Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Happy Valentine's Day to all of you my dear readers! As I promised last chapter here is this one the very next day! This chapter was very tedious to write, but I enjoy how it turned out. Finally the fic pairing sailed, but I advise all of you to not expect things to go fast from now on. Much of the plot and subplots of the story will pass before the ship reaches its port. If ya know what I mean. This is not to discourage anyone. It's the journey, not the destination.

Two more things: 1. This is the fic's longest chapter to date. 2. This is the first time I post twice on the same week. HOOOOOORRRRAAAAAYYYYYYY!

Chapter 24: Valentine's in Hogsmeade.

"You've gone mental." Smugly warm in my cloak, Lily gritted her teeth as she stood next to me. She was dressed as cozy as me, but unlike me she had made a special effort for her date. There was no girl more pretty than her, with her wild red hair framing down to her back, as she looked at me trying hard not to glare. "I can't believe you're actually going through with this."

I ignored her, very aware that she was pacing to my side. She had been doing that since she got tired of waiting five minutes ago. After breakfast we had met by the doors of the Great Hall and we've walked together to the courtyard, where a large group of students of different years were waiting for permission to leave for Hogsmeade. I chose a stone half-wall to sit, and we were there when Uric Belby joined us. He and Lily exchanged some sweet words, and I expected them to leave when Filch came to lead the third years to the village. But they didn't. Lily insisted on staying with me until my date got there, and boy she was not happy that I had to wait even a second.

She went on. "Have you really not considered this to be a prank?"

"It's not a trick." I said for what felt like the hundredth time. I suppose I made the mistake of telling her too soon. When I went to Professor McGonagall's office to get my permission form, Lily was just exiting and she waited for me to go to dinner together. All was fine and dandy until I decided to tell her. Honestly, I didn't expect her to go ballistic at the news, though sure, I didn't think she would be too happy either. I tried to make her see the situation in our favor. I got money and she got to know that I got one over James. Win-win for the both of us. But no. She was not amused by any of it. The only reason she let the subject rest was because her dorm mates, Mary and Dorcas, had pulled her away from me after dinner so they could go prep for the next day. With a night of sleep, and the labor of getting beautiful bearing fruit, Lily was more level headed. She was still angry, but now she seemed to be trying to get me to my senses and not scolding me like a child.

"It's Sirius Black." There was an ultimatum in her voice, like it was supposed to be her heaviest argument.

Maybe I had been too impulsive with my decisions, the ones about agreeing to the date and telling Lily of it. Maybe it was a mistake. I knew the reputation that followed Sirius around, I had been well informed of it in my first weeks in Hogwarts, and hell I had experienced it secondhand various of times around school, but I didn't think of them when I took my decisions. I just went for it. The fact of the matter was that I didn't care enough to face the consequences and maybe I should have, if only to have Lily give the topic a rest. "We've been through this, Lily."

"Not enough." This time she went to stand in front of me, our little stand-off making eyes dart our way. Most of the people left in the courtyard, were students waiting for their dates, or students making their way out of school. I stared at the green fire in her face, and for a moment I felt my resolve weaken. I sometimes couldn't deal with their intensity. "You don't know him like I do Faraday. You've been here less than a year. You don't know how many girls he's been through."

"I told you this is just to win a bet."

She raised her hands to her hips, taping her feet on the ground, as she bit her lip in what I could only imagine was frustration. Looking away, Lily took a deep breath before returning to me. This time she was more calculating with her words. "As much as I enjoy any activity at Potter's expense, that's not leverage enough to get me to be alright with this. I don't trust Black."

I remained silent, because honestly I thought this had nothing to do with her. Sure, I appreciated her concern, enjoyed it even, but I made a choice and I was going to go through with it.

Lily tried a different approach, one that she hadn't used on me the night before. I was not too happy with this one and it took me a moment to prevent it from bothering me. "What about Peter? Haven't you considered this could hurt him?"

"Yes I have, but he's had more than a month to get over his feelings of me. And this isn't a real date with emotions and stuff." I felt the need to state what I thought was the obvious. I had no feelings for no one, and this date wasn't any indication that it had changed. Peter knew my reasons if he had been listening to our conversation the night before, and in my eyes I'm pretty sure I made things clear with Sirius too. Whatever his intentions were with 'taking the bird in the white dress to Hogsmeade for Valentines', he should know now where I stand.

A few more minutes went by as we waited. "What if he stands you up?" Lily demanded out of nowhere.

"Give it a rest, wont you Lily?" Uric spoke up, the first words he had said since he got there. He had been mildly interested in what was happening between us, and he got the gist of it before Lily began berating me. Sitting on a close bench, he sighed as Lily turned her glare to him. He met her with patience and I was impressed that he didn't buckle under the intensity of green fire. "Look, here they come."

Raising his arm, he pointed to the door of the school. Sure enough, the Marauders came.

They took their sweet time walking toward us, James leading the pack with his disgruntled look, only this time in warm muggle clothing. They all wore them, and for a second I feared I might look too odd with witch robes. I didn't have any other type of clothing, aside the jumper Lily gave me, and my bellowing skirt clashed fashion-wise, but that thought evaporated away. We were going to an all wizard village that neighbored a school that taught witchcraft and wizardry, they were the odd ones out in their muggle fashion.

My eyes landed on Peter as he came close with his friends, and I resisted the urge to feel awkward. There was no reason. I refused to let it bother me, even if I was in the wrong, but what I told Lily earlier was my main thought. More than a month had gone by, and all around it, I was extremely clear as to what my feelings were. The fact that he was a boy and I paid him special attention did not mean I fancied him.

There was no hostility in the Marauders as they stood in front of Lily and I, in a form of stand-off. James did his best to get Lily's attention, but her previous mood had not changed, heck it had gotten more territorial with their arrival. Remus gave me a smile, as Sirius took a step toward me. We regarded each other further, Sirius by my side. I smiled up at him too, and that seemed to disconcert him a bit. Lily on the other side of him said nothing as she stared at us, making a face. Why she was still there, I did not know, but since it was Lily I didn't mind at all.

I turned to James, holding up my hands together toward him. "Money please."

The boys snickered; even Peter couldn't help showing some teeth. That small act gave me peace of mind that at least as friends we would be fine.

James pouted, relenting after a push from Remus.

Once our group entered Hogsmeade, Sirius and I were left alone. Lily and Uric hurried away to whatever they intended to do for the visit, and Peter, James and Remus stalked off to fill their own schedule.

I felt the need to take in everything with just one look as I stood at Hogsmeade's entrance waving at them goodbye. The village, with its cottages and shops was a delight to the eye as it was filled with buzzing life. There were students all around the High Street, talking, running, looking through windows and entering buildings. There were throngs of witches and wizards, alone, in pairs or with their young children going about in their daily life. It reminded me of a less hectic version of Diagon Alley. I had only visited Diagon Alley two times since my arrival in the summer, and the first time I had been unconscious so it didn't really count, but the second had been such a marvelous affair. I was there for buying my school supplies, and though Dumbledore, who had accompanied me, gave me space and encouraged me to explore, I couldn't do much for lack of time.

"What do you want to do?" Sirius interrupted my train of thought, and I turned around to where I heard his voice. He stood behind me, waiting, a tall slim figure with a bored look on his face. That didn't bother me; it was his normal day to day expression. If he regretted his decision of having this date already, I couldn't tell nor did I care. I was planning on having loads of fun, and I considered Black lucky to have the honor of witnessing it.

"I want to go to a couple places. Lily wrote the names down." I fumbled with my cloak, trying to find the pockets of my robes. I felt around for the smooth, crispness of paper, and after I found what I was looking for, I handed him the parchment. "Here,"

Sirius took the paper, reading from it out loud. "Get chocolate wands, Jelly Slugs and Sugar Quills in Honeydukes; make Black pay for them. See the Shrieking Shack; don't go in, no matter what that idiot tells you. Have coffee in Madam Puddifoot's. Tomes and Scrolls; for extracurricular or leisurebooks, I recommend the Muggle fantasy section. Look around Zonko's; don't buy anything, they sell overrated rubbish, like your date." He was looking up to me from the parchment, holding it out as if he wasn't interested in it any more. "Evans sure has a sense of humor, doesn't she?"

"Leave her alone." I took the paper from his hand to finish reading from it. "And the last one is to have butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks. And I'll have the Hogsmeade experience in one day."

Making a face that made me assume that he thought my words to not be likely, he pushed his hands into his pockets as I contently looked at him, waiting. "So what do you want to do first?"

"I don't know. What do you recommend?"

"Let's do what Evans says. Honeydukes is this way." Shrugging as he spoke, he began to lead the way and I followed.

Last night, as I ignored the need to pull an all-nighter to read Dumbledore's books, I decided that I was gonna force my date into being a good one. I was excited for the visit to Hogsmeade, and I would be damned if I allowed Sirius Black to ruin it for petty reasons like awkwardness or his bored at everything attitude. I knew him to be a fun loving guy, sure, but that was with his friends, not me. Though I was pretty comfortable around him, even now as I followed him down the street to a very colorful shop, I barely knew the guy. In the times when I ended up hanging with the Marauders he barely talked to me, and when he did it was to comment uninterestedly about something I said. It wasn't anything bad of course, but it let me to form a plan for our betted date. To prevent my time from being soured or to keep him to be mislead, I decided I was going to treat him as I treated Lily. I thought about adding my dynamic with Peter to the plan, but that had gotten me a confession and mixed feelings from him, and the last thing I wanted to do was somehow end up with Sirius Black confessing to me.

So I would treat him like I did Lily, force myself into it if it was too hard and try to make the best of it. Who knows, maybe I'll end up being best friends with him.

Honeydukes was wonderful. It was crammed full with students getting sweets, but somehow still manageable. I grabbed lots of things as I went around. I didn't limit myself to just the ones on the list. My arms got piled with two boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs and bags of Fudge Flies, crystallized pineapples, Nougats, peppermint toads and Wizochocs. I took some for Lily and Peter who were always sharing their treats with me. It was already high time for me to repay them. I dumped them next to the register when it was time to pay. They were bagged for me as I was told the total, and Sirius, who was standing next to me and I had completely forgotten that was with me, handed money to the man behind the register.

I pushed his hand away, but the man had already taken Sirius' money. "What are you doing? I have money!" I showed him James' galleons as I was holding them in my hand ready to be used.

He almost shrugged, "Evans told you to have me pay."

"But—"

"Too late, Nolan." He said as he grabbed my prepared bag of sweets and turned around to head directly to the exit. "Now to the Shack."

I wanted to be mad by the money spending I wasn't allowed to do, but as Sirius led me out of Hogsmeade, I forgot about it. We walked out the village up a slope, I was so interested in everything else; there was little point in thinking about milk that hadn't even been spilled. It took a while to get to the Shrieking Shack, and the climb up the hill tired me off. As we were reaching our destination, I saw a strange building looming and got the feeling of déjà vu.

"It's one of the most haunted houses in all of Britain." Sirius commented choosing a large dead trunk to sit on.

I remained put, unable to look away from the house. The house was creepy looking, with its strange crooked features, the boarded windows and the overgrown grounds. Behind it in the distance began the Forbidden Forest, as menacingly infamous as the house so close to it. "I've seen this place before."

"Have you?" I didn't understand Sirius' tone.

I didn't look back at him; my stare was transfixed on the Shack as I tried to pinpoint just why I felt that way. "Yeah, but I don't really remember when. It almost seems like an old dream."

Sirius was silent for a moment after I spoke. "We brought you here once." His words made me turn to him instantly, the first time I had looked at him since landing my eyes on the house. He still held my bag from Honeydukes, dangling it between his bent legs as he regarded me on his seat. "Back in December, on the full moon."

And just with that, the memories came back to me.

"Of course! I remember now. You guys were acting so strange, leading me to the house." The pictures in my mind were hazy, but then again, everything was hazy to me when it came to my time under the full moon's influence. But I could remember the werewolf going inside clearly. "Why though? Did you guy want to scare the life out of me?"

He shook his head. "It's not really haunted, you know. The Shrieking Shack is where Remus comes to transform, Dumbledore had it made for it. There's a tunnel under it that leads to school."

"Where's the entrance?" I smiled to mask my slight curiosity.

"Under the Whomping Willow." His words made me remember Christmas with Peter and the night he had tried leading me to the tree without never really telling me why he wanted to. So that's why. He had wanted to show off the Shrieking Shack to me. And much like the occasion with them in animal form, I had refused to go for reasons I couldn't quite explain with depth. That left me wondering. Sirius continued talking, his brow knotted. "Why didn't you follow us inside? You always follow us."

"I didn't want to." My ordinary answer made his eyes widen a bit, making me feel it might had been a strange reply. "Why did you guys want me in there, though?"

Sirius cleared his throat before speaking, the wait making me a tad curious again. I normally didn't think of what I did during the full moon, but since it was already under discussion, I couldn't keep myself form wanting to know, even if it was just for a little bit of information. "To try to figure out who you were. The plan was to go in the house; one of us would lead you in the tunnel, and change back and talk to you."

"You wouldn't have gotten anything out of me. I get so stoned I can't even recognize my own voice." My words made him smirk, and because of the absurdity of them, I did the same thing.

With that I continued looking to the house.

We entered Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop and there was a bell that announced our arrival on the door. The decorations caught my eyes instantly, and it was impossible for me to look at everything at once without inducing a headache that would put the ones I got while doing blood knowledge, to shame.

Everything was extravagant to points beyond reasoning, and they made Slughorn's Christmas party look like a humble affair by comparison. It was a small space to begin with, but it looked abysmally smaller with the more than a dozen round tables and even more chairs, decorated with lacy napkins, doilies and fine delicate china. There were golden cherubs over every table, hovering in their diapers bearing witness to all that happened. The shop seemed to be filled to capacity with teenagers from Hogwarts, many in the process of holding hands, looking sweetly into each other's eyes and kissing, but Madam Puddifoot's insisted on there being enough space for Sirius and I.

I looked around as I followed the owner with difficulty between tables in the overcrowded tea shop, Sirius closely behind me. At the other side where we were being led, sat Lily and Uric, huddled up together talking. Lily was just the girl I was looking for, and I stared hoping that she would feel me looking.

When her eyes met mine, I smiled and waved and she did the same, although not as enthusiastically as me.

When we took our assigned seats, and Madam Puddifoot had our orders, one of the golden cherubs hovering over our table went off, showering Sirius and I in pink confetti. I laughed at the whole ordeal cupping my hands to catch the pink papers. Others around me weren't as delighted. To the couple having their date next to our table, the confetti landed on their beverages, making the boy grunt exasperated as he fished them out. Sirius for one was shaking the papers from his shoulder length hair. I didn't have such problems, the pink confetti slipped off my pushed back hair and bun without me even having to shake my head.

Sirius drummed his fingers on his knees as a few minutes of waiting went by. The tables were so small, and his legs so long that his movement not only caused the whole table to vibrate, but also for his knees to scratch against mine. "Stop it."

The motions stopped instantly, as his attention was brought to me as I sat across for him. He gave me an apologetic look.

I watched as he stared around with that bored looking expression of his. It took another minute of waiting for me to yet again begin to feel minor vibrations from under the table. I felt Sirius shift his legs around, and with the lack of space one ended up pressed against one of my legs. I couldn't take the moving around anymore. "What's the matter?"

I saw him hesitate, looking at me. Was he considering not telling me anything, or was he considering telling me? Either way, I understood that he had every right to keep silent. We weren't friends. But he ended up speaking. "A couple of exes are giving me the stink eye."

Of course they were. "Which ones?"

"There, there," He went out to point five more different girls, all with dates. Sure enough, I saw their eyes dart to my date more than any of them would care to admit, I imagined. Their companions didn't notice anything, whether it was because they couldn't tell or they were so much in love, well I could only wonder. Some of them glared at me, too, and for a moment I regretted on going anywhere with Sirius Black. Then I remembered that I was already being used for fake rumors, and whether I wanted to or not, people saw me around school with him.

"You said a couple." I said to myself as I chuckled. Lily was right, he had been through a lot of girls and I only needed to look around the tea shop to see a score of them. With that I began to feel uncomfortable. "Alright, as soon as were done with the coffee, we leave."

There was relief in his face. He grabbed my closest hand in his, his eyes shining in that way that all the other Marauder's eyes shone the same with mischievousness. It was a trademark of theirs, I decided right then and there as I resisted the urged to instantly take my hand away before he spoke. "You are the best date I've ever had."

I squirmed my hand out of his, moving to point at him with it as an excuse to pull away. It was a good excuse and I went with it because a part of me wanted to be respectful and nice to him, and not show how bothered I was with the sudden action. "You can bet on that."

I didn't know if my words were really that funny, but in a second, the whole coffee shop was booming with Sirius' barking mad laughter.

We were coming out of Tomes and Scrolls after spending two hours in there looking through books, and I marveled at how so far we hadn't run into any of the other Marauders, not even on the street. Sirius was still carrying my Honeydukes bag, refusing to let me carry my own burden in the name of chivalry, he said. After the book store, he carried another one with two muggle novels I had decided on buying. This time Sirius didn't intervene to pay for me, and I felt good handing in my easily won money to the lady at the register. My mind went to Lily's letter, she had not written there for him to pay; however, I also had the thought that he was too sluggish to keep up. Not that I intended to let him pay for anything.

But no, he was laden with a bit of sleep in his eyes as we came out of Tomes and Scrolls because he had taken the time I took to browse to nap. I didn't think anything of it, I was glad for it for that meant leisure time for me to look around. Sirius sat in a corner when he got tired of my antics before half an hour from entering the store had gone by, whilst I read every title possible on the shelves. Anytime I went to check that he was still there, his head would pop up to look at me, having felt my steps. He would lay back down as if nothing disturbed him when I walked away to continue looking. It was funny, how much he mimicked the behavior of his dog form.

As we walked to our next destination, the Post Office caught my eye and I stopped to watch through its windows. The dozen upon dozen of every breed imaginable of owls was dazzling. I looked at each one, hoping that I had enough money to buy one of every kind. At that moment I decided that once I opened up my vault in Gringotts, the first galleons I would spend would be on an owl. So I could write to Lily and Peter without having to pay.

Involuntarily, I felt my head move back, and it took me a second to realize that someone was pulling on my bun. The twisted coil of hair at the back of my head didn't give away with the strain, and I slapped away the hand I felt had pulled me. I turned around to Sirius' nonchalant stare.

I glared. "That's was rude."

His shoulders went up and down with his lack of caring. "You're too slow."

"It's called being appreciative." I was angry for a few seconds, what right did he think he had by doing that? I should have given him a good chew, however I made the mistake of glancing at the owls again, and that evaporated. I was sad now that I had to leave. With what I can only describe as a forlorn look, I forced my eyes away from the Post Office's windows, and to the next store. "Is this Zonko's?"

Zonko's Joke Shop was as crowded as Honeydukes had been with Hogwarts students. There were jokes and tricks around the store, many brands names I remembered reading in Filch Banned Items list.

I passed around the racks and barrels of different sorts of items at a leisured pace with Sirius following awfully close in the filled store. I stopped to read a label and turned to the side to stare. I was looking at a barrel full of dungbombs, glaring at them more like it, and hating on the odor and all the baths in special potions I had to take to get smell off. I knew it wasn't their fault, but little would it do demanding anything from the four Gryffindors that had played the prank on my house. I tried not to glare at my date.

In my appreciation I heard the giggles of girls close by, and I turned around to watch a group of fourth years looking with dreamy eyes my way. For a second I wondered why, but then I remembered with who I was there with. I looked at Sirius, who was looking at them. He gave me the impression that he liked very much the attention he was getting. My suspicions were right when I saw him wink before turning back to me. I heard the girls shriek amongst them, and as my eyes met with his, I began to laugh to the absurdity of it all. I laughed at his smooth actions toward the girls, how they seemed to work magic and my mad decision on going on that date. "Oh so it's true, you are a flirt."

Sirius didn't miss a beat in replying, his face as normal as ever, not abashed or anything. "I prefer the term charming." With that, in a graceful wave of his arm, he pulled a flower from his coat's sleeve and presented it to me. "A flower for the lady, though its beauty is nothing compare to yours."

I scoffed, far from annoyed at the cheesy antics. I knew he was joking and recognizing the flower for one of the items they sold in that very store, I tried hard not to laugh. No wonder he had so many exes. He had more charm than Charms class. "Stop, I can't handle such flirting."

He threw the flower away without a second thought, a smirk on his face, and I followed as it landed on the barrel of dungbombs. "You know who can't handle flirts either? James."

"No!" I said amusingly playing into his words and ignoring the eyes we had on us after his last stunt. "I thought you were going to say Peter or Remus, but Potter? I would think he's up there with you in the shameless department."

"There is no one that can compare to me. Not even Prongs." He said with a smug shake of his head. "Try teasing him if you get the chance. He'll turn crimson."

When I turned away to look at what Sirius referred to 'kiddie toys', he insisted on giving me the Marauder tour of the best items for troublemaking. He began with the ones they used at the 'beginning of their carrier' and went on to the ones they used now. Though, after saying that he insisted that they used them sorely for harmless fun. I choose a couple of them as I went, all at the instruction of Black who knew them all by heart. Not that I planned on using any of them on anyone, not even the Frog Spawn Soap, although it would be fairly easy to just forget about it in the bathroom of my dorm. I offered to buy him anything he wanted, for I felt a tad bad that he had busied himself with giving me the tour around the store and had not gotten himself anything. He refused, claiming that Remus and Peter had a list with everything he wanted.

After leaving Zonko's, I got a bit chilly outside as the sky had filled itself with clouds. The thought of rain dampened my spirits, but Sirius insisted if it did pour it would be later when we were back in the castle. So we hurried to the Three Broomsticks to wait for the boys as we had intended at the start of the day.

Like all the other buildings, there were a lot of people lingering inside the tiny inn. Residents and students filled the room, and I even caught a glance of my Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Kettleburn. I was following Sirius' broad back as he led us to an empty table at the back of the pub. As it was warm and smoky and filled with noise, I pulled off my cloak as soon as I could. "So this is where they sell the toastbeer."

"You mean butterbeer." Sirius corrected me. He put my bags under the table, indicating for me to sit on one of the bare seats.

"Sure that. How much is it?" I ask as I went to fish a bunch of knuts and sickles from my pocket that I had gotten as change. I sat for a moment as I looked, damning to hell that my robes were so large and therefore created too many folds of fabric. Lily had offered to lend me some clothes, but accepted my gentle rejection when she realized that action might entice Sirius. Not that her clothes were immodest, but she feared that the drastic change from wizard to muggle clothes might cause a reaction that she didn't approve off.

"A couple of sickles."

"O-ho I'll buy us a round now, and then another for the rest of the guys when they get here." I was very content with myself and my plan. Especially considering that I could use the gesture to pay the boys' thoughtfulness. Like Lily and Peter, the Gryffindor boys shared their goods with me no questions asked, and not expecting anything in-return. I had to pay it back somehow. I wanted Lily to appear around to, so I could get her something too.

Sirius waved his hand and it was then that I realized he hadn't sit down. He had remained standing. "Don't stress it. I'm paying for us."

"No, no. I'm treating you. What do you want?" I was counting what I had in my hand, but then I decided against it and handed him what I held. Not moving, and not taking what I offered, he made an annoyed looking face.

"We're on a date, Faraday. I'm supposed to pay."

"Says who?"

"Normal date etiquette?" He shrugged as he said it.

"This isn't a normal date. Besides you insisted on paying for all my treats." Now I was the one getting annoyed, though I think mine was of the more angry variety than his, but that didn't last. I closed my hand over my money, and stood, pushing my chair back to scrap on the floor. "I'm buying you a bloody drink. Now tell me what you'll like."

We had a staring contest for a moment, and I tried to invoke the kind of strength Lily dished out against Potter. It was harder with Sirius. James didn't have pools of magical grey waters to willingly drown you in. But, Sirius relented a second later. "I'll have a butterbeer too then."

I stood with a self-satisfied grin and went for the bar, glad that he hadn't made a fuss.

As I waited for the bar lady to give me my drinks, I realized that I had a fun date. I hadn't thought the date would be so good, and that I would enjoy Sirius' company. As much as I tried to ignore Lily's negative words, I did think of them once or twice. This date was a recipe for disaster in every aspect of my life, but so far it was great. If it caused trouble down the road, which I knew it would, so be it. I won bet money, I got to see James Potter's pouting face, I had a marvelous first visit in Hogsmeade, and I had a date with a fun person that was open enough so our day together wouldn't turn awkward. All was great.

I returned with two foaming mugs of hot butterbeer.

I was just finishing up my mug when the rest of the guys arrived and sat on our table. We had to squish together to fit on it, but once they settled, Peter went to get the boys a drink. I slipped two galleons unto his hand as he went. James and Remus settled on the other side of the table, as Sirius had moved himself and my bags to sit on my side. Potter eyed us, looking me over particular with what I felt was exaggerated detail.

"How's the date? Had fun spending my money?"

"It's been loads of fun." Sirius answered his mate with the same annoyed tone, James had used. "What about your stalking?"

"I hope you didn't ruin Lily's date with that." I said more of a treat than anything. Not that I would be able to do anything about it. There was no leverage I posed to use against him, as far as I could come up with that didn't have to do with his animagus form. To speak of that would be to get him and the other Gryffindors in horrendous trouble and I didn't want something so heavy in my conscience.

James didn't look at me as he spoke, he didn't really look at anyone. He set his gaze on the table, and softly uttered his words. "I don't even think she noticed me"

"Were they too busy snogging?" Sirius, though still sounding mocking to me, was more subdued this time.

James made a face of disgust.

"It looked more like an intense conversation." Remus commented in a thoughtful sounding tone.

That hung there between us, but if it was meant to be further discussed, it lost its time frame. Though, honestly, I had no intention of continuing to talk about my best friends' love life to teenage boys, one which happened to have a massive infatuation with her. Lily would hate me if I did, and that was not worth anything.

Carrying more drinks than he should have even brought, Peter deposited them in the table, managing to not spill a single drop. The boys grabbed their drinks as soon as they were placed down.

"Peter, what did you do today?" I asked as he sat to take a sip of his drink.

After that we had a couple more rounds together and spent in the Three Broomsticks the rest of the time we had allowed in Hogsmeade.

. . .