My Gift is My Curse:
The Fifth Marauder
Sirius looked at the sign on the Gryffindor notice board and grinned. It read:
Valentine's Dance
14th February
Main Hall
With Live Music and Festive Feast
It was only the middle of January at the moment, which meant he had plenty of time to find a date. Not that finding someone would be a difficult. He glanced round the common room, catching the eyes of several of the prettier girls in there and smiling at them with that pearly grin of his which lit up his dark eyes. Each of them grinned and blushed, breaking off eye contact quickly.
No, getting a date wasn't difficult at all, in fact, that was the problem; it was just too easy. What ever happened to the chase? No date he ever went on seemed worth while. James couldn't understand, he was too obsessed with that bloody Evans girl in Ravenclaw and just didn't understand the stresses of serial dating. Sirius grinned to himself and shrugged the feeling off. Ah well, he'd just have to continue having meaningless relationships with as many hot girls as possible. Life's a bitch.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of James who had just come back from Quidditch practice. Remus was off doing some prefect-y thing and god knows what Peter was up to. James looked around, saw Sirius and headed towards him. Many girls watched James's trail as he made his way across the common room. He was, of course, oblivious to all of them.
'Alright mate? How was practice?' asked Sirius
'Amazing,' replied James, 'Slytherin don't stand a chance. You should have seen me out there. I was beyond amazing.' Sirius resisted the urge to laugh. How typically like James to boast about his quidditch skills, not that it wasn't all true, but he did love to remind everyone of it.
'So, been lost without me while I was gone?' queried James, with am oh-so familiar, mischievous look in his eye.
'Nah, not really - just been reading the board. But you obviously have something more interesting planned' James tapped his nose knowingly and turned towards the board.
'Alright! A dance!' he exclaimed. 'I wonder who Evans is going with.' How predictable, thought Sirius.
At that moment, McGonagall entered the common room, accompanied by a pretty girl with freckles, reddish brown hair and dazzling green eyes. Sirius wondered who she was; he had certainly never seen her around before. Everyone went silent and turned to face the Professor and the girl. The girl looked uncomfortable under the gaze of so many people but held her head high and gave a small smile. A girl with confidence, Sirius liked her already.
'This,' began McGonagall, indicating the girl 'Is Emma. She's joining us from a different school and has been placed in Gryffindor. She'll be joining the fifth year so I'd be grateful if you other fifth years, and everyone else of course, would make her feel at home here.' She turned around and muttered something to the girl, Emma, who smiled and nodded. McGonagall glanced quickly round the common room, her eyes resting suspiciously on James and Sirius for a while, before she turned around and left.
The room remained quiet for a while but then the usual noise broke out and a couple of girls from the fifth year, Sirius's own year, rushed over to Emma and began conversing with her. Sirius pulled his eyes away from her and turned to face James.
'So where do you think she came from?' he asked. James shrugged in a non-caring sort of way. Sirius turned to look at the new-comer again. There was something…different about her. She just seemed to stand out from the other people, but not in a bad way. He mentally shook himself and turned to face James again.
'So what's this plan of yours?' James's face cracked into a wide grin.
'Well, I was in down in Slughorn's dungeon when I just chanced across some potion,' Sirius laughed, he doubted James had 'chances across' anything. James gave a sly smile and pulled out a small bottle from his robes. It read:
Quentin's QuickSand solution;
Give any surface the consistency of quicksand.
Just add a few drops!!
'Ok,' said Black, 'And what exactly were you planning on doing with this potion?'
James's grin broadened
'Well, you know the narrow staircase behind the tapestry? I was thinking we make it somewhat more interesting…' Sirius needed no more convincing.
'You grab the cloak, I'll meet you outside the common room.' And with that he left, unaware he was being watched curiously by someone with dazzling green eyes…
Sorry it's a slow start. It'll get better. I promise.