Rose had come to the vast conclusion that maybe her and James were not destined to be in each other's lives. Because every time they fought and made up, something would happen to put them at ends with each other. Or maybe that was her instinctual self-preservation.

"Are you okay?" Tonks asked the girl warily. The Hufflepuff knew of the argument that had occurred between James and Rose. The entire school had because there had been some nosey third years listening in.

"I'm fine," Rose replied but by the sound of her voice, she was anything but fine. "Just peachy."

She slammed her books down on the Hufflepuff table causing those around her to scootch away. Tonks mumbled an apology to her fellow housemates before focusing her attention on her friend.

"Rose," Tonks said with a frown. "Maybe you should head back to your common room and get some rest. You look exhausted."

She opened her mouth to protest but she had been completely right. She had been up all night with James Potter stuck on her mind. She would give anything to forget his existence as a whole.

"Yeah," she agreed with a sigh, shaking her head slightly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Tonks smiled tightly before the redhead walked out of the Great Hall without another word.

As Rose made her way back to the Slytherin common room, someone latched onto her upper arm and pulled her into an empty class room. She moved to elbow the perpetrator but they easily caught her arm before she could. They released her and she immediately made her way to the door to leave.

"Talk to him!" Sirius shouted at the girl, clearly exasperated by the situation. She turned to face him with an irritated expression and he cleared the area between them in seconds. "If I have to hear one more word about you from him, I'm going to rip my eardrums out with my bare hands."

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at him defiantly. He towered over her easily, standing close enough to her that she could smell the smoke from the last cigarette he had still on his breath. "What makes you think I'm going to listen to you?"

"Because I'm asking nicely," he informed her, taking a step closer to her. She stood her ground and his voice dropped so only she could hear. Not that anyone else was around. "And I don't ask for things more than once."

She rolled her eyes, "Someone never learned manners."

"If you knew my family, it makes perfect sense," he replied. "Now get over yourself and make up with your best friend."

"You don't know what you're talking about," she informed him, shaking her head. "You don't know anything."

"That's what this is about?" he huffed. "It's because he told you he loved you and now you're having some existential crisis and you've come to realize that maybe you're in love with your best friend? News flash, Rose: You are in love with him!"

It took her by surprise that he even knew that had happened. She hadn't told anyone other than Tonks and as far as she was concerned, James still hadn't remembered. She scowled, "You've lost it, Black."

He had her pressed up against the wall in seconds, "See, now you're lying to me and yourself." He leaned closer to her, his breath tickling her neck as he spoke, "And if there's one thing I hate more than cowards, it's liars."

She pushed him off of her before grabbing the front of his shirt and moving him back so the back of his legs hit the desk, "Please, we're going to just ignore the fact that you've fancied Marlene for ages now and haven't said a word?"

He swiftly spun her around so that she was the one pushed against the table, "Then we're both lying to ourselves. What difference does it make?"

She scanned his face for a moment before she leaned up slightly and pressed her lips to his. He immediately kissed her back, easily lifting her up and setting her down on the table.

Her hands found their way to his hair as she leaned her head back, Sirius trailing kisses down her neck. "This changes nothing," he muttered as she tugged on his hair, eliciting a moan from the boy. "Talk to him."

"Would you just shut up and kiss me?" And that he did.

Rose slipped her shirt on over her head as Sirius zipped his pants up. "You should talk to him."

She rolled her eyes, "Most people say thank you after."

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing on that particular matter. "You go first," he suggested. "It'll be way too suspicious if we both walk out together."

She glanced back at him, "You won't tell James, will you?"

He snorted, "I plan to live a long and healthy life."

She nodded in response before making her way to the door. She opened it a crack and addressed Sirius for a brief moment, "Until next time, then." And then she was gone.

Sirius let out a breath as he ran his hand through his hair. What had he gotten himself into?

He made his way to the Great Hall once he knew the coast was clear. He took a seat across from Peter, "Hey, Pete."

"Hey-" he began but his voice died in his throat. Peter's eyes widened as he noticed the bruises that littered the boy's neck. "Merlin, Padfoot," he gaped, "Were you mauled?"

"What are you talking about, Worm-" he began but he cut himself off. His hands flew to his neck and his eyes widened slightly. He had been so worried about getting out of the classroom without being caught he forgot about the physical evidence that might have been left behind.

He pulled out his wand and muttered a quick spell causing the marks to vanish. He pointed his wand at Peter who grew alarmed, "You say nothing, understand?" Peter nodded quickly, focusing his attention on the food in front of him as James and Lily sat down at the table.

The group seemed to fall into an uncomfortable silence which would normally be considered odd for them but had been happening often as of late.

"She'll come around," Lily informed James, placing her hand over his in comfort. She rubbed his hand gently with her thumb but he pulled away from her touch causing the girl to frown. "Rose can be-"

"A stubborn bitch?" Sirius filled in and James's head as well as Lily's snapped in his direction. He shrugged, not bothered by the daggers they shot his way, "I'm not wrong and she made a decent point. She is like them."

A light gasp escaped Lily's lips, "How dare you-"

"Not too long ago, you would have agreed that someone being in Slytherin didn't mean they were a bad person," Sirius reminded the girl and her lips pressed into a thin line. After the incident with Severus Snape, both in the past and more recently, her views had changed. "Rose is not a bad person but she is a Slytherin. That was the point she was trying to make."

James scowled, "She's not a-"

"Bloody hell," Sirius muttered, rubbing his forehead as a headache began to creep in. He turned to Remus, who had joined them after James, with a hopeful expression, "Help?"

Remus leaned forward, folding his hands together on the table in front of him, "What I think Sirius was trying to say is that Rose is a Slytherin but that doesn't make her a bad person. She is cunning, resourceful and a leader but that doesn't make her blatantly evil."

James huffed, "Well if she had just said that, this would have been so much easier."

"She did say that, just not in as many words," Peter announced, swallowing a bite of whatever he had been eating. "She asked you to explain how she was different and you came up empty."

In truth, he hadn't come up empty. He had come up with many things that she was that the other Slytherin's weren't but it didn't seem right to say them. Because she was incredibly brave, the smartest person he knew and the most loyal friend he had but that didn't stop him from being a jerk to her. Maybe he was the problem.

James's gaze flickered over to where Rose had rejoined Tonks at the Hufflepuff table. She was laughing at something the Metamorphmagus had said and James couldn't help but notice how she was always smiling whenever she was with the girl.

Did she ever look like that when she was with him? He sincerely doubted it.

"James?" someone spoke up and James looked over to see Lily watching him with a frown. "Are you okay?"

He nodded stiffly as he wiped his hands off on a napkin and placed it in front of him. "I'm fine," he answered as he stood up, "I'm just...I'm tired. I'm going to head to bed."

Lily's frown was still prominent on her face and he smiled tightly at her. He leaned across the table and placed a gentle kiss on her temple which seemed to relax her if only a little, "I'll see you in the morning, my Lily Flower."

Her frown melted into a smile, "Goodnight, James."