As promised - not too long of a wait, right? ;)

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I hope you'll like this chapter, I loved writing it anyway :) Please let me know what you think after you're done reading it!


Having Gryffindor taking a first step towards winning the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup apparently generated in having a huge party thrown in the common room. There seemed to be unlimited bottles of knotgrass mead, beetroot wine, Simison Steaming stout and firewhisky being handed around. Everyone was in such a great mood; cheering, dancing, singing and celebrating. And people all of a sudden knew my name. They talked to me, greeted me, and behaved as if we had been nothing but good friends for all the years that I had attended this school. But even with all of that happening, I couldn't help but feel completely alone. I stood in a room filled with people radiating nothing but happiness and pure excitement, but I had never felt lonelier.

With a quiet breath I turned to my right and saw the Prewett brothers, Fabian and Gideon, standing on a table in front of the fire place, swinging around a bottle of firewhisky while laughing loudly. It made me smile genuinely. While lingering with my eyes for a few seconds at them, I saw James and Sirius standing a few feet next to them. They were talking with two girls, seemingly enjoying themselves. I saw how James shifted his body a little, straightening his back to throw Lily Evans a love-stricken glare where she was standing talking to Remus. When James moved his body I could see more clearly which the girls they were talking to. Sarah Asher and Andrea Lee – my oh-so-lovely roommates.

I sighed, but couldn't tear my glance away from them. Andrea Lee flipped her long and shiny dark hair in a way that even made my knees feel weak and seemed to giggle loudly at something the boys said. She placed a hand on Sirius shoulder and smiled flirtatious at him. My heart started to beat faster and I silently tried to curse her from where I stood, sincerely hoping her hair would catch on fire.

Wait! What in Merlin's name am I thinking? I'm a pacifist, darn it. And James and Sirius were aloud to talk to anyone they wanted, I shouldn't really care about that.

Boy did I feel thankful for us not having learnt silent charms yet.

"Raina!" Marlene McKinnon walked up to me, thankfully pulling me back to reality.

"Hi Marlene," I said and smiled.

I took a big gulp of my glass filled with mead, definitely wishing that it had been spiked with something much stronger. I shouldn't be left alone with my thoughts. Too dangerous. Too weird.

"You did a really good job today, I have never seen someone catch the snitch that fast in all of my years playing," she beamed.

Everyone had been complementing me on my achievement the whole night, but I still couldn't get used to it. I felt my cheeks heat up at Marlene's words.

"I was standing right in your shoes just two years ago. It's a weird feeling, right?" Marlene said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, quidditch. I remember the first game I ever played our fourth year. I managed to keep Hufflepuff from not scoring a single point, granted all of their top chasers were in the hospital wing down with the flu. But playing for the team can certainly make you in to some sort of hero, from being a complete nobody to everyone all of a sudden being your best friend," she explained.

I gave her a curious look, and she suddenly looked as if she had just swallowed a piece of vomit-flavoured Bertie Bott's.

"Oh my gosh, I didn't mean it like that! Not that you're a nobody, just… That's not what I meant! Quidditch is… The attention-" She started blurting, clearly struggling to find the right words.

I started laughing at her, and it seemed to make her ease a bit.

"I get what you were trying to say, Marlene. And yes, it's a weird feeling," I agreed which made her smile.

A loud shriek-like laugh caught my attention, and my eyes instinctively glanced over at where Sirius and James were standing. Sarah and Andrea seemed to double-over from laughter, while James and Sirius chuckled.

"He's something, huh?" Marlene said.

"Who?" I asked, still gazing towards James and Sirius.

"Black." I heard her say, and my attention shifted. I stared at Marlene who was grinning widely at me.

"What do you mean?" I enquired nervously.

What did she mean? She couldn't know how I felt, right? I didn't even know how I really felt myself.

"Just look at him, he has every girl at this school wrapped around his bloody fingers," Marlene explained. She too stared towards the boys with a peculiar look on her face.

"So… Have you two… You know?" I asked cautiously. I couldn't help but feel like I was over-stepping, sticking my nose where it didn't belong, but Marlene had intrigued me too much.

"Oh Merlin, no!" She laughed. "I did have the biggest crush on him our fourth year, but there is something about him that makes him too oblivious to notice stuff like that. It's like he can't see or doesn't care about how girls fawn over him."

I looked at Marlene curiously, taking in every word she said.

"I honestly thought he might be gay for a while, but then one day during Quidditch practice I overheard James and Sirius talking about a muggle girl he'd been snogging over the summer," Marlene kept on telling me. "I think he just hasn't found the right girl yet. He's waiting for someone to really spike his interest."

I smiled to myself and finished drinking up the last content of my mug, trying to ignore the inquiring smirk Marlene shot at me.

"Let's go get refills!" She said and hooked one of her arms onto mine.

She led me towards where Fabian and Gideon Prewett were dancing around and threw her empty plastic mug right at Gideon's head, catching his attention.

"Oi, Gid'! You gonna hog that bottle of firewhisky all night or could we get a taste?" She shouted with a huge grin plastered on her face.

Gideon rubbed his head gently before throwing the bottle in our direction. Marlene caught it smoothly, and I was glad that Gideon had had the curtesy of popping the cork back in to the bottle before throwing it at us.

"Drink up, ladies!" He beamed.

Marlene took a giant swig and grimaced before placing the bottle in my hands. I stared at the glass bottle hesitantly. I had never tasted firewhisky before, my father had never even allowed me one sip of the beverage. He would definitely throw a fit if he saw me now.

I took a deep breath before placing the tip of the bottle against my lips, tipping it slightly and letting the lukewarm fluid fill my mouth. When I swallowed a burning sensation went though my throat and quickly filled every vein in my body.

Marlene grinned at me before taking another gulp of the beverage. "It's good, isn't it?" She said. I nodded my head and gladly accepted the bottle once again.

The pleasantly burning sensation yet again filled my veins. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why there had to be an age limit for drinking firewhisky. My judgement felt completely unhindered.

Suddenly a pair of warm fingers grabbed my shoulder, sending a shiver down my spine and I spun around to see Sirius Black grinning at me.

"Slow it down there, love," he said and snatched the bottle out of my hand. "As much as I'd like to see you plastered tonight, I'd certainly prefer you still being alive in the morning."

"We're celebrating!" I pouted and reached out to try take back what he stole from me. My arms gently grazed his as I tried to reach for the bottle.

I wondered if he got the same feeling in his stomach by our touch.

"And celebrate you shall, love!" James Potter said as he had also joined us, his breath reeking of alcohol. He gave me a huge grin as he patted his friend on his back adamantly. "Now give the gal' back her whisky, Padfoot. She's the main reason for this celebration!"

Sirius reached his arm out. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"

I puffed my chest out, trying to appear strong. Independent. "I think I've already led my sixteen years of life pretty darn well without your warnings, Bigfoot!"

James burst out laughing.

"I see what you did there, Skippy. Padfoot, Bigfoot. That's real cute," Sirius said with a smirk.

If they were aloud to rename me, then I couldn't see any reason for me not giving them a taste of their own medicine.

"It's brilliant, that's what it is!" James shouted and pointed one of his index fingers in the air, making a triumph-like gesture. He swayed a bit on his feet, looking around at us with a content face, before his eyes fixated at something else.

"Oh what I wouldn't do to be in Moony's shoes right now," James slurred and threw his arms out despondently. "Why won't Evans give me that kind of attention?" He added, asking the rest of us.

I glanced over at Remus and Lily, standing some bit away from us, seemingly arguing.

"She doesn't look too happy, mate," Sirius said.

He was right, she looked quite mad.

"Lily's been scolding and interrogating Lupin for the past half hour," Gideon Prewett cut in and grinned. "Not too happy 'bout the alcohol, I've heard!" He raised a bottle of knotgrass mead at us with a mischievous look on his face.

"See, you shouldn't want to trade places with Remus, James. Lily's clearly nutters!" Marlene told him with a smile.

"Beautiful, that's what she is!" James slurred and gave Marlene a threatening stare.

We all laughed at him.

"I think I'll go over there and cheer her up," he announced and disappeared in to the crowd before any of us had a chance to stop him.

"James Henry Potter, beloved son and friend, died before reaching the age of seventeen," Sirius chuckled as we all observed James making his way toward Lily Evans.

I let out a simple laugh. Everything that was happening around me felt so surrealistic, but I didn't feel as lonely anymore. I felt happy, genuinely happy.

And I couldn't wait to see James possibly getting slapped senseless by Lily Evans. That would probably be the highlight of the evening.

I laughed louder even, almost choking on my drink, when Marlene was pulled up on the sofa table by the Prewett brothers. She looked like she enjoyed herself as she was cheering along with the music that filled the room, dancing next to the wild boys.

"Come up here!" She shouted at me and waved her arms for me to join her.

"No way!" I chuckled, shaking my head firmly.

Marlene merely shrugged her shoulders and continued singing along with the Prewetts. With the sudden feeling of happiness that had filled my body I had totally forgotten about the boy who was standing next to me, and I was completely unaware of how he was observing me. Until he all of a sudden spoke up.

"You should smile more, Skippy, it suits you." Sirius Black was smirking at me, his eyes shining.

My legs felt weak as he wouldn't stop eyeing me. I cleared my throat and tried to regain my posture. I didn't reply, but I couldn't stop smiling either. I took another sip of the bottle of firewhisky, but the burning feeling that had been spiralling down my spine when I took a drink before seemed to have lost its effects. Instead, all I felt was shivers. Constant shivers.

"You look different tonight." Sirius finally said after several seconds had gone by and none of us had uttered a word.

I gave him a curious look, taking another sip to try to dull my nerves. "Different? In what way?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders.

"You just seem relaxed, more off guard," he replied. His beautiful grey eyes were almost sparkling as he kept his gaze locked onto mine. I noticed how long and thick his eyelashes were, perfectly framing his intense eyes.

Relaxed? I was a nervous wreck!

I cleared my throat.

"Should I be on my guard, then?" I asked.

His response lingered while he kept a smile playing on his lips. "No."

It was like the music had suddenly stopped, and everyone in the room disappeared. All I could see was the tall, gorgeous boy with perfect, lustrous black hair staring back at me, his striking grey eyes piercing my heart bit by bit.

Sirius broke his gaze for a few seconds, and he looked around the room as to see if someone was watching us. "Let's get out of here," he then said, and grabbed my arm gently.

"And go where?" I asked cautiously.

"I want to show you something."

He started leading me away from the party, towards the portrait hole, making me understand that what he wanted to show me was not somewhere in the common room.

My heart started beating faster as I followed Sirius out of the portrait hole, climbing out in to the dark and empty hallways, where no students were aloud to be past 11. But I couldn't care less about the risk of possibly getting caught. The idea of receiving another detention or two didn't matter. The boy who held a tight grip of my hand, silently leading me down the corridors, had completely intoxicated me. Or maybe it was the firewhisky? Either way, I realized that my common sense was completely impaired at the moment.


Does this qualify as a cliffhanger? I promise I won't let you wait too long to find out what happens next!

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