Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.


Chapter One

Transfiguration class seemed to drag on indefinitely, and the fly trapped between the window pane and screen insisted on flying about, trying to escape. This created an intermittent, but more importantly, annoying buzzing noise. It was a lazy Autumn afternoon in a Sixth year class at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, circa 1976. The class could've easily been divided into two very distinct groups- those who enjoyed Transfiguration and found it useful and those who had given up on it after second year and were only present due to necessity. It would be a surprise to no one concerned, that in a double class of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, the Ravenclaws made up most of the former and Gryffindors the latter, except, of course, for a few rogue individuals.

This cannot be said of Darwin Moore, a Gryffindor who felt she was doing her duty to her house by not paying attention to the lesson and instead electing to gaze out the classroom windows at the lake. Well, that was her excuse anyway.

She wondered, not for the first time, when the apparent hell on earth would end and idly considered sneaking out. She had been sitting with her head propped in her hand for so long that her cheekbone was beginning to get sore. It was the last class of the day and the thick, gray stockings that the girls were forced to wear were making her legs itch and sweat. She couldn't wait to change into something less ridiculous.

Soon after these thoughts surfaced in her mind, she began to consider why students were even made to wear uniforms at all and was well on her way to deeming Hogwarts fascist when she was brought out of her reverie by a shove to the shoulder.

She glanced up angrily, only to see the charming face of her childhood friend, Sirius Black, staring back down at her.

"Class is over, if you wanted to know. That is of course, unless you wanted to stay." he said with a laugh.

"Get a life." Darwin said sarcastically, but was betrayed by the laugh in her eyes. She truly did adore Sirius, no matter what she said.

As the other students began to file out of the classroom, Darwin quickly shoved her quill and parchments into her bag and stood to leave.

Then it happened.

It wasn't the first time, and definitely wouldn't be the last. It was that all too familiar trickling feeling between her legs.

Shit.

Her period had a history of showing up when it was least wanted, and this was one of those times. She had completely forgotten it was coming up and presently found herself rather unprepared.

She hastily made her way out into the hall, accidentally bumping into a willowy Ravenclaw in the process.

" Hey Dar, you coming with?" Called Sirius, indicating the Great Hall. She glanced over in his direction. She could see the retreating forms of Remus Lupin, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew moving down the hallway and made a mental note to tell James that no one expects the Spanish Inquisition! This was because they shared a mutual love of all things Monty Python. Which owed to the fact that both had some Muggle parentage. James had his mother while both of Darwin's parents were Muggles and each had been exposed to the silliness since it first debuted in 1969. She also reminded herself to get the five Galleons Peter owed her.

"No, Siri, I've got to do something first, but I'll see you at supper." She said in a rush. She could feel her underwear becoming uncomfortably wet as they began to get soaked with blood.

" And what," there was an emphatic waggle of his eyebrows "Is it that you have to do so urgently?"He finished suggestively.

She let out a sigh.

"If you ask me one more time, I swear I'll tell you in detail."

His insinuating, suggestive countenance was quickly exchanged for one of avoidance at all costs.

"Alright, I'm out, see you later." He gave her a quick, traditional, peck on the cheek and raced off to catch up with the others.

Finally.

She quickly found her way to the nearest girls' bathroom, and after a tentative peek to ensure that there was nothing unpleasant in the toilet bowl, locked herself into the third stall. She was in the middle of remedying her current problem, much preferring the Muggle solution over the Wizard one, when she heard the bathroom door swing open, a swish of robes and the hurried footsteps of black, polished shoes clacking against the cold stone floor.

"Did you just see that?!" Squealed an excited female voice.

"I can't believe! He's like, the most popular boy in school!" Answered another female voice, however, this one was only half as irritating as the first.

"Sirius Black winked at me! Maybe this means he wants be to be his girlfriend...." Said the first voice, with, what Darwin found to be, surprising seriousness.

She rolled her eyes. That was Sirius for you, a born ladies man. He was always at it- winking, giving sly smiles and in general, just being his charming self.

It was quite evident by her naivete, and the fact that she was capable of such a high-pitched squeal, that the girl that was probably already planning her and Sirius' wedding, was young. Very young. She had to be, in order to fall for any of Black's charm. That, or she was very stupid.

This was not the first time Darwin had seen girls go completely starry eyed and weak kneed over Sirius, and probably wouldn't the last. No, scratch that, definitely wouldn't be the last. Sirius had absolutely, positively no trouble making girls swoon and getting them into bed. It always made her pitifully laugh whenever she saw girls fall for his charms. Probably because she could see right through them. She knew Sirius for who he truly was and she also knew that whenever he would lay on his charm, it only meant he was after one thing - sex.

He had quite a long, colourful history of using girls and then tossing them aside, all dating back to near the end of his fourth year, when he had lost his virginity to a girl in sixth year. This was quite a feat and it had caused him to earn the admiration and respect of every male he knew and some he didn't. Since then, he had kept that tradition, of continually impressing his fellow males with his conquests.

It was because of this that Sirius had never been able to maintain a long-term relationship, and it wasn't for lack of trying. It was always the same, he would find a new girl that interested him and commit himself completely, that is until his eyes began to wonder about three weeks later. Darwin had to give him credit though, once he was able to last an entire month with the same girl, that is until he swore off monogamy all together, only to try his hand valiantly at it again two weeks later.

Having known Sirius all her life, Darwin was quite used to his exploits. At one point, she had futilely tried to convince him to conduct himself in more admirable and respectable fashion. This inevitably provoked him to counter that how he was acting was admirable and would she like to come upstairs and have a tour of his bedroom? She concluded that he was a born ladies man and would die a ladies man and since then, had conceded to turn a blind eye to his stunts.

She finished her business in the bathroom stall and went to wash her hands. When the girls saw her, a sudden hush fell over them, and all that could be heard was the cold water splashing against the porcelain of the sink.

Ditz number one cleared her throat.

"You're Darwin Moore, aren't you?" She asked, but was unable to keep the attitude out of her voice.

"That depends on who's asking." Darwin replied simply. This girl was an obvious spoiled brat, which complimented her idiocy nicely, and Darwin could feel herself getting dumber ever second she spent in the girl's presence.

The girl gave both an exaggerated, and annoyed sigh.

"My name's Ashley, not that it's any of your business." She said with extreme impertinence. "Look, are you friends with Sirius Black or not?"

This girl's rudeness was starting to get on Darwin's nerves. Darwin glanced over at her, utter contempt in her eyes. The insolent girl who went by the name of Ashley appeared as though she had spent hours on her hair and Darwin supposed that had she wanted to, she could've scrapped three inches of makeup off the girl's face no problem.

"What's it to you?" She spat back. She had always been somewhat protective of Sirius, although she would never admit that to anyone. Besides, it wasn't as if he needed protection anyway.

"I want to know if he has a girlfriend." She said with over- confidence, laced with conceit.

Darwin made a grand gesture of rolling her eyes and muttered "Spare me" under her breath.

She made to leave the bathroom when she heard Ditz number two speak up for the first time since the whole encounter had begun.

"Ugh, what a bitch." She said, her voice dripping with attitude and contempt.

Darwin stopped momentarily in her tracks, but then decided that any sort of confrontation would be utterly pointless and continued on her way to the Great Hall.

On her way there, she stopped to talk to one of the portraits on the wall near one of the Prefect's bathroom. The portrait was of Napoleon Bonaparte, despot extraordinaire and Emperor of France, post- revolution. Over her years at Hogwarts, Darwin had come to greatly enjoy speaking with him as he was incredibly interesting and intriguing, not mention, also apt to give very good, albeit at times a little over zealous, advice. His appeal was only slightly lessened by the fact that he was located near a bathroom.

"Good afternoon, Mademoiselle. How does the lady fare?" He asked as soon as he spotted her, walking somewhat dejectedly down the hall.

" Alright, I suppose. I've been better." She replied with a half smile.

"Indeed. Tell me, what is the cause of these melancholy feelings." The very Italian-looking Frenchmen said with a very appealing mix of charisma and concern.

"Just some trouble with some ignorant people." She said, not really wanting to explain what happened and risk turning a molehill into a mountain.

"My dear lady! You must reconsider your feelings pertaining to this situation. When dealing with ignorant people, it is most admirable and will afford most pleasingly to your success, because it is so simple to gain the upper-hand." He told her with conviction and a valiant wave of his fist. " You must learn to seize power when it's reign is within your grasp."He said with his ever present thick Corsican accent.

Darwin gave a little giggle, thanked him for his advice and bade him farewell. Then she continued on the very familiar trek to the Great Hall.

When she reached it, she found that the Hall was just as cavernous as ever, with the ever present draft colder than usual. She spotted her friends, who were sitting about halfway down the Gryffindor table, easily. They had a knack for sticking out in a crowd. More precisely, James Potter had a knack for making himself and all those around him stand out in a crowd..

Even from her vantage point, Darwin could see that James was very animated about something, occasionally banging his fist down on the table and his deep rolling laugh could be heard throughout the hall. Sirius was laughing along with him, obviously contributing to the occurring banter, while Remus Lupin had a slight smile on his pale face and Peter Pettigrew looked preoccupied and was gazing off at something on the other side of the Hall. Lily Evans sat next to James and appeared as though she couldn't help herself from giggling mindlessly. James had that effect on most girls. At any other time, when James wasn't around, Lily tended to be, in Darwin's opinion, very eloquent and smart in matters of academics. However, somewhat lacking in the areas of common sense and practicality.

Ah, the familiarity and comfort of a group of friends with great chemistry. At times, life, indeed, was good.

Darwin plopped down in between Remus and Sirius and was almost immediately confronted by James.

"Well, well, well, look who decides to show up. Is it because my mother's a Muggle? That's it, isn't it. You hate me for it. You're avoiding me because of it and are embarrassed to be seen with me." He said with mock seriousness and sarcasm.

"James, get a life. BOTH of my parents are Muggles." Darwin said, slightly patronizing.

This sent James into another spout of rolling laughter. Darwin had never met someone who laughed so genuinely and so often in her entire life. James had a love of life that was unparalleled and was, without a doubt, the single most charismatic, person Darwin had ever met and would probably ever meet. He could befriend and put at ease anyone, anywhere, no matter what their disposition was. While Sirius was the most popular with the female population of Hogwarts, James was unquestionably the most popular student in the school. Everyone, male and female, loved him, in a platonic way, of course. He was a mama's boy at heart, capable of arguing any side of any argument with genuine intelligence and conviction and he was also an excellent cook. He had to be- he ate like a horse, yet didn't gain a pound, but still insisted on being particular about what he ate.

"Hey James," Darwin called across the table. James was called out of his attempt to try and convince Lily that he had twelve middle names and that on his birth certificate, his entire name was suffixed by "the Third".

"Hey Darwin." He mockingly called back.

"How are you?" She asked with pretend concern.

"Fine."

"How's your mother?" She asked.

"Good." He replied.

"What are you doing this weekend?" She asked.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" She replied, pretending to be shocked.

"Well," He paused and gave a big grin. "I wasn't expecting some sort of Spanish Inquisition."

Darwin dramatically cleared her throat.

"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

This brought on another spout of laughter from James.

"I don't like Spam!" He replied, completing the tradition they shared of constantly swapping Monty Python quotations..

She heard Sirius sigh at her side.

"I don't know what you two get out of watching that show. It makes absolutely no sense." He said. Sirius' father was a Muggle so the concept of a television was not completely foreign to him. He had been exposed to Flying Circus by Darwin and James in their attempt to make the world a sillier place.

Darwin just laughed.

"It makes a lot of sense, you just can't appreciate the genius that is Monty Python."

"That, or I wasn't dropped on my head as a child and still have a significant amount of functioning brain cells." He said with a laugh.

She gave him a playful punch to his ribs.

"Oh Siri!" Darwin exclaimed. "I nearly forgot. It would appear as though there's been an addition to your fan club."

"Is it that really effeminate guy in Hufflepuff? You know, the one that carries a mirror with him wherever he goes and wears lip gloss?" Peter cut in excitedly. He really did have a great sense of humour, thought Darwin, it was such a shame he was so ambitious at heart.

"You're one to talk, Pete. At least Sirius has got SOMEONE who likes him. No shame in the love coming from a poof. " This was from James, and of course, his odd mix of benevolence and lack of political correctness was not absent.

Lily gave a giggle.

"James is right. Maybe this is the beginning of a new era for Sirius. I always suspected he'd become gay out of sheer boredom."

"Leave Sirius alone, all of you. " Remus cut in, scoldingly.

"Remus, my savior!" Sirius chimed.

" I'm sure this is a very difficult time for him, "Remus continued on. "It's bound to be, as he discovers all the new, confusing feelings he harbours toward other men." Remus finished with a laugh.

"Moony, I don't believe it! You've turned on me too!" Sirius cried, feigning despair. "All of you can just naff off, for all I care." He said jokingly. "In all seriousness, who is this new admirer of mine?" Sirius asked, interested, turning toward Darwin.

She let out a sigh.

"She's in Ravenclaw. A fifth year, I believe. Just some little snobby, spoiled brat. "

"You mean some fine, easily attainable piece of tail." Sirius patronizingly corrected.

"Oh, get over yourself."

Exactly two weeks later, while on her way to the library, Darwin spotted Ashley, the Ravenclaw, with a red face and streaming eyes, surrounded by three other girls who she assumed were her closest confidants. She could hear the three girls speaking in soothing voices and comforting their friend. It was very obvious to Darwin what had happened, Ashley had become another notch on Sirius' bedpost and had now been discarded. She was about say "I told you so", when she remembered that she had never warned this one of the pitfalls of Sirius Black, and just as quickly, put the entire affair out of her mind and indifferently carried on her way to the library.



A/N: Some reviews would be really nice. I hope everyone who is reading this is enjoying it so far :-)