Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! So, in this chapter, there's a lot of Sirius, and when I say a lot, I mean it. So… Joule belongs to me. Nothing else. Feel free to scream, shout, whisper, holler, comment, mutter, or just say something! The freedom of speech is highly enforced here.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

'We need to talk' is never a good phrase. Especially when paired with 'now.'

It foreshadows something ominous, something you probably really don't want to know or find out but the other person feels the urgent and dire need to tell you.

This is why, sometimes, you feel the urge to slap a person when they say this particular phrase.

Or tremble in terror.

Or burst into tears.

Or kick them in the shins.

Or headbutt them down a corridor and run away.

Or smile politely and then spit in their face.

Or flip them the bird.

Unfortunately to the excitement of my life, I did none of these actions when I heard the phrase spout almost monstrously from Sirius's mouth. I simply followed him out the Great Hall, wondering what the hell could have warranted this particular phrase.

Okay, I didn't really follow him. He dragged me out of the Great Hall.

I was dragged. Eugh, how lame. Pathetic. I should've at least made a scene just so some people would've gotten a laugh out of it.

Oh, well.

Sirius dragged (again, really?) me into an empty classroom, slamming the door behind him. He was glaring at me quite fiercely too, as if I'd put his beloved broomstick in a wood chipper and made him watch. Then again, he probably didn't know what a wood chipper was in the first place. Guess he would find out.

"So…" I began, trying to be as nonchalant as possible while twiddling my thumbs at a breakneck pace. Sirius clearly didn't look like he was going to start the conversation from the absurd look on his face. "Something wrong?"

Yeah, that was nonchalant. Not.

"Something wrong?" Sirius repeated, mocking my heartfelt nonchalant-esque phrase. "Is that all you have to say? Something wrong?"

I coughed, flinching from the ice in his voice. Something really must be wrong with him if he was this mad. "Um, yeah. That's all I got, Sirius. What's up with you?"

He shook his head disbelievingly, his shaggy black hair swishing. His voice was still cold. "I can't believe you. You actually thought that I wouldn't find out, didn't you? You're such an idiot sometimes, Joule. Such an idiot."

"Okay." I was getting annoyed now, especially now that the name-calling had begun. "Just spit it out, won't you? This is getting old."

"Fine then." Sirius said, leaning against the door. "I heard a funny rumor today; actually Walden Macnair came up and practically spat it in my face. He said that earlier today my lovely little cretin of a brother, and these are his words, not mine, 'gave my Mudblood the good ole Crucio and taught her a lesson until she was squealing like a pig.' Ringing any bells?"

Ding, ding, ding! The subject I wanted most not to talk about!

"I didn't squeal like a pig." I retorted. "I was more of the 'silently writhed in pain' type."

Sirius's jaw flexed, and I could see him literally hold back his anger. His voice was deceptively calm. "So it was true, this rumor."

I gulped. "Yes."

"And this happened. My brother performed the Cruciatus Curse on you."

"Yes." I couldn't deny it.

His hands were shaking, I could see them. "And you didn't tell me this because?"

I shrugged, feeling on edge. "I handled the situation. It was dealt with; I figured little Reggie wouldn't squeal about it, but apparently not."

"Little Reggie?" Sirius spat, losing it. He strode forward towards me. "Little Reggie tortured you. My brother tortured you. Bloody hell, Joule, he used an Unforgivable Curse on you! And you just shrug it off like its nothing?!"

"I did win the duel." I pointed out wisely, or so I thought. "I beat his little Slytherin ass good."

Sirius grabbed my shoulders, shaking me slightly. "He could have killed you, Joule, don't you realize that? He could have killed you. He isn't Little Reggie anymore. I don't even know him anymore! Why the bloody hell would you duel with him?"

"I don't know." I began shakily. "He kept talking and made us out to be scum, like he was better than us or something. It got on my nerves, and I wanted to wipe the smirk off of his face, that's all."

Sirius stopped shaking me, and his gray eyes softened. His fingers still clung to my shoulders, gripping them with some importance.

"Joule," Sirius said lowly. "You're worth a million of him. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." I waved off the comment, stepping back from him and his embrace. Those annoying flutters in my stomach had started up again, and for the life of me, I wanted them to stop. They made me feel…nervous. Which happened to be the number one emotion I never wanted to be around Sirius.

"Joule, I'm serious." He stepped forward, trying to close the gap between us that I'd made. He looked a little anxious, which was curious; I was just glad he'd gotten over his anger already.

I smirked at him, side-stepping. "You know, there's only so many times that pun's going to work, Sirius. Isn't that a little first year?"

Sirius side-stepped in tandem with me, placing himself a handbreadth in front of me again. "I'm not joking, idiot." He smirked a little, tapping my nose. "For once, I'm not actually playing the Sirius card. You really are worth a million of that brat, hands down and cheeks up."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "And how many of you am I worth?"

"Just one." His smirk widened.

I flicked him on the nose. "Prat. I see how it is."

Sirius caught my hand, snatching it out the air, and quickly pulled me into a tight, sudden hug. My face ended up smashed into his chest, which I couldn't help but remember felt very, very nice to touch. His mouth was against my ear, and I could feel his hot breath in long puffs.

"Just don't do that to me again." He whispered, his arms wrapped around me like vines that refused to let me go. "You can tell me stuff, you know that. Just don't go looking for trouble. Please?"

The heartfelt please at the end almost got me, almost melted me. But…not quite.

Because I'm Joule Quaid, that's what.

"You know," I said, my voice a tad muffled. "That might be hard, seeing as I hang out with trouble in the first place. He's this bloke that's quite difficult to ignore, very persistent actually. He calls himself my best friend, name starts with something like Sss…"

Sirius pulled me away from his chest and looked down at me, amused. "You know exactly how to ruin a moment, don't you? Must be a latent talent."

"And you know exactly how to pluck at someone's heartstrings, don't you?" I shot back, rolling my eyes. "It's like you think I don't know you or something; it's quite insulting actually. I know your moves, Sirius Black."

His grin grew wicked. "Not all of them, I believe, Miss Quaid." Which he then proceeded to follow up with an intense noogie to my head, grinding his fist into my scald. Oh, how it burned and scalded!

"Uncle!" I yelped and skipped away towards the door, absently checking the time. "Merlin! It's half past eight! Practice started thirty minutes ago! James is going to kill us!"

"Eh, I think he'll pull an exception for his two extremely good friends." Sirius sauntered over to me, swinging an arm over my shoulder to slow my scurrying and bring it to an even pace. "Especially when one of them has stolen his very handy, dandy Invisibility Cloak and won't give it back until such exception is given."

"Smart." I nodded approvingly. Slowing down my pace, I sauntered along with him willingly. "Let's take our time then, shall we?"

Sirius smiled, showing his white teeth. "We shall."

-0-0-0-0-0-

James was not pleased, not pleased at all. After all, both his Beaters did neglect to show up at the appropriate time of arrival, and as a team, this was considered lacking.

So, James Potter, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain was not happy. Especially when he found out he was being blackmailed, so we wouldn't have to fly the regulatory fifty laps for each minute of lateness.

Hehe, sorry James.

He was quite frustrated.

"Just go beat a Bludger between the two of you." He sighed dejectedly, holding his hand to his forehead at the connotations of blackmail. "Maybe it'll smash some decency into at least one of your brains. Don't be late again, or I'll hex both of you. And you're giving me the Cloak straight after practice, Sirius, and I mean straight after."

"Right-o, James-y boy." Sirius clapped him on the back wholeheartedly. "Good doing business with you, old chap."

"And we won't be late again." I added sweetly, just so I'd be the one on his good side. "We promise."

James gave us a smirk of his own. "You two are so full of shit, you know that? Shove off, the both of you. I'll see you after practice." He proceeded to fly epically off on his broomstick, flipping us the bird on his way out to managing the rest of the team's practicing.

"Well, that went well." I commented, still staring at James's retreating figure. "You think Lily talked to him today?"

"Screamed at him, more likely." Sirius said. "Though I suppose that counts as something in his book. Let's go fly; all this talk of the Head couple is making me nauseous."

"Agreed."

So, after changing into our flying gear, we took to the skies like birds of a feather. Sirius and I both loved flying like it was an addiction. Actually, that's exactly what it was.

A flying addiction.

Sirius and I were currently beating a Bludger between us (as per James's instructions) diligently, each slamming our lovely, little, stout bats into the crazy, bat-shit, enchanted ball. Essentially, it was a glorified, flying, mean-spirited basketball that took its revenge out on everyone on the field. We were the protectors of our team, the Beaters, and we took pleasure in the beatings to the ball we gave out.

Plus, we were damn-good at it too.

However, it was not flying nor beating a senseless, homicidal ball that occupied my thoughts at the moment. It was the deal that Lily and I had made. The deal in which she would ask out James and I…

Would find a date. By the end of this week.

And by Merlin, did I ever need help in this area.

"Hey, Sirius." I started innocently, contrasting highly with my loud slam of the Bludger against my bat. "I have a question."

"And I might have an answer, if I do so oblige your request." He responded, hitting the Bludger back to me with just as much force. He got extremely concentrated while playing Quidditch, so this innocent, nonchalant questioning might perhaps work. "Shoot."

"When girls..." I hesitated to choose my wording; luckily it was my turn to hit the Bludger, so it bought me some time. "Say, ask you out…how do they act exactly?"

I was going to kill myself. Metaphorically, of course, since I didn't want to die, but my dignity was shot. I could only hope Sirius thought this was a purely scientific question.

Sirius struck the Bludger squarely back. "Flirty, ditzy, clumsy, trying to be damsel-in-distress-like with their skirts hiked up and their top buttons open. It's rather quite pathetic actually, but it gets the job done…Why the sudden interest in my love life, Jou-jou?"

"Just curious." I muttered, parrying the blow with a powerful one of my own. I wished he would just drop it already; it was humiliating enough. "And shut up, Siri."

"Someone's defensive." He smirked, sending me a curveball. "Think a girl's flirting with you?"

"No!" I spat, quickly running through my mind for a possible alibi. "I was just asked by a friend to check and see if a girl was hitting on him, that's all."

"And who's this friend?"

"No one you know."

"I know everyone in this school, love. Try again."

I huffed, giving him a vicious look and a vicious Bludger in return. "Contrary to your personal opinion, it's none of your business. I told them I'd keep it a secret, idiot. Let it go."

"You know," He cocked an eyebrow, easily returning the Bludger. "I think you're too involved in this. You're reacting too much, Joule; I can read you like a book. There is no friend, is there?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I was internally panicking that he'd realized my master plan of getting advice for asking someone out. "Of course, I have a friend."

I mentally pictured Lily to the fullest of my imagination. I figured if I thought about it enough, I'd believe my own lie into reality. So, yeah, Lily was wondering if a girl was hitting on her…

This situation was definitely getting out of hand.

"I smell a liar!" He sang out, hitting the Bludger repeatedly and then sobered up quickly to give me a lingering stare. "Why do you want to know how those girls act, love? Trying to get closer to me?"

My stomach started to get those obnoxious, annoying flutters again. This had to stop. They had to stop.

"Everything doesn't revolve around you, Sirius!" I yelled, getting frustrated with him, with the flutters, with the lie, with the deal, and with everything. "You don't have to stick your bloody nose into everyone else's business all the bloody time! Merlin, it's like you have an addiction to drama or something, as if you don't have enough of it in your own life!"

"Tsk, tsk, Jou-jou." He waved a finger at me mockingly, while hitting the Bludger hard enough to fly into the far distance. "Now that wasn't nice, especially bringing up my family history. You're really worked up, aren't you?"

"Don't tell me how I feel!" I screeched, knowing that I was overreacting but unable to stop it. "And don't call me that idiotic nickname, you…you…"

"And now you can't come up with any nasty name to call me." He smirked, amused at my whole blow-up. "How droll."

"You're such a…" Words again failed me, but I saw my chance. The Bludger was plummeting back to me, and I swung for all I was worth. Towards the face of a smug Sirius.

Really. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

He didn't see it coming, he really didn't. One second, he was smirking at me, and the next second, the Bludger hit him square in the nose, causing a burst of blood to fly out, as well as his shout of surprise. He fell off his broom, spiraling down to earth helplessly. Sirius Black fell from his broom.

A first.

"SIRIUS!" I screamed and immediately dove after him. Wind buffeted me from all sides as I was nearly vertical on my broom in order to get to Sirius in time. From what I could see, he had been knocked out, so he wasn't even conscious as he fell. As I desperately watched his limp body continuing to fall towards earth, a stream of images flew into my head, flashbacks of every memory we'd had together.

Sirius and I going to Hogsmeade the first time.

Sirius making his first snowman with me.

Sirius and I's first Quidditch game as a team.

Sirius somehow navigating the bus system to come to my house, only to tell me how his parents kicked him out, angry and crying at the same time.

Sirius conducting an elaborate surprise party for my sixteenth birthday, involving the whole House of Gryffindor without me knowing.

Sirius teaching me a spell that I thought would do my homework for me, but instead turned my hair green for a week.

Sirius choosing me over a date with one of his girlfriends, because I was mad over my parents not acknowledging that I was a witch.

Sirius hexing every Slytherin that dared to call me a Mudblood.

Sirius and I watching the stars while avoiding James's wrath while hiding out on his own roof.

Sirius defending me against his parents when I had gone for a visit once.

Sirius and I meeting on the train, as two little lone first years…

-0-0-0-0-0-

I was sitting in a compartment towards the back of the Hogwarts Express, and I couldn't believe that this was happening. So much had happened in the past month; it wasn't even funny. I was a witch, a real witch! And I could use magic, and I was even going to a school that taught magic!

Granted, my parents didn't get it. They just allowed me to go; they weren't excited like I was. Simply put, they were confused and tried to analyze it, and then they gave up trying. So, this morning, they'd dropped me off at King's Cross with a couple hugs and drove away, leaving me to fend for myself.

It wasn't so bad. Really.

This compartment was just so big though. And a lot of the kids here already knew about magic; I'd seen them talking and laughing about it on the way back here to my compartment.

Okay, I was lonely and scared. But I tried my best not to show it. After all, who wants a lonely and scared-looking friend?

To pass the time, I played with my owl Newton that my parents had bought me yesterday with some puzzlement. They still didn't understand the idea of owling mail.

Chuckling at the remembrance of their expressions, I petted Newton fondly. His gray feathers tickled my fingers. He was my first magical friend so far.

The sliding of the compartment door jolted me suddenly out of my owl-induced haze.

"Hello!" A boy my age (eleven, if you were wondering) with scruffy black hair and eyes the color of Newton's feathers strode into the compartment as if he owned it. "You look lonely."

"And you look rude!" I snapped back, hugging Newton to me. "You didn't even ask if this compartment was free!"

"I assumed such," The boy plopped himself down in the seat opposite me. "Because you were alone and looking friendless."

"I do not look friendless." I muttered. I'd even been trying hard not to look friendless and confused for the past forty-five minutes, and thought I'd been doing a successful job of it.

"That's alright." The boy leaned forward, his gray eyes gleaming. "I don't have any friends either, not yet at least. I'm aiming to be friends with our whole class though, or try to be. I'm Sirius, by the way. Sirius Black."

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously; I wasn't sure of him yet. "Joule Quaid."

"Odd name." He mused, giving me an odd look to go with my name. "I haven't heard of it before."

"Well, I haven't heard of the name Sirius before either." I said, still hugging Newton. "So you're one to talk."

"It's a constellation." He said, not looking offended at all by my comment. "My family has a tradition of naming its children after the stars."

"Well, Joule is a unit of energy, work, or heat, scientifically speaking. My parents are doctors."

"You mean Healers?"

"I mean doctors." I squinted some more at him. "I thought you were relatively smart."

I liked to use big words to make myself feel superior to people when I wanted to. They were a nice one-up.

"I am." He frowned at me, and then opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by the opening of the compartment door. Two tall blondes, one girl and one guy, stood in the doorway ominously, and my gut instinctively told me that this would be a life-changing moment.

"Hello, cousin." The girl softly drawled out, her long blonde hair flowing over her shoulders like a waterfall. "Long time, no see, at least since the last family dinner. Eager to get sorted into Slytherin finally?"

"Perhaps." Sirius answered vaguely, his demeanor turning coldly polite and more mature than an eleven year-old should ever be. "I'm keeping my options open actually."

"For what?" The older boy finally chimed into the conversation. His blonde hair was long too, at least for a boy; it was to his shoulders, but he had a naturally cruel expression on his face. "Whimpering Hufflepuff or Smartass Ravenclaw? Don't tell me you're even considering those dimwit lions either; you might as well blow yourself off the face of the family tree. Slytherin is the only noble House left in this school."

Sirius merely raised an eyebrow at the lecture, and opened his mouth yet again to be interrupted, this time by the older girl.

"Now, now, Lucius," She patted his chest affectionately in a way that I deduced that they were a couple. "Give little Sirius a break; a little curiosity is natural. By the way," She said, her icy eyes fixating onto me. "Who's your new friend? You haven't introduced her to us yet."

"Oh." Sirius stared boldly up to them. "This is Joule, Joule Quaid. She's a first year like me."

It was like he was provoking them or something; I couldn't tell. But then again, I could barely follow the conversation they were having in the first place; the only things that I knew about the magical world were from a general book called Hogwarts: A History.

"Quaid?" Lucius scowled distastefully. "I don't recognize that surname. Narcissa, have you encountered it before?"

"Not that I know of." She replied, still looking at me coolly. "Was your father a Muggle, little girl?"

For some reason, being called a little girl by her (who looked no more than 16!) got on my nerves. What right did she have to call me a little girl?!

"Yes, he is." I held my head up high, throwing caution into the wind. Hell, I was still magical even if my parents weren't! "Both of my parents are, actually, but I'm a witch."

Tension crackled in the air as if I'd just dropped a bomb.

"You're hanging around with a Mudblood, Sirius?" Lucius hissed. "You're getting on the wrong track very fast, young man. If I were you, I'd switch compartments before Cissa and I write home to your parents. If only they knew what you've-"

"Don't call her that!" Sirius yelled suddenly, as if he had made an important decision. "And don't talk about her like that either. She's nicer than both of you, and she's my first friend of my own choosing, and there's nothing that you can do about it! Shove off!"

"Wait until your mother hears about this." Lucius threatened. "She'll disown you, Black."

Sirius gave him a dead serious look, no pun intended. "Then you better start writing, shouldn't you, Malfoy?"

Huffing, Lucius turned away and almost dragged Narcissa with him. She had a curious expression on when we were talking about blood purity that I couldn't describe. Nevertheless, the conversation had left me slightly shaking.

"You didn't have to defend me, you know." I said quietly. Newton was still firmly in my grasp, and I wasn't even close to letting him go. The Wizarding World suddenly seemed like a scary place.

"What are friends for?" Sirius smiled lightly back to me, shrugging his shoulders. It was in that moment that I decided that he was worthy of being my friend.

"Shake on it?" I extended my hand to him. "On being friends?"

Grinning, he nodded. "But you have to spit in your hand first and then shake; that's how the professionals do it."

Spitting and then shaking, the friendship of Sirius and Joule was born, and all was right in the world.

We were friends. Officially.

-0-0-0-0-0-

I caught him.

And when I say that I caught him, I mean that I somehow dove underneath Sirius and positioned myself so that he fell on top of me and my broom.

Which immediately started to plummet because of the excess of weight.

I told Sirius he shouldn't have eaten those Fizzing Whizbees earlier!

We were sent hurtling towards the ground in a slightly slowed manner for only a couple seconds more to which we finally hit earth.

Hard.

We hit hard.

I was lying on top of my broom on my back, making it extremely uncomfortable. I mean, laying on wooden brooms is certainly not a hobby of mine. Plus, I had a full-sized Sirius Black on top of me, whom I hadn't realized had weighed so much until now. I couldn't move an inch.

Seriously. No more Fizzing Whizbees.

I sighed, looking to the sky as I saw James and the rest of the team as specks in the sky flying toward us. Thankfully, I wasn't suffocating, but I was hurting pretty badly.

And Sirius's head was on my chest. Awkward much? Thankfully, he was knocked out cold by the Bludger, so we could both avoid the embarrassment of this situation.

"Joule?" A groggy voice murmured from my chest.

Oh, hell.

"Joule…" Sirius's voice continued, muffled. "What am I lying on? I just remember playing Quidditch, we were talking, and then falling…" He raised his head to look up, and met my eyes.

He blinked, and then looked down, as if he couldn't stop himself.

"Asshole!" I pushed him with all my might, and ended up flipping us over by accident. Now I was on top of him, straddling his lap and bracing myself with my hands on his chest. Great. This was even worse.

Sirius blinked again and stared up at me, transfixed. I was staring down at him worriedly; the Bludger had hit his head pretty hard; maybe I'd just injured him even more by flipping him over.

Shit.

"Better not forget this." He muttered, and his eyes rolled up, and he instantly fell unconscious again. I frowned, slapping his cheek a little. No response.

Perhaps it was better to get Madam Pomfrey before I did any more damage.

But, eh, he seemed fine.

Ish.

What are friends for?