Into the Hands of Fate

Chapter One

Lily put her legs over the side of her four-poster bed and stood up. She then wandered into the dark of the castle and down the steps. Next, she went to the boy's dormitory where she counted the fifth bed from the door. Quiet as a cat, she tiptoed to it and slid the curtain open.

"James, James, are you awake?" There was a moan from the figure before her and the thirteen-year-old boy turned over and sat up while grabbing for his glasses on the mantle before his bed.

"Lily? That you? Whassumatter?" he asked with a sleepy and slurred voice.

She took a deep breath. "James, I'm ready to talk now." At this, he looked at her.

"Alright." Like always for these midnight talks, he led her down to the common room where the fire burned with a glow both fierce and comforting. Right as she stepped into the large area, she felt a calming feeling erupt through her. Things would be right soon.

She sat on the floor beside him and stared into the fire. He kept quiet letting her speak when she felt it was right and the silence was relaxed. James took her hand gently and she smiled at him in the firelight. He wondered what it was that had been bothering her this past week. Lately, Lily had been avoiding all her friends and it was beginning to worry him.

"James, something - something happened." She swallowed and turned to look at him. Her chin was wobbling with her attempts to stop her crying. He could tell there were tears in her eyes by how brightly they shined in the firelight. Usually bright green, he now saw an outline of copper and gold sparkling to life in them.

Sitting closer to her, he rubbed her back comfortingly and said softly, "You know you can tell me anything."

Lily couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. That was James, always so caring and a wonderful friend. He was always there and could be counted on. "It - I was - I mean, do you remember the day when I was called to Professor Dumbledore's office?"

James nodded slowly. He and Sirius had set off an array of dung bombs in the dungeons making the caretaker burst into an unruly temper. Lily had walked up to them when Professor Greggors had tapped her shoulder telling her to follow him to the headmaster's office. Now that he remembered it, he hadn't noticed the unusual look of sorrow in the peppy professor's eyes.

It was then that he looked at her out of worried pale blue eyes. "Lily, what happened?"

"James, my - my parents were - they," she cut herself off while pulling herself into a quivering ball.

"Lily, please, tell me what happened," he said in a whisper, but his tone was urgent. She looked up at him with a tearstained face.

"My parents are gone, James." He shut his eyes and exhaled a long breath. He enfolded her into an embrace and wished he could somehow take her pain away from her. Suddenly, he felt a painful twist in his heart. He rubbed his chest with a slight frown and pulled away. Lily looked at him in question, but soon, the ache was gone. He shook his head and pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back like how his mother used to do to him when he was younger. He felt her tears bleeding through his nightclothes and wondered why it had to be Lily's parents next. Many other students of Hogwarts had been taken to the headmaster's office with the same news that Lily had just recently gotten. Everyone was always nervous that their families might be the next ones taken by the dark witches and wizards that were just now starting to arise.

"Lily, I - I'm so sorry," he told her, not knowing what to say. His heart broke for her and her loss, and they sat there most of the night until he helped her back into the girls' dormitory where she fell immediately asleep when her head hit the pillow. Walking slowly, he went back to his dorm and back to his bed where he sat up holding his pillow to him. There was a rustle on the bed to his right and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the curtain of the other bunk slide open.

"James?" he heard Sirius whisper into the dark.

He replied with a soft "Yes?"

The other boy shifted uneasily. "Er - it happened again, didn't it? Lily's...they -," he broke off leaving the sentence incomplete, but it didn't need to be completed. James took his glasses off and replaced them onto the spot they had been in earlier that night.

"Yeah, it happened again." He heard Sirius make an unwilling sound of anguish before the other boy closed the curtain again. James couldn't sleep well that night, but at about dawn, he fell into deep slumber hearing Peter's snores from the bed across from his.

~*~

The next day, Lily sat up and found that it wasn't quite morning yet. Looking out the window beside her bed, she found the mist was still afloat above the ground and the sun's light shone through the fog. Assorted shades of reds, oranges, and yellows littered the sky while specks of ivory hovered in the azure blue of the sky. She felt much better after her midnight talk with James, she always did. She buried herself back under her covers to try and get a bit more sleep. It seemed as if only a minute went by when she was awoken by a scream from the bed next to hers. Jumping up in alarm, she opened her curtain to see Hallie, her best friend, sitting up and screaming her head off in a mad rage.

The other girls sat up and opened their curtains yelling simultaneously, "Shut her up!" and then with mutters of 'get Sirius for always ruining my sleep,' they went back to their beds. Lily grinned and ran over to clamp her hand over the other girl's mouth. The screams were muffled but didn't stop until Hallie was out of breath.

When the wild screeches were over, Hallie took Lily's hand off her mouth and smiled. "Thanks, Lily."

It was only then that Lily saw the mess on the girl's hair and nightshirt. "Oh, dear, what happened to you?"

Hallie stated, as if it was obvious, "Sirius Black, I know it is. You had better start digging his grave because it's going to be filled by the end of the day." With that she stood up and made a display of jumps, hand movements, and noises to let out her anger. With a slightly labored breath, she said, "Ok, I'm fine, really I am." Lily was trying to cover a laugh behind her hand. "Lily, you take that hand off your mouth, trying to hide it doesn't mean you're doing a good job. Go ahead, laugh." And Lily did laugh; she laughed and laughed until she was bent over clutching her sides. When she looked up, Hallie was looking at her calmly. "Finished?"

"Yes, but how do you know if it was him?" asked Lily.

Hallie glared. "Who is the boy I hate most?" And then she started to walk off and slid on the slimy substance at the foot of her bed. By that time, most of the other girls had given up on trying to get more sleep.

Lydia sat up in her bed that was across from Hallie's and smirked at Lily. "Was it Sirius again?"

With a noise of agitation, Hallie said, "Yes it was Sirius Black! He had the nerve to put honey on my beautiful sleeping gown! Honey! This is a quality nightdress! It was my favorite one too! Because it was periwinkle! And what does that slimy git do to it?" Still fuming, she grabbed Lydia's bedpost and started walking towards the showers.

From beside Lydia's bed, Gwen yelled after her, "It's not Sirius that's slimy at the moment, Hallie!" Lily, Lydia and Gwen laughed after the other girl who chose to ignore the comment.

~*~

Sirius climbed out of bed and shook James, Remus, and Peter awake. "Come on!" Peter followed somewhat warily while James had an identical look of mischief that was upon Sirius' face. Remus, however, stood beside his bed with his hands on his hips.

"What did you do?"

Sirius, with a face of mock innocence held his hands up. "Do? What do you mean? I'm an innocent babe!" Remus rolled his eyes and dropped his arms to his sides while following the other three.

With the look a child gives a new toy, Sirius opened the girls' dormitory door a crack and let the others look above his head. After about a few minutes, there was a piercing scream. He put his hands to his ears to block out the noise, as did his three best friends. Starting to laugh, he watched the event as if watching a very interesting play.

James suddenly stepped away bent over holding his stomach, laughing like a wild man. It was then that there was a yell of, "Sirius Black!" as if the two words were a swearing phrase. The four boys ran away to the common room laughing in pure mirth.

At last, when they were quite done, they sat gasping for breaths. "I don't know why you do that to her, it's torture!" said Peter looking at the boy with wide eyes.

Sirius grinned his famous grin of wickedness. "She's an annoying git, that's why. She stole my entire stash of filibuster fireworks! I've been saving those since two years ago!"

James retorted with, "Well, maybe that was because you set her bed on fire just the day before."

The other boy glared at him. "You're supposed to be on my side."

James rolled his eyes. "Oh, but I am." He paused and his eyes met Sirius' angry ones. "All right, all right. Goody, Hallie's covered in honey," he said dully.

~*~

The four girls went down to the Great Hall together and sat at their regular seats. The grand mass of owls flew through the window and into the room while giving their letters to the recipients. Hallie looked at Lily, and Lily looked at Hallie. They both turned away suddenly and quietly began to eat their breakfast.

"What're you guys thinking about?" asked Lydia smiling at them. Hallie glanced at Lily then to the other two girls.

Her expression changed to one of mischief. Gwen muffled a soft groan and rolled her eyes heavenward at the familiar evil look. "I'm just thinking of ways of torture." And she left it at that. Lydia blinked letting her smile fade as she looked behind the other girl.

Four boys were gathered there. James took a seat next to Lily with a smile. She smiled back. Noticing Lydia's faded smile and Gwen's wicked grin, Hallie put her head into her arms. She heard a thump beside her that meant someone took a seat. "That seat was saved," she told the person in a muffled voice. The boy laughed.

"Of course it was, Honey, it was saved for me." Gwen, Remus, Lily, James, Peter, and Lydia burst out into a fit of giggles and laughter. At those words, Hallie straightened and glared at Sirius with daggers in her eyes. She took her goblet of pumpkin juice and her expression changed to an angel's smile. He looked thoroughly bewildered.

"Thirsty?" She poured it over his head and rubbed it into his hair with her hand. About to turn away, she said, "Oh, and thanks for the present, it was...sweet." She raised her hand; about to smack him upside his head but someone caught her hand. "What the -," but she shut her mouth at who was standing there. It was Professor Jenkins, the transfiguration teacher, she was especially known as the strictest teacher of the school, but she was fair.

"Detention, Miss Forester, meet me after classes today in my office, you should know where it is from past visits, am I correct?" With a defiant look up on her face, Hallie took her hand away from the teacher.

"But, Professor, it wasn't my -," she got cut off.

"I want no excuses - be at my office after classes. An extra week will be assigned if late." While rubbing her hand on her robe, Professor Jenkins walked off leaving Hallie scowling after her.

"Why that little -"

"Don't say it, Hallie," said Sirius with a smirk. She rounded on him with her hands balled up into fists at her side.

"I hate you!"

Sirius smirked. "Aw, that hurt. Too bad you are the one in trouble. Ha!" She smacked him upside the head leaving him looking at her with shock. "That hurt!"

"Good, now I've earned my detention."

~*~

On the way to Transfiguration, the third year Gryffindors' first class, Hallie turned to her three best friends and stopped them in the hall. "You guys have to help me get Black back."

"That rhymes!" said Lydia with a blithe smile. Lily laughed and rolled her eyes and Hallie made a noise of impatience.

"She means yes ma'am," said Gwen looking at her friend patiently.

"Ha, ha," replied Hallie.

"Why do you need to get back at Sirius?" asked Lily with a small grin.

"Don't you look at me like that. I just have to get back at him. He's so...so..."

"Annoying," a voice beside them finished. They turned to look at the girl. Her name was Andrea Pristine. "But you must admit, he is unbearably adorable." At this, Hallie coughed but it sounded much more like a laugh. Andrea was medium sized with wavy blonde hair. Her large brown eyes sparkled and she held her head up with a confidence that leaned more towards arrogance. Hallie looked at her with a raised eyebrow while Gwen glared at her.

"Go away, Andrea," Gwen said.

Then Hallie said, "I think I've got an idea about how to get back at the bugger." She went on but the other girl interrupted.

"Let me help!" said Andrea.

Gwen grinned at her. "Why should we? You're a stuck up snob."

Lydia's eyes widened and she looked to her best friend in disbelief. "Gwendolyn!" Gwen glared at her.

"I hate that name, call me Gwen."

Lydia sighed and shook her head.

"But what Gwen says makes sense, Andrea, you haven't done anything to make us want your help. Come to think of it, you've done a lot of things that would make us not want you to help us," Lily told the girl. Hallie nodded in agreement while Lydia and Gwen continued to bicker.

"I want to get back at him. We have a little past, Sirius and I, and I want to get back at him."

At these words, Hallie smiled and there was an evil glint in her eyes. "You want to get back at Mr. Black? Well, I think we can work out something with this girl, can't we Lily?" she asked slinging an arm around her best friend and Andrea. The bell rang which made the girls scurry to class hastily. At their late arrival, Professor Jenkins took twenty-five points from Gryffindor.

Lily took a seat next to James who whispered, "Is everything alright with you?" Though it was somewhat solemn, she smiled and nodded. He grinned back and looked to the Professor who was holding up a porcupine.

"This is a porcupine, and you will be transfiguring it into a pin cushion." Lydia blanched. She was never really good at her classes, but had always scraped over the line with the help of her friends. Hallie smiled over at her in reassurance. Gwen smiled happily because this was her favorite class as to it was the one she was best at. Professor Jenkins paired everyone up.

Hallie, next to Lily, looked at the animal strangely. "Why does it have those little needles on it?"

"It resembles your hair," said a voice in her ear. She jumped in her seat and glared at Sirius from behind her.

Lily grinned. "It's for their protection." Hallie looked at her, then to the porcupine.

"What about teeth? Does it have teeth?" She put her finger to the line supposedly its mouth but it seemed asleep and didn't do a thing.

"Smart move, Sherlock, put your finger to its mouth to check if it has teeth," Gwen said from beside them.

Hallie looked at her with a strange expression. "Sherlock? What language are you speaking?"

Lily laughed and then saw Lydia's worried look. The girl was sitting as far away from the animal as she could go. "Don't worry, Lydia, it won't hurt you," Lily told her consolingly. Lydia smiled but still looked worried.

"The spell that is used to turn the porcupine into a pin cushion is one in which you must concentrate with all your mind since you are beginners. Watch me transfigure it." She pointed her wand at the porcupine. Lightly tapping it once, she said, "Bodkin Pinporey!" There was a bright flash of maroon light and what was in the place of the porcupine was a pincushion, gold and crimson, the Gryffindor colors, as to she was the head of house. Every one clapped.

"Now you and your partner try it, don't forget to concentrate!" And then the students started to try to transfigure their porcupines with her strolling around the classroom watching their attempts.

Lily looked to Hallie who was trying to touch the animal's needles. "What are you doing?"

The other girl looked up and grinned sheepishly. "Do these things come off?" Lily rolled her eyes and slapped the girl's hand away. "Ow!"

"Just try to make it turn into a porcupine."

Hallie looked at the animal, then back up at her friend. "What were the words to the spell again?" When Lily looked agitated, she said in defense, "Sorry! I was so caught up in...er, examining the little porkypine -," but got cut off beside her.

"Talk less and work harder, Miss Forester. The words to the spell, if you had been listening, are Bodkin Pinporey," said Professor Jenkins. Then the teacher walked off. Hallie glared after her muttering under her breath.

Beside her, Gwen was smirking. "She seems to like you, doesn't she Hal?" she asked. The other girl rolled her eyes heavenward and looked at the porcupine.

It was then that a yell from behind Hallie and Lily said, "Professor Jenkins! I did it! I actually did it!" Everyone turned to look at the boy who had bellowed so loudly at his success. It was none other than Sirius Black.

"My," said Hallie, "what a soft voice you have." He raised and lowered his eyebrows up and down.

"You know you love it." At this, she made a choking noise and hit him upside the head. Beside him, James laughed and shook his head. Professor Jenkins strolled over with a look upon her face of disbelief. "Oh, Professor, you don't have to look so doubtful. Look, it really is a pincushion!" She tapped it with her wand and it stuck up silver needles.

Turning to him she said, "It still has its needles on its back." He shook his head.

"Professor, Professor, Professor, I did that on purpose of course! Extra credit you can say." She raised her eyebrow at him. "Well, what is a pincushion without pins?" The teacher's mouth tugged into an involuntary smile as he grinned in victory. "So...is it an A?"

"It's an A." His grin seemed to run off his face.

When the professor had gone on to the next group, he leaned over to James and said, "Why are we doing this? Does she expect us to go out and find one of these things if we need a pincushion?"

~*~

After class, the girls walked out carrying their pincushions, but in Hallie's case a pillow.

"I don't understand why you have to infuriate her, Hal," said Lily, looking at her friend in consternation.

She shrugged. "I wanted a pillow, not a pincushion."

"Now girls, about this prank," said a voice behind them. It was Andrea again. "Hallie, your idea was okay, but what you need is a -," she broke off when there was a tap on her shoulder. It was Sirius with James at his side.

"Hi, Andrea, I saw you looking at me the whole time during Transfiguration. Do you want to go out with me?" Gwen and Hallie were soon holding each other up because they were laughing so hard. The boy didn't seem to notice.

Andrea looked at him and rolled her eyes. "I was only looking at you because you are such a loud git. Leave me alone," she said, and then she marched off in a huff.

Sirius looked to the other four girls and with a smirk stated, "She wants me."

~*~

In their next class, Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Kettleburn, the four girls sat at a table by themselves, ready and inquisitive of what the creature they would be dealing with today.

Hallie and Gwen whispered to each other, both excited about a prank they were planning while Lily tried to ensure Lydia that nothing that the professor would let them handle would harm her.

"Look at that, the cage is huge, what could possibly be that big and not dangerous? It's probably a dragon!" poor Lydia squeaked. James leaned over to the two with a smile.

"Don't worry, Lydia, Professor Kettleburn's a coward, he wouldn't bring in an unruly creature," he assured her. She looked from Lily to James, then sighed with a nod, although, her eyes were still wide with fear. James laughed and patted her back while Lily hugged her around the shoulders.

"You'll be fine," Lily told her in consolation.

"Yeah, especially when the dragon from inside that cage jumps out and eats you," muttered Sirius from beside James. Lily glared at him when Lydia shrank in her seat with a whimper. James sighed and looked at Sirius with a bothered expression upon his face. "I said it quietly, I didn't mean for her to hear it!" he said in defense.

On the opposite side of the table, the other two girls were talking. "But she's stuck up and snobby and intolerably annoying!" exclaimed Gwen loudly. Hallie glared and the other girl sighed. "I don't like her, there's - she's just - oh bother. Never mind, I just don't like her."

"But she'll help! You know she can, I explained it once, I'll do it over and over again if I have to until you agree." Hallie smiled angelically.

"You're not so angelic."

"Ugh, stop complaining." With that Hallie turned around in her seat and pulled on Andrea's ponytail. "Andrea?"

The girl turned around with a frown. "You pulled my hair." The other girl smiled innocently. "OK, what do you want?"

"Did you say you wanted to help pull something on Black?" The frown turned to a face of bravado.

"Didn't someone say that I'm stuck up and snobby and intolerably annoying?" She turned to Gwen with a raised eyebrow. Gwen opened her mouth to speak but got kicked in the shins by a certain friend. She glared at Hallie who was smiling at Andrea.

"Maybe, but I have a little plan, it isn't that good but still. I'm just hoping it'll give him a little shock. That's all I want. I'll owe you one." Andrea looked at her and found sincerity she nodded.

"What's the plan?" Hallie whispered it into her ear. The other girl laughed when everything was said. "Sounds like fun! I'm guessing you're going to do the finally?" Hallie grinned.

"You bet." Pause. "So what do you say?" There was another pause and Andrea was looking at her with a pondering gaze.

Then she said, "I'll do it."

The rest of the class was awfully boring but Lydia was relieved to find that they wouldn't get to see what was in the cage. As they left class, Lily laughed at how happy Lydia seemed. "See, it wasn't a dragon and it didn't jump out and bite you!" The other girl looked at her seriously.

"That's because he obviously changed his mind, the creature was just too dangerous." Lily shook her head and laughed.

"Lily! Lydia! Wait for me!" yelled a voice. They turned around. Gwen elbowed her in the stomach. "I mean, wait for us!" said Hallie, and then to Gwen she said, "Don't be so violent, it's not at all appealing."

"How's the prank coming along, Hal?" asked Lily with a grin. The other girl smirked.

"We still didn't tell you two about it yet, did we?" she asked. Lydia shook her head in response.

"Nope."

"That's because Lily was cuddling with James and Lydia was cowering in her seat over the thing we didn't get to see," retorted Gwen. The two girls glared.

"I was not snuggling! I was...talking with him! And besides, I'm thirteen and we're -"

"Just friends," finished Hallie impatiently. "Anyways, back to the prank. What we're going to do is..."

~*~

Their next class was potions with their least favorite teacher, Professor Rosier. He was the head of house for Slytherin and favored them most conspicuously. Gwen and Hallie finished telling Lily and Lydia the rest of the information making the girls burst into laughter.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, I will not have disorderly behavior in my classroom," proclaimed Professor Rosier. Lily averted her eyes from the man who seemed to loom over her. He wasn't that tall of a man but there was a power that radiated from him, casting an aura of immense greatness. She shuddered involuntarily. He walked away to the head of the classroom and faced his student who were sitting and looking back at him, half with hate, and the other half with amusement. Those facing him with entertained eyes were the students of his house, and they were the only ones that ever looked at him with a sense of real respect and interest. The others didn't give a hoot about what he said.

He placed the large black cauldron onto the desk but away from the exhibition of ingredients. "You all had better listen closely to this because the steps are quite difficult. Now, what is the best thing to use to set the potion to flame so it bubbles?" Hallie shot her hand up into the air.

"Sirius' filibuster fireworks," she said. The class laughed as Sirius glared at her and she smiled back. He then spent half the class explaining everything before he put them in partners.

James sat before Severus Snape with a glare. "Glaring at me won't make time go faster, Potter." He said the last word in a vicious hiss, which made James scowl all the more ferociously.

"Just put all the stuff in that I tell you to," he told the other boy with a deathly calm voice. As always, his emotions were displayed upon his face. At the moment, he bore looks of resentment, frustration, aggravation, and loathing.

"Why should I listen to you?" asked Snape. James fought down his sudden urge to rip out all of the other boy's greasy hair. Remus, from James' side put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Just ignore him," he told James. Under his grip on the boy's shoulder, James relaxed slightly but still glared at the boy across from him before turning to his friend.

"But if he does anything, I'm going to rip off his unusually large nose." Remus grinned.

Lily said, "I don't know why you both hate each other so much, you're a bit the same in some ways." The two boys turned to look at her in alarm. "What? Tell me a reason how you aren't and I'll shut up."

"Do you promise?"

She smiled at him. "I know you don't mean that, Severus. Now, give me the reason."

James responded with, "I'm better looking than he is, and I'm smarter than he is, and -," but Lily cut him off with a look. He shut himself up with a mumbled, "and he's a slimy-headed git." Remus covered a smile and turned to look at his notes.

~*~

He looked across the table and found a glare to welcome him. Sirius glared right back. "Of all people, I get paired up with you," he murmured in frustration.

Hallie looked at him with a restrained expression while forcing a smile. "Oh, yes, and I'm having a field day with you as my partner."

He rolled his eyes heavenward and got the list from the professor. "Of course you are, you're with me after all."

She choked in indignation. "You are such - you're such a - a -"

"I'm such a what?" She closed her mouth and folded her arms across her chest. "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when Miss Know-It-All Forester became speechless."

"You're a nitwitted b-," but she silenced herself with the look Lydia was giving her from beside Sirius. He saw her lips form a strained line from trying to shut herself up.

Wow, an improvement on her part, he thought.

"Give me the directions," she ordered in a soft, steady voice.

He grinned wickedly. "What's the magic word?"

"Now." He chuckled and looked at the list. "Wow! Blood worms! He turned to the side that wasn't occupying Lydia. "Peter, do you know how long those things are?" The other boy paled and Sirius turned his gaze to the worm the other boy was holding. Clapping a hand on the Peter's shoulder he said, "Good for you!"

Hallie then took the paper out of the boy's grasp. "Put in an ounce of bubotuber pus," she told Sirius in the same quiet and controlled voice. He looked at her.

"Why don't you do it?"

"Because I don't want to touch that stuff. I bet you've touch a million disgusting things so you get to put the ingredients in." He sighed and with a smile, crossed his arms over his chest while leaning back in his seat.

"Well, I'm not going to."

She just blinked at him with her large sapphire blue eyes. "Professor Rosier, may I please be partnered with someone other than - than - that?" she asked as she pointed at Sirius, who had a small smirk upon his face.

The professor said, "No, get to work." She looked at him with her large sapphire blue eyes and took her seat. Smiling, she looked to Sirius.

"Can you please put the bubotuber pus in the cauldron?" she questioned.

He looked at her for a moment before doing as asked. "Can I put the worms in now?"

"No, next is...the batwings."

"Are these the batwings?" She gave him a look and he put them in. "Can I put in the worms now?"

Hallie looked up from the piece of parchment. "You're trying to annoy me." He looked at her innocently. "Next is a stirring spell."

"What is it?"

She took her wand out from an inside pocket of her robe. "I'm doing that one."

"Why?"

"Do you always answer with a question?"

"What makes you think I do?" She bit down on her lip and he almost laughed at how hard she was trying to restrain herself. After chanting the words of the spell, she went back to the list. "Is it the worms now?"

"Put in the toad horns, five of them," said Hallie.

Sirius said, "What, no please?"

She blinked at him. "Please."

He did so. "Can I put the worms in now?" At this, she smiled sweetly.

"Alright, Black, put the bugs in." He smiled and picked up the worms in not noticing the mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Do you know why they're called blood worms? Do they really have a lot of blood in them?" he asked as he gathered the insects into a handful from the soil. She just shrugged and smiled.

Sirius dropped the bugs into the cauldron. Nothing happened...at first. Then it started to boil and turn green. It was then that the potion erupted shattering the cauldron to shards. He fell backwards in his chair from the impact. When the smoke cleared, he was staring up at Professor Rosier's scowl.

"Why Professor, you would never think such bloody creatures would have such an impact on a potion, would you, sir?" The teacher's scowl intensified.

"You put the blood worms in before the griffin feathers, didn't you?" he demanded.

Sirius smiled weakly. "Griffin feathers?"

"Foolish boy, twenty points from Gryffindor." Then the bell rang. Sirius saw the professor walk away in disgust and a smiling Hallie take his place.

She looked down at him in amusement. "Smooth move, Black." He glared at her.

"It's your fault. You're the one who said to put the worms in." But she just shook her head at him.

"No, no, you've got it all twisted around. You asked if you could put the worms in. I said yes - what can I do to stop you? And you were the one who put them in anyway, not me." He thought about this as she stepped over, never mind, stepped on him on her way out.

Peter knelt down beside him. "My friend, you've been gypped by none other than 'Miss Know-it-all Forester.'"

Sirius turned to him and took the offered hand. When standing, he glowered over the plump boy. "Shut up, Peter."