The Laws of Attraction

"Class! Settle down!" The transfiguration professor yelled over the din of students babbling away. She was only maybe in her mid forties, but was already graying and showing the tell-tale signs that age was creeping up on her. Padfoot always called her "that old bitch that thinks she's so smart", but I figured that was just because she once caught him making out with Susan Reed in the Astronomy Tower.

"Goddammit." Sirius moaned, collapsing into the seat next to mine. His head hit the desk within seconds, and I smelled that special mix of butterbeer and girl's perfume lingering on him.

"Hey. Wake up." I said, shoving him in the shoulder.

"Shuddup, Prongs." He mumbled, shoving me right back. Most of the class had quieted by now, and the lesson had already begun. I didn't really care.

"I'm being serious, Sirius!"

He laughed, a hoarse sound that sounded more like a cough than anything.

"Since when were you serious about school?"

"It's not about school. I don't care. For the record, I want to know your secret. How... how you manage to get any girl you want."

Now he finally sat up, a huge grin on his unshaven face.

"Ahhh, finally. James Potter, asking me, Sirius Black, for the secret."

Remus, who had been sitting on my other side, stopped taking notes for a brief second to look at me.

"You do know, James..." He began, twirling his quill around in his fingers. "That this means you're giving up."

"James, finally admitting defeat, finally admitting that I was right..." Sirius gloated in a high pitched voice. "I never thought I'd see the day..."

"Fine. You win! Now just stop bragging and tell me how you do it." I said, a hint of exasperation creeping into my voice. Finally, he wiped the smirk off his face and reached into the pocket of his robes.

"These, my friend..." He said, holding up two little black pieces of metal. "... are magnets. Do you know what they are?"

"No..." I mumbled. "They've got something to do with muggles. That's all I know."

"Muggles use them to put pictures on their refiderators." He said, proud that he was actually telling me about something I didn't know. "But they're really a lot more powerful than that. They have to do with the laws of attraction and all that."

"What laws of attraction?" I asked desperately, hoping that this wasn't just another one of Sirius's pranks.

"You know, the laws that say that opposites attract, like these magnets. Let me demonstrate."

He held the magnets one way, and they clicked together and refused to let go.

"That's opposites attracting."

When he held them the other way, they pushed each other away and refused to touch.

"That's the same sides repelling."

"And what does this have to do with the secret, exactly?" I said, raising an eyebrow. Sirius just laughed.

"Mate, it's so bloody simple." He tossed the magnets back into his pocket and then propped his head up on his elbow. "You know how I get a girl to like me? First I shower her with attention- constant harassment, asking her out all the time, and then, suddenly... nothing. I ignore her. I drive her insane wondering why I don't talk to her anymore. And, eventually, she comes to me. It's magnetic."

I paused for a moment to think about it. During that brief moment, I couldn't help but let my eyes drag over to the redhead sitting a few rows in front of me. She was hunched over her book, hair spilling into her face, her lithe finger tracing along the page as she mouthed the words out loud.

I was trying to take a mental picture. To imagine her always like that, so peaceful and calm.

It was then that Sirius punched me.

"OW!" I screeched, then quickly lowered my voice to keep the professor from coming over to us. "What the hell was that for?"

"You and Lily, you're just like the magnets." He said casually. "Trust me. Ignore her from this day on, and she'll be drawn to you so fast you won't even believe it."

I wanted very badly to doubt Sirius, but I found it impossible. He'd slept with nearly every girl in our house, so his methods had to be foolproof.

"Just try and forget about her."

"I can't."

"Just try."

The class was almost over. I'd spent the rest of it doodling in the margins of my book, scribbling out a plan for tonight. Instead of harassing Lily, I'd do homework. Instead of writing love notes, I'd practice for Quidditch. Instead of thinking of ways to win her heart, I'd... I'd... study for my OWLS.

Yes. It could work. And if it didn't work, it wasn't like I was ruining a great relationship.

More likely than not, she probably wouldn't even notice that I wasn't around.