Disclaimer: If we owned HP, we wouldn't be writing here. We'd be traveling the Mediterranean and sipping bellinis made by our butlers. And updating far more often.

Author's Note:

So, as you may be able to tell throughout your reading of this chapter, a few things have changed, and a few things have remained the same. I thought a couple of rewrites were in order (mostly because I can't stand looking back at my own writing from when I was a wee tyke). All of the major plot points are still the same, while the writing, the grammar, and I hope, the characters are a little more fleshed out and believable. Let us know what you think of the updated chapter, and I swear I'm working on the next chapters of TMG and Ghost but this was really on my mind!

Rewritten 4/16/2019


Chapter 3

Alexa's Point of View

"Damn!" I spat as I stubbed my toe on a chair leg, as Blair and I descended into the Common Room late Friday night. Blair stifled a giggle, and I shot her a glare as I tried very hard not to feel the pain that was radiating up the bones in my foot. When I deemed my toe not broken, I nodded to Blair and we continued are path through the barely lit room. My eyes scanned the area, looking for the tale-tell figure of my sister, but came up short.

Lyla had come back from her prefects meeting tonight later than we knew her to be needed, with a secretive smile on her face, which made us instantly think that something was up. When we pestered her about it, she made up some nonsense about having a particularly nice conversation with McGonagall, who we knew she hadn't seen, as she'd spent the majority of the night berating the Marauders (aside of prefect Remus) in the Common Room. Blair and I had held our tongues against correcting her, and had waited until she had gone to bed to come up with a secret plan to catch her out.

What we didn't realize, however, that it was going to happen so soon. We had still been up whispering to ourselves, when we saw the curtains to Lyla's bed pull back. Pretending hastily to be asleep, we watched through squinted eyes as, at 1:30 in the morning, she had snuck out of the dorms in what appeared to be warm, outdoor clothes, and seemingly vanished into thin air.

Which led us to the problem we were experiencing now. "What are we meant to do now? She could be anywhere in the school," I sighed, flopping down onto the nearest couch, before immediately jumping up when the damn thing rustled from underneath me. "What is that?" I whispered frantically, letting Blair pull be behind the couch where whatever it was wouldn't see us.

"Alex, no!" Blair whisper-shouted as I tried to peer up over the couch. "What if it's a ghost?" Her face was horrified, the fact that we lived in a castle with ghosts always having freaked her out more than any other magical beast we had had the bad fortune to run into.

"It's not a ghost, B. If it was I would have gone right through it." I reached up on my knees, so just the tops of my eyes would show over the back of the couch. Through a mess of blankets and pillows, I saw a shock of ebony hair, and a pale hand as it lay outside of the coverings. "I think it's a student. But they're not moving. Let's just go upstairs and pretend like this never happened."

"We have to find out where Lyla is going. She'll never tell us otherwise!" Blair whined, and I sighed again, knowing what she said to be true. "Let's just sneak around whoever it is; they'll never even know we were here."

"Unless, of course, you didn't know how to be quiet when someone was sleeping." A new voice said from above, and Blair and I both let out almighty shrieks, standing as quick as we could. My head banged off something hard, and the loud groan and resounding flop we heard made us turn to look at the figure who had dramatically thrown themselves back on the couch. I rubbed my temple, as the person mirrored me. Obviously, we had bounced our faces off each others.

"Are you okay?" Blair said, looking at my head in concern. I nodded, wincing slightly at the pain in my temple, before directing my attention over to the now-awake Gryffindor.

"Merlin's Beard, Parker. What did I ever do to you?" I felt my stomach drop, as I recognized the voice and finally saw the face of the sleeping boy.

"Sorry!" I squeaked out, ignoring Blair's pointed look and slight laugh, before I cleared my throat and adjusted my stance to look more casual and intimidating. "What are you doing down here, anyway? Shouldn't you be upstairs in your dorm room? Most people sleep in a bed."

I couldn't help the sass that slipped out, and Sirius continued to rub his head where I had beamed him, giving me an odd look. I tried to make my tone less snarky, but was finding it hard when part of me wanted to run away, while the other part that I kept hidden deep down wanted to find a way to spend more time with him.

"I guess I could ask you all the same question. Why do you have coats on over your pajamas?" Sirius gave us a quick up and down, and I hugged my pea-coat closer to me, trying not to shiver under his glance.

Blair snapped her fingers, jumping slightly in excitement. "I have just had the most brilliant idea." She turned to me and pointed over at Sirius. "He can help us find her." Her eyes were glittering with the prospect and I shook my head, motioning back towards the stairs.

"We're just going to let it go, remember? And go back upstairs to sleep and interrogate her tomorrow." I glanced quickly to Sirius, who was watching us with curiosity and amusement. "Besides, how is Sirius going to help us find her when we don't know where it is she went?"

"Catch me up here, Blair, I'm not following fully." Sirius said, and Blair clapped her hands happily, before launching into a very detailed description of our night thus far.

"Well, it all started around dinner time when Lyla was missing. She had been doing her Prefect rounds but was really late, so we didn't see her at all. Then, when we got back to the common room, she was nowhere to be found. We waited and waited and waited, and finally she got back, and she was acting all happy and excited, but whenever we asked her about it she wouldn't say anything, which isn't like her at all. So, naturally we're very curious, and try and get more information, but she turned tomato red, told us she was going to bed, and then shut her curtains!" Blair looked so put out by this, that Sirius outwardly laughed, the barking noise doing strange things to my insides.

Before she could start another rousing and very well-informed continuation of what happened, I stepped in. "So later as Blair and I were scheming on how to get the information out of her, she sneaks out of bed, and starts to leave the dormitory. We had to wait until she'd gone since we were pretending to be asleep, and then it took us too long to find our coats in the dark, and so now, we've lost her. But it's fine, because we can go back to bed and just reconvene with her in the morning." I moved to turn back towards the dormitories, but Blair snatched my sleeve before I could make it too far.

"You know about the map," Sirius smirked, and Blair blushed slightly before shrugging her shoulders. "Ladies, let me just pop up to the dormitories quickly, and I believe I'll be able to help you with your conundrum." He made a show of bowing lowly to us, his hair falling over his forehead, before he flipped it back and sauntered up the stairs. I watched until he was out of earshot and then turned quickly to Blair.

"What the heck, B? Why did you get Black involved in this!" I picked at a piece of thread coming off my pajama pants before giving her a harried look.

"Alexa, they have a map, of the whole bloody school, that shows where every single student is at all times. Don't you think that could be a little useful? Besides, it's not like we're going to have to put up with him that long. We'll just take the map and be on our way." She gave me a once over, a mischievous look similar to ones I'd seen on James taking over her eyes. "What's the problem anyway? I thought you all were starting to get along."

I thought back to tackling him in detention earlier that week, and then completely ignoring him when we had our second detention the next night. My pulse started thumping, and I fought the blush that was sneaking up my neck. "I can't stand him, and you know it."

"Well, that's quite unfortunate for you, Parker, because the rules state a Marauder must be present when the Map is being used." I let out a frustrated groan, cursing his awful timing and confident demeanor. Sirius smiled at me as he passed, sitting down on the couch again and motioning us to sit on either side of him. Blair patted my shoulder as she walked by, unrepentant in her grin. I stifled my sigh, taking the seat on the other side of him. "Prepare to be amazed. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

I looked at Sirius, questions all over my face, before looking back at the old piece of parchment he had set down with a flourish. I couldn't contain my gasp as words in large scrawling print that I recognized as his own, started to spread out over the page, detailing the front of the castle almost to a tee. "Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs proudly present to you the Marauder's Map." I read off as I reached out a gently touched the ink, which looked wet but was decidedly dry. "I hate to admit this, Black. But that's bloody brilliant."

"I know," He said proudly, and I rolled my eyes, snatching up the map and going to stand closer to the fire place so that I'd be able to see it in the dark.

Blair joined me, standing next to me as I opened the many pages and shuffled them until I found what I was looking for. "Alex, look, that's us!" She pointed excitedly to a couple of footprints, and I read the names underneath them with awe.

"So now all we need to do is find Lyla and we're golden!" I said, starting to go through the pages again. Sirius jumped from his spot, before striding over to us and snagging the map again. "Hey!"

"You're getting the pages all wrinkly. And out of order," He sighed, moving some pages around and then held the map close to his chest. "I'll handle it from now on." He gave me a pointed look, and I held my hands up in surrender. Blair and I stood back, watching as he shuffled through the pages, and mutter a few things under his breath. I knew he had found her and something else that had piqued his interest when a smirk curled over his lips. "Well, well, well. Let's get going, shall we?"

I buttoned my coat, preparing myself to leave the always cozy Common Room for the chill of the rest of the castle. As we walked in the relative silence of the still corridors, I followed closely behind Sirius, trying to get a peek of the map over his ridiculous height. We came to a stop next to the statue of the one-eyed witch; Sirius gathered the map, muttered under his breath while tapping on the front, and then tapped his wand against the statue right on the hump of her back.

"Why are you putting the map away?" I asked, trying to contain my confusion to a minimal level as the statue slowly shifted, revealing a very dark and twisty corridor. It smelled like must and was very cave-like, immediately striking my claustrophobia and giving me chills. Without the added benefit of direction from the map, Blair and I were putting our lives in the hands of a Marauder. Always a chilling concept.

"Because I have followed Lyla on the map up until this point, and I have a fairly intelligent idea of where it is she'll be headed next. Especially if my eyes didn't deceive me," Sirius turned to face Blair and I, a smug grin on his face, "And they don't."

"Whatever." Blair rolled her eyes good-naturedly, climbing over the threshold of the tunnel and then righting her balance against the stone and dirt floor. "Light this place up, Sirius. Alexa and I left our wands upstairs."

Sirius smirked, then stepped forward. He turned slightly to offer me some help and I hesitated for just a minute before letting him pull me along. As I stepped through into the cave/corridor, the statue moved back into place, blocking the meager light and enshrouding us in darkness. A moment later, Sirius had lit the tip of his wand with a quick lumos and we could see about three feet in front of us. The corridor was wide, winding, and seemingly endless.

"We'll never catch up with her now." I sighed, scuffing my slippers against the dirt floor and shivering slightly in the damp air.

We started moving through the tunnel, taking our time, occasionally tripping in the dark and righting ourselves. "Fear not, Parker. And have some faith in me. I've walked this path for many moons."

I couldn't help the smile that rose to my face, immediately feeling heat brush against my cheeks in response to Sirius's teasing. Thankfully, the dark was enough to hide my blush as I bit the inside of my cheek to keep a cool face. The three of us walked in a relative silence, only the occasional sound of water dripping from the ceiling and our footsteps making noise in the dark. I tried not to think of all the creepy-crawlies that could be underfoot and overhead. While my thoughts were occupied, I had slowed down slightly, and when I looked up, I could barely see the pin-point light coming from Sirius' wand as he and Blair had walked ahead.

Picking up the pace as I caught up, I failed to recognize the fact that the tunnel dipped and started on a downward slope. My foot slipped on a wet rock, and suddenly I was tumbling forward at a fairly rapid pace. "Look out!" I shrieked before barreling straight into Sirius, who then knocked against Blair, sending the three of us flailing into the wall that had suddenly appeared.

"This night just keeps getting stranger and stranger," Sirius said with a laugh, his arms caging Blair against the wall as I clung to his back.

Blair laughed outright, her body physically shaking, before she burst forth with her joke. "A Sirius sandwich." I couldn't contain my laughter as I pulled away, clutching my sides. The joke was obviously not as funny as we both thought, Sirius only cracking a small smile, but something about the entire situation and the adrenaline set me off. "I can't wait to tell James."

Sirius rolled his eyes, then brushed his palms off on his pants. He gestured forward, where a ladder was waiting, leading up out of the tunnel and into what looked to be a store room. "Ladies first," He motioned, and Blair and I looked at each other, trying to calm our giggles and get back to it. I started up the ladder, ignoring how cold the metal was against my bare hands, and finally emerged into a darkened room. There were lights shining from the windows, and all around me the scent of sugar rose up. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust before I realized where we were.

"Holy crap; we're in Honeydukes!" I gestured around excitedly, walking up towards the window before I was yanked back suddenly. I spun to look at my captor, tilting my head back as Sirius peered over me and into the store.

"And I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your voice down. We're not technically supposed to be in here, you know?" He let go of my arm, walking around me to peer into the store and make sure no one had heard us. "Okay, the coast is clear. We'll head out the back and up towards the Shrieking Shack. Make sure you keep your cool. It's late, and I doubt we'll see anyone, but we should still stay relatively hidden."

"The Shrieking Shack?" Blair paused at the door, not joining Sirius and I in the outside air. "What's she doing up there?" Sirius sighed, reaching around Blair to pull her slightly away from the door so he could shut it and make sure we weren't attracting too much attention. Then he steered us all away from the store, walking with his arms around our shoulders and keeping a weather eye.

"Blair, your being terrified of ghosts while we live in a castle full of them is one of the strangest things about you; I hope you know that." I said, peering around Sirius so I could make eye contact with my friend. I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach at Sirius' arm around my shoulder, knowing he was just doing it so that if people were to look out, it would look like the three of us were just taking a casual walk. To the Shrieking Shack. At night. I stopped suddenly, pulling back and out of his hold.

"You know my thoughts on this. Ghosts are unnatural. I'd rather meet a serial killer any day of the week than come across a ghost in the Shrieking Shack near the witching hour." Blair paused, looking back at me. "What's wrong?"

I narrowed my eyes at Sirius, trying to keep my voice down since we were in the middle of the quiet street. A quick left at the end of the road and we'd be at the path to the Shack. "I know we're trying to keep a low profile, but I won't be part of Black's scheme to raise his ego."

"What are you talking about, Parker?" Sirius looked at me, and rolled his eyes, motioning for Blair to go on. "Blair, she's up there with Remus. I highly doubt there's going to be any serial killers or ghosts up there." He sighed as Blair took off, the thought of hot gossip and what Lyla and Remus were doing at the Shack together overriding her fear of a ghostly presence. I moved to follow her but was once again stopped as Sirius grabbed my hand.

"What?" I asked, turning my gaze away from him, feeling my heart leap to my throat. I could feel every muscle in my body reacting to the heat of his hand on mine. I tried to push it away, willing my blush to subside so he wouldn't see it in the light of the crescent moon.

"I'd like to know what you're on about now. I've been nothing but kind to you tonight. I got the map, I brought you to Hogsmeade, I'm helping you find Lyla, and yet you still have an issue with me. I'm interested to hear what it is." He removed his hand from mine, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at my haughtily.

I brought myself up to my full height, which wasn't much but made me feel better, and mimicked his stance. "Out of the goodness of your heart you've done those things for us; is that what we're supposed to believe? You're not just out here with two girls, at night, heading up towards the Shack to make people think you're up to something?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

Sirius smirked. "What kind of thing would I be up to with two girls in the middle of the night, Parker? Care to enlighten me on where your mind is at?" He relaxed his stance, stalking forward towards me. I took a step back, curling my hands at my side.

"You know what I mean." I said, my voice coming out slightly hushed, wavering slightly as he advanced towards me. I moved backwards, trying to keep him out of my personal space as my heart hammered in my throat. My head was fuzzy and it felt like I couldn't draw in a breath.

"Do I? Did you not hear me explain to Blair that Lyla is up at the Shack with Remus? And yet you're still thinking of what kind of ulterior motive I might have of taking you here. So tell me, Alexa, is it me that is trying to stroke my ego, or you?" My back hit the brick wall with a slight thud, the roughness digging into my wool coat and matting it forever. I tilted my head up, trying to keep my composure, which actually just brought my face closer to his own.

Sirius's arms came up, one planting on the space next to my head, the other resting gently at my waist. My hand brushed his as my arms continued to hang loosely at my side. I could feel the staccato rhythm of my heart at the side of my neck, and I knew he could see it at this close distance. I could count every fleck of color in this gray eyes.

"What are you doing?" I breathed out, trying to not sound as if I was trapped in a Victorian novel. My voice was hoarse, and I tried not to watch the smirk on Sirius' lips. "Really, let's just go up to the Shack." I moved slightly, and we brushed against each other, Sirius' fingers clenching against my coat.

"Parker," Sirius bent further towards me, his forehead coming to rest on my own. I closed my eyes, trying to will myself to pull out of his arms, and run as fast as I could out of this situation. But a niggling feeling that was keeping me put told me that I didn't want that. "Alexa." My name came from his lips in a way that sent my knees quivering, the want in his voice unmistakable.

I opened my eyes for the briefest of moments, catching sight of his pupils, the gray in his eyes a thin ring and suspected my own green eyes reflected the same, before closing them again and letting my body overturn my mind. Pushing up on my tiptoes, I connected our lips together hard.

The hand on my waist slipped under my coat, heat sinking through my pajama top at my waist, while Sirius's other hand moved from the wall to the back of my neck, angling my head so our lips would meet again. I sighed into the kiss, and Sirius broke away slightly, our noses brushing together before he kissed me again, deeper this time.

I felt the wavering control I was trying to keep on myself break, and wrapped my arms around his neck, clutching at his shoulders like he was the only thing keeping me upright. He hummed in surprise, biting lightly at my lower lip as he moved away to lay kisses along my jaw. I sunk further into him, my head falling back as he kissed down my neck, biting and sucking at places I didn't know existed, making my head spin with a feeling I didn't want to have.

Instead of following down the rabbit hole of why we shouldn't be doing this, and why shouldn't we be doing this?, I laced my fingers back into Sirius's hair, pulling him up to meet my lips again, this time letting his tongue explore my mouth. Both hands snuck inside my coat, and his cold fingers slid against the skin that had become exposed against my hips. I gasped at the feeling, and before I could stop it, whimpered into his kiss.

Breath catching in my throat, I pulled back, my eyes wide as I stared at the flushed face of Sirius Black. I tried to steady my breathing while we stared at each other, unsure of what was about to happen next, and as I tried to decide whether to kiss him again or scream at him, I heard a very sobering voice.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected."

Sirius and I broke apart like someone had doused us in ice water. My back hit the brick wall I was pressed against and I groaned at the feeling of pain that shot through my spine. Sirius looked back at me, his lips red and swollen and ran a hand through his mussed hair. We turned our gaze from each other, looking at our friends who stood in disbelief at what they'd just seen.

I opened my mouth to explain, closed it again when I didn't know what to say, and turned quickly back the way we'd come, speed walking towards Honeyduke's like someone was chasing me. Which I suppose they were. I heard Lyla and Blair darting behind me, and I shook my head as they each pulled up beside me, the three of us out of breath and in states of shock.

"What the hell was that?" Lyla asked me, disbelief coloring her voice as she snuck a covert glance behind us. Remus and Sirius had their heads bent in conversation, but were too far away to have heard her.

Pulling the door to Honeyduke's open and checking quickly inside to see if anyone was around, I turned back to my sister and Blair, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. "I have no bloody idea. I think someone gave me a lobotomy and I'm experiencing an out of body moment."

"Well, if you did then so did our lovely Lyla because it seems as if both Parker sisters saw a little action tonight." My mouth dropped open as Blair smirked, and then I turned to Lyla who was blushing heavily.

"It would appear as if we both have some explaining to do." Lyla shrugged, walking inside and heading towards the ladder and the tunnel that would take us back to our safe dormitories where no boys could find us.

"It would appear we do."