Little Red |Sirius Black|

Two Dunderheads And A Smart Aleck Walk Into A Dingy Bar- Sirius

It was the last week of their Hogsmeade ban.

The two months of their punishment had gone by in a haze of uninteresting classes and even more uninteresting people. The only things that Sirius had taken note of were pranking with his mates, full moons, and the budding romance between Arianna and Richard.

Arianna and Richard.

Richard and Arianna.

Whenever he saw the two of them together, everything around him seemed to screech to a halt, and it was like all he could see were the two of them.

Sirius couldn't help grit his teeth whenever the two of them saw each other in the corridors in between classes. As one, the two of them would speed up to meet each other halfway and share a kiss while their friends were still walking towards them. The kisses were never long or indecent- it was always just a smile, an affectionate peck on the lips, and a few whispered words, but it made Sirius wish that he had Quidditch practice, just so he would have an excuse to hit something.

So he retaliated by having a different girl on his arm every other day, and snogging her wherever he was sure that Arianna could see.

He wasn't James. He wasn't going to sit around moping, while the girl he fancied was out living her life. He wasn't going to want somebody who didn't want him.

And yet, he couldn't help but feel his heart clench every time Arianna spotted Richard across the Great Hall and smiled. More often than not, one of them would walk over to the other, and they'd eat at the same table.

Sirius didn't know which was worse- having their relationship in his face when he was eating, or having Arianna at another house table, happily chatting away and making other friends.

It's seeing her with the Ravenclaws, Sirius decided, as the sound of her laughter drifted towards him from the Ravenclaw table. He tightened his arm around the girl sitting next to him, who was chatting away, oblivious to his sour mood. Seeing her with the Ravenclaws is worse.

And he wasn't the only one who thought so.

"Why is she sitting with them again?" asked Dorcas irritably, craning her neck to glare at the Ravenclaw table. "This is getting too much, we only ever see her during classes and before bedtime now!"

"You can't really blame her." said Lily, half-heartedly. "She's just discovered a new relationship and a new library."

Arianna had managed to get into the Ravenclaw common room a week after their trip to Hogsmeade, and that had only made matters worse. Every night, Sirius would watch the dot marked Arianna Shah on the Map as she reached her dorms, later and later every night.

"She's right." chuckled Remus. "Honestly, I'm surprised we see her at all."

To add insult to injury, even Remus seemed to approve of their relationship- choosing to invite the two of them into the supersecret muggle book club that he had with Lily and a few others. Sirius knew that Remus wasn't aware of his feelings for Arianna, but that didn't help the sense of rejection he felt when even his own mate seemed to choose Richard over him.

Dorcas ignored Remus. "You're right, I can't blame her." she said to Lily. "I'm blaming you!"

"Me?!"

"Yeah, you! You're the one who introduced them!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, it's just the honeymoon phase! She'll be back to normal before you know it."

***

The night before the Hogsmeade trip, the Marauders were sitting by the fireplace and chatting idly, when Lily, Alice, Dorcas and Arianna walked over to them.