OMG I am SOOO sorry for not updating in practically forever. Just letting everyone know that I didn't mean to abandon it for so long, just had writers block, and then not enuff time. But no worries! I intend to complete this fic if it's the last thing I do!

AN: ok, results are up. The majority of you lovely people say that chapter eight should be from the POV of Kat. So here it is! I hope u all enjoy!

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Marie Dantes – I'm glad you like the whole Sirius POV thing. It would have been too hard to write it all from Kat's POV because then the reader would only be getting half the storie…fear not, just because I switched back to Kat's POV (due to popular demand) there shall be oodles more of Sirius in future chapters

Silver angel 03 – Thanx for reviewing, I tried to update fast, but writers block prevented me from doing so until now, dun hatez me!

The Egyptian Sand Quill – yay! My writing is amazing! Thanx for the compliment :takes bow: here's the next chappie!

Chlo242 – I r so glad you luvz it! I luvz my wondermous storie too! Hope u like this chapter as well.

Soredemo – don't get upset at me cuz I didn't update:ducks for cover: I tried to update! But there was this evil place called 'Work' that I had to go to and the people there have been trying to kill me by working me to death…but here is the next chappie, so be happy! Hey that rhymed (is a poet and didn't know it)

Silent Storm 2000 – Thanx, hope you enjoy!

texasgrrl – you're sure are you:imitates Prof. Trelawney: 'the future is yet to be seen, my dear. It is very unclear, and can change in an instant' muahahahahha anywho thanx for reviewing!

XOXOXOXOXO

Disclaimer: I don't own it! Stop making assumptions!

From Kat's POV

:Chapter Eight: The Conference:

I stared at the ceiling tiredly. Well, tiredly wasn't really the word for it. I had been lying on my back on my bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time now. The dawn's reddish light had begun to shine into the room, signaling that it was time to start another day. I hadn't slept at all, but I wasn't tired. I was, sort of in a trance.

It was like one of those feelings you get when you know something unwelcome is about to happen; yet there is nothing you can do about it. Like you're sitting back watching the scene unfold, even though you're the one living it.

That was exactly what I had been feeling since last night.

Everything was happening so fast. This whole Divination project was taking on a life of its own, and destroying mine in the process. I had convinced myself that I would be fine, that I'd be able to pull this whole project off. But telling myself that was one thing. Doing it was something entirely different.

I shifted slightly in my bed, hoping the movement would break the monotony and the silence that encompassed the room. It didn't work.

Today would bring a whole new set of obstacles that would have to be overcome. A whole new level of stress. Sirius wanted to 'talk' about the past. I shuddered involuntarily. What was there to talk about?

There was a part of me that greatly wanted to talk to him. It had been aching to talk for the longest time now, ever since the first trace of distance between Sirius and I became noticeable. But talking could very well make the situation worse.

I guessed the only reason he was talking to me was because he thought it would help us to see into the future. Therefore he was only talking to me for the purpose of school. It wasn't a personal reason. He hadn't said 'hey Kat, we need to sit down and talk, as friends'. He had made it perfectly clear that he wanted to use the past experiences we shared as some sort of research tool in this project. My stomach lurched at that thought.

And the worst part was that there was nothing that I could do about it. The past was vital to seeing the future, and it was literally the only tool we had to use in our quest to predict what the future holds.

With a lump of dread in the pit of my stomach, which felt almost like a part of me now, I rose to begin the day.

It was still very early, but my racing thoughts still prevented me from gaining any sort of sleep, so instead, I pulled on a robe and headed down to the Common Room. I curled up in an armchair and let my thoughts race where they would.

It seemed like they were going in circles, and always kept coming back to the same question: what was I afraid of?

What was I afraid of? It was the question that had been plaguing me for months, whether I was aware of it or not, and as much as I hated to admit it, I had no idea why I was feeling this way.

"My, my, we're up early this morning."

I jolted at the sound of the voice, and looked up to find Sirius standing there staring down at me, with that easy going smile on his face. Anger raced through me. How in the world could he be standing there so…so…calm! I was sitting here, feeling all sorts of god knows what, and he was just standing there SMILING! It took all the strength I had in me to restrain from knocking that stupid smile right off of his face.

"Um..Kat…? Is something wrong?"

Once again Sirius' voice broke through my thoughts. Apparently I had made some sort of face that had disarmed him, and now the smile was replaced by a look of concern.

"No, everything's just peachy," I retorted, more angrily than I had intended. I mumbled an apology and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"Apparently," he replied softly, giving me a small smile. "So, is waking up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday a new routine of yours, or is this just an attempt to try something new?"

"Oh, shut it," I spat, glaring at him. I was in no mood to be pitied by the source of my anguish. I don't know why, but the more he talked, the angrier I seemed to get. Maybe it was because all this confusion was finally getting to me. That must be it. I'm going insane. That's the only explanation….

"…And so," I heard Sirius drone on, "since we both seem to be awake at this glorious hour, when the sun doesn't even see fit to be awake, I was thinking we could work some more on the project."

At that my heart stopped. He wanted to work on it now? Why now! Didn't he have other things he could be doing on a Saturday, like sleeping for instance? Or hitting on any girl who walked past him? Or pulling pranks? Anything other than this!

"Why now?" was all that managed to escape my lips.

"Why not?" he replied, "surely it's got to be done sometime, and I figure the sooner we start on it, the sooner it will be finished." He grimaced after saying this, as if the words had came out wrong.

"Well personally, I don't see a need to work on it today." I stated coolly. He looked at me in a startled kind of way, his blue eyes searching for answers. Answers that I couldn't possibly have given him at that point. My brain was too confused. The common room was supposed to be empty at this hour, and so therefore I was supposed to be alone to think. But nooooo, the idiot had to show up and intrude on even that! He was in my common room, invading my thinking time, and all for the sake of a project, and the whole thing made me sick.

It felt like everything was spinning. All I knew was that I did not want to work on that damned project today. It was all so cruel! Here I was, feeling all insecure and a thousand other emotions, and all Sirius wanted to do was use that as some weird, twisted research tool in attempt to predict the future for some stupid class that I never believed in in the first place!

My eyes grew cloudy, and I fought to keep the tears from sliding down my face. "Look," I began slowly, making sure my voice didn't falter, "I don't mean to sound angry or anything. I'm just tired." I kept my face turned from Sirius so that he wouldn't see the weakness that was threatening to overcome me. "And we can't do this today anyway. I have tons of Transfiguration homework to do." I stood up and walked passed him, "I'm sorry," I said, barley audible, "maybe some other time okay?"

I started back up the stairs to my dormitory, breathing a sigh of relief that I would soon be in one place where Sirius couldn't follow me. Unless he had that damned invisibility cloak on! I growled at the thought.

"I saw that, you know."

Swearing, I jumped and whirled around to see Aryn standing behind me, leaning on the doorframe of the dormitory. "Don't do that!" I hissed at her, then, "Saw what?"

"Oh, just you, beating a hasty retreat out of there," said Aryn coyly, thoroughly enjoying herself, "You know just as well as I do that you finished all your Transfiguration ages ago!"

"Yeah? Well I've loads of other stuff to do as well today," I fumed back at her.

"Is that so? Like what?"

"Um…well-" I began.

"Just as I thought," Aryn stated, a grin on her face, "It's conference time, missy."

Before I could do anything more than stutter, I was being dragged down the stairs again, through the common room, and out the portrait hole. I was grateful that it was still insanely early in the morning and there wasn't an abundance of people congregating in the common room to witness my rather embarrassing exit. Aryn seemed oblivious to everything.

After some time of being dragged, she halted outside one of the empty classrooms that hadn't been used in awhile. She opened the door, shoved me inside, and cast a silencing spell on the room. She appeared quite pleased with herself.

I glared at her smug expression. "What on earth is all this about!" I exclaimed, "Dragging me all around the school to –"

"We're going to talk about what's bothering you," she said simply. She had such a calm demeanor when she said it that for a moment I just stood there open mouthed. After a few seconds, I tried to protest, but Aryn would have none of it. "I know something's bothering you, and I have a pretty good idea what that 'something' is. Or should I say 'who'?"

"Aryn…"

"How long are you going to keep this to yourself, Kat?" Aryn asked. Her dark eyes saddened as she gazed at me.

"I'm not keeping anything from anyone!" I yelled.

"Liar. You'd think after six years together, you'd trust me a little more. I know you better than you think, Kat." Aryn sighed to herself, then continued, "I know that you and Sirius (I shivered at the name) were really close once. You miss him, right?"

I paused. "Well…yeah… I mean, how can I not miss someone that I've known since I was four?"

Aryn smiled, "So tell him that, why don't ya?"

"I can't! Honestly, if it were that simple, don't you think I'd have done it already?"

"It is that simple."

"No, it's not," I gestured with my hands as I struggled to find words, "It just doesn't feel right. Things aren't the same as they used to be."

"Well duh!" Aryn said, smirking, "You aren't kids anymore. But he is still your friend. And, whether you chose to believe it or not, he does still care about you."

"I never said he didn't"

"You didn't have to."

I furrowed my brow, "What do you mean?"

"You think that just because you aren't as close as you once were, he's forgotten all about you. You think that since he has all these other 'friends' he has no need for you at all."

"No," I sad shaking my head, "I didn't-"

"And now you're completely freaking over this whole Divination project because you're partnered with Sirius."

"I am not!"

"And you've spent so long trying to forget anything you ever knew about Sirius Black, any happy or hurtful memories you ever shared," Aryn continued relentlessly, "and you're so afraid that spending time with him might trigger an actual feeling or sentiment that will cause you to remember something that you once had, which you actually still have."

I waited in silence for the onslaught to continue, but silence filled the empty classroom. I sunk into a chair and stared at the floor, letting the wave of the actual words hit me. I had to admit; it made some kind of weird, logical sense. Was this what I was afraid of? Was this what I couldn't admit to myself? If so…

"Kat," Aryn said, grabbing hold of my shoulders and kneeling down so that we were eye level, "You're my best friend…and personally, I could care less about Black. But I hate seeing you this way. So, troubled, unhappy."

"It's not like I do it for kicks," I retorted.

Aryn grinned, "I should hope not," she replied, pulling up a chair beside me. We sat there a few minutes together.

"Oh, and by the way," she continued, "and don't take this the wrong way or anything," she added hastily, "but sometimes…you just plain think too much, Kat."

"Huh?" I replied, dazedly.

"See! Too much thinking and not enough acting! I want you to do me a favor…no, wait! I want you to do yourself a favor."

"And this favor would be?" I asked suspiciously.

"Go back to the Common Room. Tell Sirius you want to work on the project some more."

"What! But I don't want to work on it! I still don't even know where to begin!"

"I thought you might say that," Aryn countered. She removed something from the pocket of her robes and pressed it into my hands. "I got these as a present from my grandmother when I was little. I want you to use them. Maybe you'll have some luck with that inner eye of yours."

I looked down to find set of Tarot Cards in my hands. "But Aryn, I can't take these! What if I lose them, or something happens to them…they were your grandmothers!"

"But I want you to use them. It's called a 'Haindl Deck' and it's the preferred deck used by Mystics, and those seeking 'enlightenment'" Aryn gave me a reassuring smile, "Don't worry. It'll all be fine. I'm sure of it."

I blinked back tears at the genuine trust and caring Aryn held for me, "Thank you," I said, my voice nearly breaking, "for the talk. And for these. I'll take really good care of them."

"I know." I could've sworn there were tears in her eyes too.

We sat there, in companionable silence for I don't know how long. I felt much better than I had in days. I guess it helps to know that when I'm on the verge of self-destruction, I have someone like Aryn Hillcrest to stop me from going over the edge.

Aryn seemed to be more at ease too. I knew that Sirius wasn't anywhere near one of her favorite people. It had taken a lot of guts to say what she had today.

It wasn't until the morning sun started to shine its way into the classroom, and the footsteps of students were heard in the halls outside that Aryn and I realized how much time had passed.

"So," Aryn stated, breaking the comfortable silence, "we should get going. We're going to miss breakfast at this rate."

"Yeah," I replied, getting up from my chair, "let's go."

AN: ohhh I know there are gonna b pplz that hate me for this lol. But do not be afraid! This is actually a two parter! I was gonna make it all just one really big chapter 8, but then decided to make it 2 chapters instead…so yes, chapter nine is nearing completion, but I've decided to hold off on posting it until I get some reviews on THIS chapter. So…lets get crackin, shall we?