"Prongs, I'm bored."

A few weeks had passed since Sirius showed up on James' doorstep and he seemed back to normal. Sirius lived with the Potters now, because James' parents loved him as their own son, and Sirius had no money and nowhere to go. Sirius had given a few feeble protests, but he wanted this as much as James and his parents did, so he gave in after a few minutes.

It was now a week before they returned to Hogwarts for their sixth year. James and Sirius were lying in the backyard of the Potter home, watching clouds, doing nothing in particular. Sirius turned his toward his best friend's and repeated his earlier thought.

"Prongs, I'm bored."

"So I've heard.."

"So...entertain me!"

James snorted.

"Whaddaya want me to do?"

"Streak naked down the block."

"No."

Both boys laughed.

"Wanna go to Diagon Alley?"

"Yeah, okay."

They both got up and raced towards the door, laughing the whole way.

"Mum, Dad, we're going to Diagon Alley!" James yelled to his parents.

"I thought you already got your school supplies?" asked Mrs. Potter.

"Yeah, but we're bored." Sirius explained.

Mrs. Potter laughed.

"Have fun, then."

They flooed to Diagon Alley and tried to figure out where they wanted to go.

"Flourish and Blotts?"

"No. Quality Quidditch?"

"Ugh, not again. Ollivanders?"

"Ollivanders? Why?"

"I dunno, it was just a suggestion. Madam Malkins?"

"I don't need new robes. Florean Fortescue's?"

"Yeah!"

They ran towards the ice cream parlor and got in line behind many people on the hot summer's day. The crowd was buzzing with conversation.

"I got ten NEWTs, ten"-

"He said that she said that he said"-

"But there were muggles everywhere and I couldn't do a thing"-

"My new owl is this weird honey color, I named her"-

"What do you mean we had summer homework?!"

"I can't wait to go back to school"-

"SIRIUS! JAMES!"

In the next moment, a feminine pair of arms were wrapped around Sirius and James, knocking their heads together, their view obscured by wavy cinnamon colored hair.

"Hi Nicky," the boys grunted in unison. There was a high pitched giggle and Nicole Anderson let go of them.

"What a coincidence that you should be here," she said, "I came to get new robes, but I stopped to get some ice cream."

She licked her vanilla ice cream cone. It was then that Sirius and James noticed that it was their turn to order. They got vanilla, and left with Nicole.

"How've you been, Nicky?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, you know," she said, "Okay. My sister says that if I keep hanging out with you two I'll get my prefect's badge evoked."

She grinned at them, her perfect white teeth shining in the sun. They grinned back.

Nicky was gorgeous. She had long brownish blonde hair that fell in waves down her back and beautiful blue eyes. She was one of the tallest girls in the school, her skin was always tanned, and she had never had so much as a freckle to blemish her face.

"Well, I'm off to Madam Malkins," she said off handedly, still sucking on her ice cream cone, "See you at school."

She turned and left. Sirius stared at her retreating back.

"Let's go, mate."

Sirius snapped back to life at the sound of James' voice. They walked into Quality Quidditch. Again.

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Sirius plopped on the grass and thought about how his summer days were coming to an end. Well, actually, they'd ended. The next day they would be boarding the Hogwarts Express for their sixth year. Sirius was not disappointed, rather the opposite. He'd been with James most of the summer - he had now been living with the Potters for a month. He couldn't wait to see his other friends Remus and Peter. They would stay shut up in their compartment, plotting new pranks, talking about their summers, and playing numerous games of exploding snap.

He missed Hogwarts - it was like his home. He had never had a home - the Black house certainly wasn't and while he loved James' parents as if they were his own, Hogwarts would certainly always be his home. He hated to think that his years were almost over..

James was inside talking to his parents about something, and Sirius had snuck out to the backyard to get some much needed time alone. The wind ran through the grass and ruffled Sirius' hair. He sighed and thought about the years to come.

His eyes closed briefly before snapping them open again when he heard a shout. He smiled as he saw his best friend flying around the backyard, spinning and doing numerous tricks on his Silver Arrow.

Suddenly, James flew towards Sirius. Sirius waved, grinning as his friend got closer.

"Hey Padfoot, I - whoa!"

James seemed to lose control of the broom and Sirius jumped out of the way before James could crash into him. James, instead, crashed into a tree. He was fortunately barely hurt as he slipped off the broom; the broom looked fine as well, except for one long scratch.

"Whoa..." said James, still dazed from the crash.. Sirius was laughing.

"Sorry, Sirius, mate...C'mon, let's go back inside."

Sirius followed his best friend inside and up to his room. Immediately upon entering, James started babbling..

"You know I'm not going to ask her out this year," Sirius heard James say, only half listening, "Maybe become friends...maybe then she'll give me a chance, do you think, Padfoot?"

James didn't wait for an answer.

"Yeah, well, last time I asked her out she said she'd rather go out with the Giant Squid. Yep, definitely giving up on that tactic. But, what I'm worried about is, if I become her friend, she'll start viewing me as a brother and that'd just be weird..."

"Oi, Prongs, will you just shut up?"

"What"-

"All you talk about is Evans! Bloody hell!"

"Ahhh, Padfoot, wait 'till you fall in love."

Sirius snorted.

"I'm never going to fall in love."

"Yeah, probably not."

They both laughed.

"You should though," said James, "It's great."

"Oh yeah, you crying every few seconds is so great."

"I do not cry!" James argued indignantly. Sirius laughed.

"Whatever, Prongs, whatever..."

"If you had to marry someone, who would you pick?"

"Nicky Anderson."

"Everyone picks her."

"Yeah, well, I mean, look at her! If Evans didn't exist, she'd be the one you asked out!"

"Except she'd actually say yes."

"True."

Both boys laughed again.

"You gotta get a lady this year, Padfoot."

"I always"-

"Not a fling."

Sirius sighed.

"Whatever."

James laughed.

"Maybe you could go out with Lily's best friend Kaylin"-

"No."

"Emma Layler?"

"No."

"Anna Bridges?"

"No."

"Renee Froshner?"

"No."

James sighed.

"You're hopeless."

"I know."