Lying in wait for little Angie Morrison, Sirius almost felt bad about carrying out his mission. She was a decent enough girl if rather awkward. Not weird exactly, but definitely completely lacking in understanding social convention. Very nice really if he thought about it harder, but simply…irritating. That must've been how he got stuck in this situation. The younger girl must've boldly proposed doubling to Katie…when? Merlin knew.

He crept toward the stile, flitting in and out of shops and between buildings so he could make it to the rendezvous point undetected. James had promised they'd be there in…three minutes now. Strolling the village to start made a good excuse and given that few students ever went so far as the stile it was a place to make a clean break with maximum ease and minimum humiliation for Angie and her date. He'd seen her with some bloke he couldn't remember as they passed the initial vantage point Sirius had taken.

Voices. Had to be them. Well…it was just about his moment. He felt like a damned fool in this disguise, but hey, he had to stay anonymous somehow. Footsteps drew closer. Sirius drew his wand. Time for a bit of temporary nausea and a nice coughing fit. The boy looked like a perfectly proper lad. He'd excuse James and Katie and worry over his poor companion.

Stepping out with a roar, he was immediately blasted in the chest with a strong spray of water. He tried to blubber out retaliation through the stream, but then his legs were gone and he was floating, feeling his trousers swell like a balloon.

"Put me down!"

The only response was laughter as the pair of Ravenclaws began dropping him and catching him just before he hit the ground. After a few tries he was hit with one more blast of water from…somewhere…and then finally released, a soggy, bedraggled mess. Surrounded by laughter, he picked himself up and shook off, as much toward James as he could. The bastard.

"Thanks Robert," Katie said.

The boy nodded. "No problem. Nice to get one back on him. Especially since he was up to mess with Ang." He turned toward Sirius and shook his head before the pair walked off.

"What the hell, mate!"

James simply stared. Katie, beside him, covered her mouth with her arm trying to hide a fit of laughter. She seemed to be watching him nonetheless as he set about drying himself off. Finishing with his clothes he started tending his hair, which now lived up to the "mop" description his mother had always spat at him.

"Learned something, have you?" James asked.

"You said we were fine! I apologized!"

"We were. Are. Katie thought you needed to know she likes pranks too."

She winked.

He tried to keep scowling, but found it melting away for some reason. Uncrossing his arms he stepped forward and shook her hand. "Fair play to you…Sorry. Again."

"I think we're about even now," she said, "even if James did dissuade me from making this happen in the middle of the village."

A half-smile crept onto Sirius's face as he looked down at the drenched stones under his feet. "Best watch that one," he said. "She might be a keeper after all."

Across the village, Lily was dragging Alana into Scrivenshaft's very much against her will.

"Honestly, Lily? You're going to make me look at paper with you again?"

Lily scowled. "It's only for a moment. I promised Mum I'd write and I'm out of stationery."

"You don't need stationery."

"I know I don't need it," Lily sighed, "but I like using it. It's like telling people from the off that they're worth more than just a spare bit of parchment. Besides, I've seen you using it."

Alana rolled her eyes. "Under duress. I've been commissioned to help write wedding invitations. I thought they ought to save some money somewhere and use one of those Quik Quills that mimics the owner's handwriting, but apparently it isn't 'proper' to do."

"Of course it's not," Lily laughed. "I wouldn't use a typewriter."

Having finally gotten Alana – all crossed arms and arguments – out of the doorway, Lily ushered her forward past the aisles of school supplies and cheap items like scroll cases and paperweights. She'd always thought it was something of an odd set-up for a store that already received plenty of ridicule from students. First, it confronted people with items most were tired of seeing and using by their first trip. Then on top of it, the shelving made the spaces very closed and narrow. It wasn't until you moved almost a third of the way across the store that it opened into an expansive, welcoming space that eschewed shelves for orderly stacks on meticulously organized tables of varying heights that visitors could walk among.

Lily thought the tables were brilliant. Making selections was so much easier when you could look at the products from the top down, seeing them as you might if you were the recipient opening post at your table. Not to mention the various shapes and patterns that the proprietor and his son treated like an art form.

As she looked toward the window she saw that Alana, despite her grousing, had wandered off toward the section dubbed 'Professional Post' and was more than casually perusing the selections. At least she was taking a step forward with applications coming up. Lily knew better than to press the issue, but she'd started to worry that it was only she and Marlene talking about the subject. Alana didn't need to perhaps…her family was, like Marlene's quite wealthy, but she ran hot and cold on her mother's business and certainly had no interest in her father's.

She frowned. They didn't have her standard in stock. "Lucas?" she called.

"Lily! Such a pleasure to see you!" the older man took her by both arms. "Look at this. Hard to believe you're soon to graduate."

"I know," she said, smiling back. "It doesn't feel so long ago that I was here on my first trip to Hogsmeade."

"I feel like it's been that long we've been in here…" Alana muttered, suddenly behind her.

Lucas laughed. "I take it your friend doesn't share your enthusiasm for what we offer?"

"She pretends," Lily said, turning her head back around to look at her friend. "I saw you browsing over there. Looks like you've gotten something even."

"Obligatory."

"Of course," Lucas nodded. "Sarah will ring you out." He turned his attention back to Lily. "Now. What did you call me for?"

"Oh. I noticed you don't have the thirty weight pale."

"Ahh. Yes. A lot of Ministry notices going out lately. They've transitioned to that as it's more easily quick-printed. I believe I have a few left in back. Been holding them in reserve in case they claim we've undershipped, but I can part with one. Adding the usual styling?"

Lily nodded. "I really appreciate it, Lucas. It's not going to cause you trouble is it?"

"No, no," he insisted, "they're buying directly from the manufacturers now. We're just waiting our turn."

A few minutes later she was outside again, strolling off to meet Marlene.

"Took you long enough," Alana muttered.

"You be quiet," Lily scowled. "You've got a bag yourself haven't you?"

Alana stuck out her tongue.

The rest of the short walk to the Three Broomsticks was in silence as the two girls picked their way through the crowds of third and fourth years still on a high from the experience and the freedom to spend an entire weekend enjoying the village. As they approached, Lily's hopes that Marlene had already secured a table were dashed.

"Oi! Coming through!" Marlene barked as she tried to shove her way through the packs that were already waiting. Suddenly she rounded one of Craig Bamford's friends, a fellow Ravenclaw named Roger O'Flaherty. "Hands off you little blighter!"

The boy appeared to be trying to defend himself, but Marlene kept at him, the snarls and retorts being drowned out by the rising murmurs of the large crowd.

"Excuse me," Lily said, pressing forward. "Yes, thank you, excuse me…" She found the pair nose to nose, Marlene insisting he'd grabbed her arse and Roger, vehement in his denials, accusing her of trying to cut the queue. Lily grabbed the back of Marlene's robe. "We'll let you both sort out the details later, Roger," Lily smiled, pulling her friend away.

"What is wrong with you?" Marlene snapped.

Lily crossed her arms. "Me? I've just saved you – again – from coming to blows with someone."

"Someone who grabbed my arse!" she yelled back toward the crowd.

A collective "sod off, McKinnon" came back.

"Can you ever just get the table, Marlene?" asked Alana.

She groaned in response, smoothing her blonde hair back into place. "Well. Where are we going then?"

Alana looked askance at her. "I'm not doing the Hog's Head again…"

"Puddifoot's then? There are three of us," Lily offered.

Alana shrugged.

Marlene threw up her hands. "I'm not the obstacle. I've always liked their cupcakes."

"That's it then," Lily said, nodding curtly. "We're there for the cupcakes."

A/N: A relatively short update this time after a wholesale rewrite of the previous content which I felt did a serious disservice to all involved, without meaningfully resolving the conflict between Sirius and Katie or explaining how James's best friend came to terms with the relationship.

I also wanted to take a step forward in the process of revising the story to give a bit more depth to the friends of our co-leading ladies and their friendship independent of relationships. Though they'll gain addition dimension later, I felt that at chapter twenty-six exploration of them in a similar manner to the Marauder dynamic on occasion was both appropriate and overdue.

As always, thanks for reading! If you're enjoying the story, please leave a like if you haven't already and review below!