A/N: So I have excuses. Not going to bless all of you with ten minute explanations of why I've suddenly dropped off the face of the earth when it comes to this story, but you can feel better sleeping at night knowing my explanations are still there.
Thanks for sticking with me, and hope you enjoy the ride! Please remember to keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. Thank you.
Disclaimer: Although the words on this very beautiful screen are one-hundred percent my own, the world and the characters are not mine to claim.
As the moon rises, the nighttime attitude slowly starts to creep through Gryffindor tower. Boys and girls alike are beginning to crawl into their pajamas, and slip slowly into their beds. Bedtimes however, according to Sirius and Peter, are for little kids. This is exactly why, at the ungodly hour of two in the morning, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black were playing an exhilarating game of Wizard Chess at one in the morning. Remus had gone to bed hours before, and James was soon to follow. "Can we go to bed now? It's getting late." James had said, but Sirius shook his head, muttered something about James being a "baby," and continued playing his game. James went to bed, leaving nothing but empty silence for Padfoot and Wormtail. Sirius hates silence, so it seemed as though there was only one solution anyways. Fill it.
That is precisely why Padfoot and Wormtail were discussing women at the ungodly hour of one in the morning.
"Me? I have the pick of the lot when it comes to girlfriends." Sirius was saying, to a skeptical Peter. Peter flashed Sirius the I don't know if I believe that look, which Sirius hates, so he continued, saying "Don't give me that look! Just because you have trouble getting a date… You've seen them. Every girl in this school wants to kiss me, I can bet you that."
"Every girl?" Peter asked, with the same look on his face.
"Yes." Sirius replied with growing certainty. "Every girl."
Peter got a non-Peteresque grin on his face. "I'll bet you 25 Galleons you can't get Vance to kiss you."
Sirius' certainty dropped, just like that. He wouldn't let it show though, not in front of Peter of all Marauders. Vance… now that would be a challenge. "Victoria Vance?" He asked, just to be certain, despite knowing the answer.
"That's the one." Peter challenged.
"You're on." Sirius replied. 25 Galleons is 25 Galleons, besides, Sirius would find a way. Sirius always finds a way.
Our story picks up again at the breakfast table. Isn't that where all the greatest drama takes place? Surrounding food? It seems fitting, that people would fight more over chocolate pudding or pancakes more than they would over cauldrons or textbooks. What made this breakfast time unique , however, was not the fact that it was a Thursday, (Always the worst days in Victoria's opinion), and that it was raining, and that for some odd reason Lily and James were doing less fighting, and more smiling. No, the thing that made this Saturday morning breakfast unique was that two Slytherin girls were eating said breakfast at the table of the Gryffindors.
Odd? Absolutely.
"I cannot believe you dragged me all the way over here. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you." Victoria Vance whispered to her giggling friend. "Why can't we just go back to sitting in our normal spots at our normal table with Cissy? You know how much I hate… it, and I don't appreciate you dragging me all the way over here to have breakfast with the enemy."
"They are not the enemy!" Jadyn argued back. She shot a glance over a James, who was sitting two seats away. "James and I are finally on good terms, and I don't want to mess this up just because you and it are having a grudge match about who stole whose crayon at the three-year old craft table!" She shot in an angry whisper. "Besides," she began, with a softer and more longing tone, "How many chances do I get to sit near the James Potter? He invited me! I couldn't turn that down."
"Okay," Tori started, "But you do have to admit the glares our fellow house-mates are giving us are pretty scary."
"Trust me Tori, no one will ever think you ever want to sit over here. Everyone heard me drag you over. If you don't like it, you can get up and sit with Cissy. I won't mind. Go ahead and ruin my chances with the guy of my dreams for all I care."
"Oh, quit your whining."
She looked over at Black again, stabbing her eggs angrily with her fork. He noticed her, and laughed heartily. Heartily? Who actually laughs heartily. Five more reasons in one to hate him. "What'd those eggs ever do to you?"
After a long first class, Sirius ran to catch up to Tori. "Hey!" He said, wrapping his arm around her. She grabbed it, and twisted it around. He shook away from it, unfazed. "Get off of me."
"Aw, come on! You're no fun. I thought I was starting to warm up to you. You did drag your pretty-little-Slytherin friend to our table for breakfast after all."
"As if I would try to find any sort of excuse to hang out with you."
"You hurt my soul. Come on! You know you love me. Just admit it!"
"I said go away."
"Really?" Sirius asked in fake thought, "I must have missed that comment somewhere in your oh-so-intelligent dialog."
"Takes two to tango. If this keeps up, I might just transfer to Durmstrang." She mumbled under her breath, not as quietly as she thought.
"Durmstrang? As good at I think you'd look in those heavy fur coats with all your fellow Dutch death-eater friends, you'd miss me too much. Besides, in all due respect, I'm not sure you're smart enough to get into Durmstrang anyways."
"You have got to be kidding me. I'm twice as smart as you are! Just ask anyone."
"Then how come I get better marks?"
"As if."
"You really think you're smarter than me?" Sirius asked with a smirk. Tori despised that smirk was a burning passion.
"Yes." She replied immediately.
"Fine," He smirked, yet again. "Let's put that belief to the test. We have a charms test in an hour. We'll just see who has the higher marks."
She looked uncertain for a second, contemplating the rare possibility that he would do better than her. She knew all too well that charms was not his best class. She'd discovered that the hard way last time they partnered up with people. "Fine." She replied. "But what's the point?"
"How about, if I get the higher grade, you have to kiss me."
The hall got so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. "What!?" She gaped.
"Oh. I'm sorry, are you afraid you'll lose?"
She regained composure quick as possible. "No!" She shot back, a little too defensively. She searched her mind for the words to say. "It's just that… What's in it for me?"
"Name your price."
"Fine. If I win, you have to write a letter to the headmaster apologizing and admitting to all the crimes I know you've committed so far this year." She finally said, with a smirk to match his own. That'll give him detention for at least three months. Not to mention all the points he'd lose for Gryffindor, and all the respect he'd lose from his friends. They've tried to catch who flooded that hallway for weeks now.
"Deal."
And they shook on it, Sirius reciting a spell that would bind the oath.
As he sauntered back, James pounced on him like a… well… wild animal. "You have to be kidding me! Do you know how much trouble you'll get us into if you confess to all that? And for a kiss? For someone who hates her, that's a strange price to offer. Care to explain?"
"Chill. I quite enjoy winding her up. Besides, I have a reputation to maintain. She remains one of the only girls left in the school that hasn't fallen for me at one point."
"I'm not following…"
"I'll kiss her, gain 25 Galleons from Peter, then, after she falls for me, I'll promptly proceed to break her heart. Trust me, there is no way she can get a higher grade than me. It's all about pride for her."
"You set her up?" James asked. Then said, "Wait. 25 Galleons from Peter? What does he have to—"
"He bet me 25 Galleons she would never kiss me. I told him I could get any girl I wanted. Simple."
"I'm not sure I like this…"
"Just wait… just you wait…"
Three days later, the Charms professor was moving from desk to desk in the classroom handing back tests. Barely stopping, he placed Miss Vance's test on the table face down with a slight shake of the head, and moved on to the next desk. Tori, taking a deep breath and crossing her fingers, flipped the test over quickly, praying to whatever being she could think of.
"It might be easier to see what grade you got if you actually open your eyes." Narcissa whispered from next to her.
"Shut up, I'm nervous." Tori shot back.
The Black girl took one glance at Tori's test, shook her head a bit, then said, "You should not have made that bet…"
Tori took another deep breath, then opened her eyes to see a bright read "A" glaring back at her from the page. Her heart committed suicide, flinging itself down into her stomach and twisting around. "No…. No no no no no no no no no no no no NO! I studied hours for this test, and I will accept no less than an 'O'!"
"Once you've received your tests, you are free to leave." The professor said.
Jadyn, Narcissa, and a very, very disgruntled Tori left the room. Once they were a safe distance from the room, Tori let out a shriek of frustration. "I just can't believe this! I knew everything on that test!"
Jadyn gave her a sympathetic glance, before saying, "An 'A' isn't that bad, Tori. It's just average. Maybe he was… well… less than average."
"I doubt it." Narcissa cut in. "He's a Black, isn't he? And Blacks are never substandard. He probably got an 'O', like I did."
"Not helping." Jadyn shot at her, through her teeth.
"Sorry." Narcissa replied with a shrug. "Just telling it like it is."
Tori groaned, and Jadyn gave Narcissa a help me fix this problem before she gets hysterical look. "Come on, it won't be that bad. It's just a kiss. I've done it several times."
"Can you imagine the look on his face though?"
Narcissa definitely could. "Okay, maybe you could just avoid him."
"Good luck with that," Jadyn said. "Because he's coming over here now."
A/N: Ta da! It actually took me a lot longer than usual to write this chapter… meaning… four days longer than usual…
Hope you enjoyed it though! Please review, it would definitely mean a lot to me, and at the very least give me more motivation to put this story higher on my list of ones to update. :)
Much love,
-Awesomegirl13