Chapter 10

Lily was feeling grouchy, as was customary for her on a Thursday afternoon. They were just leaving the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and were on their way towards the Transfiguration one. Lily couldn't figure out why Professor Macmillan didn't like her. It was a strange experience for her, as she had been used from a very young age to being the teacher's pet, or at least, liked by all teachers. It was the first time in her life when she felt like the teacher would rather be talking with someone else whenever Lily spoke. And she just wanted to understand why. Was it something she had said in class? This year, or the year before? Or maybe the fact that she was Head Girl?

"Lily, you look like you need a hug."

James's arms encircled her from behind and Lily smiled.

"Thanks, I needed this, actually. Do I look that grumpy?" Lily said.

Lily felt so safe in James's arms that for a few seconds everything around them seemed to disappear. He really gave the best hugs, and he usually could see whenever she needed one.

"You always look amazing," James said. "Even when you look grumpy."

James placed an arm around her shoulders as they continued walking among their classmates. When they arrived to the corridor leading to the Transfiguration classroom, Sirius asked to talk to her alone, in a tone that was, in her opinion, overly dramatic. James smiled slightly, nodded and left them some space. Lily stood staring at Sirius curiously, wondering what he had to say to her. Sirius leant against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked down at Lily through narrowed eyes.

"You know I like you, Lily, you're all right," Sirius said gruffly. "But James is the most important person in my life. If you ever, ever hurt him, you'll have me to answer to."

Lily bit her lip, but that did not prevent her entirely from smiling.

"That's good, then, because I have no intention of ever hurting James," Lily said.

"Good," Sirius said. "James and I, we're - we're better than brothers."

Brody almost bumped into her as he passed by, and he didn't apologise. His face was even paler than usual and he looked like he was sick. Lily frowned at him and then turned her gaze back to Sirius.

"I know," Lily said softly. "And I want to be friends with you, Sirius. Believe me, it's not my intention for you to ever feel left out."

"I didn't say I'm feeling left out," Sirius grumbled, but he stood up a bit taller and uncrossed his arms. "It's just - I want him to be happy, you know?"

Lily grinned.

"Do I have authorisation to hug you?" Lily said.

"Authorisation granted," Sirius said. "As I said, you're all right."

Lily gave Sirius's chest a playful shove and hugged him. When she pulled back, Venus was standing near them, holding an envelope in her hands and looking the other way.

"I'll leave you to it," Lily said.

Lily went to join James, and they disappeared into the classroom. Venus watched them go, and then finally turned to Sirius and handed him a small ivory envelope.

"For your birthday," Venus said.

Sirius opened it to find two tickets for a concert of the Dragon Keepers, one of his favourite bands, in London over the following Easter holidays. Sirius smiled broadly. Venus had clearly remembered their long conversations about music before the summer.

"Thank you, that's awesome! I've always wanted to see them play live. How did you manage to get tickets?"

The Dragon Keepers were in the height of their fame and the last time they had done a concert during school holidays the previous year, James and Sirius had not done in time to buy tickets before they were sold out. Their singer was a pretty woman in her early thirties, with a raspy rock'n'roll voice and long red wavy hair which she often gyrated during the guitar solos. Both Sirius and James were adamant that her good looks was not the reason why they liked the band so much, as they did not want to resemble twelve-year-old fangirls, but they clearly didn't hurt.

"Asked my father," Venus said grudgingly. "He knows some people."

Sirius smiled again as he brandished the two tickets, imagining the Quidditch stadium full to breaking point and shaking under the sounds of the drums. He also pictured himself in the excited crowd, being pressed closer to Venus and finding that he was not so interested in ogling the singer, after all.

"Two tickets, eh? Is that a date?"

To Sirius's satisfaction, Venus cleared her throat and looked down at her feet for a moment.

"Well, I thought you might prefer to go with James," Venus muttered, and then looked up at him again. "But if not, yeah, I'd like to go. I really like their music."

"It's more than four months away, and I don't like to make plans. But I'll definitely keep that in mind."

"Yeah, whatever's fine," Venus said, shrugging. "It's your gift."

"James isn't that big of a fan, by the way. Mostly he fancies the singer, I think it's because she reminds him of Lily. Thank you again," Sirius said earnestly. "I wasn't expecting it."

"I'm not always a cold-hearted bitch," Venus said, smirking.

Sirius took a step towards her.

"I've never said you were," Sirius said, and then his brow furrowed and he seemed to reconsider. "Well, alright, I might have said it, but that was back when I didn't really know you."

Sirius placed one arm around Venus's waist and kissed her cheek, lingering a bit longer than necessary. He was vaguely aware of a tall, dark shape out of the corner of his eye. He straightened up and looked to his right to find Professor McGonagall staring at them and apparently fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

"I remember less than two months ago you were begging me to not be paired together," McGonagall said. "I should have known no one changes their mind more easily than teenagers."

"It's not what it looks like, Professor," Sirius said quickly, as he let his arm drop to the side. "We're just friends."

This time, McGonagall gave in to the urge to roll her eyes.

"Your love life is no concern or responsibility of mine, Mr Black," McGonagall said, her voice slightly warmer than usual, but also bordering on mocking. "Thank Merlin. However, I would suggest keeping displays of affection for after classes."

Sirius's face was slightly flustered, his embarrassment culminating with hearing the words "love life" spoken in connection with Venus. Venus looked half annoyed and half amused, and kept her eyes on the floor as their professor walked past them and into the classroom. They were now the only two people left in the corridor, the last few students having entered just before McGonagall.

"It's not fair! We weren't even – actually, wanna give McGonagall a proper reason to make fun of us?" Sirius said.

Sirius pulled Venus towards him and kissed her neck, tickling her ribs at the same time. Venus emitted an unusually girly giggle and although she wriggled against him in a pretence to get away, she also pressed her lips to Sirius's neck and near the corner of his mouth.

"Stop it," Venus panted, smiling. "If she comes out and finds us –"

"We'll get in trouble," Sirius said huskily, sounding like there was nothing that he would enjoy more, but he released her from his grip.

Sirius brushed the hair out of his eyes and made his way into the classroom. Venus followed him inside and closed the door behind her, trying to get her breathing back to normal. Sirius stood next to McGonagall's desk, looking perfectly at ease again. He even turned to wink at Venus.

"I am glad you two have decided to join us," McGonagall said primly, her tone clearly back to business-as-usual.

"Sorry, Professor," Sirius said, and then added as an afterthought, "it's my birthday today."

A few people sniggered as McGonagall's eyes widened.

"Oh, I am ever so sorry, Black, should I have given you a present? Or perhaps you would appreciate it if we started this class by singing for you?"

There was more laughter. Sitting in the second row, Lily was shaking with mirth, looking like she was going to start clapping for McGonagall. Venus bit her lip in order not to join in, as she felt on the verge of erupting in nervous laughter.

"That's very kind of you, Professor," Sirius said mildly, with a polite smile. "I understand why you wouldn't do it though, you can't let everyone know I'm your favourite student."

For one second, McGonagall looked like she was about to smile back at Sirius. Then she sighed, removed her glasses and made a great show of cleaning them.

"Black, you're sitting next to Turner today."

Venus stared at the wall in front of her without seeing it, determined not to look at Sirius again as he sat down in the front row next to Callie. Venus jumped slightly when McGonagall spoke again.

"Lupin."

For the first time that day, Venus forced herself to look at McGonagall in the eyes.

"I beg your pardon, Professor?"

"Go and sit next to Lupin."

Venus headed towards Remus's desk, walking with her head down. She made the mistake of glancing at James as she passed him and he was sporting an insufferable smirk. It was a relief she did not have to sit next to him right now. Venus thanked her lucky stars as she sat down and looked into Remus's green eyes. He smiled at her sweetly. Venus didn't utter a single word during the whole double Transfiguration class, afraid that McGonagall may get angry and taunt her in front of her classmates. However, she found it difficult to concentrate, as she could still feel Sirius's hands on her. After the first hour of the lesson had come and gone, Remus passed her a note in his neat, small handwriting.

So, tell me, what has lover boy done this time?

Venus refrained the urge to snort. She kept her gaze on her Transfiguration book and replied in her own messy handwriting, which she had often been told looked like that of a Healer in a hurry. This had been a source of embarrassment to Venus when she was younger, but she had come to accept the fact that people just had to make a bit of extra effort to read what she wrote.

Nothing happened. Not sure why McGonagall got her knickers in a twist. Also: "lover boy"?

We all heard you laugh. The door was open. Sounded like you were having a good time. Re: lover boy, I cringed a bit while writing it, but the look on your face was worth it.

Venus did not reply anything, but merely passed the parchment back to Remus in a swift gesture. Remus rolled his eyes and started writing again.

Honestly, you two are worse than the Daily Prophet's Wednesday soap opera stories Mary is so fond of. One week you're fighting, the next one you're kissing, and the next one you're ignoring each other. I'm not fishing for gossip, just trying to understand what is the current status. It's difficult for the rest of us to know how to act around you as it's constantly changing.

Caught up in her confused feelings, Venus had to admit she had never stopped to consider how annoying it had to be for the friends she and Sirius had in common. It must be quite irritating for them to not know where they stood and have to pick up the pieces after an argument, or walk on eggshells around them.

The current status is undefined. Sorry. Just assume Sirius and I are friends. OK - friends that occasionally kiss and drive each other crazy. Anyway, don't be nosy, Remdear.

Remdear?

James is JP, Lily is Little Red, Sirius is Lover boy (apparently… though can you imagine ever saying that to his face?!). I've got to give you a nickname.

OK. I like it. Although I can already hear James and Sirius snickering about it. Have you given Sirius anything for his birthday?

They don't need to know, it can be your secret nickname. Yeah, I did, concert tickets, and apparently Lover boy thinks it's a date.

Venus, don't try to fool me. Wasn't it meant to be one?

I don't know, it's up to him who he takes with him. I just knew he likes that band. Be careful, I've just seen McGonagall staring at us, let's stop for a few minutes.

For a short while that seemed to her like centuries, Venus focused on McGonagall's explanations on how to conjure a horse.

Ah, so you wouldn't mind if I went with him, for example?

Venus laughed inwardly at the thought of Remus at a rock concert.

Remdear, you couldn't stand more than five minutes of that concert, believe me. You just wouldn't survive. Although I'd like to see you in a leather jacket, instead of your usual cardigans, that would be nice. No, scratch that, actually: you in Sirius's leather jacket and Sirius in one of your cardigans. Now that would make my day.

Remus smiled and took a full minute to reply.

That's an interesting fantasy.

Venus rolled her eyes and watched as Remus tried to stifle a snigger.

I am a girl with interesting tastes.

Venus passed him the note, and then spent the next five minutes poured over a new piece of parchment. When she passed it back to Remus, he saw that it was a drawing of two boys. One had long black hair and was wearing what looked like a cardigan and looking very disgruntled about it too, with his arms crossed over his chest and his hands in the cardigan's pockets. The other boy had a scar across his cheek and was wearing a bright smile below his large sunglasses, hands clutching the collar of his black jacket. Although the facial features were not very developed, the drawing was actually pretty good. Remus wrote "Venus's fantasy" at the bottom of the drawing and added a heart and a smile for good measure. Venus watched in wide-eyed horror as Remus rolled up the parchment and levitated it with his wand until the first row where it landed on Sirius's lap. McGonagall was interrogating Peter at the other end of the classroom and did not see anything. A moment later, Sirius turned towards them, raising his eyebrows, and gave an arch smile.

I am going to kill you, Remus Lupin. I trusted you!

Venus ducked her head, trying to hide behind the boy sitting in front of her.

Don't ever forget that I am one of the Marauders. Trust me, you'll thank me later. He would kill me if he knew I was telling you this, but you do know that Sirius likes you a lot, don't you?

At the same time as she finished reading Remus's note, the boy in front of Venus turned to pass her a piece of parchment displaying a pretty and distinguished handwriting Venus was now familiar with.

Nice drawing, hot stuff, I didn't know you could draw. Can I keep it? You've got to tell me more about that fantasy of yours… I have to admit though, Remus is rocking my jacket. - S.

Venus smiled down at the parchment, and then put it away and scribbled below Remus's last note.

Remus, please. This is getting embarrassing. If you continue, I will probe you about who you like a lot.

Remus sighed, his cheeks colouring slightly as he read Venus's last words. He turned to Venus, who was smirking.

"What?" Remus mouthed.

Venus leant towards him to scribble on the note that was still in front of him.

You're so bloody cute.

Half of the following Saturday was spent studying, much to Sirius's dismay, but the other half was spent preparing for the party that they were having that night in the common room, to celebrate Sirius's eighteenth birthday, so it wasn't a totally lost day.

"Should we go and get an early dinner?" Peter said, as he put down his quill.

"I'm starting to get hungry," Remus said, his nose still in his book.

They had not seen Brody for several hours. Sirius had managed to convince James that they had to do something to find out what he was up to.

"You guys go ahead," James said. "We'll catch you later."

Peter seemed happy enough about the fact that he was going to be eating very soon, and walked towards the door without a second glance at James and Sirius. Remus, however, slowly put his book down, stood up and looked at them.

"Are you two up to something I should be concerned about?" Remus said.

Sirius looked at James. They both knew the pill would be swallowed more easily if it came from James. Remus always said Sirius exuded trouble even if he didn't speak.

"Better if you don't know, Moony," James said, not wanting to lie. "Don't worry, it's for a good cause."

"Oh, who am I kidding, it's not like I can make you change your mind, anyway," Remus said. "Besides, I feel like I need a steak right now."

"I don't know if I want to be alone with you when you're in a bloodthirsty mood," Peter said, casting Remus a worried glance.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Don't be too long, you two, or Wormtail might just get scared and run out on me," Remus said.

When the door closed behind Remus and Peter, James turned to Sirius.

"So, what's your plan, Padfoot?"

Sirius got up from his bed, walked to Brody's and started opening the drawers to the chest of drawers next to Brody's bed.

"You've got to be kidding me," James said,

Sirius froze and looked at James.

"I know it's not exactly ethical," Sirius said. "But if he's involved in it he'll never just tell us, will he? There must be something in there."

Sirius turned towards the chest of drawers again and started rummaging in it, taking things out and placing them on the floor after a cursory examination. James watched him, torn between the need to know what was going on and the feeling of betraying his friend and Quidditch teammate. He was afraid of Brody walking in on them now, he had no idea what justification they could possibly give him. Sirius waved a piece of parchment in the air.

"You wouldn't keep a spare piece of parchment in the middle of books and other stuff, right?" Sirius said, and he tapped it with his wand. "Aparecium."

Sirius sat down on Brody's bed and read as handwriting began appearing. It looked like some kind of list.

- Next meeting: Thursday, usual time

- Read The Muggle Conspiracy by Sinistra Lowe

- Research Conor Snyde's theory

Sirius's hand shook slightly as he handed the parchment over to James without a word.

"What the hell?" James muttered under his breath.

Sirius silently put all the other things back into the chest of drawers. James was still staring at the words uncomprehendingly, trying to imagine Brody reading anti-Muggle books. James jumped at the sound of the door opening. Brody came in but froze in the doorway when he saw James sitting on his bed and Sirius on the floor next to it.

"Come here," Sirius said.

"We've got to ask you something," James said, standing up.

Sirius stood up too, and James and he faced a terrified looking Brody.

"We found this," James said, roughly shoving the parchment in Brody's hand.

Brody looked at it and his face lost the little colour it had.

"What do you mean, you found it?" Brody said, his voice shaking slightly. "Have you been going through my things?"

"That's not the point," Sirius said quickly, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "The point is, we know."

"Broderick," James said. "You're part of this Puritas group, aren't you?"

Brody nodded, staring at the floor.

"Are you the one leading it?" Sirius said.

"It's not like you think -" Brody said.

Sirius grabbed Brody by the collar and tightened his grip, his face so close to Brody's he could smell a feminine perfume no doubt left by Adelaide.

"Are you?" Sirius repeated.

Brody was struggling for breath and his hands were shaking as he weakly tried to push Sirius away.

"Yes," Brody said. "Yes, I guess I am, but -"

"You guess?" Sirius scoffed, releasing his grip on Brody. "Are you too much of a coward to at least own up to it?"

Brody looked at James, who still had not spoken.

"James, believe me, it's not what you think, I -"

"You disgust me," James spat. "Who else is organising it with you? Snape?"

"There's a Secretary," Brody said quietly.

"Is it Snape?" James said eagerly.

Sirius felt dread choking his throat. It wasn't Snape, he thought, it was worse than that.

"It's Reg," Brody whispered.

To hear it said out loud was worse than Sirius had expected. The fact that he used his brother's nickname, the fact that the two of them were pureblood supremacist buddies, made Sirius feel sick. James gaped at Brody for a while, then emitted a frustrated growl.

"I can't believe you agree with these people!" James said. "What's next? Are you going to follow Voldemort?"

Brody shuddered. He looked up at them, wide-eyed, like a trapped animal.

"No, of course not!" Brody said, his voice strangled. "No! I'd never -"

"Get out," Sirius said. "Get out of this room, right now."

Brody swallowed and looked at James automatically for support, apparently not understanding that there would not be support anymore. James walked towards the window and spoke with his back turned to them.

"You heard him," James said. "And don't you ever do or say anything against Lily. You don't want to know what'll happen to you if you do."

Brody took a few tentative steps towards the door.

"And, Broderick?" James said. "You're out of the Quidditch team. Obviously."

Brody almost ran out of the dormitories.

"I'm sorry, Prongs, I know you liked him," Sirius said, once the silence became unbearable.

"And I'm sorry about your brother, Padfoot," James said, turning towards Sirius.

Sirius shrugged. He didn't have the words right now to express how he felt about it. He felt like he had known it all along anyway, deep down.

It was strange to think that in barely an hour, they would be having a party. It felt barely real. It struck Sirius how good they were all becoming at acting like everything was fine, at managing to bottle up their feelings and behave like normal teenagers. Of course, Sirius had learnt to do that at a young age. It was necessary if you wanted to survive in the Noble House of Black. And he knew it was a given for Remus, too, because of his condition. But he hadn't expected people like James and Peter, who wore their hearts on their sleeves and had so far lived perfectly comfortable lives, to join their ranks. They were all nice little products of war now. Sirius hated that.

Sirius and James ate their dinner at record speed, as Remus and Peter were almost done by the time they arrived in the Great Hall, and neither of them was hungry after what they had found out. They agreed to keep it to themselves for the rest of the day, and to try and have fun at the party. But Remus noticed they were uncharacteristically silent as they changed clothes in their dormitories after dinner. James pretended he was thinking about Lily, and Sirius said he was saving his best jokes for the party, and Remus decided to leave it at that. Fortunately, he didn't ask why Brody wasn't around. By the time James, Peter, Sirius and Remus arrived in the common room, with Sirius wearing one of Remus's cardigans, and Remus sporting Sirius's leather jacket and sunglasses, most Gryffindors from years five to seven were already there.

"Well, mock my so-called fantasy all you want, but you both look somehow more attractive," Venus said.

"Agreed," Lily said.

"Hey!" James protested.

"Oh, come on, James, it's all in good fun," Lily said lightly, and then turned to Sirius. "Sirius, would you mind lending James that jacket some time?"

"Sure," Sirius said. "Everything that's mine is Prongs's. But remember, Lily, it's not all about the jacket, it's the man that makes it."

"You make a good nerd," Lily said sweetly, gesturing at Sirius's clothes and hiding a smile. "No offence, Remus."

"None taken," Remus said, smiling and grabbing the hem of the leather jacket with one hand. "I'm the cool guy tonight."

One hour into the party, Venus took the jacket and sunglasses from Remus. As she put the jacket on, Venus couldn't help but breathe in its smell. She remembered clearly the only other time she had worn it, when she and Sirius had kissed for the first time. The jacket smelt of Sirius, or perhaps Sirius smelt of the jacket, either way it was a delightful smell.

"I saw that," James said from behind her.

Venus turned to him and shrugged, grateful that at least the sunglasses were hiding her eyes.

"What? I like the smell of leather."

"Yeah, sure," James said, smirking.

Venus ignored James, swaggered over to Lily and brushed the hair out of her eyes, in a good imitation of Sirius's mannerism.

"Hey, Evans," Venus said in the deepest voice she could manage. "Wanna take a ride on my motorbike?"

Venus wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. Lily giggled and pretended to fan herself. James and Remus were trying their best not to laugh and not doing a very good job of it.

"Is that supposed to be me?" Sirius said.

"Come on, Padfoot," James said, now chuckling at the look on Sirius's face. "You have to admit, it was funny."

"Yeah, don't I make a good Sirius Black?" Venus said, back to her normal voice.

Venus brushed the hair out of her eyes again and stood in front of Sirius, cocking her head to the side as she looked at him. Sirius leant forward to whisper in her ear.

"Stunning. Better than the original."

Venus smiled. Sirius grinned back at his reflection in the mirrored sunglasses.

"D'you mind if I keep your stuff for a bit longer?" Venus said.

"Sure, no problem."

Venus paraded around the room for a while, regaling a group of fifth years with her impersonation of Sirius. James and Lily were dancing together, out of synch but all smiles. Sirius and Remus stood in a corner, watching Venus and the fifth years laughing.

"From behind, it could almost be you," Remus said, looking at Venus.

"Thanks, Moony, but I don't think my arse looks that good," Sirius said.

Remus turned towards Sirius, and rolled his eyes.

"You're ever the romantic," Remus said.

"Oh, so talking about it's a no-go, but ogling it is okay?" Sirius said, raising his eyebrows. "'Cause I totally caught you staring at her arse a minute ago."

"I didn't - well, I -"

"It's alright, I can't blame you," Sirius said, clapping Remus on the back. "A man's got needs."

Remus groaned and covered his face with his hands.

"Please tell me we're not having this conversation," Remus muttered.

"It's okay, Moony," Sirius said, chuckling. "Well, I guess, as long as all you do is look!"

Sirius stopped smiling when he saw Remus's eyes widen and his cheeks colour even more. He had not expected this kind of response.

"I'm having a twinge of conscience," Remus said.

"A twinge of what?"

Remus gave a small smile.

"Yeah, nevermind," Remus said.

But Sirius wasn't going to let Remus get away with it by playing their usual games.

"Moony?" Sirius prompted.

"Now, don't get angry, but -"

"This is not starting very well," Sirius muttered.

Remus recounted what had happened the night Venus and he were following Brody. Sirius listened intently, his brow furrowed.

"So, basically, it didn't mean anything," Sirius said.

"Exactly!" Remus said, his face lighting up.

"That's funny, she implied the same thing when she kissed me," Sirius said.

Sirius surveyed the dance floor, scowling.

"I'm sure that was very different. But you believe me, don't you, Padfoot?"

Sirius sighed, and then mustered a smile.

"Yeah, I believe you," Sirius said. "I understand what happened. Anyway, I guess I'm not entitled to say anything about it. She's free to kiss you, Lily, Snape, or Dumbledore, or whoever she wants! Although out of these four, I've got to admit I'd prefer if it was Lily."

They remained silent for a while.

"Did you enjoy it?" Sirius said briskly.

"What?" Remus started.

"The kiss, did you enjoy it?"

Remus's cheeks coloured again. That was enough to confirm to Sirius that the answer was most likely positive.

"Oh, I don't know, I mean I didn't have the time to -"

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked," Sirius interrupted. "I don't think I want to know the answer anyway. How did you know I might get angry about it? I mean, I never told you I fancied her or anything."

It was Sirius's turn to look flustered. Remus smiled.

"Padfoot, I've been your friend for six years. You didn't even need to tell me. I worked it out by myself."

Sirius realised Remus was the kind of friend that would put selflessly his friend first in any case, the kind of friend you'd better hold on to as long as you could. A small part of him was still displeased at the thought of Remus and Venus kissing, but he knew he had to keep that voice quiet.

"You're a good friend, Moony. Now, let's go get you a Butterbeer."

Later in the evening, Sirius managed to catch Venus when she stopped dancing to get a drink. He had spent a considerable amount of time, more than he would care to admit, watching her dancing. The fact that James was stuck to Lily instead of being with him felt like a poor excuse for a ridiculous behaviour he would usually have associated with fifth year James.

"Can I give this back to you?" Venus said, taking off the leather jacket. "I'm too hot with it."

Sirius grinned.

"I couldn't agree more," Sirius said as he took the jacket and sunglasses from her, and placed them on an empty chair.

"Yeah, I knew you were going to say something like that as soon as I said it. I guess I should be more careful with my words when I'm around you," Venus said.

They exchanged a few pleasantries about the party before Sirius felt it was safe enough to get to the topic he knew would need to come up sooner rather than later.

"Are you still close friends with Brody, by the way?" Sirius asked.

"Not really," Venus said. "It's been over a year that we don't hang out much. We're still friends, though. Just less close."

"That's understandable. From what I heard at the time, he kissed you, then he asked you out and you said no. Bound to make things awkward. Even I felt a bit sorry for him. Which I regret now."

"That's not the only reason," Venus said, frowning. "Besides, you make it sound worse than it actually was. And he got over it."

Sirius remained silent. Who could tell what Brody felt, he thought. He knew nothing of him, as it turned out, despite having spent over six years sleeping in the same room.

"Why are you so interested in Brody, anyway? And where's he?"

"We'll tell you," Sirius said. "But not now. Tonight's a celebration, we're here to have fun."

As he looked into her eyes, Sirius realised he wouldn't have the heart to tell her about Brody. He hoped James would. In many ways, James was stronger than him, especially when it came to handling other people's feelings.

"Come on, tell me, don't be such a tease," Venus said.

"Believe me, I'm being a good friend to you right now. Speaking of that, Princess, I've heard you're going around kissing my friends."

James had told him a long time ago that he and his parents had nicknamed her Princess when as a child, she was throwing tantrums when she didn't get her way. She didn't comment on it, but he saw her resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"Friend. Singular, not plural," Venus said. "So he told you, did he?"

Venus narrowed her eyes and glanced across the room at Remus, who was talking with Peter and Anna.

"And he did well," Sirius said. "Next time you kiss one of my friends, I'd appreciate it if you didn't hide it."

He could still remember the taste of her skin from when he had kissed her neck two days earlier, yet at this moment she moment she felt as unattainable as the shore of the cold lake where his father had taught him how to swim when he was a child.

"Well, I don't intend to kiss James or Peter, ever, so you can be at peace," Venus said. "And it seems Remus's been traumatised by the experience. You should've seen the look on his face! I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen again."

That wasn't the impression Sirius had got from talking with Remus earlier, but he found that he didn't feel like mentioning it.

"I doubt he was traumatised. But anyway, since it's my birthday and you've already broken your rule with Remus, I believe you owe me a kiss," Sirius said.

Venus pretended to examine the logics of his statement and shook her head.

"That's dubious logic."

"Come on, I know you want to," Sirius said. "Let's not forget you were the one who kissed me."

"I can't forget it, since you kindly keep reminding me every so often."

"You're welcome," Sirius winked. "You've got to admit, that kiss was pretty awesome."

He couldn't help it. Whenever he was around Venus, he wanted to say something outrageous, or push her boundaries and play with the lines of friendship or politeness, just to get a reaction from her. Sometimes she seemed so cold that he wanted to break the ice and see what happened.

"Stop saying the word kiss all the time," Venus said, looking away and fidgeting with the collar of her shirt.

It was a victory each time the ice did break.

"Why?" Sirius smirked and stepped closer to her. "Am I making you nervous?"

"Padfoot! Come here, you've got to hear this!"

James bounced towards them and tugged at Sirius's sleeve, a broad grin on his face.

"Not now, Prongs," Sirius muttered, gritting his teeth.

"Come on," James said, actually stepping in between Sirius and Venus. "I've got to tell you something, right now."

Venus smiled, looking amused by James's excitement.

"I'll see you later, birthday boy," Venus said.

Sirius sighed and watched her walk towards Callie and Anna. He then turned his attention to his best friend, feeling his annoyance fade as he took in James's blissfully happy smile.

"This'd better be good," Sirius said.

"It's better than good, Sirius," James said, grabbing Sirius's shoulders.

This made Sirius feel slightly worried. James didn't often call him Sirius, especially when it was just the two of them. Also, it occurred to him that James looked slightly demented. He suspected it had something to do with Lily. The girl was usually the source of James's madness, as the previous years had proven.

"She's said it!" James said.

"What? Who said what?"

"She said it - Lily, I mean! She said she loves me!"

After a few seconds of silence, James looked slightly embarrassed, and Sirius could feel his own cheeks reddening. Sirius didn't really know how to respond, and had only formed a half sentence in his head when James took his hands off Sirius's shoulders and looked away.

"I know you're not into talking about feelings and stuff," James said. "And that's perfectly all right with me. I just wanted to let you know, 'cause it's a pretty big thing for me."

"Of course," Sirius said quickly. "Of course you should tell me. And I think it's great. I'm just happy you're happy, Prongs."

James grinned as Sirius clapped him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I am," James said. "Very, very happy. Well, I'm off to tell Wormtail and Moony."

Most people had gone to bed not long after that. As far as clandestine parties went, this wasn't a bad one at all, Sirius reflected as he lounged in an armchair by the fire. They had been lucky enough that McGonagall hadn't come in.

"Can I sit here?"

It was Lily. Sirius nodded and she sat down on the couch opposite him.

"What's the star of the party doing all by his lonesome?"

Sirius smiled.

"I'm a bit of an attention seeker," Sirius said. "You know."

Sirius was actually pleasantly surprised that Lily was the one to seek him out. The fact that he got to spend less time with his best friend was difficult for him to accept. He knew that seeing James would more and more mean seeing Lily too, but at least James had the good taste of picking someone clever, kind and far from unpleasant to look at. Not that he would ever tell James that last part.

"I haven't given you your gift yet," Lily said, her cheeks slightly flushed as she handed him a small package. "I've just been upstairs to get it. Happy birthday, Sirius."

It was a book entitled The Call of the Wild, with a large grey dog sitting in the snow on the cover. It looked like a Muggle book. Sirius turned it around to skim through the summary.

"Thanks," Sirius said. "I guess James told you that even if I don't look like it, I actually enjoy reading from time to time, if it's adventure stories."

"James told me," Lily said, smiling and leaning over and pointing at the dog on the cover. "About you three."

"I know," Sirius said. "He did ask us if it was ok before he told you. You're the only person who knows, apart from us four."

"My lips are sealed," Lily said. "If I can get you to play fetch."

Lily giggled as Sirius huffed and turned his nose up.

"Excuse me, I have my dignity," Sirius said.

Sirius was glad that Lily did not know about the various stories his friends could tell of times when he had lost his dignity, in human or dog form.

"Oh, come on, who's a good boy?" Lily said, still smiling broadly.

But instead of playing along, Sirius thought of Brody alone upstairs, of his ideas about people like Lily. He felt a sudden need to protect her and tell her everything would be all right, even though there was a good chance it would not and they both knew it. He reached out to take Lily's hand but then thought better of it. Instead, he grabbed her arm and patted it gently. Lily looked down at his hand on her arm.

"What are you doing, Sirius?"

"I don't know," Sirius said. "Trying to be friend with a girl? You girls like hugs and stuff, don't you?"

Lily bit her lip, her eyes twinkling. It was something, Sirius realised, that she often did around him these days. He retrieved his hand and cleared his throat.

"You're cute," Lily said. "Don't worry, I'll educate you about girls."

"I don't need any education about that," Sirius said, stung.

"Oh, yes, you do," Lily said. "You've got the looks, I'll give you that, but you've no idea how girls work, really."

"Ah, so I've got the looks, eh?" Sirius said, winking.

Lily laughed, shaking her head.

"I can't believe you've just ignored the rest of the sentence."

"That's typical Sirius," James said from behind Lily.

James planted a kiss on Lily's cheek as he sat down close to her on the couch, and put an arm around her shoulders.

"You were right, he's not that bad," Lily said to James.

"I told you so," James said, grinning.

"Hey, I'm right here," Sirius said.

"I'm going to help him understand girls," Lily said to James, still ignoring Sirius.

James whistled.

"Blimey, you're ambitious, Lily," James said. "I guess you'll have to teach me, too."

Lily smiled and snuggled up against James, closing her eyes. Sirius noticed the common room was now empty except for the three of them, and Remus, Peter and Venus.

"Oh, you're not doing too bad, James Potter," Lily said.

Sirius looked up as Venus strolled towards them, looking slightly dishevelled and tired, no doubt from all the dancing she had been doing instead of sitting on Sirius's lap like he would have wanted her to.

"I'm going to sleep, I'm knackered and we've got Quidditch practice tomorrow morning," Venus said.

Sirius groaned. He couldn't face the thought of having to wake up early the next day.

"Can't we postpone it? Exceptional circumstances?" Sirius said.

"Definitely not," Venus said. "The match's in two weeks!"

"I knew you were going to be even worse than James," Sirius grumbled.

Venus smiled and bent over to kiss him on the cheek.

"There, you got your birthday kiss," Venus whispered.

"Wait!" Sirius said as she was already turning away. "That's not really what I had in mind -"

"Goodnight, everyone," Venus said.

Sirius crossed his arms across his chest and stared at the wall in front of him as she walked away. Lily smiled sweetly at him.

"As I said, I'll teach you," Lily said, nodding.

James was conspicuously suppressing laughter, trying to hide his face into Lily's hair.

"Oh, shut up," Sirius said, but he couldn't help but smile back at her.