Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot of this fan fiction, and any new characters I might create.

A/N: The reviews, the reviews! Sammy, Chocolate Taco, and Bella Black…thank you so much! Oh, and will somebody please tell me (in a review or an e-mail or something) which position James Potter actually played in Quidditch? I'm not sure…I know that it's either chaser or seeker, but I'd like someone to confirm that…Thanks!

Affection or Adventure?

Ch. 7: Cornered

That night, many Gryffindors were seen reading the notice board in their common room.

Once Chloe read the notice she had been looking for, she ran over to Penny and practically danced around with glee.

"Guess what?" She asked.

"The lake has dried up and the Giant Squid is crawling around eating students." Penny replied in a bored voice.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Maybe it's the ton of homework all the teachers have given us?"

"Well, it is N.E.W.T. year… but I know something that will take your mind off of it!"

"What?"

"Quidditch!" Chloe shouted, and danced around once more.

"Are you serious? When does practice start?" Penny asked, throwing her homework aside and grinning from ear to ear.

"Tomorrow! We have them every Tuesday and Thursday, after dinner."

"Excellent…I can't wait!"

Chloe was a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, along with James Potter and Aiden Dunn, a boy in 6th year. The Beaters of the team were Benjamin Cole and Garrett Houston, both in 3rd year. The Keeper was Desiree Thunder, a girl in 5th year, and Penny, of course, was the Seeker, being as small and as quick as she was.

"Hey, Chloe…who's the captain?" Penny asked.

"Aiden…McGonagall asked me, but I don't want that kind of responsibility…I just want to play, you know? I don't want to give pep talks and all that stuff!"

"Me either…and I'm just guessing that she wouldn't have made Potter the captain if her life depended on it?" The girls giggled.

"Speaking of Potter…have you seen the Marauders?" Chloe asked.

"Nope, not since dinner when they apologized to us about ten thousand times." The girls giggled again.

"What about Lily and Natalie?"

"They're in the Library. Let's go join them, I don't feel up to doing homework right now."

"Alright, I've already done mine."

Chloe and Penny arrived in the Library a few minutes later. Lily and Natalie were sitting in a corner. Lily was trying to improve her homework, while Natalie was trying to learn how to make a Love Potion. The Marauders were sitting a few tables away. As Chloe was passing them, she heard them muttering something about the full moon that was supposed to take place the next night.

"Hey guys!" Penny called to Lily and Natalie.

Chloe sat down with a confused look on her face. She looked up at the Marauders, and found that they were all staring at her. She looked back at her friends quickly and joined in their conversation, knowing that she had heard something she shouldn't have.

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The boys turned back towards each other.

"Wormtail, are you sure she heard us?" James asked Peter.

"Positive." Peter replied.

"Did you see that odd look on her face, Prongs?" Remus asked.

"Yeah…"

"Come on you guys, she doesn't know…and even if she did, she wouldn't do anything about it." Sirius said.

"Why are you sticking up for Williams, Padfoot?" Peter asked. "Hmm?"

"Er…because it's true? She wouldn't do anything about it!" Sirius replied. Would she? He thought. Nah…

"So, the full moon starts tomorrow night…wait! I have Quidditch practice!" James said.

"Okay, we'll go after that. Just meet me and Peter at Hagrid's hut." Sirius said.

"Alright, around nine?" James asked.

"Sure." Said Peter.

With that, the boys got up and left for their common room.

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When Lily climbed into the Gryffindor common room, she saw the Marauders huddled in a corner, talking in low voices. What are they up to, now? She thought.

Lily went to sit by the crackling fire, and Chloe followed her while Penny and Natalie went to their dormitory to go to bed.

"Okay, so what did you want to tell me earlier?" Chloe asked her.

Lily launched into the whole story of the thought about James that she had on the day the Marauders pulled their big prank.

"The thing is," She whispered, "I don't know why that even popped into my head! I don't know why it hit me so hard…I don't want anything to happen to James, of course, but it was just an odd thought! I'm so confused…"

"James?" Chloe asked.

"Er…" Lily said.

"You called him James! You never call him James!"

"So? That's not the point…"

"Lily, do you think you could possibly fancy him?"

"I…I…I…"

"Hello, girls." Said a voice behind Lily.

Her jaw dropped and she looked behind her at James Potter. "Did you…?" She asked, and then turned back to Chloe. "Did he…?" Chloe shook her head, and Lily gave a deep sigh of relief. "What do you want, Potter?" She asked him.

"I want you to accept our apology."

"Not yet." Lily said, and walked away to sit in another chair.

Chloe lingered for a moment and looked from James to Lily, and then back at James.

"I'm off to bed," She said, sighing, and walked up the spiral staircase. Lily yawned and followed.

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The next night, James couldn't wait for seven o'clock to roll around. Fifteen minutes before he was supposed to, he raced down to the Quidditch pitch and hopped onto his broomstick, a Cleansweep.

He loved flying ever since his first time on a broom. The air ruffled his hair and felt slightly cool on his skin. Even though he had Quidditch to keep his mind off of certain things, he couldn't help but think about Lily. Why? He kept thinking. He had done four laps around the stadium before the rest of the team arrived. He landed, and walked up to Chloe and Penny.

"Are you girls going to-" He started.

"No." They replied in unison.

James then started talking to a boy with blonde hair and grey eyes.

"Hey Aiden! How does it feel to be Quidditch captain?"

"Great!"

"Do you know if McGonagall even considered me?" James asked doubtfully. Aiden raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think so. I get into too much trouble, right?"

Aiden laughed. "Just a little. Okay, team, let's practice a bit with the Quaffle before we start playing…"

Quidditch practice ended earlier than James had expected it.

"Good job, everyone! We're definitely winning the Cup this year…not to be boastful, but we have three great chasers, a fantastic keeper, and an excellent seeker. We also have our new beaters," He looked over at Benjamin Cole and Garrett Houston, "and they're enough to scare the socks off our opponents." Aiden beamed at them. They were only thirteen years old, but they were both at least six feet tall. "Alright, everyone, same time on Thursday." Benjamin and Garrett made their way back to the castle, and the rest of the team went to the showers.

After James finished, he locked up his broom in the locker room and went to visit with Hagrid before meeting his friends.

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After Chloe showered and changed, she looked at herself in a mirror. She looked very tired, indeed, but still very pretty. Her long hair was still a bit damp from her shower, but it had started to gain its subtle waves; the freckles under her eyes and on her small nose were still prominent from the long summer holiday, and her cheeks were slightly pink from Quidditch practice. When she walked into the locker room and found that everyone had already left, she gathered her things quickly and rushed out. I hate it when they leave me here alone… She thought. It's so creepy!

It had started to rain.

Oh, great. Chloe thought in sarcasm. She raced to the doors of the school, wrenched them open, and closed them behind her. She leaned back, panting slightly. Phew!

She walked up the marble staircase and around a corner into a dimly lit corridor. The scene that she saw made her feel sick to her stomach.

Three boys were standing over a smaller figure in the middle of the dark corridor. As Chloe crept closer, she recognized two of the three boys standing up. Julian Wright, an unintelligent, overweight bully, Michael Avery, a tall, muscular Quidditch player, and some other boy, all 7th years, had their wands pointed at a small, whimpering child lying in a heap at their feet.

"This will teach to mess with us, Mudblood! Crucio!" Chloe gasped. The boy she didn't know had just used an Unforgivable Curse on another student!

The three boys whipped around, hearing Chloe's sudden intake of breath. She immediately performed a Bat-Bogey Hex and Michael Avery fell to the floor in pain. The boy who had performed the Cruciatus Curse ran over to help his friend. Meanwhile, she heard bloodcurdling screams coming from the terrified face of the boy lying on the ground. Chloe knew his face…his brown hair and blue eyes were only too familiar…

"RYAN!" She shouted, and ran over to him. "Ryan," Chloe whispered to her brother, "Ryan…what did you do to them? What did they do to you?" She quickly helped him up.

"I…I…I just…just…" Ryan stuttered, looking terribly scared of the boys in front of them, one still suffering from Chloe's hex and the others trying to perform the counter curse. After a few moments, they succeeded.

"Ryan, get out of here, ok? Go to the common room and stay put. Go! NOW!"

Ryan ran down the corridor and out of sight.

Julian Wright spoke up. "You are going to pay for that, Williams…"

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"Erm…Wormtail?" Sirius Black asked Peter Pettigrew.

"Yeah?" Peter replied.

They had just been watching Ryan Williams climb in the portrait hole looking scared to death and trip twice on the way to the boys' staircase. A few people laughed, but continued with their conversations momentarily.

"Look at the time." Sirius said.

"What…oh no! It's almost nine!"

"I'll go down and make sure the doors are clear…go get James's invisibility cloak!" Sirius said, and ran out of the common room.

He was a few corridors away from the entrance hall when he heard a scream.

"Get…get away from me!"

Sirius was about to turn the corner into another hallway, but stopped dead in his tracks. What the…? He thought. He glanced around the corner and saw Chloe Williams cornered by three gigantic Slytherins. Her robes were torn in several places, but other than that she didn't look hurt. He caught Chloe's eye after a second and put his finger to his lips so she would know not to acknowledge his presence. She gave him an unobtrusive nod.

This is crazy…I'm no match for these guys! Sirius thought. He was quite correct, too. Julian Wright was alone almost three times the size of him. Well, I've got to do something.

Sirius crept out of his hiding place and entered the dim corridor.

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I'm saved! Chloe thought, but she stopped in the middle of her sigh of relief. Wait - what does Black think he's doing? He may be strong, but he's no match for these guys!

Just then, Chloe heard Michael Avery mutter something, and her cheek started to sting terribly. She lifted her hand to her face and found that a cut had appeared under her right eye.

I am not going to give them the pleasure of seeing me suffer! She thought, and blinked away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"Leave me alone!" Chloe shouted, and took out her wand. "I'm warning you-" She started, but the boy she didn't know snatched her wand away from her quicker than she could ever imagine. Damn… She thought.

"You were saying…?" He said icily. Out of the corner of Chloe's eye, she saw Sirius getting silently closer to herself and the Slytherins. When she looked back at the boy in front of her, he had raised his wand. Chloe backed against the wall, and looked frantically around for anything she could use to help herself.

"Nothing to save you now, Williams…nobody to even hear you scream." Chloe's eyes widened in fear as the boy came closer to her.

Sirius…Sirius, help me! She thought hopefully. He's going to curse me…Sirius…hurry!

The boy opened his mouth. "Cru-"

Chloe covered her eyes with her hands, but he never finished. Just as he was saying the curse, Sirius bellowed, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Chloe uncovered her eyes. The boy's legs had snapped together, and his arms were pinned to his sides by magic. He fell backwards, unable to move from the joint-locking hex that Sirius had used on him. Julian Wright and Michael Avery turned around, forgetting about Chloe.

"Expelliarmus!" Avery yelled. Sirius's wand flew into the air and landed feet away from Chloe. She silently picked it up. Those stupid oafs…She thought.

"What are you doing here, Black?" Wright asked. "You're supposed to be in your common room…it is past nine o'clock.

"None of your business, and so are you!" Sirius replied, his handsome face enraged.

"Ahh…well, we were just having a little conversation with Williams, here," Avery said, and pointed behind himself at Chloe. "Not illegal, is it?"

"No, conversations aren't illegal, but the Unforgivable Curses are." Sirius said, smartly. "Tell me…have you guys made friends with Voldemort like your fathers have?"

"That has nothing to do with this, Black!" Avery shouted. "And might I remind you that your own brother-"

"Petrificus Totalus!" Chloe whispered. Avery fell to the floor the same way as the boy next to him. Chloe swiftly threw Sirius's wand to him, and he caught it.

"Who…?" Wright said, confused, and turned around to see that Chloe was still there. "You!" He shouted, and ran at her.

"Impedimenta!" Sirius yelled, and Wright froze. Chloe looked from Sirius to the Slytherins, and then back at Sirius. He walked over to her and took her hand. "Come on, Chloe, we have to go…that hex will wear off soon…" He used my first name… Chloe thought.

Sirius tried to pull her away, but she reluctantly let go of his hand and said, "Wait…"

She hastily grabbed the wands of the three cursed boys, ran to the closest girl's bathroom, and threw them in.

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Sirius gaped at her, and she gave him a sly grin. "What? Didn't think of that one yourself?"

"No…that was great!" He replied.

"We make a good team…"

"We do…"

"Sirius?"

She used my first name… He thought.

"Yeah?" Sirius said, taking a step towards her.

"Erm…thanks." Said Chloe, and she started to walk away.

"Don't mention it…" Sirius mumbled, catching up to her.

They reached the common room a few moments later, and Chloe put her hand on Sirius's shoulder. He turned to face her.

"Seriously, though…" She said, removing her hand from him. She took a deep breath. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up…so, thank you." Chloe finished and looked up at him.

"Hey, well…I didn't want anything to happen to one of my best rivals. What would be the fun in that?" Sirius smiled.

Chloe smiled back and threw her arms around him. Sirius slowly and hesitantly put his arms around Chloe's waist and hugged her. Her scent made him think of cherries as her wavy hair brushed lightly against his cheek.

"So…" Sirius said in a quiet voice. "Am I forgiven?"

He felt her smile into his shoulder. "Of course." She replied softly.

"Why are we whispering?" He asked playfully.

"I don't know!" Chloe said.

When Chloe released him, he spoke the password to Gryffindor tower, and they climbed into the portrait hole.

Sirius was met immediately by a nervous Peter, who kept frantically hissing things like, "We're going to be late! We're already late! Hurry! Let's go!"

Sirius glanced at Chloe who had gone to sit by the fire, and they gave each other a look that clearly said they would not repeat the events that had just happened to anybody.

A/N: Ooh, sinister chapter! Lol! Happy ending, though, right? Thanks for reading, and please review! Give me ideas, and tell me where I'm off…I'd really like to know what I can do to improve! This is my second fan fiction…don't worry, there's more to come! I'll upload as often as I can…Thanks again! : ~ P