Sirius moves ever closer to me, and my back hits the cold stone wall behind me. He places his hands on either side of me head, leaning down. His lips brush mine as he whispers, "Julia, your brother doesn't want us together."

My hand tangles in his long, dark hair, pressing my lips against his. He kisses me back with just as much fervor as me, closing the distance between us. His body is hovering on top of me, and I draw him closer to me. 

"Julia," he whispers into the kiss, his voice sounding different. "What about James?"

"What about him?" I ask, not bothering to open my eyes. "He's my brother and your friend. Shouldn't he be happy for us?"

"You know he's not."

"Then we'll date in secret." 

He smirks against my lips, but then there's another voice saying my name. It continues to go on until I open my eyes, taking in my surroundings. I'm not in a random hallway with Sirius; I'm in the Transfiguration classroom and Lily Evans is sitting next to me, glaring at me. Her red hair decorates her shoulders, and her green eyes are angry. 

"Julia," she whispers, and I realize that her voice was the one I heard in the daydream. "Can you ever stop thinking about Sirius?" I stick my tongue out at her, not wanting to talk. McGonagall is the scariest teacher when angered, and I don't want her to see us chatting during her class. "You know, he's the dangerous Marauder. That means he's not a a good guy."

"Lils, you've been best friends with the 'dangerous Marauder' since First Year," I whisper, shaking my head. "You know who he is. He's not a bad guy."

"Sure." I roll my eyes as she writes something down on the paper in front of her. She's probably answering some of the questions for the test we're currently taking. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Juls."

"Oh, and you won't get hurt by dating my brother?"

"Miss Evans and Potter," McGonagall says, breaking into our conversation, "would you like to share what you're talking about?" She eyes the two of us, her face stone-like and cold. We both shake our heads and she says, "Then stop talking. You need to finish this exam, or would you rather talk in detention?"

"No, ma'am."

"Alright. You can continue the test, but if you utter one more word, you will have detention and your test will be confiscated."

Lily and I both give each other glares, and then I focus on my test. I have a few more questions left, so I hurry through them. Once I finish, I double-check my answers. Now that McGonagall yelled at me, I wanted to be sure that all my answers are correct. Transfiguration is one of my best classes, and I don't want McGonagall to think any less of me. 

Soon enough, the class is over. It's time for lunch, so Lily and I walk together to the Great Hall. McGonagall gives me a look on the way out of the classroom, so I nudge Lily, saying, "Thanks for that."

"For what?"

"Talking so loud that McGonagall heard us," I say, rolling my eyes. "And it's all because you were trying to convince me that Sirius is a bad guy, which he isn't."

Lily sighs in my ear, grabbing onto my arm. We both slow to a stop, moving over to the wall so that we aren't in the way of our classmates. Lily gives me a weird look, saying, "I'm worried about you, Julia. You've liked Sirius ever since First Year, and he hasn't been the best person, especially to you. Don't you remember all the pranks he has played on you?"

I grind my teeth together. Lily doesn't know what she's talking about. I was the one who befriended Sirius first all those years ago, and even from then, I knew he was a good guy. He does like to put on a show about being a bad boy, probably to go along with his Animagus form of a huge dog, but I know the true Sirius Black. If Lily can't see him, then so be it. 

"Lily, Julia, my two favorite girls!" The boy who spoke wraps his arms around my shoulders, and I look over to see my bratty twin brother. "It's so coincidental seeing you two here!"

"We have lunch together. Of course you'd see us on our way to the Great Hall."

We start walking down the hallway, James in between Lily and me. As we walk through the busy halls, our other friends start falling into place beside us, besides Sirius. I glance around, trying to find the familiar mop of jet black hair, but I don't see him anywhere. That's weird. He's usually one of the first people in the Great Hall, sitting in our usual spot. 

I set my bag on the Gryffindor table, looking over at Remus. He's already wolfing down the food on his plate, acting true to his werewolf character. "Remus," I say, sliding into the seat next to him. "You know Sirius the best."

"Besides you, of course," he says, his mouth full of food. He gives me a grin as I grimace. "Sorry, sorry."

"Anyway, do you know where he's at?"

"Nope. He just disappeared this morning after Herbology."

I sigh, standing up. Remus shrugs and then starts eating his food again. Shuddering slightly, I move back over to Lily and James, sitting down in front of Peter. He gives me a sad look, saying, "Sirius has been acting really weird this morning. He didn't listen to anything I said, though I did see him writing something down on a piece of paper."

"Thanks, Peter."

I gather some food and place it on my plate, my hand knocking into a piece of paper. Frowning, I pick it up and open the envelope. Lily nudges me, looking at me with her wondering green eyes. I shrug and then read the letter aloud to my friends. 

"Julia Potter, meet me out by the tree near Black Lake. Don't be late. - Your Secret Admirer."

"Did that guy really call himself your secret admirer?" James says, gagging. "Gross. I hate seeing you interact with guys, Juls. It's so weird."

"Excuse me?" I motion over to Lily, glaring at my brother. He glances at her, his eyes softening slightly. "You get to have a girlfriend, but I can't have any guys be interested in me? You are such a hypocrite."

"Anyway," Lily says, her eyes wide, "I don't think you should go. You don't know who this guy is. He could be anyone, and that's not a good thing."

"Why is that not a good thing?" Remus asks, pushing his plate away from him spot. He slumps back in his seat, holding his stomach. "Oh gosh, I ate too fast."

"You do that every day," Peter says, laughing. "We try to tell you not to do that, but you do it anyway."

I glance back down at the piece of paper in my hands, my eyes taking in every letter and every word. The handwriting looks very familiar, but I can't place it. I'm really curious about this note. I haven't seen any boy looking my way, so who could like me? 

"I think I'm going to check this out," I say, quickly standing up. I sidestep Lily's grabbing hands, flashing my best friends a huge grin. "See you guys later!"

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I hurry through the Great Hall, heading toward the outside doors. There aren't that many people out and about, but that's because lunch is now, and some still has classes to be in. I'm glad that there aren't that many people out in the hallways; I'm suddenly nervous about meeting this mysterious boy. What if he's luring me out there to hurt me? I would be all alone, so it's the perfect opportunity to do something to me. But what if he's a nice guy? I hope so. 

The trek to the Black Lake doesn't take as long as I thought it would. I do notice a boy sitting below a tree, his dark hair covering his face. But I recognize him. 

It's Sirius Black. 

I stop in my tracks. What in the world is he doing out there? I glance down at the letter in my hand, my eyes nearly bugging out of my head. Now I recognize the handwriting: it's his. How didn't I realize that back in the Great Hall? 

Is this one of his pranks? Lily did mention that he loves to prank me, which is true. But why would he want to play with my heart like this? He obviously doesn't know my feelings for him, but still. It does seem like one of his pranks, so I start backing up slightly. My foot crunches down on a branch and his head whips to the side, his eyes widening when he sees me. 

"Julia, wait!" 

Spinning on my heel, I start running away from him. I'm not the fastest runner in the world, so it doesn't take long for him to catch up with me. What I'm not expecting, though, is for him to tackle me. We crash into each other, landing in the soft grass. I try to fight against him, but Sirius climbs onto my stomach, sitting on me. 

"Get up!" I say, trying to hit him in the stomach. He grabs my hands, holding them to the side. Struggling underneath him, I say, "You're just playing a prank on me!"

"Prank? What are you talking about?"

He looks dumbfounded. I stop struggling, staring up at him. My eyes travel along his jaw and settles on his eyes, which are so gorgeous. I suck in a deep breath, saying, "This letter is a prank, right? Because, if it is, then I don't want you to do it. You see, I actually like you, like, like-like you, and I can't handle you toying with my feelings. So, now that you know that, you can let me go."

Sirius' face breaks out in a grin, and the sun comes out from behind a cloud, its rays falling onto his face. He looks like an angel, which is the total opposite of what he is. And then he lets out the biggest laugh I have ever heard. He falls off of me, landing in the grass next to me. I sit up, glaring at the boy rolling in the grass. 

"My feelings for you aren't funny."

After a couple more minutes of laughter, Sirius sits up, wiping at his eyes. He shakes his head, saying, "I'm not laughing at your feelings, Juls. I'm laughing because you thought I would prank you like this. I'm not that rude, and you know it."

"Okay, yeah, I do know that," I say, my cheeks and tips of my ears burning. I lean back on my hands, glaring at the ground. "But now you know that I like you, so don't make fun of me for it."

"Why would I make fun of you for it if I like you back?"

My head snaps up and I stare at Sirius. He has a beautiful smile on his face, and then reaches over to me, tentatively placing his hand on top of mine. His hand is warm, warmer than what it is outside. My heart starts thudding in my chest as he leans closer to me, and then he closes the distance between us. Everything falls away as I lean into his embrace, and the only thing I can feel is his lips on mine. 

This is what I have dreamed of since First Year. I literally cannot believe that Sirius likes me back. It's like I'm in a fever dream, and I'm waiting to wake back up. But this is real life, and it's so much better than my dreams. 

I break away from the kiss, smiling. My eyes are still shut, but then I open them, I see James standing right behind Sirius, his arms crossed over his chest. Lily, Remus, and Peter are standing behind him, staring at Sirius and me. 

"I do not approve of this," James says, pointing between us. "He's my best friend, Juls! How could you like him?"

"You're really talking to me about my feelings?" I ask, glaring up at James. "Shouldn't you be yelling at Sirius for liking your sister?" James sticks his tongue out at me, his brown hair flopping into his face. "And you can't tell me who I can and can't date, James. I'm my own person, and Sirius likes me back, so you can't tell me no."

"Fine," he says after a second of silence. "But if you break his heart, I break you."

"Whatever." 

I turn back to Sirius and lace our fingers together. Our hands fit perfectly together like we are made for each other. A small smile appears on my face. I can't believe this is happening, but it has, and it's the best thing to ever happen to me.