"Sirius?" Lily asked tentatively, walking down to the common room one night.

"What do you want, Evans?" he sneered. She looked hurt.

"I-I wanted to make sure you were okay," she said in a small voice. "I guess I'll just go back up-" he cut her off.

"No, don't. I'm sorry, I'm just…upset."

"About what?" she asked softly, sitting next to him.

"My parents kicked me out," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried, throwing her arms around him. He stiffened.

"Sirius?" she repeated, pulling away.

"Yeah?"

"When was the last time someone gave you a hug?"

He thought for a moment. His mother hadn't hugged him in…ever. His father was hardly ever even around. His brother-ha! His cousins all considered him a blood traitor.

"My Aunt Andromeda hugged me," he said. "Three or four…maybe five years ago?"

She gasped, hugging him again. "Don't your friends ever hug you?" she asked into his hair, her arms still around him.

"Guys don't really do that," he told her uneasily.

"What about your girlfriends?"

"I usually just snog them."

"So no one's hugged you in years?"

He just shook his head.

"That's terrible!" she wailed.

"Shh! Do you want to wake up the whole school!?"

"Sorry," she muttered. "It's just, how do you survive without hugs?" She sounded sincerely confused.

"I don't know," he said, honestly. "It's just…the way I was raised I guess. Blacks don't show affection. Even if they did, I'm sure Regulus would have been the one getting all the attention. Uh, Lily?"

"Uh-huh?" she replied, still wrapped around him.

"You're sort of…dating my best friend…and, well, this doesn't exactly look…"

She laughed, pulling away from him. "You're right," she said. "But if you ever need a hug, I'm here, okay?"

He smiled at her before she went back up to her dormitory.

*****

Every day after that, Lily made it a point to give Sirius a hug.

It wasn't until about two months later when Sirius realized the effect this had on him. Lily was sick, and staying in the hospital wing.

He spent Transfiguration and Charms trying to figure out what the sinking feeling he had was. He felt like he'd forgotten something very important, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"You alright, Padfoot?" James asked his friend at lunch, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied. "I just can't figure out what I forgot!"

Remus laughed. "I guess Lily was right."

"About what?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Even a hard arse like you needs a hug every once in a while."

And that's when it hit him. He hadn't seen Lily all day, and therefore she hadn't hugged him that morning, like she always did.

And without any warning, or even finishing his lunch, Sirius got up from the table and started walking to the hospital wing.

Lily was in quite a state when he got there, sneezing and coughing.

"You look terrible, Lily dear," he said, grinning. "What have you done to yourself?"

"I don' fill too good," she said, her nose obviously plugged up.

"Need a hug?" he asked her. She grinned in response.

*****

I forget this part far too often:

I don't own Harry Potter. J K Rowling owns Harry Potter. Sometimes I just like to pretend that I own Harry Potter. Please don't kill me J K Rowling. Ahem, I mean sue.