Brotherly Advice -- February 1977

I sighed. Sirius had told me that he had asked Ember tot he dance. He was trying to protect her, he said... which is fine and dandy, but he wouldn't necessarily be the one I wanted to protect her. He was just like me... and I don't want Ember with someone like me. Even if it was my best mate. Too many issues. "Em, let's walk. I need to talk to you," I said pointedly.

"Can't we just stay here?" I asked. I needed to finish everythign before the dance. It wasn't for another ew days... but still. I wanted to make sure everythign was perfect.

I sighed. "Ok, fine," I said, sitting down. "But it's about the dance."

"OK," I said rolling my eyes. "How'd you get in here? This is the girl's dorm... it normally becomes a slide... I didnt even hear it scream like it normally does...."

"The window," I said, shrugging. It really wasn't that hard. "Anyways... Ember, would you stop fussing with all that? You're goign to look beautiful no matter what the dress and shoes and everythign look like, okay?"

I stopped and looked at James. He complimented me... this must be something importatn if he was willing to do that. "What is it?" I asked, worried about what he was going to say.

"Ember... I want you to be careful not to get hurt," I started slowly. I didn't want to diss Sirius... but I wanted to warn Ember too. This was going to be more difficult than I would have thought.

I just looked at him with a questioning look. "What do you mean? Like in life in general or... or is about the dance?" I asked, my gaze starting to narrow.

I sighed, unsure of how to proceed. "Ember... just hear me out," I said. "I know Sirius is just like me... and I know how we act. I'm just worried that he might hurt you accidentally. You know he will probably meander off during the dance and just... hurt you." I reached out and grabbed my sister's hand. "I'm just worried this won't go as planned."

"No, you're worried things won't go your way," I said, ripping my hand away from him. "James... please, just for once, stay out of my business. I'm not expecting anything out of the dance. I just want to have fun. I don't care if it doesn't turn into anything more. I really don't." After everything with Remus I had become a halfway decent liar to my brother.

I sighed, trying not to get angry. "Em, please be reasonable. I am afraid you won't get what you want," I said. I mean, I relaly didn't want her to get with Sirius. But I also didn't want her to find out the hard way either.

I folded my arms across my chest. "James, jsut go. Please... I don't care if you can't be one hundred percent honest to me, but just don't lie to me. And you're lying. So... just save us both the hassel and go."

I guess there was nothing else for me to do. I stood up and left the way I came... that way the girl's dorm didn't start screaming at me.