The first day of the school year was done, and everyone had gathered into the common room after dinner to start on their homework.

"What kind of teacher gives homework on the first day back?" James asked with a miserable look on his face as he stared at the books laid out in front of him.

"Uh, all of them, obviously," Lalaine replied in a smart alecky way.

Remus looked up from his book which he had seemed so absorbed on, even though it was his history book. "Oh c'mon, it's not that bad," he stated.

Lily turned in her seat at the table she was working at with Lalaine to face Remus in his overstuffed red chair that he always sat in. "That's because you, Remus, are almost done. The rest of us aren't quite as ingenious as you."

"Lily, shut up, you are almost as far as he is on the homework," Lalaine said rolling her eyes.

Lily blushed. "So? He's still farther and smarter than me!"

"Don't try to pretend you are one of us, Lily, we all know you and Remus have the highest scores in all of our classes. Compared to you two, we're all retards," Sirius stated from his place on the floor in front of the fire.

Lalaine shot him an evil glare. "Well some of us are retarded no matter who they compare themselves to."

Sirius wore a look of confusion on his face after her comment. "What did I do?" he asked in a mystified voice. "Does anyone know what I did!"

"Apparently she thinks you're a retard," Peter said in response, no sarcasm in his voice at all.

Sirius took the Transfiguration book he had open in his lap and threw it at Peter's head. It barely missed, and it was clear that Sirius had done it on purpose with no real intention of hitting Peter.

"What was that for!" Peter exclaimed, now he with the look of confusion.

"It slipped," Sirius replied sarcastically, although Peter was too dim to catch it. "But seriously, Lainy, what did I do wrong? You've been giving me the cold shoulder all day!"

Lalaine, without looking up from the parchment she was writing on, simply replied, "Oh nothing. Nothing at all." And with that she stood up, packed her things, and stomped off to the girl's dormitory. James quickly took her place at the table, and Lily groaned. Before he could even ask, she said, "I'm going to go too. Lainy needs someone to check up on her. Plus the company just got a little less enjoyable."

As she walked to the door, Sirius called out to her. "Evans, do you know why Lainy is so pissed at me?"

Lily stopped and turned to face him right when she was in front of the door. "Sirius, if you can't figure it out, that's pathetic. But, it being you, I suppose that's what's to be expected. So to help your little walnut-sized brain out, here's a hint: go try and talk to her! One on one. That's all I'm gonna say. Oh, and you should go wash your mouth with soap." With that, she opened the door and disappeared up the flight of stairs that led to her dormitory.

Sirius glared at the spot where she had been standing. "Since when is pissed a cuss word?" he said under his breath.

"You know, Lily's right, you should go talk to Lainy," James stated, not making eye contact with his best friend.

"Shut up Potter. Just because your girlfriend suggested it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do," Sirius said coldly.

James's eyes got a far away look to them. "I wish she was my girlfriend," he said in a dreamy voice with a smile on his face.

Remus laughed to himself, then said, "But Lily did have a point, Sirius. Maybe you should take her advice."

Sirius growled. "Since when did you become such an expert on girls, Remus? Last time I checked you've never had a girl like you before."

Remus's face turned bright red, and it soon disappeared behind his book. Sirius sighed in frustration and then slowly got to his feet. "Fine, I'll go talk to her," he said unhappily. He weaved between the students, chairs, books, and loose pets that crowded the Gryffindor common room. He threw open the door to the stairs both Lily and Lalaine had disappeared up, and began marching up them with a defiant look on his face.

But he hadn't gotten twelve steps up when the stairway he was walking on began to change. Suddenly, there was no longer a staircase to walk up, but a slide to fall down instead. Sirius stood there for a moment with a surprised look on his face, which was soon replaced with fear as he attempted to run up the slide, arms flying wildly in every direction. Of course, he landed on his butt and slid down all the way back to the common room where he was plopped on his back, looking up at all the faces that had erupted in to laughter. The slide quickly transformed back into a staircase.

It was now Sirius' turn to have his face turn red, and as he got to his feet he saw that his friends near the fireplace were laughing just as hard, maybe harder than everyone else. He stomped over to them, his eyes merely slits, and said coldly, "Great idea guys, thanks." With that he turned and continued to stomp all the way up to his dormitory, all the students still laughing in the common room.

James had tears running down his face. "Someone has anger management issues," he choked out between laughs. "I honestly had no idea that the staircase did that when boys went up it! But I have a feeling old Sirius won't believe me if I tell him that." He shrugged. "Ah well, he was being a bum anyways."

Remus nodded in agreement. "I knew they would, but don't tell him that. It served him right anyway."

James was laughing even harder now. "You knew!"

Remus smiled. "Anyone who reads Hogwarts, A History would know."

James slapped Remus on the back. "Your bookworminess has finally paid off for once my friend."

Remus beamed. "That it has, my friend, that it has."

Peter just sat in his chair and continued to laugh for the rest of the evening.