The Missing Marauder: A Harry Potter FanFiction

Chapter 17

Rowan loved Kyle.  

She honestly thought she did. And he loved her, too. She was positive. A month wasn't a lot of time to get to know somebody, but she knew him well enough to have fallen in love again.  

Again.  

She'd walked to Kyle's house. He was happy to see her, and they were going to go for a nice walk. Because that was what she needed after walking ten miles in eighty degree weather with the sun beating down on her.  

But she didn't argue to a walk around the neighborhood.  

Holding hands, he led her around, and when they hit Grimmauld Place, he was getting seriously annoyed with her attitude.  

"You should be grateful," he snapped, "You should be so grateful to have somebody like me. And how do you repay me for staying with you? By complaining about aches and pains in your legs and how the sun is burning you and blah, blah, blah!"  

She winced at his words. She knew he loved her. He just had a bad temper, that was all.  

"I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely, "I don't want to get on your nerves."  

"You'd be wise not to," he said.  

"I really am sorry, Ky," she insisted, "I want you to be happy, I don't want to aggravate you. I'll shut up, I promise. No more complaining."  

He stopped her and smiled down at her. "I know you will, hon. I know you will."  

She smiled up at him, too, and noticed a familiar figure walking behind him.  

"Sirius?" she thought aloud, and, apparently, she was loud enough for him to hear her from all the way down the road.  

He stopped moving.  

Kyle turned around. "Serious? Of course I'm serious."  

"No, I mean, that is Sirius, an old friend," she told him, staring at him. Even from halfway down the street, she could tell he was staring right back at her.  

"Oh," Kyle muttered, "Okay. Do you, I don't know, want to go talk to him or something?"  

"That's okay," she said, "We didn't exactly leave off pleasantly."  

"No, I insist you go talk to your old friend," he persisted, turning her around and none-too-gently pushing her toward him. Before she could protest, he'd already turned around and was making his way back home.  

Unsurely, she rushed over to Sirius, stopping a few feet in front of him.  

"Hi," she greeted emotionlessly, nervously.  

His mouth formed a straight line. "Hi."  

"How...how...how have you, um, you know, been?"  

"Crappy."  

"Oh."  

Silence.  

"So, um, where're you headed?" she asked, eyeing his bag, but not daring to look at him directly.  

He hesitated before responding. "I'm just going to stay at Prongs's for awhile."  

"Is your definition of awhile; forever?"  

"When you say 'forever' do you mean 'forever and ever?' Because no, I do not plan on staying with the Potters forever and ever."  

"I was just curious, that's all."  

"Curiosity killed the cat."  

"Is that a threat?" she demanded, "Or are you calling me a feline."  

"I don't threaten girls," he snapped, "And I hate cats."  

"My point exactly."  

"I don't hate you."  

"Oh really?" she asked, "Because the last time we spoke, it sure did seem like you hated me."  

"I did."  

"Oh, gee, that makes me feel so much better."  

"But I don't now," he finished, "Now that I know the truth."  

"The truth."  

"Precisely."  

He stared at her through the corner of his eye and she stared at the ground. All was completely silent again until he asked, "So, who's the square?"  

She made a sort of choking noise before punching him on the arm the way they used to and laughed, "He is not a square!"  

"Oh, yeah?" he inquired, "Because first impressions are really important and all I saw was 'square.'"  

"He is not a square!" she repeated, "But you are an ass."  

"Thank you very much."  

She giggled and finally looked up from the ground...  

...and immediately regretted it.  

He was staring into her eyes, locking the gaze in a way so she couldn't turn around and stare at anything else but him.  

And somehow she was in his arms and he was kissing her.  

At first, she fell into him, let him kiss her, let herself melt into his being. She wanted him to kiss her like she'd never kissed her before, to touch her like she was the only one for him, like she was the only girl in the world.  

And then she was knocked into reality. She had a boyfriend.  

Kyle.  

Her boyfriend.  

Her boyfriend who was not Sirius.  

Her boyfriend who was Kyle.  

Kyle.  

Kyle wouldn't want her to be doing this. She wasn't a two-timer, she wasn't a cheater. She would continue to be faithful to the boy who loved her.  

She would stay faithful to Kyle.  

She tried to push away.  

Sirius's grip was strong as iron. When he felt her resist, he merely made it stronger, more desperate.  

She pushed again, and again was unsuccessful. She started to push harder, to hit his chest until finally, it seemed he snapped out of his reverie. He let go suddenly and pulled away from her.  

After a second of staring at each other, she slapped him hard across the cheek.