"A fool in love makes no sense to me. I only think you are a fool if you do not love."

-Anonymous

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Joey and Sirius just stood there. Both relieved about what had finally been said; both eager for the future that lay ahead. Suddenly, a quick flash of lightning shot across the unwelcoming sky, and an earsplitting clap of thunder roared through the area. Joey found herself clinging to Sirius even tighter as the rain poured down even heavier.

"We should probably head back!" Sirius had to yell over the storm.

"I think that's a good plan!" Joey shouted back with a slight tone of sarcasm.

Together, they sprinted through the heavy rain back up towards the castle. Joey was still barefoot, and when she tried sprinting through the mud, she slipped and fell. The muck smeared up the side of her dress, and the elegant blue that it once was, was now a brown, speckled mess. In one swift movement, Sirius scooped Joey off her feet and continued running, with her cradled in his arms, up the stone steps and into the school.

Sirius gently dropped Joey to her feet once they were in the comfortable warmth of the great hall. They both just looked over at one another, each with waterlogged hair dripping in front of their soggy smiles.

"Well, my dear, Sirius laughed with a tone of exhaustion in his voice. You certainly look like a lovely princess. . ."

"And you my lovely prince . . ." they just looked at each other and started cracking up.

Joey's feet were bare and horribly muddy, to say the least; her hair was in a terrible disarray, and her dress, which had once been a shimmering blue, was now covered in muck from her right side down.

"So much for going back to the party. . ." Sirius sighed with a caring smile across his face.

"Well, I guess we better go get into some dry clothes before we freeze to death. I know I'm already starting to feel a little chilled . . ."

The two climbed up the stairs together and down the stone corridor to the Gryffindor tower. They gave the password and climbed through the portrait hole into a very noisy common room. It was quite obvious that the Halloween bash going on in the Gryffindor house was no where near ready to stop. Joey groaned loudly. She was so exhausted, both physically and mentally. 'Guess there is no chance in getting any sleep,' she thought bitterly to herself.

Suddenly, Joey gasped and turned to Sirius. "Omigod, Sirius! We left Flam downstairs in the dining hall. He's still sitting at the table with all that food!"

"It's alright, Joey. I think he can fend for himself until morning. If anyone tries to mess with him, I think they'll come away from the fight with a lot more injuries than our feathery little friend!"

"That's not exactly what I was worried about. Flam doesnt exactly know how to . . . how should I say it . . . stop. He'll keep eating until food starts coming out of his ears . . ."

"Do birds even have ears?" he laughed, as he pictured Flam stuffing himself full of little tea cookies.

"Sirius. . ." Joey protested.

"Oh, Alright," he conceded. "I'll go down and get him. Mean time, you go upstairs and put on something dry." He gave her a quick smile, turned around, and headed back out the portrait hole.

It wasn't long before Sirius reached the closed doors of the dining hall. He could still hear the booming music through the walls, and he slowly pulled the heavy door open and slid into the dim lighting of the ball room. Looking around, he noticed how no one at the ball seemed very aware of his presence. He looked out onto the dance floor, and could see Remus having the time of his life while getting his groove on with his date, Laura. Near by, he could see Peter and Suzy dancing just as wildly. Shaking his head and laughing, he took advantage of the situation, and quickly darted over to the dessert tables where Joey had left Flam.

When he finally reached the table, he had to keep himself from busting up laughing from the sight he saw. Flam was still joyously munching on all the cookies at the dessert table. Rolling his eyes, Sirius grabbed the bird off a rather large, half pecked at, tray of pecan cookies.

"Alright, you glutton! I think you've had enough," Sirius laughed at the bird. Flam had developed a rather obvious belly that sat roundly at his middle. "Don't you know when enough is enough?" Flam gave a rather rueful hoot and displayed a look that said he was grateful Sirius came when he did. "Come on, friend. lets get you back up to the common room!"

While Sirius was getting Flam, Joey trudged up the stone steps towards her dorm room. All she wanted now was a hot shower, some comfy clothes, and a nice, warm bed to sleep in.

When she arrived at her door, she reached out and turned the knob. However, it refused to budge. That was odd . . . the dorm room could only be locked from the inside. Curiously, she leaned her head in towards the door and pressed her ear up against the cool wood. Quickly, she whipped her head away from the door in surprise at what she heard.

If she had not been mistaken, there was only one conclusion she could have made by the noises emitting from the room. Obviously, there were two people in the room having a little . . . how should she put it? . . . post-party fun. It was quite obvious that they didn't want to be disturbed . . . that is, judging by the moaning and slobbering noises that were echoing through the door. To say the least, she was very sure, that no matter how wet and tired she was feeling, there was nothing that could get her to want to go in and witness what was going on in that room! Exhaustedly, she turned around and traipsed back down the stairs.

Sinking back into the crowd of the crazy, partying Gryffindor students, Joey made her way back towards the portrait hole. She didn't know where else to go. There was no way for her to curl up on the common rooms couch because there were three fifth years, drunken off butterbeer, dancing like mad men on the soft red cushions. Maybe she could go back down in the Dining hall and curl up on one of the hard, metal chairs that were scattered around the dessert tables. They certainly wouldn't be comfortable, but it would be a place to rest . . .

Suddenly, just as she approached the exit of the common room, Sirius climbed through the portrait hole into it. He saw her, still covered in her wet ballroom attire, and hastily walked over by her side.

"You didn't suddenly decide that those clothes were comfortable, did you?" he enquired with a laugh.

"No, no. There were some people who locked themselves into my dormitory so they could get better acquainted . . ." she trailed off with a slightly amused tone.

"Well, let's hope they're not on your bed!" he laughed. Joey feigned and irritated look.

"Well, it doesn't look like any of the parties are going to calm down any time soon," Sirius finally said. "You can come up to my dorm and get dried and warmed up."

"Thanks, that'd be nice." The two of them climbed the stone stairs up towards the empty dormitory room.

"Oh! And look what I found at the bottom of the stair case in the great hall!" he said, stifling a laugh, as he held up the pair of blue heels that Joey had kicked off before running out of the castle. She took them from Sirius and gave him a gratifying smile. Sirius flipped the light on in the dormitory, and walked straight over to the bathroom. Flam flew over to the bed and curled up on the headboard.

"You can take a shower if you'd like. It'll warm you up." He walked out of the bathroom and handed her a warm, dry towel.

"Thanks," she said with an exhausted smile. She really wished she could've said more to him to show how grateful she was. She hesitated for a moment, but then took a step closer to him so that she was practically stepping on his toes. In one fluid motion, she put her arms around his neck and lightly pressed her lips to his. She pulled away after just a moment, and looked into his eyes. They were two silvery rings gleaming eagerly back at her.

A smile crept over her face, as she went in again and pressed her mouth to his with a little more force. He wrapped his warm arms around her and drew her closer to him. She could feel his smooth tongue gently draw apart her lips and slowly begin tracing little circles around the tip of her tongue. He exhaled slowly as he moved his hands to her waist and backed her up a few steps until she was pressed up to the closed dormitory door that was behind her. Joey let out a deep sigh as she gently pursed her lips together and began sucking lightly on his bottom lip.

Suddenly, a very loud and irate hoot came from the other side of the room. They both jumped, and Sirius reluctantly drew back. They both looked over at Flam, who was now glaring at Sirius from behind a ton of ruffled-up, irritated feathers. Doing his best to suppress a laugh, Sirius gently turned his head back to a different angle and began kissing the side of Joeys jaw and down her neck.

He lifted his head to her ear and whispered, "You're still all wet and muddy. I suggest you go warm up."

"I think I'm already warmed up . . ." she whispered right back in his ear. She didn't want to leave. . . however, she was extremely uncomfortable in the outfit she was still in. "But I could use some clean clothes." He pulled away and looked down at her with a bewildered and almost surprised look.

"Oh . . ." he was no longer whispering, and his voice sounded a little shaky. "Well, I guess . . . yeah . . . I've got some dry clothes that you . . . you could borrow," he finally managed to stutter out.

"That'd be most appreciated," she laughed as she looked down at the soggy mess that she was still wearing. He began rummaging through his trunk for something suitable for her condition. Suddenly a thought popped into his head, so he stopped digging, stood up and looked nervously into her face.

"You're soaked . . . all the way through?" he asked with a hint of uncertainty.

"Yes, I'm soaked all the way through," she said with almost a mimicking tone. She realized the uncomfortable situation that Sirius had thought of. He was quite aware that she was not about to put her wet, soggy underwear on underneath the dry clothes she was about to borrow. The idea of how this made Sirius sound a bit panicky made Joey want to burst with laughter.

Sirius ears began burning with embarrassment as he noticed the smile creeping over her face. He suddenly became very aware of the tone he had used when he said the word all. He began hoping that it didn't sound too obvious that his voice had wavered at the thought of her wearing nothing under a pair of his very own boxers that he was about to lend to her. He gave her a quick smile, and then shoved the clothes into her arms. He proceeded to rummage through his trunk, simply acting like he was looking for something, just so he could avoid the embarrassment of her seeing him blush.

An evil little smile crept up the right side of Joey's cheek. This boy was too easy to fluster. Turning around and away from him, she gave a fake, impatient little groan.

"Darn it!" She whined as she kept her eyes focusing straight in front of her, away from Sirius gaze. "This bloody knot! It's all wet, and now I can't get it untied." Joey had to stifle a laugh when she heard Sirius suddenly stop rummaging in his trunk. He had obviously realized that she was referring to the knot that was lacing up the back of her dress. "How am I supposed to take a shower when I can't even get my dress off! Sirius . . . would you untie me?" she was now desperately hoping that he hadn't noticed the muffled giggle that she was trying to hide when she spoke.

"Uhhh . . . sure," he croaked as his nervous, fumbling fingers did their best to untie the back of her dress. There was so much adrenaline running through his system that he could barely see straight. Stupid female clothing and all its confusing clasps and ties! His heart was beating so heavily against the inside of his chest, he was having trouble even breathing!

When he had finally gotten the knot undone, Joey turned around while holding up the front of her dress with her hands. "Thanks!" she said, flashing him a sweet smile and a wink. She hurriedly whipped around, the borrowed clothes and towel still tucked under her arm, and marched off into the bathroom. She practically slammed the door shut in a hurry, and then fell to the floor in a desperately-silent fit of laughter.

Sirius, still in his still soaking wet clothes, fell back on a chair in his room. He leaned his head back on the top of the chair and just closed his eyes. He sighed deeply as his pulse rate began coming back to normal. Flam came flying over and landed on his shoulder. The bird still seemed a little huffy from seeing Sirius kissing Joey, but now he wanted some attention. A smile rolled over Sirius face as he began stroking the bird, and he just started laughing to himself. Girls!

Please review! love, SJ