A/N Sorry for the wait…I was on a cruise from the 7th-14th and was a bit boat-lagged for a while. Lol, anyway, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter…if I did, a certain SOMEONE (cough Sirius Black cough) would still be with us :(

Step up

Sit down

Get ready; let me tell you who's the boss now

Stay here

Get out

Every time I turn around you're in my face

Don't care where you think you been

And how you're getting over

If you think you got me down

Just wait it gets much colder—by Ashlee Simpson (from "Love Me For Me")

September 2nd

Charms

Oh…my…god. As if running into class 15 minutes late isn't bad enough. I also had a mouth (and hand) full of bagel. My hair was a mess and my robes weren't even buttoned properly. PLUS I also had my other hand clutched around a glass of orange juice.

Honestly, if I weren't…well, me, I'd be dead and buried. Thank Merlin I wasn't in this state for McGonagall's class.

I could tell Professor Flitwick was a bit…erm, disgusted with my whole breakfast ensemble, but he waved it off as a first day of term thing.

Bless you, Flitwick. Bless you.

My classmates however, were not as forgiving. I believe it'll be a long time before I hear the last of this. But oh well, screw them. I really don't care what they think of me.

Rosemary had a good laugh at me though, as well. As I sat down beside her, I realized that she had no intention of keeping her extreme hysteria (at my expense, I might remind you) to herself. She was laughing her bloody arse off, and I assure you, had it not been for Professor Flitwick's unusually harsh glare in her direction, she would've had no intention of stopping anytime this millennium. And I call her my best friend. Lord, what I wouldn't give to have Eva sitting beside me instead, giving me that sympathetic little smile of hers. Unfortunately, we Gryffindors have Charms with the Ravenclaws, not the Hufflepuffs.

I sighed tiredly and shoved the rest of my bagel into my mouth (I know, very unladylike on my part but screw it, it was morning and I was starving). I quickly drained the orange juice in one long gulp and was rid of the empty glass with a wave of my wand.

Or so I thought…

The moment I took out my half of a wand (I hadn't even bothered to spello-tape it, I'd figured I'd be bright enough to not use it till I got a replacement…guess I hadn't counted on mental damage from severe lack of sleep) and attempted to vanish away the empty glass, I was immediately met with about 50 randomly appearing glasses shooting at me as if I was a dartboard.

I ducked under the table (as did Rosemary, for her own personal safety) and waited for the reoccurring sounds of glass shattering to cease. When it finally did, I reluctantly slid back into my chair alongside a rather amused Rosemary, and grinned sheepishly at Professor Flitwick.

He seriously looked like he was going to have a stroke. Right then and there. In the middle of our Charms classroom; because of something I did.

And just as I was about to open my mouth and explain to him about the whole wand-breaking incident, the smashed up top half of my leftover piece of wand had a major combustion.

I'm not even pulling your leg. In a second, my WHOLE PATHETIC REMAINDER OF A WAND was engulfed in flames, and I had no option but to drop it (or have my hand burnt off of me).

I dropped it and it landed on the wooden table, and on Rosemary's notebook, which burst into flames instantly.

I feel absolutely awful, saying this but…better hers than mine!

Wait…no I don't. This is Rosemary.

We then both jumped from the table as that caught fire as well, and poor Professor Flitwick rushed over (as fast as his little stubs for legs could carry him, I'm sure) and muttered some spell that caused water to spill from his wand and douse the flames.

When the fire was successfully out, and Flitwick's color returned to his face, he turned to me.

Uh-oh…

Professor, why is the color returning to your face so rapidly? I could swear it's turning very odd shades of red and purple, and I assure you that was not your original coloring.

"Miss Evans…" Professor Flitwick said, his voice thick with a shadow of McGonagall outrage, which needless to say scared me to blazes, "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"I—it's my wand it—"

"It has a mind of it's own," said Sirius Black wisely from across the room, causing half the male and ALL the female population of our class to snicker at me.

I shot him a death glare (which he returned with a cocky grin and wave…stupid prat; no wonder he's Potter's best mate) and then turned back to Professor Flitwick, my sheepish smile still in place.

"Miss Evans, do not smirk at me!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, his tiny mustache ruffling furiously, "I am your teacher and therefore your superior—"

"No matter how much Miss Evans chooses to believe the reverse," added Sirius, again causing many a derisive laugh for our classmates.

You know, strange as this may seem, I could really do without these little quips from Black at the moment.

That comment got Flitwick's attention, though, and led to Black losing Gryffindor 10 house points. You could tell of course, by the way Sirius simply leaned his chair back on its back two legs and crossed his arms behind his neck that he didn't mind. Hell, he probably was disappointed that he didn't land himself a detention. Not that he'd ever let that emotion show through. No, no, not Sirius Black.

I'm not the only one who saw this as a possibility.

"Not up to your usual standards, eh Black?" Rosemary taunted him.

Oh yeah, good things about Rosemary:

1) She'll always always ALWAYS stick up for you. No matter what the situation or who the "enemy" is.

2) See good thing #1

3) That's about it…

The entire classroom fell into a hush, students and professor, because of course everyone knew; nobody picks a fight with Sirius Black.

Not that I'd call Rosemary's observation fight-picking material, persay. I'd say it was barely an insult. But as it was not lavishing praises, and it was being said to Sirius Black, that seemed to be all that mattered.

Sirius's bright blue eyes flashed, and I caught a small wave of surprise pulsing through them before they became unreadable once more.

Geez, for a guy with such amazingly brightly colored eyes, he sure does a pretty good job with keeping them void of emotion. Well, maybe that's a bit too harsh. More like casual. Constantly cool, casual and teasing…whatever he's just weird.

Sirius rose slowly from his desk and focused those remarkable eyes of his on Rosemary's defiant, yet somehow equally cool, hazel ones.

"What did you say to me?" Sirius asked her coolly, stressing the "to me" part as if it wasn't crystal clear whom she was speaking to.

"Not up to your usual standards, eh Black?" repeated Rosemary, with a more robotic tone to her voice as if to assure that Sirius caught each and every word.

Some Ravenclaws, and even a few Gryffindors snickered approvingly, while all the females (me being the exception of course) of both houses shot Rosemary the nastiest series of dirty looks I have ever witnessed being distributed.

It was as if they were all saying, How dare you insult the hottest boy in our entire school! You shall never be allowed to set foot into any of the girl's lavatories on the second floor ever again!

Rosemary was somehow unfazed by this imaginary bathroom threat, and she stood up as well, leaning forward on her elbows on the top of the desk, letting her long, straight, dark brown hair cascade loosely down the sides of her shoulders. You could almost feel her eyes boring into Sirius's, daring him to say something back.

There was just the lightest hint of tension, and I was afraid that if I moved, I'd break it and ruin the fragility of the moment.

When all Sirius did was glare back at her, Rosemary curled her upper lip in a sneer and said caustically, "Well Black, you barely lost your house any points at all. 10? Your friend Pettigrew could earn that back in a heartbeat," than, as an afterthought, Rosemary smirked and added, "Or lose more than it in a wink," and, as if it would help with her point, she winked one of her heavily-eyelashed hazel orbs.

I don't know what it was about that last comment. Whether it was what she had said, the way she had said it, or even the wink thing at the end, but there was definitely more than anger radiating from Sirius Black's eyes as he glared back into Rosemary's. Something deeper. Maybe it was shock, or maybe it was loathing. Hey, it might've even been amusement.

But whatever it was, Sirius spat at her,

"You bitch!"

There was nearly a collective gasp from around the room. No one could remember the last time Sirius had had to resort to mere name-calling as a comeback. Normally, Black had enough wit to fill even Potter's largely inflated head (which is by no means any small accomplishment), but he seemed to be at a loss for wise-ass words at the moment.

She must've really caught him off guard.

"Mr. Black!" cried Flitwick, suddenly snapping out of his trance and into lecture-mode, "10 more points from Gryffindor, and detention tonight at 8:00!"

Sirius smirked triumphantly, and gave a long bow to which much of the class responded enthusiastically.

I must admit that even I almost clapped for him. It's just the affect he has on you.

Sirius sat back down in his seat, looking extremely pleased with himself, that is, until Rosemary hissed across the room (as she took her seat), "Still only 10 points Black!"

Sirius looked instantly enraged, but Flitwick cleared his throat so loudly that the tiny man making such a big sound distracted even Sirius.

As soon as Rosemary was back in her seat, I whispered to her, "Oh my god, I love you!" Rosemary smirked and spread out her arms.

"Don't we all?" she asked no one in particular.

Good things about Rosemary (Revised):

1) She'll always always ALWAYS stick up for you. No matter what the situation or who the "enemy"is, even if it's Sirius Black. And if it does happen to be that said "enemy" she has the ability to beat said smart-ass at his own game, and has publicly displayed this skill in front of half the 6th year.

2) See second half of good thing #1

3) That's about it…

I snorted (since I'm not doing very well in the ladylike department today anyway) and turned back to my wand, realizing that this heated debate between Flitwick and I was not over.

Flitwick rubbed his temples exasperatedly before turning to face me once more. But the moment he opened his mouth to speak, the air was filled with quite a different kind of voice.

And to my horror, it was James Potter's voice.

He stood up, and was looking directly at Flitwick with that cocky grin of his in tact.

"Professor," he said in a so obviously sugar-coated tone I expected him to whip out a big swirly lollipop as an accompaniment device, "I do believe the malfunction of Miss Evans's wand is indeed regrettable but not at all her fault—"

My cheeks flushed crimson and I wanted more than anything to remove his vocal chords and wrap them twice around his mouth, just incase. I could handle this myself thank you very much; I'm a big girl. I don't need non-virgin 16 year olds speaking with my teachers to get me out of trouble.

Flitwick and I seemed to be on the same wavelength, because at that moment he interrupted Potter with a tired, "Mr. Potter, I—"

"I think," said Potter, plowing on and flashing me the cheesiest grin ever recorded in history, "That since Miss Lily Evans is such a lovely, such an amazing, such a god damn hot woman—"

"Mr. Potter—" insisted Flitwick.

"Such an undeniably sexy slice of feminine—"

"Mr. Potter!" cried Professor Flitwick, "I believe that's enough!"

He turned back to me, but seeing as how I probably looked as if I'd rather be having my limbs sucked off of me one by one by the giant squid than be here at the moment, he let me off with just a warning and insistence that I replace my wand ASAP and he means AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Will do, Professor, will do.

A/N REVIEW! Ooo when Lily gets her hands on James is she going to rip him to shreds physically, or with magic? Place your bets everyone! Lol j/k. Let's just say she's gonna be PISSED. REVIEW PLEASE!