And another chapter. This is an early birthday present to myself. (My birthday's on Friday). Yay for me. (Just think - Laurie's birthday is the next chapter along with Halloween.) And I'm not sure if this is more gift to me or to my friends who have been begging me for an update (coughAMBERcough). Anyway, this is an extra long chapter for your reading pleasure.

Dedicated to GoThe Distance because they were a new reviewer and made me happy.

Disclaimed.

Laurie woke up incredibly comfortable on Sunday morning. She delayed opening her eyes though she could tell that light was already filtering into the room. She snuggled deeper under the blanket that was on top of her but noticed she was definitely not in her bed.

Keeping her eyes closed, she felt something plush at her back and remembered falling asleep on the couch in the common room. Except now she was horizontal when she fell asleep somewhat vertical.

Under her cheek she felt a firm but comfortable pillow. Her hand was on the same sort of pillow and then she felt it rise. It was breathing. She then hid her face in what she now realized was a shoulder.

It seemed that she had fallen asleep and Sirius didn't want to disturb her. He had tucked her between the back of the couch and his own warm body. It was quite possibly the most comfortable position she had ever slept in.

Laurie's movement (hiding her face in his shoulder) had woken Sirius. She noticed that his arm was around her as he tightened his grip on her shoulders. She stretched her arm further to lay her hand over his heart and felt his own hand cover it after adjusting the blanket which was covering them both.

Laurie's lips lifted in a smile that she couldn't suppress, no matter how she tried. She felt his head move and his lips press against her hair. She had never felt so comfortable or so…She tried to think of a word to describe what she felt. The only thing she could think of was cherished.

She decided to let him know she was awake. Laurie stretched like a cat and looked up to Sirius' amused face.

"Good morning," she said and curled closer to him.

"Indeed," Sirius replied and brushed her hair from her eyes. His voice was gravelly and low near her ear.

"Do you know what time it is?"

"A little after dawn. Too early for anyone to be up yet."

"Everyone headed up to bed then," she asked clarifying that they were alone in the common room.

"Shortly after you fell asleep. No one wanted to disturb you. Apparently you haven't been sleeping that well."

Laurie noticed the concern that was evident in his voice. She held back a small smile.

"I have been having trouble sleeping but it's nothing to worry about." She turned in his grip and half lay on his chest resting her chin on her hands.

Laurie looked at his face and saw the contentment as well as the pure pleasure in his liquid silver eyes. He was enjoying this as much as she was. Laurie closed her eyes as he brushed her hair behind her ear. She was glad she wasn't standing. She would have probably collapsed otherwise.

"When do you think breakfast will begin?"

Sirius had started to play with her hair again. "Not for another few hours."

Laurie nodded and laid her cheek against his chest. Her gaze caught the small fire burning in the grate. She was so very glad for house elves.

A strangely comfortable silence pervaded the common room as Sirius twisted Laurie's hair around his fingers. This was probably the most comfortable she had ever been with anyone. She had never felt so close to someone, not even her brother or sister. After the first few weeks of sarcasm and loathing, Sirius had warmed up and was the most loving and protective person she had ever known. She was lost to him. But what of him? Did he like her in the same way? Were they ever going to be an official couple or just on the brink? Her thoughts overflowed and a question came out of her mouth before she could fully think through the repercussions of it.

"What exactly are we?" Laurie asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" he asked and tipped her chin up so he could look down into her eyes.

"Are we a couple, like Remus and Amber, or are we just extremely close friends?"

Sirius gave her a bemused look. "Why do you ask?"

Laurie inwardly sighed. "Because I'm confused and curious. This is all very new for me."

"I'm not sure where we are, sweet. I like it here, though, I like where we are at present. We'll just see where it takes us, okay?" Sirius framed her face with his hands.

Laurie paused before answering. "Alright."

"That's my girl," Sirius said and kissed her nose, causing her to blush profusely.

Sirius sat up, taking Laurie with him, placing them in the same positions as they were last night. He wrapped the blanket around Laurie and held her hand. "Your hand's freezing."

"It's cold," she said as her blush increased while he took her hand and held it between his to warm it.

"You know, that blush on your cheeks is rather lovely."

Laurie hid the bottom half of her face under the blanket and closed her eyes.

"We should probably get changed," Laurie said changing the subject.

"There's no hurry," Sirius drawled and leaned back against the armrest, drawing her back too.

Laurie's brow creased. Her mind tried to remember something. She had a book with her last night before she fell asleep. She turned in Sirius's arms and looked at him. "What happened to my book?"

Sirius reached behind and beside him to the table that sat next to the couch. "You fell asleep with it. Thought I'd remove the potentially hazardous object."

Laurie smiled and took the book from Sirius's outstretched hand.

"I've never known anyone," he said. "That loved books as much as you do."

"It's not the fact that I love the book itself, though I do like them," she started. "It's more that I love where the book takes me – where the stories lead. I can physically be sitting here, in the common room, while simultaneously trekking through mountains or dancing in a nineteenth century ballroom. I can have tea with a duchess or fight an evil wizard king. Books aren't just inanimate objects to me. They're the living portals to other centuries and worlds."

Sirius brushed her hair back. "I suppose you can wax eloquent for some time on the subject."

"Yes, I probably could," Laurie replied, smiling.

"Well, you won't get a chance this afternoon so you better do it now."

Laurie frowned. What was this afternoon?

"You remember James' suggestion of tag."

Laurie's eyes went wide. "I'd completely forgotten."

"Well, you have a broom right?"

"Yeah, I think it's under my bed."

"That's a good place for it."

"If you saw that room you'd see that the space underneath my bed is probably the safest."

"Messy roommates?"

"All of us are messy, I think, except for Cynthia. She's the neatest of us all."

"I'm sure she is, but back to the broom. I'm claiming you as my partner."

"Ok," Laurie said then paused. "Don't you have a broom?"

"Yes, but Remus is borrowing it."

"Did you decide that last night?"

"After you fell asleep," he acknowledged.

"Well," Laurie sighed dramatically. "If Remus is using yours then I suppose you can double up on mine."

"I know it's such a sacrifice on your part," Sirius said tightening his grip around Laurie's waist.

"You know, I don't think it is."

----

"I'm not sure this whole 'tag-on-broomsticks' thing is going to work out," Laurie said to Amber as the walked toward the pitch. Laurie had her broom propped up on her shoulder and was bundled in two layers of clothing, her pink scarf and her gloves.

"I'm questioning this too though it's been played before," Amber admitted. "I'm not sure James thought about the weather." It was still cool outside, a balmy 48 degrees.

"Have you played this before?"

"Personally? No. I've watched it before though. Looks exciting."

Laurie grimaced. "You know he failed in sweet talking Professor McGonagall and Lily had to bail him out. She was the one who ended up getting permission for us to play."

"That's sad."

"Yep."

"Who's James' partner?" Amber asked.

"He's with Casey. Lily invited Tiffany Archer from Ravenclaw."

"He must be depressed."

"Probably devastated," Laurie said as they walked onto the pitch.

As the walked toward the group already assembled, Sirius and Remus broke away and met them half way.

"Ready to go up?" Sirius asked, taking Laurie's broom from her hands and hooking her arm around his own.

"As long as I'm steering," she replied as she stopped her scarf from strangling her.

"Of course, sweet," he said. "We'll see how well you fly."

"Better than you, I'm sure."

Sirius smirked and changed his arm to go around her shoulders. "I wouldn't be so positive."

"You have yet to see me fly."

"You haven't seen me fly either, love. And if I had to go by your skill at walking I'd say you'd need a lot of help."

"Just because I always trip in front of you, doesn't mean that I'm clumsy. You just see me in my worst moments."

"Whatever you say," Sirius said. "We've brought lunch, the others are setting it up."

"Who all is here?" Amber asked. Laurie noticed that Remus was holding her hand.

"The usual group plus Tiffany Archer from Ravenclaw," Remus said then turned to Laurie. "And Julia Kitch, the girl who sat by you during the match."

"Oh she was nice, who's she riding with?"

Sirius answered. "I think she's partnering Nancy."

"Oh, that's good. What year is she?"
"Fourth year." They met the group and settled on the blankets that were laid out. Laurie claimed a spot and Sirius settled next to her. "Which do you prefer: chicken or ham?"

Laurie looked over to see that he held to platters in his hand. "Definitely chicken."

Laurie took the platter and put some on the plate that Lily had handed her seconds before. Lunch was a very informal, laid back sort of meal with everyone talking at once and laughter throughout. Amber had sat on Laurie's other side so they spoke of Amber and Remus's date the day before.

"So you seriously went to Scrivenshaft's?" Laurie asked before eating some of her chicken.

"Yeah," Amber replied, playing with her food. "We both needed new quills and some extra parchment."

"That's such a romantic place to go. I'll be sure to go there if ever I'm on a date."

Amber blushed and put some food in her mouth. Laurie pretended not to notice.

"So did you go to Madame Puddifoot's?"

"No, I didn't want to be tortured. It was already awkward enough."

Laurie filled in the blanks. Amber didn't want to be tortured by the girls since they were all watching her and it was already awkward enough with them continuously stalking her to find out what they were doing.

"Nancy said that she kept finding this kid who followed you and Remus around."

Amber thought back. "She's right," she said after a moment. "There was this one kid who seemed to be following us. I think he's a Hufflepuff."

"Oh no."

"Exactly. I didn't realize then, but when looking back it does seem as if he was stalking us."

"Have you ever seen the kid before?" Laurie asked brushing her fingers on her napkin.

"Only in the halls. I'm almost positive he's in Hufflepuff."

"That's not good."

"No, it's not."

Tiffany, who was sitting next to Lily, joined in the conversation. "I think you're talking about Cody."

"Who?" both Laurie and Amber asked.

"Cody Runespoor, he's a fourth year Hufflepuff. He's forever looking up to older students and has a crush on most of the girls."

"Runespoor?" Laurie repeated. "Isn't that a three headed snake?"

"Yeah."

"Creepy."

"Just a little."

"Does he follow a lot of girls when they're with their boyfriends?" Amber asked, slightly freaked out.

"I'm not sure," Tiffany replied. "All I know is that he's had a crush on three of my fellow Ravenclaws."

"Three?" Amber asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Since school started. I'm not sure if he realizes that he just looks desperate."

Before they could talk more of the stalker student, the group finished lunch and rose from their seats on the ground. Laurie didn't realize how stiff she was until she stood and stretched.

"Alright, now!" James said loudly over the group. "Time to play some tag. Here are the rules: First, you can't hex, jinx, or perform a hazardous spell on anyone in flight. You must keep inside the Quidditch pitch at all times. You cannot physically harm your opponents, including the use of muggle fighting techniques. Agreed?"

Everyone gave their consent and the group broke off into pairs. Sirius was with Laurie, Amber with Remus, Nancy with Julia, Cynthia with Holly, James with Casey, and Lily with Tiffany.

Sirius rode behind Laurie, gripping her waist as they rose into the air. Everyone was given a five second head start before James and Casey rose as they were 'it'. Since James suggested the game, they started out.

"Ready?" Sirius asked close to Laurie's ear.

"Hold on," was all she replied with.

James streaked after them first. Laurie anticipated the move so she went soaring to the other end of the pitch and threaded between the other participants and the goal hoops. Casey held on to James tightly as he tried to get in contact with Laurie and Sirius. Sirius just smirked at his friend and leaned lower on the broom, completely at ease with Laurie flying.

Laurie hadn't flown in quite a long time. Sure, she had a broom, but it was her brother and sister who actually played Quidditch. She was just the one who helped them out in practicing for it. She never wanted to play the sport after her siblings released a bludger one time and she ended up falling from her broom. Thirty feet in the air. She was six when that happened. She didn't fly again until she was ten. She had raced her siblings often enough, though, since then and was quite quick on a broom. Being up in the air again was nice. It would have been relaxing had not James been flying all out at her heels.

"Hold on," Laurie repeated and abruptly braked so James flew right past them. She heard him mutter a curse as he soared toward Amber and Remus. He decided to pursue them instead.

"Nicely done," Sirius laughed and pointed toward Nancy and Julia. "Let's go over there to try and avoid James."

Laurie turned and flew toward the pair. They were hanging around one of the towers.

"That was some nice flying!" Julia said as Laurie hovered next to Nancy.

"Thanks," Laurie replied and felt Sirius squeeze her waist. He was looking out for James. "So how did you come to join our group?"

"Oh, I don't know," Julia replied as she watched the chase on the other end of the pitch. "I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess."

"You're a lucky one."

"Definitely."

Laurie watched as James now pursued Holly with Cynthia holding onto her. They were coming rapidly toward where they hovered.

"Talk to you in a bit," Laurie said then flew up and away from the charging pair of brooms. She hated being 'it' in anything. She would much rather just watch, but she really had little choice in the matter. Besides, Peter was sitting in the stands clapping and cheering. She'd rather be high above him than near him. He creeped her out.

Laurie and Sirius darted higher, where the seekers usually hovered to look for the snitch. They watched as James and Sirius tagged Holly and then darted off away from the two girls to not get tagged back.

"Has he ever won?" Laurie asked as she watched James dart towards them.

"No, Lily always beats him."

Laurie laughed.

"Hello you two," James said as he paused next to them. "Nice escape, Laur."

"I pride myself in escapes thank you," she replied as she watched Holly tag Remus and Amber. "It appears we're targets again."

Amber and Remus were pelting toward them, Remus with a sort of strange gleam in his eye as Amber held him tightly around the waist.

"See you in a few!" Laurie darted away again and dropped as Amber and Remus rose toward James and Casey.

Amber flashed Laurie a smile as they passed them and held Remus tighter. Laurie felt Sirius' own hands grip tighter around her waist and lean closer to her as they dropped fast toward the ground.

"Having fun?" his voice was deep next to her ear and she jumped, causing him to chuckle.

"Yeah," Laurie said glancing back at him. "It feels surprisingly good to be in the air again."

Sirius murmured something unintelligible and Laurie stopped her descent toward the ground.

Sirius loosened his grip from her and pulled his wand out of his sleeve. Laurie looked back at what he was doing and saw him conjure a water balloon.

"Who taught you how to conjure water balloons? I thought they were muggle objects?"

"Casey is ever obliging in the arena of mischief," he said smirking as he Conjured a few more.

"What exactly are you going to do with said balloons?" Laurie asked realizing that it was cold outside and should she get wet she would freeze to the broomstick.

"Oh, this and that."

That wasn't the slightest bit helpful.

"Just don't get me wet, please."

"I'll do my best," he promised then pressed his lips to her temple. "Now, if you would get close to James…"

Laurie raised an eyebrow trying to discern if he was serious or not. He was. He waved her forward and she sighed. Might as well.

Laurie then started to rapidly gain speed in her shocking ascent toward James and Casey. Lily and Tiffany were close enough to watch what was going on but from a safe distance as to not get wet. Sirius tossed a balloon up and down in his hand as they got closer. Laurie brought her broom around so that they would pass them going the opposite direction and be able to speed away.

When they were within a few yards of James, Laurie could see the strange look on his face as they neared. She knew exactly when the realization that he wasn't safe hit him. It was too late by then. Sirius had hurled the water balloon at him and it hit him squarely in the head. Laurie was already far away when James overcame the shock and bolted after them.

James apparently had a better broom than Laurie and was gaining quickly on them, looking for revenge.

"Do you trust me?" Sirius asked.

"Um, yes?" Laurie wasn't sure but decided to play the optimist.

"Press close to the broom and let me fly. Just hold on."

Sirius was pressed directly against her back and was nudging her to get closer to her broom. She complied reluctantly and felt his arms reach around her to grasp the broom. He was so close and surrounded her so well that she was quite warm despite the cool weather.

"Hold on tight," he warned one last time and she was glad she listened. Sirius then did a whole bunch of acrobatic loops in order to throw James off their trail. Laurie was hit with what felt like pudding once but she didn't feel anything else in their midair performance. Of course, she did feel quite nauseous but wasn't about to tell Sirius that. She was never one for tricks in the middle of the air. She didn't have the stomach for it.

Of course, by this time everyone else joined in the war and they had divided three on three. James and Casey, Holly and Cynthia, and Nancy and Julia were fighting against Remus and Amber, Laurie and Sirius, and Lily and Tiffany. They were using all sorts of random spells. Laurie felt popcorn hit her head and saw a few slugs fly toward Tiffany and Lily. James had Jell-o hit him courtesy of Lily and Nancy and Julia were covered in what looked like marshmallow sauce. It was an all out midair fight with whatever they thought of. Laurie sent a few pies toward James as well as Holly and had to duck being hit with cake.

They were out on the pitch for at least another hour before they heard yelling from the ground.

"Stop! Stop it now! Everyone on the ground!"

Laurie saw the flying teacher shouting up at them. She felt guilt sweep her and looked back at Sirius. She tried to hold her laugh but couldn't. He had whipped cream and strawberries and what looked like glitter covering him. She was sure she looked much worse.

Sirius wiped his hair out of his eyes and saw Laurie looking at him. He gave a guilty smile and brushed her hair behind her ear.

They turned to the group who was looking down at Madame Hooch. She was still yelling but now she was waving her fists in the air and making very large motions with her arms. They were apparently ruining her pitch with their disgusting display of immaturity.

They all decided to descend and apologize for their lack of self-restraint. Madame Hooch was not consoled and dismissed them from the pitch. They looked much the worse for wear.

Amber and Remus walked beside Laurie and Sirius, the boys carrying the broomsticks.

"Did you see that kid in the stands?" Amber asked Lauries as they walked toward the entrance to the pitch.

Laurie looked toward the stands and saw two people coming down. One was Peter and the other was definitely a Hufflepuff.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah. Oh he's creepy."

"He looks creepy." Laurie shivered and felt Sirius put his arm around her, though her shiver was not one from cold. The Hufflepuff kid was beyond creepy actually. He was rather short and kind of stocky and had at least three layers of clothes on. His face displayed a very open admiration of the group as they passed his position as he came down onto the pitch. He had a mix of arrogance and madness. He looked like a crazy psycho stalker.

"I hope no one talks to him," Amber muttered and walked closer to Remus who wrapped his arm around her much like Sirius had done with Laurie.

"Me too. We don't need to add more to our group and we definitely don't need disturbing stalker kids to join our clan."

Amber nodded and Laurie turned to Sirius. "So, that was tag."

"Yep." He looked down at her. "And the verdict?"

Laurie paused for a few moments before giving him an answer.

"Messy."