PAAAAAADFOOOOOOT!!!

Sorry, just got a little excited there. In fact, these next three one shots have me very excited because they're linked. Anyway, this was requested by httpharrington who asked for a Padfoot one shot with a sweet Hufflepuff. Hope you all enjoy it ~

It was a normal Monday morning and I had the misfortune of waking up late on the morning following one of the house parties. Amongst the students, Hufflepuff house parties were legendary but Merlin, they could get out of hand sometimes. For some reason, I always ended up with the absolute pleasure of tidying up once the party finished but that also included guiding all of my drunken housemates back to their dorms. Maybe it was because I was one of the few members of the house that didn't drink? Either way, if I had to help bloody Diggory up the stairs one more time I was going to hex the twat.

But because I'd woken up late, I ended up having to practically run to my potions classroom. By the time I reached the room, my friends were already seated at our normal desk. I intended to go and join them, but my usual seat was already occupied by one of the Gryffindor girls. It seemed like she'd had a falling out with her dormmates and had decided to take my seat. Sharing a frown with my friends, I looked around the room before finding an empty desk at the back of the room.

Taking a seat at the table, I pulled my stuff out of the desk when someone decided to settle down beside me. Glancing up curiously, my eyebrows rose in surprise when I realised that Black had decided to be my deskmate for the lesson. Moving my things out of the way to make room for the Gryffindor, I looked across the room for his friends.

Black never sat willingly away from his three counterparts, so just where on earth were they? They were nowhere to be found and Black could have just as easily settled into his normal seat. Had he had a falling out with his friends? Helga, was there something going around in Gryffindor tower that had all the lions arguing with their friends? Unless -

"They're in the hospital wing," Black explained from next to me, his head propped up on his palm.

I just nodded in response, looking to the front of the classroom as Slughorn began the lesson. It wasn't strange for the so-called marauders to land themselves in the hospital wing after getting up to their usual level of mischief. Then again, they did tend to land themselves under the care of the matron after duelling a group of Slytherins.

The moment Slughorn turned his back to begin writing on the chalkboard, Black suddenly straightened up in his seat and scribbled something down at the top of his parchment. My eyes strayed curiously towards him as he slid the parchment towards me and gestured for me to read it.

Yusuf, aren't you bored?

When I raised my eyes back to him, he quirked an eyebrow and gestured for me to write my response. Rolling my eyes, I picked up my quill and wrote back, Are you?

Leaning across the table, Black frowned at my response. He asked quietly, "You didn't answer my question."

Glancing cautiously towards Slughorn, I whispered quietly, "Well neither did you."

My response had him pouting and I was taken aback by how handsome he looked then. It was an expression that would have made anyone else look like an idiot, but on Black, it was strangely endearing. "I asked you first."

"I'm not bored," I admitted, adding a little hesitantly, "not anymore anyway."

"I do tend to have that effect on people," he acknowledged with a smile. "Yusuf, if I find potions this boring at O.W.L. level, N.E.W.T. level potions would probably be even worse. Right?"

"Truthfully you have until next year to worry about that."

Helga, he was distracting me. Clearing my throat, I picked up my quill to begin taking my notes for the lesson that had begun a while ago. "You're probably right."

"That has been known to happen," I muttered under my breath, turning to him when I saw him look curiously at me from the corner of my eye. Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "What is it?"

Black watched me silently for a moment, seeming to consider his words before he admitted, "You're not what I thought you'd be like."

"You've never spoken a word to me before today," I began with furrowed eyes, "but yet you thought you knew me? I know you think you're so smart Black, but that's a bit of a stretch, even for you."

My words threw him off a little, clearly not matching the image he's previously built up of me in his head. But then he was chuckling sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry."

"I should have recorded that," I teased, "from what I've heard, you don't often go around apologising to people."

"You should be honoured, Yusuf."

I laughed quietly, shaking my head and looking back to my notes but I never seemed to get far. Black, when he lost focus in the lesson - which was often - would take to distracting me from the lesson. And the more we conversed, the more I realised that Black was a good guy. He didn't seem like the heartless playboy some people thought of him as, he wasn't the immature child that the Slytherins painted him as either, but he didn't seem as arrogant as he liked to portray himself as.

When the lesson finally ended, I packed my things away and waved a quiet goodbye to Black. My friends headed straight towards me, taking to either side of me. Looking at them both with inquisitive eyes, I asked, "What's gotten into the pair of you?"

"Black kept talking to you throughout the entire lesson," Nancy asked. "He couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut and you weren't as quiet as you normally are with unfamiliar people."

"It's nothing," I insisted, leading them out of the room.

"Yusuf!" Black called out from behind me, and I couldn't help but smile. Glancing back over my shoulder at the waiting Gryffindor, I watched as he waved exaggeratedly at me from his seat. "See you next time!"

Laughing quietly, I turned back to my friends who were suddenly curious again. Taking them both by the arm, I forcefully pulled them out of the room.

"It's nothing. Honestly."

**********

With O.W.L.s approaching at an ever-daunting speed, I sought refuge more often in the library. Although there were still months left until the end of year exams, it seemed like the seventh years were hit with stress that was far worse than any we had ever experienced. The older students, students who were known for being some of the most easy-going students in the entire school, were now as sensitive as a teenage girl on her first period. After the first time one of the seventh years had snapped at a curious first year and dissolved the poor kid to tears, we had all unanimously decided to keep out of their way just until the stress eased. The seventh years could study in the warmth and comfort of the Hufflepuff basement and the rest of us would find our own havens.

Naturally, I retreated to the library with my friends and we always spread ourselves out across one of the tables and tried to get some work done. The first hour or so would be productive until one of us managed to deviate the conversation onto something that would definitely not pop up on our exams, and that would be the end to the productive work.

But there must have been a drought in interesting subjects to talk about as we all worked in relative silence for almost two hours, with the occasional question thrown in when we got confused. Except I should have known that it was too good to last. Just because we hadn't been the ones to provide the distraction, didn't mean that we wouldn't be distracted.

I had just about reached the end of my potions essay when someone settled into the empty chair across from me and gently nudged their foot against mine. Placing my final full stop, I looked up in surprise at Black who waited patiently for me to acknowledge him. When my eyebrows rose slowly, my quill settling on the table top, he grinned and straightened in his seat.

"What are you doing here?" I asked quietly, not unaware of the way my friends had begun whispering at the sight of the Gryffindor.

"Just wanted to talk to you," he explained with an easy grin, seemingly unaffected by the eyes that were rooted to him. Instead, he simply ran a hand through his hair as if his sitting across from me and wanting to talk to me was a normal thing.

"Padfoot!" Black glanced over his shoulder at the shout of his surname and my eyes followed his, rising above his shoulder to find the remaining three members of the marauders standing a short distance away from him. They looked at their friend with mild surprise, eyes flickering curiously in my direction. All I could do was give an awkward smile in return which only Lupin returned with an even more awkward one.

"I'll meet you back in the common room," Black promised them before turning his back to them and facing me once again. He didn't see the way his friends shared a look before shrugging and walking towards the exit. "So, Yusuf -"

I cut him off, "I'm not going to help you with your essay, Black."

He frowned, asking, "Why do you keep using my surname? I already told you to call me Sirius."

"Black -"

"And besides, if I wanted help with my essay then I'd have gone to Remus." He rolled his eyes playfully, leaning back in his seat. "No offence Yusuf, I'm sure you're smart but I doubt that you can out brain Moony."

I nodded, admitting with a teasing smile, "I knew he was the Gryffindor I should have befriended."

"Well he's not as handsome as I am," Sirius pointed out with what could only be described as a pout.

"I don't know," I denied with a shake of my head, eyes drifting towards Nancy who was trying her best to pretend that she wasn't secretly planning the list of questions she was going to use to interrogate me later. "There's just something about him, Black."

He scoffed, knowing that I was teasing. "Oh please, if I tried to charm you, you'd be mine in a heartbeat." The words were so ridiculous - probably true, but ridiculous none the less - that I couldn't help but laugh. Black straightened up in his seat, insisting, "It's true. The only reason that I'm not trying to charm you is because I like being able to talk to you like this."

My smile shifted, growing gentler as I looked across the table at the boy who tried to play off the truth behind his words. "That's sweet, Sirius." He shrugged off the words, growing a little awkward under my eyes. Noticing his increasing discomfort, I cleared my throat and decided it was probably better to tease him again, "You just like talking to me and here I was thinking that it was because I've got found out something about you that you want to keep hidden and am currently blackmailing you into spending time with me."

He chuckled in disbelief, "Is that what the rumours have gotten too?"

"It's one of the versions," I said with an easy shrug. "Some of the others are much more innovative. Your fangirls are creative, I'll give them that."

"So, you don't care that your good name is being smeared by your association with the playboy blood traitor?" he phrased the question as if it was offhand, but it was clearly anything but.

Growing serious under his eyes, I spoke firmly. "I don't care about those sorts of rumours. Besides, the type of people that use the term blood traitor are the sorts of people I don't want to associate with anyway."

"I'm glad," he said, grinning wide enough to take me by surprise.

"And well, who am I to judge you, Sirius? I'm your friend and as far as I'm concerned, friends aren't supposed to judge each other."

"You've just admitted we're friends Yusuf." He leaned across the table, grinning mischievously as he reached out to take my hand. "Now what will it take to add the benefits part on the end?"

I scoffed, kicking him under the table for the remark. He did nothing more than wince and the grin didn't leave his face either. He seemed relieved by my words and I was glad for it.

Friends. Helga, who'd have thought that I'd ever become friends with Sirius Black of all people.

**********

When the following potions lesson arrived, I headed to my usual seat, flanked by my desk mates on either side. But before Nancy could settle into the seat beside me, Sirius was there with an easy smile. We watched the Gryffindor in surprise as he set his bag on the seat as if he wasn't behaving strangely. Sharing a look with Nancy, we both turned to Sirius who gave us his most charming smile.

"You don't mind, do you?" Sirius asked eyes on Nancy who looked back to me.

"Of course not," she answered Sirius but kept her eyes on me.

Nancy walked past me, heading towards one of the empty desks and I knew for certain that this time she wasn't going to rest until she got the truth from me. Or rather, the truth that she believed in. Each time my dormmates had asked me about my relationship with the Gryffindor, I had truthfully told them about our friendship, but they were insistent that what we shared was something more than friendship. Why they were making a big deal of this I didn't know. And besides, if this was more than friendship - and it wasn't - there was no way that Sirius would have continued to go on dates with other girls. But he did and as his friend, I didn't judge him on the ways he entertained himself. Now if only my dormmates would finally accept the friendship that we shared as what it truly was, then I'd have one less source of stress.

As Sirius settled down into the seat beside mine, he gave me a smile that I returned before promptly turning away from me to rifle through his bag. Glancing curiously past Sirius and towards his usual seat, I briefly entertained the thought that his friends were in the hospital wing again. But there they were, the three of them sat in their usual seats.

Spying my searching gaze, Potter met my eyes head-on before nudging the boys settled on either side of him. Pettigrew and Lupin watched me with very similar expressions that I struggled to read before turning away with secret smiles. Frowning at the odd behaviour, I made the mistake of looking back to Potter as if expecting an answer. But of course, I didn't get one. Instead, the tall Gryffindor simply wriggled his eyebrows at me.

"Plonker," Sirius muttered, having spotted his best friend's actions. He even threw a middle finger at the bespectacled teen who laughed good-naturedly and threw one back. A smile tugged at the corner of Sirius's lips as he looked back to me. "What?"

"Did you have an argument with your friends?"

He scoffed, and I felt stupid for even entertaining the idea that Sirius and the rest of the marauders would ever have a falling out. "Of course not."

"Then why are you sitting here?"

"Is there some sort of rule that says I can't sit here?" He smirked as he added, "Because even if there is, we both know that I don't really care for the rules."

"Honestly," I muttered, shaking my head.

"It's no big deal," he insisted. "It's just that I can see the board better from here."

It was my turn to scoff as I wondered, "Just how is it that you get away with all your mischief when you're such a bad liar?"

"I'm so charming that they don't want to get me in trouble."

"Clearly not charming enough, considering the number of detentions you've had to serve with McGonagall."

Sirius shook his head as if we were discussing a grave subject. "I have a very one-sided relationship with Minnie McGee."

"I can see that," I agreed, struggling not to smile. "She is very out of your league."

He nodded with as much seriousness as he could muster. "I agree."

We barely lasted for more than a few seconds before we were both laughing, unable to stop it. I tried my best to keep the laughter in, not wanting to disturb the rest of the class but somehow being around Sirius made it impossible to do. Helga, from the moment the man had begun to seek me out, I was so much 'livelier' as my friends liked to point out.

Someone abruptly cleared their throat, bringing an end to our laughter as we looked to the front of the class. To my utter mortification, Professor Slughorn stood at the front of the class, not impressed that he'd been interrupted halfway through his speech. Merlin, I hadn't even realised that class has started.

Growing red under the stares of my professor and classmates, I burrowed my head in my hands. From beside me, Sirius continued to snicker as he ordered, "Sorry sir, you can continue now."

Still shielding my face with one hand, I used the other to slap Sirius' arm. The Gryffindor displayed faux innocence as if not knowing what he was doing. Slughorn, unsure of how to respond, decided not to and instead returned to the lesson.

"You're such a bad influence," I moaned under my breath.

Sirius snickered, "But you love me anyway."

**********

It wasn't strange to walk around one of the numerous corners of this large castle and to suddenly find yourself confronted with a strange sight. Helga, I wished the sight I'd stumbled upon was strange but unfortunately it was all too common. The bloody marauders had only managed to go and get themselves engaged in a duel against a group of Slytherins who, whilst they outnumbered the four lions, appeared to be losing. My steps slowed to a halt as I wondered what to do; as the only Hufflepuff fifth year girl that took Arithmancy, it wasn't odd for me to walk alone back to the common room. And because I was alone it made sense for me to head on my merry way and ignore the duel which grew progressively more violent.

But on the other hand, I had somehow been made a prefect at the beginning of the year and one of the duties of the role was to step in when these situations arose. Although Lupin was also a prefect, the Gryffindor had seemingly no problem being involved in the duel. Reluctantly I looked at the duelling boys who were beginning to cast more gruesome spells and sighed.

Reaching into my pocket, I withdrew my wand and cast a shielding charm between the two groups. The sudden appearance of the shield caught the boys by surprise, more so when their spells ricocheted off it and struck them. Pocketing my wand, I approached the group slowly, the sound of my footsteps drawing the attention of the boys that found themselves sprawled across the floor. Equal parts surprise and annoyance covered their features and I looked to the Gryffindors, deciding that I'd rather look into Sirius' friendly eyes than have to address one of the glaring Slytherins.

"Technically," I began quietly, fidgeting with the textbook in my hands, "none of you are Hufflepuffs so I can't do anything except pass your names onto your heads of house."

When there was no verbal response, I removed the shielding charm as the boys slowly sorted themselves out. I was hesitant to leave, looking between the still hostile Slytherins and the Gryffindors who were looking each other over to see the extent of the damage. My heart pumped a little anxiously when I felt the glare aimed at my face from one of the Slytherins who was not pleased with my interruption. Stevington sighed, the first of the Slytherins to turn away, and gestured for his housemates to follow after him. But Montague remained behind a moment longer, narrowing his eyes at me.

He went to step towards me when Sirius piped up, voice steely, "Get moving Montague before I fulfil my promise of leaving you unable to walk."

Montague's gaze shifted to Sirius and he glared at the Gryffindor before finally deciding to walk away. The tension left me as I let out a deep breath.

"You should all probably head to the hospital wing," I said in parting, intending to continue on my way to my common room.

I didn't get far before Sirius jogged up to me and dropped into step beside me. He waited for me to acknowledge his presence but when I didn't so much as look at him, he sighed and insisted. "It wasn't our fault, really." I just looked at him, lips pursed. He wasn't a child anymore. Helga, he was old enough to know better than to hex other students in the corridor. "Trust me, it wasn't our fault. They started talking bullshit about Tan and everyone knows not to do that around James."

With a sigh, I stopped in my steps and let my eyes rake over his still form. Considering the number of curses, he'd had hurled his way, he wasn't that injured but a trip to the hospital wing wouldn't hurt him. But I knew Sirius, I knew how stubborn the Gryffindor could be and even without asking him I knew he had no intention of dropping by the hospital wing. So, it would be up to me to switch my route. He wouldn't have any idea about where we were going; he'd just continue to follow me.

"So, what's the deal with Potter and Tan anyway?" I asked curiously as I started to walk again. Sirius didn't question my previous silence and instead continued to walk beside me.

"They've been friends since before either of them could walk," he said as if that wasn't common knowledge. "But -"

"But he wants more?" I guessed, trying to keep him distracted.

Sirius scoffed, rolling his eyes. He looped an arm around my shoulder as he announced, "James has outright declared his feelings to her, but she thinks it's one big joke."

"I can see where she's coming from," I admitted, eyeing the arm looped casually over my shoulder. Clearing my throat, I advised, "Maybe if the four of you actually stopped joking around for once people would find it easier to believe that you're being serious."

"Actually," he began with a grin, "I am Sirius."

Rolling my eyes, I pushed his arm off my shoulder as we stopped outside of the doors to the hospital wing. "Those puns aren't amusing Sirius."

Sirius frowned, going to say something when he watched me push the doors open and he suddenly realised just where it was that we'd arrived to. He sighed, looking at me with mock disappointment.

"Madam Pomfrey," I called out and the older woman appeared in the doorway.

She looked over a shuffling Sirius with a sigh and pointed towards the other end of the hospital wing with a command for Sirius to join his friends. I followed her gesture, noticing the other three marauders already sitting on one of the beds as they waited for treatment. Satisfied that Sirius was in trusted hands, I went to leave but Sirius caught my hand between both of his.

"You tricked me," he pouted, relenting when I pulled my hand out of his and adjusted my hold on my textbook.

"Well, no-one told you to follow me."

"Following a pretty girl always gets me in trouble," he muttered, not seeing the way those words caused me to startle.

Before I could stop myself, I asked, "You think I'm pretty?"

He must have picked up on some of the insecurity I tried so very hard to hide and raised his eyes to mine. Those beautiful grey eyes grew soft as he murmured, "Gorgeous."

Clearing my throat, I stepped away from him to put some distance between us as I managed to say, "You need to learn to be serious."

He just joked weakly, "I told you I am Sirius."

He hovered at my side for another moment or two before muttering a quiet goodbye to join his friends. With a sigh, I turned to leave the hospital wing with the textbook clutched to my chest as if to hide my heart that felt like it was capable of beating out of my chest. Gorgeous; I couldn't stop that one word echoing through my head because I wasn't. And there was simply no way that he was being serious either.

Even if I did wish he was.

**********

As each Hogsmeade trip approached a few events would, without exception, take place. The first of which would be the whispered speculations about which lucky girl was going to be invited by Sirius to spend the day with him and sure enough, only a few days would pass, and one girl would make sure to confess to her friends only that she was the lucky girl. But the confession would never stay private, it would begin to circulate around the school until almost everyone knew and each time it left a more bitter taste in my mouth. But it wouldn't last long with any of those girls and at most, the longest one of them had lasted was a week or two. And maybe it was irrational of me to think it, but each time he dumped one of those girls, I was struck with selfish pride that he remained with me, even as he continued to get rid of them.

The moment those thoughts crossed my mind, I hurried to erase them because I hated it - thinking like that. That wasn't me and I didn't want to turn into such a jealous, vapid person. I didn't like who I became whenever I dwelled on those thoughts. So, I didn't think of them for long and I made every effort to stay out of those situations. That was the reason that I ignored Sirius when he called out to me.

I had spied the Gryffindor as he walked out of the Three Broomsticks with his date standing at his side. My eyes raked over the witch who seemed a little disgruntled at the realisation that he wasn't talking to her. Before Sirius could spy me, I glanced away from him and linked arms with Nancy and Wendy as they walked on either side of me. Lowering my head slightly as we passed him, I hoped it would be enough to go unnoticed but of course, it wasn't. My name left him in an instant.

Nancy looked at me in confusion when I continued to walk. "Black's calling for you," she pointed out as if it wasn't obvious.

"It's nothing important," I insisted with a bright smile, "Let's get back to the castle."

"Are you sure?" Wendy questioned doubtfully as she threw a glance over her shoulder. "Because the fact that he's just ditched his date and is jogging towards us kind of suggests the opposite."

"He's done what?" I asked incredulously just as a hand settled onto my arm, taking me by surprise and making me stop.

The three of us came to a halt and turned as one to face the single Gryffindor who was smiling a little hesitantly. He paused as if not knowing what to say because what did you say to someone who had obviously been trying to avoid you?

Clearing his throat, he started quietly, "I called out for you?"

"I guess I didn't hear you," I bluffed, fidgeting with my fingers and lowering my gaze for a moment. Nancy shared a glance with Wendy that had Sirius shifting warily. Clearing my throat, I raised my eyes to his and forced myself to smile as I asked, "Did you need something Sirius?"

"Are you heading back to the castle?" At my nod, he paused before asking, "Fancy sticking around here for a little longer? I wanted to talk?"

Although it had been phrased as a question, Sirius reached out to take one of my hands in his, clearly not planning on letting me leave so easily. Wendy, spying the gesture, stepped away from me and gestured for Nancy to do the same. I threw them both a look, silently wishing they'd get me out of the situation but it was pointedly ignored.

"Go ahead," Wendy said with a smile.

"We can just talk when you get back," Nancy suggested and before I could protest, the two of them were continuing on their way back to the castle. I watched them go for a moment before looking apprehensively back to Sirius.

"So," I drew the word out, "what did you want to do?"

"I just want to talk," he insisted, dropping my hand. "But why don't we head inside. I don't know about you, but I don't exactly want to hang around here for long."

"Lead the way."

And just like that, he was taking my hand again to lead me into the Three Broomsticks. Whether he noticed it or not, Sirius' date for the trip was seated in the corner of the room with her friends as she recounted the entire date for them. But whatever she had been saying was cut off half way when one of her friends nudged her, gesturing to our joined figures. I shuffled uncomfortably on my feet, not comfortable with being on the receiving end of multiple glares.

"Sit here," Sirius said, settling me down into a chair, "Let me get the drinks."

"You don't need to," I protested, forcing my eyes to Sirius.

"But I'll do it anyway." He rolled his eyes before asking, "Butterbeer?"

"Ah no actually, I don't drink." My eyes strayed from his to the table of glaring girls as I murmured, "Pumpkin juice?"

"Whatever you want, love."

When Sirius moved to order our drinks, I fixed my eyes on the table and complained internally. Before I'd spoken to Sirius, before I became his friend, I'd never have ended up in this situation. Helga, I'd never have had those jealous thoughts either. Maybe this was karma for being such a bitch - even if I was just being a bitch inside my head?

"Here you go," Sirius said as he returned to the table with two glasses of pumpkin juice.

Accepting the glass with a smile, I eyed him over the top of my glass and asked, "What is it?"

"I just came back from a date," he admitted, and I swallowed down the retort of yeah, I know and instead took a sip of my juice. "But it wasn't as fun as it used to be - it hasn't been for a while. I don't think I like doing that anymore."

"That?"

"Playing the field," he admitted, tracing random patterns on the table top as he lifted his eyes to mine.

Noticing the odd behaviour, I tried to tease lightly, "It sounds like you've been tamed, Sirius."

"Maybe I have," he wondered quietly, making me frown in concern. He rubbed a hand over his face. "I just don't know what to do."

Straightening up in my seat, I leaned towards him and suggested hesitantly, "Maybe right now it'd be best for you to not date at all for a while? I mean, you're saying that being so lax about commitment doesn't feel right. But you've also said that you're not sure if commitment's for you so I don't think it's right for you to try out having a serious relationship, either."

His eyes widened very slightly, clearly not having expected me to say what I had. "Yusuf -"

"Take some time to sort out your thoughts Sirius. Like I said, take a break from it all and try studying for your O.W.L.s or something."

Chuckling quietly, he shook his head for a moment before regarding me seriously. He remained silent, just watching me and I tried to read his emotions to figure out if I had upset him.

"What is it?" I asked hesitantly.

"Nothing," he denied with a shake of his head, still looking at me. "You're just right, that's all. Maybe I should take some time to think about things."

**********

I was surprised to find that Sirius actually did listen to my words. He took them to heart, staying away from beginning romantic relationships with girls and focusing on himself and his friends. Of course, he could have focused on his studies like I had suggested but clearly that was out of the question for the Gryffindor. The change in his behaviour had confused the students in our year and the poor girl that he'd taken on his last Hogsmeade date had practically collapsed when someone suggested, as a joke, that she had managed to turn him gay.

But Sirius stuck to the whole no dating thing so well that before he realised it, the exam season had come and gone, and our fifth year was ending. We boarded the train, heading to separate carriages and I was certain that I wouldn't see him again until the beginning of our sixth year. Except when I left the carriage to join the line for the trolley, I spied Sirius who was already waiting in line and smiled at him. He didn't return the smile and instead stepped out of the line, snagged my hand and proceeded to lead me in the opposite direction.

I followed him without protest, only asking occasionally where we were going. When he proceeded to admit that he had no idea and that he was looking for an empty carriage, I watched his back with concerned eyes. Finally finding an unoccupied carriage, Sirius pushed the door open and gestured for me to step in first before closing the door behind us.

"What's the matter, Sirius?" I asked, crossing my arms and watching as he pressed his back to the door as if to guard the only exit. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and, to make him relax a little, I perched on the seat.

The gesture worked and had him stepping away from the door and sitting down directly across from me. "I did what you said; I didn't date for ages and did a lot of thinking."

Nodding encouraging, I prompted, "And?"

"And," he sighed, running a nervous hand through his hair. I softened at the gesture, reaching across the short space between us to squeeze his knee encouragingly. He put his hand on top of mine when I went to remove it. "And whilst I might think that the whole commitment thing isn't natural for me, I want to try it anyway. I - I think I've found the person that makes me want to try."

My eyebrows rose in shock and I forced myself to smile even as I swallowed the news bitterly. Removing my hand from beneath his, I brought it had to my side and assured him, "That's great Sirius."

His shoulders straightened out, no longer slumped as he questioned, "It is?"

"Of course it is."

"Ok." He nodded to himself before he added, "I've never seen what a functioning committed relationship looks like Yusuf, so you're going to have to teach me."

His words, taking me by surprise, had me shifting slightly in my seat. "Teach you? But why would I have to teach you?"

"Oh." He cleared his throat, wincing slightly as he muttered in annoyance, "I knew I forgot something."

I waited patiently, trying to suppress the hope that began to flutter in my chest. "What did you forget Sirius?"

"I, um, I might have forgotten to mention that it's you - the person I want to try with."

His awkward expression was so out of place on his handsome face that I couldn't help but laugh. The sound brought instant relief across his features and warmth filled his eyes as I shook my head in amusement.

"Only you, Sirius Black," I muttered, through my laughter.

"Hey!" he protested, trying to act as though he was offended, but he was smiling too much for it to work. "I haven't exactly done this before - asked someone out for real that is. For all I knew you were going to laugh in my face, which technically you did do."

"Well it was good laughter," I assured him, watching as he held out a hand for me to take.

"Thank Merlin," he agreed with a smile, linking our fingers together the moment I put my hand in his. Holding my hand between both of his, Sirius stared down at our joined hands for a long while, smiling softly to himself. I wanted to ask him what was going through his mind, but I kept those thoughts to myself. I could always ask him later, once he'd sorted his thoughts out. Lifting his head slightly, his grey eyes met mine. "How long do you think I can stay tucked away with you in here before my friends come looking for me?"

"Not long. You and your friends might as well be joined by the umbilical cord. You don't seem to be able to spend much time apart."

Sirius frowned in mock annoyance and pressed a kiss to the back of my hand as he whined, "But I want to stay with you."

**********

1 YEAR LATER

Our sixth year had passed by in the blink of an eye and when the summer arrived, I found myself accepting an invitation to the Potter family home. Because I had spent the last year comforting Sirius in regard to the failings of his biological family and the wonder of the family that had essentially adopted him, I knew just how important Mrs Potter's opinion was to him. The elderly woman's opinion held far more weight for him than his biological mothers ever had. So, as I travelled to the Potter home by floo, I was understandably nervous.

Tumbling out of the other end, I dusted myself off and looked at the boys who ran into the room with wide eyes. James was the first into the room, clearly expecting it to have been his girlfriend who emerged from the floo. But when he realised that it was only me, his face fell.

"That's a little insulting," I muttered, looking past him to see Sirius run into the room shortly behind James. But unlike James, Sirius was outright grinning at the sight of me.

He crossed the room in quick strides and stood in front of me. "Don't worry about James, you're much too out of his league anyway."

And then he was holding his arms open for me and I stepped into them easily. Holding me close to him, I wrapped my arms around him and from over his shoulder I watched as James' face lit up. When I pulled away from Sirius I understood why. Tan stepped out of the fireplace and adjusted her coat and before she could even step into the room, James was at her side. The couple caught up when an arm wrapped around my waist and made me look back to Sirius.

"I'm kind of offended," he began with little heat. "We haven't seen each other in weeks and yet you can't stop looking at James."

I rolled my eyes. "Sirius."

"Make it up to me," he demanded, leaning towards me and I instantly knew what he wanted.

"There are people around," I hissed, not used to just how open Sirius was about his affection.

"So, what?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. But when it became evident that I had no intention of kissing him, Sirius did it anyway. He leaned in quickly, pressing a quick peck to my lips and drew back.

Reaching out to hold my hand Sirius spoke quietly to James who had an arm wrapped around his girlfriend. Their conversation lasted a short while before both Tan and I were led away to be introduced to Mrs Potter. But really, why did Tan look so nervous? Hadn't she been around Mrs Potter since she was a baby? If that was the case, then maybe Mrs Potter was more intimidating than I had originally believed her to be?

But my worries proved to be pointless. When I finally did meet Mrs Potter, she grinned a motherly smile and the first thing she asked me was how I managed to tame her rambunctious son. My response had been a bashful shrug and a mutter that I honestly didn't know. Her eyes softened in response and patting my hands she claimed that she could tell the reason why before she led us to the dining table.

The conversation was harmless; light and fun, mostly led by Mr Potter who seemed to be having the time of his life as he continued to poke fun at his sons. The teenage boys squirmed in their seats as Mr Potter told us of the time he'd managed to scare them so badly he swore they started to cry. It was obvious where James got his mischievous nature from.

But the topic of conversation soon shifted onto more dangerous territory. It was all caused by Mrs Potter sighing wistfully as she admitted that she wanted to have grandchildren as soon as possible. Mr Potter was the first to register the words and chuckled behind his glass. I choked on my mouthful of food and gratefully accepted the glass of water Tan passed me. She sent me a reassuring smile before turning to her boyfriend who looked at her with expectant eyes. Scoffing loudly, she inched away from James who chuckled.

"James," Tan hissed when he shrugged innocently.

"What, love?" His smirk only grew.

Once I managed to calm myself, I looked to Sirius who rubbed my back soothingly. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," I assured him, wiping my mouth with a napkin. "Helga, that just startled me." The smile on Sirius' face morphed slightly, and I narrowed my eyes as I warned him, "Don't make any plans."

"No promises," he winked at me.

"You don't even like children!" I whispered heatedly, realising that Mrs Potter was watching our interaction with interested eyes.

"I think if they were ours, I wouldn't mind."

His grin was so captivating that I didn't know whether to be charmed or worried. Shaking my head slightly, I drew away from him and crossed my arms.

"I already told you I wouldn't sleep with you before marriage," I reminded him.

When we had begun dating, I knew all about his reputation and the parts of it that were actually true. I had even sat him down and told him that I had some principles that I was planning on sticking to and that they might prove to be uncomfortable for him, but he surprised me by simply asking me to tell him what was alright and what wasn't. He honoured those boundaries, never pushing me to go any further and never getting a wondering eye no matter how frustrated I knew he could get at times.

And so, instead of getting annoyed his smile softened as he reminded me, "And I already told you that I'm not going to push you into anything." Picking up his drink he took a sip before he admitted, for my ears only, "I already have a ring."

My mouth dropped open. "You're lying."

He winked at me from the corner of his eyes, "I guess you'll just have to wait until your birthday to find out, won't you?"

____________________

I know a lot of you have missed Sirius, so have I! So make sure to tell me what you thought about it. I love reading what you guys have to say and your comments really make my day!

Thanks for reading and here are your hints:

* Inherited a fortune

* Skilled at Transfiguration

* Brave in the face of danger