There was another flash of light, and Snape was once again hanging upside down in the air.
"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?"
"Oy, James, the feast is about to start," yelled Sirius.
James hesitated a moment, then let Snape fall to the ground with a thud. "I'll get you for this, Snivellus," he said.
The four friends made their way quickly into the castle.
"Wait, where's my wand?" Sirius searched the pockets of his robe.
"Did you drop it?"
"Must have. I'll go look for it."
"We'll wait here."
Sirius walked back down the corridor, keeping a sharp eye out for his wand. He spotted it behind a large potted fern, just as James called "Hurry up!" He grabbed the wand and started to run towards his friends. As he passed a dark stairwell half hidden by the plant, a girl hurtled out of the stairwell, followed by books and a heavy school bag. She crashed into him, knocking him to the ground. Immediately she jumped up and grabbed a book.
"Peeves!" she hollered, hurling the book into the darkness. The poltergeist's cackle echoed down to them as Peeves retreated.
The girl turned around, muttering ferociously as she picked up her books, stuffing them into her school bag. Task finished, she brushed red-gold curls out of her eyes and reached down to help Sirius up, who was still laying on the ground looking stunned.
"Alannah Rosentree, Ravenclaw fifth year. Nice to meet you. Terribly sorry about bashing into you, by the way."
"Oh, er, Sirius Black, and that's ok – Rosentree? As in, Ian Rosentree, owner of Honeydukes?"
"Sorry, no relation." She grinned as his face fell. "No, he's my uncle. Again, terribly sorry, but I must be off." She shook his hand again briskly.
"Er, won't you, er, come to the feast with us?"
"Nice of you to ask, but I have a slight problem to take care of," she said, looking back up the stairs. "Good-bye."
Sirius watched her leave. James, Remus and Peter had come over.
"Who was that, mate?"
"Our golden ticket, I think."