Disclaimer: Again, I do not own any of J.K. Rowling's characters. But I do own my own.

2. Of talks, laughs and deceptions

'Leave me alone, Lily,' Anna said as her friend entered the room.

But the red-haired girl did not do as she was told. Instead, she sat down by her depressed friend and stared at her.

'What?' Anna asked annoyed after 10 minutes of staring.

Lily grinned. 'You like him.'

'WHAT!' shouted Anna for the 2nd time this evening, but Lily pretended not to hear it. Rather, she was taunting her friend even more by 'singing': 'You liiiiiiike him, you luuuuurve him, you want to hoooooooold him, kiiiiiiiissssss hiiiiiiiiim!' and she didn't shut up until she was hit by a pillow. Lily laughed as she pulled the pillow from her face, but stopped as she saw that Anna was crying.

'Oh, Anna, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-'

'It's okay Lily, really. I guess I just…need to get over him.'

'What? Why?'

'He obviously doesn't like me, now does he?'

'How do you figure?'

'Oh, I don't know, maybe 'I don't really like her' isn't such a good hint!'

'How do you know he didn't lie?'

'He said truth, didn't he?'

'Oh, Anna, come on, it's just a game.'

'Just a game! It's TRUTH OR DARE, Merlin's beard!'

'It's not as important to other people as it is for you, Anna.'

'Heretic!' Anna said, but she smiled.

'Anyway, if he doesn't like you…you could always seduce him.'

'What do you mean? I should dress like a slut and act as if my IQ is -30?'

Lily laughed. 'Yeah, something like that.'

Maggie came in just in time to hear those last phrases. 'Shouldn't be too hard for you, should it?'

At that a pillow fight started that lasted well into the night.

'What is wrong with you, mate?' James asked as he shut the door behind him.

'Ask yourself, can't you see I want to be alone for a moment?'

'Yeah, I can, thing is, I'm not gonna let you.'

Sirius groaned and buried his head in a pillow.

'So, I'm going to ask you again, what's wrong?'

'Awwa,' it came from the pillow.

'Now, I'm quite done with my Pillowish-course yet, care to translate?'

Sirius sighed heavily and heaved himself into a sitting position – more or less.

'Anna,' he said, now fully comprehendible.

'But, mate, she's a girl!'

'Yes, I've noticed that. What do you mean?'

'You NEVER have girl-problems!'

Sirius grinned and James smiled at him.

'So, what is it?'

'I'm just confused. I mean, you remember last year's Halloween-diner, don't you?'

James grinned. 'Oh yeah, she was helping with the decorations and when you came in-'

'She 'accidentally' dropped the pumpkin she was tending to-'

'On your head! You were out for three hours!' James was now laughing quite loudly.

'And then during dinner, I got her back by hexing her soup so that it became-'

'A squid. Yeah, I remember. I've never heard her scream like that. But what's your point?'

'I mean, we've been like that since our first year, always hexing each other, making something bad happen to the other or simply fighting.'

'…So?'

'SO, I'm sure she doesn't like, you heard her tonight!'

'Yeah, she said you're not half-bad and that you have a nice body. I don't understand, aren't those supposed to be compliments?'

'That's just it, how can I be sure that she didn't lie! For all she cares, I might as well be Snivellus!'

They both shivered at the thought.

'Is that why you lied?'

'Yeah, I couldn't have her find out when I'm not sure about her feelings.'

James nodded in contemplation. 'You know, I could have Lily find out…'

Sirius snorted. 'Oh yeah, how are you going to do that?'

'Well, for one, I'm going to grow up!'

They both laughed for a while.

'No, seriously, I could just ask her.'

'Thanks, Prongs.'

'No problem.'

At that point Remus came in, wearing a stupid grin on his face. Sirius and James looked at each other and shook their heads.

'Well, at least one of us is going to date his crush,' James said.

Remus looked around the room and seemed worried.

'What is it, my monstrous friend?' Sirius asked.

'I though Peter would be here.'

It was only then the other two noticed the last Marauders' absence, but they all decided that he was still with Susie and that they would be back.

'Are you sure it's okay for me to come?' whispered Susie to Peter as he was dragging her along a dark corridor.

'Sure! As long as it's true what you told me about how you feel about what Lord Voldermort has been doing.' He stopped dead in his tracks. 'It is true, right?'

'Oh, yeah! I mean, who likes a mudblood, right?' Susie said, be it a bit nervous.

'Well, then it's settled! Come on!' and he proceeded in dragging her further along.

They came to the end of the corridor.

'Did we take a wrong turn?' Susie asked.

Peter grinned stupidly. 'No, we've come to the right place.'

He walked towards the wall and tapped it with his wand, while muttering some words. A door appeared, and he pulled it open. Susie hesitated, but went in before him and jumped a bit when Peter closed the door with a loud bang.

They'd arrived in a circular room, lit with various torches. There were a few people there, all Slytherins. Amongst them were, of course, Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, Regulus Black, Narcissa Black and Bellatrix Black, the last three of them all being related to Sirius, Regulus actually his brother.

'Ah, Pettigrew, so nice of you to join us,' said Lucius, 'and who is your lovely friend?'

He stepped forward, grabbed Susie's hand and kissed it, much to the dismay of both Narcissa and Peter.

'This is Susie Scamander, she says she supports His Lordship as well.'

'And she's a Gryffindor too, I see?'

'Yes, she is.'

A chuckle went through the Slytherin party.

'Fancy that, it won't be long before more of them come flocking to our side,' Lucius said.

And with that, they started a long induction ceremony for Susie, which involved some embarrassing moments and some pain for her, but she endured. After all, Dumbledore trusted her enough to let her do this.

Whooo, the suspense P Please comment!