I Can See You

The Secret Couple

Sirius brushed away a stray curl from Kathleen's face and tucked it neatly behind her ear. The wide smile would not leave his face and he realised with a jolt that he would never have guessed in a million years that a promise of commitment could actually make him feel exhilarated. He had always been one to shy away from commitment. But now, he couldn't wait to proclaim his new relationship to everyone he knew. In fact, he was so happy now that he could hug Snape, Colson and even Natasha - three Slytherins he disliked most.

At that exact moment, a thought struck him. "This makes us the second official Gryffindor-Slytherin couple, after your best friend and my best friend."

She laughed softly. "If James isn't so crazy over Lily, we can even fix Tess and Pam with your other friends."

He rolled his eyes mischievously. "That'll be the day! Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin will turn in their graves." He lifted a hand to lightly stroke her left cheek. "I can't wait to let everyone know. Perhaps I should engage the help of old Dumbledore to make a little announcement."

Her eyes widened in alarm. "Can we wait for a little while before we...sort of...make this open?"

"WHAT?" Sirius yelled before remembering to keep his voice down. "You want us to sneak

around?" He felt very offended and put off that she would want to keep their relationship under wraps. "Is there something shameful about dating Sirius Black?"

"Of course not!"

"Most girls would jump at the chance," he said, nursing his injured pride.

"Sirius, I just -" Kathleen licked her lips to collect her thoughts. "Give me some time. It's not that I'm having second thoughts," she quickly assured him when he narrowed his eyes. "It's just that... there're some people I have to break the news to before...you know...before the rest of the school finds out."

He relaxed a little. "Jed Matthews?" he asked almost in a sneer.

"Jed Matthews," she admitted. "And my close friends, especially Natasha."

"Why bother to tell Strauss? She'll just hatch more evil schemes to -"

"Natasha is my best friend," she interjected uncomfortably. "I'd like you to treat her with more respect than that."

Sirius merely raised an eyebrow and let loose a snort.

"You don't even know her. She's one of the sweetest -"

His snort was more audible this time. "I'll never associate that word with Strauss."

She sighed wearily. "I need time."

"How long?" Sirius was in a good mood and he felt willing to compromise.

"Two weeks?"

"Three days."

"One week."

"Deal," he agreed.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "It'll be the Christmas break a week from now. So you'd have to wait till the new term to tell everyone about us."

He growled, realising that he had been tricked.

"I'm a Slytherin after all," she said merrily, as though that explained and excused what she just did.

But Sirius was never one to give up without a fight. "That's simple. I'll send owls to a hundred students. By the time the new term begins, the news would have spread to the entire school population."

She chuckled.

"I'm serious. You have to break the news to Jed Matthews within a week, or my first owl will be sent to him."

She sobered and nodded her agreement. "We have to get back to the castle."

"So when can I meet my secret girlfriend again?"

She feigned surprise at his question. "Why, you'll see me at meals and along the corridors, of course. And at Care of Magical Creatures too."

He glared at her before extinguishing the flame from the lone lighted candle, threw James' invisibility cloak over both of them, and quietly led her out of the hut.

Snuggling close to Sirius with Natasha's cloak folded in her arms, Kathleen felt a sense of triumph as it dawned upon her that she had stayed true to her resolution to stand up for herself. She was sick and tired of letting others cajole her into acting against her own wishes. She had in a small way, stood up to Sirius. Now, she would have to do the same to Jed and Natasha.

No one would tell Kathleen Curtis how to live again.

Things were definitely looking up, in more ways than one.

*

Kathleen woke up with a bright smile the next morning. She was singing to herself as she dressed when she realised that her best friend was not sharing her good mood.

"What's with the frown, Nat?" She walked over and sat on the edge of Natasha's bed.

The blonde chewed her lower lip. "I'm trying to figure out what Lupin is hiding from me."

Kathleen widened her eyes in surprise. "He is? What makes you think so?"

"I don't know for sure, but I can sense that something's up." She abruptly leaped off her bed and took on a more cheerful disposition. "Let's go for breakfast!"

"You're not bothered by what Lupin is up to anymore?"

Natasha shrugged. "I've lots of time over the Christmas break to figure it out. We only have one more week together and I don't intend to waste precious time mulling over something that may not be present in this first place."

"Right, breakfast." Kathleen's smile grew wider. The sooner she reached the Great Hall, the sooner she would see Sirius. She hid her delight just in time, before any of her roommates noticed it.

*

Kathleen's heart was pounding faster and faster as they neared the Great Hall. She had to bit her tongue several times to stop herself from yelling at her girlfriends to hasten their steps. She was both anxious and nervous to see Sirius again. What would it be like to be his special girl? The thought of him and their conversation the night before gave her a tingling feeling right down to her toes. It was at that exact moment when the first pessimistic thought crossed her mind. What if he didn't mean it? Oh no, he did. I could tell last night. But...what if he said all those words on impulse and started having second thoughts when he woke up this morning? Much as she wanted to believe this unexpected good fortune, she also knew fully well that Sirius was not the type who could commit to a serious relationship. He was a player.

Other thoughts rushed to her mind, each more disheartening than the last. By the time they made it to the hall, she was almost in a state of depression. Her green eyes automatically scanned the room for Sirius. It was not hard to spot him as he was always in the centre of attention at the Gryffindor table. As she settled down with her fellow Slytherins, she was still trying without avail to catch his eye. But her efforts were futile. He did not look her way even once.

Kathleen's heart sank to the pits of her stomach. She fought back tears as she kept her gaze on Sirius. I'm such an idiot. How can I believe what he said? Stupid, stupid, stupid Kate. You're dumb. You're beyond redemption. You're such an -

She was abruptly cut off from her thoughts by a hand that suddenly appeared inches from her face, covering her entire view of Sirius. She turned sideways and saw Tessa frowning at her.

"Still not over Black? Really, Kate!" Tessa rolled her eyes. "It's time you moved on. This is getting old!"

Kathleen pushed the redhead's hand away without ceremony and peered down at her own empty plate. I'm the world's biggest fool, she told herself. Just as she made up her mind to conjure some excuse to leave the Great Hall before breakfast was officially over, there was a great flutter of wings and hundreds of owls descended on them.

Kathleen sank into her seat gloomily and waited for the time for owl posts to be over. Then she would tell a prefect that she had a bad headache and needed to lie down before the first lesson of the day. She closed her eyes and began counting backwards from a hundred. By the time she reached eighty-one, she felt a sharp and painful poke in her right hand. Her eyes flew open and she felt ready to snap at the offender till she saw the tawny owl hovering just in front of her. Curious, she quickly removed the piece of parchment from its beak and threw some token bits of food on her plate for the owl. Unrolling the parchment, her face lit up and she began to grin as wide as her mouth would go. It was a note from Sirius.

I miss you already. See you at the owlery?

Your Secret Guy

She lifted her eyes and saw him looking at her, a barely-noticeable smile on his face and a brow arched quizzically. She gave him the faintest nod and his smile widened just the slightest bit before he looked away.

He cares! She felt a sudden hysterical urge to shout it out loud.

"You're feeling okay, Kate?" Natasha leaned over and placed a hand on Kathleen's forehead. "No fever," she announced to no one in particular.

"What are you doing, Nat?"

The blonde shrugged. "You're not touching the food. Not hungry?"

Kathleen beamed at her friend. "Says who? I'm starving! I just can't decide where to start!" She began piling her plate with all kinds of food, much to the astonishment of her friends.

*

The owlery was empty and Sirius leaned against a blank wall and waited. After fifteen minutes, he started to worry. Had he imagined the nod from Kathleen? There was considerable distance between their tables at breakfast and there was a chance that he did not read her reaction correctly. Is she having second thoughts? Damn...I almost forget that she's a Slytherin. Perhaps she was not that different from those devious snakes in her House. Could she be the biggest conniver of all? She might have pretended all this while to mislead me into confessing my feelings for her and then humiliate me by dumping me. No. Katie is not like the rest. She's special. I trust my own judgment. I'm never wrong. Well, not often anyway.

Before he could continue imagining the worst, she appeared at the doorway. Sirius let out a breath he did not realise he had been holding and silently observed her as she made her way to him. He could see a faint blush creeping into her face and caught himself thinking how adorable she looked.

"I thought for a moment that you're not coming," he said with a little accusation in his voice.

"I had some trouble getting away from the rest. I told them that I needed to stop by the library and Tess actually offered to come with me."

He chuckled. "So did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Drop by the library?'

"Yeah," she looked annoyed enough for him to tell that she did not find it funny and he promptly wiped the smirk off his face. "I stayed for a few minutes and left Tess there."

"I missed you."

The colour in her cheeks deepened. "We parted less than ten hours ago."

"Ten hours! That's a long time!" He pouted. "You're the last thing on my mind before I fell asleep last night and this morning, as soon as I woke up, I found myself missing you already."

Kathleen tried in vain to stifle a giggle. "That sounds cheesy, Sirius." When he looked vaguely offended, she quickly added, "I missed you too. And this morning, I thought perhaps...well...I thought you've changed your mind about what you said."

"Why would you think that way?'

She looked down and stared at his shoes. "I was trying to catch your eye the whole time and you did not look at me. Not even once. Until I received your note, I thought -"

"You're the one who wanted us to sneak around, remember?" He regarded her with amusement. "How do you suppose we can keep our relationship a secret if we're exchanging loving glances across the hall?"

She looked at him sheepishly. "You're right. But I was waiting for one glance. Just one glance to assure me that I didn't dream up the whole thing."

He laid his hands on her shoulders, leaned over and planted a light kiss on her forehead. "Did you see this little corner of my eye?" he asked slyly, pointing to the side of his right eye. "I was looking at you the whole time and no one even realised."

"You're lying," she refused to be taken in. "How could you -"

"I saw you, dearie. You looked so sad that you almost broke my heart. I'm glad I had the foresight to send the owl."

She looked embarrassed now. "You saw?"

The sly grin was back in his face. "If you're referring to how intently you were staring at me during the entire breakfast, yes, I saw. And I'm flattered."

She cursed softly under her breath.

"Aren't Slytherins supposed to be the ones with the guile and cunning ways? You're losing out to a Gryffindor, girl."

She drew in a breath and straightened her back. "Just wait, Black. You'd better watch your back because I'll show you what a Slytherin is capable of."

He gave a low laugh. "I don't fancy watching my back. But I certainly don't mind being shown what a Slytherin is capable of." He slid a hand behind her neck and drew her face closer. "Mmm," he mumbled happily as he covered her soft lips with his own.

***