Pairing: OC/Sirius

PSA: I don't own any characters, except my OCs and the situations I put them in. That being said, if you wanna borrow an idea or character, feel free. Just PM me about it before or after because I'd love to see how it goes.

November 8th 2015 edit

note: I just fixed up a couple inconsistencies in this chapter. I hadn't had the plot completely thought out when I wrote the first chapter so there were some small things which needed to be changed. If you've already read this, it's not necessary to reread it. I mean, you can if you want to. Tell me what you think if you do :)

Wednesday

Limp, dishwater blonde hair hung into Aife's eyes while she painted. Ever since she'd been accepted into Hogwarts Aife was fascinated with the moving paintings. The spell to make them come alive wasn't easy, it had taken her a month to get it right. Some highly unfortunate accidents were involved in that month.

She blinked her large amber eyes, trying to mimic them with her paintbrush. Today was her first self portrait since 5th grade. She was anxious to see the improvement. Aife also rather wondered what she was like from a third person standpoint. Did that make her narcissistic, or just philosophical?

Aife painted her heavy lids, adding touches of mauve and a faded red as lowlights. She was running low on Crimson and Ochre. No wonder, she mainly painted portraits. Aife made a mental note to visit Boon & Magg's Art Shop this Hogsmeade weekend.

Aife made bright pearly highlights on her cheekbones and Cupid's bow. Done.

The sun was beginning to set. An errant gold ray bounced off the clock, reading 6pm. October dusk was Aife's favourite weather. It was perfect temperature for a jumper, skirt, and wooly tights. She donned her favorite jumper and knitted hat, the dark green one with a little patch of flowers stitched into the center, and made a mental note that the portrait would be ready to charm in five days. She could, hypothetically, use a charm to make the paint dry, but it was more prone to cracking when she did that. Aife was far too proud of that portrait to allow it cracks. Plus the paint was thick in many places, hence easier cracking.

"Oi, Sullivan!" Peter shouted from across the hallway before Aife could duck back into the exit of the nearby secret passage way. It led up to a small turret, which was unreachable unless you fed a lock of hair to the Japanese cat demon statue in a nearby classroom. Aife used the turret to paint, amongst other things.

"What now, Pettigrew?"

"Could I talk to you in private for a minute?"

"Sure," she replied reluctantly, not wanting to cut time out of her evening activities. Aife wasn't a big fan of Pettigrew. The boy didn't have an original thought in his head and he was part of that cocky group of Gryffindors boys.

Peter Pettigrew stepped outside the portrait hole with her and wiped a nervous hand through his hair. It was a poor man's version of James Potter messing up his own hair. Typical Pettigrew, mimicking Potter and Black.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me, this coming weekend... ?" His voice cracked on the last syllable. Peter cleared his throat. He was rather smaller than his friends and had recently had his voice drop. Apparently he was still working out the kinks.

"Uhh..." Aife was taken aback. This was the last thing she was expecting. "Is there any particular reason you're asking me now? We're not particularly close, are we?"

"No, I suppose not, I just thought, you know, you're a good looking broad and I'm a good looking guy," Peter trailed off, intending to flatter and dazzle her. Aife wondered how the boy got sorted into Gryffindor, he was nervous as a mouse.

Aife raised a brow. "Modest, as well."

Peter looked hopeful and opened his mouth, but caught the sarcasm before he said something stupid. "Right, well. What do you say? I think we'd have a good time together."

"I'm flattered by your offer, but I'm afraid I already agreed to go shopping with Alice and Vasiliya. We were gonna get special permission to go to Diagon Alley for the weekend." This was, of course, a lie. An obvious one. But the boy had looked so pathetic that she couldn't outright refuse him. But this was an easy way out, as long as he played along. Actually, Pettigrew would probably believe it.

"Oh." Peter looked as though he'd been hit by a stupefy. "Right then, that's settled," he said awkwardly.

Aife glanced outside a large window jutting out of the castle down the corridor. A large, watery sun was getting ready to kiss the horizon. Stupid Peter. "Groovy, catch ya later."

It was time for a sunset swim.

Aife liked to go swimming in the lake on the occasional dusk. It was just her routine to do it once or twice a week. Aife wouldn't strike many as the type of girl that made lists and filled out schedule planners, but the reality of the situation was that Aife was far too absentminded to be able to function without the lists and routines, which she found soothing.

She slipped off her school clothes to reveal a thin navy one piece. Aife shivered. She took a thermos from her schoolbag. Being raised by muggles had its perks, she thought. Aife must have been the only Slytherin to be raised by muggles, as far as she knew.

Aife downed the Calidus Cruer Draught and felt her entire body warm up. The last step, gillyweed. Gillyweed was quite hard to get a hold of, and she usually had to stock up in Diagon Alley. Didn't come cheap, either. One time, last year, Aife's cat had eaten half her stash. She had to sprint to the prefect bathroom and drop her dumb kitty in the bath. It was disastrous at first, but Neptune had lived up to her name and found it fascinating once she got used to the idea of water. And swimming.

Aife swallowed the gillyweed whole, knowing full well by now that more chewing meant more tasting. She had 30 seconds to cast a disillusionment charm on her things and dive in.

Aide loved the eternal cocoon water provided her with. Her friend, Yokslan, was a mermaid who lived about a 10 minute swim out from the northwest coast of the lake. Yokslan was the daughter of the Chief's brother, so she was somewhat part of the monarchy in the lake.

Aife hadn't realized the full extent of Mer culture until last year. Over the summer, Aife had worked tirelessly to learn Mermish, finally finishing up her studies in late August. She had grown up in a muggle orphanage. It meant she had a lot of free time, as most kids, and adults, in the orphanage thought Aife was very weird, and didn't desire to make any sort of association with her.

Aife could see why most Slytherins didn't like muggles, and she wasn't fond of most, but some were quite fascinating people. Not that she'd actually met that type in person yet.

After fighting off two grindylows, Aife had finally made it to Yokslan's cottage. Cottage may have been a strong word for the thing, but Aife wasn't sure how the name of Mer homes translated to English. The pronunciation was something like a retching sound followed by a groan.

Yokslan spotted Aife and swam out. "Aife, how good it is to see you! How very good! I have news!" She burbled excitedly.

"Really?"

"I am going to be arranged to be married!" Yokslan's face lit up. As soon as every higher up mermaid hit 20, their relatives arranged a marriage.

"Do you know where it is yet? Shit, I mean, who? Do you know who you will marry?" Aife quickly amended. Saying she was fluent in Mermish sounded a lot better than saying she was half fluent. She got a bit rusty over this holiday though. Last school year, Yokslan had struck a deal with Aife. If Aife would tell her about the upper wold, as she called it, Yokslan would teach her Mermish in return. They usually met a couple times a week.

Yokslan laughed. "No, no, I'll find out in a month. I hope he's fit."

"Me too, good luck. I've yet to have a boyfriend." Aife's life was a string of unrequited crushes. She was starting to think she might have to settle for someone like Pettigrew, although she was fairly certain she'd rather be alone. Perhaps she should buy a few more cats.

The concept of boyfriends were entirely foreign to merfolk. They did not believe in love, and often saw it as a mental deficiency, in extreme cases. Yokslan had told Aife the story of her half cousin, who had fallen in love with the chief's son (Aife wasn't entirely sure how this worked, she hadn't thought to ask about Mer policies on incest) and had been extradited.

"So, did she die?" Aife remembered asking.

"No, she had turned into a human. It's very painful." Yokslan had said.

Yokslan said nothing about boyfriends. She thought love was very interesting, but couldn't understand it well. Yokslan had asked Aife to describe it many times, but, never having been in true love, Aife simply couldn't.

Aife's hour was nearly up as she approached the shore. She could feel the telltale itching near her gills and tingling at the webbing on her hands and feet. Aife lay at the shore, basking in the moonlight. It was a full moon.

It was clearly evident that it was too late to calmly walk back into the school. She'd surely earn herself a detention doing something disgusting, like squeezing bubotubers. No, she'd much rather lay blissfully on the shore, and have a staring contest with the moon.

Aife wasn't entirely sure how long she had been lying at the edge of the water, but she had clearly not noticed approaching footsteps.

Which is how she had found herself looking up at Sirius Black, wearing nothing but her panties. Instinctively, Aife covered her breasts. The one piece was near see-through, she only wore it to private swimming sessions. The boy gave an impish grin. She blushed furiously. Stupid Gryffindors. Constantly poking their noses where they're unwanted.

"What're you doing out here?" Aife demanded.

"I could ask you the very same question." Black was still grinning. Aife wasn't sure if she should be embarrassed or flattered. He was the most attractive boy in their year, or at least top three.

"I asked you first," she said childishly.

"It's a secret."

"Ditto."

"Please, you were obviously skinny-dipping."

"You caught me. I'm a huge exhibitionist," Aife deadpanned. Crap, Aife thought. She would have to change eventually. She couldn't just stand around, having a conversation with Sirius Black, in the nude, all night.

Sirius looked her up and down. Who'd have thought the Slytherin girl they dared Peter to ask out earlier was this attractive. Well, she looked fine in a school uniform, but this was something else. Her wet hair clung to her head, making her eyes look even bigger than before. She looked, there was no other word for it, cute. Who'd have thought a Slytherin girl could look cute?

"Nothing you haven't seen before," Aife said as she colored once again.

"Oh, we've had sex?" Black asked, genuinely surprised. He must have been pretty drunk to not remember. Perhaps during last years winter–

"No, you bloody git. I just meant that you get around, case in point. Merlin, how many girls have you been with, to have asked that question?" Aife cut his thoughts off quickly.

"I lost track in early last year, to be perfectly honest."

"For Merlin's sake, you were barely fifteen! Go play with a stick." It wasn't her best line, she realized. She had been off on the age by about ten years.

"I don't need to, love. Like you said, I get around, case in point." Sirius glanced at her breasts again.

"You're disgusting." She turned around, picked up her wand and began to dry herself off.

Sirius was fully enjoying the view. He had a strong urge to cup her ass when she'd turned around, and the urge doubled when she'd bent over. To avoid being hexed into next year, Sirius restrained himself. Aife quickly dressed and Sirius couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment.

"You know, I think I preferred you before," he joked, trying to make conversation again.

"That's because you're a total pig who values women for their bodies instead of their personalities." Aife stalked off, resisting her urge to whop him upside the head. What a disappointment fifteen year old boys were. Aife supposed she should've scolded herself for having high standards in the first place.

Despite his better judgement, Sirius followed. To be fair, Remus could, hypothetically, get out of the shack at any moment. Prongs most likely had it under control, but there was always that possibility. Sirius had to make sure this girl was protected. That, and he was intrigued, he had to admit.

"Are you stalking me?" Aife finally asked, after he had trailed behind her for the last five minutes. Aife's charm had begun to wear off and she was shivering slightly.

"Would you like my coat?" Black asked politely, ignoring her question.

"A pig in a man's clothing. Very Animal Farm."

"I rather liked that book, actually."

Aife was very surprised. "Aren't you a pureblood? How do you even know it?" She momentarily forgot their earlier enmity.

"I could say the same to you. A Slytherin?! Making references to muggle literature? Has the river Styx stopped flowing?" He barked a laugh. "Well, I can't say I'm entirely ignorant. Besides, muggles are fascinating. Their world is very similar to ours, and they have many of the same problems. It's interesting to see it from the perspective of a wizard. My mum would kill me if she heard me now." Sirius gave a sardonic laugh.

This had thrown Aife off a beat. Airhead playboy who reads classical muggle literature. Although mommy issues was one she could've guessed.

"What's your favourite book?" he asked her.

"I really liked A Portrait of Dorian Grey. Wilde's comedies are excellent as well."

"You know Wilde was actually a pureblood who was shunned for writing books for muggles? Also his comedies are far superior to Dorian Grey, although it's hypothesized that Dorian Grey was a real man. A muggle who was driven insane by his wizard friends. The little traces of magic overwhelmed him and he turned to drink and opium." It was nice to have someone to talk to about books. Remus had read some muggle books, but he preferred wizard authors.

"Huh. How are you so learned, yet still such an ass?"

"Bad blood, probably."

Aife had no clue what to say to this. She supposed any other Slytherin would assure him of his pureblood status. In fact, his cousin Narcissa was a sixth year as well and wouldn't hesitate to curse him for talking that way.

"I'm sorry, I've made things awkward. I've just had a lot on my mind lately. Plus, your talk of muggle books reminded me of sneaking out to muggle libraries as a kid. Dark times," he said, with a small laugh that died in his throat.

"You are much more interesting than I thought, Sirius Black. And these are dark times. Maybe not for you, but muggleborns are disappearing left, right and center. It's not nice."

"That wasn't very Slytherin of you." He quipped.

"I didn't grow up in a very Slytherin household."

"Wish I could trade families with you."

"You can't trade something for nothing." It was an awkward silence, again. Her fault, this time.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I never knew them. Grew up in an orphanage."

"How was it?"

Aife bristled a bit. The truth was, she had been raised in a muggle orphanage. Aife had assumed she was a muggleborn after receiving her letter and learning a bit more about the wizarding world. She had never imagined she'd be put in Slytherin, and often wondered if the Sorting Hat had made a mistake.

"Eh, it was alright." Deciding she could trust him, Aife said, "Do you know how to get back in the castle without getting spotted by Filch?" Yes, Sirius was a Gryffindor, but he was alright, despite his womanizing. Which should be fine as long as she resisted his charm, which Aife was sure she could manage as long as he kept on making stupid remarks like earlier. And he was a Gryffindor, so it was a given. Sirius was loads better than his brother, who was a third year and already friends with some really nasty kids.

Black grinned widely, and led her back into the castle carefully. Currently, he had James's invisibility cloak. He took it out and tossed it over himself, and lifted a corner so Aife could get in with him. It was cramped but they made it.

Aife felt hyper aware of Sirius's body, brushing it with her own far too often. She had to admit he was very handsome, the kind that was hard to ignore. The boy even smelled good, for Merlin's sake.

They crept through the corridors, Sirius guiding her through to the lower levels of the castle. He suddenly had a great idea.

They turned a few rights and Aife began to protest, "This isn't the way to the dungeons!"

"Really?" Sirius asked sarcastically. They had arrived at a portrait of a bowl of fruit. He tickled the pear, which began to giggle, although Aife swore she heard it say, "Every bloody day!" dejectedly as the painting swung open.

"Master Sirius!" a squashy house elf said, in a far lower voice than the average elf. "Welcome! So pleased to have ya."

"Dinner for two please, thank you, Arno." Sirius said, smiling at him genially.

Aife was overwhelmed. Was Sirius Black taking her out to dinner, or was she hallucinating? Or was she overreacting and Black was just hungry?

They settled into their midnight snack, sausages and mash, with some roasted vegetables. It was delicious.

Aife had no clue what to think of the whole thing. They chatted animatedly about books, their favourite authors and even, for a while, Herbology. Aife and Sirius had Herbology, Divination, and Runes together. Aife was very good at Herbology and decent at Runes, but couldn't see anything in Divination. Not to mention they had a horrid teacher named Onclois. Onclois had a tendency to exaggerate, and her classroom smelled particularly strongly of a certain herb. Then again, they actually had a lesson coming up where they would use cannabis to uncloud their third eye. Sort of ironic, since the monthly smoking made the room very cloudy indeed. Students could skip class that day, although not many did. It was the main reason Aife took that class, and she had a suspicion that she wasn't the only one.

Herbology, however, came natural to her. She found plants very soothing, and often drew or painted them. It was easily Sirius's worst subject. He found plants very confusing, and couldn't tell them apart to save his life.

By the end of the night, Sirius and Aife had agreed to sit together in the Friday unclouding of the third eye. Aife had even offered to help him with Herbology, which he graciously accepted.

"You know, you're not too bad. For a Slytherin," he said, leaning onto his elbows.

"Watch out, you might just find yourself friends with a Slytherin," she said, knowing full well she did not think of Sirius Black as a friend. Aife wanted to, she really did, but she was female.

"I don't think that'd be too bad," he said with a smile. All thoughts of Remus and the other marauders had flown out of his head.

Sirius walked Aife to the dungeons and she hesitated.

"Are you gonna use the password in one of your little pranks?" she asked, before whispering "Python" at the door and stepping aside allow it to swing open.

"Maybe," he admitted, giving her a roguish grin.

She smiled at him and softly said goodnight, slipping out from under the cloak. Aife had a strong urge to kiss his cheek but resisted. As cute as he was, Aife refused to be one of those simpering girls who lusted after Sirius Black.

Sirius returned to the shrieking shack, thinking of the girl. He now wished it had been him instead of Peter who was dared to ask her out. But James had stop daring him to ask out girls a while ago, deciding it was cruel when they accepted and Sirius had to tell them it was a bet. Although, mostly, he just suffered in silence, deciding he'd rather have a boring evening than feel guilty for a couple hours.

He couldn't wait til Friday, when they had decided to partner up. Remus wouldn't care about switching partners, although Sirius wasn't entirely sure who Aife sat with. As long as it wasn't Narcissa things should be alright. The spoiled brat. What kind of mother names a girl Narcissa? He grimaced at that thought. His aunt was exactly the type of woman who would. Clearly, the lady didn't know her history.

When he got back to the Shrieking Shack it was already dawn, and Remus had transformed back to his human form. He had deep scratches on his bicep and bruises all over. His breath was shallow, and James looked pissed.

"What the hell, Padfoot, where have you been?"

Sirius shifted guiltily. "I had to help that girl get back in the castle."

"And that took you all night?" James demanded.

"Well, no, we got distracted."

James snorted derisively. "So, let me get this straight. You ditched your friends, on a full moon, to go fuck a broad?"

"It's not like that, she's not like that," Sirius tried to explain, but James cut him off.

"So you ditched us to chase a broad? And if I'm not mistaken, a broad who's one of the Slytherin Chasers. Seems to be a reversal of roles," James said humourlessly. Peter let out the tiniest laugh but quickly stifled it.

"Look, mate, I was helping her out, nothing more, nothing less."

"Whatever."

Lupin listened in on this exchange, still recovering from his recent transformation. "Leave it be, Prongs. It doesn't matter."

Thursday

That morning, Sirius took some pepper up potion, as per custom post-full moon, except on weekends. James had chewed him out pretty bad, before collapsing on the bed with a loud snore. Sirius felt bad, but he knew that if it were Lily, James would've done the same in an instant. Not that Lily would've let him.

Neptune wound herself between Aife's arm and the crook of her side. She was a funny cat, blue-grey fur and intelligent blue eyes. Aife wanted to put a talking spell on her sometime soon.

Aife couldn't sleep, despite her exhaustion. Her mind was racing with thoughts of Sirius Black. Was he simply trying to get into her pants, after seeing her naked? Or was there more to him? Certainly, he had displayed intelligence and a knack for picking good books, but she'd already known the former due to their Ancient Runes course together. They were both quite good at Runes. Aife liked them because they made her feel like a powerful mystical sorceress, like in novels for muggle teens.

The illusion was shattered when she looked in the mirror. She had thought about spelling her hair into a nicer color many times, but reminded herself that appearance was all she had left from her parents. Maybe someday they would recognize her, if either of them were still alive.

Aife thought about her parents often. She hypothesized that a pureblood witch had had a child with a muggle, out of wedlock, and decided to just drop her here, without telling her family. Aife now hoped not, since almost all English purebloods were related, and she didn't fancy the idea of being cousins, however distant, with Black.

Bloody hell, she needed to get that boy out of her head.

She'd be bullied worse than ever if her fellow Slytherins ever found out she fancied Black. Narcissa would surely murder her, or at least humiliate her, a lot. Aife would stand her ground though, like always. Aife had often wondered if the Sorting Hat had messed up. There were only two girls in her year whom she didn't despise. But they were either neutral or semi friendly to her, based on Narcissa's monthly cycle.

Miyo, one of said friends, was poking her. Her twin Moko was Narcissa's minion, but Miyo wasn't so easy swayed. Aife stretched luxuriously on her four poster.

"C'mon, we've got practice!"

"Fuck."

Miyo Kamimoze was faux shy, except around friends. Her bitchy and often self-entitled manner could be annoying, but the two girls had many common interests. And Aife's generally passive personality meshed with Miyo's quietly bitchy one.

Azriela was the type of girl that said "lovely" a lot, and really meant it. She had a penchant for velvet hair scrunchies and floral print. It wasn't Aife's style in the least but she could see why Azriela Parkinson liked it.

The other girl in their dorm remained neutral to them all, almost always. Aife had no clue how to feel about Jane. Jane didn't seem to do anything except study and eat sugar, despite being as slim as Aife. Maybe even more so, and definitely slimmer than Azriela.

Azriela often complained that Aife was underfed, and it was fine most of the time, but occasionally the girl got on her nerves so much that Aife hexed her.

Miyo shoved Aife out of bed.

"Come on, we're already a chaser short. Wilkins is in the hospital wing. Got jinxed by some Gryffindors," Moko flicked her nose.

"I'm sure he had it coming."

"I'm sure he did too, but that doesn't change the fact we're a chaser short."

The pitch had a scenic fog rolling over it, obscuring everything under the stands. Aife could hardly see her captain, Primus Ewell. Ewell was a heavyset boy, with a strong jaw and small almond eyes. He wasn't altogether unattractive, outwardly, but Aife had yet to meet a more brutal boy. Fittingly, he was a beater.

Only Slytherins and Ravenclaws held practice at dawn on school days. It was exhausting, but it paid off, despite them typically only playing for an hour.

They rose high above the fog. Ewell's girlfriend, Antoinette Bulstrode, constructed stone barriers in the air, creating an obstacle course for the team. Antoinette was the keeper, and despite her having decent skill, Aife felt there was some favouritism in play.

Aife and Regulus tossed the quaffle back in forth, increasing their speed and distance. Halfway through the play, Aife realized this was Black's brother. She had known, of course, but it didn't really register until now. Regulus was known as the baby of the team, only in third year. He was a great chaser though, Aife couldn't even imagine how good he'd be when he hit 6th year.

The first game of the season was coming up, Saturday after next. Aife had a nervous excitement. She wondered how Regulus was going to do against Sirius as a keeper. It was Regulus's first year on the team.

Aife was quite relieved to make it back on the team this year. She and Miyo weren't close with the rest of the team, and only talked to them if it was quidditch-related.

Miyo and Aife went down to breakfast after practice, where Aife saw Sirius. He caught her eye, winked, and turned back to talking to James. James noticed this exchange and scowled at her. Time to be on my guard, Aife thought. She wouldn't put it past James to play a nasty prank on her. She heard what he'd done to Snape over the years, and seen some of it personally. It wasn't pretty. Aife wasn't Snape's biggest fan, but she could imagine there would be backlash to stealing James's boyfriend for a night.

"What was that all about?" Miyo asked. Aife launched into the tale of the other night, and from when Peter asked her out and ending with getting back in the dorm.

"That explains the circles under your eyes."

"Thanks."

"Anyway, I don't see why you go in that lake. Yeah, Yokslan seems cool, but there's about 50 different lethal creatures in there. And Gillyweed tastes like spaghetti with bogeys. Honestly, you should've been a Gryffindor. Seems like the sort of mental thing they'd do."

"Only you," Aife laughed, "Could hear about a night out with a boy and focus on the most irrelevant detail."

"It's not irrelevant. None of that would've happened if you didn't go to the lake at night. Besides, it's not like you fancy Sirius, but I'm happy you had a night out with a cute boy."

"Well, yes, we're just friends. At least I think we might be," Aife did her best to conceal her blush by munching on some of her toast. "But, I was hoping you'd switch partners with me for Divination on Friday. Sirius and I were hoping to sit together. Or, at least, that's what we agreed on last night. Maybe it was all in the moment, who knows? I suppose I'll talk to him about it today."

"Did he really agree to be your partner? Wow. I suppose he really liked how you looked in that thing you call a bathing suit."

Aife's spirits fell a bit at that, but she protested anyway. "We actually have a lot in common."

"Yeah okay," Miyo gave her a weird look, "So you both sneak around the castle a lot. I don't think that's what attracted one of the marauders to you, so much as wanting to fuck you silly."

Aife cringed at the crude words and thought back to the scene. She remembered Sirius saying he'd prefer it if she kept her robes off. Was it just flirting? Or was he really just interested in her on a purely primal basis? Or was he at the time and now there's something more? Merlin, it's only been a night. The situation made her head spin.

Their later conversations made Aife doubt that he wanted to be friends just to get in her pants. Either that, or Sirius was really elaborate, and Merlin knows he didn't have to be to get with Aife. She wasn't even close to the same league as other girls he'd dated. Whenever anyone described her appearance, they almost always used "interesting". Mostly because she looked like an owl with her big amber eyes and heart shaped face. It created an interesting effect, for sure, but sexually appealing? Not particularly.

"C'mon, spacey Aife, we'll be late for Transfiguration."

Having Transfiguration first period was horrid. McGonagall, head of Gryffindor, was a strict woman, with more than one stick up her bum. It wasn't as bad before, but standards had tightened for NEWT level. It was only October, and yet they were already attempting to conjure something out of nothing. Aife had succeeded in creating inanimate objects so far, the biggest being a handsome dinner table. She'd also managed to conjure food, which Miyo and most of the class was still struggling with. Food meant a pumpkin and a baguette, but it was far better than nothing. McGonagall had even given her 10 points for the pumpkin. And another five when she sliced it open and discovered it wasn't rotten on the inside, as most conjured fruit was.

Aife suspected the reason she did well in classes was lack of close friends. Sure, Miyo was nice, but she spent most of her time studying and playing Quidditch. Miyo's parents had gotten her a snitch for her and Moko's last birthday. Moko had received a magic make up set which was highly reviewed in Witch Weekly. It seemed the twins' parents knew them well.

Miyo and Aife had Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws, where their other friends, Vasiliya and Alice joined them. Vasi was horrid at Transfiguration, but made up for it in Charms. Vasiliya had a huge crush on James Potter and was ecstatic when Aife told the tale of her adventure last night.

"Yes, let's double date! I can slip James a love potion or something," She chittered excitedly.

"You'll need to, after the look he gave me this morning. He looked pissed. Also, I doubt you'd be the first to try and slip him a love potion. He'd probably already be dating Pomona Bletchley if Potter couldn't tell the difference between a love potion and pumpkin juice."

"Hmm," Miyo said, "They were probably out for a prank or something and Black ditched them for you."

"That's the impression I got as well," Aife replied. "How immature."

Alice just looked thoughtful at these news.

"And so, if you will open your books to page 78, you will find a diagram of the psyche. Below that, the various crystals connected to different regions of the brain." Onclois said, waving her wand and creating a larger version of the image to float to the front of the classroom. The divination room was smokey, with air thick enough to cut. It was difficult to see the diagram through the smog.

"Can anyone tell me what region of the brain moonstone pertains to? Mr. Lupin, perhaps?" She gave him a knowing smile and caused Sirius to give her glare.

What an odd reaction, thought Aife. Most of the school knew the nicknames they had for each other. Still, something felt off.

"It is responsible for the Id in the unconscious mind," Lupin recited off the page, giving her a pointed look. Odder still. Remus Lupin was a model student, and a prefect.

"Good." She looked disappointed he'd gotten it right. Professor Onclois was very much a teacher who played favourites. Onclois only liked two Ravenclaw girls and a Hufflepuff boy in Aife's class. One of said Ravenclaws was Vasiliya, who took great pride in this, despite agreeing that Onclois was bloody batty.

Aife caught Sirius's eye. He gave her his customary wink and began scribbling on a paper. Onclois had disappeared into the back of the classroom, likely to have a sip of some potion or another. It was well-known that she mellowed after disappearing for a few minutes. Her superior and pseudo-omnipotent manner softened into intoxicated airiness.

Sirius tapped the parchment and it folded itself into a paper airplane, landing gracefully on Aife's desk. "Remus says the change is cherry. Sit with me tomorrow?"

Aife glanced at Miyo. She raised her eyebrows, but nodded.

"Sure," she said, giving him a grin.

Lupin looked amused and whispered something in Sirius's ear. Sirius looked a bit guilty, but quickly recovered himself and nodded.

END NOTE/ So I don't usually take my fanfics very siriusly (heh) but this is different (I hope)! It might be a bit til the next chapter, since I'm trying to make them a decent length. I honestly can't tell you how long this fic will be (I'm guesstimating 40k words but we'll see), and trust me when I say it won't drag. The main focus is, as you already may have guessed, the relationship between Aife and Sirius. Some others may pop up :) This will be a somewhat smutty fic ;) That being said, I'm trying to keep it lighthearted and not overly dramatic. If anyone has any suggestions for me (either this fic, or prompts), feel free to PM me.

As for the next chapter, here's a spoiler: James had a dirty mind when it comes to pranks and payback.

I hope to have the next one up in a couple weeks.

Thanks for reading, I would appreciate any and all feedback you might have.

Chapter word count: 5,827