A/N: This one's a little more light-hearted. Enjoy!

WC: 1,071

Sirius knows he shouldn't stay, but when Cissy's friend says 'Gryffindor', he can't help himself; he needs to know more. Cissy asks him to go, but he doesn't; and she can't make him. Well, except if she threatens a house-elf into locking him into his room, but he figures she doesn't feel like having to deal with that too.

Sirius knows he can get his way as long as the physical punishment comes, Mother has taught him that. And he knows very well that Cissy is an annoying snob but she'll never lift a hand on him. Whether it's because she thinks he's inferior, or because for some strange reason the fact that he's family makes him untouchable; he doesn't know. The point is, Cissy won't hurt him. He's not too sure about Bella though. And as for Meda… Meda would never, ever hurt him. She's the best of all his cousins.

So, there he is, in the drawing room, listening to Clarisse Belby – Cissy's friend – cry her heart out over another stupid Slytherin because he left her for a Gryffindor. He tries not to burst with the questions he has, he wants to know everything about those Gryffindors.

But as the two girls get more and more riled up against the Gryffindor girl, he figures he's not going to get much out of them. Mildred Prewett, he gathers, is that 'pudgy red-head'. He likes the Prewetts. He once met Fabian at an event Mother and Father dragged him too. Mother told him to stay clear from them, so of course he went to see them. Fabian laughed at one of his pranks. It was nice.

So: no Gryffindor. But he figures he can still get some of Hogwarts out of this Clarisse. Cissy will glare at him, but she won't do anything to stop him. Therefore, he waits for a moment where Clarisse seems to have calmed down so that he can start to question her. He's sat perfectly still for the past half-an-hour, making sure they forget him – well, Cissy clearly hasn't forgotten him, but Clarisse probably has.

"Show him you couldn't possibly care about him," Cissy recommends fiercely.

"But how?" Clarisse asks.

Okay, as you can see, most of the conversation is incredibly boring and he couldn't possibly care less about Antiochus or whatever his name is. He's just a guy – an idiot – but honestly, if they could stop talking about him it would be rather nice.

"Make him jealous?" she offers.

"But with whom?" Clarisse asks.

But with whom, Sirius repeats in his head with a high-pitched voice. Come on, he thinks.

"I know Orpheus Selwyn has a crush on you."

"He a fourth year, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what basic hygiene is."

"Someone older then?"

"Yes, but I don't know who. Lucius Malfoy?"

Cissy frowns. Clarisse doesn't notice it but Narcissa's got something she hasn't said. "I don't think so."

"Why ever not?" Clarisse asks. "He's good-looking and ridiculously wealthy; Antiochus would be absolutely jealous."

Cissy shakes her head. "He'd never look your way, Clarisse. You know as well as I do he's only got eyes for Jesenia Shafiq."

See that unspoken thing is there again.

"It needs to be someone older," Clarisse decides.

"Well," Cissy says with a little smile, "If you're looking for older I guess you could always go after… a professor."

"Cissa!" Clarisse shrieks, and they're both giggling.

"You could consider it," Cissy points out. "Slughorn?"

Sirius perks up. They're talking about Hogwarts professors! Dsicreeetly, he inches closer to the two girls. "Who's Slughorn?" he asks quietly.

"The Potions master and head of Slytherin," Clarisse explains, despite the glare that Cissy has given him, "And no way, Cissy, he's creepy, collecting his students the way he does. My sister tells me the Slug Club meetings are always so awkward."

"But at least he's a Pureblood."

"He's old old," says Clarisse. "I'm not sure that's what we're going for."

Slughorn. Sirius notes: Head of Slytherin and Potions Master. Hopefully, the man won't be his head of house. And while he certainly sounds… interesting, Sirius doesn't think he'd be the sort of student he would 'collect' whatever that means.

"He's not old old, Clarisse. Not compared to Dumbledore," Cissy says and they both burst out laughing.

"Dum-Dumbledore!" Clarisse exclaims.

"Who's Dumbledore?" Sirius asks. He knows the name, of course. Mother and Father regularly complain about him, saying that 'Grandfather Phineas would be so disappointed', so he knows he's the headmaster of Hogwarts, but he wants to learn more about him.

"He's the Headmaster," Clarisse says, "But he's like, 150 years old!"

"And definitely not a Pureblood," adds Cissy.

"But then again, he is a rather powerful wizard."

"And a Gryffindor."

Gryffindor? The Headmaster is a Gryffindor? Sirius suddenly wants to know even more about this Headmaster. And powerful? He's in awe, who is this Dumbledore?

"Can you imagine," says Clarisse, then she takes a strange high-pitched voice, "Oh, professor Albus, I've been very naughty."

"Clarisse!" Cissy exclaims but they burst into peals of laughter, Clarisse's tears are now of a complete different nature.

"Oh no, oh no!" says Clarisse, "I've got it! Professor Flitwick."

"No!" shrieks Cissy.

Sirius frowns. They've stopped talking about Dumbledore, which is a shame, he'd rather hear more about him. But the laughs are just as bad as the tears, he won't be able to get a thing out of them.

"He's our Charms professor," Clarisse explains to Sirius between guffaws.

"He's part goblin," Cissy adds, and they both laugh even harder. "Can you imagine your children, tiny little midgets running around!"

"No, stop!" Clarisse says, bending over.

"Oh, I'm sure Antochius would be jealous!"

This sobers them down a little bit more, but they look each other in the eye, and once again, they're laughing just as hard all over again. Sirius is thoroughly bored now.

"Have you started his essay yet?" Clarisse asks.

"I wrote out a plan for it, but it's pretty bad," Cissy admits. Then she mutters under her breath: "Filius, look at our adorable baby goblins."

Clarisse barks out, and Narcissa joins her. And at that moment, Meda walks into the room, back from wherever she was and look at the scene in wonder.

"What's so funny," she asks.

"Charms essays," Cissy simply says and they both double over again.

"They're absolutely crazy," Sirius says, and Meda smiles, still confused, but amused.