That night, Lily, Ali and Bella were all sitting on Lily's bed, painting their nails and talking.
'They are sooooooooo jealous.' said Ali.
'They'll deny it though.' replied Bella. 'Can I dump Ludo yet? He's really annoying.'
'NO!' said Lily. 'It's got to go till a week before the Christmas. You know that.'
'Damn. How many more weeks is that?'
'Six.' groaned Lily. 'Thank God they're not ugly. That would be horrible.'
'I know! They're so up themselves. I don't know if I can last three weeks.' said Ali.
'They must be desperate though. We only spend one meal with them and they ask us out.' said Bella. 'Ali, Sirius is soooo jealous. How funny was it when he shouted after we told him?'
'And how they turned Ludo pink? Bella, keeping a straight face and comforting him was pure genius.' replied Ali.
The door opened, and the Marauders walked in.
'Hi.' said James.
'Did you consider knocking?' asked Lily.
'Nope. Never crossed my mind.'
Lily groaned. 'Why are you four here?'
'To comment on your stupidity.' said Sirius.
'Don't forget horrible taste.' added Remus.
Bella giggled. 'No, me and Ludo are perfect for each other. We agree on everything. Think about it. He's gorgeous, loyal, amazing beater, just wonderful.'
Ali nodded. 'Yeah, all those things but Gilderoy is better.'
'Oh, you can't be serious!' said Bella.
'No, he is.' Ali said, pointing at Sirius.
'Oh yeah.'
'Excuse me!' said Lily. 'I think we are all forgetting about Amos. He's amazing and, god can he kiss.'
'So that's what you two did after lunch?' asked Ali.
'Yep. It's called getting to know the broom closet better.'
'Hello!' shouted Sirius. 'We are in the room you know!'
'Yeah, we don't actually want to know where your tongue has been.' added James.
'Nobody's making you stay.' said Ali. 'You can go if you want, O darling brother who is related to someone who likes Gilderoy Lockhart.'
James glared at her. He turned around when Remus said 'Wait, we had another reason for being here, remember?'
James turned around, grinning. 'Oh yeah. You guys wanna play strip truth or dare?'
'God no!' said Bella. 'Why did you even bother asking?'
'Worth a shot.' said Remus. 'Just thought you might like a chance to see the hottest guys in the school taking of their clothes.'
Lily looked confused. 'What? But Ludo, Amos and Gilderoy aren't here!'
'Yeah, it's kind of hard to watch them undress if the hottest guys in the school aren't here.' added Bella.
Sirius sighed a sigh of the long suffering. 'Bella, Bella, Bella. I'm disappointed in you.'
'So?' she said.
'So? SO? I tell you I'm disappointed in you. I need a hug. Ali?' Sirius said, looking hopefully at Ali.]
'Doubt it.' replied Ali.
'Fine then. I'm leaving. Come, my good Prongs, Moony and Wormtail.' They followed Sirius out of the room.
Ali, Bella and Lily cracked up laughing.
* * *
Three weeks later, Ali, Bella and Lily all woke up. They were sick of Ludo, Gilderoy and Amos. They all felt depressed at another day of having to pretend they liked them. Then, Lily realised something. 'Hey you guys! It's been six weeks! We can break up with them today!'
Ali jumped out of bed and ran over to the calendar. 'Oh my god, you're right! Yes!'
Bella got up. 'I'm dreaming aren't I? I have to be dreaming! This is too good to be true.'
'No! You're not dreaming! It's real!'
'Ok people. We need to look sad. We need to go up to the Hufflepuff table and use our already well-thought out excuse. Yes?'
'Yes.' the other two said. The girls got dressed and walked down to breakfast. They walked up to their boyfriends.
'Ummm….here's the thing.' said Bella. 'We've decided that while we've been dating you, we've been neglecting our other friends.'
'So, we have decided the only thing to do is break up with you.' said Lily.
'Sorry.' said Ali.
Before Ludo, Gilderoy or Amos could reply, the girls were sitting down at the Gryffindor table.
'What are you doing here?' asked Sirius, obviously shocked.
'Well this is our house table.' said Ali.
'But you haven't sat here for weeks!' Remus exclaimed.
'So maybe some people broke up with some other people.'
The Marauders faces lit up (well, except for Peter) 'Really?' said James.
Lily nodded.
'Wait, did you dump them or did they dump you?'
'We dumped them.' said Bella, as she added more bacon to her plate.
'Oh, that's ok then. But shouldn't you be more upset? You seemed to really like them. God knows why.' said Sirius.
'Oh my god!' Lily said to Bella. 'It just hit me! We'll never be able to talk to them again!'
'Oh shit!' said Bella.
Ali went pale. 'I knew that was the wrong thing to do!'
'It's not like we can take it back now.' said Lily.
'Damn.' said Bella.
The Marauders looked at each other. These were some really strange people.
* * *
'So…umm …how have you guys been? We haven't talked to you for ages.' said Lily hurriedly, before Ali or Belle could start laughing.
'We're ok.' said Sirius. 'Hey listen, can we actually play pranks on your exes without you going crazy at us now?'
Ali decided to have some fun. 'Sirius Black! How could you?' she said, her voice breaking. 'We only just broke up, and you…you are spiteful enough to mention it… again…' she sobbed and ran out of the Great Hall.
'Honestly, Sirius, don't you think about ANYONE besides yourself?' asked Lily angrily.
'Couldn't you SEE that Lily had to change the subject before she broke down? You're so insensitive. Last time this happened to Ali she cried for FOUR hours!' said Belle. 'Come on Lils, we better go and check on her.'
The two girls glared at Sirius before leaving.
'Smooth Sirius, really smooth.' said Remus.
'Oh shut up Moony.' snapped Sirius.
'Ooh touchy.' teased James. 'I think somebody has a little THING for my sister.'
'I do not!' said Sirius.
'Do. Personally, I can't understand it. I mean, imagine someone liking my sister, ewww gross! But then, you always were weird.'
'I DON'T like Ali!'
'Uh-huh.' said Remus. 'You keep telling yourself that.'
'I DON'T!'
'Of course you don't Sirius. We believe you.'
'Good. Because I don't like her.'
'So Sirius, who won the quidditch world cup in 1935?'
'England.' he said straight away.
'Who was the seeker?'
'Terrence Mitchell.'
'What did he catch?'
'The snitch.'
'Who do you like?'
'Ali. Oh shit, I did not just say that. Did I just say that? That's not true! You tricked me!'
But the other Marauders were laughing hysterically. Sirius sunk down into his chair and started sulking.
* * *
'Ali, you're a genius!' said Bella, in between fits of laughter. 'Did you see the look on his face?'
'Yep. It was priceless.'
'Hey, how about me and Bells go and find him, and you stay here, and we'll tell him to get his arse up here and apologise, and you can be crying with a LOT of tissues, and after he begs, you can reluctantly forgive him!' said Lily triumphantly.
'Ok. What's the crying spell again?'
'Tearus Extremulus.'
'Ok. See you guys later.'
Lily and Bella left the room and found Sirius in the common room, watching James and Remus play exploding snap.
'Sirius Orion Black!' shouted Lily. 'What are you doing down here when you should be apologising! Get your arse up there RIGHT NOW!' She grabbed his arm, and shoved him up the stair case. He stumbled, then walked up.
He found the girls dorm and knocked on the door. There was no answer, so he opened it slowly. Ali was sitting on her bed, tears running down her cheeks, and red eyes, Tissues littered the floor.
'Ali?' said Sirius cautiously. He stepped in, and closed the door behind him. 'I'm really sorry.'
'You (sob) should be (sob)'
He put his arm around her, and she shook it off. 'Ali, I'm really sorry. Forgive me please? I'll do anything.'
'Anything?' she said, a note of hope in her voice.
'He nodded.
'I'll think about it (sob)'
'Thank you. I'm really, really sorry. I didn't know it would effect you like that.' He kissed her hair, then walked out of the room closing the door.
When he got to the common room, lily and Bella were standing there.
'Well?' said Belle. 'Did you apologise?'
'Yes I did.'
'And…'
'She'll think about it.'
Bella gave Lily a worried look. 'We better go up there…'
The two girls ran up the staircase. Sirius walked over to the other Marauders, and sat down. They were all waiting for him to talk.
'What?' said Sirius. 'Go back to playing, my life's not that interesting.'
They turned back to the exploding snap, but they were having a whispered conversation, which Sirius knew was about him.
* * *
The next day, Ali had forgiven Sirius, but he had to be her slave for a day, which she enjoyed immensely. He had to carry all her books to classes, even if he wasn't in them, then he had to run to his own class. He had to write down her Potions essay as she dictated it, and constantly get her cookies from the kitchens.
'I swear Ali, you've made me lose at least 10kg. I've been running around all day!' he said to her at before she went to bed. 'I would hate to be your slave for any longer.'
'Damn.' said Ali. 'I was looking for a new sex slave. Anyway, goodnight!'
She ran up the stairs into her dorm, and left Sirius staring after her.
