Murky. Dark and grey and…SPLASH! Eurghhh! A rather annoyed-looking girl looked up as a little mischievous raindrop splashed onto her nose. Typical! Bloody typical!
“Wonderful,” she muttered under her breath. “What a great start to the year.” The girl was standing alone, leisurely leaning on a stone pillar that was supporting the roof of an old-fashioned station.

This girl was a witch and she was waiting for an old-fashioned, scarlet steam engine that would take her to the best witchcraft and wizardry school known to the world: Hogwarts. She attended this school with the best young witches and wizards in the country. At Hogwarts, students were placed into four different houses depending on their own personality traits. The four Hogwarts houses were Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The girl had been lucky enough to be sorted into Gryffindor, the house for the brave and daring. She was in her seventh and final year of Hogwarts, and couldn’t wait for her friends to arrive so they could start their ascent into adulthood and dreaded maturity.

The girl herself was quite tall, and her friends all hoped that she had finally stopped growing. She had shoulder length, dark brown hair which was sometimes mistaken for being black, and brown eyes.

"Hey, Kirst!” called a lad’s voice. Kirsty looked up and brushed her hair away from her face. She had to suppress a laugh, however, when she saw who it was that had just shouted to her. It was Sam North.

“Hi!” she quickly replied. Sam was also a Gryffindor seventh year. He was burly, handsome, and had a dashing smile, and according to her friend Emma, he was the 'smartest, funniest, sexiest, kindest, friendliest, sweetest guy EVER!' Emma practically worshipped him, but he hadn’t worked it out yet, and even if he had, he wasn’t letting on. Sam was actually something of a fixation for many of the Hogwarts ladies, as he was of medium height and build, had the voice of a charmer, and was pretty much everything Emma had described.

Kirsty looked inquisitively at Sam, who seemed to have momentarily forgotten why he'd come over. Suddenly, his memory kicked in, and he pointed at the peacock quill Kirsty had just been using to doodle with on a scrap piece of parchment, and asked, "Can I borrow that quill?”

“Sure!" she replied. She handed over her quill to Sam, who looked slightly uncomfortable before taking it and walking off, waving his thanks.

Kirsty often seemed to make people feel uncomfortable, as they never knew what she was going to do next. One minute she was as quiet as a mouse, and the next she was singing, dancing and yelling at the top of her voice. Sometimes she didn’t respond to the remarks made by Slytherins, but more often than not, she would be an almighty bitch right back at them.

Her ways of entertaining herself would also take extreme changes. Some days she would just sit quietly and read, maybe talk quietly in a corner with her friends Emma, Lily or Hayley, but other times, she would be off pulling pranks with the infamous Marauders.

Over time, people had also learnt that the outfit she was wearing determined her mood. Today, she was obviously feeling sarcastic, as her t-shirt was bright green with the words, 'I can’t read, I can’t write, so how the bloody hell did I make this t-shirt?' emblazoned across the front of it. In addition, she was also wearing dark blue jeans, black boots and a fair bit of jewelry. Her nails had been painted with neat letters on each hand, spelling out the word 'MUGLE' on one hand, and 'LOVER' on the other. It had obviously been written by Emma, as Kirsty's own handwriting was hardly ever that neat, especially if she was writing with her left hand. She knew the spelling was wrong, but that had been the only way it would fit. The letters were in yellow, and with the red background, her nails were Gryffindor colours. She had asked Lily to write it but she had point blank refused, saying she didn't want to be a part of the 'Slytherin baiting'.

Kirsty had a blue denim shoulder bag loosely hanging over her right shoulder, which had been decorated, rather messily, with different coloured scrawls of writing, which at timed intervals would disappear completely and be replaced with entirely different words and doodles.

The enchanted bag was just one of many benefits of a Hogwarts education. The spell cast on the bag was a charm originally thought of by Remus. This charm enabled the bag to reveal random written quotes for a certain amount of time. In order for the bag to work, the gang had to physically write their thoughts on it. The words would then seem to disappear, as if engulfed by the bag itself, and would be seen again at random times. There were at least eight different scrawls on the bag, and each one possessed its own sentiment and personality. The messier writing, which tended to consist of immature rants and doodles, belonged to Messrs Padfoot and Prongs, but occasionally Emma’s neat writing would appear and join in on the conversations. The incredibly neat, flowing writing belonged to Lily, Remus, and Hayley, who was a Ravenclaw student with whom they got along with extremely well. Lily, Remus and Hayley usually wrote on the bag telling the rest to 'Pay attention' and 'Get on with your bloody work already!' The small, mismatched scrawl belonged to Peter, who would normally just agree with what everyone else was saying. Finally, the fairly small, almost neat scrawl belonged to Kirsty herself, and usually made fun of Sirius and James, but mostly Sirius, simply because he got annoyed so easily. Occasionally, she would write random film quotes, song lyrics or just doodle.

Eventually, Sam came wandering back over to Kirsty, quill in hand. He stated his thanks and they began chatting eagerly about Quidditch. They were both on the Gryffindor Quidditch team; Sam was the Keeper and Kirsty was the Seeker. He had just started to tell Kirsty about a Quidditch move he had been practicing during the summer, when a well-muscled arm draped around his shoulder.

“Hey, Northy!” cheered James Potter. James, famous for his talent on the Quidditch pitch, was the object of many girls' fixations, with his messy mop of black hair, hazel eyes that were framed by a pair of black glasses, and a mischievous grin that was to die for. He pretty much had his own fan base amongst the girls of the school. He was, quite plainly, a bit of a catch.
“James,” replied Sam, nodding to his fellow Gryffindor.

“No, no, no!” corrected James, shaking his finger back and forth. “It’s Captain to you now, mate!” he asserted with a grin.

“Oh yeah, well done, James!” replied Sam. This was actually a sore subject as Sam had been hoping to be made Quidditch captain for his final year.

“I always knew you were a queer, James!” called a girl’s voice, suddenly. James and Sam turned around to find a familiar girl standing there, her right knee slightly bent and her hands on her hips, not looking amused that her curly, dark brown hair was getting wet. Emma had arrived. As soon as Emma saw Sam, she went bright red and mumbled a hello. It didn’t help that Kirsty was standing behind Sam making kissing faces until she almost collapsed in a fit of silent giggles.

Just as she was about to fall over from laughing at herself and Emma, she heard somebody walk up behind her and felt them catch her under the arms to prevent her from falling.

Sirius Black, notorious heartbreaker and full time mischief-maker, had finally arrived. He looked inquisitively over to James and Emma and was obviously silently conveying, What the hell happened to her? Kirsty tried to spin around to greet Sirius, but she failed the task miserably and ended up falling on her arse.

She looked up at Sirius and gave him a smile. “Sirius Black has entered the station; fan girls will round up in approximately 0.05 seconds, over!” she teased, miming as though she was talking into a radio.

“Shut up ‘Mugle Lover!’” Sirius laughed, noticing her nails.

Kirsty winked. “Hey, they're unique, so don't make fun of them!”

Sirius, as though suddenly realizing that Sam was there, looked at Emma, who was bright red, and raised one eyebrow until it was in danger of disappearing into his dark brown hair.

-----------------------------

Through the jostling and mingling crowd, an extremely vivacious looking redhead gazed at the very welcome and familiar faces of the slightly disheveled-looking group that stood before her. At the sight of Sirius, now the tallest member of the group, Lily Evans beamed brightly and started to frantically negotiate her way through the mass of students and parents alike, to greet the shamble of people that she was proud to call her friends. Lily did a double take when she saw that Sam also stood amongst her group. She smiled at him to hide her puzzlement and then proceeded to shoot a quick grin at Emma, who was feverishly trying to cover the lower half of her face with her scarf. She decided to show absolutely no sign of recognition towards James and turned her attention onto the couple in front of her. Sirius was trying, and failing, to get Kirsty up off the floor, mainly because he himself was in hysterics and partly due to Kirsty being seemingly oblivious to his attempts to help her up. Lily took a few more steps towards them and stated, "You're on the floor."

Kirsty looked up suddenly, acknowledging Lily's presence. "Well observed, my friend," she replied cheekily.

"And what, may I ask, are you doing there?"

"Well, I was trying to show Sirius here that you can indeed hop on both legs simultaneously, and well, this is the end result," Kirsty responded sarcastically, using her arms for emphasis. Lily raised her eyebrows skeptically at Kirsty, silently questioning for the real answer.

"I was laughing at Emma."

Lily was pleased with this response, and she then grinned and looked from Emma to Sam to show that she too found it to be quite an amusing situation.

Now seeing that Kirsty had calmed down, Sirius continued his attempt to get her up off the floor. Once he had pulled her up, he turned her round so that she was facing him. "Hello," she said with a grin as she hugged him tightly.

"Hello," replied Sirius as he smiled down at her.

A puzzled look then crossed Kirsty's face as she looked up at him. She wrinkled her nose and furrowed her brow in puzzlement. "Have you grown?" she asked him suddenly. "Or did I just forget to put my high heeled boots on this morning?" She lifted her foot up to check, and seemed confused to find her boot there.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "I think I must have grown."

Kirsty pouted, "It's not fair, I've always been the tallest!"

Sirius shook his head with a chuckle. "No, you haven't."

Kirsty smiled weakly at him. "Tallest when I've got my boots on."

"Not any more, I'm afraid," he indicated with a grin as he brushed her playfully on the nose.

"Hey!" James called from behind them. "Don't I get a hug?"

Kirsty pulled away from Sirius and ran towards James to give him a big hug. "So, how was your summer?" she asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Not bad, not bad. I'm now Quidditch captain!"

Sam looked down somberly and shuffled his feet at the mention of the C-word.

Kirsty took a step back from James and looked at him proudly. "Yeah I know I heard you telling Sam earlier, that's fantastic news, James! Well done!" She then hugged him tightly again.

Sirius, who had just given Lily a hug, looked up at the mention of James' news. "Yes! You finally did it! Well done, mate!" he cheered as he walked towards James and clapped him on the back supportively.

After Emma had also given James a hug, Lily inched closer to him to give him her congratulations. Ever the hopeful James, he held his arms out, indicating a hug. The idea of giving James a hug made Lily feel uncomfortable, so she briefly grabbed hold of one of his outstretched hands and stated her congratulations.

As Lily quickly dropped his hand, James smiled as if pleased by the little bit of contact that he had just received. Then with a deep, calming breath, he announced his other important news. "I'm also Head Boy."

The rest of the gang stopped dead in their tracks and turned to look at him, their mouths agape.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Emma. "Well, that was unexpected."

"Not as unexpected as the captaincy," chimed in Kirsty with a wink. "Well done, James, that's an amazing achievement!"

He smiled at her in response and then glanced worriedly in Sirius' direction.

"Head Boy?" Sirius asked in bewilderment. "You?"

"It would appear so," replied James.

"How?" Sirius continued to question. "I thought Moony would get that for sure."

"Me too, but hey, who am I to question Dumbledore's decision?"

"Congratulations, mate," stated Sirius, still looking confused. "Good luck with knocking me into shape," he added teasingly.

"Oh, don’t worry, Padfoot, I can't wait to be the one telling you to sit down and shut up!"

Sirius just winked at him in reply.

Lily stood, aghast. She bought herself around from her astonishment, and quickly congratulated James again.

-----------------

Kirsty noticed that Sam stood, watching the group from the sidelines, looking like he felt awkward. He announced, "I'll be going now. Nice speaking to you all!"

"All right, Sam, see you later mate!" they all chimed, except for Emma, who stayed deathly quiet.

Just before he turned to leave, Kirsty walked up to him and stretched her arms out. "Hug," she commanded.

Sam looked uncomfortable and replied, "No thanks, I'm good."

"Spoilsport!" remarked Kirsty, as she pretended to pout.

Sam looked guilty for a second before deciding to compensate by patting Kirsty patronizingly on top of her head. Sam then turned and walked away, but Kirsty shouted at his departing back, "That's right, I forgot, you're much too manly for hugs!"

To which Sam turned around and replied with a grin, "Damn straight!"

"Who are you kidding?" she shouted deafeningly. "We all know you wear make-up!"

At this announcement, the whole station erupted with laughter. Kirsty was laughing so hard she could barely see straight; she tried to choke back her giggles as Sam went the colour of beetroot and spun back around. Feeling his gaze upon her, Kirsty tried and failed to plaster an innocent smile on her face. Sam clearly wasn't amused about his manliness being questioned and angrily gave Kirsty the one-finger salute before storming over to his chuckling circle of friends.

Kirsty spun around to face her gang, who were now laughing uncontrollably at her latest outburst, and surprisingly, Emma was giggling along with the rest. Once they had all stopped laughing, Sirius took a few deep breaths to calm himself before stating to Kirsty, "I think you may have upset him."

Kirsty shook her head with a smile. "Nah, he'll get over it, the poncy git!" Emma glared at Kirsty for calling Sam poncy, and Kirsty amended quickly, "Joke."

Emma walked over to Kirsty and punched her in the arm, only half jokingly, and replied, "Evil git."

Not long after, a commotion over by the platform entrance grabbed the gang's attention. They turned around to see a tall, thin boy with short, wavy, light brown hair making his way towards them whilst giggling to himself. Remus Lupin, the third member of the Marauders, arrived to an array of puzzled faces. It turned out to be Emma who queried, "What the bloody hell is wrong with you, mate?"

"Peter…walked into the wrong platform… Smashed straight into the wall… Muggles were looking at him weirdly… It was so funny… You should have seen!" he managed to gasp in between outbursts of laughter.

Not long after, Remus was followed by the cause of his hysterics, as Peter Pettigrew, a short, plump boy with mousy brown hair, came into view looking highly embarrassed and very bedraggled. They all burst out laughing at the very sight of him, which seemed to annoy Peter, who kept muttering, "It could have happened to anyone. Stop bloody laughing already!"

Once they had all calmed down again, they welcomed Remus and Peter with hugs and questions about their summer. Remus glanced behind him and noticed that Sam North was glaring at them, particularly at Kirsty. "Why is Sam glaring at us?" he asked Kirsty. "Well, you?" he amended.

"I'll tell you later," replied Kirsty with a grin.

The Hogwarts Express came slowly chugging down the track to take them to their final year of schooling. The crowd of students immediately rushed towards the steam engine train, hoping to get a good, if not their favourite, compartment. The gang seemed to be the only ones who didn't rush. They knew full well that no one would dare go near their cabin. In fact, anyone that tried to go near it would be probably be severely hexed into next Sunday, a fact of which Lily highly disapproved.

As they began to walk towards the train together, Sirius started to sing his new favourite song, Night Fever. After the first few words, James joined in, and in moments, Kirsty, Emma and Peter were all singing along, as well as dancing outrageously. Lily and Remus immediately walked off ahead of them, adamantly pretending that they didn't know the weirdoes behind them.

By the time they had reached the chorus, many of the surrounding crowd were either cheering or laughing at the scene before them. As soon as Emma realized that people were watching her sing and dance, she became embarrassed and walked ahead to join Lily and Remus, swinging her scarf defensively around her neck.

Not long after Emma had boarded the train, Sam walked past the gang on his own, and he appeared to be fed up with the taunts he was getting from his friends and the remaining crowd. Astonishingly, Sam also swung his scarf around his neck, in an exact imitation of the way Emma had done it. Kirsty noticed this similarity and stopped dead in her tracks with a big grin on her face. This year is going to be fun, she thought to herself.

Once they had all successfully boarded the train, they were faced with the disorganized mess that was their luggage. Kirsty glared at Emma, annoyed that, as usual, she produced her unbelievably small trunk that she had somehow managed to fit all her belongings into. She saw similar looks of annoyance on her friends' faces.

As they stood there pondering the best way to tackle this predicament, an extremely unpleasant and all too familiar voice stated, "You're blocking the corridor again, White!"

The gang looked up from the jumbled mess in front of them, and saw the equally unwelcoming sight of Sian Morgan. Kirsty raised her eyebrows in amusement at the only person who could pronounce her surname with such venom. Sian stood in front of them, with her trademark hands-on-hips stance and her immensely irritating cockiness.

Flanked, as usual, by a rather ruthless-looking gang of Slytherins, Sian spoke again, harsher this time. "Move," she instructed whilst drawing her wand from within her trouser pocket. Like a group of highly annoying lapdogs, the Slytherins behind her followed suit. Protectively, the Marauders stepped forward, withdrawing their own wands. Lily's eyes seemed to gleam with anger and annoyance, but she remained where she was, as she hated violent confrontations. Also, knowing Lily, she probably didn't want to annoy the Slytherins so early in the school year. Emma stood with her, looking equally angry, and shaking her head at the Slytherins' incredibly hostile attitude towards them. Kirsty withdrew her own wand, but remained standing just behind the four boys. The only thing that separated the two groups was the pile of disordered luggage between them.

Remus asked, with an air of calculated coolness, "And what if we refuse?"

Sian raised her eyebrows and her eyes glinted maliciously, "There's ten of us and only seven if you. You're a clever boy, Lupin; you figure it out."

"And yet, here I was hoping for a dignified response," countered Remus, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Nice nails, by the way," Sian added, looking pointedly at Kirsty's new 'Mugle' manicure.

"I thought so, too," Kirsty replied coolly. "They really get the point across, don't they?"

Sian, who seemed to be becoming immensely irritated by the lack of retaliation she was receiving from the group, sneered, "You really are a disgrace, you know that, White. You, Black, Potter and Pettigrew are the lowest of the low, associating yourselves gladly with these…" she paused as if to relish a malicious glance in Lily and Emma's direction, before continuing, "Mudbloods." Kirsty flinched, and saw the others do the same, at the use of that repugnant word.

"You take that back, right now!" roared James, his fists shaking with an uncontrollable fury.

"Yes," continued Sian, as if there had been no interruption. "You lot will be the first to be disposed of. And I really, really hope that I'll be there to witness it."

And just like that, Sirius and Peter reacted. Jets of blinding lights erupted from their wands as they both shouted their desired spells. Their sudden action took the Slytherins by surprise, but it didn't take long for them to regain their composure, and for them to start screaming a variety of curses right back at the two.

Kirsty and Emma stood, watching the two boys duel, in a frightened awe. When did they learn to fight like that? Kirsty thought, her eyes swiveling from left to right as she watched the duel in front of her. Peter was the biggest surprise. He fought with just as much severity as Sirius. And it was safe to say that Kirsty would never think of him as being timid and incapable ever again.

Kirsty subconsciously took a step back from the action. She had no desire whatsoever to get involved; getting into a fight with the Slytherins before she had even arrived at Hogwarts seemed just a bit too farfetched, even by her standards.

James stood watching his two friends, and he seemed itching to join in with the battle. But the stern look that he had just received from both Remus and Lily seemed to be the only thing stopping him.

"Remus, do something," whispered Lily harshly.

"With all due respect, Lil, I think this is a situation for the Head Boy and Girl," he replied, nodding his head at James' newly assigned badge.

James groaned loudly before exclaiming, "Enough!"

Sirius and Peter swiveled around to face him, surprise plainly etched across their faces at having been told off by James. The Slytherins also stopped, equally surprised. Sian, however, not being one to back down so easily, grinned satanically, aimed her wand at Kirsty's forehead, and cried, "Vulnero inimicus."

Kirsty didn't have time to duck as the light smashed into her, knocking her off her feet. She cried out in surprise and weakly brought a shaking hand to her forehead, wincing at the deep gash there. She brought her hand away and stared at her bloodstained fingers. She was vaguely aware that all action had stopped, and was jostled out of her startled state as her friends crowded around her, all looking at her worriedly.

"You bitch!" screeched Emma, scowling at a rather amused looking Sian.

"Ten points from Slytherin, for causing bodily harm to a fellow student!" shouted Lily, looking furious.

"Now will you move?" Sian asked calculatingly, looking as if she hadn't heard Lily bestow her punishment.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked Kirsty, concern etched into every line of his face. Kirsty nodded meekly in reply as James leaned down and picked her up off the floor.

"Thanks," she stated gratefully. James smiled at her, annoyance and anger still present in the furrow of his brow. Then he snaked his arm protectively around Kirsty's waist and held it there.

After making sure that Kirsty was alright, Remus begrudgingly moved over to their pile of luggage, and careful to keep a watchful eye on the Slytherins, he started to levitate it over to one side. Peter eagerly went over to help him.

They made quick work of clearing the corridor of luggage, and as soon as they finished, they returned to stand supportively beside their friends.

"Much appreciated," stated Sian, eyeing the now clear corridor; the other Slytherins just guffawed behind her.

Sirius stood facing them again with his wand in hand, looking very much as if he wanted to continue the duel. Lily walked up behind him and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Sirius, enough's enough. They're not worth the trouble anyway."

"That is the most sensible thing that I have ever heard escape the mouth of a Mudblood," Sian stated, her voice laced with venom.

It seemed to take all of her effort, but this time Lily didn't flinch at the use of the word.

"You need to come up with some new insults, mate," stated Lily, with a hint of aggression. "That one's been used already; think of something original for a change." She paused momentarily and then continued, her voice a deathly whisper, "And just so you know: It'll be you that is disposed of first. And I really, really, hope that I am the one that has a part in wiping that cocky smirk off your face!"

Sian looked completely stunned; if it wasn't for the fact that her eyes were blinking rapidly in disbelief, then one might think that she had just been Stupefied.

"Go, Lily," whispered Peter, his voice filled with awe.

All the gang looked at Lily with their mouths agape. James was staring at her, transfixed. He looked as if he had never wanted her more.

Sian roared with frustration, unable to come up with a comeback, and fiercely barged past them, the other Slytherins following in hot pursuit.

"Well, that was fun!" stated Remus dryly.

"I'll say," agreed Peter, wiping beads of sweat from his brow.

"Lil, that was bloody awesome!" cheered James.

Lily blushed appreciatively. "Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it!"

"Thanks, Lil," stated Kirsty with a gratified smile as James proceeded to remove his arm from around her waist.

"How are you feeling, Kirst?" asked Emma in concern.

"Fine, it's just a bit sore."

"Come on," instructed Sirius. "We'll get you to our compartment and take a proper look at you."

As Sirius poked his head around the door to their compartment, he let out a yelp of surprise. James also poked his head around the frame of the door to see what was wrong. But instead of yelping in surprise, James cooed, "Hello, how long have you been in here?" James disappeared into the compartment, closely tailed by Sirius. Not long after, Kirsty and the other four arrived in the compartment, Remus and Peter in front, levitating the luggage.

"Well, thank you very much for being so chivalrous and offering to carry the luggage!" exclaimed Peter sarcastically.

James and Sirius just offered mischievous grins in reply.

"Hello, baby!" cooed Kirsty to the little black and brown tabby cat that sat patiently in its carrier, which had been safely perched on the bench.

"Oh," exclaimed Lily, as she, too, saw the cat. "How and when did Willow get in here?"

"I brought her in earlier with my luggage," replied Kirsty, tickling her cat's nose through the carrier.

"I did wonder where your luggage was," stated Sirius.

"So that was what you were cooing at, James," said Emma in sudden understanding. "I feared for your sanity."

"When do we not fear for his sanity?" countered Peter with a grin.

Emma smirked in reply.

"Come on, Kirst; sit down so that we can have a look at your head," instructed Remus softly.

"I'm not an invalid, you know. It's just a little scratch!" replied Kirsty in slight annoyance.

Before Remus could reply, a soft hooting came from the luggage rack above their heads. They all looked up in surprise.

"Is that…Socrates?" asked James.

"It certainly looks like him," agreed Sirius, looking up at the little black owl.

"It must be, because Hayley's luggage is there, too," stated Peter, craning his neck in order to get a better view.

"Then where is she?" asked Lily, worried.

"I'm sure she'll be here in a minute," replied Remus calmly, although he, too, looked a bit worried.

Unbeknownst to the others, Kirsty had taken a seat and released Willow from her carrier.

The little tabby meowed loudly to gain the attention of all the people surrounding her.

"Oh, sorry, Will," apologized Emma as she reached down and tickled the tabby behind the ears.

Kirsty watched them all as they said hello to Willow she then slouched down on the bench alongside her cat. Before James started to relax fully, he reached over to the pile of luggage and released his brown barn owl Einstein, aptly named because he was the clumsiest and stupidest bird ever, from his cage. Instantaneously, the scruffy-looking bird flew up onto the luggage rack to join his feathered friend. Now that they were all sitting down, Remus got up from his seat and crouched down in front of Kirsty.

"Now can I have a look?" he asked sincerely.

"If you must," Kirsty sighed with a grin.

Remus leaned forward slightly, and brushed Kirsty's fringe away from her forehead.

"Ouch," he empathized as he looked at the gash properly for the first time. "It's not bleeding. Does it hurt?" he asked softly as he gently pressed his index finger against it. Kirsty flinched a little in response. "Sorry," he stated with a friendly smile. "I think it could do with being healed, just to make it less noticeable. You may be left with a scar though. Sian put a lot of power behind that spell."

"A scar is fine. My fringe will more than likely cover it anyway."

Remus smiled at her and then turned to face Emma. "Would you like to do the honors, Em?"

"What?" she asked, looking slightly perplexed.

"Would you like to be the one to heal her?" asked Remus again.

"Why me?" asked Emma, looking puzzled and a little frightened as to why Remus had asked her.

"Well, out of all the people here, who is the one who wants to become a healer?"

"But, Remus…I don't know how," she stuttered.

"I'll walk you through it," he replied kindly.

But before they managed to get underway with the lesson in healing, a voice announced from the doorway, "There you all are! Nice to see that I was missed!"

They all wheeled around and came face-to-face with a tall, slim girl with light brown hair, and turquoise eyes that were elegantly framed by a pair of thin, black glasses.

"Hayley!" they all squealed in unison. Sirius, Remus and Lily, being the nearest to the door, went over and greeted her with hugs.

"So, did you not wonder where I was?" she asked, trying to sound upbeat, even though a hint of disappointment could be heard in her voice.

"We just figured that you were late," teased Sirius.

"I'm never late," replied Hayley in annoyance. "Name one time that I've been late!"

"Last year, fifth year…" replied James counting them off on his fingers.

"I said, name one," replied Hayley huffily.

"Ignore them, Hayley," soothed Lily. "Of course we wondered where you were; we would have come to look for you if we hadn't had a run-in with the Slytherins."

"A run-in?" questioned Hayley, suddenly alert.

"I think it's safe to say that they came off worse!" replied Peter jovially.

Kirsty cleared her throat. "I beg to differ!" she exclaimed, pointing at her forehead.

"Oh, my God, who did that?" asked Hayley, horrified.

"Sian," they all explained in unison.

Hayley shook her head in disbelief. She changed the subject by saying, "Remus, I believe you were saying something before I arrived."

"Yes." He smiled at her in response, before turning again to instruct a rather scared-looking Emma.

"Right, so what do I have to do?" asked Emma, with a forced calm.

"All you have to do is point your wand at Kirsty's forehead and say 'Episkey'. That will heal up the wound."

"Ok," nodded Emma, her resolve obvious. She followed Remus' instruction and pointed her wand at Kirsty's head.

"Go on Em, you can do it," cheered Kirsty supportively.

Emma took a deep breath and said, "Episkey."

Kirsty's head felt very hot, and then very cold. She raised her hand to it and felt it gingerly. It seemed to be mended.

"Em, you did it!" squealed Kirsty, jumping up from her seat and hugging her friend.

It took a few seconds for realization to sink in, but when it did, Emma began jumping around and squealing alongside Kirsty. The others smiled at them both.

"May I introduce, Emma: the best healer in the world!" exclaimed Kirsty.

"Yay!" cheered Emma in response.

"Oh, shoot!" cried Lily. "Sorry to spoil this happy moment, but we have to go to the Prefects' meeting."

"Do I have to go?" moaned James.

"James!" cried Lily, shocked. "Being made Head Boy is an honor; you should be proud of such a privilege, and I'm shocked that you would want to throw it away like that. Because it is still puzzling me how someone as ignorant and obnoxious as the likes of you, James Potter, could have possibly been given the opportunity to become Head Boy!"

"Roughly translated, that means 'Get your overly-inflated head into the incredibly small compartment for the prefects' meeting, or she'll kick your arse into next Wednesday'," supplemented Sirius.

"Fine, let's go," mumbled James.

"Prongsie the Prefect, Prongsie the Prefect!" sang Kirsty as they got up to go.

"I'm Head Boy, actually," replied James, putting on a snobby accent.

"Well, I can't make a song out of that; allow me to demonstrate," explained Kirsty. "Prongsie is Head Boy; Prongsie is Head Boy! See, it doesn't have the same ring to it."

James just rolled his eyes as he walked out the door after Lily, Remus and Hayley.

In order to keep amused while the other four were gone, Peter got out his copy of the Quibbler and started to flick through it, and Emma decided to get some nail varnish out of her bag and paint her nails.

Sirius sat watching Kirsty intently as she tried to look at her 'war wound' in the window.

"How do you do that?" he asked suddenly.

"Do what?" asked Kirsty, confused.

"Make up a song, just like…" Sirius snapped his fingers.

"Any idiot can make up a song," she answered. "Listen: de de de de de de de, de de de, de de de!"

Sirius raised his eyebrow at her �“ damn, he was good at that. "That was 'Mary Had A Little Lamb.'"

Emma and Peter snorted.

"Really?" asked Kirsty, bemused, "How about this: do do do do do do do, do do do, do do do!"

"That's still 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'; you just replaced the 'de's with 'do's!" answered Sirius, whilst laughing.

"Shut up!" exclaimed Kirsty sulkily.

----------

After about ten minutes of idle chatter, Kirsty announced, "I'm gonna go to sleep!"

"Already?" asked Sirius, in disbelief; they hadn't been traveling long.

"Yeah, well, getting up early and having a preterm run-in with the Slytherins makes you drowsy!" Kirsty replied with a yawn. "Could you hold Willow a minute, please?" she asked, passing the little tabby over to Sirius.

"Why?" he questioned.

"I've got to get comfy, haven't I?" replied Kirsty sleepily.

Sirius took the little tabby, settled her on his knee, and began to tickle her gently behind the ears. Willow instantly began to purr loudly; she was strangely fond of Sirius, even though he transformed into a dog once a month.

Kirsty swung her legs up onto the seat and shuffled backwards so that her back was pressed against the wall of the compartment, next to the window. She rested her feet on top of Sirius' knees, and held her arms out, obviously indicating that she would like her cat to be returned to her.

Sirius grinned evilly. "Cat's mine now, Kirby!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" she screeched, not impressed by the use of her ridiculous nickname.

"Kirby, Kirby, Kirby, Kirby!" chanted Sirius.

"Give!" instructed Kirsty. "I'm too tired to argue."

"Compromise," stated Sirius, copying Kirsty's sleepy style speech. "I'll put her front half resting on your ankles and the other half on my lap."

"Fair enough," replied Kirsty as she closed her eyes. Sirius smiled and positioned Willow like he had just suggested. He looked over at Kirsty, who already seemed to be drifting off into a peaceful sleep. In his opinion, she looked extremely uncomfortable resting her head on the cold wall, so he hastily conjured a pillow and placed it under Kirsty's head, all the while being extremely careful not to wake her.

Sirius watched her sleeping form, transfixed. His gaze shifted as he took note of the little Scottish flag that had been drawn onto Kirsty's bag. He looked from the bag, to Kirsty, and back again. He, Sirius Black, had a devious plan.

"Hey, Em, you didn't, by any chance, bring some face paints with you, did you?"

"When have I ever let you down?" asked Emma, looking intrigued as to what Sirius could possibly be planning.

Sirius gratefully took the face paints from Emma. Peter's face lit up, like it always did at the prospect of a prank.

Taking great care not to wake Kirsty, Sirius started to slowly apply white paint to her face.

Emma, being an artist and a perfectionist, was literally on the edge of her seat, watching intensely to make sure that Sirius didn't make any mistakes.

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief when he finished applying the white paint. Kirsty still hadn't woken up. Filled with determination, he went on to apply the blue face paint.

When he had finally finished, he sat back to admire his work.

"Wow!" exclaimed Peter, amazed.

Emma, upon seeing Kirsty's face, collapsed into a fit of very silent giggles.

----------

Kirsty awoke to the sound of seven voices chatting and giggling quietly. She opened her eyes to see James sitting next to her with his elbow resting on Sirius' shoulder; she also saw that her legs were now resting on his knees. Next to James sat Sirius, whose knees she was using as a footstool. Willow lay with her front paws and her head resting on Kirsty's ankles and her stomach and back end resting on Sirius' lap. Hayley was lounging with her back on the seat, so that she was facing the ceiling; she had her head resting slightly on Sirius' lap, which meant that she occasionally got flicked in the head by Willow's tail; her legs were in the air diagonally and her feet rested on the door frame. On the seat opposite Hayley, sat Lily, who had her head resting sleepily on the back of the seat, and her feet were laying gently on top of Hayley's stomach. Remus lay on his side with his knees bent and his head resting on Lily's shoulder. Then there was Peter, who had his hands behind his head and his legs on top of Remus' bent knees. Lastly, opposite Kirsty, sat Emma; she had her elbow resting on the window ledge, her hand propping her head up, and her feet rested just above Kirsty's knees.

Kirsty rubbed her eyes sleepily; no one had yet seemed to notice that she was awake. As Kirsty tried to adjust to the sudden brightness of having her eyes open, the elderly witch pushing the food trolley poked her head into the compartment, "Want anything dears?" she asked kindly.

"Chocolate, please!" exclaimed Sirius, James, Hayley, Peter and Remus as they jumped up. The rest of the group fell onto the compartment floor, seeing as they had all just been in a tangle of legs and arms. Willow looked terrified as she landed in the midst of the falling teenagers. The scared little tabby quickly scrambled up onto the luggage rack, where the owls were roosting. At the site of the crazed tabby, the owls took of in a frenzied flight, which resulted in them flapping hysterically around in everyone's faces. Sirius, James, Hayley, Peter and Remus looked on at the situation they had just caused, and grinned at the other three sheepishly.

"I swear you're all trying to kill me!" cried Kirsty from her position on the floor.

"Finally decided to wake up, did you?" asked Lily.

Kirsty yawned and nodded. "I had a great dream, I dreamt -"

"Chocolate!" yelled Sirius as he threw a Chocolate Frog at each of them.

They all sat quietly as they munched away on their chocolate, and read the information on their Chocolate Frog cards.

"Hey, guys, where are we?" asked Kirsty, suddenly looking up.

"On a train," said James sarcastically.

Kirsty mock-glared, "I mean, are we in Scotland yet?"

Kirsty had a strange fixation with Scotland, and none of them really knew why. All they had managed to get from her was that somewhere along the line, her family had been Scottish.

"Don't know…" replied Lily. "Why don't you have a look out of the window and see."

Kirsty shrugged her shoulders, stood up and walked towards the window. She wiped away the condensation and peered outside. At the sight of her reflection she jumped backwards. The Scottish flag had been painted onto her face. "OH MY GOD!" she yelled. She turned and faced them all. "YOU!" she shouted as she pointed at Sirius.

Sirius tried and failed to look innocent.

"You conniving, sneaky, little worm!" she continued to screech as she took a few steps closer to him.

Sirius actually looked afraid now, and the others looked as if they were trying their hardest not to laugh.

Kirsty raised her hand as if she was about to strike Sirius. He flinched, waiting for the blow to come, but it never did. Instead of hitting him, Kirsty enveloped him into a tight hug.

"I love it, I love it, I love it!" she squealed ecstatically. "It's awesome! Cheers, mate!" she added with a big grin. She kissed him gratefully on the cheek and started bobbing up and down excitedly.

Sirius laughed, relieved.

"How the hell did you lot manage to talk to me and keep a straight face?" asked Kirsty with a laugh.

"With great difficulty!" replied Hayley with a wide smirk.

"We must be in Scotland, because the Flying Scotsman has just arrived," laughed James.

As soon as James mentioned the Flying Scotsman, Kirsty's eyes lit up. A fabulous idea had just worked its way through her messed-up brain. "Where's my broom?" she asked gleefully.

"No," replied Lily sternly, "as Head Girl, I forbid you to ride your broom on this train!"

Kirsty looked downhearted, but didn't question Lily's authority.

"You can always do it at Quidditch practice," suggested James.

Kirsty grinned. "I knew I liked you for a reason, Jamesie!"

"Okay, I'm going to go and ask the driver where we are," announced Hayley as she made her way to the door.

"I'll go with you," agreed Remus. "As fascinating as the flying Scotswoman is, I don't think that I can stay in the room a moment longer with you and that ridiculous face paint!" he laughed as he walked out the door after Hayley.

"That's it, he's going on my list!" cried Kirsty. "The rest of you like, it don't you?" she asked, trying to look intimidating.

"Yes, it's incredible," the others agreed.

Remus and Hayley were back within a few minutes, and Hayley announced, "Yep, we're in Scotland, and we're pretty close to Hogwarts now, so we'd better get changed into our uniforms."

"Okay, us girls will get changed first," replied Emma.

The boys looked like they had no intention of moving; they just sat there waiting expectantly for the girls to get changed.

Kirsty and the other three girls stood in front of them with raised eyebrows and crossed arms.

"You're not bothering us," stated Sirius, innocently.

"OUT!" exclaimed the girls in unison.

Author's Notes: I got the "Mary had a little lamb' bit from 'The Simpsons' so don't credit me for that. Also I got Sian's spell from the Latin word for harm: 'vulnero' and foe: 'inimicus'. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please take the time to review.

The process of navigating themselves off of the train and into their self assigned carriage was a tedious one. James and Sirius didn’t help matters when they both insisted that they should be first in getting off the train. This meant that Kirsty and the others had to put up with their mock interpretation of argumentative shoving, before both Marauders acted with complete amiability to one another, and stepped off the train side by side. Much to Kirsty’s, and everybody else’s it seemed, annoyance.

Kirsty heaved her trunk through the jostling throng of students, and held Willow’s cat carrier protectively, and rather uncomfortably, against her chest. When she reached the carriage, feeling very battered and bruised from being shoved by many a younger student, she sank down gratefully onto the seat.

The boys sat down on one side of the carriage, and the girls sat on the other. Kirsty had always doubted whether or not these carriages had been designed to withstand the weight of eight fully grown teenagers, but this doubt was again disproved when the carriage began to slowly trundle along, jostling now and again, without as much as a grumble.

“So,” began James, a mischievous grin presenting itself on his face, “do we have any plans for this year, Marauders?”

“Well, I’ve bought some supplies…” replied Sirius, matching James’ mischievous look and casting an apprehensive sideways glance at both Lily and Hayley.

Kirsty and the other three girls rolled their eyes, Kirsty found it much easier not to intervene when they were discussing pranks, as they usually got irritatingly dismissive and cagey about the whole thing. She also knew that Lily and Hayley lived by this rule too, as they were both of the opinion that they couldn’t tell the boys off if they pretended to be oblivious to their plans.

“You know,” Kirsty told Emma, giving her an inconspicuous wink, “you’d think that James would have given up this Marauding lark, what with his new Head Boy ship and all.”

James turned sharply at her words, “Give up being a Marauder? Never!” he exclaimed, overdramatically.

“I thought as much,” replied Kirsty with a smirk.

Seeming keen to start the discussion, Peter asked, “What have we got �““

Kirsty cut him off by stating innocently, “Hey, do you guys know what the collective term is for bankers?”

“Will you shut up woman, we’re trying to plan things here!” exclaimed Sirius.

Kirsty pouted and turned to look out of the window. As hard as she tried to focus on the blurry dark shadows that were now flying past as the carriage picked up speed, she still found herself being subconsciously drawn to their conversation.

“Now, where were we �“ ah, yes, supplies,” continued Sirius as if Kirsty had made no such interruption. “I’ve bought quite a few Dungbombs and Stink Pellets; I have the new promotional pack of Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No-Heat Fireworks, and I’ve finally figured out how to perform that permanent sticking charm of my dear old mum’s.”

“Nice one!” the other three exclaimed in unison.

“Anyone else got anything?” questioned James, as if he were the chairman of the meeting.

“Well, I was reading this really interesting book in the holidays…” started Remus.

Before he could finish his sentence, however, Kirsty saw the other three Marauders loll their heads to one side, close their eyes and pretend to snore.

Remus smirked and replied sardonically, “Fine. I can take a hint. I guess if you’re not interested in hearing about this new hex I uncovered, I’ll just drop it…”

The other three snapped their eyes open instantly and apologised profusely.

Kirsty turned her head around to survey what the three girls were doing. Emma was decorating her newly painted nails with various fascinating patterns, and Hayley and Lily were immersed in conversation about some boring book or other. Kirsty sighed loudly. They all seemed to be ignoring her, but whether or not they were doing it on purpose she wasn’t sure. She hadn’t even been able to tell them the answer to her question. She sighed again and turned back around to look out of the window, Hogwarts was looming ever nearer, and her stomach began to squirm with a mixture of excitement and apprehension as to what their final year would entail.

“We’re sorry, Moony! Please tell us all about the hex you’ve found!” apologised Peter, trying out his impression of Sirius’ puppy dog eyes.

Remus laughed. “Okay, guys, if you really want to know, and next time you’ll know not to be so flippant with me when I talk about things I’ve read about in books-”

“So come on then, tell us!” cried James, impatiently.

“Yeah, tell us - oh, and by the way, Wormtail, nice one with the puppy dog eyes, I think I may have a contender,”

Peter glowed slightly at Sirius’ compliment.

“Well,” began Remus, “it’s a scalping hex, takes the hair clean off any unsuspecting victim. Just point your wand at the desired victim’s head and speak the words aufero saeta to provide instant hilarity.”

All four Marauders laughed.

Kirsty had to admit to herself that it did sound pretty funny; she just hoped that she wasn’t going to be the one on the receiving end of it. She looked over to Hayley and Lily to see if they had picked up on any of this, but they were still engrossed in conversation, so if they had heard, they were doing a very good job of hiding it.

As Kirsty moved her gaze back across to look at the boys, she paused to look at Emma’s nails. They were pretty amazing; each individual nail had its own pattern emblazoned uniquely on it by Emma’s artistic hand.

She had just finished letting them dry when Peter chuckled, “That hex sounds like Emma’s worst nightmare.”

She looked up sharply; evidently she had been paying attention to their conversation. “If any of you try casting that spell on me, I will permanently disfigure you all with my hair straighteners!”

All four boys smiled sweetly at her but didn’t promise anything.

Remus leaned forward as if to whisper something to the other three, and Kirsty found herself also inching closer to pick up on his words.

“I thought that hex could be put to superb use on a certain slimy haired Slytherin that you all know and loath-“Remus informed them with a wink.

The other three Marauders’ eyes lit up at this suggestion, and they looked at Remus with something close to admiration.

“-but you didn’t get that suggestion from me.” He finished with a smile, as he lounged back against his seat once again.

“We’ll corrupt you yet, Moony!” exclaimed James, excitedly.

“I think you corrupted me a long time ago, Prongsie my dear,” replied Remus, with an amused smile.

Lily lifted her head up at that moment and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the group of boys.

Kirsty, now feeling extremely annoyed with being silenced and ignored by the party, decided to divulge to them the answer to her question. So, without notice, she blurted out, “It’s a wunch, as in a wunch of bankers!”

They all looked at her with looks of bewilderment on their faces, as if trying to figure out where this outburst had originated from. After a few seconds of waiting, however, she received the appreciative snort of laughter that she had been expecting.

Peter was the only one who still looked confused, and he asked them all, clearly irritated, “What’s so funny?”

But even when Remus explained the concept of the joke to him he exclaimed sulkily, “I don’t get it!”

*

Upon reaching the Entrance Hall, Sirius, who had snaked his arm around Kirsty’s waist to lead her in out of the downpour, removed it and proceeded to cast a drying spell on himself. Kirsty followed suit and noticed that the others had already done the same.

Once she was dry, she turned to her friends and smiled, it’s good to be home.

As they walked towards the Great Hall, footsteps echoing loudly on the stone floor, Kirsty started complaining profusely about the fact that her face paint had run.

“Well, it’s your own stupid fault for standing out in the rain,” scolded Peter.

“Too true,” agreed Hayley.

Kirsty glared at them both.

“You do look a mess though, I doubt they’d let you in looking like that,” stated Lily. “Probably best to clear yourself up.”

Kirsty withdrew her wand from her pocket, and pointed it at her face, grumbling as she did so, “Scourgify,”

“Shame,” muttered Sirius as he watched the remnants of the flag vanish from her face, “It was a work of art.”

Finally the doors to the Great Hall opened and Kirsty felt the usual prickle of anticipation as she caught a glimpse of the four long house tables, the floating candles and the mesmerising enchanted ceiling.

As one, the crowd disappeared from the Entrance Hall to beyond the doors of the Great Hall, Kirsty and Emma immediately tried to follow in their wake but James and Sirius held them back.

“What are you doing?” asked Emma, unimpressed, “We want to get in there and eat food!”

“You want to get in there and ogle at Sam!” replied Sirius in a furious whisper.

Emma had the grace to look slightly embarrassed.

“Why can’t we go in now?” asked Kirsty defiantly.

“Because, we’re going to make a grand entrance,” replied James, gleefully.

Kirsty and the other three girls groaned loudly.

“What?” asked Peter, with every air of innocence.

“What are planning on doing?” asked Hayley apprehensively.

“I don’t think James knows yet…” replied Remus with a grin.

“Why does that not surprise me?” teased Lily.

Kirsty could visibly see the hackles on James’ back rising; no one doubted his ingenuity.

“I do too know what I’m going to do,” replied James defiantly, making sure that his gaze lingered for a moment in Lily’s direction.

“Well then, please do inform us,” requested Sirius.

“No, I don’t want to now,” replied James sulkily.

“Aw, we’re sorry, Jamesie, did we insult your creativity,” mocked Emma.

“No, it’s not that,” replied James, with a swift glare in Emma’s direction, which Kirsty guessed was him admonishing her for calling him Jamesie. “It’s just that, it wasn’t that big an idea, and now that you’ve all made such a big deal out of it, I’m afraid that’s going to sound unbelievably pathetic.”

Kirsty saw Sirius stifle a laugh as he asked James, “Come on, tell us, we won’t care if it sounds stupid.” Sirius looked at the group as if to dare them to disagree. “I mean, it does seem a tad egotistical to give a huge prank the moment we return. So, what’s your idea?”

James, seeming slightly less ashamed of his idea now, stated, “We strut flamboyantly into the Great Hall,”

Kirsty couldn’t help it, she laughed loudly, along with the other three girls.

All four boys glared at them

“But, James, we always strut,” said Sirius.

“Do we?” asked Remus, confused.

“Sirius and James do,” muttered Kirsty cheekily.

“I don’t know what you four are laughing at,” stated James, sounding annoyed and devilish at the same time.

Kirsty apprehensively looked him in the eye, knowing his tone all too well, whereas the other three just looked at him with curiosity.

“You’re going in there with us,”

Hayley’s and Lily’s faces dropped. “We so aren’t!” exclaimed Hayley.

“Oh, yes, you are,” replied James mischievously.

Kirsty looked over to Emma and stated, “No skin off my nose, I’ll do it.” After all, she didn’t want James to think that he had struck an apprehensive chord within her too.

Emma nodded emphatically in agreement.

“There is no way that I am strutting down the aisle of the Great Hall with you lot!” argued Lily.

“You don’t have to strut,” explained James. “You just have to follow in our wake.”

“Ah, even better!” cried Kirsty.

James frowned at her.

“Well, what are we waiting for, let’s start the year with a bang!” instructed Peter enthusiastically as he made his way through to the Great Hall.

“It’s not very often that I say this, but Peter‘s right, let’s go,” announced Sirius, and with that the remaining Marauders disappeared through the huge oak doors, James casting a gleeful look at Lily as he passed.

“Now look what you’ve done, Lil,” stated Hayley, clearly annoyed at having to walk into the Great Hall behind four highly embarrassing, strutting Marauders.

“Why is this my fault?” asked Lily, perplexed.

“Because you doubted him and spurred him on,” answered Emma.

“Technically, you could go in there, insert your authorities as Head Girl, and stop him,” suggested Kirsty.

“Ah, but technically James is doing all this to impress me, ergo I should just let him get on with it.”

“But you hate it when James tries to impress you,” replied Emma, wrinkling her nose in puzzlement.

“Do I?” asked Lily innocently, smiling conspiringly at Hayley, who instantly cheered up and smiled back.

“Yes!” cried Kirsty and Emma in unison.

“Oh,” replied Lily, still smiling infuriatingly at both Kirsty and Emma.

“So, you’re not going to stop them?” asked Kirsty, thoroughly confused.

“Doesn’t look like it,” she answered, still smiling.

“Don’t tell me that you’ve finally succumbed to the Marauders’ influence,” said Emma, looking even more surprised.

“Hmm,” replied Lily with a smirk as she shared yet another glance with Hayley, obviously conveying some sort of secret that neither Kirsty nor Emma were in on.

“Come on, hurry up, we don’t want to miss this!” called Hayley, who seemed to have suddenly had a change of heart as she and Lily began to walk towards the Hall doors.

“Hey!” Kirsty shouted after them, feeling confused and slightly annoyed. “Was that a look that you two just shared?”

Lily turned around and smiled. “It just may well have been, Kirst.”

“But what did the look mean?” asked Kirsty with extreme intrigue and impatience.

“If you’d been at mine when I’d invited you in the summer, you’d know!” called back Hayley, as they finally disappeared into the Hall.

“Hey! That’s not fair; you know I was absent due to family commitments!” Kirsty shouted after them.

“I thought you went to a Quidditch match with Sirius and James?” whispered Emma with a smile.

Kirsty was slightly flustered and tried frantically to think of the perfect response. She settled for looking at Emma with mock fury and stating, “Sometimes I regret telling you things!”

“I know you do,” replied Emma merrily as she linked her own arm through Kirsty’s, “Come on, Kirby!”

Kirsty glanced sideways at her. “I’ll get you for that one later,”

Emma just laughed in response.

As the two of them emerged into the Great Hall, Kirsty noticed that the Marauders were standing just inside the door, waiting for them to arrive. How kind of them, she thought, with somewhat bitterness.

Once James had noted their arrival, he nodded to Remus who withdrew his wand from his pocket and shot a loud bang into the air, making the majority of the Hall, and Kirsty, jump.

The boys then proceeded to strut outrageously down the middle of the Hall; Kirsty couldn’t help but laugh at how obvious it was that they were doing this to poke fun at themselves.

When there was a good enough distance between the boys and herself, Kirsty dragged Emma towards Hayley and Lily and they all began to follow in their wake.

------------------

James laughed loudly along with the other three when they reached the end of the Gryffindor table; that had actually been a lot more fun than he thought it was going to be.

Remus and Peter clapped him hard on the back, still laughing, congratulating him on his feel-good idea, before heading off to their seats. Sirius, however, remained standing with James, awaiting the arrival of the girls.

James watched as Hayley departed the group with a fleeting wave and left for the Ravenclaw table.

As soon as she had left, Emma announced loud enough for James to hear, “Kirst, you are so strutting,”

From the look of extreme annoyance on Kirsty’s face, this seemed to be a discussion that had been going on for a while.

“I do not strut!” exclaimed Kirsty, wheeling around angrily to glare at Emma.

Emma and Lily just pushed past her, giggling.

As the two girls approached him, James could hear Sirius also giggling away at the side of him. When Emma came within two feet of him, James stated, “I honestly don’t know how you two,” he inclined his head across the hall at Kirsty, “haven’t killed each other yet,”

“Aw, I love her really, but she’s just so much fun to wind up,”

“Now I know that I’ve heard Kirsty utter those exact same words before,” replied Lily with a laugh as she pointed her finger accusingly at Emma as if to emphasise her point.

Lily and Emma went to sit down but hesitated as they reached the table, clearly they were wondering who was going to sit next to who.

In order to provide some clarity to the situation James said helpfully, “Remus has saved you a seat over there, Lil,”

Lily looked at him and smiled as she made her way over to Remus, and James was sure that that was the first genuine smile she had given him in the seven years he had known her.

“You four really are the biggest pillocks Hogwarts has ever seen, aren’t you?” called Kirsty, her voice full of amusement as she finally arrived behind them.

Out of the corner of his eye, James noticed Sirius stand up straight. He made a mental note to inquire further and, if possible, make a small dig at him for it later.

“Naturally,” replied Remus’ voice jokingly in reply from over at the other side of the Gryffindor table.

“Nice to know what you think of us, Kirst,” replied James, with a grin.

“Oh, I love you all dearly, but you are complete and utter prats. I still can’t believe you did that!” stated Kirsty as she sat down at the table next to Emma, who was now rummaging around her attire, clearly looking for something.

“Yeah,” agreed Emma, pausing from her task, “you four are so egotistical it’s unbelievable.”

“Oh, come on, we’re not that bad!” replied Sirius in a defensive tone as he turned around and blew a kiss to one of his many admirers, this time a Hufflepuff seventh year.

Both Kirsty and Emma looked at him incredulously, and James snorted loudly.

Sirius turned swiftly back around to see the two girls staring at him, “What?” he asked, acting confused.

“That just proved my point,” replied Emma.

“Yeah,” added Kirsty teasingly, casting a sideways glance at Sirius, “can’t you give it a rest for one year, Captain Ego?”

Sirius laughed. “Oh, you know you wouldn’t love us as much if we didn’t act as we do,”

“He’s got a point!” chirped in James.

Kirsty scoffed.

“Aw, come on,” replied Sirius charmingly, flicking his head back to get his fringe out of his eyes as he leaned in closer to Kirsty and gave her his most winning smile, “you know you love me,”

As she was sitting next to him, and in perfect reaching distance, Kirsty replied to this by slapping him sharply upside the head.

James looked across the table to see Lily, Remus and Peter laughing at all four of them.

“I can’t find my mirror!” Emma suddenly yelled in distress, “I must have left it in my trunk!”

“Oh no!” exclaimed Remus sarcastically.

Emma glared at him and began to frantically look around for a supplement for her most prized possession.

James heard the doors to the hall burst open behind him, and he quickly swivelled around to see McGonagall walk in, followed by a long line of scared looking first years. In her hand she carried a wooden stool and placed upon it was an ancient wizard's hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim. James smiled encouragingly at a few of the first years as they walked past.

The first years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students, and McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back.

-----------

Hayley smiled sympathetically at the first years’ surprised reactions when the hat burst into life and started singing. It didn’t seem five minutes ago that she was standing up there, shaking with nerves and excitement as to what house she would be put into. She would still say that getting up in front of the whole school, and placing the Sorting Hat on her head, was one of the scariest experiences that she had ever had to endure at Hogwarts.

She looked over at the Gryffindor table and instantly located her friends; it wasn’t hard as they were being the most active on the entire table. Kirsty, James and Sirius were swaying flamboyantly to the tune of the Sorting Hat’s song; Remus, Lily and Peter were also bopping their heads in time with the tune, and Emma seemed to be trying to look at her reflection in one of the plates. Hayley glanced up and down the table at the other members of Gryffindor. No doubt following the Marauders’ lead most had also started swaying to the tune. After a few attempts, Hayley spotted Sam, seated a few seats away from Emma, and Hayley laughed out loud, earning more than a few strange looks from her fellow Ravenclaws when she saw that Sam too was trying to check his reflection, but in one of the spoons.

As the song progressed, Sirius started clapping loudly in time, and it quickly caught on. Just the group did it at first; Emma even stopped looking at her reflection to join in, but eventually the whole Gryffindor table were in on it. As the hat neared the end of its song, Hayley also joined in, which prompted all the other Ravenclaws to do the same, and ultimately all the tables, save Slytherin, had joined in with the clapping.

Regrettably the song finally came to an end, and a round of deafening applause broke out. She saw Sirius grinning happily at the fact that he had got the majority of the hall clapping along with him.

The Sorting quickly got underway, with the first student to be sorted being a blonde headed girl called Vanessa Andrews, who was immediately sorted into Gryffindor.

Every time a student was sorted into their house, the Marauders would point their wands at their throats and make it so that they emitted an almighty roar.

The sorting seemed to finish just as quickly as it had started with the last student, Harold Zennan, being sorted into Ravenclaw; Hayley cheered herself hoarse, along with the rest of her house.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll in a professional manner, and carried the Sorting Hat away again.

Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster, had gotten to his feet, and the hushed mutterings ceased at once; even the Marauders stopped talking in hushed whispers and turned with respect towards their Headmaster. He was beaming at his students, his arms opened wide in the form of a greeting. "Welcome!" he said, “welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! It is not my wish to bore you with unnecessary speeches and introductions, at least not so early in our feast, but I will give you a statement to puzzle over: only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet!"

Hayley laughed lightly at this and she heard a derisive snort of laughter emanate from the Gryffindor table, which she guessed was Kirsty; she had the weirdest sense of humour, and would usually laugh at something that the others found to be either absolutely ridiculous or extremely unworthy of their laughter.

She watched them all laughing at Kirsty’s reaction and felt a weird pang in her chest as she wished that she could be over there with them. Being a Ravenclaw was all well and good, but sometimes she hated being the outsider in the Gryffindor group. They all had a certain family-like bond which she couldn’t seem to penetrate, no matter how hard she tried. She supposed that this was because they had all spent seven years more or less living out of each other’s pockets.

She moved her gaze onto Remus and watched as he laughed loudly at something James had just said.

When his laughter finally ceased, he looked up, across the Hall, and caught Hayley’s eye.

A flurry of excitement flitted through her stomach as he smiled at her. She smiled back, doing her best to dismiss her stomach’s acrobatics. After keeping his gaze for a few moments, she regrettably turned away from him and started shovelling lasagne and salad onto her plate.

-------------

Sirius laughed lightly as he watched Kirsty’s disastrous attempts to steal a boiled potato off of Emma’s plate.

“Come on, Em, just one-”

“No! Get your own!”

“But I only want one small potato-”

“Then get one off the big dish in the middle-”

“But it’s so far away, yours is within reaching distance-”

“I don’t care, stop being lazy and get one off the big dish-”

Kirsty swivelled around in Sirius’ direction, and he hastily moved his plate out of her reach.

“Mean.”

“Just get one off the big plate, Kirst,” laughed Lily.

“Fine,” replied Kirsty, sighing loudly.

She delved into her pocket and pulled out her wand.

Sirius barked with laughter.

“You’d better not be thinking of using your wand to Accio a potato onto your plate, because that would be the epitome of laziness,” stated Lily, clearly trying not to laugh.

“No, of course I wasn’t,” replied Kirsty guiltily, as she pocketed her wand again.

Resignedly, she leant across the table to obtain her illustrious potato.

“God knows what you’ll be like when you have to live on your own. You’ll have to cook your own food then,” laughed Lily.

“Ah, I already have a plan,” replied Kirsty cheerfully.

“Oh, yes?” asked Lily with slight apprehension.

“I have three words for you Lil: mother, owl and post,”

Sirius laughed loudly along with the rest of them.

“You’re not seriously going to rely on your Mum’s cooking, are you?” asked James.

“Nah, Mum would never go for it, I suppose I’ll just have to learn to cook by magic,”

Remus scoffed.

Kirsty whipped around and glared at him. “What?”

“You, cook by magic?”

“Yes, what’s wrong with that?”

“You, the person who has somehow managed to spectacularly melt the bottoms of fifteen cauldrons in the last six years!”

Kirsty’s cheeks flamed red, and she refused to reply.

Sirius and the other six laughed again.

“Looks like you’ll have to come up with a new plan, Kirst,” chuckled Peter.

A simple, haughty, “Humph,” was Kirsty’s noncommittal reply.

Finishing the last of his apple crumble with vigour, Sirius decided to lighten the mood.

“Hey, Em.”

Emma turned sharply and surveyed him with scepticism. “Yes?”

“I dare you and Kirsty to drink half of that chocolate sauce bottle each,”

Sirius couldn’t help but grin as he saw Emma’s dilemma at not wanting to do it and her incapability of refusing a dare.

“You’re on!” exclaimed Emma, a competitive gleam present in her eye.

“Hey, hang on a minute!” shouted Kirsty, breaking her silence, “I never agreed to this.”

“Yeah, but we all know that you were going to.”

The others nodded in agreement to Emma’s reply.

“Damn, have I really become that predictable?”

“Either that or we just know you too well,” commented Remus.

“Couldn’t that be classed as the same thing?” asked Kirsty, furrowing her brow.

“Stop stalling, Kirst,” shouted Sirius. “Now, who’s going to be the one to take the first swig?”

“I will!” exclaimed Emma over excitedly.

“And so the year begins,” Sirius heard Lily mutter from across the table. He looked up to see her shaking her head and smiling in disbelief at them all.

-------------

Lily had had half a mind to reprimand Sirius for making the two girls drink half of the chocolate sauce bottle each, but several minutes had now past, and Lily had even surprised herself when she decided to let this one slide. After all, just how much damage could two hyperactive girls do before Dumbledore packed them off to their dorms?

As Lily relished the last few mouthfuls of her treacle tart, she surveyed the activities of her friends. James, Remus and Peter were all drowsily discussing something, and she deduced by their unenthused sounding voices and the absence of a certain Mr Black in their conversation, that they weren’t planning a prank, for once; Emma was slumped on the table staring off into space. Even though Lily noticed that her gaze would occasionally linger on her unsuspecting crush, Emma was being surprisingly quiet despite her recent sugar overdose, which in itself was slightly unnerving; and Kirsty and Sirius, Lily guessed by their strange movements, were continually nudging each other under the table with their knees.

Whether by coincidence or on purpose, as soon as Lily fixed her gaze upon them both, Kirsty decided to ram sideways into Sirius, as if to spice up their antics a little, managing to catch him off guard. A proud grin sprang onto Kirsty’s face, as it always did when she thought that she’d beaten Sirius at something.

Sirius, not being one to be shown up by a girl, nevertheless by Kirsty, rammed back into her in retaliation.

The only problem with this was that Sirius was a lot stronger than Kirsty, despite what she might think, and he managed to knock her off balance, so that she was now sprawled sideways along the bench.

Lily couldn’t help but giggle helplessly, along with Sirius, at the shocked look on Kirsty’s face.

Their sudden outburst had caught the attention of the other four, as well as a large majority of the Gryffindor table, who upon seeing Kirsty, decided it was best not to inquire further, and returned to their previous obligations.
Whilst she was in the process of calming herself down, Lily glanced at the Hufflepuff table between the gap that was now present due to the lack of Kirsty’s tall form, and couldn’t believe the hostile looks that the majority of the female population of the table were giving Kirsty. Clearly they thought of her as being a threat, which, in Lily’s opinion, didn’t seem all too far from the truth. After all, the pair did often act like the married couple of the group.

As Lily looked to Kirsty and Sirius to convey her findings, Kirsty, looking very annoyed that Sirius had got the better of her, kicked him playfully in the thigh as she sat back up again.

Lily opened her mouth, but this time she was stopped by Sirius, who decided that it was he who should win this bout, so he again nudged Kirsty in the side, but this time with his elbow.

Kirsty managed to successfully keep her balance, apart from the fact that Sirius’ nudge had made her jerk her arm, which knocked her spoon, with a loud resounding clatter, under the table.

“Now look what you did,” stated Kirsty irritated.

Sirius just grinned devilishly in response.

Finally Lily got her chance to speak. “Careful, Kirst, I think you’re riling the fan girls,” she stated, inclining her head in the direction of the Hufflepuff table.

Both Kirsty and Sirius swivelled their heads around to look at the fan girls in question.

“When do I not rile the fan girls?” queried Kirsty, sounding intrigued.

“True,” replied Lily, with a nod of her head.

“It’s one of my favourite sports,” Kirsty stated as she once again lay down on the bench, this time in order to attempt to reach the spoon with her outstretched hand, “like Emma baiting.”

Evidently the spoon was too far out of her reach as Kirsty sat back up slightly, heaving an exasperated sigh.

“Personally,” contradicted Sirius with a big mischievous grin, “I prefer masturba-“

However, Lily was too fast for him, and she cast Silencio before he was able to finish his sentence.

Kirsty started laughing. “Hey, what do you know, that spell is quite amusing when it’s being cast on someone else other than me.” And with that she slunk comically under the table to retrieve her spoon.

As soon as Kirsty disappeared completely under the table, the dishes in front of Lily were magically cleared, and she turned expectantly, along with the rest of the hall, to face the staff table as Professor Dumbledore stood and faced them all once again.

“I have a few announcements to make: Mr Filch has told me to remind you that all Zonko products are now banned, and anybody seen in possession of such items will be punished accordingly.

“Anyone wishing to try out for their house Quidditch team should present their names to their Heads of Houses as usual; in addition to this we are also in need of new Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise. For those interested, Quidditch tryouts will be held on the tenth of this month.

“We are pleased to welcome a new teacher to our ranks this year, Professor MacIntosh, who will be taking over the post of Defence against the Dark Arts teacher.”

A tall, fairly muscular, man with short, dark brown hair flecked with grey; and dazzling midnight blue eyes, stood up.

There came an audible gasp from the female population of the hall, and Lily could see why. He was very good looking for a teacher.

Lily caught Hayley’s eye across the room, and Hayley immediately mouthed, “Wow,”

“I know,” Lily mouthed back.

Hayley looked puzzled for a moment as she surveyed the table, “Where’s Kirst?” she mouthed again.

“Under the table,” replied Lily as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Hayley looked even more confused but didn’t say anything else.

Returning her gaze to her own table, Lily noticed that both Sirius and James seemed suddenly highly alert; to Lily it seemed as if they were preparing themselves to defend their status as the Hogwarts hunks.

When the Professor stood up his emerald green robes swished majestically down to his sides, and when he spoke it was in a deep, captivating Scottish accent, "Hello, everyone," he said, nodding his head courteously and flashing them a dazzling smile.

Just after he spoke an incredibly loud bang emanated from the Gryffindor table, which was instantaneously followed by Kirsty’s unimpressed voice uttering a hushed “Ouch!”

Many people on the table giggled quietly, and Lily couldn’t help smiling. “What happened?” she whispered.

“Banged my head.”

Emma had to cough to cover up her snort of laughter.

“What; when you heard him speak?” Lily asked, continuing to whisper.

“Uhuh and can I just say…” Kirsty finished her sentence by sighing dreamily.

Lily did her best to laugh quietly, and her situation wasn’t helped by the scowl that had presented itself on Sirius’ face.

“Oh, just wait until you set eyes on him,” replied Lily.

“Which is why �“ yes, got it �“ I’m coming up to have a gander,”

Lily jumped backwards in surprise as Kirsty’s head appeared suddenly beside her knees.

Trying as hard as possible to be as silent as the grave, Kirsty clambered back up onto her seat, and once she was stable, she glanced up at the staff table.

“Wow,” she whispered to Lily.

“I know,” replied Lily in agreement.

“I can’t believe we didn’t see him earlier,”

“I know, the one year we don’t check on who our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher is going to be,” agreed Lily, equally irritated.

Sirius coughed pointedly at them and inclined his head towards the staff table.

Lily took the hint, and she guessed Kirsty did too, as they both fell silent and looked at Dumbledore again.

Dumbledore was stood waiting patiently for the excited conversation to die down. When he obviously felt that the students had had long enough to discuss their new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, he cleared his throat and waited for absolute silence before continuing, “Once again I would like to remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is strictly out of bounds to all students, no matter how capable you believe yourselves to be in the practicality of magic.” Lily could have sworn that Dumbledore’s gaze had just lingered for the tiniest of moments on the Marauders.

“Unfortunately I finish on a grave note, for it is my wish to install upon all of you the severity of the goings on amongst the wizarding world. As I am sure all of you are aware, Lord Voldemort and his followers continue to gain strength, so I cannot stress how important it is to stay safe and abide by any security restrictions the staff see fit to place upon you in these terrible times.

“But now, your beds await you, as comfortable and inviting as ever, and I’m sure your main priority will be to be well rested in preparation for your start of lessons tomorrow. Therefore, there is nothing left but to say goodnight.”

With the usual deafening noise, the hundreds of students began to file out of the hall towards their dormitories. Lily rushed ahead along with Hayley, Remus and James in order to fulfil her Prefect and Head Girl duties.

---------------

Sirius waited along with Kirsty, Emma and Peter until the throng of students had died down a little before he led the way towards the giant oak doors.
Becoming distracted by the giggling of a group of his fan girls behind him, Sirius didn’t see the little boy who had walked in front of him.

It wasn’t a painful collision; it was just powerful enough to knock the boy off balance ever so slightly.

The boy spun around to face him with a look of complete disgust on his face, which startled Sirius as he was sure that this boy had just been sorted.

“Out of my way, blood traitor!” snarled the boy, with as much venom as he could muster.

Sirius furrowed his brow and saw that his friends too looked taken back.

“God, they get younger by the day,” stated Kirsty in disbelief as the boy hurried along after the Slytherin Prefect.

“You okay, mate?” asked Peter with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry I’m used to it,” muttered Sirius, when in truth the whole situation had unnerved him slightly. Hearing a child utter such words with such venom was definitely soul destroying stuff.

“Well, I for one am very glad that you’re a blood traitor,” announced Kirsty as she linked her arm supportively through his. “Because otherwise, we wouldn’t have the Sirius Black that we all know and love today.”

Sirius smiled at her. He could count on Kirst to know what to say in a situation like this.

They walked out into the Entrance Hall, and Emma queried, “I wonder if I could walk up the banister of the staircase?”

“What?” asked Peter.

Sirius got the horrible feeling that the sugar had started to kick in.

“I mean, I bet it’s no different from trying to run up a slide…” Emma continued to ponder.

“What’s a slide?” asked Kirsty.

Emma walked over to her with a look of pity on her face and patted Kirsty consolingly on the top of her head.

“Patronizing sod,” growled Kirsty.

As they continued their journey up to the Gryffindor Common Room, Emma gradually became more hyper, giggling at things that only she found funny. The problem was that eventually Emma’s giddiness rubbed off on Kirsty, which couldn’t be a good thing.

And so it was that the four of them arrived at the Portrait Hole with both Emma and Kirsty skipping along merrily in front of Sirius and Peter.

It seemed that the quartet had spent far too long waiting for the throng of students to dwindle in the Great Hall as when they arrived at the Portrait Hole, they were the only ones there.

Deciding to try his luck, and hoping that the Fat Lady would grant them entry on recognition alone, Sirius approached the Portrait.

“Password?” she asked in monotone.

“Erm…” he hesitated.

“No password, no entry,”

“Damn,” exclaimed Peter.

“I can’t believe they went in without telling us the password,” stated Sirius in annoyance.

“Yeah, they decided to leave the noisy louts outside I see,” observed Peter.

“Noisy? Us?” asked Kirsty way too overdramatically.

“We’re not noisy!” exclaimed Emma, slurring her words ever so slightly.

“No. We’re not noisy,” contradicted Sirius, pointing at Peter and himself. “You two, however, are,”

“We are not noisy!” shouted Emma, proving both of the boys’ point.

“…maybe we’re a tad noisy,” relented Kirsty.

Ignoring Kirsty’s comment, Emma announced, “Anyway, something is only locked if it can’t be opened,”

Sirius raised his eyebrow as Kirsty went into a round of high pitched giggles.

Emma scowled at Kirsty, who was now doubled over gasping for air.

“You know what I mean!” she exclaimed defensively.

Kirsty sobered up way too quickly and replied with an innocent look plastered across her face, “Do I?”

“Yes,” Emma nodded emphatically, “What I meant was that something’s only locked if one cannot find any other means of opening it. Allow me to demonstrate.”

To Sirius’ complete surprise, Emma ran at full pelt towards the Portrait Hole.

In a matter of seconds her shoulder had collided with the frame with a painful thud.

“Ouch! That hurt!” cried Emma.

The Fat Lady glared at her. She was clearly not amused.

Emma, noticing this, apologised, putting on a posh voice. “Terribly sorry, Madam. I can assure you that it will never happen again.” She bowed flamboyantly and rejoined the group, rubbing her now bruised shoulder.

“I think I made a mistake in daring them to drink half of that chocolate sauce bottle each,” Sirius confided to Peter.

“You think?” replied Peter, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I’m really regretting it now,” muttered Sirius.

“Well that makes two of us,” concurred Peter.

Just then the Portrait Hole swung open, and framed in the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room was James.

“James!” screeched Kirsty as she ran forward and threw her arms around his neck.

Looking quite scared at this greeting, James asked, “I really shouldn’t have opened this, should I?”

Sirius shook his head.

“Do you know how loud you’re being?” James asked Kirsty, prising her away from him with his hands.

“Do you know the Muffin Man?”

Judging from the fact that both James and Peter were looking as confused as Sirius felt, Kirsty had made reference to something from the Muggle world that she had learnt about from Emma.

“He lives down Drury Lane,” piped in Emma helpfully.

Kirsty then proceeded to walk over and link arms with Emma, the pair of them then danced around singing, frightfully out of tune.

“Oh, do you know the Muffin Man, The Muffin Man, the Muffin Man, Oh, do you know the Muffin Man, Who lives down Drury Lane?”

Thankfully after only one complete verse, the two stopped and grinned idiotically at each other.

All four of them then headed towards James and their Common Room. When Kirsty laid eyes on Lesley, the Gryffindor Beater, she ran over to her and enveloped her into a tight hug.

Finally, Sirius followed Peter and Emma through the Portrait Hole, but as soon as he had even stepped on the familiar springy carpet, he received a look of disapproval from Lily, which he guessed was for the state that Kirsty and Emma were currently in.

Looking around the room for Kirsty, he spotted her immersed in a Tango like dance with Lesley. Naturally Kirsty had taken it upon herself to lead, and she had her wand encased between her teeth, which he guessed was supposed to be acting as a rose.

James joined him and looked on incredulously at the two girls dancing.

“So it begins.” Sirius thought contentedly, extremely glad that they were now all back where they belonged.

The 'Wunch of bankers' line isn't mine, regrettably, it is from the tv show, Hustle.

Thanks for reading, please take the time to review.

Quietly does it, thought James as he crept around the edges of his four poster bed. It was early morning and he was taking every possible precaution to refrain from waking his fellow dorm mates.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he did a quick preliminary sweep of the room to find that Remus had already vacated his bed. Tiptoeing over to his trunk at the base of the bed, he hastily withdrew his wash things and eased the lid back down.

As he whirled around on the spot to continue in the direction of the bathroom his big toe collided painfully with the trunk’s side. He had to bite down hard on his knuckle to prevent himself from whimpering out loud.

James hobbled across the room, taking care to avoid the creaky floorboards, and made it, throbbing toe and all, into the bathroom. Ruffling his already tussled hair he stepped into the shower cubicle and hung his towel on the provided hook. He extended out his hand and twisted the shower dial. Nothing happened. Frowning, James hastily twiddled it this way and that, still to no avail.

Many antagonising minutes passed in which James, having had enough of acting logically, resorted to hitting any part of the wretched thing that was within his reach.

It was after one particularly nasty blow that James tried his luck at turning the dial once again. Water spurted so ferociously from the shower head that it managed to catapult itself over to where James had been standing safely in front of the cubicle door.

The cascade of water disappeared just as quickly as it had come, and James was left standing by the door with his pyjama bottoms and baggy t-shirt soaked through to the skin. Cursing, he lunged towards the dial once again but the shower refused to show any further signs of life.

The sound of footsteps echoing on the bathroom’s tiled floor momentarily drew James’ attention away from his stressful predicament.

“Are you alright in there, Prongs?” asked Peter, stifling a yawn.

“No, my bloody shower won’t work!”

“Hang on, I’ll try out one of the other ones,” suggested Peter helpfully.

Running water sounded from James right and he hastily tried out his own shower for the last time.

It worked!

James peeled off his saturated night clothes and jumped underneath the shower’s spray.

Argh! It’s freezing!

*

Remus waved his wand almost lazily at the tumultuous spillage of pumpkin juice that Kirsty had just sent towards the sleeve of his heavily darned robes.

“Sorry!” she apologised with a guilty grin as Remus just managed to Vanish the juice in time.

“No harm done,” he replied kindly, spearing some bacon and scrambled eggs onto his fork. He regarded Kirsty with interest while he chewed his food thoughtfully. Politely swallowing the contents of his mouth before addressing her, Remus pointed out, “If you don’t mind me saying, you seem awfully chipper this morning.”

“And why shouldn’t I be chipper?” she asked, gesturing frantically as she poured out another glass of pumpkin juice (Remus decided against stuffing his wand back inside his robes). “I am back at Hogwarts, my most favourite place in the entire world, I have just had a very fine full English breakfast,” she gestured with her now orange juice free hand at her plate which she was mopping up with what was left of her bread roll. “Lessons start today, which means new, crisp timetables, James has set up Quidditch tryouts for a week today and, best of all, I have a newly filled up glass of chilled orange juice.” She raised said glass to Remus, who was sat across from her, before proceeding to drain the glass abnormally quick.

Remus watched her in loving disbelief. God, that girl can drink like a fish. “So, your new found chirpiness has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that we might be given the privilege of a Defence against the Dark Arts lesson at some point during the day?” he teased.

Kirsty blushed slightly; Remus guessed that this was due to the fact that she had been caught out more than anything. “Well, I must admit that MacIntosh factors in the chirpiness,” she relented with a cheeky grin before they were joined by another of their associates, seeing as Lily had finally decided to grace the two of them with her presence. “Morning!” cried Kirsty chirpily as Lily approached them and took her seat beside her.

Lily grumbled in reply and pulled porridge towards her.

Kirsty looked at Remus and he shrugged. Lily was clearly feeling cantankerous towards mornings today.

“But surely,” began Kirsty continuing their conversation and concurrently choosing to ignore Lily, “even you can see how good looking MacIntosh is.”

“Kirst, seeing as I’m a guy, I am going to give you the age old response and say that I don’t find any men remotely attractive-“

“Except for Sirius,” she interjected, the corners of her mouth twitching.

“Oh, of course, but he’s rather a different manner. I mean, everybody fancies Padfoot,” he informed her wryly.

“But what if you were a girl? What would you think then?” she asked, looking as if she was trying very hard to contain her laughter.

“Oh, if I was a girl I’d definitely have a crush on MacIntosh,” he replied completely deadpan.

Kirsty let out a roar of appreciative laughter, and she was still hiccoughing when Peter showed up with his eyes puffy and his robes on back to front.

After Remus had pointed this out to him, Peter stood and sorted himself out while members of the Slytherin table jeered from across the hall.

When Peter had taken his seat beside Lily, blushing furiously, and pulled the plate of sausages towards him, Remus saw that Kirsty was pretending to be lining up the bowl of porridge with something, or more likely, someone behind him. He turned and saw that it was Mulciber, one of the Slytherins who had jeered the loudest at Peter, who was currently in danger of being in the line of fire.

“We really should do something about them,” piped up Peter, indicating the Slytherins. “They’re starting to act like they own the place.”

Remus cast a cautionary glance at Lily to see what her reaction had been to this, but either she hadn’t been listening or she’d finally realised that no matter what she did, their constant pranks would never cease to be an issue. Seeing that she hadn’t had any objection, Remus carried on regardless, “Oh, no doubt we’ll think of a way to get at them later. I bet Padfoot and Prongs will have a few suggestions.”

As he said this, Remus saw Kirsty push the porridge bowl back to its original place, all the while feigning dejection. He laughed heartily due to the comic air in which she had done so, and Kirsty, realising that he had seen her antic, laughed quietly along with him.

In the lull that followed, Kirsty sat looking at the kipper plate with disdain. Remus watched as she experimentally jabbed one of the kippers with the end of her fork.

“You can’t still be hungry, surely?” marvelled Remus.

“Oh, no!” she replied, looking horrified. “And even if I was, having kippers would definitely be scraping the bottom of the barrel. I mean, I don’t really like fish at the best of times, but eating it for breakfast is just so… so… unnatural,” she finished with a look of revulsion.

“I gather you don’t like kippers then?” chuckled Remus.

“Who doesn’t like kippers?” came James’ querying voice, announcing the arrival of the two remaining Marauders.

James looked the brightest and most alert of the two, but then even he looked a bit rough around the edges. Sirius was at completely the opposite end of the scale. His robes looked as if he had just thrown them on without much thought, the collar of his shirt was up, his tie was nowhere to be seen and his hair had that ruffled just-rolled-out-of-bed look about it. But even as Sirius entered the room, Remus saw many a fan girl’s gaze flicker in his direction. Typical Padfoot, he thought incredulously, even when he’s looking like an unkempt slob, he attracts attention. Remus had to admit though that what counted in his mind as an ‘unkempt slob’ probably counted in the minds of the fan girls as ‘ruggedly handsome sex God’.

James threw himself down next to Remus and dragged the plate of kippers towards him, earning himself a look of incredulous distaste from Kirsty, whereas Sirius, settling himself down besides James, merely contented himself with a glass of pumpkin juice.

Puzzled, Remus asked James, “What are you doing up so late anyway? I always had you down as the epitome of an early bird.”

“Well,” began James, still munching on his kippers, “I actually got up not long after you left,” he nodded his head at Remus, “but the shower was giving me jip. It wouldn’t work, no matter what I did. It wasn’t until Wormtail came in and turned his on that mine showed any signs of wanting to come to life. And when it finally did come to life, it was cold!”

“Aw, bless,” laughed Kirsty.

“And you, Padfoot?” Remus continued to enquire, now spreading on some marmalade as well for good measure. “Why are you up at this ungodly hour? I half expected not to see you until you rolled in five minutes late to the first lesson.”

“And you bloody well would have done,” grumbled Sirius, “if James hadn’t woken me up with his continuous clanking and cursing from the bathroom.”

Remus laughed along with Kirsty and Lily, who had finally started to show some signs of life.

After a while, Kirsty, who knew full well that Sirius didn’t generally like to eat much, if anything, at breakfast, had taken it upon herself to bug him by forcing the plate of sausages in front of his face repeatedly.

“Oh, for God’s sake, Kirst, pack it in, I can take a hint!” he exclaimed, pulling the cornflakes towards him resignedly. “I hate morning people.” he grumbled as he began shovelling cornflakes into his mouth.

“Especially when they come in the form of a Miss Kirsty White?” offered Peter.

“Yes, especially then!” he agreed with enthusiasm.

Kirsty looked affronted.

“Oooh, Hayley!” Kirsty suddenly squealed, pointing to a spot behind Remus’ head.

He turned sharply to look at the point which Kirsty’s outstretched finger portrayed and found himself grinning broadly when he found her outburst to be true.

“Right, I’m off to have a chat with her,” announced Kirsty, rising slowly out of her seat, “seeing as you lot are about as lively as a bunch of petrified Flobberworms!” As she straightened up to go, she narrowly escaped being caught on the head by the post owl that had just delivered Lily’s Daily Prophet.

Remus watched as Kirsty regained her composure and scurried off to join Hayley at the Ravenclaw table, and seeing as the most talkative member of the group had now flounced off, Remus decided to keep his gaze fixed on the two girls as they sat down. Although he was indeed interested to find out just how well Kirsty would be received by a groggy-looking Hayley, Remus couldn’t deny that it was towards Hayley in which his gaze kept flitting.

A sharp pain flooded through his head as he was rapped sharply over the head with Lily’s newly delivered Daily Prophet.

“What was that for?” he confronted James, rubbing his head.

“Timetables,” James stated in response, nodding at McGonagall who was approaching them.

After receiving his timetable and offering his thanks, Remus quickly scanned today’s column to find that he had Charms first thing, followed by Arithmancy and in the afternoon he had double Defence against the Dark Arts (Kirsty will be happy, he thought) which was to be followed by Potions as the last lesson of the day.

Upon receiving their timetables, Sirius and James high-fived each other and yelled in unison, “Yes, Charms first thing!”

Their appreciative whooping and the other’s mutterings of “Geeks,” preceded Emma’s arrival.

She slumped down next to Peter and started shaking cornflakes into her bowl.

“Morning, Em,” greeted James, “what took you so long?”

“I was doing my hair,” she replied shortly.

“Surely it can’t take that long?” protested Sirius, “I mean just give a lazy flick of your wand, and then bam, perfect hair.”

“I’d rather do it the Muggle way thank you very much!” replied Emma indignantly.

“One day, Em, we’re simply going to have to drag you into the Wizarding world,” remarked Peter.

Kirsty came sauntering back over within moments of Emma’s arrival. She once again took her seat in front of Remus and began to wipe something that looked suspiciously like egg yolk off of her face with the sleeve of her robe.

Remus gave her a questioning look, to which she replied, “Hayley doesn’t like morning people either.”

*

“Today, class,” announced Professor Flitwick, “we are going to be venturing into a very complicated branch of Charms…turning the inanimate-“ He flicked his wand in the direction of his desk. “-into the animated.” His desk got up and moved itself a few paces to the right.

There was an excited intake of breath from the majority of the class, and everybody suddenly looked very alert, James and Sirius in particular. Kirsty, however, groaned loudly from beside Remus. He had been the one to volunteer to sit beside her, seeing as everybody else was currently averse to her ‘morning person’ chirpiness. Remus sympathised with her. Charms was definitely not her strongest subject, and she was the first to admit that. She usually managed everything in the end; it just took a lot of patience and effort on her part.

“Now this particular skill can be put to many uses,” continued Professor Flitwick, “whether those uses be as mundane as getting objects to place themselves in the correct spot without having to resort to heavy lifting, or whether it be as life threatening as requiring an objects’ help in a battle-“

“Excuse me, Professor,” interrupted Lily politely, thrusting her hand into the air.

“Yes, Miss Evans? You have a question?” asked the Professor.

“Well, I’m a bit confused. How exactly could transfiguring inanimate objects into animate ones benefit you in a battle situation?”

“Very well, Miss Evans, I shall give you some examples. Statues and suits of armour could be manipulated into putting themselves in the line of fire in order to protect you and others from dangerous oncoming spells, and you could even use them in the offensive,”

An awed silence followed this elaboration and Remus couldn’t deny that he too was impressed by the new propositions which would open up if he was able to master this captivating skill.

“Right, for today’s lesson I would like you to concentrate on trying to make these books,” he indicated the pile of thin red books situated on his now inanimate desk, “animated. And by animated I do not mean jinxing them so that they zoom around my classroom. Be warned, I will be able to tell if you’re bluffing. Miss Filby, kindly hand the books out if you please.”

Annoyingly, within the first half an hour of the lesson, Sirius and James had successfully managed to animate their books, earning themselves thirty points a piece for Gryffindor, and they were now making them flap around the classroom effortlessly.

Remus gave James a disapproving look when he leaned back in his chair and laid his head on Remus’ half of the desk before flicking his wand lazily to make the book change direction mid-air.

Next to Remus, Kirsty had momentarily given up on animating her book and was now attempting to curl a wisp of her dark hair by wrapping it around her wand. It was then, for the first time, that he noticed something significantly different about her appearance. It hadn’t attracted his attention before due to the fact that her hair had been covering that particular portion of her forehead, but now, thanks to her current hairdressing attempts, the small scar was clearly visible.

“Kirst,” began Remus hesitantly, “do you remember me telling you that you might be left with a scar from Sian’s spell yesterday?”

She turned her head and surveyed him. “Yeah…” she replied slowly.

“Well, I’m afraid to say that I was right,”

“Really? Let me see!” she replied childishly.

“See what?” asked Sirius, copying James and lounging back in his seat, his head tilted upside down in order to survey Kirsty, who was sat directly behind him.

“My scar,” she replied indifferently.

“What scar?” piped up James.

Kirsty waved his question away impatiently.

“Em!” Remus shouted over to the table that was diagonally to his left, “can Kirsty borrow your mirror for a second?”

Emma looked extremely reluctant to hand it over.

“Are you kidding?” laughed Kirsty, “trying to prise a mirror out of her perfectly manicured hands is harder than getting Voldemort to apologise!”

Sirius and James sniggered appreciatively, and Remus smirked.

With an air of defiance Emma then retrieved her mirror from inside her bag.

“Chuck it across, Em,” instructed James, hand outstretched.

But Emma looked as if she was worried that James would either miss it or drop it, with both scenarios more than likely resulting in seven years’ bad luck for both or either party.

Kirsty rolled her eyes. “Accio Emma’s mirror,” she stated impatiently.

“Wow, that’s kind of cool,” affirmed Kirsty after staring at her reflection for a few minutes.

“Are you sure that it doesn’t bother you?” asked Remus. He wanted to be absolutely sure that she wasn’t fazed by it because visible disfigurements could become a major issue with some people.

“Not in the slightest. Here, Em, catch!” Kirsty threw the mirror across the classroom to a shocked Emma. Once the mirror was caught by Emma’s safe hands, Kirsty received a murderous look from its owner. “Thank you,” replied Kirsty with a sheepish grin.

“Do you want some help with that, Kirst?” enquired Sirius, jerking his head in the direction of Kirsty’s still lifeless book.

“No, I can manage perfectly well, thank you very much!” she replied, rapping him over the head with her wand so that he would remove himself from her workspace.

Sirius returned to sitting upright but turned his chair sideways in order to continue surveying her. Kirsty began to make furious jabbing motions with her wand whilst muttering the incantation repeatedly under her breath. Remus budged his chair away from her slightly, scared that she was about to accidentally poke him in the eye.

“Look, come here,” instructed Sirius, getting up from his chair and coming to stand behind her. He took hold of her right wrist; her wand was still enclosed in her hand, and guided it so that it traced the appropriate movement needed for the spell. “Now, annunciate the incantation,” he ordered softly.

Kirsty did so and jumped backwards, her head meeting Sirius’ chest, when the book began to flap obediently in front of her.

“Wow, well done!” praised Sirius, “that wasn’t that hard now was it?”

Sirius was grinning broadly when Kirsty turned around to thank him, and was it Remus’ imagination? Or was there a lot more than friendliness evident in the look that Sirius proceeded to give her?

“And if you do this…” continued Sirius, taking hold of her wrist again and forcing her to make a sharp tapping movement with her wand.

Kirsty’s book then zoomed through the air before hurtling down and dive bombing Peter in the side of the head.

“Sirius!” scolded Peter, annoyed, as he turned around from the desk where he had been seated next to Lily; he seemed to have guessed that the book had emanated from Sirius’ direction.

“It wasn’t me,” protested Sirius grinning mischievously, “It was Kirsty!”

------------

Sirius swung his bag over his shoulder and gave his goodbyes to James, Remus, Lily and Hayley, who were all headed off to Arithmancy, before running to catch up with Kirsty, Emma and Peter who were all well on the way to Ancient Runes.

The trek from Charms to their Ancient Rune’s classroom was an unusually long one; Sirius suspected that this was probably due to his current drowsy state.

Once there, Sirius graciously held the door open for the other three before entering the room himself. He followed Kirsty as she wound her way over to the desk which she and he usually occupied, whereas Emma and Peter disappeared over to a desk which was a few rows in front and a few desks to the right of them.

Professor Typicus strode into the room and all talking ceased at once. He was a tall man with prematurely grey hair and piercing hazel eyes which seemed to scrutinize every detail of your face as if he were searching for some clue or other in order to help him in assessing your demeanour. His enthusiasm for his subject was what made the subject of Ancient Runes so compelling to Sirius. He had a lenient manner but was able to revert to being a tough disciplinarian to those students deserving of it.

The lesson started with yet another mind numbingly boring talk concerning their NEWTs before the professor resorted to explaining about some new ruins and emphasising his points by writing them on the board.

Having written down the more important information off the board, Sirius began to become increasingly bored. Listening to explanations about difficult ruins was definitely not the way to revitalise oneself. He glanced sideways at Kirsty and then looked over at Emma and Peter. Good they’re all taking notes. This left Sirius free to copy them up at his leisure, for between the three of them they were bound to copy down the majority of the Professor’s explanation. Like he had done merely minutes ago in Charms, Sirius then proceeded to lean back on his rear chair legs and survey the ceiling.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kirsty survey him with annoyance before muttering, “Will you pay attention?” furiously out of the corner of her mouth.

“But I’m bored!” whined Sirius.

“But you like Ancient Runes!” replied Kirsty, imitating his whiney voice.

“Shush, I’m being rebellious,” he said, smiling cheekily and waving at one of his fan girls that had just happened to look his way. “And quite frankly, Kirst,” he continued devilishly, “you’re cramping my style.”

Kirsty, faking annoyance, pushed his chair back onto all four legs with a loud bang.

“Mr Black,” Professor Typicus’ voice cut sternly through the air, “I would appreciate it if you didn’t disturb my class quite so loudly.”

“Sorry, Sir,” Sirius countered politely.

“Anyway,” continued Kirsty after verifying that Typicus had gone back to teaching his lesson, “the point is that I simply can’t concentrate with you lounging there looking all sexy.”

Sirius reverted to leaning back on his chair again, a smile plaguing across his lips. He asked Kirsty, in a voice full of unsuppressed glee, “You think I’m sexy?”

“No,” she replied feigning defiance, “I was just channelling my inner fan girl, that’s all.”

“You have an inner fan girl?” pestered Sirius becoming increasingly more amused, “you’re one too!” he exclaimed, throwing one hand to his chest in feigned shock while pointing an accusing finger at Kirsty and bringing his chair to the floor with another resounding bang.

“Mr Black!” yelled Typicus.

“Sorry, Professor, my foot slipped,” lied Sirius.

Typicus gave him a piercing look before returning to his lecture.

“So who are you the fan girl of?” Sirius persisted.

“I’m no ones fan girl,” objected Kirsty.

“Liar,”

“Fine,” sighed Kirsty, “If you must know I’m Matt Higgins’ fan girl.”

“What? As in the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team?” asked Sirius, “he’s a prat.” he confirmed.

“Hmm,” replied Kirsty noncommittally.

“You don’t seriously like him, do you?”

“Why? Are you worried that you’ve lost another potential fan girl to the cause?”

“No,”

“Or are you perhaps jealous?”

“What? Of that puffed up Plimpy? No chance!”

“Suit yourself,”

“You’re having me on aren’t you?” asked Sirius after a few moments, raising his eyebrow quizzically in her direction.

“Took you long enough,” laughed Kirsty, “you really are sleep deprived aren’t you?” she continued to tease.

“So you don’t like Matt Higgins?”

“Please, as if I’d go for a Ravenclaw. I have enough trouble competing with you Gryffindor boys as it is.”

This was music to Sirius’ ears, even though he couldn’t quite explain why.

“So does this mean that you are indeed more inclined to be one of my fan girls?” asked Sirius hopefully.

Kirsty rolled her eyes. “Nope, because I am fully immune to your charms, Sirius Black,”

The smile slid off Sirius’ face. “No one is fully immune to Sirius Black,” he informed her wryly.

“Oooh, hark at you, Captain Ego,” she teased.

Without thinking, Sirius bought his chair back on all fours again, in order to address Kirsty at her eye level, and its bang echoed around the room for the third time.

“Black!”

“Sorry, Professor, my leg has an involuntary twitch,” bluffed Sirius.

Typicus, seemingly trying hard to contain his annoyance, carried on with his teaching regardless, whereas Peter and Emma turned to survey the two of them, clearly intrigued.

“You’re a liar, Miss White,” announced Sirius in a hushed whisper.

“Oh, am I?” she challenged.

“Yes, because you simply can’t be completely immune to my many charms.”

“You really do think a lot of yourself, don’t you?” she asked incredulously, smiling at him.

“No. It’s just that practically every other girl in this place worships the ground I walk on, and those that don’t have simply confessed that they find me attractive. All except you that is.”

“Maybe I’m special?” she volunteered.

“Hmm,”

Sirius watched her as she returned to copying the explanations down from the board. He wasn’t going to let this go. He knew that Kirsty must at least find him marginally attractive. He wasn’t sure why he was so tempted to know what her feelings towards him were on a physical level, he just was. So instead of contemplating this further, he reverted to thinking of a way to prove her attraction.

He had it. It was such an obvious idea that he wondered why it hadn’t occurred to him straight away. He would do what he did to all the girls when he wanted to know whether they liked him or not, although he didn’t thinking waving at Kirsty, like he had done to the Ancient Runes’ girl earlier, would quite cut it. He would have to go that one step further. He darted a quick look in the direction of his teacher to make sure that he was otherwise engaged before leaning towards Kirsty and kissing her roughly on the cheek.

A dull flush flooded her cheeks, giving Sirius all the proof he needed, before she exclaimed with embarrassment and shock, “Sirius!”

“Miss White!” shouted Typicus, “the answer is not and never will be Sirius as you so vehemently insist!”

“Sorry, Sir, I was talking to Sirius here.”

Typicus surveyed her for a few seconds before addressing Sirius, who had again resorted to lounging back in his chair. “Are you distracting her, Mr Black?”

Sirius, who until that moment had been lounging with ease doing his best to plaster an innocent look onto his face, nodded his head a fraction at Typicus.

Maybe it was due to Kirsty’s clear embarrassment that Typicus postponed from dishing out his long awaited punishment. “If either of you interrupt my lesson one more time, you’ll be out. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Professor, sorry, Professor,” they both muttered apologetically.

“Totally immune, are you?” Sirius asked Kirsty triumphantly.

Kirsty hit him sharply on the arm. “That was a downright devious thing to do; it was low even for you, Sirius.” But Sirius noted that her tone wasn’t as angry as she was trying to make it out to be.

Kirsty decided to go back to work, probably in order to remain in Typicus’ good books, whereas Sirius reverted to lazily blowing his fringe out of his eyes.

“So,” stated Sirius after some contemplation, “does this mean that you are in fact one of my fan girls?” In his excitement over this realisation, Sirius bought his chair down for the final time and unfortunately, for the pair of them, it landed on Kirsty’s foot.

“Ouch!” she yelped.

“Out!” bellowed Typicus, his eyes darting angrily between the two of them.

Sirius got up, feeling rather pleased with himself, and walked out of the room. He stopped and leaned on the doorframe whilst he waited for Kirsty, who picked up her bag and left the room mumbling repeatedly under her breath.

“Well, that was fun!” he exclaimed with a grin as Kirsty joined him outside.

Kirsty, however, didn’t look amused. “You just got me kicked out of class for the first time ever!”

Sirius assumed a look of pride and said with glee, “I know!”

“You do realise that we’re probably going to get detention for this,” she informed him.

"Yep," he replied, his grin spreading even wider, "which means I'm already one up on James!"

Kirsty scowled.

Sirius gave her the puppy dog eyes and asked, “Oh, come on, how can you stay mad at this face?"

Kirsty deliberately averted her gaze away from him.

Sirius, not being one to give up easily, went and stood directly in front of her eye line and asked sincerely, "Okay, how can I make it up to you?"

Kirsty looked at him and a wide smile spread across her face.

A/N: A bar of Honeydukes’ finest to anyone who can figure out the significance of Professor Typicus’ name! Now make sure to go and read Part Two when it gets validated everyone! Thanks for reading. Please take the time to review! :D

James had just started to dig into his jacket potato, intent on ignoring Lily and Hayley, who were keen to discuss what they should include in the Arithmancy essay they had been set for homework, when the idle chatter of Sirius and Kirsty announced their arrival. James nearly choked on his mouthful of potato when he registered Sirius’ appearance.

The two walked methodically down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables in order to come and sit down amongst their friends. Neither of them uttered a single word as they began to pull plates of food towards themselves.

James shared a look of puzzlement with Remus before turning towards the two of them and instructing, “Explain.”

“I coloured Sirius’ nose in black and drew whiskers on his face,” replied Kirsty in monotone. Sirius nodded his head seriously in compliance before they both returned to their meals simultaneously.

James got the feeling that he was taking part in a well-rehearsed play that had been concocted by them both. It was a few seconds before the full significance of Sirius having his face painted like a cat occurred to James and he laughed, “Padfoot the feline!”

The others smirked along with him, apart from Emma and Peter who were currently absent, and Hayley, who was looking more than a bit confused seeing as she was the only one who did not yet know about the Animagi in her midst or Remus’ furry little problem. “What’s so funny about Sirius being a feline?” she queried.

None of them deigned to answer her.

“Does anyone get the feeling that we’re missing something?” ploughed on Remus indicating Kirsty and Sirius with a nod of his head.

James, Lily and Hayley all nodded in agreement, and James decided to continue his questioning. Taking a deep breath he asked, “Why did you see fit to colour in Sirius’ nose and draw whiskers on him?”

“Because he owed me,” announced Kirsty.

“Why?” asked James again, growing weary of their evasiveness.

Kirsty turned to face Sirius and asked, “Are you going to tell him or am I?”

“Tell him what?” questioned Remus curiously.

A look of fear graced Sirius’ previously giddy features. “I think you’d better do it,” Sirius told Kirsty in reply, “because I think him hearing me give the retelling of my actions and their consequences might just make him strangle me.”

“Oddly enough, that made sense,” stated Kirsty; she then turned to face James, who was now extremely intrigued, and informed him, “Sirius managed to land me in a detention with Typicus next Friday night.”

James, who had just been about to swallow a rather large amount of pumpkin juice, spat it back out into his glass, spluttering madly.

When he recovered he was absolutely livid. Rounding on Sirius, he yelled, “What?”

Sirius gulped. “Well, uh, you see, Prongs,” he replied, sounding immensely flustered and running his hand through his hair like he always did when he was agitated.

James turned to Kirsty and stated, his tongue lashing with annoyance, “But Friday night, that’s-“

“Quidditch tryouts,” Kirsty finished his sentence for him, looking immensely apologetic. “But, James, you don’t really need me there. I mean, I’m not the most brilliant Seeker anyway, so I won’t mind in the slightest if you decide to ditch me for someone better.”

“What?” asked James, extremely bemused by this. “Of course I want you on the bloody team! You’re a damn good Seeker when you put your mind to it, Kirst, and there’s no way that you’re getting off that easily!”

“But, James-“

“No arguments!” he barked, “I was thinking that I don’t really need you to try out anyway. I want to keep the old team members: you, Sam and Lesley, because let’s face it, you can’t have changed that much in just three months. So now I just need to find another Beater and two more Chasers.”

At the mention of the needed players, Sirius offered, “I’d be happy to help fulfil one your requirements…”

James glared at him and spat, “You’re the last person that I want on my team now, dog boy.”

Sirius looked downcast and more than a little taken back. He opened his mouth to retort but Hayley beat him to it.

“I thought Sirius was supposed to look like a cat?” She wrinkled her nose in confusion.

James sighed. He swore it’d be a hell of a lot easier to just let her in on their secret, but Remus was having none of it. James didn’t understand why Remus was so set against Hayley knowing about his condition. The other three girls knew. Though, James supposed, Emma, Lily and Kirsty finding out about it by themselves and having to actually inform Hayley of the situation in person were two entirely different things. But it was Remus’ secret to tell, and if he didn’t want her to know, then the others would respect his wishes.

Again Hayley’s enquiries were shunned as Sirius protested, “But, Prongs, you love me. At least that’s what you said that night up on top of the Astronomy Tower…”

Lily laid her fork down and raised her eyebrows.

“Yeah, that was a great night,” agreed James nostalgically.

“I am oh so worried about you two,” declared Emma as she approached the little knot of Gryffindors.

“How do you think we feel?” asked Peter, following in her wake, “we have to share a dorm with them.”

James, realising how they had interpreted this conversation, clarified, “No, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick, it’s not like that at all. I meant it in the sense that I love Padfoot as a person; I love the essence that is Sirius Black. In no way do I harbour any feelings of love for him.”

“Always suspect a man who objects so vehemently,” teased Hayley with a smirk.

James sighed loudly.

“Looks like you’ve dug yourself in even deeper there, mate,” noted Sirius.

“Oh, shut up, you!” snapped James.

There was silence for a few moments before Kirsty said, “I’m really sorry about tryouts, James.”

“It’s all right; it wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m really sorry too, Prongs,” concurred Sirius.

James didn’t respond.

Lily broke the awkward silence that had followed by turning to Emma and asking, “What the hell took you two so long anyway?”

“Yeah, you missed all the fun,” chipped in Hayley.

“We nipped to fetch some books from the library. What fun?” enquired Peter slurping his soup.

“Oh, just hearing that Kirsty and Sirius got kicked out of Ancient Runes-“

“Oh, that’s old news,” piped up Emma. “We did witness it all after all.”

Lily and Hayley’s eyes lit up. “Does that mean that you’ll tell us why they got kicked out?” asked Lily hopefully.

“I’m surprised Sirius hasn’t already told you,” commented Peter.

“A gentleman never brags about his achievements,” stated Sirius.

“A gentleman wouldn’t have kissed Kirsty on the cheek in order to achieve his own means,” retorted Emma.

“What?” asked Hayley excitedly.

Sirius grinned widely, but James noticed that he was still watching him warily out of the corner of his eye.

“She blushed a nice bright red when he did it too,” Peter informed them.

Kirsty’s face was now flaming demonstratively.

“But why did he kiss her?” questioned Lily giddily.

“Wanted to see if she was one of his fan girls, from what I can gather,” answered Emma.

“Yep, another fan girl lands into the lap of Sirius Black,” announced Sirius as he mimed ticking off a name on an imaginary piece of parchment.

“But Kirsty has always been one of your fan girls,” Hayley informed him.

Kirsty shielded her face from view with her hand.

“Oh, really?” enquired Sirius, turning to look at her with a devilish grin on his face.

“Ever since second year, I believe,” stated Lily.

“But you hated me in second year,” Sirius told Kirsty.

“That doesn’t mean that I didn’t find you attractive,” Kirsty informed him, removing her hand so that her embarrassed face could be seen by everyone.

Sirius grinned broadly.

“I’m so glad that you two turned up,” Kirsty informed Emma and Peter dryly.

Emma and Peter grinned inanely in response.

“This is all punishment for me being so chirpy this morning isn’t it?” asked Kirsty suddenly hit with a realisation.

“No,” exclaimed Hayley sarcastically, “whatever gave you that idea?”

Kirsty’s grumbles were drowned out by the sudden catcalling that emanated from the Slytherin table.

James, along with the others, looked to see what had caused it. A first year Hufflepuff seemed to have stumbled on his robes whilst making his way into the Great Hall.

“Gits,” muttered James.

“Which reminds me,” stated Remus lowering his voice to a whisper, “Peter reckons that it’s about time we took the Slytherins down a peg or two. Any ideas?”

James sat in contemplation whilst Remus addressed Sirius, “Can you think of anything, Padfoot?”

“I’m not helping to come up with anything,” refused Sirius, “until Prongs accepts my apology.”

Bloody Padfoot!

Remus and Peter rolled their eyes and turned away to discuss their own ideas.

Sirius leaned in towards James. “I’ll tell you what, in order to make it up to you; the Butterbeers will be on me when you captain Gryffindor into our first win of the season.”

James smiled at this, Sirius’ confidence in his ability as captain melted away any ill feelings he had towards him.

“Okay, I’ll forgive you as long as you promise to throw in some Chocoballs as well as,” he announced, grinning at him.

“Deal,” Sirius replied, smiling thankfully, “now, about letting me onto the Quidditch team…”

------------

It was too hot. Kirsty, who had just finished the last of her sandwich, could literally feel the sweat pouring off her. She’d already drunk two glasses of chilled pumpkin juice, but they had done nothing to aid her discomfort.

Coming to the decision that being all hunched over at the table was doing absolutely nothing to help cool her down, Kirsty proceeded to try and lie down on the bench. However, she had two problems: one, Remus was sitting too close to her curled up legs; and two, Sirius was sitting too close to her head and shoulders, and the both of these combined made it increasingly difficult for her to lie down flat.

“Would you like us to move?” asked Sirius amusedly.

“No, I’m good, ta,” she replied, hoisting her legs up to rest on Remus’ lap and placing the top half of her back on Sirius’ shoulder and upper arm. Remus gave her a look of amused disbelief but didn’t remove her legs or grumble in the slightest.

Sirius, however, asked, while shifting his arm slightly into a more comfortable position, “Would you like me to fan you as well whilst you’re down there?”

“If you want,” she replied lazily, her eyes fluttering shut.

An icy blast of cold air hit her in the face, and she opened her eyes with a start to see Sirius pointing his wand at her face.

“Ha, ha, very funny,”

“Well, we thought so,” announced Peter.

Kirsty noted that the guys all seemed very quiet now that she had invaded their personal space a bit more than she had been doing previously. She wondered whether they were worried about her eavesdropping. Well they needn’t be, she thought, because she hadn’t been paying them any attention before hand seeing as she had been way too busy staring intently at MacIntosh.

“Shouldn’t you guys be getting back to discussing how you’re going to jinx the suits of armour to charge into every classroom in the school and relay crude messages to its inhabitants or something?”

From her position Kirsty saw James, Remus and Peter’s eyes light up, she couldn’t see Sirius’ face but she guessed that he had reacted in much the same way.

“I was kidding, guys!” she cried exasperatedly.

Peter especially looked crestfallen.

“And anyway, if my being here bothers you so much just cast Muffliato on me,”

“We couldn’t do that,” protested James.

Kirsty, who had been eyeing up the Neapolitan ice cream, countered, “Of course you could. I don’t mind, honest.”

“Well, the thing is it would be a bit unfair of us to cast the spell on you, seeing as you’ve provided us with the inspiration for this particular prank,” he continued.

“I have?” she asked, puzzled.

“Oh, yes, Remus informed us of your comical shenanigans at breakfast,” informed Sirius.

“He did? But that was nothing; I was just messing about.”

“Ah, but, Kirst, you seem to be forgetting that the Marauders are well renowned for being able to turn nothing into something.”

Kirsty surveyed them all warily.

“In fact,” announced James, “I think we’re about ready to put our plan into action.”

“Sit up straight, Kirst, you’ll see better,” advised Peter.

Begrudgingly, Kirsty shuffled around on the bench and eventually sat upright with her feet on the bench and her back still resting against Sirius.

“Three, two, one,” counted down Remus.

Four jets of orange light burst simultaneously from their wands and landed in various places along the Slytherin table. Nothing happened. Had the prank gone wrong? Kirsty surveyed the boys’ faces but saw only their badly contained glee present there. She revolved her gaze around to look at Hayley, Lily and Emma and saw that they, too, were watching the Slytherin table avidly. In fact, noted Kirsty as she did a quick sweep of the room, the entire hall seemed to be watching the table with anticipation. Taking a leaf out of everybody else’s book, she too returned her gaze to the table, and upon doing so she could have sworn that she saw something move of its own accord on one of the plates of food. And sure enough, within seconds the entirety of the Slytherin table was in upheaval. Cries of shock, fury and annoyance flew around the Hall to be greeted enthusiastically with roars of laughter, awed gasps, exclamations of glee and a round of general jeering and catcalling. The Slytherins were under siege.

The Slytherins’ food was rebelling spectacularly against their consumers’ greedy mitts, and it wasn’t taking any prisoners. The chicken drumsticks were living up to their name and beating countless numbers of Slytherins rhythmically around the head; the glass jugs full of ice cold pumpkin juice had soared high above the table and were now pouring their contents onto and into the robes of those that had been unlucky enough to be seated underneath them; peas were flying up people’s nostrils left, right and centre and scoops of ice cream were throwing themselves at their faces. The most cowardly members upped and fled, scrambling as fast as they could towards the Entrance Hall, but with a lazy flick of his wand, James got the bowls of fruit in on the act and loose pieces of fruit soared through the air to pummel the Slytherins’ retreating backs.

It was only when Remus, creased up with laughter, sent a stream of grey light over to the table with his wand that the onslaught ceased.

A roar of deafening laughter and applause broke out throughout the other three quarters of the hall. Everywhere Kirsty looked people were clutching their sides with laughter or else banging their fists repeatedly against the table.

“Well, that definitely gave new meaning to the term ‘food fight’,” gasped Lily, her face creased with laughter.

At this, Kirsty and the others all dissolved into yet another round of incontrollable giggles.

So much so that when McGonagall came marching towards them, they all had tear tracks staining their faces.

“Black, Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew,” she barked, “detention, my classroom Monday night!”

James grinned broadly as she walked off. “I’ll catch you up in no time, mate,” he informed Sirius.

“In your dreams, Prongs,”

“That has got to be a record,” marvelled Emma, “not even back for a day, and you lot have already landed yourselves in a detention, and old Sirius there has managed to scoop himself two.”

Sirius beamed with pride.

“Not to mention that Kirsty’s also managed to earn herself one,” added Hayley, “so how exactly does it feel being on level pegging with one of us girls, James?” she continued teasingly.

“Like we’ve had an extremely bad influence on you all,” James retorted.

“And don’t we know it,” stated Lily dryly.

Kirsty had finally helped herself to ice cream after ascertaining that the Gryffindor food was going to behave itself when Sirius lifted his head up, alert, and for the first time Kirsty caught a glimpse of his dog like persona.

“What’s up?” James asked him.

Sirius indicated his head over to the Slytherin table. “Looks as if someone’s going to leave without trying the dessert.”

James raised his eyebrows at the other three, and they smiled mischievously back at him.

Kirsty shared puzzled looks with the girls, who shrugged in return before they all turned in unison to see who the guys were talking about. Avery, Wilkes and Rosier had all just vacated the Slytherin table and were now making their way outside.

“Well, I think we should impress upon them just how rude it is to leave the table without sampling all of the available courses,” stated James as he rose out of his seat. Sirius, Remus and Peter followed suit.

Sirius flicked his wand, and the large bowl of ice cream hovered in front of him, making Kirsty extremely glad that she had grabbed her ice cream when she did, and with that done all four of them stated their goodbyes and followed the group of Slytherins out into the grounds.

Lily groaned. “Those four really are the limit,”

“But you have to admit they’re a very entertaining limit,” remarked Hayley.

Lily smiled slightly in response.

“Well, I don’t know about you three, but I’m off to watch, a little Slytherin-Marauder conflict is always good for the soul,” announced Emma, jumping out of her seat.

Kirsty made to rise out of her seat too, but Emma patted her on her shoulder as she walked past and stated, “No, no, no you have to stay here and finish your ice cream,” and with that she flounced off, Kirsty cursing her slightly as she went.

She made a move to follow her, but Lily grabbed hold of her elbow. She spun around to question her, but Lily cut her off. “Don’t you think you’re in enough trouble today as it is?”

Kirsty floundered.

“Plus,” she continued pointing at Kirsty’s bowl of ice cream, “you can’t leave that; it’d be a waste of food.”

Kirsty humphed; she knew Lily was right. Solemnly she returned to her pudding. She hadn’t even managed to have one mouthful when realisation hit her, and she grinned inanely.

“What?” asked Hayley, sounding slightly unnerved.

“Do you think Sirius realises that he’s just gone into battle with his face painted like a cat?” she asked gleefully.

------------

“Bastards, the whole lot of them, really think they’re something. Black and Potter are the worst though; think they’re God’s bloody gift!”

“Oh, stop it, Wilkes, you’re making me blush,” simpered Sirius as he and the other three approached Wilkes and his friends from behind.

Quick as a flash the three Slytherins whipped around, their wands raised level with the Marauders’ chests.

Compared to the other two, Wilkes was startling in contrast. He was tall and burly with tousled dirty blond hair and a face that made him look like he’d had a couple of rounds with the Whomping Willow. Avery, however, was of medium height and build with short brown hair and startling blue eyes, and according to most girls’ estimates he wasn’t overly bad to look at. And finally, Rosier, who was around a head taller than Wilkes and like James he was of an athletic build. He had extremely dark hair and eyes and, not unlike Sirius, he managed to pull off looking handsome with extremely little effort on his part. He often looked haughty and bored, but there was something in his eyes that could make even the hardest of people feel sick with unease. Rosier was captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team, and this, along with his looks, was what made Sirius much more opposed to him than to the other two.

“What do you four want?” spat Avery.

“Actually, we just came out here to offer you some ice cream, but seeing as you’ve been bitching about us, I don’t think we’ll bother,” stated Peter humorously as he levitated the bowl of ice cream away from Sirius and placed it on the floor out of harm’s way.

“I suppose you think your antics at lunch were highly amusing,” commented Rosier in a lazy drawl.

“Just a little,” replied James modestly.

“Well, seeing as the Marauders,” Wilkes pronounced their nickname with particular distaste, “have already graced us with their worth today, I’d say it was only right that we too put to good use the gifts that the good Lord gave us-“

Sirius shifted slightly at this.

“And do what it is that us Slytherins do best…”

“What you Slytherins do best, or what you Death Eaters do best?” asked Remus coolly.

“Oooh, very good, Lupin,” breathed Wilkes turning his wand so that it now pointed at Remus’ face, “you always were the astute one of the group. Now be a good little know-it-all and have a merry old wager on what happens next.”

“Stop playing games, Wilkes,” barked Sirius, growing agitated, “either have a good old go at jinxing us to high heaven or bugger off!”

Wilkes laughed coldly. “Don’t tell me you don’t like games, Black. That truly is a pity. I was going to show you some of our very finest. But what the hell, if the Gryffindors can do pranks, then the Slytherins can play games. And this one is one of my hand picked favourites. We like to call it picking off the weak link…”

Sirius’ thoughts automatically went to Peter, and he made a sharp glance sideways. But Remus was already on it and had moved ever so slightly Peter’s way.

Wilkes laughed manically. “Oh, not Pettigrew, what would be the fun in that? Oh no, I had rather a different subject in mind.” Wilkes’ voice had been low and dangerous, and Sirius was beginning to feel more than a bit uneasy.

Within what seemed like a millisecond Wilkes’ wand had left Remus’ face and had emitted a blast of purple light which narrowly missed James’ ear. Sirius’ anger that Wilkes would even consider James as the weak link was short lived as a high pitched scream reached his ears. He had never whirled his head around so fast in his life.

Emma’s crumpled form lay at the bottom of one of the castle’s outer walls mere feet away from where they were standing. With a sickening jolt, Sirius realised that she must have ventured outside to see their ambush of the Slytherins. Wilkes’ spell had thrown her backwards against the wall.

Sirius dreaded to think what would happen to either him, Emma, or the others if he approached in order to make sure she was okay.

“You’re going to regret that, Wilkes,” snarled James, raising his wand.

This time it was Avery who laughed. “That’s just typical of you four. You couldn’t give a toss about what happens to you, but if any of your girls are under threat, you’d fight tooth and nail to ensure their safety,”

“You’d better count on it,” growled Sirius, poising his wand.

During this exchange, Sirius saw James inching away from the small group, and he hoped that he was expressing a wish to go and check on Emma.

Rosier took his gaze from the place where Emma lay and locked his eyes on Sirius with mild interest. “Bring it on then, Black,” he whispered dangerously.

Sirius didn’t need telling twice. His and Rosier’s spells collided explosively in mid-air just as James narrowly dodged a spell sent his way by Avery. As Avery and Rosier brought their wands back up looking for a repeat performance, Wilkes threw his arms out in front of the both of them, halting them in their tracks.

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat-“ Wilkes issued a malicious look Sirius’ way.

Cringing, Sirius suddenly remembered about his painted face. Silently cursing Kirsty he cast Tergeo on himself in order to vanish the ink.

“Take care of the Mudblood.” Wilkes ordered.

Avery and Rosier were only too happy to comply.

------------

A spark of worry ignited inside Lily as soon as she saw Severus and Mulciber rise from the Slytherin table and walk out of the hall. She was loitering with the idea that she should maybe go outside and check on the boys. However, it was the approaching Sam North that made up her mind.

“Hi, guys. I hate to say this, but I have a bad feeling that things might just be getting a bit ominous outside,”

“You’re not the only one,” announced Lily.

“So are we going to be the ones to go and save their behinds then?” enquired Kirsty.

“It looks like it; if we’re lucky enough, we might just get there in time to administer them their last rites.”

“Then we’d better make it snappy because the younger Black is also making his bid for freedom.”

Lily, along with Hayley and Sam, whipped her head around to see Regulus walking spiritedly towards the Entrance Hall.

As one, the three girls jumped up out of their seats, but before they had even gone ten paces, Sam called after them, “Do you want me to tell Emma where you’ve gone?”

Hayley spun around. “Emma followed the guys outside…” she informed him regrettably.

Sam’s features formulated into a deep frown as he digested this information.

As they started off again, he shouted, “Hang on! I’m coming with you!”

------------

Avery and Rosier resigned to doing Wilkes’ bidding at once.

“She has nothing to do with this, Wilkes, let her be!” cried Peter.

“Nothing to do with this, Pettigrew?” mocked Wilkes. “She has everything to do with this, because she has everything to do with you four. Those girls practically dog your every footstep; you’re never without them. It’s quite sickening really. And the best of it is, they’ve made you go soft-“

Sirius’ jet of light missed Wilkes by mere inches.

In retaliation, Wilkes brandished his wand, and a stinging sensation struck Sirius’ arm, and he drew back. As Sirius rubbed the scorch mark produced by the Stinging Hex, his eyes fell upon the two Slytherins who were approaching a now standing Emma.

Emma made to barge right past them to reach the Marauders, but they stood firmly shoulder to shoulder to block her way. When her attempts to get past the towering Slytherins seemed futile, Emma moved forward once again and kicked Avery hard in the place that God only meant to be treated nicely. Instantly, he was doubled up on the ground, too agonized even to swear at her.

That’s our girl, thought Sirius proudly. His pride quickly vanished to be replaced by revulsion and fear when Rosier made a lunge towards Emma. He grabbed her roughly by the upper arm and dragged her back over to the wall, which he pinned her against with such force that it made her head snap back and collide with the solid brick behind. She grimaced with pain, and Rosier inched forward so that he was dangerously close to her face. Pressing his body against hers so that she remained pinned to the wall, Rosier took his index finger and traced it slowly down Emma’s cheek, passed her jaw line and down into the hollow of her throat. As his finger lingered there he moved his head forward slightly and whispered something in her ear, all the while keeping his smarmy gaze fixed upon the Marauders.

Sirius felt physically sick. He tore his eyes away, unable to watch anymore, and instead focused on the taunting gaze of Wilkes.

As he sprang forward, prepared to do some serious damage to the perverted git, a jet of bright light flew past his left ear.

“You look as if you’re in need of some reinforcements, Wilkes,” announced Mulciber from behind them.

Sirius had no need to turn around, Mulciber and Snape skirted around the edge of Peter to come to a standstill beside their familiar.

Mulciber was tall, pale and thickset with dark hair and eyes as well as extremely harsh looking features.

Severus Snape looked exactly the same as ever. His pale face was framed by a curtain of greasy black hair, his skin was sallow and his nose hooked. He was not extremely tall but had a lanky look about him.

“Afternoon, Snivellus,” greeted Sirius softly.

Snape gave him a look of deepest loathing.

“Oh, joy,” groaned Remus.

Mulciber turned his gaze upon him. “I’m surprised you’re here, Lupin. Quite frankly, I’d expected better from a Prefect.”

“I could say the same about your mate Rosier over there,“ retorted Remus with a set jaw, “or you could even say the same for James.”

“What?” scoffed Snape, “Potter’s not a Prefect!”

James shifted forward slightly so that his Head Boy badge glinted in the autumn sunlight.

“Head Boy?” choked Snape, “you? But that’s preposterous…”

“If you’re the Head Boy, then who the hell did they make Head Girl?” asked Wilkes in disbelief.

“Ah, that would be our Miss Evans,” replied James, glancing at Snape.

A muscle twitched in Snape’s jaw, and Sirius saw James’ little grin of triumph.

“Come on, lads,” growled Mulciber, “a good old three on four seems good to me.”

“Correction, four on four,” came a voice not so unlike Sirius’ own.

Regulus strutted over to the Slytherin threesome.

From the looks on their faces, Wilkes, Mulciber and Snape all seemed to find Regulus just as irksome as Sirius himself found him.

“This doesn’t concern you, Black,” spat Wilkes.

“On the contrary, I have more of a right to be here than even you three have-” he retorted, his gaze lingering for a fraction of a second on Sirius. “Plus you can hardly say that I’m inferior to you four,” he added looking ridiculously smug.

This comment puzzled Sirius to no end, even more so when it resulted in the Slytherins letting his little brother stay.

“Good, now we’re evenly matched,” boasted Regulus.

“I knew I was expecting too much when I thought you able to count, Regulus,” Lily stated dryly, “my calculations seem to show clearly that we are in a four against eight situation-“

“Seven, I’m afraid, Lily, I’m not staying.” Sirius caught a glimpse of Sam as he swept off in the direction of Emma and Rosier.

“Well, I think that’s officially the shortest rescue mission on record,” announced Kirsty.

Sirius smiled slightly and turned his head to survey the three girls.

Lily held a hand on hip stance, her wand held loosely at her side, Hayley looked battle ready and was tapping her foot impatiently and Kirsty was stood examining the dirt under her fingernails. Her thumb was hooked on her robe pocket, and she held her wand loosely between her middle and index finger.

“Well,” drawled Wilkes looking suggestively at Lily, “we’ve already sorted out Bembridge. It’d be a privilege to wipe out another Mud-“

“Don’t!” yelled Snape, glaring furiously at Wilkes.

“What’s the matter, Sev? You never seemed to have a problem with calling me that,” stated Lily.

Snape looked steely and clamped his mouth shut.

Sirius allowed himself a look of grim satisfaction. He was glad to see that Lily had overcome her ‘Slytherin are people too’ phase and finally seen them for the sinister berks that they were.

“Oh for God’s sake, just get on with it already!” cried Regulus impatiently. Patience had never been Regulus’ greatest virtue. He shot a streak of blue light out of his wand and it caused a crater in the place that Hayley had been standing seconds beforehand.

Right that’s it. Sirius pelted towards Regulus, set on causing him as much damage as was wizardly possible. However, Sirius never reached him because just as he was about to draw level with Regulus, a chorus of Slytherin voices shouted, “Impedimenta!” at him, and the combined power of the spells knocked him cleanly off his feet.

He hit the ground with such force that he was immediately very badly winded. As he laid there trying to regain his composure, he tilted his head so that he could survey the goings on behind him. Remus and Peter were duelling Snape and Wilkes, James was fending off Mulciber’s spells, Kirsty and Lily were duelling Avery, who had wandered back over to the group, and Hayley had made a dart towards Emma, Sam and Rosier.

Sirius watched Hayley’s progress, and as he did so he allowed his gaze to roam once more towards Emma. Sam was knelt down on the ground beside her sitting form, and Rosier lay a few feet away from them with what looked like the remains of the ice cream bowl next to his head. Nice one, Northy, thought Sirius gleefully.

A loud bang drew Sirius’ attention back to the Gryffindor-Slytherin duel. James had darted forward; Sirius guessed that this was because of what had just happened to him, and with a bang snake-like chords had burst out of the end of Wilkes’ wand and twisted themselves around James' mouth, wrists and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move.

Sirius heard soft footsteps approaching from behind him. He was still in too much pain to roll over and see who it was, although he was pretty sure that if he did, he would have come face to face with Regulus’ malevolent dark green eyes. The footsteps stopped, and in seconds Sirius was dealing with yet another excruciating pain as Regulus sent a swift kick into his abdomen. He cried out with the pain of it, and he heard the Slytherins’ jeers.

Regulus laughed softly as he reached down and pulled Sirius up to kneel in front of him by his shirt collar. Sirius’ left cheek was throbbing from where he had hit the ground; Regulus sent an evil grin his way before bringing his arm back and sending a rocketing punch at the already bruised cheek. Sirius heard Kirsty scream as he swayed and fell sideways. Regulus dragged him back up again and hit him a couple of more times before withdrawing his wand and pointing it directly between his brother’s eyes. “Revenge is sweet, big brother,” he breathed.

Sirius allowed himself a puzzled frown, revenge? Revenge for what? He couldn’t recall ever doing anything drastic unto Regulus; it usually tended to be the other way around…

He raised his eyes and looked defiantly into Regulus’. And for the first time in five years, they actually made sufficient eye contact. When they had been forced to communicate at home they had always looked over the other’s head or else mumbled to their feet, but not now. Looking into his younger brother’s face he saw him more clearly than he had done in years.

There was no denying that he looked like Sirius, but subtle differences separated them in both character and looks. Regulus had encountered a growth spurt and now must have stood no less than a head shorter than Sirius. He would never look as toned as Sirius did, seeing as had always been the skinnier of the two, but there was no denying that Regulus had definitely beefed up. His eyes were green opposed to Sirius’ grey ones, and his hair was significantly shorter and of a lighter tone. He had inherited the Black family looks but lacked the finesse in which Sirius was able to pull them off. Regulus was no longer a little snot nosed kid; he’d become a man. A pang presented itself in Sirius’ chest, and he surprised himself when he realised that it was being caused by nostalgia.

He shifted his gaze slightly, and it came to rest on the small scar that was present on Regulus’ left temple. He remembered the day Regulus had got the scrape which had caused it. They had been sitting on Sirius’ bed, and Regulus had laughed so hard at a joke that Sirius had told him that he had fallen off the bed and hit his head against the bedside table. The next morning Regulus had entered his room and proudly showed off his scar before begging Sirius to tell him some more jokes. Sirius recalled that Regulus must have been around nine at the time, seeing as it took place mere weeks before he was due to start Hogwarts.

Suddenly memories were flashing through his mind like a movie reel. A five year old Regulus, terrified and shaking from head to foot, came running into Sirius’ room and dived under his covers as a fork of lightening struck overhead; an annoyed eight year old Regulus kept complaining that Sirius always made him play Keeper; a distraught ten year old Regulus held onto Sirius’ arm for dear life as he made to board the Hogwarts Express; a confused eleven year old Regulus simply couldn’t comprehend how his brother could have possibly ended up in Gryffindor; and finally a sneering fifteen year old Regulus who stood atop of the Grand Staircase and insulted Sirius and his friends standing far below.

He snapped out of his reverie and looked again into Regulus’ eyes. He got the feeling that he wasn’t the only one who was currently taking a trip down memory lane. Regulus blinked hard, and Sirius saw the confusion and hesitancy in his eyes. He lowered his wand and swallowed hard. “Stop!” he barked towards the duellists.

All spell firing ceased at once from both the Slytherin and Gryffindor ends.

“We need to go,” he informed them.

“What? Are you insane?” screeched Avery.

“Slughorn will be leaving the Great Hall any minute now, and if we’re caught, we’ll be in for it big time.”

“Don’t make me laugh, Black,” snarled Mulciber, “we know full well that Slughorn is always the last to finish a meal.”

“Look,” Regulus snarled back, “who was the last one out of the hall? I’m telling you Slughorn will be finished anytime soon. And if it’s not Slughorn who finishes first, we may well end up dealing with McGonagall.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” growled Mulciber.

“Unfortunately for you, Mulciber, you have no influence over me.” Absentmindedly Regulus’ fingers lingered over a spot on his left forearm. “But if you want to stay out here and receive detention, that’s fine by me-“

“Fine,” snapped Wilkes, “Avery grab Rosier, we’re going.”

As Regulus stalked away from him, Sirius’ insides churned and a buzzing filled his ears. Regulus’ accidental grasp of his left forearm had not been lost on Sirius, for he knew far too well what it was that must have lurked underneath the fabric of Regulus’ robe.

Sirius’ knees felt crippled from kneeling on the hard ground, his cheek and abdomen throbbed, but worst of all, his heart ached.

*

“Duelling!” the sharp tones of McGonagall’s voice cut through the air in the Hospital Wing like a knife. “How could you be so irresponsible? I never would have expected this of you!”

Sirius shifted uncomfortably, and his bed sheet rustled.

“As punishment, you will be serving detention with Professor Slughorn next Wednesday evening.” McGonagall turned on her heel and made her way over to the doorway. Upon leaving the Hospital Wing, she hesitated and slowly swivelled around to face them once again. “Except for Miss Bembridge, Miss Jones, Mr North and Mr Potter that is, who, according to eyewitnesses, did not perform a single offensive spell. Good day to you all.”

But before she left Hayley piped up, “Sorry, Professor, but how are the Slytherins to be punished?”

McGonagall surveyed her and answered crisply, “They will be spending next Wednesday evening with me.”

As the echo of McGonagall’s footsteps died away, Peter laughed, “Looks like we got the better end of the deal.”

Kirsty scoffed. “What, having to spend an entire evening listening to Slughorn prattling on about what a wondrous student our Miss Evans is? I don’t think so.”

“I still can’t believe that James wriggled his way out of a detention!” cried Emma.

“I still can’t believe that James didn’t try to hex the slimy gets into next Sunday,” stated Kirsty.

“Look at me, I’m growing,” announced James, sitting up straight in his chair and trying to look distinguished.

“That you are,” agreed Lily with smile.

James looked like the cat that had got the cream.

“Well, I for one can’t believe that Lily got a detention and James didn’t,” admitted Hayley.

“Ah, I’m drawing with Lily,” yelled James, “I feel unclean.”

“You’re also losing to me,” Kirsty informed him with a wink.

“Damn you, White,”

Sirius lost concentration at this point but their idle chatter continued.

Kirsty, Hayley, Lily and Peter were all sat around Emma’s bed in the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey had patched both he and Emma up, Emma having received a gash on her head from where she hit the brick wall, and Sirius’ face had been restored to its former glory.

James had just sidled over to Sam, who was leaning on the doorframe, and immersed him in conversation.

Before he had even glanced around the room to see where Remus had got to, the sound of someone pulling up the chair next to his bed made him whip around. “You have pensive face,” Remus informed him softly as he sat down.

Sirius smiled slightly at his kind face and tried for a bit of humour. “I was just trying to recall the last time I was in the Hospital Wing where it didn’t inadvertently involve Kirsty.”

Remus laughed. “The other times being?” he asked.

“Well, the time back in fifth year obviously,” Sirius informed him. Remus nodded gravely. “And that time during third year Charms when she jinxed that quill so that it became lodged inside my ear.”

Remus chuckled fondly at the memory of it. “And this time it’s Kirsty’s fault because?”

“Because she inspired the prank,” relayed Sirius.

“Ah,” Remus smiled in comprehension.

There was a pause.

“Now tell me what’s really bothering you,” he instructed.

Typical Moony. He was too intuitive for his own good sometimes.

Sirius sighed. It was Regulus that was plaguing him, Regulus and the horror which lurked beneath the left sleeve of his robe. Of course Sirius knew what was there, how could he not? He could remember clearly the day that his cousin Bellatrix had flounced into his house and proudly showed them all the Dark Mark which had been emblazoned onto her pale skin. Her face had flushed with pride when she had informed them that she was now a member of the Dark Lord’s inner circle.

But Sirius had never expected it of Regulus. Sure, he knew that his brother agreed whole heartedly with Voldemort’s propositions, but he never would have imagined that he’d go this far.

Sirius swallowed hard and looked up to meet Remus’ gaze. “Regulus is a Death Eater.”

A/N: Just a note about Kirsty’s scar. In no way is it meant as a reference to Harry’s and in no way was it intended to be a horrid fanfic cliché. The scar is part of a minor plot point which surfaces from time to time. Also I have to admit to this scar actually being a trait of mine which I gave to the character, as I do in fact have a small scar on my forehead which I received when I was little. Okay, I just wanted to clear that up a little bit. Again thanks for reading; I’d really appreciate it if you took the time to review.

The first week back was definitely one of the most tiring Sirius had ever had the misfortune of experiencing. His and his fellow seventh years’ noses were red raw from having them continually pressed against the grindstone. Their workload was at an all time high, and Sirius was having a harder time of it than most. His detentions with McGonagall and Slughorn weren’t exactly what you’d call hard work, but they had been time consuming, which ultimately didn’t ease his soon-to-be disastrous homework situation. The detentions along with the workload, the lack of sufficient amount of sleep, and Regulus constantly plaguing his mind had resulted in Sirius already being three homework essays behind everybody else.

Regulus. He had been Sirius’ biggest problem this week. After confiding in Remus, it hadn’t been hard for Sirius to divulge his fears unto the others. And he was immensely glad that he had done so, for they had been nothing but supportive. However, this had been earlier on in the week, and recently Sirius had got the feeling that they were slightly fed up of discussing the situation.

As the week had progressed and his homework situation had started to become dire, he had been forced to realise that there was nothing that he could do concerning Regulus for the time being, and he was left to hope that the time for confronting his younger brother would present itself in due course.

The week’s Defence against the Dark Arts lessons had also done nothing whatsoever to lighten his mood. It wasn’t the fact that MacIntosh wasn’t good; in fact he was annoyingly so. Their first lesson had consisted of their professor informing a class of shocked seventh years that their lessons were pretty much in their hands. “For you are now, as seventh years, rather past the stage where you can be instructed in what spells are to be used in certain situations,” he had recited. “I am afraid that it is now a mere matter of you playing to your strengths, acting intuitively and, above all else, having a natural affinity with the unique magic that flows through your veins and encompasses your very souls.” However, before Sirius had even begun to get excited about the prospect of being allowed to run a ruckus during the class, MacIntosh had told them that there were still certain protective spells that they had yet to encounter, and that they would be starting on Patronuses before the Christmas break.

But it was not MacIntosh’s lesson plan that had vexed Sirius so; rather the effect that MacIntosh was having on his constituents. For all the way through their first Defence against the Dark Arts lesson, Lily and Hayley were to be found trying desperately to dissuade Kirsty from trying to earn herself a detention. In Sirius’ opinion, it was safe to say that she would have found detention with MacIntosh about as punishing as being made to spend the day inside Honeydukes.

Even more annoying than that was the fact that Kirsty had proven herself to be a natural at acting intuitively with concerns to magic. MacIntosh had been so impressed with her that she had been the only one exempt from that day’s homework.

It was these things and more that had led to Sirius secretly claiming war on MacIntosh. The first bout of this had commenced during their third Defence against the Dark Arts lesson of the year.

Making sure to arrive much earlier than everybody else, Sirius had slipped inside the classroom and concealed himself in a shadowy corner behind a grand oak bookcase which made its residence at the far end of the classroom.

The class had trundled in, but still Sirius had remained hidden.

MacIntosh took the register and yet Sirius still didn’t alert the Professor to his presence in the room.

It wasn’t until about halfway through the lesson, when MacIntosh had set the class that day’s task, that Sirius had chosen to make his appearance.

He jumped out from behind the bookcase, startling many a student in the process, and yelled triumphantly, “Just kidding! I’m here! Fooled you again!”

MacIntosh had been too taken back to speak, let alone dish out punishment, and Sirius sat down and remained quiet for the rest of the class. There was a limit to how far you could take such things after all. Sirius one, MacIntosh zero.

*

“You’ll do fine, James,” stated Remus reassuringly.

James paid no attention to him and continued to wring his hands anxiously.

It was Friday evening, and Sirius and the others had all just settled themselves down for dinner.

They had not long been released from the swelteringly hot Charms classroom and, due to the immense heat, robes had now been yanked off, shirt sleeves rolled up, hair tied back, collars loosened, and ties removed.

Sirius was now digging enthusiastically into his shepherd’s pie, but James, who was looking like nerves had started to take a hold of him, refused to touch anything.

“You’ll be a great captain!” chirped in Peter.

James shrugged noncommittally.

“You know what,” began Hayley munching thoughtfully on the sandwich she had just pinched off Lily’s plate, “I think I might tryout for Ravenclaw Seeker this year.”

Sirius choked on his mouthful of shepherd’s pie and proceeded to have a coughing fit. As Lily helpfully patted him on the back, Remus queried, “You?”

“Yes, what’s so funny about that?” Hayley replied defensively, shifting her weight to the other foot from her position behind Kirsty’s shoulder, poised to leave for her own table at any moment.

“The fact that you can’t catch for one thing,” piped up Emma.

“What? I can too catch!” protested Hayley indignantly.

From his seat beside Sirius, Peter quickly launched an apple Hayley’s way.

She reacted too slowly and the apple soared past her outstretched hand.

“See,” retorted Peter smugly.

Hayley wasn’t amused in the slightest.

“You have to be able to catch to be a Seeker,” Kirsty informed Hayley with a cocky smirk.

Sirius, having now recovered from his recent coughing fit, picked an apple out of the fruit bowl and gazed at it, a cunning smile gracing his lips.

Without further hesitation he lobbed the fruit over at Kirsty.

Sirius had to credit her, because she did in fact notice the oncoming green blur quicker than Hayley had done.

Kirsty practically lunged sideways on her seat to retrieve the apple. Her fingertips were inches away from latching onto the waxy exterior of the fruit when her balance failed her. She perched precariously on the edge of the bench, flailing her arms around madly, before Remus grabbed her sleeve and pulled her upright once more. The apple hit the floor with a small thud.

“My Seeker, everybody,” remarked James dryly.

Kirsty looked sulky and replied defensively, “Shut up. I bet Sam won’t be able to catch it either.”

Typical Kirsty, thought Sirius, pass the challenge onto someone else and pray that their failure will far outstrip your own.

Lily studied her apple for a moment before throwing it towards an extremely unaware Sam.

Thump. The fruit hit him hard on the forehead.

Lily dutifully mouthed her apology to him before Peter quipped sarcastically, “Great Quidditch team, Prongs.”

James was looking unimpressed by his team’s performance.

“Are you sure you don’t want to make this lot tryout again?” asked Sirius.

James just shook his head disbelievingly.

Emma, clearly wanting revenge for the unprovoked attack on Sam, scooped another apple out of the fruit bowl and threw it at James.

With the air of a pro, James stuck his hand out and caught the soaring fruit effortlessly.

“Damn you, Potter,” growled Kirsty, displeased.

James gave her what she must have construed as an extremely infuriating grin.

“So, do you reckon I should do it?” Hayley continued to enquire.

“Do what?” asked Remus, cutting into his steak.

“Try out for the Quidditch team!” cried Hayley exasperatedly, giving Remus a highly annoyed look.

Sirius and the others all shared glances and smirked at each other.

“No,” they all confessed in unison, grinning madly.

“You’re all rotten buggers, you know that?” announced Hayley, picking her bag up angrily and storming off to the Ravenclaw table.

“Bless,” sympathised Emma.

“If there was one thing we could have done to make sure she’d try out, it was that,” stated Remus. “Now she’s going to do it just to prove a point.”

Sirius laughed along with the others.

“So, technically, we just did her a favour,” pointed out James. “I must say that makes me feel decidedly less guilty.”

“I am so going to watch Hayley tryout,” said Kirsty enthusiastically.

“Well, I guess you should make to at least one of the teams’ tryouts,” retorted James with annoyance. Kirsty lowered her gaze.

“So what are you lot going to do whilst Prongs is at tryouts and me and Kirsty are in detention with Typicus?” asked Sirius. Kirsty gave him a dark look at the mention of the detention.

“Well, we thought we’d go down and watch. After all, we’ve got the weather for it,” replied Peter, looking up at the ceiling. Sirius followed his gaze and was met by the tantalising rays of sunlight that were being mirrored in the hall’s enchanted ceiling.

“So whilst we’re inside slaving away, you lot are all going to be outside sunning yourselves?” asked Kirsty grumpily.

“You’ve got no one but yourself to blame for your detention,” Lily reminded her.

“That’s not true! I have him to blame!” she exclaimed, pointing directly at Sirius.

Sirius feigned a look of innocence and shock and replied, “Who, me?”

Kirsty was saved from answering him when Mary MacDonald, the last resident of the seventh year girls’ dorms, got up from the table, slipped on something invisible to Sirius and fell to the floor.

Remus, looking horrified, mouthed to them all, “Apple.”

As one, the group all guiltily averted their gaze and shielded their faces with their hands.

*

It was with heavy hearts that Sirius and Kirsty plodded up to their Ancient Runes detention with the rest of the group waving cheerily at them as they departed for the sunny grounds.

“Gits,” muttered Sirius.

“Clean,” instructed Typicus upon their arrival. “I want this whole classroom spotless upon my return.”

Sirius sighed with relief, talk about being let off easy.

“Without magic,” added the Professor.

Sirius saw Kirsty’s shoulders slump, and he stood with his mouth hanging open slightly.

“Have fun!” exclaimed Typicus as he made his way out of the door.

Sirius and Kirsty stared hopelessly at each other.

*

“I swear this is slave labour!” yelled Sirius in frustration fifteen minutes later.

Kirsty stopped and rested her chin on top of the mop which she had previously been cleaning the floor with. “I wonder how tryouts are going…” she pondered, ignoring Sirius’ outburst and turning to look out of the window.

“Wishing you were out there?” Sirius asked her.

“Yeah,” she sighed.

“Come on, Kirst, stop beating yourself up about it. What’s done is done; you can’t go down to the tryouts now. So just stop feeling guilty about it.”

“I don’t feel guilty about it. I have no reason to feel guilty about it. You, on the other hand, should be feeling nothing but remorseful for getting me into this situation,” she retorted heatedly.

“Oh, but I do,” he replied. Dropping the duster down onto the desk, he slid across the wet floor and skidded to a halt in front of her.

“I just cleaned that,” she pointed out, looking irritated.

“I know,” he replied with a cheeky grin.

Kirsty bashed him on the underside of his chin with the top of the mop handle. “Dust,” she commanded him, pointing over to the pile of old books that they had recently unearthed.

“You’re so masterful,” he informed her with a flirtatious grin as he sidestepped her, “I love that in a fan girl.”

She rapped him hard across the shoulder blade, using the cleaning instrument as her weapon of choice once again.

Sirius did as he was told and began dusting down the old volumes whereas Kirsty again mopped the spot of floor he had intruded upon before stalking over to the far end of the classroom.

It was only when he was placing the books inside the vacant spots that he had found in one of the bookcases that he stole another glance Kirsty’s way. She was standing on one of the chairs in order to reach the top of the classroom’s grandest bookcase. Watching her, he simply couldn’t help but marvel at just how well they got on with each other, especially when you took into consideration the fact that they’d only been friends for little over a year.

It wasn’t just Kirsty; it was all four of the girls. Sometimes it astounded him just how much he cared for each and every one of them, and he knew for a fact that he’d never be able to envisage day to day life without them. It was Lily’s hatred for James that had caused the initial rift between the two groups of friends, though Sirius and Kirsty’s animosity towards each other definitely didn’t help any.

Sirius had been bought up hearing the White family’s name uttered in sheer disgust. The Whites were the positive to the Blacks negative. Kirsty’s family were dead against Voldemort and what he stood for, having always stood firm beside Dumbledore themselves. They favoured Gryffindor house above all others, although if a family member didn’t get accepted there they didn’t exactly treat it like the end of the world.

But despite this, Sirius knew that there were members of her family that, like the Blacks, lived under the impression that being of pure blood practically made them royalty. Sirius supposed that this came with the territory of being from an old wizarding family.

Kirsty, however, didn’t share these views at all. You only had to see the way that she admired Hayley and Remus’ intelligence, Lily’s potion brewing skills and, Emma’s spell work to know that.

It was funny to think that, even though most pureblood families were interrelated, not a single White had ever managed to tarnish the Black Family Tree. The tree housed Prewetts, Lestranges, Bulstrodes, even Potters, but never a White.

Sirius was pretty sure that it had been her family’s prejudices that had caused Kirsty to initially hate him so, though he supposed that him being an arrogant little berk hadn’t helped matters. Even though Kirsty hated him during their first five years of schooling, Sirius actually took a shine to her way back near the end of the first year. Countless times he had found himself laughing at her jokes and inadvertently keeping a watchful eye on her when she had an unexpected run in with the Slytherins.

But it was what he liked to call ‘the fifth year incident’ which had finally bought the two groups together. It was the incident that had earned him his second Kirsty related trip up to the Hospital Wing, and it had taken place after their Defence against the Dark Arts OWL exam.

Sirius’ boredom had been the initial cause of the whole scenario, for James had attacked Snape for this seemingly trivial reason. But it was Lily coming over and confronting them on the matter that had really set the ball rolling.

“Who wants to see me take off Snivelly’s pants?” enquired James jovially moments after Lily had stormed off up to the castle with a worried Hayley trailing hot on her heels.

“Put him down, Potter!” someone instructed angrily.

Sirius and James both wheeled around to see Kirsty standing there with her wand raised, looking the most furious that Sirius had ever seen her.

“Don’t tell me you’ve partaken in the Snape fan club too, White,” sneered Sirius. Kirsty glowered at him.

“Look, Kirsty, do you really expect me to let him get away with what he just said to Lily?” asked James.

“On the contrary, I wouldn’t have expected anything less from the likes of James Potter and Sirius Black.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” demanded Sirius.

Kirsty sighed. “Do you two have any idea who you are acting like?”

Sirius shared a puzzled look with James.

“You’re acting like those who you have always claimed to despise.” Sirius felt none the wiser, and Kirsty seemed to be growing impatient with their lack of realisation. “You’re acting like Death Eaters, for God’s sake!”

This accusation made Sirius feel sick to his stomach, and he saw James slacken the grip on his wand.

“What?” James asked her quietly.

Kirsty swallowed hard and looked at them apologetically. It seemed as though she had been unwilling to inform them of this in such a harsh manner, but unfortunately her lashing tongue had beaten her indecisive conscience to the punch.

“She’s right,” Remus informed them solemnly, appearing at Kirsty’s side. She gave him a startled look as if surprised by his confirmation. “You are acting like Death Eaters.”

James looked revolted with himself and bought his wand down to rest by his side. Shame flooded over Sirius, and after having sneaked a glance over at Peter, he saw that he, too, was looking horror stricken.

“And I’m just as bad for cheering you on,” whispered Peter.

“And I’m no better for not putting a stop to it,” confessed Remus.

Kirsty seemed shocked by the reaction that she had managed to obtain from them all.

“No, Moony, don’t say that,” instructed James, shaking his head. “You’re the good one of the group.”

“Yeah, right,” replied Remus disbelievingly.

Kirsty cleared her throat. “Maybe we should…erm…let him down before all the blood rushes to his head and Lily jinxes you all into high heaven because of it,” she suggested.

None of the boys moved, so Kirsty reverted to pointing her own wand at Snape instead.

“I don’t need your help either, blood traitor.”

Sirius bared his teeth in a snarl and wheeled towards Snape, how dare he?

Kirsty, however, merely hesitated a fraction before waving her wand and performing the counter-curse. “Ah, but unfortunately for you, you do,” she informed him coldly, and with a flick of her wand she made him fall painfully to the ground. “I think you should go and apologise to Lily,” Kirsty informed James.

“What? He should be the one apologising after what he’s just said,” James replied shooting Snape a look of utter distaste.

“Look, you’re doing yourself no favours here. If you care about Lily at all, you’ll go up there and apologise. Plus, Lily’s never going to start liking you if you don’t start acting like the bigger person.” James looked a little terrified at the thought of having to face Lily again so soon.

Sirius heard the swishing of robes behind him and turned to see that Snape had made it to his feet and was now standing with his wand raised. But Kirsty reacted faster and with a lightening quick wrist action Snape found himself having to do his utmost to rid himself of the Tarantallegra curse.

She turned back around to face them and winced. “Promise me you won’t tell Lily about that one.”

Sirius laughed.

“Your secret’s safe with us,” Peter assured her with a smile.

“So, you’ll go and apologise?” Kirsty reverted to pestering James.

James sighed and nodded. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any hints?”

“Just be yourself,”

“…But Lily hates me,”

“Okay, then be the less arrogant and infuriating version of yourself,” she amended. James continued to look unconvinced.

In the silence that ensued between them, Sirius heard a low muttering from behind him. Snape had managed to perform the counter-curse for his dancing legs. Sounding quite demented, he screeched from behind them, “Sectumsempra!”

The flash of bright light that emanated from his wand streaked towards the group, its intended target: Kirsty. Instinctively, Sirius ran towards her intent on removing her from its path. But all did not go as planned.

Sirius didn’t quite muster all the speed needed to both reach Kirsty and remove her out of harm’s way. As the spell headed for the two of them, Sirius had only just managed to run in front of her. Blood spurted from Sirius’ torso as if he had been slashed by an invisible sword and the pain was excruciating. He staggered backwards, nearly colliding with Kirsty, before collapsing to his knees with a prolonged groan.

Sirius bit down hard against the pain and he was dimly aware of Remus incapacitating Snape with a hastily performed, “Incarcerous.”

“Oh, Merlin!” exclaimed Peter upon seeing Sirius’ wounds. “He needs the Hospital Wing urgently, guys.”

“I’ll take him,” offered James immediately.

“No, you need to go and see Lily. I’ll do it,” objected Kirsty, her voice uncharacteristically quiet.

“Are you sure?” James seemed reluctant to delegate the task unto her.

“I promise I’ll look after him,” she replied with a forced smile. “Besides I want to do it.”

“Well, okay, if you’re sure…”

“Go on, go and see Lily,” she urged him, “I’ll take of things here.”

James nodded his thanks and turned towards Hogwarts.

“Good luck!” Kirsty shouted after him.

Remus helped Kirsty heave Sirius up from his knees.

Before Sirius proceeded to lose his balance, Kirsty draped his arm supportively around her shoulder.

“Are you okay to sort all this lot out?” Kirsty asked Remus, indicating the large crowd of onlookers.

“Don’t worry, it’s taken care of,”

“We’ll come up and see you as soon as we can, Padfoot,” added Peter.

“Can you walk?” Kirsty asked Sirius in a whisper.

“It’ll hurt like hell, but I’ll give it a go. I can’t expect you to carry me up to the Hospital Wing now can I?” he replied meekly.

As they made their way slowly up to the Hospital Wing, Sirius had started to feel extremely indebted towards her. Here she was volunteering to take him, who she absolutely despised, up to the nurse, when clearly the most that he deserved was to be left behind for Snape to finish him off.

Sirius was starting to feel incredibly faint. His surroundings were blurred and he had a ringing in his ears, and though he couldn’t see, he guessed that he must be loosing blood at an alarmingly fast rate.

As they ascended the stairs they met up with Emma. But Sirius didn’t follow her and Kirsty’s conversation at all. Thankfully, after a conversation that had seemingly been short and to the point, they reached the Fourth floor.

*

Sirius awoke to a blinding light. He squinted and shielded his eyes in order to locate its source.

“Sorry,” exclaimed a girl’s voice, “is that too bright?”

The light became dimmer and Sirius looked towards the voice’s owner. Kirsty White was sat by his bedside with her feet resting on the edge of his bed and a magazine propped up against her thigh. He looked over at her, confused beyond belief. “Oh, please don’t tell me you’ve got amnesia too. I already feel bad enough as it is!” she cried.

Suddenly everything came flooding back to him: the attack on Snape, Lily’s insistence that they leave him alone, Snape calling her a Mudblood, Kirsty informing them all that they were acting like Death Eaters and then pain lots and lots of pain.

“No, I’m good,” he informed her with a kind smile.

She sighed with relief.

“And what have you got to feel bad about in the first place?” he enquired, confused.

“Well, it’s my fault that you’re in here. If I’d just let you be-“

“It’s not your fault. I deserved everything I got. I’m glad you came over and gave us a piece of your mind, it was a real eye opener.”

She surveyed him sceptically.

To avoid her analytical gaze, he looked down at his bare chest intent on surveying the damage that Snape’s spell had caused. He had three big scars running diagonally from left to right along his chest, the biggest of which started just below his shoulder and disappeared under the bed cover. He prodded the big one experimentally and winced. He was still a bit tender.

“Don’t do that, it hurts,” observed Kirsty dryly.

He looked questioningly at her, wanting answers.

“Madam Pomfrey says that the pain should go away within the next few days, and she also said that with some luck the scars will disappear with time.”

Sirius nodded thoughtfully in response. “How long was I asleep for?” he queried.

“A good three hours or so.”

“What? Seriously? And you’ve been here the whole time?” he asked, astonished.

“Pretty much. Peter and Remus both say hi by the way.”

When Kirsty folded up her magazine and turned away from him to place it on the table, Sirius lifted the covers slightly just to make sure that he wasn’t completely naked, because just being topless in front of Kirsty was making him feel uncomfortable enough.

Phew, his trousers were still to be accounted for.

He looked up to see Kirsty grinning amusedly at him; apparently his little antic had not gone unnoticed.

“Shocking, isn’t it?” she asked him.

He gave her a puzzled frown.

“I must be one of the only girls in the school who could be in a room with an unconscious and half naked Sirius Black and not want to ravage him.”

Sirius let out a bark of laughter. He had never before been graced with the much friendlier side of Kirsty’s personality.

A hush developed between them.

“Thanks, Sirius,”

“No, problem,” he replied with a warm smile. Kirsty proceeded to look mildly uncomfortable. “Makes it a bit hard to hate my guts now doesn’t it?” he asked her jokingly.

“Just a little,” she replied giving him a radiant smile.

“Truce?” he asked holding his hand out to her.

“Truce,” she affirmed enclosing her hand in his and sealing the deal.

*
“Merlin! Are you alright, mate?”

Sirius and Kirsty had just tumbled through the portrait hole, Sirius laughing uncontrollably at the Quibbler article that Kirsty had just read out to him. ‘Speculation is rife that He Who Must Not Be Named is the long lost celebrated Wizard toy maker and proprietor of the well renowned Jigs and Trinkets toy shop in Diagon Alley.’

James rose slowly out of his chair, concern etched into every line of his face and Sirius swallowed his laughter and inclined his head in affirmation.

“I’m fine. I’ve been better, but I’m doing okay.”

James heaved a sigh of relief. Remus and Peter, who were sitting over in the corner of the room engaging in a game of Exploding Snap, both smiled, clearly pleased to see him back in their presence.

Lily was sitting on the sofa hugging her knees. Her cheeks were red and blotchy which suggested to Sirius that she had previously been crying, and Emma was standing with her hand resting on the back of the sofa watching Sirius and Kirsty with undisguised intrigue.

Everyone seemed a bit puzzled by Sirius and Kirsty’s behaviour, and, as if to clarify the situation, Kirsty brandished her copy of the Quibbler in front of them all.

“Oh, Kirst!” Lily sprung forward off the sofa and ran over to throw her arms around Kirsty’s neck. “I’m so sorry!” she sobbed into her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Kirsty, who looked extremely taken back by this display of affection, prised Lily away from her. “I’m perfectly fine, Lil.” Lily took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes. “And it wasn’t your fault,” Kirsty assured her.

Lily nodded meekly and gave Kirsty a gratified smile. She turned to Sirius. “Sirius, I suppose a gigantic thank you is in order.”

He held his hand up to halt Lily in her tracks. “No, there’s no need, I don’t deserve it.”

“But… Kirsty…” she stammered.

“Has already thanked him and made amends,” Kirsty interjected.

Emma choked. “You two? You made amends?”

Kirsty grinned at her shocked expression.

“Lily, I just want to apologise for being such a git earlier,” Sirius informed her softly.

Lily gave him a look of surprise before breaking out into a smile.

“There seems to be a lot of that going around this evening,” she replied wryly, shooting a fleeting glance at James, who was looking ashamed.

“So, is everything okay here?” Kirsty asked her, indicating James.

“I suppose so,” replied Lily resignedly, “for now.”

“So what happened?” asked Emma, looking eagerly towards Sirius and Kirsty; after all, she had been the one who had been absent for most of the proceedings.

“You mean you don’t already know?” asked Sirius, shocked.

“Nope,” moped Emma, “nobody’s seen fit to tell me much.”

“We were all a bit too worried to speak to be honest, Padfoot,” confessed Peter.

Sirius gave him a grateful smile.

“Oh, but never mind about that now,” stated Kirsty dismissively, “I want to know what went on after we left. You apologised, I take it?” she asked turning to James. He nodded. “And Snape?” she continued.

“McGonagall got him,” replied Remus.

“And?” persisted Kirsty seeming impatient.

“Well, from what we overheard he was close to expulsion. But I think Slughorn objected, and he’s now being forced to serve two weeks full of the most gruesome detentions he can find.”

“Did you tell McGonagall everything that had happened?” Lily asked him sceptically.

Remus nodded gravely. “Us four have all got detention with her once the exams are over.”

Sirius nodded along with the other two; it was no more than they deserved.

“Now will someone please tell me what happened after I left?” begged Lily.

James sighed. “Well, Kirsty came over and ordered us to put Snape down before she proceeded in informing us that we were in fact acting like Death Eaters-“

“You said that?” asked Lily, astonished.

Kirsty said nothing, but her uncomfortable body language spoke volumes.

“And as you can imagine that really struck a chord, so much so that we all froze on the spot and Kirsty had to resort to going to let Snape down herself-“

“So you didn’t take off his pants?” confirmed Lily, her mouth twitching slightly.

“No,” replied James shortly.

“Shame,” noted Emma.

Sirius smirked but Lily shot Emma an annoyed look.

“Then Snape called her a blood traitor-“

“Oh, Kirst, he didn’t!” wailed Lily.

“Water of a duck’s back, Lil, they’re only words. Besides, I’m proud of being a blood traitor. I’d much rather be that than one of those pureblood obsessed scum. The same goes for you; you shouldn’t get upset with being called a… that. You should be proud to be muggleborn, especially when you have magical abilities that most of the purebloods in this place can only dream of.”

Lily smiled at her, her bottom lip trembling slightly.

“But she let him down regardless and then suggested that I come and apologise to you, which I did,” James paused for a moment and gave Kirsty a consulting look before continuing. “Then Snape fired Sectumsempra at her, and Sirius took the spell, and not long after that I came up here to apologise.”

“And we went up to the Hospital Wing,” added Sirius.

“And we dealt with the onlookers and made sure Snape got what was coming to him,” informed Peter.

“Hang on, why did Snape suddenly decide to fire a spell at Kirsty?” queried Emma.

“Did something else happen?” flared up Lily, fixing Kirsty with a piercing look.

Kirsty sighed resignedly. “Fine, I’d cast Tarantallegra at Snape prior to that.”

“What?” screeched Lily, “I don’t believe this, Kirsty, after everything I’ve said to you in regard to Severus!”

“Look, Lily, yes, it’s common knowledge that I absolutely despise the bloke, but I didn’t jinx him just for the hell of it. He made to attack this lot from behind but I got him first. I despise such cowardly actions, you know that.”

Lily stood in silence, her chest heaving. There’d always been a rift between the two girls when it came to Snape. “Don’t you dare say I told you so,” Lily ordered Kirsty through gritted teeth.

A prolonged silence ensued.

“There was so much blood,” whispered Emma, glancing at Sirius, “you looked terrible, like you were on death’s door. It was scary.”

“I’m fine,” Sirius reassured her, immensely touched by her concern. “Madam Pomfrey patched me up in a heartbeat. Besides, scars are sexy, right?”

Kirsty rolled her eyes and smirked.

“When did you see Sirius?” Lily asked, puzzled.

“I met Kirsty when she was bringing him up to the Hospital Wing.”

Sirius looked to Kirsty, waiting for her to give her confirmation, but instead he saw her eyes light up.

“How come you didn’t mention it before?” Lily asked again.

“Well, I came in during the apology didn’t I? So I didn’t want to interrupt. And afterwards everyone was too worried to care about my information anyway,” declared Emma.

“Fair enough,” relented Lily.

As if she had been waiting for a lull in the conversation Kirsty jumped in, “Hey, Lil, ask Emma why she went off to curl her hair again after the exam.”

Emma shot her an extremely filthy look. “Will you shut up?” she spat.

But Lily was already looking intrigued. “Go on, why did she?”

“Emma’s in love!” cheered Kirsty.

“I am not!” replied Emma defiantly, her ears going red.

Lily was grinning madly. “Oooh, who with?”

“Don’t you dare, Kirst!” commanded Emma.

Defiantly, Kirsty opened her mouth to answer Lily, but Emma pounced.

Moving swiftly, Kirsty got out of the way, and Emma nearly careered into the wall.

She proceeded to run around the common room, jumping over chairs and avoiding tables, with Emma in hot pursuit.

Kirsty, laughing inanely dodged every object that Emma hurled at her with ease.

“Don’t you dare breathe a word, Kirst.”

“Oh, come on, Em, you can’t deny me a bit of gossip.”

Emma roared with frustration. “Just you wait, I’ll spread all of your most embarrassing secrets throughout this entire school-“

“Good luck with that, considering that I don’t have any. None that you know of anyway.”

Kirsty dove towards the now unoccupied sofa and jumped onto it from behind. “Emma fancies-“

But Emma anticipated this move and ran to the front of the sofa to clap a hand over Kirsty’s big mouth.

Whilst Kirsty was struggling against Emma’s restraints, the portrait hole open and Sam North walked through.

Kirsty, upon seeing him, started laughing so hard that tears were pouring down her face. Emma’s whole face went bright red as he walked past the gathering. Kirsty gave Sam a brief thumbs up as he ascended the boys’ staircase. Emma removed her hand and Kirsty’s giggles reverberated around the entire common room.

“Him?” asked Lily, grinning widely.

“Oh, shut up, the lot of you!” screeched Emma, for all four boys were now in on the hysterics. “I’m going to kill you, White!”

And with that Emma, too, climbed up onto the sofa and began to wrestle with the almost completely incapacitated Kirsty.

Lily, rolling her eyes, withdrew her wand and yelled, “Protego!”

The force of the shield charm threw both of the girls off of the sofa, but Kirsty got the worst deal as she careered backwards and fell over the back of the sofa, causing it to tip up.

Sirius, who had slipped over and joined the other three boys, asked Remus, “Are they always like this?”

“I hope so!” exclaimed James, clearly entertained.

Kirsty sat up and rubbed the back of her head.

Lily threw Kirsty’s Ancient Runes book at her and it hit her hard on the chest.

“Enough of the squabbling,” instructed Lily, “now get upstairs the pair of you and start doing some revision for your Ancient Runes exam.”

Kirsty and Emma complied without so much as a grumble obviously sensing that Lily had nothing but their best interests at heart.

*

“Get up!” exclaimed an impatient voice from Sirius’ left.

Groggily, he rubbed his eyes. “What?” he asked, his mouth bone dry.

“Get up now!”

“Who’s there?” asked Peter.

“Kirsty.”

“And Emma,” came a second irritated voice.

“What?” yelped James. “What the hell are you two doing in here?”

“What’s going on?” enquired Remus.

Kirsty sighed exasperatedly. “Snape’s outside our common room.”

“What?” yelled James, accompanied by the creaking of bedsprings. Sirius guessed that he had just sat bolt upright in bed.

“Exactly. And Lily’s just gone down to speak to him, so hurry the hell up!” demanded Emma.

They didn’t need further encouragement. Sirius practically threw himself out of bed before tearing down the staircase after the two girls.

Kirsty reached the portrait hole first and pressed her ear firmly against it. Emma was next pushing against Kirsty to try and get a better vantage point, Kirsty gave her a look of deepest annoyance. Sirius and the other three boys leaped over the room’s many scattered objects to reach the portrait hole in time to hear the whole conversation.

Due to the cramped conditions, Sirius was forced to lean over Kirsty in order to press his ear up against the entrance. His skin tingled at its close proximity to hers. As soon as his ear came in to contact with the solid surface, Snape’s voice filtered through.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not interested.” Lily replied simply.

Sirius and James raised their eyebrows at each other, Lily clearly wasn’t giving into Snape this time.

“I’m sorry!” protested Snape, more vehemently this time.

“Save your breath. I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here.”

“Yes, but who was it who told Mary?” asked Kirsty, sounding miffed.

“I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just �““

“Slipped out?” There was no pity in Lily’s voice only anger and annoyance. “It’s too late. I’ve made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you.” Out of the corner of his eye Sirius saw Kirsty give a small nod of compliance with the last statement. “You and your precious little Death Eater friends - you see, you don’t even deny it! You don’t even deny that’s what you’re all aiming to be! You can’t wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?”

“Go, Lily,” whispered Emma in awe.

“No �“ listen, I didn’t mean �““

“- to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?”

Silence followed, and Sirius wondered whether Snape was struggling with his words.

Suddenly there came a scraping noise, announcing Lily’s return.

“Move!” Kirsty instructed them all.

They all pelted back over to their respective staircases but due to their number and speed it all simply resulted in them lying in a dishevelled heap on the floor.

“Not quite quick enough, guys,” Lily informed them wryly.

Sirius noticed that she didn’t look as angry as he had expected.

Kirsty stood and opened her mouth to speak. Lily halted her in her tracks. “Not one word, Kirst, not one word.” Kirsty floundered before clamping her mouth shut. “I’m off to bed, night all,” stated Lily ascending the staircase.

“I was right about him all along though, wasn’t I?” Kirsty asked them all triumphantly.

Emma smiled and shook her head. Sirius stole a look over at James and saw that he was looking practically giddy.

“Right, we’re off to bed too,” exclaimed Emma.

But Sirius dismissed this comment. “Nice pyjamas, Kirst,” he complimented, smiling broadly as he noticed them for the first time.

Kirsty looked down at her pyjama top and smiled playfully at him in return.

Her top was pink with a picture of a dog wearing shades and a black leather jacket embroidered on it, and across the top in bright red the words ‘Doggy Style’ were emblazoned flamboyantly across it.

Sirius shared a look with the other three boys as they, along with him, were sure to appreciate the humorous significance of this.

“Night, guys,” stated Emma, giving them a fleeting wave as she followed in Lily’s wake.

“Night,” echoed Kirsty giving them all a warm smile.

“Night,” Sirius and the boys all chorused together.

And they hadn’t been able to get rid of the girls since.

It was Kirsty’s shocked exclamation of “Oh, my God!” that dragged Sirius out of his reverie.

She hopped down off the chair, ran over to the window, and pulled it open.

“Bloody hell!” exclaimed Sirius as he stood up.

There was a torrential downpour taking place outside, and even as Sirius watched, a fork of lightening illuminated the sky.

“It’s raining,” stated Kirsty.

“I think that may just be a bit of an understatement,” Sirius informed her with a laugh.

She leaned out of the window and lifted her head up to meet the onslaught of raindrops. Kirsty loved rain; downpours such as this were, in her opinion, one of nature’s greatest offerings.

She pulled her head and shoulders back inside the classroom and turned to face Sirius. Her hair was sopping wet and sticking to her head and her shoulders were covered in little spots of water. He couldn’t help but grin at her appearance.

“It looks like we got the better end of the deal after all,” she informed him gleefully.

“You’ll catch your death of cold, you know,” he stated.

“See if I care,” she replied, jokingly sticking her nose up in the air.

Sirius withdrew his wand and cast a hot air charm upon her hair.

“Spoilsport!” she whined, “I’ll just have to go and do it again now.”

Sirius grabbed hold of her arm in order to stop her.

She turned and rolled her eyes at him. “Just because you’re afraid of a bit of rain, you’re nearly as bad as Emma.”

“I am not. And you know I’m just trying to stop you from catching a cold.”

“So what if I catch a cold? All I need to do is ask Madam Pomfrey for a Pepper up Potion.”

Sirius sighed.

“Come here,” she requested with a smile as she grabbed hold of his hand.

Sirius suddenly became very aware of the fact that this was the first time that he and Kirsty had ever held hands, and he had to admit that the sensation it bought was not a bad one.

She pulled him towards the window to stand beside her. “Honestly, there’s nothing better than standing out in a downpour. But seeing as we’re stuck in here, we’ll just have to make do with the next best thing. Come on lean out, I dare you.” She gave him a wicked smile.

“Fine,” he relented, finding himself grinning despite himself.

“Hmm, there’s not much room though, and I’d have to do it with you, it being your first time and all,” she informed him with a wink. “I know, just lean over the top of me. God knows you’re tall enough, but be gentle.”

His mouth twitched. “I’ll be nothing but.” He walked over to stand behind her, and she let go of his hand.

“Now we can both catch colds together,” she told him as she projected her head out the window once again.

Sirius laughed as he followed her lead. He hated to admit it, but Kirsty was right, being out in a downpour was definitely an experience. He leant his head out further loving the feeling of the raindrops cascading down his face.

“You’re squishing me!” giggled Kirsty.

“Hey, don’t complain,” he replied lowering his head in order to address her better, “this was all your idea.”

She laughed, and he felt it reverberate through her back and into his chest. He also caught a whiff of her hair as he made to tilt his head away from hers again. Mmm, it smelt delightfully of cherry.

He sighed, realising that this was the most contented that he had felt all week. His heart thudded in his chest, and he wondered whether Kirsty could feel it.

“Seriously, you big lug, get off me!” she exclaimed jokingly, trying her best to push him away with her back.

Moment ruined then, he thought morosely as he moved back in order to free her. Feeling immensely vulnerable, Sirius averted his gaze away from hers so that she could not see the disappointment in his eyes.

Deciding that he needed some time alone, he announced, “I’ll be back in a minute.” He allowed himself a fleeting glance at Kirsty as he made his way over to the store room and saw that she had her head tilted in a questioning manner.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to check that the store room doesn’t need tidying,” he replied, closing the door to the store room with a snap. Plunged into darkness, Sirius withdrew his wand and commanded, “Lumos.” His wand ignited and sent tendrils of light around the room.

With that done Sirius plunged his hand inside his trouser pocket and pulled out a small, black, square mirror. “Prongs?” he requested tentatively.

For a few seconds Sirius only saw his own grey eyes being reflected back at him, but slowly the framed hazel eyes of James came into view. “Hey, Padfoot,” he replied wearily.

Sirius’ mouth twitched as he took in James’ bedraggled appearance. His face looked as if it was freezing cold, his hair was no longer rumpled but soppy and flattened, and his glasses were all fogged up.

“How’s it going, mate?”

“Terrible,” was the disgruntled captain’s reply.

Sirius raised his eyebrows, surprised. “So, being captain’s not all it’s cracked up to be then?”

“No. It’s bloody awful! I’ve already had arguments with about five players who think they know better than me, I had to put up with being harassed by your fan girls who kept on pestering me asking when I thought you might be turning up, and one of them even had the cheek to try out for the team!” he ranted.

Sirius furrowed his brow. “Well, what’s wrong with that?”

“She was a Ravenclaw!” fumed James.

“Oh,” chuckled Sirius.

“Yeah, so all in all not a very good night. I wish Kirsty could have been here. I think she may have just been able to keep me sane.”

“You know, if you think you require my services for the team, I’d be only too happy to pop down there and tryout…”

“No! You’re not being on my team! Besides, I think I’ve found my needed players.”

“I don’t know why you’re so set against having me on the team, I’m a pretty decent player, you know.”

“I have my reasons,” James informed him shortly.

“So, who have we got then?” asked Sirius huffily.

“Billy Harper as the new Beater and Michaela Chase and Luke Tyler as the new Chasers,” James dutifully informed him.

“Doesn’t sound like a bad line up to me.”

“No, they’re really good. I suppose I should be more enthusiastic about finding them really.” He sighed. “Why’s your hair wet?” he then enquired seemingly looking for a change of topic.

“Oh, Kirsty dared me to stick my head out of the window.”

“Where is Kirst anyway? You’ve not disposed of her in some way, have you? Because I really don’t want to have to hold another set of tryouts.”

“No,” laughed Sirius, “she’s still cleaning.”

“So she’s cleaning, and you’ve sneaked off to have a good old chinwag with me.”

“That’s about the long and short of it,” Sirius replied with a grin.

“Lazy git,” James reprimanded with a roll of his eyes.

“So, are you all done now then?”

“Yeah, I’m heading back up to the common room any second now. What time do you think you two will be back?”

“We shouldn’t be long now. I’ll see you soon. Over and out, Prongs.”

“Over and out, Padfoot.”

And with that James’ face vanished.

Sirius hastily stuffed the mirror back in his pocket before extinguishing his wand and pushing open the door to the classroom.

Splash!

A bucketful of ice cold water washed over him, trickling down his back and dripping from his hair and on to his face. Upon its impact Sirius’ nerve endings immediately stood to attention. Taken by surprise he immediately started looking around for any clues which would help certify what had just happened to him. The mop bucket lay discarded mere feet away and Kirsty’s manic giggles punctuated the air.

“Your face!” she gasped in between gurgles of laughter. She clutched her sides and leaned against the desk to keep herself upright, her eyes shut tight in which to revel in the mirth.

The prankster had become the pranked.

He shook his sopping fringe out of his eyes and, feeling devilish and in dire need of revenge, ran towards her.

But Kirsty realised his intentions too late, so much so that she had only managed to accomplish a small shift away from the desk by the time she was confronted with his sodden face.

Sirius took a firm grip of her shoulders in order to pin her to the spot. “You’re going to pay for that,” he informed her in a dangerously low voice.

She merely replied by giving him a cheeky smile. But her eyes seemed to be taunting him, daring him to do something to her which she’d never expect, something that would completely knock her off her feet.

It wasn’t until the smile disappeared from her face to be replaced by a look of uncertainty and puzzlement that Sirius realised just how much he’d love to wreak his revenge by doing something unto her which would render her speechless. And the look of her lips when she formed them into a puzzled pout were drawing him in, telling him that they would be the tools in which he needed to do so.

For the briefest of seconds he closed his eyes, hoping that it would rid him of his feelings of confusion and disconcertion which had began to bubble deep down within him.

He felt Kirsty shrug and his eyes snapped back open. His grip on her had slackened and she moved her foot sideways as if she were looking to sidestep him. However, both of them had failed to notice the small puddle of water that had been born from a soaking wet Sirius.

Kirsty’s foot slipped and reaching out to make a grab for something, anything, for which she could latch onto she looped her right arm around Sirius’ neck and grabbed the collar of his shirt with her left hand.

As she descended a few inches she tugged hard on his collar and Sirius felt the fabric burn into the back of his neck. Well, Sirius had wanted to knock her off her feet and now he’d got it, literally, though it wasn’t quite what he had envisaged…

Oh well, waste not want not.

She was so close that they were practically brushing cheeks and it was doing nothing to ease Sirius’ inner turmoil.

He heard Kirsty chuckle softly next to his ear.

Oh dear Lord.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and saw that she was looking pointedly over his shoulder.

“I think this is going to have to wait until later,” she announced.

What?

“What’s going to have to wait until later?” he asked cautiously.

“Your revenge.”

“Oh. How come?” he queried.

“Because we still have a hell of a lot of work to do in here, and,” Kirsty removed her arm from around his neck and checked her watch. “Typicus is going to be back soon.”

Realising upon surveying the classroom that she was indeed right, Sirius placed his hands on Kirsty’s waist (emotional torture in itself) and helped set her upright once more.

Must not look at lips, must not look at lips, he chanted a mantra inside his head.

His eyes, hearing his plea, took to looking at a spot just over her shoulder, but his body, rebelling against the mantra, leaned in close in order to whisper in her ear.

Stupid hormones!

“I suppose that I can contain myself for another half an hour,” he informed her.

She swallowed and nodded at him before walking away, back to her chores. But Sirius knew that he’d be containing himself for a long time to come, the rest of his life if he could manage it. After all, ignorance was bliss and definitely the bane of a lustful hormone’s life.

*

Half an hour later Sirius was to be found lounging back on the rear legs of one of the classroom’s many vacant chairs.

Putting his hands behind his head, he proudly surveyed his handiwork.

After having finished his tasks in record time due to the fact that cleaning had taken his mind of Kirsty (Sirius got a sneaking suspicion that the Gryffindor common room would be constantly gleaming from now on), he had taken it upon himself to relieve his boredom by scribbling a message to Typicus on the board.

Sirius’ message consisted of two stick figure drawings, one of them being himself and the other being Typicus. The stick figure Typicus had a caption above his head which read ‘Professor acting like Mr Know-It-All’ and the stick figure Sirius was drawn mid worship of the stick figure professor and his caption read ‘I bow down to the almightiness that is Typicus’.

He smiled, pleased with himself.

His eyes fluttered shut and Sirius felt as if he had earned himself this moment of peace. The only sound in the classroom was that of Kirsty bustling about finishing the last of her chores.

A cramp formed in his leg and he eased the chair further back in order to rid himself of it. But this time he’d pushed the chair too far and it perched on what felt like a knife edge before starting to plunge ominously backwards. Sirius came painfully into contact with the hard stone floor of the classroom and for the second time that evening Kirsty’s hysterical laughter filled his ears.

As Sirius lamely stood upright, Kirsty composed herself and announced, “I think that may just have been karma.”

Deciding to act first and think later, Sirius hastily withdrew the sponge he had been using to wipe down the windowsills from its bucket of soapy water and launched it at Kirsty.

She shrieked as the sodden yellow foam hit her in the stomach. Wasting no time, she retrieved the sponge and threw it back at him.

And so the fight began.

The sponge was tossed back and forth and Sirius and Kirsty darted around the classroom and dived behind desks in order to avoid it.

This, Sirius realised, was exactly why he was not going let his hormonal longings towards Kirsty continue. He loved their friendship too much. He loved how much fun she was to be around and how childishly they could act when they were together.

He took careful aim and the sponge flew across the classroom to come into contact with Kirsty’s head (something he had been trying to achieve since the fight began), and she flipped him a v sign. They were back on friend territory again, and Sirius was immensely glad of this because this territory was safe.

After impact the sponge had ricocheted off and now Kirsty was making a play to retrieve it for her own. But Sirius was not going to give her the satisfaction of being able to claim revenge on him, so he dived at her the moment she bent down to pick up the weapon in question.

They came crashing down on the floor, with Sirius on top pinning her down.

Bugger.

Sirius could literally envisage his guardian angel smacking himself on the forehead and storming out of the room slamming the door behind him in protest.

Kirsty raised her eyebrows at him and a playful smile graced her lips. And making light of the situation she stated, “We seemed to have found ourselves in rather a presumable situation.”

Sirius had never loved her more than at that moment. Copying her carefree tone and allowing himself a devilish smile he replied, “Come to the dark side.”

She gave him a puzzled look before her eyebrows shot even higher up her forehead. Her mouth twitched until, unable to contain it any longer, she snorted derisively. “That is unbelievably corrupted, do you know that?”

“You’re equally corrupted for knowing what I was insinuating,” he retorted, prodding her playfully in the side.

Somebody coughed from behind him. “I do hope I’m not interrupting anything,” stated Typicus.

Sirius jumped up and away from Kirsty as if she had burned him.

He turned to survey Typicus as Kirsty scrambled to her feet behind him.

Typicus surveyed the room taking in the open window, the discarded mop bucket and the wayward sponge before settling on Sirius’ drawing on the board.

His mouth twitched.

“Well, it looks like you’ve both done an excellent job. I’d say you’re free to go.”

Sirius sighed relieved and grateful. He and Kirsty nodded to the professor before making for the door.

“Although,” amended Typicus, “I wouldn’t mind a quiet word with you, Mr Black.”

They both stopped and Sirius surveyed Kirsty who shrugged. “I’ll wait for you outside,” she offered.

Sirius nodded before turning back towards his professor.

“She’s a nice girl,” complimented Typicus as Kirsty disappeared through the door.

Sirius swelled with pride. “Yes, she is.”

“You two get along well.”

Sirius nodded.

“Extremely well, in fact, one may even be forgiven for thinking that you’d set up this detention deliberately.”

Sirius was rendered dumbstruck.

Typicus surveyed him his eyes scanning every inch of his face. “Forgive me, I seem to have spoken out of turn, it is not my place.” He apologised before striding towards the door. “Goodnight, Sirius.”

And with that he left, leaving a confused Sirius to wonder whether on some level what Typicus had said was true.

Anything in the memory sequence that you recognise does not belong to me, that is solely JK’s writing from Order of the Phoenix, chapter 28: Snape’s Worst Memory and Deathly Hallows, chapter 33: The Prince’s Tale, I just borrowed it to set up the scenes. Thanks for reading, and please take the time to review.

October arrived just as blustery and chilly as ever, and Hayley had managed to surprise everyone by making the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Lily and James seemed to have beaten their own personal record by not having one single argument since the beginning of term, and Hayley had also managed to finally swindle her way into the Gryffindor common room after convincing Lily that it would be a good idea to keep her updated with the passwords in case of emergencies, but Kirsty highly doubted that Hayley visiting Remus in the boys’ dorms just because she had run out of books to read really counted as an emergency.

It was on one of these cold and frosty evenings at the beginning of October that found Kirsty, Emma, Sirius and Peter all lounging idly on the sofas in front of the blazing common room fire. Crumpled pieces of written on parchment littered the floor around Kirsty’s feet.

Hunched over her current piece of work and concentrating hard, Kirsty feverishly tried to finish her Potions essay. With yet another roar of frustration she scrunched up the piece of parchment she had just been working on and threw it on the floor to join its brethren.

“How’s it going, Kirst?” asked Sirius amusedly.

Kirsty scowled at him. “Have I ever told you guys that I absolutely loath Potions?”

“Once or twice-“ replied Peter.

“-every hour of everyday-“ added Sirius.

“-ever since we first entered the dungeons,” finished Emma.

Kirsty heaved an exhausted sigh. “It’s not fair. How come I’m the only one who gets set extra homework?”

“Probably because you managed to melt your sixteenth cauldron during Slughorn’s last lesson,” Peter informed her.

Kirsty mumbled incoherently in response.

“Especially seeing as the Felix Felicis you had been brewing oozed out all over the floor and burnt a hole in the toe of Remus’ shoe,” related Emma.

“It was classic!” exclaimed Sirius with a bark of laughter.

“Yeah, well, I aim to entertain,” grumbled Kirsty.

Silenced ensued between the small group as Kirsty proceeded to scribble on a new piece of parchment. After a few minutes she yelled in distress, “Oh, where’s Lily when you need her?”

“Well, the last time I checked she was off pleading yours and Emma’s case for some sort of Halloween hoopla.”

This was of course true. Ever since Emma had first introduced Kirsty to the concept that Muggles dressed up for Halloween she had not let the idea of a Hogwarts fancy dress party rest.

“I would hardly call a Halloween dance a hoopla, Padfoot,” objected Peter. “Besides; I’m quite looking forward to the idea.”

“Thank you, Peter,” stated Emma gratefully, sticking her tongue out in response to Sirius.

“Aw, come on, Sirius, I’m sure you’ll love it,” Kirsty assured him.

“Don’t hold your breath. I’m currently hoping that all the other Prefects and Heads of Houses reject the idea.”

“Spoilsport,” Kirsty informed him with a mock scowl.

Sirius replied by giving her a smug look.

The sound of the portrait hole creaking open caught Kirsty’s ears and she swivelled her head around to survey the remainder of her friends as they entered. Lily, Remus and James were all talking animatedly among themselves and Kirsty raised her eyebrows in surprise. Lily was once again ignoring her six year animosity towards James and showing that they were more than capable of being civil to one another.

“And?” ventured Emma. “What did our superiors decide?”

James gave Lily a consenting nod before she blurted out, “There’s going to be a Halloween Ball, for all in the fifth year and above and costumes are compulsory!”

Sirius and Peter groaned loudly whereas Kirsty and Emma jumped up from their seats and began to squeal excitedly. They ran over to join Lily as Remus made his way sombrely over to the two boys. The three girls enveloped each other in an ecstatic hug and once it was over James was beckoned to join in on their merriment. He did so without hesitation and the four of them jumped up and down with unrestrained euphoria. The four of them simply loved Halloween.

Kirsty emerged from the small huddle, with her hair a lot messier than it had been previously, claiming freedom due to the fact that she had a Potions essay to complete.

She plonked herself down on the sofa beside Remus just as Sirius pleaded to him, “Please tell me that this is some sort of sick joke.”

Kirsty shot him an unimpressed look.

“I’m afraid not, my friend. It seems like it’s going to happen whether we like it or not.”

“Do I sense that not all the Prefects are happy with this decision?” asked Peter with a playful smile.

“Not exactly,” he replied, smiling wearily. “Hayley’s not all that impressed either-“

“Seriously? I thought she’d be all for it like the other three. How come she doesn’t like it?”

“Because she’s a boring old bugger just like you three!” announced Emma as she came to sit down on the arm of Sirius’ chair.

Sirius looked at her in irritation and then chose to ignore her comment by addressing Remus instead, “So any ideas as to how we can get out of it?”

Kirsty watched as Lily, who had previously snatched Kirsty’s essay off her in order to correct any mistakes, shot Sirius a look of disproval over the top of the piece of parchment. Kirsty, upon swivelling her head back around to see what Remus’ response would be, saw that Emma had begun to tap out a tune with her fingers on the back of the chair. Kirsty grinned at the look of growing annoyance on Sirius’ face.

“Sorry, Padfoot, you’re just going to have to be a man and deal with it.”

James let out a shout of laughter, and Kirsty looked over at him to see him looking over Lily’s shoulder at her Potions essay and munching thoughtfully on a cookie he had produced from God knows where as Lily crossed out what looked like whole passages of writing.

By now Kirsty wasn’t sure which scene would be the most entertaining to watch, the cuteness that currently was Lily and James or the knitting together of Sirius’ brow as he grew steadily angrier with Emma’s incessant noise making.

Finally, she opted for watching Lily and James, and she was glad that she did too when James proceeded to brush his hand repeatedly across Lily’s shoulder. As quick as a flash Lily whipped her head around in his direction and gave him an extremely irked look.

“Cookie crumbs,” he explained tentatively. Lily laughed quietly and smiled amusedly up at him. James leaned forward and pointed at something on the parchment. “That needs correcting,” he stated.

His face was mere inches away from Lily’s own and Kirsty’s eyebrows shot up in anticipation.

“Thanks,” she replied as she turned away to correct it.

“No problem,” announced James quietly.

Kirsty’s shoulders slumped in disappointment but there was no denying that something had definitely just passed between the two.

“Nah nah nah nah!” cried Emma rhythmically.

All heads turned to survey her and Emma banged loudly on the chair with both of her hands before finishing by smacking Sirius twice on top of his head. His face contorted with anger and annoyance, Sirius threw his arm out and knocked Emma flying off of her perch on the chair’s arm. The common room erupted with laughter and Kirsty saw the look of vindication on Sirius’ face.

Lesley, who had been stood nearby in deep conversation with Sam, walked over to help Emma back up tears of mirth glistening in her eyes, and Sam followed not far behind nodding his greeting to Emma with an entertained smile.

“So is this ball going to take place on the actual night of Halloween then?” asked Peter once everyone had recovered from Sirius and Emma’ shenanigans.

“Alas, no,” declared James sorrowfully, “seeing as Halloween falls on a Monday this year. So we’ve decided to have it on the Saturday before.” Peter nodded, a look of thoughtfulness on his face.

“What’s this?” questioned Sam. Obviously, the previous exciting squealing of the three Gryffindor girls had gone straight over the top of Sam’s head.

“There’s going to be a Halloween ball on the twenty ninth of this month,” Lily relayed to him.

Sam looked dubious but Lesley let out an excited gasp. “Oooh, I’ve always wanted to be a Banshee!”

“There’s something oddly unsettling about that statement,” announced Remus wryly. Lesley smiled winningly back at him.

“I don’t suppose anyone has any ideas as to what I can go as?” queried Sam.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with something between us,” Kirsty informed Sam with a wink. He opted for a simple smile in response.

“Do you know what?” piped up Sirius, “I think I may have just thought of a costume idea for myself.”

“That’s right, Sirius, get into the spirit of things,” Kirsty replied jovially.

“Though I’m betting that you won’t like it,” he continued to inform her.

She waved her hand dismissively at him. “Who cares if I like it or not? As long as you wear some sort of costume I’ll be happy.”

“I might just hold you to that,” he replied, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Peter groaned loudly. “I still can’t believe that you’re making us do this. Do we really have to go?”

“Yes,” replied Lily shortly, “even if we have to drag you kicking and screaming into that hall, costumes and all.”

“Let them go without costumes, Lil,” pleaded James.

“What?”

“Let them go as themselves instead, as naked as the day they were born,” he finished smirking broadly.

Kirsty snorted with laughter when Sirius actually looked like he was considering it.

“We’ll wear a costume!” exclaimed Peter hysterically.

*

Hayley was immensely glad that she wasn’t wearing a costume to the dance tonight, especially seeing as Kirsty in particular was so stressed out from having put more hours into her costume than her homework. Even mere minutes ago when Hayley had darted past Kirsty in order to find sanctuary in the Gryffindor girls’ dormitory, she had been sprawled out in the middle of the common room with piles of varying materials, enchanted knitting needles, scissors and her wand scattered disorderly around her.

Currently, Hayley was to be found lounging luxuriously on Emma’s four poster bed with a romance novel held up in the air above her head.

Emma, Lesley and Mary were all currently in the shower, Kirsty was still downstairs working on her costume, Hayley suspected that Lily had gone down to get ready in the Prefect’s Bathroom, and the four boys were conspicuous by their absence.

“Do you want to see what you’re going to be wearing tonight, Hails?” came the most unwelcome voice of Kirsty.

Hayley groaned loudly turning onto her front and burying her face in Emma’s mattress. “This is what I’m wearing tonight,” she replied, her voice muffled slightly by the quilt.

The bed’s hangings were wrenched open and Kirsty cried, upon seeing Hayley dressed in her jeans and favourite top, “No, you are not!”

“Oh, yes I am,” retorted Hayley, lifting her head up and staring Kirsty defiantly in the eye.

“But me and Emma spent hours making this for you,” whined Kirsty.

“Don’t say that!” wailed Hayley. “That’s emotional blackmail.”

“So it is,” proclaimed Emma as she walked in from the bathroom, towelling her wet hair. “Nice idea, Kirst.”

“Fine,” huffed Hayley, sitting up on the bed and folding her arms, unimpressed. “What is it then?”

Kirsty and Emma grinned at each other. “Close your eyes,” commanded Emma.

Hayley shot them both a reproachful look before doing so. As her world was plunged into darkness, she heard the rustling of Kirsty’s carrier bag next to her ear.

“Hold out your hands,” requested Kirsty.

Again Hayley begrudgingly complied. Material as smooth as silk slithered through Hayley’s outstretched fingers. Fighting the urge to open her eyes, she worked the material between her fingers. It seemed to be flawlessly made.

“You can open your eyes now,” Emma informed her gleefully.

Hayley opened her eyes to a slit and gazed down at the light blue fabric folded across her lap. A gasp escaped her lips, and she took in every detail of the most beautiful dress she had ever laid eyes upon.

“Do you like it?” asked Kirsty, sounding apprehensive.

Hayley was speechless. How could she not? The two girls had far outdone themselves. The dress was round necked with a corset bodice and the bottom of the dress fanned out from the waist down in a ball gown style. It had slightly puffy short white sleeves and a ruffled effect on the hem at the bottom of the dress. Placed on top of the folded fabric was a pair of white long sleeved gloves and a silver tiara and by Hayley’s feet there was a pair of silver shoes.

“I love it!” she exclaimed, carefully removing her costume from her lap and flinging herself into the unsuspecting arms of her two friends.

“You shall go to the ball, Cinderella!” exclaimed Emma as the three immersed themselves in a group hug.

Hayley removed herself and stood looking at her costume with affection. “Have I ever mentioned how brilliant you guys are?” They grinned. “So,” she began, curiosity beginning to get the better of her, “dare I ask what you two are going as?”

“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to divulge that sort of information,” replied Kirsty.

“Yeah, that goes for me too,” concurred Emma.

Hayley rolled her eyes skyward before bringing her wrist up to check on the time. “Bugger!” she exclaimed. “We only have two hours left in which to get ready!”

“What?” screeched the other two in dismay.

“Merlin! And I haven’t even nipped in the shower yet!” cried Kirsty.

“Well, quick, get in there now,” commanded Emma.

“I can’t,” replied Kirsty pulling a regretful face as she stalked over to her bed and produced yet another carrier bag from beneath it.

“What’s that?” quizzed Hayley.

“Sam’s costume,” answered Kirsty.

“Oh really? What’s he going as?” asked Emma, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

“You’ll have to wait and see!” shouted Kirsty in reply as she lunged out of the dormitory door.

--------------

Kirsty thundered down the girls’ staircase and came skidding to a halt in the middle of the common room floor.

All four Marauders looked up from their game of Exploding Snap upon her invasion.

Kirsty stared at them in disbelief. “Aren’t you guys ready yet?”

“Hark, who’s talking!” exclaimed James, eyeing her up and down.

“Yeah, well, I’ve been adding the final touches to Hayley’s costume,” retorted Kirsty defensively.

“Oh really?” asked Remus. “What’s she going as?”

Unfortunately for Remus, Kirsty raised her eyebrows at this having not failed to pick up on his attempt at a nonchalant tone, a tone much like the one Emma had adopted when talking about Sam mere seconds ago. Remus now looked mildly uncomfortable and Kirsty, grinning broadly now, replied, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Remus turned to Peter with a puzzled frown. “Isn’t that why I asked?”

Peter smiled and shrugged.

“You guys are still dressing up aren’t you?” asked Kirsty, suddenly feeling sceptical.

“Do we have a choice?” grumbled Sirius. Kirsty gave him a tantalising smile.

“What’s in the bag, Kirst?” enquired Peter.

“Sam’s costume,” she replied shortly, “I don’t suppose he’s upstairs is he?”

They all nodded in response.

“He’s just got out of the shower I think,” supplied Sirius.

“Great.”

Kirsty marched over to the stairs and when her foot was on the bottom most rung Peter called, “One hour and fifty five minutes left to go!”

“Bugger!” she exclaimed as she dashed along yet another staircase.

------------

Water droplets slowly trickled down the front of Sam’s bare chest as he tied the towel securely around his waist. He raked his hand through his wet curly hair giving it the desirable ruffled look before stepping out of the boys’ bathroom, his wash things in hand.

“Oh, Mr North.”

Sam jumped a mile and his wash bag slipped through his fingers and landed on the floor.

He looked up to meet Kirsty’s smirking face and was thankful that he wasn’t one of those people who blushed easily.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing in here, Kirst?” he asked grumpily as he tried to manoeuvre himself so that he could retrieve his wash bag without his towel gaping at a formidable place.

Kirsty watched him with unrestrained amusement. “I brought your costume up for you.”

Sam, having successfully managed to securely obtain his wash things, straightened up and gazed at the carrier bag that Kirsty was brandishing in front of his face.

Tentatively he took it off of her and peeked inside it. He caught a glimpse of dark green fabric before looking back at Kirsty with a repulsed look. “Who is it that I’m going as?”

“Legolas,” she replied dutifully.

“Which is what exactly?”

“He’s in that book, you know, erm, Lord of the Rings, the one written by that Tollbooth guy,” she replied, seeming a bit unsure of the whole thing herself.

Sam furrowed his brow.

“It’s a Muggle book.”

“Ah,” exclaimed Sam in sudden comprehension. If it was Muggle character, he couldn’t possibly be expected to know who it was. “And this Legolas character is who exactly?”

“An elf,” she answered.

“What?” screeched Sam. “I am not going to this Halloween dance dressed like some snivelling house-elf, thank you very much!”

Kirsty giggled. “No, in Lord of the Rings, elves are very handsome creatures that look very much like humans except for their pointed ears. And Legolas is apparently one of the best looking of the lot.”

Sam gave her a quirky grin, feeling suitably mollified by this knowledge. “How come you know so much about this anyway?”

“Well, it’s Emma’s favourite book. She’s tried to get me to read it several times, but it’s way too confusing and most of the facts about the magical world are all wrong. Legolas is actually Emma’s favourite character.”

Sam raised his eyebrows. “Is there any particular reason why you are dressing me up as Emma’s favourite book character?”

“None that I can think of,” she replied, smiling sweetly.

Sam was unconvinced; it was a well known fact throughout the whole of Gryffindor tower that Emma fancied him. Not that this bothered him, of course; in fact, he was immensely flattered as Emma was a very good looking girl.

“Right, now I’m off. Time’s ticking, and I really do have to go and get ready now.” She made for the door but hesitated as she reached the top of the stairs. Turning around she shouted, “Oh, and if you have any problems with the wig just give me a shout!”

“Wig?” he queried with a grimace.

She simply grinned broadly at him in response. “Toodles,”

“Hang on!” he called after her. “What are you going as?”

Kirsty tapped her nose. “Wait and see.”

“Great, now I won’t even be safe in the knowledge that your costume will look even more ridiculous than mine.”

“Charming!” she exclaimed indignantly. “But if it makes you feel any better, I, too, am going as a Muggle book character.”

“You know, I’ll soon be unable to recognise you as a Pureblood,” joked Sam.

“I know, terrible isn’t it? It’s one of the only books that Lily and Emma have managed to make me read though. Mind you, it wasn’t hard seeing as the main character shares my name.”

“Now I’m slightly intrigued.”

“And rightly so,” she stated with a wink. “Right, I’ll see you down in the Great Hall later.”

“Wait!” he shouted, stopping her from descending the stairs yet again. “You mean you’re not coming down with me?”

“No,” she replied slowly, “I was going to go down the others.”

“But you can’t leave me to walk into the hall with this on unguarded.”

Kirsty heaved an exasperated sigh. “Fine, I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

“Thank you, much appreciated,” he simpered.

She mocked glared before she descended the first few steps of the stairs. “And be careful with those tights!” she called back.

Words could not express how much Sam regretted putting Kirsty in charge of his costume.

--------------

At ten minutes to eight, all four Marauders were to be found standing and waiting impatiently at the bottom of the girls’ staircase.

“Why the hell do women take so long to get ready?” whinged Peter.

“Ah, that is one of life’s great mysteries, my friend,” replied James knowledgably.

Remus, who had been watching the top of the staircase with intent, was the first to see Lily emerge. He coughed pointedly to the other three, who took the initiative to also pin their gazes back to the stairs.

Lily descended the staircase wearing a floor length sky blue dress, partially shrouded in a forest green cloak which fastened with a small clasp just under her neck. Her red hair had been curled and tumbled elegantly down her back and over her shoulders. To finish off the costume a small headband had been placed on top of her head and on her feet she wore light brown ballet type shoes.

Remus watched with amusement as James’ amazed grin grew wider and wider the closer Lily got to the four of them, and when she finally did come to stand amongst them, James gasped, “Wow, Lily, you look-“

“Thanks,” she replied, cutting him off with a grateful smile as her cheeks reddened slightly.

“You really do look wonderful,” agreed Remus.

“I hate to sound stupid, but who are you supposed to be, Lil?” asked Peter, perplexed.

“Maid Marion.”

Peter looked to Sirius, who shrugged, looking just as confused.

Lily elaborated, “She’s a character from the Muggle legend of Robin Hood. Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest, and in the tales he fights against injustice and robs from the rich to give to the poor. And Maid Marion was a high ranking lady of the court who fell in love with Robin; it’s one of the greatest love stories of all time.”

Remus saw Sirius lean in towards James and was just able to make out Sirius’ whisper of, “Looks like you should have dressed up as Robin Hood instead, mate.”

James, looking disappointed, sighed loudly.

Footsteps on the landing made them all whip their heads skywards once again. Remus was quite literally stunned by her appearance, and upon surveying the other guys he saw that they were looking equally dazed. Emma was dressed in black from head to foot. Quite obviously dressed as a cat, she wore a cat suit trimmed with fur around her wrists, ankles and rounded neckline. To add to the effect, a tail had been sewn to the back, a black choker was placed around her neck like a collar, and she wore a headband with attached ears on top of her hair, which in contrast to Lily’s was incredibly straight. Remus also had to marvel at how she could possibly walk in the black high heels that she was wearing to accompany the outfit.

“Meow,” commented Sirius sexily.

Emma grinned shyly at them all before coming to stand beside Remus who leaned down and whispered in her ear, “In all honesty, I’d think Sam was a complete idiot if he was able to resist you tonight.”

She gave him a small smile before surveying the group as Lily was doing and commenting hysterically on their costumes.

The sound of Kirsty’s laughter punctuated the air, and by the time Remus’ gaze once again flitted towards the staircase, Kirsty’s costume was fully visible. She, too, was wearing a dress, the brightest that they had seen so far, in fact. The bodice was a royal blue colour and from the waist down the dress was sunny yellow and fanned out ball gown style. The puffy sleeves of the dress were a light blue and had a red rain drop shaped pattern circling them. At the back it had a high funnel necked collar and as well as her black shoes, Kirsty wore a red bow in her currently short dark brown hair.

She descended the stairs slowly and gracefully, abandoning her usual thundering and leaping. Remus was watching Sirius intently as he was currently looking like all his Christmases had come at once.

Lily laughed, “Snow White! Oh the cheesiness!”

Kirsty grinned proudly.

“You look fantastic,” announced Sirius quietly. Kirsty gave him a perplexed look, as if she had never seen him properly before, but soon smiled graciously in reply.

“And Snow White would be?” asked James.

“A princess from a Disney story, the only Muggle story I’ve read, coincidentally.”

“I can’t believe that you lot have been at Hogwarts for over six years, and you still insist on going about things in a Muggle way, and what’s even worse is the fact that you’ve miraculously gotten James in on the act too,” ranted Peter.

At this Kirsty seemed to do a double take as she reassessed the Marauders’ costumes. She took in James’ appearance first of all. Possibly one of the simplest costumes in the room, James was wearing a black suit complete with a crisp white shirt, a black bow tie and black shoes. And in his hand he held a Muggle child’s toy gun.

“You’re only wearing a suit!” Kirsty scolded.

“How dare you? It took a lot of time and effort for me to acquire this costume!” James replied defensively.

“He’s James Bond, Kirst,” supplemented Lily.

Kirsty furrowed her brow, “That secret agent guy from those films that Emma keeps insisting that we watch?”

“Yeah,” affirmed James, “and you really should watch them, you know. They’re awesome!”

The others, save Emma, rolled their eyes, as during the last summer holidays Emma and James had had a James Bond film watching marathon. The others, upon hearing this plan, vacated the area immediately.

Kirsty then turned to Remus and surveyed him closely. “Godric Gryffindor?” she ventured.

Remus grinned proudly and nodded. In contrast to James who was dressed all in black and white, Remus was dressed in all red and gold. He wore very dark red trousers which were verging on being brown and a heavy red travelling cloak which was embroidered with gold at the front. On his hands, he wore red metal plated gloves which had been bolted with gold studs. Remus had even gone as far as to dye and grow his hair for the occasion. So he now looked out at Kirsty from underneath a bushy dark red mane, and he had even managed to grow a short red beard to complete the look. Lastly, in his hand he held a replica of Gryffindor’s sword with the ruby encrusted hilt.

“You look absolutely amazing!” she praised.

“Why thank you, kind lady,” he replied, bowing graciously.

Once again Kirsty shifted her speculative gaze so that it landed on Peter. He looked as if he had barely survived a tragic accident. Covered from head to foot in bandages in various states of grunginess with just two slits in his face for his eyes and mouth he looked extremely eerie.

“Wow!” she breathed. “That must have taken you ages!”

“We helped!” piped up James.

“Yeah, throwing bandages over the top of someone’s head is immensely fun!” chipped in Sirius.

Kirsty whipped her head around to gaze at Sirius and her features immediately formulated themselves into a scowl. She marched forward and prodded him in his leather jacket plated chest. “This is your costume?” she cried.

“I told you you wouldn’t like it,” Sirius replied, grinning inanely.

“But you said that you were going to dress up,” she yelled at him, annoyed.

“Kirst, he is dressed up,” offered James, also looking quite irked with Sirius.

Kirsty furrowed her brow at James and turned back to survey Sirius, dressed in his dark blue jeans, brown trainers, white t-shirt and black leather jacket, and continued to look none the wiser.

Sirius helpfully pointed to a nametag which was pinned on the left side of his chest. Kirsty peered at it and gave Sirius a look of disgust.

“God?” she asked incredulously. “But you’re not God!”

“Tell that to the fan girls,” he replied arrogantly, winking at her.

“You’re just going to have to deal with it, Kirst, because it’s too late for him to change now,” stated Remus.

Sirius gave him a grateful smile. Kirsty huffed and punched Sirius on the arm.

“Ouch! What was that for?”

“For being an egotistical git as per usual,” she replied, giving him a charming smile.

Sirius smirked slightly at her.

“What are you betting that we have to drag Hayley down the god damn stairs?” questioned Lily.

“Ah,” replied Kirsty knowledgably, “the plan is already set in motion, my friend.” She then spun on her heel and hollered up to the girls’ dormitory, “Hayley, come on!”

“I’m just not comfortable with this!” squeaked Hayley’s muffled voice from the top of the staircase.

“Lesley, if you please,” yelled back Kirsty.

Remus had his gaze pinned intently on the staircase now, and he watched as Hayley emerged with Lesley pushing her forcefully down every last step of the staircase. He honestly couldn’t see why Hayley seemed so self-conscious about appearing before them in her costume, because, in his opinion, she looked absolutely radiant. The dress fitted her perfectly, and the light blue fabric reflected the colour of her eyes and made them brighter. Her glasses were gone to be replaced by contacts and her hair was elegantly tied up with the odd tendril escaping down her back. As she hitched her dress up every so slightly to negotiate the steps, Remus couldn’t ever remember seeing anyone looking as majestic and beautiful as she did now.

A slight blush graced her cheeks as she came to a stop in front of them all.

Remus didn’t notice that his mouth had dropped open until James helpfully leaned over and closed it for him. He gave James an embarrassed smile in return before finding his voice and addressing Hayley, “You…wow!”

“I think that goes for all of us,” chuckled Peter.

“Thanks,” she stated quietly in reply as she caught Remus’ eye for the briefest of moments.

Remus, however, didn’t fail to notice the fact that Kirsty was now looking between the two of them with undisguised intrigue. Feeling vulnerable, he addressed Lesley, “So you finally became a Banshee then?”

Lesley was dressed in a long pale green dress with a dull grey cloak thrown over her shoulders. Her face was deathly white and her usually short, curly hair flowed long and raggedly down her back and nearly to the floor. Lesley looked back at Remus through blood red eyes and simply replied to his enquiry by offering him a winning smile.

“And before any of you lot ask,” began Emma, “Hayley’s dressed up as Cinderella who is yet another princess from a Disney story.”

The other boys seemed satisfied with the fact that they now understood everybody’s costumes.

“Right, are we all accounted for?” asked James, taking charge. “Ok then, let’s go.”

Sirius offered his arm out to Kirsty with a gentlemanly air and stated, “Miss White.”

Kirsty’s face lit up with a bright smile and Remus noted that she was gazing at Sirius with something that closely resembled loving admiration. However, Kirsty seem to be hit with a sudden realisation and the smile slid off her face to be replaced by a look of complete devastation.

“Oh, Sirius, I’m sorry but I promised Sam that I’d wait and go down with him.”

“Oh,” responded Sirius quietly, slowly lowering his extended arm. “I see.”

“Sorry.”

Sirius and Kirsty stood in complete silence for a few seconds, staring searchingly into each other’s eyes. Remus had never seen Sirius look at any girl the way that he was currently looking at Kirsty.

“Did we just witness Sirius Black’s first ever rejection?” asked Lily amusedly.

James laughed and Sirius tried to join in but only succeeded in producing a weak smile.

Emma turned sharply to survey Kirsty. “You’re going with Sam?” she asked, sounding hurt.

Kirsty gave her an apologetic look. “Only because he’s worried that he’s going to look like a fool in his costume. He asked me to go along with him for moral support, that’s all, Em, I swear.”

Emma looked unconvinced.

“Yeah, I’m worried about Sam’s costume too. I heard him yell something about tights when he was getting ready earlier,” queried Peter.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” replied Kirsty, smiling slightly.

“Well, I’ll guess we’ll be seeing you down there then,” Emma informed Kirsty shortly.

Kirsty looked extremely apprehensive because of the look Emma had just shot her way.

“Yeah, we’ll see you later,” agreed Sirius stonily. He then offered his arm to Hayley. “Your majesty.” Hayley smiled in reply and took a hold of his arm without hesitation.

Remus closed his eyes briefly and sighed. Trust Sirius, he thought, intuition has never been a strong point of his. Remus caught James’ eye and James gave him a rueful look.

“Come on, Remus,” ordered Emma, taking a hold of his arm and pretty much marching him out of the portrait hole after Hayley and Sirius.

Remus just had time enough to glance back over his shoulder to see Lesley take a hold of Peter’s arm, leaving Lily and James to pair up. James offered his arm to Lily with a charming smile and Lily amazingly accepted.

As he was about to be dragged out of the common room, Remus caught the look of confusion and sadness on Kirsty’s face as she watched them all depart without her.

--------------

Emma entered the Great Hall gripping Remus’ arm a bit harder than was necessary. The truth was that she was still silently fuming; she just couldn’t believe that Kirsty had consented to accompany Sam, who Emma was head over heels in love with, to tonight’s ball. Did Kirsty possess no rational thought whatsoever? Surely Kirsty must have realised just how much her arriving with Sam would upset her.

The Great Hall looked unrecognisable upon their arrival; Flitwick had definitely outdone himself with the decorations this year. The house tables had vanished to be replaced by one large banquet table which played host to a variety of delicious food, making Emma salivate just to look at it, and it encompassed the entire stretch of one wall of the hall. Little circular tables had been placed near the other walls which could seat up to four people in order to clear space to allow for a huge dance floor and a band stood waiting idly at the section of the hall usually saved for the staff table. Thousands of live bats fluttered around the room like huge black clouds and four huge pumpkins were the main focal point of the room as each one had been carved with each house’s own individual shield: the lion for Gryffindor, the serpent for Slytherin, the badger for Hufflepuff and the eagle for Ravenclaw, and inside each one had been placed the coordinating colour candle.

It seemed as if many people had beaten them to the dance and Emma’s head whizzed this way and that trying to take in all of the students who were dressed in every costume imaginable. It was impeccably easy to distinguish the Muggleborns from the wizarding children as most, like Kirsty, Hayley and Lily, were dressed like their favourite fairytale and Muggle folklore characters. A large percentage of the hall seemed to have copied Remus’ idea and dressed up like their favourite Hogwarts Founder; in fact, as soon as she had entered the room, Emma had managed to find their fellow seventh year Mary Macdonald, who had departed much earlier than they had for the ball, dressed in full Rowena Ravenclaw costume. As well as these, there were ghosts who had transfigured themselves transparent enough to rival even Nearly Headless Nick. There were ghouls who had managed to magically distort their features; Dementors were bobbing about all over the place and upon seeing a group of the Staff huddled together by one of the tables, Emma noticed that Dumbledore had even decorated his hat with an authentic looking spider web and crawling spider.

It became apparent that Emma hadn’t been the only one staring intently at people’s costumes when Peter piped up, “If costumes are compulsory, how come most of the Slytherins are getting away with not wearing one?”

“Because I lied,” Lily informed him matter-of-factly.

“You what?” flared up Sirius.

“I lied because otherwise we would have never got you lot within ten feet of a costume.”

“I’m seeing a new side to you, Lily Evans, and I’m not entirely sure that I like it,” announced Peter.

“Oh, I don’t know,” replied James. “I find it rather intriguing.”

Lily looked up at him puzzled before breaking out into a timid smile. Emma and Remus raised their eyebrows at each other.

“Food!” yelled Hayley pointing in the direction of the buffet table and simultaneously dragging Sirius along with her other arm.

Everybody apart from Lily and Emma practically lunged at the table and started shoving food down their necks. Sirius was laughing at Hayley and saying, “Dressed like a princess and yet still stuffing her face like a pig!” Hayley hit him on the arm.

Suddenly Remus started to choke on the large piece of chicken he had just ripped of his chicken drumstick and was pointing frantically at something over Emma’s shoulder.

Emma swivelled around on the spot and it didn’t take long for her to find the cause of Remus’ current coughing fit. Kirsty and Sam had just entered the hall walking arm in arm, but it wasn’t this which had caused Emma’s eyes to widen in shock, although her heart had contracted slightly with jealousy, it was Sam’s appearance.

Emma gladly drank in every aspect of his costume right down from his forest green tunic with grey underlay and darker green detail across the chest, to his very tight-like greenish grey trousers, to the grey cloak with the green leaf clasp around his neck, to the brown belt around his midriff and the clasp on his chest for the pack of arrows on his back, to the matching coloured dark green boots and hand garments and finally to the wig of light blonde hair that cascaded down over his shoulders and back. She gasped out loud; “Legolas!” and she couldn’t help the small smile that pulled at her lips.

Emma couldn’t deny that the two of them looked absolutely phenomenal and that the two costumes complemented each other beautifully. It also seemed that the two of them had managed to gain the attention of most of the students in the hall.

As luck would have it, as soon as Kirsty and Sam stepped foot on the middle of the dance floor the band struck up with their first song. Without hesitation, and with a wide grin on his face, Sam let the arm which had been linked with Kirsty’s drop and placed it around her waist to pull her around in front of him. He then slackened his grip so that just his hand was placed on her waist and took a hold of Kirsty’s other hand in his. He pulled Kirsty closer towards him, and whispered something in her ear before pulling back and raising his eyebrows at her in what Emma thought was a very provocative manner. As Sam began to lead Kirsty around the dance floor to the first song of the night, Emma watched the two with her chest heaving in anger and a scowl present on her face.

--------------

“What are you doing?” Kirsty asked Sam in a frantic whisper as he placed his hand on her waist and took a hold of her hand.

“Really giving everyone in here something to gossip about,” he replied with a raise of his eyebrows.

Kirsty eyed him warily as he began to lead her around the dance floor. She was sure he was doing this to pay her back for the Legolas costume.

Sam had a manic grin on his face at her obvious discomfort at being seen looking so intimate with him and it looked to Kirsty like every eye in the hall was watching the unlikely couple.

“I thought you didn’t care what people thought about you?” enquired Sam with an easy smile.

“I don’t,” Kirsty replied shortly, her cheeks flaming as she did so.

Sam smiled tauntingly at her in response.

In time Kirsty relaxed, letting Sam lead her effortlessly across the dance floor and spying over her shoulder at the other occupants in the room. It seemed as if most of the Slytherin boys’ focus was on Sian Morgan and her best friend Lucinda Devlin. Sian was dressed up like what seemed to be a devil princess. She wore a long red and black dress which was laced up corset style on the bodice. Along with this, she wore fishnet tights and black high heeled shoes. Her dark hair had been curled and make-up wise she wore eyeliner and bright red lipstick and on her head she sported a pair of red horns and in her hand she held a devil’s pitchfork. Lucinda was dressed as the famous Animagus, Morgan le Fay, and her costume looked to be one of the most beautifully made ones in the room. Her brown hair, like Sian’s, had been curled. Her dress contained many layers; across the bosom it was a light earthy brown with the rest of the bodice consisting of a coarse black material and the skirt was then a mixture of darker and lighter browns which formed a floral pattern. She wore long sleeved gloves and attached to the back of the dress was a cloak of black mesh; it was a truly stunning piece of work.

In contrast, most of the girls in the room, Slytherin and otherwise, seemed to have their gazes intently pinned on either Regulus or his elder brother. The younger Black brother had been one of the only Slytherin boys to don a costume, which meant that he had done better than Sirius had in fact done in Kirsty’s opinion. His costume consisted of a red button up vest on top of a white, long-sleeved shirt. Accompanied by a pair of black trousers, black boots, a medallion around his neck and a long black cape which was red on the inside and from the glimpses that Kirsty caught of him as Sam whisked her around the dance floor, Regulus also seemed to have transfigured his front teeth into pointed fangs and Kirsty suspected that it was much the same spell that she had used earlier on in the evening to point Sam’s now elven ears.

As Sam spun her around on the dance floor, Kirsty caught a good glimpse of Sirius and in her opinion there was no competition between him and his younger brother, for Sirius definitely had the edge. Sirius simply had an elegance about his looks that Regulus was unable to carry off. However, the annoying thing about Sirius was the fact that no matter how scruffy he looked or how bad a mood he was in, he always looked incredibly gorgeous. When he was looking down, he made every girl in the close vicinity want to envelop him in a hug and when he was angry or haughty looking, he smouldered and his true sex appeal revealed itself. But when he was bright and happy and bubbly, he could brighten up anyone’s darkest day and he had the most infectious smile of anybody that Kirsty had ever come across. As she continued to watch him, Sirius, from his seat beside Emma, picked out a small flower from the cobweb invested arrangement on the middle of the table and placed it carefully in the midst of James’ black mop of what he liked to call hair. James didn’t notice a thing, and continued his conversation with Lily and Remus. Sirius giggled away to himself quite happily and Kirsty couldn’t help but smile as she watched him.

“Earth to Kirsty,” yelled Sam as he spun her around once again so that her back was now turned on Sirius and the rest of her friends.

Kirsty smiled at him and asked, as the song started to draw to an end, “Am I allowed to go yet?”

“Nope,” replied Sam as he let go of her waist and twirled her on the spot.

Kirsty shot him a mock scowl.

Sam ignored this, however, and simply stood staring intently at something over Kirsty’s shoulder.

“Do you think that we’ve managed to make her jealous yet?” he asked her quietly once again leaning in close to her ear.

“Who?” she enquired turning her head around to survey over her shoulder and brushing her nose against Sam’s in the process due to his close proximity. She was still none the wiser as to who he was referring to and she turned back towards him with her face formed in a puzzled frown.

Sam heaved an exasperated sigh. “Who do you think? Who’s the one person who would get extremely jealous by us dancing together?” Kirsty continued to frown, not quite sure if she was hearing him right. “The same person who is the very reason why I didn’t throw this costume in the bin as soon as you presented it to me.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad. The craftsmanship is simply superb, the best I’ve ever seen in fact.”

“You would say that because you made it.”

“Precisely. So doesn’t that mean that I’m the reason why you didn’t throw it away?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, thanks!” she replied huffily. “So who is the reason?”

“Oh, I don’t know, how about the person who gave you the idea for it?” asked Sam in what seemed to be quite a sarcastic tone.

“You mean Emma? But why would you be bothered by whether Emma was getting jealous or not?”

“You can be unbelievably dense at times, do you realise that?”

Kirsty had now gained enough information to voice the very thing she had been thinking ever since Sam first brought the subject up. “But… You mean… You like… Emma? How’s that possible?”

“What do you mean how’s that possible? Have you not seen Emma? She’s bloody gorgeous!”

“But… This is brilliant!” exclaimed Kirsty. “You know she likes you too, right?”

“I believe I did hear that somewhere. After all, isn’t it common knowledge up in the old Gryffindor Tower?” he asked with a smirk.

“Is it?” asked Kirsty, surprised.

“Well, how could it not be? Seeing as both you and Sirius knew about it.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“That you’re the worst secret keepers that I’ve ever met.”

Kirsty gave a complacent shrug of her shoulders.

“Listen, talking of which, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone,” begged Sam frantically.

“What would you do to me if I did?” she asked mischievously.

He leaned in close to her again and replied, “I will make it so that everyone in this entire castle knows that you’ve had eyes for no one but a certain Sirius Black since you walked through those doors this evening.”

The band struck the last chord of the song and Kirsty stared back at Sam in utter shock.

“Now you can leave,” stated Sam pleasantly as he let go of both her hands and gave her a helpful push off the dance floor.

Kirsty glowered over her shoulder at his smug face and she hurried off the floor with her face flaming embarrassedly. “He’s a bloody git!” she fumed as she approached her friends at their two commandeered tables.

“Finally decided to join us have you?” asked Emma coldly as Kirsty sat down next to Sirius.

Kirsty gave her a fearful look; clearly she was still in Emma’s bad books. “Just because he thinks his costume is ridiculous he sees fit to punish me.”

“It didn’t look like much of a punishment to me,” remarked Emma.

Kirsty couldn’t believe this. How could Sam have done this to her? Surely he’d known how Emma would react? The whole situation was ludicrous really, seeing as Sam had no interest in anyone but Emma this evening.

“Where’s Lily, James and Peter?” asked Kirsty, hoping to go off topic.

“They’re on the dance floor,” replied Sirius shortly.

And sure enough when Kirsty looked she saw Lily and James, who seemed to be teaching Peter how to dance. It didn’t seem to be going well, however, as the bandages on Peter’s costume kept on unravelling and he tripped over every other step. Lily laughed loudly at something James had just said. Could love finally be blossoming? she wondered.

“I didn’t notice them up there before,” she told Emma and Sirius.

“Only have eyes for Sam, did you?” asked Sirius in a voice just as cold as Emma’s had been.

Kirsty gave him a hurt look before responding. “Listen, guys, I didn’t even want to come down here with Sam, I wanted to go with you lot. I never asked to dance with him. He did it as payback to embarrass me, that’s all. I made that costume as a favour to you, Em, because I know how much you adore that book. And, Sirius, I would have loved to have come down here clinging to your arm; in fact, I’m immensely jealous that Hayley got to do it instead,” she finished, breathing heavily.

“Thanks, Kirst, the costume was brilliant, really. You did a fantastic job and I do appreciate the thought,” Emma admitted, giving her a genuinely friendly look.

“You’re welcome,” replied Kirsty quietly. “And if it makes you feel any better, Sam did mention how lovely he thought you looked.”

“Really?” asked Emma hopefully, her eyes lighting up. “He said that?”

“He sure did,” Kirsty replied with a warm smile which she used to mask her knowing smirk.

“I’m sorry, Kirst, of course we realised that you’d rather arrive with us. We were just being unbelievably awkward. It’s just that we get protective, you know? Because you belong to us, you’re ours,” stated Sirius, grabbing her around the waist in a claiming hug.

She laughed, glad that they were back to normal. “You big softy,” she remarked.


Hayley and Remus were sat at the table next to them and they seemed not to have even noticed the goings on next to them, for they were far too immersed in their own conversation, and each other, for that.

--------------

“He has to ask her!” exclaimed James impatiently.

They were now nearing the last hour of the Halloween ball, and everybody apart from Sirius and James it seemed were up on the dance floor.

“But he won’t do it. You know he won’t, he’s too shy,” argued Sirius.

All evening, James had been observing Remus and Hayley’s behaviour and he was intent on at least getting them to dance together. He was so keen that he had even involved Sirius in his schemes, after explaining Remus’ feelings about Hayley to him first.

“How can he be shy? It’s Hayley! He’s grown up around her!”

“Which is the problem, he doesn’t want to ruin things with her. It’s a big jump from friends to more than that, Prongs.”

“You seem to be very knowledgeable about this, Padfoot,” remarked James, raising a sceptical eyebrow.

“It’s just common sense.”

“This coming from the guy who didn’t even notice that one of his best friend’s got a crush.”

“Shut up!”

“I seem to have hit a nerve.” replied James gleefully, “Now how can we go about getting Moony to ask her to dance?”

“Ply him with a bit of Dutch courage?” suggested Sirius jokingly.

James’ eyes lit up, “Why, that’s perfect! Good thinking, Padfoot.”

“No, Prongs, I was joking.”

“But it’s a great idea!”

“No, it’s a very bad one. Plus Moony would never agree to drink any now.”

“Who says he has a choice in the matter?”

“I don’t like where you’re going with this, Prongs.”

“No, listen, I was thinking we haven’t done a good honest bit of Maraudering lately and, well, it’ll really be a good way of livening up the last precious minutes of the party.”

“I don’t like that twinkle you’ve got in your eye. That twinkle always means bad news.”

“Aw, come on, what’s wrong with you tonight? I’d thought you’d jump at the chance to cause some mayhem.”

“I’m just tired.”

“No, you’re not. You’ve been in a bad mood ever since you learned Kirsty was coming to the dance with Sam.”

“Well, wouldn’t you be in a bad mood if you’d been rejected for Sam North?” asked Sirius seriously.

“Good point,” laughed James.

“So what exactly do you have planned?” asked Sirius with apprehension.

“We spike the fruit punch,” James stated simply.

“And you know how to do that by magic?”

“Of course, when have I ever let you down?”

“Fine. Just promise me that you won’t drink any yourself, you’re giddy enough this evening as it is, and I think I have a very good idea why…” Sirius trailed off and looked over his shoulder.

James followed his gaze and saw Lily dancing with Emma on the dance floor. “It’s going well, isn’t it?” he asked Sirius.

“Very well. In fact, why don’t you try asking her out again?”

“Oh no, I’m going to wait and see how things go.”

“Aw, would you look at that, my boy’s all grown up!” Sirius exclaimed overdramatically.

James gave him an annoyed look. “Shut up and get over here so you can help me to get everyone drunk.”

“It looks as if I spoke too soon,” commented Sirius as he walked over and complied with James’ wishes.

--------------

By a quarter to midnight, Hayley could be found up on the dance floor dancing with an extremely hyperactive James. Not that she could say anything of course, seeing as she felt quite giddy herself.

Upon surveying the room, Hayley saw that everyone in the close vicinity was dancing with huge grins plastered across their faces or else laughing hysterically at something unbeknownst to her. If she hadn’t of known better, she would have said that they were all drunk.

Currently everyone seemed to be up on the dance floor. All of her friends were scattered around her and seemed to be having the time of their lives. Kirsty was not far over on her left dancing with Remus, Emma and Sirius were directly behind her dancing raucously and Lily and Peter had resorted to holding Peter’s bandages up, much like you did with the trail of a dress, in order to let him dance.

“I’m surprised that the Slytherins have started to dance,” remarked Hayley as James linked arms with her and danced her around in a circle. To her left Kirsty and Remus had started to do the same thing.

“There must be something in the water!” he exclaimed with a snort of derisive laughter.

As the song began to draw to a close, James let go of Hayley’s arm and moved away to link arms with Kirsty, leaving Remus to be thrown in Hayley’s direction.

Hastily stopping himself from careering into her, Remus came to a stand still in front of Hayley and grinned awkwardly at her as the song finished to be replaced by a slower, more romantic one.

Hayley grinned shyly back before glancing over his shoulder to see Kirsty and James fleeing off the dance floor grinning manically. “How did we end up associating ourselves with such people?” she asked Remus jokingly, nodding pointedly at their fleeing friends.

“I have no idea,” replied Remus, shaking his head with a smile as he looked at them. He turned agitatedly back to Hayley and she wasn’t sure whether it was her slightly drunken feeling or the fact that she was in such a close proximity to Remus that was making her feel extremely light headed.

Remus took a deep breath before stooping into a bow and asking, “Can I have this dance, your highness?”

“Gladly, kind sir,” she replied with a small curtsy.

Remus visibly relaxed before dutifully pulling her into his arms and placing his hand lightly on her waist. A small involuntary shiver made its way down her spine at his touch.

He pulled her closer to him so that her nose was almost touching his chin. She sighed contently as he began to expertly lead her around the dance floor. Hayley simply couldn’t believe how safe and comforted she felt in his arms and she breathed in deeply to capture the intoxicating smell that was Remus.

--------------

There wasn’t a long time to go until the clock would be tolling midnight and Lily, to her own surprise, was sat with her head leaning lightly on James’ shoulder. The whole group had now retired back to their tables, except for Hayley and Remus who were still dancing. James had also chivalrously handed Lily his suit jacket when she had complained of it being quite chilly and she now had it draped protectively around her shoulders.

Sirius, having obviously not learnt his lesson, was lounging back in his chair with his feet on the table, Emma was helping Peter to take his bandages off and Kirsty had flopped down onto the table with her head resting on her folded arms.

Lily was watching the mass of people enjoying themselves on the dance floor. Sam was still up there dancing with some of his Hufflepuff friends, a glass of punch in hand. And even as Lily watched, Sam danced his way over to Sian Morgan who didn’t even seem to object to his presence. Both were dancing flamboyantly as the band’s last song started to come to an end and when the band finished and deathly silence rang out, something happened to make Lily sit bolt upright in her chair. Sam and Sian both leant in towards one another and kissed.

*gasp*! Sirius' costume was inspired by Buffy. Thanks so much for reading, and I will greet you with a new chapter in 2008!

Sirius simply couldn’t believe the scene that was unfolding before his very eyes. What on earth did Sam think he was doing? Slytherins and Gryffindors alike were staring at the unlikely couple with absolute revulsion and the other members of the hall were looking on in disbelief.

The sound of a chair scraping along the floor beside him reached Sirius’ ears and he swivelled his head around to see Emma standing, shaking with anger. Before any of them could stop her, however, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the hall, angry tears falling down her cheeks.

“Em!” shouted Lily, jumping up from her seat and running after Emma, anxiety etched into every line of her face.

“Looks like the party’s over,” stated Peter sombrely.

James sighed deeply before both he and Peter made their way out of the hall after the two girls, looking at Sam and Sian with disgust and confusion as they passed them. Hayley and Remus stopped dancing and finally disentwined themselves from each others’ arms before following the mass of students that were now exiting the hall, concern for Emma present on both their faces.

Sirius stood up from his chair and stretched, readying himself to return to the common room. “Come on, Kirst, time we were going-“ He turned to survey Kirsty but found her sound asleep, her head still resting upon her folded arms. “Lightweight,” he stated, shaking his head and smiling. He whispered her name, gently shoving her shoulder. No response. It looked as if she was definitely out for the count. Seeing no other option, Sirius carefully scooped her up into his arms and the top of her head came to rest under his chin. When he was sure that Kirsty was secure, Sirius joined the throng and walked steadily out of the Great Hall.

--------------

“Would you like me to walk you back to your common room?” asked Remus with a kind smile.

Hayley was still glowing with happiness from the two of them dancing together and without hesitation she replied, “That would be nice.”

Remus offered his arm out to her and Hayley took it, though her grip was more tentative than it had been earlier when she was on Sirius’ arm, for she always felt slightly awkward with Remus in situations such as this.

They walked along, the conversation flowing effortlessly between them, but tonight the air between her and Remus felt different, tenser. Hayley and Remus had always got along well; they could talk about anything for hours on end. Hayley appreciated Remus’ dry sense of humour and he appreciated her logical take on things. But Hayley had to admit to loving the little disagreements between her and Remus the most; he was just the best person to have a mock argument with. He just loved to tease her about her blonde moments and she would continuously taunt him about his neurotic organisation skills.

Soon, far too soon in Hayley’s opinion, the two of them climbed the tight, spiralling staircase that lead up to the Ravenclaw common room and came to a stop outside its entrance.

Remus, having never ventured to this part of the castle before, was looking at the door with no keyhole and no handle with utmost intrigue. “How do you get in?” he asked, interestedly.

“Sorry, I’m afraid that information is confidential,” Hayley replied mischievously. Remus laughed, probably at how hypocritical she was being. “But maybe I’ll let you in on the secret some other time,” she relented.

“Does that mean that I’m allowed to escort you up here again?” he asked hopefully.

“If you play your cards right,” she informed him coyly. Remus raised his eyebrows at her slightly an amused smile gracing his lips. “I’d better-“ she announced, indicating the door behind her as her fellow Ravenclaws filed passed.

“Yeah I’d better be going too,” replied Remus, “before one of the teachers finds me and has my guts for garters.” Tentatively he took a couple of steps forward. “Goodnight, Hayley,” he stated softly, leaning in towards her and kissing her lightly on the cheek.

Hayley’s skin prickled as she looked up to meet his gaze, a slight twinkle was present in his eye, but for the life of her Hayley couldn’t figure out what it meant.

“Goodnight, Remus,” she whispered back.

Remus coughed and stepped away abruptly and Hayley quickly masked her disappointment. “I’ll see you in the morning, down at breakfast?” he asked, though it seemed like more of a request than a question.

“You can count on it,” she answered, breaking into a grin. Remus nodded and turned away. “Remus!” Hayley yelled after him before her last bout of courage deserted her. Remus swiftly turned back around looking slightly perplexed. Hayley took a deep breath. “You looked gorgeous tonight.”

Remus beamed at her and Hayley waited for him to mock her. “So did you,” he admitted truthfully. And with that he turned away from her once again and descended the spiralling staircase.

Hayley watched him go regretfully and as soon as his head disappeared from view she leant back against the wall and sighed contentedly.

--------------

Navigating the seven floors of staircases up to the Gryffindor common room had been a very tricky endeavour indeed, but Sirius and Kirsty had somehow managed to make it unscathed. “Snidget,” Sirius muttered to the Fat Lady and she granted him entrance almost instantaneously.

Now he was in a dilemma. Sirius couldn’t possibly carry Kirsty up to the girls’ dorms without triggering the alarm, and it was far too cold to leave her lying down in the common room as the fire had long since been extinguished. There was nothing else for it; Kirsty would have to endure a night in the boys’ dorms.

Thanking his lucky stars that this was the last staircase that he would have to climb that night, Sirius began his weary ascent up to his dorms. Upon reaching the door, he stopped and listened intently for any noises that would signify that his fellow dorm mates were still awake. Hearing nothing but deep, rhythmic breathing, he crept quietly into the room, glad that his bed was the one situated nearest to the entrance. A loud snore emanated from behind James’ closed hangings, making Sirius jump ever so slightly.

Moving slowly so as to not wake Kirsty, Sirius gently laid her down on his bed. Without Sirius’ notice, Kirsty’s arm had snaked itself around his neck, and so when he placed her on the bed, the pressure of it pulled him down slightly. His face was now mere inches away from her own, and yet still she slept on. Taking his left hand, Sirius removed her arm cautiously from around his neck and placed it down by her side where his hand remained clinging softly to it. Taking his other hand, he brushed a lock of her currently short brown hair away from her eyes and inching forwards he whispered against the top of her head, “Sweet dreams.”

He stood up, releasing his hold on her hand and pulled the duvet cover over the top of her sleeping form, costume and all. He then conjured up a pillow with his wand before moving to the foot of the bed where he quietly rummaged around within his trunk. Catching a glimpse of the shiny surface Sirius tugged on the material to produce his sleeping bag. He rolled the bag out beside his own bed and placed the pillow at its head. He quickly stripped off his makeshift Halloween costume and stood there in nothing but his boxer shorts. Shivering slightly, due to the slight chill in the air, he waved his wand and the hangings closed around Kirsty and his bed. With that done, Sirius crawled inside his sleeping back, snuggled his head against the pillow and fell asleep within moments. He slept so soundlessly that he didn’t even hear Remus enter the dorms after his own night time adventure.

--------------

Kirsty blearily opened her eyes but they were hastily closed again when they were met by bright rays of autumn sunlight. Her head ached something chronic and her stomach was churning unpleasantly. What the hell had happened to her? With her eyelids batting down the hatches against the onslaught of sunlight, she had to rely on her other senses to assess the situation and report back to her �“ quietly. She squirmed around slightly where she lay, the rustling of the bed sheets seeming ten times louder than usual. She inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the pillow. It smelt different, though not altogether unpleasant, just much different than her own. In fact, the whole place smelt different than her dorm: kind of earthy with chocolate, Butterbeer and a hint of smoke thrown in for good measure. The part of her brain that seemed to be working this morning, if indeed it was morning, was telling her that she was familiar with this smell, but the rest of her brain was refusing to both acknowledge and remember this fact. The glare of sunlight that Kirsty could still see from behind her closed eyelids was blotted out as a shadow fell across her face.

“And how are we this morning?” asked an amused voice.

“Sirius?” she questioned, squinting up at him.

“The one and only. Morning, Sugar!”

“Sugar?” she enquired, wrinkling her nose with distaste.

Sirius laughed and even more pain shot through Kirsty’s head making her wince. “Sorry,” stated Sirius quietly, moving closer to the bed.

“Where am I?” asked Kirsty, knowing full well that Sirius wouldn’t be able to enter the girls’ dorms.

“In my bed,” he replied simply.

“What? Why? What happened?” she asked hysterically.

“You mean to tell me that you have absolutely no recollection of one of the best nights of my entire life?” Sirius asked, aghast.

“But… we… we didn’t, you know, did we?” babbled Kirsty. Sirius roared with laughter. “What did we say about the laughing?” asked Kirsty meekly.

“Sorry,” replied Sirius quelling his mirth. “Nothing happened between us last night, Kirst, you fell unconscious down in the hall and I brought you up here.” Kirsty was still looking at him worriedly. “Honestly, you even had the bed to yourself, I slept down on the floor beside you,” Sirius told her, judging her look accurately.

“Oh. Good,” she announced, breathing a sigh of relief.

Sirius’ eyebrows raised slightly at this response and a dark look past over his face.

“So why are you up here now?” she asked quietly.

“I wanted to check and see if you were okay,” he informed her softly, taking another step closer. “And to bring you those-“ He indicated to the Pepperup Potion, the cup of tea and the plate of toast resting on the bedside table. “-and those.” He indicated over to the foot of the bed where some of Kirsty’s laundered clothes had been placed.

“Brilliant!” she whispered enthusiastically, instantly grabbing the potion from beside her and downing it in one. “How did you manage to get hold of this?” she asked Sirius once the liquid had made its way down her throat.

“Madam Pomfrey’s pretty much giving these away today,” answered Sirius morosely.

“Oh, how come?” she asked him, intrigued.

“Well, rumour has it that the punch was spiked at the party last night,” said Sirius, sitting down on the bed next to her.

“You’re kidding! So that’s why I feel so ill!”

“That’ll be it. After all, you did drink quite a bit.”

“Well, you get thirsty when you’ve been dancing all night,” Kirsty retorted defensively. There was then a lull in the conversation in which Kirsty looked down in order to assess her current state. “I’m still in my costume!” she cried, surprised.

“Well I didn’t think you’d appreciate me taking you out of it,” noted Sirius dryly.

“So how’s everybody else doing this morning?” asked Kirsty, choosing to ignore this comment.

“Good question,” replied Sirius simply. “From what I know not everybody is feeling quite as ill as you are this morning.”

“So unfair,” commented Kirsty childishly.

“You know,” began Sirius, shifting closer to her so that he was virtually leaning over her duvet covered form. “I never realised how visible your scar was before.” Kirsty gave him a perplexed look, but her heart began to beat faster at his closeness. He extended his forefinger out towards her and gently grazed it across her forehead where the scar in question resided. “Does it hurt?”

“Scars don’t hurt, you idiot, they tell stories.”

Sirius then did something that puzzled Kirsty to no end; he leaned in towards her and left a lingering kiss on her forehead. He pulled back slightly, searching her face before leaning forwards again but this time he planted a kiss on the tip of her nose.

In one swift movement, he had moved away from her and hopped down off the bed, leaving Kirsty to stare at his back in confusion.

“Right, I’m going back downstairs; need to brag a bit more to my fellow Marauders about having a girl in my bed. Make sure you get something to eat; it’ll make you feel better. And feel free to use our showers if you want,” rambled Sirius, seeming a bit more distant than usual.

“Thanks, Sirius, for all of this,” she replied compassionately.

“Don’t mention it,” he replied graciously as he left the dorms and jogged back down the staircase.

Kirsty heaved herself out of bed, instantly missing the warmth of her covers, and as she stood up the world span around her. Bloody alcohol!

--------------

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the school, in the dark, damp, cavernous surroundings of her Slytherin dormitory, Sian Morgan stirred into consciousness.
As her eyes slowly adjusted to her surroundings, she became aware of her head splitting hangover and a wave of nausea washed over her. She hastily sat up, ignoring the spinning room, and reached for her water jug. Ice cold water ran down the back of her throat, quelling her feeling of sickness and forcing her mind to focus.
Whilst she sat there slowly drinking down her water, a feeling of utmost dread encompassed her entire being, but try as she might she simply could not pinpoint its origin. A niggling feeling in the back of her mind was telling her that something had happened last night, something important, something that she must remember at all costs. Moaning with frustration, she kicked off her covers, the chilly autumn breeze making her feel slightly more awake, and rushed into the bathroom to prepare herself for facing the day.

--------------

Regulus lay on his stomach in front of the Slytherin common room’s roaring fire, parchment strewed all around him. With his quill he scratched out the line he had just been writing for the fourth time as yet another loud pop emanated from behind him.

“Will you cut that out?” he raged as he turned to survey Lucinda Devlin, who was sat poised and elegant on the sofa in front of the fire.

“As you wish,” she simpered, resorting to simply twirling her wand around in her hands as opposed to her original activity of producing bubbles and popping them annoyingly loud.

Lucinda had long, light brown hair which tumbled down to the middle of her back and she was pale with dark, heavy-lidded eyes which reminded Regulus very much of his cousin Bellatrix. She encompassed the very essence of aristocratic good looks, even more so than some members of the Black family in Regulus’ opinion. Her full lips were always coated with bright, blood red lipstick in order to match her talon-like fingernails that Regulus had always suspected could render someone dead with one fell swipe to the neck.

She was best friends with Sian Morgan, or as close to best friends as Slytherins could get, and like all the other older Slytherins, she treated Regulus with the utmost contempt.

“Your brother looked extremely gorgeous last night, as always,” she drawled.

Regulus gritted his teeth, trying to ignore her as he carried on with his homework assignment. Lucinda’s favourite pastime of late was taunting Regulus with outrageous compliments about his older brother. “I can’t say I noticed,” he seethed.

“No, I daresay you didn’t,” commented Lucinda standing up and beginning to pace around the room. “You know, it’s a real shame that he ended up in Gryffindor; he would have really brightened things up around here. After all, a girl needs someone nice to look at every morning.”

“It’s a shame that Sirius ended up being a piece of Mudblood loving scum then, isn’t it?” Regulus shot at her, sitting upright and giving up the battle with his essay.

Lucinda sneered at him, sensing that he was very much irked. “Maybe we should ask Dumbledore if we can trade,” she announced, looking Regulus up and down in distaste. “Send you over to jolly old Gryffindor tower and bring Sirius down here to join the snakes.” She had circled around the back of him now and he could feel her breath on his neck as she moved her lips to the spot next to his ear.“After all, we all know that Sirius is the better of the two Black brothers, don’t we, Reggie?”

Something within him finally snapped and Regulus whipped his arm around, grabbing a firm hold on Lucinda’s wrist. Standing in one fluid motion, he pinned her up against the wall by the fireplace. It was safe to say that Lucinda was shocked, for he had never reacted like this before. “Sirius is a spineless sap who never had what it takes to become a Slytherin, let alone a Death Eater. I’m the new Black family heir; I’m the one who has been accepted into the Dark Lord’s inner circle at the tender age of sixteen, whereas you, Lucinda, have received no such privilege.” He spoke every word with his lips inches away from the underside of her chin. “And what’s more, I’m just as good looking as my arrogant git of a brother,” he finished, gazing dangerously into her eyes.

“I seem to have hit a nerve,” she sneered in response.

Regulus pulled out his wand and pointed it at her throat. “Apologise,” he ordered, with a devilish smirk.

“Make me,” retorted Lucinda, daring present in her eyes.

Regulus didn’t know which he wanted to do more, make her apologise with a good punch, or make her apologise with a kiss. That was his problem with Lucinda, she caused him to burn with a hatred that felt as if it would consume him, but she also intoxicated him more than any other girl he had ever met. He came to his senses, however, and decided that neither option would be advisable at present as footsteps echoed from one of the staircases behind him.

He removed his hand from beside Lucinda’s head and slinked away from her. From the look on Lucinda’s face, she looked as if she had been denied a real treat. “Look what the Kneazle dragged in,” she announced, glancing over Regulus’ head.

Regulus spun around on the spot to see Sian standing, looking uneasy on her feet, at the bottom of the girls’ staircase. He burst into sardonic laughter at the very sight of her. “And how was your night?” he asked tantalisingly.

Sian groaned and slumped down into the nearest armchair.

“Feeling rough?” taunted Lucinda as she brushed past Regulus and sat back down on the sofa, taking a Cauldron Cake out of her cloak pocket with the air of someone who was very much enjoying the show.

“I don’t suppose there’s any Pepperup Potion lying about is there?” asked Sian hopefully. Regulus summoned the bottle from a table on the far side of the common room. “Oh,” stated Sian, surprised. “Where did this come from?”

“Madam Pomfrey’s been handing them out all morning,” explained Lucinda.

“Why?” asked Sian.

“Because the punch was spiked at the party last night,” Regulus informed her.

“And that’ll be the reason for the disastrous headache that you seem to have this morning,” Lucinda told her gleefully.

“So would you care to explain to us what exactly happened last night?” queried Regulus sneeringly.

“Why? What happened last night?” asked Sian, sounding slightly hysterical.

“You mean you don’t remember?” queried Lucinda, letting out a squeal of laughter.

“No, I don’t really remember too much of last night, to be honest.”

Just then the portrait hole opened from behind Regulus and he turned around to see Mulciber, Snape, Avery, Wilkes and Rosier enter the room.

“Well, if it isn’t the disgrace of Slytherin herself,” drawled Mulciber, looking Sian up and down with distaste.

“Excuse me?” asked Sian uncertainly.

“It would appear, gentleman, that Miss Morgan here has no recollection of last night’s events,” stated Regulus as he strolled towards the seventh years.

“Oh, how convenient,” commented Snape nastily.

“Guys, you’re seriously worrying me now,” said Sian, sounding unnerved. “What happened last night? Lucinda?”

“Oh, no, no, no,” tutted Avery, sitting down on the sofa beside Lucinda. He was sitting so close to her that he was practically on her lap. “I think it best that we let her stew for a bit? Don’t you, Cind?” Avery looked to Lucinda with a leering smile as he draped his arm slowly around her shoulders.

Regulus’ jaw twitched and vindictively he informed Sian, “You kissed a Gryffindor last night at the dance.”

Sian turned her head sharply to face him. “I-I d-did what?” she asked, stuttering.

“Gave everybody a right show,” added Wilkes, devilishly.

“Which Gryffindor?” asked Sian, her voice coming out as a small squeak.

“That sap Sam North,” replied Lucinda with relish.

“Oh, God,” muttered Sian, burying her head in her hands.

“It could have been worse,” announced Rosier from where he stood lounging against the wall, repeatedly throwing an orange up in the air and catching it again effortlessly. “At least it wasn’t Black.”

Regulus flinched ever so slightly; he hated it when his brother was mentioned in conversations.

“I need a coffee,” Sian stated suddenly, getting to her feet. “I’ll see you all later.” And with that Sian darted out of the portrait hole.

“And that’s that,” stated Lucinda simply. There was a pause. “Do you guys want to go to breakfast and see what happens?” Manic laughter followed this statement and Lucinda stood along with Avery, whose arm had now slipped down around her waist, and walked purposefully out of the common room after her so called best friend.

As Regulus watched the couple leave, a burning hatred seared inside his chest and he very much wanted to knock Avery’s block off.

--------------

As soon as Sian escaped to the cold corridor just outside of the Slytherin common room she slumped against the wall and groaned. She closed her eyes and straight away the events of the night before flashed through her mind like a movie reel. Her remembrance of the feel of Sam’s lips on hers made her feel much more ill than she had done previously. Then, hearing the sound of movement from inside her common room, she took a calming breath and readied herself for facing the school populous. Bloody alcohol!

The mood within the Gryffindor common room that morning was dismal. Peter was sat with his legs draped over the arm of his armchair, his hand resting on his growling stomach in an attempt to tame it.

All of the faces around him were bleak. Hangovers were rife in the common room this morning and many of Peter’s little clique of friends were sat staring morosely into the depths of the room’s blazing fire.

Emma had not spoken to anyone all morning and Lily and Hayley, who had once again joined them up in Gryffindor Tower, seemed to think it best that Emma was given some space.

None of them had been down to breakfast yet this morning, hence the ferocious growls of Peter’s stomach, apart from Sirius who had gotten up earlier than the rest of them, a rare occurrence in itself, in order to fetch himself and Kirsty some breakfast.

Peter was still reeling over last night’s events. How could Sam do this to Emma? What gave him the right to start royally messing up her life? Surely he knew about Emma’s feelings towards him. Drunkenness was simply no excuse for kissing that bitch of a Slytherin.

The sound of footsteps resounded from the boys’ staircase as Kirsty finally decided to join them.

“And where’ve you been?” asked Sirius, sounding impatient.

“Yeah, Kirst, we’re starving!” exclaimed Hayley.

“Sorry, I took Sirius’ advice and borrowed the shower,” Kirsty replied simply.

“I gather that you’re not feeling one hundred percent this morning,” stated Remus wryly.

Kirsty groaned. “You could say that.”

“I can’t believe you spent the night up in our dorms!” cheered James, livening up.

“Believe me, neither can I,” agreed Kirsty.

“Well, what else was I supposed to do?” asked Sirius defensively.

Before anyone could give him a reasonable reply, however, the portrait hole swung open to reveal a rough-looking Sam North. The room was immediately filled with a hostile energy and Peter wondered how Sam dared to come back. He made his way through the room, his shoulders slumped and his eyes downcast. With a defeated air, Sam reached the bottom of the boys’ staircase and trudged up the steps without a word to anyone.

“He looks glum,” commented Kirsty, bemused, “I wonder what’s wrong.” Peter shared wary looks with the rest of the group. “Do you think we should ask him to join us for breakfast?”

“No!” exclaimed Emma, rising out of her chair.

Kirsty looked at her in puzzlement. “Why can’t he come? I would have thought that you’d jump at the chance of spending some quality time with him.

“Because,” stated Emma venomously, “Sam North is a good for nothing bastard who deserves to be taken to the very top of the Astronomy Tower and shoved off of it!” Emma then turned on her heel and stormed out of the common room.

“Okay,” began Kirsty, her gaze flicking questioningly from one face to another. “Did I miss something?”

*

Kirsty was still twittering on about Emma and Sam as the group all made their way down to breakfast five minutes later.

“I just can’t understand why he did it!” exclaimed Kirsty, frustrated.

“People do stupid things when they’re drunk,” Remus informed her sombrely.

“You see, now that’s what I don’t understand,” announced Lily, coming to an abrupt standstill and making Peter nearly run into the back of her. “How come we all ended up drunk?” Lily spun around to face everybody. “I mean, didn’t the Prefects all decide that it was to be an alcohol free event?”

“Was Prongs absent for that particular meeting by any chance?” queried Sirius dryly.

Peter saw James throw Sirius a look which encompassed a mixture of annoyance and alarm.

“No,” snapped Lily, “he was there, you know he was. But what I really really want to know is which thoughtless git decided to spike last night’s punch.”

James coughed. “That thoughtless git would be me.”

Lily turned her head around sharply to survey him. “What?” she asked quietly, her voice riddled with anger.

“It was me. I was the one who spiked the punch last night,” James informed her morosely, looking her straight in the eye.

Peter shared a look of apprehension with Hayley.

“I don’t believe this, James!” screeched Lily.

“Look, no one regrets what happened last night more than I do,” he explained.

“Oh, really,” scoffed Lily, “I’m betting Emma might just have something to say to that comment.”

“I never meant for any of that to happen. Everything kind of went a bit wrong…”

“So you’re telling me that you just happened to spike everyone’s drink by accident? A likely story. You know what, I should have realised that this would have something to do with you, Potter!”

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” retorted James, flaring up.

“Now, come on, Lil,” said Sirius, stepping between them in order to calm the situation. “James is telling the honest to God truth, he never meant for any of last night to happen, at least not to that degree.”

Lily swivelled her head around to survey Sirius instead. “You mean to tell me that he acted alone in this endeavour?”

“Well, no,” admitted Sirius reluctantly, “I kind of gave him a helping hand.”

“Potter and Black, as thick as thieves. Only happy when they’re causing someone discomfort. The only two people in the school who believe that the rules don’t apply to them!” yelled Lily, becoming increasingly louder.

“Now steady on, Lil,” implored Kirsty.

“Shut up, Kirst,” snapped Lily.

Kirsty looked more than a little taken back. “Shutting up now,” she muttered quietly.

“Leave Sirius out of this, Lily, I take full responsibility for last night. I admit to spiking the punch on purpose, but I didn’t mean for everyone to get that drunk, I was only supposed to produce a small dose of alcohol. All I can say is that I’m sorry, and that no one could feel worse than I do right now.”

“I think Emma might,” retorted Lily sharply. “But why the hell would you spike the punch in the first place, James?”

“I’ll tell you why, because some things in life are much more important to me than rule breaking and worrying about my duties as Head Boy. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” James retorted, matching Lily’s sharp tone as he pushed past her and out into the cold school grounds.

Everyone seemed dumbfounded at James’ response for he had never bitten back at Lily before. Lily was watching James go, a mixture of emotions fighting for dominance within her facial expression. Without another word, she spun on the spot and marched off into the Great Hall. Hayley followed instantaneously, probably hoping to calm Lily down somewhat.

“And they were doing so well,” Remus informed the remainder of the group glumly.

--------------

“What the hell did you have to go and do that for?” demanded Hayley, following hot on Lily’s heels as she marched with ferocity through the hall.

Lily came to a halt in the middle of the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables and spun around. “Because James I-can-do-no-wrong Potter is as much of an arrogant git as he always has been! He’s always pulling stunts like this and not once does he care who he hurts along the way, just as long as he gets the chance to cause a bit of havoc!”

“Oh, come on, I know that’s not true and if you’re completely honest so do you,” Hayley informed her, not buying Lily’s excuses for even a second.

“What does it matter? I still hate his guts!”

“No, you don’t,” Hayley contradicted her, chuckling slightly.

“Oh, what do you know?” cried Lily exasperatedly.

“Excuse me?” asked Hayley in disbelief. “Are you perhaps forgetting the conversation you had with me last summer?”

“Yes, well, I’ve changed my mind since then.”

“Come off it, nobody changes their feelings towards someone that quickly!” argued Hayley.

“Oh, yes they do!”

“Ok,” relented Hayley, “maybe some people do, but you don’t. It took you this long to finally admit that you had even the tiniest feeling of adoration towards James. It simply can’t have vanished just like that.”

Lily glared at her, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “Oh, yes it can!” she announced, turning on her heel and making her way hurriedly over to where Emma was sitting.

“What’s up?” asked Emma in monotone, glancing up upon Lily’s arrival.

“She’s just had a row with James,” Hayley informed her as she took a seat at the table.

“How come?” asked Emma, still sounding glum.

“Because James is the one who spiked the punch at the dance last night,” Lily fumed.

“Right,” replied Emma with a noncommittal shrug.

“It looks like you’re the only one who’s over reacting with this, Lil,” Hayley told her with great pleasure.

“But surely you’re angry at him,” pushed Lily. “I mean, James is technically responsible for what happened last night.”

“I suppose,” agreed Emma morosely. Lily shot Hayley a look of vindication. “But-“ Hayley looked up hopefully. “-Sam shouldn’t have done what he did; even if he was drunk beyond belief, it’s still no excuse. So really there’s only two people that I feel anger towards today, Sam and-“ Emma broke off, looking at something over Hayley’s shoulder. Hayley turned around, intrigued, to come face to face with an extremely grim looking Sian Morgan. Upon coming face to face with the Gryffindors Sian hastily retreated away to her own table where, in Hayley’s opinion, the people looked even more foreboding. Hayley turned back to address Emma but found that she had already risen out of her seat and was once again making a dash away from them, this time going out into the Hogwarts grounds, just like James had done.

Silence ensued between the remaining two girls and Lily wouldn’t quite meet Hayley’s eye. “You know what I think?” asked Hayley, leaning conspiratorially towards Lily. “I think that the reason that you acted so horribly towards James is because you’re angry with yourself for even fancying him. Especially now that you believe he’s returned to his previous ways. Am I right?”

Lily then took on a slightly sulky disposition. “Maybe,” she admitted.

“He really has changed you know, for the better; he’s not the same James he was back in fifth year.”

“I know,” sighed Lily, “but sometimes I think it would be so much easier if he was.”

“I’m not going to deny that what he did last night was incredibly stupid. It was a lapse of character, I’m sure of it. So doesn’t he at least deserve a second chance to prove himself to you?”

Lily looked up to meet Hayley’s friendly gaze and replied with a simple, “Hmm.”

Hayley allowed herself a victorious look, for, unless she was very much mistaken, she had just won the argument and magnificently proven her point.

--------------

“Oh dear, here we go again,” announced Remus seriously as Emma rushed past the small group.

“I wonder what’s gone off now?” pondered Peter.

Sirius looked to Kirsty and they both heaved a sigh. “Do you think that one of us should go and see if she’s alright?” queried Kirsty.

“I’ll go,” Peter volunteered gallantly, following in Emma’s footsteps and leaving the Great Hall.

However, Sirius soon found himself stepping out of the way again when Lily and Hayley also passed them, Hayley giving them a fleeting, although weary, smile and Lily remaining stony face, on the same mission as Peter.

“Poor James,” stated Sirius sympathetically, catching a glimpse of the solitary figure sitting miserably underneath the beech tree on the edge of the lake.

“Lily really went off on a tangent this time, eh?” remarked Kirsty.

Sirius and Remus both nodded in agreement.

“Why did he do it, Padfoot?” enquired Remus, sounding puzzled.

Sirius sighed loudly once again. “He-we-thought that a certain-erm-situation would simply run a lot smoother if a particular person received enough alcohol to give them a bit of Dutch courage, so to speak.”

Kirsty shot a confused look Remus’ way. “Did any of that make sense to you?”

However, Remus’ attention was focused solely on Sirius. The suspicion was there in Remus’ eyes, Sirius could see it. Remus seemed to have guessed that Sirius and James had realised his recent more than friendly feelings towards Hayley. Remus tilted his head quizzically to one side, asking Sirius silently for a confirmation of his inkling.

Sirius raised his eyebrows a fraction and gave Remus a rueful smile, sorry for the fact that Remus was no longer the only one aware of his current romantic feelings. Remus smiled incredulously in response and shook his head in good natured disbelief. “And this plan of yours, do you believe it worked?” asked Remus, a slightly impatient edge to his tone. Sirius deduced this as meaning that Remus was eager to know whether or not his endeavour in asking Hayley to dance last night was a successful one.

“Oh, I think so,” admitted Sirius delightedly.

“Seriously?” asked Remus anxiously.

“Yes, I believe the plan definitely set something in motion last night.”

Remus heaved a sigh of relief. “Good, that’s… good.”

Sirius and Remus shared a warm smile before Remus announced, “Well, I think I’ll go and quickly check on Emma, see if she’s alright, then maybe I’ll go down and sit with James for a bit. After all, it seems that he and I need to exchange a few words.” Remus gave Sirius a significant look and departed.

“I wasn’t supposed to understand any of that, was I?” Kirsty asked him, looking completely flummoxed.

“No, I don’t think you were,” he informed her kindly. He then shot another worried glance over at James and shuffled his feet slightly, feeling uncomfortable.

“It’s okay, you can go over there and have a heart to heart with James if you want,” Kirsty told him.

He spun his head around to look at her in surprise. “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not, I can amuse myself.”

“So what will you do? Join the Emma consolation club?”

“Maybe later,” replied Kirsty seeming rather distracted as she gazed at something over Sirius’ shoulder. “I think I’ve just found something that I’d much rather do.”

Sirius looked at her in puzzlement before turning around and following her gaze, for the life of him he couldn’t work out what she was on about. “Catch you later!” he exclaimed rather uncertainly as he strode purposefully towards the beech tree in order to console his best friend.

--------------

As soon as Sirius had disappeared, Kirsty dashed out of the Great Hall at great speed. She leapt up the steps of the grand staircase, taking them two at a time. She came to the first floor, certain that he couldn’t have gone that far, and took a sharp turn into the corridor on her left. And sure enough, there he was, the solitary figure of Sam North clad in a black and white striped hooded top and dark blue jeans with a pained expression on his face.

Sam must have heard her thundering footsteps for he spun around to face her and his expression turned fearful. After a moment of hesitation Sam turned tail and ran along the corridor.

Kirsty, who was not going to miss the opportunity to tell Sam exactly what she thought of him, followed in quick pursuit.

Sam twisted and turned down various corridors as if in the hope that he would somehow be able to ditch her. Kirsty soon became bored with these proceedings, however, and, sensing that she had a pretty good idea of where Sam was headed, she slipped off behind one of the castle’s many tapestries.

Inside, the passageway that provided Kirsty with her shortcut was cold, dark and damp but Kirsty found that she didn’t need much light to find her way around, she had grown up in the influence of the Marauders, after all.

Seemingly in no time at all, Kirsty re-emerged into a corridor on the third floor. She stood, panting slightly and trying to get her breath back, and from in front of her she could hear the frantic footsteps of the approaching Sam North.

Sam skidded to a halt at the end of the corridor upon seeing Kirsty, disbelief shown all over his face. Panting heavily after having run up three flights of stairs and along numerous corridors, Sam whipped his head around to look behind him with a confused air; obviously he had failed to notice the lack of his pursuer.

Kirsty strode towards him in a business like manner and was surprised when he made no further moves to get away; Sam had evidently sensed that the game was up. She drew level with him and Sam seemed to intuitively brace himself for the impact. Smack! Kirsty slapped him hard on the left side of his face. Sam recoiled and looked up at Kirsty in complete and utter shock; he was staring at her like he’d never seen her before. “What the hell did you go and do that for?” she demanded.

Sam regained his composure and stood upright. “Look, Kirsty, what happened last night was a mistake, I never meant for any of this to happen!”

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” replied Sam, sounding desperate for her to believe him.

“Do you have absolutely any idea what you’ve done to Emma?” Kirsty yelled at him, still outraged.

“Do you? I mean, have you even spoken to her about it?”

“No,” confessed Kirsty reluctantly, “but I don’t need to. I can tell you exactly what’s been going through her head.”

“Enlighten me,” requested Sam, the hint of a snarl evident in his voice.

“Emma pretty much realises that you know about her feelings towards you; that’s practically a given what with her having friends like Sirius and me. So you’ve made her feel like she must be so undesirable, so unworthy of dating Sam North that you’d sooner snog a Slytherin cow than even ask her out on one measly date.”

“Do you believe she really thinks that?” questioned Sam beseechingly.

“I do. But do you want me to tell you what I’m wondering?”

“Not particularly,” muttered Sam, looking down at his feet.

Kirsty carried on regardless. “I’m wondering whether or not you told me that you fancied Emma for the sole reason that you hoped that I would relay the message, me being one of the worst secret keepers in Gryffindor Tower and all. Emma would have then got her hopes up not long before having them dashed splendidly through you kissing Sian Morgan. Emma would get the message loud and clear that you were unavailable to her and you would become the talk of the castle for being such a heartless git!”

Sam looked gob smacked. “You don’t honestly believe that, do you?” he asked, shamefaced.

“I don’t know what to believe. I just find it hard to comprehend why you were telling me that you fancied Emma one minute and snogging Sian the next,” explained Kirsty.

“Are you forgetting about the copious amount of alcohol that was apparently flowing at the dance last night? I never meant to hurt Emma, alright? I feel sick when I think about what happened last night. You have no idea how much I wish it hadn’t happened. I was really looking forward to starting up something with Emma. The reason I told you about my feelings last night was in order to make sure that Emma wouldn’t laugh in my face when I did ask her out; I wanted to be certain that the feeling was still entirely mutual. And believe me, I am devastated that I’ve blown any chance I might have had with her to smithereens.”

Kirsty was quiet for a few moments, letting it all sink in. “But how do I know you’re telling the truth? How do I know that my interpretation of events isn’t in fact the actual truth? How do I know that you’re not just telling me all this so you won’t get another slap on the face?”

“Fine,” growled Sam, “if that’s the way you want to play it.” He grabbed Kirsty roughly by her wrist and, ignoring her as she struggled against his vice like grip; he lead her with ferocity back the way that he had just come.

--------------

As Sirius made his way across the currently student ridden Hogwarts Grounds, a mix of emotions made their presence known: guilt for the fact that James had taken all the blame for last night; disappointment at the fact that Lily and James’ relationship had been turned on its head after they had been doing so well; empathy for James who had once again been subjected to Lily’s scornful words; worry for Emma and her current distrusting state; anger at Sam for temporarily damaging one of his best friends; hope that something may just blossom in the form of Remus and Hayley; and last of all confusion, confusion over what had happened between him and Kirsty that morning.

He had promised himself that he would motivate his current infatuation with her no further. But saying and doing were two entirely different things. It had been an impulsive thing, kissing her on the forehead and in those precious seconds he had simply revelled in her closeness. Thank goodness he had snapped out of it when he had; otherwise, he might just have had even more emotions to add to the mix. He’d just have to be more careful in future, mask his emotions. It shouldn’t be too hard, he hoped.

Eventually he arrived at his desired destination and, putting all thoughts of Kirsty out of his mind, he settled himself down under the beech tree next to James. James didn’t even acknowledge his presence at first; he just continued to twirl a tree branch between his fingers, occasionally picking a leaf off of it. Sirius wondered if James was perhaps doing ‘she loves me, she loves me not’. “What am I going to do with you?” Sirius asked his best friend with a sigh.

James gave a small, quiet laugh. “What indeed?” he agreed.

“She’ll come round, mate,” Sirius assured him, glancing in his direction.

“No she won’t,” James contradicted him, turning around and offering Sirius a sad smile.

“Maybe if you just explained it to her-“

“What, and land Moony in it you mean?” asked James. “No thanks. I meant what I said. Some things are just more important to me.”

“Even at the cost of the girl you love?” Sirius asked, shocked.

“Maybe,”

“James, Remus would allow it, you know he would; we all know how important Lily is to you.”

“But I’m not that important to her, am I?” James questioned him morosely.

“We don’t know that for sure, Lily’s a closed book, open only to the eyes of our resident Ravenclaw bookworm.”

James laughed slightly. “I’ve lost her, haven’t I, Padfoot?” he asked, sounding defeated.

“No-“ James gave him a disbelieving look. “Well, maybe. You won’t know unless you talk to her. Look, you don’t have to tell her anything about Moony if you don’t want to, just reason with her, she might just come around.”

“But-“ protested James.

Sirius cut him off. “Just promise me you’ll talk to her. And if it really is the end of the whole Lily-James saga, then we’ll all be there to get you through it.” Sirius clapped James supportively on the back and James gave him a grateful smile in return, though he seemed to have a slight reluctance about him now.

Sirius turned away from his fellow Marauder and looked out over the rest of the grounds. Two figures emerging from inside the Entrance Hall captured his attention at once; he sat up straight, staring intently at the couple. There was no denying it, that was definitely Kirsty and Sam, but what the hell were they doing?

“Hey up!” exclaimed James, “What’s going on here then?”

Sirius shared a puzzled glance with his comrade before turning back to face the two Gryffindors. Sam seemed to have a hold of Kirsty’s wrist and was dragging her kicking and screaming into the grounds, Sirius’ features immediately formed themselves into a scowl.

As he watched the scene unfold, Sam and Kirsty stopped and exchanged a few heated words before Sam stormed away from her and towards the path which lead down to the greenhouses. Sirius visibly relaxed upon the sight of Sam leaving Kirsty’s side.

“Are you alright there, Padfoot?” enquired James, leaning forward and staring at Sirius quizzically.

“Fine,” snapped Sirius. “Why?”

James was looking quite amused now, “Nothing, it’s just…” James paused for a moment before continuing. “You know, I’ve always thought Kirsty to be a fine girl.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” asked Sirius, taken by surprise. He already didn’t like where this conversation was going.

“Well, I was just thinking, if this whole thing with Lily is actually over, maybe I should turn my attentions somewhere else and Kirsty would be a highly worthy focal point. I mean, we get on brilliantly, she can take a joke, she doesn’t mind the pranks, we share a passion for Quidditch and she’s a mighty fine looking girl.”

“Excuse me?” choked Sirius, not daring to believe his ears.

“So what do you think, Padfoot? Reckon I’m in with a shot?” pushed James.

Sirius had the sudden urge to hit him-hard. “To be honest, Prongs, I don’t think you are.”

James’ shoulders slumped. “Really? How come?”

“Well, for one thing, how can you expect Kirsty to go out with someone whose personal grooming skills are so bad, they can’t even make their hair look right?” Sirius threw at James vindictively. James looked less shocked and angry than Sirius expected him to; he just kept staring at Sirius in amusement. “Two,” continued Sirius feeling completely riled with regards to the situation now. “Your head’s so big that you can barely fit through the doorways here, and the doorways at Hogwarts are pretty damn big.” James scowled a little this time; Sirius was finally getting to him. “And finally, nobody in their right mind would want to kiss you. I doubt that even a Dementor would!” Sirius then tore his gaze away from James, leaned back huffily against the bark of the tree and folded his arms just as James burst into hysterical laughter. Sirius gave him a cautious sideways glance. He couldn’t see what was so funny; in fact, shouldn’t James be shouting and hitting him right about now?

“I knew it!” exclaimed James, jumping up in the air and whooping. Sirius stared up at him utterly perplexed. James hurriedly sat back down again as he had managed to draw quite a bit of attention to himself from the mingling crowds. “I don’t believe this,” he gasped in awe. “I don’t bloody believe it!”

“When you’ve quite finished hyperventilating,” remarked Sirius, gazing worriedly at his friend.

“You fancy Kirsty!” exclaimed James at last, looking like he was about to explode.

“What?” yelped Sirius. “Of course I don’t, whatever gave you that idea?”

James shuffled closer to Sirius, who gave him a look full of contempt. “Come on, Padfoot, we’ve been best friends for seven years and I think by now I realise when you’ve got a crush. But this crush is definitely a humdinger! Kirsty! I just don’t believe it! How long has this been going on?”

It seemed that Sirius’ new mask was invisible. “You’re the expert, you tell me,” he growled.

James broke out into a broad grin. “I don’t fancy Kirsty, you dope!” he exclaimed, sensing rightly what was wrong with Sirius. “That doesn’t mean that she’s not a fine girl,” he amended, “it’s just that my sights are still firmly set on a certain vivacious redhead.”

“So you were just doing that to vex me then, were you?” interrogated Sirius.

“That sounds about right,” agreed James, still smiling. Sirius clipped him around the back of his head. “Ouch!” yelled James, though he began to roll about the floor laughing.

Not impressed that his secret had been sussed, Sirius jumped on top of him and the two boys started to have a good old scrap, giggling violently as they did so.

“If we could just interrupt,” requested Remus dryly from above Sirius’ head.

Sirius squinted up and smiled at the sight of the other two Marauders before removing himself from on top of James. Peter had his eyebrows raised and Remus was smiling amusedly as he offered James a hand up. James brushed himself down as Sirius, Peter and Remus all settled themselves down under the tree.

When James had also joined them Remus stated, “I believe I owe you a big thank you.”

James and Peter stared at him, puzzled.

“He knows, Prongs,” Sirius informed him.

“You do?” asked James, coming over all shamefaced.

“I do, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

“Thanks,” replied James quietly.

“What’s going on?” asked Peter, confused.

Remus turned to him and sighed. “I fancy Hayley.”

Peter’s eyes suddenly became as wide as saucers. “You’re kidding! But this is huge!”

“Isn’t it just?” agreed James, raising his eyebrows smugly at Sirius.

“It won’t be huge if nothing comes of it,” corrected Remus.

“Well, it’d still be huge,” argued Sirius, “just not as happy.”

Remus laughed before taking on a more sombre tone. “I’m sorry for what happened with Lily, Prongs.”

“Don’t be, it was my own fault.”

“I’m sure she’ll come round.”

“See, Moony agrees with me. That means I must be right,” boasted Sirius.

“So did you really not mean to get everybody that drunk last night?” asked Peter interestedly.

“No, I honestly didn’t. It really was a mistake,” confessed James.

“Oh absolutely!” agreed Sirius emphatically. “I mean, how were you supposed to know that two litres of Firewhiskey would be just a little too much for a three litre punch bowl?”

Remus and Peter burst into hysterical laughter and James smiled despite himself.

Sirius supposed that he really couldn’t be too harsh with James; after all, he had kept his crush secret from the other two Marauders, for now at least.

As they quietened down once more everyone stared out thoughtfully over the grounds. A commotion seemed to be occurring somewhere in the close vicinity for Sirius had picked up the sound of someone shrieking wildly. Looking straight in front of him, he saw that Emma, Hayley and Lily had all come to stand next to a bewildered and slightly angry looking Kirsty. She seemed to be explaining something to them.

He turned to see that he was not the only one looking with intent over at the girls, though Sirius wondered if James only had eyes for Lily.

“Looks like that’s our cue to return,” announced Peter, indicating the assembled group of girls.

“Ready to re-enter the world of insanity?” questioned Remus with a playful smile as he too indicated over to the girls.

Sirius jumped up off the ground. “Ready and willing!” he announced cheerily.

James caught his eye and raised his eyebrows suggestively. “Oh, I bet you are,” he concurred, his voice full of the insinuation.

Sirius got the feeling that James was already enjoying this crush thing way too much.

--------------

“Let go of me!” screamed Kirsty demandingly as Sam dragged her out into the middle of the grounds. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Sam stopped abruptly and spun around to face her, letting go of her wrist as he did so. “Seeing as you don’t believe that I am truly sorry for what happened last night I am going to prove to you, and all the people gathered out here, just how deep my feelings for Emma are.”

“And how exactly do you propose to do that?” Kirsty yelled after Sam as he began to stride away from her.

Sam briefly spun back around. “I am going to prove my feelings for Emma, to Emma,” he announced simply, a confident air about him.

Kirsty watched him as he walked away, absentmindedly rubbing her sore wrist. She hated to admit it, but she was slightly intrigued as to what he was going to do.

After a while the rest of the girls came sidling over to join her as Remus and Peter went to join the other two boys. Kirsty laughed her head off upon seeing James and Sirius scrapping and when she looked to Lily she saw the shadow of an amused smile pass over her lips. There may just be hope yet, she realised. When Sirius and James had finished with their entertaining antics, Kirsty delved into the tale of what had just occurred between her and Sam. It was safe to say that Emma looked the happiest she had done all day when Kirsty recounted her slapping him in the face, though Emma did seem slightly disappointed to have not played a part in it.

Sam had been gone for ages, though some sort of commotion did seem to be going on over by the greenhouses. It was at this point that the four boys came sidling over to grace the girls with their presence. Kirsty didn’t know whether she had imagined it or not, but it seemed that Lily had tried to catch James’ eye and James had completely blanked her. Kirsty saw a flash of hurt and disappointment pass over Lily’s face but then it was gone.

The boys never even got a chance to exchange their hellos as within seconds of their arrival, Sam finally made his reappearance.

An infuriated looking Sam was dragging an even more infuriated looking Sian through a vast throng of curious onlookers. Kirsty and the rest of the group’s heads all spun around to survey Emma, some worried, some curious as to what her reaction was going to be. Emma looked liked someone had punched her in the stomach. Her face was slowly going red with anger and a furious scowl had become the most prominent feature upon her face.

Sam ploughed ferociously through the crowd of students before coming to a stop a couple of feet away from the small group and practically throwing Sian before him and nearly into Kirsty and Peter who stood at the forefront of their gathering. When Sian took a small step backwards to steady herself, Kirsty and the rest of her friends all took a rather large involuntary step away from her.

“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing, North?” screeched Sian with as much fury as she could muster.

Sam stood his ground and roared back at her, “I’m trying to prove to everyone here that there is nothing whatsoever going on between me, and a Slytherin tart like you!”

At this point, it was safe to say that a few raised eyebrows were exchanged by the group.

“Like there could possibly be anything between us in the first place; you’re a Gryffindor for Merlin’s sake!” retorted Sian, looking Sam up in down with a look of complete revulsion. She tried to dodge past Sam and make her escape but he yet again took a firm hold of her forearm as the confrontation continued.

“Like I’d ever fall for a poisonous Pureblood bitch like you!” Sam informed her. “Not when there’s a Gryffindor girl full of so much compassion, sincerity and grace that when she’s compared with you she makes you look like the most disgusting of mountain trolls!” Kirsty couldn’t believe this was happening, Sam really was revealing his feelings for Emma. Sam’s gaze fell unwaveringly on Emma as he stated more calmly, “Why would I even look at the likes of you when this Gryffindor girl, who is so drop dead gorgeous that I simply can’t believe she hasn’t been snapped up already, is right within my grasp. Or at least, she used to be.” Sam trailed off solemnly, his pleading eyes boring into Emma’s confused ones.

Within seconds of Sam breaking his eye contact with Emma and turning his gaze back to Sian, Sian had swung her arm up and slapped Sam hard on the opposite side of the face to what Kirsty had. Kirsty grimaced at the very sight of it, feeling a whoosh of empathy for Sam.

“Drop dead, North!” ordered Sian dangerously as she spun on her heel and returned to the safety of the castle.

Sam broke out into a sadistic smile as he watched the girl who had caused him so much trouble depart.

All eyes were now on Emma and Kirsty saw that she was gazing at Sam in complete and utter disbelief and if truth be told it looked as if she was shaking slightly too. Kirsty quickly turned back to Sam to see him venture away from the gathered crowds giving Emma a curt nod as he did so.

“Well, what do you think of that, Em?” asked Hayley, smiling broadly.

“I don’t believe him! I don’t bloody believe him!” seethed Emma, gnashing her teeth together. Kirsty and Peter shared a puzzled glance. “How can he have the nerve to stand and look at me as he talks about yet another girl he fancies who isn’t me?”

Kirsty surveyed all of the faces around her; all of them looked just as gob smacked as she was. They all had their mouths open to speak the words that simply would not formulate themselves. What could you possibly say in reply to that bombshell?

“But, Em,” began Remus beseechingly, “surely you realise who he was talking about.”

“Haven’t the foggiest idea, but I bet whoever she is she’s as blonde as the day is long.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” stated Hayley dryly.

Emma gazed suspiciously at her friends before turning on her heel and rushing away from them for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

“Was she just listening to the same thing that we were?” asked Sirius incredulously.

“Apparently not,” noted Peter.

The group of friends all turned to retreat back inside the castle, but Kirsty threw her arm out to stop Lily in her tracks. “Talk to him,” she instructed indicating over to a solemn looking James. And before Lily even got the chance to argue with her, Kirsty ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

--------------

Lily waited until all the rest of the group disappeared inside the castle, leaving her and James alone, before she made her move. She walked hesitantly towards him. He had his back turned and upon drawing level with him she whispered tentatively behind his right ear, “James, I-“

“Sorry, Lily,” he announced turning around sharply to survey her. “I haven’t got time for idle chatter; there’s something that I’ve got to do.”

He pushed past her and rushed up to the castle leaving Lily feeling deserted and confused. After a few moments of hesitation in which she watched James enter the castle and jog up the grand staircase, Lily made to follow him, running hard to catch up.

She caught up with James just as he was about to knock on the door to McGonagall’s office. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asked him in a frantic whisper.

James started and whipped his head around to look at her; clearly he hadn’t noticed her following him. “Proving something,” answered James stonily as he knocked on the door and entered.

The words “James, wait!” died on Lily’s lips as the door clicked shut behind him.

Lily listened to the mumbling voices on the other side of the door on tenterhooks. A screech of fury from McGonagall nearly made Lily jump out of her skin. James’ calming voice soon came into play again and Lily was relieved when there came no further outbursts from their Head of House.

After what seemed like an age, James re-emerged.

“What the hell did you tell her?” asked Lily, immediately jumping on him.

“The truth,” James replied shortly, making to walk away from her.

Lily grabbed hold of his shoulder and turned him around to face her. “What?” she asked quietly.

“I told her it was me who spiked the drinks; Sirius is in the clear.”

“But… why?” she asked, puzzled.

“To prove that I can take responsibility for my actions,” he informed her.

“But, James, I never asked you to-“

James interrupted. “-I know you didn’t. I did this for me, to help clear my conscience over what last night did to Emma.”

“Oh, James, I’m so sorry for what I said-“ confessed Lily feeling horrible for what she had said to him that morning.

“Don’t apologise, Lily. Everything you said was right, I should have known better,” James ordered her sternly.

“But I really am sorry. I don’t know why I said those things. It just seems that you’re the only person who can manage to rub me up the wrong way.”

“Well you needn’t worry about that anymore, I promise to stay out of your way from now on,” James informed her morosely as he shrugged of her grip and turned to leave.

“No, please, I don’t want that!” Lily yelled after him in distress. James turned back around, out of surprise if nothing more. “I’ve really loved how things have been between us lately; our relationship has come on leaps and bounds. I loved being at peace with each other, finally, after all these years,” she confessed, wanting him to know now more than ever that he did actually mean something to her. “But I went and really stuffed all that up,” she added, coming down on herself. “I’d really love it if we could be friends,” she confessed, silently pleading with him to not leave her life.

James took a couple of small steps back towards her. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he admitted earnestly.

“Come on, James,” stated Lily seriously, “let’s not kid ourselves, we owe each other more than that.”

James smiled slightly and heaved a weary sigh. “Okay, maybe friendship isn’t all that I’ve ever wanted between us, Lily, but it is definitely all that I am prepared to have.”

Lily tilted her head slightly to survey him as her chest suddenly became tight. James held his hand out for her to shake in a gesture of truce. Lily took it without hesitation and whilst their hands were still clasped together James leaned in and kissed her lightly on the cheek. As they moved apart, Lily felt heat immediately rush to the spot on her face where his lips had just been.

At that moment, James’ stomach interrupted their silence by emitting a mighty rumble. “Merlin!” exclaimed James with a laugh. “Looks like I need to get me some breakfast.”

“I think it most likely that you’ll be getting yourself some lunch by now,” Lily contradicted him.

James stared at her in interest for a moment. “Would you-“ He broke off. “-No, forget it,” he amended, making to walk away once more.

“James!” Lily hollered after him, determined to fully make amends.

James yet again turned back around; Lily sighed with relief. She held her hand out to him, indicating that he should take it. James gazed quizzically into her eyes, a slight smile gracing his features. “We could go down and get something to eat together, if you want,” she suggested nervously. James still stood looking at her in disbelief as if not daring to believe his eyes. “Come on,” Lily urged him, “the offer won’t stand all day. After all, it seems that I am only permitted to be nice to you when I’m recovering from a hangover.”

“That truly is a terrible side effect,” James stated, striding confidently back towards her. “Bloody alcohol!” he exclaimed dryly, clasping Lily’s hand delicately within his own.

With the beginning of November came misty mornings, late afternoon downpours and frosty evenings, meaning that students and teachers alike had already rummaged down to the very bottom of their trunks to produce scarves, coats, gloves and extra pairs of socks.

It was one of these frosty evenings at the beginning of November that witnessed the worst storms yet seen that school year. It had been raining non-stop all day, and it wasn’t looking like it was going to relent anytime soon. As the rain hammered ceaselessly on the windows of Hogwarts, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Peter and Emma were all to be found lounging comfortably in front of the roaring common room fire. They were the only members of Gryffindor Tower who were still awake and were taken full advantage of the fact that they had the common room all to themselves.

Sirius was sprawled all over the armchair nearest to the fire with his head resting on his shoulder and his eyes staring vacantly into the midst of the fire’s dancing flames. Willow, Kirsty’s tabby cat, was sat complacently on his lap, purring loudly. Remus was sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the fireplace, his arms stretched out behind him. The fire-poker lay next to him on the hearth as a sign of his self appointed task of keeping the fire alight.

Emma sat on the floor next to Sirius’ chair, using his legs as a backrest. She idly twisted a strand of her dark hair around her index finger whilst staring off into space; it looked to Sirius like she was daydreaming. Peter was sat to one side of the sofa with his legs curled up underneath him and his eyes closed; Sirius highly suspected that he had fallen asleep.

Lily was to be found on the other side of the sofa with her back resting against the arm rest. She had a book in her hand, but she seemed to be staring blankly at its pages and not taking in a single word. Every so often, a flash of lightning would send a stream of light across the room, and a few moments later it would be followed by the low rumble of thunder.

“Any idea where Hayley’s got to?” asked Sirius, lifting his head off his shoulder with great effort to look questioningly over at Remus. Remus merely shrugged in reply, unable to find the energy needed to form so sudden a reply.

Lily yawned, snapping her book shut as she did so, and answered, “It’s late; maybe Hayley went back to her common room for a change.”

Emma snorted in a rather unladylike fashion at this before she proceeded to have a mild coughing fit, which in turn jerked Peter awake. Sirius sat up, and patted Emma calmingly on the back, whilst Peter stifled a yawn and asked, “What time is it?”

Sirius squinted at his watch in the dark and replied, “Half past eleven.”

“And they still aren’t back yet?” asked Peter in disbelief.

The rest of the group summoned the energy to shake their heads in response. “What’s happened to us, guys?” marvelled Remus. “We used to be able to stay up later than this.”

“I blame Kirst,” announced Lily simply. “She keeps ungodly hours.”

Sirius smiled at this; never a truer word had been spoken. Kirsty did indeed have a habit of going to bed late and getting up ridiculously early. She seemed to also have Sirius and the others working by her clock too of late.

“Speaking of Kirst,” said Emma, “I bet she’s not impressed with all this.” She gestured in the direction of the raindrop ridden window.

“I think this is one of the only times that I’ve been thankful for the fact that I’m not on the Gryffindor Quidditch team,” confessed Sirius.

They all sat quietly then, just watching the rain cascade down the window pane as if mesmerised. After a while, Sirius noticed the sound of someone talking in a hushed voice outside the portrait hole. It seemed that he wasn’t the only one to hear this, however, when everyone else in the room stiffened as if in anticipation. The portrait hole swung open, and muffled footsteps could be heard on the carpet. Sirius turned around hopefully, and everyone else followed suit. The figure of Hayley gradually came into view, and Sirius felt a wave of disappointment wash over him.

“Oh, it’s you,” stated Emma, voicing Sirius’ own disappointment.

“Thanks, Em, I love you too,” replied Hayley dryly, though she seemed a bit disconcerted.

Remus smiled at the two girls in amusement before explaining to Hayley, “We thought that it was James and Kirsty coming back.”

Hayley’s eyes grew wide in amazement. “You mean they’re still not back from Quidditch practice?” Sirius and the others wearily shook their heads. “But it’s-“ Hayley squinted at her watch. “Nearly twelve o’clock! Oh, Kirsty is not going to be impressed!” Willow opened her eyes and looked up expectantly at the sound of her mistress’ name only to look dejected again upon finding that Kirsty had not yet returned. “I see you have a friend,” commented Hayley, nodding at the unimpressed-looking tabby.

Sirius smiled and tickled Willow on the back of her neck. “She’s a lovely little thing,” he cooed.

“I don’t see why she likes you so much,” Peter protested.

“Am I that unlovable?” asked Sirius overdramatically.

“Where have you been anyway?” Emma asked Hayley, changing topic.

Hayley grinned proudly and produced a rolled up piece of parchment from within her schoolbag. She unravelled it with a flourish and the Spellotaped piece of parchment trailed down past her legs until the bottom of it skimmed the floor. The others looked at the parchment in puzzlement. “I’ve been writing this!” explained Hayley.

“And what exactly is it?” asked Lily.

“My Arithmancy essay,” she announced with pride.

“Bloody hell!” exclaimed Peter. “How long is that thing?”

“It’s seven rolls of parchment,” answered Hayley gleefully, “I’ve been in the library most of the night writing this.”

“That is an achievement,” congratulated Sirius. Hayley grinned broadly at him. “No, not the essay,” he amended, and Hayley looked slightly crestfallen. “I meant managing to avoid Madam Pince for so long. I think me and James have only ever managed to stick it out in there until half past ten before Madam Pince came and shooed us away. Batty that woman, I’m telling you!”

“Now, hang on just a minute!” commanded Emma, swivelling around to look up at Sirius. “You and James have been in the library?”

“Ha ha,” retorted Sirius sarcastically.

“How did you manage to write that much?” Lily asked Hayley in amazement. “Mine’s only two rolls.” She looked to Remus for support.

“Mine’s four,” he informed them with an embarrassed shrug of the shoulders.

“I’m so glad we didn’t take Arithmancy,” declared Emma, still looking up at Sirius. Sirius, along with Peter, nodded emphatically in agreement.

Silence once again ensued amongst the exhausted group, and the only sounds that could be heard were the crackling of the logs on the fire, the rustling of Hayley’s essay as she rolled it back up… and the sound of footsteps outside the portrait hole. Sirius sat up, alert, as James and Sam clambered through the portrait hole. They were both drenched from head to foot. Sam was looking his usual sullen self and avoided making eye contact with any of the group, especially Emma.

Instead of greeting his friends straight away, James hung back whispering something frantically into Sam’s ear. Sam responded to his words with a grateful smile before exiting the common room just as quickly as he had arrived.

“How did it go, mate?” asked Remus tentatively as James slumped down on the floor beside him so that he could receive the full benefit of the fire’s warmth.

“It could have been worse, I suppose,” replied James wearily.

“And what, may I ask, have you done with our dear Kirsty?” demanded Emma.

“Well, last time I saw her, she was moaning about her hair being wet and tangled and refusing to get changed because her robes were sticking to her skin.”

As if on cue, the sound of five sets of heavy footsteps could be heard approaching the common room.

“Brace yourselves, people,” chuckled Peter as the portrait hole creaked open once more.

The rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team traipsed through, looking just as bedraggled as James and Sam. Kirsty was one of the last to enter and did so with her head resting against an equally tired-looking Lesley’s shoulder. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing rhythmically. At the noise of the portrait hole banging shut, Kirsty’s eyes snapped open, and she removed herself from Lesley’s shoulder, stretching tiredly. She smiled at her friends in greeting and waved goodbye to Lesley, who trudged upstairs to the dormitory, whilst Luke, Billy and Michaela all headed off for some much needed sleep too.

“So, how was your first Quidditch practice of the season?” Sirius asked her warily as she walked over and tickled Willow behind the ears.

“It was cold,” replied Kirsty miserably.

“Aw,” offered Sirius sympathetically. “Would you like me to nip down to the kitchens and get you a hot chocolate?”

“If you don’t mind, that would be lovely,” Kirsty answered giving him a grateful, albeit slightly weary, smile.

Sirius scooped Willow up carefully and cradled her in his arms, before offering Kirsty his chair. Kirsty took him up on the offer, and Sirius deposited Willow down onto her lap. “Would you like one too, Prongs?” asked Sirius.

“Please, Padfoot. The Cloak’s upstairs in my schoolbag, if you want to take it,” James informed him.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” confessed Sirius as he dashed up to the dormitory.

Within seconds, he was rocketing back down the staircase, Invisibility Cloak in hand. Just as he reached the portrait hole, however, Hayley called out, “Could you get me one as well, please?”

Sirius turned and surveyed her incredulously. “But you haven’t been out to Quidditch practice.”

“No… but I like chocolate!” replied Hayley rather sulkily.

“Fine, I’ll fetch you one too,” relented Sirius as he threw the cloak over himself and made his way out of the common room.

--------------

After Sirius’ departure, the group fell quiet once more, and James could feel himself starting to slip off into a doze.

“So,” began Lily, turning to James in what seemed like a bid to keep him awake. “What were you saying to Sam earlier?”

Emma made an indignant noise at the mention of Sam, whereas James shot a wary glance around the room before answering quietly, “I sent him off to the Prefect’s bathroom to have a good, long, relaxing soak because he seemed a bit down.”

Lily gave James a quizzical look.

“What, more down than usual?” asked Remus.

“I’m afraid so… he… erm… doesn’t seem to be handling it all too well.” James shot a concerned look at Emma, who seemed to be filtering out the bits of the conversation that referred to Sam.

“Good,” replied Peter rather maliciously.

Hayley shot a disapproving glance Peter’s way before addressing James. “I take it that practice didn’t go too well for him then?”

James shook his head sombrely. “He didn’t save a single shot.” The others groaned sympathetically in response.

“And our first match is when?” asked Remus with concern.

“Next Saturday,” moaned James.

“How did Sam even know how to get into the Prefect’s bathroom?” asked Lily with interest.

James gave both her and Kirsty a sheepish look before replying, “I kind of told him the password.”

“You did what?” bellowed Kirsty, scaring Willow off of her knee in the process.

“I’m sorry, Kirst. He was upset; he needed cheering up. Besides, I need to try whatever I can to get my Keeper on form for next week’s match.”

“Humph,” replied Kirsty huffily, crossing her arms and falling silent in protest.

By the time Sirius finally returned, levitating three steaming cups of hot chocolate before him, Kirsty had still not spoken a single word to James. Sirius gave Hayley her cup first, and she squealed in delight. He then went to hand James his, but before James’ outstretched fingers managed to encase the red-hot cup, Kirsty blurted out, “James gave Sam the password to the Prefect’s bathroom!”

Sirius instantly removed the cup from James’ reach, looking aghast. “What?” he demanded in disbelief.

“Look, Sam was upset, so I decided to be a good Samaritan,” James explained, silently pleading with Sirius not to make a big deal out of it. He really wanted his hot chocolate.

“But I’ve been asking you for the password since the start of the year!” whined Sirius. James sighed; his hot chocolate seemed to be getting further and further out of reach. “And I bugged Moony about it for two years before that!” Sirius continued to rant.

“Yeah, same here!” chimed in Kirsty. Then she added to Emma, “Except I’ve got a Lily and a Hayley where Sirius’ has got a Moony.”

Emma looked at her in amusement before asking, “What’s the big deal? Me and Peter both know the password.”

“What? You know?” Sirius asked Emma and Peter incredulously.

“Thank you for that,” James fired dryly at Emma, rubbing his temples which were starting to ache.

“How come they can know and we can’t?” demanded Sirius.

“For this reason alone, I think,” interrupted Remus, who appeared extremely entertained by the whole scenario. This statement inevitably earned Remus glowering looks from both Sirius and Kirsty.

“Sirius, can I just have my hot chocolate?” pleaded James, sounding slightly desperate even to his own ears.

Sirius held the cup childishly out of James’ reach.

“Good luck getting your hot chocolate now, James,” announced Kirsty. “After all, you’ve betrayed us!”

“Betrayed you?” echoed James disbelievingly.

“Yes, and after all that hard work I put into practice this evening, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Good luck in getting me to catch the Snitch for you next week!”

James didn’t care anymore - all he cared about was his hot chocolate, which was still floating annoyingly out of reach. He took a deep sigh and muttered, “Lethifold.”

“Bless you,” retorted Kirsty comically.

James laughed. “No, that’s the password to the bathroom.”

Kirsty and Sirius took a moment to gape at each in surprise, before Kirsty flung herself at James squealing, “Thank you!” repeatedly.

Out of the corner of his eye, James could see Remus, Hayley, Emma and Peter all exchanging looks of confusion. Only Lily, however, looked to James in a questioning manner. James, seeing this, gave her a conspiratorial wink and Lily gave him an amused smile in return.

“Cheers, mate,” Sirius thanked him, a huge grin present on his face.

“Can I have my hot chocolate now?” asked James.

“Anything for you, Prongs,” announced Sirius grandly, all sweetness and light now, as he handed James his cup. Yay, hot chocolate! James inwardly rejoiced.

“We’ll have to try the password out tomorrow,” suggested Kirsty as Sirius made his way over to her. “Seeing as Sam’s in there at the moment.” She seemed to pause then as if in thought before, pulling a face full of revulsion.

“Good idea,” agreed Sirius, placing himself on the arm of Kirsty’s chair and handing her the final cup.

James sipped his hot chocolate blissfully, feeling warmth instantly spread throughout his entire body. He heard a rustling sound followed by a sharp snapping noise and slowly opened his eyes to see Remus handing out segments from a bar of Honeydukes’ chocolate.

“For those of us without the hotter version,” Remus explained upon meeting James’ questioning gaze.

Hayley proceeded to take a large piece of chocolate, making the others pull sickened faces when she proceeded to dunk it into her mug.

“Hayley, you’ll be sick!” chided Peter.

Emma laughed. “Do you not know Hayley?”

James smiled. Hayley did, after all, have a strange fixation with chocolate. She was most definitely what you’d call a chocoholic. She ate it morning, noon and night, and yet she still remained as thin as ever.

“Point taken,” Peter relented, giving a huge yawn.

“I think it’s about time that we all went to bed, guys,” suggested Lily, rising reluctantly to her feet.

“Yeah, we can take our hot chocolates up to bed with us,” suggested James.

“What are you doing?” Remus asked Hayley as he stood up. “Would you like me to walk you back to your common room?”

“If that’s all right?” enquired Hayley.

Remus smiled warmly at her, and James and Peter raised their eyebrows at each other behind his back.

But before any of them got the chance to make their way anywhere, James was hit by a devastating realisation. He groaned loudly, causing the others to swivel around and look at him with concern. “I forgot that I have that stupid Arithmancy essay to do for tomorrow,” he explained. As soon as James said this, he saw Hayley instinctively hold her own essay tightly against her. She did it so comically that James couldn’t help but smile.

The others, however, were offering him sympathetic looks. “Don’t worry, James,” Lily consoled him, shooting Hayley a reproachful look. “I’ll stay up and help you with it, if you’d like?”

Kirsty shot a conspicuous glance over at Sirius, who raised his eyebrows at Remus, and Remus nudged Emma, who grinned at Kirsty.

“No, Lily, you go to bed. I’m sure I’ll manage… somehow,” insisted James in a moment of chivalry.

“Don’t be silly, James! I want to help, and if I do, we’ll get it done in half the time.”

James couldn’t help smiling elatedly. “Well, if you’re sure, then I’d really appreciate it.”

“I’m sure,” she reassured him, smiling affectionately as her eyes bored into his for the briefest of moments. James felt his stomach give a delighted little flip.

“And don’t worry,” piped up Remus, gently trying to pry Hayley’s essay out of her hands. “I’m sure that Hayley will be more than willing to lend you her essay as inspiration.”

As Remus succeeded in retrieving the essay, Hayley glared at him as if he had just slapped her. “I suppose,” she muttered grumpily.

“No, it’s okay, Hayley. I wouldn’t dream of taking something you naturally will have worked so hard on.”

Hayley beamed at him and prodded Remus angrily in the chest. He smiled mischievously back at her.

“Flatterer,” Lily whispered devilishly next to James’ ear.

He turned to look at her in surprise, before smiling and replying, “I do what I can.”

“Well, I guess this is good night then,” observed Peter as he made for the stairs.

Kirsty followed in his wake, shooting James one final sympathetic look and announcing, “I knew there was a reason why I didn’t take Arithmancy.”

“Night,” chimed everybody as they either climbed up their respective staircase or headed off out of the common room.

Now that they were alone, James felt slightly discomforted. “So,” he began giving Lily a shy smile. “Shall we get started?”

--------------

“Kirst, Kirst, wake up!” Kirsty could feel someone gently trying to shake her awake and she just knew that she recognised their voice, but in her current sleepy state she was having the hardest time placing it. Am I dreaming? She wondered idly, subconsciously snuggling further down under the bedcovers. “Kirst!” hissed the voice a little more harshly. “Believe me, you will regret it forever if you do not wake up this instant!” Kirsty blearily opened one eye to see the fuzzy outline of someone who she found vaguely familiar. “Finally,” stated the voice, sounding impatient. A tumbled thought of, Hang on, that was a lad’s voice, managed to wheedle its way into the forefront of Kirsty’s mind. That was Sirius’ voice, she realised with a worrying jolt.

“Sirius?” she queried sleepily.

“Who else?” he responded chirpily, careful to keep his voice to a low whisper.

Where am I? wondered Kirsty instantaneously. She searched around in the dark, checking that she was in fact in her own dorm. Yes, this was definitely her dorm. So why was Sirius there? The more important question, she came to realise, was how was Sirius there? When it hit home that Sirius had in fact made his way into the girls’ dorms, Kirsty instinctively sat bolt upright, pulling the covers tight around her chest as she did so.

As Kirsty’s eyes gradually adjusted to the dark, she noticed that Sirius was standing before her in nothing but his pyjama bottoms. As she gazed at his naked torso, she felt her cheeks begin to colour. Gathering her composure, she asked, “Sirius, what the bloody hell are you doing in here?”

“Shh, keep your voice down,” he warned her.

“Why-“ Sirius clamped his hand over her mouth at the loudness of her response. As he slowly moved it away again, Kirsty asked in a whisper, “How?”

Sirius grinned proudly at this question. “Oh, I’ve known how to get up here for ages. Ever since I had that little thing with Mary, in fact.” He indicated the bed across from Kirsty’s.

Kirsty looked at him incredulously. “But how did you do it?”

“I borrowed James’ broom and flew up, which is no mean feat, let me tell you.”

“So why haven’t you come up here more often?”

“I didn’t want to take advantage,” he replied as if it was obvious, whilst offering her what seemed like a chivalrous grin. “Anyway, forget about all of that. I’ve got something to show you.”

Kirsty looked at him in slight apprehension, but couldn’t help grinning at what seemed like some sort of hidden innuendo. Sirius walked over to the top of the girls’ staircase and beckoned to her indicating that she should follow him, before he disappeared down the stairs. Kirsty reluctantly got out of bed and slipped on her dressing gown, following in Sirius’ footsteps as she tied it around her.

Upon reaching the top of the staircase, Kirsty saw Sirius sitting back on his haunches halfway up the stairs. She went down and crouched beside him, wondering what ridiculous scheme he could have possibly cooked up this time. Sirius pointed to the common room down below them, and Kirsty had to crouch down even lower in order to see what he was on about.

It took all of Kirsty’s will power not to screech hysterically upon seeing what Sirius was pointing at. She turned to face him and couldn’t help smiling when she saw that he was poised inches away from her, prepared to silence her with his hand at any moment. She looked back into the common room briefly, before turning to face Sirius again, the grin on her face becoming broader with elation. “Oh my God,” she breathed. Down in the common room, snuggled up on the sofa together, in full view of their ecstatic friends, were Lily and James. Lily lay with her back up against James’ chest and James had his arm draped protectively around her midriff. Even though Lily had her back to him, her head was turned in his direction and was resting on his shoulder, her face pressed against the nape of his neck. James meanwhile, had his chin resting on the top of her head, buried amidst her flaming red locks.

“Don’t they make a cute couple?” whispered Sirius excitedly. Kirsty simply nodded in reply, unable to tear her gaze away from the two of them. After a few more moments of staring at the couple in wonderment, Sirius declared, “Well, I think we’ve invaded their privacy enough for one night, don’t you?” He stood up, and offered his hand out to pull Kirsty to her feet.

Kirsty took one more good look at Lily and James, before taking Sirius’ hand and asking, “Aren’t we going to show the others?”

“No. The fewer people that know about this, the less embarrassing it’s going to be for Lily and James,” Sirius replied simply.

Kirsty raised her eyebrows at him. “When did you become Mr Sensitive?”

Sirius laughed. “Plus, if we let anybody else in on the secret, something might slip and we could damage any possible relationship between Lily and James forever.”

“But why did you tell me?” Kirsty queried, following Sirius as he tiptoed slowly back up the stairs to the girls’ dorms.

Sirius turned around to face her and shrugged. “I just thought you’d like to know.”

She smiled at him, and the two of them re-entered her dormitory, though Kirsty did wonder why Sirius wasn’t in fact returning to his own room.

“Now, to bed!” announced Sirius walking over to Kirsty’s four poster bed and flopping down on top of it.

“Up!” commanded Kirsty, trying to hide her smile. “You’ve got your own bed.”

“But that’s all the way over there,” whined Sirius, gesturing emphatically with his arm in the general direction of the boys’ dorms. “Anyway, that would mean I’d risk waking up the blissful couple down there by walking through.”

“You’ve already walked through there once!” argued Kirsty.

“And your point is?” asked Sirius devilishly. Kirsty glared at him, sensing where he was going with this. “Come on,” pleaded Sirius, “you can’t kick me out into the cold. I’ll be as good as gold… for the most part.”

“But where are you going to sleep?” Kirsty asked him.

“I think the question you should be asking is ‘where am I going to sleep?’”

“Hmm,” replied Kirsty, not amused. “But why can’t you just sleep down on the floor like you did last time?”

“Are you kidding?” exclaimed Sirius rather loudly, before lowering his voice to a whisper once again. “It’s the beginning of November.”

“Sirius, you slept on the floor in your dorms a week ago,” Kirsty reminded him.

“Oh yeah,” realised Sirius. “But still, surely you can manage to spend one night in my company. I mean, am I really that repulsive?”

He looked up at her with his puppy dog eyes, and Kirsty could feel herself slowly relenting. It was only one night, after all. How much harm could it really do? Although Kirsty had to admit that it wasn’t Sirius’ supposed repulsiveness that was bothering her, quite the opposite in fact. How was she supposed to spend the night with the likes of Sirius Black? And a topless, intoxicatingly rugged-looking Sirius Black at that. She shook her head, smiling slightly. Here she was about to live out the fantasy of almost every girl in Hogwarts, and she was hesitating. Come on, she urged herself, be daring. It was Sirius, for God’s sake; he was one of her best friends. How awkward could things really get between them?

When she came out of her reverie, Kirsty saw Sirius gazing at her with undisguised intrigue. “So, is that a yes? Can I stay?”

Kirsty took her slipper off and threw it at his head. “Yes, you can stay, but you are the most infuriating person ever! Do you realise that?” Sirius offered her a wide, mischievous grin in response.

Kirsty walked over and wrenched one of her pillows out from underneath Sirius’ head, and proceeded to place it down by the foot of the bed. With this done, she shrugged off her dressing gown and clambered underneath the covers.

“What are doing?” asked Sirius, igniting the tip of his wand.

“You didn’t honestly think that we were going to sleep all snuggled up like Lily and James, did you?” Kirsty teased him.

“Well, yeah… no… not exactly like those two,” Sirius stammered, sounding flustered.

Kirsty laughed. “Sorry to disappoint, Sirius.”

“Hmm,” he replied, sounding irked.

The light from Sirius’ wand flickered out, and Kirsty tried to settle down to sleep. Things were going swimmingly, and Kirsty had very nearly slipped off into unconsciousness when Sirius began to childishly tickle her feet. Kirsty jerked violently, since she was extremely ticklish, and she ended up banging her head on the board at the end of the bed. “Ouch!” she exclaimed in extreme annoyance. “Sirius, this isn’t working.”

“Well, come up this end then,” stated Sirius, patting the spot next to him invitingly. Kirsty raised her eyebrows at him. “Come on,” continued Sirius in a wheedling tone, “I promise not to harass you.” As proof, Sirius held his hands up above the covers.

Kirsty sighed. “Fine.” She crawled up next to Sirius, glad of any resolution that would result in her getting a decent night’s sleep. She plopped the pillow back in its rightful place, and Sirius raised his head obligingly. As Kirsty snuggled in beside him, momentarily revelling in his body heat, she resorted to resting her head on the smallest section of pillow imaginable. This was because Sirius was taking up the majority of it with his arms resting up behind his head.

“You can’t be comfy like that,” observed Sirius. “You can rest your head on me, if you want.”

“Is that your way of telling me that you’re not giving up your part of the pillow?” enquired Kirsty, amused despite herself.

Sirius laughed. “It could be. Seriously, though, lay your head on me. I don’t bite… well, not very often,” he finished with a small chuckle.

Grudgingly, Kirsty complied, and as soon as her cheek came into contact with his naked torso, her face flamed with embarrassment. Her cheeks were on fire, and Kirsty was sure that they were burning up hot enough for Sirius to feel them.

“Goodnight,” he murmured, sliding his arm around her waist.

Kirsty would never admit it to anyone, but that night had provided her with the most comforting night’s sleep she had ever had.

--------------

Lily woke abruptly at the sudden lack of warmth around her midriff. Keeping her eyes shut, she stretched her right arm out behind her, wondering idly where she was. Her outstretched fingers brushed against a thin piece of fabric and she hastily retracted her arm. With her heart palpitating in fear, Lily slowly opened her eyes, though somewhat reluctantly. Deciding that prolonging the fear of the unknown would be worse, Lily quickly rolled over on the sofa to find herself surprised beyond belief when the sight of a fairly muscular back danced in front of her eyes. She gulped, hoping that the back didn’t belong to who she thought it did. In trepidation she began to let her gaze roam up from the back, to the shoulders, to the neck and then finally to the messy mop of black hair on top of the figure’s head.

Lily gasped involuntarily, bringing her hand up in front of her mouth in despair. Oh God. How could this have happened? She knew that they had both been unbelievably tired, but still. How could she have let this happen? She never coped well when in close proximity to James just lately; she would become flustered and her cheeks would flush, but she had still kept telling herself that it meant nothing.

James was breathing deeply and rhythmically. He was clearly still fast asleep, although Lily couldn’t see his face from where she lay. She quickly became fixated on just watching the steady rise and fall of his chest, and when James shifted slightly in his sleep, Lily couldn’t help but notice a gentle rippling of his shoulder muscles. She breathed in deeply, taking in the intoxicating smell of James’ aftershave as well as the smell of freshly mown grass, which always seemed to surround James in waves. He was gorgeous; there was simply no denying it. Lily had always acknowledged this fact, but she had never seemed to acknowledge the little tug she would feel in the region of her solar plexus whenever she laid eyes on him, not until recently anyway. Could she really be so uncharacteristically reckless and grab a hold of the very thing she had wanted since the end of their sixth year of Hogwarts? Was she ready to accept the fact that James Potter was simply meant to hold a firm place within her heart?

She came to from her reverie with a guilty start, when she realised that her fingers were trailing lightly up and down James’ spine, and her stomach felt taut with a sudden longing, just like it always did when she was in James’ presence. With a heavy sigh, Lily retracted her fingers from James’ back and closed her eyes, trying desperately to free her mind of its traitorous wanderings.

“I hope you realise and appreciate,” murmured James almost inaudibly, “what incredible self-control I’ve been exercising for the past few minutes.”

Lily let out a shriek and sprang away from him as if she had been electrocuted. Shocked to the core and hideously embarrassed to find out that he had been awake the entire time, she turned back over and buried her face in one of the sofa cushions, shuddering with mortification.

Lily heard a gentle rustling from behind her, indicating that James too had now turned over. His fingers lightly touched the top of her arm and she felt her skin prickle in response. “I didn’t say stop,” James pointed out gently.

Lily, her head still buried in the cushion, couldn’t speak, and even when James began to trace his fingers over her arm in light circles, she remained utterly rigid, not daring to respond. Her heart was beating furiously again, this time not from fear but anticipation.

“In case you’re interested,” continued James, his tone almost conversational, “I would rate those very same few minutes as the very best of my entire life.”

“Shut up!” squeaked Lily, almost wishing she were dead. James made no reply, but instead he allowed his fingers to lightly explore the sensitive skin at the back of her neck. Lily could feel her tension leaving her. Who knew James Potter could be so delicate?

After what seemed like an age, in which the two just lay together in silence, James’ fingers stopped their activity, and he pulled Lily around to face him. He gazed earnestly at her and asked tentatively, “Lily, where does all this leave us?”

Lily gazed deeply into his eyes as she pondered this question, and the love that she saw reflected in them made her stomach do an almighty somersault. “James, I like you, I mean, I really like you, or at least I’m beginning to.” A look of pure happiness flickered across James’ face at her words. “But-“

“-it’s too soon,” James finished for her sensitively.

“I’m sorry, James,” she whispered, and she truly was.

“Hey,” replied James, seeming to take this news in his stride. “I’ve waited seven years for you; I think I can wait a little bit longer.”

Lily smiled at him, feeling immensely crushed at what she had just done. “I really am sorry.”

He smiled lovingly at her. “Believe me, you liking me is more than enough for now.” And with that he leaned over her and kissed her lightly on the end of the nose, before jumping up off the sofa and finally climbing the stairs to bed.

Lily gazed after him longingly, her heart still beating frantically inside her chest.

On the morning of Gryffindor’s first Quidditch match, as the sun shone brightly through the castle’s recently frosty windows, Remus and the rest of the Marauders could be found lounging lazily in their common room.

Remus watched with amusement as James continued to tap his fingers nervously against the arm of his chair. He looks ill, Remus thought with concern. He’s never been this bad before a Quidditch match before.

“Oh for God’s sake!” exclaimed James, jumping up out of his chair and startling the other three boys.

“Calm down, Prongs,” instructed Remus softly.

“Calm down? Calm down? How can I calm down when two members of my Quidditch team are still asleep?”

“Like Moony said, calm down, Prongs. I’m sure Kirsty and Lesley will be up soon,” agreed Peter.

“Notice how you automatically know that it’s Kirsty and Lesley that I’m talking about!”

“That’s because they’re the only two members that could get you this riled up - Kirst in particular,” stated Remus. “And I’m sure they’ll both be getting up as we speak. They wouldn’t let you down, not today of all days.”

“God, I hope you’re right,” replied James morosely, sinking back into his chair and putting his head in his hands.

Remus looked over at Sirius and watched as he piped up for the first time that morning. “Prongs, I do wish you would calm down; you’re making me feel edgy.” James lifted his head up and shot a mutinous glare at Sirius. “Besides,” continued Sirius, choosing to ignore James’ slight hostility towards him, “Sam isn’t up yet either.” He jerked his thumb in the direction of the boys’ dorms.

“Oh, he is.” James nodded. “I spoke to him at breakfast earlier.”

“I bet that was a bright and endearing conversation,” remarked Remus.

“I do wish Sam would lighten up. It’s like sharing a dorm with a Dementor. He sucks the happiness right out of that place!” stated Peter.

“Too true!” agreed Sirius.

“Poor Northy, in love with a member of the most hazardous group of girls that Hogwarts ever did see,” said James with a laugh.

“Let’s just hope that he does better today than he has been doing in practice,” said Sirius.

James groaned and replied jokingly, “Yeah, I blame Emma for all this you know.”

“Well, I think your blame would be better directed at Sian Morgan,” replied Peter a hint of annoyance evident in his voice.

“Wormtail does have a point. Let’s hope that Kirsty flattens her in today’s match,” agreed Remus.

“Maybe if you got Emma to forgive Sam, he’d play better,” suggested Sirius.

“Are you kidding? I’d rather go into today’s match with all my manliness still in-tact, thank you very much!” exclaimed James.

Sirius barked with laughter. “James Potter, afraid of a girl! I never thought I’d see the day!”

“Shut up, Padfoot! If you’re so brave you go and do it for me!”

“Are you kidding? A room full of five Gryffindor girls �“ and undoubtedly one resident Ravenclaw �“ all above the age of consent, gathered in what I imagine to be a very confined space, all in skimpy looking pyjamas, attacking me at the suggestion that an apology to Sam ‘I kissed a Slytherin cow’ North would be a worthwhile thing to do. All in all that’s a scenario that is not in the least too shabby for Padfoot!” fantasised Sirius. James snorted derisively. Sirius jerked out of his fantasising state at the sound and looked around at the other three. “I went too far, didn’t I? When should I have stopped?”

“About two seconds after you took a breath to start,” replied Peter with a smirk.

Sirius pouted. “Oh well, it would have never happened anyway. Can’t get into the girls’ dorms, for one thing.”

“A fact that has haunted me these past seven years,” replied James, his voice full of mock sorrow.

“Well, why don’t we do something about it then? If you ask me, it’s about time we took a real stab at trying to figure out how to get up there. Are we Marauders or not?” piped up Peter with much inspiring gusto.

James sighed. “But we’ve tried everything we can possibly think of. We’ve been trying ever since we first arrived at Hogwarts. It’s impossible. It can’t be done. We’ve come up with the most innovative ideas anyone has ever thought of, and we still couldn’t find a way up.”

Should I help them out? pondered Remus, now feeling immensely guilty about the fact that he had never told the other three that he had always known how to get up into the girls’ dorms. Quickly coming to a decision, he suggested to the other three, “Maybe we should give up on thinking of innovative ideas and instead go for some simpler ones.” Sirius looked over at him and raised his eyebrow suspiciously. Remus got the feeling that he wasn’t the only one who had kept the way up to the girls’ dorms a secret. James and Peter both sat still, looking as if they were thinking hard.

As the silence ensued, Remus had to try extremely hard not to laugh at the helpful hint that Sirius was silently conveying to James and Peter. He kept looking from James to his broom and back again. So far, James hadn’t picked up on this obvious clue.

After what felt like an age, James jumped out of his chair for the second time that morning and exclaimed with euphoria, “We can fly up!”

Peter too leapt up at the sound of his friend’s words. “What? Are you serious?” he asked, his voice full of anticipation.

“Yes! That’s it. That’s how we get up to the girls’ dorms. I can’t believe that it never occurred to me before. How could I have been so stupid?” James then sprinted across the common room, grabbed his broom securely by its handle, and ran for the staircase, Peter hot on his heels.

Neither boy could have possibly been prepared for the collision that greeted them when they reached the bottom of the staircase. Two overenthusiastic boys colliding at full speed with a broomstick stuck in between them must have been a painful experience indeed. Trying his best not to even crack a smile at James and Peter’s dazed looks, Remus followed Sirius as he walked casually over to them, plucked James’ broom up off the floor, and proceeded to mount it.

Remus, watching Sirius’ movements with amusement, asked with a smile, “When did you figure it out?”

Sirius spun his head around to face him, looking surprised at how Remus could have possibly realised that he knew. “Last year.”

“Beginning of fifth year,” stated Remus with what he hoped was a modest smile.

“Typical Moony,” replied Sirius, laughing and shaking his head as he kicked off hard from the floor and flew up to the girls’ dorms.

-------------

Lily was woken by a soft flumph noise. Reluctantly heaving herself out of her drowsy state she became aware of the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, which was undoubtedly Emma embarking on her early morning shower. Realising that it wasn’t the noise of the shower that had woken her up, Lily began to wonder what it was that actually had.

Her question was answered, however, when she heard Kirsty mutter drowsily, her voice full of irritation, “For the last time, Em, throwing a pillow at my head does not get me out of bed!” Lily furrowed her brow. Surely it was Emma who was currently in the shower; nobody else got up that early to wash their hair at the weekend. But if Emma was in the shower, who was throwing pillows at Kirsty’s head to wake her up?

“Then please do tell me what does, because I would very much like my one, and only, Seeker to be out on the pitch on time!” Hang on, was that James? Involuntarily, Lily let out a cry of surprise and quickly whipped open the hangings surrounding her four-poster bed.

Someone else also let out a cry of surprise. The obvious option would have been Kirsty, seeing as Emma was in the shower and Lily was sure that she had heard the distant sounds of Lesley and Heather getting up earlier, but Kirsty didn’t sound like that. No, that cry sounded like�“

“Hayley?” Lily asked groggily, shielding her eyes from the blinding sunlight that flooded the dorms and looking over at Lesley’s bed, where the cry had emanated from.

“Yeah, it’s me,” came Hayley’s voice, as she popped her head through the gap in the hangings. Lily looked at her incredulously, before turning her gaze over to Kirsty’s bed. Upon seeing all four of the boys standing there, Lily defensively pulled her bed covers up around her shoulders, and she saw Kirsty do the same. The boys stood watching their antics with amusement.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” Lily flung at them.

“Don’t you think you should direct that question to the non-Gryffindor first?” asked Peter, looking as if he was trying hard not to laugh. The other three smirked along with him, all of them looking at Hayley, or at least Hayley’s face.

“I was reading,” announced Hayley, sounding slightly embarrassed as she reached behind her and brandished her book in front of them all.

“Read in your own dorm,” said Lily in exasperation.

“I was going to, but I was worried that I’d get too engrossed and lose track of time, and I wanted to come up here and support the team.”

“You could have just stayed in the common room,” suggested Sirius helpfully. Lily shot a mutinous glare at him, not amused at all that they had managed to find a way up to the girls’ dormitory, and he graciously shut up.

“Well I was going to, but I also wanted to borrow Emma’s hair styling stuff,” answered Hayley, revealing her newly straightened hair to the group with a flick.

“Why didn’t you just do your hair by magic?” Lily asked.

“Because you know what Emma gets like when we do that - she gets offended; she likes hair to be done in the Muggle way.”

Lily heard Remus mutter something that sounded an awful lot like, “Women!”

This caused her to round on them again, “You still haven’t answered my question. What the hell do you think you’re doing coming up here?”

“Hang on, that’s not exactly what you asked us before,” answered Peter infuriatingly.

“We thought we’d come and visit your dorm for a change since you’re always in ours,” answered Remus.

“We wanted to see what various states of undress you lot were in in the morning,” replied Sirius with a devilish grin.

“And I’m here to drag my Seeker and Beater down to the Quidditch pitch,” replied James, sounding annoyed.

Lily swore that sometimes it would just be easier to push all four of them off the very top of the Astronomy Tower and let fate decide what was to become of them all.

“Lesley’s in the shower,” Hayley piped up helpfully in reply to James’ statement.

“Good,” James replied, seeming to relax a little.

“So how did you manage it?” asked Hayley with intrigue, as she propped her head up on her hands. Lily shot her a reproachful look. “What?” asked Hayley defensively. “I’m just interested.”

“By broom,” replied Remus, indicating the offending object in question, which was propped innocently against the wall.

“Ah, clever,” stated Hayley.

Kirsty, her face bathed in dazzling sunlight, moaned, “Can’t I have my hangings closed? It’s way too bright in here.”

“No,” replied James sharply. “You have to get up and ready for the match.”

“James, I have an hour and a half in which to get ready for the match.”

“An hour and twenty seven minutes, actually,” stated James, glancing at his watch.

Lily saw Kirsty roll her eyes.

“Who opened the hangings in the first place?” asked Lily curiously.

“Sirius,” James, Peter and Remus replied in unison.

Lily furrowed her brow. “How’d you know which bed was Kirst’s?” Was it just her imagination, or did Sirius look slightly flustered by this question?

“Just a good guess,” he replied cagily.

“Nobody, not even you, Sirius Black, is that good a guesser!” Lily answered, suspicion rising within her. “So I’m going to ask again, how did you know which bed was Kirst’s?” Lily saw Kirsty give Sirius a worried look.

Sighing loudly, Sirius unwillingly answered, “Because I came up here last Friday night.”

There was a collectively loud questioning of “What?” from all but Kirsty and Sirius.

“You knew about this?” Lily asked Kirsty, guessing as much owing to her lack of surprise following Sirius’ statement. Kirsty nodded slowly.

“You knew how to get up here?” James asked Sirius, sounding slightly hurt.

“Yep. I guess now we’re even for you giving me a fake password to the Prefect’s bathroom.” James glared at him. “And another thing,” added Sirius, seeming very intent on riling James further. “I didn’t just visit this dorm last Friday; I slept here too.”

“What?” screeched Lily, along with Hayley.

“Where on Earth did you sleep?” continued Hayley.

Sirius looked over to Kirsty and grinned wickedly at her. “In Kirsty’s bed.” Kirsty proceeded to cover her head with her duvet. Lily knew that this statement was probably realistically more innocent than it sounded coming from Sirius’ corrupted mouth.

“You’re not serious?” asked Peter, agog.

“Deadly serious,” replied Sirius, still grinning inanely.

“God damn you, Sirius Black!” came Kirsty’s muffled words.

“Hang on,” announced James, “last Friday night was �““

“-Quidditch practice,” Sirius finished for him, looking slightly apologetic.

“Yeah, what the hell were you doing up here that night?” asked Lily, though she had picked up on the worried tone in James’s voice and so shared a fleeting look of horror with him. Had Sirius seen anything that had happened between her and James last Friday?

Sirius, seeming uncomfortable, replied, “I came to… erm… show Kirsty… erm… something.”

“What?” asked Hayley suspiciously, sharing a glance with Remus, where she seemed to be silently asking him if he knew what was going on.

A jovial humming then emanated from the bathroom, and Lily turned sharply to see Emma walk in. Lily sighed with relief; she’d never been so glad to see Emma in her entire life, even if she was dressed in nothing but a towel. Unfortunately, Emma, who was brushing her wet hair, had her eyes closed due to being engrossed in humming her jaunty tune. Lily inwardly winced when Sirius wolf whistled. Emma jumped so much that Lily was surprised, and mildly impressed, that she managed to keep hold of the towel.

“What the bloody hell?” she screamed. “I’m sure this is some sort of invasion of personal space!”

“And a good morning to you too, Em,” Remus greeted her dryly.

Kirsty helpfully threw Emma the blanket off of the end of her bed for her to cover herself up with.

“So you knew how to get up here all along, and you didn’t tell me?” James continued to question Sirius, paying little attention to Emma’s current embarrassment.

“Well, I thought that you’d want to gain the satisfaction of knowing that you figured it out all by yourself.”

“How long have you known?” James continued to interrogate him.

“I figured it out last year,” Sirius replied, again sounding slightly apologetic. James said nothing. “But if it makes you feel any better, Moony figured it out way before I did,” Sirius continued.

Remus shot Sirius a look full of pure resentment. “Cheers, Padfoot,” he said through gritted teeth.

Lily sighed; trust the boys to be having a domestic at this time in the morning.

“What?” asked Sirius innocently. “I’m not going to be the only one who’s in the bad books.”

“I can’t believe you two!” exclaimed James. “You’ve broken the most fundamental rule of the Marauders!”

“Really?” asked Peter, wrinkling his nose with confusion.

“Yes,” answered James, sounding extremely annoyed.

“You guys have rules?” scoffed Kirsty. James spun around and glared furiously at her. Kirsty visibly wilted under his gaze and shut up immediately.

“So the most fundamental rule of the Marauders is to not keep secrets from one another?” asked Remus for clarification. James nodded.

“But I thought that the most fundamental rule of the Marauders was to not let girls get in the way of our friendship?” queried Sirius, clearly perplexed.

Lily raised her eyebrows and shared an amused look with a smirking Emma.

“No, that’s the third rule,” Remus corrected him.

“Well I thought that the fundamental rule was that we couldn’t prank an undeserving victim,” offered Peter, also confused. All four boys stood in puzzlement, clearly none of them could properly recall their own rules.

“Well, how come you always play pranks on me then?” asked Emma.

“Because you’re our friend; you don’t count,” replied James dismissively.

“Tuh, if that’s how you treat your friends I’d hate to see how you treat your enemies,” jeered Emma.

“Have you not seen them play pranks on Snape?” asked Hayley with a laugh.

As if he had suddenly come to a decision, James announced, “Okay, you both broke one of the most fundamental rules of the Marauders.”

“Sorry, James,” Remus and Sirius both said in unison. James, however, still looked sceptical.

“So just to clarify,” announced Sirius, “does this whole keeping no secrets from each other malarkey include surprises?”

James thought for a moment before announcing, “No, surprises are okay.”

“Also, does this mean that you now have to divulge unto me the password to the Prefect’s bathroom by default?”

“No!” replied everyone, but Sirius and Kirsty, in agreement.

“The ‘no secret’ rule excludes classified information,” confirmed James.

Sirius looked downhearted for a moment before a cocky grin appeared on his suddenly elated face. “So, does this mean that I am expected to reveal to Moony and Wormtail here the details of what happened to you during your first ever Quidditch practice?” James went white, and Sirius’ eyes gleamed with triumph.

“Have I ever told you how much I love you, Padfoot?” asked James, as he draped his arm around Sirius’ shoulders.

Lily couldn’t help but let out a gurgle of laughter along with the rest of the girls.

Calming down, Emma looked to Kirsty and asked, “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the Quidditch match right about now?”

“My point exactly!” cried James. “Now, get up!”

Kirsty, not looking impressed, muttered in reply, “I don’t like ‘Quidditch Captain’ James.”

Lily watched as, for the first time that morning, a smile presented itself across James’ face. “I heard that, Kirst,” he told her, making his way over to her with a broad grin on his face.

Evidently, Kirsty didn’t like the look James was giving her as she immediately started to apologise profusely. “I take it back, I take it back!” she squealed. But it didn’t matter; James lunged forward, pulled off her duvet, and grabbed her roughly around the waist. He then proceeded to drag her backwards across her bed until her feet left the safety of her soft, quilted duvet and came into contact with the hard, cold dormitory floor.

James spun her around, still keeping a hold on her and asked with a cocky raise of his eyebrows. “Now will you please go and get ready?”

“Damn you, James Potter,” she grumbled, trying to hide a smile.

He let go of her, and she turned in order to head in the direction of the bathroom, James nudging her on her way by playfully kicking her in the back of the leg. Lily watched as Kirsty bustled around the dormitory collecting her towel, toiletries and that day’s clothes. As Kirsty made her way across the dorm to the bathroom, Lily couldn’t help but notice that Sirius was staring intently at Kirsty’s retreating back. Feeling that it was her duty as a protective friend to inform Kirsty of this lust-like behaviour, Lily proclaimed, in quite a matter-of-fact way, “Kirst, Sirius is looking at your backside.”

Kirsty spun around unnaturally fast, and sounding embarrassed and furious at the same time, she cried at Sirius, “What?”

Sirius looked immensely flustered, but even more amazing than that, Sirius Black actually looked embarrassed. Lily was in awe; Sirius never got embarrassed, or even if he did, it was a very rare occurrence. But there it was, as clear as day; a small red tinge had appeared on Sirius’ neck, just above the collar of his shirt. “I-I wasn’t,” stammered Sirius. “-Well I was,” he amended, “but not in the way you’re all thinking.” The other three Marauders shared a look that suggested that they all very much doubted this. “I was looking because you have the word ‘Snoopy’ printed on the back of your pyjama bottoms,” Sirius explained to Kirsty, looking extremely uncomfortable and offering her an apologetic look.

“That’s the most ludicrous thing that I have ever heard!” exclaimed Emma.

“Ah, but it is true,” confirmed Kirsty, who now seemed to find the whole situation quite amusing.

“Kirst, you don’t have to stick up for him. You heard him say it yourself, he pretty much came up here to leer at us in our various states of undress,” Hayley informed her.

“No, seriously, it’s true,” argued Sirius. Kirsty nodded vehemently in compliance.

“But as far as I recall, you don’t have ‘Snoopy’ printed on your bottom,” noted Lily.

“I do!” exclaimed Kirsty excitedly. She then turned around so that Lily could see that she was telling the truth.

Sirius, suddenly regaining some of his usual swagger, said wistfully, referring to the sight of the two girls in front of him, “Oh, so many fantasies coming true.” James and Peter snorted, and Remus smirked.

Lily, having now found out that ‘Snoopy’ was indeed emblazoned across the back of Kirsty’s pyjama bottoms, felt that it was about time that she took control of the situation. Feeling feisty, she threw the bed covers off herself and got up out of bed. Taking charge, she instructed, “Kirsty, you go and get your shower, and hurry Lesley along whilst you’re in there. Hayley, you go down to breakfast; we’ll come and get you when we’re ready.” Hayley looked downhearted but immediately got up out of bed to comply with Lily’s order. “Emma, for God’s sake go and put some clothes on. And you four,” Lily pointed at the boys who were looking intrigued. “Get out!” But rather than complying with her instructions, the boys stood still, looking extremely amused.

“But, Lil, it’s just so appealing up here,” stated James, his eyes dancing with amusement as he proceeded to look Lily very slowly up and down.

Lily felt as if her legs had turned to jelly. Damn James, why does he have to have this effect on me? Feeling very self conscious, she also looked down and quickly surveyed her appearance. She was wearing a stripy, red tank top and white pyjama bottoms. No wonder James was looking positively gleeful at her appearance. Trying not to let on how much his actions had affected her, Lily reached over and picked up James’ beloved broomstick, and standing so that they were face-to-face, she again instructed, “Out.” She stared him defiantly in the face, before thrusting the broom forcefully into his chest. Something again flickered in the depths of James’ eyes, but Lily was too inept to tell what it was this time.

With complete amiability, James replied, “I’m not going anywhere without my two Quidditch players.”

“Out,” Lily instructed more softly, but there was a playful edge to her tone.

“What did I just say about Quidditch players?” he challenged her.

“Fine, I will make sure Kirsty and Lesley are ready on time and send them to you promptly.”

A slight smile appeared on James’ face, and his dark eyes bored into hers. Taking Lily completely by surprise, James leaned down so that his face was level with hers and whispered suggestively in her ear, “I love it when you take charge.” A shiver sent itself all the way down Lily’s spine, and her stomach was jolting uncontrollably. But to her face, James stated, way too formally for her liking, “Thank you, I am very much obliged.”

Lily was aware of Remus’ and Peter’s movements towards the door, and she sensed that James was too. “My pleasure,” she replied with a timid smile. They stood looking at each other for a while, and Lily couldn’t help but wonder what everyone in the room would do if she suddenly reached up and kissed James. Every fibre of her being was yearning to do it, but something inside her head kept on instructing her that now was not the time.

“Out of my way, lovebirds,” shouted Sirius jokingly.

Seeing that he was about to barge right past her, Lily threw her arm out to stop him. “What are you doing? I told you to get out.”

“And I will, I promise, I just want to do something.” But Lily didn’t let him progress any further across the dormitory.

Seeming to realise that this was as good as it was going to get, Sirius stopped trying to get passed her and shouted suggestively, in the direction of the girls’ bathroom, “Need any help in there, Kirst? Because I’d hate for you to be late for the first Quidditch match of the year! Maybe I could come in there and speed things up a bit.” He grinned devilishly, a triumphant look on his face. He was clearly pleased with himself.

Lily stared at him incredulously and noticed over Sirius’ shoulder that James was smirking and looking at Sirius with something close to pride. Black and Potter, as thick as thieves, she marvelled. Lily was then extremely glad that she knew Kirsty as well as she did, because if she had moved out from in front of Sirius a moment later, it would have been she who would’ve been hit painfully with the bar of soap.

Sirius was taken by surprise when the bar of soap in question hit him squarely in the chest. Before Lily even had time to marvel at Kirsty’s spectacular aim, she heard Kirsty yell, loud enough for the entire room to hear, “Yeah right, Sirius. From the rumours that I’ve heard, you’re more likely to slow down the proceedings than speed them up, if you catch my drift?”

Lily was too shocked to laugh; had Kirsty White just got the better of Sirius Black? Hayley and Emma giggled and the other three boys snorted. Sirius, too, was in shock. He was clearly trying to figure out if Kirsty had just implied what he thought she had implied; the look on his face was a mixture between shock, awe, annoyance and amusement. There was clearly no response to that sort of statement, and Sirius stood looking completely stumped.

Deciding to seize this opportunity with both hands, Lily started to force Sirius backwards towards the door. “Out,” she ordered once again.

Sirius then dug his heels in, making it much harder for her to move him. “And what if I refuse?” he asked teasingly.

“I will permanently disfigure you with James’ broomstick, and when I’m finished, Kirsty’s comment will not be so far from the truth!”

Sirius looked at her in awe for a moment before answering, “Have I ever told you how much I love you, Lil?” To her surprise, Sirius then turned and made his way obediently over to the staircase.

Lily watched as James sent the other three down in turn on his broomstick, and her stomach churned once again when James smiled at her in the form of a goodbye. Ah, but unfortunately it’s not Sirius’ love that interests me, she thought morosely.

--------------

Kirsty was truly regretting eating so much at breakfast as she now had to fight the uncontrollable urge to throw up. After all, there was nothing like the first Quidditch match of the season to throw your insides into disarray.

Trying her best to ignore the uncomfortable squirming of her stomach, Kirsty pulled on her scarlet Quidditch robes and slipped her wand securely into the belt of her trousers. She turned around to look at James who was seated in the far corner of the changing room with his hands clasped tightly in front of him, staring blankly at the floor. In Kirsty’s honest opinion, he looked even worse than she felt.

Despite James’ sickly appearance, Kirsty couldn’t help the smirk that played across her lips every time she looked at him, and it wasn’t just James that bought about this seemingly strange reaction; it was the whole of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

It was all Emma’s fault, which was something that Kirsty took great pride in admitting, as owing to her innate creativity, Emma had come to the decision that it would be a great idea to decorate the team in Gryffindor colours in order to emanate house spirit. It was the reality of this idea that Kirsty now stood facing; all of the team had had their faces painted red, and each had a small golden broomstick present on their left cheek, courtesy of Emma’s artistic hand. However, their faces were the only thing that matched, as Emma had even gone as far as to decorate the seventh years’ hair in a number of vibrant ways. Kirsty’s own hair kept flashing with red and gold streaks; James’ had been spiked up ever so slightly and was dyed red at the tips; Lesley’s consisted of red and gold stripes and Sam’s, which had been styled in deathly silence by Emma, was completely red, except for the tips which had been dyed gold. Kirsty’s Gryffindor-coloured nails were also back, but this time, Emma had decided to actually write the word ‘Gryffindor’ flamboyantly across them.

The team stood in silence, listening to the deafening roars that were now emanating from the crowd outside. As one, Kirsty and the other five team members turned to face James, awaiting the usual pre-match pep talk from their team captain, but it didn’t come. He tried to speak several times, made an odd gulping noise, then shook his head hopelessly and beckoned them to follow him. Kirsty shared an apprehensive look with Lesley, who shrugged hopelessly at her in return, before proceeding to follow a sullen James out to the entrance to the Quidditch pitch.

Kirsty shouldered her broomstick; the acrobatics in her stomach becoming much more pronounced as she did so. She really didn’t want to let the team down today. She had to win today’s match; she had to do it - she had to do it for James. He had so much faith in her that she wouldn’t be able to bare it if she were to let him down. James really needed a win today to boost his confidence in his capability to be captain of Gryffindor. Coming to a standstill next to the rest of the team, she glanced around at them all and noticed that each one looked just as nervous as the next. This won’t do, she thought to herself. If James isn’t going to do something to boost morale, then I am.

Raising her voice in order to address the entire team better, Kirsty boomed, “We have to win today, guys. We need to show the rest of the school what the Gryffindor team does best. If you understand, say ‘understand’. If you don’t understand, say ‘don’t understand’. But if you understand and say don’t understand, how am I to understand that you understand? Understand?”

There was an appreciative laugh from all concerned, and in unison, all six players answered in the affirmative, “Understand!”

James looked over at Kirsty and grinned gratefully; he seemed to understand what she had been trying to achieve. Splashes of colour had returned to his cheeks, and for the first time since they had left the common room that morning, James spoke, his voice filled with pride, “Now let’s go out there and prove that Gryffindor has the best Quidditch team in the whole of Hogwarts!” There was a chorus of appreciative whooping, before the doors creaked open, and Kirsty’s face was bathed in the bright morning light. Nerves then filled every part of her body as the deafening roar of the crowd reverberated around her.

They walked out onto the pitch to tumultuous noise. Boos emanated from the Slytherin quarter of the crowd, but Kirsty didn’t care as, by the sound of it, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were cheering the team on along with their fellow Gryffindors.

The Slytherin team approached them from the opposite end of the pitch, all wearing looks of animosity that they reserved especially for the Gryffindors.

Madam Hooch strode commandingly over to them from the side of the pitch, carrying the brown crate which contained the four Quidditch balls: the red Quaffle, which was used by the team’s three Chasers to score goals in one of the three large hoops at each end of the pitch; the two black Bludgers whose job it was to unseat players from their broomsticks, and it was the Beaters responsibility to prevent the Bludgers from harming any of their team members; and lastly, the Golden Snitch, which was the Seeker’s responsibility as the catching of the Snitch ended the game and gave the Seeker’s team an extra one hundred and fifty points that usually won them the game.

“Captains, shake hands,” instructed Madam Hooch sternly, eyeing up both teams, seemingly already alert for any foul play that might take place. James stepped resolutely forward, as did Rosier, the Slytherin captain; it was hard to tell which face showed the most dislike, and when they shook hands, it looked as if each of them were trying to break the other’s fingers.

“Mount your brooms!” barked Madam Hooch as she too took heed of this instruction.

Kirsty swung her leg over her trusty Nimbus One Thousand, feeling if possible, even more ill than before. She still couldn’t believe that she had allowed James to rope her into playing for the team for the second year in a row; the first year had been nerve racking enough.

With the sound of Madam Hooch’s shrill silver whistle still pounding in her ears, Kirsty kicked off hard from the ground, rising high above the stands alongside James.

“Good morning and welcome to the first Quidditch match of the year, Gryffindor versus Slytherin!”

Kirsty halted in mid-air and turned her head around so fast that her neck cricked. She looked disbelievingly over to the commentator’s podium, and her mouth fell open. Sirius was commentating. But who was that stood next to him? Was that �“ Emma?

“Oh, my God,” she gasped, and she heard James utter the exact same words from beside her.

Kirsty looked more closely at her two friends. She couldn’t believe that they had done this. Focusing on Emma, she noticed that her hair was shimmering all over with colours of red and gold. If Kirsty squinted, it kind of looked like �“ was that? �“ did Emma have a lion dyed into her hair? James seemed to have noticed this too as he and Kirsty shared one last incredulous look before both sped off to resume their tasks.

--------------

Hayley had to suppress her giggles as she stared, awestruck, at her two friends on the commentators’ podium. So this was why the pair had been conspiring in whispers half an hour before the match, and it must have also been why Sirius had seemed in such a rush to get Emma and himself out of the common room before everybody else.

She surveyed Emma’s appearance, and a wide grin appeared on her face; the lion on Emma’s hair was a brilliant creation and married with her face, which had red painted diagonally at the top and gold painted underneath. Emma was as noticeable as a beacon.

Hayley removed her gaze from Sirius and Emma and surveyed the trio seated around her instead. Lily and Peter were both looking incredulously in the direction of the commentators’ podium, and Remus was wearing that infuriating smile of his, which suggested to Hayley that he wasn’t at all surprised by the antics of Sirius and Emma.

Hayley surveyed the group of people sat around her as they too had been subjected into showing a bit of house pride. Remus, like Sirius, had point blank refused to let Emma style his hair, but he had consented to having his face painted. This was why the left hand side of Remus' face was currently painted gold with the right side painted red.

Peter, who was always a good sport, had no arguments when it came to letting Emma do his hair, which was why he was now sporting bright red hair and a face that had been painted with red and gold horizontal stripes. Emma had left Lily’s hair alone, as it was already a supportive Gryffindor colour, but she had painted her whole face gold. Finally, Hayley herself had got in on the act of supporting the Gryffindor team, so her hair was now dyed with gold streaks, and she was sporting a red face, just like Sirius’.

As Emma’s voice piped up from the commentators’ podium, Hayley fixed her gaze back onto the pitch to watch the match.

“Yay, Quidditch!” cheered Emma, waving her hand-decorated flag enthusiastically. Sirius gave her a reprimanding glare. “What?” she asked more quietly.

Sirius shook his head dismissively, and then hissed to Emma out of the corner of his mouth, “Remember that you’re introducing the Slytherin team.”

“What?” asked Emma, startled, as fear and embarrassment started to take a hold of her.

But Sirius didn’t answer her as he had just brought the microphone up to his mouth again in order to start introducing the Gryffindor team. “I give you �“ Chase! Tyler! Potter! White! Harper! Cowlard! Aaaaaaand �“ North!”

“-Who’s going the wrong way,” commented Emma.

“I - what?” asked Sirius, momentarily losing his thread and spinning around to face her.

“Sam, he’s going the wrong way.” Emma pointed at the miniscule red blur that was indeed Sam North.

“No he isn’t-” answered Sirius, looking in the direction in which she was pointing.

“Well, everyone else in our team seems to be heading that way-” Emma gestured to the left.

“That’s because we’re scoring in the left hand hoop, and Sam’s the Keeper, which means he has to guard the right hand hoops where the Slytherins are scoring.”

Emma’s face flamed red as she heard numerous titters emanate from the crowd. “Oh.”

“Tyler in possession!” Sirius suddenly exclaimed, making Emma jump. “Introduce the Slytherin team,” he muttered out of the corner of his mouth, passing the microphone over to her.

“Right, okay,” replied Emma nervously, trying frantically to remember their names. But as soon as she approached the microphone everything that Sirius had hurriedly muttered to her in the common room before the match about Quidditch and the teams was whipped away. Her mind was blank. Panicking, she did the only thing she could think of and introduced the Slytherin team based on the appearance of their hair. “I give you �“ Ginge!” shouted Emma, referring to the Keeper who had a mop of ginger hair. “Curly!” The Chaser that was now in possession of the Quaffle. “Greasy!” The Chaser that had just avoided a Bludger that had been hit by Lesley Cowlard. “Blonde!” The Chaser that was now caught up in a shoving match with James. “Sandy!” The Beater that had just sent a Bludger at Michaela Chase, who had just seized the Quaffle from ‘Curly’. “Wow!” Emma exclaimed at the female Beater who had just flown past the commentator’s podium with luminous pink hair. Breaking off from introducing the last Slytherin team member, Emma turned to Sirius and asked, indicating the last player’s hair, “Can I-?”

“No,” replied Sirius shortly.

“But-“

“No.”

“But you let me have a lion!”

“I didn’t let you have a lion; I had no choice in the matter! And seeing as you’ve asked my opinion this time around, I’m going to say no, and that you are not going to dye your hair luminous pink!” Emma folded her arms and glared at him. Sirius coughed pointedly at her, before quickly seizing the microphone and yelling, “Potter tries to score �“ but it’s unfortunately saved by McCallum.”

Emma, realising that Sirius’ cough meant that she hadn’t yet finished introducing the Slytherin team, grabbed the microphone off of him, but only then did she remember who it was that was the last member of the Slytherins. “Aaaaaaand… Bitch!” she yelled vehemently at Sian Morgan, who was closely tailing Kirsty in case she made a sudden dive for the Snitch.

Emma turned to see Sirius with his mouth agape staring incredulously at her; he furiously grabbed the microphone off her and muttered apologetically to the crowd the actual names of the Slytherin Quidditch team. “Sullivan, Rosier, Hatcher McCallum, Hicks, Devlin and Morgan. Oooooh, McCallum just manages to dodge the Bludger sent his way by Cowlard!”

As Sirius continued to commentate on the match’s uneventful proceedings, Emma’s attention began to ebb away. Even someone with Emma’s knowledge of Quidditch could see that it looked highly unlikely that either team was going to score anytime soon, seeing as both teams were doing their utmost to prevent their opposition from scoring. In fact, apart from James’ previous shot at goal, the Quaffle hadn’t manage to get anywhere near the region of the goalhoops.

A scowl hitched itself upon Emma’s face as she watched Sian continuously tail Kirsty high above the stands. Suddenly feeling uncharacteristically vindictive, Emma plunged her hand inside her robes and pulled out her wand, all the while being extremely careful not to be seen. This match could do with brightening up a little, she thought with a broad smirk as she watched Sian and Kirsty set off on another round of the Quidditch pitch.

Casting a sideways glance at Sirius to make sure that he was still immersed in his commentary, Emma carefully aimed her wand at Sian’s face as she and Kirsty raced straight towards the commentator’s podium. “Effingo,” she muttered with a grin. A blinding jet of red and yellow light shot out of the end of Emma’s wand and hit Sian squarely in the face. Luckily for Emma, the spell emanated from the wand with such speed that, if you’d have blinked, you’d have missed it.

Sian froze upon the spell’s impact; clearly she was in shock. Looking as if she was taking great care to grip onto her broom tightly with her legs, Sian proceeded to bring her hands up to her face to check to see what damage the spell had done to her.

Emma was giggling silently, her mouth encased in her Gryffindor scarf to hide her glee. Sirius’ commentary seemed to have stopped as he stared dumbly at the scene before him.

Sian stopped probing her face; she was now looking extremely perplexed. A giggle accidentally escaped from Emma’s mouth, and Sirius turned to survey her, raising one eyebrow sceptically. Emma surreptitiously hid her wand behind her back.

A deafening roar of laughter then stemmed from the vast crowd seated behind Emma, and the grin on her face broadened.

Sian, seemingly realising that some sort of prank had been played on her, zoomed off over to the Slytherin Beater, Lucinda Devlin, to see what she had been subjected to. That was the genius of the spell, mused Emma, the victim had no idea what had happened to them, but everybody in the close vicinity were free to have a great laugh at their expense.

Kirsty, who must have been just as bemused as Sian as to what was going on, snorted derisively as Sian passed her on the way to Lucinda. She doubled over with laughter, which was no mean feat seeing as she was still sat on her broom. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to cause herself to fall off. It was a good job that the other Quidditch players were also incapacitated (the Gryffindors by laughter, the Slytherins fuming with anger at the injustice of a prank being performed on one of their team members), otherwise Gryffindor may have been in danger of losing the match.

Madam Hooch streaked though the air on her broom to reach Sian and assess the situation. As she passed James, Emma took in the fact that tears were trickling down his face from laughter.

Unable to contain herself, Emma swivelled her head to the right and squinted over at Sam. Her heart leapt when she saw that he too was laughing relentlessly in what Emma hoped was a vindictive manner. Did the fact that he was laughing so openly at Sian prove that he harboured no feelings towards her whatsoever? Even as she thought this, the familiar flip in her stomach made a welcome return. Of course she still liked Sam, she had liked him continuously for over two years now, and her profuse denials to the girls that she could no longer care less about him had all been lies. She loved him. She loved him a hell of a lot more than even she could comprehend. She had known for sometime now that her feelings towards Sam had progressed much further than that of a school girl’s crush. But what was she to do? Telling him was definitely out of the question. She’d practically die of embarrassment if Sam ever found out how she felt. At the moment, keeping her feelings bottled up seemed like the only really logical thing to do.

It seemed that Sian had now gathered, from her informant, what had been done to her face. She spun around on her broom and stared over towards the commentators’ podium, directly at Emma. Emma couldn’t help it; she laughed again as she saw Sian’s appearance, face on, for the second time. Sian’s face was now, without a doubt, the most brightly coloured of all the students gathered. Emma had made it so that Sian, too was emanating some Gryffindor spirit, if somewhat begrudgingly. Like Emma, Sian was now sporting a bright gold lion on a red background, but instead of it being on her hair, Emma had transfigured it so that it encompassed the whole of Sian’s, now livid, face.

Sian continued to scowl in Emma’s direction as Madam Hooch flew over to her. Emma’s belief that Sian’s accusatory glares at her were nothing more than a hunch was slowly vanishing to be replaced by the horrible thought that Sian may know that it was indeed Emma who had performed the spell, but as Emma surveyed Sian even more closely, she realised that her gaze was now pinned on Sirius. Emma’s stomach gave a horrible jolt. She didn’t want Sirius to get in trouble either; he had had nothing to do with it. If Sian declared to Madam Hooch that she believed Sirius to be the guilty party, then Sirius would be sacked from his job as commentator - a job that he had wanted so much seeing as it was the nearest thing he could get to actually being on the Quidditch team. Whereas she, Emma, was only stood up there alongside him because she had thought it might be a laugh.

She shot a guilty and apologetic look in Sirius’ direction, but he was oblivious and laughing uncontrollably at the Slytherin Seeker. Removing her gaze slowly from his face, Emma made the decision that, if it came to it that Sirius got the blame, she would own up. After all, true friends got their friends out of trouble, not into it.

Once again, Emma’s gaze landed upon the miniscule Quidditch player that was Sian, Emma’s hatred for her bubbling just underneath the surface once more. However, Emma’s stomach gave another, more pleasant, jolt when she saw that Sian’s gaze was no longer on Sirius and herself. Sian had now focused her attentions on the members of the Gryffindor team, and even as Emma watched the frantic movements of her eye line, Sian turned her gaze to look over the top of Emma’s head and into the stands. Emma supposed she was now looking for any suspicious behaviour that may have been emanating from Hayley, Lily, Peter or Remus.

A heated discussion was now in progression between Sian and Madam Hooch. It was safe to say that their referee was absolutely furious. After many frantic hand gestures, Madam Hooch raised her silver whistle to her lips for the second time that morning, and even the crowd silenced themselves. Following a hastily performed Sonorus charm Madam Hooch’s voice echoed menacingly throughout the entire Quidditch pitch. “Who is responsible for this?” she roared, jabbing her finger towards Sian’s face. Emma saw Kirsty, James and Sam cease their laughing at once.

Being careful to keep her movements to a minimum, Emma surveyed the crowd around her. Every single one of them had now stopped laughing and they were all remaining frightfully still, as if they thought that even the slightest of movements would imply that they were somehow involved in the prank.

Madam Hooch ploughed on regardless; she seemed not to have been expecting anything that was anywhere near the region of an apology. “The person responsible for this abomination, when caught, is facing a full week’s worth of detentions and a ban from observing, or participating in any way, in further Quidditch matches.” Madam Hooch took a deep calming breath, before announcing in a voice resembling its usual sharpness, “Penalty to Slytherin.”

“What?” screeched Sirius from Emma’s side, and Sirius wasn’t the only one in uproar - there was immediately a chorus of angry mutterings from the disgruntled Gryffindors in the crowd.

James sped over to Madam Hooch so fast that, when he braked, the sheer force threw his head forward and his glasses dived off the bridge of his nose, so that he had to make a quick, fumbling catch in order to retrieve them. His frantic hand gestures suggested to Emma that he was arguing against Madam Hooch’s decision.

Having not yet lifted the Sonorus charm from upon herself, Madam Hooch’s replies to James’ pleas echoed throughout the stands. “Didn’t do any harm you say? This match has been delayed for nearly ten minutes, Mr Potter, which is no doubt the result that the spell caster wished to obtain.”

“-On the contrary, Mr Potter, I would say that the odds show that this charm was more than likely performed by a member of Gryffindor house, if not the Gryffindor Quidditch team itself.”

“�“I am merely suggesting this because you, Mr Potter, along with your fellow team mates, and the members of your little group, are all supporting the same sort of facial decorations that are now covering Miss Morgan’s face. So if I were you, Mr Potter, I’d watch my step, otherwise I might start making accusations a little closer to home.”

James opened and closed his mouth for a good few seconds, doing a reasonably good impression of a flying fish.

“I stand firmly by my decision, Potter. Now I command you to get back in position!”

James looked very much as if he would have liked to scream a mixture of profanities at Madam Hooch, but maturely, he held his tongue, and admitting defeat, he flew over to take up his position as Hatcher flew forward to take the penalty.

“North makes a rather impressive dive for the Quaffle �“ but, damn, he misses Slytherin lead ten-nil.”

Emma watched as James, Michaela and Luke sped off back up the pitch in possession of the Quaffle hoping to draw level. Kirsty had also resumed her search for the Snitch, with Sian not far behind her. Emma smiled gleefully once more when she saw that Madam Hooch had been unable to find the countercharm needed to rid Sian of her face paint. This was the second ingenious thing about the prank - the face paint couldn’t be removed until the match was over.

“Well, I think that’s the first time that I’ve seen the first points of a Quidditch match scored through a penalty; I think we may have just seen a first for Hogwarts Quidditch,” Sirius informed the crowd. “�“Potter in possession of the Quaffle �“ and yes he’s dodged Rosier �“ it’s a clear field �“ come on James! What the-? The dirty scumbag �“ foul, ref, foul �“ yes! Penalty awarded to Gryffindor for Slytherin Beater, Dennis Hicks, ramming the Chaser into the stands.”

“-Potter to take the penalty for Gryffindor… but - James misses �““ The shock in Sirius’ voice was evident. It seemed that James’ fury at having been on the receiving end of a foul had made him miss the goalhoop by several feet.

“-Slytherin back in possession, and it’s McCallum for Slytherin heading for goal �“ he passes to Rosier, who erm drops it �“ the Quaffle falls several inches before being caught by �“ White?”

At Sirius’ words Emma stopped ogling at Sam and turned her attention instead to Kirsty, who was, like Sirius had said, flying just below Rosier with the Quaffle perched between the tips of her fingers.

“What does she think she’s doing? She’s the Seeker, for God’s sake!” cried Sirius in dismay.

Emma was equally puzzled as to what Kirsty’s intentions could possibly be. James was now gesturing furiously at her to drop the Quaffle and return to looking for the Snitch.

Sian, who had continued to tail Kirsty even though she had made a beeline for the Slytherin Chasers, was now hovering inches away from her. Without warning, Kirsty suddenly spun around on her broom, so that she was facing Sian head on, and threw the Quaffle straight at her opponent’s Gryffindor-patterned face.

Emma, who had become scarily proficient at lip reading over the years, just made out that Kirsty had informed Sian that she was ‘sorry’ and that she ‘thought she was a Gryffindor’.

Madam Hooch’s whistle sounded yet again, and she cried, “Penalty to Slytherin for an unprovoked attack on their Seeker by Gryffindor’s Seeker, masquerading as a Chaser!”

“Rosier comes forward to take Slytherin’s penalty- “ Sirius groaned loudly as Sam missed yet again. “Slytherin lead twenty-nil-“

“-This is all your fault!” Sirius hissed at Emma out of the corner of his mouth.

“What? What do you mean, it’s all my fault? I didn’t make Kirsty throw the Quaffle at Sian-“

“-No, but you are responsible for why she did it!” Emma looked at him dumbstruck for a few moments. “I know it was you, Em.”

Emma did not need him to elaborate on his accusation; it was perfectly clear that Sirius knew of her involvement in the prank. Emma, however, not wanting to confess just yet, reverted to the classic response that people often make confronted with something of which they know full well they are guilty. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, yes, you do,” contradicted Sirius, giving Emma a stern look.

Wanting to look anywhere but into Sirius’ searching eyes, Emma looked out over the Quidditch pitch, and what she saw there made her give a small, excited squeal. Sirius, clearly wanting to know what had caused this momentary excitement from her, followed Emma’s eye line. Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Sirius’ eyes go wide, before he yanked the microphone up to meet his partially-opened lips. “White’s seen the Snitch! She’s gone into a full-blown dive; I highly doubt that she’s feinting! Morgan is nowhere near! White’s got a clear field! Come on, Kirst, you can do it! �“ Ouch! You complete and utter�“ “

Emma managed to drag the microphone from Sirius’ seemingly unrelenting grip, before he subjected the younger students to a long string of profanities. When, and only when, she was completely sure that he had calmed down enough, Emma handed Sirius back the microphone in order to allow him to continue with his commentary. “McCallum blocks White from catching the Snitch and forces White to collide with him head on!”

Madam Hooch had flown over to assess the damage that had been done, as had James, and Emma was now bouncing up and down on her tiptoes trying to see over the top of Madam Hooch’s head to find out if Kirsty was all right.

After a few minutes without any sign of Kirsty, Emma grew impatient and once again yanked the microphone from Sirius’ grasp. “Are you all right, Kirst?”

Within seconds of her question, however, the gathering of McCallum, James, Kirsty and Madam Hooch all flew off, with Kirsty giving Emma a fleeting thumbs up.

“-And it seems as if Gryffindor has been awarded a penalty for the attack on their Seeker!” exclaimed Sirius, sounding vindicated.

“-Potter comes forward once again to try his luck at a penalty �“ he takes aim and �“ yes! James scores! Gryffindor gain ten points. The score is now twenty�“ten to Slytherin.” Emma cheered loudly along with the other Gryffindors at this announcement.

Spurred on by James’ successful penalty, Gryffindor scored again in a matter of minutes, making them level with Slytherin. But panic set in once again when Sullivan streaked towards the Gryffindor goalhoops. Not wanting Slytherin to gain the lead yet again, Emma threw caution to the wind and yelled encouragingly over to Sam, “Come on, Sam, you can do it, I know you can!”

For the briefest of seconds before Sullivan got within scoring range, Emma and Sam’s eyes met for the first time since Halloween, and Emma’s breath caught in her throat.

“Sullivan aims �“ but North makes a spectacular save and the score remains at twenty-twenty.”

Looking the happiest Emma had seen him in ages, Sam grinned broadly at her, and Emma found herself grinning proudly back at him.

“Well done, Em,” Sirius whispered in her ear. Emma turned towards him, startled. “I knew that if anyone could get our Keeper back on track, it would be you �“ and just so you know, I thought that your prank was bloody brilliant too! I highly doubt whether I could’ve come up with a better one myself!” Emma flushed red - that was high praise indeed coming from a Marauder.

“-Chase scores! Gryffindor lead thirty-twenty.”

“-North blocks Hatcher’s attempt at goal.”

“Aaaaaaand it’s Tyler with the Quaffle �“ forty-twenty to Gryffindor!”

Once again Lucinda Devlin zoomed past the commentator’s podium in hot pursuit of a Bludger, and Emma, deciding to take advantage of Sirius’ good mood since Gryffindor now had double Slytherin’s score, asked, “Can I-?”

“No.”

Emma furrowed her brow; how in heaven’s name did Sirius know what she had been about to ask. “But-“

“No.”

“But you didn’t even hear the question-”

“Fine, what were you going to say, Emma?”

“Can I dye your hair?”

“No!”

“What not�““

“No.”

“Not even�““

“No, Emma, you are not dying my hair blond!”

“How did you know that I wanted to dye it blond?”

“Because I know you, Emma.”

Emma looked at him affronted. “Fine, can I dye James’ hair then?”

“Sure, go for it.”

“Yay!” exclaimed Emma as she did a little dance of celebration.

“-But only if you let me shave Sam’s hair off first,”

“… I’ll leave James’ hair alone.”

“Good girl.”

From that moment on, whether because she was feeling rebellious against Sirius and to some extent his commentary, or whether because Sirius’ mention of Sam had triggered it unconsciously, Emma found her gaze continuously pinned upon the handsome Gryffindor Keeper. Sam was now playing with his old, unmatched Quidditch talent, spurring his team members on to greater heights with every spectacular save. As of yet, Kirsty hadn’t managed to clasp her fingers around the elusive Golden Snitch, but there was still time…

And so it was that Gryffindor came to be winning with a score of eighty points, Sam having only let in two more goals from the Slytherin Chasers, which meant that the current score, according to Sirius’ commentary, stood at eighty-forty to Gryffindor.

If it wasn’t for the fact that she had been looking at Sam, and Kirsty had soared across her eye-line, Emma would have never been aware of Kirsty’s near collision with a very well-aimed Bludger.

-------------

Kirsty heard a whooshing in her ears as the Bludger narrowly missed her right cheek. Her body arched away from the heavy ball, so that she was involuntarily watching the Bludger’s progression as it streaked passed her.

Looking over her shoulder, she noticed that, once again, Sian had been tailing her. Kirsty froze in shock as Sian’s comeuppance for resorting to such lazy Quidditch tactics came in a matter of seconds as the Bludger, originally intended for Kirsty, flew at an unaware Sian before she even had time to instigate a suitable defence. Kirsty winced as it barged painfully into Sian’s shoulder.

Sian let out a yelp of pain and looked directly towards Kirsty. The look of pure ferocity, hatred and accusation in that one look was enough to momentarily stun her. Although she was having immense trouble seeing why Sian’s injury could possibly be her fault, it was a mere accident, and an involuntary accident at that.

The moment that Sian snatched the Beater’s bat off the passing Dennis Hicks, Kirsty knew that she was in for it. She was about to pay for whatever injustice Sian felt Kirsty had done unto her. It was just Kirsty’s luck that the second Bludger involved in the game then chose to come speeding along right behind Sian. Sian swung with what looked like all her might at the speeding black mass, and the bat connected with a dull clunk.

Tightening her sweaty hands around the broom handle and forcing her knees to grip with all their might onto the thin strip of polished wood beneath her, Kirsty put into practice the move that she and James had only ever theorised about. Putting all her faith in her trusty Nimbus, Kirsty leaned sideways. Hanging upside down from a broomstick was definitely up there as one of the most bizarre things she had ever experienced, but thankfully her ploy had worked, and the Bludger zoomed over the top of her whitening fingers.

Swinging back upright as quickly as possible, Kirsty only just managed to register Sirius’ exclamation of, “And the Gryffindor Seeker pulls off a superb Sloth Grip Roll!” before Emma’s resounding scream reverberated around the pitch.

Feeling slightly nauseated from her unorthodox tactic, Kirsty hastily whipped her head around and gasped, horror struck, at the reason for Emma’s shrill scream. Sian’s Bludger, having felt cheated by Kirsty’s avoidance, had sought another victim, which had unfortunately presented itself in the form of Sam North. Kirsty watched, repulsed, as the Bludger shot into the side of Sam’s head with a sickening crack. His eyes glossed over, giving him the appearance of someone who had just been Obliviated, and he slunk sideways off his broom and plummeted.

Kirsty shrieked, and she wasn’t the only one to do so. Acting on impulse, she forced her broom downwards and rushed towards the spot where Sam’s body had hit the ground; Kirsty was just thankful that it had not been too great a drop. Out of the corner of her eye, Kirsty saw another scarlet blur heading for the same destination and realised that James too had flown down to check on his Keeper and dorm mate.

Kirsty stumbled, having landed rather clumsily in her haste, and ran over to the figure that lay sprawled on the ground. James landed a few seconds after and also set off at a run as Professor McGonagall walked hurriedly on to the pitch, conjuring a stretcher out of thin air as she went.

Panting heavily as she reached Sam’s unconscious form, Kirsty was extremely relieved to see that no blood graced his features. James arrived next to her with a livid looking McGonagall in tow. “Extremely uncouth behaviour! Never seen anything like it!” she muttered under her breath as she levitated Sam onto the previously conjured stretcher.

“Will he be okay, Professor?” asked James, also panting heavily, as sweat glistened on his brow.

McGonagall, however, now seemingly intent on the job at hand, didn’t reply. Whether this was because she simply hadn’t heard him or just because she was deliberating her answer before she gave it, Kirsty couldn’t be sure.

In the silence that followed James’ question, Kirsty became aware of Sirius and Emma’s voices once more.

“Give me your shoe!” Emma’s shrill and booming voice requested.

“What?” asked Sirius, probably in the hope that he had misheard her.

“Your shoe,” Emma demanded again, more clearly.

“Why the hell do you want my shoe?”

“So that I can throw it at Sian!” exclaimed Emma in a tone that implied the answer’s obviousness.

“Throw your own shoe at her!”

“But yours is easier to take off…”

“Why is it?”

“Because mine has laces!” cried Emma impatiently.

“So does mine!”

“Look, just stop being a baby and give me your shoe-”

Undefined scuffling noises proceeded to dominate the microphone along with Sirius’ many protesting yells. A muffled thud then emanated from the pitch behind Kirsty, demonstrating that Emma had won the scuffle. But whether or not Sirius’ shoe had met its target was an entirely different matter.

“I can’t believe you just threw my shoe onto the pitch!” exclaimed Sirius.

“-after all, Madam Pomfrey has never failed us yet.” McGonagall’s voice interrupted Sirius’ indignant exclamations and Kirsty realised that she had been paying so much attention to the commentators that she had missed the beginning of McGonagall’s response.

“So he’s going to be okay?” asked Kirsty rather stupidly.

“Yes, I’d imagine so,” replied McGonagall with a raise of her eyebrows. “Now, Mr Potter, I think you’d better get back onto the pitch and start thinking of a way to protect your goalhoop from the opposition before they score again,” she added inclining her head skywards. Kirsty followed her gaze, as did James, to find that the Slytherin team were on the attack, as for reasons unknown Madam Hooch hadn’t seen fit to stop the course of play. But even as they watched, Michaela and Luke managed to thwart their plans and regain control of the Quaffle.

Kirsty heard James heave a sigh of relief, and McGonagall turned on her heel and started to lead Sam up to the castle.

But the relief was only momentary as from the Slytherin quarter of the crowd came a deafening roar of excitement. Kirsty whipped her head back around to survey the sky. Sian Morgan was rocketing down the far end of the pitch - she had seen the Snitch. Kirsty felt as if someone had dropped a brick into the pit of her stomach. A fleeting glance at James and his clenched jaw told her everything she needed to know. She had to do what she could to salvage the situation, and she had to do it now. She pelted over to her discarded broom, swung her leg over it and kicked off hurriedly from the ground.

All of the noise from the crowd was drowned out as Kirsty concentrated solely on willing her broom forward, praying that she could somehow manage to beat Sian to the Snitch.

But her prayers went unanswered as, from about forty feet in front of her, Sian’s fingers closed around the Snitch’s fluttering wings.

“Morgan catches the Snitch… Slytherin win…” Sirius’ shocked and disappointed voice pounded painfully in Kirsty’s eardrums.

They’d lost. She’d failed.

------------

James hovered motionless near the goalhoops, staring at the spot where his dreams of winning his first Quidditch match as Captain had all come crashing down around his ears, and raw disbelief flooded over him.

Was it his imagination or was the crowd a lot quieter than it usually was following the end of a Quidditch match? Only the Slytherins seemed to be cheering. The Slytherin team had taken it upon themselves to do a lap of honour in order to gloat about their win, but the rest of the crowd were silent. Was it because they all felt as stunned as he did by the result?

As the solid mass of emerald whipped past him on yet another lap of the pitch, James noticed a lone scarlet figure flying dejectedly to the ground. Upon landing, Kirsty made a weird jerking movement with the hand that was holding her broom. It seemed to James as if she had made to sling her broom to the ground but thought better of it. He couldn’t even imagine how she must be feeling right now. He looked up to see the rest of the team looking at him, awaiting further instructions. He signalled morosely for them to fly downwards. They landed to many jeers and catcalls from the Slytherins, and walked off the pitch, heads held high, only a couple of paces behind their solitary Seeker.

They changed in even deeper silence; James once again finding that he was unable to voice any words of encouragement.

Kirsty was ready first and stalked out without a word to any of them. James watched her go, but it was the scary look in her eye, rather than the morose look on her face, that made him hightail it out of the changing room after her. He had to run to keep up with her; she was storming off at an alarmingly fast rate. Even his many instructions of “Stop!” could not deter her from her path. And then the entrance to the Quidditch pitch came into view, with Sian Morgan and Lucinda Devlin stood gloatingly, still wearing their Quidditch robes, and James had a horrible feeling that it was towards them that Kirsty was heading.

It was then that he also noticed that Lily, Remus, Hayley and Peter were also approaching the pitch’s entrance from the side, along with Sirius and Emma, who were talking animatedly. James only hoped that the group would reach Sian and Lucinda before Kirsty got there and decided to do something stupid.

James saw Kirsty slow down; the arrival of their friends seemed to have appealed momentarily to her better judgment, and her steps became those of a tentative child. This moment of hesitation was all it took for the others to overtake her. Kirsty’s pace quickened again, so that she was soon to be enveloped in their throng of her friends. James noted that the others were not yet aware of either his or Kirsty’s presence on the pitch and prayed that, should Kirsty have yet another change of heart, they would be quick enough to stop her.

Not long after Kirsty was swallowed by the chattering group, they came to a stand-still in front of the two Slytherins. James had just put on another burst of speed, all the while a stitch making its presence known in his side, when he saw a lone figure emerge from the crowd and approach Sian. James supposed that he was asking a bit too much to hope that Kirsty had simply approached Sian to congratulate her on capturing the Snitch and winning the match.

He was so busy concentrating on catching up with his friends that it took James a few moments to realise that the figure’s hair was glittering brightly, more brightly than Kirsty’s had been in fact. He skidded to a halt behind them, accidentally splattering the back of Sirius’ robes with mud as he did so. James had to marvel at his timing as he arrived just a split second before the impact landed.

Emma’s punch sent Sian reeling. Shocked gasps punctuated the air, drawn from all those who were gathered around the pair. Sian’s yell was a mixture of shock and pain. Staggering upwards, she removed her hand from in front of her face to show an already swelling nose and reddening cheek.

“Bitch!” cursed Sian as Lucinda pointed her wand at Emma.

Unfortunately for the two Slytherin girls, Emma was heavily flanked and, seeing the danger, every one of her friends drew their wands too (except for James, who had left his in the changing room in his haste).

“Believe me,” snarled Emma, her voice shaking slightly. “You deserve a hell of a lot more!”

Before any of them even got the chance to make a move though, scurrying footsteps approached. James looked up, along with everybody else, to see Madam Hooch drawing towards the entrance. Sian’s yell must have caught her attention. “What on Earth is going on here?” she screeched. Her eyes sweeping quickly over the scene, taking in everything from Sian’s swollen nose, to the group’s raised wands, to James standing rather helplessly behind them all. For a few moments nobody answered her, but James thought he saw Lily give a jerk of her wand, and he wondered whether she had made to pocket it.

“Emma punched me, Professor,” announced Sian, sending a vindictive look Emma’s way.

“Is that true, Miss Bembridge?”

James weaved his way in-between Sirius and Remus in order to get a clearer view of the proceedings, and he was met by puzzled looks from the both of them. Clearly they were wondering how long he had been standing among them.

From his new vantage point, James could see Emma’s chest rapidly rising and falling. She looked as if she were trying her best to compose herself, and even though James couldn’t see her face, he guessed that she must be looking absolutely livid.

“No, Professor,” answered Emma politely. Sian scowled.

“And you all agree with Miss Bembridge’s claim, do you?” the Professor continued to query, addressing their group as a whole. There were many nods and general noises of affirmation, and Madam Hooch raised her eyebrows. She seemed to have expected as much. “And, you, Miss Devlin, do you agree with that?”

To James’ complete and utter surprise, Lucinda nodded.

“What?” screeched Sian, looking quite demented.

“Well then, could someone please enlighten me as to what actually happened?”

Before anyone had even had time to come up with a suitable response, Lily piped up, “Lucinda accidentally hit Sian in the face with her Beater’s bat.”

James and the others all spun their heads around and surveyed her, agog. Had Lily Evans, Head Girl and model student, just lied blatantly to a teacher?

“Is this true?” Madam Hooch asked, addressing Lucinda once again. She nodded, an oddly blank look present on her face.

“What? What the hell’s wrong with you? Why are you siding with them?” shrieked Sian.

“Detention, Miss Morgan.”

“I �“ what?” asked Sian, surveying the Professor in utter disbelief.

“-For conspiring to get other students into trouble. Now if the pair of you would kindly follow me up to the school, we shall inform your Head of House of your disgraceful behaviour.”

As soon as the three figures disappeared, Emma swung back around to face the group, cradling her wrist. “God, that hurt!” she exclaimed with a wince.

Hayley ran forward to survey the injury. “Well, I don’t think it’s broken,” she proclaimed after having prodded and poked at it for a bit. “But I think you’d better go up to the Hospital Wing just to be safe.”

“Good idea,” agreed Emma as she made to go.

“Em!” Sirius yelled after her retreating back. Emma turned to survey him. “You were �“ that was - bloody brilliant!”

Emma grinned broadly. “Yeah, it was a bit, wasn’t it?” She then waved with her uninjured hand and set off again.

“And you, Miss Evans-“ Peter began with a smile.

“-What a story!” continued Hayley admiringly.

Lily glowed. “Why thank you.”

“Never mind the story,” stated Remus with a knowing smile. “I think you should be congratulated on your superb Memory-Modifying Charm…”

“Her what?” asked Sirius.

“The Memory-Modifying Charm she performed on Lucinda,” replied Remus patiently. “I’m guessing that’s what it was,” he added to Lily. “Unless I’m mistaken?”

Lily smiled incredulously at him. “That’s the annoying thing about you, Remus Lupin, you are never mistaken.” Remus’ eyes danced with amusement.

“So that’s why she complied with your story? Because you modified her memory?” asked Peter, awestruck.

“That sounds about right,” replied Lily with a modest smile.

“Wow, Lily, you’re-“

“-Amazing,” James finished Sirius’ statement with an awed sigh, speaking for the first time.

Lily jumped along with the others, who had not yet realised that he was among them. Lily, blushing, looked over to him, and their eyes met. She seemed to be searching his face for something. Was she trying to see how much losing the match had affected him? But, for what must have been one of the first times in his seven years at Hogwarts, Lily didn’t retain his attention for long, for Kirsty, upon seeing him standing behind her, had given him a fleeting look of horror mixed with guilt before skirting around Remus and heading back towards the pitch. Worry for her building up inside him, he gave the group an apologetic look and exclaimed, “Duty calls!” before running after her. He just managed to catch Sirius’ yell of “Party in the common room!” as he ran past him.

“Kirst!” he hollered as she stormed off ahead of him.

“Get lost, James!”

“Oh, charming!”

“I mean it, leave me alone!”

Annoyed, James sped up. Realising that she wasn’t going to shake him off by relying on the distance between them, like the last time, Kirsty broke into a flat-out run, but James had already been gaining on her, and so was well within reach to stretch out his hand and grip her firmly on her forearm, bringing her to a halt. He then tried to spin her around to face him. She struggled to get free of his grip and started to try and run again. “Kirsty, stop!” he exclaimed in desperation.

“No!” she shrieked, wrenching free of his grip and running off ahead of him again. James cursed silently and followed once again.

It didn’t take long for him to grab hold of her for the second time, and taking no chances he spun her around, grabbed both of her arms and pinned them down by her sides. Knowing that the time had now come for him to comfort her, he offered lamely, “I don’t blame you in the slightest, you know.”

Kirsty, who was refusing to look at him, mumbled in response, “Well, I do. It’s my fault that we lost.”

“Don’t be thick.”

“But it’s true. If I hadn’t been so intent on checking on Sam, I would have been there to stop Sian-“

“For your information, I’m glad you went to check on Sam. In fact, I think I would have been disappointed in you if you hadn’t.“

“What a load of bollocks, James!”

“No it’s not! Why do you think I wanted you on my team?”

Kirsty shrugged. “No idea, but I’m betting that our close personal friendship had something to do with it.”

James was relieved to hear the trace of cheekiness in her voice. “No, if that were true, Sirius would be on the team.” From the look on Kirsty’s face, she seemed to agree with this statement. “You’re on the team because you’re not the best Seeker in the world, not by a long shot-“

“Oh thanks, James, way to go with the morale boost-“

“But you are one of my most favourite people in the world-“

“You must know some god-awful people then,” muttered Kirsty. James smiled.

“To be honest, I could probably scour the whole school and find a Seeker who would, technically, be considered better than you-“

“This is doing nothing to change my mind about resigning-“

“But �“ you’re not resigning �“ I couldn’t care less about them, because the only Seeker I want is you.”

“Why?” she asked in a small voice, giving James a sneaking suspicion that he was winning the argument.

“You want to know why?” pondered James teasingly. “Well, for a start there’s the fact that, apart from me, you were the only other player who wanted to make sure that Sam was going to be okay, showing that you care more for your team mates than the outcome of the match-“ Kirsty opened her mouth to argue, but James held up his hand to silence her. “And I love you for that. Although, I do have to admit that today I was more concerned about Sam than what would happen in the match during our absence too, though I can’t deny that Sian catching the Snitch wasn’t a major blow.”

“Tell me about it,” sighed Kirsty.

“Also you brighten up our Quidditch practices no end. You and Darren frolicking down the pitch in that thunderstorm singing ‘Singing in the Rain’ last year is still one of the funniest things I have ever seen.”

Kirsty laughed. “We threw our cloaks on top of our brooms so that they masqueraded as umbrellas.”

James laughed along with her at the memory. He was immensely pleased to see that he had managed to draw her out of her sombre state. “Plus, I have never met anyone who is as good as you at boosting people’s morale. You were magnificent today, by the way; I don’t know what I would have done without you. If you hadn’t given your little speech, then I think we may have lost by a greater margin than what we did-“

“I think that was more down to Emma than me,” replied Kirsty, sinking down onto the grass.

Since he was attached to her, James went down too, but only when he ascertained that she wasn’t going to run off again did he release her. “I think it was both of you. Which reminds me, I must remember to thank Emma later.”

“What for encouraging Sam, or punching Sian?”

“Both!” exclaimed James with a laugh. He studied her closely and then said in earnest, “You know, I thought for a minute that you were the one who was going to punch Sian.”

“Oh, I was,” affirmed Kirsty, “but Emma bloody well beat me to it!” James roared with laughter, and Kirsty raised her eyebrows at him.

“God, we really have had a bad influence on you girls!”

Kirsty had fallen silent. James was taking great care to calm himself down before addressing her again, but it was Kirsty who spoke first. “I’m really sorry that we lost, James.”

“So am I,” he replied truthfully. Kirsty looked up at him. “But, it’s not over yet. If we beat Hufflepuff by a large enough margin, we could still be in with a chance of winning the cup-“

“Yeah, that’s if I don’t cock it up again…”

“Again? So I gather that I’ve won you round?” asked James with a grin.

Kirsty seemed to be measuring her words. “Well, if you’re too stubborn to look for a new Seeker, I suppose I have no other choice than to stay put.”

“Good girl. And just so you know, even if you did cock it up again, there’s no one that I’d rather lose the cup with.” Kirsty smiled at him in amusement as he jumped up off the grass and brushed himself down, before offering her his hand to pull her up. “But, if you could at least try to catch the Snitch in the next match, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure thing, Cappy!” she answered, standing alongside him and grinning inanely.

“Cappy?” asked James, wrinkling his nose with distaste.

“Yep,” replied Kirsty, her grin widening. “That’s the price for keeping me on as Seeker.”

“Where was it that you said I could find a new Seeker again?” asked James teasingly. Kirsty smacked him playfully on the arm. “Kidding!” he laughed. “Now what do you say we go and check on our Keeper?”

------------

Crouching down behind a suit of armour was definitely not one of the best ideas Emma had ever had. Shifting her position slightly in order to ease her lower back pain only resulted in the cramp in her leg becoming much more pronounced. Biting down against the pain, she reverted yet again to minimal movement in order to listen intently to the goings on within the Hospital Wing. James and Kirsty were still in there checking on Sam, and Emma was praying that they’d leave soon before she became crippled for life.

The only positive thing that factored in her present discomfort was that her wrist was no longer causing her pain. Having actually visited Madam Pomfrey straight away after she had left her friends, the nurse had declared her injury a sprain, fixed it instantaneously, and sent Emma on her way without as much as a prying question, but Emma didn’t leave, for she had spotted, in the bed in the far corner, the shadow of a seemingly unconscious figure being cast on the bed’s closed hangings. Knowing full well who the occupant of the bed must be, Emma’s curiosity started to get the better of her. Making up her mind that she simply had to see if he was all right, Emma turned on her heel and took a few tentative steps towards Sam’s bed. However, it was then that Emma heard the distant voices of Kirsty and James ascending the staircase. She stopped. She really couldn’t deal with the jibes that they were bound to make about seeing her with Sam. So, doing the only sensible thing, Emma darted out into the corridor, found the nearest suit of armour, jinxed it away from the wall and hid, panicking slightly, behind it.

Now she was wishing that she had just made her way back to the common room. Technically, she could go back there now, but she still had a compelling desire to go in and see Sam, and she wanted to do it alone. So, she kept her position and listened as Madam Pomfrey’s voice emanated from the open door.

“Really, there’s no reason for you to stay. I honestly don’t see him waking up any time soon.”

“But he’s going to be alright?” asked James, concerned.

“Oh, yes, he received a minor fracture to the skull, but I patched it up right away.”

Kirsty sighed with relief. “Good.”

Emma heard footsteps, and the figures of Kirsty and James appeared in the doorway.

“So, back to the common room now then?” queried Kirsty.

“Oh, I should think so. After all, Padfoot would be terribly upset if we missed his party.”

“Party?” quizzed Kirsty with a frown.

“He’s throwing an after-match party in the common room from what I can gather.” The two started to walk back towards the staircase together.

“But we lost!” exclaimed Kirsty.

“Do you really think that’d stop Padfoot from wanting to throw a raucous up-till-dawn party?”

That was the last that Emma heard of the conversation as the two disappeared up to the higher levels of the castle. She waited a few seconds to make doubly sure that they had indeed gone before standing upright. Aches, pains and pins and needles immediately coursed through her body, making her legs waiver slightly as she stepped out from behind the suit of armour. Walking swiftly across the Hospital Wing, Emma managed to reach the hangings around Sam’s bed before Madam Pomfrey’s voice announced from behind her, “Now really, there‘s absolutely no point in visiting an unconscious patient.”

“Please, can’t I just stay with him for a few minutes?” pleaded Emma.

The nurse’s stern look faltered, and she gave Emma a quick inclination of her head before retracing her steps back to her office.

Hesitantly, Emma drew back the hangings and stepped inside them, not bothering to close them again - she wasn’t planning on staying long.

And there he was, looking so peaceful despite his plummet from the sky. He looked slightly paler than usual, but Emma suspected that this was due to the previous pain of his head injury. Other than the slight graze upon his cheek and the dried mud that caked his exposed skin, he looked absolutely fine though. She breathed a sigh of relief. Then, not quite knowing what she was doing, she reached forward and brushed Sam’s overhanging red fringe out of his eyes. Her hand lingered above him for a moment before she lightly grazed her fingers, purposefully, across his forehead.

“Hmmm. Healing hands,” sighed Sam, shifting slightly and opening his eyes so that he was looking straight at Emma.

Emma shrieked and jumped backwards away from his bed. Sam watched her with amusement.

Her shriek had caught Madam Pomfrey’s attention, and she instantly came bustling over to find the source of the commotion. “Mr North? What the-? I mean… this is just so… unprecedented. I didn’t expect you to wake up for a good few hours yet.”

Emma looked up at Madam Pomfrey’s words. That’s odd, she thought, and she saw Sam raise his eyebrows slightly in her direction.

Madam Pomfrey then began bustling around him, checking that everything was as it should be. After a few minutes she declared, “Well, everything seems to be in order, but I’d like to keep you in overnight for observation.” Sounding rather dejected, the nurse returned once again to her office.

Sam chuckled softly. “It looks as if you could give her a run for her money.”

Emma smiled and inched closer to the bed. “How did you know it was me?” she asked.

“Excuse me?” Sam replied, perplexed.

“Well, you didn’t seem at all surprised when you opened your eyes to find me there.”

“Ah,” laughed Sam, “I could see the brightness of your hair even with my eyes closed.” Emma laughed too. She was surprised at how at ease she felt with him. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” he enquired.

Emma flushed; she was immensely thankful that she still had her face paint on at that moment in time. “The team wanted me to come and check on you because they couldn’t make it,“ waffled Emma, lying blatantly. “And seeing as I had to come up here anyway-“

“Hang on, why did you need to come up to the Hospital Wing?” asked Sam suddenly, concern evident in his voice.

“I hurt my hand.”

“How?” he continued to press her.

“Oh, because I punched Sian-“

“What?” asked Sam, a grin spreading itself across his face. “Are you serious? What did you do that for?”

“Because of what she did to you…” Emma replied meekly, not daring to meet his eye.

Silence fell between them.

“Wow, Em, I-“ Sam stopped himself mid-sentence and sighed loudly. Seemingly searching for a change of subject, he then asked, “So, what happened with the match?”

“We lost,” answered Emma with a sigh.

“What? Why? What happened?”

“Well, Kirsty and James both flew down to make sure that you were going to be okay, and whilst they were down there, Sian made a play for the Snitch. Kirsty did all she could to try and beat her to it, but Sian had had too great a head start and caught the Snitch.”

Sam groaned loudly. “What was the score?”

Emma screwed up her face as she tried to remember. “I think Sirius said that it was one hundred and ninety to eighty.” Sam swore. “Sorry, Sam.”

“It’s not your fault,” he replied, smiling at her.

Another silence ensued.

“James and Kirsty were in here earlier,” stated Emma nonchalantly.

Sam raised his eyebrows and looked incredulously at her. “But I thought you said that none of the team could make it?”

Bugger, thought Emma as panic started to build up inside her. Feeling like a bag of nerves, she replied, stammering slightly, “Well they couldn’t come originally, but they changed their minds and decided to pop in…” she trailed off lamely.

“Emma, why are you really here?”

“I wanted to see for myself that you were going to be all right,” she blurted out.

The smile had vanished from Sam’s face, and Emma suddenly felt scared - had she said something wrong? He was looking at her intently, but his eyes gave nothing away.

“Not that I like you or anything,” she gabbled nervously, all the while staring at the ceiling. “I mean you’re not even that good looking �“ and… and… you have stupid hair!” she finished with a flourish. She darted a look at Sam and saw that his brow was furrowed.

A few seconds elapsed before he spoke. “You don’t like me?”

Was it Emma’s imagination, or was there a disappointed air to his tone? “No!” she squeaked untruthfully.

“Because I was rather under the impression that you did.”

Emma’s heart thudded in her chest as she replied, “Well, that just goes to prove how egotistical you are then, doesn’t it?”

“I can’t pretend that I’m not disappointed to hear that,” continued Sam, ignoring her last statement. Emma snapped her head back around to face him. “I suppose I’ll just have to find another Gryffindor girl with so much compassion, sincerity, and grace that she makes Sian Morgan look like a mountain troll. A Gryffindor girl who is so drop dead gorgeous that I simply can’t believe she hasn’t been snapped up already.” Throughout this recital, Sam’s eyes never left hers.

Realisation dawned on Emma; at least, it seemed to. Was Sam saying what she thought he was saying? Was he telling her the very thing that she had wanted him to tell her ever since fifth year? She simply couldn’t believe her ears. She furiously blinked the tears out of her eyes. Please let it be true, she begged. She couldn’t have bared it if Sam suddenly took away the thread of hope he had just dangled teasingly in front of her.

“What?” she asked quietly finally finding her voice.

“Finally caught on, have you?” chuckled Sam.

“But-“

“But what?” he countered.

“I thought you didn’t like me.”

“On the contrary,” replied Sam as he pushed the bed covers off himself and came to sit down beside her. “I’ve liked you for quite some time, Miss Bembridge.”

He was unbelievably close; Emma could smell his aftershave and see every miniscule detail of his painted face. “Nice pyjamas.” she teased, looking down. Sam laughed. “They remind me of those ludicrous looking ones that James got for Christmas one year-“

“Emma, for once in your life, stop bloody waffling.”

And with that, Sam’s lips met hers.

Little zings of electricity shot throughout her entire body, and it felt as if someone had set off a round of fireworks in her stomach.

Sam’s hand found hers moments before he broke the kiss. She opened her eyes to meet his and saw that his face was alight with happiness. Sam indicated over the top of her head. “I think we have an audience.”

Emma turned around and saw Madam Pomfrey standing by the window in her office. “Oh, God,” laughed Emma as she turned to face him once again.

“So, how are we going to tackle the Gryffindor Gossips?” he asked her with a grin.

Emma laughed at the groups’ given nickname. “Oh, I think they deserve to be kept in the dark, at least for now. Let’s just think of it as our little secret.”

“Hmm, sounds like my idea of a plan,” he agreed, resting his forehead against hers, their Gryffindor coloured features clashing magnificently in the evening twilight.

It was near dusk when James returned to the common room with a noticeable spring in his step. His footsteps echoed as he walked briskly up to the portrait hole. It seemed that the majority of Hogwarts’ population was still in the Great Hall finishing off their dinner.

He reached his destination and chirpily announced the password to the Fat Lady, who permitted his entrance instantaneously. As the familiar warmth and welcome of the common room hit him, he saw that not everyone was still down in the Great Hall.

“Hello,” he said pleasantly at the sight of Sirius.

Sirius stopped looking towards the girls’ staircase and turned to face him, looking slightly stunned to see someone else in the room. “Evening, Prongs.”

Even though he had promised himself he would keep it quiet for at least another hour, James had the uncontrollably urge to blurt out everything to Sirius, regardless of whether it came out nonsensical or not. “Guess what?” he asked, unable to stop himself from bobbing up and down excitedly.

But before Sirius even got the chance to guess, Kirsty came down from the girls’ dorms, checking her reflection in Emma’s mirror. “Do you really think I look like a Slytherin?”

James looked up sharply at her question and furrowed his brow in confusion, momentarily forgetting his important news.

“I didn’t say you looked like a Slytherin; I said you had Slytherin features,” replied Sirius calmly.

“It’s the same thing,” she countered, stepping down from the last step.

Deciding to investigate their puzzling conversation later, James commanded, “Hey, Kirst, guess what.”

“And anyway, I only said you had Slytherin features in retaliation, since you actually said I looked like a Slytherin,” confessed Sirius.

“Yeah, but you do look like a Slytherin.”

“Humph!” Sirius exclaimed indignantly.

James hopped irritably from foot to foot - trust those two to be having a domestic, today of all days.

Kirsty backtracked. “But of course you’re going to look like a Slytherin. Your whole family’s from Slytherin, whereas I, on the other hand, come from a long line of Gryffindors, so there is no way that I could look like a Slytherin.”

“Au contraire, my dear Kirsty. You are the black sheep of the White family, and, therefore, you are easily susceptible to looking like a Slytherin. I, on the other hand, am the white sheep in the Black family, and, therefore, I am more susceptible to being, and looking like, a Gryffindor,” he finished, looking rather proud of himself.

Kirsty opened and closed her mouth a few times. Either she was searching for the right comeback or extremely flummoxed by Sirius’ odd logic.

“But you don’t look like a Gryffindor, which is what I’m getting at. Now, James,” retorted Kirsty wheeling around to look at him instead. “James looks like a Gryffindor.”

“He does? So what makes him look like one and not me?” asked Sirius, intrigued.

“The glasses, for one thing.”

“How the hell do his glasses make him look like a Gryffindor?”

“Well, no, they don’t make him look like a Gryffindor; they just make him not look like a Slytherin.”

“How?” asked both Sirius and James incredulously.

“Well, how many Slytherins do you know that wear glasses?” Sirius gave her a ‘yeah, I see your point’ look. “Exactly, that’s because glasses are a mark of intelligence�”“James grinned proudly. “�”and the Slytherins… Well, they’re not so smart.”

“Careful, mate, you’re slagging off your own species there,” quipped James, feeling that he may as well join in with the debate if they weren’t going to listen to his news.

Kirsty glared at him. “Don’t you start taking his side, Potter!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Kirst.”

“You said that glasses are a mark of intelligence?” questioned Sirius. Kirsty nodded. “Have you met Emma?” he continued to remark cheekily.

“I’m telling her that you said that!”

“Please do,” answered Sirius with a grin.

“Anyway, guys, now that we’ve verified that I look like a Gryffindor and Sirius doesn’t, I have news!”

Choosing to ignore James for the third time, Sirius continued, “So, what else, besides James’ glasses, makes him look more like a Gryffindor than me? I mean, we both have dark hair - as do you by the way - dark eyes - ditto for you - and are tall and sarcastic, also like you.”

“Well…” Kirsty pondered this for a minute. “I would have to say his bubbly personality and charming smile.”

James grinned stupidly at this praise, even though he was becoming agitated because they weren’t listening to what he had to say.

“Is this your way of breaking it to me that I have a miserable, loner-like personality and a repulsive smile?” asked Sirius in mock distress.

Kirsty laughed. “No, but sometimes you do tend to be a bit loner-like. Not so much anymore, but you used to be that way. It’s just that you tend to give off more of a haughty and mysterious vibe, whereas James is very outgoing and amiable, and you know that you have a very sexy, enticing smile, which is perfect for luring unsuspecting fan girls into your bedroom.”

“Did you just give me a compliment, Miss White?”

“I think I may well have. You were way overdue one.”

“Speaking of luring people into bedrooms, I have news!” exclaimed James, his voice rising an octave higher.

They both looked at him in puzzlement for a moment before turning to look at each other again.

“I’m sorry, Kirst, you don’t look like a Slytherin. You’re a gorgeous Gryffindor girl through and through.”

Kirsty blushed a little from his compliment. “Why thank you, Sirius. You don’t look like a Slytherin either, and even if you did, you’d look like a very sexy Slytherin Sirius at that.”

Sirius grinned.

“Enough with the gushy alliteration talk!” James blurted out in annoyance.

Sirius and Kirsty looked at him slightly shocked.

“Thank you. Now, for the last time, guess what.”

“What?” they both asked in unison, smiles playing across both their faces as if both of them were fully aware of the agitation they had caused him.

“I asked Lily out!”

“Yeah, what else is new?” asked Sirius flippantly.

“You know, maybe we should ask Remus whether we look like Slytherins or not. He’s bound to give us an honest opinion,” pondered Kirsty.

“Good idea!”

“Guys!” whined James.

“Prongs, what in heavens name is wrong with you? You’re like an upset five year old coming down off his sugar high. Look, you already told us your news - you asked Lily out again - yes fantastic, so what are you whining for now?” ranted Sirius.

James took a deep breath. Now that the time was here, he was finding it extremely difficult to get the words out. He cleared his throat. This is it, he thought, and he felt a torrent of excitement and nerves wash over him. He took a final calming breath and looked directly at them both. “I asked Lily out, and she said yes!”

James was sure that his eardrums had been burst by the almighty squeal that erupted from Kirsty upon hearing this news.

“What? Are you serious?” asked Sirius, his face lit up with excitement.

Kirsty was now jumping up and down on various pieces of furniture to release some of her pent-up excitement.

“Deadly serious. We’re going on a date this weekend.” Even as he heard himself say the words, he found himself replaying the entirety of the glorious conversation inside his head.

“Hey, Potter!” Lily called excitedly from inside the door to the Room of Requirement.

James turned in surprise - Lily Evans hiding inside the Room of Requirement? He must be seeing things.

“Lil, what are you�”?”

“Quickly, in here.”

“How do you know about the Room of Requirement?” he asked once inside.

“Oh please, James, everybody knows about the Room of Requirement. “

“What, even law-abiding citizens such as yourself?” he teased.

Lily smiled. “Uh-huh.”

“So what’s going on, Lil?” asked James, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, like he always did when he was nervous.

“I just thought it was about time we had a chat,” she replied. Her voice was riddled with nerves, and a slight red tinge appeared on her cheeks.

“In the Room of Requirement?” questioned James for clarification.

“Yes, in the Room of Requirement,” she replied in exasperation.

“Okay, what did you want to talk about? Because it’s very rare for us to have a one-to-one, even in a room as stunning as this.” James adored the Room of Requirement. An air of mischief surrounded it, and he was pretty sure that no one could fathom its innermost workings. The room held a special place in James’ heart. Not only had the Marauders failed to find it until last year, but when attempting to put it on their map it had turned out to be unplottable. It was definitely a room after his own heart. Though, he was still immensely intrigued as to how Lily could have possibly found out about its existence.

The room in question was filled with bright sunbeams that radiated the last of the autumn heat. A large window was present on the wall to James’ right, and out of it he could see the Quidditch pitch, in all its magnificent glory. Birds chirped merrily outside the window, and it reminded James heart-warmingly of home. Inside the room there was an impressive fireplace, not awfully unlike the one in the Gryffindor common room, but the fire had not yet been lit. A large, dark red, L-shaped sofa was the centrepiece of the room, and various wizarding games were scattered around the assortment of tables and desks. Finally, there was, in James’ opinion, the best part of the whole room: its scent - the smell of freshly mown grass, which he absolutely adored.

“I thought you’d like it,” announced Lily, as she too let her gaze wander around the room.

“So… why are we in here?” ventured James, becoming slightly embarrassed by the fact that Lily had thought this room up especially for him.

“Well, um…” Lily cleared her throat as if she was suffering from extreme nerves. “Emma and Sam are talking again, Kirsty and Sirius shared a bed, and Hayley and Remus are both in extreme denial about their feelings for each other, so I thought that maybe it was about time that you and I did something…” She trailed off, her face now ever redder.

James was stunned. Did she mean what he thought she meant? His heart now seemed to be beating somewhere in the region of his Adam’s apple, and he felt slightly nauseous. After being in love with her for the last three years, was this going to be where it finally ended?

“What, you mean stop pretending like you still hate my guts and that I’m still as arrogant as ever?” he asked with forced jokiness.

“I never hated your guts… and you were never really overly arrogant…” She trailed off once again and looked down at her feet. James noted that she looked immensely uncomfortable.

“Who are you kidding? I was the most arrogant git out, besides Padfoot of course. But I’d like to think that I’ve calmed down some over the last few years.”

“You have,” agreed Lily, her voice much quieter.

“Lil, what are we really here for?” asked James, turning serious.

To James’ frustration, she wouldn’t look up to meet his gaze as she answered, “Well... you haven’t asked me out in a while, and I thought �“ I thought that maybe you’d lost interest…” She trailed off, her voice wobbling slightly.

James felt as if he had had the wind knocked out of him. She thinks I’m not interested anymore? How could I ever lose interest in her? I love her for God’s sake!

“Lil, I only stopped asking you out to prove how mature I could be in the hope that you’d finally fall for me, and call me arrogant, but I think it may just have worked,” he confessed, slowing down his speech so that she caught every last syllable.

He extended his hand out and gently lifted her chin up to look at him. “Am I right?” he asked, looking deep into her eyes for his answer.

She nodded, and he could see tears glistening in her eyes. “James, Slughorn’s holding one of his parties this Saturday, and I wondered, if you wanted to that is, if you’d like to come�”“

That was all James needed to hear. He gently put his finger on her lips, and she looked up at him, startled. “I’m going to stop you right there, Evans.” She continued to look at him, but her expression turned to one of confusion and hurt. “I’ve been waiting three years to do this, and you are not going to take it away from me now.”

She smiled at him, and a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks.

James calmed his nerves, took a deep breath and asked, “Lily Evans, would you allow me to accompany you to professor Slughorn’s party this weekend as your date?”

“Yes.”

James felt his heart soar; after years of trying, he had finally captured the girl of his dreams.

“I would love to go with you, James Potter!”

James picked her effortlessly up off the ground and hugged her tight. Her shrills of laughter reverberated through his entire body. He put her down, saw the wide grin plastered across her face and knew that he must look equally, if not more, ecstatic. Then, for fear that this wonderful scenario would disintegrate before his very eyes, he kissed her.

Words could not describe the sensation he felt when she reciprocated the kiss and allowed her body to arc into his. He could taste the tanginess of her strawberry lip balm and feel the touch of her hand against his lower back, and they spurred him to greater heights. The kiss was becoming more and more passionate, and James allowed his hand to caress the scarlet tendrils at the back of her neck, his other hand coming to rest at the top of her hip. He poured every ounce of three years’ pent up desire for Lily into the kiss, and she accepted it without trepidation.

Her fingers raked through his unkempt mass of black hair, ruffling it up and no doubt making it even messier than it had been before, and it made James break the kiss.

He glanced upwards at Lily’s hand in his hair before bringing his gaze back down to meet hers. Breathlessly, he remarked, “Hypocrite!”

She chuckled softly, her eyes never leaving his.

He snaked both of his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. His hazel eyes bored into hers, and he revelled in their emerald beauty, knowing that, for now at least, they belonged solely to him.

--------------

Lily buried her face against James’ chest, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment. She had no doubt that the majority of the Gryffindor table were now looking her and James’ way and probably members of the other Houses too.

The secret had been kept for a grand total of thirty minutes, before Kirsty had flounced into the Great Hall and rained magnificently on Lily’s parade.

Trust James to tell the only two in the group who couldn’t keep a secret.

Lily had been enjoying her sausage and mash, when Kirsty had sped into the hall, Sirius tailing not far behind her, demanding, “Is it true? Is it true?” at the top of her lungs.

Lily had feared that she knew exactly to what Kirsty was referring, but she waited until a loitering James entered the hall before receiving her confirmation. Upon his arrival, he grinned sheepishly at her, and she knew he had been unable to contain it any longer.

She shook her head at him, but a smile played across her lips. She could hardly stay mad at him when he had waited for this exact scenario for over three years.

He had walked over and sat on the bench beside her, snaking his arm protectively around her waist in order to help defend against the group’s excited babbling and questioning.

“You know that you’re just giving them more ammunition, don’t you?” James leaned his head down to whisper in her ear.

Her skin prickled pleasantly at his closeness.

“When did it happen?”

“Where did it happen?”

“How did it happen?”

“Have you kissed yet?”

“When did you start liking him?”

“Who initiated it?”

The questions rolled in at top speed, each of their friends seeming eager for answers.

Lily lifted her head up and met James’ gaze. He shrugged and gave her an easy smile, before looking over at the group whose faces were shining with anticipation. “About half an hour ago, in the Room of Requirement, Lily pounced on me, more times than you can count. Personally I’ve always thought I was quite a catch, and surprisingly Lily did and about bloody time too.”

Lily looked at him in exasperation. She was so going to get him for those last four answers later. The excited chatter didn’t break out again like Lily had expected it to, but rather they all pinned their questioning gazes upon her instead. Clearly, they weren’t going to give in until they had gleaned every tiny detail.

“You initiated it?” gasped Emma. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” replied Lily with a smile.

The group looked stunned.

“But just to clarify, I was the one who did the asking out,” piped up James.

“Only because you stopped me from doing it!” Lily laughed, prodding him playfully in the side.

“So when did you decide that arrogance was most definitely the way to your heart?” enquired Sirius.

James reached across the table and clipped him around the back of the head. Sirius gave him a rueful smile.

Lily thought hard. When had she actually fallen for the illustrious James Potter?

Fifth year had marked the turning point in their relationship, she knew that for definite, but what was it that had made her fall for him?

She had informed Hayley during the summer that, on occasion, she found James to be infuriatingly loveable and cute, but she had never told Hayley that her feelings had actually progressed a lot further and that actually towards the end of sixth year she had started receiving an uncomfortable flip in her stomach every time she was in close proximity to him.

The beginning of this year had been hell. Having to spend most evenings on her own with James whilst she was doing her Head Girl duties had been an obstacle that she had never expected to face.

You could have cut the tension between them on those evenings with a knife. She and James always forced polite conversation, but the awkwardness between them was always there, not helped along by the fact that every time James touched her or smiled at her the beating of her heart went into overdrive.

The spat with the Slytherins on the first day of term had been the real eye opener. For the first time in her six years at Hogwarts, Lily had been on the side of James Potter, not Severus Snape. During the confrontation, James had refrained from uttering a single hex, curse or jinx, his sole focus being on protecting and rescuing his friends.

James’ choice of reaction had resulted in inner turmoil for Lily, for she could no longer pretend that he was the same arrogant James Potter whom she had so openly despised back in fifth year.

Waking up next to James on the common room sofa after Quidditch practice that night had definitely been one of the best moments she could ever recall having at Hogwarts. The feel of his body so close to hers, the smell of him ensnaring her senses, the weight of him pressing down on her and the lust and love in his eyes had all very nearly driven her over the edge. She had found herself wondering whether or not he would kiss her, and the fluttering in her stomach told her that she hoped he would. But, being the sensible person that she was, she had put a stop to it. She could have had James Potter then and there, but a niggling voice in the back of her head had been telling her that it was far too soon.

The way James had taken it all in his stride had surprised her and made her forever grateful. When he kissed her sweetly on the nose, her heart had swelled with even more love for him, and watching him walk away from her had been sheer torture.

Nearly two weeks had passed since that fateful night, and neither she nor James had bought the subject up again. It had been two weeks in which Lily had to endure the frantic fluttering in her stomach and excited beating of her heart at the very sight of him, two weeks in which she had realised that she wanted James Potter more than she had ever dared to want him before.

Scared that she had missed her chance, she began to put her plan into action, and in doing so, she did something that she had never in a million years envisaged herself doing: she asked James Potter out. His turning the tables and beating her to it had been so hopelessly romantic that she had nearly swooned there and then.

As for the kiss, she felt deliriously happy just thinking about it. She had felt him put all the need and desire for her that he had harboured for three years into that kiss, and it had very nearly overwhelmed her. When he broke the kiss to inform her that she was a hypocrite she couldn’t help but grin inanely, for in a strange way, at that precise moment in time, they had come full circle.

Coming out of her reverie, she looked up to address her friends once again. “Well, I think I started liking him near the end of sixth year. To be honest, I don’t think it could have been long after the time he helped that young, second year girl out of the trick step hole in the staircase.” She turned to James. “You were so kind to her, and it was then that I realised how much you’d matured.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners, and he kept his intense gaze pinned on her.

The group were all exchanging glances and smiling happily at each other.

“But surely you must have fancied him before then?” protested Kirsty.

Lily furrowed her brow. “I think I began to fancy him back in third year.”

James’ face lit up like a child who had just been told that Christmas would be coming early this year. “Seriously?” he asked, elated.

Lily rolled her eyes in fond disbelief. “Yes, but it didn’t mean that I liked you; it just meant that I recognised the fact that you were very good-looking.”

“Oh,” James replied, looking slightly crestfallen.

“To be fair though, Prongs, you were an arrogant little git,” supplied Sirius.

“Hark who’s talking,” said James with a laugh.

“Touché,” replied Sirius with a grin.

“So that’s why you got so much rattier with him during fourth year, because you were furious with yourself for fancying him!” exclaimed Kirsty, giving Lily a slightly disapproving look.

“Just like you then really, Kirst.”

“What?” she cried, looking immensely alarmed.

“Well, you fancied Sirius in the second year, and you were angry at yourself for finding a Black good-looking.”

Sirius gave Kirsty a smug look.

“Yeah, well,” she mumbled.

“So where are you two going on your first date?” asked Peter.

James looked mildly uncomfortable for a moment before answering, “To the Slug Club party this weekend.”

“What?” asked Remus in disbelief.

“But you hate everything about the Slug Club,” protested Sirius. “And you swore that you’d never become a member!”

“Yes, I know, but I’m not going as a member, am I? I’m going as a guest.”

Sirius folded his arms huffily and looked away from his best friend. “You said that the only way that you’d attend one of old Sluggy’s parties was if he invited us three along too, so that we could cause some Marauder-type havoc.”

“But I didn’t foresee this situation then, did I? I think I should be allowed to make an exception considering the fortuitous circumstances,” countered James.

“So what you’re really saying is that you’re ditching us for a girl?”

“Not a girl, my girl - this is Lily we’re talking about, Padfoot… Lily.” He enunciated her name clearly.

“That’s not the point! The point is that you’re breaking the second rule of the Marauders: never let girls get in the way of our friendship.”

“I thought that was the third rule,” chipped in Emma.

“Oh, not this again,” groaned Hayley, rolling her eyes.

“You know, anyone would think you were jealous, Sirius,” remarked Kirsty.

“Yeah, is there something you’d like to tell me, Padfoot?” enquired James with a grin.

Sirius looked immensely perplexed.

“Don’t tell me you’ve started batting for the other side!” exclaimed Emma in mock horror.

“Huh? Batting for whose side? Slytherin’s?” he queried, his brow furrowed.

Lily squealed with laughter along with the others.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded.

“They’re enquiring as to whether or not you’re gay, Padfoot,” Remus informed him helpfully.

“What?” yelped Sirius. “Sirius Black, gay? That’s an abomination; that’s what it is! Prongs, you go ahead and go on your stupid date. See if I care!”

Lily and the others exchanged smirks.

Kirsty took a deep breath, but Sirius cut her off before she addressed him. “If you dare say another word, Kirst, I will make it my life purpose to prove to you that I’m not gay.”

Kirsty looked slightly startled before asking, “How?”

“Use your imagination.” replied Sirius in a low growl. Lily and Hayley raised their eyebrows at each other as Emma tittered over in the corner. “Oh, stuff the lot of you!” exclaimed Sirius dislodging himself from the bench. “I’m going to get some homework done.”

And with that, he stormed out of the Hall.

“Time of the month,” Emma informed them all knowledgeably.

--------------

“How do I look?” James asked Remus nervously.

“Rather dashing, if I’m honest,” replied Remus with a smile.

“Tuh, and I’m the gay one!” exclaimed Sirius indignantly.

“Will you let it go already?” cried Peter in exasperation.

Sirius took on a sulky disposition.

James honestly couldn’t remember being more nervous in his life. Pre-Quidditch nerves were nothing compared to this.

“Do I look like a man worthy of Lily Evans?”

“Oh, I’d say so,” replied Remus reassuringly.

“What time is it?” asked James for what must have been the tenth time.

“Ten to eight.”

James nodded. “This is killing me; I’m far too excited to wait!”

“Why can’t I have that?” wailed Sirius.

“Have what?” asked Peter with a mischievous grin. “James? Or what James has got?”

Sirius threw a pillow at his head. “For the last time, I’m not gay! What I meant was: why can’t I fall in love with somebody? I don’t ever remember counting down the minutes and waiting with anticipation to meet up with one of my dates, and I want it.”

“Do you have anyone in particular in mind who you’d like to get excited about meeting?” asked James with a knowing smile.

“No,” lied Sirius, looking uncomfortable.

Remus smirked.

“And you’re just as bad.” James rounded on him. “You’re in extreme denial, my friend.”

Remus glared at him.

“I think you should go down there a bit earlier, Prongs,” suggested Peter, possibly to stop the outbreak of a war.

“Seven minutes to eight,” supplied Remus. “Alright, off you go and good luck!”

James entered the common room with his heart thumping madly against his ribcage. He smoothed out the creases in his dress robes and made one last desperate attempt to flatten down his hair.

At bang on eight o’clock, when James was watching the rain fall past the window, Lily emerged from her dorm. He heard her gentle footsteps before he actually saw her. Straightening up from his leaning position beside the window, he turned around.

She was quite simply a vision. She wore a dark green dress, which complimented her emerald eyes beautifully. It tightly hugged her hips tightly and showed off her slim waist and hourglass figure. It was cut low at the neck displaying a subtle hint of cleavage. Her shimmering red hair cascaded over her shoulders, and she greeted him with a timid smile.

James exhaled and took a few tentative steps towards her. “Wow,” he declared, “you look… gorgeous.”

Lily visibly relaxed. “Thank you. I must say you look rather dapper yourself.”

“I aim to please.” The sound of tittering emanated from the top of the girls’ staircase. James raised his eyebrows questioningly at Lily.

“I think we’re being watched,” she informed him.

James removed his wand from his pocket. He waved it in the direction of the entrance to the girls’ dorms and the door slammed shut.

“Aww!” cried the disappointed voice of Kirsty.

He turned once again to Lily and produced an orchid from the end of his wand.

“Wow,” she exclaimed, “you certainly do know how to make a girl swoon.”

“Yeah, Moony briefed me before I came down,” he confessed with an easy smile.

“Really? I would have thought that making girls swoon was Sirius’ forte.”

“No, Padfoot is surprisingly useless.”

“Which again adds to our theory,” she pointed out. She and James both laughed.

“Shall we go?” he asked her as he presented her with the flower.

She smiled radiantly, before linking her arm through his and allowing him to lead her through the portrait hole.

--------------

“Oh, and over there is Archie Pace, the Head of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes,” James informed her, pointing over at a small, balding fellow.

“Oooh, and look there’s the captain of the Moose Jaw Meteorites, Dante Benenaté!” exclaimed James excitedly.

“You just made that name up,” replied Lily with a sceptical look.

“I did not! They’re a Canadian Quidditch team!” he retorted defensively. She gave him a tantalising smile. “Drink?” James enquired, wrapping his arm fully around her waist, where it had been slowly inching towards for the last five minutes.

She nodded in affirmation, and James proceeded to lead her around the edge of the room. They passed a group of girls conversing in hushed whispers, and as they did so, Lily could not ignore the smouldering looks of hatred and jealousy that were radiating her way.

As she and James reached the drinks table, Lily saw a large protruding stomach emerge from the mass of students, past and present, gathered in the middle of the room, and Professor Slughorn made a beeline for her, his silver walrus-like moustache billowing madly.

“Slug alert,” she whispered in James ear.

Lily saw James watch the approaching professor out of the corner of his eye, and removing his hand from where it had been ladling punch into glasses, he allowed it to again stake its claim around her waist.

“Ah, Mr Potter, finally come to your senses I see. I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist the lure of my little club forever.”

“Actually, Sir,” replied James, plastering on his most charming smile, “I’m here as a guest.”

He tightened the grip around Lily’s waist and pulled her even closer toward him.

Slughorn’s small eyes flitted between the couple before him and, looking completely flabbergasted, he announced, “Well, I must say this really is a turn up for the books. Well, I offer you my congratulations and wish the two of you the best of luck.”

“Thank you, Sir,” replied Lily graciously, smiling up at James, who was beaming back.

“Now, Mr Potter, there is someone here that I really think you should talk to… ah there he is - Perrin! Wait there, old boy!” He turned back to James, “Perrin Quigley, works over in the Portkey office. I’ll have a word and see if there’s anything he can do for you.” With a conspiratorial wink at James, Slughorn departed in the direction of his contact.

“Do I really look like someone who should work in the Portkey office?” James asked her, appalled.

Lily simply couldn’t help but laugh at the horrified look on his face. “Don’t worry, he tried to get me a job as a member of the Pest Advisory Board last year,” she replied with a grimace.

“Oooh, fun,” he stated sarcastically.

“Oh, no, he’s coming back!” exclaimed Lily in dismay.

“Quick, this way!” instructed James, removing his hand from around her waist and taking a hold of her hand instead.

They dodged in and out of the mingling guests, and Lily found herself out of breath from laughing so much. Eventually, they came to halt beside the door of Slughorn’s office.

“What now?” asked Lily, taking deep, calming breaths. “We won’t be able to avoid him all night.”

“Well, we could leave,” proposed James with a devilish glint in his eye.

Torn between her obligation to remain at the party and her desire to be alone with James, Lily anxiously chewed the inside of her lip.

“But only if you want to of course,” he hastily amended upon seeing her reaction.

Surveying the crowd, Lily saw them part to allow Slughorn to waddle through; he surveyed the room every which way, evidently looking for them. In the end though, it was the last resounding jealous glare from a passing fifth year Ravenclaw girl that made Lily’s mind up.

She turned back to James. “Let’s go.”

*

James crushed her up against the wall as Filch hobbled past the alcove, in which they were hiding. His body pinned her in place, and his right arm rested on the wall just above her head. She had the uncontrollable urge to giggle, and James, seeming to sense this, bought his hand down over her mouth. Looking up at him, she saw that he too had an amused grin plastered on his face. As she listened intently, Filch’s shuffling footsteps began to fade away. James’ gaze now remained fixed on what Lily supposed was the caretaker’s retreating back.

“Come on!” he instructed her in a hurried whisper as he took her firmly by the hand once more.

As they raced across the Entrance Hall, Lily’s giggles finally erupted.

“Shhh,” James scolded her, although he too looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. “Hurry up!”

He dragged her through the door and into the chilly grounds. Goosebumps immediately rose up on her bare arms, and involuntarily, she shivered.

“Where now?” she asked, trying desperately to stop her teeth from chattering.

“This way,” answered James as he began to lead her once again.

“Hang on,” requested Lily, bending down and slipping off one of her silver sandals.”

“Women!” exclaimed James exasperatedly as she managed to ease the second one off as well.

“Now we can go.”

James shook his head and reached for her hand. He led her over to the far edge of the lake and stopped to survey the area.

“If Filch comes out here, he’s going to find us for sure,” worried Lily.

James, seemingly happy with their location, replied, “Ah, but, Lil, you are forgetting that the first rule of the Marauders is to always be prepared.”

“Not another rule,” scoffed Lily. “You sound like the bloody boy scouts!”

“Look, do you want to stay out of trouble or not?” James retorted.

“I’m sorry,” replied Lily with an amused smile. “I bow down to the superiority that is the Marauders.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” replied James a mischievous glint present in his eye. “Now, sit.” Lily gave him a sceptical look before complying.

She adjusted her dress, whilst James began to rummage in the pockets of his dress robes for something. She heard a clinking noise and two Butterbeer bottles emerged from the small inside pocket.

“Wha�”?” The question died on her lips as James passed the bottles over to her.

“Hold these a minute.”

Lily watched as James pulled something fluid and silvery-grey out of the pocket.

She recognised it instantly. Even though she had had only seen it once before - on the night that she, Kirsty and Emma had found out that Remus was a werewolf - she had never forgotten about it.

James pulled the shining, silvery cloth through his hands, and Lily marvelled at how the material cascaded like water over his fingers. He came and sat down beside her, and Lily raised her eyebrows questioningly at him.

“Undetectable Extension Charm,” he informed her.

“Ah, the perks of dating a Marauder,” sighed Lily jokingly with a roll of her eyes.

James gave her a fleeting smile, before he shook out the cloak and placed it like a blanket over the top of them both. He popped the tops of the two bottles with his wand, before taking one from her.

“There ain’t nothing better,” he informed her with a grin. “Cheers.”

“Cheers,” she echoed, chinking her bottle against his.

James stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back, propping himself up with his left arm as his right kept a firm grip on his drink. The front of his shoulder rested against Lily’s shoulder blade, and at his touch, she too relaxed and stretched out her legs.

James took a long swig of his Butterbeer, before pointing up at the cloudless sky and asking, “Do you know which constellation that one is?”

“Ursa Major,” she replied without hesitation.

“Oh, very good, someone obviously paid attention in Astronomy. How about that one?” he asked again.

She studied the cluster of stars closely before answering, “Ara.”

Was it just Lily’s imagination or did James keep pointing at constellations that were nearing her side of the sky?

“Okay then, clever clogs, show me which star is Sirius’ star,” requested James, looking smug.

Lily furrowed her brow and feigned puzzlement. “Is it that one?” she queried, pointing over to the far end of James’ stretch of sky.

“Wrong. It’s that one,” he replied, pointing to a star far away in the distance in Lily’s sky. By doing so, he managed to lean so close towards her that his face was inches away from her own.

“Oops, silly me,” she replied merrily.

James’ mouth twitched, and his gaze shifted from her eyes to her lips and back again. Lily swallowed hard as James discarded his Butterbeer and bought his hand down to rest on her thigh, just above the knee.

His lips softly touched hers then withdrew. She exhaled; she hadn’t even been aware that she had been holding her breath. Seeing as though he had received no objections James reinitiated the kiss.

If their first kiss had been full of all the desire that James had harboured for her for three years, then this one definitely encompassed all the love.

Things became more heated, and Lily wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to the ground along with her.

Butterbeer bottles lay forgotten on the ground by their feet, and if Lily strained her ears, she could just hear the sound of Filch cursing wayward students somewhere way off in the distance.

December arrived at Hogwarts in spectacular fashion. Within the first couple of weeks, the grounds had already been tucked-in safely beneath a crisp blanket of pure white snow. However, at that precise moment in time, the snow was acting with ill-construed innocence as snowflakes drifted small and angel-like to the ground.

Emma forced her eyelids open in order to watch its progress as it slowly drifted past the frosty common room windows. Her eyes flicked to the roaring fire that spread warmth throughout her entire body and cast her in an orange glow. She closed her eyes again with a contented sigh as she snuggled her head farther into the crook of Sam’s neck. Sam responded by kissing her lightly on top of her head and snaking his arm further around her shoulders. Emma moved her hand under his jumper and gently stroked his stomach through the fabric of the t-shirt that was underneath. She felt Sam smile into her hair as he began to trace his fingertips lightly along the top of her arm in a circular motion.

Moments like this were very rare between the two of them. All of their friends - and the rest of the school, for that matter - were still unaware of their union; as far as they knew, Emma and Sam had just become good friends. So, the pair pretty much had to grab their alone time when they could. The only reason why they were able to be so cosy at the moment was because Lily, Remus, Hayley and James were all currently at the last Prefect meeting of the term and Kirsty, Sirius and Peter were all out frolicking about in the snow.

Not that they would have had any problems with Hayley anyway, seeing as she had currently been banned by Kirsty, James and Sirius in particular and partially by Sam too, owing to her guiding Ravenclaw to victory against Hufflepuff in her first Quidditch match of the year. It was rather a sore subject, because Hayley had somehow managed to do the one thing that Kirsty hadn’t: catch the Snitch. James had announced that they had only banned her jokingly, though the look in his eyes had told Emma that there was some seriousness in it. After all, Kirsty, James and Sirius all got way too competitive over Quidditch. Emma guessed that it must be a Pureblood thing.

Hushed voices emanated from outside the portrait hole, and Emma sat bolt upright. Beside her, Sam lazily opened his eyes and removed his arm from around her. Emma uncurled her feet from beneath her and inched herself away from Sam ever so slightly as Kirsty, Sirius and Peter walked into the room, each covered in a light dusting of snow.

“Aw, would you look at that,” commented Sirius upon seeing the two of them seated on the sofa. “Our Emma and Sam all snuggled up together.”

Emma scowled at him, and Sam laughed nervously behind her.

“He’s sexy. He’s fine. He’s anything but mine. It’s Northy boy!” sang Kirsty, frightfully out of tune, staring pointedly at Emma. Emma aimed her now-more-prominent scowl at Kirsty instead. Kirsty simply grinned wickedly and avoided her gaze by looking over at Sam as she continued her song. “Hey, Sam, she’s mad�”“

“�”she wants you in her pants! Oh, Northy-boy!” interjected Sirius, wailing horribly, and dancing along to his line of input.

Peter roared with laughter as Emma and Kirsty both shot Sirius looks of disgust. Sam chuckled appreciatively beside Emma, and she reprimanded him by backhanding his arm.

Kirsty hit Sirius around the head. “Oooh, kinky!” he replied with a flirtatious grin.

Kirsty clicked her tongue. “You’re a lost cause, Sirius Black.” Sirius grinned proudly in response.

The sofa groaned slightly next to Emma as Sam jumped up and walked around the back of it. Stopping directly behind Emma’s head, he leaned over the back of the sofa and sang in her ear, loud enough for the other three to hear, “Hey, Em, that’s fine. Come and see me anytime. Go Northy-boy!”

Emma whipped her head around so fast that her neck cricked. She stared at Sam with a mixture of incredulity and annoyance, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see the other three looking at them in shock and amusement.

Kirsty stood, pointing between the two of them with an outstretched finger, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, obviously completely stunned that her plan to embarrass Emma had backfired.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs and get into some warm clothes so that we can leave these two lovebirds alone!” suggested Peter teasingly.

Sirius grinned and offered a wink Emma’s way, before following in Peter’s wake, dragging Kirsty along behind him, since she was still pointing from Sam to Emma and back again in complete disbelief.

“What did you do that for?” asked Emma, jumping up from the sofa as she saw all three of her friends disappear up their separate staircases.

“I’m sorry, I only did it for a laugh. They won’t put two and two together anyway,” replied Sam.

“Well they might now,” noted Emma, coming to a standstill in front of him with her hands placed commandingly on her hips.

“Look, I’m sorry that I’m not all that sorry, alright?”

“No,” stated Emma defiantly.

“Is this our very first lover’s tiff?” asked Sam playfully.

“No,” she replied, relenting slightly as she gazed up at his smiling face. “Okay, maybe it’s a little bit of one.”

Sam laughed lightly. “Look at us acting like a proper couple.”

“Hmm,” sighed Emma as she inched forward and gave him a lingering kiss on the lips.

Sam brought his hand up to run it through her hair before bringing it back down to cup her chin. He then gently rubbed his thumb lightly across her cheek and cast a loving smile her way, before he turned to ascend the staircase.

Emma watched him go, and as he reached the middle of the staircase, he stopped in his tracks, pulled his wand out of his pocket, and fired a spell behind his back as he continued upwards.

The light from his wand formed itself into four words, and Emma squinted upwards to read them. ‘I’m still not sorry.’

“Damn,” muttered Emma as a small smile pulled at her lips.

--------------

Over a week had passed since James had returned to the common room after the Prefect’s meeting to be informed, by a rather flummoxed Kirsty, about the latest goings on between Emma and Sam. It had been a week in which snowmen had been built, snowballs thrown and icy puddles smashed. Hayley had finally been allowed back into the common room by James, who claimed that it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that he was stuck on his Arithmancy homework, and McGonagall had routinely come around to take down the names of those students who would be staying at Hogwarts over Christmas. James, along with the other three Marauders and Sam, had hastily added his name to the list, even though his parents had been dreadfully upset upon hearing the news that he and Sirius would not be returning to spend Christmas at home. James had felt guilty but explained that he couldn’t miss staying at Hogwarts during his last year as a student. His parents had eventually relented, telling him that they would try their best to send him all his presents.

The girls, however, had to explain their Christmas plans to McGonagall. They were to go back home on the train for the first week of the holidays, but they had all promised the boys that they would return via the Knight Bus to Hogwarts on Christmas Eve.

It was now the end of their lunch break, and James and the rest of the group were all eagerly awaiting their last Defence against the Dark Arts lesson of the term. He hastily knocked back the last of his pumpkin juice and turned around to meet Lily, who had just arrived behind him. In one fluid motion, he stood up and entwined her hand in his whilst giving her a swift kiss on the cheek. It still seemed unreal to him that he could now hold her hand and peck her on the cheek whenever he wished.

“Ready to go?” she asked him as their rabble of friends also started making movements from behind them.

Without giving an answer, he reached down with his free hand and swung his bag over his shoulder before leading her out of the Great Hall.

“Looking forward to the sleepover tomorrow?” he enquired as they ascended the staircase.

Sirius’ birthday had been two days previously, and they had all decided that they would have a sleepover in the common room on the last Friday of term to celebrate. It would also be a nice way of sending the girls off, before they went back home the next day.

“I can’t wait. It should be fun.”

“Oi, just because Lily’s finally succumbed to your charms, it doesn’t mean that you can walk off without us!” yelled Sirius from behind them as he ran to catch up with them.

“Jealous,” Lily whispered into James’ ear. James laughed lightly, and Sirius gave them both a sceptical look as he drew level with them. There was then a thundering of footsteps behind them, and James turned to see the rest of the group running up the stairs in Sirius’ wake.

“Merlin! It’s impossible to get a moment alone in this place!” exclaimed James.

“Tell me about it,” replied Emma huffily. Everybody gave her questioning looks, and Emma cast her eyes downwards.

“So,” began Lily as they continued on their way. “Do you think that we’ll finally be doing Patronuses today?”

“Patroni,” corrected Emma from behind them.

James and Lily halted in their tracks and turned to survey her with raised eyebrows.

“It’s not Patroni; it’s Patronuses,” Kirsty stated giving her a befuddled look.

Emma snorted. “This coming from the girl who says sheeps and deers.”

“And fishes,” added Kirsty proudly.

Everybody apart from Emma started to laugh.

Calming down, Hayley announced, “I think I’m going to have to agree with Kirst on this one, because it is in fact Patronuses.”

“But surely it follows the same rule as octopus and genius?” questioned Peter, sticking up for Emma as the group began their slow walk once again.

“Yeah, but you say ‘we’re a bunch of geniuses’ not ‘we’re a bunch of genii’,” Kirsty informed him.

“That’s debatable,” commented Remus dryly.

“Look, let’s just get in there and see what Sir calls them, shall we?” suggested James.

“Oh, if he says their Patronuses I’ll definitely be calling them Patroni,” piped up Sirius.

“When are you going to stop this feud with MacIntosh?” asked Lily.

“Never!” exclaimed Sirius indignantly as they arrived outside the door to MacIntosh’s classroom.

*

James had his face screwed up in concentration as he repeatedly muttered the Patronus incantation under his breath. “Expecto patronum.”

Yet another wisp of silvery looking gas emerged from the end of his wand, and James gritted his teeth in frustration, angry at himself for not being able to produce something corporeal. Obviously, his happy memory wasn’t happy enough. What could possibly be a better memory than winning your very first Quidditch match? he wondered.

Suddenly, there was an almighty bellow of ‘Expecto patronum!’ from the right-hand side of the room, and James turned to see a great silver animal with wings erupt from Kirsty’s wand. It soared magnificently into the air above them all, before hurtling back down in a secure landing and strutting along the floor towards its caster. Kirsty stared at it in awe. “Wow,” she gasped audibly.

Sirius was standing beside her and seemed unable to decide whether to be proud, impressed or annoyed. However, his features soon formed themselves into a scowl when Professor MacIntosh strode over to the two of them and boomed, “Absolutely magnificent, Miss White. I am astounded. You have truly outdone yourself. A corporeal Patronus so early in the lesson. Well I never. Thirty points to Gryffindor!”

The Gryffindors in the room applauded, whereas the Slytherins muttered under their breath and threw scowls and looks of utter distaste in Kirsty’s direction.

Kirsty grinned bashfully at her teacher, before turning back to the spot where her Patronus had been. Even as James watched, the eagle disappeared from the room in a swirl of what seemed like fog, leaving Kirsty looking bitterly disappointed and quite lost without her new companion.

James then looked away from Kirsty and Sirius to concentrate once again upon a memory. But before he had even had the chance to regurgitate a memory from inside his head, Lily muttered the incantation from her position just inches away from his left shoulder, and something erupted from her wand and cantered around the room.

James and Lily both squinted after it in order to try to recognise its form, but it was only when it turned back to face them that all became clear. James turned to gaze at Lily in wonder, but she stood staring straight ahead, the image of the silver doe shimmering in her eyes.

He lightly touched her elbow, and she tore her gaze away from the Patronus to look at him. Love for him glistened in her eyes, and she didn’t seem nearly as shocked as James did by the doe’s appearance.

The stag and the doe, he realised, sending a loving smile in Lily’s direction.

“It looks like you’ve had more of an impact on me than I thought, Potter,” she informed him teasingly.

“I’ll say,” he replied, placing his hand on the small of her back and bending low to kiss her cheek. He stayed in this position for a moment, as out of the corner of his eye, he could see Snape watching them with flaming hatred in his eyes and his face contorted with disgust and disbelief. “We’re being watched,” James informed her, raising his head a little so he was able to whisper in her ear.

Lily looked at James and then to the far corner of the room to which he was indicating. A defiant look appeared in her eyes, and for a moment she looked quite fierce, but then she turned back to James and said soothingly, “Ignore him,” before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss on the lips.

James felt quite dazed when she released him. He couldn’t believe she had just done that in the middle of a Defence against the Dark Arts class - it was just so unlike Lily. He gave her a half-amused, half-sceptical look and asked playfully, “Now who’s the one antagonising Snape?”

Lily smirked. “Come on,” she announced, going for a change of subject. “You’ve got a Patronus to cast, and you’ve already been beaten to the punch by two girls.”

James reached down and gave her a playful pat on the bum, and Lily made a noise of mock indignation. Once again, he closed his eyes, and this time a happy memory came to him in an instant. He concentrated hard on the image of a silver doe bursting from a wand, and Lily’s love for him burned like a beacon inside his chest. He opened his eyes and, flexing his wand-arm, he muttered, “Expecto patronum,” continuously under his breath.

Nothing was happening. It didn’t help that, out of the corner of his eye, he could see what looked like a silver owl flying around Hayley’s head, indicating that she too now had her Patronus. Determination rose within him, and he carried on with his chanting. Just when all seemed lost, James felt the sensation of a pair of soft lips kissing him lightly on the hollow of his throat. “Expecto patronum!” he roared with all his might, and finally a huge beast of a shape exploded from within his wand.

He turned to his left to see Lily, inches away from his shoulder, smiling sweetly up at him. “You’re so predictable,” she informed him.

James gave her a puzzled look, and she nodded to a spot in front of them both. James swivelled around and came face to face with a ghostly-looking lion. It looked at him complacently, and it seemed to be awaiting orders. “Brilliant,” he affirmed with a giddy grin.

“A Gryffindor through and through,” Lily observed, rolling her eyes with a loving smile.

Over at the other side of the room, Professor MacIntosh was doing his rounds again, and came to a stop next to Sirius, who was waving his wand around manically trying to produce the slightest hint of silver.

James dismissed his Patronus with a wave of his wand as he and Lily moved further towards Sirius and the professor to investigate. Kirsty was perched on the desk behind the two adversaries, kicking her legs out in front of her and watching with giddy amusement.

“Still trying, Mr Black?” James heard MacIntosh ask as they came to a stand-still beside Kirsty. “Well, never mind,” the professor continued. “It’s a very hard spell to master, and I’m sure you really are giving it your best. Maybe you’ll have better luck next lesson.”

Sirius gave MacIntosh a fierce look as the professor wandered away, and Kirsty began to chuckle to herself from beside James.

“Oh,” said the professor, coming to a halt and turning back around. “But if I may offer you some advice? I’d say that you’d probably be a lot more productive if you didn’t spend half of your time gazing at Miss White out of the corner of your eye.”

Sirius’ mouth dropped open, and his face formed into a scowl as he glared at MacIntosh’s retreating back. Kirsty had stopped giggling and was now looking at the back of Sirius’ head with a raised eyebrow and a perplexed look about her.

James leant towards Lily and whispered, “MacIntosh one; Sirius one.” Lily laughed appreciatively.

“How come this seems to be so much easier for you girls?” asked Sirius, sounding miffed. This statement did in fact seem to be true as the majority of the corporeal Patronuses in the room had indeed been cast by the female populous.

“Because girls can multitask and concentrate on casting the spell as well as focusing on a happy memory, whereas boys can’t,” replied Kirsty happily.

“Humph,” huffed Sirius. He then muttered, “I’ll show you,” though whether it was addressed to MacIntosh or Kirsty, James didn’t know, before brandishing his wand for the last time that lesson and yelling, “Expecto patronum!” Just as the bell signalled the end of the lesson, a whirl of silver left Sirius’ wand and formed itself into the biggest Patronus the class had seen that lesson.

“I get a lion, and you get an eagle, but Sirius always has to go that one better,” James commented, and Kirsty nodded in agreement.

A majestic Griffin with a rather arrogant demeanour strode confidently towards Sirius. “Fantastic!” he exclaimed, throwing a smug look in his teacher’s direction.

“Quieten down everybody! Quieten down!” instructed MacIntosh over the still-present mutterings of incantations. “Fantastic work today, everybody! I never expected to see so many corporeal Patronuses�”“

“Patroni,” said Sirius through a feigned cough.

“�”in the first lesson, but please do keep in mind that they are much more difficult to cast in the presence of a Dementor. Just because you can do it now, in broad daylight, does not mean you will be able to do it when and if the situation arises�”“

“Oh, great,” muttered Emma under her breath as she, like many others, had not produced her corporeal Patronus this lesson. She approached them from behind along with the rest of their fellow Gryffindor seventh years

“�”which is why we will return to Patronuses after the Christmas break. Again, brilliant work, everybody, and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Goodbye!”

*

The following evening, Sirius was standing in the centre of the Gryffindor common room watching the spectacle before him with intrigue. It was just after eleven o’clock, the common room had been cleared of all other students, and Kirsty was currently huffing and puffing as she struggled down the stairs with a huge bundle of sleeping bags and blankets piled high in her arms. Sirius had to admit that she was doing very well given that she couldn’t see where she was going. As Sirius moved forwards to relieve her of some of them, she stumbled on the second-to-last step and slid into the common room, landing hard on her bottom.

“Ouch!” she groaned.

In two long strides, Sirius stood in front of her. He hastily bent down and removed the blankets and sleeping bags that hadn’t fallen to the floor out of Kirsty’s arms and carried them over to a vacant armchair.

“What a gentleman!” cried Kirsty. “You could have at least helped me up!”

“You’re right, I could’ve, if you’d been clever enough to realise you were a witch and carried this lot down using your wand.”

“Well, that was my plan,” argued Kirsty, standing up and wincing. “But Emma kind of dumped them on me and ran off to the bathroom before I could ask her to pass me my wand.”

“So, it’s all Emma’s fault?” queried Sirius.

“I’m glad we see eye-to-eye on such matters,” Kirsty announced. Sirius chuckled despite himself. “Do you reckon we’ve got enough stuff here?” asked Kirsty.

“Oh, I’d say so,” affirmed Sirius, retrieving the rest of the blankets from the floor.

Kirsty, meanwhile, was counting sleeping bags. “Nine,” she announced. “So that’s one for me, you, James, Lily, Peter, Remus, Emma, Hayley and …“

“�”Sam,” supplied Sirius.

“Sam’s coming?” she asked.

“Yeah, I asked him. I thought it would be a bit mean to have a sleepover and leave him in the dorms all alone.”

“We’ve left Lesley and Mary up there without us,” Kirsty pointed out.

“Yeah, but they have their own friendship groups. Plus, I thought that the more we put Emma and Sam together, the more likely that something will happen between the two of them.”

“Ah,” said Kirsty in comprehension, pointing to her head with her index finger and then at Sirius.

“So where’s everybody else?” asked Sirius, keen to get his birthday celebrations underway.

“Well, Emma and Lily are both upstairs getting their pyjamas on; I’ve put Hayley in charge of munchies�”“

“�”meaning that she’s gone downstairs with Remus so that he can show her how to get into the kitchens,” interjected Sirius.

“�”and as far as I know Peter, Sam and James are all still upstairs too,” she finished, giving him an annoyed look.

“Sam is; Peter and James aren’t,” Sirius notified her.

“Why, where have they gone?” she asked, intrigued.

“All in good time, my friend.”

She gave him a slightly sceptical look.

“Pillows!” announced Sam, coming down the boys’ staircase to join them.

“Excellent!” exclaimed Lily, walking down her own staircase at exactly the same time and helpfully taking some of the pillows off of Sam.

“See, even Lily’s more gentlemanly than you, Sirius,” announced Kirsty.

Lily gave her a puzzled look. “I’ll take that as a compliment, shall I?” Kirsty gave her a sheepish grin in response. “Now, who’s going to sleep where?” pondered Lily.

“I call the spot next to the fire!” shouted Kirsty.

“And I call being the one to push Kirsty into the fire in the middle of the night!” shouted Sirius mockingly. Kirsty gave him a dubious look. “That means I want the spot next to you,” he elaborated. Kirsty looked happier with this response, though she still seemed slightly suspicious as to why Sirius wanted to sleep next to her.

*

By the time Hayley and Remus had returned from the kitchens with platters full of food, Lily had turned the Gryffindor common room into a well-organised campsite. Kirsty, Sirius and Sam had now also changed into their pyjamas, with Sirius being scolded by Lily for wearing a baggy t-shirt and a pair of shorts in the middle of winter.

As the group were all sat around the roaring fire talking animatedly, the portrait hole creaked open, and James and Peter emerged from underneath James’ Invisibility Cloak, scaring Sirius, and everybody else, to death in the process. All was quickly forgiven, however, when they all laid eyes upon the huge crates full of Firewhisky that Peter and James were levitating in front of them.

“Do I even want to know how you managed to get hold of these?” asked Lily sternly. James levitated the crates to the ground, and gave Lily a swift smile, before walking over and giving her a kiss.

Peter, too, put his crates on the floor, before folding up a piece of paper and slipping it back into his pocket.

“What was that?” asked Hayley, clearly not missing a trick.

“Oh, nothing,” replied Peter quickly, sharing an alarmed glance with Sirius. After all, the girls were not supposed to know the last remaining secret of the Marauders.

“Don’t worry, Lil, we intend to pay Madam Rosmerta back for her kindness,” James reassured her, nodding in the direction of the crates.

“I don’t think I want to know how,” Lily stated.

“Oh, I bet Sirius has some ideas on how he’d like to repay Madam Rosmerta,” announced Kirsty suggestively.

Sirius darted a look of shock and indignation her way; Kirsty seemed tipsy already and they hadn’t even started drinking yet. “No, I don’t,” he informed her unconvincingly. She raised her eyebrows at him and snorted.

“Let’s get some alcohol down us, shall we?” suggested Remus, stepping forward, grabbing two bottles, and exploding the tops off of them with his wand.

Once everyone had been handed a magically refilling glass, courtesy of Remus, James stood in the centre of the group and raised his glass. “Here’s to our Padfoot, who’s all grown up,” he announced, nodding at Sirius. “Happy birthday, mate, and may there be many more of them to come!”

“Here, here!” chorused everybody else in agreement, before the entire group took a swig from their glasses.

“I have an idea,” announced Sam as he laid his glass down to rest on the top of his thigh. “Why don’t we make this drinking malarkey more interesting?”

“Oh, no!” exclaimed Lily, giving Sam a stern look. “Whenever anyone says ‘let’s make things more interesting’ it always ends up in some macho drinking competition with everyone becoming unbelievably drunk.”

“Ooh, that sounds like a good idea! Let’s do that!” yelled James excitedly, earning himself a slight look of disapproval from Lily.

“Hey, come on, guys. It’s Sirius’ birthday, so let him decide,” implored Hayley.

Sirius gave her a grateful smile. “Oh, what the hell, let’s get pissed!” he exclaimed jovially.

A cheer erupted from the male population, whereas the girls shared apprehensive glances with each other. They seemed to know that they were in for an incredibly rough night.

*

“Now, the game works like this,” began Sam. “Each person says something that they’ve never done, and if anybody else has actually done it then they have to have a drink. For example, if I said ‘I’ve never played on a house Quidditch team then I’d have to drink, along with James, Kirsty and Hayley. Everyone got it?”

“Yes, let’s play!” shouted James eagerly.

“Okay, birthday boy, you can go first,” instructed Peter.

“Hmm, okay, we’ll start out easy,” decided Sirius, “I’ve never performed magic.” Sirius raised his glass along with everybody else in the room.

“Go on, Kirst, you next,” announced Emma, opting for a clockwise direction of play.

Kirsty’s brows knit together in thought, before she looked at Sirius with a giddy grin. “I’ve never had suggestive thoughts on how I’d like to repay Madam Rosmerta for ‘borrowed’ Firewhisky bottles.”

Sirius scowled at her and took a sip, the Firewhisky burning his throat on its way down, and Kirsty let out a squeal of laughter.

“I’ve never intentionally ruined someone’s potion in class,” said Emma, letting out a small giggle and bringing her hand up to cover her mouth.

Kirsty gave her a searching look, and Sirius, James, Peter and Remus all took the chance to take a gulp of their drink behind her back. Peter, however, choked slightly on his because of a small and involuntary snort of laughter. That was it; Peter had managed to trigger them all off with that, and the entire circle of friends, except Kirsty, roared with raucous laughter.

Kirsty swivelled her head around, eyeing them all sceptically. Sirius and James smirked at her, before laughing hysterically once again. Seeming to catch on to what was happening, Kirsty jumped in on Lily’s turn and exclaimed, “I’ve never intentionally ruined one of Kirsty’s potions in class!”

Sirius, James, Peter and Remus all drank deeply once again.

“You rotten gits!” she yelled, hitting Sirius on the shoulder.

“Oh, but it was so funny!” cried Peter, tears of mirth glistening in his eyes.

“So how many times exactly did you do this?” asked Kirsty angrily.

“Oh, I think it’s safe to say that the first five melted cauldrons were all you, but the ones after that definitely involved some Marauder-type interference,” replied Remus, sobering up.

“I hate you all!” she declared, only half joking.

“Poor Kirst,” sympathised Sirius with a small chuckle, embracing her in a brief, one-armed embrace.

“Hmm.”

“And speaking of Potions … I’ve never wanted to become a Death Eater,” announced Lily with a vindictive edge to her voice.

“Was that just a dig at our dear old Snivellus?” James queried with a smile.

“Maybe,” she replied evasively.

To Sirius’ and everyone else’s surprise, Kirsty took a small sip.

“What?” she asked quietly upon noticing them all staring at her, mouths agape.

“Seriously?” asked Hayley.

“Well, yeah, but only for like a millisecond. I mean, you can’t say you’ve not been intrigued to know what it’d be like… And also you have to admit those mask things they wear are pretty cool.”

The other members of the group all laughed, whilst Sirius merely contented himself by shaking his head with a small smile.

“Moving swiftly on,” boomed James, changing the subject. “I’ve never been into the Prefect’s Bathroom.” He raised his glass with a simpering smile in Sirius’ direction, before he downed the rest of his glass in one.

With smiles upon their faces, mostly smug but some apologetic, everybody else apart from Sirius and Kirsty placed their glasses to their lips.

Sirius and Kirsty shared an irked look, before Kirsty flipped the circle in general a v sign. Sirius, however, not being one to be shown up by a girl, didn’t allow his middle finger its companion, instead leaving it to stand solitary, staring defiantly into James’ eyes.

“I’ve never spent the night in someone else’s dorm,” confessed Remus.

Sirius smugly took a drink as he was the only one of the guys to do so, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kirsty sip her drink with a small wink in his direction. “Notice how it’s just us two?” he asked her with a smile.

“And notice how it’s consisted of you two sleeping in each other’s beds,” added James with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows.

“I don’t like what you’re insinuating, Potter,” growled Kirsty.

“Oh, I do,” admitted Sirius. “It makes me sound like a right stallion.”

“He should have had a horse Patronus,” muttered Emma out of the corner of her mouth.

“I’ve never had a crush on a teacher,” stated Hayley, putting a halt to the conversation and quickly drinking up.

Lily, Emma and Kirsty all followed suit.

“I wonder who that could be,” growled Sirius, displeased.

“I’ve never gone to bed wearing nothing,” announced Peter.

Sirius drank and everyone looked at him in surprise. “What?” he asked, licking minute drops of Firewhisky from his lower lip.

“Why did everyone just glance at me then?” asked Kirsty hysterically.

“Because you know that fact better than anybody else here, Kirst,” teased Sirius. Kirsty screwed her face up in confusion. “Let’s just say that it’s a good thing that your hands don’t wander in your sleep,” Sirius elaborated. Kirsty whipped her head around to stare at him in horror. “Joke,” admitted Sirius with an angelic smile. “But I have slept naked before.”

“I don’t know what you’re all smirking at,” said Kirsty, staring at the other three Marauders. “That just means he’s done it whilst in your dorms.” The smiles immediately slid off all the boys’ faces, and were replaced by looks of repulsion. “Maybe it’s not me that Sirius is trying to ensnare after all,” said Kirsty conspiringly, sending James a wink.

Sirius demonstrated his annoyance at this comment by shoving hard into Kirsty’s side. However, his reprimanding of Kirsty didn’t allow him to miss James mouthing to Remus, “I told you.” Sirius gave the conspiring pair a worried look, but James, seeing Sirius watching them, simply gave him a friendly smile in recognition.

“I’ve never played for my House’s Quidditch team,” proclaimed Sam, raising his class to his fellow Gryffindor team mates.

Kirsty, James and Hayley all drank, leaving Sirius feeling every so slightly ridiculed.

As the night progressed and the alcohol began to flow freely, the questions started to become that bit more dangerous.

“I’ve never glued Sirius Black’s hair to his pillow,” announced Sirius, watching Kirsty’s reaction closely. To Sirius’ vindication, she drank deeply from her glass. “Aha!” he yelled triumphantly. “I always knew it was you who had pulled that prank, Kirby!”

“So?” she shrugged. “You’d been a complete arse that day; you needed taking down a peg or two.”

“It was a brilliant prank, Kirst. It had me in fits for days,” admitted Peter.

“I really do have the best friends in the world, don’t I?” asked Sirius dryly.

At this, everybody lunged forward out of their seats and lurched towards him in order to envelop him in a drunken group-hug.

“I’ve never fancied any of the girls in this room,” stated James, continuing on with the random order in which the game was now being played. He raised his glass to Sirius with the air of somebody who knew he had just royally stitched up his best friend.

“Thanks, Potter,” grumbled Sirius before taking a sip.

All of the other four boys also drank, looking rather uncomfortable, and the girls seemed to be a mixture of giddy, shocked and flattered by this response.

Lily received a lingering kiss on the lips from James, in order to demonstrate where his affections lay, though Sirius was sure that nobody was in doubt anyway.

“Do you care to elaborate?” enquired Kirsty, surveying all the boys before bringing her gaze to rest on Sirius.

“Yes, Sirius, please do elaborate,” instructed James devilishly.

In Sirius’ opinion, someone was definitely going to receive a punch in the morning. He found that both Remus and Peter were also looking at him eagerly, and Sirius suspected that those two were now also in on his not-so-secret crush too. James was definitely dead-meat in the morning. Although it was of course possible that James had divulged his secret in retaliation for Sirius embarrassing Lily by announcing her and James’ union to the whole of the Great Hall within thirty minutes of them becoming a couple.

“Well, personally, I find you all to be extremely attractive young women,” answered Sirius, smiling at all the girls in turn.

Kirsty was looking at him as if she wanted to laugh, but she settled for smiling graciously back at him.

“Ooh, I like that answer; I’ll use that too,” announced Sam.

“Here, here!” concurred Peter.

“Yes, you’re all lovely,” complimented Remus, smiling bashfully. “Now, to turn the tables,” he continued with an intrigued look. “I’ve never fancied any of the guys in the room.”

The girls all shared wary glances with each other, before drinking up in turn.

“Well, we all know that I fancied Sirius once upon a time,” confessed Kirsty.

A little spark ignited in Sirius’ chest, but it soon began to dim. Hang on, fancied? he thought, startled.

“And may I ask what’s wrong with me now?” he demanded of Kirsty.

She simply gave him a drunken wink in response, leaving Sirius to narrow his eyes at her as he tried to suss her out. Peter raised his eyebrows suggestively at Sirius, and Sirius huffily turned his back on him.

Lily kissed James back, and no further explanation was required, whereas Emma announced, “Well, mine’s damn obvious!” before downing the rest of her glass in one and watching in fascination as it began to magically refill once again. Sam gave her a kindly smile in response, and Emma blushed ever so slightly.

“I think Sirius’ answer’s going to come into play again,” said Hayley guardedly, and no further elaboration was offered.

Once all of the girls had drank, James also took a small sip of his Firewhisky. Everyone looked at him incredulously. “What?” he asked. “Am I the only one who finds Padfoot attractive?”

Sam, Peter and Remus all gave him compliant nods before also taking a sip. The girls hooted with laughter, and a giddy grin planted itself on Sirius’ face.

“I’ve never been in love,” admitted Kirsty, bringing a more serious tone to the game, and in turn leaving her own glass in its position on the floor.

James and Lily were the only ones to drink, and whilst everybody else pulled sickened faces behind their backs, Sirius, his face turning sombre once more, stared longingly at Kirsty.

It’s just a crush, he told himself sternly, just like he had been doing for the last month. I don’t love her. Fancy her - yes. Want her as my girlfriend - maybe. In love with her �“ no. No, I can’t be. How could he be in love with someone who didn’t reciprocate his feelings? That was just plain stupid. But James has loved Lily for years, piped up a little voice inside his head. But that was different - that was James, and it had all worked out for him. Maybe it could work out for me, too. No, no, it couldn’t. Kirsty’s never shown any signs of being interested in me. She didn’t kick you out of her bed, that’s a sign, a pretty good one too, he reminded himself. But I initiated that. Kirsty may not have objected, but she’s never actually made the first move, he argued. And until something did happen between him and Kirsty, he was going to try and remove her from his mind.

But maybe tonight’s the perfect opportunity to make something happen, he thought elatedly. We’re sleeping in close proximity after all, it seems such a pity to waste so good an opportunity. So Sirius decided that tonight would be his last shot; if nothing happened, then he would keep his feelings bottled up inside him forever, but if something did happen then he was never going to let her get away from him. So you do love her then, pushed his conscience. Oh, shut up! he commanded defensively.

Sirius pulled his gaze away from Kirsty, and stared down at his glass as it moved upwards in an involuntary twitch, but Sirius could not find the courage within him to drink, and so the ‘I’ve never’ came to pass.

“I’ve never kissed a Quidditch player,” said Hayley, her glass never moving an inch.

Lily swigged down a few gulps of Firewhisky and Sirius, too, brought his glass to his lips.

“What?” choked Hayley, her eyes swiftly scanning Kirsty.

“Why does everyone keep looking at me?” demanded Kirsty, sounding extremely unnerved. “Is there some sort of conspiracy against me?”

“Oh yes,” replied Remus with a smirk.

Kirsty furrowed her brow, and looked to Sirius who shrugged as if he knew nothing.

“Care to elaborate, Padfoot?” mimicked Peter.

“I kissed James,” Sirius replied simply.

“What?” screeched everyone but James at once, though Lily’s screech was the loudest.

“It was for a dare,” admitted James quietly.

Kirsty snickered.

Sirius looked over to Emma, to see what scathing comment she was going to come up with about him being gay, but to his surprise, he saw that she seemed to be dealing with some sort of inner turmoil. Then slowly, inch-by-inch, she raised her glass to her lips.

“What?” yelped Sirius and Hayley simultaneously, as apparently Sirius was not the only one to have seen this gesture.

Everyone in the circle followed the pair’s gaze, and Sam looked on in mild intrigue.

“Who have you kissed?” asked Hayley.

Emma’s eyes flitted in Sam’s direction, and it looked to Sirius like a plea for help.

“That would be me,” confessed Sam, and everyone swivelled their heads around to gape at him instead. “Unless, of course, there’s something you want to tell me, Em?” he enquired politely.

Kirsty jumped up squealing, and gasps of disbelief went around the room.

“One month that lasted for,” said Emma, grumpily.

“A month!” screeched Lily. “That long! Oh my God, you guys!” Lily dived forward and pulled Emma into a hug.

Kirsty had sat back down again and everybody else, minus Sirius, had run over to accost both Emma and Sam. “Looks like your party’s over,” Kirsty informed Sirius regretfully. Sirius laughed lightly and gave her a weary smile.

“Happy birthday, Mr Black,” she said quietly, shifting towards him and ruffling his hair softly, before planting a kiss close to his jaw. She looked into his eyes and smiled at him, and Sirius’ heart jumped into his throat. She squeezed him briefly on his thigh before getting up once again.

Sirius watched her, a broad grin on his face, as she sashayed over to join in with the celebration and ridicule of Emma and Sam. “I’ve never been in love,” he said to himself quietly, and he raised his glass of Firewhisky before him and drained its throat-burning contents in one swift gulp.

Many hours had passed since a single drunken proclamation had been made within the dark Gryffindor common room, and Kirsty subconsciously snuggled down even further under the sleeping bag that she had fashioned into a make-shift blanket.

“Budge over, love,” instructed a voice from somewhere above her, jerking her awake. Kirsty groggily opened one eye, and upon seeing that the dim glow of the fire provided the room with its only light, she proceeded to drape the sleeping bag over her head. “Come on, Kirst, it’s cold,” moaned the voice.

Sirius? Not a-bloody-gain! She was going to get a reputation if she wasn’t careful. “What? Why? What are you up to?” she asked drowsily, tightening the sleeping bag instinctively around her.

She felt him trying to prise her fingers away from the edge of the sleeping bag, and unfortunately for Kirsty, they showed no resistance. Her fingers unfurled themselves and allowed Sirius’ warm hand to swallow them whole.

“Body warmth,” replied Sirius simply, sliding under the make-shift blanket beside her. He moved in close and buried his head in the tendrils of dark hair at the back of Kirsty’s neck, whilst simultaneously sliding his arms around her waist and entwining his fingers together as if claiming possession. All of this gave Kirsty immense discomfort, and her nerve endings were on red alert.

Kirsty cleared her throat, determined to find some safe ground. “So, did you enjoy your birthday then?”

“Mmm, very much so. I must say, you guys rock,” replied Sirius, his lips moving against her neck.

Kirsty laughed softly. “That we do.” A long silence ensued. “So, Emma and Sam, eh?” ventured Kirsty finally. “Who would have thought?”

“I know.”

Kirsty started to get annoyed with his noncommittal responses. “Fancy them keeping it a secret from us for that long. In fact, I’m surprised they let it slip tonight.”

“Well, secrets of that calibre tend to eat people up inside, you know?”

“Hmm, I suppose,” agreed Kirsty, stifling a yawn.

There was yet another silence but this time it was Sirius who decided to break it. He placed his chin on Kirsty’s shoulder so that his cheek rested against hers. “You’re lovely, do you know that?” he informed her in a moment of boldness.

“Yes, apparently according to you, all of us girls are.”

“No, forget about the rest of them,” he insisted. “I’m on about you, just you. You’re gorgeous, Kirst.”

“Sirius, you’re drunk,” said Kirsty dismissively.

“No, I’m not!” retorted Sirius, slurring his words ever so slightly. “Okay, maybe I am a little bit tipsy, but nevertheless, I know what I want.” He began to slide his hand down the length of Kirsty’s side until it snaked along the top of her thigh.

“Sirius!” hissed Kirsty in a reprimanding tone, making to slap his hand away. Just before she landed the hit though, Sirius moved his hand further down her thigh and grabbed a hold of her hand. Kirsty felt unbelievably wrong footed, and her cheeks flamed with embarrassment; it was a good thing it was dark. Sirius entwined her hand in his and rolled her over to face him, taking a firm hold of her other hand in the process. Kirsty also noticed that he had draped his leg over the top of hers, preventing her escape, but there was something awfully intimate about their positioning, and Kirsty felt prickles of self-consciousness.

Sirius was staring into her eyes with such intensity that a small flip occurred in Kirsty’s lower abdomen. “Did you mean what you said earlier?” he asked in all seriousness. “About not fancying me anymore.”

Kirsty would have laughed out loud if it weren’t for the air of vulnerability that seemed to be surrounding Sirius in waves. She swallowed hard before answering. “Well, yeah… sort of.”

In an abrupt reaction, Sirius released her hands and turned away from her. Kirsty started to panic - had she upset him? Frantically, she grabbed hold of his arm to force him back round to face her again. “Wait, that came out wrong!” she protested, taking a hold of his hands again in what she hoped was a gesture of reassurance. “Let me explain,” she implored him. “I think you’re extremely good-looking. I always have done. It’s just that I never really think about you in that way anymore.”

“How come?” he asked her, his voice sounding restricted.

“Well, I guess I just think of you as a good friend now. My feelings of attraction towards you have gone. After all, I did stop thinking of you in that way after our fifth year.”

“Oh, I see. So what you’re trying to say is that you envisage us as friends and nothing more?”

“Precisely,” replied Kirsty, sighing with relief.

“And that’s all we’ll ever be?” asked Sirius, sounding more and more guarded in his approach.

“Unless you’d prefer for us to become enemies again?” she teased him. Sirius didn’t deign to answer but instead stared morosely down at the pillow. Kirsty had a horrible feeling that her attempt at humour had backfired.

“It’s getting late,” he announced suddenly. “We should get some sleep. After all, you’ve got to pack for home tomorrow.” And with that, he rolled over, his back to her once more.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Look, Sirius, are you sure you’re okay?” she asked tentatively.

“I’m fine, never better. I just wanted to gain a better perspective on some things, that’s all,” he informed her, his voice sounding distant.

“Oh,” she said in surprise. “Well, I’m glad that I could be of some help.” Kirsty hated how fake she sounded; their conversation had become incredibly stilted. She hadn’t ever been at a loss for what to say to Sirius, and she didn’t like it one bit.

“Good night,” said Sirius formally, shuffling around on their makeshift bed in order to get more comfortable and lengthening the distance between their bodies as he did so.

“Good night, Sirius.” Kirsty bridged the gap between them and briefly placed her hand on top of his. “Happy birthday.” She kissed him lightly on the jaw and brushed her thumb across his hand before moving away again.

She rolled over so that they were now lying back to back, and as she did, so she heard Sirius heave an almighty sigh. She gulped, swallowing her feelings of hurt and uncertainty. In a matter of seconds, they seemed to have become complete strangers; the awkwardness between them was now palpable. Her mind was abuzz with confusion and guilt over how blunt she had just been with him. She could do nothing but hope that things would be better in the morning and that everything between her and Sirius would simply return to normal… somehow. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying her best to drift off into a dreamless sleep. But as she lay there, nervously fidgeting with a loose thread she had found on the sleeping bag, she felt emotions that she had long thought lost begin to stir from deep down within her. Strong feelings towards Sirius began to bubble up inside her as if they had been dredged up from the tips of her very toes. Feelings of desire that had long remained hidden emerged - feelings that she had not felt for Sirius since she had been fifteen years old.

*

Kirsty awoke the following morning to the sound of Lily screeching at her hysterically to, “Get the bloody hell up!” Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, straight away scanning the room for any sign of Sirius. He was gone. Feeling bitterly disappointed, Kirsty shoved off her sleeping bag and dashed out of the common room before either Lily or Hayley could rope her into helping tidy up the mess from the night before.

*

Twenty minutes later, after Kirsty had jumped in the shower, dressed and stuffed a slice of toast into her mouth she came charging into the girls’ dormitory and exclaimed, “I like Sirius!”

“What?” asked Emma, her head appearing over the side of her bed.

“I fancy Sirius!” Kirsty blurted out.

“Well, duh!” retorted Emma, standing up. Kirsty ran her eyes up and down Emma’s form in confusion. She seemed oddly dishevelled. Her t-shirt was slightly off-centre; her makeup was smudged, and her hair was messy. Emma’s hair was never a mess.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” challenged Kirsty.

“Well, of course you fancy Sirius! I mean, it’s so Goddamn obvious!”

“What?” asked Kirsty, startled.

“Yeah, we all realised it ages ago,” Emma kindly informed her.

“We?” demanded Kirsty, a slight tremble to her voice.

“Me, Lily and Hayley.”

Kirsty heaved a huge sigh of relief. “So the guys don’t know anything about it?”

“Not as far as I know,” replied Emma with a small, dismissive shrug.

“Oh, I can’t believe this is happening! Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” demanded Kirsty.

“Because we thought you knew. Like I said, it’s so obvious. I mean, it would have been like telling the guys, ‘Hey, you like to pull pranks.’”

Kirsty stared at Emma in exasperation. “So what were the tell-tale signs that I liked him?”

“Well, the constant flirting for one thing…”

“Flirting?” asked Kirsty, unable to believe her ears.

“Uhuh, but that wasn’t all you. After all, Sirius does flirt back.”

“He flirts back?”

Emma looked back at her friend out of pitying eyes. “Yeah, but that’s just Sirius’ nature. It might not mean anything.”

“No, it won’t mean anything,” said Kirsty, more to reassure herself than Emma.

Emma continued reciting the list, ticking the offences off on her fingers. “The fact that you purposefully talk wistfully about MacIntosh just to provoke a reaction out of Sirius; your constant teasing of him; the way you reacted when he kissed you on the cheek; the whole Ancient Runes fiasco in general; how giddy you were after returning from your detention together; the fact that you’ve shared a bed; and lastly, the way your whole face lights up when you enter a room to see him standing there.”

Kirsty was completely flabbergasted. “Seriously?” she asked, questioning Emma’s last point.

“Like a beacon,” confirmed Emma simply.

Just then, to Kirsty’s complete and utter surprise, Sam also popped up from behind Emma’s bed. He looked equally as dishevelled as Emma. His shirt was creased, and the top three buttons were undone, giving Kirsty a good glimpse of the tanned chest beneath. Upon seeing this, Kirsty treated them both to a raise of her eyebrows.

“Not to mention the fact that she couldn’t stop staring at Sirius whilst we were dancing together at Halloween,” Sam added triumphantly.

“Oh really?” asked Emma turning to face him, seeming intrigued. “Now that is interesting.” Kirsty glowered at them both. “So how exactly was she looking at him?” persisted Emma.

“It wasn’t about the way she was looking at him so much as the fact that she couldn’t stop looking at him.”

“Hey, pack it in!” yelled Kirsty in annoyance.

“Sorry,” apologised Emma and Sam in unison.

“So you should be,” Kirsty informed them grouchily.

“So, are there any other offences that you care to divulge to us?” asked Emma.

With reluctance, Kirsty relayed, “Well, we did sleep together last night.”

Emma and Sam raised their eyebrows high in shock, and Kirsty, realising how they must have interpreted this, explained, “Oh, no, no, no, I meant that he slept under my sleeping bag with me last night.”

Emma gawped at her incredulously. “You shared a bed again?”

“Well, yes, but once again it was Sirius who initiated it.”

“He did?” asked Emma, shocked.

“Yeah, why? You don’t think he suspects anything do you?”

Emma pondered this for a moment. “I don’t know. He keeps manoeuvring you into these intimate situations, but that could just be Sirius being a smarmy letch - pushing the boundaries just to see if he is still delectable to the opposite sex.” Kirsty gave Emma a highly dubious look.

“Yeah, I suppose that would make sense,” agreed Sam.

“What do you mean?” asked Kirsty.

“Well, let’s just say that Sirius hasn’t had much in the way of female interest as of late,” explained Sam.

“Hmm, yes, I noticed that,” added Emma. “The fan girls are still as flirtatious as ever, but Sirius seems to have been blanking them more than usual.”

“Yeah, but Sirius has never given much time to those airheads,” countered Kirsty.

“Well, that’s not exactly true,” Emma informed her. “He’s dated some of them from time-to-time - to keep the other ones quiet if nothing else.”

“Never lasted long though, did they?” interjected Sam. “Seems to me like superficial girls aren’t his type.”

“It must be well over a year since Sirius last had a girlfriend,” decided Emma. She turned to address Sam. “Have you any idea what’s been going on?”

“Yeah,” piped up Kirsty, “You must pick some things up, being in that dormitory.”

“Well,” confessed Sam, “I did overhear James and Sirius talking not that long ago. James pulled Sirius up on the fact that things had been a bit lax on the girlfriend front. Sirius got a bit defensive at that, and well, he forced James to drop the subject. But I can continue to keep my ears open, if you’d like?”

Kirsty nodded wearily. “Cheers, Sam.”

“What did we ever do to deserve you?” asked Emma mushily as she leaned in to kiss him.

“I’m in the middle of a crisis here, people!” exclaimed Kirsty in exasperation.

“Oh please,” announced Emma scathingly, breaking the kiss. “You are not having a crisis.”

“Am too,” argued Kirsty in a childish manner.

“Are not. I mean, come on, you’re not the first girl to have fallen for the sex-god that is Sirius Black.”

“But I don’t want to have fallen for Sirius Black!”

Emma gave a derisive snort. “Kirst, you fell for Sirius the very first moment you clapped eyes on him!”

“What do you mean?” asked Kirsty uncertainly.

Emma looked Kirsty up and down; she seemed to be sizing her up. “You were drawn to Sirius from the moment we arrived at Hogwarts. It was only natural when you think about it. Sirius was the one person you had always been warned to stay away from - he was a member of the Black family and completely off limits to you. During our first few months at school, Sirius became the sole focus of all your moans and grumbles. You were fuming over the fact that he had been sorted into Gryffindor, but I was stood next to you during our Sorting Ceremony and even then your eyes never strayed far from his face.”

Kirsty could do nothing but stare dumbly at Emma, her brain working furiously hard to process all of this information.

“Then we began our second year, and you were one of the only girls who remained adamant that they were in no way attracted to Sirius Black. It took us ages to finally wheedle a confession out of you, and we only got that because of some foul play on Sirius’ part. And yet, you still continued to rant and rage about his immaturity and bigheadedness. Between you and Lily, I’d landed myself with a right pair.” Kirsty gave Emma a disgruntled look. “But during our third and fourth years, something changed. You no longer grumbled about Sirius, rather the opposite �“ you praised him. You started to laugh at the antics of the Marauders and even managed the odd courteous bit of conversation with him.”

Kirsty searched Emma’s face for even the teeniest glimmer of trickery. “I don’t believe it! I’ve liked him all this time?”

“To be fair, your affections seemed to have waned last year, but now…”

“How can I have fancied him all this time without fully realising it?”

“Denial most likely,” replied Emma knowledgably. “You denied your feelings towards him when you were younger, and when they resurfaced again this year, your reflex action was to do the exact same thing.”

“But why have I only just become aware of them?”

“Ah, well, I’m glad you asked that. You confessed that you fancied him back in our second year, but that was just based on looks. Now, I fear, you like Sirius down to every last detail.”

“Yes, I know that!” yelled Kirsty, growing impatient.

“Let me finish!” Emma snapped back. “In second year, it was because of Sirius’ interference that we gained the information that you did indeed fancy him, and last night he wheedled a confession out of you again �“ though he doesn’t know it. Now, if you ask me, that gives is another possible reason as to why Sirius put you both into another intimate situation last night.”

“Out with it then!” commanded Kirsty, hanging on to her every word.

Emma didn’t look impressed at being rushed. “When Sirius flirted with you in second year, your reaction betrayed your feelings. Sirius was victorious that day, since from the off, he had wanted to prove that he was irresistible to all the girls at Hogwarts.

So, in my opinion, he tried to relive the same situation last night. If he is indeed worried about his current lack of girlfriends, then you’d be a good way of proving that he is still as good-looking as ever.”

Kirsty was suitably impressed. “You know, that would make sense. After all, he did ask me if I still fancied him last night.”

“He did?” asked Emma excitedly. “What did you tell him?”

“I said�”“ Kirsty stopped mid-sentence, having just noticed Emma’s jacket strewn across the floor by the foot of Lily’s bed. “What’s your jacket doing on the floor all the way over there?”

Emma and Sam shared a highly worried look. “We were packing,” said Emma, walking over to retrieve it.

Sam craned his neck to gaze over at the jacket in question, and as he did so, Kirsty noticed the unmistakeable lipstick print that had been planted on his collarbone. When Sam turned back to look at Kirsty, she pointed to her own collarbone and mouthed to him, “Lipstick,” before raising her eyebrows. Sam blushed a deep red and hastily set about trying to wipe it off. As Emma returned in possession of her jacket, Kirsty repeated innocently, “So you were packing?”

“Yes,” snapped Emma irritably. “We only have limited time left until I leave for a week, so we thought we’d spend time together where we could.”

“I see. I just thought you’d be doing something a little more touchy…” Sam shot Kirsty a disapproving glare.

“Kirsty!” came the impatient sound of Lily’s voice from the bottom of the stairs.

“Uh oh, she sounds mad,” noted Sam.

“Yeah,” agreed Kirsty, “I suppose that would be my cue to actually go and start getting ready. You know, I hate it when Lily’s in organisation mode.”

“So what are you going to do about Sirius?” asked Emma, her voice turning sombre.

Kirsty let out an exhausted sigh. “I have no idea. I don’t suppose I have to decide just yet, do I?”

“Of course not,” replied Sam supportively. “Not if you don’t want to.”

Kirsty smiled gratefully. “Thanks, guys. Promise me you won’t say anything to him.”

Emma looked affronted at this. “Of course we won’t! What do you take us for? We won’t breathe a word. Right?” she assured Kirsty, turning to give Sam a menacing look.

“My lips are sealed,” promised Sam.

Sometimes, Kirsty realised just how much she really loved her friends. “Thanks, I really appreciate all of this.”

“What are friends for?” chirped Emma, enveloping Kirsty in a big hug.

Lily’s voice hollered up the stairs once more, sounding even more unimpressed than before, “Kirsty!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” called Kirsty, making for the stairs. Upon reaching the top step, however, she turned back to look at her friends. “I’ll leave you two to your ‘packing’.” She tagged air quotes around her usage of packing and raised her eyebrows at the two in amusement. Emma looked completely and utterly stunned, whereas Sam looked nothing short of sheepish.

Kirsty took to descending the stairs, but shouted over her shoulder, “And if I were you, Sam, I’d take more care with Emma’s jacket in future. After all, we wouldn’t want you to rip it in your haste now, would we?” Kirsty then trotted happily down the last few steps, leaving a shell-shocked Emma and Sam in her wake.

*

Half an hour later, Kirsty was to be found standing in the middle of the common room amidst the other three girls, their luggage strewn haphazardly around them. Lily had managed to cajole them all into getting ready on time without bursting the vein in her forehead, and now she was standing serenely by James’ side, her head resting against his shoulder, and his arm draped lovingly around her waist. Similarly, the group were also finding it hard to prise Emma and Sam away from each other, as the two simply continued to stand gazing admiringly into each other’s eyes.

Hayley checked her watch. “Looks like it’s time we were off, guys.”

Instantaneously, a battle of tongues ensued between the two couples. It seemed that competition was rife as to who would be noted as the hottest couple. Kirsty pulled a sickened face in Hayley’s direction, and Hayley smiled and rolled her eyes in return. Remus manoeuvred himself to Hayley’s side just as Peter appeared behind Kirsty. She swivelled around and enveloped him in a tight hug. “See you soon, Pete.”

“Don’t you go causing too much trouble now,” joked Peter. Kirsty stepped out of the hug and saluted him with a small giggle.

Peter moved away to say goodbye to Lily, who had finally unglued her lips from James’, and Kirsty waited at the sidelines for Hayley and Remus to finish chatting so that she could move on to giving him a hug. As she waited, she surreptitiously shot a glance in Sirius’ direction. He was still lounging against the back of the sofa, his eyes gazing out of the frosty window. His body language was much haughtier than Kirsty could ever remember seeing it. From what she could gather, Sirius hadn’t been very talkative all morning. She wondered whether his current detached state had anything to do with what had taken place last night, or whether that was just wishful thinking on her part. She would be stupid indeed if she thought for even a moment that the famous Sirius Black could ever be interested in someone like her.

Eventually, Remus made a beeline for her, and Hayley went to coax Sirius out of his sullen state. Remus’ strong hands wrapped themselves around Kirsty’s midriff, and she breathed in the heavenly smell of cocoa that always surrounded Remus in abundance. “Enjoy your week of freedom,” she advised.

“On the contrary,” replied Remus, pulling back to gaze at her face. “It’s you who has obtained the freedom.” He nodded over to James who had practically rugby tackled Emma so that she would give him a hug. Kirsty laughed, and Remus gave her a kind smile before moving away again.

Tentatively, Kirsty began to make her way over to Sirius. He looked up dolefully as she came to stand before him. Looking sheepish and suddenly very self-conscious, Sirius stood up straight in order to greet her. “Goodbye, Sirius,” she announced rather nervously as she took a hesitant step forward and slipped her arms delicately around his neck. Kirsty felt her heart give a small flutter when Sirius accepted her embrace, his hands instantly encircling her waist.

“See you, Kirst. Have fun,” he murmured against her shoulder. Regretfully, Kirsty ended the hug and pulled back to look at his tense face. Sirius gave her a solemn look. “Be careful,” he urged softly, briefly taking hold of her hand.

“I will,” she promised. Kirsty knew exactly where this plea had sprung from. News had reached them, via that morning’s Daily Prophet, that three wizards and two Muggles had been killed in a Death Eater attack in Telford the night before. It was safe to say that the news had put a dampener on that morning’s proceedings, like fatalities of the ongoing war always did.

Lily came over then to steal Sirius away from her, and Kirsty started to make steady progress in Sam’s direction. As soon as she reached him, he enveloped her in a tight hug. “It’ll be okay, you know,” he reassured her.

“I do know,” she replied gratefully. “Thanks, Sam. See you soon.”

Within seconds of being released by Sam, James swooped down upon her, swallowing her in a gigantic bear hug. Kirsty loved James’ hugs above everyone else’s for she always felt secure in his arms. James was the one who she always counted on for making her feel better, and that day was no exception. As she laid her head against his chest, she felt all tension leave her body, and worries about Sirius were momentarily extinguished. “Have a good time,” James implored her.

“You too,” she said, once James had let her go.

“Are we all ready?” piped up Lily, taking charge once more. There came three general affirmations in response, and Kirsty made her way over to the exit to stand beside Hayley as Lily and Emma underwent one final round of tongue wrestling with their boyfriends.

Many impatient taps of the feet later, the couples disengaged, and Lily and Emma went to gather their belongings.

“Right, well, I guess this is it,” announced Emma. “See you guys in a week’s time.”

“Yeah, try not to have too much fun without us,” added Hayley.

“No risk of that happening,” retorted James, raising a suggestive eyebrow at Lily.

“Bye!” all four girls chimed in unison as they dragged their trunks over to the portrait hole. Kirsty glanced over her shoulder, as she gave one final wave, to see that Sirius had already turned his back on the departing girls. A dull ache started within Kirsty’s chest, and she hoped more than anything that everything would be back to normal upon her return.

--------------

Splash! No, no good. Splash! Another bad one; third time’s a charm. Sirius brought his arm back with poise before catapulting it forward once more, with all the strength he could muster. A welcome silence ensued, but if Sirius strained his ears hard enough, he could just about hear the faint whistle of the flat stone as it sailed out above the lake, its smooth, cold body almost skimming the shimmering ripples below. Sirius watched the stone in delight as it touched the first of the ripples, its contact brief but just as gentle as a lover’s caress on the cheek of his beloved, before once again soaring inches above her magnificent form, drinking in every detail as she glittered in the mesmerising moonlight.

At the stone’s teasing touch, the lake gave a shiver of anticipation, sending more ripples out into the darkness, hoping to entice him. Sirius’ grin grew wider; this stone definitely favoured the lady, for it brushed her skin not twice, not thrice but four times in succession before the two entities finally met in a powerful embrace. Sirius couldn’t help but punch the air in euphoria as he heard the small, welcoming plop of the stone sinking into the lake’s watery abyss way off in the distance. That was the best skimming stone that he had found all night.

He bent down in the process of foraging around on the small beach for another and heard the rustling of grass from not far behind him. He chose to ignore it, for if someone was indeed there, he had a pretty good idea of who it would be. He knew that it couldn’t be a teacher. After all, there was a good few hours left until curfew, not that you’d know with the inky blackness that currently engulfed him.

Sirius straightened up, having scooped up a handful of stones, and began to rifle through them, the moon above him providing the only available light on the breezy winter’s night.

Four days had passed since the girls’ departure, and Sirius had retreated down to the lake every day so far. He was eager to participate in any activity that would focus his thoughts somewhere else - somewhere where rage, desolation and cravings for Kirsty’s presence could not infiltrate the barriers that these night time wanderings had constructed.

It was strange; he would have thought that this would be the other way around - that wandering alone at night in the cool grounds, aimlessly throwing stones at the lake, would provide the perfect opportunity for thoughts of Kirsty to surface. Thankfully, however, the opposite had occurred. Being enveloped in the black veil of the night sky dimmed the senses, making it so that every step over the frosty grass was an unknown adventure. Constantly, he wondered when he would be nearing the edge of the lake or whether he was about to bump into a tree, and all these things made the proceedings that much more exciting.

Of course, Sirius was only unaware of his surroundings on those nights where the moon was hidden behind an entourage of clouds. Tonight, though, the moon shone in all its glory, and Sirius gazed up at it, his face bathed in light. He sighed. There were a couple more nights left until the full moon hit, and Sirius was growing steadily more impatient to see it. A Marauders’ night was just what he needed right now. He longed to go back to the time when the four of them were all that mattered, and the four girls were just a blip on their radar screen, though Sirius did doubt if Kirsty had ever been just a blip to him. He almost wished they could go back to when the Marauders weren’t even acquainted with the girls. Things were simpler then, though admittedly nowhere near as fun. He knew he needed something else to occupy his mind as skimming stones was beginning to bore him. Keeping himself occupied was the only way to ensure that Kirsty remained hidden. Although, if Sirius was truly honest with himself, he knew that even at these times he was missing her. Deep down in a sealed section of his heart, he wanted her back.

“You’ll wake the Giant Squid, you know,” observed an unwelcome voice from behind Sirius as he cast another stone into the water’s icy depths.

“What do you want?” Sirius spat back at James, not wanting to be disturbed.

“To talk,” explained James simply, and Sirius heard him take a couple of steps forward.

“What if I don’t want to talk?” asked Sirius irritably.

“Then we’ll talk,” explained James sternly, and Sirius allowed himself a cautious glance behind James to see him gesturing over to Remus and Peter, who he could just make out in the moonlight.

Sirius shrugged, trying to give the impression that he no longer cared if they stayed to invade his privacy or not. He heard the frost-covered grass crunch underfoot, indicating Remus and Peter’s approach.

“So what are you doing out here all alone?” ventured James, finally coming to stand beside him.

“Skimming stones,” replied Sirius in monotone as he cast another one out into the night just to hear it belly flop with an almighty splash seconds later.

“Rubbish,” reprimanded James with a small smile.

“You do realise that we’ll stay here until you start talking - all night if we have to,” Peter informed him, coming to stand on Sirius’ left.

“So, care to share, Padfoot?” asked Remus in a friendly manner as he slipped in beside Peter.

“After all,” piped up James, “If you can’t tell us, who can you tell?”

Sirius heaved a huge sigh. Sometimes he loved his friends to death, but at other times he hated them so much that he just wanted to strangle them. The trouble was that at that precise moment in time he couldn’t decipher which of the two emotions was the most dominant.

“Fine,” he relented with some difficulty.

“Girl trouble?” queried Peter, unable to hide the smidgen of glee present in his voice.

Sirius gave him a disgruntled look. “Yes, as it happens,” he replied through gritted teeth. He turned to throw James a filthy look. “I can’t believe you told these two goons!”

“Oh, charming,” commented Remus dryly. “Personally I think it’s only fair that we know. After all, I told you about my feelings for Hayley.”

“Yes, but you and Hayley are an entirely different story.”

“Really?” asked Remus, his eyebrows raised mockingly. “Because I rather thought that we were on the same page.”

“Oh, no!” laughed Sirius mirthlessly. “We are on a different chapter all together, my friend. At least you know that Hayley reciprocates your feelings!”

“I know nothing of the sort!” snapped Remus.

“Oh, come on!” exclaimed Sirius in exasperation. “Guys, back me up here.”

“Hayley definitely likes you, mate,” chimed in both James and Peter. Remus looked more than a little shell-shocked.

“Looks like it’s time for you to step up and take charge,” proclaimed Peter, slapping Remus jovially on the back; Remus gave a nervous chuckle. James signalled for them all to sit down, and Sirius gratefully obeyed, his legs had long since started to ache from cold and exhaustion.

“So I take it that Kirsty is in the problem in question?” said James.

“Of course she is! Who else could it possibly be?” asked Sirius angrily.

“Well, one can never tell with you, Padfoot,” joked Peter.

“So, what’s happened?” asked Remus gently.

Sirius shifted slightly - not only did he feel slightly uncomfortable about sharing his current lovesickness but sitting down on frost ridden grass was definitely not one of the most comfortable sensations he had ever experienced. Tentatively, he began to relay the whole, sorry story to his three companions. “Okay, so, you remember how Kirsty admitted during ‘I’ve never’ that she didn’t fancy me anymore?”

“�”I knew that had dinted your ego more than you were letting on!” interrupted James, sounding somewhat gleeful. Remus gave him a stern look, and James cast his eyes down almost immediately. “Sorry, carry on,” he muttered apologetically.

“Well, I decided to call her up on it,” continued Sirius. “So that night, once I was sure that you had all gone to sleep, I crept over to where Kirsty was lying and woke her up by insisting that I slip in beside her.”

“�”You were in her bed again?” asked Peter in disbelief.

“Oh yes,” replied Sirius with a grin, happiness at the memory bubbling up within him.

“And then what happened?” Remus encouraged him.

“We chatted for a bit, and then I bluntly came out and asked her if she seriously didn’t fancy me anymore�”“

“�”and what did she say?” demanded James, sounding rather breathless.

Sirius sighed, a strange burning sensation searing within his chest at the memory. “She said, no, she doesn’t fancy me anymore and she just sees me as a friend, which is all we’ll ever be.”

A stunned and morose silence followed, in which Sirius stared down at the floor, flexing his freezing fingers - how he wished he had brought a pair of gloves.

“So that’s it?” asked James, looking at Sirius with disbelief.

“That’s it,” agreed Sirius, his voice sounding hollow even to his own ears.

“But I thought �“ I seriously thought that things would - would happen with you two,” stammered James.

“Oh well,” replied Sirius with a shrug of the shoulders and an attempt at a smile.

“I’m sorry, Padfoot. That really is too bad,” said Remus sympathetically.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, mate,” said Peter, also offering his condolences.

“Sometimes these things happen,” replied Sirius, trying and failing to put on a brave face.

“So, what happens now?” asked Remus.

“Nothing, I guess. I’ll just have to let everything go back to normal.”

“But you miss her?” pressed Remus.

“Yeah, I miss her,” admitted Sirius.

“Which, I’m guessing, is why you’ve been spending your evenings out here,” announced Peter, trying his best to survey the dark grounds.

Sirius gave a small, hollow laugh. “Yeah, I thought it would take my mind off her, but despite how much I may wish to deny it, she’s still haunting my every thought.”

“Are we certain that this isn’t just a simple crush?” queried Remus.

Sirius gave him a hard look. “No, I’ve gone way past that stage. Believe me, I’ve wished it was just a crush myself.”

“And are we sure that you’re definitely looking for a relationship with Kirsty in particular?” asked Peter. “I mean, maybe you’re just ready to make a serious commitment to someone, and Kirsty caught your attention because she’s one of your best friends. Plus, we can all see how well things worked out for James and Lily and Emma and Sam.”

Sirius was unconvinced, but Remus was actually nodding his head in agreement. “Actually, that’s a fair point,” praised Remus. He turned to Sirius. “Maybe you just want the closeness that Lily and James have, and for you, Kirsty would be the obvious choice as you get on so well�”“

“�”plus, Hayley’s strictly off limits,” butted in Peter with a giddy smile.

“Yes, quite,” agreed Remus, looking bashful.

“No, I don’t think so, guys. You see, the thing is that I love every single thing about Kirsty. I just love the person she is, and in my mind, no one can compare.”

“Oh dear,” said Remus with a sigh.

“Oh dear indeed,” agreed Sirius with a small chuckle.

“Might I be so bold as to suggest that getting a girlfriend may not be such a bad idea? Maybe having someone else to focus your attention on would help to keep your mind away from Kirsty. Also, if we are certain that things are never going to take off between you and Kirst, then maybe it’d be better to just move on,” suggested James in a frank tone.

“But you know I have nothing in common with those other girls. I can barely stand to be around them,” argued Sirius.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t date an airhead this time,” said James irritably.

“Yeah, look outside your group of fan girls. You may be pleasantly surprised by the girls you find,” advised Peter.

“No!” retorted Sirius vehemently. “I don’t want just any old girl! I want her. I want Kirsty! And yes, I realise that I have to move on and get over this, but I’m just not ready yet. I’m not!”

“Okay, mate,” Remus said soothingly, reaching over to pat him lightly on the shoulder.

“I just need time; I’ll get her out of my system at some point. I know I will, I’ll get over her,” said Sirius, trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

“Let’s hope so,” said Peter morosely.

“Okay. Moony, you get the munchies; Peter you get the shot glasses, and I’ll take care of the Firewhiskey,” ordered James, getting to his feet. Sirius and the other two immediately followed suit. “Let’s see if we can’t cheer you up!” James continued, patting Sirius comfortingly on the shoulder.

“Thanks, guys,” said Sirius, smiling at each of them in turn.

And so, off the four boys walked into the night, their arms draped companionably around each other’s shoulders.