Disclaimer - I do not own any HP characters, settings, etc. I would be extremely lucky if I did. I do, however, own Abby and Chelsea and whatever else I think up. Enjoy!

Sticks and Stones

Chapter One

Chelsea Dugan cringed as yet another wad of paper impacted with the back of her head. This had been going on through all of Transfiguration, and she had patiently ignored the person responsible for the attacks. However, her patience was wearing thin. After having another wad skim over her head, Chelsea turned around and stared straight into the eyes of none other than Sirius Black.

'What?' She mouthed furiously.

"Don't forget, we have quidditch practice tonight. Seven o' clock," Sirius whispered, a slight grin on his face.

"You couldn't wait until after class to tell me this?" Chelsea asked through gritted teeth, thoroughly pissed now.

Sirius merely shrugged, his grin widening. Chelsea swerved back around to face the front and found that Professor McGonagall had stopped her lesson, and was now standing in front of Chelsea with a large frown on her face. 'Well, this explains Sirius's infernal grinning...'

"I'm sorry, Miss Dugan, but is my lesson not interesting enough for you?" McGonagall asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"No, Professor! I-I mean, yes. I mean... Sorry, Professor," was all Chelsea could manage. She looked down at her tightly clasped hands and tried to ignore the quiet giggling spreading through the room.

"Five points from Gryffindor. Please avert your attention back to the lesson, Miss Dugan. You may flirt with Mr. Black after class," McGonagall said, turning and walking back to the front of the room, completely unaware of the disgusting look on Chelsea's face. 'Me? Flirt with him? That woman is nuts.'

Quiet laughter to her right, made Chelsea take a glance at her best friend. Abby Gregory was almost doubled over from laughing, one hand over her mouth, the other clutching her stomach. Chelsea scowled at her and resumed trying to change her rabbit into working pocket watch. After class was dismissed for lunch, the two girls headed down to the Great Hall.

"I think Black has a thing for you, Chels," Abby said, as they sat down at the table.

"I don't know what your talking about," was the response. Chelsea took off her glasses, placed them in their case and into her bag. "Sirius is attracted to women who have all looks and no brains. And I consider myself to have a brain, thank you," she said, grabbing a sandwich from the pile in the middle of the table.

"You do? Whoa, you've been fooling me all these years, Dugan!"

Chelsea groaned and turned slowly around. There he was again. Sirius took the only available seat next to her, on her left, while his three friends sat across from them. James, Remus, and Peter, along with Sirius, made up the infamous Marauders. James Potter and Sirius Black were the best looking males in the whole school, and constantly had women chasing after them. It was well-known, though, that James was completely focused on winning the heart of Lily Evans. Who in turn was completely focused on despising the very being that was James Potter. Remus Lupin was the intelligent one of the group. He was not as good looking as his other two friends, but was still quite handsome. And last, but not least, was Peter Petegrew... No one really knew how he made it into the group. He was short, plump, and not the brightest kid in the school. He mainly followed Sirius and James around everywhere they went. These guys were also known for their pranks. No one in Hogwarts had escaped a prank yet. Well, except for Chelsea and Abby. But Chelsea had a feeling that being the best chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team had something to do with it. Not to mention that Abby was somewhat of a tomboy and didn't like it when people messed with her or her friends.

Chelsea picked up her sandwich and took a small bite. She looked to Abby with a pleading look, but found that she and Remus were having a heated discussion about something in their Ancient Runes class. Chelsea sighed and took another bite.

"What's wrong, Dugan? You look a little down," James said, piling a fork full of macaroni and cheese into his mouth.

"She's in such rapture to be in my presence," Sirius replied before Chelsea could say anything.

'Oh, that's it.'

"Mr. Black, I do believe your ego has become far to too big for your own good," Chelsea said, standing up. As she did so, she grabbed her goblet of pumpkin juice and turned it upside down over Sirius's head.

This caught the attention of everyone within a five yard radius of the area, and most began to laugh at the scene. Sirius, however, merely stayed seated and looked at his best friends with a smile. "I think she likes me, mates," he said as Chelsea stormed out of the hall.

Chelsea was halfway to Gryffindor tower when she remembered that she had left her bag in the Great Hall. She stopped and groaned. She really didn't want to go back, not after the stunt she had just pulled. Having no other choice, she turned around and headed back. 'Maybe I can grab Abby's attention and tell her to bring the bag back to the dorm without me actually having to go into the Hall,' Chelsea thought turning a corner...and colliding right into something, making her fall to the floor. She looked up and saw an amused Sirius looking down at her. And also holding her bag. Chelsea looked down, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"You going to sit there all day, Dugan? We do have other classes to attend."

Looking back up and opening her eyes, Chelsea saw that Sirius was holding his hand out for her. She grabbed it reluctantly and let him pull her up.

"You left this in the Great Hall," Sirius said, handing her her bag.

"Thanks," Chelsea mumbled, putting it onto her shoulder.

"Hey, no hard feelings about what happened. I mean, I kind of deserved it," Sirius said with a slight smile and rubbing his now fully dried head.

"'Kind of?'" Chelsea asked, giving him a skeptical look.

"Yeah well... Gotta head to class. See you at seven," he said walking back the way he'd come.

Chelsea turned to head back toward Gryffindor Tower.

"Hey, Dugan!"

She turned to look at Sirius.

"You look really nice without glasses." And he turned a corner.

Chelsea stood where she was, quite stunned. 'Should I take that as a complement, or an insult? I don't think I look that bad with my glasses on...'