Muggle Studies

~Chapter 14 – Snow Days~

"Every woman is wrong until she cries, and then she is right, instantly" ~ Thomas C. Haliburton

Arabella had never really held anything against the sun. It warmed the earth, shed light, and all that good stuff, yadda, yadda, yadda. But said goddamned sun was pouring light through the gap in her curtains. It didn't wake her up. Worse, it reminded her that she hadn't fallen asleep. So, no, she did not hate the sun, but she was going to take her anger out on the bleeding sun, Merlin be damned.

With a rather dramatic sigh, she pulled the covers off of her and swung her legs over the bed, slowly placing her feet on the floor. The second they touched the freezing marble, she pulled them up off the floor. 'Warm the earth, my ass' she thought bitterly, glaring at the floor for lack of a better focal point. She stretched out on her bed, with her head at the foot of it, and leaned over, dragging a small pile of clothing onto the bed. She grabbed a shirt and a lacy pair of knickers from the pile and transformed them into a nice pair of thick woolen socks.

Magic really was progressive.

With the socks pulled over her feet, Arabella placed them on the floor again. She walked slowly across the cold wood to the window, too tired to yawn. She yanked the curtains open, nearly pulling them off the metal rods. They revealed a crisp winter scene, sparkling snow spread gingerly across the ground and coating the trees. Picturesque some would say; Arabella preferred to think of it as a kick while she was down.

Glaring one last time at the snowy ground, Arabella turned to head out of the room. As she walked past her bed, she pushed the clothes to the ground and smoothed out the sheets. Then, as there was nothing else to do in the room and she could not feign sleep with the light pouring in, she left. She pulled the door gently shut behind her, and turned to leave. Across the wooden railings to the other end of the house, her eyes fell on his bedroom door.

She scowled bitterly. Then Arabella realized that nothing had really happened to make her angry. Yet, there she was, angry and damning everything from the sun to the floor. She grimaced, angry at herself for being angry with him for doing nothing to be angry about and blaming everything that had not been involved for her anger.

No, it wasn't the sun's fault – goddamned moon.

Trying not to think about it, or at least telling herself she was trying not to think about it and one really couldn't help thinking about something when it was the only thing occupying one's mind, Arabella walked towards the staircase. She walked into the kitchen automatically, still not thinking about it. She was just tired. Nothing had happened. Sleep usually cured things like this. But could she fall asleep? No. That would be too simple.

Once in the kitchen, studiously avoiding staring at the island where she had been sitting, she walked along the marble counter to the coffee machine. God bless coffee. Grasping the counter, she leaned back, eye level with the machine, trying to figure out how to turn the thing on. Spotting a button clearly labeled ON, she pressed it. Nothing happened.

"It's not going to work." Lily announced from behind her.

Arabella turned around, tired eyes on her friend. She was ridiculously happy that it was not Sirius, but then she realized that of course it wouldn't be Sirius because his voice lacked certainty feminine qualities that Lily's did not. She smiled a belated greeting, but let the grin slide off her face as she asked, "Why not?" Even to her own ears, she sounded near misery. Over a coffee maker. There was one more thing to damn.

Lily grinned. "It's the whole electricity thing. Pretty much everything runs on it, including the coffee machine. I'm sorry."

"How bloody inconvenient." Arabella moaned. She placed her elbows on the island, and cupped her chin in her hand. "You're way too perky for the morning, by the way."

Laughing, Lily nodded. "I know – you've only told me that every morning for the past six and a half years, though it's not like you're exactly morning girl material." She pulled a chair out, and climbed into it, facing Arabella.

"Tell me about." Arabella sent a withering glare over her shoulder at the unanimated coffee maker. "I would be a lot happier if I could get some caffeine. Not all of us wake up all bright-eyed and bushy tailed."

Lily pointed at the fridge. "We have soda."

Arabella walked to the fridge, yanked it open, and grabbed a can of coke from the bottom shelf. "Not exactly cold, but what the hell, I'll take what I can get. It's too cold out here anyways. I suppose that runs on electricity too." It was not a question – the whole sodding muggle world ran on electricity, the poor beasts.

"You might be less cold if you wore more clothes." Lily informed her friend matter-of-factly, trying to hide the smile playing across her lips. Arabella looked down. She had on a robe, untied and open, black shorts, a green shirt, and her woolen socks. Looking back up, she narrowed her eyes, trying to seem mad, but was smiling as well. As she looked at Lily, she realized that she too was wearing shorts and a t-shirt as pajamas. Arabella was going to comment on it, but then decided to change tactics.

"Did you sleep well Lily?"

Eyes wide, Lily stopped smiling. She eyed her friend nervously. "I…er, I slept all – all right." She stuttered. "I fell asleep on the couch."

Arabella nodded her head; Lily was not sure if it was in agreement or surprise that was surely feigned. "Didjya now?"

"Er…yes."

"I bet that was rather cold. Too bad there was nobody there to keep you warm throughout the night." Arabella winked.

"Oh AJ, will you stop?" Lily said loudly, frustrated, lifting her arms in protest. Arabella burst into laughter, clutching her stomach in one hand and her coke in the other. Not appreciating the laughter in the least, Lily started to talk again. "Arabella stop! Honestly. So I fell asleep; it's nothing big, just sleeping. Now, really!"

Arabella continued to laugh, but spoke to her friend. "All right, all right. No need to get your knickers in a twist. Well, more of a twist anyways." She grinned mercilessly at Lily, setting her can of soda on the counter to avoid dropping it.

"AJ!"

"Yes, Lily, I'll stop now. I just couldn't resist that one."

"Swear?"

"Of course I do. Look, I'm changing the topic right now: did Erica finish studying for that test of hers last night?"

"She didn't need to." Lily replied, relieved that Arabella had dropped the rather uncomfortable topic. "We haven't got school today."

Confused, yet not even slightly disappointed, Arabella looked up. "No school? Why not?"

"Because it snowed," Lily said, gesturing towards the window over the sink. Arabella glanced over her shoulder through the window; there was not much to see; it was a thick, white-powdered landscape.

After a moment, Arabella looked at Lily again. "And I was always feeling sorry for muggles. They get days off when it snows?"

Lily nodded slowly. Arabella muttered something under her breathe along the lines of 'lucky wankers'. "Remind me again why we go to Hogwarts."

Grinning again, Lily laughed. "It's this whole magic thing, you see."

"Yeah, sure, we're all magical and such. Why can't they teach magic at a day school?"

"Everyone comes from all across the British Isles. We have to provide places for them to stay. That'd be quite a commute."

"I see your point there. But, we get storms all the time and the snow comes up to here." He held her hand at the middle of her thigh, and waved it back and forth to emphasize her point. "So, I recommend that we live in separate buildings from the classrooms. That way, we couldn't go to class."

Sighing and shaking her head from side to side, Lily looked at Arabella in mock exasperation. "We're magical AJ. We can cast a spell and form a neat little path through the snow."

"They could keep our wands in the classroom!"

Lily laughed. "It's not going to happen. Just embrace this day, AJ, and thank Merlin for the reprieve."

"Right, right, right. One more question: if we can form a nice little neat path through the snow, why don't we when we have to go to Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures?"

Mouth slightly open, Lily's eyes widened in surprise. "We're just incredibly stupid, AJ."

"Don't include me in this. You're the smart one; I blame you for not figuring it all out." Lily still looked surprised. "You're upset about not going to school today aren't you?"

"No." Lily said guiltily. Arabella laughed, and Lily looked at her sheepishly. "Well, it's just ridiculous that a little bit of snow could ruin a perfectly good day for school."

"You say ruin, I say save the world from misery." Arabella replied, sipping her soda. "And by world I mean me…and the other sane students who can appreciate a gift when it's given to them." She set the can down on the counter behind her. "Don't forget, you can still do scholastic activities today."

Lily looked up. "I've already finished my homework. And I won't do yours."

"Don't be so prissy – I wasn't going to ask you to do my homework; I do all my own homework and get good marks Lily, as you very well know. I was going, however, to remind you that you promised to tutor a certain dark haired boy with glasses." She winked again. "That should be fun."

Lily tried to look confused, as if she did not know whom her friend was referring to. Aware that she had failed miserably, she shook her head. "You're really awful."

Arabella shrugged in response, still grinning. Lily muttered something bitterly, and pulled a chair out to sit at the island. She glared at Arabella, who stood sipping her soda, pretending not to notice her friend's look and trying to hide her grin.

As the two girls looked at each other in silence, a loud a-hem sounded from the doorway. They both looked up towards the entrance at Sirius. Arabella quickly tucked her hair behind her ears. Sirius watched her; his smile faltered for a moment and he narrowed his eyes. "Good morning ladies. Having a staring match, are you?" He asked, still standing in the doorway. He looked at Arabella.

"Not a staring match." Lily informed him, looking over her shoulder towards him. "I'm trying to convince AJ that she's an awful person." She stared back at Arabella, grinning.

Walking across the kitchen to the fridge, Sirius laughed. "Ma belle? Awful? And I always thought I was the only one who realized the truth." Lily stuck her tongue out at Arabella, who immediately reciprocated. Sirius, glancing slightly at their exchange, opened the refrigerator door, removed a bottle of water, and twisted off the lid. Turning to face Lily, he leaned against the counter next to Arabella. "She teased you about James didn't she?" Though he directed the question towards Lily, he stared at Arabella out of the corner of his eye. She was looking away from him too intently for it to be anything but deliberate.

"Well aren't you perceptive." Lily muttered sarcastically.

"One of my many qualities," Sirius said to her. Again, he stared at Arabella. Through their short conversation, she had managed to scoot down the corner away from him. Sirius scowled slightly.

"James can be rather perceptive as well, Lily – how else could he be so aware of your finer qualities?" Arabella mused with a grin. "Of course, you would know better than me." Sighing in defeat, Lily sunk her forehead onto the marble. Sirius jammed his fist against his mouth to keep from laughing, and Arabella grinned devilishly at her friend.

"We're back on this, are we?" Lily asked from the table.

"Well we haven't teased you about it for such a long while that I feel the need to make up for lost time." Arabella replied finally, once she and Sirius stopped laughing.

"I can't wait." Lily muttered.

Grinning, Arabella drank the last of her soda. She placed the empty can on the counter and looked over towards the fridge. Sirius was staring at her, deep in thought. Arabella found herself unable to move. Sirius smiled at her, "Another drink, ma Belle?"

"Just water please." Her voice was quiet, as if reluctant to actually address him.

Still smiling slightly, Sirius leaned over and opened the refrigerator door for the second time that morning. He grabbed a bottle, shut the door, and held it out to her. Arabella stared at it for a second before she inched forward to grab it. She took it, careful to avoid touching his fingers; Sirius gripped it for a moment longer. "You're welcome, Belle."

Arabella whispered a nearly inaudible "thank you" in reply. She cleared her throat. "I think I'm going to go shower." She announced to the room.

Lily, too immersed in her own shame to think much of this quieter-than-usual exchange, lifted her head. "You've stopped attacking me already?"

Arabella smiled, yet looked a little dazed. "It's no fun when you don't reply."

Lily grinned and let out a small laugh. "Ah, seven years and I've finally found the perfect defense." She laughed again. "The water will be cold; it heats because of electricity."

With a withering glare at nothing in particular, Arabella sighed. She was fast on the path of damning things again. "Is there anything in the muggle world that doesn't?"

Before Lily could reply, there was a humming noise. All three of them looked up. The lights flashed on and off a couple of times before steadily coming on. The refrigerator started to hum and the coffee maker dripped coffee into the mug below it. It suddenly seemed quite loud compared to the still. After a moment, Arabella grinned. "I'll take that as a sign that I really need to shower."

Laughing, Lily nodded. "I'm coming with you." She glanced at Sirius, who was grinning widely. "Separate showers Sirius." She told him, shaking her head.

Sirius nodded in reply, trying his best to look sincere. "Of course."

Arabella and Lily walked out of the room towards the staircase, talking. Sirius remained in the kitchen, forehead wrinkled in a frown.

Arabella walked down the staircase, fully showered and dressed. The house was relatively quiet, except for loud snores emanating from the living room where Peter was clearly still sleeping. She tip-toed the rest of the way down, telling herself it was to not wake Peter.

At the bottom of the stairs, she turned automatically towards the kitchen. A delicious smell was wafting from that direction, and her stomach grumbled in response. "Please don't let him be in there, please don't let him be in there" she mumbled, hands lifted in prayer. She turned through the doorway and came across not one, but two Marauders at the stove, cooking an assortment of fatty, delicious foods. "Kind and loving Father my arse," Arabella muttered as she seated herself at the island, facing their backs.

James and Sirius both turned around at her muffled remark. "Morning AJ." James greeted her chirpily, grinning broadly. "Did you say something?"

"Smells good," Arabella lied, grinning at James and avoiding Sirius, who apparently, did not take hints well.

"Besides being devilishly handsome, charming, witty, and perceptive" Sirius told her, refusing to be ignored, "I also happen to be one fantastic cook."

"I'll bet." Arabella replied, closing her eyes. Reopening them, she said to James, "You're quite chipper this morning." James just grinned and added salt to the eggs he was making. "This wouldn't have anything to do with falling asleep next to Lily now would it?"

"I prefer to say that I slept with her." James replied, failing at his attempt to act nonchalant.

"Well," Arabella replied dryly, picking up a piece of toast that was piled high on a plate in front of her and absent-mindedly tearing of the crust, "speaking as her best friend, I can guarantee that you will never actually sleep with her if you go around saying that. Better stick to next to."

Not at all put out, James laughed. His good humour catching, Arabella grinned slightly and popped a piece of crust into her mouth. "Jamsie, ma boy," Sirius said loudly, slapping James on the back and grinning widely, "how does it feel to have the girl you have been mercilessly in love with for the past six and a half years finally acknowledge you?" He place his spatula in front of James's mouth with such zeal that a small piece of bacon sticking to it flew across the room and landed on top of a vase of flowers.

Involuntarily, Arabella laughed.

"Well," James began, ignoring the eggs that were beginning to burn behind him, "I would have to say it feels like getting my Hogwarts letter, passing my Apparition test, and all the pranks we've ever played on Snivellus combined."

Sirius brought the spatula to his face. "There you have it ladies, gents, and ma lovely Belle," – Arabella rolled her eyes – "the live confessions straight from the heart of James William Potter. What will happen when he actually gets a date with the girl of his dreams? Drum roll, please –" James banged his palms furiously on the counter, "Turn in next week for True Hogwarts Story: James Potter."

"I think you've spent too much time with the telly." Arabella replied, grinning despite herself.

"Without a doubt," Sirius agreed. He spun back to face the stove and turned off the gas with a flourish. He lifted up the pan in front of James and held it up to eye level. "Eh, James, you burned the eggs." He scraped the pan with the spatula he was clutching, unsticking blackened eggs from the pan.

"I was in the middle of a very important interview, thank you very much." James replied in an exaggerated snooty voice, tossing his nose back in the air and folding his arms. Sirius flicked a piece of burnt egg at him, put the skillet on the counter, and ran around to the other side of the island before James could react.

James delicately pulled the egg off of his cheek and placed it back in the pan. With a glare at Sirius that was undermined by his grin, James turned to Arabella. "Do you know where Lily is?"

"She's upstairs showering." Arabella said. James turned to leave the room. "And she probably does not want you barging in on her while she's in the shower." She added hastily.

James continued to walk. "I'm going to shower."

"Sure you are." Arabella muttered as he left the room, shaking her head. She turned back to the counter and suddenly realized that she was once again alone in the room with Sirius Black. 'Goddamned Potter', she thought vehemently. It couldn't be healthy to have this much alone time with an arch nemesis.

Sirius, who had walked back around the counter to the stove, had his back to her. Before she could decide whether to walk out hungry or remain in a room with Sirius Black and eat, Sirius turned around again. He leaned against the stove, arms crossed, and stared at her. She was wearing a deep purple sweater with a higher collar than usual. Noticing his gaze, Arabella crossed her arms and stared back. He would have found it enormously funny, except that her hair was 'inexplicably' pulled sharply away from her face. "Your hair's pulled back." Sirius said after a moment. His voice stuck in his throat and came out too deep.

Caught by surprise, Arabella unfolded her arms and traced her fingers over her French braid. "Pardon?" she asked after a moment, avoiding his eyes.

"You're wearing your hair pulled back today." Sirius repeated nonchalantly, as one would talk about the weather.

Chancing a look at his face, Arabella noticed that his face seemed completely devoid of expression. Realizing that her hand was still running along her braid, she abruptly brought it down and clasped it in her lap. "I was, er, trying out a new style?" She replied.

Sirius shrugged. "Coffee, ma Belle?"

Automatically, Arabella rolled her eyes at his indefatigable use of that ridiculous nickname, but nodded none-the-less. "Thanks."

Sirius turned around and poured two cups of coffee. "Black?" He asked, turning to face her.

Arabella shook her head and made a face. "No, I hate black. I need quite a lot of sugar and cream."

"I've got the sugar; the milk's in the fridge." Sirius said, turning around again. Arabella slid off her seat, and walked to the fridge. Opening the door, she bent down and searched for the milk, finally locating it at the back of the top shelf behind a bottle of juice and several cans of American beer. She grabbed it and shut the door with her hip as she turned around to find Sirius's eyes on her. Or rather, the location that her butt had been occupying.

Noticing that she had turned around, Sirius lifted his eyes to hers and grinned. "Find the milk, sweet Belle?"

"Yes; thank you for checking." Arabella replied. She glared at him, but also barely suppressed her grin; boys would never miss an opportunity to make total prats of themselves.

Sirius ignored her glare and smiled. "You're welcome, ma Belle." Arabella rolled her eyes again and walked back to her seat, where a can of sugar sat next to a steaming cup of coffee, with some frivolous adage decorating the mug. Sitting down, she spooned a generous amount of sugar into her cup and was about to pour in even more milk when a rancid smell caught her attention. She lifted the milk jug up to her face and sniffed, immediately making a face. She set it down on the counter again, deciding to forgo it. Sirius laughed, opened a drawer he was standing next to, and retrieved a spoon for her. "Here you go." He said, handing her the spoon. Arabella nodded a thank you. "You don't drink coffee much, do you ma Belle?"

Making a face at the still bitter, milk-less coffee, Arabella swallowed and nodded. "No. I hate the stuff. But I'm quite tired because I didn't sleep at all last night –" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Arabella paused, mentally slapping herself. After a quick moment of indecision, she decided to act like nothing happened, and took another large gulp of coffee to disguise her pause.

Sirius Black, fool though he was, was not fooled. Grinning like the Cheshire cat, he set down his black coffee on the island. "That's ghastly when that happens, isn't it? Any particular reason you couldn't fall asleep?" Sirius asked mildly; he was much too pleased with the news.

Blatantly ignoring him, Arabella added more sugar to her coffee and stirred. "The storm kept me awake."

"Really? You're scared by a bit of rain? Or perhaps it's the loud noises that frighten you?"

"No," Arabella said quickly, "no. I'm not scared of storms. I like them. I stayed up to listen to it all night."

Sirius did not reply; he took a long sip of coffee. They both knew she was lying.

Suddenly anxious, Arabella grabbed the milk bottle and tossed it into the rubbish bin. She walked back to the island, and grabbed her coffee. "I think I'm going to go for a walk." She said in an offhand way, walking out of the kitchen.

Immediately, Sirius walked out of the kitchen towards the coat rack in the front. "That might be a little difficult Belle; the snow probably comes up to your hip."

"I'm sure I'll manage." Arabella replied, setting her mug down on the long thin table. She hastily pulled on her coat. Sirius did likewise. "Where do you think you're going?" Arabella asked him, wrapping a scarf around her neck.

It took a moment for Sirius to reply because he was holding his gloves in his mouth as he pulled on his hat. Taking his gloves from his mouth, he replied "I'm going on a walk as well, ma Belle."

Though he couldn't see her face because she was pulling on boots, Sirius was sure that Arabella was scowling. "The snows deep; it'll probably be hard for you to walk." She repeated, straightening.

"I'm taller than you. Besides, I've got to come with you; you know, protect you from the murderers and such that are undoubtedly lurking on our front lawn." He replied, giving her a wink.

Infuriated, Arabella grabbed her coffee cup. "I don't need you. I'll simply throw scalding coffee," she began, yanking open the front door with unnecessary force, "on them." Her words trailed off as she looked at who stood on the front porch.

Brenna stood in front of Remus, her house key posed to enter the lock. She looked equally surprised to see the door suddenly open before her. "I told you that we could've knocked." Remus said after a moment.

Brenna did not reply. She stared at Arabella, who stared back, coffee cup and argument with Sirius forgotten. Slowly, Brenna looked back to Remus who nodded. She gave a slight nod back, and faced her friend. "AJ, would you like to talk?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Two hours later, Arabella and Brenna were hugging and apologizing rapidly over one another. They broke apart grinning. "I really am sorry, AJ." Brenna said for the umpteenth time. "I shouldn't have let some stupid bloke come between us."

"I know. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have let a total wanker convince me he that wasn't being a git." Arabella said. She and Brenna both started laughing. There laughter was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. Brenna rolled her eyes and opened it, revealing a groggy Erica.

"Hello, sleeping beauty." Arabella greeted her in a considerably lighthearted manner.

Erica cocked her eyebrow while simultaneously making a shushing noise. "Not so loud, I just woke up. Since when are you so ridiculously merry anyways?" Not waiting for a reply, Erica continued to talk, running her fingers fruitlessly through her bed head. "And by the way, I don't appreciate being left to sleep all day. I thought you were the one who was supposed to never wake up." Erica pointed to Arabella.

"We didn't let you sleep all day." Brenna chimed in. "It's barely nine."

Erica waved her hand in a manner suggesting that the time was not important. "May I shower now?"

"Of course dah-ling. We wouldn't want to ruin your day anymore." Arabella replied in a ridiculous voice.

"I said not so loud!" Erica mumbled again.

"She makes me look like a pleasant human being," Arabella joked.

Brenna and Arabella laughed, leaving the room. "I'm actually going to go shower as well." Brenna informed her. "Do you think the guys would mind if I used their shower."

"I can honestly say that I don't think that they would object." Arabella said with a grin. "And I'm going to go take this off." She motioned to her snow gear, which she had failed to take off before she and Brenna went to talk.

Brenna laughed and walked down the hallway to the guys' room; Arabella walked down the staircase. At the coat rack, she pulled her hat off, messing up her braid and causing a long lock of hair to fall forward. She sighed and blew it out of her face. Once she was fully out of the snow gear and wearing her normal clothes again, she made her way across the large entrance hall to the living room, where the various Marauders were gathered, along with Lily.

Sirius sat in the lazy boy he'd claimed at the start of the school year, facing Remus and Peter. Peter was rubbing sleep out of his eyes and yawning widely, while Remus was laughing at something apparently amusing. Lily and James sat on the floor, gathered around the coffee table, which was spread with chemistry notes and worksheets.

When Arabella entered, Sirius looked up. "Are you and Brenna done talking?"

"Clearly," Arabella replied, grinning.

"I take that it went well?" Lily said, also grinning. Arabella nodded. "Finally!" Lily said, sounding slightly exasperated, yet standing up quickly and rushing to give Arabella a hug. She turned to address James from the doorway. "I'm going to go grab my chemistry book, it's in my room." Lily pointed to the stairwell over her shoulder with her thumb. James nodded and grinned; Lily dashed off to grab her book.

"Of course, you don't need a book for her to demonstrate because you already understand perfectly." Sirius commented once Lily was out of earshot.

From his spot on the floor, James shrugged. "I'll take what I can get." He looked to Arabella. "Don't tell?"

"Didn't hear a word," Arabella replied. She walked into the room a way and leaned on Remus's armchair. "Remus, I love you. I don't know what you said to Brenna, but thank you so much. I owe you big time." She leaned over the chair and kissed him on the forehead.

"You're welcome." He replied, blushing slightly.

Arabella said thanks again and left the room.

Remus, with a dazed smile on his lips, turned to look back at his friends. The twisted look on Sirius's face alarmed him – he looked enraged. "Padfoot? What's the matter with you?"

Sirius shook his head. "I've got an unbelievable headache right now."

Remus's suggested cure was cut off by the noise of someone humming from the floor. As James was the only person on the ground at this time, it was clearly him. His friends stared at him, but he remained utterly oblivious. "Er, Prongs? What's the matter with you?" Remus asked, taking a sip of water.

"I slept with Lily last night."

Remus spewed his water out across the room. "You did WHAT?"

"He did nothing of the sort." Sirius replied, leaning forward to smack James upside the head. "What he meant to say was that Lily fell asleep next to him on the couch." Remus looked quite relieved. "What did Arabella say about saying that you had actually slept with Lily."

James scowled at his friend. "Perhaps I would remember if you hadn't just smacked me in the bloody head!"

"You deserved it." Sirius replied.

"I did not!"

"Yes you did."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did!"

Remus sighed and took another sip of water. He looked to Peter for support of his exasperation at this absurdity, only to find that he was asleep once more. He sighed again.

"Didn't!"

"Did!"

"Didn't!"

"Did!"

There argument was hushed as Lily walked back into the room. Remus supposed it was more because she was carrying an alarmingly heavy textbook than because his two best friends did not want to continue fighting in front of her. His suspicions were confirmed when Sirius stuck out his tongue at James when Lily wasn't looking.

"Why do my notes have drops of water all over them?" Lily asked, lifting up a sheet of paper. When neither James nor Sirius replied, she turned to Remus. Hiding his water bottle behind his back, he shrugged. With a sigh, Lily turned back to face James and Sirius, who were making rather lurid signs at one another. "That's it!" Lily said loudly, placing one hand on her hip and pointing at the door with the other. "Everyone except James, out!"

Sirius and James immediately stopped silently arguing with one another. Sirius gave Lily his time-perfected puppy-dog eyes, to which she seemed mercilessly immune. "Out!" Lily repeated, pointing towards the door again.

Giving up, Sirius sighed and slowly abandoned his chair. "Help me get Peter out of here." Sirius said to Remus. It took a while for his friend to come to his aid, as Remus was laughing hysterically. Sirius made a few rather threatening curses under his breath, until Remus regained control of his diaphragm enough to help move Peter out of the room.

"Sorry Lily." Sirius apologized as he left. "It was terribly rude of me to distract ickle Jamsiekins when he was trying to study, and for that I shall never forgive myself."

"I'll bet," Lily replied, waving dismissively and settling herself down on the floor next to James.

After somehow maneuvering Peter up the stairs, Sirius left Peter and Remus in their room. He headed across the hallway to the far end of the house. Stopping at the door on the end, Sirius raised his hand and paused, debating on whether to knock. After a moment, he dropped his hand and felt for the handle; it was unlocked. Sirius let himself into the room.

Arabella looked up as she was gathering clothes off the floor of the room. "Please," she said sarcastically, "come in."

Sirius ignored her sarcasm. Considering their primary mode of communication was shouting, he almost considered her sarcasm polite conversation. Arabella continued to pick clothes up off the floor and put them on her bed, glancing at Sirius. Picking up a couple pairs of jeans off the floor, Sirius asked, "What, exactly, are you doing?"

He tossed the clothes onto the large pile already accumulating on the bed.

"I'm packing," Arabella replied simply.

Sirius glanced at the bed. "You…you call this packing?"

"Yes. Once all my clothes are on there, I'll just pull the quilt off the bed, hold all four corners, and drag it down the hallway to my room. See? That's packing."

Sirius shrugged. "If you say so. Do you need help?"

Straightening, Arabella looked around the room at the large pile of clothes. "Apparently," she said seriously.

Sirius grinned and picked up a few more items, tossing them onto the bed. "How in the name of Merlin do you have so many clothes?"

"I have no idea. I didn't think Dumbledore had given us this many." She shrugged.

Sirius laughed, but did not reply. Arabella seemed not to notice; she continued to pile clothing onto her bed. "Belle," Sirius began, after what felt like a long, excruciating silence, "I really wanted to apologize officially for the whole problem I caused with you and Brenna. I know you don't think so, but I actually do feel quite badly about the whole thing."

Arabella froze, holding a shirt in each hand. She looked at him, with a damnably unreadable expression etched across her face. It was moments like these that made Sirius wished he was an Occlumens. He really needed to ask Dumbledore for lessons. "I suppose," Arabella said slowly, "that it's all right." She began to speak faster. "I mean, you really shouldn't have been kissing some waitress in a club, but I guess it's only natural for you to ask me to not tell." She paused, still not moving. "So yes, it's all right."

"So…you've forgiven me?" Sirius asked.

"I've accepted your apology." Arabella replied.

Sirius laughed. He bent down and started to pick up clothes again, tossing them onto the bed. Arabella tossed the shirts that she had been clutching into the pile, and turned around to grab more clothes. Sirius could not help himself; he stared at her as he tossed her clothes onto her bed.

When she turned around, Sirius quickly diverted his eyes to the clothes at his feet. A large green t-shirt that had been crumpled underneath the bed caught his eye. He picked it up. "This seems a bit large for you Belle." He stated pointedly, holding it in front of him; it was a better fit for him.

Arabella glanced at him. Upon seeing the t-shirt, she froze again. Her eyes widened and she stared at it for a moment. "I..er… sleep in large t-shirts." She told him lamely.

Suspicious of her hesitation, Sirius cocked an eyebrow at her. He looked at the shirt's tag. "Large shirts with the initials R.A.B. in the collar?" He asked, narrowing his eyes accusingly and positioning the shirt so that she could see that those initials were indeed on the collar of the shirt. Arabella said nothing, staring at the shirt. "Did you sleep with my brother?" His voice was a deadly whisper.

Realizing for the first time that her nails were digging into her palms, Arabella unclenched her fists. "Well, yes." She replied. "After the New Year's party, when I was drunk."

Sirius clenched his jaw. "You don't drink."

"And now you know why."

"Merlin! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't sober enough to think! But if I had been, it would probably have been something along the lines of, 'Well he's not a random guy; at least I've dated him before.'".

Gripping the t-shirt tightly, Sirius stared at her. "Merlin's beard, AJ! It's not that hard to not sleep with someone! You just don't!"

"Oh, like you would know how to avoid sleeping someone! At least I knew who he was, which seems a bit more than you're capable of!"

"This isn't about me! This is about you and my little brother, shacking it up!"

Acting on a gut reaction, Arabella picked up the thing nearest to her. Luckily for Sirius, it was a sweater. "It doesn't matter, Black! I can sleep with whomever I goddamned want to!"

"Not when you're DRUNK! THAT'S NOT A DECISION ARABELLA!"

"WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE! IT DOESN'T BLOODY MATTER!"

"IT MATTERS BECAUSE YOU WERE DRUNK! INHIBITIONS LOWERED. THAT'S LETTING SOMEONE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU!"

"YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT PEOPLE TAKING GODDAMNED ADVANTAGE OF ME? THEN LET'S TALK ABOUT IT!" She threw another article of clothing at him. "YOU!"

"WHAT ABOUT ME?"

"YOU SLEPT WITH ME WHEN I WAS DRUNK!" She screamed at him. Caught off guard, Sirius stared at her, still holding his brother's shirt. "IN FIFTH YEAR! WE WERE DRUNK ON HALLOWEEN, AND WE SLEPT TOGETHER! I LOST MY VRIGINITY TO YOU!" The lights in the ceiling lamp exploded; she was losing control of her anger. The room fell into shadow, only lit by the afternoon light coming through the window. Arabella sunk to the floor, crying.

"Belle," Sirius said quietly, his anger overpowered by shock.

Arabella didn't let him finish. "Out!" She ordered, pointing towards the door.

Sirius stayed where he was. "Belle," He began again.

"Get out! GET OUT!" She yelled again. The remaining glass in the socket fell to the ground.

Casting one last glance at Arabella, Sirius left the room.

Betchya didn't see that comin', eh? Hahaha

Special Thanks to:

Killshea Kavani – You are pretty freakin' smart. I wanted to type this a long time ago, but it took me forever to type this chapter (because I did it 3 different times). But yes, it is Sirius with Belle, Remus with Brenna, and (obviously) James with Lily. Okay, so don't worry about the fighting in this chapter, because I swear that Arabella and Sirius will get together. Now, about Arabella. Yes, she is Arabella Figg…in a way. I kind of invented her; this Arabella is the daughter of Arabella Figg (the squib) and Mad-Eye Moody (only one Mad-Eye), but AJ doesn't know who her dad is because her mom never told her. Yeah, I have a whole background thing on her…So yeah, I love your review!

Jamie – I love your review. I did have so much fun typing that last chapter and I'm really glad you liked it. Yes, Arabella and Sirius will end up together; I think they have chemistry too, even if it does sometimes cause explosions…(nice pun, eh?)

Mystical Magical Me – I tried to update soon. I really did. But, I wrote like three different versions of this chapter, so it took a while. I'm glad you could review again, and I hope that you like this chapter. Thanks for the review.