeezed Harry's shoulder. "That reminds me. I wanted to have a word with you about something important."

"Yes?" said Harry.

"Come and sit over here," Sirius told him, sitting down on the floor and beckoning for Harry to join him. When Harry did, Sirius put an arm around his godson's shoulders.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Well…" Sirius sighed, and the gust of air made his bangs fly up a little. "Do you…do you ever feel like you and Hermione are, well…more than friends?"

"What?" Harry frowned. "N-No…I think we're just friends."

"Come on, now, Harry, I've known you've fancied her since the beginning of the school year," Sirius told him, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I haven't!" Harry told him defensively. As far as he knew, he'd never fancied a girl. He remembered watching Barbara and Sirius kissing on the hood of Barbara's car, and wondering what would drive a person to do something like that. He remembered wondering, the night he turned eleven, whether he would have a girlfriend by the time he was seventeen, and if he did, who it would be. But he hadn't known Hermione then.

"Oh really," said Sirius. "Tell me…how does it feel when she leans her head on your shoulder? When you give her a hug? When she smiles at you and says your name?"

Harry didn't even have to think about that.

"Weird," he said.

"Good weird or bad weird?"

"Wonderful weird," Harry breathed, leaning back into the wall.

"I rest my case," Sirius said serenely.

Harry suddenly found that his heart was beating very fast. What was this? What was Sirius saying? Sirius accused him of fancying Hermione—but wouldn't he know if he fancied a girl? He had watched couples on Aunt Petunia's soap operas, saying they were madly in love, even if they did break up less than five episodes later…These people knew they were in love. Harry had always assumed they felt a certain way, and then somehow they were convinced that this person was "the one" for them.

"B-But Sirius…" Harry spluttered. "I would know if I fancied a girl, wouldn't I?"

"Not if you've never had a crush before, you wouldn't," Sirius replied.

"I-I don't think I've ever had one," Harry told him. "I've never felt this way about anyone before."

"There you go," said Sirius.

"So you think…you think I'm in love? For real?"

"For real," said Sirius. "You had those feelings. I just don't think you realized what they meant."

"Oh God, it's true." Harry suddenly felt panic overtaking him. "Sirius, I-I don't want a crush!"

"Well, nobody wants a crush," said Sirius. "But at least now you know what's going on."

"I was so confused," Harry confessed. "I've got all these new feelings I can't explain…but I don't want them to stop, because they're good feelings…and only one girl can ever make them happen…I just wanted to talk to her all the time, be with her all the time. Just seeing her in the hallways gives me that weird jumping feeling in my stomach…But I didn't say anything, because it sounded too stupid."

Harry looked up at Sirius. On his face he wore a very kind smile.

"That's the way love is supposed to feel, Prongslet," he said. "It's not stupid."

"But if you knew," Harry asked, "why didn't you bring it up before now?"

"I guess I thought it was none of my business," Sirius told him, shrugging. "But the more I thought about it, the more I thought you ought to know."

Harry swallowed and leaned against Sirius. He had never been in love before. But apparently he was now, with the most wonderful girl he'd ever known.

"Why did it happen, Sirius?" he asked. "For my whole life, I've never loved anyone at all, not in that way, I mean. So…why now?"

"For the most part, because the right person finally came along," Sirius replied thoughtfully. "But also…I think you told me before that you were a little apprehensive about turning into a teenager, didn't you? When you turned eleven?"

"Yeah, I said that." Harry stared down at the ground; he still was really dreading it.

"Well, it's going to happen anyway," said Sirius, putting one hand on Harry's shoulder. "You know that, don't you? Getting these romantic sorts of feelings is a big part of growing up."

"It is?" said Harry.

"Yes, of course," Sirius told him. "It's part of going through puberty."

This was news to Harry.

"But I thought…"

"What?"

"I thought it was about, you know…becoming a man," Harry told him hesitantly. "You know…I thought it meant getting taller. Much hairier, too, I guess. And I know my voice is supposed to drop. As for girls…" Harry thought of Holly. "I think it means they get breasts."

Sirius's "trying-not-to-laugh" face was definitely back.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, kid," he said, ruffling Harry's hair. "And you can bet that includes thinking about girls in a different way. You didn't know that?"

"No," Harry told him, "I didn't."

"Well, then, I'm glad someone had the sense to tell you." Sirius put head on his knees and glanced at Harry. "I hope I didn't freak you out or anything. I was just trying to clear up some confusion."

"You did," Harry reassured him. "Loads of it."

"So…are you okay?" Sirius asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Harry. "I just need to think about this."

Slowly, he stood up, and so did Sirius.

"I'll see you at dinner, then, I suppose," Sirius told him. "And we're going to have our next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson soon, so I guess I should be planning that, too."

They had already had several interesting lessons after the first; at the second meeting, they had decided to meet biweekly.

"Right," Harry agreed as he left the Owlery, still in shock. "See you at dinner."

…

When Harry got up to his dorm, he found it quite empty except for Ron, who was taking a nap under three flannel blankets. When Harry walked in, he awoke with a grunt.

"Oh…good afternoon, Harry," he mumbled sleepily.

"More like good evening," said Harry, then paused. "Listen, Ron…have you ever fancied a girl?"

"No," said Ron. "Why? Have you?"

Silence. Harry thought about it. Should he tell Ron? But then he shook his head.

"I haven't," he lied. "I was just wondering."

Harry wasn't sure why he hadn't shared his news with Ron; he just felt that this time, he should keep his feelings a secret.