Sirius Black's POV:

I woke up from my deep slumber groggy and annoyed. Someone was rapping their knuckles on the door of my bedroom at nine in the morning. The problem with this situation was that I never got out of bed until at least noon. The sun shone through my window, even with the floor length curtains drawn, and I couldn't get back to sleep and continue my dream about a faceless leggy blonde with a girlish giggle and magic hands.

"Sirius, dear, wake up," said James' mum. I groaned and flopped over onto my belly.

"Mrs. P… It's not even twelve, yet," I told her and then shoved my face into my pillow to block out the sunlight that was bursting through into my bedroom. I could hear Mrs. P laugh and I could picture her rolling her eyes, as I'm sure she was doing.

"If I woke you up at noon, you'd be late for your first day of school. You wouldn't want to miss your first day of your last year, would you?" Her footsteps tapped away from the door.

I was awake now.

I rolled out of bed, literally, and fell on the floor getting eve more tangled in my grey sheets. After rubbing my sore head and letting loose a few choice curse words, I struggled out of my blankets and pulled on a pair of jeans along with a Hobgoblin's t-shirt that I bought last year at a concert. I checked my shaggy hair in the mirror, making sure it was alright and then I bounded down the stairs while simultaneously pulling on my black leather jacket.

When I made it to the kitchen, James and his dad were already eating Mrs. P's homemade waffles and James' mum was pouring syrup over the top of mine.

I looked at the two blokes sitting at the table. They were spitting images of each other. Both had wire-rimmed glasses and jet black hair that stuck up in all directions, although James was the only one who consciously tried to keep in that way. Like dad, like son, they both had a tall, lanky build and hazel eyes framed behind their spectacles.

I sat down opposite Mr. P and right beside my best friend, James, when I got my breakfast. We ate in silence, savoring the wonderful waffles on our plates. About halfway through eating my breakfast, Mr. P stood up from the table and put his syrupy dish in the self-washing sink.

"I'm off to work. Stay out of trouble, boys," he said, looking at the both of us pointedly. We glanced at each other and grinned devilishly while Mr. P just laughed. "What was I thinking? That will never happen. Try not to get caught, then, yeah?"

Mrs. P looked at her husband like he was a child to scold with her hands on her hips and her lips pursed.

"Don't encourage them, Charlie," she told him. He just grinned boyishly and kissed her cheek before apparating from the kitchen.

James and I continued to eat several waffles, finishing just in time to leave for King's Cross Station. Both of us lugged our trunks down the stairs, grumbling about the weight. I didn't turn seventeen until September 20th and James didn't reach adulthood until March 27th, so we couldn't preform magic outside of Hogwarts, even to transport our trunks.

"Okay boys, I'm going to trust you this year to get to King's Cross without any mishaps. Do you think you can manage?" Mrs. P asked dubiously.

"Of course, Mum. Why would you ever think anything would ever happen?" he asked innocently, eyes wide. I snickered as he laid it on thick.

Mrs. P rolled her eyes, but I could see her holding in an amused smile.

"I trust you. Be good. Stay safe. I love you," she told us. She went up to James and kissed him on the cheek. He looked peeved and proceeded to wipe it off of his cheek when his mum turned her back. Mrs. P did the same to me and I did exactly what James did, though secretly I didn't want to.

Since I moved into the Potter's during the middle of last year, Mr. and Mrs. P have been more like a mum and dad to me than my own parents, hence the reason I was living away from my ancestral house. I didn't mind Mrs. P kissing me on the cheek because it made me feel loved, which was something that I never experienced before. The only reason I wiped it off of my cheek was because I knew James would take the mick out of me if I didn't.

James and I drove my motorbike, keeping our trunks in the cart attached to it, to King's Cross and hefted our trunks and James' owl, Edgar, onto a cart. We strolled leisurely towards the barrier, talking as we went.

"So, head boy this year, yeah? That's going to be… interesting," I said slyly, looking at him through my peripheral vision, wanting to see his reaction.

"That doesn't mean that I'm going to follow the rules, if that's what you're getting at," retorted James with a scoff.

"I wasn't worried about that," I told him. "I was more concerned that you might jump Evans, seeing as you're in a dorm together." I laughed as his ears turned a light shade of pink at the mention of his long-time crush.

"I'm not going to 'jump' Evans. She would kill me, literally. Lily hates me," he said dejectedly.

"Yeah, she really does," I agreed, nodding my head. James turned to glare at me.

"Thanks for the support, mate," he said sarcastically.

"What? You said it first. I was just confirming what you already know. I don't know why you keep going after her, mate. There are plenty of other birds that would kill to go out the star Gryffindor chaser, James Potter. Why not one of them?" James just sighed.

"They're not Lily, Padfoot," he said simply, using my nickname, as if her being Lily explained everything. "I love her. I won't give up. I'm also not like you." He looked at me pointedly and I shrugged with nonchalance, still not getting what he liked about Evans so much.

"Eh, whatever. I don't get it, mate, but whatever raises your wand." Prongs tried to look disgusted, but let out a quiet laugh, and I snickered.

"Come on, Prongs. You can have one of my fan girls if you want. I'm sure they'd go for you if I asked," I suggested with a snicker.

"Don't. Just don't even go there, Padfoot. They're all bloody mad." James shook his head and rolled his eyes before coming to a halt in front of our other friends.

We found a gaunt and tired Remus Lupin sitting on a bench by the train beside pudgy Peter Pettigrew.

"Wotcher Padfoot, Prongs," greeted Remus with a smile that didn't match his exhausted appearance. Peter waved enthusiastically, but didn't say anything.

"You look like hell, Moony," I said to Remus as I took in his haggard appearance. He was extremely pale and skinnier than usual. Dark circles hung in bags under his eyes and he sported a fresh cut above his left eyebrow. I was sure that there were more where that came from.

"That's what happens when you blokes aren't around to help me with my furry little problem," he said with a grimace.

"Is that rabbit still giving you trouble?" joked Prongs. We all chuckled, though Peter laughed a lot louder than needed. He was always like that; wanting to be liked; trying too hard to get attention. It was kind of sad that he had such low self-esteem when with us friends, but he was as loyal as they came.

All four of us stopped laughing and became somber.

"Sorry about that, though. Mum would never understand about us helping you. She thinks it would be too dangerous. She doesn't hate what you are, but she wouldn't want us being there during the full moon," Prongs apologized. I nodded. It was true.

"Mrs. P would have a heart attack," I agreed apologetically.

"She has a right to, mates. I am dangerous. You shouldn't be with me when I'm…" He winced like it was painful to speak about. "Transformed," Moony finished sadly.

"Moony, you're our friend. We stick together, right, mates?" I asked, looking around at the other agreeing faces. Prongs and Wormtail nodded.

After that uncomfortably deep conversation we boarded the train and tried to find a compartment.

To my disappointment and James' excitement, all the boxes were full. This resulted in us sitting with Lily Evans and her quiet, meek, Ravenclaw friend, whose name I still didn't know. Maybe something like Morgan or Mallory or Tess.

While Prongs hit on Evans (quite badly, I might add), I surveyed her friend. Since my best mate had a thing for her best mate, I'd spent a great deal of time around her, but I'd ignored her. Not only had she been plain, but she was probably hopelessly infatuated with me, as was every other girl in Hogwarts.

Now, though, the nameless bird had filled out over the summer.

In reality, Evans's friend wasn't all that bad looking, obviously being a late bloomer. She had long, flowing, black hair that fell down her back and bright, hazel eyes that were trained with fierce intent on a book in her hands.

She looked up and caught me staring, so I quickly turned my head, but I knew it wouldn't make a difference. She knew I had been looking. Let the infatuation and hopeless flirtation begin. I cringed inwardly.

When not a word came out of the friend, I tuned out Evan's yelling and Prongs's desperate flirting and took a quick peek at the girl again, against my better judgment.

She really wasn't bad looking. In fact, she was quite attractive. The girl had porcelain skin and long, shapely legs that made up for a small bust. She was already in her uniform, so I saw that she was in Ravenclaw, which means she has brains. That's a plus.

Even though she caught me checking her out (yes, I admit it), she didn't even say anything to me, which was odd. Normally, girls fling themselves at me, but not her. She just ignored me and I couldn't tell if that annoyed me by deflating my ego a bit, or thrilled me because there was at least one decent girl at this school.

The Quiet, Meek Ravenclaw's POV:

I woke up from a troubled sleep, feeling exhausted. Wiping the eye-bogies from my eyes, I hopped in the shower to wake myself up. The water re-invigorated me as it ran over my face. Once I finished cleaning myself, I didn't even bother getting dressed into muggle clothes, but instead slipped on my uniform.

Without a simple good-bye to or from my parents, both of whom I walked past when I headed to our multi-car garage, I snatched the keys off of the rack on my way out and slid into my baby blue Fiat Spider.

Finally, I pulled into the King's Cross Station parking lot and locked the doors of my pride and joy before taking a seat in the carriage. I arrived early every year and decided to make it my job to save a compartment for me and my best friend, Lily Evans, before others could claim them all.

Lils arrived about an hour later and chucked her trunk up onto the racks above us. She took a seat opposite me and started to gush about her summer at a speed of 1,000 words per minute despite the fact that I already knew what she was telling me as she recounted every detail of her vacation in her letters.

While I nodded and interjected frequently, because that's how it went with Lily, she suddenly stopped talking and her face went blank. I followed her eyes to a greasy-looking boy our age by the name of Severus Snape.

"Lily, please, can we talk about what happened?" he pleaded. "I didn't mean to call you… what I did. I'm so sorry."

Lily stood up from the cushioned bench and I saw a sliver of hope sparkling in Snape's eyes before she slammed the sliding door in his face. After that moment she stopped talking and sulked in a foul mood.

I gave her a reassured smile which she returned with tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry about him, Lils. He is nothing more than a git because of what he said about you. He doesn't deserve your tears," I told her as I gave her a quick hug.

"But… he's been such a good friend," she broke off with a sob, "and he has had such a hard life. Maybe I should forgive him…"

I looked at her with pity in my eyes.

"You know that's not a good idea. Especially now that he is part of that group with Mulciber and Avery and Malfoy," I reasoned with her.

She nodded in agreement and wiped the tears from her porcelain face. I, then, grabbed a book and started studying it thoroughly, knowing she needed her space.

About another half an hour later, I was still busy reading Achievements in Charms when the door slid open to reveal the infamous Marauders, as they so dubbed themselves. The quartet of boys ruled the school with a mix of mischief, brains, looks, and athletic ability. Or, at least three of them did. Peter was the oddball. That aside, they were four peas in a pod.

James Potter was a tall, lean fellow with messy, black hair that he purposefully styled twenty-four-seven, running his hands through it to make his locks attractively messy (which I saw all the time, being friends with Lily, though I found the effect less than stimulating). He wore wire-rimmed glasses over his bright green eyes and an arrogant smirk that reduced ninety percent of the female population to puddles. (I was not part of that majority.) He was a constant prankster, as were his friends, but somehow managed to become head boy, even though he'd never been a prefect. I was as baffled as you are.

His partner in crime, Sirius Black, was a rebel, both in looks and in life. He had shaggy, black hair that touched his broad shoulders which led to bulky biceps and a Beater's build. Sirius also came equipped grey eyes that gave him the perfect "tortured soul" look and always used one expression; his aloof, "I-don't-give-a-shite" face. He was the only known Black to be in a house other than Slytherin and he was thrown out of the "noble" House of Black by his mum last year. He was the black sheep, if you'll pardon the pun, and that fact alone made girls go wild around him. He was the right combination of trouble and troubled.

Peter Pettigrew was a stubby bloke. He wasn't unattractive with mousy brown hair and bright blue eyes, but he was more puppy-dog cute than actual dating material. He was of average intelligence and less than average athletic skills and was often outshined by his friends. He literally followed in their footsteps, scrambling after them like a pet. It was slightly pathetic mixed with a dash of endearing. His friends were his mentors and he looked up to them.

Last, but not least, was Remus Lupin. He had brown hair and was tall and lanky, like Potter, but not for the same reasons. He was constantly sick and always had to return home due to some badly behaved rabbit which seemed to take a toll on him. (I, personally, would just get rid of the rabbit, but I digress.) With pale skin and exhaustion written on his face, he almost had pity me carved into his forehead. Although he was sickly and stressed, he was brilliant in school and had been made prefect, and would have been made head boy, but I'm sure that his mystery illness stopped that. He was the least likely to be a part of the Marauders, but my personal favorite.

I peeked at Lily to see her giving me an aggravated look. I gave her an expression of sympathy before going back to reading. Part of me had a pointless hope that if I ignored them long enough, the four nuisances would disappear.

Though hopeless the idea may be, it was better than the alternative. A few years ago, I attempted to sit Lily and the object of her annoyance, James Potter, down to reconcile their differences and I ended up barricading myself in my dorm bathroom whilst Lils switched between going after me and Potter.

Lily may be a tad melodramatic and had the temper of an insulted hippogriff (and I'm understating both of those attributes), but she was loyal, brilliant, and kind enough to befriend a shy Ravenclaw girl like me.

I am, and have always been, a perfect example of an introvert. Shy, socially awkward, and slightly too upfront, I wasn't aware of the fact that I had to put effort into making friends when I was a tot, but when I learned that I had to, I pulled a turtle move and hid in my shell. My personal characteristics that I have now have come from years of avoiding most social interaction. As an only child of parents that weren't around often, I spent time by myself with my books and was accustomed to being alone.

Because of that fun fact about me, you can imagine my surprise when, on the trip to Hogwarts before my first year, Lily opened the compartment door, sat across from me and started talking to me as if we're best friends. It was quite a shock, but the longer I knew her, the more I liked her and by the end of first year, we were inseparable. We may not talk constantly, but I feel comforted when Lily is nearby. It's nice having a friend.

I was pulled out of my memories by a feeling that someone was watching me. I could feel a pair of eyes on my face, the person's gaze burning into me.

I looked up to see Black gawking at me. When he saw that I'd caught him, he glanced away quickly, but I knew. What I didn't know was why?

I pushed away a half-curious, half-irritated feeling and focused in on the usual argument that was occurring in the train car.

"Potter, sod off," Lily said sternly.

"Oh, come on, Evans, just one date. I promise that it'll be worth your while," Potter said with a waggle of his eyebrows. I cringed internally. That was the wrong thing to say. Lily took it suggestively, as she should have, and smacked him across the face. He should know by now not to make a joke of her.

Lily's face turned bright red, but with embarrassment or anger, I don't know. It was probably a mix of both.

"I would never go on a date with you, Potter. You're a foul, arrogant, loathsome toe rag and—," she started, but Lupin cut her off to avoid confrontation.

"Erm… Lily, we need to get to the prefect cart. You and James have to run the meeting, remember?" Lily took a deep breath and when Remus met my eyes, I gave him a grateful look for defusing the situation which he returned with a slight nod of his head.

"Yes, I remember. Thank you, Remus," she spoke curtly, letting her anger flow away. With one last glare at Potter, who looked both humbled and humiliated, and a wave goodbye to me, the three of them left to go to the prefect meeting with Lily leading the way.

This, unfortunately and awkwardly, left the compartment to Pettigrew, Black, and me. I watched out of the corner of my eye as Pettigrew lay on the bench across from me and closed his eyes for a nap before arriving at Hogwarts.

I went back to my book and let my black hair fall over my face, blocking me from the rest of the world, and the people in the compartment, particularly.

I hadn't even read through a paragraph before I felt the cushion underneath me shift. Setting my book down on my lap, I carefully marked my page with a piece of ribbon attached to the spine. I turned to see who had sat next to me and found Sirius Black. He sat only about six inches away from me, even though there was a whole other side of the bench.

I masked a scowl and picked up my book again, ignoring him. It should be a law that people should leave space between themselves and me. Has nobody heard of a personal bubble?

"So, how're you doing?" he asked uncomfortably with a nod of his head. Well, it was uncomfortable to me. To Black, he probably though he sounded friendly or even flirtatious. I just thought he was trying too hard.

"Fine," I replied without looking up, trying to start reading again.

"What are you reading?" he questioned, but he wasn't really interested. I turned the book cover toward him and continued reading. He scooted closer to me.

"Brilliant. You sound like you must be really smart, yeah?" he said, more stating it than asking. I didn't say anything, hoping he would just take the hint and bugger off.

Instead of figuring out that I didn't want to talk to him, Black just kept going on with the awkward, one-sided conversation. He seemed to notice that he wasn't getting anywhere with me, so he changed topics and cut off the "charm".

"Why are you studying before we have even arrived at school?" he asked bluntly. I let out a sigh of annoyance.

"Because," I replied simply.

He still didn't get it.

"What's the book about?" he questioned once more.

"Read it yourself."

"Listen. You're attractive. I'm attractive. Why don't we do something else that's more… pleasurable?" he said, sliding his hand up my pleated skirt, grazing my thigh. That was the last straw.

I slapped his hand away.

"You know, this isn't a brothel. Can't you just leave the well enough alone? And for future reference, I don't want to sleep with you," I huffed. I grabbed my book and stomped to an empty compartment to read in silence.

Sirius's POV:

I watched in surprise as what's-her-name walked out of the booth.

Wormtail looked partly confused and partly dazed, woken up by that girl's rant.

"What did you do now?" he asked groggily, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"What do you mean 'what did I do'?" I repeated back defensively. "She was the one that shrieked." Peter just shook his head and sighed.

"Touchy. Was it because she's the first girl to scream at you instead of falling over herself to shag you?" he asked with a yawn.

"That's not it. She's just being difficult. I was just trying to show her a good time," I said, feeling peeved. Peter snickered.

"Is she difficult or are you just losing your touch? You seem to have gotten uglier over the summer, Padfoot," he mocked. "And why are you paying any attention to that bird at all? You never go for anyone at this school anymore."

Before I could protest against his monstrosity of an idea or endeavor to answer the question that I didn't even know how to solve myself, he got up from the bench and left me alone to follow the food trolley that just strolled by.

I sat there for one moment thinking about that girl. I wasn't normally interested in any of the girls here as I had already been through anyone interesting. Sure, I might have flirted shamelessly a time or two, but girls at Hogwarts were too willing and too ready to throw themselves all over me now and as ashamed as I am to admit it, I was getting bored by it. However, now, I was presented with the challenge that I needed.

Maybe I'm just arrogant, but I was used to the flirting and the appreciating once-overs, but I wasn't accustomed to complete rejection. I also wasn't accustomed to the awkwardness that erupted from my mouth. I didn't know what to say to her. I was completely tongue-tied, so the words that spurted out of my mouth sounded strange and foreign like I hadn't caught on to proper English.

Not even the muggle girls, and only girls, that I currently fooled around with over break had that effect on me.

I almost felt bad about making her upset, but then I saw Laci Garrott walk by, still in her muggle clothes which consisted of a pair of short shorts that barely covered her arse and a tye-dye tee that she tied in the back, showing her stomach. Distraction acquired.

My no-Hogwarts-girls rule flew out of the window as I slid out of the compartment and silently followed my prey.

Laci would be thrilled to be the first Hogwarts girl in a while to have a fling with the famous Sirius Black.

I got to Laci just in time, as she was about to enter her box with all her friends. I put on my most charming smirk, ran my hands through my hair one last time, and "accidentally" bumped into her.

"Oh, hey, Sirius," she said giggling and playing with her long blond hair. She leaned against the door and I put my hand on the door beside her, leaning in close, running the back of my hand down her cheek before trailing down her arm to her thin waist.

"Wotcher, Laci. You're looking gorgeous, as always," I said to her with a wink. She giggled again and I had to brush off a twinge of annoyance at her shrill laugh. Just focus on her body, I reminded myself.

"You're looking pretty great yourself, Sirius," she told me, looking me up and down and biting her lower lip. I smirked wider in triumph. I still had it.

I thought of the girl again and faltered, but pushed her out of my mind. She was threatening to throw me off my game.

"Well, Gryffindor's number one beater has to stay in shape. What say you to catching up on my favorite form of exercise?" I asked her, stroking her arm and then moving back down to her waist and arse. She giggled and grabbed my hand, pulling me down the hall and towards the last car on the train that had luggage stacked ceiling high.

We barely made it through the sliding door when Laci started to snog me. Her hands were all over me and I would have been doing the same, but all I could do was freeze.

In the corner of the baggage car was that girl. She had put her book down and was looking at me. She was staring right into my eyes with a disgusted expression and I was bothered by it.

I pushed Laci away more forcefully that I should have.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" she asked, pouting with her bottom lip stuck out.

"There's someone here," I told her, although it shouldn't have bothered me. We could always find another compartment, maybe even kick some first years out of theirs, but I didn't want to be the source the girl's further revulsion.

"How about we do this later?" I offered half-heartedly. Laci just spotted the girl in the back and blushed before leaving the booth and giving me a wink and one last kiss.

"So…," I said nervously, fiddling with the zipper on my jacket.

"Do you do that all the time or is she just special?" the girl asked, sounding extremely sarcastic while saying the last part.

"It… it's not like that," I lied, knowing perfectly well that she wouldn't believe me. Frankly, I didn't even know why I was lying. I just had this craving for her approval.

"Of course," she said looking slightly entertained by my discomfort and obvious fib. Well, at least she wasn't scowling anymore. We both stayed where we were and awkwardly looked around the compartment for a few minutes.

"Don't you think you should get dressed, Black?" she suggested. I looked down at what I was wearing. I'd completely forgotten about changing into my dress robes.

I started to walk out of the compartment when I turned back with a need to explain my actions.

"Okay, I admit, it was like that, but I just needed a distraction and…," I trailed off as I saw her looking amused again. I was rambling.

"You don't have to explain to me, Black. I have no opinion of you," she said simply. I found myself a little let down. I wanted her to have an opinion of me. I sought her approval, her favor.

I shook my head as if to get these thoughts from my mind. Why did I crave this bird's acceptance? What was it about her that made me want to please her?

"Um… thanks, I guess… erm… what's your name?" I asked sheepishly. The unnamed girl looked unimpressed and just a bit irritated. She huffed quietly before answering me.

"Molly Hughes. Don't worry, though, because we've only been in the same grade and classes for seven years."

"Okay. Thanks, Hughes," I said and smiled a guilty grin.

She gave me a small, though slightly sarcastic, smile back and I left the compartment feeling strangely satisfied. Now, I could put a name to a face.