"Uh...no thanks. No snip snip." Sirius shook his head profusely at Lily's request.

"You have to! Not to be rude, but you look terrible, if I haven't mentioned that already." She smiled and pushed him backward across the dormitory floor.

"I am not getting a haircut! You can't make me!"

From the corner, James smirked at Sirius, watching the conversation play out. "I look fine exactly the way I am," Sirius said, backing away. Lily threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Please?" She hid her smile. "You'll look so much better that maybe even someone will ask you to the winter ball!" Sirius scoffed.

"You and I both know that I'm the most handsome boy in Gryffindor. By the time December 5th rolls around, all the girls will be jumping up and down for me to ask them." he lifted up his arm and pulled back the sleeve of his robe to reveal large muscles. "Don't you think, James?"

James shrugged and raised an eyebrow. Everyone knew he was already going with Lily.

"I'll have to go find something to cut it with, but I'll be back in… maybe ten minutes?" A bright idea flashed into Sirius's head, and he nodded.

"Of course, Lily. Take as long as you like!" he added with a large smile. Lily gave him a suspicious look before shrugging and quickly walking out of the room with James trailing behind.

"Where to hide?" Sirius muttered under his breath. Luckily, he quickly spotted a large table in the Gryffindor common room. He hurried over to it and took out his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said quietly. The table lifted, and he scurried under it. He set it down gently on top of his chest and laughed. "She'll never find me here. I'll never get a haircut and everything will be fine."

"What in the world are you doing under there, Sirius?" Lily shoved the table off of the boy lying on the floor. Sirius gave her a sheepish grin and slowly stood up, groaning.

"Definitely not hiding," he scowled as he noticed James's face. His mouth was turned up into a mocking smile, his eyes glittering.

"Well, Lily. Get to work," James said. "Want to cut my hair, too?"

Sirius groaned again as he saw Lily's smile.

"Stop being so chivalrous, James. It disgusts me," he demanded, and James gave him a smug grin.

"You two can show off to each other later. You're both very smart. Now shut up. I have work to do." Lily said, snapping the scissors in the air dramatically. Sirius winced.

"Okay, Sirius. I'm going to cut now." Gingerly, Lily held the scissors up to his head.

"Can I change my mind?" he begged. "Please?" James stood up and opened the door to leave.

"Lily, you're taking too long. And I have Quidditch practice," he said with a laugh. "No! James, you can't leave me here alone!" Sirius cried desperately. James merely laughed again and left.

"Ready? Three… Two…" Sirius gasped as a large lock of hair fell to the ground.

"What did you do to me?" he started to stand up, but Lily whipped out her wand. She murmured a spell under her breath and suddenly, Sirius couldn't move from the chair. "Lily!" he shouted.

"Sorry, I had to use a sticking charm. It was the only way," she laughed as she cut more hair. "So. Christmas break is coming up soon." She paused and softened her voice. "Are you visiting home?" Sirius scoffed, rolling his eyes indignantly.

"Of course not. Why would I want to go there? Besides, James said I could crash at his place." Lily gave him a knowing look.

"I'm going home to see my family. Sorry, I would come with you two, but…" she trailed off, yanking a brush through his hair.

"Ow!" he yelped, rather loudly. "It's fine, I know. Your parents would worry. But don't freak out, we probably won't have any fun." He tried to smirk, but it was hard with the pain coursing through his scalp. "Do you have to pull at that brush so hard?" She smiled.

"Yes, and you're looking better already."

"Do you like James 'the prat' Potter after all?" Sirius blurted out, and Lily frowned at him. He was just watching out for his best friend. James' longtime crush was finally noticing him, and Sirius didn't want to see him heartbroken.

"Well," she paused, contemplating the question. "Yes, I think I do. You can't tell him, though," she murmured. Sirius shook his head.

"Course not. Wouldn't dream of it."

"Don't move, you'll ruin it. We wouldn't want an accident, would we?" she glared menacingly, and Sirius shut up and stayed very still.

A few minutes later, Lily smiled wickedly.

"Sirius, I'm almost done. Can you hold this?" She waggled a long piece of hair in his face. He screamed and attempted to jump back, resulting in him sprawled on the floor still stuck to the chair.

"Lily!" he gasped, shutting his eyes. "Have you gone bloody mad?" Lily lifted up the chair while grunting with the effort.

"It was worth it to see your face," she said. "Well, I'm done."

"Could you unstick me? Now?" he growled.

"Say the magic word!" she taunted, laughing.

"P-p…" he couldn't seem to get the dreaded word out. "Please?" he said meekly, his voice wavering.

"Of course, thank you for asking so nicely." As she waved her wand, Sirius jumped up and stretched. Then he rubbed his hand across his head, meeting much less hair left up there than he had expected.

"Lily, what have you done to me?" The whimpering Sirius rushed over to the table where his wand was lying and lifted it, smiling when he realized it wasn't stuck to the wooden surface. "Reparo!" he shouted while pointing the wand to his head.

"Sirius, it doesn't work like that. But let me tell you, you look at least half decent now," Lily said, smiling slightly. "Look in the mirror," she took a small handheld mirror and passed it to Sirius.

"I don't want to look," he grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut. Slowly, he moved the mirror closer to his face and opened his eyes. A boy with short dark hair looked back at him, pale grey eyes gleaming with wonder. He looked much more handsome than the boy before, and a blooming sense of pride filled him. But, of course, he wouldn't say that out loud. He scowled, playing along.

"Don't you like it?" Lily said with a frown.

"No, it's hideous," he said, flashing her a signature grin. "You did a terrible job." And with that, he flounced out of the room holding his head high.

Round 4

Team and Position: Chudley Cannons, Beater 2

Prompts: [quote] 'You two can show off to each other later. You're both very smart. Now shut up.' — Skyward, Brandon Sanderson

[action] Hide

[word] Chivalrous

Word count: 1,119