A/N: No reviews, though some very nice people have added the story to their alerts list, which gives me hope! I'm currently writing this at work after finishing all of my benchwork during my computer break. :) It's been raining really hard here, and it's kind of depressing me. I hope the weather is better wherever you are.


"Whatdidyoudo!?" it was Gwyn's words that awoke me from my deep sleep.

"Wha?" I said, wiping drool from my face. I pushed my wild morning hair out of my face and silently thanked the lord that we got the weekend to adjust to the castle before classes started each year.

"Is it true?" Demi chipped in, cluing me in to the fact that Gwyn wasn't alone.

"Is what true?" my vision finally returned to its normal sharpness. Gwyn was absolutely fuming, Demi looked nauseous, and Kate just looked concerned. "Give me a break, I just woke up."

"You took points away from Pettigrew?" Gwyn accused, as if asking me if I had thrown away the cure for cancer.

"Yes? What is the big deal?!" I asked, yawning and walking over to the bathroom.

"he's a MARAUDER, that's what!"

"Yes, yes and I'm an Aquarius or something. Once again-what's the big deal?" This had apparently been the wrong answer.

Everyone seemed in on something that I was left out of, however at this point, Gwyn was the only speaker. I didn't understand why James Potter and his crew were such a big deal around these parts.

"The big deal, Elizabeth, is that now you've invoked the wrath of Potter and Black upon us!" Gwyn screeched, eyes on fire by this point.

"Well," Kate began, "in Liz's defense, he was out after hours."

"Don't provoke her, Katherine," Gwyn hissed. She seemed to be absolutely terrified at what me taking a few points away from Pettigrew and the Gryffindor Gang would mean for our house, and for us (socially speaking).

"Look, he was breaking the rules," I said between brushing my teeth. "Protocol is to deduct points. I won't pretend like nothing happened just because he's friends with Big Bad Black and his sidekick Potter the Insolent."

"Insolent?" Demi asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "How do you know that? Were the rumors about you two in Grade Four correct?"

Kate laughed hard she snorted, "Demi, you're thinking of 'impotent.' Insolent means to be a bit cheeky and ill-mannered."

"Do you all just not get it?!" Gwyn thundered, interrupting the chatter. "They won't stop until they have our blood!"

With that, she stomped out of the door, more or less dragging Demi with her.

"What is going on here?" I asked while untangling my messy hair. I couldn't understand what Gwyn was talking about. Maybe it was because I had been half asleep when she assaulted me, or maybe it was because she usually didn't seem to be making any sense to me whatsoever.

"Apparently Black and Potter are furious that you deducted points from Gryffindor," she spoke, leaning against the door's frame.

"Yes, but Pettigrew was out after hours, as you said."

"True," Kate reasoned, "However, this is the first time you've deducted points from anyone... and the first time you've disciplined a Gryffindor."

"Wait, so they think this was a personal attack on Gryffindors?!" I asked, changing out of my pajamas and into normal clothes.

"Yes, and apparently Peter was delivering a note to some girl from Black, and seeing as how Black is a-"

"Ignorant, supercilious brute."

"Precisely," she smiled. "He thinks that it's because he beat you in the Final Duel in defense last year."

"What?" I screamed, outraged. "That's absurd! Besides, he only won because Potter distracted me!"

"Be that as it may," she sighed, "it doesn't mean he thinks that."

"This was not a personal attack," I shouted. "Black is not of such importance to me!"

I was getting extremely irritated, and extremely hot. I could feel my face sweating with the pure rage I felt-it was just another case of people wanting to cut Black slack! He was just like the rest of us, shouldn't he be treated as such? And this entire thing was completely unfair-to me.

"Save your shouting for the Gryffindor girls," she said, following me to the Commons. "We heard it from them through the grapevine."

"Better yet," I said, pushing out of the painting, "I'll tell Black that-"

"Tell me what?"

Kate screeched at the surprise. I just got angrier.

"Speaking of the dim-witted devil!" I shouted, without getting a chance to think about manners or tact.

"Watch your manners, Eden." Potter, as always, was right beside black. "Or I'll have to deduct points from Ravenclaw."

"Hush, Potter," Kate smiled sweetly. She was usually as docile as a puppy but had a bit of a bite in her when it came to defending her friends.

"Black, this was not a personal attack. You are not nearly important enough to me. Your little minion was out after hours," I said, bringing up all the points I had shouted at Kate earlier in the dorms. "Protocol is protocol."

"Yes," Black spoke, fooling me for a second into thinking he was seeing things my way. "You have never deducted points from any other house."

He just stood there, looking like a big, stupid oaf. He seemed to just expect special treatment, like he had gotten his entire life. I was pretty sure his sense of entitlement was due to his family being one of the most ancient Wizarding families in Europe. He was probably adjusted to just having things handed to him wherever he went.

"No other house has scared me half to death before," I said angrily. "What makes you all think that you're about the law just because you're you."

"Sirius," Kate spoke up finally. "Liz is right-you are not a special snowflake. We can't bend the rules for you."

"Fine then," Black smiled. "just stop treating me like you've got a little schoolgirl crush on me. You don't have to pick on my friends to get my attention.

And with that, they finally walked away.

The entire scene reminded me of a similar one in Grade One. The word had just gotten around the school that my mother had been a squib, and the kids used this knowledge to mock me for not performing well in charms and potions classes. Black had teased me nonstop, merciless despite being fully aware of my mother's recent death. When a teacher had reprimanded him for his cruelty, he swore up and down that he had no idea about the accident that took my mother away from me. When he was let free, he smirked at me and whispered, "your little mommy can't help you with magic-dead or alive." That day I swore to myself I would never let him best me in Charms or any other subject for that matter. That day he became my enemy.

"The nerve of him," I breathed heavily and kicked a nearby wall which to my surprise emitted an 'ouch.' "If I were to shave my head, he'd find a way to link it to himself."

"Well," Kate said, wondering to herself, "He did try putting that Balding Curse on us in Grade 3."


Throughout breakfast, there were quite a few people watching me and murmuring. They were mainly from the Gryffindor table, but that didn't make it any easier to ignore. A few times, there was straight out pointing, to which I responded with eyerolling so heavy and exaggerated that my eyes almost got stuck.

"It was ten points," I grumbled, miserably. "Ten wretched points! Can't they just let it go?"

"They're Griffyndors, of course they can't," Gwyn said, deciding to finally talk to me. Demi soon followed and stopped giving me the cold shoulder.

"They've been sore ever since we won the house cup last year," Kate sympathized.

"I just don't get why it's such an issue, it was ten measly points," I said glumly. I hated attention, especially when it was so negative.

"Because it's Sirius Black and James Potter," Demi chipped in, speaking for the first time. "They're Hogwarts' favorite scoundrels."

"Well, I don't care!" I pouted. "They shouldn't get treatment just because they're-"

"Gorgeous, smart, hilarious?" Kate suggested.

"Katherine!" I scorned, "Do not switch over to the dark side!"

The rest of our morning seemed to be spent mostly in silence. None of us felt safe saying anything with so many eyes concentrating on us. Even though it was foolish to think this way, it felt as if everyone seemed to be reading our very thoughts. Ironically enough, the four people at the Gryffindor table who never looked our way were Potter, Black, Pettigrew and Lupin.

In the afternoon, Kate and I headed to the library. Gwyn decided that she wanted to know what else was being said about the incident, and took Demi with her into the fields to eavesdrop on people.

"Don't look now," Kate muttered, "but Lupin is across the library from us, by the biographies of famous witches and wizards section."

I casually looked up from my book, attempting to seem as if I were just stretching. She was right. There he was, one of the spawns of Satan himself, sitting there reading a rather gigantic book.

"This means the others can't be too far away," I whispered back suspiciously.

Kate got up from her seat and looked around the more popular areas of the library. She was attempting to seem as if she were looking for a book, but ended up looking like she had to pee instead. As much as I love Kate, she is not that great of an actress. She sat back down, shrugging and we returned to our reading. Kate and I were attempting to find a social guide to these types of situations. Leave it to Ravenclaws to need a book to navigate their way around teenage emotions.

"They're coming," Kate groaned, looking towards the doors. She was right, Black and Potter were coming into the library, tailed closely by Pettigrew who was attempting to see over a large pile of books in his arms. They seemed to use him as a type of work mule.

"Do you think we can leave without being detected?" I asked, shrinking into my chair and holding my book up higher.

"It's worth a try, wait until they walk over to Remus. We can leave then," she laughed. We sounded like hostages in our own school. Before I knew it, Kate and I got up and attempted to seem casual as we half walked, half ran toward the door. Once we got outside, neither of us could stop laughing.

"Did you see the looks those fourth years gave us?" Kate laughed, "like we were about to attack them!"

"Luckily," I giggled, walking toward the fields, "I don't think Black and Potter noticed."

"Black doesn't notice much until it hits him in the face," she laughed, "by which point he's too stunned to realize what it is."

We finally spotted Gwyn and Demi by our favorite tree and made our way over to them.

"Did you two find out anything interesting?" Kate asked, yawning and stretching out next to me. She took a piece of chocolate out of her pocket and gave me half.

"Well, apparently, Potter has a crush on Lily Evans," said Demi.

"Filch could have told you that," I snorted. "Anything interesting?"

"I don't know whether I should tell you this," Gwyn took a deep breath, seeming rather excited to tell me whatever it was she was supposedly unsure about, "but apparently Diggory is dating Marilyn Mercer."

"Marilyn Mercer?" Kate gasped, chocking on her chocolate. "But isn't she notoriously... loose?"

"That's precisely why he's dating her," I said resentfully.

"Don't worry, Liz," Demi said, patting my arm. "Half the school thinks you're with Hayden Heathers.

I snorted. Perfect. The only sixth year male Ravenclaw I ever talked to, of course I would be dating him.

"And the other half thinks you're dating Severus Snape to offend Sirius Black," Gwyn laughed.

"Well, I don't mind so much about Snape," I sighed. I was beyond attempting to end the gossip circuit anymore.

"He's quite handsome once you get over the shock of his nose," Kate said, making us all laugh.

"well, he really isn't bad looking," Demi said, pointing out said Slytherin across the field.

"He's really quite good looking," Kate added. "It's just his attitude that offends most."

We all took a moment to nod our agreement.

"I don't know," I said after a moment. "Severus has always been nice to me."

"That's because you're a potions and defense goddess," Kate said. "And those are his favorite subjects."

None of us questioned how Kate knew that. She never discriminated against anyone, and thus had a lot of friends all around the castle.

"Maybe you should date Severus," Gwyn said, playfully. "It would be fun to see Black's expression."

"None of the Marauders care what any of us do," Demi said, lying down. "We aren't exactly in his circle of friends."

"Well then, let's become a part of his circle of friends," Gwyn smiled, pulling my arm down and making me lie down next to her. "Then Liz can date Severus."

"Yeah," Kate said. I could hear the smile in her voice. "Black needs to learn that he won't always get what he wants."


A/N: The rain here seems to have stopped, and there's a lapse of sunshine once again. Please take a second to review. Any input would be appreciated.