A/N: So I want to say first of all that I'm sorry for the wait. I'm usually better at updating then I have been, and I feel bad for making you guys wait. I started school again, and I'm doing a practicum along with my course load and my job, so I'm balancing a lot. I also just got back from vacation, and I went to Universal Studios in Orland, Florida, so I was out of state for a week for that. But there Harry Potter world in Universal, so I am very inspired to write right now- I just don't have the time. Reviews help, though!

So I've had this chapter almost done for quite a while, and it's a little shorter than usual but there's some good stuff in here, if I do say so myself. I also want to say that I know that Sirius's birthday is November 3, but for this story I needed it to be a little later in the month. It doesn't really change anything, but I know that bothers some people and I just wanted to give you guys the heads up. Anyway, that all I've got! Enjoy the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. But I am the proud owner of a Weasley sweater as of last week! One step closer to being part of the Weasley family =]]

Chapter 21

"What do you mean 'you too'?" Lily asked.

"When did you fall asleep with Sirius?" Mary asked. She turned to look at Marlene with a knowing look on her face- Lily's red locks completely forgotten at this point.

"I… uh- I mean…" Marlene mumbled.

"Sirius and I fell asleep on the couch together last night," Hermione said loudly in order to clarify to everyone in the room.

"Oh yeah, uh… me too- that's what I meant," Marlene said nervously.

"Marlene, is there something you'd like to share with the group?" Lily asked.

Marlene took a deep breath and sighed. "I slept with Sirius last year," she admitted.

The shrill shrieks and giggles easily filled the room. However, that was not the loudest sound that came from this confession.

Dorcas, who had been in the shower prior to this, flung open the bathroom door at this admission and exclaimed, "What?"

"Where? When? How was it?"- Questions were being thrown at her fast and furious.

"Ugh… okay it was after the final Quidditch game last year when we lost to Slytherin. Sirius had a bottle of firewhisky and we got drunk and did it in an empty classroom," she told them.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Mary exclaimed.

"I don't know- I just, didn't. We never talked about it, and nothing else happened." Marlene shrugged.

"Was it good?" Lily asked.

"Lily!" Hermione exclaimed. She was sure that Harry would be horrified if he knew his mother was curious about how good his godfather was in bed.

"What? Inquiring minds want to know. It's not like I'm interested in him… but you have to admit that it's something that I think every girl has wondered. He flirts with all of the girls and even the teachers. He walks around the school like he's God's gift to women. It's time to find out if it's true," Lily admitted. No one said anything to refute her statement, so all eyes turned towards Marlene.

"He… got the job done," Marlene said. Her cheeks with tinged with pink and there was a satisfied smile on her lips. All the girls let out another round of squeals and giggles.

"That was your first time, right?" Dorcas asked.

"Yes," Marlene looked back as she answered while she walked toward the bathroom.

"Was it his first time?" Mary added.

"If it was then…" Marlene trailed off as she entered the bathroom turned around and winked before closing the door.

Hermione walked over to where Lily was still sitting. "Poor Sirius," she said.

"What do you mean? Sounds like Sirius had nothing to be sorry about," Lily teased in low and husky voice.

"I guess I mean that I will feel sorry for Sirius. He's gone to talk to the boys right now and try to fix their friendship," Hermione told her. "And I'm supposed to check if you were awake and want to come down to breakfast. If he's forgiven, then we all go down to the Great Hall. If he's not then we go down to the kitchens where he can wallow in private."

"Wait, so do you feel bad because you think the boys won't forgive him?" Lily asked confused.

"No, I don't know about that. I feel bad because for the next week all the sixth year Gryffindor girls are going to be giving him a once over and giggling," Hermione laughed.

"Somehow I don't think that he'll mind," Lily said with a wink.

Hermione got ready for the day. It was very windy in the drafty castle, so Hermione and Lily had both opted for warm sweaters and wool socks. They headed down to the common room to wait for Sirius. Mary hadn't ended up finishing Lily's hair, so Hermione took a shot at it.

"So I take this one and I switch places with this one, and then I take this one and they switch places. But then how am I supposed to pick up more hair and add it to this side," Hermione talked to herself.

"Just move this piece over between those two fingers, and then this hand is free to pick up another strand," said a voice next to her ear. Hermione turned her head and found her face very close to Sirius Black.

"Uhh… thanks," she said. She felt a slight blush start to creep up her neck, and had to look away from him and back to what her hands were doing.

"Okay, so I did that, then I switch these two pieces again?" Hermione clarified.

"Yeah, but remember how I told you how to hold them? Switch hands so the left hand can take hair from the left side," he explained.

It took nearly ten minutes of Hermione trying, Lily being very patient, and Sirius giving her instructions over her shoulder- but she finally finished.

"Done," she said while tying the bobble to the end of the braid. It wasn't perfect, but she did it.

"Great job," Sirius congratulated her.

"Thanks," she replied. She turned to look at Lily. "Why don't you go up and see how it looks before we go?"

"Okay," Lily said. She looked at Sirius and raised an eyebrow. "Hey," Lily said before heading up the stairs.

Sirius shook his head and turned towards Hermione with a worried expression. "Was Lily hitting on me? Because that could not come at a worse time, I mean I'm trying to fix things with the guys and if James found out then-," Sirius started to rant.

"No, she wasn't hitting on you. Listen," she leaned in and whispered, "How did it go?"

"Um, okay I guess," Sirius told her. "He said… he said that he wasn't mad anymore and he felt bad about the eye- but, he didn't trust me." He hung his head when he said these words.

"So what does that mean?" Hermione asked.

"I think it means that we're taking things slow," Sirius eventually said.

"That sounds like you're starting a new relationship," Hermione laughed.

"Laugh all you want, but I'm taking this seriously," Sirius insisted.

"But… aren't you always Sirius?" Hermione joked.

"Yeah, laugh it up funny girl. But I'm not going to mess up this time," Sirius said.

"I believe it," Hermione said honestly.

Lily came back down the stairs, still giving Sirius the once over, and they all walked out of the portrait hall.

"So, where are we going?" Lily asked.

"Great Hall," Sirius answered.

"Ahh… so I guess things went well?" Lily inferred.

"They're taking things slow," Hermione told her.

"So they're dating?" Lily teased. Hermione and Lily laughed and eventually Sirius joined them, slinging an arm over each of their shoulders and walking together. They made their way to the Great Hall and saw that Marlene, Mary, and Dorcas were already sitting there. The trio sat down and Mary and Dorcas starting giving Sirius the same looks that Lily had been giving him just moments before. Sirius sent a confused and uncomfortable look towards Hermione, but she just shook her head and whispered, "Later."

"Hey, so Hermione and I were talking about this book, and she said something that I want to put to the test. What's that book called again?" Sirius asked Hermione.

"Pride and Prejudice," Hermione answered.

"Yeah, that one- what do you ladies think of Mr. Darcy?" he proposed to the group. He got a sigh and far off stares from Mary and Lily and confused looks from Dorcas and Marlene.

"Who's Mr. Darcy?" Marlene asked.

"He's a character in the book- the ideal tall, dark, and handsome," Lily explained. "But also quiet, mysterious, and passionate."

"Sounds great, where can I get one?" Dorcas teased.

"So it's true, that all the girls that read the book think he's swoon worthy?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

"I don't know if I would go so far as to say that all women who read the book like him, but maybe like 98%," Mary estimated.

"Huh, I guess I don't understand you birds like I thought I did," Sirius admitted in annoyance and fascination.

"I told you that you needed to finish the book," Hermione said. "You haven't read it all the way thought."

The rest of the Marauders walked into the Great Hall at this point, and it was a moment of sheer awkwardness for everyone involved. They walked down the space between the tables and eventually came to sit with the group.

"Morning," Lily greeted. They all repeated the gesture.

"Hey Remus, you read muggle books don't you?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, sometimes- why?" Remus answered.

"Well we were just talking about the appeal that Mr. Darcy has on the female population," Hermione explained.

"And the fact that he would make most girls go weak in the knees," Remus continued.

"Damn it!" Sirius cursed. Remus looks at him in confusion.

"I hate being wrong," was all that Sirius responded with.

After breakfast, Hermione lingered to the back of the group while they walked back up to Gryffindor tower. She was able to discreetly hold Remus back too, so they could talk together with a bit of privacy.

"Hey, so Sirius told me what happened- how are you?" she asked.

Remus didn't answer at first, like the wheels were working overtime to figure out just how to put his emotions into words. "I keep thinking that a word will come to mind to describe it completely, but so far I haven't found one," he explained.

"I know he talked to you this morning," she said.

"Yeah, and I think it was good that he waited as long as he did. I'm… I'm not mad anymore. I mean I'm mad that it happened, but my anger had faded. But it's left with a sort of emptiness. I just can't trust Sirius right now. We're still friends, but there are things that are going to take time to rebuild," he told her. Hermione let a moment of silence hang between them before going on.

"If it's worth anything, I know that Sirius would do just about anything to fix this."

"I know, which makes it that much harder to wrap my mind around why he did it in the first place," Remus added with a shake of his head.

"Well," Hermione said as she linked her arm through his, "I think everything will work itself out and be right again."

"How do you always sound so sure of yourself?" he asked.

"A girl can't reveal all her secrets," she said and they laughed together.

The rest of the day went by and Hermione kept a close eye on the Marauders. While there was still a bit of tension in the air, she was happy to see all four friends together again.

However, on Sunday night Sirius couldn't take it anymore. Hermione and James and Sirius were sitting in front of the fire while Hermione taught them some muggle card games. Mary had just disappeared up the stairs and out of sight and sound, when Sirius exploded.

"What is going on with the girls in your dorm Hermione? They keep looking at me like I'm a piece of meat," Sirius complained.

"And that's a problem?" Hermione said with a raise eyebrow.

"It's usually not, but I've come to an understanding about where all of those girls and I stand, and now I'm not sure. You told me that Lily wasn't hitting on me the other day, but I don't-," Sirius was cut off.

"Lily was what?" James exclaimed.

"Oh, shove off," Hermione said to James before turning back to Sirius. "You really don't know?"

"I haven't done anything to them, but they can't stay away. When Dorcas said that she 'tripped' and fell into my lap the other day, I don't think it was an accident. She took way too long to get up," Sirius said.

"And how do you think females feel whenever you're around?" she teased.

Sirius gasped. "Are they just doing this to teach me a lesson? Because if that the case then-," Sirius was cut off again by James.

"You're complaining about women hitting on you?" James said aghast.

"No, well not exactly- I just don't understand where it came from," Sirius defended.

"Why are you questioning it?" James said with raised brows.

"Wouldn't you?" Sirius exclaimed.

Hermione just sat there and watched the two friends arguing. She knew once she told him the truth it would become impossible to be around him, so she let it linger as long as possible.

"- if someone sneaks a feel at your bits," Sirius finished.

"Wait, why are we arguing?" James realized.

"I don't know," Sirius admitted. "What were we talking about?" he asked Hermione.

"I haven't the foggiest," Hermione lied. She didn't know how long she would keep that secret, and she didn't know how long it would be until the girls outgrew their new knowledge of Mr. Black, but she planned on keeping it to herself as long as possible.

The next week, Hermione was dreading to go to potions. She hadn't run into Snape since their fight and she wasn't sure what to expect. This was the first time she had seen him be outright mean, and very reminiscent of the man she knew in the future. And she also hadn't talked to him since the incident with Sirius and the Whomping Willow. She didn't know how she was going to be received, but she had made it one of her goals to befriend him and hopefully give him a different outlook on what he thinks his life should be.

Hermione left the group a little early, knowing that Snape usually got to classes before anyone else. Figuring that this would be a good time for them to speak without an audience, she headed down to the dungeons and into the potions room.

Snape was sitting at their usual table, with his bag sitting on the stool next to him- which didn't give her a good sign. Taking a deep breath, she walked over and stood next to the stool that she usually occupied.

"Hey," she said. Snape didn't look up from his book, nor did he say anything.

Standing up a little straighter, Hermione started again, but in a deeper voice this time. "Good morning Hermione, how are you?" This was her best mock of Snape's voice.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Hermione said in a mock of her own voice. Hermione saw Snape's lip twitch, but still he didn't look up.

"Listen, I wanted to apologize for our fight last week," Hermione said. She gave him a moment, hoping he would actually join in the conversation. Snape flipped the page, but his head turned just slightly in her direction. So, Hermione continued with her approach.

"Yeah, I feel bad about it too. I was feeling grumpy and took it out on you," Hermione explained in the mock Snape voice. He actually snorted at this. Hermione took this as a good sigh.

"And I lashed out at you, instead of being more sensitive," said mock Hermione.

"So, we both know what we did was wrong," fake Snape admitted.

"Yes, and we have learned from our mistakes," concluded fake Hermione.

"So, why don't you just sit down- we are potions partners from here to eternity after all," fake Snape said.

Hermione held her breath, waiting to see if that ridiculous skit she had just put on would work. Silence fell upon them, for what seemed like a very long time. Finally, without lifting his eyes from the book, Snape lifted his bag off of the stool and onto the floor.

Grinning at her little victory, she quickly sat down and started getting her things out for the lesson.

The two potions partners just sat in silence, both content to look through their books at the potion they would be covering that day. Soon the rest of the class started to file in, and Hermione received a lot of questioning looks from the Gryffindors, but she just shook her head and shrugged. The one person she didn't receive a look from was Sirius. She had expected him to have some kind of reaction, but it seemed like he was trying to be on his best behavior and wasn't even looking in Snape's direction. He threw Hermione a quick and small smile, before taking his seat next to James.

The week that followed was one of the best they had experienced in a while. The Marauders were all back together again and there seemed to be an understanding in the group. They even pulled their first prank since the 'incident' and even Lily couldn't find it in herself to yell at them.

They had charmed all of the Slytherin emblems in the school to cat call and whistle at the Gryffindors. While it was meant to be a harmless prank, however, there were some reactions that the boys couldn't account for. While walking to the Great Gall between their last morning class and lunch, a few 7th year boys were walking by a couple of 5th year Slytherins when a fight broke out.

"Hey, nice trousers," called the emblem on the 5th years robes.

"Uh… thanks?" replied the 7th year.

"But they're look better on the floor of my dormitory," the 5th years emblem replied.

However, the 7th year didn't know it was a prank, and the ensuing fight caused laughter, tears, and detention for all involved.

The weather seemed to be happy for the Marauders as well. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining during the day, enough for some walks around the grounds. But the peacefulness wouldn't last for long, because this school housed the Marauders and there was nothing the Marauders liked more than chaos and excitement.

Sirius's birthday is at the end of November, and Hermione learned that it's customary for the Marauders to throw big parties when one of their own turns another year older. From stories that the girls in her dormitory had told her, they were usually huge parties with a ton of people, and the locations are always different. They're been in unused classrooms, out on the grounds, in the Hufflepuff common room, and various other places in the castle.

But the excitement leading up to the event itself, is finding your invitation. I guess it's a big game of hide and seek; meaning that you are apt to find it in the weirdest and uncommon places. The day the invitations went out was always a flurry of excitement and curiosity. You never knew where you would find yours.

"Well, I've found mine," Marlene announced in the girls dormitory, holding up a piece of parchment.

"Where was it this time?" Mary asked.

"In my underwear drawer," Marlene answered.

"Again?" Lily asked.

"Well, we now have an understanding as to why it's always in her underwear drawer," Dorcas muttered. A pillow came from behind her and smacked into the back of her head.

"I heard that," Marlene yelled.

"You were supposed to," Dorcas yelled back with a grin.

"What's the theme?" Mary asked.

When Marlene started to laugh, an audible groan could be heard from Lily.

"This doesn't sound good," Lily moaned.

"It's a toga party," Marlene announced.

"You mean like the Greeks?" Hermione clarified.

"Yeah, it says that appropriate attire is required and it will be held on Saturday November 27th at 8 o'clock in Greenhouse one," Marlene read.

Hermione groaned.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"I have to work that weekend," Hermione answered in a defeated tone.

"Oh, no! Can you check with your aunt and ask if you can switch weekends?" Mary asked.

"I don't think so. I already had to switch last month for the Hogsmeade weekend, I would feel like I'm taking advantage. I'll just have to come by when I'm done," Hermione said.

"That's a bummer, it would have been fun for us to all get ready together," Marlene commented.

"I guess I'll have to bring my stuff and change at the The Three Broomsticks," Hermione sighed.

"It shouldn't be too late. Don't you usually get out of work around nine? Maybe Rosmerta might let you out a little early. The party starts at eight, so you won't miss too much," Lily said encouragingly.

"Wait, but it's in the greenhouse- if the party doesn't start until 8 then we will be out after hours," Hermione realized.

"Yeah, that's how it always goes. But you know those guys, they know everything about Hogwarts. At the end of the night they take groups of people back to their houses and no one ever gets caught," Marlene said.

Hermione thought about this, and realized that with as much intelligence those boys possessed, figuring out the logistics of a party like this really wasn't beyond their ability. It sounds like every last detail is planned out and executed. But one thing she did wonder about-

"Marlene, if they hid your invitation in the girl's dorm, then that must mean that one or all of them knows how to get passed the staircase," Hermione figured. Honestly, she hadn't thought about it before, but it didn't surprise her.

"Yeah, Lily's had this argument with the boys every party since second year," Mary explained.

"And every year she never gets closer to the answer," Marlene finished.

"Well I've decided this year to just say 'to hell with it'! It just ends up being a waste of my time," Lily said.

"Good for you Lil! I think being around the Marauders this year has rubbed off on you a little," Dorcas exclaimed. Lily looked momentarily panicked at the thought, before Hermione could jump in.

"I think that Lily's just realized that it's a hopeless cause, and it's not like they caused any problems in here. Is anyone's stuff missing, or does it look they're stuff has been messed with?" Hermione asked. The girls gave the room a good look around but didn't find anything else out of place.

"Found my invitation," Dorcas announced from the bathroom.

"Where?"

"The prats emptied my shampoo bottle and stuck it in there," she said with a note of annoyance. "Hermione, can I borrow some of your shampoo?" Dorcas asked.

"Sure," she said.

With two invitations found, the other three girls made sure to keep their eyes peeled- but nothing was found until they went down to breakfast and Mary found hers when she opened the lid on the jar of sugar. Hermione looked around, and there were no Marauders to be seen anywhere.

When said troublemakers finally made an appearance at the breakfast table, Hermione had to say something.

"How do you guys get the invitations to everyone? I mean Dorcas found hers in a shampoo bottle!" she exclaimed. "And Mary found hers in a jar of sugar. You weren't around, how did you know she would find it… or that it would get to her?"

"Hermione, I thought you would know better by now that it's a Mystery of the Marauder!" Remus declared with a hand over his heart and his chest puffed out. The other three followed after.

"However you guys do it, you still owe me a bottle of shampoo," Dorcas said.

Sirius leaned over and lifted a lock of her dark hair and sniffed it. "Why don't you just use this kind, it smells way better than the other stuff you were using," Sirius told her.

"That's because Hermione let me use hers when I realized mine had vanished," Dorcas informed him.

"Did she lather in up for your hair too?" Sirius asked with a tone that you just knew he was picturing dirty things in his mind. Hermione gave a little wink to Dorcas before answering Sirius.

"Yeah, but Mary did her back," she said in a nonchalant way. She looked around the room and saw that all four of the boys were sporting far off looks on their faces at this comment.

Dorcas found her invitation when they were in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and it had been stuck between the pages of the material they were covering that day. Hermione looked over at the Marauders, but they were all deep in conversation about something.

Later in the day Lily found her invitation when McGonagall was handing back their homework. It saw slipped into the rolls of parchment that held her graded assignment.

Feeling a little left out, Hermione kept her eyes open for anything out of the ordinary all day. Nothing she didn't find anything in any of her other classes, or at lunch or dinner that day. By the end, Hermione was feeling a bit discouraged and went upstairs to bed a bit of a mood.

She changed into her pajamas and pulled back the curtains of her four-poster, when she noticed her copy of Pride and Prejudice lying on top of her pillow. She gingerly picked up the book and flipped it open to the page that she had left off on. There, nestled in tightly behind her, book mark was an invitation to Sirius's birthday party. Smiling to herself, she snuggled into her bed and opened the book up for a little bed time reading.