I'll Follow You Anywhere

"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.

-26-

"Sirius! Time to wake up!" Lora yelled for the third time. She shook me again and pulled my covers back. I curled up in a little ball to savor the quickly escaping warmth and reached down to grab my stolen sheets. Much to my annoyance though, she had thrown them on the floor. Lor drew the maroon curtains around my bed back. I thought that light would be shining through the window but nothing came. I peaked open my eyes reluctantly and saw that it was still dark outside.

"Lora, stop. What time is it?" I asked as I sat up and stretched my arms out, letting a big yawn escape out of my mouth as I did so.

"It's four in the morning," Lora perkily replied. She let herself draw out the 'g' in morning in a sing-songy way. She was already dressed and groomed, which made me wonder how a girl that normally doesn't get up until lunch time could be so awake so early in the morning.

"Then why are you up? Or better yet, why are you waking me up?" I knew that at this point, there was no way that I was going to fall back asleep so I stepped off of my four-poster bed and began to rummage around in my trunk for some clean clothes.

"I am up because I woke up, Sirius. And you are up because I woke you up so that you could come study with me! Now get up," she exclaimed loudly, causing a sleeping James to stir lightly in his bed. She quieted down for a moment to let him fall back asleep.

"I'm getting up. Let me take a shower and I'll be ready to go study with you or whatever it is you want," I said to her, quietly and slowly. She nodded as I shut the grand door behind me.

At this point, I stood alone in the cool, airy room. The windows on the far side let in the pink and orange light that the sun's arrival was giving. Most of the sky was a still a dark blue color though; stars were still twinkling in that night time sky.

I turned the knob in the shower stall and felt the scalding water fall onto my arm. Immediately, I turned the cold knob to make the water flow at a more comfortable temperature. I continued turning the hard knobs until the water was just perfect. Crawling out of my clothes, I stepped gently into the steaming shower. I sighed to myself as I let the hot water soak my dark hair and I reached for the bottle of shampoo. I continued with my normal routine with a heard a noise. I couldn't exactly place it but I knew it was familiar. After a few moments of hearing nothing, I shrugged it off and continued with my shower.

My mind raced through thoughts of finals, the Clense's divorce, and my friends. I knew that it was almost time for the final exams which is why I agreed to study with Lora when she woke me up. Plus, I just wanted to be with her. I thought about Lora's tragic reaction to her parent's even more tragic divorce. After she had stopped crying in the girl's lavatory, she seemed to clam down a bit, though she was still a mess the rest of the night. Ever since then though, she's been perkier than ever and that worries me immensely. I knew that she was hurting on the inside and I only wish that she wasn't holding it in. I knew that all of that built-up pain would have to come out eventually and the longer she held it in the bigger the impact when she finally let it out.

My thoughts then passed over to my friends. They had all grown up so much since I first met them. I mean, I remember when Lora was shy and wouldn't talk to anyone. She can still be like that around people she doesn't know but she's definitely grown to be more outgoing. So has Remus, though I know his break-up with Addie has made him crawl back into his shell somewhat. He's gotten to be more withdrawn lately, which worries me a lot. Peter's changed a little bit. He's grown to take more responsibility I think, which definitely shows through in his decision to get a tutor and better his grades before he graduates. I'm proud of him for that. Then there's James. I'm glad that my best mate hasn't changed that much. Sure, he's become more mature but we still have fun in playing pranks on people and exploring the castle grounds. He finally has Lily though. I remember in his first year when he told me that he planned on dating her. He also told me that he thought she was the prettiest girl in school and now he's got her. I know that Lora is the prettiest girl in school. If only my fate would turn out the same that James' did and then I would get to date the girl of my dreams.

"Oh, Lora," I said longingly to the empty room. I heaved a long sigh as I scrubbed my body.

"Oh, Sirius," a voice replied, giggling as she said those two words. I immediately froze and turned the knobs off, causing my warm water to stop flowing out of the shower head. I peaked my head out and saw Lora leaning against the wall opposite my shower stall. She gave a small wave to me and smiled, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to come in there while I was showering.

"Lora! What are you doing in here?" I asked, my voice faltering near the end of my question. Surprise took over my whole body when I saw her across from me. I could feel myself begin to blush and I pulled the shower curtain over to cover my exposed, wet body.

"Uh, I was waiting for you to finish so we can go study," she replied, rolling her eyes at me question. I could feel a mocking 'duh' lingering right beyond her lips. I don't know why but this only made me blush even more.

"But I'm in the middle of taking a shower-"

"No you're not," she interrupted firmly. Fire grew in her eyes but as quick as it had come, it was gone. "The water's off and now you're just talking to me. So here's a towel for you to dry off," she said, her voice turned cheery again. She handed me the dry, white, fluffy towel that I had set out for myself. I snatched the towel and quickly dried myself off.

"Hand me my boxers, please," I said quietly to Lora, shielding my face with the shower curtain in the hopes that she would not see my blushing cheeks (the ones on my face that is).

"Here you go," she replied, holding out my red and gold boxers. As I reached my hand out for them, she snatched them away while she laughed. I groaned and reached out farther, grabbing them before she could pull them away again. I quickly stepped into them, relieved that I was now wearing something instead of just being exposed.

"Can you hand me my shirt?" I asked her, hoping not for another little joke of hers. It was way too early in the morning to be joking around.

"Hmmm, if you can guess what number I'm thinking of, then I'll give you your shirt. It's somewhere in between one and a million, so start guessing," she said with a mocking grin. I rolled my eyes and leaned my head against the shower wall.

"It's one. Now give Sirius back his shirt so I can take a shower already. I mean, you already woke me up and if I'm up, I might as well get ready and look presentable for Lily," James said as he walked into the room. He was squinting his eyes shut and feeling around for the shower cell.

Lora made a face at me and threw me my shirt. I pulled it on over my head and stepped out of the shower. I stepped into my pants quickly as James pulled off his shirt.

"What are you doing in here anyway?" he asked as he blinked open his eyes. "This is the boy's room. Are you trying to spy on Sirius? Get a little action or something?" he asked, turning to Lora. She blushed deeply and replied with a firm 'no'. I couldn't help but laugh at this. She threw me a sharp glare and that immediately silenced me.

"I was waiting for him to finish so we could go study-"

"Study what?" James asked. "The male anatomy?"

"No! Now let's go Sirius," she said to me in a huff. Reluctantly I waved good-bye to James and followed Lora out of the room. I heard James snicker as I shut the door behind me.

We walked in silence as we made our way down to the library. The air between us was sharp and I felt the whole time like I was walking on eggshells. Or as if she was an unstable potion, ready to explode at any moment, no one knowing what would happen after the explosion was over. I didn't want to set her off, so I didn't say anything. Every once in a while she would say how the weather seemed like it was going to be nice or how the corridors seemed cleaner than usual but the cheeriness in her voice worried me. It sounded somewhat forced and I knew that there was something behind that, ready to strike if anything happened that didn't drip of cheerful unicorns or colorful rainbows or some mess like that.

"Here we are," she said flashing me a bright smile as we crossed the corner to were our destination was. I saw anger strike in her eyes when she saw that it was closed. I had forgotten that they didn't open the library until six thirty.

"What the hell?!" she yelled out to me. I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows; Lora rarely swore.

"It's okay," I replied, cautiously setting my hand on her shoulder. She stopped her yelling and just kind of collapsed into me. I saw tears shimmer in her eyes and my suspicions of what was going on was confirmed. "We can go outside and study." She nodded her head and followed me back down the hallway that we had just treaded. After a few more silent moments, we emerged into the crisp, warm air that lingered outside, waiting for someone to breathe it in. We walked over near the lake and sat down about a foot from its watery edge. The morning sun cast a symphony of shades or pink and orange and yellow across the brilliant blue-gray sky. The stars were merely small shimmers above our heads, hanging like a Quidditch player in mid air.

"Lora, it's okay, you know? Everything will be fine," I said quietly to her as I wrapped my arm around her slim shoulders. She leaned her head in close to me and looked up. I saw her eyes shine and the reflection of the gorgeous sky above was clear in her eyes. I found myself entranced for a moment before I shook myself out of it. Something was just pulling me to her…

"I know, we can study later when the library opens up," she replied, faking a faint smile. I shook my head.

"Lora, they love you. And sometimes two people can't stay in love forever. Sometimes, a change is just needed. They don't want to hurt you, Lor. They never have and never will. But this is what they want. I know it hurts but it's time that you grew up. For some people, love just doesn't last," I whispered to her, watching the tears bloom in her gentle eyes. I swept my thumb slowly across her cheek, wiping away a lone tear that had trickled upon its soft surface.

As I leaned down, I just couldn't help myself. I gently pressed my lips to her cheek, letting them linger there a moment longer than necessary. As I pulled away and looked at her, I saw her mouth slightly open in surprise at what I had just done.

Maybe I wouldn't have to wait until the end of the school year to tell her after all.