When the Roses Went Black: The Lost Lover of Sirius Black

III

The feast at the castle was marvelous as usual, and the six friends took it upon themselves to cast kind smiles upon the new first years, remembering themselves in that position. As they made their way to the Gryffindor Common Room, James and Sirius pulled the rest of the group aside to a less crowded corridor. Rose and Lily shot each knowing glances; the mischievous smirks on the boy's faces spoke volumes without them uttering a single word.

James smiled and began: "Lovely people. It's our seventh year, and everything with that nut Voldy has been so tense." Sirius, with a similar grin, followed: "So we figured that everyone could use some relaxing. Prongs, if you would darling?" James answered by flashing two bottles of Firewhiskey hidden in his bag. The other four smiled, and upon seeing their reaction, Sirius spoke again: "Everyone looks like they could loosen up a bit, maybe have a bit of fun." There was bite on the last word, and Sirius's eyes briefly landed on Rose, who blushed. Lily shot James a wink, to which he turned a little red and ran his hands through his dark curls.

It was a little bit soon for partying, but Rose couldn't disagree with the boys. Between muggle disappearances and Voldemort recruiting followers within the school, tensions had been running high. She knew the effect it had on Sirius, with his family being such fierce supporters of him. She realized that they all probably needed a night to forget about the evil that was creeping within the walls of Hogwarts, so she finally spoke up:

"Deal. Lily and I will come to your room at 11pm. If someone knocks three times, it's us." Lily nodded and looked very pleased with their plans. James smiled and said, "Excellent, we'll see you then." The boys began to walk away when Sirius turned to Rose, winked, and said "Don't be late love." As the four boys turned their backs on Lily and Rose, Rose felt her insides turn to mush, which Lily definitely noticed. "Does someone have a thing for a certain Black?" she teased. "Never love, you worry about you and your beloved Prongs," Rose huffed back. Lily just laughed. "Denial is ignorance darling." "How very Dumbledore-esk of you Evans," Rose retorted. The girls laughed and teased each other all the way back to the dorm, both their minds racing with the mischief that was a mere two hours away.

***

In their dorm, the four boys stood in their mirrors getting ready. Remus was brushing his teeth furiously at the sink, Peter combing his greasy blonde hair, James was buttoning his white dress shirt, and Sirius was putting on cologne. As Remus finished up at the sink, Sirius quickly took his place, brushing with a purpose.

Remus chuckled slightly. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Pads was putting extra care into his appearance tonight. Any particular reason for that?" Before Sirius could say anything, James beat him to the punch: "Isn't it obvious Re? He has a crush on his beloved 'Rosie darling'." Sirius turned red and spit out his toothpaste. "Piss off mate," he spat, "You worry about Evans. The way you look at her, you shouldn't be inquiring about who I fancy." James just laughed. "At least I am man enough to admit it." Sirius rolled his eyes, but his carefree appearance stopped at just that, his appearance.

All he could think about since the train was how beautiful Rose looked, and how much he wished he could tell her how he felt. He was confident around other girls, but that's because it was easy. He didn't care, and they were easy to obtain. Rose was different. She didn't fall all over Sirius. She joshed him like she would anybody else, and she didn't fall for flirts and tricks. She was the only girl who caught his tongue, and the only one who sped his heart beating out of his chest. Sirius cared about Rose. That was exactly the problem.