I'll Follow You Anywhere

"That's crazy! She-She… she's one of us!" Lily argued, worry growing in her throat.

"Not any more, Lil. She's chosen a different path from us," James said quietly, wrapping a comforting arm around Lily. Her eyes were shining with worry for her former friend.

"So what do we do about it?" Lora asked, looking around at all of us.

"There's nothing we can do. She's gone," I replied somberly.

-18-

"Guess what everyone!" Lora yelled as she ran down the spiral dormitory stairs, into the common room. I looked over and saw that she was still in her pajamas (which consisted of flannel yellow and blue pajama pants, a bright yellow tank top with a bluebird on it, and my white dress shirt.) She tripped over the hem of her pants as she ran over to me.

"It's your birthday?" I asked as she cuddled in next to me, reaching out her hands toward the crackling fire to steal some of the escaping heat. She put on a pout as she looked at me.

"Just take the fun out it, now don't you?" she sassily asked as she conjured a blanket to cover us both. Then she quickly stuck out her hands and put on a big, toothy smile.

"No, you were not born until 11:58 at night so you will not get your official present from me until 11:58 tonight, though I will extend courteous behavior towards you and do you favors. You know the rules, Lor. We do the same thing every year. I am your slave all day until 11:58 and that is when you get your presents. I don't know why you insist on begging for your presents early every year," I lectured her, laughing as she pouted at me once again, sticking out her tongue like a five-year-old.

"Lily! May I please have my present now?" Lora asked as Lily entered the common room, still in her pajama also. She was wearing emerald green pajama pants and a white sweatshirt with Gryffindor written across the front in red lettering. She yawned as she settled down in an armchair across from us. With a flick of her wand, she too conjured up a warm blanket.

"Nope. James told about your little tradition with presents on your birthday so I thought it would be fun to wait until tonight also," she replied sweetly. She looked around the common room, searching for her black-haired beau.

"He's taking a shower," I said to her, glancing towards the boys dormitory stairs. I saw Remus descending them, coming towards us.

"Morning all," he said cheerily as he took a seat in the empty armchair across from Lily. He looked around, rolled his eyes and summoned a blanket too.

"Are we starting a cult around blankets or something?" he joked.

"I'm cold, Remy!" Lora yelled, tilting her head back and howling after her statement. We all laughed as Remus rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Very funny, Lora," he said, laughing to himself.

"Remy, can I have my presents now?" Lora begged, giving him an innocent smile as she slowly stuck out her hands.

"Uh, sure," he said, turning to look back to the boys dormitory stairway. James was now coming down, shaking his hair as he stepped off the bottom step.

"I can?!" Lora asked, excitement picking up in her voice.

"Nope," Remus replied, laughing. Lily stood up to let James take the armchair. I watched as she settled down onto James lap and leaned her head against his.

"Good morning, James," she whispered to him, her happiness to see him shining through her smile.

"Good morning, Lily," he replied, grinning as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, James, is your lap warm with Lily sitting on it?" I asked James from my seat on the couch.

"Yeah, Lily's got a warm rear," he replied, laughing. Lily crinkled up her nose and laughed at this.

"My lap's cold," I said to him, pouting as I stated it. "Come sit on my lap, Lora."

"No way, I don't know where your laps been," Lora replied, crinkling up her nose too.

"It's been where it's always been. Now come sit on it," I declared, grabbing Lora's waist and hoisting her up onto my lap.

"Happy now?" she asked, sighing as the rest of us laughed.

"Yeah, I'm feeling warmer already," I said, smiling and melting on the inside.

We continued chatting in the common room for a bit longer before we finally decided to head down to the Great Hall. Lily and Lora had to get ready first though so James, Remus and I decided to wait in the common room while they took showers and got ready.

"So why didn't you tell Lora it was you?" James asked me, a few minutes after the girls had entered their dormitory. He had a look of confusion plastered across his face.

"I just…I don't want to ruin our friendship," I said slowly. I know that we had all already gone over this but it still worried me to let Lora know how I felt.

"Sirius, we've gone over this. You'll never know how Lora feels about you until you let her know how you feel about her. We're Gryffindors, Padfoot. We're the brave house! So be brave and tell her!" James looked at me, pity in his eyes. I licked my lips in frustration and looked away.

"You think I don't know that I'm not being brave? I know, James. I know. It's just hard for me right now. I don't want to lose Lora."

"Sirius! Just tell-" James was cut off by Remus though.

"Prongs, if Sirius isn't ready yet, then he doesn’t have to. This is a big thing. Tell her when you're ready, Padfoot," Remus said to me, care shining through his eyes.

"Fine, but I'm just looking out for you Sirius. Just, promise me that some time before we graduate, you'll tell her," James said to me. I saw determination and hope swirling around in his dark brown eyes and I knew that there was only one thing I could say.

"I promise," I whispered to James. It was weird, hearing that statement come out of my mouth. Sometime before I graduate, Lora will know that I, Sirius Black, love her I thought to myself. She would know that it was me that loved her, not some mysterious masked man. She would know that I was the one that she had danced with that night. Lora would know that it was me that she had kissed. Maybe Lora would still be excited to dance with me. Or to kiss me. But the idea of knowing how she felt got me excited. No longer would it be some unanswered question, hanging in the air. No longer would I wonder when I would work up the courage to tell her. By the end of this school year, I would have told Lora. I would know how she felt about me in just a few short months. I felt my heart fill up with hope and happiness at the thought that I finally had a deadline for telling her. I had three months to work up my courage to tell Lora that I loved her. Three months. Those two little words hung around in my mind. They carried with them hope, joy, excitement, fear and some sign that signified that I was really growing up.

I turned around as I the light sound of footsteps. I saw the girl that I had just been pondering about descend down the spiral staircase behind me. Everything seemed to freeze around us as she walked slowly over to the couch where I was seated. Lora's hair was in dark curls and she had wrapped a maroon scarf around her neck. Her eyes smiled to me. I felt my heart melt quickly. When she smiled at me with her soft mouth I just thought my heart was going to give out from beating so fast.

"Hey, we're ready to go," she said as she yanked my arm up, trying to pull me off the couch. I hadn’t noticed that Lily had come down behind her.

"Okay, let's head off to the Great Hall," I said, trying to catch my breath.

We entered the grand room a few minutes later. Some students were already there, eating their lunches and chatting with friends. McGonagall was chatting with Slughorn, though her expression showed no joy in it. Dumbledore looked amused, watching them talk.

"Do you all know what today is?!" Lora shouted at the students in the Great Hall. James and I burst out in laughter, which earned us a glare from Lora. Remus and Lily, however, tried, and failed, to stifle their laughter.

"Uh, Sunday?" someone yelled from the Ravenclaw table.

"I guess but do you know what's special about today?" Lora yelled to the crowd again, which earned more laughter. Students looked around and asked each other curiously what today was. Some gave Lora puzzled expressions while others looked annoyed that she had disrupted their lunch. McGonagall was shaking to her head while smiling as Dumbledore chuckled to himself.

"It's March third, you wanker!" Josh (the sixth-year Chaser on our Quidditch team) yelled jokingly to Lora. We all burst out laughing at. Even Lora couldn't hold back a giggle.

"Shut up! It's my birthday!" Lora yelled over our laughter. The sweet sounds of our fellow students grumbling at Lora's announcement filled the Great Hall as the Gryffindor table burst out singing 'Happy Birthday' to her. She grinned brightly as we took our seats at the long, wooden table.

The rest of the afternoon basically consisted of doing whatever Lora wanted to do. First she wanted to eat, so we all ate merrily while laughing and joking. Josh joined us for some of the day. Lora got the bright idea that she wanted to eat up at the professors table (because she decided that she was 'above' us for the day) so she settled in next to McGonagall. I laughed as McGonagall looked even more annoyed by Lora than she did by Slughorn, though I did catch her laughing a few times throughout their meals. Finally Lora resumed her place with as and we headed outside.

The snow from weeks before had cleared up and spring was coming soon to Hogwarts. We played a few games of hide and seek before Lora decided that she missed Jack. So she sent James to go fetch Jack and bring him outside. After about an hour of trying to teach him how to play dead and spin in the air (both of which he now knows how to do), we decided to play tag. We played for about forty-five minutes when Lora declared that it was too cold to be playing outside (this was right when she was tagged to be 'it' by the way.) So we headed inside after that. Josh had to go work on a project for McGonagall's class so it was back to the original group again. We took our time heading back to the Gryffindor common room, letting Jack run ahead and stamp his feet waiting for us to catch up. When we finally entered the common room, it was late. Darkness had overtaken the bright sky outside, leaving just the stars twinkling in the sky. The common room was empty when we entered it's warm interior.

"You know what time it is?!" she yelled excitedly as we sat down.

"Oh Merlin," James muttered, worn out from our busy afternoon.

"That's right Jamie-poo! It's 11:58! At this moment many moons ago, I emerged from my mothers womb-"

"Woah, too much Lora!" Remus exclaimed, cupping his hands over his ears.

"Fine, but cough over my presents," she demanded jokingly. We all laughed as we exited the room and returned with her presents.

"Lily first," Lora exclaimed, opening Lily's bag.

"Ahhh! I love it!" Lora yelled as she eyed the shiny necklace. Lora continued to go around the circle, opening presents. Remus got her a little gift basket of chocolates. James had bought her a black jacket that she had been obsessing over last time we went to Hogsmeade. Jack pulled forward a blue sock.

"You found my missing sock, Jacky! Thank you!" she said sweetly, smiling down at the small, furry dog.

"Here's your present," I said, tossing a small box to her. She caught it excitedly and opened it up.

"Oh, Sirius, it's gorgeous!" she said, giving me a sweet smile. She pulled out the silver charm bracelet and looked at it excitedly. A small dog dangled off of it.

"Woah, what's that?" Lily asked, craning her neck to look outside the window.

And owl swooped in carrying a bouquet of red roses. Lora jumped up and ran over to receive the fragrant flowers. She pulled out a small white note and read it to herself. Her eyes grew big as she closed the letter and set it back amidst the flowers.

"Who's it from?" Lily asked curiously.

"My masked man," Lora replied, giggling as she said it. While Lily and Lora read over the note together, James looked at me with a confused expression on his face.

I just smiled and winked at him.