A Humorous Romantic Tragedy. With all the hopes and dreams he'd shattered, who would have thought that the girl to finally win the heart of the playboy of Hogwarts would literally be blind to all his charms?

A/N: Hey all! Here's a little one-shot that hit me a while ago. Based off the thought that Sirius was seriously (no pun intended) determined to kill Peter in POA.

The title comes from a song from the Broadway version of 'Beauty and the Beast'. I thought it was sort of fitting for this story. Do try to take a listen if you guys have the time.

On a completely unrelated note: saw Star Trek (2009 movie) for the first time the other day. Is it just me or does Spock remind anyone else of Severus Snape? Ok, maybe it's just me…

EDIT: I've decided to divide this up into six chapters because, somewhere along the line, this story turned into a 35-page monster. I'm also posting this now because the next chapter of 'Twilight' will be a little later than usual and I feel I should give my readers something to read to tide them over.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the world of Harry Potter (or Sirius Black). I don't even own any of the books. So please don't sue.

If I Can't Love Her

The four teens laid about the lounge in various states of exhaustion. A small stack of cardboard boxes had been pushed into a corner, waiting to be unpacked. The smell of fresh paint hung heavy throughout the house and the fixtures gleamed with a sheen that betrayed their newness.

"Really, Padfoot. How on earth did you manage to accumulate so much junk in only seventeen years?" groaned Remus as he arched his back in an attempt to get the kink out of it.

"And did you have to choose such an obnoxiously large house?" complained James who had flopped upside down onto Sirius' new recliner.

Sirius let out a bark like laugh from his position on the floor in front of the fireplace.

"Don't even start, Prongs. Have you taken a look at your place recently?"

Peter laid spread eagle on the floorboards next to the brand new leather sofa, a look of pathetic worry on his face.

"I can't feel my arms," he squeaked.

"I wish I couldn't feel my arms," said James, frowning at the ceiling. "I think we deserve some sort of thank you, Pads."

"There's a bottle of Firewhiskey in one of those boxes," said Sirius in a lazy drawl, waving his arm in no particular direction. "That should shut you lot up."

"We sound like a bunch of eighty year olds," laughed Remus, whilst Peter scrambled towards the boxes with a greedy twinkle in his eyes. They heard him tear open three boxes before emitting a triumphant squawk. There came the clink of glass against glass before a bottle appeared under Remus' nose, the cap screwed open with a good portion of the amber liquid already consumed. Remus took a hearty swig before offering the bottle to the nearest Marauder, James. By the time the bottle reached Sirius, it was two-thirds empty.

"To Uncle Alphard!" toasted Sirius, sitting up on his elbows.

"Here, here!" echoed the others.

The usually rambunctious friends soon fell into a comfortable lethargic silence, allowing the liquor to wash away the soreness in their muscles from having lugged about heavy boxes and furniture all morning until Remus reminded them that they could now use their wands outside of school, all of them having turned seventeen earlier in the year. Sirius was experiencing a ridiculous sense of pride as he took in his new home. James did have a point about it being too large for just one person but it was the only house out of the hundreds he had looked at where he felt truly comfortable. He supposed it might have been due to its close proximity to the Potter family homestead, which was only twenty minutes away by broom, and its distance from number twelve Grimmauld Place.

Mrs. Potter had tried to talk Sirius out of getting his own place. She had insisted that he was more than welcome to stay with them even after he graduated from Hogwarts. But some part of him, the part of him that was truly a Black, felt too much pride to allow him to depend so much on the goodwill of his best friend's parents. No matter how much he loved the Potters, Sirius knew he needed his own space.

The other Marauders did not stay for much longer. Once Peter realised that Sirius had no intention of scrounging up food for three additional mouths, he bade them goodbye and headed off home, where his mother had promised him a dinner of steak and onions that night. Remus had some cousins who were supposed to be visiting that evening and James had his own packing to get done.

The Potters had been so ecstatic upon their only child being awarded the Head Boy badge that they had planned a vacation to Cancun to celebrate. James had been more excited to learn that the lovely Lily Evans had been appointed Head Girl and was looking forward to returning to Hogwarts more than the exotic vacation. Numerous 'head' girl jokes had ran through Sirius' mind when James first told him the news, but he kept them to himself, knowing that his friend probably wouldn't appreciate most of them.

"See you in September, Pads," said James, pausing at the front door. "And just because you've got your own swinging bachelor pad now doesn't mean that you can stop visiting, you got me?"

Sirius laughed.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Prongs. Besides, your mum makes the best rock cakes this side of England."

James grinned.

"I'll ask mum to send you a batch before we leave. Take care of yourself, Padfoot."

Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, Prongs. You make it sound as if I'd do something stupid as soon as your back is turned."

James cocked an eyebrow, a sarcastic smile on his face. Sirius smirked smugly in reply. And then he reached out to ruffle the already messy hair of his shorter best friend.

"Get on with you, Prongs. I'll see you on the train."

James jerked his head to dislodge Sirius' hand, laughing good naturedly as he did so. He punched Sirius lightly on the arm, nodded his head in the way boys all over the world did to wordlessly communicate their hellos and goodbyes and everything else in between, and then started off down the street. Sirius watched as James approached a corner and then disappeared. The boy smiled to himself. Most wizards Disapparated with a loud pop.

Finally alone, Sirius threw himself onto his sofa, his right leg draped carelessly yet somewhat elegantly over its back. He sighed loudly, revelling in the light, carefree feeling that pervaded his entire body. Everything was perfect. He was completely independent at last and had the entire summer to look forward to.

In fact, there was a park not too far away that he was keen on exploring.

It was a warm summer's day and a number of families had chosen to spend it outdoors. Couples walked by the man-made lake hand in hand, parents set up picnics under trees and near the playground where their children were running amok, and little boys and girls shrieked in delight as they chased a bear-like black dog around the park.

A pig-tailed blonde girl giggled as the dog dropped a drool-covered ball at her feet. Ignoring the slobber, the young girl picked up the ball, swung her arm back over her head, and threw it as far as her three year old muscles would allow her to.

"Fetch!" she cried, except she hadn't quite grasped the pronunciation yet, so the word came out sounding more like 'fedge'.

The large dog barked enthusiastically as he raced off after the ball, his tongue hanging from his mouth and his tail a blur. The children cheered the animal on, some of them bouncing on their feet, some clapping loudly, all of them screaming in excitement. They whooped even louder as his jaws clamped around the toy in mid-bounce and ran towards the canine, each of them eager to be the next one to throw the ball.

Sirius was thoroughly enjoying himself. The muggle children were unquenchable balls of energy and none of them appeared to be afraid of his size. One or two of them even had chocolate covered fingers that they were more than willing to share with him. There must have been a birthday celebration somewhere in the park too for more than one child had frosting down the front of their pinafore, overalls or t-shirt. Sirius happily licked the first child to reach him, a young boy with curly brown hair, leaving a wet trail all the way down his cheek. He willingly relinquished the ball to the boy and barked encouragingly as the toddler wound his arm for a long throw.

Unfortunately, the little boy never got the chance to throw the ball. A cry of 'ice cream' distracted the children who were soon echoing the cry. The boy dropped the well-chewed ball and raced off with the others leaving Sirius to nose the toy dejectedly as he barked to try to regain their attention. Realising that he wasn't about to win the battle against the lure of ice cream-y goodness, Sirius followed the children back to their various picnics hoping to be thrown a pasty or two. However, their parents were not as susceptible to his doggy charms and he was shooed away from every picnic he attempted to approach, some even shielding their children from him as they eyed his rather imposing stature warily.

Deciding he'd make more progress if he tried his luck elsewhere, Sirius barked one last friendly bark in goodbye to the children and trotted out of the park. He wandered aimlessly in a direction away from his house, stopping every now and then at the feet of a passer-by who looked friendly enough to scratch behind his ears or give his belly a rub. It was not long though before Sirius came upon a more populated area. Terrace and semi-detached houses gave way to chic looking boutiques and cosy little coffee shops. Sirius was just contemplating entering the butcher's to see if he would be able to weasel himself a bone when the fish and chips shop caught his eye.

Several foldable tables and chairs had been set up on the pavement outside the little corner shop and the tantalizing scent of frying fish teased Sirius' nose. It was, however, the teen seated at the table nearest to the shop's front door that drew his attention. Even from this distance, Sirius could make out the girl's light coloured eyes that contrasted sharply with her dark hair. It was times like this that Sirius wished dogs weren't colour blind for he found himself very curious to learn just what colour her eyes were. He had the feeling that it was a very pretty shade indeed. Her nose was probably a little too sharp, her eyes a little too big, and her jaw a little too angular to deem her a beauty, but she was definitely cute. She also had an oversized pair of headphones covering her ears and was completely oblivious to his presence. Beside her, leaning against the shop's front window, was a large odd-shaped case.

Sirius approached the muggle girl slowly, his heightened sense of smell picking up the still-hot fish and chips that laid wrapped in newspaper in front of her. He watched inquisitively as her feet tapped out a syncopated rhythm, the fingers of her right hand drumming against the tabletop in opposition. Her left hand reached out for a chip that she absentmindedly popped into her mouth. Sirius' tail thumped in amusement as the girl suddenly started, realising that she had burned her tongue. He observed her actions with growing merriment as the girl squirmed in her seat, holding her mouth open and fanning it with both hands in an attempt to cool the chip down faster. Eventually, she settled down, breathing a little bit heavier than she had been before. A slight frown marred her otherwise smooth forehead and when she next reached for a chip, she blew on it before biting down on it carefully.

Sirius was practically at the girl's feet now, yet she still seemed unaware of his presence. The boy disguised as a dog barked once in greeting and nuzzled the teen's jean covered leg before looking up at her hopefully. The girl jumped again at feeling his head bump against her leg, genuinely surprised, Sirius realised, at the sudden appearance of such a big dog. She turned her head in his direction, pushing her headphones off her ears and onto her neck. Sirius noted with interest the faraway look her eyes had, almost as if she were focusing on something beyond him. She then reached out to pat his head tentatively, letting her hand stray down his back after a while when she realised that he was quite tame.

"Hey there," she said gently, her voice still a little apprehensive as most people's would be if they were suddenly approached by a large animal. "Where did you come from, huh?"

The Marauder knew that the girl had already taken note of the fact that he had no collar on. But she had probably concluded that he was just a very friendly stray for he could feel her pats grow in confidence, as if she knew she had nothing to fear from him. Sirius nuzzled her leg again and turned on the puppy dog look. His eyes appeared to double in size, and, if it were physically possible, his lips seemed to form a slight pout as well. The girl leaned down to scratch behind both his ears. Sirius caught a whiff of her shampoo as her unruly wavy hair fell about her head, noting with pleasure that she smelt like vanilla. He barked again.

"What is it, boy? I take it you are a boy," she added distractedly as she stroked his ears. "I bet you're hungry. That's it isn't it?"

Sirius barked happily in reply, licking the back of her hand. The girl laughed. She reached for her food and seemed to fumble a bit with breaking off a piece of buttered fish. She then held the tasty treat in front of his nose.

"Here you go, boy."

Sirius nibbled the tempting morsel straight out of her hand and licked her fingers appreciatively. He watched as the girl smiled brightly, tousling his fur affectionately, before suddenly straightening with an annoyed look on her face.

"Aw bloody hell! My hands are probably covered with fur now," she muttered to herself. "That's actually…quite disgusting." She was no longer looking down at Sirius, though her eyes still appeared to be focused on something that was further away than it should be. She worried her lower lip between her teeth before finally turning back to the dog. "I don't suppose you'd want the rest of my fish and chips, would you?"

Sirius barked excitedly. The girl smiled. She transferred the oily newspaper from her table to the ground, her free hand trailing down the table leg. To balance herself, Sirius assumed. He fell on the food with a ravenous hunger that surprised even himself whilst the girl laughed at the sounds he made in appreciation of the meal.

"You like that, huh? Gosh, you sound like you haven't eaten for days. Poor thing."

Sirius had actually had a rather large breakfast that morning but if she thought he was some starving stray, he wasn't about to correct her. The Marauder continued to watch the girl out of the corner of his eyes though his head never lifted from the fried bit of heaven on yesterday's newspaper. She had gotten up off the chair, preparing to leave, Sirius thought. He noticed that she kept one hand on the table though, running it along the edge of the plastic piece of furniture until she reached the corner nearest to the shop's window. And then her fingers were sailing lightly over the glass. She stopped when they made contact with the large, hard case that was leaning against the window, fiddled with the straps that were attached to it, and then slung the odd-shaped case onto her back.

It occurred to Sirius that the case probably contained some sort of musical instrument. So the girl was a musician. How interesting. Sirius eyes followed her every movement as she tugged her sleeves down further over her hands and pulled the hem of her sweater lower over the top of her jeans. And then she reached out for something else that was lying on the table.

Sirius felt his eyes widen in disbelief as the teen assembled the foldable, thin cane with practiced ease. She bent down to scratch behind his ears one last time, her hands feeling around for a moment before finding his head, leaning heavily on her cane to counterbalance the awkward new weight on her back. She then straightened and turned back up the street. Sirius watched her with his jaw literally hanging open as she walked further and further away from him, her cane tapping out a steady beat in front of her. No wonder the girl had been so surprised the first time he nuzzled her. Sirius wondered how it could have taken him this long to piece the pieces together; the way her eyes never quite focused on him even when she was looking straight at him, the way her hands never really stopped moving. Merlin, did he feel stupid.

The girl with the pretty eyes couldn't see a damn thing out of them. She was blind.

Hope you're enjoying it so far. This story's been my pet project for a fair while now so feedback would be very much appreciated.

- Scribbles