Val had been avoiding everyone for the past few days. After the date with James, she didn't really care to face him so outside of classes, she was basically a ghost.

James had been making an effort to talk to her but no matter what he did, she just ignored him. She stopped going into her room and resumed her stay in the Room of Requirement so she could easily ignore his efforts without feeling awful.

She laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was a Saturday meaning no classes so she had no idea what to do herself.

The door to the room opened and she immediately grabbed her wand. She held it out to the intruder but relaxed when she saw that it was Sirius. He closed the door and entered the room, taking a seat next to her.

"At first I thought James was overreacting because the date didn't go as well as he hoped it would but he was completely right," Sirius concluded, not bothering with a greeting. "What in the bloody hell is going on with you?"

"Nothing," she shook her head in response as she sat up. "I'm just tired is all."

"This is more than that."

"Nothing is going on."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying," she replied.

"I've known you long enough that I can tell when you're lying."

She snorted, "You don't know me."

He shook his head, "What's going on?"

"I already told you," she replied, "Nothing is going on."

"Please, Val," he rolled his eyes. "I know you and this isn't you."

"Get out of my room," she requested.

"Need I remind you this is school property and you're not even supposed to be in here," he replied simply. "Talk to James. He's a wreck."

"He'll live."

He stood up from the bed and faced her, "Talk to him." He then left the room without another word.

Val fell back on her bed with a sigh. What has she gotten herself into?

She ultimately decided to leave her room. Sirius was right, she needed to talk to James. She hadn't the slightest clue as to how long she had waited before getting up but she knew it was late. The corridors were virtually empty.

She made her way to Gryffindor common room, running through all the things she could possibly say. She had a lot of things to explain.

After saying the password, the portrait swung open before she entered. She froze upon seeing James and Lily sitting in the window. It was like a severe case of deja vu, her mind going back to the night when she found them kissing by the stairs.

Val's heart dropped in her chest and it felt as though she was rendered incapable of breathing. She took a step back as James pushed Lily away. He turned to look at her and his eyes widened.

"Val, wait!" he tried but she had already taken off and left the common room.

She hadn't even known where she was going. It felt as though that any place she could think of vanishing to, he knew about. Everything was tainted by him. Everything.

This pain was worse than any pain she had ever experienced. Losing Marlene as a friend. The stupid banners in the Gryffindor common room. The death of her parents. None of it seemed to be able to compare to how she felt right now.

Because James had said he would never leave her. Never hurt her. And that's exactly what he just did.

She skidded to a stop in front of the Room of Requirement. She paced back and forth quickly, I need a place to hide from James Potter.

The door appeared a moment later and she let out a breath of relief before swinging it open and entering quickly.

"Val!" she could hear but it was too late. The door closed and sealed shut before he could get to her.

She let out a gasp as she leaned against the wall. It hurts, she concluded. It hurts too much.

Val slid to the ground, resting her head in her hands. She was stupid. So incredibly stupid. Why had she thought that he actually wanted to be with her? That this was anything more than an attempt at getting Lily's attention. An attempt that worked.

She dug the heels of her palm into her eyes. She was a pawn in his stupid plan and she did exactly what he needed her to do with no resistance. Merlin she was so stupid.

James got up from where Lily had been sitting next to him and started across the room. Sirius stopped in front of him, "Let me talk to her." James opened his mouth to protest but decided against it.

As Sirius left the room, James turned to face Lily. She stood up, "I thought you two broke up."

"We didn't," he answered simply. "Although I'm sure now it's a done deal."

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"Are you?" he inquired and she frowned in response. He placed his hands on his hips as he shook his head, "I realize that I've probably been very confusing in regards to my feelings towards you in the past year but I'm with Val now."

"I know it wasn't real," she blurted out.

He froze, "What?"

"I know that it was some weird elaborate plan to make me jealous," she explained. "In hindsight, it worked."

"How do you know that?" he asked. There was no point in trying to deny it now.

"Peter told me."

He huffed. Of course it was Peter. How did Peter even know? Who else knew?

"It was," he sighed. "At first." He closed his eyes for a moment, "We were faking it until break."

"Oh," she replied and her eyes filled with tears. "Oh, god, James, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"No, this is my fault," he ran a hand over his face. "I've made so many mistakes these past few months...It hasn't been fair to either of you."

"Go get her," Lily suggested with a slight frown. "Before it's too late."

Sirius stood outside the wall that the Room of Requirement was. She wouldn't have used a room that anyone else had been in. It would have been a different one.

He raked his mind for whatever possible room she could have mustered up. He paced back and forth and to his relief a door appeared.

He opened the door and entered, immediately looking around for the girl. The door closed behind him and he looked down to find her on the floor with her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking indicating that she was crying.

"Val..." he trailed off and his head snapped up.

"Get out."

He ignored her and knelt down in front of her, "Val, I promise you it wasn't what it looked like."

"I'm not an idiot, Black," she sneered. "And I don't care to listen to you defend your friend's actions."

"Give him a chance to explain."

"There's no point," she shook her head. "It doesn't matter anyway, I'm leaving."

"What?"

"I'm going to America," she explained as she stood up. "My Aunt lives there."

"You're leaving?" he gaped. "For how long?"

She shook her head, "I'm not coming back."

He opened his mouth but it closed again. He repeated the action like a fish out of water, "You can't leave."

"I can and I am," she countered. "By tomorrow I'll be gone and James can do whatever he desires to do with Lily."

"It wasn't like that-"

"I don't want to hear it," Val shook her head. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow before I leave. Otherwise, it was nice getting to know you Black. Feel free to write if you'd like." And then she walked out.

That night, Val had sent a letter to her Aunt letting her know that if it was okay with them, she'd like to stay with them until she could afford a place of her own. That morning she got a letter in return saying she was welcome to stay as long as she pleased.

She had her things packed before lunch time. She didn't have much so it truly didn't take long. She picked up the last thing on her night stand which happened to be the copy of Alice in Wonderland that James had gotten her for her birthday.

She contemplated returning it but decided against. This whole thing may have meant nothing to him but it meant something to her and she couldn't just throw it away. She placed it on the top of luggage and zipped it closed.

"You're leaving?" someone asked and Val turned to find Marlene standing there.

"I have family in America," she explained simply as she pulled her luggage off her bed. "Figured it's better to be there then here with everything going on."

Marlene pressed her lips together, "I heard what happened. With Lily and-"

Val put her hand up, "I'd rather not talk about it." She made her way to the door.

"I hope you can find a way to be happy," Marlene said and Val stopped in her tracks. "You deserve it."

Val looked over her shoulder, "You too."

She left the room quickly. She just needed to get out and be done with this place.

"You're really going?" Remus asked as she descended the stairs. She placed her bag on the couch with a sigh. "Sirius told me what happened and-"

"You won't be able to talk me out of it," she interrupted him. "Don't bother."

He frowned, "I won't."

They were both silent for a moment before she spoke up, "Goodbye, Remus."

He smiled sadly, "Bye Val."

She turned to grab her bag but stopped when she saw James heading down the stairs. He looked up and his eyes locked with hers. "Val," he managed to get out.

She pursed her lips together but said nothing. "I swear, she kissed me," he explained quickly, crossing the space between them.

"James-"

"Ask Sirius, he was there-"

"James-"

"I told her to stop but she wouldn't and-"

"James!" she exclaimed, finally getting the boy to shut up. "It's okay."

He grew puzzled at this, "It is?"

She nodded, "We all knew you and Evans were going to end up together."

"Hang on-"

"Really, it's okay," she insisted. "It doesn't matter anyway because I'm moving."

He faltered, "What?"

"Turns out my mom did have some living family," she explained and he watched the girl, confusion swirling in his brain. "I'll be finishing up seventh year at Ilvermorny with my cousins."

"You're moving to America?" he gaped. "That's like 6000 something kilometers away."

"There's really nothing left for me here," she reminded him. It pained her to say it but she wasn't going to let him know that it hurt her. "My house is gone, my parents are dead. You have Lily."

"I don't have-"

She waved her hand, cutting him off, "James, it all worked out, didn't it? No point fretting about it."

"No, this isn't-"

"I actually have to get going before I miss my flight."

"You leave today?" he asked, his face dropping even more if that were possible.

She nodded, "Yeah, they wanted to meet me as soon as possible." Which wasn't a complete lie. They did want to meet her as soon as possible but she had known this for a week now.

"Right..." he trailed off, shaking his head slightly. "That, um, that makes sense."

"Maybe I'll see you around sometime?" she asked and he nodded, running a hand through his hair.

He wanted to yell at her and beg her to stay but something told him there would have been no point. Val sent him a tight smile and a wave which he returned.

She turned around with a shaky breath and made her way to leave the common room, finally letting a tear slip down her face. She had been hoping that he would have asked her to stay. That he would have told her how much he loved her and needed her here with him. But he hadn't.

So she left the boy behind, not bothering to look back. Only, if she had, she would have seen that the boy had tears of his own and that he wasn't sure how he was going to manage anything without her.