It Only Hurts When I Breathe

The news of Sirius and Grace's relationship spread quickly throughout the school. Many members of Sirius' fan club were found in the girl's bathrooms sobbing hysterically and had to be taken to Madam Pomfrey for calming potions. Other girls aimed hexes at Grace as she went to her classes, causing her to have the Gryffindor prefects, Lily and Remus, escort her to class. After a few weeks everything died down, but only because Filch had threatened to hang anyone caught throwing hexes in the corridor by their toenails because some "stray" hexes had hit Mrs. Norris.

Grace and Sirius' relationship was troubled even without the outside attention placed on it. Both had strong personalities and both were stubborn when wanting their way. Loud rows were often heard coming from the boy's dormitory, cueing the rest of the Marauders to stay in the common room until either Grace or Sirius came barreling down the stairs, fuming and cursing the other under their breath. Even when they did split up, which usually happened about once a month, the other students refused to date either of them because after a few days someone would find them snogging passionately in a broom closet. No one could understand how two people so volatile and explosive could continue in a relationship that way.

Once, while studying in the Library, Grace tried to explain it to Lily. "It's the strangest thing in the world. It feels as though one moment I wish he'd get eaten by the giant squid, and the next moment I can't get enough of him. There are some things about him I absolutely loathe, like how he's so stubborn and rash. Then, when he looks me in the eyes it feels like nothing else in the world is important, like that moment, that feeling, is the only thing that matters."

Lily shook her head. "Sweet Merlin, Grace, I honestly thought that you'd be the last girl in Hogwarts to fall in love with Sirius Black. Looks like I owe Remus five galleons." Grace smacked Lily playfully on the head with a book, causing the ever-watchful Madam Pince to swoop down and chastise them loudly for 'treating the precious tome so disgracefully as to warrant capital punishment.' The two girls ran giggling back to the common room.

"I wouldn't want to go in there," the Fat Lady sagely told them when they gave her the password (aurora borealis). "Black and Potter are in a bad way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked Grace as the portrait swung forward to allow them in. They soon found out as they entered, for Sirius and James were indeed in a bad way.

"I can't believe that bastard did that!" James roared and flung his school bag across the room, an inkbottle flying out and hitting a third year on the head, causing her to cry as the black ink from the broken bottle drenched her face and robes.

Sirius was equally roused and was brandishing his wand wildly, shooting bright purple sparks at random students, causing nearly everyone to quickly retreat to the dormitories, everyone except the Marauders, Lily and Grace, the latter two bravely attempting to calm them down. After several minutes of trying to talk them into submission, Lily and Grace exchanged grave looks, for desperate times called for desperate measures. They raised their wands simultaneously.

"Petrificus Totalis!" the two boys suddenly froze like statues. Sirius' mouth was wide open in a half-formed shout, and James had been gesticulating violently, his arms thrown out making rude gestures. Remus took the cue and quickly removed their wands, as to prevent them from hexing the four of them when they were unfrozen. Peter thanked them profusely as he straightened up from behind the sofa he had been hiding. One of Sirius' wild wand movements had hit him in the head and turned his hair a vivid blue. Grace quickly turned it back to its former mousy brown.

"Now what in Godric's name is this all about?" Lily asked, as two bright pink spots began to appear on her cheeks. "Honestly, I should give the two of you so many detentions that you'd never see the light of day again! Frightening the younger students like that, what were you thinking?" She began pacing in front of the two boys, pointing her finger at them in fury.

Remus cleared his throat, "Actually, I think I caught some of what they were raving about, or at least why they were raving. I believe that Severus Snape had planned a trap in which he advised Filch that the two of them could be found dueling with Snape and Rastaban Lestrange, at which point he did and they received eight detentions apiece and lost fifty points for supposedly instigating the duel."

Lily looked from Sirius to James. "Now look, you two, I'm going to let you go, and when I do you're going to calmly tell me if that is true." She lifted her wand and paused. "But if you start shouting again, I'll freeze the two of you for all eternity." Lily waved her wand and the two boys relaxed.

Then all hell broke loose again. "That slimy git has gone too far this time!" James roared in fury.

"Snivellus is going to pay for this! We're never going to win the House Cup now." Sirius started pacing back and forth, kicking cushions from the squashy couches across the room. The two boys continued for several minutes until Grace pointed her wand at the ceiling and shot bright gold sparks from the tip of her wand.

"Listen up!" she shouted above the two raving lunatics. "Screaming and whining and shouting about the situation isn't going to do you any good." James and Sirius looked at her dumbfounded, and Lily and Remus gently pushed them down into one of the couches, both giving her a grateful look for finally silencing them. She paused and lowered her voice as there was no reason to shout anymore because she had everyone's complete attention. "What you've got to do is get even."

Lily stared at her best friend in disbelief. "What are you talking about? Did they hit you with some kind of curse when they were raving a minute ago?" Indeed, everyone in the room was staring at her as though she had grown a second head, for Grace was usually not the one to propose a prank to the Marauders.

"No," Grace replied calmly. To be truthful, she was nearly as upset as James and Sirius. Losing the House Cup and the Quiddich tournament because Gryffindor's two best players had detention was more than her extremely competitive nature could take. Snape had indeed gone too far. She took a deep breath. "I won't help you get back at him, but I won't stop you either.

The others looked at each other in stunned silence. James leaned back against the couch, already trying to devise some Machiavellian plot. Lily was still completely in shock, and Peter was staring at James. Remus gave Grace a measured, appraising look. As cautious and analytical as he was, he had never seen that coming.

Sirius looked up at his girlfriend- were they going out this week? Oh well, after that speech they certainly were- with a newfound respect and appreciation. He stood and gathered her tightly in his arms and kissed her on the top of the head. "You are really something else, aren't you?"

Grace grinned and tilted her face toward his. "You don't know the half of it."

Lily had finally come out of her stupor as the small group began breaking apart. "You will do no such thing! If I even hear so much as a whisper of you two plotting anything, it'll be twenty detentions apiece." Lily rounded on Grace. "And you! I thought that out of all these hooligans you might help me be the voice of reason."

Grace laughed. "C'mon Lily, they won't kill him, well, permanently maim him maybe, or embarrass him so bad that he'll turn muggle. Lighten up a little, huh?" Grace turned to join the Marauders for dinner, leaving Lily standing alone in the common room, completely flummoxed.