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"I don't understand why we have to do these stupid homework assignments! Ugh!!" Lily yelled in frustration after her fifth attempt to turn a sheet of parchment into a complete tea set that would pour out already made tea into cups at your command. The Anniversary Ball was in two days and the common room was especially noisy after an entertaining show of fireworks and the grand finale of detentions given to the house's most famous trio.

Sirius, James, and Remus were determined to have a feast that night but just as they were about to go down to the kitchens, Professor Drake, the head of the house, decided to spend the rest of the evening in the common room, "enjoying the company of his youthful friends", as he put it. To distract him, Remus set off a colorful array of Fillibuster's Fireworks on which Sirius decided to try out a few charms while James and Peter hid under James' invisibility cloak and ran off to the kitchens. Of course, Sirius' charms were literally Sirius' charms, his very own concoctions that he had never tried out before.  The first few were bizarre, the fireworks whizzed around the room farting out brightly colored feathers before exploding, but the fifth one was chaos causing. As soon as Sirius waved his wand, the fireworks exploded high in the air and tiny centimeter-sized stars, each attached to a tiny spark of flame flew towards the windows, as though trying to escape into the sky. Several succeeded but many flew into the curtains and set them on fire. Just as this happened, James and Peter arrived loaded with éclairs and cakes and, completely forgetting that Professor Drake was still here, James began dishing out the food while Peter, who noticed the fire and realized the shrill screams of terror were not squeals of joy, ran up to the fifth year boys' dormitory. James, Sirius, and Remus each received detention for two weeks under Professor Drake and fifty points off Gryffindor each.

"You're only complaining because you can't do it…. Accio Sirius!!" Isabella said with a smile, literally summoning Sirius from the fireplace where he and James were reenacting some scenario involving very bad break dancing to Charisma, Vanessa, and Giselle who were falling out of their chairs, laughing. He shot backwards into Isabella's lap, where she grabbed hold of his head, and turning it so that he faced her looking thoroughly shocked and fearful of the force with which she handled him, and kissed him passionately with more than just her lips.

"Vulgar, aren't you?" Sirius replied after their thirty-second-snog, looking flustered but pleased, still sitting on Isabella's lap. "But that's how I like my women, right?" he added, wrapping one arm around her neck and pulling her head up to his waiting lips to repeat what they had just completed. She let out a derisive snort, pulled away and stood up, leaving Sirius to fall on the floor in a tangled heap as she stepped over him to sink into a pouf next to Lily.

"So sorry darling, the seat was beginning to get uncomfortable, what with you weighing me down and everything," Isabella replied to his murderous glare. She sat up from her curled-into-a-ball-on-a-pouf position, grabbed his arm and dragged him towards her off the floor where he was deliberately slumped in mock helplessness. He rubbed a spot on his temple, pointedly glaring at Isabella, and she, rolling her eyes at Lily, kissed it affectionately.

"You're better now." she stated, smiling sincerely, picking up her own transfiguration homework and drawing out her wand to work on it.

"Thanks for letting me know…" he answered, standing up and looking over to James who was watching him impatiently and the girls who looked astonished. Isabella noticed the looks upon their faces.

"Go now. I have no more use for you…" she said to him, placing her arms on the sides of her pouf and acting as though it was a throne.

"Yes master… I mean mistress," he said with a mock bow and then standing up again he said with a smirk, "You're so very dominating, did you know that?"

"Well, I am always on top…" she gave him a mischievous smile and winked, "If you know what I mean…" They gave each other identical grins and he reached down and kissed her softly before returning to his waiting audience. Lily and Isabella watched him go and Isabella noticed Giselle's eyes darting from her to Sirius and then Giselle narrowed her eyes giving her a final nasty look. She returned it with a broad smile. Lily was giving Isabella a look of utter disbelief.

"Izzy… do you and Sirius have-" she began to say but was interrupted as a flying Remus landed at her feet and layed there looking dazed for a minute and then slowly grinned at her.

"Sorry, Lily…" he said, sitting up, "Angie here," he waved his hand in her direction as she came running towards them but seemed too tired to continue.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Remus…" Angela said, pulling him to his feet and then helping him into a chair. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… what the hell was that for?" he asked, glaring at her and rubbing her head.

"What were you doing in our dormitory??" she asked in return, her hands on her hips.

"Sirius left my copy of Potion Brewing With Passion in there and I was innocently retrieving it when you decided to attack me…" he answered. She fumed.

"What the hell would Sirius be doing in our dormitory, huh? How stupid do you think I am?" she narrowed her eyes at him as he glanced at Isabella who mouthed the word "sorry" to him, looking fearfully at Angela. She was usually very even tempered and rarely this furious.

"Forget about that. That was really cool! What did you do to me?" he asked, breaking into a wide grin, looking curious and eager.

She eyed him suspiciously before answering, "I levitated you, that's when you hit your head on the ceiling, and then instead of lowering you down directly, I think my wand backfired and you just shot you into the common room…" she said, looking thoughtful.

"Your wand didn't backfire Angie, I think that in all your inexplicable rage, you flicked your wand so I would land on the common room floor," Angela opened her mouth in rage but he interrupted her,  "Anyway, now I know never to enter your dormitory when you're the only one in there." Remus said with a smile before getting up and joining Sirius and James. Angela took out her repaired crystal ball and began working on her divination homework. Just then the piece of parchment Lily was trying to transfigure inflated and started squirting water all over the place. She threw it on the floor and stomped on it several times until a squeak sounded its death. Angela and Isabella sat still in their chairs staring down at the parchment and wondering if this was going to trigger an outburst of rage from their already frustrated friend. To their surprise, she merely took a deep breath and looked around.

"Too bad that didn't happen when the curtains caught fire." she said with a sigh. "That's it… JAMES!!!" she yelled, shocking her friends. Across the room, James who was sitting on a pouf with Charisma on his lap, turned to look at her.

"C'mere for minute?" Lily called, looking desperate.

"Why?"

"To do my transfiguration homework for me…?" she more asked than answered, pouting and cocking her head on the side. She pointed to the wet piece of parchment on the floor for him to look at.

"Sure! But only if you do my Charms." he smirked. They did this often.

"James, can't you ever do something from the goodness of your heart?" she pleaded as he raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, please!!! I'm really frustrated!!!"

"So am I! I have no one to do my Charms homework for me." he pouted as he stamped his foot.

"You are such an asshole." she narrowed her eyes at him as she brought him her parchment and as he took it, reaching over Charisma's arm.

"Darling, I owe you absolutely nothing but I do pity you for the sad time you'll have at the ball with Peter. I'll do it, but now you owe me." he sighed, taking out his wand. Lily let out a squeal of triumph and was just about to lavishly thank him when Charisma took the parchment away from James and pulled out her own wand.

"I'll do it, James." she said, straightening out the parchment with a flourish.

"Charisma, don't worry, James and I do favors for each other a lot and I'm sure he'd be happy to do it, as I'm paying him back for it," Lily smiled at James, "Don't waste your time on it Charisma." she finished politely, reaching out to retrieve the parchment from her.

"Really, its okay," Charisma replied curtly, snatching it back, "After all, we are the best of friends Lily, aren't we?" she smiled, raising her eyebrows. James hugged her tighter, grinning at Lily, pleased.

 "Um… yeah." Lily answered hesitantly, smiling nervously as Charisma turned her soggy parchment into a beautiful purple ceramic tea set that, when a cup was tapped with a wand, would pour ready-made tea. Lily thanked her, eyeing her curiously as Charisma carefully handed her the tea-set, smirking, her eyes cold chips of green ice. Lily made her way through the clutter of poufs and chairs to her dormitory, thinking of what had just occurred. Did Charisma have something against her?