Disclaimer: Consider yourself at home! Consider yourself one of the
family. We've taken to you so strong, it's clear we're going to get along
consider yourself well in consider yourself part of the furniture there
isn't a lot to spare who cares whatever we've got we share......
Four years, six months, three weeks, one day, fourteen hours, and twenty- one minutes later, James burst out of the fifth year boys' dorm, his hair messier than ever, his glasses almost falling off the tip of his nose. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were dancing, an excited expression on his face.
"I figured it out!" he yelled.
Everyone in the common room looked up, saw who it was, and went back to their work. Most of the students were accustomed to seeing James, Sirius, or Remus dash out of their dorm, yelling at the top of their lungs.
Lily, who was sitting by the fire with Belle, was one of the few who didn't look away. She thought she had a pretty good idea of what James had figured out, and if she was right, boy, was he ever going to get a good- sized piece of her mind.
"Lily...Lily!"
She was suddenly aware that someone was calling her name. "Huh? What?"
"Lily, I know that you enjoy staring at James, but it's not going to get our homework done," Belle said in a teasing voice.
Lily blushed, then blushed even worse because she knew she was blushing. "I don't enjoy staring at him," she protested.
"Uh huh, whatever," Belle said, grinning. "Anyway, we need to figure out the Divination homework."
"Can't we just go find Michelle?" Lily complained. "She's a whole heck of a lot better at Divination than stupid Professor McLaughlin. She doesn't know any of what she's doing!"
"Neither does Miss Teacher's Pet Trelawney," Belle responded. "I think Michelle does, though. She really seems to understand everything in that whole book!"
"Well, even if Chelle does understand it, she's in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor, so it'd take us a while to find her," Lily said. "And then we'd have to convince her to let us use her homework."
"Yeah," Belle said.
In a corner by the window, James was sitting with Sirius and Remus. All were talking furiously in low voices, glancing around occasionally to make sure no one heard them.
"I can't believe we finally figured it out, mate," Sirius said to James. He grinned. "Just think of all the things we can do now..."
"We figured it out? Excuse me, I think you mean I figured it out," James corrected.
"What do you mean, you figured it out?" Remus demanded, grinning. "I think Michelle's the one that figured it out."
"What did I figure out?"
All three of the boys jumped, nervous expressions on their faces.
"Michelle! What the hell are you doing in here?" James said, clutching at his chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack..."
"Whatever, Jaime. You know I didn't," Michelle said, sitting on the ground at their feet. "You're not in the condition to have a heart attack."
"What are you doing in here, though?" Remus asked, intervening before James and Michelle started a full-fledged war. "You're in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor.
"I know I'm in Ravenclaw, Remus," she said, making an exasperated face. "Just Jaime here is so stupid that he needs help on his Divination homework all the time, so he gives me the password to your common room so I can help him. It all works out."
"Right," Sirius said. He glanced around. "So where's your friend?"
"Koba? She's...I have no idea where, I thought she was right behind me," Michelle said, standing and looking around the room. "Oh wait, I must've closed the portrait before she could get in after me...I bet she's outside, waiting for me to let her in!"
She crossed the room and opened the portrait hole. Sure enough, in came Koba - a tall, willowy girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. James didn't see any creatures crawling up and down her arms, but there was no doubt in his mind that she had at least one salamander in her pocket.
"Thanks for letting me in, Chelle," she said sarcastically.
"You're welcome. Anytime, Koba," Michelle replied. She motioned for Koba to follow her. They both went back to where the boys were sitting. When Koba saw James, she let out a gasp.
"It's the evil saxophone monster!" she said. She held up her hands in a defensive position.
"Would you two cut it out?" James said irritably. "My saxophone is NOT evil!"
"Uh huh, sure," Michelle said. "It looks evil, and it sounds worse!"
"Go Michelle!" Koba said, giving Michelle a high-five. "Great comeback."
"Thanks," Michelle said, grinning at her brother angelically. "Flutes are way better."
"Heck yeah, flute power!" Koba gave Michelle another high five.
"You forgot alto power!" Lily called to them from across the room, from where she sat trying to do her homework.
"Thanks, Lil!" Michelle called back. She did the alto power sign. Lily did it back. Michelle then turned to Koba and did the sign again. Koba returned it, then held out her hand for another high-five.
"I still don't understand why you guys do that for alto power," James said, shaking his head. "It doesn't make sense."
"It does to us," Koba argued. "All it is is sign language for 'a' and then for 'p'. It's not that hard, Mr. Rocket Scientist."
"Shut up."
"Anyway, what did I figure out?" Michelle asked. "You never answered my question."
"Uhh," James, Sirius, and Remus said together. They all gave Koba uneasy looks.
"I can take a hint," she said, standing. "They obviously don't want me to know." She walked over and sat down on the floor by Lily.
"You figured out the rest of the spells for becoming Animagi," James said in a low voice.
"Muy gracias," Sirius added.
Michelle rolled her eyes at Sirius's pitiful attempt to speak Spanish. "You dummy, it's muchas gracias, not muy gracias."
"And you expect me to know this...how?" Sirius said, raising one eyebrow. He glanced down at his watch. "Oops, I have to go, I promised Lyssa I'd meet her in the Great Hall," he said apologetically. He stood up and hurried out of the room.
"I still don't understand why he's dating her," Michelle said, crossing her arms. Koba, seeing Sirius leave, came back over to them.
"Who's dating who?" she asked, sitting down.
"Sirius is going out with Alyssa Anderson, and Michelle doesn't like it," Remus replied, looking at Michelle curiously.
"What?" Michelle snapped at Remus, seeing him looking at her. "She's a ditz! I don't even know why she's in Ravenclaw..."
"Michelle, give it up," James said, sighing. "We know that you like Sirius."
"I do not!" Michelle said, blushing.
"You know you do," Koba said, grinning. "I can't really blame you, though. He's one of the best looking boys in the whole school!"
"One of? Who are the others?" Remus asked interestedly.
"None of your beeswax, that's who," Koba retorted.
"Michelle!"
Michelle looked up and saw that Lily was yelling to her and waving her Divination homework in the air. "What?" she yelled back.
"HELP!"
Michelle laughed. "My assistance is needed," she said, standing and crossing to Lily. Koba followed her, giving James and Remus a jaunty goodbye wave.
"Michelle, I don't understand any of this stuff," Lily said, looking hopelessly at her homework. "And Belle's just as lost as me!"
"Really? You guys are in dire need of help!" Michelle said, sitting next to them.
"Yeah, we are," Belle replied, not taking her eyes off her homework.
Michelle laughed and started explaining it to them, with Koba throwing in the things she missed. After she finished, the four girls left the common room, saying they were going to the library to finish other homework.
"So anyway, what's yours going to be again?" Remus asked James quietly.
"A stag. Sirius's is a dog," James answered, just as quietly. "Peter's a rat. Or a mouse, I forget which."
"Why is he something so little?" Remus asked.
"Well, one of us has to be able to press the knot," James said reasonably. "And Peter just volunteered to be the one to do it. I was kind of surprised, actually...I didn't think he'd want to do it."
"Oh well," Remus replied. "I'm guessing you and Sirius picked something big on purpose?"
"Yeah," James replied. "We had to, so we could make sure you don't, y'know, run off and bite someone, or something."
Remus looked depressed. "There are times I wonder what I did to deserve this," he said finally.
"Oh, come on, mate," James said, giving Remus a grin that had been known to make some of the female recipients of it swoon. "You know that it's not your fault you're a werewolf."
"Yeah, true," Remus said, still looking dejected.
"And you know there's no way we can get caught. We've got my cloak, so no one will be able to see us on our way down, and no one's going to think much of a stray dog, a rat, and a stag. At least, if we're close to the forest," he amended.
"James, the thing about talking to you is that you always manage to make things seem better," Remus said, grinning himself. "And that can be a bad thing, sometimes."
"Sorry, would you rather just wallow in your misery?"
"Sometimes, yes."
Meanwhile, Sirius was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, next to Alyssa Anderson, who was chatting like crazy about some stupid rumor she'd heard about some stupid person. He sighed, wishing he hadn't agreed to meet her there. Sitting in the common room had been a whole heck of a lot more fun, even if Alyssa was supposedly his girlfriend.
"What was that for?"
"Huh?" Sirius looked up at Alyssa. She was staring at him with an annoyed look on her face. "What was what for?"
She sighed exaggeratedly. "That."
"I'm just tired," Sirius said. "Y'know, from Quidditch practice."
"I understand," Alyssa said sweetly. "I'm so proud of you, Sirius. I mean, you manage to do wonderful on the team, even though your best friend is the captain and so much better than you."
"Thanks, I think," Sirius muttered. "Look, Lys, I think I'm going to go to bed," he said, standing.
Alyssa pouted at him, then smiled sweetly. Sirius fought the urge to gag.
"Love you, baby," she said, standing and hugging him tightly. She planted a kiss on his cheek, then released him.
"Yeah, see you later," Sirius said, hurrying out of the Great Hall and wiping his cheek off.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Sirius looked up, recognizing the voice. "Oh, hey Michelle," he said, his stomach tying itself into several large knots. He hoped his face and voice didn't betray his feelings. "I was just..."
"Getting away from Alyssa?" Michelle finished for him. "I figured as much, when I saw you wiping off your cheek."
"She knows I don't like it when she kisses me like that," Sirius defended.
"I never said she didn't!" Michelle said, putting her hands on her hips. She glared at him. "You don't have to get all defensive about it."
"Well what if I want to?" Sirius asked, glaring back and taking a step forward. "Would you care then?"
"What makes you think I care what you want to do?" Michelle replied, undaunted. To show she wasn't scared of him, she stepped forward as well. There was now only about six inches space between them.
"Well I dunno, maybe the way you always act around me," Sirius said. Not about to be shown down by a lowly fourth year Ravenclaw girl, he inched closer, making the space between them a measly three inches.
"Aww, look at that," Michelle heard someone whisper. She whirled around to see Lily peeking around the corner. All that was visible of her was her head. James's head was floating above hers, making them both look like they were just heads stuck to the wall. James had a strange expression on his face - a mixture of triumph and worry. Lily was grinning from ear to ear, though her eyes had a wistful look.
"Are we interrupting?" Lily asked. "Sorry."
"No, you weren't interrupting anything," Sirius said, stepping back and running a hand through his messy black hair nervously. He had interpreted James's expression quite well, and knew he was going to get it as soon as James had him alone.
"It sure didn't look like nothing," James said, forcing a smile.
"It was nothing, James," Michelle said, unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "What are you and Lily doing down here?"
"None of your business!" was James's retort.
"Whatever," Michelle said, rolling her eyes.
"We were looking for you two," Lily said, punching James's arm lightly.
"Yeah." James winced and rubbed his arm. "Watch the bruise..."
"What bruise?" Michelle demanded. "Did you get in a fight with Snape again? James, I thought Mum told you to be nicer to him!"
"No, it's from the Quidditch match last Saturday, when Andy let that Bludger pass and it hit my arm," he replied. He rolled up his sleeve to show a huge purple and blue bruise. "And Andy thought it was hilarious."
"What?? I thought Andy let that Bludger by on accident!" Lily said indignantly.
"He said he did," Sirius cut in. "But I don't know if he did or not."
"Anyway, Michelle, I need to talk to you," Lily said, realizing that James needed to talk to Sirius, probably about Michelle. "Come on."
Lily and Michelle walked off, leaving James and Sirius standing in the corridor.
"Look, James, we really weren't doing anything," Sirius began.
"I know, I believe you," James said, holding up a hand to get his friend to shut up. "But I just want to make sure you won't do to her what you did to so many other girls."
"What, make her cry her eyes out? That's not my fault; they're all so stupid that they think I really like them and so they tell everyone that I like them and then when I tell them they don't, they're heartbroken," Sirius explained.
"I'm sure," James said. "Just...Chelle's my baby sister. I don't want anything to happen to her."
"I know you don't. Now, what about you and Lily?"
"What about me and Lily?" James asked, his forehead creasing.
"Do you still like her?" Sirius asked, rolling his eyes.
"As more than a friend?"
"No, as a sister. Duh, as more than a friend."
"I don't know what's going on with us, Sirius," James said, sighing. "Every time I think we'll never be more than just friends, Lily does something that makes me think maybe, just maybe, we'll get together."
"Like what does she do?" Sirius asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Just little things, like hug me longer than a friend would, or criticize any girl she thinks I like," James said. "Now that I'm actually telling you about them, they don't seem that huge."
"That's always what happens," Sirius said, grinning. "Anything else?"
"Well, yesterday, when we were studying, I was talking to her, and I asked her something. I forget what. Anyway, she didn't reply, so when I looked up, she was just kind of staring at me. I waved my hand in front of her face, trying to get her to snap out of it. She jumped was all 'Sorry, I was spacing out' and then leaned across the table brushed my hair out of my eyes," James said quickly, hoping Sirius wouldn't think he was an idiot for reading so much into one simple little thing.
"Well, you know that stupid saying," Sirius said. "What was it again?"
"I don't know, considering I have no idea which stupid saying you're talking about."
"One of those stupid ones that grandmothers like to embroider on pillows," Sirius explained.
"Oh, you mean like 'A penny saved is a penny earned' and 'Waste not, want not'?" James asked, thinking of all the pillows his grandmother had embroidered.
"Yeah, kinda like those. Only this one was about words."
"I have no idea."
Sirius snapped his fingers. "I got it! 'Actions speak louder than words.' Remember that, Jimmy."
"Don't call me Jimmy. And why should I remember it?"
"Because, Lily's actions are speaking louder than her words."
"Oh, I get it."
"I'm sure you do, Jimmy."
"Don't. Call. Me. JIMMY."
A/N: Please, review! I'm dying here, people! Hey Michelle, remember that your fanfic is like sugar and I can't live without it. So write more, please!
Everyone else: if you could just review this, I will die a happy person. After I finish writing it, at least. I don't even care if all you put in your review is "good" or even "okay" or even just a stinking "keep writing"! I really just want reviews...I need reviews almost as much as I need sugar...heh heh...I love being insane...
Oh, and for anyone who's wondering about the evil saxophone thing: one of the guys in our band has this saxophone that's like this dark grey metal with gold keys, and for some reason, I hate it. It's really scary looking. Anyway, I thought it would be fun if I threw that in here, since Michelle knows what I'm talking about. Lata.
Four years, six months, three weeks, one day, fourteen hours, and twenty- one minutes later, James burst out of the fifth year boys' dorm, his hair messier than ever, his glasses almost falling off the tip of his nose. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were dancing, an excited expression on his face.
"I figured it out!" he yelled.
Everyone in the common room looked up, saw who it was, and went back to their work. Most of the students were accustomed to seeing James, Sirius, or Remus dash out of their dorm, yelling at the top of their lungs.
Lily, who was sitting by the fire with Belle, was one of the few who didn't look away. She thought she had a pretty good idea of what James had figured out, and if she was right, boy, was he ever going to get a good- sized piece of her mind.
"Lily...Lily!"
She was suddenly aware that someone was calling her name. "Huh? What?"
"Lily, I know that you enjoy staring at James, but it's not going to get our homework done," Belle said in a teasing voice.
Lily blushed, then blushed even worse because she knew she was blushing. "I don't enjoy staring at him," she protested.
"Uh huh, whatever," Belle said, grinning. "Anyway, we need to figure out the Divination homework."
"Can't we just go find Michelle?" Lily complained. "She's a whole heck of a lot better at Divination than stupid Professor McLaughlin. She doesn't know any of what she's doing!"
"Neither does Miss Teacher's Pet Trelawney," Belle responded. "I think Michelle does, though. She really seems to understand everything in that whole book!"
"Well, even if Chelle does understand it, she's in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor, so it'd take us a while to find her," Lily said. "And then we'd have to convince her to let us use her homework."
"Yeah," Belle said.
In a corner by the window, James was sitting with Sirius and Remus. All were talking furiously in low voices, glancing around occasionally to make sure no one heard them.
"I can't believe we finally figured it out, mate," Sirius said to James. He grinned. "Just think of all the things we can do now..."
"We figured it out? Excuse me, I think you mean I figured it out," James corrected.
"What do you mean, you figured it out?" Remus demanded, grinning. "I think Michelle's the one that figured it out."
"What did I figure out?"
All three of the boys jumped, nervous expressions on their faces.
"Michelle! What the hell are you doing in here?" James said, clutching at his chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack..."
"Whatever, Jaime. You know I didn't," Michelle said, sitting on the ground at their feet. "You're not in the condition to have a heart attack."
"What are you doing in here, though?" Remus asked, intervening before James and Michelle started a full-fledged war. "You're in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor.
"I know I'm in Ravenclaw, Remus," she said, making an exasperated face. "Just Jaime here is so stupid that he needs help on his Divination homework all the time, so he gives me the password to your common room so I can help him. It all works out."
"Right," Sirius said. He glanced around. "So where's your friend?"
"Koba? She's...I have no idea where, I thought she was right behind me," Michelle said, standing and looking around the room. "Oh wait, I must've closed the portrait before she could get in after me...I bet she's outside, waiting for me to let her in!"
She crossed the room and opened the portrait hole. Sure enough, in came Koba - a tall, willowy girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. James didn't see any creatures crawling up and down her arms, but there was no doubt in his mind that she had at least one salamander in her pocket.
"Thanks for letting me in, Chelle," she said sarcastically.
"You're welcome. Anytime, Koba," Michelle replied. She motioned for Koba to follow her. They both went back to where the boys were sitting. When Koba saw James, she let out a gasp.
"It's the evil saxophone monster!" she said. She held up her hands in a defensive position.
"Would you two cut it out?" James said irritably. "My saxophone is NOT evil!"
"Uh huh, sure," Michelle said. "It looks evil, and it sounds worse!"
"Go Michelle!" Koba said, giving Michelle a high-five. "Great comeback."
"Thanks," Michelle said, grinning at her brother angelically. "Flutes are way better."
"Heck yeah, flute power!" Koba gave Michelle another high five.
"You forgot alto power!" Lily called to them from across the room, from where she sat trying to do her homework.
"Thanks, Lil!" Michelle called back. She did the alto power sign. Lily did it back. Michelle then turned to Koba and did the sign again. Koba returned it, then held out her hand for another high-five.
"I still don't understand why you guys do that for alto power," James said, shaking his head. "It doesn't make sense."
"It does to us," Koba argued. "All it is is sign language for 'a' and then for 'p'. It's not that hard, Mr. Rocket Scientist."
"Shut up."
"Anyway, what did I figure out?" Michelle asked. "You never answered my question."
"Uhh," James, Sirius, and Remus said together. They all gave Koba uneasy looks.
"I can take a hint," she said, standing. "They obviously don't want me to know." She walked over and sat down on the floor by Lily.
"You figured out the rest of the spells for becoming Animagi," James said in a low voice.
"Muy gracias," Sirius added.
Michelle rolled her eyes at Sirius's pitiful attempt to speak Spanish. "You dummy, it's muchas gracias, not muy gracias."
"And you expect me to know this...how?" Sirius said, raising one eyebrow. He glanced down at his watch. "Oops, I have to go, I promised Lyssa I'd meet her in the Great Hall," he said apologetically. He stood up and hurried out of the room.
"I still don't understand why he's dating her," Michelle said, crossing her arms. Koba, seeing Sirius leave, came back over to them.
"Who's dating who?" she asked, sitting down.
"Sirius is going out with Alyssa Anderson, and Michelle doesn't like it," Remus replied, looking at Michelle curiously.
"What?" Michelle snapped at Remus, seeing him looking at her. "She's a ditz! I don't even know why she's in Ravenclaw..."
"Michelle, give it up," James said, sighing. "We know that you like Sirius."
"I do not!" Michelle said, blushing.
"You know you do," Koba said, grinning. "I can't really blame you, though. He's one of the best looking boys in the whole school!"
"One of? Who are the others?" Remus asked interestedly.
"None of your beeswax, that's who," Koba retorted.
"Michelle!"
Michelle looked up and saw that Lily was yelling to her and waving her Divination homework in the air. "What?" she yelled back.
"HELP!"
Michelle laughed. "My assistance is needed," she said, standing and crossing to Lily. Koba followed her, giving James and Remus a jaunty goodbye wave.
"Michelle, I don't understand any of this stuff," Lily said, looking hopelessly at her homework. "And Belle's just as lost as me!"
"Really? You guys are in dire need of help!" Michelle said, sitting next to them.
"Yeah, we are," Belle replied, not taking her eyes off her homework.
Michelle laughed and started explaining it to them, with Koba throwing in the things she missed. After she finished, the four girls left the common room, saying they were going to the library to finish other homework.
"So anyway, what's yours going to be again?" Remus asked James quietly.
"A stag. Sirius's is a dog," James answered, just as quietly. "Peter's a rat. Or a mouse, I forget which."
"Why is he something so little?" Remus asked.
"Well, one of us has to be able to press the knot," James said reasonably. "And Peter just volunteered to be the one to do it. I was kind of surprised, actually...I didn't think he'd want to do it."
"Oh well," Remus replied. "I'm guessing you and Sirius picked something big on purpose?"
"Yeah," James replied. "We had to, so we could make sure you don't, y'know, run off and bite someone, or something."
Remus looked depressed. "There are times I wonder what I did to deserve this," he said finally.
"Oh, come on, mate," James said, giving Remus a grin that had been known to make some of the female recipients of it swoon. "You know that it's not your fault you're a werewolf."
"Yeah, true," Remus said, still looking dejected.
"And you know there's no way we can get caught. We've got my cloak, so no one will be able to see us on our way down, and no one's going to think much of a stray dog, a rat, and a stag. At least, if we're close to the forest," he amended.
"James, the thing about talking to you is that you always manage to make things seem better," Remus said, grinning himself. "And that can be a bad thing, sometimes."
"Sorry, would you rather just wallow in your misery?"
"Sometimes, yes."
Meanwhile, Sirius was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, next to Alyssa Anderson, who was chatting like crazy about some stupid rumor she'd heard about some stupid person. He sighed, wishing he hadn't agreed to meet her there. Sitting in the common room had been a whole heck of a lot more fun, even if Alyssa was supposedly his girlfriend.
"What was that for?"
"Huh?" Sirius looked up at Alyssa. She was staring at him with an annoyed look on her face. "What was what for?"
She sighed exaggeratedly. "That."
"I'm just tired," Sirius said. "Y'know, from Quidditch practice."
"I understand," Alyssa said sweetly. "I'm so proud of you, Sirius. I mean, you manage to do wonderful on the team, even though your best friend is the captain and so much better than you."
"Thanks, I think," Sirius muttered. "Look, Lys, I think I'm going to go to bed," he said, standing.
Alyssa pouted at him, then smiled sweetly. Sirius fought the urge to gag.
"Love you, baby," she said, standing and hugging him tightly. She planted a kiss on his cheek, then released him.
"Yeah, see you later," Sirius said, hurrying out of the Great Hall and wiping his cheek off.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?"
Sirius looked up, recognizing the voice. "Oh, hey Michelle," he said, his stomach tying itself into several large knots. He hoped his face and voice didn't betray his feelings. "I was just..."
"Getting away from Alyssa?" Michelle finished for him. "I figured as much, when I saw you wiping off your cheek."
"She knows I don't like it when she kisses me like that," Sirius defended.
"I never said she didn't!" Michelle said, putting her hands on her hips. She glared at him. "You don't have to get all defensive about it."
"Well what if I want to?" Sirius asked, glaring back and taking a step forward. "Would you care then?"
"What makes you think I care what you want to do?" Michelle replied, undaunted. To show she wasn't scared of him, she stepped forward as well. There was now only about six inches space between them.
"Well I dunno, maybe the way you always act around me," Sirius said. Not about to be shown down by a lowly fourth year Ravenclaw girl, he inched closer, making the space between them a measly three inches.
"Aww, look at that," Michelle heard someone whisper. She whirled around to see Lily peeking around the corner. All that was visible of her was her head. James's head was floating above hers, making them both look like they were just heads stuck to the wall. James had a strange expression on his face - a mixture of triumph and worry. Lily was grinning from ear to ear, though her eyes had a wistful look.
"Are we interrupting?" Lily asked. "Sorry."
"No, you weren't interrupting anything," Sirius said, stepping back and running a hand through his messy black hair nervously. He had interpreted James's expression quite well, and knew he was going to get it as soon as James had him alone.
"It sure didn't look like nothing," James said, forcing a smile.
"It was nothing, James," Michelle said, unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "What are you and Lily doing down here?"
"None of your business!" was James's retort.
"Whatever," Michelle said, rolling her eyes.
"We were looking for you two," Lily said, punching James's arm lightly.
"Yeah." James winced and rubbed his arm. "Watch the bruise..."
"What bruise?" Michelle demanded. "Did you get in a fight with Snape again? James, I thought Mum told you to be nicer to him!"
"No, it's from the Quidditch match last Saturday, when Andy let that Bludger pass and it hit my arm," he replied. He rolled up his sleeve to show a huge purple and blue bruise. "And Andy thought it was hilarious."
"What?? I thought Andy let that Bludger by on accident!" Lily said indignantly.
"He said he did," Sirius cut in. "But I don't know if he did or not."
"Anyway, Michelle, I need to talk to you," Lily said, realizing that James needed to talk to Sirius, probably about Michelle. "Come on."
Lily and Michelle walked off, leaving James and Sirius standing in the corridor.
"Look, James, we really weren't doing anything," Sirius began.
"I know, I believe you," James said, holding up a hand to get his friend to shut up. "But I just want to make sure you won't do to her what you did to so many other girls."
"What, make her cry her eyes out? That's not my fault; they're all so stupid that they think I really like them and so they tell everyone that I like them and then when I tell them they don't, they're heartbroken," Sirius explained.
"I'm sure," James said. "Just...Chelle's my baby sister. I don't want anything to happen to her."
"I know you don't. Now, what about you and Lily?"
"What about me and Lily?" James asked, his forehead creasing.
"Do you still like her?" Sirius asked, rolling his eyes.
"As more than a friend?"
"No, as a sister. Duh, as more than a friend."
"I don't know what's going on with us, Sirius," James said, sighing. "Every time I think we'll never be more than just friends, Lily does something that makes me think maybe, just maybe, we'll get together."
"Like what does she do?" Sirius asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Just little things, like hug me longer than a friend would, or criticize any girl she thinks I like," James said. "Now that I'm actually telling you about them, they don't seem that huge."
"That's always what happens," Sirius said, grinning. "Anything else?"
"Well, yesterday, when we were studying, I was talking to her, and I asked her something. I forget what. Anyway, she didn't reply, so when I looked up, she was just kind of staring at me. I waved my hand in front of her face, trying to get her to snap out of it. She jumped was all 'Sorry, I was spacing out' and then leaned across the table brushed my hair out of my eyes," James said quickly, hoping Sirius wouldn't think he was an idiot for reading so much into one simple little thing.
"Well, you know that stupid saying," Sirius said. "What was it again?"
"I don't know, considering I have no idea which stupid saying you're talking about."
"One of those stupid ones that grandmothers like to embroider on pillows," Sirius explained.
"Oh, you mean like 'A penny saved is a penny earned' and 'Waste not, want not'?" James asked, thinking of all the pillows his grandmother had embroidered.
"Yeah, kinda like those. Only this one was about words."
"I have no idea."
Sirius snapped his fingers. "I got it! 'Actions speak louder than words.' Remember that, Jimmy."
"Don't call me Jimmy. And why should I remember it?"
"Because, Lily's actions are speaking louder than her words."
"Oh, I get it."
"I'm sure you do, Jimmy."
"Don't. Call. Me. JIMMY."
A/N: Please, review! I'm dying here, people! Hey Michelle, remember that your fanfic is like sugar and I can't live without it. So write more, please!
Everyone else: if you could just review this, I will die a happy person. After I finish writing it, at least. I don't even care if all you put in your review is "good" or even "okay" or even just a stinking "keep writing"! I really just want reviews...I need reviews almost as much as I need sugar...heh heh...I love being insane...
Oh, and for anyone who's wondering about the evil saxophone thing: one of the guys in our band has this saxophone that's like this dark grey metal with gold keys, and for some reason, I hate it. It's really scary looking. Anyway, I thought it would be fun if I threw that in here, since Michelle knows what I'm talking about. Lata.