So I'm back after a seven (!) year absence. This is a fic that has been brewing since well before then but that I am only now getting on paper. This is likely to be my last foray into Harry Potter fanfic so I do hope you enjoy. It's certainly bittersweet writing it. Many thanks to Animagus Anonymous for beta reading this.

'Oi!' Sirius Black hailed a passing Ravenclaw fourth-year from the bottom of the spiral staircase that led to the Ravenclaw common room. It was getting late and people were slowly starting to meander back to their respective common rooms for the evening, Sirius, however, had no intention of returning to Gryffindor Tower.

'What?' the fourth year asked quizzically, no doubt wondering why a Gryffindor student was lingering at the stairs to Ravenclaw Tower.

'Would you bring Clara Farley down here?' he asked the boy. 'You know? The prefect?'

The boy nodded and headed up the staircase, still casting curious looks at Sirius over his shoulder. Sirius smiled and leaned back casually against one of the pillars that flanked the staircase. Clara was a very pretty girl in the year above. She and her friends had been sitting next to Sirius and the rest of the Marauders the previous day when Ravenclaw played Slytherin in the last Quidditch match of the season.

She had caught Sirius' eye instantly with her shining brown hair and high cheekbones. He rather thought they gave her an almost regal look. Sirius had spent most of the game chatting and laughing with her, so much so that she had playfully accused him of distracting her too much. Sirius remembered vividly the way she had grasped his hand tightly when the Ravenclaw seeker raced towards the ground in pursuit of the Snitch, Sirius' brother Regulus hard on his heels, and the hug she had pulled him into when their seeker had emerged triumphant.

He and James had exchanged winks over her shoulder as they joined in the celebrations; Slytherin's defeat meant that Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup for the second year in a row. It had been with a very heavy heart that Sirius watched Clara head back to Ravenclaw Tower. There would be no opportunity for a couple of Butterbeers with her in a quiet corner surrounded by the euphoric atmosphere of a post-match party. He had thought of little else since.

'Sirius!' Clara exclaimed, stopping dead on the staircase as she spotted him. Her face bore the same puzzled expression as the fourth-year. 'What are you doing here?'

'I've come to see if you fancied a walk,' Sirius said as he lounged in a would-be casual way against the pillar.

She blinked in surprise and checked her watch. 'What now?'

Sirius grinned. 'There's no time like the present!'

Clara glanced dubiously up and down the corridor. 'It's nearly curfew!'

'Ah, that doesn't matter,' Sirius said, putting on what he hoped was his most persuasive voice. 'You're a prefect! You could say you'd caught me out and were dealing with it!'

She began to laugh as she descended the last few steps. 'Just because I'm a prefect doesn't mean I won't get in trouble! I'd probably be in more trouble; I'd lose my badge if I'm caught!'

'But you'd be with me,' Sirius said. He held his arm out to her. 'And I don't get caught.'

Clara raised a sceptical eyebrow.

'Well maybe once or twice,' Sirius conceded. 'But definitely not this time, I can feel it.'

Clara stopped on the last step. She glanced at her watch once more, but this time she was smiling. She was torn, but he knew he'd won her over.

'Well,' she said as she took Sirius' arm, a mischievous look in her eye. 'I happen to know that the curfew patrol won't be coming this way for another hour at least. I must be mad, but what the hell!'

Sirius grinned and gestured down the corridor. 'Shall we?'

'Lead the way!' she said with a laugh. 'How's your hand now? I'm sorry I squeezed it so hard!'

Sirius pretended to grimace. 'It's getting there,' he said as he clutched it to his chest. 'I'm not sure if it'll ever be the same again but I'll manage.'

Clara laughed.

'How was your party last night?' Sirius asked as Clara fell into step beside him.

'Not as good as yours, I doubt,' she replied. 'We only won the match, you guys won the Quidditch Cup!'

'It wasn't bad,' Sirius said. 'It was missing something, though.'

Clara grinned and Sirius was pleased to see a slight flush creeping up her neck.

'I really shouldn't be out this late,' she said shaking her head. 'What have you done to me? Exams are just around the corner; I should be revising. My parents would kill me if they knew!'

'Life isn't worth living unless you're reckless every once and a while,' Sirius said. 'There's plenty of time tomorrow for revision.'

'You've got your OWLs coming up, haven't you?' she asked. 'Are you not worried about them?'

'There's no point in worrying,' Sirius replied. 'Life's too short.'

'I nearly had a break down before mine,' Clara said. 'I needed top grades; I want to go into Magical Law.'

'Oh wow,' Sirius said. 'Brains as well as beauty! Well now I'm impressed.'

'Oh be quiet!' Clara said. She blushed again and made to swat him on the arm. He laughed and ducked away.

Suddenly, they heard a voice behind them. 'Who's there?'

They froze. It was the voice of Argus Filch. He hadn't yet rounded the corner, but he was only feet away.

'Shit!' Sirius swore loudly and grabbed Clara's hand, dragging her along the corridor. Many night-time wanderings had resulted in an impeccable knowledge of the castle's secret passages and Sirius knew there was one right ahead concealed behind a tapestry. Sirius skidded to a halt in front of it and yanked it aside, shoving Clara in before darting in himself and pulling the tapestry hastily back in place.

They stood in the narrow passageway before a rickety set of stairs, Sirius trying madly not to laugh.

'Shh!' Clara whispered, pressing her hand over Sirius' mouth. 'You'll get us caught!'

They dared not move. They could hear Filch down the corridor, muttering to himself under his breath, drawing closer. Sirius held his breath, his heart thumping loudly in his ears, still suppressing a thrill of mad laughter. Filch was right outside their hiding place now. Clara's eyes were wide with what looked like a mix of fear tinged with excitement, one shaking hand still clamped over Sirius' mouth, the other still gripping Sirius' own.

But Filch was drawing away; his muttering getting fainter and Sirius allowed himself a long sigh. Clara dropped her hand from his mouth.

'Do you think he's gone?' she breathed. She was very close to him, almost pressed up against his chest. He could smell a hint of something flowery coming from her hair.

'He's gone,' Sirius replied. He was looking into her deep blue eyes, time seemed to be frozen. Slowly, he lowered his head towards hers, his lips parted...

'AHA!'

Once again Sirius swore loudly. Clara screamed in fright and they both whipped round to see Peeves the poltergeist. He had ripped back the tapestry and was floating above them, laughing madly.

'Canoodling are we?' he cackled with glee.

Sirius reacted instinctively. He plunged his hand into his robes and pulled out his wand.

'Langlock!' he cried, pointing his wand at Peeves. The poltergeist made several furious gagging noises before he turned and zoomed off, making several obscene gestures at Sirius as he went.

'Come on, this way,' he said, gripping Clara's hand again and pulling her up the narrow staircase. 'Filch will have heard all that. I know a short cut; we'll get you back to Ravenclaw Tower.'

He led her along several passageways and down a set of staircase, all the while cursing Peeves and his timing. After a few short minutes, they found themselves once again at the base of the spiral staircase that led to the common room. Sirius turned to Clara to see that she was smiling.

'Well,' she said. 'That certainly was an adventure!'

'Things are never dull when I'm around,' he replied as he casually leaned against the flanking pillar once again.

'So I see! I thought we'd had it there for a moment, my heart was going so fast!'

'I told you I don't get caught.'

'Well maybe I believe you now,' she said.

The near-kiss seemed to linger unspoken between them as they fell silent. Clara was still smiling, her eyes still alive with the adrenaline of their flight. Sirius stood upright and made to draw close to her once again, but at that moment someone called Clara's name from the staircase.

'Clara!' it was one of her friends. Clara turned and the moment, once again, was broken. 'There you are!'

The girl paused as she caught sight of Sirius and smirked, looking from one to the other. 'We wondered where you had got to.'

'I just went for a stroll,' Clara replied without embarrassment. She turned back to Sirius. 'I should get back to the common room,' she said.

Sirius nodded, inwardly cursing both poltergeists and interfering friends. 'Wouldn't want to get caught out after hours,' he said with a wink.

She laughed. 'We should take another walk sometime,' she said. 'I'll see you around, Sirius. She gave him one more of her stunning smiles before turning and following her friend back up the staircase.

Sirius let out a long breath. He turned and pulled a large piece of parchment out from his pocket; the Marauder's Map. Despite being only a few months old, the parchment was already acquiring a weathered and crumpled look.

'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' he muttered and the map began to spread across the blank page. This, other than the small matter of becoming an Animagus, Sirius considered one of his finest achievements. Although it was much too precious to be shown off in front of others, however pretty they might be.

He scanned the map quickly and to his surprise saw a dot labelled 'Regulus Black' only a few corridors away. Wondering what on earth Regulus was doing out past curfew, Sirius hurried along the corridor, stowing the map back in his pocket.

'Hey, Reg,' Sirius said as he rounded the corner to see Regulus hunched over something. Regulus jumped in surprise and hastily stuffed whatever it was inside his robes.

'Oh, it's you,' Regulus said. Sirius stared curiously at the place where the object had disappeared inside his robes.

'What was that?' he asked. 'And what're you doing up here after curfew?'

'Just sending a letter,' Regulus said evasively, not looking at his brother. 'Forgot what the time was.' He cast a furtive glance over his shoulder.

Sirius scoffed. 'Worried about all your pals seeing me talk to you?' Sirius asked. 'I wouldn't think they're about, probably all skulking in their dungeon.'

Regulus shrugged, still not looking Sirius in the eye.

'I hope I'm not rubbing off on you,' Sirius said, 'you being out after hours. You might get caught and poor old Mother would go ballistic. Probably blame me for leading you astray. Was that who you were writing to?'

Regulus shrugged again.

'I received a particularly admonishing letter from her myself the other day,' Sirius said. 'If you're writing to her could you mention to the old crow that I really don't care?'

'Was it about what happened with that Snape?' Regulus finally met Sirius' eyes. They were alive with a kind of shrewd curiosity. 'Do you know what's down that passage?'

Sirius laughed. 'Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies!'

Sirius had indeed received a rather reprimanding letter from his parents following the Whomping Willow incident a few weeks ago, though Professor Dumbledore had clearly not told them all the details, for obvious reasons. He'd been amazed that there had been no Howler, but maybe it wasn't so surprising; the last time his mother had sent him a Howler, he'd sent one right back. It had apparently arrived and burst open in the hallway just as his father was showing a very important member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement out of the door. Sirius snorted.

'No, this was a long and completely boring tirade about how, even though I'm a worthless Gryffindor, I should still try and do well in my exams.' Sirius said. 'I may still be able to bring a bit of pride to the name of Black. He spat on the floor in disgust. 'As if I care.'

'You wouldn't fail your OWLs just to spite mother, would you?' Regulus asked aghast.

Sirius snorted and flicked his hair out of his eyes. 'As much as I'd love to irritate the woman even more, this is one expectation I'll live up to,' he drawled. 'I couldn't fail if I tried.'

'You know, you could just do what they want,' Regulus said in a small voice, looking down at the floor. 'You don't have to annoy them at every turn.' Sirius looked at him. How typical of him to want to appease everyone, Sirius thought.

'Where would be the fun in that, Reg?' Sirius said. 'They deserve it, the bigoted arseholes.'

'They're –' Regulus began, but he was cut off by a soft mewing noise coming from further along the passageway.

'We'd better scarper,' Sirius said. He'd already escaped from Filch once this evening; he didn't particularly having to face him again. 'You sure you'll be ok getting back?'

'I know a way,' Regulus replied shortly.

'Fair enough,' Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders. 'I'll see you around, Reg.'

Regulus nodded curtly and turned on his heel and soon disappeared around a corner. Sirius hoisted himself into a hole concealed behind a portrait of sappy looking witch and began to make his way back to Gryffindor Tower, his mind on his brother and exactly what he had been doing so far away from his common room after hours.