Our second date was nowhere near as glamorous as our first date, but I still had the greatest time. Sirius had to spend four hours cleaning paint and soot off the walls and floor of the corridor where he 'accidentally' blew up seventeen paint bombs and fireworks at Mrs. Norris. I told Filch I was a part of the accident just so I had an excuse to spend time with him.
It was fun to sneak around with him behind our friends' backs. This relationship was nothing like our past ones, though. He was more apt to grab my hand and pull me in close to kiss my forehead instead of aggressively ask to snog in a broom cupboard. But taking things slow was completely fine by me. After all, after everything we'd been through, I still wasn't certain where he was taking us. I trusted him, but I wasn't sure I could trust him with all of my heart again.
But with every minute we spent alone together from that amazing day in Hogsmeade, I found myself trusting him more and more.
<<>><<>><<>>
"Happy Birthday!"
Our loud awakening for Sirius probably woke up the whole Gryffindor tower. Sirius' glassy eyes blinked in surprise as Remus, James, Peter, and I beamed at him. He looked dazed as he sat up in his bed, and half of his long black hair stood up on end. It was his seventeenth birthday, and he finally seemed to remember this as a wide grin crossed his face.
"You can finally Apparate!" James exclaimed.
"You can do magic outside of Hogwarts!" Remus added.
"You can go out and actually fight the Dark Lord for the Order!" Peter said excitedly and we all stared at him. The light mood darkened and Peter clamped his mouth shut. It was always strange that Peter called Voldemort the Dark Lord instead of You-Know-Who...
"Anyways..." I coughed and turned the attention back to Sirius. "Happy seventeenth!"
"What do you want to do today Pads?" James asked. "It's your choice today! We can go to Hogsmeade, prank Snivelly, paint Filch's office pink like we've been talking about-"
"Actually, I was kind of planning on spending the day with someone already." Sirius cut him off. All three boys groaned and Sirius locked eyes with me.
"Is it that girl you've been sneaking around with?" James pouted and crossed his arms.
"Yes." Sirius replied and hopped off the edge of his bed. He casually strolled across the room to put a shirt on (much to my dismay). He started fixing his hair in the mirror as Remus, James, and Peter continued to gripe about the girl who was stealing their best friend.
"When can we meet her?" Remus groaned.
"Soon... Maybe." Sirius laughed.
"We could just follow you today to see who she is!" James warned.
"Good luck." Sirius said simply. He started walking out of the room after glancing at me for half a second. As soon as I escaped the boys, we would meet just outside the portrait hole, away from the suspicious eyes of our friends like we usually did.
"So much for eating the great birthday cake I baked you!" James called helplessly. Sirius just shrugged and kept walking. Everyone knew there was no cake, and even if there was, I would never trust anything James made.
"We'll find out soon who she is..." I played along with a desperate sigh like I had no idea who Sirius' mystery girl was, when in fact, she was standing in my shoes.
<<>><<>><<>>
Although it was October, it was warm and sunny on the grounds. Sirius kept brushing my hand with his, but he wouldn't actually hold my hand in front of everyone. That was fine by me. For the last few years, just being Sirius' friend was cause enough to get Sirius' fangirls to hate me. I knew any sort of PDA would probably get me sent hexed jewelry or something.
In the pocket of my robes, Sirius' birthday present thumped against my thigh. I was about to stop him by the beautiful willow tree to give it to him when I noticed a group of fifth year girls glaring at me.
"Padfoot... People are starting to assume things... I mean, I understand keeping whatever is going on from our friends, just for the time being, but what about everyone else?" I muttered under my breath and glared back at the girls. Sirius lazily looked up where the group of fifth years were huddled. They were staring right at us and talking in low voices. Suddenly, Sirius grabbed my hand and pulled me into the private shade of the willow tree.
"Oh, so now we can't be seen at all in public together?" I groaned when we were out of sight. "I should've known this wasn't anything real-"
I yanked my hand out of his and started to storm away, feeling extremely hurt. But a strong hand caught my waist and forced me to whirl around so I was nose to nose with Sirius.
"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked incredulously. "I brought you here so we could enjoy the day in private. I'd love to show you off but why would I want to share my girl with the rest of the school?"
Nervously, I smiled at him while the words replayed in my head. He called me his girl. Sirius smirked as I bit my lip- he always knew just how to draw me back in when I was on the verge of leaving. Mesmerized by his touch on my waist, I allowed him to lead me to a fallen log under the willow and sat on it next to him. No words were spoken and we just stared at each other in silence.
My mind started to wander as the yellow leaves on the willow swayed and occasionally fell around us. That tree was a beautiful place that was tarnished by horrible memories for me. Scrawled neatly on the trunk of the willow in a cute little heart were the initials R.W. + L.S. For some reason, even with Sirius' arm protectively around my waist, I was reminded of heart wrenching memories. Sirius followed my gaze to the initials on the tree and gently tilted my chin so I was looking right at him.
"I'm sorry- I didn't know this was such a sad place for you..." Sirius mumbled as my throat tightened. I could see the happy day when Robert carved those initials into the tree and the horrible day when I caught him with another girl.
"No." I forced out. "It's not a sad place- it makes me so angry! This is where he cheated on me."
A scowl crossed Sirius' face and he glared at the initials. We were sitting on the exact spot where Robert and Brenda sat just over a year ago, when they shattered my illusion of the perfect boy. He broke a promise and my trust right under the permanent reminder of what was supposed to be our "always."
Sirius seemed to pick up on what I was thinking and pulled his wand out of his pocket. Red fire flew out of the wand and hit the heart etched in the trunk. Seconds later, the initials were gone- replaced by two black burn marks. In a way, if you look at the two black blobs, they could've resembled animals. Secretly, I liked to think it was a fox and a dog.
"Thank you." I croaked. Blasting the initials off the tree was like a breath of fresh air. It was almost like Robert and I never happened. I let go of a final piece of that boy I never realized I was still clinging to.
"He was so stupid. I don't get why you ever dated him." Sirius growled.
"He was actually very smart!" I sighed and got unreasonably defensive. The last I information I heard about Robert Wood was he had a great job at the ministry due to his amazing N.E.W.T. results.
"No, he was insanely stupid." Sirius insisted. "He let you slip through his fingers. He ruined the best thing to ever happen to him."
"Yeah he did." I agreed with a weak laugh. The image of Robert and Brenda played over and over in my mind. "That was a horrible day."
Sirius opened his mouth to say something but immediately closed it again and stared at the willow leaves floating on the surface of the lake. Not only was that the day Robert cheated on me, but that was also the day I kissed Sirius for the first time while drunk- and acted like I didn't remember it.
"I remembered it." I blurted. Sirius looked at me with slight confusion and my heart melted from the sad look in his eyes. He knew exactly what I was referring to.
"I remembered it, the next morning, that is..." I said again.
"What are you talking about?"
"When I was drunk after I broke up with Robert... I remembered everything that happened. I'm not one to black out when I'm drunk."
"So- So you did remember... The kiss?"
"Yes... Yes I did."
"Why'd you act like you didn't then?" Sirius asked. The sadness was evident in his tone.
"Sometimes, it's better to forget and act like things never happened. It would've ruined our friendship."
"I didn't want to be just friends."
I sighed happily and started to look up at him in wonder. But suddenly, all thoughts in my mind disappeared as Sirius pressed his lips softly against mine. I nearly gasped in surprise at the gentle, slow, soft, loving, and deep feeling of his lips on mine. Inside my chest, my wildly beating heart started to melt and my head went fuzzy. All of my nerves from seconds before disappeared and I was filled with a new type of electricity. Unlike every other kiss I shared with Sirius, this one was sincere and real- and absolutely perfect.
"What was that for?" I said breathlessly when his warm lips left mine. His mouth was mere centimeters from mine and I could still feel his warm breath on my tingling lips.
"That was my redo of our first kiss. Please don't try to forget and act like this one never happened." Sirius sighed. His grey eyes swirled with sincerity and millions of feelings I couldn't distinguish.
"No... This will be a memory I hold on to forever."
Suddenly, I remembered Sirius' birthday present in my pocket. I pulled a small box out of my robe pocket and pressed it into his hand, my heart fluttering wildly. He regarded it with skepticism and I nodded for him to open it. Very carefully, his long fingers pulled at the paper around the gift until he was holding a sleek, black, jewelry box. He cracked it open looked up at me after regarding the contents of the box- a black watch.
"It's tradition, isn't it? To get a wizard a watch on his seventeenth birthday?" I said quickly, his face showing no sign of emotion. "I hope you like it... I figured your parents probably wouldn't get you one so I got it for you. I know it's not something cool but-"
I was cut off but Sirius softly grabbing my cheeks and kissing me. My eyes fluttered shut and I smiled against his lips. He didn't need to say a word and I knew he loved the watch.
"Vixen, this is amazing." He assured. My hands shakily lifted the watch out and clasped it on his wrist. The small silver hands ticked around the face and glinted in the sunlight. On the side of the watch, a small golden gear peeked out and I remembered the most unique part of the expensive watch.
"It's not just a watch." I began. I held his hand in mine and pointed to the golden gear. "It's also a Time-Turner of sorts. Just spin that gear to the desired time within 24 hours in the past and spin the face. It will take you to that moment and you can change an event or redo something... But it will only work once."
"That's amazing!" Sirius breathed and inched his finger closer to the tantalizing gear. "How did you even get this?"
"Mad-Eye helped me out with it. I'm pretty sure it's kind of illegal but who has to know about it?"
"You're the most amazing girlfri-" Sirius started. He caught himself and casually started tapping the glass face of his watch like he didn't say a thing.
"What was that?" I asked.
Sirius didn't reply. Tentatively, I laced his fingers through mine. Together, we stared at the glassy lake and listened to the whispering branches sway.
"We need to talk about this." I murmured. "Because if this is another friends with benefits thing, count me out."
"No... you know what I'm thinking? More benefits... Less friends?" Sirius decided and traced a heart on the back of my hand with his thumb.
"Sirius Orion Black!" I exclaimed. My hand flew to my chest in mock surprise. "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?!"
"Alexandra Maria Stryker!" Sirius mimicked. "Would you please do me the honor of being my girlfriend?"
"I suppose..." I grumbled as if it were some kind of chore. Sirius raised one of his eyebrows and I rolled my eyes. "Okay, of course I will! One million times yes!"
I rested my head on his strong shoulder and just sat there smiling. Absentmindedly, he stroked my dark curly hair and I could hear him humming Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling in Love.
The way he hummed it made the song sound more beautiful than the King of Rock ever could.
<<>><<>><<>>
Remus watched me with suspicion as I entered the common room late that night, only minutes after Sirius. I gave him a simple, innocent shrug and folded my arms, waiting for him to say something.
"Peculiar, isn't it?" Remus deadpanned. His own arms were crossed like a concerned parent. "That you were gone all day."
"Not really. I had things to do." I replied.
"Also peculiar, isn't it, that you returned just after Padfoot did?"
"No, not really."
Remus wasn't backing down.
"You were with him."
"So what if I was?" I sassed.
"So you were?"
Nonchalantly, I started to walk up to the girls dormitory. Remus hopped over the couch and stood in my way, placing his hands on his hips. He was much taller than me and towered over me, trying to seem intimidating. But after you've seen a boy on the verge of tears for thinking he failed a potions test he actually aced, it's hard to find them scary.
"Yeah, I was with him all day." I blurted without realizing it. After I said it, I felt relieved I didn't have to keep so many secrets from one of my friends, at least.
"You're actually dating him!" Remus concluded in shock. I clamped a hand over his blabbering mouth, in case James was eavesdropping, and slowly nodded while biting my lip. Remus' green eyes glittered in happiness and I let my hand fall away.
"You know, I knew something was up with whatever girl he was hanging around with. She had to be someone amazing." Remus explained. He slapped a hand to his forehead and pushed his brown hair back with a look like he just couldn't believe it. "Sirius wouldn't tell us who it was, but he did call her the most beautiful girl in the world! You must be the first girl he thinks is beautiful instead of just hot."