After Monday, I decided to turn it down a little; I was finding that I very much enjoyed the process of seduction, and really, I didn't want to rush it. However, I wasn't one to miss an opportunity when it presented itself to me.

On Thursday, one such opportunity came knocking. I was outside on the grounds with Sirius, Lily and James, the only four Gryffindor's from our year still in care of magical creatures. Professor Kettleburn was teaching us how to care for and control crups, a lesson I was enjoying immensely. It was a nice day, the early autumn sun warming the clearing we occupied and filling the air with the warm, earthy smell of the grass and the trees, their leaves not quite yellow yet.

We had been paired off and given a little crup puppy each to learn how to sever its two-pronged tail and to control it around muggles. Lily and I were laughing as our puppy chased its tails, becoming more and more confused when he caught one tail and its other one was still free.

A little while into the lesson, a second year Gryffindor girl came hurrying up to the class, panting heavily after the long run. She looked around at the class and blushed before running up to professor Kettleburn to whisper something in his ear, while he crouched unsteadily. When she pulled back, she handed him a note, and turned towards the class looked at James and Sirius and blushed again.

"Very well," said professor Kettleburn after his eyes finished scanning the page. "Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, it seems that you are required in Professor McGonagall's office."

Lily got up from where she was crouched on the floor, her face ridden with curiosity. With an apologetic glance to me, she grabbed James and the pair followed after the blushing girl to their mysterious and intriguing duties.

I scooped up my pup, who was trying to chase after Lily, and moved over to where James had just been next to Sirius.

"Hey there," I said as I sat down next to him.

He grinned lopsidedly at me. "Hey cookie." His crup was on its back, as Sirius rubbed it belly.

"What in the hell was that all about?"

He shrugged, "don't know," he seemed to think about for a minute, "maybe the first years are rebelling?"

I thought about this for minute. "I did hear vague battle cries this morning on my way down to breakfast," I mused as I picked up a twig and threw it for Phil (yes, I named him) to chase. He sprinted off and his two tails bobbed happily as he tussled with it.

He nodded solemnly, "yes, I've heard whispers. I was concerned about this." His eyebrows furrowed, his face completely serious.

"No wonder McGonagall needed Lily and James," I said, "I've heard those pesky eleven year-olds can be absolutely ruthless."

"Yes, yes, right you are," Sirius said, now sounding distinctly posher than he had only moments before. "And goodness know our Jim has an excellent track record for calming down pre-teen girls."

I laughed at this, no longer able to keep a straight face; while it was quite obvious to anyone actually old enough to date James that he was head-over-heels for Lily, the younger classmen did seem to have a soft spot for him. If we're being honest, all the boys in our year received more than their fair share of attention from the opposite gender (which was not at all annoying or anything), hell even Peter had a small following. There had been many a time where the boys had had to politely excuse themselves from the clutches of adoring first- or second years, giggling excitedly at them.

"Maybe you should go," I said teasingly, "you and James walk in on your white horses, the fighting will end for all the giggling."

"I shall go right this instant!" Sirius made as if to get up and leave, but was pulled back down by his crup, which had got him by the sleeve of his robe and was yanking it rigorously. He crumbled back to the ground unceremoniously, and laughed, scooping up his pup and playing with him. I felt as if my heart was swelling to twice its size as I laughed with him. He was close enough to me that I could smell the sunshine on his skin, mixed with an earthy smell that was just so Sirius. I was unable to contain the smile that was spread across my face; I was happy there, with Sirius and the crups. It felt easy. He'd shrugged his robes off against the sun, and I could see his muscles through his thin, white shirt, moving as he played with the puppy. My eyes moved slowly up his arms to his neck, and I had to remind myself that kissing my friend's neck in the middle of class was not an appropriate thing to do. I looked up to his eyes to find him looking at me intently, and when our eyes met, he smiled languidly and all thoughts flew out of my mind.

Our attention was diverted by professor Kettleburn. He had been walking about the class, distributing healing paste for the crups and monitoring our painless severing charms, lest anything happen. He had now made his way around to Sirius and myself. I flushed as I broke eye-contact with Sirius and had to take a deep breath to regain my mind.

"Mr. Black, Miss Philpott, I see we have a little more on our hands here," he said eyeing each of our puppies. "Why don't I hold on to your puppy Mr. Black, so you can perform the severing charm on Miss Philpott's puppy here?"

"Phil," I corrected him automatically, "will it be very painful for him?" I knew it was normal for crup puppies to sever one of their tails to avoid muggle attention, but I had grown quite fond of Phil, and did not at all like the idea of him being hurt.

"No, Miss Philpott, I assure you, it won't hurt one bit," Kettleburn said plainly.

I held Phil lightly while Sirius performed the charm (flawlessly), and applied the paste. The effect of it was quite incredible; after ten minutes, Phil showed no sign of ever having had a second tail at all. I looked upon fondly as he once again began chasing his tail, finding it decidedly easier now.

The removal of Snuffles' (which Sirius had so originally named his crup) second tail went equally painlessly as I performed the charm and applied the paste. Before long he had joined Phil and they were chasing each other happily about on the grass.

"So, what's the plan," I said later as we were walking back towards to castle after the lesson. The sun had withdrawn behind a cloud and Sirius had put his robes back on for the trek back to the castle.

He looked at me questioningly.

"I mean I was expecting there to be flying pigs or something by now, you know," I explained "one last year at Hogwarts to put it through the ringer." I grinned as we were passed by a couple of ravenclaws from our class. "I reckon," I continued, "that this ominous silence means you're planning something big." I raised my eyebrows and looked over at him.

He smiled conspiratorially. "I don't know what you're talking about." He arched an eyebrow defiantly, as if to say, how dare you question my intentions? "We've simply realized it was time for us to grow up, and become proper gentlemen."

At this, I burst out laughing, and pushed him playfully. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!"

He grinned and bumped me back, as I continued laughing. I was very aware of my close proximity to him. His arm brushing mine every so often as we walked, leaving my skin tingling everywhere his skin touched mine. I thought of how easy it would be to just—

"Shit!" I tripped on my robes and lunged forward, sure to hit the ground, had Sirius' strong hands not grabbed my arms and pulled me back up.

"Fuck, Maggie," he laughed, "are there ever times where you don't trip and fall?"

His hands were hot on my arms, and my skin felt too tight for my body as my stomach surged. I could feel my heart pounding as I moved my eyes up slowly to meet his. I bit my lip and laughed lightly. "Apparently I don't need firewhiskey to lose my balance do I?" At the reference to the last time he caught me, his eyes darkened slightly, and they bore into me with a dark intensity that made my toes tingle.

I broke my eyes away from his, as I regained my footing, and he let go of my arms slowly. "I guess it's good you caught me," I said, still not meeting his eyes and mourning the loss of his hands on my arms. The wind was picking up and I raised a hand to keep the hair out of my face. I could feel him, shifting where we were stood so close, having still not moved away from him.

I bit my lip again, and looked up to his eyes uncertainly, feeling like I was beginning to enter dangerous territory. He was still looking back at me quizzically, and with something in his eyes I couldn't quite place. A gust of wind rushed past us and ruffled his hair. He looked beautiful and so close, yet so far away at the same time. I was so tempted, in that moment, to disregard my plan and reach out to brush his hair from those stormy eyes that could light my insides on fire, consequences be damned.

But I didn't. Not yet. I cleared my throat and took a slight step back, feeling the blood once again rush to my cheeks. Sirius shook his head slightly, and clenched his fists for a moment, before he turned back towards the path. But as we continued walking back to the castle, talking and laughing, I could swear I could feel him looking at me more than once, with that same quizzical look in his eyes.

Boy, seduction was fun.

…

Later that night I was sat in the great hall with the girls for dinner. The boys hadn't come down yet, and I was using the opportunity to fill them in on my progress in the Sirius department. They all giggled conspiratorially as I told them about what had happened after Lily and James left care of magical creatures.

"I am so proud!" Jemma grinned as she scooped some rice and a chicken leg onto her plate, "it's like you've finally grown up, oh, we've waited for so long!"

Emily laughed, picked up a roasted carrot from her plate and took a bite of it. "Did you do it on purpose," she raised an eyebrow "or were you just so loved up you didn't remember where your feet should go?"

She laughed as I threw a pea at her.

"Don't think you can worm your way out of my question just because you throw food at me, missy," she said and picked the pea out of her hair and put in on the table. "I'm onto you, she grinned wickedly.

Luckily I was spared having to answer the question as the subject of the conversation came up and sat down next to me. "You're on to what?" He asked as he grabbed a plate.

James settled down next to Lily (big surprise there) and smiled sideway at her. She smiled bashfully back at him, with a slight pink tinge in her cheek (now there was a surprise).

"Hey snuffles," I greeted Sirius next to me, and grinned trying to distract him from the earlier conversation. I could see Lily and Emily trying not to laugh, while Jemma raised an eyebrow.

"Snuffles?" Remus had settled himself down next to James, with Peter opposite him.

Sirius looked at me with a lopsided smile and raised his eyebrows at me. I felt my mouth go dry and my heart beating faster as I met his eyes, and realized suddenly the flaw in my plan. Apparently seduction was not a one-sided affair when Sirius Black in all his gorgeously dark-haired glory was concerned. As I looked in his eyes, all I could think of was his hands on my arms and his lips on my jaw.

I was pulled out of my, let's call it 'moment', by James. "Is that what we're calling you now?"

My eyes snapped back down to the table. I could feel Lily watching me and I met her eyes which held a knowing look. Ugh, how annoyingly gloaty and perceptive she could be. I looked pointedly at James and back to her and she flushed and ducked her head.

"It's not." Sirius was stern, which was not a good look for him. I chuckled.

"If you say so, snuffles."

James grinned widely. "That just works on so many levels," he said to Sirius with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Remus and Peter chuckled, and Peter ruffled Sirius' hair lightly (if I'm totally honest here, I was a little jealous). "What a good boy, snuffles," he said as Sirius swatted his hands away and began fussing with his hair.

"Stop it, Pete," he exclaimed, "we are not making this a thing!" He looked at each of the boys in turn and turned to glare at me. I shrugged, as if to say, hey, you chose it.

"Okay, snuffles," laughed James. Remus and Peter laughed again.

"I don't get it," said Jemma, "what's so funny?"

All the boys stopped laughing at once and became oddly quiet. Jemma raised her eyebrows at James, still waiting for the joke to be explained to her.

"Erhm…" James began, but trailed off seemingly at a loss for words. He looked to Sirius uncertainly, his eyes wide.

"Well…" said Sirius, "it's funny because of," he looked like he had been put on a stage and asked to sing while removing all his clothes. "… The thing," he continued uncertainly and looked at the boys. Peter shook his head lightly, looking slightly panicked, and James laughed nervously. Sirius looked to be getting more frightened for each minute, his eyes widening and his mouth twitching like he wanted to say something.

"The dog star!" Remus shouted suddenly, and we all jumped. "It's funny because of," he rubbed his head, "well, because of the dog star, which Sirius, uhh…, well… he is."

"Yes," exclaimed James, "yes, the dog star, that's what is funny." The boys nodded enthusiastically and all chuckled uncertainly.

Jemma nodded dubiously. "Right," she said slowly, "haha. Funny."

Emily and Lily both had their eyebrows raised, and I didn't need to be a legilimens to that they were wondering what in the hell that was. We all fell silent for a moment.

"So," I said when the tension was starting to become awfully uncomfortable, "what happened to you two earlier?" I looked at Lily and James. "What did McGonagall need?"

"Oh, it was really funny actually," said Lily, but was cut off.

"Yeah," said James, picking up a fry from Sirius' plate, "a small first year rebellion." He looked at me and winked. "Don't worry though, nothing I couldn't fix from my white horse." I started a little; Sirius must have told James about our conversation earlier. I felt a warmth spread in my chest and looked sideways to Sirius who met my eyes tentatively.

Fuck. I was really getting in deep.