Too Little Too Late

Chapter 16 | Edited

Layla wan't too sure that she wanted to answer that one. She immediately shifted her gaze away from Sirius. "No one. I've never had a crush on anyone." She lied, not meeting his gaze. 

"You're a bad liar." He replied with a smirk. "If you hadn't been so obvious, not looking at me, stuttering, turning bright red, then I may have actually believed you. Buuuuuut I don't. So fess up." 

"Sirius-" 

"Ohhhhh is that the answer?" He winked cheekily, trying to make her at ease and able to talk to him. 

"Well... yes, actually." Layla replied, her eyes cast downwards and her face turning even redder. As her gaze was firmly planted on the floor, Layla missed the mixture of surprise and hope that appeared on Sirius' face. 

"What.. er... happened? When was that? Do you... still?" Sirius asked, not daring to hope too much. 

Layla finally brought her eyes up to meet his. "From first year to the end of last year." She replied quietly. If he had not been so close she would have wondered if he could even hear her whispered reply. 

A trace of sadness crossed his face as he realised that he had once had a chance with this beautiful, funny, smart girl, and that he had probably lost it forever. She had barely just agreed to be friends with him, and yet once she had been harbouring a crush on him. When he hadn't even realised that she had existed. It would probably always be the biggest regret of his life. "Why... uhm why is it that you stopped?" He managed to ask in a faux happy voice. 

"You don't remember? Wow, I guess you really didn't realise that I existed." Layla replied in surprise. She didn't pause to let Sirius interject with the apology that she knew he was about to utter. "Well, after having a crush on you for so many years, I decided that it was about time that I actually did something about it, instead of 'letting you come to me' as I had persuaded myself that I had been doing. It was really just nerves and cowardice, but I am a Gryffindor, I reminded myself just before I approached you... in the middle of the Great Hall, may I add... that takes some balls, and asked you to accompany me to the next Hogsmede weekend. Valentine's day, to be exact." 

"Oh no, I didn't turn you down in front of that many people, did I? I'm so sorry Layla!" Sirius interjected. Layla shook her head in reply before continuing. 

"No, you didn't. You made my day, my week even, probably my whole life according to how I felt  at the time. You said yes, agreed to go to Hogsmede with me, even when all of my friends had been telling me not to ask you. I felt like they had all underestimated me. I was insulted, I think, that they had thought I wouldn't be able to do it. So I began to separate myself from them all, Lily, Marlene, Alice, Remus. It was a stupid thing to do. Especially when I realised that they were right. I didn't come to that conclusion on my own though. After I spent the day readying myself for something that I thought was going to be the best day of my life, the beginning of my future if I was being dramatic... which I was, I made my way to the Great Hall and saw you waiting there, back turned. As I began to make my way towards you, you tuned around and smiled in my direction. You gave me a small wave, and just as I had raised my hand to wave back, I was knocked aside by your actual date. I didn't take her appearance much into account so I couldn't tell you who she was, but she was your date. Or, at least, the date that you remembered you had. You started dating her for a while, lasted a month or so, I believe. But by then I was not interested. I had gone back to the tower, apologised to all of my friends, told them that they were right and what happened, and decided to no longer have a crush on you. That's when I gave up on you. It's also when I began to realise how self indulged you can be. I hated you for it, for a while." Layla finished, and brought her gaze back up to meet Sirius'. He looked somewhat ashamed. 

"Remus never told me. I never realised." 

"That's okay. I'm over it now, I promise." Without realising, Layla had made Sirius' heart sink lower in his chest with these words. He really had messed up the best thing that he could have ever had in his life. And for what, some pretty, vapid girl that he dated until he bored of her a month later. 

"So have you ever had a crush on anyone, Sirius?" Layla continued the conversation, unaware of the inner turmoil within the marauder next to her. 

"Yes." 

"Who?" She inquired, interested. 

"You." He met her eyes, seeing the shock there. "I still do. I know that we've only just agreed to be friends but you need to know that I like you. I like you a lot. What you choose to do with that is up to you, but Layla Reid, I like you." 

"Oh"