Their potions project turned out to be each group drawing the name of a potion from a cauldron on Slughorn's desk to complete over the next couple of weeks. It seemed that with each potion drawn, the projects seemed more and more difficult, all of the potions being advanced level brewing. Remus drew Amortentia for them and they made plans to meet up in the library over the next few days in order to study the instructions thoroughly before they started brewing. Lily drew Veritaserum for her and James' project, then Sirius drew the Draught of Peace for him and Redolphus. Finally, Greg drew Felix Felicis for himself and Anna.

Dakota could see the tension all over Sirius' face while he was standing next to the tall Slytherin. She actually felt bad watching him force himself to communicate as peacefully as possible with Redolphus, a look of disgust lingering on his face.

When they were dismissed, she made her way back to the Ravenclaw common room to grab her transfiguration things before going to meet Lily and start their research. She found a cozy table down the Transfiguration part of the massive library, plopping her things down. She had already pulled several books off the shelf for them to glance through and was reaching for one on a higher shelf, raised onto her tiptoes, when an arm reached over her and grasped the book.

Dakota stood very still as Sirius pulled the book down. He stood so close to her that she could feel his breath against her ear, sending chill bumps down her whole body. The smell of cigarettes and nature filled her nose and she had to put extra effort into focusing. She maneuvered to face him, putting a hand on his chest. "Ever heard of personal space, Black?" She couldn't deny that the feeling of his muscles under her hand turned her on a little.

Come on, focus Dakota. You can't be one of those girls.

"Is that how you say thank you in Ravenclaw?" He smirked at her but took a couple of steps back and handed her the book.

She put the book in her growing pile. As she turned to answer, though, Lily came around the aisle, looking at Sirius suspiciously. "What are you doing in the library, Black? Isn't it like a taboo for you?"

Sirius raised his hands to his chest, as if he were morally insulted. "What are you talking about, Evans? With marks like mine, I must practically live here."

Dakota laughed and Lily shot her a reproachful look.

"Well go live somewhere else, we have work to do."

Sirius picked up one of the books from Dakota's growing pile she had made on the table. "The Ins and Outs of Animagi?"

Dakota took the book from him and started looking through what she had gathered thus far, "We are looking for topics for our Transfiguration assignments."

Sirius paused briefly. He had almost forgot he was supposed to be finding a topic for their huge assignment. "Animagi, huh? Happens to be my area of expertise." He said it jokingly, knowing they would never take him serious, even though he wasn't kidding.

Lily scoffed, "Get real, Black. McGonagall says the process is an extremely difficult one that takes a very long time to accomplish. It's complex and has no practical use."

"Except for sketchy people that have a reason to want to hide." Dakota pointed out. "The only reason McGonagall is one is for personal fulfillment. She loves transfiguration."

Sirius opened his mouth to ask her how and why she knew that but Remus came around the corner and saved them all from continuing the conversation. He smiled at the girls. "Lily, Dakota."

They both smiled in return, "Hey, Remus."

He glanced at the books they had on the table, "Transfiguration?"

Dakota pushed her long hair behind her ears, "We are looking for topics. The professors are trying to kill us this year."

He nodded in agreement, "Speaking of, do you want to meet tomorrow and start on Potions?"

"Absolutely. Do you want to study down by the lake? I can grab some books while I'm here."

Remus smiled. "Sounds good." He then turned to Sirius. "Sorry to hurry off, but Padfoot and myself have somewhere to be."

Sirius pulled his bag back onto his shoulder. "Sorry ladies, I have to take my leave."

Lily rolled her eyes, "I think we will survive, Black."


Sirius laughed over his butterbeer as he sat on a bench in the kitchen, listening to Peter tell the story of how he convinced Leanne McGregor to go on a date with him on the first Hogsmeade trip.

Remus raised the fork he was using to consume his chocolate cake in salute, "I can't believe that worked, Wormtail."

They all laughed, but they were legit proud of their friend for scoring a date for their first trip.

Well, their first official trip that is. They had already made a trip a few nights before and stocked up on junk food, butterbeer, and a few bottles of firewhiskey.

"What about you, Prongs, have you asked Evans yet?"

With James being Head Boy and Lily being Head Girl, they had been forced to spend a lot of time together already this year. James was using the time to do everything in his power to get on Lily's good side. The fact that they were partnered together in Potions only seemed to up his determination, if that were even possible.

"I haven't asked her yet. I don't think I am going to."

They all stared at him momentarily, like he had grown two heads. A year had not passed, better yet, a single Hogsmeade trip had not passed where James had not asked Lily to go with him.

James shrugged, "I'm hoping that if I don't annoy her, she will see that I'm serious and trying really hard."

They all nodded their heads, admittedly impressed that James had decided to take this approach.

Remus washed his cake down with a swig of pumpkin juice, "I'm proud of you, Prongs. I think it's a good plan."

"Really? You think it'll work? What am I going to do if it doesn't, guys? This is our last year, my last chance!"

"Calm down, Prongs. It's a solid plan."

James nodded, calming himself, trying to stay confident that this would work and Lily would be his by the end of the year. His attention then turned to Sirius, remembering that his new partner was Redolphus Lestrange. "So how did Potions go?"

Sirius shrugged, "Oh, you know, the constant under the breath comments about how I'm a disgrace to purebloods, how he Dark Lord will teach us all a lesson, same ol, same ol." He said it nonchalantly, though all the talk of the Dark Lord and the brewing war made the hair stand on the back of his neck. Every day, the Daily Profit brought news of more and more deaths. It was only a matter of time before it hit close to the school.

He was also extremely worried about his brother. Regulus had been hanging around the wrong people the last couple of years. It made him fear that they would one day face each other in battle. It wasn't even a question to any of them that they wanted to fight in opposition to this rising Dark Lord. He stood for everything that was bad in the world.

"Hey, look at it this way, Pads. We can use this opportunity to make him miserable. I'm thinking we start with the hair. He likes his hair way too much."

Sirius took another drink of his butterbeer. "Moony is the lucky one, with the hot Ravenclaw. Brains and beauty. You should shag that."

Peter agreed, "You should definitely shag that."

Remus laughed and shook his head, "Dakota's not like that, guys. She's a nice girl."

"You don't even know her," James pointed out.

"Well. She seems like a nice girl. Not the kind to shag every boy that walks by in a broom closet."

Sirius barked out a laugh, "Broom closets can be fun if you know how to utilize the space. It's an art."


"So when are you going to give James a go?" Dakota couldn't hold the question in any longer as they sat at the table, scribbling away on their parchment. James had been after Lily since what seemed like forever. Now that they were being forced to spend so much time together, Dakota felt it was only a matter of time until Lily gave in.

"When pigs fly?"

"I understand why you are so reproachful towards him, but any other girl in this school would love to have just one date with him."

"Well, then they can have him. He's an aggravating git." Lily was currently looking through a book on untransfiguration.

"An extremely attractive aggravating git."

Lily glanced up from her notes and grinned, "He is very attractive, isn't he?"

Dakota smirked, "I knew you weren't immune to his good looks."

Lily sighed, "Of course I'm not, I have eyes." She fiddled with her quill. "You know, sometimes I think that I do want to give him a chance. Just one date. Then he turns around and does something stupid and I just can't bring myself to do it."

Dakota could see the sincerity on her face, "Just keep an open mind, Lils. People can grow."

When they collected themselves to leave the library, they both had topics. Lily chose untransfiguration and Dakota went with Animagi. Even though it wasn't a very popular topic, she found it extremely interesting. Making plans to get back together soon, the girls parted ways in the hall to head to their respective common room to prepare for dinner.


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