The next day, James marshalled his friends into the library before their afternoon Transfiguration class like a general gathering troops for battle.

'All right, men,' he said seriously as he paced up and down in front of towering shelves of books dedicated to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Sirius exchanged a smirk with Peter and Remus. They had seen this version of James before; Sirius could almost see the shining-faced twelve year old who had directed them to scour the library for months on end for any information that might aid them in their quest to become Animagi.

'Wormtail, I want you on the floor,' James was saying as he pushed his glasses up his nose. 'Pull any book you think might help us. Remus, Sirius and I will look through them and assess for suitability. We don't have long so we need to work quickly.'

'Could we not have done this later?' Remus complained as he massaged his stomach. 'I don't think speed-eating Cornish pasties is all that good for my digestion.'

'No,' James said simply as he pulled a handful of books from the shelf and plonked them down on a small table. 'Padfoot and I have the Slug Club this evening, we need to make a start now. There's no time like the present, after all!' he added with a cheerful smile.

Sirius caught Remus's eye as James engrossed himself in one of the books. Remus shook his head in a slightly exasperated fashion, though there was a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Sirius chuckled and settled himself at the desk, pulling The Tracker's Guide to Tracking towards him, his hastily-scoffed lunch churning uncomfortably in his stomach. Sirius didn't much like the library; the musty smell of hundreds of old books made the air thick and heavy and the careful silence felt oppressive.

But Sirius did like a puzzle; something into which he could sink his teeth, something to pick apart and probe and force into submission. After all, he had been the one to figure out the ultimate puzzle back in their second year; the puzzle of why the quiet, slightly shy boy in their dormitory disappeared so frequently. The idea of becoming Animagi had been his, too, a solution to the problem of how they could help, how they could do anything to ease the ordeal.

Sirius remembered that first moon after Remus had confirmed what was really going on. They had gone with him as far as they could; to the doors of the hospital wing. He remembered watching as the small, unassuming boy, stick-thin and pale, vanished behind the heavy infirmary door. It had been like watching the condemned, solemnly making his way to his inevitable fate. The sight had tugged at Sirius like nothing ever had before. He knew then that they had to do something, anything, that might help.

He brushed the memory aside and sank himself into the text before him. He ignored the occasional thwump that meant another book had been tossed onto the ever-growing pile beside him. James and Remus were standing, flanking him on either side, bending over their books and conducting a discussion over the top of his head in hushed whispers. Every so often, Sirius caught a snatch of their conversation.

'Perhaps some sort of adaptation of homenum revelio…'

'If we're talking about adapting our own spells, that's a whole different ball game…'

Sirius pursued the book in front of him with increasing disdain; it looked as if it would offer very little that would suit their needs, so he allowed his mind to wander, to explore their problem, to turn it over in his mind. They needed more than just a spell to track everyone in the castle, what they really needed was a way to link it back to the map. That was going to be the complicated part, Sirius thought, that was where they would have to adapt their spells, twist what already existed into something new…

Something that already existed…

Shit, he thought as an idea exploded into his brain like a flash of light.

Suddenly, Sirius was aware that silence had fallen over them and he felt James stiffen beside him. Any exclamation died on his lips as he whipped his head around to see what had caused them both to clam up. He almost laughed.

'All right, Evans?' he asked as the red-headed prefect in their year made her way down their aisle.

At Sirius's greeting, she looked up, her eyes flicking from one boy to another, until her gaze game to rest on James. Sirius noticed a slight flush creep up her neck.

'Oh,' she said, looking quickly away as she fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. 'Um, hi.'

Behind him, Sirius could feel James was still as stiff as a board. Once again, Sirius held back a snigger. James seemed to have developed some rather complicated feelings for Lily Evans, the very girl who was currently browsing the shelves in front of them, doing her utmost not to look their way.

Of course, Sirius knew that James nursed a soft spot for the redhead; that much had been evident for a long while. He'd always been the first to tease her, even back in their third year when they'd caught her kissing Kirk Wallace, a Ravenclaw in the year above, in a secret stairwell, always been the one to pull pranks on her (the frog down the back of her robes last year was a classic), and always the one to take the most offence to her friendship with Severus Snape.

But this avoidance, this sheer awkwardness… this was a recent development, and Sirius was at a loss as to what it meant. It had all started about a month ago. Something, he was sure, had happened, though he was not sure exactly what . For about a week, neither Lily nor James appeared to be able to look the other in the eye, or even tolerate being in the same vicinity as the other, without turning a violent shade of beetroot. Sirius and the others had tried to question James about this odd, yet rather amusing, development, but James had remained tight-lipped, assuring them that nothing had happened, and he had no idea what his friends were on about.

If Sirius thought about it, James had been acting slightly odd (or more odd than usual) for longer than a month. He remembered his insistence that the Marauders sit with the girls in their year for the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Quidditch match before the Christmas holidays, and the times after that he'd convinced his friends to have breakfast with the girls, or sit with them in the common room in the evenings. Romy Redferne had certainly relished in the extra attention, and after she and James had rather publicly snogged each other in the post-match party after the Slytherin game, Sirius had assumed he had been wrong and that it had been Romy that James was trying to win over. But although James and Romy had hooked up a couple of times after that, things had petered out between them, to be replaced by the sudden, puzzling flare up of extreme embarrassment between him and Lily.

While neither darted in the opposite direction at the sight of the other any more, an uneasy tension lingered, and it was certainly present now. Sirius could practically feel the panic radiating from his friend as Lily drew closer.

'I'm sorry,' Lily said, interrupting Sirius's ruminations and glancing apologetically anywhere but at James. 'I just need one of these books.'

'Be my guest,' Sirius said and he pushed his seat back to allow her to step forward and select a book from the shelf above their table.

The silence was heavy with tension. Behind him, Peter coughed loudly and Sirius looked around Lily to where Remus was standing. He caught Sirius's eye and the two of them exchanged a smirk. James had suddenly become very interested in the book in front of him and was examining it intently, his ears slightly scarlet. After several increasingly awkward moments, Lily retrieved her book, and with a slightly embarrassed smile, left. James, Sirius noticed, watched progress back down the aisle, only tearing his eyes away as she rounded the corner and vanished from sight.

'So,' James said in an overly-breezy tone a moment later, as if nothing had happened. 'I think we should get these out to start with, they look promising.'

Sirius looked up and again caught Remus's eye. They exchanged a rather knowing smirk.

'We should be getting to class,' Remus said as he checked his watch.

They gathered up a small stack of books and headed for the desk at the front of the library.

'So, Prongs,' Sirius said with a casual air that he was well aware would fool nobody. 'Now that you and Romy definitely aren't happening, got your sights set on anyone else?'

Behind him, Peter sniggered while James's ears again went red.

'W-what?' he spluttered as Madam Pince stamped their books. She looked between them suspiciously, but said nothing. 'What makes you say that?' He began to pile the books into his bag.

Sirius shrugged. 'No reason,' he said as they made their way out of the library. 'Just curious and Moony won't let me ask him.'

'That's because I don't date,' Remus huffed.

'Well, for your information,' James said, his ears still very red as he marched in the direction of their Transfiguration class. 'There's no-one.'

'What, nobody at all?' Peter piped up. 'I overheard Persephone Pepperall yesterday saying she thought you were cute.'

'Who the hell is Persephone Pepperall?' James said.

'Hufflepuff, fourth-year,' Peter replied.

'Well, I've no idea who she is, so no.'

'What about Nawra Shafiq?' Sirius said, referencing another of the Gryffindor girls in their year. 'She's not bad to look at.'

'Or Lily Evans,' Remus suggested all-too-innocently. James looked up sharply.

'Definitely one to think about,' quipped Peter.

'I don't fancy anyone!' James said, rather loudly as they rounded the corner and came face to face with the rest of the house waiting to enter the Transfiguration classroom. The afore-mentioned Lily Evans was standing with her friend Mary at the back of the group, chatting to her in a rather-too-convincing way.

James's ears went even redder, but as Sirius opened his mouth to retort, Professor McGonagall called them in.

'Oh,' Sirius said as he and his friends settled themselves in their seats. 'I forgot, I had an idea about how we might resolve one of our cartographical problems.'

James looked up with interest, his ears not-quite back to their normal colour, but Sirius shook his head as Professor McGonagall started to hand their essays back. 'Later,' he said.

'So what was this big idea of yours?'

James and Sirius were sprawled lazily across the sofas in the middle of the common room, flipping idly through the books they had taken out of the library earlier. The rest of the house was at dinner, so the room was strangely empty. Sirius's stomach gave a huge rumble and, not for the first time, he cursed James and their forced invitation to the Slug Club dinner.

'No, no,' Sirius said as he heaved himself onto his elbows to look at James, setting his book aside. 'You first.'

'Me?' James said, sounding perplexed.

'When are you going to ask Evans out?'

James spluttered again, as he had in the library. 'I- I-' he began, but Sirius cut him off.

'Don't give me that bullshit about how there's nothing going on,' he said, waving an impatient hand. 'I'm not blind, your eyes practically pop out of your head each time you lay eyes on her.'

At this, James merely gaped wordlessly a few times like some sort of fish out of water.

'How'd you know?' he said eventually in a rather weak voice.

'Oh please,' Sirius said. 'You've fancied her for ages, we've always known!'

At this, James looked mildly distraught. 'We? Whose we?'

'Me, Remus and Peter,' Sirius said patiently.

James looked blankly across the empty common room, as if he was trying hard to process this new and slightly uncomfortable information.

'How the hell do you all know?' he asked after a few moments, shaking his head as he turned back to Sirius. 'I haven't even known for long!'

'That's because you're an oblivious idiot,' Sirius said. 'Remember when you were so irritated that she was going out with what's-his-name, the Ravenclaw Keeper, last year?'

'Theodore Bones,' James said darkly. 'Well, yeah, that's because you shouldn't date rival Quidditch players!'

'She's not even on the Quidditch team,' Sirius said, rolling his eyes at the old argument.

Suddenly, James sat bolt upright, sending the book he had been reading cascading to the floor.

'Does Evans know?' he asked in horror.

'I doubt it,' Sirius said. 'She seems to be just as thick as you. So, I ask again, when are you going to ask her out?'

At this, James fell silent, a strange look falling over his face.

'Oh, come on,' Sirius said with a laugh. 'You can't be nervous!'

'I'm not nervous!' James blustered. 'I just - haven't got it all worked out yet.'

'What is there to work out?' Sirius said. 'She likes you, how hard is it just to say 'fancy a drink, Evans?'

There was a pause.

'You reckon she likes me?'

Sirius looked at James. He knew that this comment was drawn from some deep-felt insecurity, the likes of which he'd never known James express before. After all, James Potter and doubt rarely went together; he was always the stalwart optimist, a bastion of confidence and bravado that served him so well on the Quidditch pitch. Sirius felt a pang and his demeanour softened.

''Course she does,' he said. 'She turns bright red whenever she looks at you. I don't know what happened the other day, but the way she's acting, I'd say that definitely means she's into you. Plus, you're the Gryffindor Quidditch hero, why wouldn't she want to go out with you? They're queuing up to date you. Just ask her; the worst she can say is no.'

James gave a small snort.

'Do it at the Slug Club tonight,' Sirius said, ignoring him. 'She'll be there. Talk to her.'

James contemplated this for a moment, before the portrait hole swung open and students who had just finished dinner began to trickle into the common room, chattering loudly.

'Perhaps,' James said evasively. 'Anyway, we've done me now. What was this idea you had in the library?'

Sirius snorted. 'Ah, that,' he said. In truth, he had forgotten about that in light of his interrogation. He supposed he should let James off his evasive change of subject. And in truth, he was eager to share his idea.

'Well,' he said, 'I was just thinking, there's already a network of spells and enchantments over the castle, isn't there?'

'Defensive enchantments, wards,' James said, nodding slowly. 'You want to tap into those?'

'We can use the network they've already created,' Sirius said. 'It's what my Dad does each time he adds a new level of security to the house. Defensive enchantments create like a web, that's how they can cover large areas.'

'We'd just have to adapt our spells to fit it.' James nodded. 'Of course, it does mean we'd have to find out what protective enchantments are on the castle to begin with, or at least some of them. Which means more research,' he added cheerfully.

'What are we researching now?' Peter said as he slid into the armchair opposite Sirius, his arms full of books that Sirius recognised had been taken out of the library.

'Hogwarts's defences,' James said as Remus sat down on the floor in front of him. 'What have you got there?'

'We went back to the library after dinner,' Remus said, spreading the books out in a fan shape around him. 'Took out a few more books. What were you saying about Hogwarts' defences?'

'Sirius reckons we should tap into them.'

'What?' Remus looked horrified at the thought.

'It makes sense to use what's already there,' Sirius said, shrugging his shoulders.

'But if that went wrong…' Remus said.

'Which is why we need to research it first,' James said. 'We're not just going to jump in and start tampering with centuries-old powerful magic.'

'Oh, so you've got a bit of restraint then?' Remus said, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

'Yes,' James said with dignity.

Peter snorted.

'Sometimes,' Sirius corrected.

'More like it.'

'Anyway,' James said, standing up as his stomach gave a loud rumble. 'Padfoot and I have somewhere to be.'

'Yeah,' Sirius said with a hefty sigh as he stood up. 'Thanks for that.'

'Any time.'

'We'll take a look through these while you're gone,' Remus said, gesturing to the pile of books on the floor before him.

'At least I can finish my Defence essay while doing it,' Peter said, eyeing the books with something that looked like sad scepticism.

'Have you still not finished that?' Sirius asked.

'You can copy mine if you like,' James said dismissively, waving his hand. 'It's upstairs.'

Peter mumbled his thanks as James and Sirius turned to leave.

As they made their way to Slughorn's office, their stomachs grumbling loudly, Sirius was pleased to find that the melancholy of yesterday was keeping itself at bay. Perhaps it was the mild drama of James and Lily Evans taking his mind off things, but Sirius felt that avoiding Slughorn would be something easily achieved, and this evening was a mild annoyance, one to be endured but that would be over soon enough.

He hoped it would stay that way.

As they rounded the corner to Slughorn's office, none other than Lily Evans herself came round the opposite corner. Sirius grinned.

'What are you doing here?' she asked, slightly breathless as if she had been running. Sirius noticed a slight flush on her cheeks and that her eyes didn't quite meet James's.

'Word is there's a party around here,' Sirius said when James was not forthcoming.

Lily looked sceptical. 'You're not trying to gatecrash, are you? Because -'

But she was cut off as the door was suddenly thrown open to reveal Professor Slughorn standing there wearing a rather flamboyant smoking jacket that was richly embroidered with silver thread.

'Lily, m'dear!' He beamed as he saw them standing in the doorway. 'Come on in. And Black and Potter too.. Yes, yes, come in, come in!'

They were ushered into Slughorn's office. It looked much as it had yesterday, save the handfuls of students scattered here and there, some standing chatting to each other in small groups along the walls, others seated around the overstuffed armchairs. Sirius noticed that the mahogany cabinet now held a set of little cacti in pots; the assorted bottles were nowhere to be seen.

'Such a shame, Mr Black, that young Regulus could not be here tonight,' Slughorn said as he made his way over to the other chattering students. Sirius felt his nostrils flare, but he kept his mouth shut. 'I could have had the both of you here together! I don't suppose you get to see a lot of each other, being in different houses. But Quidditch must come first, I suppose; we need to knock you pesky Gryffindors off your perch!'

He wagged his finger at James, who grinned in rather a forced way. As Slughorn turned to sit himself in the largest armchair, Sirius rolled his eyes.

'Well, this is going to be tedious,' James said under his breath. Lily seemed to have left them for some friends she'd spotted across the room.

'It's your fault, mate,' Sirius said, ignoring the feeling of disdain and revulsion that was rising in him as he watched Slughorn's retreating back. 'Perhaps you could have a nice old chat with Sluggy about how your dad thinks he's wonderful!'

'Oh haha,' James said, detecting the slightly sour note in Sirius's voice. Sirius felt a slight pang of guilt.

'Actually,' Sirius said, forcing himself to sound neutral, unaffected. He nodded to where Lily had taken a seat next to a group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws in the year above. 'Shouldn't you be having a much more enjoyable evening?'

James followed Sirius's gaze. His ears turned slightly pink again.

'Right,' he said suddenly, determination in his voice. His hand jumped to his hair and he strode off in Lily's direction.

Sirius watched for a moment as James walked over to the small group. They greeted him enthusiastically and he settled himself among them, taking care, Sirius noticed, to stay close to Lily. He sighed before deciding that staring for very long was really rather creepy. This was going to be a long evening.

He retreated to the edge of the room where he hoped Slughorn wouldn't spot him and leaned against the wall, gazing around the room, feeling the cloak of boredom claw at him. He noticed with a smirk that everyone seemed to be drinking out of bottles this evening; obviously the spiked pumpkin juice incident was still fresh in Slughorn's mind.

He looked around at the students Slughorn had invited. Most of them were sixth or seventh-years. A couple of them Sirius knew by name; there was Georgiana Greengrass, a Slytherin in the year above talking to Amentia Flint and Flora Selwyn. These girls he knew from various family functions over the years; they were the daughters of families of the so-called Sacred Twenty-Eight, the list of elite pure-blood names by which his parents lived and breathed. There were a couple of other students here too with names taken from that revered list, Sirius saw. He scowled.

But there were other students here, too. Sirius saw one or two members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as well as the Head Boy and Girl, neither of whom bore names of those elite families. There was also Hortensia Rufflin, whose family bred prize-winning crups.

As Sirius looked around, he noticed he was being watched. A boy with a rather weak chin and slicked back hair stood a few paces away from the chattering Slytherin girls, his eyes fixed on Sirius. He made no effort to conceal his staring; and when Sirius looked his way, he merely regarded him for a long moment, a slight leer on his face, before turning back to his companions. Sirius was tempted to stick his finger up at the boy, but for all his display of bravado, the boy made Sirius feel deeply uneasy.

His eyes flicked again to James. He appeared to be holding court with the little group; they were currently laughing at whatever story James was regaling in a rather animated fashion. Sirius noticed that James had managed to edge closer to Lily and kept turning to her, apparently asking her to confirm some detail or other as she gave one or two brief nods as James paused. She didn't seem to be giving much away, but then, Sirius thought, the idiot was probably getting too carried away telling stories to his new friends. He needed to cut to the chase!

He sighed again and wondered lazily if he should do something to liven proceedings up. As he cast about the room for ideas, his eyes fell on a girl who was sitting on Slughorn's right. She was chatting away to him, and as she threw her head back to laugh, Sirius noticed how devilishly pretty she was, with high cheekbones and brown, almond-shaped eyes that gave her an almost feline appearance. Her dark brown hair was glinting in the warm light of Slughorn's office. As Slughorn looked over to make a comment to someone else, the girl turned and caught sight of Sirius. She smiled at him boldly, her brown eyes glinting.

Sirius glanced again at James. The group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had drawn away slightly, leaving James sitting with Lily. James was continuing to chat animatedly. Deciding that he wouldn't be missed, Sirius crossed the room and sat himself down next to the brown-haired girl.

'Hi,' he said, extending his hand. 'I'm Sirius.'

'Clara,' the girl said as she shook it. 'Sirius Black, right? I don't think I've seen you here before.'

Sirius ignored the mention of his surname and instead forced out a laugh. 'Well, after a complete misunderstanding a few months ago involving an unattended jug of pumpkin juice and some Babbling Beverage, I've not been invited back.'

Clara laughed. 'That was you? I heard about that.'

'I'd like to add in the word allegedly here,' Sirius said. 'That's an important distinction.' Clara laughed again.

'I wondered why we'd only got bottles this evening,' she said, holding up the butterbeer she was clutching.

'A coincidence, I'm sure,' Sirius said as he leans back casually in his chair. 'Perhaps Madam Rosmerta was running an offer.'

Clara laughed again. 'So how come you were allowed back?'

'Oh, I did a bit of sweet talking old Sluggy,' Sirius said. 'But if I knew this was where girls like you hung out, I'd have done it much sooner.'

'That's a terrible line, just so you know,' Clara said. She seemed completely unabashed, which Sirius found intriguing. Girls, despite what he had told Clara, were not usually high on the list of his priorities. Sure, he'd snogged his fair share; sometimes it was hard to say no in the euphoria of a post-match party, but there was something about Clara that piqued his curiosity in a way that girls usually didn't. She was undeniably pretty, but then so were plenty of others. No, there was something about the way she had smiled at him from across the room, a certain confidence, a self-assurance that intrigued him in the even way she held his eye. She didn't seem one to simper and giggle and go all coquettish like other girls always did; she was refreshing.

'Ah!' Slughorn said as he turned back towards them. 'Mr Black, I see you've met Miss March. One of my star students.' He smiled at Clara indulgently. 'Eleven 'outstanding' OWLs last year, and all set for top NEWT grades too.'

Once again, Clara did not look embarrassed. 'You're in seventh year?' Sirius asked.

'Sixth,' she replied. 'I'm looking to go into Magical Law so I need good results.'

'Well,' said Sirius raising his eyebrows. 'Brains as well as beauty.'

'Yes,' Slughorn said, evidently not having heard a word of what Sirius had said. 'I've put Miss March in touch with a useful little contact of mine in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Angus Snookhold, an old student of mine and now an advisor to the head of Department…'

Sirius sensed a boastful story in the offing, but luckily Slughorn spotted another favourite and waved him over. At the same time, Sirius noticed Lily get to her feet and cross the room, leaving James looking somewhat forlorn. Sirius sighed.

'I've got to go and see my friend for a minute,' Sirius said to Clara. 'I'll be back.'

He gave her a wink and walked over to James.

'Well?' he asked, plopping himself down in the seat Lily had just vacated.

'She's just gone to get a drink and speak to someone,' James said.

'How did it go?' Sirius asked. 'Did you ask her out?'

'I dunno to be honest,' James said and he ran his hand through his hair, a slightly bewildered look on his face.

'What do you mean you don't know?' Sirius said, frowning and glancing over to Lily, who was now talking to a group of students at the back of the room, her back to them. 'Did you talk to her? What did you say?'

'Well, I was talking to her about… things,' James said slightly evasively. 'And then I just sort of said would she like to, but then, oh I don't know, I went on about some random stuff and the Defence Against the Dark Arts essay and it kind of got a bit lost.'

Sirius started laughing. 'What did she say?'

'Well, she looked a bit surprised,' James admitted. 'And the more surprised she looked… I just kept talking about rubbish. I guess she missed the part where I asked her because she started talking about a book she'd found that helped with her essay. Then she spotted someone she knew and went to get a drink.'

Sirius snorted with laughter as James looked over to where Lily was chatting with a tall, dark-haired girl. He looked rather lost.

'Very cool, Prongs, Sirius said. 'She probably thought you'd been hexed or something. Or maybe she thought you were just deranged. I'm not sure I blame her for making a quick exit.'

'I'm not sure I do, either,' James said, laughing in a baffled sort of way.

'Cheer up, Prongs,' Sirius said bracingly, clapping him on the shoulder. 'You can always ask her again.'

James was silent for a moment. Then he said, 'I see you made a friend.' He nodded over to where Clara was now chatting to another girl.

Sirius shrugged. 'Well, you were busy. I had to occupy myself somehow.'

At that moment the door burst open and a boy with hair so floppy it seemed to quiver with each step strode in. Sirius recognised him as a Beater on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

'Sorry, Professor!' he said as people in the room turned to stare at him. 'I've only just finished prefect duty.'

'Aubrey, my dear boy!' Slughorn boomed, beaming at the late arrival. 'Not to worry, Miss March made your apologies. Come and sit over here,' he gestured to a seat beside Clara. Well, this is good timing, I was just about to tell everyone about the letter Ernie sent me the other day; I know you were asking after him, Bertram. Ernie Archibald, I mean,' Slughorn said, addressing the room at large. 'The broomstick designer…'

Slughorn launched into a long-winded story about the trouble this designer was having gaining access to certain materials, until Slughorn happened to introduce him to someone who could help. This seemed to be the cue for everyone to find a seat and listen with rapt attention (real or feigned), so there was no opportunity for Sirius to make his way back over to Clara, or for Lily to come back to her original seat. The story, predictably, droned on and on, with Slughorn name-dropping everyone from the owner of Quality Quidditch supplies to the Head of Department of Magical Games and Sports. Well, Sirius thought to himself, it could be worse. He contented himself with looking over at Clara every so often and winking at her or rolling his eyes.

'Goodness!' Slughorn said after what felt like an age. He glanced at a large grandfather clock standing in one corner. 'I quite forgot the time; you all need to be getting back to your dormitories. Mr Fawcett, do drop by for that book when you get a chance.'

There was a barrage of babbling chatter as everyone rose and began to bid each other good night. Sirius wanted to go back over to Clara, but James dragged him towards the door where Lily and a couple of other Gryffindor students had disappeared. Sirius looked back over his shoulder and gave Clara a rueful smile and a wave.

'Bloody hell, Prongs,' he said as James marched down the corridor. 'Slow down!'

They rounded the corner and caught up with the other Gryffindors. James had just fallen into step beside Lily when Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder and he was suddenly wrenched backwards, as if caught by an invisible thread.

'What the-!' He spun around to find himself face to face with the late-arriving prefect, Aubrey. He did not look happy.

'You keep your wretched hands off my girlfriend, Black,' he snarled, leaning very close to Sirius in what he evidently thought was a threatening manner. It perhaps would have worked if he were not several inches shorter.

'What?' Sirius said, utterly bewildered.

'Don't act all innocent,' Aubrey spat. 'You've been staring at her all evening.'

Sirius couldn't help but laugh as comprehension suddenly dawned; Clara.

'You can get off me,' he said, still sniggering as he shrugged Aubrey's hand from his shoulder. 'I'll stare at who I like. She obviously didn't mind.'

'You need your fat head deflating,' Aubrey sneered, reaching inside his robes.

Behind him, Sirius was aware of the other students staring at the exchange. Nobody had moved. Nobody, that was, aside from James, who took a lazy step forward, drawing his own wand.

'Oh piss off Aubrey,' said James.

'It doesn't say much about you if five minutes out of your company your girlfriend is talking to someone else,' Sirius said, bristling, pulling out his own wand.

'You think you're something special,' Aubrey snarled dangerously. 'Just because you've got that stupid surname you think you're-'

But they didn't hear what Bertram Aubrey thought Sirius was. There was a sudden flash and a bang and Aubrey's head rapidly began to swell like an inflating balloon. He let out a yell as he began to claw at his face, his head slowly bending over with the weight his neck was no longer able to properly support.

Beside him, James was roaring with laughter, but all Sirius could feel was rage, rage that pounded and raced through him. Slowly and breathing heavily, he lowered his wand.

'Potter! Black!'

Evidently the ruckus had attracted attention. Sirius spun around to see their Arithmancy teacher, Professor Harkiss, trotting down the corridor. Sirius swore under his breath.

'What is going on?' he came to a stop in front of them, looking down at Aubrey, who was now on his knees, trying to hold the weight of his newly-gigantic head. 'Ah,' he said. 'Off to the hospital wing with you, Aubrey. Miss Atcastle, Mr Carew, if you could accompany him, thank you.'

Sirius became aware that the other students were still standing a few paces away, watching the exchange. Two of them detached themselves from the group and between them, hoisted Aubrey off the floor, his head rolling under its own weight. Sirius snorted. Professor Harkiss turned towards them again.

'All right,' he said, frowning at James and Sirius. 'Which one of you did it?'

'Did what, Professor?' James said innocently. 'We were just standing here and all of a sudden Aubrey caught a terrible case of big-headedness.'

'All right, if that's the game you want to play, you can both have detention,' Professor Harkiss said, crossing his arms and looking thoroughly unimpressed. 'Report to Mr Filch at eight o'clock tomorrow please. And twenty points from Gryffindor. Now back to your common room, it's nearly curfew.'

James pulled a face as Professor Harkiss turned and marched away.

'Well,' he said lightly as they turned and began to walk back towards Gryffindor Tower. 'All that to get out of detention and we've got one anyway.'

'Yeah,' Sirius said shortly, still feeling anger course through him. 'Sorry about that, but Aubrey got what was coming to him.'

'Undoubtedly,' James said. 'But come on, did you see him topple over? That was hilarious.'

Aubrey's taunt was still ringing in his ears, but Sirius smiled in spite of himself. Really, the whole situation had been quite funny. How was he supposed to know Clara had a boyfriend?

He sighed and shoved his wand back in the pocket of his robes. Sometimes, he thought, staring at the red head of Lily Evans, girls were a lot more bother than they were worth.

A/N: Oh yes, there's Jily! Poor old James making an absolute arse of himself. This is actually the longest chapter I've ever written. I'd love to know your thoughts, thanks for reading.