Disclaimer: As usual, Elizabeth, Samantha & Sarah are mine. So are spell names you don't recognize, but that's not too important. Everything else is property of J.K. Rowling.

AN: After a torturous two weeks of AP & standardized testing, I am back! The focus of this story is on Elizabeth, but I have a lot more material to cover regarding Samantha. So since I abandoned Sam last chapter, most of this one is in MWPP time. Just bear in mind that *** represents a normal time break, and *~*~* signifies a jump between time periods. Ah, yes, and I just thought I'd mention that whereas Elizabeth's story takes place all in her fourth year, the MWPP part only focuses on significant events that happened in the past. This chapter begins in Samantha's 6th year. That is all. @~~ Rose

"The eyes are the windows to the soul"

Chapter Four: In the Eyes . . .

*~*~*

Sirius Black was afraid. Not slightly worried, nor mildly frightened, but absolutely, completely petrified.

Now Sirius Black was not the type of person one would expect to be afraid. In fact, as far as any outside observer, or even his best friends, could see, Sirius was the most reckless, daring, risk-taker one could find. He had valiantly defied all school rules with his innumerable pranks, he had boldly asked out practically every girl in school, and his eyes lit up at the mere mention of some new, dangerous escapade.

But all of this just made him even more frightened. What would people think if they discovered what he was hiding? This fear, this silly little fear, could destroy his reputation! And it really was a silly fear. Some people fear spiders, some fear death, some fear the monster under their bed. Sirius' fear was nothing like these.

Sirius Black was afraid he would look into Samantha Satine's eyes and fall in love.

It was a fear that had haunted him ever since he had consoled her after the Sorting Ceremony their very first day at Hogwarts. The way she had looked at him, her teary eyes lighting up joyously, was an image he had never been able to clear from his head.

But, oh, how he'd tried. It hadn't been so hard the first two years. He was younger then, and the thought of how James would tease him if he ever found out Sirius' feelings was strong enough to push Samantha out of his mind. But then the teenage years hit, and every time Sirius spotted Samantha in the halls, chattering away merrily with Lily, the image of those bright, blue eyes would dance before his mind. How could someone have such bewitching eyes?!? And now that he was in his sixth year, the fear of those eyes had become almost an obsession to him.

It wasn't that he liked her or anything, it was just . . . What was it exactly? There had been something there, that first time he looked at her, or rather, looked into her, that had made a connection with him. He didn't love her, that was for certain, but he was afraid that he could, he would, if his eyes ever made contact with hers again. Real love, not the week-long flings he was used to, but real, true, unconditional love. And that scared him, too. Sirius Black was not the commitment kind of guy.

So what to do? It's a stupid fear, he would think to himself. I mean, seriously, how can looking into someone's eyes make you fall in love? I don't care anything for her now, some silly blue eyes can't change that. WHY am I afraid of this?!? This is ridiculous!!! But the fear wouldn't go away, and he couldn't tell anyone about it, especially not James. Other people would laugh, but James would be angry. For some reason or other, James hated Samantha. Something about how she was constantly making him look like a fool in front of Lily. But James hated Lily, too, didn't he? So why did he care?

These thoughts circled in Sirius' brain as he made his way to Charms. He was so occupied that he didn't notice where he was walking until he felt his body bump into something solid. He snapped out of his reverie to see Lily Evans standing an inch in front of him. "SIRIUS!" she cried, livid. "Just look what you did!" Sirius blinked, following her gesture to the floor. Lily's bag lay open at his feet and papers were scattered throughout the hall. Lily continued screaming (Sirius, as James' best friend, annoyed her almost as much as James himself), but Sirius found he had stopped listening. His heart froze as he noticed the girl with soft curly brown hair patiently gathering her friend's paper.

Without looking up, Samantha said calmly, "Lil, it would be a lot more useful if you were to help me pick up your things. Yelling at Sirius will accomplish nothing."

"I'm teaching him a lesson!" Lily protested.

"Do you really think he's listening to a word you're saying?"

"He'd better be! Or else I'll . . ."

Samantha interrupted. "Sirius, are you learning anything from Lily there?"

Sirius snapped out of a daze. "Huh?" Samantha just smiled at Lily, her point proven.

"Oh, fine!" Lily muttered grumpily, getting down on her knees to join her friend. "But, Sirius, you'd better help, too!"

Sirius shrugged and scanned the hall for any quills that might have rolled off. He found a roll of parchment near the Transfiguration room. "Wow," he gave a low whistle as he unrolled it – several feet of paper cascaded to the floor. "What's all this for?" he asked, slightly impressed.

Lily looked at him incredulously. "You're kidding, right?" He shook his head. "Sirius, that's my Charms project. You know – the one where we were given the origins and a few clues about a Charm and had to research all the aspects of it to figure out which Charm it actually is? The big project that accounts for half our grade this term that was assigned three weeks ago?"

"Oh," Sirius' face relaxed. "Yeah, I know. But what are you toting it around for?"

Lily just stared at him, exasperated. Samantha let out a fake sigh. "You want to break it to him or should I?" she asked Lily.

Lily was annoyed. How could Samantha be so relaxed about this? How could Sirius be so irresponsible? How could James Potter be so aggravatingly cute? (And wherever did that thought come from?!?) She decided to vent her frustration on Sirius.

"Honestly, Black! The project is due today! As in next period! In five minutes! Half of your grade! Due RIGHT NOW! How could you forget that? I'll bet you haven't even started! And now you're going to fail, all your hopes of graduation gone right down the drain! I can't believe you! That Potter is rubbing off on you, isn't he? Destroying the few brains you started out with and ruining your hopes of ever having a good future!"

People were beginning to stare. Samantha was beginning to giggle.

Sirius backed away. "Calm down, Lily," he cried defensively. "I only have one sentence left to write. And what are you talking about – James rubbing off on me? That would be a good thing, you know. No matter how much you deny it, he's a smart guy. I think the real problem here is that Samantha's rubbing off on you! Why is it that suddenly you're the melodramatic, emotional one, and Samantha's the sane one trying to calm you down?"

Samantha wasn't exactly trying to calm down anyone. She was still bent over in laughter. But she was able to stop long enough to comment, "It's schoolwork, Sirius, you know Lil's always been super sensitive about that."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You have one sentence left? As in the most important sentence of the project?"

"Yeah, well I did all the hours of research, I just can't figure out what Charm it all adds up to. But I'll have time to write it in before class once you tell me what it is," Sirius squirmed uncomfortably, a look of hope gleaming in his eyes.

Samantha stepped in before Lily could explode. "It's the Prelacio Charm, just don't tell Professor Flitwick I told you. We weren't supposed to help each other on this project. And for heaven's sake, why would you ask Lily? You know how against jointly done homework she is!"

Sirius had asked Lily because he was afraid to ask Samantha, but he didn't tell her that. Instead he muttered, "Prelacio Charm, gotcha. Sam, you're a lifesaver," and hurried away to scribble in his last sentence.

Lily waited until he had rounded the corner before turning to her friend. "'Jointly done homework?'" she asked wryly.

Samantha shrugged. "Well, it's not exactly cheating."

"Isn't it?"

"No, it's more like . . . helping . . ." Lily folded her arms across her chest and Samantha rushed on, "Oh, come on, Lil. He's done most of it. One sentence is nothing compared to yards of research."

"Sam, it's the conclusion. What he gathered from all that research. Which, obviously, was nothing."

"What do you have against Sirius?"

"The question is: what do you have for him?" Lily eyed her friend accusingly.

Samantha placed a hand innocently over her heart. "Me? Have feelings for Sirius Black? You have got to be kidding! The boy drives me insane with all his incessant pranks on me! Not to mention how immature he can be!"

Lily shrugged. "James plays non-stop pranks on me, but I still have . . ." she paused and her eyes met Samantha's. Neither liking where this conversation was going, they abandoned it and hurried off to Charms.

***

Professor Flitwick eyed Samantha and Lily disapprovingly as they sidled into the classroom approximately thirty seconds after the bell. He was a new teacher and felt that the smallest things could threaten his authority. "Hurry and take out your term papers, ladies, I'm collecting them now. And be warned that next time you're late it will be five points from Gryffindor."

Samantha took her seat beside Lily, muttering, "It was only a few seconds!" James Potter snickered behind her, and she was tempted to turn around and slap him. But for some reason, she had the feeling Lily wouldn't like that . . .

Professor Flitwick made his way down the rows of seats, pausing at the last desk as he glanced over Sirius' work with a raised eyebrow. Sirius waited with baited breath. "My, it looks like you put a lot of effort into this Mr. Black. I can't wait to read your conclusion." He gave Sirius a nod of approval and walked back to his desk.

Sirius sighed in relief. "Thanks," he whispered to Samantha. She probably smiled back, but he made sure not to look at her long enough to find out. After all, it was too big a risk to be caught by those eyes.

*~*~*

"Miss Satine! Miss Satine, are you awake?"

Elizabeth looked up dreamily to see Professor Flitwick's image floating in front of her face. She felt a sharp pain as Hermione's quill poked her in the back. "Um, oh! Professor! I'm so sorry! It's just . . . there's just something about this room. It's like I could almost sink back into it in eternal comfort, it's so thick with . . . something." Ron rolled his eyes for about the hundredth time that day. Where did this girl come from?

To his surprise, Flitwick smiled dreamily himself. "Your mother always used to say that, too. Sweet girl. Pushed the rules sometimes, but excellent in Charms. Excellent." Sarah? Push the rules? Elizabeth suppressed a laugh. Her mother would never break a rule. Charms were her mother's strong point, though. Hope it runs in the family, she thought nervously. She tried to force herself to focus on Professor Flitwick's words. What was it about this room? Why did she feel so comfortable here that if she were to close her eyes she would fall asleep?

Flitwick was summing up his beginning-of-the-year lecture. "And so that is we will be studying the Charms developed in Medieval Europe the first half of this year. Whereas the magic you study in other topics such as Transfiguration or Potions becomes more powerful as witches and wizards discover more about them over the years, the Charms of old were the strongest we will ever see because the Ancient Magic supporting them was stronger back then. Of course, Medieval Charms are far from the strongest, but they are still more advan . . . yes Miss Satine?"

Elizabeth was suddenly wide awake. Something about Flitwick's words had caught her attention. "What is the Ancient Magic, Professor?" she asked.

"To be brief, it's a term used to describe the magic that used to occur naturally in nature and kept the forces of good in power over evil. Charms, which unlike most magic, are purely good, used to be able to tap into the Magic. But we don't get into that here. If you wish to know more, you'll have to research on your own time." Flitwick was about to continue his lesson when he turned back to Elizabeth, an odd, almost mournful look in his eyes. "But rest assured, Miss Satine, you won't find what you're looking for there."

The bell rang, and Professor Flitwick threw up his arms hopelessly, watching as the students streamed out of his classroom before hearing the end of his speech.

Harry ran to catch up with Elizabeth and Hermione in the hall. "What was that all about?" he asked Elizabeth.

"I have no idea," she responded. "I was just curious about what he said." She shrugged.

Ron sneered airily as he walked past, "She and Hermione are probably already planning an extra-credit project to suck up to the teachers on their first day back to school!" His red head and jeering eyes disappeared into the crowd of students. Harry gave an exasperated sigh and raced off after his friend as Hermione turned to Elizabeth who looked so heartbroken she wanted to cry.

"What did I do to make him hate me so much?" Elizabeth asked tearfully.

Hermione put a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders. "Don't worry about Ron," she soothed. "It takes him awhile to get used to new people. I should know, he wasn't exactly friendly to me our first few weeks together either." She giggled at the memory. "And now we're the best of friends. Just give him some time, he'll come around."

Elizabeth squared her shoulders. "I hope you're right, but for now I've got bigger worries."

Hermione laughed. "What? Lunch?"

"No, silly. My first flying lesson! You will come with me, right?" Elizabeth's voice trembled slightly, but Hermione nodded vigorously.

"I wouldn't miss it! I'll be right there beside you."

And they walked toward the grounds, side by side.

*~*~*

Samantha and Lily were strolling down the hall together when Professor Flitwick stepped out of his classroom, obstructing their path. He was looking at Samantha severely. "Miss Satine," he said sternly, "I need to see you in my room immediately." The girls exchanged questioning glances and Samantha shrugged and followed Flitwick inside. Lily positioned herself by the door to listen, but the Professor surprised her by closing it tightly behind him.

When Samantha finally re-emerged she brushed past Lily without a word. Lily raced after her friend, catching her by the arm. "Sammy, what's wrong?" Lily asked, worried at the pained light in her friend's eyes.

Samantha sniffed slightly. "You could have told me you didn't get the Prelacio Charm."

"What?" Lily stepped back at the resentment in Samantha's voice.

"When I told Sirius. You could have mentioned that you didn't have the same answer as me."

"Sam, I have no idea what you're talking about . . ."

"We all had different Charms! We weren't assigned the same project! So it was perfectly obvious where Sirius got his final answer from – I was the only person with the Prelacio Charm! Why didn't you mention that you had a different answer? You heard me tell Sirius this morning! Or did you think you were doing the right thing? Do you honestly think it's better for your best friend to get caught from her mistake than to fix it before she gets detention?" By this time Samantha was shaking violently and Lily had bent down to hold her tight.

"Honestly, it never occurred to me, Sam. I was too preoccupied with Sirius' irresponsibility to think about the answer that you gave him. And you know I would never let you get hurt just to teach you a lesson."

Samantha sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. It's just, you know what?" she giggled weakly. "I've never had a detention before in my five years here. Astounding considering some of the curses we've pulled on certain boys . . ." She stood up and brushed off her robes. "Well, it was bound to happen eventually." Gathering her bags, she began walking determinedly back to Gryffindor Tower. Lily followed, shaking her head proudly at her friend's persistent bravery.

***

Sirius made his way to the Charms classroom muttering angrily to himself. It was almost 9 PM, the time scheduled for his detention. All the zillions of pranks he had managed to pull and get away with, and he got caught for copying two words on a paper? He wondered what kind of annoying task Flitwick would have him do.

As he neared the classroom, he was surprised to see the light on. He had passed his professor in the hall a few minutes ago, and he'd said he'd be a little late. Who else could be here? He entered the classroom and stopped dead just inside the doorway.

Samantha Satine was seated in the desk nearest him, a mere two feet away. She looked up at the sound of his footsteps, and before he had time to turn away, Sirius felt himself be captured, as he stared, trapped, into those bright blue eyes . . .

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed Chapter 3!

Snowwolf: Don't be sorry – I love long reviews! Especially this one – thank you =) Will McGonagall & Elizabeth become close? Hmm . . . you're rather insightful . . . it all depends on if I continue with the story the way I originally planned. I think it's really sweet that you're so supportive of your sister (Lady Lanya Artemisan??). *Sigh* I've always wanted a sister. I have two cousins who call themselves my sisters, but it's not the same . . . (by the way, your poetry is beautiful ^_^)

Lady Lanya Artemisan: Yes, Ron isn't exactly the nicest as of late, but you can't really blame him (okay, maybe you can a little), it's hard to have people come in and apparently "steal" your friends. But don't worry, he'll ease up eventually, probably sooner than later 'cuz his attitude is getting on my nerves . . . Make sure & tell me when you update – we soup lovers should stick together :)

Karma50: Thank you, *blushes*, you're so sweet! Good news: I didn't make this chapter like homework, I just abandoned all my other homework to do it! (j/k . . .)

Ra-chan: Hmm . . . another insightful reviewer . . . just be careful what you say 'cuz you know a lot more than everyone else ;) Unlike you, though, there was no way I could write fanfiction while preparing for AP French. I tried, but gave up after every other sentence I wrote came out in French. I didn't think reviewers would like that ^^ Which reminds me: Somebody please go review Ra-chan's "Building Memories"! You won't be disappointed!!!

Katya: *Ahem!* And where was the Duchess Katajena's review for Chapter 3? Have you abandoned me so soon, cherie?