Author's Note: This one-shot is the result of a discussion on the other HP-site I post my stories (HPANA). I and two other fan fic-writers there (CelticYankee and –the phoenix-) repeatedly talk discuss the character of Sirius Black and the different love interests we've created for him. Earlier this week we were wondering what would happen if our three OC's ended up in the same room.

The OC's are:

- Liana Taylor (CelticYankee)

- Kat Dawson (-the phoenix-)

- Mary Woods (my character, who is featured in pretty much every story I've written for this site, haha!)

Dedication: To Bridge and Kas, you guys rock!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own the world of Harry Potter and its characters. This is just for fun!

LOVEFOOL

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Lily asked, shooting a nervous look at Mary's dangerously smoking cauldron, which looked like it was about to take off.

It was close to lunchtime and the dungeon corridors deserted. The girls had quietly sneaked into the empty Potions classroom, where they looked up the page in an ominous-looking Potions book (the pages smelled just like sour milk) they got from the restricted section in the library and started collecting the needed ingredients. Lily quickly started to chop daisy roots, jobberknoll parts and a rat spleen while Mary attempted to get on the fire.

When Lily had grabbed the flasks of armadillo bile and pomegranate, she made her way back to the table and shot her friend another doubtful look. "Mare…"

"What? D'you want to get James off your back or not?"

"More than anything in the world, but I mean… You brewing this Change of Heart-potion, which surely is above NEWT-level…"

Mary paused halfway casting the chopped daisy roots into the cauldron. "If we had a choice, obviously it would be you doing all the work, but since this potion must be brewed by someone other than the drinker for it to work properly… I'm the best you've got."

"Hmm, I wonder if maybe Brice…"

"She's just left for a family weekend in Cornwall, you know that. Now," Mary said briskly before adding some drops of pomegranate to the draft. "Oh wait." She frowned. "Should it be four or five of drops of pomegranate?"

"Four!" Lily cried while getting a hold of Mary's hand before she could add another drop to the sizzling potion. "Gosh Mare," she said, "How many times do I have to tell you to carefully read the instructions?"

"Whatever."

"Whatever? Do you have any idea how dangerous it can be if you get the ingredients wrong? We don't really know what might happen."

"Fine know-it-all, you read them out to me, then."

"Fine," Lily replied, reaching for the book and at the same time rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Make as many anti-clockwise stirs as you need to turn the draft to violet before adding the personal items."

"That's rather vague, isn't it?"

"Just stir it and I'll tell you when to stop."

Mary carefully stirred the draft until, slowly, very slowly, it started to turn dark purple and then finally, violet. "Right," Lily said, "Time to throw in the personal items, I suppose."

Mary carefully pulled the vial from the inside of her robes and showed the content to her friend: three strings of jetblack hair and a half-eaten Sugarquill. Lily screwed up her nose. "Where'd you get the hairs?"

"James left that brown sweater of his in the armchair by the fire," she said serenely.

"And the Sugarquill?"

"Nicked it off Peter's desk in Charms."

Lily looked aghast. "Peter?"

"Well, yes," Mary said, looking a bit defensive. "It was the only other Marauderish-thing I could find. Unless," she said suddenly while a devilish grin crossed her face, "You prefer James fancying you after all?"

"No!" she replied quickly, flushing bright red. "No, of course not. Besides, Peter couldn't possibly be any more persistent than Potter."

"My thought exactly."

Lily watched her friend tip the vial above the cauldron so the hairs and Sugarquill were added (and immediately absorbed) to the draft, which turned to a light shade of pink and started to smell of strawberries. "So…" she said when Mary carefully stirred the potion to see what would happen, "what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You and Sirius."

Mary looked up from the cauldron, frowning. "What about him?"

"Well, you said you'd rather die than ever falling for the guy."

"And I don't," Mary shrugged, but Lily looked sceptical. "I don't! We just snogged a couple of times, big deal. As long as we both know where we stand, it's fine. Sirius doesn't really care and I sure as hell don't give a damn about him."

"Really," Lily said, a sly grin crossing her face. "Then I suppose I misheard when you were talking about him in your sleep last night."

Mary dropped the spoon with a loud clunk. "I did not!"

"Did. More than once, actually."

"I did?"

Lily was now laughing hysterically. "I wouldn't be telling you if it wasn't true, sorry."

Mary groaned. "Oh Godric, if this potion actually works, we'd better start making another one for me."

"Well, I reckon we find out soon enough, when- Oh no, Mary, when did you stop stirring the potion?!"

Two frightened girls stared into the cauldron. The potion was no longer pink or smelling of strawberries, but had turned into an ominous-looking plum and was smoking vehemently, like it could explode at any second. "I… I-" Mary stammered, desperately stirring the draft in the other direction in the hopes of turning it pink once more. "Oh, bloody hell!"

"Maybe…" Lily said while taking a tentative step backwards, "maybe we should leave this thing altogether. Potter as Headboy is not that bad, really."

"You're saying that now?" Mary snapped. "No. No way. We are making this Potion, Lil. I'm fixing this bloody thing even it kills m-"

She had not even finished her sentence when there was a loud bang and the cauldron exploded, spilling the content all over Mary's face. "Urrrgh," she mumbled, stumbling backwards while trying to wipe the burning potion from her eyes.

"Merlin's Beard, are you alright?" Lily asked anxiously.

"Don't worry. I'm… I'm fi-hine," was the last thing Mary managed to stammer before she realized she was falling backwards and the world around her turned pitch black.

When she opened her eyes, Mary realized she was no longer on the ground in the Potions classroom. Lily somehow must have taken her upstairs and left again, because she was sitting in the corner of a deserted Gryffindor Common Room, feeling fine (albeit a bit dazed). Or well, deserted, it was empty with the exception of two girls Mary had never seen before. One of them, a pretty girl with blue eyes and dark straight hair, was sitting across from her on the couch, pouting a bit while she was playing with a camera in her hands, whereas the other one was staring out of the window. Mary could not see her face, but from her length, she gathered they were all the same age, or perhaps one year apart.

Her tingling leg felt like it was sleeping and Mary moved it slightly to get the blood stream running again. This movement made the girl near the window look back. "Hi."

She was petite and had a beautiful face. Her voice was a little hoarse, but not in a bad way. Her hair was as dark as Mary's, but straighter, similar to the hair of the girl on the couch. Mary smiled kindly at her. "Are you girls new here?"

The girl on the couch looked up. "I'm sorry?"

Mary looked from her to the girl near the window and back. "I have never seen you at Hogwarts before."

"I have never seen you either," the girl near the window answered.

"Oh." Mary rubbed her nose. "So… You two do know each other?"

The others exchanged a glance. "No."

"Well, that's odd."

"Very." The girl on the couch had to laugh despite herself. "Why don't we introduce ourselves then? I'm Liana. Liana Taylor, seventh-year Gryffindor."

"Kathleen Dawson, also from Gryffindor, but everyone calls me Kat," the girl with the hoarse voice said.

"And I'm Mary Woods. I'm a Gryffindor as well."

They were silent for a while until Kat said: "Nope, neither of your names rings a bell."

"Hmmm…" Then Mary suddenly gasped. "Hey, maybe we should talk about how we got here in the first place. That might us to figure it out."

Liana raised her camera. "I was in Hogsmeade, taking pictures of my friends Lily, Brice and Delaney."

Mary looked up. "Brice? My friend's called Brice too! Long girl, light blonde shoulder length hair…"

Liana shook her head. "Brice is not that tall, and that last time I checked her hair wasn't light blonde." She looked around at Kat. "What were you doing?"

Kat frowned. "On my way to watch my friends playing Quidditch, which I'm not that fond of, to tell you the truth. I was actually trying to think of a way to get out of it and hang out with my boyfriend, but then there was this weird flash of light… And I came here instead."

Mary looked uncomfortable. "Oh dear, I think I might have something to do with that. I was helping my friend to brew this experimental Potion when something went terribly wrong and… Well, here I am."

Kat walked over to them and sat down on the edge of the couch. "So it's your fault we ended up in… whatever this place is together?"

"Looks like it. I'm sorry up I messed up things for you and your boyfriend."

Kat shrugged. "Oh well, what can you do?"

"What's his name?" Liana asked curiously.

"Who? Oh, my boyfriend? Sirius. Sirius Black."

Mary's heart stopped. Why on earth was this girl going out with the same guy she had been snogging in a distant corridor only a few nights before? Was he two-timing her already? And had he been going out with his girl long? If he did, he was doing an impeccable job at hiding her from everyone else. But that didn't make any sense, because how could she be following classes when she was never around at school?

All these thoughts were running through Mary's head, making her feel dizzy, but this was nothing compared to Liana, who jumped up from the couch, unaware that she had dropped her camera to the floor. "What?!"

Kat stared at her. "Sorry?"

"Sirius! You cannot be dating him, because I am!"

Kat paled. "What are you talking about?"

"We've been going out since he took me to Hogsmeade in September," Liana said before placing her hands on her hips. "Well?" she demanded. "Do you have anything to say about that?"

"Well… How can it be that you and I are both seeing the same guy, then? When I've never seen you before in my life?"

Like they had been practising it, both girls turned to Mary at the same time. "What about you?" Liana asked.

Mary raised her hands in defence. "I'm not dating Sirius or anything. We're just ehm… occasionally exploring distant corridors and broom cupboards together, that's all."

"I cannot believe this!" Liana cried. "Promise you will stay away from him from now on."

Kat's eyes were glinting dangerously. "All I'm saying is that the first time I'm setting eyes on Sirius again, that two-faced git will have to answer to me."

Right when Mary thought things could not get any worse, the portrait hole opened and in walked the subject and main player of their conversation: Sirius. He was accompanied by Remus, who paused in the middle of a sentence when he spotted them. "Hello there, are you the new exchange students?"

Sirius grinned and elbowed his friend. "Godric Moony, they're even better-looking than the last ones. I won't mind showing them around the place, if you know what I mean."

He could not have said anything worse and Mary facepalmed, wondering where on earth this was going. "How dare you!" Kat hissed, walking over to the boys. "After all those years and everything we've been through, I finally trust you and you go right behind my back with not one, but two other girls. How dare you?"

Sirius looked like she was making water burn in front of his eyes. "Ehm, I don't know what you are talking about. I have never seen you before in my life."

"I just- Oh?" For a moment, Kat had stared intently into Sirius's eyes and she was now taking a step backwards. "You… You really don't know."

"Perhaps you do remember me, Sirius," Liana said as she stepped up. "Your girlfriend?"

He looked nothing less than stunned. "Girlfr-"

She looked like she was about to cry and Kat rolled her eyes. "Oh, drop the act, Liana. He doesn't have a clue who you are."

Liana shot her a puzzled look. "How do you-?"

Kat's face closed up; she quickly crossed her arms and stared down at the floor. "I just do."

Sirius and Remus had been staring from Liana to Kat and back, but now they finally looked at Mary. "And…" the first one asked reluctantly, "you are?"

"Mary Woods." Again no sign of recognition whatsoever and she snorted. "Relax, I'm just one of the hundred girls you hooked up with, nothing more. And I have no intention in becoming your actual girlfriend, like ever."

"Really?" There was a disappointed note in Sirius's voice and he continued to watch her for another second before he turned back to Kat and Liana. "Ok, this is weird… I have never seen you in my life and your names mean nothing to me either. There's this Mary MacDonald a year below me, but that's about it. However," he said hesitantly while exchanging a glance with Remus, "the weird thing is that I do have a feeling I should know you. Remus, do you recognize any of them?"

Remus looked from Mary to Kat, and his gaze finally rested on Liana. "I think I could know you, Liana, but the other two… Sorry, not really. Anyway, this is all too weird. I'm fetching a Professor."

They quietly watched Remus hurrying out the portrait hole. The second he had left their sight, Sirius had enough of those three girls staring at him intently and took a step back. "I eh… I have to go to the men's room," he muttered. "Excuse me."

And he headed up the stairs faster than anyone could say "Venomuous Tentacula". "Odd," Kat said after the door upstairs had been slammed shut.

Liana ran a hand through her long hair. "I don't understand."

Mary scratched her head and started pacing up and down the room. "Okay, you did hear what Sirius said, right? He's never seen any of us, but does feel that we mean a great deal to him."

"And we have never met either. Meaning?" Kat asked wearily.

"Call me insane, but that sounds like everyone one of us is dating him at one point, and that he really doesn't know he's seeing more girls at the same time."

"Oh, he wasn't lying," Kat said resolutely.

"How can you be so sure about that?" Liana asked before her eyes widened with shock. "Oh my God, you're a mind reader!"

"No, no, it doesn't exactly work like that," Kat replied quickly, waving a dismissive hand. "I've always had the ability to feel people's emotions. I don't know why, it just is…"

Mary stared at her. "That's creepy. Have you been reading my feelings?"

Kat smirked a little. "Yes," she said before adding in a teasing voice: "And it's perfectly clear that you care a lot more about Sirius than you are letting on."

Mary blushed. "No, I don't!"

"Oh yes, you are. Your heart is starting to overrule your head, I can see it."

Liana giggled. "You should go with it. I can't exactly speak for Kat, but going out with Sirius can be… mind blowing, actually." She looked at Kat. "Don't you agree?"

The brunette sighed. "I don't know. Things between us are – and always have been – complicated. But in the end, I'm the happiest when I'm with him. And to be honest, Mary, a minute ago I saw that there was something there between you and Sirius. I still don't know what's going on here, but if you end up seeing Sirius again, you should really give him a chance."

Mary nodded thoughtfully, contemplating what Kat and Liana were saying. Maybe they were right; it was not like Sirius was still her enemy. And as long as she would keep her emotions under control, it would probably be fine. She smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

The portrait hole and Remus headed back inside, following by no other than-

"Professor Dumbledore!" the girls cried out in unison.

"A very good evening to you all," the Headmaster said. "Mr. Lupin here told me about what happened. A curious tale, very curious. Unless Professor McGonagall and Mr. Filch failed to inform me upon the arrival of three new exchange students, we seem to have ourselves quite the situation here."

He looked at them expectantly, and after a rather tense moment of silence, Liana cleared her throat. "Well sir, apparently there was this Potion…"

Mary, feeling responsible, stepped up and explained what had gone wrong with the experiment of brewing the Change of Heart Potion and how she and the two other girls ended up here together. Dumbledore listened patiently until she had finished the whole story. "I think I know what is going on here. And it is time to set things back in their place. Would you girls please go stand in a circle and take each other's hand."

Mary, Liana and Kat obeyed, linked their hands and looked - for what would possibly be the last time - at each other. Liana closed her eyes, but Kat smiled at Mary, who winked back. Then, Dumbledore stepped forward, pointed his wand at them and quietly mumbled a few words in a language none of them understood. A silver band that erupted from his wand started to circle around them and it felt like her feet were coming off the ground. Next, they were starting to spin faster and faster and Mary had to close her eyes from going nauseous. She felt how her grip on Kat and Liana's hand slipped away and she was forced to let go, right before everything went black once more.

When the world finally stopped spinning, Mary realized she was in Dumbledore's office. The blackened cauldron that had been filled with strawberry-scented Potion earlier that day, was standing on the edge of the desk. The Headmaster was across her, writing something on a long piece of parchment. He appeared to be in deep thought and Mary was feeling rather uncomfortable. It was only when she cleared her throat that he looked up from his letter. "Ah, miss Woods, back to the land of the living, I see."

"Sir?"

"Madam Pomfrey brought you here after Lily took you to the Hospital Wing earlier. It takes a while for our Potion-Antidote to take effect."

"I'm sorry?"

"You've been in the exact same position in that chair for more an hour." He glanced at the cauldron before peering at her over his half-moon spectacles. "Tricky drafts, those love potions."

Mary flushed bright red. To realize the Headmaster of Hogwarts knew that she had tried to brew a love potion was more than embarrassing. Since she and Lily had collected the book from the Restricted Section, it might even be a reason to be suspended from Hogwarts, or worse. "We… I was only-

"May I inquire why you felt the need to brew a Change of Heart Potion? Were you harassed by another student?"

She realized he was referring to Jonathan McLaggen and shook her head. "No, sir. It was not for me."

"Madam Pomfrey was under the impression Miss Evans was helping you."

"It was the other way around. I was brewing the draft for her."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully and for a moment, all that could be heard was Fawkes nibbling on one of the bars of his cage. "I see. And she was doing this because…?"

"Er…" Mary was reluctant to answer that question, fearing it might get Lily in trouble.

"I assume it was a last attempt to avoid having to give in to her feelings for Mr. Potter."

Her jaw dropped and the Headmaster smiled. "As Headboy- and girl, I meet them more often than other students or Prefects. It is not hard to see how she feels about him."

"I know, sir, but she insisted on making that draft-"

"-But instead, the content of that cauldron ended up on you."

Mary nodded, feeling ashamed. "Yes. Potions has never been my biggest talent."

"Indeed," the Headmaster nodded. "According to Professor Slughorn, you are lucky you were able to come back so quickly."

She frowned, not sure if she understood him correctly. "Come back from where?"

"That is something only you know. Whenever a Change of Heart Potion is spilled instead of drunk, unexpected things can occur."

He shot her an expectant look, and – realizing he did not seem to be all that angry that she and Lily had tried to brew an illegal love potion – Mary admitted the truth and told Dumbledore the whole story. How she had ended up in the Gryffyndor Common Room, where none of her friends recognized her, along with two other girls who also seemed to have come out of nowhere. And that the only thing they had in common was that all three of them were going out with Sirius Black, who – unfortunately – stated he had never seen them either.

When she had finished the story with how the other Dumbledore had sent them back, the Headmaster leaned back and folded his hands on the table, but he did not say anything. "Sir," Mary asked, "do you have any idea what happened?"

"I have a theory. It seems you might have been making a little side-trip to a parallel universe."

Mary wasn't sure if she had heard that right. "A parallel- what?"

Dumbledore leaned forward. "People make decisions all the time; at every moment on every day of their life, they decide whether to do something or not. Choices have an unbelievably great influence on the course and destiny of our lives, Mary."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"Take Miss Evans for example. Today Lily asked you to brew that Potion for her. If everything had gone according to plan, she might have persuaded James to fall out of love with her. That would have undoubtedly influenced your friends life."

"So… Since James didn't drink any of that Potion, everything is still possible?"

"Exactly, and with you and Mr. Black, it is pretty much the same thing."

Mary suddenly realized she was about to discuss her love life with the Headmaster of Hogwarts. She blushed and looked away. "Do not worry," he said calmly, "it is not my intention nor wish to interfere with what is going on in your life, but do allow me to give you a small piece of advice."

When she nodded, he continued: "It is remarkable that the Potion chose to show you this particular scenario. Apparently there is more than one universe where Mr. Black gets really close and personal with a girl."

Mary suppressed the urge to say the last part was the understatement of the year and bit on her lip, only looking up when Dumbledore continued: "And if Liana and Kat had that special bond with Sirius in their reality, it is likely that in this universe, it is you who is destined to get involved with him. Although, one can never be too sure about the true meaning of a vision. It is not a prophecy, after all." He smiled. "Now Mary, if you excuse me, I must finish this letter."

"Of course, sir," she said, immediately getting up from her seat. "Thank you for not giving me a detention."

"I did not think it necessary, though I must stress you and Miss Evans stay far from any Potions experiment from now on."

"Oh, naturally!" Mary said, feeling relieved. She walked to the gargoyle and was waiting for the stairs to come up when she thought of something and turned back. "So… It was all just a dream?"

Dumbledore looked up from his letter and arched an eyebrow. "Well, of course it was happening inside your head, Mary, but why should that mean it is not real?" *

Mary was on her way to the Gryffindor Tower when she passed the Clock Tower Courtyard. It was a dry and relatively warm October night, and, like many other students, Lily was sitting on the edge of the fountain while she chatted with their only friend from Slytherin, Allison Zabini. "Hi Mare. Care to share what happened when you'd passed out?"

She grinned. "In short: I was transported to some kind of alternate universe, but don't you worry; according to Dumbledore, it happened all in my head."

"Right. So how was it?"

She had to think about that for a moment. "Enlightening."

Allison laughed. "Come on, you can be more specific than that."

"Hmm." Mary was distracted by a group of guys a little ahead. The Marauders, unsurprisingly, were in the centre of the attention while James and Peter played a game of Exploding Snap. Her eyes were drawn to Sirius, who was laughing at something Remus said. His hair was casually falling into his eyes until he shook it back, revealing – even from this distance – that his eyes were twinkling mischievously. In short: he looked downright irresistible (and probably knew it too); a theory that was confirmed by the amount of girls hanging out nearby.

Mary remembered what Liana and Kat had said, and suddenly, something clicked and she finally made up her mind. After all, besides her pride, what did she have to lose? "Excuse me for a moment."

She walked over the group on the other side and made her way through the bunch of people that was watching the Marauders. "Hey guys."

James looked up from his game. "Hi Mary. Weren't you with Dumbledore earlier?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" Peter asked.

She shot a quick glance at Lily before deciding to tell them the truth. They would find out eventually anyway. "Potions experiment gone bad. Really bad, I mean. The draft literally ended up in my face."

Sirius chuckled. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" he muttered to Remus, who was standing next to him and snorted.

Considering what she was about to do, Mary suppressed the urge to snap at him and merely rolled her eyes.

"Why in Merlin's name would anyone pick you for a Potions experiment?" James asked, looking baffled. "I'm guessing it was you who messed it up?"

By now Mary was grinding her teeth. "Yes," she said, ignoring the giggles of the surrounding students, before adding stiffly: "And if I were you, James, I would be very glad about that."

"Huh, what's that supposed to mean?"

She ignored him. "Sirius, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Several of the surrounding girls shot her a suspicious look; it was no secret that Sirius Black and Mary Woods had hooked up a few times before. However, Sirius wasn't fazed and ignored (or perhaps just didn't see) them. "Sure," he said nonchalantly before following her to the covered bridge that led to the Owlery. "What's up?"

He was watching her curiously, probably wondering what she wanted (on the previous occasions they kissed it had always been him to make the first move), and all of the sudden, Mary felt nervous. It was one thing to take up on Kat and Liana's advice, but to actually do it… That was something else. She had no idea how the Sirius in this world really felt about her. "Ehm…" she whispered, staring down at the floor. "Well, I-I was doing some thinking the other day and I… I w-w-wa-"

Now she was stuttering as well. Fantastic.

He frowned at her like she had gone mad and raised his eyebrows. "Yeeeeeees?"

Mary told herself to get a grip and took a deep breath. When she had finally raised her head, she noticed Sirius appeared to be amused with her. Of course he was. Anyone would (she was acting like a complete fool), but she couldn't turn back now; she was going to have to do this. She sighed. "Okay, here it is. This thing- us, I mean… I think this might actually be going somewhere and er… You know about Hogsmeade weekend coming up in two weeks?"

"Yes."

Another deep breath. "Would you like to go with me?"

At first Sirius looked like he could not quite make her out. Then slowly, an arrogant smirk crossed his face, and Mary knew part of him was considering making a rude comment or cruel joke that would piss her off. But then, right when Mary was wishing she could take back every word, he smiled at her. A smile so sincere and enchanting that somewhere down her stomach, a bunch of fluttering butterflies started to hop up and down excitedly. Sirius gently tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear before saying: "You know, I would love that." **

- The End -

A/N: Please note that this was an AU one-shot which is not really linked to Everlasting, Twice or my other shorts. In this story Mary is more of a maneater than in my other stories, especially considering the "just snogging and nothing else"-angle.

To anyone who's wondering about the title of this one-shot, it refers to the Cardigan's song Lovefool (also from the Romeo + Juliet movie).

* That line is straight out of DH, in the chapter where Harry is talking to Dumbledore in the afterlife. I love that line, and thought it would be kinda funny to throw it in here, haha.

** And that line comes straight out of Everlasting. In that story, it was Sirius who asked Mary out. I thought it would be fun to end this short, where Mary does the asking, in almost literally the same way.

Lastly, I need to thank –the phoenix- and CelticYankee again for letting me borrow their OC's Kat and Liana. I hope you guys don't mind and that I did them justice! -crosses fingers-