I know what you`re thinking! {PLEASE!!! NOT ANOTHER LONG INTRO!!!} Well,
don`t worry, I won`t talk long . . . just wanna say another thanx for all
you guys who reviewed. I love hearing your inputs . . . And I`ll see what
I can do about making Amos suffer . . . I have a few ideas up my sleeve,
and I think they`ll play nicely with the rest of the story left to come! ;
} Anywayz, hope you enjoy this chapter! = ]
{The first duty of love - is to listen.}
Paul Tillich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey and Sirius just stared deep into each other`s eyes as his upper body sat lightly on top of her. Sirius sighed deeply and Joey took a big whiff of his sweet, fresh breath. His face was a mere nose length away from hers. She practically parted her lips waiting for their lips to meet. Sirius, however, didn`t move. In fact, he stayed right where he was as a tiny smile creepy over his face.
{Are you planning on kissing me, or are you just going to torture me?} Joey whispered with an amused tone in her voice. Sirius smiled, but his eyes were serious.
{How can you be my girl?} he whispered. {You take my breath away every time I look into your eyes . . . It`s like . . . we`re lopsided. We`ll walk down the corridor together and people will give us the nick-name beauty and the beast . . .} he was obviously joking, but there was still a hint of seriousness in his voice that made Joey`s heart sink.
{Oh, pulease!} Joey laughed as she pushed Sirius off of her and sat up. {Sirius, you obviously don`t realize how hot you really are.} Sirius raised his eyebrows and gave her a surprised look. {You know you`re really bad at faking it . . . you must know how attractive you are.} Sirius had always thought he was *okay* looking, but hearing Joey describe him as being *hot* surprised him a little. He never really realized that Joey saw him in such a way. (Some guys are just clueless like that!)
{If you say so . . .} he said with playful look that obviously said he understood.
{It`s gotta be the cute puppy dog thing . . .} she teased. {Otherwise, I guess you aren`t THAT good looking.} She gave him another playful push on his sleek torso. Only, she didn`t pull her hand away. She liked the feel of his smooth, hairless, and powerfully built chest. She let her hand slide down his front, past his well defined pectoral muscles and over his softly chiseled abs. Her fingers stopped dangerously close to the waistband of his silky puppy dog boxers (of course). Sirius gave an involuntary shutter at pleasurable sensation of her soft fingers against his bare skin. She made to pull her hand away, but Sirius grabbed her wrist. He pulled her towards him so that their faces were only a few inches apart. Once again, she could feel his warm breath on her lips, and she found herself leaning in for the kiss. Just before their lips got close enough to meet, Sirius interrupted it again:
{You know you can`t resist my cute puppy dog charm,} he teased. Joey tried to resist the urge to smile, but the impulse was too great. It started out as just a little twitch on her bottom lip, but then the smile grew all the way across her face, finally ending with her bursting into laughter . . . Sirius always did know how to ruin the mood.
She fell forward, face planted into Sirius` chest, and just busted up into a fit of giggles. Why was he so freakin` adorable?! Sirius pulled her to him in a hug as she just continued to laugh. She rested her head on his shoulder and kissed the top of his well built arm.
{You`re too damn funny for your own good, ya know . . .} she murmured as she just lied there on his shoulder. She was feeling a little sleepy, now that she thought about it.
{You`re telling me . . .} he said with a laugh. {I think you were about to kiss me, too . . . and look where THAT ended up!} Joey started giggling again. OH, brother!!!
{You know, Sirius . . . for a guy who`s a dog half the time, you really are quite . . . lacking hair.} She said as she pulled out of the comfortable hug and placed her silky fingers back onto his exposed chest.
{Yeah, well . . .} he trailed off for a moment. {Like I explained earlier . . . I kind of have to be careful about fleas . . .} Joey smiled brightly and tried to stifle a laugh as she spoke:
{What a turn-on,} she said sarcastically. Sirius laughed heartily and pulled her into another hug. Joey rested her head on his shoulder and was feeling really tired from the comfortable warmth.
{Joey?} he whispered after a moment, as he noticed that he was now supporting her half-sleeping body.
{hmmmm?} she groaned.
{I think you should go to sleep . . .} he said as he started pulling away from the hug. She was still sitting up-right, but her face showed how she was more asleep than awake.
{mmmhmmm . . .}
{Here, you can sleep in James` bed if you like . . . I doubt he`ll be back tonight. And then you can . . .} he trailed off as Joey automatically folded away the covers of his bed and crawled in. {. . . or there`s the other choice where you can just crash in my bed . . .} he said with a sleepy laugh.
{mmmhmmm . . .} she murmured as she scooted over in the bed so that there was enough room for Sirius to climb in. Sirius just shrugged his shoulders, turned out the light and climbed in. Not like he was going to argue with having a beautiful girl sleep in his bed next to him!
As he slid under the covers next to her, Joey flipped over onto her stomach and rested her head on his bare chest. Smiling warmly, he positioned his arm on her back and tried to go to sleep. It wasn`t long before Joey started whispering to him again.
{Sirius?}
{Hmmm?} he responded sleepily.
{Why did you say that you doubted James would be back tonight?}
{Because he`s in your dorm with Lily . . .} he trailed off in a haze of sleepiness. Surprised, Joey lifted her head off Sirius` chest and looked up through the dark where she assumed his head was (it was too dark to see anything).
{What?!} she practically yelled. {You mean they were the ones I over heard in the dormitory?!}
{Yup,} he said stifling his laugh.
{Omigod . . . ewwww!} she whined. {I over heard Lily and James . . .*shiver* . . . and who knows what they were doing in there!!!} Sirius couldn`t hold in his laughter anymore.
{Oh, I`m sure it`s alright. We can trust James.} Sirius said as he tried to get a hold of his laughing.
{How did you find out it was them?} she asked.
{Because James told me. He came in here while you were in the shower.}
{Why did he come in here?}
{Because he needed a change of clothes.}
{You mean they`re going to spend the night together?!}
{Relax, Joey. I`m sure it`s not what you think . . .} Sirius trailed off. He wasn`t even sure if it was what she was thinking or not . . .
{You`re telling me to relax?! They could be lying in the same bed right now! And you`re telling me to relax!}
{Joey!} Sirius said trying to calm her down. {Look at us!} Joey rolled her eyes in the dark, and reluctantly laid her head back down on his chest.
{Well, this is different . . .} she said smugly.
{Sure it is . . .} Sirius said with a really funny tone. Joey could feel his chest vibrating, and she could tell that he was obviously trying to smother his laughter. A smile crept over Joey`s face too, and she poked him sharply in the side of the ribs.
{Oh, shut up,} she said teasingly. Then she closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Still smiling, Sirius pulled the bed`s draping closed and fell into a deep sleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next time Joey woke up, it was pitch black and she couldn`t see a thing. What the hell? Where was she? What was she lying on? This didn`t feel like her duvet . . . and this DEFINITELY wasn`t her pillow. Smooth, sleek surface that had the pleasant smell of Sirius . . . oh, wait. This was Sirius. The memories flooded back into her head. `So it wasn`t a dream,` she thought to herself. She laid her head back down onto his chest and snuggled up into the warmth. She closed her eyes and just listened to Sirius` steady passed breathing as he slept.
Suddenly, she realized that their breathing wasn`t the only going on in the room . . . Omigod! Were the other boys back in the room?! Would they see her there? She leaned over Sirius and slid open the drape a tiny bit so she could peak out into the dormitory. What small amount of light that was shining into the dormitory, flooded into the draped off bed where Sirius and Joey were lying. She squinted into the dimly lit dormitory and could see Remus and Peter were in there beds.
While Peter had bothered to close his drapes most of the way, his head was still visible through the part in his drapes from where Joey was lying. Remus on the other hand, hadn`t even bothered with trying to shut his drapes. It looked more like he had just collapsed onto his bed, considering that his dress robes were just lying on the floor, and he was sprawled across his bed, without covers. He was wearing nothing but a pair of moon and star-covered boxers that sat dangerously low on his hips. This was just too much for Joey to bear. If Remus had found out that she saw him like that, he`d probably die of embarrassment. It was just too funny. Joey tried to smother her laughing into the pillow next to Sirius, but she found herself shaking madly with silent-giggles.
Sirius stirred a little and rolled over onto his side so that his back was to Joey. She looked down on his sleeping figure and just smiled admiringly. Sirius looked like such a cutie when he was sleeping. He was her little puppy dog.
She knew it was time to get up and go back to her dorm. She didn`t want any of the other marauders to know she had been sleeping there the whole night. She parted the curtains on her side of the bed so that she could slip out into the dormitory. She flipped open the covers on her side and made to leave the bed. She suddenly felt Sirius wrap his arm around her waist and drag her back into the bed.
{Don`t leave,} he whispered hoarsely into her ear. She smiled and rolled her eyes.
{I hafta go back to my own bed,} she responded. {You don`t want the boys to see that I`ve been sleeping in your bed all night, do you?}
{Oh, who cares what they`ll think,} he moaned. {Don`t leave me . . . I`ll be all cold with out you keeping me warm . . .} he whined.
{Stop making excuses,} she laughed under her breath. {You`re gonna wake up the other guys!}
{Oh, let them wake up,} he smiled as he pulled her down towards him and pushed her lips onto his. Joey kissed him back and then slowly pulled away. She patted him lightly on the chest and brushed a fly-away hair out of his eyes.
{G`nite,} she whispered.
{G`nite . . .}
She slipped off the bed, through the curtains and out into the dimly lit dormitory. The curtains swished shut behind her, and Sirius was out of view. She tiptoed quietly passed the snoring Remus and then around Peter`s bed, all the while trying to suppress her giggles at the site of the two boys. She creaked open the door and glided out into the hallway and down the stairs. There was a peaceful silence out in the common room as she crept through the crowd of students that had decided to crash on the floor. There was an unpleasant stench that floated about the Gryffindor common room, smelling foully of an overdose on candy, too much butterbeer, and the upset stomachs that characteristically went with it. The room was a mess. There were people sprawled on top of each other all over the floor, and empty bottles and bags littered the entire area.
Shaking her head with an appalled expression on her face, she made her way through the room that had just started parting with light from the early dawn-broken morning. She finally reached the stone steps that led up to her room with only tripping on two people.
The cold stone steps of the dormitory hallway gave her a shiver that started at her bare feet and ran all the way up her spine. She found herself wishing that she was back in Sirius` bed, snuggled up against his warm chest. *sigh* The thought of her being able to think of Sirius in such a way without feeling like she was betraying anyone made her feel really happy. A huge grin developed over her rosy cheeks as she bounced up the steps. Suddenly, she was abruptly shaken from her little reverie as a tall, fairly muscular figure crashed into her as it was on its way down the curve of the stairs. Joey found herself loosing her balance as she tried desperately to not fall down the stairs backwards!
The figure, soon realizing what it had crashed into and the problem it had caused, quickly grabbed Joey`s arms and kept her from falling back. Joey let out a frightened scream, and suddenly found her cry being muffled as a warm, semi-callused hand fell flat against her mouth.
{Shhhhhh,} the figure cooed.
{HOLY SHIT, James!} Joey said a little louder than she meant to. {What the HELL do you think you are doing?!} her voice had calmed down and subsided to a harsh whisper. James cradled her into a hug and kept making hushing noises. Joey felt her pulse return to normal just a James` was doing the same. He pulled away, let out a relieved laugh, and said quietly:
{You scared me half to death, Joey.}
{I scared you?!} her voice was beginning to rise again. James bent down and picked up the clothes he had dropped on the floor during the collision. His dress clothes had toppled down a few steps, and Joey found herself helping him pick them up. Joey suddenly realized that James was wearing nothing but a thin pair of stag-decorated boxers. This reminded her of the little thing Sirius had told her about Lily and James *getting together.* Joey suddenly found herself a little curious.
{So what are you doing over in the girls` wing . . .} she interrogated, {wearing nothing but a pair of your lucky prongs-boxers?} There was a definite tone to her voice. James` eyes got wide.
{Well, we were . . . I mean, *I* was just . . . ummmm . . .}
{Keeping Lily busy?} she asked, the tone certainly not wavering in her voice.
{Ummmm . . . yeah, I guess you could say that . . .} he trailed off with a pleadingly innocent grin. Joey just rolled her eyes and shook her head with an amused smile. {Hey!} James laughed as he realized something.
{What?} she asked, puzzled at his tone.
{So what are you doing coming from the boys` wing . . .} he interrogated with a mimicking tone, {wearing nothing but a pair of *Sirius`* lucky boxers and T-shirt?} His voice sounded very triumphant, and he gave her a suggestive smirk.
{Well,} she began as she leaned in towards James like she was about to tell him a juicy secret. James leaned in too, obviously eager to hear what she was about to say. She cupped her hand up to her mouth and barely whispered into his ear, {It`s none of your damn business, now is it!}
James pulled away and laughed. The two guilty parties just smiled and shook their heads at each other. James stuck his hand out for her to shake.
{Well, it was nice NOT seeing you here in the hall,} he said as he gave her a wink and shook her hand. Joey smiled and turned to leave, just as the two of them heard a burst of footsteps come charging up the stairs. They exchanged frightened glances, and both looked to see who their witness was.
They were both surprised to see a half-naked Sirius Black come sprinting up the stair case with a blue, half-muddy, ball gown under one arm, and a pair of bright blue heels in the other. He nearly crashed into the two of them as he came around the curve of the steps.
HAHAHA! I`m cutting it off again because this chapter`s getting too long and I need to go to bed! Don`t you just love it when all of the marauders are in their boxers?! Hehehe! Well . . . I do! Remus with the moon and stars-decorated on his, James with the stags on his, and Sirius with the puppy dogs on his! Hehehehe! Lucky boxers, indeed! Too clever, am I! Hope you like it so far . . . I`ve finally progressed out of Sirius` bedroom, and I hope to continue forward at steady pace now . . . sorta! (insert suggestive smirk . . .) Hope you`ll review! Thanx a bunch! Much luv to all! = ]
{The first duty of love - is to listen.}
Paul Tillich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Joey and Sirius just stared deep into each other`s eyes as his upper body sat lightly on top of her. Sirius sighed deeply and Joey took a big whiff of his sweet, fresh breath. His face was a mere nose length away from hers. She practically parted her lips waiting for their lips to meet. Sirius, however, didn`t move. In fact, he stayed right where he was as a tiny smile creepy over his face.
{Are you planning on kissing me, or are you just going to torture me?} Joey whispered with an amused tone in her voice. Sirius smiled, but his eyes were serious.
{How can you be my girl?} he whispered. {You take my breath away every time I look into your eyes . . . It`s like . . . we`re lopsided. We`ll walk down the corridor together and people will give us the nick-name beauty and the beast . . .} he was obviously joking, but there was still a hint of seriousness in his voice that made Joey`s heart sink.
{Oh, pulease!} Joey laughed as she pushed Sirius off of her and sat up. {Sirius, you obviously don`t realize how hot you really are.} Sirius raised his eyebrows and gave her a surprised look. {You know you`re really bad at faking it . . . you must know how attractive you are.} Sirius had always thought he was *okay* looking, but hearing Joey describe him as being *hot* surprised him a little. He never really realized that Joey saw him in such a way. (Some guys are just clueless like that!)
{If you say so . . .} he said with playful look that obviously said he understood.
{It`s gotta be the cute puppy dog thing . . .} she teased. {Otherwise, I guess you aren`t THAT good looking.} She gave him another playful push on his sleek torso. Only, she didn`t pull her hand away. She liked the feel of his smooth, hairless, and powerfully built chest. She let her hand slide down his front, past his well defined pectoral muscles and over his softly chiseled abs. Her fingers stopped dangerously close to the waistband of his silky puppy dog boxers (of course). Sirius gave an involuntary shutter at pleasurable sensation of her soft fingers against his bare skin. She made to pull her hand away, but Sirius grabbed her wrist. He pulled her towards him so that their faces were only a few inches apart. Once again, she could feel his warm breath on her lips, and she found herself leaning in for the kiss. Just before their lips got close enough to meet, Sirius interrupted it again:
{You know you can`t resist my cute puppy dog charm,} he teased. Joey tried to resist the urge to smile, but the impulse was too great. It started out as just a little twitch on her bottom lip, but then the smile grew all the way across her face, finally ending with her bursting into laughter . . . Sirius always did know how to ruin the mood.
She fell forward, face planted into Sirius` chest, and just busted up into a fit of giggles. Why was he so freakin` adorable?! Sirius pulled her to him in a hug as she just continued to laugh. She rested her head on his shoulder and kissed the top of his well built arm.
{You`re too damn funny for your own good, ya know . . .} she murmured as she just lied there on his shoulder. She was feeling a little sleepy, now that she thought about it.
{You`re telling me . . .} he said with a laugh. {I think you were about to kiss me, too . . . and look where THAT ended up!} Joey started giggling again. OH, brother!!!
{You know, Sirius . . . for a guy who`s a dog half the time, you really are quite . . . lacking hair.} She said as she pulled out of the comfortable hug and placed her silky fingers back onto his exposed chest.
{Yeah, well . . .} he trailed off for a moment. {Like I explained earlier . . . I kind of have to be careful about fleas . . .} Joey smiled brightly and tried to stifle a laugh as she spoke:
{What a turn-on,} she said sarcastically. Sirius laughed heartily and pulled her into another hug. Joey rested her head on his shoulder and was feeling really tired from the comfortable warmth.
{Joey?} he whispered after a moment, as he noticed that he was now supporting her half-sleeping body.
{hmmmm?} she groaned.
{I think you should go to sleep . . .} he said as he started pulling away from the hug. She was still sitting up-right, but her face showed how she was more asleep than awake.
{mmmhmmm . . .}
{Here, you can sleep in James` bed if you like . . . I doubt he`ll be back tonight. And then you can . . .} he trailed off as Joey automatically folded away the covers of his bed and crawled in. {. . . or there`s the other choice where you can just crash in my bed . . .} he said with a sleepy laugh.
{mmmhmmm . . .} she murmured as she scooted over in the bed so that there was enough room for Sirius to climb in. Sirius just shrugged his shoulders, turned out the light and climbed in. Not like he was going to argue with having a beautiful girl sleep in his bed next to him!
As he slid under the covers next to her, Joey flipped over onto her stomach and rested her head on his bare chest. Smiling warmly, he positioned his arm on her back and tried to go to sleep. It wasn`t long before Joey started whispering to him again.
{Sirius?}
{Hmmm?} he responded sleepily.
{Why did you say that you doubted James would be back tonight?}
{Because he`s in your dorm with Lily . . .} he trailed off in a haze of sleepiness. Surprised, Joey lifted her head off Sirius` chest and looked up through the dark where she assumed his head was (it was too dark to see anything).
{What?!} she practically yelled. {You mean they were the ones I over heard in the dormitory?!}
{Yup,} he said stifling his laugh.
{Omigod . . . ewwww!} she whined. {I over heard Lily and James . . .*shiver* . . . and who knows what they were doing in there!!!} Sirius couldn`t hold in his laughter anymore.
{Oh, I`m sure it`s alright. We can trust James.} Sirius said as he tried to get a hold of his laughing.
{How did you find out it was them?} she asked.
{Because James told me. He came in here while you were in the shower.}
{Why did he come in here?}
{Because he needed a change of clothes.}
{You mean they`re going to spend the night together?!}
{Relax, Joey. I`m sure it`s not what you think . . .} Sirius trailed off. He wasn`t even sure if it was what she was thinking or not . . .
{You`re telling me to relax?! They could be lying in the same bed right now! And you`re telling me to relax!}
{Joey!} Sirius said trying to calm her down. {Look at us!} Joey rolled her eyes in the dark, and reluctantly laid her head back down on his chest.
{Well, this is different . . .} she said smugly.
{Sure it is . . .} Sirius said with a really funny tone. Joey could feel his chest vibrating, and she could tell that he was obviously trying to smother his laughter. A smile crept over Joey`s face too, and she poked him sharply in the side of the ribs.
{Oh, shut up,} she said teasingly. Then she closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Still smiling, Sirius pulled the bed`s draping closed and fell into a deep sleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next time Joey woke up, it was pitch black and she couldn`t see a thing. What the hell? Where was she? What was she lying on? This didn`t feel like her duvet . . . and this DEFINITELY wasn`t her pillow. Smooth, sleek surface that had the pleasant smell of Sirius . . . oh, wait. This was Sirius. The memories flooded back into her head. `So it wasn`t a dream,` she thought to herself. She laid her head back down onto his chest and snuggled up into the warmth. She closed her eyes and just listened to Sirius` steady passed breathing as he slept.
Suddenly, she realized that their breathing wasn`t the only going on in the room . . . Omigod! Were the other boys back in the room?! Would they see her there? She leaned over Sirius and slid open the drape a tiny bit so she could peak out into the dormitory. What small amount of light that was shining into the dormitory, flooded into the draped off bed where Sirius and Joey were lying. She squinted into the dimly lit dormitory and could see Remus and Peter were in there beds.
While Peter had bothered to close his drapes most of the way, his head was still visible through the part in his drapes from where Joey was lying. Remus on the other hand, hadn`t even bothered with trying to shut his drapes. It looked more like he had just collapsed onto his bed, considering that his dress robes were just lying on the floor, and he was sprawled across his bed, without covers. He was wearing nothing but a pair of moon and star-covered boxers that sat dangerously low on his hips. This was just too much for Joey to bear. If Remus had found out that she saw him like that, he`d probably die of embarrassment. It was just too funny. Joey tried to smother her laughing into the pillow next to Sirius, but she found herself shaking madly with silent-giggles.
Sirius stirred a little and rolled over onto his side so that his back was to Joey. She looked down on his sleeping figure and just smiled admiringly. Sirius looked like such a cutie when he was sleeping. He was her little puppy dog.
She knew it was time to get up and go back to her dorm. She didn`t want any of the other marauders to know she had been sleeping there the whole night. She parted the curtains on her side of the bed so that she could slip out into the dormitory. She flipped open the covers on her side and made to leave the bed. She suddenly felt Sirius wrap his arm around her waist and drag her back into the bed.
{Don`t leave,} he whispered hoarsely into her ear. She smiled and rolled her eyes.
{I hafta go back to my own bed,} she responded. {You don`t want the boys to see that I`ve been sleeping in your bed all night, do you?}
{Oh, who cares what they`ll think,} he moaned. {Don`t leave me . . . I`ll be all cold with out you keeping me warm . . .} he whined.
{Stop making excuses,} she laughed under her breath. {You`re gonna wake up the other guys!}
{Oh, let them wake up,} he smiled as he pulled her down towards him and pushed her lips onto his. Joey kissed him back and then slowly pulled away. She patted him lightly on the chest and brushed a fly-away hair out of his eyes.
{G`nite,} she whispered.
{G`nite . . .}
She slipped off the bed, through the curtains and out into the dimly lit dormitory. The curtains swished shut behind her, and Sirius was out of view. She tiptoed quietly passed the snoring Remus and then around Peter`s bed, all the while trying to suppress her giggles at the site of the two boys. She creaked open the door and glided out into the hallway and down the stairs. There was a peaceful silence out in the common room as she crept through the crowd of students that had decided to crash on the floor. There was an unpleasant stench that floated about the Gryffindor common room, smelling foully of an overdose on candy, too much butterbeer, and the upset stomachs that characteristically went with it. The room was a mess. There were people sprawled on top of each other all over the floor, and empty bottles and bags littered the entire area.
Shaking her head with an appalled expression on her face, she made her way through the room that had just started parting with light from the early dawn-broken morning. She finally reached the stone steps that led up to her room with only tripping on two people.
The cold stone steps of the dormitory hallway gave her a shiver that started at her bare feet and ran all the way up her spine. She found herself wishing that she was back in Sirius` bed, snuggled up against his warm chest. *sigh* The thought of her being able to think of Sirius in such a way without feeling like she was betraying anyone made her feel really happy. A huge grin developed over her rosy cheeks as she bounced up the steps. Suddenly, she was abruptly shaken from her little reverie as a tall, fairly muscular figure crashed into her as it was on its way down the curve of the stairs. Joey found herself loosing her balance as she tried desperately to not fall down the stairs backwards!
The figure, soon realizing what it had crashed into and the problem it had caused, quickly grabbed Joey`s arms and kept her from falling back. Joey let out a frightened scream, and suddenly found her cry being muffled as a warm, semi-callused hand fell flat against her mouth.
{Shhhhhh,} the figure cooed.
{HOLY SHIT, James!} Joey said a little louder than she meant to. {What the HELL do you think you are doing?!} her voice had calmed down and subsided to a harsh whisper. James cradled her into a hug and kept making hushing noises. Joey felt her pulse return to normal just a James` was doing the same. He pulled away, let out a relieved laugh, and said quietly:
{You scared me half to death, Joey.}
{I scared you?!} her voice was beginning to rise again. James bent down and picked up the clothes he had dropped on the floor during the collision. His dress clothes had toppled down a few steps, and Joey found herself helping him pick them up. Joey suddenly realized that James was wearing nothing but a thin pair of stag-decorated boxers. This reminded her of the little thing Sirius had told her about Lily and James *getting together.* Joey suddenly found herself a little curious.
{So what are you doing over in the girls` wing . . .} she interrogated, {wearing nothing but a pair of your lucky prongs-boxers?} There was a definite tone to her voice. James` eyes got wide.
{Well, we were . . . I mean, *I* was just . . . ummmm . . .}
{Keeping Lily busy?} she asked, the tone certainly not wavering in her voice.
{Ummmm . . . yeah, I guess you could say that . . .} he trailed off with a pleadingly innocent grin. Joey just rolled her eyes and shook her head with an amused smile. {Hey!} James laughed as he realized something.
{What?} she asked, puzzled at his tone.
{So what are you doing coming from the boys` wing . . .} he interrogated with a mimicking tone, {wearing nothing but a pair of *Sirius`* lucky boxers and T-shirt?} His voice sounded very triumphant, and he gave her a suggestive smirk.
{Well,} she began as she leaned in towards James like she was about to tell him a juicy secret. James leaned in too, obviously eager to hear what she was about to say. She cupped her hand up to her mouth and barely whispered into his ear, {It`s none of your damn business, now is it!}
James pulled away and laughed. The two guilty parties just smiled and shook their heads at each other. James stuck his hand out for her to shake.
{Well, it was nice NOT seeing you here in the hall,} he said as he gave her a wink and shook her hand. Joey smiled and turned to leave, just as the two of them heard a burst of footsteps come charging up the stairs. They exchanged frightened glances, and both looked to see who their witness was.
They were both surprised to see a half-naked Sirius Black come sprinting up the stair case with a blue, half-muddy, ball gown under one arm, and a pair of bright blue heels in the other. He nearly crashed into the two of them as he came around the curve of the steps.
HAHAHA! I`m cutting it off again because this chapter`s getting too long and I need to go to bed! Don`t you just love it when all of the marauders are in their boxers?! Hehehe! Well . . . I do! Remus with the moon and stars-decorated on his, James with the stags on his, and Sirius with the puppy dogs on his! Hehehehe! Lucky boxers, indeed! Too clever, am I! Hope you like it so far . . . I`ve finally progressed out of Sirius` bedroom, and I hope to continue forward at steady pace now . . . sorta! (insert suggestive smirk . . .) Hope you`ll review! Thanx a bunch! Much luv to all! = ]