Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Divination - Assignment 4 - write pre-trio era with prompts 'someone in the title' and 'defensive')

Written for Globetrotter Challenge (London, England - write pre-trio era)

Typical Alice

For some reason – unknown to him – people considered Sirius as the Gryffindor player. They had it in their heads that when he wasn't in class he was snogging some girl behind the Whomping Willow. If he didn't show up anywhere without a girl in tow then he had broken another heart.

It wasn't Sirius' fault that girls found him attractive, and just because they chased after him did not mean he chased after them. He was interested in girls, yes, but he wasn't interested in that shy Ravenclaw in the corner who was too scared to ask him on a date; or the pretty Hufflepuff who tried to sneak love potions into his bag when he wasn't looking.

Sirius was only interested in one girl; and that one girl was a quiet, studious Gryffindor who was a year ahead of him. She had caught his attention the moment he had laid eyes on her, and like James with Lily, his heart had been set on winning her affections ever since.

"Hey." He sat at a table in the library, pushing her books out of the way to force her to look at him.

She sighed. "Black," she said. "What is it?" Despite her tone there was no denying the small hint of a smile that was on her face at his mere presence.

"Just thought I'd come and say hey," Sirius answered, grinning. "You looked lonely."

"It's called studying," she said, but she didn't pick up her books again.

"What an odd word that is. Is it French?"

Rolling her eyes, Alice rested her head in her hand. "You might learn something one day if you tried it, you know," she said.

"I don't need to," Sirius said defensively. He grinned. "I have natural brains."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean," he added quickly.

The young woman sighed. "You know," she said, "Sometimes I don't think I do. You're a strange human being, Black."

"I try. And it's Sirius, by the way."

"It's Black to me."

"I prefer Sirius."

She smiled, shaking her head. "Very well… Sirius." She laughed.

"You know… Alice… I think you're pretty."

She blushed, not meeting his eye. "I know," she said. "You've told me before. But –"

"What?"

"Didn't you just break up with –"

"No! I haven't had a girlfriend in a year… more than a year! It's you, Alice. Always has been you and probably always will be."

There was silence as the young woman regarded him with curiosity. Then, without any warning, she dived across the table to kiss him hard on the mouth, startling a second year who had been browsing for books nearby.

Raising an eyebrow, Sirius laughed.

"Typical Alice," he said. "Always so unpredictable."

This pairing squeezes into my head canon, and the canon universe. This relationship (in my head) happened before Alice started dating Frank)