Long Time Feelings - A Standard by BananaCarrot5

A/N: This has been stewing in my brain for months, and eventually I'll expand this into a full story, but it was the perfect time to write something like this given the prompts and restrictions we had for this round. Enjoy!

1972

Sirius, Remus, and James were sitting at a table in the library, working on their History of Magic papers. A few tables away, Amelia was teaching Lily some intricate Charm. From the look on Lily's face, she was understanding whatever Amelia was telling her.

"Sirius, you are doing it again," Remus whispered, poking Sirius in the arm.

Sirius froze and side eyed Remus. "You saw nothing," he hissed. However, he did continue writing his essay.

Sirius and his friends were currently in their second year at Hogwarts, and the target of his glances was Amelia Bones, known by her friends as Amy, the fourth year redhead and his newfound crush. Ever since Lily had started her study group to edge out her Slytherin classmates earlier in the year, Sirius had tried to convince her to let him join the group. It totally had nothing to do with the fact that Amelia was also in said group. Sirius had been persistent in trying to convince Lily to let him join them in the study group and finally, in November, she relented and let him in.

It had taken weeks for Sirius to try to even talk to Amelia, as she was considered the prettiest girl in Hogwarts (James would always disagree, but that was because he liked Lily). But finally, in December, a week before Christmas, Sirius found himself at a table with Lily on his left and Amelia across from him.

His insides turned to mush as he kept stealing glances at her, but he literally melted when she met his gaze and gave him a small smirk in response. The two started hanging out after that, and their shared interests in Law Enforcement helped open up many conversations between them.

1973

All was good until one day, when Sirius had decided to ask her out. She was a Fifth Year and he was a Third Year, and he was allowed to go to Hogsmeade Village. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had just played a game of Quidditch (Hufflepuff won), and everyone was leaving the stands to head back up to the school.

"Hey guys, head back up to the castle, I'll be there in a minute," Sirius told his friends. James and Peter started off and Remus raised an eyebrow before chuckling and running off to follow his friends. Sirius rolled his eyes in faux annoyance and ran to find Amy. She was with her friends, but that didn't really matter to him.

"Hey, Amy, can I talk to you?" Sirius called out. Amy turned; so did her friends, and nodded before turning back to tell her friends that she'd catch up. Her friends side-eyed Sirius, but shrugged it off and started walking back up to the castle.

"Hiya Sirius, what's up?" Amy asked when she reached him.

"Well, I'm finally allowed to go to Hogsmeade now, and there is a weekend coming up. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me, y'know, to show me around? Maybe go to the Three Broomsticks afterwards for a butterbeer?"

"Oh!" Amy looked surprised for a minute before she frowned. "I'm already going next week with my boyfriend. He asked me last week."

Boyfriend? What? Sirius wanted to hide and forget that she had uttered those words.

"Who?" Sirius asked, his voice quiet.

"Brandon," Amy replied.

Sirius wanted to hit him. Brandon Owell was some snobby entitled blonde bastard that had gotten jumpy after Amy had agreed to be his potions partner. He knew he was bad at Potions because she had complained to him about it. Brandon had taken Amy's goodwill as a sort of passage, lording over the other guys in her year that she talked to him instead of them. Sirius was stuck in his head for so long that Amy started talking again.

"He's nice but he's a bit out there. And I thought 'what the heck', he's a guy that I liked and he liked me, so we clicked. We're going around the different shops and whatnot. I'm sorry, Sirius."

Sirius must have mumbled an "ok, it's fine" line or something similar because he got himself out of there with as much dignity as he could hold onto.

It wasn't until three days later that Remus had asked about what happened. Over those three long days, Sirius had watched in agony every time that Brandon had spoken to Amy throughout the day. He saw how she smiled at him and how her eyes lit up a bit at his words, and the snooty looks that Brandon gave the other guys in her year when she wasn't looking. Remus already knew what had happened when he heard Sirius whispering to himself different ways to make Brandon disappear, either by a potion or by a spell.

Remus came up with the brilliant suggestion that he, James, Sirius, Peter and Lily all visit Hogsmeade as a group, going around to the different shops and sights to pull Sirius off of Brandon's demise, or at least his thoughts of it. On the day of the Hogsmeade adventure, the group geared up and explored Hogsmeade, occasionally with Sirius getting glances of Amy and Brandon. Thankfully, Sirius' friends kept him occupied, and he was able to enjoy Hogsmeade that day.

This is how it went for a couple of weeks; Brandon and Amy were a thing, and he would sulk in the shadows, his eye on them both. However, he noticed a strange pattern occurring between the two. Brandon would try to hold her or hug her and she would either just take it or try to push him off. She stopped laughing at whatever he said and started looking sad. Brandon kept getting more big-headed and wasn't seeing the signs of her growing disinterest.

"You know, if you are going to do anything worthwhile, you should do it now, before it's too late," Remus had told him.

Sirius nodded and came up with a plan.

~Three days later~

Sirius was lounging outside the library for one of Lily's regular study sessions, waiting for Amy. When she saw him, she smiled, but Sirius could see that she wasn't all there.

"Hey Sirius-" was all Amy got out before he grabbed her arm and yanked her to one of the more secluded areas in the library.

"You and me, we're going to have a talk," he stated simply.

Amy stood and looked between Sirius and her feet and waited.

"What's going on with you? And don't lie, I know you aren't doing well," Sirius started.

"Oh." Amy blew a strand of hair off her face and frowned. "Oh," she repeated.

"Brandon?" Sirius prompted, leaving his sentence open ended.

"He sucks!" Amy blurted out. "I thought he was good and all, but it turns out that he had too big an ego and kept taking it out on everyone else! Also, he ignored me when I asked him not to keep trying to hug me. I can only wonder what he would've done if he tried to kiss me!"

"Why haven't you broken up with him yet? You clearly don't want this," Sirius remarked. "I'd like to think I know you a bit, because I can see that your eyes don't light up with him anymore. You're sad and tired of it."

Amy slid down and sighed. "Hannah thinks I can't hold a boyfriend. She's right. Brandon was an easy guy. I should've been better."

"No," Sirius started. "You need to know yourself. You can't just go around dating because your friends think you can't. Date who you want. Date who you like, I don't know. Just not that loser."

"You really hate Brandon, don't you?" Amy asked, a ghost of a smile on her face.

"Yeah. He made you feel bad and that's not ok." Sirius was slightly surprised when Amy stood up and hugged him before pecking him on the cheek.

"Well, maybe I like you, Sirius," Amy whispered in his ear.

Sirius now faced a huge dilemma. Here Amy was, practically submitting to his longtime crush on her by kissing his cheek (Oh god, it was already a repeatable memory in his head!), but she already had a boyfriend. So, the thought of Brandon, as much as he hated him, got him to act.

"Amy, I like you and all, but you'll need to settle with Brandon if we are going to do this," Sirius stated quietly. Amy nodded in understanding and chuckled.

"You are noble, Sirius Black. I'll deal with Brandon. Thanks – thanks for the help and the words, really."

Sirius nodded, and tentatively hugged Amy again, who eagerly responded to the hug. "Anytime Amy, I'm always here."

Two days later, Amy broke up with Brandon. She had tried to do it in private, but Brandon thought she was going mad so didn't take her seriously. This led to her screaming at him in the middle of lunch in the Great Hall, where she very loudly and publicly broke up with him.

The next evening, she and Sirius met near the Library; the two started by studying, but ended up in a broom closet an hour later, both feeling what could happen and both looking forward to it.

"You know, I never did kiss a guy. As much as it looked like it, they only ever kissed me on my cheek," Amy confessed.

"I never kissed anyone. Wasn't really something I wanted to think about yet, not until I found someone I liked and who liked me," Sirius replied.

The two seemed to realize their close proximity to each other due to the lack of space. Amy smiled wide. "Can we kiss, Sirius?"

Sirius' heart rate skyrocketed, he was at a loss for words so he dumbly nodded and smiled, almost following her movements and met in the middle.

The kiss was amazing. It was everything Sirius dreamed of and more. For Amy, it was as if the guy had finally clicked with her vibe and everything was alright with the world. Neither wanted it to end. Sadly, due to the body's need for oxygen, the kiss was cut short. Amy kept her eyes closed with a wide smile on her face.

"That was… fantastic!" Amy gushed, grabbing Sirius' arms. Sirius also smiled widely.

"I liked that, you're amazing, Amy!"

"So, what does that make us?" Amy asked.

"Hmm. Do you want to be my girlfriend, Amy?" Sirius asked, smirking.

"Hmm, let me think… yes!" Amy exclaimed before pulling Sirius in for another kiss.

Sirius and Amy managed to keep their newfound relationship a secret throughout the rest of the year, going on several dates in Hogsmeade under the pretense of friends, until Sirius' fourth year around Christmas when James had picked up on Sirius' disappearances and caught the duo in a broom closet. Sirius and Amy coming out as a couple shook many of the students who were hoping to win over Amy's heart, as well as Sirius being threatened by Amy's two older brothers (in good faith). Sirius and Amy remained a couple until Amy left Hogwarts to join the DMLE alongside her brothers, but towards the end of the summer they got back together despite the struggles it would pose to them in the future.

The Houses Competition, Challenge Round 1

House: Ravenclaw

Class: Charms

Prompt: [Trope] Friends to lovers

Word Count: 1,878