Al and Felicity left after dinner, saying that they were going to a party at a friend's house. Serena was shocked that Al was leaving her and Sirius alone in the Ashby house, but figured Felicity had something to do with it. "See you in the morning," Al said to his sister.

"Nice to meet you," Sirius said to Felicity.

The older pair left, leaving Serena and Sirius in the living room. Serena flopped down on the couch. "So are you going to tell me what's going on?" Sirius asked her, sitting down next to her.

"What are you talking about?" Serena asked, resting her head on Sirius' shoulder.

Sirius sighed. "Can you ever just volunteer information? Why do I always have to drag it out of you?" he asked resignedly.

Serena sat up, crossing her arms. "I don't know what you want to know about," she said in an irritated tone.

Sirius looked like he didn't believe her. "Lily. Are you girls in a fight or something?"

Serena ran a hand through her hair. "Not really. Well, I don't know. We're just generally annoyed with one another."

"Why?"

Usually an interview like this would annoy Serena (Sirius was right – she never openly shared what was going on with her), but Sirius looked like he genuinely wanted to help her get over this thing with Lily. Serena tried to decide how much to tell him.

"Well," she started. "Remember when I went over to Lily's the other day, and after you guys left we were talking about my fight with Madison?"

Sirius nodded, so Serena continued. "Madison was pissed that she was the last one to know and honestly, she was being a bitch. And it's not like I was going to just sit there and take it! But Lily thinks I was too mean to her. Which is not fair, because Madison was saying mean stuff to me as well."

"So you're mad Lily didn't take your side," Sirius summarized.

"Yes," Serena replied.

She laid her head on Sirius' shoulder again. She knew she was pouting, but she couldn't help it. "Lily is my best friend," Serena added.

Sirius put his arm around her. "I'm on your side," he offered.

Serena smiled. She leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Thanks."

There was silence for a moment before Sirius asked, "What did Madison say to you?"

But Serena shook her head. "I don't want to get into it. It was stupid."

She climbed into his lap and positioned herself so that she was straddling him. When she looked at Sirius' face, he raised an eyebrow and grinned. "And just what do you think you're doing, Miss Ashby."

Serena kissed him with everything she had, then suddenly stopped and pulled away. "Having my way with you, Mr. Black," she replied, finally answering his question.

"Oh. All right then."

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"I still don't know why you were so upset with me," Lily told Serena the next day.

"Are we really going to keep rehashing this? I told you, I felt like you were taking Madison's side over mine."

"I was just trying to get you to think about things her way so that you two could make up," Lily explained.

Serena sighed. "Look, we've talked about this, ok? And you and I are fine now. I know I have to make up with Madison, but I'm not ready to yet."

Serena and Lily were at Serena's house. It was morning, and early that evening was Lily's sister Petunia's wedding. Lily had come over and given Serena a tux for James. Serena was heading over to James' later to help him get ready for the wedding, as he was Lily's date for the event. Serena's ex-boyfriend had been Muggle-born, so she knew plenty about attending Muggle functions. Lily had tasked her friend with making sure James was attired appropriately, as Lily would be busy getting herself ready during the day – not to mention helping her mother and sister with all the last-minute details. "All right, all right," Lily said, holding up her hands in surrender.

Serena cracked a smile. "Come on, you better get going. Sounds like you've got a lot to do today."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. All so that my sister can marry a terrible man."

She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Serena? I need you to tell James something for me."

Serena could sense the serious note in her friend's voice. "What is it?" she asked.

"Can you just remind him to behave?"

Serena gave a little laugh. "He's not that immature, Lily. What do you think he's going to do?"

But Lily didn't smile. "I mean it. I talked to him about it before, but…you know how my sister is. She doesn't want to talk about our world; she wants to pretend that everything's normal. But I don't know what she and Vernon have been telling people about me to explain my absences from home. No matter what anyone says about me, even if it's insulting, I don't want James going off on them."

Serena stared at her friend. "What do you think Petunia's been saying?"

Lily shrugged. "I have no idea. When we were younger, she told people I went to a school for 'troubled' girls."

Serena looked skeptical. "Really? And people believed it? What about your parents?"

Lily looked sad. "My parents just pretend they don't know what's going on. Look, you're right, I do have to go. Just remind James, ok?"

Serena nodded. "All right."

She gave her friend a hug. "It's going to be fine, you know."

Lily nodded. "'Bye Serena."

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"James! Hold still," Serena admonished him.

She, Sirius, and James were in James' bedroom. Serena had instructed James on how to wear the different articles of Muggle clothing and was now attempting to tie his tie. Sirius was lounging on James' bed, entertaining himself by watching them. Every time Serena managed to tie James' tie, he would complain that he couldn't breathe and would undo it. Now, knowing what was coming, he kept fidgeting and making it harder for Serena to accomplish her task. "Where'd you learn how to do this, anyway?" James asked, grimacing as he felt the noose tightening once more.

"My ex-boyfriend's father was the French Muggle Prime Minister, so he had to go to a lot of Muggle functions where you had to dress up," Serena said distractedly, concentrating on her task at hand. "I went with sometimes."

At her words, James stopped fidgeting and glanced in the mirror. He could see Sirius, on the bed behind him, suddenly paying close attention to James and Serena's conversation. "Prime Minister?" James asked.

"It's the Muggle version of the Minister of Magic. Henri's father ran the French Muggle government. Done!" Serena said triumphantly.

James looked at himself in the mirror. "And don't you dare undo it," Serena warned him.

He scowled at her, but then his eyes shifted and Serena saw him and Sirius exchange a look. "What's going on?" she asked, turning around to face her boyfriend.

"What?" he asked nonchalantly.

Narrowing her eyes at him slightly, Serena turned her attention to James once again. "You look very Muggle-like," Serena said approvingly.

She frowned when she saw James pick up his wand and put it in his pocket. "I don't think you should bring that," she said.

"I'm not leaving home without it," James said stubbornly.

Bollocks. What should I do? Lily didn't give me any instructions about whether or not James is allowed to bring his wand.

"Voldemort is out there, Serena. There's no way I'm going anywhere without my wand," James said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Fine," Serena acquiesced. "But there's something else I need to remind you about."

James looked like he knew what she was going to say, but he crossed his arms and asked her, "What?"

Glancing over at Sirius, she looked back at James and said, "You need to remember to behave – no matter what."

James and Serena locked eyes, and Serena stared at him calmly. James could tell that Lily had told her what might happen at the wedding. "I'll remember," James finally said grudgingly.

"Good," Serena said brightly.

She went over to James' bed and jumped up, landing on Sirius. He let out a groan. "This is a huge bed. Couldn't you have landed somewhere else?" he complained.

"Fine," Serena said, making sure to elbow him in the ribs as she rolled off of him.

"Ow," Sirius whined.

He lunged and started to tickle her. "You are not getting away with that."

Serena started screeching with laughter, which caused Sirius to start laughing as well, before James shouted, "Oy! Get out of my bed!"

Sirius and Serena both sat up. "I have to go, and I am not leaving you two here. I have to sleep there, you know. Go desecrate someone else's bed."

"You're no fun," Sirius said to his friend, standing up and pulling Serena up by the hand.

"No kidding. Don't be such a prude, James," Serena added.

James rolled his eyes. "Ha ha, very funny. Now leave."

"Don't forget to behave," Serena said.

She and Sirius Disapparated, arriving at Sirius' apartment. "Why did you keep telling James to behave?" Sirius asked, following Serena as she made her way to his kitchen.

"Because Lily told me to remind him."

"She thought he would be rude to her family?" Sirius asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Not exactly," Serena said, her voice muffled as she rooted around in Sirius' refrigerator. "Merlin's beard, you really have no food in here. What do you eat?"

"I think there's an apple in the bottom drawer. Then what, exactly?"

Serena opened the drawer, found the apple, and closed the refrigerator, turning around to face Sirius. "Just…she thinks Vernon or someone might insult her, and she doesn't want James to make a big deal out of it."

Sirius shook her head. "I know I shouldn't be one to talk, but Lily's family sounds like a bunch of jerks."

Serena shrugged. "Her parents are nice," she said, taking a bite of the apple.

Sirius was silent as Serena made her way to his living room and curled up in an armchair, still munching on the piece of fruit. He wanted to ask her about the French guy she had mentioned before, but he didn't know how to bring it up. His curiosity got the better of him, though, so he blurted out, "Who's Henri?"

Oh, great. I was really hoping that we wouldn't have to have this conversation, Serena thought.

It's your fault. You're the one who mentioned him to James earlier, said another voice inside her head. You knew Sirius was there.

I was distracted! Serena told the voice defensively.

Well, you better quit talking to me and answer him, he's looking at us strangely, the voice advised her.

Serena shook her head to clear it. "You heard what I said before," Serena said. "I dated him when I lived in France."

"A Muggle?"

"No, his father was a Muggle," Serena corrected. "Henri went to Beauxbatons too."

Sirius didn't say anything, just looked at her. Serena sighed inwardly, knowing he was waiting for her to tell him the whole story. "I met Henri when I first came to Beauxbatons, but didn't start dating him until a year later. So, at the start of fifth year. We were friends first, then both somehow ended up liking each other. I told you awhile ago I'd only ever had one other relationship."

"Why'd you break up?" Sirius asked.

His face was expressionless and his tone neutral. Add that to the fact that Sirius seemed to have a jealous nature, and Serena really didn't want to talk about this anymore. But she continued anyway, knowing that Sirius would just get mad at her if she didn't. "We broke up about…maybe two months before I started at Hogwarts. I just didn't have the same feelings for him. I mean, neither of us did. I don't really know why, but they just kind of faded. Plus I was about to move to England…and I wasn't as sad as I should have been about leaving him. We're still friends, but I don't feel anything more than that."

Sirius nodded. "Is he the only other person you've slept with?"

Serena looked a bit taken aback by his question, but she answered it anyway. "Yes."

She didn't know why she felt so guilty. Serena had only had one prior sex partner; she was sure that Sirius had had more. Deciding it was her turn to raise some questions, Serena asked, "How many girls have you slept with?"

Sirius groaned, lying down on his couch and closing his eyes. "Come on, I answered your questions. Now it's your turn," he heard Serena say.

He cracked an eye open and saw Serena looking at him. "Come here," he said.

Serena got up and stood next to where he was lying on the couch. Sirius reached up and pulled her down on top of him, wrapping his arms around her. "No one mattered before you," he answered her.

"That's sweet, kind of, but it's also not an answer," Serena said, propping herself up on her elbows so that she could look at him.

"Sure it is," he responded.

Serena pretended to be annoyed, but the truth was that she didn't really care. She knew that what he said was true, and she wasn't a jealous person. "I'm the best, though, right?" she asked.

She began kissing his neck as she waited for his answer. Sirius put an arm behind his head as she took off his shirt and began kissing her way down his bare chest. "I don't know," he said teasingly. "You may have to prove it again."

"If that's a challenge, Mr. Black," she said, reaching down and stroking his most sensitive area, "you're on."

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The next day Al took Serena to Diagon Alley to get her schoolbooks. The end of summer was fast approaching, and he figured now was as good a time as any to start getting Serena ready for school. "I thought Felicity was coming?" Serena asked her brother as they made their way to the Leaky Cauldron.

"What, I'm not good enough for you anymore?" Al asked jokingly.

Serena punched her brother in the arm. "Just answer my question."

Al shrugged. "She has work or something. She might try and meet up with us later."

Serena and Al made their way to Flourish and Blotts. "Don't think that buying my books counts as my birthday present," Serena told her brother as they walked in.

"Why do you think we're going the day before your birthday? Gives me time to wrap them before tomorrow," Al teased.

"Ha ha, very funny."

Serena eyed her brother. "You better have gotten me something good."

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While Serena and Al were in Diagon Alley Sirius, Lily, and Felicity were at Sirius' flat. They had been planning a surprise birthday party for Serena for the past two weeks and were now going over all the last-minute details.

"Ok, let's run through this from the top," Lily said.

"Al is having breakfast with Serena," Felicity began.

"Wait, I thought you were going to be there too?" Lily interrupted.

Felicity paused, then said, "I was invited, but I don't know if I'm going to go."

"Why not?" Lily asked.

Felicity glanced at Sirius as if he should know what was going on, but he looked as curious as Lily did. "Birthdays…Al didn't really want to talk about it, but it just reminds the both of them about their parents."

It looked like it was the first time Sirius or Lily had been hearing about this, and Felicity didn't want to say anymore. It wasn't her place. If Serena hadn't mentioned it to her boyfriend or her best friend, it could be assumed that it was something she didn't want to talk about. "So breakfast," Felicity said again.

Sirius and Lily looked as if they wanted to say something, but they exchanged a look and decided to drop it. "And after that I'm taking her out for lunch," Sirius continued.

"After she leaves, Al and I are going to Lily's house and Alice, Isabelle, and Rosie are meeting us there. We're going to start getting stuff ready for the pool party."

Lily nodded. "Sirius is going somewhere in Diagon Alley for lunch with Serena so that she can meet me after, because I told her I want to go shopping. I'll leave you guys to finish everything up at my house, then bring Serena back to my house by six o'clock exactly."

"Everyone is supposed to arrive at Lily's house at five thirty," Felicity added.

"We'll all be waiting out back by the pool, ready to surprise her when you guys get there," Sirius finished.

The three of them smiled at one another. "I think we've done it," Lily said.

"What's the status on your friend Madison?" Felicity asked.

Sirius and Felicity both looked at Lily, who looked uncomfortable. "I don't know," she said. "Neither one of them is mad at the other one anymore, but neither one of them feels like making the first move. So…I guess we should just assume Madison isn't coming, especially since Remus isn't attending."

"All right," Felicity said.

She moved into Sirius' kitchen. "Are you two hungry? Do you want me to make you something for lunch?"

"I'm fine," Lily said.

"I don't have any food," Sirius answered.

Felicity opened his refrigerator. "Sirius!" she exclaimed, turning to open various cabinets. "Everything's empty!"

"Yeah…I sort of haven't found time to go grocery shopping…"

"You have to make sure you have a proper diet," Felicity lectured.

Lily bit her lip to keep from smiling as Sirius' face took on an expression that looked remarkably close to a pout. "I don't know about this stuff," he complained. "We had house-elves at home."

"Aw, poor little rich boy," Lily couldn't help teasing.

Sirius frowned at her. "Come on," Felicity said, pulling on her cloak.

"Come on, what," Sirius asked, not moving.

"We're going shopping."

Sirius looked at her as if she had sprouted another head. "What?" he repeated.

"I'm going to teach you how to go grocery shopping. Come on."

Sirius looked at Lily, who simply said, "Well, I better get going. Have fun!", then Disapparated.

Sirius then looked at Felicity, who was smiling at him encouragingly. "Oh, all right," he muttered, pulling on his cloak.

The two of them Disapparated.

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Later that day, Serena went to Sirius' flat only to find that James and Lily were there as well. "Hey guys," she greeted them.

She looked around. "Where's Sirius?"

"Unpacking groceries," James said with a grin, then looked at Lily, who had started to giggle.

Serena gave her friends a weird look before going into the kitchen. She saw Sirius unpacking various bags. "You went shopping?" Serena asked him.

Sirius turned around and saw her standing there. "Yeah, yeah, I finally bought some food."

He went over to Serena and gave her a kiss. "Did you get all your school stuff with Al?"

Serena hoisted herself up on the counter and watched Sirius go back to putting the food away. "Yeah. What'd you do today?"

Sirius shrugged. "Went grocery shopping. Saw James and Lily. You know."

"Speaking of," Serena said, lowering her voice. "Is it safe to ask about the wedding?"

"Yep. No incidents to report."

Serena let out a relieved breath. "Good."

She grinned at him. "I'll let you get back to your groceries, Mrs. Black."

Serena ignored Sirius' glare and made her way back to where Lily and James were sitting. "So how was the wedding?" she asked.

James' face took on a slightly annoyed expression, and Lily shrugged. "It was fine," she said. "Vernon's entire family avoided James and I the whole time, but I think that was probably a good thing anyways. His sister Marge is as terrible as he is. And what's nice is that Petunia stressed out my parents so much with all of this that they've decided to go away for a week. They left this morning."

"Oooh, party at your place," Serena joked.

Both Lily and James smiled as well, but they both had a funny look in their eyes. Serena was about to ask them what was going on when Sirius came in and asked them if anyone had heard from Peter all summer. Distracted from her thoughts, Serena and her friends settled in to wonder about the whereabouts of their friend.

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Serena woke up early on her birthday. When she was very young, she would run into her parents' room and jump up and down on their bed excitedly. After her mother died her excitement over things like her birthday had faded. Her father, determined that Serena would still enjoy her birthday, had reversed their roles and he had been the one who would barge into Serena's room early in the morning with a line of presents that he had bewitched following along behind him.

After her father had died too, Serena had reverted back to not getting any pleasure from events such as birthdays. Her first birthday after her father's death, Al had tried to make it a good day for Serena, but both of them could only think that their parents should have been there. Since then, Al hadn't bothered trying to make her happy on her birthday but had let her feel however she wanted to about them.

"Hey," Al said, coming in to his sister's room and seeing her lying in bed and clutching a pillow.

She looked up at him without moving. "Hey."

He sat down on her bed. "Happy birthday," he said, handing her a piece of cake.

She sat up and took the cake, then began eating it silently as she leaned against her brother. After awhile Al finally spoke. "Do you remember your eleventh birthday?" Al asked.

"Of course. It was when we were living in America, right before I went to school in Salem."

"Do you remember what Father said to you, after you opened all your presents?"

Serena thought back. She gave a small, sad smile. "He said that someday he'd give me the earrings he gave Mother the day I was born."

Al nodded, then reached into his pocket and drew out a box. He handed it to his sister. "Happy birthday," he said.

He gave her a hug, then left the room.

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When Serena answered the doorbell a little while later, she was surprised to find Sirius standing there with his broom. "You flew here?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Had this huge box with me," Sirius said.

Serena eyed it. "Is that my present?" she asked, closing the door behind him.

Sirius gave her a kiss. "Maybe. Happy birthday."

"Thanks…did my present just move?" she asked.

"You really have a one-track mind," Sirius said with a grin.

He nodded at the box. "Go ahead. Open it."

Eyeing the slightly shaking box warily, she opened the top and yelped as a ball of fur jumped out at her. Sirius laughed. "You got me a puppy?" she asked delightedly, watching the baby yellow Labrador run around excitedly in circles.

Serena sat down on the floor, and the puppy jumped into her lap. "He's three months old," Sirius said, joining her on the floor.

"What's going on?" Al asked, coming into the room to check on Serena.

He had heard some sort of commotion and Serena's yelp, and came into the front hall to find Serena, Sirius, and a puppy on the floor. "Sirius got me a puppy!" Serena exclaimed.

Al had to smile at her. Serena was holding the wriggling puppy in her arms and was beaming. Al could barely remember the last time he had seen his sister this happy on her birthday. He gazed thoughtfully at Sirius, who was looking extremely pleased with himself. Maybe he was good enough for his sister.

Serena barely even noticed that Al had left the room. "Do you like your present?" Sirius asked her.

She smiled widely at him. "I love him! And you!"

The easy smile dropped from Sirius' face. "What?" he asked in shock, needing to make sure he had heard her correctly.

"I love you," Serena repeated, looking almost surprised to hear the words come out of her mouth.

Sirius looked uncertain. He leaned in to kiss her, then stopped. "More than the puppy?" he asked lightly.

Serena grinned at him. "Well, I don't know about that…" she trailed off.

Sirius kissed her, hard. "I love you," he told her, surprised at how easy the words were to say.

Serena looked into his eyes, smiling a soft smile, and kissed him. She laughed when the puppy began licking first her face, then Sirius'. "I think he loves you too," Serena giggled.

If Serena had been paying attention to Sirius instead of the puppy, she would have seen the look of insecurity in his eyes. "What are you going to name him?" Sirius finally asked as the puppy grew tired of sitting with them and began running around in circles again.

Serena thought a moment, then grinned wickedly. "Eros."