Sirius took his new place at the back of the class while Lily trudged over to Sirius' old seat. Sirius laughed as James wrapped his arm around the back of her chair only to let go instantly as Lily pressed the hot tip of her wand against his skin, causing him to yell.

"What was that for?" James whined rubbing the red mark on his arm.

"I mean it Potter if you even try to-"

"Good morning everyone!" Slughorn smiled, entering the classroom. A very small Rae Johnson walked behind him, her head down avoiding eye contact. Slughorn closed the door after her as she took a seat next to Sirius. Sirius watched as she did so. She placed her books down on the desk and kept her eyes down; her hair created a dark curtain concealing her face.

"Righto! Lets begin shall we?" Slughorn looked through the lesson plan and smiled, "Oh ho! This should be rather thrilling for you!"
Slughorn turned and wrote the title on the blackboard.

"Babbling Beverage!"
"Riveting." Sirius mumbled with his head in his hand. Rae shifted in her seat; obviously she didn't find sarcasm all that funny.

"Righto! You must stir the cauldron six times clockwise and seven times counter clockwise whilst adding Fluxwood and Hellibore." Slughorn continued, writing the instructions on the board. "When the elixir becomes a delightful bubblegum pink add a few blades of knotgrass and I think you'll find it emitting a rather pretty silver vapour! Ok then lets brew!"

Sirius groaned and stood up to get the ingredients.

"I'll get them." Came a quiet voice. Quickly Rae hurried off to the store cupboard, leaving Sirius hardly any time to think.
"Alright…then…" He said quietly, not quite sure what to do with himself. She came back just as quickly as she had left and placed the ingredients carefully onto the table. She took a splint and made her way over to the large fireplace, lighting it and then the cauldron. Sirius watched her as she edgily took out a sharp knife and began chopping the Fluxwood. Sirius took a clump of knotgrass and began untangling it and separating the blades.

"Hi…" he said after a moment of silence, "How's it going?"

Rae froze and bit her lip.

"F-fine…" She said almost inaudibly.

"Erm…good…" He said, giving her a sidewards glance, "I'm Sirius by the way."
He felt stupid saying it but the truth was that he had no idea what to say. What do you say to someone you've never noticed before?
"I know…" She said with a small smile, "It's hard not to with what everyone in the girls dormitories says about you."
Sirius chuckled, "I don't want to know…"
Her small smile widened.

"I wouldn't if I were you…" She said, almost giggling herself, "I'm-"

"Rae?" Sirius smiled.

Rae blinked and tucked her hair behind her ear, no longer hiding behind the curtain.

"H-how did you-?"

"Ah Sirius Black never reveals his secrets," Sirius smiled, "And besides…we've been in the same year since first year right?"
"You've never spoken to me…"

"Maybe I never had the chance." He said flashing a sideward smile in her direction.
Rae raised an eyebrow at that and returned to chopping the Fluxwood. Suddenly Sirius felt something pawing at his leg. Sirius glanced down to find a pale purple mass clawing on his trouser leg. Half its long and puffy torso was sticking out of a black shoulder bag Sirius recognised as Rae's.

"What the-?" Sirius exclaimed, shaking his leg.

Rae gasped and bent down instantly trying to shove the purple mass back into her bag. Suddenly it raised its head and Sirius recognised it to be a nothing more than a kitten. Sirius pulled a slightly confused face and shook his head in Rae's direction as though asking for an explanation. The kitten mewed and licked Rae's hand before curling back up inside the warmth of her shoulder bag. She stood up cautiously and eyed Sirius.

"You're not going to tell anyone…are you?" She asked quietly, her eyes wide with worry.

Oh God. James was right. She was crazy.

"To be honest…if I did I think I'd be taken away in a straight jacket."
Rae laughed quietly and bit her lip.

"Promise?"
"Cross my heart." Sirius said, crossing his fingers and placing them on his chest, "Sirius Black is not a snitch." Rae's small smile turned wide, so wide that her lips parted to reveal her teeth. She turned back to the Fluxwood she had been chopping previously.

"Answer me this though…" Sirius said, unable to hide the laughter in his voice, "Why is there a purple kitten in your bag?"
"It's my little sisters," She said laughing a little, "She tried to dye her hair with one of those wash out rainbow draughts that you can find all over Hogsmede, you know the ones, the ones you have to make at home?"
"Yea I use them all the time." Sirius laughed, "But I get what you mean."
Rae blushed and lowered her head, continuing to chop the Fluxwood as she spoke.

"Well, she made it all up in the cauldron and was about to put it in a vile…but the cat fell in instead and it didn't wash out. She must have bought it off one of those dodgy stalls instead of the shops. Shame…it has such a pretty white fur."
She scraped the knife against the fragments of Fluxwood and scooped them into her hand, pouring them into the cauldron.

"Bet the cat freaked." Sirius chuckled.

"Yea pretty much," She said grabbing the Hellibore solution in front of her.

"So how come its in your bag?"

"I need to ask Slughorn if there's a removal charm to get rid of the purple for my sister. I'm not allowed to bring her to lessons but she's still so little that she needs to be fed regularly."

"What's its name?"
"Spratz," She giggled.

"That's probably the most awesome name for a cat I've ever heard," Sirius grinned, "Better than fluffy anyway."
"Yea…Fluffy is too…stereotypical."

"Cats have stereotypes?"
"If humans can cats can."
"I guess." Sirius chuckled, "What stereotype does your cat fit into?"
"The weirdo," She chuckled.

He waited until she had measured out and poured in the Hellibore solution before he added the Knotgrass. Suddenly a silver vapour erupted from the cauldron and Slughorn chuckled from the opposite end of the room.

"Oh ho my boy! I knew this young lady would make quite the impression on you!" He said, beaming from ear to ear in Sirius' direction.

Rae blushed although her smile spread further across her face. The bell rang for the end of the lesson and Sirius packed up his things. Rae carefully manoeuvred her books and ingredients around Spratz.

"No don't eat that…" She whispered, gently batting a purple paw away from a few tufts of knotgrass. Sirius watched her as she did this; it was too weird and interesting for him to miss it. He grinned as she noticed his stare, her cheeks deepened in colour. Once again she tucked her ever-slipping hair behind her ear and smiled.

"Bye Sirius," She waved, pulling her sleeves up over her hands until they dangled off of her fingertips.

"Bye." He chuckled, following James outside of the potions classroom.

"So how was it?" Sirius asked.

"Well…" James said, pulling up his sleeves to reveal more red blotches. Sirius laughed loudly as the boys made their way to their next lesson.

"So…how about you?" James asked.

"I think…I just talked to a girl for an hour about…cats…"