I'll Follow You Anywhere

"Peter! We're your friends! Why would we laugh at you?" I said smiling. I had been worried that we were going to lose Peter to something bad like we had lost Addie but thank goodness that we weren't. Peter was our friend and losing him right after we had lost her would have been unbearable.

"Sorry, guys. I guess I was just worrying over nothing," the small boy voiced, looking up at us with a smile in his eyes. We clapped his back and laughed at our mistake as we made our way back to the Gryffindor common room.

As we slowly treaded down the corridor, Addie came up on the side, walking in the opposite direction. For a spilt second, she looked at us. I saw resentment in her eyes as she looked at me and James. A different expression read across her face when she looked down to Peter. I didn't care though. It was her loss that she had stopped being our friend. We had Peter back and that's all that mattered right now.

That and the fact that I have two months until I probably lose another friend.

My best friend.

Lora.

-22-

"James! Just leave me alone!" Lily hollered as I moved my king. They had been having a go at it all day and right now they were in the middle of another row. They were beginning to annoy us all. Especially me; they were interrupting my game of Wizard Chess with Lor.

I smiled as Lora rolled her eyes at me, responding to my move. I quickly destroyed her pieces and raised my arms in victory. We both laughed as Jack carried my opponents decapitated head over to the crackling fire place. With his gentle paws, the small dog pushed the chess piece into its hot doom.

"Jack! Now I have to get a whole new set of pieces," Lora complained as she scooped the dog up and lifted him high above her head. It was the last day of Easter Break and we were spending the whole day in our pajamas. I don't know why but Lora kept begging me to do it with her so I thought I would. Plus it was a chance to see Lora in her pajamas. She hasn’t been coming into the boys dormitory much any more so we haven't had one of our little sleepovers in a long time. I think that she's been staying in the girl's dormitory so much because it's almost time to leave Hogwarts and this time, we won't be coming back. So she's savoring her time left in there.

Anyway, Lora was wearing bright blue shorts and a metallic gold tank top (don't ask me where she found a metallic gold tank top because I don't have the slightest clue). Her hair was in pigtails, which we both loved. She loved it because it meant that she could wiggle her head around a bunch and giggle and I loved it because, well, she looked cute wiggling her head around and giggling. My pajamas consisted of some black sweats and a white t-shirt. Normally I just sleep in my boxers and no shirt or sweats but Lora made me cover up. She told me that if I was going to flaunt my body like that, at least do it for money.

"Nah, I know James has some extra pieces left over from when I beat up his pieces too. I think one of them is a king," I offered her. She smiled and shook her head, which lead to the wiggling of the pigtails. I watched them bounce around and couldn't stop myself from laughing loudly. I guess the joy that one gets from wiggling pigtails is contagious.

"Let's go, Sirius," she said abruptly, picking up Jack as she stood up. I followed her suit out of pure curiosity. Plus I was sick of listening to James and Lily yelling at each other.

"So where are we going, Miss Lora?" I asked wrapping my arm around her shoulders, scratching Jack's head as I did so. He barked out of joy and I saw her smile as he wagged his tail against her arm. She began bouncing her curls to this and I shook my hair around too. Once we entered the corridor though, I told her to stop. We looked like freaks, shaking around and what not. She giggled when I told her this.

"We are traveling the treacherous and unknown paths of the mystical Hogwarts, young lad," she replied, pitching her voice at a high note.

I laughed and replied, "You mean the treacherous and unknown paths around the mystical Hogwarts that we have been traveling since we were wee, tiny first years?" She wrinkled her nose (which warmed my hot heart a bit more).

"Why, yes, Sirius. Since we were wee first years," she answered, mocking my usage of words. I bumped her hip with my hip playfully, wrinkling my own nose at her. She smiled and lifted Jack up to my face. He wiped his wet, warm tongue across the tip of my nose.

"Aw, Jack has a crush on someone, Sirius," Lora said in a sing-song-y voice, winking at me. I smiled and gave Lora a little kiss on the nose. She giggled and blushed as she shook her head (and her pigtails).

"Not me, Pad! Jack!" she said, as if my kiss had been preposterous. I raised my eyebrows in mock-shock and noticed that she was still blushing. I leaned down and kissed Jack one the nose though. His nose was wet and cold and he licked up my nostril when I gave him a kiss. Then he tried to bite my cheek.

"Tell your rabies-infested dog to go away, Lor," I said as I rubbed my cheek where he had bit (though it was only a gentle bite).

"Okay, go away Siri," she joked. I opened my mouth in shock and laughed as shoved her gently with my shoulder.

"Hey Sirius," I heard a voice whisper in my ear. I turned around and saw Melissa. She was just another girl that had a crush on me in this school. Was about to tell her to go away when I had a thought. Girls try to make guys jealous all the time. So, why don't I give it a try?

"Hey Mel," I replied, dropping Lora's waist (though I really didn't want to) and grabbing hold of Melissa's. I saw Lora look down and I turned back to her.

"Uh, hey Lor? We'll catch up later, okay?" I asked, looking at her sincerely. My heart was begging me to stay with my friend but I had already gotten the idea to try and make her jealous. Maybe it would work or maybe-

"Yeah, sure. You two have fun," she replied, a sweet smile forming on her face as she waved goodbye and continued down the hallway, Jack sitting I her arms. He peaked his head back over her shoulder and barked for me, but Melissa was already dragging me down the nearby stairs, which had just moved towards us. She grabbed my hand tightly as she pulled me down the stairs behind her. She began talking about my hair or something. I don't really know; I was still thinking about Lora and why she hadn’t gotten jealous. Because she doesn't like you, Sirius. You know that a small voice whispered inside my head.

"Melissa, where are we going?" I asked, stumbling over the stairs because she was pulling me so quickly. She just turned around and winked at me. Lora did that sometimes. It always made her seem sexier (not that she needed that). It didn't seem to have the same effect for Melissa.

She finally pulled me out onto the lawns, showing me off to everyone that was out there. I blinked my eyes in the bright sunlight and waved to a few people that called out my name. She continued to clutch onto my hand as she pulled me over next to the lake. She plopped down onto the warm grass and looked up at me, expecting me to do the same I guess. I sat down next to her and she immediately pulled me into a deep kiss. I really didn’t want to kiss her but I didn't want to seem rude so I replied with a kiss. She kept pulling me in for more though. Out of no where, I remembered what Lora said about flaunting my body to people and getting paid for it and I just burst out laughing. I must have bit Melissa's lip or something when I laughed because she pulled away and put her hand to her mouth quickly, checking for blood. Then she looked up at me.

"What the bloody 'ell are you laughing about?" she demanded. Her tone immediately struck a sour chord with me. I shook my head to say nothing. I didn't want to verbally say something because I didn't want to ask her why she was being such a bloody bi-

She leaned in really close to me though and whispered, "Will you kiss my lip and make it better?" She set her hand on my neck and I shook it off quickly.

"Uh, no. Look Melissa, you're nice and all but…well, no you're not. You're actually rather annoying. So…bye," I replied, standing up and beginning to walk away from her. I heard her call out my name a few times but I ignored it. I really wanted to just go and hang out with the girl I really like for a while.

I must have searched the castle for an hour. It was dark by the time I found her (I guess that's due to the fact that we left the common room so late in the day. We spent the whole morning playing Wizard Chess in pajamas).

Lora was seated under the same tree where we had met. She was the only one left on the grounds now and through the darkness, I could see her petting Jack in her lap. As I stepped closer though, I heard her sniffle.

I sat down next to her on the grass and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. I could feel her shudder as she sobbed to herself. I leaned my head against her and whispered to her, "What's wrong, Lor?"

"Nothing," she replied, wiping away her tears.

"Lora."

"I'm just upset about…James and Lily. They make such a good couple. They need to stop fighting," Lora replied. Her answer was a bit odd but I figured that it was just her time of the month or something. I whispered to her that every thing would turn out just fine between Lily and James. I told her that they get in fights all the time but always made up in the end. She nodded and leaned into me. I looked down and wiped away a few tears that were left over on her soft cheeks.

"Come on," I said as I pulled her up off of the ground. Jack trotted behind us as we made our way back to the common room.

"How's Melissa?" she asked as she sniffled a little.

I laughed and replied, "Conceited as ever." Lora smiled and giggled, shaking around her pigtails as she did so. I shook my hair around with her and we both laughed loudly as Jack barked and wagged his tail.

When we entered the common room, it was in complete chaos. James and Lily were screaming their heads off at each other. Something about studying I caught but the rest I couldn't make out. They were both screaming too loudly over one another. I saw Lily run to the girl's dormitory and slam the door shut behind her.

"Prongs, what's going on?" I asked as James strode by on his way to our own dormitory.

"I never want to date Lily again," he replied furiously as he slammed the door shut after him.

I looked over at Lora as she made her way towards her dormitory to comfort Lily. She didn’t seem bothered at all about what James had just said.