Lily Evans: A History

Chapter 39 - Is it a date if he shakes your hand?
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"SIRIUS BLACK! JAMES POTTER!"

Lily and Kassie looked at each other for a split second before turning around. Professor McGonagall was stalking quickly up the corridor looking very angry. Kassie looked beside her where a moment ago Sirius had been standing, and found Remus instead. In one quick raise of his eyebrow he warned Kassie not to talk, then turned towards the Transfiguration teacher with a politely confused look.

"Where are they?" McGonagall demanded when she was within ear shot. Lily readjusted her bag on her shoulder and looked quickly to Remus and Peter and shook her head. "I don't know. They were here a minute ago."

"Miss Phillips?"

Kassie kept her face carefully neutral. "I'm sorry Professor, I don't know."

McGonagall turned to Remus, carefully studying him. "It's no use covering for them, Lupin. They can't hide forever. Tell them that I want to see them in my office immediately and if that happens, perhaps I shall lessen the punishment." Without giving Remus a chance to answer, she spun around to head back off to where she had come from. But, when she turned, James was standing directly behind her.

"Did you want to see us, Professor?" he asked innocently.

McGonagall looked as if she longed to grab his ears and drag him off to her office; but she refrained. Taking a deep breath, she glared at him over her square framed glasses. "I would like for you and Mr. Black to uncharm my desk, if you please. It has bitten me twice since you left my class, and has spat parchment all over the room several times more than that."

Sirius was trying his best to keep a straight face during this exchange. Behind McGonagall's back, Lily, Kassie, Remus and Peter were fighting their own laughter. "Now!" the Professor barked at them, pointing a slender finger towards her room. Looking very pleased with themselves, James and Sirius headed off in the direction of the Transfiguration class room. "And while you are there, you can go ahead and serve your detentions for this."

Kassie shook her head, resigned to the fact that she had chosen to go out with Sirius, and thus knew that he would spend much of his time in detention. Suddenly she spun around, nearly hitting Lily with her bag. "Professor? Will they be at the Halloween Feast?"

Professor McGonagall looked as if she was considering this. James and Sirius were both pouring on the pleading looks heavily. Finally she sighed. "I suppose so."

James jumped backwards and wrapped one arm around the Professor, squeezing. "You know we love you, right Minerva?"

"Potter..." Professor McGonagall hissed in warning. James smiled brightly at Lily, winked and he and Sirius took off at a dead run down the corridor. Professor McGonagall shook her head; but it was easy to see she was smiling.

As the four remaining friends headed to Gryffindor tower again, Remus suddenly chuckled. "You know they are going to kill me, right?"

"Why?" Lily asked, cocking her head interestedly.

"Because I did that."

Peter laughed, brushing a piece of blonde hair off his forehead. "Yes, Moony, you are dead for this one." Suddenly Peter's face lit up. "Hey, isn't that Alexis?"

Remus' face blushed so red it looked like he was going to explode. He punched out sideways at Peter, missed, and then decided that the floor was very interesting after that. As they passed, Alexis smiled. "Hey! Wait for me, will you? I've got to tie my shoe."

Lily and Kassie hung back, but Remus and Peter continued on, Remus calling that they would catch up to them later. "Where did you loose everyone else?" Lily asked once Remus and Peter had gone on up the stairs.

"Oh! You don't know, do you?" Alexis smiled widely, throwing her bag over her shoulder. "Michael Cannon asked Kathleen to go to Hogsmeade with him tomorrow. She and Gabrielle went straight up to Gryffindor tower after class to start putting together an outfit. You'd think she was going on a date with a prince or something. I suppose Madison is with them; I haven't seen her since the end of class."

"Michael Cannon?" Kassie narrowed her eyes, thinking hard. "Hufflepuff? Tall, skinny with that stack of red hair?"

"I'd swear he was a Weasley if I didn't know better," Alexis replied. "The whole lot of them have red hair. Kind of carrot orange, really. But, yes, that's him."

"Very interesting," Kassie muttered. "So she's going with Michael, I'm going with Sirius, Lily here is going solo unless we can pair her off with James."

Lily choked violently on the Droobles Best Blowing Gum she was chewing, swallowing it and feeling it lodge in her throat. Kassie patted her back hard and she swallowed. "Why," she asked, glaring, "would you say that?"

Kassie blinked. "It was only an idea. I was going to say that you could go with James, Madison could go with Peter and Alexis could go with Remus."

"Remus?" Alexis asked, suddenly watching where she was going as if her life depended on the next step. "Why would you say Remus?"

Kassie shrugged, but had anyone been looking at her, they would have noticed the grin she was fighting. Lily was still gasping to get her breath back, her mind reeling. "Well, you did seem friendly with him," Kassie said nonchalantly, "in the infirmary the other day."

"He's a friend," Alexis replied smoothly.

"Nothing more?" Kassie probed.

Alexis turned, her pony tail swinging when she did. "Kassie, what are you up to?"

Kassie held her hands up in a peace offering. "Hornbeam," she said to the portrait which swung open with the password. She glanced inside the common room to make sure they wouldn't be overheard. There were a few first years in the corner practicing levitating charms, but otherwise the room was empty. "I just thought that maybe if you liked him, I could set you up. I am going out with one of his best friends," she pointed out, looking Alexis in the eye. "But if you aren't interested, I'll just--"

"I didn't say that," Alexis mumbled so low it was hard to hear her.

Kassie beamed. "Good. That's settled. I'll tell James he's going to go with you, Lily."

"Oh ok, thanks Kassie," said Lily sarcastically. "I'm sure he'll take kindly to that."

Lily walked on ahead and opened the door to their dormitory. Kassie smiled happily. "I'm sure he will, too," she told Alexis in a near whisper. "Very sure." Alexis laughed, but covered her mouth quickly.

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"Come on!"

James tapped his wand on a small round mirror, muttered an incantation, and waited for Sirius to do the same. Remus was at the door, waiting impatiently for his friends. James glanced up. "Just one more second," he said, flipping a page in his book. He tapped the mirror again. "Ok, it should work this time. Let's try it."

Sirius was holding a round mirror identical to the one James had. He walked across the room, past Remus, and out the door. Looking straight into the mirror, he said very clearly; "James Potter."

For a second there was nothing but fuzz on the mirror that looked very much like static on a muggle television. Then slowly James' face came into view. "Is it working?" he asked, his voice echoing.

"Better than last time," Sirius replied, grinning. "Uh oh. Remus is giving me that look. I suppose we'll have to work on it more later."

"Right," James replied. "Eh, how do we turn it off?"

"No clue," Sirius said, coming into the room.

Remus walked purposely into the room, pointed his wand at the mirrors and said, "Finite." Both mirrors went blank. "Come on, I’m hungry. Let's go."

"Ok, ok," Sirius said, putting his mirror down on the bed. "Let's go."

The three boys went downstairs and into the Great Hall. The fifth year girls plus Peter were already seated, plates before them. Food, drinks and sweets of every colour and flavour scattered the tables. High above them, where the candles usually floated, were pumpkins and flapping bats. Sirius took the empty seat next to Kassie and grinned when she turned to him. "It's about time," she said.

"We just had a little Marauder business to deal with," Sirius replied cryptically and kissed her cheek.

"Speak for yourself," said Remus, grabbing a roll with one hand and pulling the plate of chicken towards him with the other. "James and Sirius were playing with those mirrors again."

"Again?" asked Kassie.

"Nearly got them to work," James explained through a mouth full of pudding. "Only a few minor bugs to work out."

"A few?" Remus raised an eyebrow. "They couldn't turn them off once they were on."

"Alright! More than a few," James granted. "Lily, would you pass me the pumpkin juice please?"

Lily handed over the juice, still trying to listen to Gabrielle and Kathleen explain how Michael Cannon had asked her to go with him to Hogsmeade. As she wasn't paying attention, she tried to sit the jug on the plate of rolls and ended up tipping it over. "Oh no!" she gasped, grabbing for it, but it was too late. Nearly a gallon of pumpkin juice had poured almost directly into Kassie's lap.

The black haired girl jumped up, but it was far too late to keep much of the juice from pouring into her lap. Beside her Sirius slid away along the bench as fast as he could, barely missing the drink. "I'm so sorry!" Lily gasped. "Here, let me...Scourgify!"

Several students from the Hufflepuff table were looking over to see what the fuss was about, and the Slytherins were pointing and laughing. Kassie waved her hands in front of her. "It's ok, Lily. I'll just go and get cleaned up a bit." Sirius stood up as if to follow, but Kassie shook her head. "I'll be back in a minute." Sirius sat back down and Kassie hurried out of the Great Hall, the Slytherin's laughter following her.

Kassie quickly headed to the nearest girl’s toilets and inspected her robes. The white t-shirt she was wearing under her robes was stained orange, as well as there being a large patch on her jeans. Shaking her head, she took her wand out and set to work on cleaning the stains. Just as she finishing, the door swung open and Bellatrix Black came in. She smirked at Kassie, went into a cubicle and closed the door. Seeing the perfect opportunity to escape a conflict, Kassie hurriedly finished cleaning her robes, washed her hands and headed back towards the Great Hall.

She could hear the murmur of excited voices and had the double doors to the Great Hall in her sight when suddenly a voice from behind her said, "So you finally managed to snag yourself a pure blood wizard, did you?"

Kassie took a deep breath before turning. In her mind she had pictured Bellatrix standing behind her, hands on her hips, smirking. She wasn't disappointed when she turned. The classic Black family blue eyes were staring daggers at Kassie. For a moment the latter found it ironic that Sirius had those eyes, too, and could look at her with such care when Bellatrix looked like an ice queen staring back out of them. Kassie sighed impatiently. "What's the matter, Trixie, are you jealous? Does Lestrange have a sordid family background or something?"

"Don't you dare insult Rodolphus. His family's power and bloodline could come down on you and your mudblood family very quickly. They already got your mudblood mother--"

Bellatrix continued to talk, but Kassie had stopped hearing. At the mention of her mother Kassie's blood had started pumping faster, her heart racing so loud that it sounded like a tidal wave in her ears. Her wand forgotten, Kassie walked straight up to Bellatrix, pulled her fist back and let it go at Bellatrix's right eye. The sound of the impact was so loud that it sounded like the snap of a whip in the corridor.

"You BITCH!" Bellatrix roared, slapping Kassie. From that second on it was a fully fledged cat-fight. Kassie punched and scratched every inch of Bellatrix she could reach, yanked her hair, felt Bellatrix's fist make contact with her jaw and then punched her again, knocking her to the ground. A horrible rage had taken over Kassie. Never had she wanted to hurt someone so badly, and adrenalin was pumping through her veins as she and Bellatrix continued to fight.

In the doorway to the Great Hall, a short blonde boy was watching with avid fascination. His eyes wide with excitement, he turned quickly, nearly tripping on his robes, and ran into the Great Hall towards the Hufflepuff table. "Hey! Hey!" he repeated to his class mates. "Guess what?"

"What's up with you, Lockhart?" Hazel Edmund asked, only looking slightly interested. Gilderoy Lockhart found the simplest of things way too amusing way too often.

Gilderoy pointed out the doors, still jumping up and down in excitement. "There's a fight! A fight in the corridor! I just saw it!"

At the table next to the Hufflepuffs, Sirius had been discussing with James how to stop the echoing in their enchanted mirrors when he overheard the Hufflepuff first year exclaim that there was a fight. Eyebrows raised, he turned. "Hey, you! What did you say?"

"There's a fight in the corridor!" Gilderoy repeated, looking immensely proud to have gotten the attention of an older student. "There are two black haired witches really going for it!"

"Black haired witches?" James asked, pushing his chair back. Sirius was a step ahead of him and already up. "You don't think...?"

"Bugger!" Lily said and shot up out of her seat. Sirius had taken off at a run towards the exit; James, Remus, Lily and Peter on his heels.

Half the Gryffindor table had heard the conversation and were following, the rest filling in what they heard to students from other houses before going to see for themselves. Sirius had beaten them all out of the oak doors and skidded to a halt in front of a sight he wouldn't soon forget. His girlfriend and cousin was fist fighting like a pair of muggles. Where their wands were he didn't know; and he didn't care. Bellatrix knew some nasty dark magic and he was rather sure he'd prefer to see them fighting like this rather than duelling. Unfortunately it seemed that Bellatrix had just remembered she was a witch and was reaching for her wand.

"No you don't," Sirius replied, picking Kassie up by the waist and pulling her off Bellatrix. James had disarmed Bellatrix and was holding her wand tauntingly in front of her. Kassie fought Sirius for a moment, trying to get back at Bellatrix. Rodolphus Lestrange and Evan Rosier had joined the fray and were holding Bellatrix back, who was also struggling against them.

"You need to keep your mudblood girlfriend out of--"

"Shut the hell up Trixie," Sirius growled, still keeping a tight grip on his girlfriend. "Or Kassie won't be the only one after your blood."

"What is gong on? What is the meaning of this?!" a voice shrieked from behind. "Out of the way! All of you! Let me through!"

There was a shot like a cannon and suddenly the sea of students parted, allowing Professor McGonagall to come through, Professors Kittle and Dumbledore behind her. The Head of Gryffindor house took one look at Kassie with her bleeding lip and swelling eye, turned to Bellatrix with her already black eye and bloody nose, then pressed her lips together so tightly it seemed they had disappeared. "Fifty points," she barked, glaring, "will be taken from both your houses for this. And neither of you are allowed to visit Hogsmeade this weekend. I am disgusted by the pair of you!"

Kassie happened a glance to Professor Dumbledore, but she quickly looked away. He looked very disappointed. And that seemed much worse than the points she had just lost Gryffindor or the banned trip to the village. Taking a deep breath she leaned back against Sirius and touched her aching jaw gently. Professor Kittle was ordering students back into the Great Hall. "To the infirmary to get cleaned up," McGonagall ordered, her voice allowing no room for argument. "And if either of you so much as speak to each other, I will take an additional fifty points."

Lestrange and Rosier obediently started leading Bellatrix up the marble stairs. Sirius nudged Kassie and when she turned he kissed her lips quickly. "That was brilliant," he whispered. They started up the stairs towards the infirmary. "But the next time you decide to get in a fist fight, let me know, will you? I nearly had a heart attack when I came out here."

Kassie grinned despite her split lip. "It wasn't something I was planning on."

Lily, James, Remus and Peter followed them up the stairs, Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore not far behind them. Now that it was over with Kassie felt every area Bellatrix had hit start to burn or sting. Or in some cases, both. But it was well worth it to hear Bellatrix moaning several moments later about her stomach. Kassie hoped she had cracked a rib.

Professor Dumbledore gently suggested to Remus, Peter and James that they should return to the feast. Even though they protested, Dumbledore didn't give in. The old wizard turned as if to say the same to Sirius and Lily, noticed their determined faces and continued down the line of beds to clear out the crowd around Bellatrix's bed. Lily took her wand out, setting to work on some of the more minor scratches and bruises that Kassie had on her face, neck and arms. Every now and then they could hear Bellatrix let out a string of curses as Madam Pomfrey healed her, and then heard the matron tell her to stop whining or she would leave her to heal the muggle way.

Kassie leaned back on the pillows, a smug smile on her face. "I guess we'll have to work extra hard to get those points back. But I'd say it was well worth it."

Sirius was perched on the side of the bed, looking immensely proud. "What started that, anyway? Not that you need a reason to beat the hell out of Bella, but usually you try to keep clear of Professors."

Kassie quickly explained the events leading up to her punching Bellatrix and thus starting the fight. She quieted when Madam Pomfrey came to her bed to heal her. The matron shoo'ed Lily and Sirius out while she worked. Lily crossed her arms, sighing. "It seems like there's never a dull moment." Sirius was standing very rigid and kept glancing towards the opposite end of the infirmary. Lily raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking?" she asked in a whisper.

"I'm thinking of going down there and cursing Bellatrix somewhere into the middle of the next century," he replied without looking at Lily. His blue eyes were very hard and full of loathing.

"Sirius, be serious. You can't go down there. Dumbledore and McGonagall are right outside the door, Madam Pomfrey is right here," Lily said, indicating the closed curtains around Kassie's bed. "There will be a time and place to get her. Not now."

Sirius smirked, finally turning to the red head. "This coming from a Prefect?"

Lily glanced around the curtain. Kassie was bravely trying not to cringe as Pomfrey mended her jaw. Lily felt her teeth clench. "We'll leave my position out of this. There is a difference between breaking school rules and trying to break my best friend's neck. I say Bellatrix should get what she deserves and I'll be more than happy to have a hand in it."

"Here, here," Sirius muttered.

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The first day of November dawned bright and beautifully over the Hogwarts grounds. The Gryffindor fifth year girls were up fairly early considering it was a Saturday, dressing for their trip to the village near the school. But Kassie purposefully kept her curtains shut and tried to go back to sleep. She fully expected to be alone in Gryffindor tower today; kept company only by the first and second years that weren't allowed to visit Hogsmeade either. So by mid-morning, when everyone was gone, Kassie rolled out of the bed and dressed. Her stomach growling, she headed downstairs in search of food. As she crossed the common room, she spotted a familiar looking head. "Lily?"

The redhead turned, smiling and shutting her book. "It's about time you woke up. I was about to come drag you out of bed myself. Breakfast is over, but I brought you some toast and tea up. You'll have to do a warming charm on it, I'm afraid. It's stone cold by now."

Kassie continued to stare at Lily as if she had never seen her properly before. Lily put her book aside and stood up. Finally Kassie asked, "What are you doing here?"

Lily blinked. "This is the Gryffindor common room. I'm a Gryffindor," she said slowly.

"That's not what I mean--" Kassie started, but was cut off by the portrait hole opening and Sirius barging through.

"Is she up yet? I tried to hur--oh, hey!" he greeted, grinning brightly at Kassie. Hurriedly he approached her, sitting a bag down on the floor and picking Kassie up around the waist as he hugged her. "Sleep well?"

"Sure," said Kassie, confused. "Sirius, what are you and Lily doing here? Shouldn't you be in the village?"

"Not without you," Sirius replied easily, putting her down and fishing through the bag he had been holding. "James is waiting for you, Lily. I left them at the Three Broomsticks. And you, my love," Sirius said, grinning, "have a date with me and a picnic lunch on the carpet to boot."

Lily left the common room after waving bye to Kassie, who was hugging Sirius' neck. Shaking her head she went down the seven flights of stairs and past Filch, who was still standing at the front doors checking names against a roll of parchment. There were several stragglers that had had a late breakfast but were now heading to Hogsmeade.

The sun was slowly warming the air; but since it was the first of November Lily didn't expect it to warm up much more. She fastened her cloak around her shoulders and took her time walking to the village. When she arrived she went straight to the Three Broomsticks in search of her friends.

To say that Lily was nervous about this day was putting it mildly. She wasn't exactly sure Kassie was as innocent as she claimed when she had set Lily up to spend the day with James, but she couldn't exactly say she wasn't, either. With Kassie it was hard to tell even at the best of times if she was playing the innocent or not. Either way Lily's heart fluttered rather pleasantly when she thought about it.

She spotted the table the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years were sat fairly quickly. She only had to look for the loudest table. James was telling a story to the rest of the group, who were laughing appreciatively at whatever he was saying. Lily took her cloak off and slowly made her way over.

"You should have been there, really," James was saying. "Filch couldn't haven't have been redder had he been lit on fire. And Pete here looked him straight in the eye and asked 'What's that on your face?' without even blinking! It was brilliant!" James took a deep drink from his butter beer then sat it down. "I would bet all th--oh, hey Lily!" James stopped mid-sentence, got up and let Lily slide into the booth. "Do you want something to drink?"

"A butterbeer," Lily said, digging in her pocket for some money.

James shook his head. "I got it. Anyone else need refills?"

"Me," Remus replied.

"You are paying, mate. I only buy for beautiful ladies." James winked at Lily and she felt a blush threaten to over take her. Remus slapped a sickle in his hand and James pocketed it. "Anyone else? Be back in a minute, then."

As James left the table, Lily turned around to see exactly who was there. Madison was sitting next to Peter, who was now next to Lily, but had been next to James before. On the other side of Madison were Kathleen, Michael, Gabrielle, Mark Johnson, Remus and finally Alexis.

"So," Remus said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the table once James had left, "are Sirius and Kassie snogging in a dark corner somewhere?"

"Most likely," Lily replied.

"Great," Gabrielle muttered, "she'll be in a lovely mood when we get back. They'll be no sleeping late tomorrow."

Lily laughed, as did Alexis and Madison. Kathleen looked as if she hadn't even heard, Michael had whispered something in her ear and she was blushing madly. Just then James returned to the table with three butterbeers. He opened Lily's and handed it to her before opening his own. "I purpose a toast," he said, lifting his glass. "To good friends and stupid speeches. May one last as long as the next!"

"With you around, that shouldn't be a problem," Remus added.

"Here! Here!" the rest of the table joined, laughing as they clinked their glasses together and drank from them.

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It was late in the evening when James, Lily, Remus and Alexis started the walk back to Hogwarts. Somewhere during the course of the day they had lost pretty much everyone else in one place or another. James and Lily were walking purposefully behind Alexis and Remus as to give them space. Not that they looked like they needed it. Apparently Kassie was good at matchmaking; the pair of them were holding hands and talking softly. Every now and then Alexis would say something to make Remus laugh out loud, but otherwise Lily and James couldn't hear them.

Lily stuffed her hands in her jeans pockets and looked up at the clearing sky. "The stars look very big from here," she noted, "almost looks like you could touch them."

"Hmmm," James mumbled. But he wasn't looking at the sky as much as he was the redhead beside him. His stomach gave a pleasant lurch when she caught him staring, blushed and looked away quickly. James grinned to himself. Several times he tried to say something to Lily; about the way she looked, how beautiful her skin tones were in the fading sunlight, or that he had just had the best day he could remember. But every time he started to speak, the words got stuck somewhere around his Adam's apple and he fell silent. Long before he was ready to end the day, they were starting up the final staircase to Gryffindor tower. James dragged his feet along, nearly forgetting to jump the trick step. Swallowing hard, he forced his mouth open, "Lily, I, eh, had a great time today," he muttered out so fast that it was hard to make out some words.

Lily smiled at him and he felt his legs turn to pudding. "Me, too," she replied and continued up the steps.

Somehow James felt that Lily didn't quite understand what he was getting at. He wished he had the guts to do what Kassie had done to Sirius. Even though it had taken Sirius forever to admit that Kassie had started their relationship. But seeing his best friend so happy only reminded James that his crush on Lily was going nowhere. Most likely because either, one; she wasn't aware that he liked her, or two, she didn't like him that way. Or both, he amended. Which would be horrible. The thought of telling Lily how he felt and her not returning those feelings was what kept him from saying something. Rejection wasn't something James Potter was familiar with; and he wasn't keen on trying it out with Lily.

Unknown to him, Lily was thinking somewhat along the same lines. Well; the part about the kiss would have been nice, she thought. Even if he only kissed her cheek. She wasn't sure she could call this a date if he didn't kiss her. And she wanted to call it a date very badly. When they entered the common room they found Remus had found the nerve to kiss Alexis, even if it was short and sweet, and a far cry from the heavy snogging Kassie and Sirius were known for. Lily watched as Alexis and Remus bade each other goodnight and turned to James, trying her best not to appear nervous or expectant.

James ran his hand through his hair several times and looked past Lily rather than at her. "Well," he said finally, "goodnight, then."

"Goodnight." Lily stared at him, trying to convey her feelings and hoping that he felt enough of the same to act on them. Instead he did something that made her heart drop to her stomach. He shook her hand. "Night," he muttered again and took off so fast up the boys staircase that Lily hadn't even properly grasped what had just happened before she heard the door to his dormitory shut.

James pressed his back against the cool wood of the door and closed his eyes. "That was bloody brilliant, Potter," he scolded himself, slapping his palm to his forehead hard. "Just brilliant. Oh, she hates me now. There went that."

"What was brilliant?" a voice asked very near his ear. James opened one eye reluctantly to see Sirius standing beside him. "Did you have a good day, Mr. Prongs?"

James ran his hand through his hair again, walked across the room in a dazed sort of way and flopped down hard on his bed. Quietly he explained what had just happened before falling backwards and pulling the pillow over his head in hopes of suffocation.

Across the room Sirius was staring at James with jaw slack and his eyebrows raised. For a full minute he stared, unblinking, before the latter gave up on suicide and sat up. Sirius swallowed. "You...you..." he repeated, waving his hands towards James in either shock or fascination. Remus shook his head and rolled his eyes in dismay. "You shook her hand?!"

"Merlin, it sounds even worse when you say it!" James announced and promptly covered his face with his pillow again. "Will someone hold this over my head long enough for me to die?"

"Oh, this is worse than death, Prongs," Remus lectured. "You were right; she hates you now."

"James, James, James..." Sirius repeated, shaking his head dejectedly. "How could you mess this up? Kassie and I had this all planned out. It was an idiot proof plan!"

"Apparently not," Remus injected, flipping open a novel he had been reading.

James scowled in his direction, but Remus took no notice. The door to the room opened and Peter came in, grinning. He stopped when he noticed how awkwardly silent the room was. "Eh, is it a bad time?"

Without warning James lunged off the bed and jumped at Peter, intent on taking his frustrations out on someone. Peter gasped and then something that no-one expected happened. Peter disappeared.

James fell to the ground where Peter had been, blinking around stupidly. Sirius scratched his head. "Did he just Apparate?"

"You can't Apparate inside the school," Remus muttered, throwing his book down and jumping up. "Where did he...look!" Remus was pointing to a small rodent on the floor that was looking up at them oddly.

James pushed himself off the floor and took several steps backwards so that he nearly ran into Sirius. Three of the four Marauders watched in fascination as the rat on the floor slowly grew taller, its ears disappearing and tail shrinking as it grew. It was like watching a muggle film in slow motion; after what could have only been forty-five seconds at best, but seemed much longer, Peter once more stood in the middle of the floor.

Sirius promptly fell backwards onto the floor, laughing hysterically, holding his stomach. Peter looked down at himself, not sure if he was dreaming or not, James and Remus were still staring at the shorter wizard in shock. "Whoa..." Peter finally said. "Did you see that?!"

"Hahahaha!" Sirius rolled over on his stomach, pounding his fist into the floor so hard that things on shelves around the room shook. "Peter is a rat! Peter is a rat! HAHAHAHA!" James kicked his best friend in the ribs, but Sirius continued to laugh, chanting "Peter is a rat!" over and over again.

"That's great, mate!" James finally said, clapping Peter on the shoulder.

"Yes, bloody brilliant!" Sirius chuckled, sitting up and wiping at his eyes. "And that tail! This is payback for everything you said about mine!"

"It looked like a worm," James said, laughing a bit himself. "The way it twitched around. Did you do that on purpose?"

Peter shrugged, grinning. "Don't know. It felt so weird, and I don't even know how I undid it. Crikey, I didn't even really know that I did it at all! Suddenly James looked like a giant." Peter frowned. "Why did you jump at me, anyway?"

James fumbled over his words, not exactly sure he could repeat the story. No matter; Remus helpfully filled Peter in. The shorter boy's jaw dropped. "You shook her hand?!"

"Why does everyone keep saying that!?" James groaned, throwing his hands up. "Say something else, would you? It could have been worse; I could have been cold, distant and sworn never speak to her again!"

It took approximately five seconds for Sirius to realise James had insulted him. Glaring, he got up off the floor. "Well, I'm with Kassie now, aren't I? I must have done something right. And at least I didn't shake her hand!"

Peter plopped down on his bed, watching James' mouth move for several minutes, but nothing happening. Finally he gave up and sat on his trunk, opting instead to stare loathingly at Sirius. Peter grinned. "I can't wait until the full moon!"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure," he grated, going back to his novel. Peter blanched, his face turning red.

Sirius tried for several minutes to get James to talk to him, but James wasn't having any part of it. Sirius shook his head. "Fine, I'll go somewhere where I'm wanted." He stalked out of the room, down the stairs and turned into the staircase that would lead to Kassie's room. Only when he got about five steps up, the stairs were suddenly gone. He emitted a high pitched squeak before sliding down and landing roughly in the common room. "What the bloody hell?!"

Heads were sticking out of rooms all up and down the hall and laughter started to fill the air. Someone in the fourth year rooms yelled up the hall. "OY! Kassie! Sirius wants you!"

Sirius picked himself up off the floor, cursing under his breath just as Kassie came sliding down the stairwell. Her face was blood red. "Eh, sorry about that."

"What was that for?" Sirius demanded, rubbing his aching back. "That's never happened before!"

Kassie blushed as several of the girls in the common room giggled at their expense. "Eh, Professor McGonagall didn't exactly explain it all. But it seems that when a boy from the fifth year or above tries to get up to the girl's rooms, that," Kassie indicated the slide that was positioning itself back to stairs, "happens. I thought you knew."

"How does it know what year we are in? Why fifth year?" muttered Sirius darkly, sitting in an armchair and motioning for Kassie to join him.

She perched on the armrest. "I don't know."

"How come you can get into our rooms?" Sirius then demanded, glaring at the offending stairs.

"I don't know that, either," Kassie replied, grinning a little.

Sirius' face relaxed some, but he still cursed under his breath for a moment. "Well, Miss Phillips, is there anything you do know?"

Kassie leaned down and kissed his lips quickly. "I know I love you."

Sirius' face split into a smile and he tugged Kassie down into his lap, much to the dismay of a few second years that promptly cleared the room. Sirius watched them go. "Good riddance," he said. Kassie hit him lightly on the arm. "Now, where was I? Oh, that's right," he continued after a moment, "I was about to kiss you for that."

"Geesh, get a room," said Mundungus haughtily, coming down the stairs and crossing the room. Sirius and Kassie broke apart and glared at him. "Out of every room in this castle, you two pick the common room to snog in?"

"That was not snogging," Sirius retorted, watching as Mundungus crossed the room and went out of the portrait hole. "Good riddance to him, too. Now-"

"Oh! Sorry," Lily said, coming into the room and walking past quickly.

Sirius groaned. "Where are you going, Lily?" Kassie asked, trying to sit up. Only Sirius wasn't letting go, so she wasn't really going far.

"Just for a walk. I'll be back shortly. Sorry to interrupt your snogging."

Sirius grumbled something incoherent under his breath that sounded much like "We are not snogging". He tried once more to kiss Kassie, but she pulled away. "Lily told us what happened. What happened to your idiot proof plan?"

Sirius, finally giving up, sank back into the chair and looked Kassie straight in the eye. "I guess James is an idiot, so he could mess it up. I'm telling you, I'm just going to ask Lily out for him."

"Like you did me, eh?"

Sirius crossed his arms. "Why does everyone keep bringing that up? First James, multiple times, I might add, now you. Will it haunt me forever?"

Kassie sighed, appearing as if in deep thought. "Well, perhaps not that long. But a few years, at least."

"Think we'll be together that long?" Sirius asked. Kassie turned her head to see if he was joking or not. From the looks of it, he wasn't.

Kassie bit her lip. "Why do you ask?"

Her boyfriend shrugged, trying to pull her down again, but she didn't let him. Sirius sighed. "I just wondered what you thought."

Kassie planted both her hands on either side of his face. "As long as you can put up with me, then I'd say we have a good shot."

"Put up with you?" Sirius asked, laughing. "That's easy. Putting up with me? That's a whole other question."

"Ugh, you two are being all lovey-dovey again, aren't you?" Peter muttered, turning back around from where he had been coming down the stairs. "James is moaning about Lily, Remus is talking about Alexis and I came down to escape, and end up here to see you two snogging again."

"For the last time; WE ARE NOT SNOGGING!" Sirius roared, yanking Kassie down into his lap. "But we are now just because everyone keeps suggesting it!" He dipped his head down to a giggling Kassie.

Peter's face turned slightly green and he ran back up the stairs, Kassie and Sirius’ laughter following him. He shoved the door to his room open, stepped in and went straight to his bed. "Don't talk to me, don't even look at me," he warned Remus and James. "I don't want to hear about witches, talk about witches or witness Sirius snogging any witches!" Peter shut his curtains, then charmed them so he couldn't hear anything outside of them. James and Remus shook their heads; laughing.

--End Chapter 39.