September 1977

Divination was garbage.

In his quick, flowing pace back to the Gryffindor tower, Sirius Black nearly tripped over the billowing folds of his everyday robes, which had been made especially long with the purpose of 'growing into them.' Madame Malkin had been most insistent about this, certain that he would grow another few inches in his final year at Hogwarts. He cursed her now, just as he cursed his Divination instructor, Professor Gatsby, for ejecting him from the class. He had never understood the lousy subject anyway, and after three years of teaching, Gatsby seemed to have had enough of him and had no desire to spend a fourth year letting Sirius mess around while he tried to teach the other students.

As if they were paying attention in the least as well.

The final straw happened during just moments prior in their fated lesson on the crystal ball. Remus was in remission, it being the day after the full moon, and was resting in the Hospital Wing. With James and Peter in Ancient Runes, Sirius especially missed the other Marauder who was supposed to be in class with him. A pesky fly circling the Astronomy Tower had landed on Sirius' outstretched wand. Bored and spaced out, he had given it a careless flick to the left. Instantly, every crystal ball within the area had exploded into a showering of glass.

Professor Gatsby had not minced words. "Get out and come back when you've made yourself into something useful to the wizarding world!" the minute, red-faced wizard had roared, pushing Sirius towards the ladder with great force for a man his size. When Sirius had replied that he didn't think he'd ever make himself into something useful, Gatsby had given another great yell and levitated him out of the place.

At first, Sirius had been heavily amused. It was not his first time to be kicked out of a classroom, after all. Realizing his bag including his Quidditch gloves in the room had made things much less entertaining, and Gatsby had locked the trap door. As Divination was his last class of the day, Quidditch came directly after, and Sirius knew James was not going to be happy. Sirius' performance as Beater was a lot less impressive without the lucky gloves he had come to entrust, and they also protected his forearms from Bludgers. Yes, Captain Potter would not be happy.

He gave the Fat Lady the month's password ('fairy wings') and stormed through the common room. There were a few fifth and seventh years scattered around, enjoying an off block to study for OWLs and NEWTs, respectively, though none of them were actually doing the task at hand. He nearly plowed at fifth year boy over in his progress to get to the dorms. James would be up after class—after all, he didn't believe in keeping his precious broom in the cupboards, no, it had to be in his hand or locked in his trunk—and Sirius hoped someone would retrieve his things for him. Though usually Sirius' partner in crime, one thing James would not joke about was Quidditch. He was quite the tyrant, really, and demolished anyone who came in his way.

Tossing the door to the seventh year's dormitory open, Sirius froze. He was not the only person in the dorm. No, hovering near Remus' bed, back to him, was another of his fellow seventh year, the object of James Potter's affection, Lily Evans. For a moment, all he saw was the back of her head, her fiery red hair pulled back into a low bun at the base of her neck. The next moment, she whipped her head around, her shocked expression stating that she was just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.

They stared.

"What the hell are you doing in my dormitory, Evans?" Sirius finally conjured. Though not the most polite way of putting things, it got his point across.

Lily frowned. "Watch your tone, Black. It's incredibly unbecoming." She riffled through several pieces of parchments she had been standing over, a quill clutched in her hand. "Remus' mum is ill, as you must know," she continued, suddenly all business. "He asked me to gather things from his classes, since the lot of you are apparently too stupid to do it for him. I'm leaving it on his bed, as he asked, which just so happens to be in your dormitory." Venom laced her tone. She was not shy about voicing how she viewed Sirius, which was perhaps on the same level as James Potter. In other words, not very high at all.

Having been talked down to far worse in his life, Sirius was not impressed. Her explanation seemed plausible enough, but he couldn't help but be skeptical as thoughts of all the pranks he and James had pulled on her ran through his head. She had every reason to want revenge, and as the brightest witch in the year, she could have easily pulled it off. "That's it?" he asked warily, watching her carefully. "This has nothing to do with getting back at Prongs and me for bewitching the armor to follow you last week?"

Her vivid eyes narrowed at the memory. "Please. I have better things to do than waste my time thinking about the two of you." Brushing a stray piece of hair out of her face, she perched at the end of Remus' bed and continued writing on a piece of parchment. "Get over yourself, Black. The world does not revolve around your and Potter's doings."

Wondering more than ever why James was interested in this girl, Sirius started cautiously towards his bed. The house elves had already been in, making the beds, and he fell onto the mattress without any care of messing up his duvet. "Okay, Head Girl." She was just the sort of person Sirius disliked, a pure stickler for the rules. Short of a professor, she was the last person he wanted to meet up with after being thrown out of a class. He expected the inquiry to start, but it did not, and only the scratching of her quill filled the room. Suddenly, it dawned on him that she was not in class as well. "Skiving off class, Evans?"

"No," she answered curtly. "I have this block off to study for NEWTs. I figure I can sacrifice one block to help Remus out." Sirius rolled his eyes. She looked up at him abruptly, showing emotion for the first time during their encounter. Worry showing through, she studied him intently. "Is Remus' mum okay? She falls ill an awful lot."

Sirius nearly smiled. He remembered fondly how peeved James had been when Remus and Lily had become friends during their fifth year as prefects together, something James had been trying to accomplish for years. He was not particularly sure why Remus enjoyed Lily's company either. He insisted that she was actually very mellow and humorous, but Sirius didn't see it. The fact that she had bought Remus' story about his mum being ill was what really amused him. Remus' excuses to people were as funny to him as James referring to it as Remus' 'furry little problem.' "She's fine," he told Lily, showing emotion as well, as a tiny hint of warmth entered his voice. Despite Remus' dislike of them, full moons were his favorite time of the month. The four of them—well, perhaps not Remus at first—had had a blast the previous night running around Hogsmeade.

Lily's eyebrows rose. Clearly she had no idea why he'd smile over Remus' mother's illness, but probably went with the assumption that he was plain weird and went back to what she was composing. "You're not in class either," she noted after a silence.

He had been watching her closely, still not keen on the idea of her being in their dormitory, and thinking about how James probably would have sold his soul to change places with him at that moment. "I know."

"No reason why?" She sounded less accusatory this time, though her mind could have been on other things.

"Gatsby kicked me out."

Perhaps she had anticipated this, as she didn't seem surprised. With a soft scoff, she rolled her eyes heavenward. "Surprise there."

Sirius' defense rose. "Hey, I didn't—"

"Deserve it? Because I'd bet ten Galleons you did."

Sirius quieted considerably at that. He hadn't even been sure what he was about to say before she had interrupted him. "I destroyed some things."

"Another surprise." Straightening her stack of parchment, she tucked her quill into her bag that rested against her legs. It was quick-drying ink, yet she blew at the top parchment lightly. "I really don't know how Remus fits in with you lot. He seems a lot more…normal and…less destructive."

The image of Remus in werewolf form came to Sirius mind, and he chuckled a bit, shaking his dark head lightly. "Moony just hides it better than the rest of us, but he's no saint."

Lily looked at him, her eyes scanning his face slowly. She seemed pensive, deep in thought, and kept her gaze locked with Sirius' just long enough to make him uncomfortable. "I'm sure." The coolness was back in her voice, and she stood up, swinging her back over her shoulder. "Goodbye, Black." She left just as abruptly as Sirius had entered, leaving behind nothing but moderate discomfort for Sirius and a faint hint of perfume.

The moment her footsteps faded away, Sirius pounced to Remus' bed in true style of his animagus form, skewing Lily's careful pile about haphazardly. Her small, neat handwriting covered five pieces of parchment, detailing notes of every class she and Remus had together. The top parchment was considerably shorter, and seeing Remus' name as the header, Sirius picked it up cautiously, curious.

Remus,

I hope your mum is doing better than you spoke of yesterday. I hope you've relaxed as well, you seemed almost sick with nerves over it. Classes were dull without you to compete with and to keep me from rowing with Potter. I nearly hexed him in Charms, though I'm sure he'll be more than happy to tell you the story.

Exam in Transfiguration next Tuesday. I'm nowhere near prepared for it and will probably be in the library all week. If you're in the same state I am, or just taking pity on me, I'll hope to study with you.

And tell Black to actually attend his classes for once. The git nearly gave me a heart attack when I was delivering this. What happened to, "You won't even have to deal with them"?

-Lily

Sirius frowned. He most certainly was not a git. He thought for a moment about crossing that part out, but knew Remus would see it as tampering. Dropping the stack of papers back on Remus' bed, he left them in a state nowhere neat as the pile of Lily's it had once been.