Sirius read his owl over and over again, unable to keep a grin off his face.
"You're hiding something," James said, looking over the table at him with suspicion.
"Am not," Sirius replied, but his smirk was still visible on his face.
"I think you are!" Remus joined in, looking at them with amusement. Peter, too, looked curious.
Sirius suddenly bent his head forward and leant in to whisper, "Are we still OK for tomorrow?"
James looked to his side discreetly, and nodded lightly.
Remus frowned. "You're head boy." He was looking white and tired as he usually did towards the end of the month. James merely shrugged.
"And next year I won't be here. We have to go out with a bang. No-one will know we're gone."
"Let's do it!" Peter cried. The boys had snuck into Hogsmeade and bought crates of firewhiskey and butterbeer, and had decided to spend the weekend with Remus in the Shrieking Shack, drinking their hearts out. It wasn't the same as the world-class prank Sirius had originally wanted to play, but it was enough to make the boy feel reckless, which was something that he sorely missed.
"I feel awkward, betraying Dumbledore like this. He has placed a lot of trust in me in these last seven years." Remus said.
"And you've never disappointed him once, so you have nothing to worry about." James smiled.
"Won't Lizzie and Lily realise you two are gone?" Peter asked expectantly.
James shrugged again, with a rather dreamy look on his face that settled there every time someone mentioned his new girlfriend. "Lily's on duty patrolling the corridors with Filch this Saturday." he said. "And when I told her I'd be spending the night with you guys she didn't object. It's only one night."
"How about you?" Remus asked, sensing that Sirius was worried about something.
"She's bloody locked herself up in the dungeons with Snivellus all week, working on that stupid Wolfsbane potion."
They had risen up from their table and had walked out of the Great Hall in the direction of their common room.
"That stupid Wolfsbane potion can improve the lives of many people." Remus said quietly.
"I'm sorry, man, I didn't mean it that way." Sirius hastened to apologise, genuinely sorry for the sad look that was on Remus' face.
Remus smiled his tired smile. "I know you didn't. Don't worry about it."
When they reached the stairs, Remus turned to Peter. "We're supposed to be working on our Charms group practice, Wormtail. Let's go."
With only the other two left, James turned to Sirius. "You're not going to brush me aside that easily, Padfoot. I know you're hiding something. You still have that smirk on your face."
Sirius grinned. "Even if I do, you'll never get it out of me." he said triumphantly.
"We'll see." James said, secretly thinking that if anyone could get a secret out of Sirius, it was Lizzie.
James frowned suddenly and nodded behind him. Severus Snape was standing a few metres behind them, listening intently.
"Need anything Snivellus?" he asked coldly.
Sirus glared at him. "Been keeping your hands to yourself now, have you slimy?"
"What happens in the dungeons stays in the dungeons. Lizzie is always satisfied."
"Don't call her Lizzie!" Sirius snapped, shoving Snape against the wall and lunging at him."Don't even look at her."
"Black! Snape! Detention! Honestly, what are you boys thinking?"
Sirius loosened his grip on Snape's neck and turned to face a glowering Professor McGonagall.
"It is your N.E.W.T. year; you should be focusing on your studies rather than this nonsense. I will see you both in my office to discuss this after supper."
"Yes, Professor." Both boys muttered.
"Now Potter, if you would kindly follow me, I'd like to have a word about your Transfiguration essay."
James frowned.
"Now Potter!"
"I'll see you later, Padfoot." James muttered, scowling as he followed Professor McGonagall.
Sirius and Severus watched them go; Sirius turned with a dark face and added threateningly. "If you even so much as think about touching her, it will be the last thing you'll ever do." And he started to walk off.
"It's funny," Severus said, when Sirius was a couple of metres away, "these strange nicknames you have for yourselves. I wonder if there's some hidden double-meaning."
"What's it to you?" Sirius said turning to face him once more. "They're just nicknames between friends; not that you'd know what having friends is like."
"Simple nicknames or not, it would be a shame for Gryffindors' prized students to get caught doing something illegal. Sneaking out of bed at night. Going out of the school. Hanging around the Whomping Willow..."
Sirius was frozen to his spot.
"Don't think I'm not on to your little game. I'll get to the bottom of this."
"Ha ha. You can try. You'd never figure it out anyway." Sirius said bitterly, recovering quickly from his shock. "In fact, I'll actually help you, and you still won't figure it out." He moved closer, as Snape took a retreating step. "Scared are we Snivellus? Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. But I will tell you this," he said, lowering his face to level Snape's worried one, "the key to the Willow is the knot at its base. One small flowery touch, and it turns into a lamb."
"Managed to speak to Lizzie today?" James whispered to Sirius under the Invisibility Cloak. He had cornered her in the afternoon and convinced her to find out their friend's secret. Curiosity was a general Potter weakness, so she agreed instantly.
"No, I haven't seen her since breakfast." Sirius whispered back in a muted grumble. "I really do wish she'd get out of that dungeon once in a while. Ever since those death eaters killed Margery Righteon she's immersed herself in that potion, as though she thinks it can change the world right now."
"Margery Righteon was a friend of mum's and she was a part of the Order of the Phoenix." James said quietly.
Sirius was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, Prongs. I really didn't know."
They had reached the Whomping Willow, and Peter had already changed to his rat form and disappeared to the core of the raging tree.
As he watched James transform under the cloak, a practice they had started ever since Lizzie had followed them out there, Sirius looked around him, wondering if Snape would really be daft enough to follow them in the cold. Somehow, Sirius was sure he would, but the thought didn't bother him in the least.
"Woof." Sirius barked towards James, urging him down the passage leading to the Shrieking Shack. Their boxes of alcohol lay stacked underneath some loose floorboards, safe from the rampage of the werewolf Moony.
It was close to midnight when Remus, exhausted, curled down on the floor and seemed to rest. It was only then that the other three changed back to their human forms, and Peter reached for a couple of butterbeers.
"You know, I'm disappointed," Sirius said, as he uncorked his bottle and started to down it. "I would have thought Snivellus would be here by now."
"Snape?" James asked sharply, "How would he know how to get here?"
Sirius grinned. "I told him how to. I can't wait to see the look on his face."
"Are you insane?" James roared, getting roughly to his feet and pointing to the sleeping form of Remus. "Do you want him to find out? What if Remus wakes up and attacks him?"
Sirius shrugged. "It's just some harmless fun, Prongs. Nothing will happen."
"I'm not going to let it." James cried, running out of the Shack. When he saw the dark outline of Snape in the distance he hexed him, crying "Expelliarmus."
The rest, as they say, is history.
"Sirius, please speak to James." Lizzie urged for the hundredth time. "You're miserable without him, and he's the same without you."
"I messed up big-time this time, Liz." Sirius moaned, unsure how much to say.
"I know you did, and you deserve a good scolding for it." Lizzie reprimanded. "But it all turned out well in the end, and what matters is that no-one got hurt. Please please go speak to him. Apologise and make up."
In the other end of the common room, Lily was having an equally hard time convincing James.
"You know, if you don't get up and speak to him right now I'm going to break up with you." she told him finally, exasperated. "You're best friends; just talk it over and smooth things. You need your friends, now more than ever.
Lily noticed that Sirius had risen from his seat, and Lizzie was giving her a thumbs-up sign. "I'm going to the library," she said, bending down to kiss James lightly, "I'll see you later ok?" James nodded miserably.
Lily ran to Lizzie's side and both of them hid partially behind the sofa, not wanting to intrude on the reconciliation.
Sirius was standing awkwardly in front of James. Finally, he sat down next to his friend and crossed his hands roughly.
"I'm a mess. And I screwed up. I know it. I know I did. And there are no excuses. None whatsoever." he said, more to himself than to James.
James was taken aback by Sirius' frankness, and started to smile. "But?"
"What but?" Sirius asked.
"I'm sensing there's a but coming up soon."
Sirius sighed. "I get jealous. I know Lizzie doesn't care for him, but he spends so much time with her, and it irritates me. That's why I told him about the Willow. I wanted him to get in trouble. It was wrong, I know. I genuinely am sorry."
It was James' turn to cross his arms now. "You know what he told me after I saved him? He told me I did it because I didn't want to be expelled. Nice thank you I received. He really is a git. Don't worry about it now."
"So I'm forgiven?" Sirius asked, starting to grin. From her hiding place, Lizzie heaved a sigh of relief.
"That depends," James face was suddenly serious again, "what secret have you been hiding from me?"
"Haha," Sirius laughed, getting to his feet, "I mean, I love you, man, seriously I do, but not that much. Forget it." And a playful fight erupted between the two friends. All was well again.
"I don't like Snape, not in that way. Not in any way really, since he's been hanging out with the death eaters. He's just an awesome potion-maker. You do know that, don't you?" Lizzie asked softly, her head on Sirius' chest. They were in the Room of Requirement.
Sirius' hand was caressing her shoulder. "I do need a reminder once in a while." he teased, his hand travelling to the small of her back.
"Oh you," she complained, not really minding it at all. She got up and her lips met his, and they kissed for a while, without a care in the world. Her hands were at his collar, and his hands had started to travel under her pullover when she stopped him. Panting, she shook her head lightly. "Not yet," she said, blushing lightly.
Sirius looked slightly disappointed, but braved a smile.
"It's not that I don't want to," Lizzie hastened to explain, "Because I do. I seriously do. But I really do think we have to wait, for different reasons. I'm not ready yet." she said, lowering her eyes.
Sirius' hand was at her chin and he raised her face to look directly into her green eyes. "You can have all the time in the world," he said with the most beautiful smile ever, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be right here all along."
Lizzie smiled happily, and bent forward to kiss him again. She nestled into his arms and leant her head against his chest again.
Sighing, she told him, "You know what would make me really happy?"
"Whatever you wish, I'll give it to you." he replied, feeling rather happy himself.
Lizzie chuckled. "Well, I do wish to know what it is you've been hiding from James."
Sirius groaned. "I might have known." he complained.
Lizzie stuck out her lower lip. "So you're not going to tell me?"
"Of course I am. I just don't want you to tell James yet; let him suffer for a bit. I'll tell him eventually, but it's more fun not to tell him."
Lizzie laughed. "Whatever you say, captain." she teased him.
"I've bought a motorcycle."
"Come again?" Lizzie raised her head quickly. "You did what?"
Sirius grinned. "It's a big Hildemuller, an old black one, but I've bought the parts and I'm converting it. It's great really, flies and everything. I can't wait to take you for a ride on it."
Lizzie was suddenly very enthusiastic. "And we can go around with it? That is so cool. I can't wait to see it."
Sirius beamed, pleased at the enthusiasm he was receiving.
Lizzie suddenly laughed. "I can't wait to see his reaction. James is going to be sooooo jealous."
And they both burst out laughing.