A/N: I wrote this chapter to avoid grading papers. I'm sure I'll catch hell tomorrow from my students, but I think it was worth it. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!

Chapter 2 – Of Boys

The party in the Hufflepuff common room was just beginning to hit full-swing when I returned from the quidditch pitch. Unlike the rest of the team, I had stayed behind in the locker room to rinse the sweat off my bruised body. It was only when the pitch torches were doused that I noticed how late it had gotten and hurriedly dressed and rushed back to the castle. By the time I reached the statue of Helga Hufflepuff, the entrance to the common room, my legs felt limp and my arms ached from the rigorous workout all chasers endured.

I made my way through the throng of giddy celebrants and sunk into one of the many plush armchairs scattered before the fireplace. A groan of relief slipped out before I could stop it, causing the two third-years playing Exploding Snap to glance up from their game.

The boy closest to the fire, a porky blond boy with a pug nose, narrowed his eyes at the broomstick resting across my lap. "Say, isn't that a Shooting Star 500? Marigold Harper rides one of those! How'd you get one?"

His friend looked up from the cards in his hand and wrinkled his nose, "Who's Marigold Harper?"

The blond boy looked at him in horror. "Who's Marigold Harper? What – how—," he stuttered, seemingly unable to fathom such ignorance. "Don't you follow the Wimbourne Wasps? Marigold Harper is only the best chaser in the league! Maybe even the world!"

I interrupted his tirade. "Lewis, shut your gob. Not everyone's as quidditch obsessed as you. Besides, Harper isn't the best chaser in the league. Turner is. Don't you agree, Martin?" I grinned at the surprised look on the smaller boy's face. Dark-haired with sharp features he would eventually grow into, Martin blushed and nodded.

Lewis watched his friend's face grow increasingly red. "What's wrong with you? Are you sick?" He reached forward to push his hand against Martin's forehead. Martin ducked.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," he blushed even harder.

I decided to spare my new friend the humiliation of admitting to fancying an older girl. "It's Sirius Black's." At Lewis' confused look, I clarified, "The broom. It's Black's. He gave it to me because he hexed mine and the hex hasn't worn off yet. Beauty, isn't it?"

Both boys nodded. Martin reached out to touch the gleaming handle before asking, "Do you get to keep it?"

"Nope. In fact, I should probably return it to him now. I promised to have it back to him after the match." I looked at my watch. "Reckon I can make it to the Gryffindor common room without landing in detention with Filch?"

"You know where the Gryffindor common room is?" Lewis asked excitedly. He bounced up and down in his seat. "Will you show us?"

"No way. You'll have to find it on your own. Consider it a rite of passage. Nobody handed me a map of Hogwarts in my third year and I survived. I expect you'll have to figure the castle out on your own." I rose and started for the door, calling over my shoulder, "Don't stay up too late, boys." I laughed at the affronted look on Lewis' face and winked at Martin, causing him to blush once again.

I pushed my way through the boisterous crowd and slipped out of the common room unnoticed. I quietly made my way down the corridor towards the third floor staircase. I hadn't arranged a specific time or place to return Sirius' broom, and he hadn't approached me after the match to claim it, so I was taking a chance wandering through the halls after curfew, but I figured risking a detention was better than risking Sirius' retaliation if he thought I'd made off with his broom.

After a close call on the moving staircase, I finally reached the portrait of the fat woman. I raised my hand to knock when the portrait spoke, "Password?"

I jumped in surprise and looked wildly around until I remembered I was a witch and portraits moved and talked in the wizarding world. "Duh," I berated myself.

"Sorry. Try again," the woman replied merrily.

"No, I didn't mean—," I started, but then realized I didn't know what I meant. I tried again. "What I mean to say is I'm not a Gryffindor. I'm a Hufflepuff. I just need to speak to Sirius Black."

"Why on earth would you want to do that?" she asked with disdain. "The boy's a menace."

I snorted. "Although I agree with you wholeheartedly, I'm afraid this meeting can't be avoided. I've something of his to return." I held up the broom as if presenting evidence in court.

She sighed heavily, "If you must…" Without turning her head, she shrieked, "Sir Cadogan! Sir Cadogan! A moment please!" She fixed her eyes once more on me and arched her brow as if to ask, 'are you sure?'

I tapped my foot impatiently. The longer I lingered in the corridor, the greater my chance of getting caught. Moments later, a knight riding a fat, white steed galloped into the smaller portrait hanging next to the fat woman's.

"You bellowed, my lady? What service might I perform for your loveliness?" The knight hopped off his horse and bowed deeply.

The fat woman blushed and waved her fan in front of her face. "Oh, Sir Cadogan, you flirt!" She fluttered her eyelashes girlishly. "I hope you don't mind, but I need to beg a favor."

"Anything for you, my sweet."

She giggled, fluttering her eyelashes rapidly, and flapped the fan vigorously. "Well, seeing as I cannot leave my post," flutter, flutter, "and seeing as this young Hufflepuff cannot gain entrance to the Gryffindor common room," flap, flap, "would you mind retrieving Sirius Black from his dormitory?"

I suddenly felt nauseated.

"It would be my pleasure to do you such a favor! I shall return as quickly as my heart beats when I am in your presence." With one last deep bow, he jumped on his horse and galloped out of frame.

I crossed my arms and huffed impatiently. I studiously avoided the fat woman's eyes, and I suspected she was doing the same. Suddenly, the portrait swung open and Sirius stepped into the dimly lit corridor. He looked—different. His hair, normally neatly arrayed, was sticking up at a funny angle in the back and his grey eyes, usually so alert and tinged with condescension, were unguarded with sleep. His ever-present smirk slid off his face upon seeing me standing in the shadows.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?" He tugged self-consciously at his worn t-shirt, the act revealing his discomfort at wearing the garment at all. His plaid pajama pants hung low on his hips, and I wondered absently if he felt as uncomfortable as I did. Probably not.

"I'm returning this." I shoved the broom into his chest. He automatically reached up to grasp it with both hands. "Thanks for letting me borrow it. I think it won the match for us." I grinned.

"That was all you, Jones," he responded gruffly, uncomfortably. "A broom's only as good as its rider."

I ducked my head, embarrassed by his unsolicited praise. "Yeah, well, I'm sure it helped. So thanks."

I stuck my hand out. It hung awkwardly in the air for a few moments as he searched my face for something. He apparently found what he was searching for because he gently wrapped his long fingers around my own and pressed his palm intimately to mine. It was uncomfortable and sweaty, but I couldn't help noticing the thrill that went down my spine.

I quickly let go and cleared my throat. He grinned slightly and glanced down the hall, letting the moment pass without comment. He suddenly looked at his watch. "You hungry?" I sent him a bewildered look. "I know where to score some leftovers," he added enticingly, waggling his eyebrows.

"I don't know," I hesitated. "What if someone catches us?"

"Scared?" He taunted.

"No! Just cautious. Unlike you, I don't like to spend all of my free time with Filch." Argus Filch was the new caretaker at Hogwarts. He was young, probably not much older than the seventh years, but he had a mean streak a mile wide. Rumors of students hanging up by their toenails in the dungeons surfaced shortly after his arrival. That was enough to convince me to stay clear away.

Sirius continued, ignoring me. "Huh, I wouldn't have pegged you for a coward, Jones." He leaned his broom behind a suit of armor, hiding it from view. "But if you're too afraid to take a little trip to the kitchens with me, I won't force you."

He turned as if heading to the kitchens. I watched him walk a few paces before jogging to catch up with him.

We walked in silence for a few moments, darting in and out of shadows, before I finally muttered, "Coward my arse."

He glanced at me in amusement before freezing. He tilted his ear towards a sound only he apparently could hear. In that moment, he reminded me strangely of a dog. Moving quickly, he shoved me behind a tapestry and darted in behind me. He peered out from behind the heavy fabric to keep watch. Soon enough, even I heard the shuffling footsteps drawing nearer. I held my breath.

"Slughorn," Sirius whispered. He shifted farther back into the tapestry, bumping his shoulder against mine. The small space behind the fabric was quickly growing warm. I felt sweat begin to form at the back of my neck.

The footsteps stopped in front of our hiding place. Long, tense moments passed. "What's he doing," I breathed in Sirius' ear.

He shuddered. Was he scared? He shrugged and cautiously poked his head out from behind the tapestry. He let out a soft breath. "He's just sitting there, on the bench, staring out the window. I think he's charting the stars."

"How do we get rid of him?"

Sirius grinned and said quietly, "I thought you'd never ask." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hand mirror. He stared intently at his reflection.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind," I whispered harshly. "Now is not the time to fawn over your good looks."

He glared at me and fiercely mouthed, "It's a two-way mirror, you git." He tapped his wand to the smooth surface three times before shoving it back into his pocket.

I stared at him dumbly. "That's it? Did you even do anything?"

"Just wait."

The next five minutes ticked by slowly. We passed the time volleying hushed insults back and forth until we heard Peeves somewhere a few stories down cackle, "Student out of bed! Student out of bed!"

We heard a sigh, a crinkle of paper, and then receding footsteps. Sirius poked his head out again and declared the corridor empty. We filed out of our hiding place and stood in the moonlight.

"Okay, spill. How did you manage that?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Let's just say James owed me a favor."

I rolled my eyes and leaned against the stone wall of the corridor. "Fine. Be mysterious."

"I'm already tall, dark, and handsome. I don't think I can convincingly pull off mysterious with all that multi-tasking." He grinned at his own cleverness. "I can, however, pull off hungry. Let's go."

"I think we should just scrap this barmy idea and go to bed," I said nervously glancing up and down the hall.

"Don't be ridiculous. We came all this way. We're not turning back." He started off down the corridor again. I sighed and followed, but stopped abruptly when he smirked and asked, "So, you think I'm good looking, huh?"

I smacked him and pushed past to walk deeper into the interior of the castle.

We headed down several flights before coming to a stop before a portrait of a bowl of fruit. He stood on his tiptoes and tickled a pear. Much to my surprise, the portrait swung open to reveal a large kitchen and several house elves flitting around the room.

Upon seeing us enter, the house elves froze. The closest one, a female wearing a pristine pink tea cozy, stepped forward and curtseyed at Sirius. "How may Pinkie help, sir?"

Sirius knelt so that he could look Pinkie in the eye. "Pinkie, how many times do I have to ask you to call me, Sirius?"

"Always one more, sir, one more." She bobbed.

"Very well. Could you please get me a hot chocolate, Pinkie? I've been dreaming about it for ages!" He glanced back at me. "Want something?"

"Hot chocolate is fine."

"Make that two hot chocolates, please." He smiled at the house elf and stood.

"Right away, sir!" She squeaked. She snapped her fingers and two steaming mugs of hot chocolate appeared. Sirius plucked them out of the air.

"Thanks, Pinkie. These look great." As if a spell had been broken, the other house elves, who had been standing frozen staring at the exchange, snapped back into action and continued with their work. Pinkie beamed and went back to organizing the pantry.

We sat down at the long wooden table and blew on our drinks. The whipped cream was piled high in our glasses, and I swiped my finger through mine for a taste. "Yum."

Sirius laughed. "You said it."

We sipped our cocoa in silence, for once enjoying each other's company. After several minutes, I glanced up and found him looking at me strangely. "What? Do I have whipped cream on my face?" I brushed self-consciously at my lips.

"Oh, um, yeah." He reached up and brushed his thumb across my cheek, just barely grazing the corner of my lips. He pulled back and stuck his thumb into his mouth, presumably to clear it of any whipped cream. His eyes dropped to my lips.

My breath quickened. The moment seemed to stretch on forever, tense and charged with an unfamiliar emotion. "Thanks," I breathed.

He nodded and broke our gaze. His cheeks reddened as he rubbed the back of his neck and tapped his fingers on his glass. "So who came up with that brilliantly-timed Porskoff Ploy that won you the match? Who'd you bribe to teach you that?" He joked.

The minute he said it, I could tell he regretted it, but that didn't stop the wave of anger from rushing from my head to my shaking hands. My jaw dropped and my face grew hot. Any goodwill I had felt towards him tonight disappeared faster than Leprechaun gold from a bookie.

He stammered, trying to correct his mistake, "That's not what I meant. I meant—"

"—that Hufflepuffs are entirely too stupid to come up such a smart idea," I coldly finished for him.

His eyes widened and he waved his hands in front of him, "No! That's not it at all. I just meant that well, Gryffindors are known for their bravery, Slytherins for their cunning, Ravenclaws for their intelligence, and Hufflepuffs—"

"—are dull-witted, loyal saps, completely incapable of thinking for themselves. Yes, you've made that perfectly clear," I sneered.

Sirius slammed his fist down on the table, startling the house elves. "Damn it, that's not what I meant, and you know it! I was only joking, but obviously Hufflepuffs don't have a sense of humor either. Maybe the sorting hat should add that to his song," he said snidely.

I jumped to my feet, knocking the half-empty cocoa to the floor. Two house elves rushed over the clean up the mess. Ignoring them, I snarled, "I'm sorry—was that supposed to be witty? I couldn't tell. Maybe we should get a Ravenclaw in here to decide, considering I must be too dim to understand even the simplest of retorts!"

Wanting to have the last word, I stormed to the door, intending on leaving and never speaking to Sirius Black again. Before I reach it, I felt a hand on my arm. I paused, wondering if he was going to apologize for his hurtful blunder or continue the argument. I felt my heart lift a little at the thought of him apologizing.

"You won't tell anyone about the mirror, will you?" he asked gruffly.

My heart sank and once again my anger returned in full force. I spun around. "No. We Hufflepuffs are loyal, remember," I spit out before spinning around and storming out of the kitchen.

I spent the rest of the walk back to the common room picturing the stupid look on his arrogant face. Perhaps I'd paint a picture of it.

A/N: Ten points to whomever recognizes the subtle reference at the end!