Hey guys! I was going to post this on Sunday, but because I'm a REALLY, REALLY nice person, I'm posting it today. It's more of a filler than a chapter with actual substance, but you get to see some tension between Sirius and Norah AND some Regulus AND some civil conversation with Lily! ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Not mine.


Friction

"Rosier, Pucey," I stated coldly. "Oh, and Blackthorne and Hawkins too, what a lovely foursome. No Lestrange tonight?" I added, looking over Evan Rosier's shoulder.

"Hello, love," Rosier smiled. I tried not to melt. Rosier, although undoubtedly evil, had those kind of unfairly handsome features which made even (hate to say it) James and Black look dull in comparison.

High cheekbones framing dark, liquid-centre eyes. Straight black hair falling past his eyebrows. Long, strong arms with obvious veins. He absolutely reeked of masculinity and I often wondered if he used a charm to make himself so appealing.

I was so absorbed in wondering which charm he may have used that I didn't notice him drawing closer. It was only when his breath whispered across my lips that I spoke.

"Evan," I said politely, looking up at him through my lashes.

"Norah," he returned. "Run along now," he whispered, "this isn't something a young lady ought to see." I barely moved as he ducked to press a kiss to my collarbones. Little bursts of heat shivered out from the spot where his lips had touched and I struggled not to tremble. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed James making for Rosier, a livid expression on his face. Black held him back.

He was right. This was my fight. Cold anger stirred in my stomach. Gorgeous he might be, but I couldn't let myself forget that Evan Rosier was the enemy.

"And what, exactly, is 'this'?" I asked softly, playing along.

"I don't want to fight you people," he said. "Actually… I do," he corrected. "I just don't want to fight you. Gallantry and all that, you know. Although, gallantry aside, you look like you need a good shag. Anytime you feel lonely…" he trailed off suggestively. Red lights flashed in my vision from the strength of my anger. I kept a lid on it.

"Why the sudden interest, Evan? Some fresh meat, now you've done all your Slytherin sluts?"

"Norah - "

"So desperate you'd shag a Gryffindor?"

"Payne - "

"Didn't think even Slytherins would be this sex-starved and pathetic."

Suddenly, he was even closer, too close. I backed up, against the wall, his body flush against mine and his lips a hair away. "Don't push me, Payne," he warned, a seductive trace of danger in his voice.

I'd had enough. Yanking out my wand, I blasted him away from me with a nonverbal Repellum, followed by an Expelliarmus! Topping it off with a Bat Bogey Hex, I stood back and watched as his buddies ran for cover – except Pucey. James and Black dealt with him while I finished Rosier off with an Incarcerous. Feeling a tiny burst of pity (my Bat Bogey Hexes were strong), I lifted the hex and allowed him to talk. His eyes flashed and burned with anger, but he still managed to smile. "Offer still stands, love," he purred, before I gagged him with a flick of my wand and levitated him into a broom cupboard.

"Dump him in here!" I called to James.

"Petrificus Totalus!" I heard Black cry, and then Pucey landed with a slight thump next to the still-wriggling Rosier.

"Took out a whole Slytherin by yourself!" James laughed, pinching my cheek. I slapped his hand away.

"Took two of you to knock out that one," I smirked, motioning with my chin to Pucey. I slammed the door on the two Slytherins and cast a Silencing charm on it. "Whoops. Accidentally cast a Silencing charm. And I forgot how to revoke it!" I cried in mock-horror. "Looks like these two will have to wait until someone opens the door by chance."

"Good call." James held his hand up for a high-five, laughing at how high I had to reach to slap it. Finally, exhausted from exams, fun and the fight, we headed back to our dorms, uninterrupted. I bid the boys goodnight and headed up, sinking into my pillows and comforter happily.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I was woken the next morning by Marlene dumping a bucket of water on my face.

"What the – Marlene!" I spluttered, spitting water out onto the blanket. "What is wrong with you?"

"I needed to get you up! Adam called a Quidditch practice!"

Looking outside the window, I noticed the dark sky. "What's the time?"

"Four a.m.," she replied guiltily.

I slumped back on the pillows.

Slap.

"Marlene!" I shrieked, grateful that we were the only two girls in the dormitory.

"Get up! Do you want to lose to Slytherin?" A Chaser on the team, Marlene was just as Quidditch-obessed as the rest of us.

I sighed and heaved myself out of my lovely, fluffy bedsheets.

"Goodbye, my loves," I said sadly to my pillow and blankets, yanking on my scarlet Quidditch robes and bidding my bed goodbye. Marlene rolled her eyes and dragged my down the stairs. Frank was waiting at the bottom for her and she let go of me so she could give him a good-morning kiss. I sent a spell at my mouth so that no one would die from my morning breath and headed out of the portrait hole.

The couple caught up with me, Frank pulling on his Keeper gloves. Seeing the worried look on my face, he asked what was bugging me.

"Skempinny manoeuvres," I answered meaningfully. "Really?"

"Manoeuvres or not, we can take them down," he reassured me.

"But Skempinny," I whined fearfully.

"Oh ye of little faith!" He cried dramatically. "We have three excellent Chasers," he began, bumping Marlene's hip with his own. "Two fabulous Beaters," he continued, flashing me a grin. "One legendary Seeker… and me, of course," he finished modestly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Frank, you're a fantastic Keeper! I heard Davies complaining that his team's Keeper wasn't as good."

"See what I mean? We're favourites for the Cup this year."

"As we are every year," Marlene added with a wink. Laughing, we turned right at the castle doors and headed for the changing rooms.

"Right!" Adam said the second we stepped in. Looking around, the remainder of our team could be seen sprawled around the room in mid-snore. "Now everyone's arrived, I'll begin. Over the holidays, I spent a lot of time thinking about out playing styles, but seeing the Slytherins doing Skempinny manoeuvres, that really got me thinking. So, to give an overview…"

"For the love of Merlin, Wood," I groaned from my position between James and Marlene (James was sleeping on my shoulder). "It's bloody four in the morning, can we just play? At least it might wake us up."

My words were greeted with an enthusiastic mumble from the half-asleep members of my team. I saw James run a hand through his hair and almost grinned. The action was so routine to him, I wouldn't be surprised if he did it in his sleep.

Wood glared at me, but I knew he was just playing.

"Aww," I cooed, standing up and hugging him. "I'm sorry to cut your speech off, but save the tactics talk for when the rest of us are awake, yeah?"

"Hear, hear," I heard someone mumble from the back or the room. Could've been Black.

"Cheeky little sod," Adam muttered, but he squeezed me back all the same. Letting me go, he turned to the rest of the team. "Let's fly!"

To sleepy to voice our usual battle roar, we all yawned simultaneously and mooched out onto the field. Halfway there, I realised I had forgotten my broom and turned back to get it.

Oh, no. Stopping dead in the doorway, I knocked on the doorframe tentatively. The boy lying sprawled on the bench showed no signs of movement. Sighing, I crossed to his side of the room.

"Black! Wake up!" I called, shaking him when he showed no signs of waking up.

"Go 'way. It's bloody four a.m., Potter," he said sleepily. I snorted. Did James' voice sound feminine or did mine sound masculine?

"Black. Practice time. Get your ass off this bench."

"Kendra, baby, is that you? Haven't seen you… mmm… in so long," he grunted, stretching up an arm and yanking me down to lie beside him against his chest. Which, I suddenly noticed, was bare. I mean, not like I didn't notice, but I didn't notice as fast as, say, Marlene would. Squirming, I tried to focus on getting loose and not focus on how much I hated being in contact with him and how awkward it was. "Kendra," he murmured, arms tightening. He rubbed his cheek on mine and I grimaced. Ew.

Time for drastic action. Hating every second of it, I touched my fingers to his cheek, which had a light dusting of stubble on it. Thinking I wasn't going anywhere, he loosened his grip – and I jumped away. Suck on that, loser. Grabbing my broom, I ran for the pitch.

"Where were you?" James asked when I finally stepped onto the grass.. "And where's Sirius?"

"I was – don't laugh – getting my broom. Don't laugh!" I added sharply as he began to show signs of hysteria. "And Black's bloody asleep in the changing room," I said in an attempt to shut him up. It didn't work.

"Forgot – broom - playing – Quidditch!" he gasped, tears pooling in his eyes.

"You see what you've done to us by waking us at such an ungodly hour?" Marlene cried dramatically.

"James is hysterical, Sirius is asleep and Norah – pfft – forgot – psshh hahaha! – her – gasp – broom!" This from Janey King, our third Chaser, whose last four words were rendered almost unintelligible by the chokes and gurgles of laughter.

And then James suddenly collapsed. Shocked, everyone gathered around him – but when I saw him, I dropped my broom. Catching one look at his shaking shoulders and red face, I turned and headed for the changing room. "Sod it, I'm out for today!" I cried over my shoulder, Banishing my broom to the changing rooms.

"Why?" Adam asked, shocked.

"He's bloody laughing so hard he can't breathe! This is a mortal insult!"

My indignant words only served to make him laugh harder, but this time his hysteria gave voice in a shrieking series of hyena laughs which set the whole team – including me – off. I don't know what we must have looked like to Black, who walked out at that moment – six people, all known to be relatively sane, cackling away on the grass. We were still wiping away tears of mirth when he asked, bewildered, "Who Banished their broom? It smacked me on the head on the way in!"

It set me off laughing again, and I rolled around on the grass, clutching my aching stomach. The rest of my team – except Black, who was still confused – stared at me for a moment then cracked up again. "Great job, broom!" I called out drunkenly, collapsing as giggles took over my frame.

Finally, ten minutes later, hiccoughing and covered in grass, we stood and dusted ourselves off. Adam surveyed us critically.

"Yeah, whatever," he shrugged. "Practice cancelled."

Whooping, we ran for the locker rooms.

"Pity," I told James. "The laughing actually woke me up. I couldn't go to sleep now if I tried!"

"Some people could," he replied, motioning with his chin and shucking his robes as he did so. I turned to see Black, shirtless again, sprawled our on the same bench as before.

"I pity your mother, having to wake you two up during holidays!"

"We're big boys, we can wake up by ourselves," he replied loftily. He walked off ahead to pick up his broom. I studied his bare back muscles surreptitiously.

"Oh, really?" I asked quietly, not intending for him to hear.

"I heard that!" he called over his shoulder. "And I'll get revenge!"

"Yeah, good luck with that!" I shouted back, dumping my broom and robes in my locker. I slammed it shut behind me and it let out a ghostly wail. "Oh, shut up," I told it, patting its head.

"Talking to lockers, second sign of madness," James informed me on his way out.

"So what's the first sign?"

"Talking to yourself. At least, that's what a mirror in the Leaky Cauldron said to me once."

"And what did you say?"

"I told the mirror to shut up."

"Talking to mirrors, third sign of madness," I smiled smugly.

"Touché. I'll have to find another way to prove your insanity." He surveyed me, one hand on his chin.

"Whatever you say, James. Just go shave first, okay? You look like a half-grown shrub."

Leaving him behind me looking insulted, I caught up to Marlene.

"Hey!" he shouted from behind me. "Who said you always got the last word!"

"Girl power," Marlene muttered. I gave her a weird look. "Muggle thing," she shrugged.

"I know, but it just sounded weird coming out of your mouth," I explained. She stuck her tongue out at me.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Breakfast. At last. We'd peeked into the Great Hall on our way in, but the tables weren't even up yet. Four thirty a.m., can't blame the house-elves, I guess. Figuring they wouldn't be up, I opted not to go to the kitchen and to just skulk around in the Great Hall until the tables appeared. And finally, after an agonising half hour, they appeared, laden with food.

I eagerly dug into a plate of kippers, dumping a load of them onto my plate along with some toast and some scrambled eggs. James was really missing out by not waiting in the Great Hall with me.

Teachers started to appear, some looking taken aback at the sight of me and some too sleepy to notice. But oddly enough, the first student to walk into the Hall was none other than Sirius Black.

Really, fate was not on my side today.

First the whole conversation we had the previous morning. Then, how civil he'd been after the teethsickle incident. Then, the whole… chest episode. And now, he was stumbling into the hall, running a hand through his dark locks, tangling them up. The only other student at the Gryffindor table.

Thankfully, he sat himself as far away from me as he could get. If he'd sat close by, my polite side would force me to participate in some conversation.

I shoved another mouthful of kippers in and helped myself to some porridge. Sprinkling it with chocolate and nuts and berries, I sat back and slowly ate it. My stomach nearly exploded, but it wasn't often I got such a good breakfast. Usually, by the time I appeared for breakfast, all the good stuff was gone. I was almost considering waking up early just for this when Marlene plopped down beside me.

"Weeeeell, don't you look happy?" I drawled, noticing her swollen lips. She blushed and nicked a spoonful of porridge.

"Damn, that's good," she said, her eyes widening. "We should make it a habit to wake up early, the grub's amazing." She took another spoon, and I saw it as my cue to save my food.

"Get your own!"

"But… yours is tasty," she pouted. "I won't be able to make it right…"

"Merlin's beard," I muttered, filling a bowl with porridge and dumping some chocolate and berries on top. "There. Eat."

"Now that," came a voice from over my shoulder, "looks tasty." Turning, I saw Evans peering down into my porridge. As goody-goody as she was, she was a late riser too.

"Mine," I told her, pulling it protectively towards myself.

"At least tell me what you put in it!" she said indignantly.

"Berries, chocolate, nuts. They're all over there somewhere," I said, motioning with my hand in the general direction. "Why are you up so early, anyway?"

"Had a nightmare. You?"

"Quidditch," I grumbled. Turning back to Marlene, I saw her wide eyes.

"Are you actually being civil to Lily Evans?" she whispered incredulously. In my small group of friends, Marls was the only one who knew about my crush on James.

"She's okay, you know. Nice. Despite being the gem of Slughorn's collection."

"Um… okay. Wow."

She didn't say anything more, and turned back to her porridge. Spotting some dried apricots down the table, I dumped those into mine too.

"Share," James said from behind me, stealing a couple off the top. I smiled, motioning for him to sit beside me. Dried apricots were his favourite.

"Oy! Padfoot!" he called. Black turned, and seeing his best mate, ambled over to where we were sitting. I spooned up the last of my porridge and stood up, with difficulty.

"Easy there, Oatmeal," James said with a smirk. "I think your abdomen has swollen by about six inches. What else did you eat apart from porridge?"

"Kippers, eggs, toast, bacon, pancakes," I listed off with an air of satisfaction.

"Well," James said, looking amazed. "Lucky there are seven hours until lunch, then."

Rolling my eyes, I strolled out of the Great Hall, wondering if the temperature was fine for a thinking time by the lake. Heading for my favourite beech tree, I sat an enjoyed the silence, my thoughts drifting.

Unconsciously, my thoughts drifted to Regulus. I remembered seeing him the previous day with that girl, and I wondered who she was.

Stop it, I told myself firmly. You shouldn't care any more. But it was hard, there was no denying that. It was hard to get over a guy when you had to see him – and his carbon copy – every single day. Really, it was the only bad thing about boarding school. Can't escape anyone, not even on weekends.

And speak of the devil, there he was, with that stupid blonde girl. His arm was around her waist and he was whispering in her ear. Stupid perky little twit was giggling away, looping an arm around his neck. I looked away; I didn't want or need to see anything R-rated. Picking up my things, I stood up slowly and silently, heading for the other side of the Black Lake.

And then, curse me, a twig snapped under my boot. Regulus looked over at me and for one second, our eyes connected. Grey meets grey-blue. The best part of Regulus, in my opinion. His bimbo didn't notice anything, but her expression became confused. As Regulus turned to say something to her, I slipped away. From a safe distance, I turned and looked back. Although Regulus was still paying attention to his girlfriend, he was searching all around him for something. Or someone.

I turned and walked back to the castle.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"No, Potter! I will not bloody go out with you! Can't you get it through your thick skull?"

"Lilyflower, please - "

"Are you deaf, Potter?" she asked pleasantly.

"I – what?" He asked, obviously confused.

"Deaf, Potter. Are you?"

"No… why?" I shook my head. Poor sod. He was walking right into a Lily-style explosion.

"Because I have told you time and time and again and YOU NEVER SEEM TO HEAR ME!" She shrieked, getting progressively louder with each word. "I will not go out with you, no matter how many times you ask! It won't happen!" Dropping the book she had been reading, she strode furiously out through the portrait hole, her red tresses flicking past my astonished face.

"Oh, dear," I murmured to Remus. "How did he propose to her this time?"

"Got down on one knee, offered her a lily, magically magnified his voice for the whole of Gryffindor to hear and told her she was most radiant lilyflower in the whole, wide world," he replied in a bored voice.

"Boy really has a lot of creativity, doesn't he?" I said admiringly. "The past five years, he's never failed to think of another way to ask her out."

"It's not a time for joking, Payne," Black hissed as he passed me. A bit surprised at his hostile tone, I followed him with my eyes – to where James was sitting, head in his hands.

"Shit," I muttered. "Guess five years of rejection finally got to him, huh?"

"Go comfort him," Remus said, nudging me in his direction. Navigating the many tables and chairs in the room, I crouched next to my shaking best friend.

"Let's get him upstairs," I told Black. He shot me a dirty look but helped James to his feet. I led the way, shooting glares at anyone daring to stare. We reached the stairs with an air of relief, sighing as we passed into the cool, dark atmosphere of the stairwell. We dumped James on the bed and I cuddled up next to him, stroking his hair. Black shot me a dark look but I disregarded it.

"James," I said softly. "Hey. Listen. She's not worth it, understood?" He shook his head stubbornly, and I forced his chin up so that he would look at me.

"Five years, love. Five. If she hasn't seen what an awesome guy you can be by now, then screw her."

"I can't give up on her, Pup."

I shook my head morosely, widening my eyes at Black to indicate that it was his turn. He crouched next to James' bed, poking him until he looked up.

"Listen, Payne's right. Mate… you've been trying to five years. I think it's just a lost cause."

"Someday she'll look back and regret it," I added. James wiped his eyes and looked at us gratefully.

"I can try," he said sadly. "But being in love with her – it's routine now. I don't know if I can not love her." A few more tears slipped out and I wiped them away on my shirtsleeve.

"Just do your best. Everything happens for a reason, you know that? Can't avoid fate forever."

"She'll come around, mate. And if she doesn't, well – her loss, innit?" Black put in, nudging him.

"Thanks," he told us, rubbing his face on his robes. He gave us a watery grin and I hugged him around his waist, glad to see it again.

"Five years of rejection caught up to you, huh Jamesie?" I said playfully, nudging him just as Black had done. He smiled again, but it didn't reach his eyes. Black shot me an angry look and I wondered if I had gone too far. But no.

"Alright, both of you out, I want to clean myself up a bit," James said, ruffling my hair. He tugged at the bottom of his shirt and eyed us meaningfully until we backed out of the door.

Black turned to me.

"Honestly, Payne. Your best friend just got rejected – again – and was crying for the first time ever, and you say 'five years of rejection caught up to you'?"

"It was a joke, Black."

"It didn't sound like one to me."

"Yeah, because you were only one dumb enough to take it seriously!"

"Next time you make a joke, try putting some actual humour into it. If you're not going to treat my best mate right, then stay the hell away."

"He's my best mate too!"

"Who you're tragically in love with? Give it up. Can't you fucking see? He's in love with Lily, he's never getting over her. I know what you're trying to do, urging him to get over her. You're trying to give yourself a better chance." I wasn't!

"I wouldn't - " I protested.

"Don't lie. You're so damn selfish. Grow up a bit, will you? And try learning how to be a friend," he snapped, striding away down the staircase. I stood for a minute in shock. Who did he think he was?

Or maybe you're angry because he made you see something you didn't want to acknowledge.

I pushed the voice away, scowling. I leaned back against the door, sighing. Was he right?

Anyway, no use thinking about it at present, it would save for – "ACK!" I shrieked as the door I was leaning on suddenly disappeared. I landed in a very surprised James' arms, but soon enough, the little git started laughing at me. I smacked him around the head with a rolled-up newspaper, but it had no effect.

That boy has a thicker skull than a giant, I swear.

"You cannot be trusted to lean on doors," James said solemnly. He set me back on my feet and bit by bit, I regained my breath.

Just in case you didn't catch it, I had lost my breath from being in his arms, not from the damn fall.

Heading downstairs with James shooting me exaggerated worried looks (and me scowling in return), we reached the common room and grabbed a couple of armchairs by the fire. Black was in the corner, levitating a teacup. He didn't seem to have noticed us.

"How do you suppose you did?" I asked James. "In Transfiguration?" I had asked quietly, but Black whirled around like I had shouted in his ear. The teacup crashed to the ground. I shot a nonverbal Reparo at it and it reformed – just in time for Black to step on in, crushing it again.

"Oh," he said heavily. "It's you two." He fixed the teacup (again) and turned back to the window, but instead of staying there, dumped his cup on the windowsill and strode out of the common room, glowering at me.

"See?" I said to James. "It's not me."

"You don't have any idea why he was looking at you like you murdered Merlin?"

"Nope. None," I lied through my teeth.

"Weird. I wonder why…" James trailed off. "D'you want me to talk to him?"

"No!" I said, a little too fast. He looked oddly at me. "I mean," I hastily corrected, "it's probably nothing. Don't worry about it."

But when James picked up a Quidditch book, I turned my head to the portrait hole, wondering… what had I really done to make Sirius Black hate me so?