10 Things I Hate About You / Sirius Black

Being without you is like being afflicted with the Cruciatus Curse.

"I swear I didn't do anything! Would've been too drunk to remember anyway." Sirius said, rubbing his temples.

"You must've done something. She's pissed." Marlene said, helping herself to mashed potatoes. "I leave you alone for one night and you mess everything up."

"Hey!" Sirius frowned.

Remus joined Marlene and Sirius at the Gryffindor table. "Alright. I talked to Alice for you."

"What did she say?" Marlene said, mouth full.

"Hates him with the fire of a thousand suns. That's a direct quote." Remus said, failing to keep a straight face.

"Kat, dramatic as always." Marlene laughed.

"Thanks, Moony. That's very comforting of you." Sirius muttered. He pushed chicken across his plate with a fork, trying to think of a way to re-woo Kat. He hadn't realized how much he would miss her adorable face throughout the day.

"I'm sure you can fix this. Just apologize." Marlene suggested.

"She could just need a day to cool off." Remus added.

A bewitched cup floated from the Ravenclaw table to the Gryffindor table, stopping above Sirius' head. Ice water flowed onto Sirius' prized hair and splashed both Marlene and Remus sitting next to him. The trio turned around to find Kat stands menacingly glaring at them.

"Maybe two." sighed Marlene.

***

Regulus?"

Reg brought his head up from the table. He couldn't help but fall asleep doing his Charms essay. Bianca stood there nervously shifting her textbook from hand to hand. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's lunchtime so I thought I'd wake you up. Also I wanted to talk to you." Bianca continued. She gave him a helpless smile.

Regulus sighed, looking very put-out. "Look I'm sorry, I was a little harsh."

"No! You were right..."

"Just because you're beautiful, doesn't mean you can treat people like they don't matter. I mean, I really like you. Or liked you I guess? I defended you when people called you conceited. I helped you when you asked me to. I read an entire potions textbook for you! And then you just blow me off... multiple times."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing." she said, looking down at her feet. Softly, she continues. "I was wondering if I can get a second chance? Can we start over?"

Regulus didn't respond. He looked at her hesitantly. She studied him for a moment, then grabbed his face and gave him a peck.

"I kinda had my priorities messed up this year. I really appreciate all you've done for me this year. And I want to get to know you better." she smiled. Without another word, she walked out of the library.

"And I'm back in the game!" he said a little too loudly for the library. Students and Ms. Pince glared at him, but Regulus was too stunned to notice. Things were finally going in his favor.

Exiting the library, he searched for his brother. He wanted Sirius to be the first one to know about his good luck. He saw Sirius exiting the Great Hall, deep in thought.

"Wait up!" Regulus called, running to catch up with Sirius. Falling in pace, he said "Um... your hair looks... soggy."

"Don't get me started on that."

"Ok then. Thanks for the advice, Sirius. It really helped out."

"I thought you were over her?"

"Yeah, well I did say that, but, uh, that was until she kissed me."

Sirius grinned. "Where?"

"In the library. More of a peck but still." Regulus said, blushing as he thought about it.

"That's great, Reg." Sirius said, resting his arm on Regulus' shoulder. "Anytime you need advice, you can come to me. That's what older brothers are for."

"I know." Regulus said with a small smile.

****

Kat and Alice sat in the common room in silence doing their homework. Occasionally Alice lifted her eyes from her essay to check on her friend, but Kat remained angrily scowling at her parchment. Suddenly, an owl dropped a sealed letter into Kat's lap. Seeing what it was, she tore it up as Alice watched.

"Was that from Sirius?" Alice asked.

"No. Just the Slug Party thing. Before Winter Break."

"Oh. You're not going?"

"No." Kat snorted. "It's basically a school dance. Can you imagine who would go to that antiquated mating ritual known as a school dance?"

"I would. But I'm not in Slug Club."

"Longbottom is." Kat rolled her eyes. "But do you really want to get all dressed up so you can awkwardly dance with your boyfriend while you're forced to listen to a band that by definition sucks?"

"Alright. Is that really what this is about?"

"What do you mean? I'm just trying to make a statement."

"So this isn't about Sirius?"

"Most definitely not." Kat quickly gathered her stuff. She shoved her papers into her bag and stood up hastily. "I've got practice."

"You can't avoid the topic forever. You guys would be a cute couple." Alice sighed. "You don't need to push him away."

"That's not... it's not my fault this time." Kat spat.

"Then what happened?" Alice gently prodded.

"He was just leading me on." Kat said, the hurt she had been pushing down all day long creeping into her voice.

"What? That can't be..." Alice said, shocked. Had she misjudged the dreamy stares Sirius gave Kat everyday?

"Bye." Kat said, storming out. A first-year took one look at her and jumped out of the way as she marched outside to the Quidditch Pitch.

Quidditch always cleared her mind. The wind whistling past her ears and seeing nothing but the clouds was calming. Hitting bludgers as hard as possible also helped with anger management. She finished her warm up laps around the field and started drilling. After hitting a bludger, she heard a peculiar noise from the stands. The whole team turned to look, and Kat found herself staring at the very person she had imagined hitting with a bludger.

"This song goes out to my darling Kat!" Sirius yelled into an enchanted megaphone. He kicked a CD player by his feet and upbeat notes spluttered out. He began to sing with a deep, husky voice.