Simply Moony

I was awoken early (well, at eleven o'clock) the next morning by a knock at the door. I heard Holly answer it, and then say, "Yeah, she's in her room, go straight up."

The door opened and Kacia came in, looking miserable as sin. She closed the door and sat on my bed.

"I was talking to Sirius last night," she said finally.

"Well...that's good, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I know, but it just made me realise how much I'm going to miss him."

"Well, we'll be going back to school in a couple of months or so -"

"That's ages away, though," Kacia pointed out. "Anyway, he said that he's going to miss me, too..." She looked up, and suddenly I half-knew what was coming. "Which is why we're going to stay with him for a fortnight!" The miserable look had vanished - she now looked happy as a clown. Happier. Typical Kacia - always the Drama Queen.

"What do you mean, 'we'?"

"Well, Remus lives more or less next door to him, and James only lives a street away or something, and Lily is going to stay with James -"

"And what do you expect me to tell my mum?"

"Same as I'm telling mine."

"Which is...?"

"That we're going to stay with Lily in Wales."

"I don't know...won't Sirius' parents mind?" Kacia's eyes sparkled.

"That's the best part - they're not going to be there!"

"They're leaving Sirius in charge of the house?"

"No, they're leaving his sister in charge, Katrina or something. She's twenty, I think, and she still lives at home, but as you can imagine, she doesn't want to be stuck with Sirius for three weeks straight. She's going to stay with her boyfriend - he only lives about ten minutes away. She says that Sirius can have whoever he wants over, as long as he cleans up afterwards."

"So when -"

"We leave tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yep. Get up, you need to pack."

"Shouldn't I ask my mum first?"

"Oh...well, yeah, if you want to. I'll start getting your clothes ready for you to pack."

***

Mum agreed that I could go. It was a good job that she thought we were going to stay with Lily - if she knew where we were really going, she'd have hit the roof and sealed off all the exits to stop me leaving the house.

So the next morning, I lugged my suitcase out into the street, and stood with Kacia, just waiting. We had no idea how Sirius was going to arrive - all he had told Kacia was to wait outside my house at seven in the morning. It was an odd time, but he told us it was 'because of traffic'.

"God, I look awful," Kacia grumbled.

"You never look awful. You just -"

I heard a rumbling noise, gradually growing louder and louder, and stopped talking. Kacia and I exchanged a puzzled look. Suddenly, without warning, a huge motorbike fell out of the sky.

"What the -?" Kacia gasped, as Sirius took off his helmet and grinned.

"Like it?"

"I love it! Where'd you get it?"

"As a present, for my eighteenth birthday. My parents are very trusting."

"They'd have to be, letting you loose with this," I commented. "Just one question, though - how are we all going to get to your house?"

"Easy. If I move forwards a bit then you two can easily fit on behind me. Just levitate your suitcases or something."

I glanced back at my house - I could just imagine my mother peering out from behind the net curtains - but there was nothing. (Thank God - she'd have killed me if she found out I was travelling all the way to Cornwall on the back of a flying motorbike.)

Kacia hopped on the bike behind Sirius, and I got on behind her, clinging on for dear life as the motorbike shot into the air.

"Don't worry," Sirius shouted over the noise. "It's bewitched, you won't fall. If you do, the magic will just pull you back on."

"Oh well, there's a reassurance," I muttered, but I loosened my grip on Kacia anyway.

***

We reached Sirius' house within about three or four hours, and I couldn't believe my eyes. It wasn't a house; it was more like a mansion.

"You live - here?" Kacia breathed.

"Yep. Remus and Peter are already here," Sirius told her. Kacia suddenly looked mutinous.

"You didn't tell me they were coming," she snapped. "Me, Chloe and three lads - oh yes, Sirius, that will be fun."

"Well, Lily should be arriving within the hour, with James," Sirius told her. Kacia's dark look got much darker.

"Two weeks in a house with Lily Evans. Fabulous."

Sirius showed us to our bedrooms - his house had nine. My house - a three-bedroomed semi - seemed tiny in comparison. My room looked out over the expansive gardens, and I could even see a Quidditch pitch not too far away. I thought that was quite odd - Sirius didn't even play Quidditch. I asked him about that when I first saw it.

"Sirius - why have you got a Quidditch pitch? You don't play, do you?"

"No, but my sister does."

"Your sister?"

"Yeah, Kitty. She plays for the Appleby Arrows." My mouth fell open. Really, it did.

"Your sister is Kitty Black? As in world-famous Keeper Kitty Black?" Sirius nodded. I couldn't believe it. Holly and I both passionately supported the Arrows, and Kitty Black was my idol. "D'you - d'you think you could get me an autograph?"

Sirius laughed.

"You can do better than that," he said. "She's coming here later to check up on me."

It looked like this fortnight was going to be a very happy one indeed. My good mood was made even brighter a few minutes later, when there was a knock at the door. I answered it and caught a split-second glimpse of Remus before he pulled me in for a kiss.

"Missed me, then?" I grinned as he let go of me.

"Of course."

"It's only been a day."

"So? Do you want to come outside, go for a walk or something?"

"Yeah, just let me finish unpacking. Come in if you want."

I unpacked whilst Remus lolled on my bed, making comments on my clothes, which apparently were "very Muggle". Quite fitting, really, bearing in mind that I lived with Muggles.

"You actually have Arrows Quidditch robes?" he said in disbelief, as I took them from my suitcase and hung them neatly in my wardrobe.

"Of course. Holly always lets me tag along with her and her friend, Roberta Prewett, whenever they go. And I still can't believe that Kitty Black is Sirius' sister. How come you never told me?"

"I didn't know until I got here and asked about the Quidditch pitch. I don't think he likes to mention it, especially seeing as he can't go two feet on a broom without falling off."

"Yeah, I remember the flying lessons," I grinned. We had been learning to fly one hundred metres, only about five or six feet off the ground, but somehow Sirius ended up on top of the gamekeeper's hut, clutching the chimney and refusing to come down for several hours.

There was another knock on the door, and James looked in.

"Fancy a three-on-three game of Quidditch?" he asked. "Kitty's just arrived, she said she'll play, and then there's me, Kacia, and Peter. Lily won't play, and Sirius - well, you know what Sirius is like when it comes to flying."

"Yeah, I'll play," I said, standing up. "I haven't brought my broom, though."

"Don't worry, Kitty will lend you one of hers." I almost fainted.

***

"CHLOE! CATCH THE BLOODY QUAFFLE!" Kacia bellowed, as James came hurtling towards me, Kacia in hot pursuit. He threw the Quaffle towards the left hoop, and I, to my amazement, swerved and caught it. I threw it to Kacia, who tucked it under her arm and sped away, but soon had it stolen by James. Kacia really wasn't very good at Quidditch - no wonder the score was still nil-nil. Kitty hadn't let one goal in (partly because Kacia had never flown within the scoring area - James and Peter kept blocking her), and neither had I.

Kitty and Sirius looked very similar, and I wondered why I had never noticed the similarities before. They both had dark hair, brown eyes and wide grins, and from the sound of it, both were very intelligent.

"THE SNITCH! THERE'S THE SNITCH!" Kacia shouted at Remus, who had been idly floating in mid-air. He blinked at her.

"What?" Kacia really was like a drill sergeant sometimes, but completely clueless. If she hadn't shouted, then Peter wouldn't have seen the Snitch either. He only had to fly a few feet to catch it, which he did.

"Oh, get a room," Kacia muttered to me as James landed and Lily rushed towards him, congratulating him on his 'wonderful performance'. "I'm going in, you coming?"

"Yeah, OK," I said, but before we could, Kitty came over to us. She smiled at me.

"You made some nice saves just then," she said. I blushed from the roots of my hair to my chin.

"Well, I - y'know."

"Do you play for the school team?"

"No, the Gryffindor Keeper is in his seventh year. I haven't had a chance."

"Well, next year, get yourself along to one of the practices. You've got a lot of talent."

"Oh - thanks." My blush got deeper, if possible. I couldn't believe this - Kitty Black, congratulating me on my talent.

"Listen, you two aren't planning on going out tonight, are you?"

"No, I don't think so," I said, looking at Kacia, who shook her head.

"Good. I've invited a few people round for a bit of a get-together, it should be a good night."

"I - um - right."

"See you tonight, then," Kitty said, smiling and walking away.

"Cow," Kacia muttered. I looked at her.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, look at her! She's all 'oh-look-at-me-I'm-Sirius'-perfect-sister'. No wonder he didn't mention her."

"She seems all right to me," I said.

"Well, you would think that, you're too nice to people. Anyway, come on, you need to help me."

"I need to help you do what, exactly?"

"Decide what to wear tonight."

"But you said -"

"I know I don't like Kitty, but use your brains, Chloe. The rest of the Arrows are bound to be here, aren't they? They're her friends."

"But you don't support -"

"I know I don't support the Arrows, but do you think I never look at your book on them? Steven Crotchet's gorgeous, and if he's going to be here, I have to look my best. Now come on."

***

Helping Kacia decide what to wear was always the same. She'd try on about twenty different outfits, and it was almost guaranteed that the one she went for was one of the first three.

That night, she had decided on black dress robes, that had a huge silver flower printed on the side. She looked stunning, as usual - and I felt twice as ugly standing next to her. Kacia's outfits might have been unusual, but she always knew how to attract attention and look fantastic.

Kitty breezed into my room as I was deciding what to wear. Her black hair was pulled back elegantly, and she wore what I recognised as the Appleby Arrows' ceremonial dress robes - or should I say robe? The female version was practically a dress - pale blue and simple, with a fitted waist and no sleeves. The male version consisted of pale blue robes much like the ones we wore for school, usually worn with a white shirt and pale blue trousers. They often looked like they were wearing pyjamas, but they didn't seem to mind.

"Have you got a lipstick I can borrow?" she asked.

"Um - yeah...here," I said, handing it to her.

"Thanks. What are you wearing?"

"Dunno, can't decide. Either pink or lilac, I think, but -"

"Wait there," she interrupted, and dashed out of the room. She returned a couple of minutes later, a scarlet creation slung over one arm. She held it out to me. "Here."

"Red?" I said doubtfully. "Isn't that a bit -"

"Tarty? Only if worn in the wrong way. I'll go wait outside, give me a shout when you've got it on."

I pulled on the red robe, feeling doubtful. Red wasn't my colour - I wasn't confident enough for it. The robe had long flared sleeves and a worryingly low-cut front, which I tugged at as I called Kitty back in.

"I don't think it's really -"

"You look stunning," she interrupted. "Everyone's here, and they're all dying to meet the talented young Keeper I've been telling them about. And I have to prise Steven Crotchet away from your friend Kacia - he's far too old for her, and besides, I know Sirius is a pain sometimes, but I don't want to see him hurt. Never mind adjusting the neckline, come on!"