Normal POV:

"Rani? Hey, what's wrong with you? You've been down
in the dumps the past week," Cissy said, sitting next to me at the
Slytherin Table. I pushed my food away.

"My brother hasn't talked
to me since that day. That day that we fought. My friends all left me,
and my life is screwed up. That's what's wrong with me," I snapped. She
put a hand on my shoulder.

"Tony'll be here soon enough," she
said with a sly smile. I shook my head, suppressing a smile of my own.
Lo and behold, Tony was sitting next to me as well, only five minutes
later. I put my head on his shoulder.

"You Okay, Ser?" He asked. I shook my head and let a single tear fall.

"It's your brother, isn't it. He didn't approve of us, did he?" Tony sighed. I shook my head again.

"It
isn't you. We got into a fight. It wasn't big, but it hurt us both,
obviously. I had just gotten him back, only a couple days before, and I
lost him again. I can't believe I lost him again," I mumbled, burying my
face into Tony's shirt. He rubbed my back.

"It's alright, Ser. You've got us, right?" He said with a smile. I nodded.

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Hallowe'en dance with me?" He asked. I smiled at him.

"Wasn't that sort of implied when you asked me to be your girlfriend?" I giggled. He tilted his head side to side. I laughed.

"Yeah, I'll go with you."

Hallowe'en soon arrived, and I was on my way to meet up with Cissy.

www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=11331...

We met at our arranged meeting place, and embraced each other.

"You look beautiful, Rani," Cissy beamed.

"Are you kidding? So do you!" I exclaimed, gesturing at her with my hands.

www.polyvore.com/halloween/set?id... She blushed and shrugged.

"Come
on! We should go. Don't want to keep the boys waiting," Cissy smirked,
grabbed my hand, and lead me to the Great Hall. As soon as I reached the
top of the stairs, nervousness crept up on me.

"Come on!" Cissy yelled. I hugged the column.

"I don't want to anymore," I whispered. Cissy sighed dramatically.

"Tony's waiting for you. You don't want to disappoint Tony, do you?" She asked, swaying her hips. I groaned.

"No," I said. She held out her hand.

"Well, come one then!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me down the stairs.

"Woah," Lucious and Tony said. I blushed madly.

"Doesn't Rani look lovely, Tony?" Cissy giggled, tugging on my arm. Tony, speechless for words, just nodded.

"Cissy looks better, doesn't she Lucy?" I asked. Lucy nodded. Cissy hit his arm.

"Well,
we're going. See you two love birds on the dancefloor," she said. Lucy
and Cissy left us alone. I looked at Tony as he looked at every of my
outfit.

"Okay, Tony. You're starting to creep me out. Just ask me
to dance already," I grumbled. Tony laughed. He held out his arm, which
I accepted gladly. Many dances later, the band playing a song with a
softer tune. Tony put his hands on my hips, making me blush.

"Why do you blush so much?" He teased. I turned my head, but still put my hands around his neck.

"I'm not used to this. Before, I'd usually be reading a book in the library," I admitted.

"But this isn't before, is it? You're a different person now," he said. I sighed.

"It's hard to change, even after a month," I said.

"You still think about him, don't you?" Tony asked.

"Who?" I replied, biting the inside of my cheek.

"Sirius," Tony hissed. We had stopped moving. I frowned.

"No,
not in the way I used to," I lied. In reality, sometimes I couldn't
help myself. I'd hear him laugh or see him smile and my heart would
melt. Tony pulled away from me.

"Why can't you just admit it? Why do you insist on hurting yourself and others more?" He asked, his voice heightening.

"Tony…we should go somewhere more private," I whispered, tugging on his sleeve. He pulled away.

"No! Tell me the truth, Serana!" The music had stopped. All eyes were on me.

"Tony," I croaked. Tears were forming in my eyes.

"Rani? What's going on?" Cissy asked. I stood up straighter, staring straight at Tony's glaring eyes.

"Nothing, Cissy. Everything is fine now," I said and stormed off, tears silently falling down my cheeks.

Sirius' POV:

"Now, she's dancing with someone else!" I groaned.

"Padfoot,
calm yourself. They've stopped," Prongs teased. I sat up strighter.
Dolhov raised his voice. Everything went quiet. Eclipse stormed past
Black and everyone else. I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Prongs asked.

"Whenever
you stand up and go to the girls' staircase, it's because Lily's
crying. There's something about the tears of the one's you love that
make it impossible ignore," I said and ran after her.

"Since when was Pads so sappy?" Moony whispered to Prongs and Wormtail.

Serana's POV:

I
sniffed, and wiped my eyes with my thumb. How did our conversation go
from blushing…to Sirius in two seconds flat? I couldn't tell Tony I
still thought about Sirius, but I also couldn't lie to him. He meant too
much to me. I laughed at myself.

"You're a fool, Serana, a blundering fool," I hissed at myself.

"That's a lie," someone said behind me.

"Sirius,
go away, I don't need this right now," I snapped, the tears cracking my
voice. Sirius, without heading my thoughts, sat next to me.

"I saw what happened, well, some of it," he said. I moved away from him.

"That's great for you," I grumbled.

"I could help you-"

"No,
Sirius! You can't! Just leave me alone!" I shouted, standing up. I
turned away from him and the tears continued to fall down my face.

"You know just as well as I do you can't just stand there as the one you love cries," Sirius said walking up behind me.

"Don't play your tricks on me anymore Sirius. I don't need them anymore," I growled.

"They're not tricks," he whispered, turning me towards him. There were no lies in his eyes, voice or face.

"I want to believe you," I told him, backing away, "But I'm tired of being hurt."