What Lies Within

Chapter Nine - Halloween

Saturday morning found the Marauders seated around the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, eating breakfast... or well, James, Peter, and Remus were. Sirius just sat, head propped in his hand, pushing his food around on his plate. His eggs were stone cold and his hash browns were starting to congeal. James rolled his eyes at Remus and got up to talk to the rest of the team.

"Come on, Sirius, you've got to eat something!" Remus encouraged, pushing a plate of buttered toast toward him. "You're going to need the energy for the game this morning!"

Sirius frowned, pushing the plate back at Remus. "I'm not hungry... really." He cast a glance at the Ravenclaw table distractedly.

"Oh, Sirius, not you, too!" Remus cried. Peter looked up interestedly from his paper to better follow the conversation. "James is bad enough, but at least he still eats! This is pointless!"

"I can't help it!" Sirius exclaimed, throwing down his fork and pushing away his plate of food. "I'm not hungry; I haven't been all week! There's no use trying to force myself. Besides I can't eat when I'm so exhausted." Sirius sighed and plopped his head down on the table.

"Haven't you been sleeping right?" Peter asked, turning to the sports section of the Daily Prophet. A big picture of Jordan Murphy, the famous Seeker for the Limerick Lions, smiled and waved from page twelve.

"No, I haven't, although now it's for a different reason than before." Again, Sirius glanced at the Ravenclaw table. James returned and took his seat across from Peter.

"Padfoot, mate, you've really got to eat something."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Not you, too! Why can't you all accept that I'm just not hungry and leave me alone?" Sirius put his head back down on the table.

"Because we've got a Quidditch match to win, that's why!" James jumped to his feet and glared down at Sirius, who stared back warily. "And as your captain, I'm telling you... no, I'm ordering you to eat something for breakfast, Black, or I'll go and tell Brian Kelly to pick up his beater's bat and play the game in your place. Do you hear me?"

"Brian Kelly sucks, though."

"I know, and I don't want to use him because you're so much better, but he'll be playing if you don't eat something. You savvy?" James crossed his arms.

Sirius sighed. "Yeah, I savvy."

"Good. Now Remus, make sure he eats everything that's on his plate, okay?"

"Sure thing, boss."

"I'll see you down at the pitch in fifteen minutes." And with that, James turned on his heel and marched out of the Great Hall.

Remus chuckled as he watched him go and pushed Sirius plate back toward him. "You heard the man, eat up, or we'll be watching Gryffindor get slaughtered by Hufflepuff!"

Sirius picked up his fork and shovelled in a mouthful of cold eggs, shuttering at the taste. "Naw, Gryffindor won't get slaughtered my Hufflepuff, even if I'm not playing. Their Keeper is a moron and drifts to the right constantly, remember? Our Stanley is much better, hasn't missed a shot during practice yet!" Sirius bit off a chuck of toast, chewed quickly, and swallowed.

"I don't know. I've heard that Hufflepuff has a new Keeper - I think I heard someone say David Jones? - and they have that new Seeker of theirs, Thomas Lee. I've heard he's really, really good." Peter folded his paper and leaned in closer to be better heard over the buzz in the Hall. "Not to mention they replaced Aaron Matheson with NayYun Cho because he couldn't get along with his brother, Josh. Apparently she's really small, fast, and hard to catch."

Sirius shook his head, working through a mouthful of starchy potatoes. He swallowed hugely then said, "Yeah, but we replaced Keith with Matthew and you wouldn't believe the difference! Keith could never catch the Quaffle, let alone hold onto it, and Matthew can do both! Then there's Nathan that we have for a beater this year. He's not the best, but he can hit a Bludger harder than anything. We'll be fine." Sirius made a face and poked his potatoes with his fork. "Urk - this is nasty!"

"Come on, man! Eat like a duck!" Peter said, jumping to his feet. The Great Hall was emptying around them as people headed down to the pitch.

"Would that involve being able to touch my toes with my mouth, or would I need a bill for that?" Sirius mumbled sarcastically, making designs in his food.

"Just eat!" Remus and Peter practically yelled in unison.

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Sirius entered the change room, having eaten everything on his breakfast plate, no matter how horrible it tasted. Everyone else was already changed and chatting nervously, clutching their brooms like life preservers. Sirius grinned as he pulled on his scarlet robes. He never got nervous before games anymore; playing Quidditch was second nature to him now. But this was Matthew and Nathan's first game, and they looked the worst of the lot.

As Sirius was just getting into a debate with Stanley about whether the rumours about Hufflepuff's new Keeper were true, James entered the change room from his office to give his usual pep talk to the team.

"Alright, everyone, this is it. The beginning of the Quidditch season, and guess what? We're going to win... or else." James glared around at them all. Matthew and Nathan gulped, exchanging glances. Sirius wasn't the only one who snickered. "This is my last year, and it would in all of your interests to make sure that Gryffindor wins the cup again." James glared around at his team again. Sirius laughed.

"Come on, James!" Sirius reasoned. "Don't scare the noobs!"

"That's 'Captain' to you, Black!" James spat. The newest players both drew in a breath in surprise, but the rest of the team all saw the humour in James' eyes.

"O Captain! my Captain!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping to his feet in a salute, "our fearful trip is done;

"The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;

"The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

"While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

"But O heart! heart! heart!

"O the bleeding drops of red;

"Where on the deck my Captain lies,

"Fallen cold and dead."

Stanley, realising what Sirius was doing, jumped to his feet as well and, saluting James, said:

"O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

"Rise up - for you the flag is flung - for you the bugle trills;

"For you the bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths - for you the shores a-crowding;

"For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

"Here Captain! dear father!

"This arm beneath your head;

"It is some dream that on the deck,

"You've fallen cold and dead."

Then Sirius and Stanley each threw an arm about the other's shoulders and continued:

"My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;

"My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;

"The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done:

"From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

"Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

"But I, with mournful tread,

"Walk the deck my Captain lies,

"Fallen cold and dead."

As the boys finished their dramatic reading, there was a pause in which the silence rang with shock and awe. Neither Matthew nor Nathan wanted to comment on what had just happened for fear of setting James off. (Sirius never knew why the new players were scared - or well, wary would probably be a better word - of James. He had never really done anything to deserve this sort of behaviour. Not that he minded, of course; Sirius was of the impression that James liked the revered awe with which they looked upon him. It certainly made them play harder.) James narrowed his eyes in mock irritation.

"Was that a threat, Black? Davis?" he asked calmly, observing them over his glasses.

"Sir, no, Sir!" they both shouted, snapping to attention again.

"Sir, it was a promise, Sir!" Sirius offered, a grin marring his perfect military tone.

"That's what I want to hear!" James slapped them both on the back and they all burst out laughing. The new Chaser and Beater exchanged confused glances. Since when was their Captain joking? "Come on, lads!" James exclaimed, grabbing his broom from where it stood against the wall.

"Ah-hem?" Andrea Baylli coughed, hands on hips, her dark face set into a mask of incredulity.

"And ladies," James added, sending her a sheepish grin. Andrea and Cynthia, the two other Chasers and the only girls on the team, never failed to remind James that if it weren't for girls on the team, they would turn out just like the Slytherins (not that this was necessarily true, but it was the reference that mattered. The Slytherins had no girls on their team and no one could remember a time when there had been). In fact, they had encouraged James to pick girls when choosing new players at tryouts, so they could be more like the Ravenclaw team (the Ravenclaws had four girls on their team and generally got along rather well, but Sirius was of the opinion that since their captain was a girl, the boys were just to scared to speak up). James, of course, considered their suggestion, but, in the end, picked the most worthy players, which just happened to be boys.

The Gryffindor team walked out onto the pitch to much applause and cheering from the red and gold and a good part of the blue and bronze sides of the stands and an overwhelming amount of booing and catcalling from the yellow and black and green and silver sides of the stands.

"And here come the Gyffindors!" the voice of Aaron Matheson shouted over the noise. "Seeker and captain James Potter," there came a wave of adoring screams from the stands, "Keeper Stanley Davis, Chasers Andrea Baylli, Matthew Pek, and Cynthia Noble, and Beaters Sirius Black," (more screams, mostly from the female students), "and Nathan Gibbs!" Cheers and cat calls filled the stadium once more.

"And here are the Hufflepuffs!" Aaron continued, "Beater and captain Eric Vance, Keeper David Jones," (the girls screamed again), "Chasers Jeff McIntyre, Deborah You, and NayYun Cho, and Seeker Thomas Lee!"

Murmuring filled the stands. Sirius looked up in surprise and he caught James' eye. James' face was sombre. Sirius sighed as he understood. He looked up in time to see Professor McGonagall give Matheson a slap on the arm, yelling something at him. Matheson didn't look happy when he added reluctantly, "and Beater Josh Matheson." He sounded like he had just swallowed a lemon.

Sirius shook his head. The pitch was no place to take out your resentment on a member of your house's team. What a fool, Sirius thought to himself.

"Captains, shake hands!" Madame Hooch, the new flight instructor, called over the muttering crowd. James and Eric stepped forward and shook each other's hands, both smiling tightly at the other.

"Mount your brooms!" All players complied and Madame Hooch motioned for the balls to be released. Sirius saw the Bludgers and the tiny golden Snitch fly into the air; he kept his eyes on the Bludgers. He remembered his first game: he had taken it for granted that the Bludgers wouldn't attack players before the game had started. He was sorely mistaken. He had narrowly escaped decapitation by the heavy black balls as they came right for his head. Only the slight whistling that the balls produced warned him in time. Presently, Madame Hooch placed her whistle to her lips and gave it a short blast.

Sirius kicked off from the ground as hard as he could. He looked briefly to see who had caught the Quaffle, and smiled as he noticed Andrea streaking up the pitch with the red ball under her arm, then turned his attention to the Bludgers and opened his ears for the commentary.

"Baylli streaking up the pitch passes to Noble who swerves around McIntyre and passes to Pek, a new find of Potter's this year. Pek dodges You and... drops the Quaffle." The Gryffinfor fans all groaned in unison. "Nice Bludger there by Vance and Cho has the Quaffle..."

Sirius urged his broom to go faster as he raced toward the Bludger that had unseated Pek. When he got there, Matthew was just getting his bearings again.

"You okay?" Sirius called, as Metthew shook his head to clear it.

"Yeah I'm fine," he called back. "Wow, I wasn't expecting that."

"Yeah, but the good thing is, neither will she." Sirius gave the Chaser a grin before turning to the Bludger flying at his head and hitting it as hard as he could toward Cho, who still had the Quaffle. The Bludger flew straight and true and hit the Quaffle as Cho tried to pass to You. It Sirius' signature move, hitting the Quaffle instead of the player. Except when he was playing Slytherin when (a) there were no girls and (b) he didn't care if he hurt them. If was harder to do, hitting a moving ball, but Sirius was so good at it that it was second nature to him. Madame Pomfrey certainly appreciated it.

"Bludger from Black hits the Quaffle away from the Hufflepuff Chasers. How does he do that? Anyway, Gryffindor in possession again and Noble dodges another Bludger from Matheson," Sirius noted the resentment in Aaron's voice as he said his brother's name, "swerves around McIntyre, passes to Pek and... HE SCORES! Ten nil Gryffindor!"

A roar of cheers erupted from the Gryffindor supporters and Sirius allowed himself a glance at the stands. He could see Hagrid cheering just like everyone else (since Hagrid wasn't a teacher, he was free to choose sides) and he spotted Remus and Peter standing next to the giant. They were jumping up and down waving red and gold flags. Sirius grinned and turned his eyes to the blue and bronze sides of the stadium. He scanned the faces, looking for one in particular. Then he caught sight of a raven-haired girl jumping and waving at him. His smile widened and he waved back.

A whistling noise caught Sirius' attention and he spun and ducked just in time to avoid a concussion. Taking a steadying breath to calm his excitement, Sirius raced after the Bludger, letting his ears drink in the commentary.

"McIntyre flying up the pitch toward the Gryffindor goal. Better get ready Davis, looks like he means business! McIntyre passes to Cho who passes to You..."

Sirius caught up with the Bludger and belted it toward You, but she noticed, ready this time for his tricks, and kept the Quaffle close to her body until the Bludger has passed.

"You doesn't fall for the Black Manoeuvre and passes to Cho who shoots and... the shot is blocked my Davis. He throws it to Baylli and here we go again!"

Sirius scanned the pitch for the Bludgers and noticed one zooming toward James thirty feet above him. He put on a spurt of speed and, catching up to it, beat it toward the other one, which was speeding toward Pek again.

Hearing the sound of bat against Bludger, James looked down and saw that Sirius was saving him from an unseating. He dropped ten feet and gave his friend a pat on the back.

"Thanks," he said, still glancing around for the Snitch.

"Haven't seen it yet?" Sirius asked, his eyes on the game below them.

"If I had, I would be chasing it right now. It's impossible to find!" James grumbled, but Sirius could tell that he liked the challenge. He always complained after a game if he found the snitch too quickly.

"You'll find it." Sirius rolled his eyes. "You always do. Have fun!" And with that he soared back down to the main game in time to save Gibbs from the Bludger that was sneaking up behind him. Gibbs looked surprised to see that Sirius was behind him.

"I didn't see that one coming!" he exclaimed, scratching his head.

"You just have to remember that there are two Bludgers in this game and I'm not always covering the one you're not looking at. Follow both with your eyes as much as possible and you'll be able to save yourself a trip to the Hospital Wing." Sirius shook his head as he flew away from Gibbs. The boy had a lot to learn.

The game intensified ten fold as Gryffindor scored once again, making the score twenty, zero for Gryffindor. The next half an hour passed in a blur of Bludgers, racing players and a couple of sightings of the snitch. Each time James noticed it hovering near the ground, a Bludger from a Hufflepuff beater came zooming at his head, forcing him to roll on his broom. By the time he oriented himself again, the snitch would be gone. Sirius had assigned Gibbs to keep an eye on James and make sure the Bludgers didn't come close enough to disorient him again, but Gibb's eyes kept wandering to the game and he would never notice them in time.

As Hufflepuff scored its first goal of the game, James called a time out. All the Gryffindor players flew for the ground, wary of what their captain might have to say.

"What the hell is going on?" James asked, looking around at his team. "I've seen the Snitch at least three times now, but every time I go to get it, I nearly get unseated by a Bludger. Where the hell are you guys?" His question was directed at Sirius and Nathan.

"We're doing the best we can!" Sirius responded, giving Gibbs a slight look. "I assigned Nathan to watch you, but he can't seem to keep his eyes off the game. And I can't be everywhere at once. Vance and Matheson are good. They're attacking the Chasers left, right, and center." Sirius shook his head. "If this keeps up, we'll never finish the game."

"I'm having a little difficulty keeping my eyes on You, James," Stanley spoke up, fidgeting in frustration. "She's good and I can't always see her lurking below me. Annoying, to say the least."

"I don't care how annoying it is, make sure she doesn't get passed you again!" James ordered, removing his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This isn't going to be an easy game, but we've got to do our best. Nathan, the game around you has nothing to do with your job. Keep your eyes on the Bludgers, for the love of God. Stanley, You is good, but you are better. Andrea, Matthew, and Cynthia, good job and keep up the good work. And Sirius, try not to break anything this time, okay?"

Everyone laughed and Sirius grabbed James in a headlock, knocking his glasses askew. They broke up and took off back to their positions above the pitch. Madame Hooch blew her whistle and the game started anew, even more rigorous than before.

"And we have Baylli flying up the pitch with the Quaffle, passes to Pek, who passes to Noble, and back to Pek... who dodges a Bludger hit by Vance. Black hits the Bludger back, nearly knocks You off her broom! Come on, Madame Hooch, that's got to be worth a penalty!"

The Gryffindor supporters booed him. Sirius smiled as he raced after another Bludger and hit it toward Matheson, who was about to hit one at Andrea. The boos turned into cheers of delight when Matheson had to roll on his broom to avoid the well-aimed Bludger. Sirius' stomach did a flop and he turned his broom around to save James from disembowelment.

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"She shoots... SHE SCORES! And it's eighty-seventy for Gryffindor!"

Times were getting desperate. The Hufflepuff team was making a comeback after Gibbs hit Jones, the Hufflepuff Keeper, instead of Vance, who was trying to unseat Cynthia, and Hufflepuff were awarded a penalty... and scored. Sirius spent a good five minutes shouting at Nathan for being stupid enough to hit a Bludger at the Hufflepuff Beater when he was so close to the Keeper.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Sirius shouted, arms flying everywhere in frustration. "What the bloody hell were you thinking? He was this close - this close - to Jones, but still you had to try and hit him with a Bludger. Why couldn't you just protect Cynthia instead of attacking the source? Have I taught you nothing?"

Gibbs mumbled something about being sorry and he would never do it again. Sirius just rolled his eyes and flew away, too angry to give a response. It was true that it was only ten points, but ten points could be the difference between Gryffindor winning and Gryffindor losing. And that was a pretty big difference in Sirius' opinion.

"Davis blocks a sneaky shot from You and passes to Baylli... ooh, but it's intercepted by Cho who shoots... AND SHE SCORES! I can't believe it! It's a tied game between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff! And Gryffindor in possession..."

Sirius flew upward to where James was circling the pitch, searching for the elusive Snitch.

"If you're planning on catching that damn ball, it had better be soon," he called above the cheers from the crowd. "Jones was a good find of Vance's; the Chasers can't get anything past him!" Sirius frowned.

"I'm doing the best I can... I can't see where the bloody thing could have gotten to! It just-"

Just then Thomas Lee, the Hufflepuff Seeker went into a dive. The crows drew in a collective breath and James pelted off after him. A shiver went up Sirius' spine; something wasn't right. Suddenly, it hit him.

"James! He's faking it!" Sirius shouted, trying desperately to be heard over the noise of the wind whistling in his ears. He streaked off after the two Seekers - he had to warn James before it was too late. "JAMES! THE SNITCH ISN'T THERE! HE'S FAKING IT!" But Sirius realised that he was saying too much. James wasn't going to understand what he was saying. James could hardly understand sentences as it was, let alone when he was deafened by the sound of the wind. Sirius put on a spurt of speed and got as close as he could to James, who still hadn't noticed him.

"WRONSKY FEINT!" Sirius yelled at the top of his voice. "WRONSKY FEINT!"

This caught James' attention. He looked sideways at Sirius, realisation dawning on his face. He pulled out of the dive, and Sirius pulled out after him. He was about to say something when James took off in the opposite direction from the one that Lee had been going. In the distance, Sirius could see the slightest glint of gold. He smiled.

Lee, realising too late by a glance over his shoulder that James had recognized his ploy, crashed into the ground with a sickening crunch. Cheers erupted from the stands and both teams flew toward the ground. The game was over and Gryffindor had won. Sirius smiled triumphantly as he dismounted, and was hoisted onto the shoulders of his fellow Gryffindors. And in the mob, just visible underneath the waving arms of all the supporters was the smiling face of a pale beauty.

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The high spirits that accompanied the win lasted for an entire week. Not even a pop quiz from McGonagall could dampen their mood. Potions didn't seem so torturous, Charms was light and bubbly, and Defence Against the Dark Arts had lost some of its morbidity. It seemed nothing could extinguish the feeling of winning the first match of the season among the Gryffindors. The excitement was only fuelled by the upcoming Halloween feast.

Finally the day of October the thirty-first arrived and the halls buzzed with the gossip that Dumbledore had booked a troop of acrobatic skeletons. The first years were practically squeaking with pent up energy, but the seventh years, and most of the other students as well, knew this to be only a rumour: it went around every year.

At seven o'clock the students walked down to the Great Hall to discover that thirteen of Hagrid's monster pumpkins had been carved and stood up against the walls, their twisted faces leering at the students. A first year next to Sirius shivered, and he smiled, remembering the first time he had seen those pumpkins. As always, the usual thousand floating candles were replaced with smaller pumpkins and the tables were decorated with sweets and confetti and even more pumpkins.

"They've really outdone themselves this year, haven't they?" James said, peering around at the extensive decorations. "Usually there's only sweets on the tables... and look! They've got bats and streamers again this year!" Sirius, Remus, and Peter all looked up to where he was pointed and sure enough, there were bats and streamers soaring through the starry sky that was the ceiling.

As they all got settled into their seats, Dumbledore got to his feet and surveyed them all with the slightest of smiles on his lips.

"I thought I might start the feast with a little speech about the origins of Halloween... but then I reminded myself that you do not want to hear the waffle of an old man, but instead want to dig in to our wonderful feast. Therefore, in light of the occasion, I only ask you listen to one word: Enjoy."

The food appeared and the students cheered. For a good ten minutes, all that could be heard was the chinking of glasses and the clatter of forks and knives. Conversations started to sprout up like the first drops of a shower, but soon there was a torrential downpour of talking. The Marauders started arguing about whether or not Slytherin would win against Ravenclaw. They were split half and half.

"You know damn well that Slytherin is so much better than Ravenclaw!" James said through a mouthful of potatoes. "They haven't got a chance!"

Remus shook his head. "I don't think so; Slytherin hasn't replaced anyone with new people this year and they didn't get along well to begin with. They've only used their backup players Ravenclaw, on the other hand, replaced four of its players and they all work together marvellously." He took a bite of the rare steak he was eating.

"Yeah, but that's bound to work against them," Peter pointed out. "All the Slytherins have experience, even if they don't work together. Teamwork isn't always everything, especially when you don't play by the rules." He rolled his eyes and his three friends laughed.

"That's true, but you can't forget that their captain is a new player as well," Sirius interjected. "Their previous Keeper is gone now and Levi replaced him. Why they picked him as captain, I'll never know. Usually a team picks an old player to head the team, not one of the noobs. The lack of leadership will probably be their downfall." He took a mouthful of carrots.

"Exactly!" Remus went on. "The Slytherins are notorious for picking players for their size and not their skill. Ravenclaw has so much more going for it. Slytherin is going to crash and burn."

James shook his head. "No chance. Slytherin's too intimidating and they never play by the rules. They'll win, no problem."

Sirius was about to argue further when they were interrupted.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," came a small voice, "but could I borrow Sirius for a minute?"

The four friends looked up in surprise to see Raven standing shyly, waiting for their answer. Sirius jumped to his feet at once.

"Of course!" he said, nearly knocking over the jug of pumpkin juice in his eagerness to be alone with Raven. She smiled and walked silently away. Sirius followed her into the Entrance Hall and out the front doors. The night air was crisp, but it wasn't that cold. Sirius breathed deeply, surprised at how fresh the air tasted. Raven was waiting for him on the bottom step.

"I'm sorry to take you away from the feast, but I've wanted to talk to you all week and this was the only time I could manage." She smiled up at him in an apologetic way. Sirius sat down beside her, lost in thought.

"You've wanted to speak to me?" he asked, astounded that she had been thinking of him at all.

Raven giggled. "Of course I have! After what you did at the Quidditch match, how could I not want to talk to you?" She must have noticed the perplexed expression on Sirius' face because she laughed openly and explained. "You warned James that Lee was faking it... that was really noble of you."

Sirius put aside the elation he felt at being called noble by Raven and shrugged off the compliment. "It's not really a big deal. I mean, I wasn't going to let James fall for that one... again." He smiled to himself and Raven giggled at the implication.

"The way you talk about him, it sounds like he isn't all that bright!" she teased. Sirius was momentarily distracted by the warm glow in her pale blue eyes.

"Not really."

They both laughed at the absurdity of the statement (James was one of the brightest people at Hogwarts). It was a moment before Sirius could regain his thoughts.

"So what have you been up to?" he asked, realising too late how stupid the question sounded. Raven giggled.

"Not much, actually. Just trying to get all my homework done on time." She blinked her long lashes and looked up at him. "How about you? Fallen from any high places lately?"

Sirius chuckled. "No, not since that last one. I'm thinking of retiring from my secret life as a free faller... not really good for the heart, you know?" He glanced at Raven.

She laughed, her white teeth glinting in the moonlight. And it was then that Sirius noticed that she didn't smile all the way. She sat staring off toward the lake, lost in her own thoughts and all Sirius could do was stare in wonder at her perfection. Minutes passed and still neither of them spoke. Suddenly, she turned to him and smiled that strange half smile.

"It's kind of chilly out here, isn't it?" she said, rubbing her arms for warmth.

"Why do you do that?" Sirius asked before he could stop himself. He instantly regretted it.

Raven stopped smiling. "Why do I do what?" she asked uncertainly, eyeing him out of the corner of her eye. She seemed nervous.

Her reaction confused Sirius, but there was no turning back now.

"Your smile. You don't show all your teeth..." he trailed off as her discomfort struck him. This only confused him even more. Surely a creature of this magnitude of perfection couldn't have crooked teeth?

"I think I'll go in now," she said, getting to her feet. Sirius perceived the change in subject and pushed down his curiosity. "It's getting kind of cold."

Sirius nodded. "I think the feast is over; I can hear people talking in the Entrance Hall."

Raven glanced toward the doors then back at Sirius' face. As she had done once before, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek before scurrying up the steps. When she had reached the door, she paused and looked back. "It was nice talking to you, Sirius." Then she was gone.

Sirius touched the place where her lips had touched him. Again there was the heat and the minor tingling sensation. Sirius shook his head to clear it and started up the steps after her. Raven was an enigma he was dying to solve, but he was afraid. Afraid that she wouldn't respond to his efforts...

He was the first back to the seventh year boys' dormitory. James, Remus, and Peter were probably all taking their time, having eaten too much, once again. Lance was most likely out with his first year again and Sirius was glad for the time alone. He got undressed and climbed into bed, letting the sheets warm his chilled flesh. Soon he fell asleep into fitful dreams about moonlight and half smiles.