They both leaned back until they were laying down. It was ironic, Sirius thought, that he'd married a pure-blooded woman after all, after all the pushing his parents had done towards other pure-blooded girls, and he'd ended up with Marlene McKinnon, who's blood was as pure as his was, yet she was just as much of a traitor.

He gazed down into her brown eyes that were brimming with curiosity and tears and questions. Blood was all it came down to, really. But everybody bled the same, the same colour, the same texture, it was all exactly the same.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked quietly, taking one of his hands and rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. There were still scars there from when he'd punched through the wall in their flat after she'd been taken, all those years ago.

"What they don't understand… we're all the same, aren't we?" he asked, knowing he wasn't making sense, but she nodded.

"We are exactly the same… me, you, Lily, her God awful sister, every last one of us."

"Then what gives one man the right to kill everyone who thinks like that?"

Marlene snorted. "He doesn't have the right to do that. He just does it anyway, because he's mad."

They became quiet again, and Sirius' mind wandered to more perverse things.

"I think sixteen year old me would've loved having you in my bed," he grinned down at her.

"I've been in your bed once before," she admitted quietly. "After you left, they just thought you'd gone to your room to cool off… and I came round pretending to look for you. Your mum only let me in because I was a pure blood. I knew you weren't coming back, so I came up to your room and just lay here for a while."

Sirius was both touched and curious. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I honestly don't know."

"Come on McKinnon," he smirked.

"We've been married for sixteen years and you still use my maiden name," she rolled her eyes, which were gently lined in pencil.

"Well, what I'm wondering is this: did you masturbate in my bed?"

A twitch at the corner of her mouth threatened to pull it up into a smile. "Maybe."

He grinned triumphantly, and rolled on top of her. "I've always wanted to nail you in my bed."

"And they say romance is dead."

Laughing, he leaned down to kiss her.


Jess gazed around her common room in fascination. It was nothing like how Alice and Harry had described the Gryffindor common, it felt much more homely and comfortable. After the first day, none of the teachers had the heart to give them homework, so she was half heartedly writing her parents a letter, but she felt like she didn't have much to say.

A small boy made his way over to her, stumbling over his slightly too large robes. She recognised him from her classes.

"D'you mind if I sit with you?" he asked, and she moved her bag out of the opposite seat. "I'm Miles," he said.

"I'm Jess," she replied. He had light brown hair and blue eyes, and a few freckles.

The pair began talking, and she found out that he was muggle-born. He'd had a brother who had also been a wizard, but had died when he was only fourteen. He confessed to her that he was glad to be away from home, as his parents' relationship had been deteriorating since his brother died.

They talked all the way to dinner in the Great Hall (only getting lost twice on the way), and didn't notice when Alice approached them. Her curly hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she seemed at least a foot taller than them.

"Have you written to Mum and Dad yet?" she interrupted them.

"No," Jess replied, somewhat irritated at her sister and the attention she commanded just by her mere presence.

"Well, you should."

"I will."

"Good," Alice folded her arms. "Who's this?"

Jess introduced Miles to her sister, and her grey eyes appeared to be judging him from the way they flicked over him.

"Where's Harry?" Jess asked, craning her neck to see the Gryffindor table. "I haven't seen him yet."

"Probably off shagging Ginny in a broom cupboard somewhere," Alice rolled her eyes.

"Language!" Hermione trilled at her as she strolled past on the way to the Gryffindor table, Draco following behind her, smirking at Alice's words.

"He's not having dinner with you, is he?"

"Of course not, don't be stupid," Alice said, a bite of impatience in her tone.

"Weren't you with him last year?"

"No," she snapped, looking immensely cross, before turning around abruptly and going back to the Gryffindor table.

"She seems… nice," Miles said, and Jess laughed, before turning to her mashed potatoes.


Alice continued to look cross at everything, eventually shouting at Gryffindor first years who got in the way on the way back to the common room. She thought about getting a start on her homework before coming across Ginny and Harry who were kissing and looking sickeningly happy on the sofa in front of the fire.

She would never get used to seeing them together. They were a perfect fit, but she couldn't stand them being so damn happy. The familiar feeling of her stomach dropping threatened to overwhelm her, so she turned on her heel, slamming the portrait behind her.

"Are you trying to get me off the wall?" the Fat Lady called indignantly from behind her, and soon Alice found an empty classroom, locked the door and sunk down, leaning miserably against the door. She allowed tears to fall, just this once.

It was Ron of all people who found her on his rounds that evening. She'd been sat there for hours and it was well past curfew, but he hammered on the door until she let him in. He looked uncomfortable at the prospect of a crying girl, and offered to go and get Hermione. Alice shook her head, knowing full well that Hermione would tell her to stop sleeping around and find a nice boy.

"Sorry," she muttered, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her robes, and then remembered her make up. "Oh, crap…"

"Here," Ron conjured a handkerchief, and she blew her nose and wiped her eyes properly.

"Fuck it, people already talk about me enough," she said, and she allowed him to escort her back to the common room.

She stepped up to the dormitory, hoping that it was empty, but found Charlotte and Evie wearing face masks and giving each other manicures. Ginny's bed was empty, indicating that she was staying in the boys dormitories that night.

"Hey babe," Evie said brightly, "do you want a face… are you alright?"

Alice simply wailed.


Harry lay flat on his back, breathing deeply. Sometimes Ginny loved to watch him sleep, because he looked so untroubled. Having Lord Voldemort after your family was a strain, and she knew that his parents had already had a close call with him in the last couple of months.

She knew Alice had seen them canoodling on the sofa, and she'd fled the scene. She hadn't seen her since, and to be honest, she didn't want to. Harry had never said anything, but she suspected that they'd had a thing last year. There was a time just before Christmas last year when the pair of them were just too cheerful. Alice had never said anything either, and it felt like there was now a massive wedge between them.

Ginny and Alice had always told each other everything, down to what they'd eaten that day. Now whenever Alice opened her mouth she was grouchy about something, and Ginny was getting tired of it. She just wanted them to go back to normal.

She's in love with him, a voice in her head told her, a voice that she wanted to forget, but couldn't. It was the voice of the boy who'd shown her kindness and sympathy in her first year, and almost killed her. She's going to take him from you.

No, she told herself. She wouldn't. There are some lines that even Alice won't cross.

Are you sure? The voice taunted her. It had lost its gentle lilt that had been his teenage voice, and was now a hiss full of cold hatred. Are you really that naive?

Ginny couldn't stand it anymore. She got out of bed, pulling her robes around her, and slipped quietly out of the dormitory and headed towards her own.

Alice's bed appeared to be glowing, indicating that she wasn't asleep and was reading by wandlight. Ginny ripped the curtains open, intending to confront her, but was met by a blubbering wreck of a girl.

"Shit," was all she could say. Alice couldn't seem to stop crying. She had a mound of chocolate in front of her and was curled up in her baggiest pyjamas. Her wand lay abandoned at the foot of her bed, one end glowing like a torch.

Ginny crawled into bed next to her, and pulled her into a cuddle. "Is he really worth all this?" she whispered.

Alice choked out a laugh. "Probably not. But I love him and he's my best friend and I miss him. I miss you."

Ginny gave a small giggle. "There's a war out there, the whole world's gone to shit and we're both in love with the same boy."

Even Alice laughed at that. "I know. Fuck, we're a right pair, aren't we?"

They giggled themselves into silence, and Alice sniffed again.

"Why didn't you tell me when something was going on?"

"I knew you liked him, I didn't want to hurt you."

"I'd have been happy for you," Ginny said, although she knew this was a lie.

"And I'm happy for you now," Alice said, "but in a totally miserable way."

The pair of them fell asleep together, just like they did whenever they had sleepovers when they were younger. The chocolate melted onto the bed covers, and Alice's wand stay lit but rolled onto the floor, and the two of them slept leaning on each other.