Author's Note: Thank you all for being so patient (and I don't really know if you were, but since I received no threats, I'm going to assume you were). I love getting reviews! I really do! They encourage me to write faster, but sometimes I just can't think of anything. Besides, I didn't want to write a really cruddy chapter or anything. So here goes, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Child of the Stars

Chapter Ten: The Rewards of Dueling

Sadira sighed as she leaned against the tree near the lake. She shifted slightly and felt the bruise on her shoulder. Grimacing slightly, she remembered the... fight she had had with Sirius. Hexes flew everywhere and nobody was sure what side they were on, but in the end everybody had gotten hit pretty badly.

Lily had green hair, and not just on her head, but all over her body. James was sporting a nose that was growing larger by the second. Peter was holding onto the table to keep from floating up towards the ceiling. Mandara had feelers coming out of her forehead and when she tried to speak, it came out as a strange clicking sound. Remus's legs wouldn't stop doing dance steps, which made quite a funny scene when he tried to reprimand them.

Sirius and Sadira were the last ones fighting, even though they were the worst ones off. Sirius had two tongues; a long, black beard; no eyebrows; an arm coming out of his chest; and neon pink ear hair that reached his shoulders, not to mention he still had long blonde hair.

Sadira was, if possible, even worse. Her incisors were elongated like fangs; her robes were severely singed; her skin had blue polka-dots all over it; her eyebrows, instead of not being there, were green and extremely long and bushy; her hair was covered in a thick slime that she couldn't identify; her arms were excessively long, nearly reaching the floor; and her teeth, and fangs, were a nasty yellow color. The bruise came from Sirius tackling her when he lost his wand.

Somebody had set off a smoke charm during the fight, so they couldn't really tell who they were aiming at, but as soon as it cleared, the teachers were on them like a pack of hawks. Madame Pomphrey had healed them all, and everyone, both the Jailbirds and the Marauders, had called a truce and agreed to not fight again, though it really meant that they wouldn't wage another all-out war.

"You okay?" Sirius asked as he sat down next to her. "I'm sorry about tackling you, but it was the only thing I could think of."

"That's alright Sirius, just please refrain from doing it again."

"Done." He smiled and leaned his head back with a contented sigh. "Did you see James fretting over Lily?"

"I was surprised she didn't hex him again when he tried to carry her to the hospital wing."

"Would have been difficult with that huge nose of his."

Sadira laughed and Sirius opened one eye, looking at her curiously. "What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Having the powers you have."

"I don't know really. I have nothing to compare it to. I don't know why you're asking me anyways. Everyone can do wandless magic."

"Everyone? I highly doubt that."

"No, think about it. How did you find out you had magical abilities?"

"Well... when I was feeling strong emotions, things just happened I guess."

"Yet you didn't have a wand."

"I've never thought about it like that... But how come it comes so easily for you?"

"I harnessed it. And it probably has something to do with my mother."

"Well then how come Sniv– sorry, your brother doesn't have them?" he asked, barely getting around the words 'your brother'.

"We don't have the same mother. Only the same despicable father," she said softly.

He nodded slightly but didn't press the subject.

Sadira smiled as she saw James trying to coax Lily into the lake.

"No Potter! Not in a million years!"

"But it's warm Lily! Come on! Show some Gryffindor courage!"

"NO!"

Sirius sighed next to her. "He'll never win that argument."

"Give it a minute. She's going to say something dangerous–" she was cut off by Lily screaming something.

"I will NOT go into that lake until I have somebody trustworthy next to me Potter! And nobody would be insane enough to go in anyway, so it seems I'm set," she yelled with a smug smile.

Sadira had a smug smile of her own. "Something like that. Come on Sirius, let's show Lily how insane we can be." She stood, changing her and Sirius' clothes into shorts and t-shirts.

"Shall we?" he asked gallantly.

"We shall." In one swift movement, Sirius bent down and picked her up. "Sirius," she started in a warning tone.

"Calm down, I'm not doing anything improper. I was just thinking of something that would force Lily to come in."

"Fine, but if you put one toe out of line–"

"You'll feed me to the giant squid. Yeah, yeah, I get it."

She ruffled his hair as he carried her to behind Lily. "Change her clothes," he whispered. With a wave of her hand, Lily was wearing black shorts and a white tank top.

Sadira giggled as her friend looked down, startled. "Sadira Snape!"

Sirius had apparently been expecting this, because just as Lily turned to face them, he jumped into the lake, submerging them both in its crystal waters.

Sadira surfaced right next to Sirius and laughed as she saw Lily come out of the water. "Aw, Lily, did you follow us in? Because I could have sworn you said–"

"Oh, shut it!" Lily snapped before shrieking as James dunked her. Sadira smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown as somebody dunked her. While underwater, she reached up and put her hands on the shoulders of the person who dunked her, pulling them underwater with her.

"REMUS!" she yelled, though it came out as a gargled sound and a mass of bubbles. They both surfaced and she shoved him slightly. "That was not funny!"

"You should have seen your face!" Sirius laughed. Remus and Sadira looked at each other briefly before both of them pounced Sirius.

"Hey!" he spluttered when they came up again. "Two against one isn't fair!"

"It is so fair!" they chorused.

Something brushed by Sadira's feet, but she brushed it off as a fish or the squid. "You hadn't been dunked, so we though it only fair–" she gasped for air as something grabbed her feet and yanked her underwater. Looking around, she saw James, Christian, and Lily smiling at her, all with large bubbles surrounding their heads. Sadira cast the charm on herself as they all looked up to watch what Sirius and Remus would do.

8 >>>>>8

"Remus! Where'd she go!" Sirius yelled.

"I don't know. Calm down Sirius, she's probably just been pulled down by the squid," Remus replied sagely.

"The squid! You really think that the squid would eat someone?"

"Who said anything about eating her?"

"You kind of implied it!" Sirius yelled, getting frustrated.

"I did no such thing!"

"You did too!"

"I did not! I said that it might have pulled her down, but that doesn't mean it ATE her!"

"Agh!" Sirius shouted as he threw his hands into the air. "Well then where did she go? She hasn't surfaced yet, she could be drowning!"

"I highly doubt that."

"It could happen Moony."

"I didn't say it couldn't, I was just saying that I didn't think it would. Sadira probably knows how to breathe underwater by using a spell."

"Probably? Probably! I don't want to bloody know what she can probably do Remus! I want to know where she is!"

Remus chuckled slightly at his frantic friend. "You really need to calm down mate."

"Calm down? Did you just tell me to bloody calm down!"

8 >>>>>8

Underwater, the small group were laughing so hard they could hardly breathe. After casting a spell, they could hear everything that Remus and Sirius were saying. They let them yell at each other for a few more minutes, before they put their plan into action.

8 >>>>>8

Remus was yelling something at Sirius, but he froze when he saw something floating on the water a few feet past his friend's head.

"Oh my God," he whispered as he swam towards the body of Sadira.

Sirius watched him swim past, turning slowly until he saw it. "Sadira!" he yelled as he helped Remus carry her ashore.

"Is she breathing?" he asked as her head rolled to the side.

Remus bent down over her mouth. "No," he said shakily.

"What do we do!"

"I don't know!"

"You always know!"

Remus shook his head and looked back at Sadira, who was having a very hard time trying not to laugh.

Sirius reached a hand up to her neck, checking for her pulse.

"Her heart's not beating," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Quick, give her mouth-to-mouth!"

"What!"

"You have to breathe for her!"

"I can't breathe for her!"

"Well I can't do it!"

"Why the bloody hell not?"

"Because! Look, all you have to do is put your mouth over hers and breathe!"

"But–"

"Do it Sirius."

Sirius sighed and looked at the girl on the ground next to him.

"And remember to plug her nose," Remus chirped as he sat down and held her hand.

Almost reluctantly, Sirius bent down and placed his mouth over Sadira's, breathing in and out, not really sure of what he was doing.

8 >>>>>8

'Time to play,' Sadira thought as she felt Sirius bending over her. As soon as she was sure his lips were on hers, she wrenched her hand from Remus' grip and put it on the back of Sirius' head, keeping him from moving. His eyes snapped open and he jerked away. Sadira opened her eyes and looked at him curiously.

"Sorry mate, I thought you were Remus," she said seriously. Sirius' eyes widened and both boys blushed, and in Remus' case, furiously.

She couldn't take it anymore. Her laughter bubbled up from her chest in a great burst and she couldn't stop. James, Lily, and Christian came out of the water, having heard the whole thing. As soon as their bubble-masks were removed, Remus, Sadira, and Sirius could hear their laughter.

Lily was leaning on James for support and Christian fell onto the ground next to Sadira. Remus and Sirius looked around, extremely confused.

"Did you–" Remus started.

"They did," Sirius finished.

"I can't believe they did that to us."

"Me neither. Though I can't say I didn't like my part in it.. Ow!" he yelped as Sadira smacked the back of his head.

"Jerk," she muttered with a grin.

"Oh? Because it seemed you were coming on to me pretty strongly–Ow! Would you stop that?" he yelled as she smacked him again.

"No."

"And you call me a jerk."

"Yes, I do."

He stuck his tongue out at her and looked at James. "Mate, you are so totally one of the most devious people I have ever met."

"Aw, thanks Padfoot."

Sirius nodded. "No problem."

8 >>>>>8

The group sat around the fireplace in the common room, much later that night.

"I'm exhausted," Lily sighed. "I think i''m going to go up to bed. Anybody care to join me?"

"I will," Mandara offered.

"Sadira?"

"No thanks, I'm going to stay down here for a little longer."

Lily nodded and followed Mandara up the steps to the girl's dorms. James, Remus, and Peter chorused goodnights as they went to the boy's dorms.

Sirius and Sadira leaned back against the couch, the last people in the room.

"So," Sirius began. "That kiss..."

"Should be erased from your memory because I highly doubt it will ever happen again."

"Right. And the comment about Remus...?"

"Was a well-timed joke. I like Remus and all, but not romantically."

They didn't say anything else as they sat there, but more than once, Sirius watched Sadira out of the corner of his eye.

8 >>>>>8

Sadira sighed as she sat down at the table and rested her head on Sirius' shoulder.

"Tired?" he asked while shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth.

"Exhausted."

It had been almost a week since the first day, and Sadira wasn't doing too well socially. Even some of the Gryffindors were short with her because her brother was in Slytherin. She had trouble comprehending this, especially since Sirius' brother was also in Slytherin, along with the rest of his family.

People would verbally threaten her in the hallways, and would sometimes try to curse her, and it was extremely stressful when seven or more older students would start following you around and insulting you. Lily, Mandara, and the Marauders had put a stop to this very soon, however. Once they had found out about the situation, one of them was always with her. For some odd reason, Sirius would volunteer when others were busy. Sadira guessed it was because he might have been in a similar situation at one time, but she couldn't be sure.

James laughed and sat next to her. They had just come back from the library to finish up some homework and were both thoroughly famished.

"You should be with all the homework you just did!" he exclaimed.

"Hey Prongs," Sirius said as he put food on Sadira's plate.

"Hey Padfoot. What've you been doing lately?"

"Same as always. Except I've had this annoying problem of always running into menacing people who threaten my friends."

"I've told you guys that you don't need to chaperone me," Sadira quipped as she started to eat the food Sirius had given her.

"And we've told you that your arguments are futile. We're going to help you Sadira, so stop trying to fight it," James said stubbornly.

Lily rolled her eyes from across the table. "A true Gryffindor, eh James?"

"Abso-bloody-lutely."

Sadira smirked and shoved him slightly. "She didn't mean it as a compliment James."

"Ah, but it all depends on how I interpret it, so it will be a comment if I want it to be."

"Stubborn."

He smiled to himself as Sadira stood up.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked he looked up at her curiously.

"I was going to take my food outside and enjoy the warm weather," She said as she put some extra food on her plate and picked it up. "If you follow me, you'll regret it. Having bodyguards is not as fun as it sounds."

With one last warning glance, she turned and left the hall.

Walking over to the lake, she sat down at the same tree she had rested against the week before. Before too long, somebody joined her.

"Hello Severus."

"Sadira," he replied curtly while sitting down next to her.

"How's life?" she asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye and noticing that he was watching the entrance to the school.

"Life? Life actually hasn't been that great for me. And you?"

"It's been alright."

"How are your classes?"

"Challenging, but still enjoyable."

"And your... friends?" he asked, though he seemed to struggle over the last word.

"They're very nice people. Actually, they remind me of you."

"In what way are you comparing me to them?"

"They hide their true selves from the majority of people, instead showing them a personality that is totally different than their natural one."

"I do that?" he asked, obviously confused.

"All the time. You're so cold and distant at school. It's moments like this where you don't care, where you let go because you don't worry about guarding yourself."

He was silent for a moment. "I suppose I do."

"Isn't it wonderful to have an all-knowing sister?" she asked jokingly.

"Don't get a big head. Besides, you're the only one who could say that to me because you're the only one who's that close to me."

She smiled and leaned against him, letting the sun's rays warm her skin. He chuckled and blew her hair away from his face.

"If you're going to use me as a pillow, you could at least be somewhat considerate about it."

"What's that? I didn't know pillows could talk," she said with a grin.

"You forget that we're in the magical world."

"I didn't forget, I was just saying. Besides, if you were a pillow, you would be black and silky."

"Silky? Why would I be silky?"

"Your voice. It has a silky smoothness to it when you're mad."

"Ah, my masterful skills of persuasion."

"Who said anything about that? I was just saying your voice has a dangerous note to it when you're upset."

He chuckled again as a shadow fell over them. Sadira opened her eyes to see Sirius standing over them. "Yes?"

"I was just curious as to where you went."

"I do believe I told you I'd be outside."

"That you did, but you didn't mention how long."

"I'd hate to break up this riveting conversation," Severus interrupted, "but I must get to class. Good-day Sadira." He stood up, cast one last malicious glare at Sirius, and walked back towards to school.

"Git," Sirius muttered under his breath.

"What was that Sirius?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all..."

She rolled her eyes and leaned back against the tree. "If you just came out here to make my brother leave, than why are you still standing here?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

"Nothing in particular."

She sighed and stood up, taking in his loose tie and partially unbuttoned shirt. "Sirius, I have to get to class."

"Sadira, wait."

"Yes?"

He ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the sky. "Never-mind."

Sadira rolled her eyes and walked up to him, pulling a white rose out of her bag. "Would you like to come to my party? Lily is planning something for my birthday, and she has allowed me to invite whoever I want."

He looked at her, but she couldn't quite place his expression. Reaching his hand up slowly, he took the rose from her. "I would love to."

"Good. You'll have to ask Lily where it is, because she's already told me that she is going to kidnap and carry me to the room. And it's a costume party, so you have to dress up."

"Will do."

She smiled again and turned to walk back to the school. Behind her, Sirius stood, rooted to the spot, staring down at the rose she had given him.

Author's Note: YAY! I got reviews! -dances- Okay, this chapter was, in my opinion, not that great, but it is the only way I could think of writing it. It was just saying that they now get along fairly well, and that there is going to be a party. And I really felt like writing a happy-go-lucky scene where everyone is enjoying themselves. The next chapter will have a bit more drama, but not too much, and it will have costumes, which I am excited about. Please review! The next chapter should be out much sooner than this one.

My Thanks To...

Insane clutz 4 eva: Okay! I wrote, and I hope you liked it.

stasha: Yes, you are the best for always reviewing!

Padfoot's love: That is so true. I thought the same thing as I wrote it. Although... I love his normal hair, so it would be hard to have it like that permanently.

Bloody Rose Angel: Thanks for being patient! -laughs- I hope what I did to her wasn't too bad. I was going for strange, yet somehow amusing and scary at the same time.

Saxifrage: -cracks up- Thanks. It took me awhile to pick out a name. And yes, I think Severus would be really nice if some things were different when he was growing up. First of all, I don't think he was hugged enough. Just like Voldemort. He needed some hugs, but I doubt he got them, mainly because he lived at an orphanage and had this insane hatred for his real family. Oh well. -shrugs-

Arabella Grey: Hey you. Thanks for reviewing. I hope you didn't hurt yourself when you fainted, though I must say, you had good reason. -laughs- And I did NOT steal 'chocolate brown hair' from you! How dare you accuse me of such a thing! I feel scandalized! Dirtied! And other things! Meh! But thank you very much for the compliments and the reviews, they are greatly appreciated. (AN;;... we know each other...)

Ericana: -smiles- I'm glad you love it. That makes me so happy! Thank you for reviewing!

...For Reviewing

And thank you to Unwanted Red Roses for editing once again!