I'll Follow You Anywhere

"We shouldn't be skipping class," she said to me as she looked over and shielded her eyes from the sun above us.

"So what?" I replied all nonchalant about what we were doing. This made her laugh and seeing her laugh made me smile.

"Sirius, we're still going to be friends after Hogwarts right?" she asked me, a hint of worry hiding away in her voice.

"Lor, we'll always be friends," I replied. This convinced Lora but I was still trying to convince myself.

-25-

"So then I simply told him 'Oh no, you must use wiggle snouts to make the potion. Not dragon's liver.' I am rather amazing for figuring this out now aren’t I?"

I looked over at Lora and saw her nodding her head vigorously. I just smiled and rolled my eyes at her.

We were sitting in Potions class at our usual table in the back, near the tall, oak door. Slughorn was supposed to be teaching us how to create a Polyjuice Potion but Lora had so intelligently intervened and asked him to tell us a story about how amazing he was. Then he launched into some story involving a trip to Bulgaria and a broom peddler. I had tuned out all of that though and decided instead to make faces at Lora. For a while we just played a Muggle game that Lily taught us called 'tic-tac-toe'. I won all of the games. Lora just liked making little designs in the boxes.

I heard the door behind us creek open and I joined the rest of the class in looking back towards it. Standing in the doorway was Professor McGonagall. Her light brown hair was sitting in its regular bun shape a top of her head. Her annoyed and pinched expression had been wiped off of her face and she now read the look of a grave person bearing bad news.

"Do excuse me, Horace, but I need a moment with Ms. Clense. Bring your things with you, Lora," she stated briskly. Her tone had differed from when she made the switch of speaking to our Potions professor and then to Lora. When McGonagall was speaking to Slughorn, she had a tight, annoyed tone in her voice that clearly showed that she tried not to talk to him at all costs. When she turned her attention to Lora though, her voice changed. She was being sympathetic with my mate and I could see in her eyes that it wasn't anything good. Students only got called out of class when something bad had happened to their families or when they had done something especially bad themselves. When they did something bad though, Headmaster Dippet would just send someone to come fetch you and bring you to his office. Teachers never came to get someone personally, except it was something really serious that had happened to the student's family. Immediately emotions began to run wild through out me. I missed my friend and wished that she could stay with me in this boring class but at the same time I was worried for her. I knew how much she loved her parents and the last thing I would want is for them to be hurt (though they aren't exactly fond of me. That's a different story though). Curiosity was flying through me also. I was anxious to find out what was going on to Lo. Fear struck me that maybe what happened was going to affect Lora going to Hogwarts. What if she had to be pulled out of the school?

I watched as McGonagall beckoned for Lora to come and I watched sadly as my friend gathered her supplies and exited the classroom. She gave me a small wave goodbye as she shut the classroom door behind her. As Slughorn launched into another story about something or other, my mind drifted away to thoughts of the girl that often visited my daydreams. I had seen fear and worry in Lora's eyes as she exited the cold classroom and all I wanted was to gather her up in my arms and tell her that no matter what it was, everything would be okay. I couldn't promise that though. I didn't know that everything was going to be okay. For all I know, things could go horribly in the opposite direction and Lora could be lost forever.

Lost forever. Those words rang around in my mind like a small bell swaying in the breeze. Only the echoes it made hurt. No sweet sounds emanated from it. Only the pain and distress that I had been feeling since I made that deal with James. The thought of only a few more weeks left until I had to tell Lora my true feelings was never far from my mind these days. Quite the opposite, really; it was all I ever thought about. Scenes played out in front of my hooded eyes every night as I drifted to sleep. Occasionally there would be a good time when Lora would tell me that she had the same feelings for me but most of the time her words only made my heart ache with the feelings of rejection and unwantedness. Hardly any time was left in the rest of the school year. All that meant to me was a timer running out on my friendship with Lor. More like a ticking time bomb really, waiting eagerly for its chance to explode and destroy the only true love that I had ever known. My heart would be destroyed from its impact, probably causing me to never love again. Hatred for making that pact with James poured over me like hot syrup pouring over pancakes. While it was hot and would burn me forever, it also had a sweet side. I was anxious to finally tell Lora how I felt. Whether she felt the same way for me or not, at least it would be out there. These feelings would no longer cause turmoil and war inside of me and my life could get back to normal. Maybe I could start serial dating girls again, that would take my mind off of my lost friend. I knew oh too well though that this wasn't true. Nothing would ever be able to erase those memories that Lora had embedded into my mind. I would never want anything to take away those precious times that we had shared. When I was older and sans my friend, those very memories that we are making now would be all I would have.

These feelings were so strange for me. Never have I felt this way for a girl before. Things were so backwards this year. I had begun the year believing that James would never date Lily but look where they are now. For all I know they could get married one day. I never thought Remus would have a girlfriend either. I mean, he's a great guy but he's not very outgoing. He's obviously more outgoing than I have been when dealing with romance. And last year Addie was just this quiet, mousy girl that Lora would talk to sometimes. Now she was turning into something completely else; if only she was turning into something good. Then there was Lora; so many things had changed between us this year. I mean, she kissed me for starters. Granted, one time she was under a love potion, another time it was only because we beat the Slytherins and another time was only because she was telling me good-night but still. That's three kisses from Lo that mean a lot to me. Plus we had become closer this year. We were growing up and she was depending on me now more than ever to be there for her.

So who was I to tell Lora that everything was going to be okay? What did I really even know for a fact anymore? Nothing. Everything had changed this year, including me. I had no clue what I was feeling and more than ever I just wished that I could talk to someone about these feelings. There was only one person that I knew would understand though and that was the one person I could never tell because these feelings were about her. I mean, how would Lora react then if I just came up to her and told her that I was in love with her and I didn't know what to do about. She'd probably leave my sorry arse and find a new best mate. That would crush me more than anything though. Never did I want to feel the hurt of Lora leaving me. Especially when it was all my fault.

Before I knew it, class had ended and everyone was getting up to exit the room. I blended into the crowd of rushing students and emerged out into the fresh hallway, hoping it would clear my mind of these troublesome thoughts that clouded my normal thoughts. Like I said before though, what was really normal any more?

As I walked down the hallway, searching for a familiar glance of Lora, the crowds of students began to disappear. I knew that I had another class after this but finding out what was wrong with my friend was more important to me. As I treaded past the girls lavatory, I heard the familiar sound of someone crying. I stopped and listened in curiously and realized that I had found just what- or whom rather- I was looking for.

I stepped quietly into the girl's restroom and sat down next to Lor on the floor.

"What's wrong?" I whispered as I gathered her in my arms. She leaned against my chest softly and I felt her shoulders heave against me.

"Sirius, my parents-" she cut herself off with another large sob.

"What happened? Are they okay?" I asked, worry striking my voice.

"No, they're divorced," she said sadly as she looked up at me. I knew how much this crushed her. She was devastated over the summer when they had told her their decision. I knew that they were finalizing their divorce soon; I just didn't know it would be this soon.

"It's going to be okay, Lor. Everything's going to be okay," I whispered to her as I rubbed her back. If only I could convince myself of that though.