Thin Limbed With Gorgeous Green Eyes, Smiling And I'm Going Straight To Hell. And I Try But I'm Not Convinving, Your Lips They Pout And Twist And I Die Trying Just To Keep Myself From Kissing You. You Take In Everything With A Certainty I Envy, But It's Somehow All I Need Just Keep Me Guessing Please. Darling All Of These Awkward Jump-Start-Stalling Conversations Mean Much More To Me Than Anything. And It Comes Down To Me And You And Whether We're Supposed To Or Not We Still Will. We're So Much Better Off Than Them.-"Tension and Terror", Straylight Run

Sirius was bored, once again. History Of Magic was ridiculous now, with Lily sat infront of James and he with Regina, as James' new approach to wooing fair lady meant no pranks on Snivellus. Lily and Regina were taking reems of notes, James was trying to do the same, whilst staring straight into the back of Lily's head. Sirius looked around to Snape, who was scowling and puncturing holes in his parchment, muttering something along the lines of "Potter...stupid...Black..". He grinned, hoping that he'd at least be provoked into some kind of attack.

"Oh, excuse me," Professor Binns said as he shuffled through some books. "I appear to have left it in my office, compare notes while I just go retrieve it." And he floated out of the room hurriedly. James made no hesitation to tap Lily's shoulder, and Regina's head flicked round to face Sirius as soon as Binns had left.

"So," Regina smiled, her eyes flashing. "What's going on with you and Sephie?"

Sirius was taken aback by the sudden onslaught, and even James turned his attention into Sirius's answer. Lily grinned at Sirius, who was looking around nervously and stalling. "Urmm..."

"Oh come on," Regina pressed, flicking her hair. "You can't tell me Sirius Black is simply friends with her..."

"I'm friends with you," Sirius shot back, smirking. Regina laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, but you don't look at me like you look at her-"

"Who said I look at her?" Sirius asked, scowling. Regina and Lily both laughed. As did James. Sirius shot him a death look. "Oh, come on, Pads. You're always looking for her when you leave Charms now."

Sirius shook his head. "That's only because I felt bad I hadn't noticed her before. I'm only being social."

Regina pushed her hair behind her ear, something they all recognised as her symbol that she was getting into business. "There are some things you should know. I'm guessing you know about her, um, talent," she said, whincing slightly at the use of such a word, but continuing in her usual fast-pace. "Seeing as we all do. But more than that, she's really nice. I mean, like, amazingly nice. I mean, she thought you were after Miranda or me you invited her to Hogsmeade, and to get James closer to Lily, that's why she invited her-"

"Hey!" Lily scowled. "I thought she invited me because we were friends?"

Regina turned to her partner impatiently. "Well, yes, but she thought Sirius was using her-"

"I wasn't using her!" Sirius complained, riled. Regina rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, we know that, but she didn't. That's my point, she didn't think any of you had any interest in her. She has some kind of complex or something. I don't know. Anyway-"

Sirius, James and Lily were all frowning slightly as they tried to keep up with Regina's babble. "-you should know she'll never shag you-"

"I don't want to fucking shag her!" Sirius almost yelled, agitated and irritated, throwing his arms in the air and sighing angrily.

Lily looked shocked, as did James, but Regina carried on. "Well, that's all good, then," she smiled. Lily cut in and nodded. "She's a smart girl, Sirius."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Look, this is all fabulous, but maybe if I actually wanted to do anything remotely like that with her-"

"But you do," James interupted. Sirius breathed deeply. "Come on, Pads," James continued. "Maybe not a quick shag, but you still fancy her."

"She's a mate," Sirius said firmly, taking up his quill as Professor Binns re-entered. "Just a mate."

He couldn't deny, however, that he did somehow find more of an attraction to Persephone than Miranda, who was undeniably the most beautiful girl in their year. Maybe it was just because Miranda was sensible and classy, and most definitely Property Of Remus Lupin material, or maybe it was just because Sephie was funny and the two clicked. Either way, he found himself doodling a cat, colouring it mahogany with green eyes.

"Oh, what is this...?" James pulled the parchment from Sirius and looked at it. "A mahogany cat? With green eyes?"

Lily and Regina looked at each other infront and smirked. James continued as Sirius scowled. "Is Padfoot thinking of someone?"

"Prongs, shut up," he breathed, reaching to grab the parchment. James smirked. "What's this underneath?" He pulled the parchment into the air and looked to what was doodled under the cat as Sirius gritted his teeth.

"Prongs, stop being an idiot-"

"Is that a heart?"

"No, now give it back!" Sirius was now reaching after the parchment, his hands pulling James back as he held it out to his side and waved it in the air out of Sirius's reach. "Sirius, what are you doing?" James laughed as Sirius placed his knee on the side of his chair and leant across him.

Several students began to giggle at the scene, Sirius nearly knocking James' glasses off as he put his hand on his head and elevated himself.

"Mr. Black, would you kindly explain to the class why you are climbing up Mr.Potter?" came the calm voice of Professor Binns. Sirius stopped and looked around at the teacher. "Uh, he took my notes."

"Mr. Black, that piece of parchment is entirely blank except for a doodle. Now, if you do not wish to take notes on History of Magic, I'm sure Professor Taylor will find some use for you across the corridor." he raised an eyebrow at Sirius, who scowled, clambered down from James and picked up his bag.

"Arsehole," he muttered to a smirking James as he grabbed the parchment on his way out.

He knocked on the door to the classroom and entered, Professor Taylor pausing mid-sentance to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Uh, I got sent out of History Of Magic," he said, aware that everyone in the room had turned to look at him. He heard a familiar giggle behind him..

"Very well," Taylor sighed, waving her hand at him. "At the back."

He turned to take a seat, and saw Persephone grinning at him, Miranda rolling her eyes beside her. He took the seat next to her and smiled.

"What did you do this time?" she asked, moving her books over so Sirius had some room. He grinned roguishly and used his hands to symbolise quotation marks. "For climbing up James."

Sephie laughed again. "How the hell do you climb up someone?" she asked, frowning. Sirius shrugged. "Easy, like this." He placed a hand on Persephone's tiny shoulder and reconstructed his earlier events.

"Oh, Sirius," Sephie hissed, still laughing. "What the hell? This hurts, ouch-"

"Mr. Black!" Taylor screeched across the room. Sirius paused again and Sephie stifled her giggles as several girls turned, half laughing at his display and half disgruntled that it was Persephone whose legs his hand was on. "Could you please explain to the class what you are doing?"

Sirius shrugged. "Showing Miss. Scamander how to climb up someone," he said casually. Several girls giggled, hiding behind their hands. Even Taylor stifled a grin.

"Well, could you please show her out in the corridor, where you will both be spending the rest of class."

Miranda scowled, as Persephone and Sirius complied their things and left her alone with a rather creepy looking Hufflepuff.

"I think you pinched me," Sephie scowled, examining her forearm.

"You asked," Sirius grinned, leading her to the common room, his long strides causing Sephie to almost run.

"Slow down, I've only got little legs," she complained, causing Sirius to laugh and slow to a casual daudle. "Better?"

Sephie nodded and smiled happily before her eye caught something hanging out of Sirius's pocket. "Hey, you're going to lose this," she grabbed the parchment and Sirius's heart stopped for a second, but she didn't look at it, instead handing it straight to him. "Oh, thanks," he said, stuffing it into his bag hastily. "So, what do you usually do in these instances?" She asked, straightening out her jumper from where Sirius had pulled it halfway down her shoulder and brushing her hair down with her hand. Sirius thought for a second and stopped as they reached a staircase, Sephie mirroring his actions.

"Hmm, I know what we could do, it is about time for some elevenses..." he pondered, looking thoughtfully up and tapping his chin with his finger. Sephie scowled. "Where are we going to get food?" Sirius raised his eyebrows roguishly and took her hand. "The kitchens, of course..."

He pulled her away from the staircase and across another corridor, realising he was still holding her hand and dropping it awkwardly. "Sirius, how do you suggest we get to the kitchens?" She asked, frowning and once again running to keep up with her six foot tall companion.

"Like this," he said simply, running down a set of stairs that no-one ever found it neccessary to explore and to seemingly blank wall, except for a still life portrait Sirius examined carefully. Sephie scowled, leant closer to the picture, but saw nothing. "Aha," he said, remembering what he had to do and tickling the pear. Sephie jumped back as the pear turned into a door handle, which Sirius turned before shooting her an accomplished grin. They entered the now open door, hearing small, high-pitched voices screech and cry in happiness. "Mr. Black! You have brought a lady friend with you?". Sephie looked round as Sirius closed the door and saw hundreds of house-elves, hundreds of pots and pans and hundreds of work surfaces.

"Hello," Sirius said happily as house elves rallied round, conjuring up a table and chairs for the two and various of Sirius's favourite cakes. Sephie looked round in awe as Sirius sat down, gesturing to the chair across from his as he picked up a fondant fancy. "Miss. Scamander," one house elf curtsied to her as she sat. "We have heard much about your great grandfather, he is much known for his work with us elves, miss." Sephie smiled at the house elf. "Really?". The house elf nodded eagerly. "Oh yes, many years he spent with us, asking us questions, very interested in us was Master Scamander."

Sephie smiled once again and took a cupcake from the table. "Well, I'll tell him you send your regards," she said before taking a bite. The house elf grinned widely, before scampering off to bring more cupcakes to the table. Sephie looked across at Sirius, watching him lounge casually in his chair and eat a cinnamon roll. "What?" he asked as he caught her looking, his mouth full. Sephie shook her head. "How the hell did you find this place?"

Sirius grinned mischeviously again, before whipping a piece of parchment from his pocket. "With the help of this bad boy."

Sephie frowned and leant to take it, but Sirius whipped it out of reach. "Nu uh uh, Marauder's Secret."

Sephie pouted, sitting back down on picking at another cupcake. "Well, if you don't want me to know how awesome you are..." she said, calling Sirius' bluff. He scowled, leant forward and pointed the parchment in Sephie's face. "This, is the Marauder's Map," he said dramatically. Sephie smiled, frowned, and took the parchment gingerly from his fingers. She turned it over, but saw nothing.

"Wow, it really is miraculous," she said sarcastically. Sirius rolled his eyes. "That, you see, is the beauty of it. And the genius of it, now, let me demonstrate." He took the parchment back and took out his wand, making sure Sephie was watching.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he said, his eyes on Sephie the whole time. He watched the confusion and awe on her face as the ink lines dashed over the parchment and handed it back to her.

"It's not finished yet," he said, returning to his recline and taking another cake. "It's taking us a while, but it helps being an Animagus."

She turned it over in her hands, trailing a finger over the lines of the map. "This is..well, pretty damn cool," she said, folding various parts up and down to find different parts of the castle. She scowled. "Hey, what are these dots?"

Sirius swallowed his mouthful. "Oh, they're going to be people, it's going to show where everyone is when it's finished. At the moment, we've only got it to show were the person holding the map is.". And sure enough, Sephie turned one fold to see a small dot with her name and Sirius' in the room labelled kitchens.

"You made this?" Sephie asked, looking up at him. He nodded. "Yeah, well, Moony helped alot. He did most of the research on the spells. Me and James did the sneaking around, he's got an invisibility cloak so it helps."

"He's got an invisibility cloak? Blimey, you lads do have some tricks up your sleeve." Sephie said, impressed, and handed the map back to Sirius. He took it and smiled, trying to look modest but feeling arrogant at the same time. "Yeah, well. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

Sephie nodded, smiling, before taking another cupcake. Sirius put the map back in his pocket and frowned. "You like cupcakes much?" He asked as she took her fourth one. She nodded, her mouth full. He glanced at his watch. "Take some back to the common room, James and Lily have free period now, too, and I hate to imagine what mood Lily's going to be in after spending History with him."

Sephie laughed, wrapped a few cupcakes in a napkin, thanked the house elves, and followed Sirius out into the castle and the hustle of ending lessons. The Gryffindor tower was the opposite end of the castle, and Sirius had to keep checking behind him to make sure Sephie was still there and hadn't been lost in the throng. "You okay?" he asked as they reached the busiest corridor. Sephie nodded, but grabbed hold of his bag strap. "Just in case," she said, grinning. Sirius nodded, before setting off into the crowd again, his head above most of the student body, whilst Sephie was lost in a crowd of first years. Ten minutes later, and with Sephie feeling rather bruised, they reached the portrait hole, Sephie checking they were inconspicuous before transforming into a cat. "Alright," Sirius said. "Gobbledegook."

The painting swung open, and Sirius lifted a leg to clambered in only to be stopped by a miaowing beside him. "What's up? Oh," he looked down to the cat, who was sitting next to large satchel with a Ravenclaw crest on it. "Sorry," he apologised, grabbing the bag for her and taking it with his own through the portrait hole.

"Hello, children," James said happily as the two took their seats (or table) by the fire. Lily had a impenetrable scowl on her face, and her hair was adorned with rose petals.

"Alright, aw, Lils, very pretty," Sirius replied, smiling at the moody female beside them. She gave him a sarcastic smile, before standing and stalking into the dormitory.

"Let me guess, she can't get them out," Sephie asked as she transformed back into a girl and took the seat Lily had left. James shrugged. "I think she looks very stylish."

"Potter!" came a yell from the female dormitory, and the door swung open to reveal a furious Lily, now with whole Roses, complete with thorns, stuck in her hair.

"Oh, um, let me get that, come here," he said, standing up to approach her. She fumed and whipped out her wand. "Come anywhere near me with that thing and I swear to god you'll have thorns somewhere a lot more painfull!"

James stopped and gulped. "Look, Lily," he pleaded, holding his hands up defensively. "I promise, I can fix it, just...come here, please."

She narrowed her eyes at him, judging him for a second, before sighing. "If you don't get these out-"

"I know, I know," James lead her to a corner, away from Sirius and Sephie.

"Do you think he'll ever get it right?" Sirius asked, laughing. Sephie shook her head. "Boys are dumb. But I dunno, I think she's a bit harsh on him."

Sirius turned back to her and frowned. "You do?"

"Well, yeah," Sephie shrugged, pulling out a Potions essay she'd promised Sirius she'd help him with. "If a guy was that head over heels for me, I'd at least give him a chance. Now, you need to remember the rules regarding Felix Felicis, my boy."

IIIII

"Okay, so you can't use it in exams? Well, that's bollocks," Sirius commented, as he made the note. Sephie grinned. Sirius turned to her. "Do you reckon we could brew some?"

Sephie frowned. "It's really hard to make, I don't think we cover it until at least next year- you've spelt examinations wrong," she leant over him and tapped the word with her wand, correcting the examitions Sirius had scrawled, him catching the smell of her hair-coconut. "Why do you want to make some anyway?" She continued. Sirius shrugged. "Just think all of our pranks would go smoothly if we had a little bit before hand."

Sephie laughed. "I think you've got enough practise. Anyway-Sirius! You've done it again," she leant over him and tapped the second examitions he'd written, coconut filling his nostrils once more. He closed his eyes slightly as it mingled with her perfume, before snapping himself back to reality. Girls smell good, he thought. He watched her as she flicked through the pages of her books, her green eyes darting about the page as she tried to find what she was looking for. She'd taken her school cardigan off, rolled up her sleeves slightly and rolled down her socks. Sirius couldn't help but noticed that her skirt rode up slightly as she leant across the table to grab another book, revealing the tanned tops of her thighs, and Sirius wondered whether she really was tanned all over...

"Sirius?" she asked, snapping him out of his daydream, mentally punching himself for thinking pervy thoughts over Persephone. "Can you see if that bit about what happened to that person in the fifties in Quidditch is in there?" she pointed to a book beside him as he shook his head. "I'll try..." He flicked the pages and scowered them for anything remotely to do with Quidditch, but become very much aware of the chair moving closer to him and the smell of coconut getting stronger. "I think it's here," Sephie said, leaning over Sirius and flipping the pages in his lap. She frowned slightly, pouting, her lips twisting as she tried to find what she wanted. her fingers brushing his legs as she fingered the pages. Sirius felt a shiver go up his leg and prayed that it wouldn't reach a danger zone, although glad the book was placed where it was. I don't fancy her...he said to himself, but found his eyes fixated on her lips. It's just cos she's brushing my thigh so gently. And she just looks quite sexy when she's confused. No, she doesn't. She's just got nice smelling hair. Yeah, that's it. She smells nice and she's stroking my thigh. And I can see down her top when she leans over like that...OH god, look away.

Sirius flicked his eyes up to the ceiling, trying not to think about Persephone's clean white underwear against her tanned skin, and how it looked like she really was tanned all over.

I'm adding this chapter, as it shows them getting a bit closer. I'm adding a few, actually, I've decided I skipped alot of info. Oh, and the "climbing up James" bit was inspired by something that happened at High School- one of my friends got sent into my lesson with a Red Card for "climbing up" their friend, before climbing up me. He reminded me of it yesterday and it made me want to include it in here!