Lot of updates to come. But for now, Chapter 6 ! Well I have nothing special to say about it, 'cause the big chapter's the seventh ... There's another flashback at the end of the chapter, in italic !

oh, and remember that I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters ...

6. Flying Fireworks

The running baths soon became part of Hogwarts History. Everyone - including the teachers and the Headmaster - was convinced it was a Marauders prank, as were nearly all pranks in the school. But there was absolutely no proof of it. As it was Remus who had planned this race (the Locomotor Charm was his favourite one), the prank had been carefully thought and no one was able to find out if the Marauders were really involved or not. James and Sirius had used the Invisibility Cloak in order to introduce themselves in the Slytherins bathrooms. So Snape, Rodolphus and Rastaban had never seen their attackers. Then, the Locomotor Charm had been a bit of a joke, as James and Sirius had previously used it on four-poster bed to get revenge on an insolent second-year (he had proclaimed himself the Prankster Master and had flood the Marauders' room). And the Slytherin girl who had given them the password was so excited about her Hogsmeade trip with Sirius, she would never risk ruining it by opening too much her mouth.

Concerning Marpessa and Frank, they were very happy that the Challenge had begun so well. But they were still nervous, as the four Slytherins would no doubtfully take a terrible revenge.

September was a peculiar month for Marpessa. Never had she been called "Mudblood" so many times, but never had her friends and her sent so many jinxes on the Slytherins. Without even knowing its existence, Rose, Lily and Gwen took an active part in the Challenge. Rose was Desilusioning a Slytherin a day and it was often Bellatrix who disappeared ... Lily, as far she was concerned, couldn't stand Rastaban git's face (after all, she was also a Muggle-born) and she took the habit of sending him Slug Curses or Jelly Leg Spell everytime they met. And Alice, was casting a Shied Charm around her friends and her spell was so strong, no counter-jinxes could break it.

"I still don't understand why the Slytherins attack us so often", said Lily one day, after a particularly rough encounter.

"They just hate us" replied Alice, who was cleaning her robes. Rastaban had vomited some slugs on them and Bellatrix had drooled a lot while she was under a Tickling Charm.

"Or they might be jealous ..." said Rose, rearranging her hair, "Bellatrix's just so ugly, she might just want the secret of my incredible beauty !"

"Which beauty, Rose ? Are you talking of you first name's beauty ?" said Marpessa with a malicious smile on her lips.

"Beware, I shall Disiluse you !"

During next week, Quidditch practises began and James, the new Captain, made his team work as hard as if they were going to the Quidditch Cup. Twice a week, no matter how hard it rained, they learned new moves, tried some new techniques and even did some meditation to raise their spirits. But, it didn't really work very well because Sirius couldn't concentrate more than one minute and he kept pinching his teammates while their eyes were shut. By the end of September, Professor MacGonagall had forgot all about impartiality and had nearly booked the Quidditch Pitch every night, to make sure her House Team would train well. She might shout at James once a week, yet she knew he was probably the best Seeker Gryffindor ever had. And Professor MacGonagall did not want to hand the Quidditch Cup to Professor Slughorn, the Slytherin's House Head, as she thought it matched so well with her office colours.

But as the match drew nearer and nearer, the Quidditch practises' atmosphere changed rather drastically. The Slytherins, who weren't even concerned by the match (Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw), had decided to show up every evening, in order to boo the Gryffindor team. Sure, there was some Bellatrix under that, because Snape wasn't that popular. He could not have convinced that whole crowd to waste its time like that. After all, the Slytherins really looked like they were enjoying shouting names or yelling "Mudblood" during two hours, without even drawing attention to them. The Gryffindor Team did not even bother looking at them. In fact, it became quickly boring, even for the Slytherins, and James and Sirius immediately took advantage of the situation. The week preceding the match, it ended up being a fight between the two Marauders and Snape.

"Strange, don't you think ?" said Rose to Marpessa. It was the day before the match and Rose was looking suspiciously at the Slytherins. "There's something going on, I tell you"

"They must be planning to steal your beauty's secret", said Marpessa, leaving her broom in the ---. "If I were you, I'd watch myself tonight. They'll maybe try to sneak in our dormitory ..."

"Ridiculous ! That would clearly lead them to their loss ..." she replied "Confronting me ! I shall Desiluse them all !"

"Hey, have you two seen James and Sirius ?" asked suddenly Remus, who joined the girls."They disappeared after they've told Snape he should go and play with his chemistry set".

"Hiya Remus !" squeaked Rose, going red on the cheek.

"Don't you remember ? It's Friday. The last Friday of the month." said Marpessa, looking exasperated.

"Hi Rose ! Oh ... Friday, I forgot !"sighed Remus "Well, see you later, Marpessa, Rose !"

"See you !" said Rose in a high-pitched voice.

And he run to the castle, closely followed by Rose's purple eyes. And then she asked :

"What so special Friday, the last Friday of the month ?"

"James will be asking Lily out", explained Marpessa.

It was true. He was doing so since three years.

"Pathetic git ... Anyway, she must be well hidden, somewhere in the castle. Or maybe she finally tried the Vanishing Toilets"

Rose smirked. She really did have fun hearing Lily complaining about Potter's behaviour. She also thought it was a good thing he was so persistent, because, according to herself, James and Lily were bound to end up together. And Rose hated to be wrong when it comes to love-related guesses.

"He should try asking her in a more ... romantic way. I mean, Dungbombs, it's not something you throw at a girl to get her attention."

"For once, you're pretty right. He's hopeless", said Marpessa, glancing in the direction of the Slytherins, who were still hanging around the Quidditch Pitch.

"What do you mean, 'for once' ?" cried Rose in an offended tone

Saturday finally came and the whole school walked to the Quidditch Pitch. In no more than ten minutes, hundreds of sutdents were cheering and singing in the high platforms. Of course, the Slytherins were very visible : all wearing bright green as if their team was playing. But their mobilisation was nothing compare to the red and gold flood of people that were forming the Gryffindors. They were carrying tall flashy banners and they even had bewitched one of them to make the grat lion on it roar.

In the changing room, James' peptalk was abnormally short, as he was still troubled by the fact that Lily had preferred to spend the evening in Moaning Myrtle's toilets rather than answering him "no" one more time. Sirius wasn't exactly helping his friend : he was flirting with Artemisia Davis, the new Keeper. The Marauder's face wore his too well known I'-m-going-to-seduce-you-and-you're-going-to-beg-me-to-go-out look. In fact, in the Gryffindor changing room, it was like none of the team members were concerned by the upcoming match. Hopefully, one or two minutes before the Quidditch match began, Marpessa and Cassiopeia Reed (who had been comforting James) heard Mrs Hooch's yells.

"YOU LOT COME NOW OR THAT'LL BE TWO HUNDREDS-NIL TO THE ONLY TEAM ON THE PITCH BEFORE YOU COULD SAY 'QUIDDITCH' !"

But, despite all those sentimental worries, the Gryffindors remained definitely the best on the Pitch. In no more thant five minutes, it was sixty-nil to them. The three Chasers flew so fast, the Ravenclaws couldn't get the Quaffle and the Beaters just hadn't time to hit them. When Marpessa made the seventh goal for the Gryffindors (the crownd cheered so madly, it was impossible to hear the Slytherins sing "God Rest Ye, Merry Mudblood"), James finally caught a glimpse of the Snitch. It was flying near the Ravenclaw's goalhoops, not far from the depressed Keeper. In no time, the excellent Seeker dived for it, while his Ravenclaw's alter ego was still gazing around.

The whole Gryffindor screamed : they knew victory was theirs, because James had never failed catching the Snitch. But something stopped James abruptly when he was ten feet from the Snitch : his broom's tail suddently caught in fire, causing him to nearly fall. Green sparkles emerged from the fire and spelled clearly the following words, so everyone could read them : "SALAZAR'S REVENGE". Twenty feet higher, Sirius had exactly the same trouble and he nearly knocked himself down when he tried to extinguish the fire with his Beater's bat. Then, a loud scream echoed throughout the Pitch. Marpessa was gripping tightly her broomstick, her eyes closed as green sparkles spelled "MUDBLOOD" under her fluffy-haired head.

And, as a final act, it all burst at once. The three broom's tails exploded in noisy and flashy fireworks and giant emerald green letters formed theses words "1-1 : WATCH OUT GODRIC".

"Sure you wanna keep our relationship secret ?" asked Sirius, bemused.

"Oh yes ! Could you imagine the reaction of the girls ? It would be, er, wild, you see ..." she had said.

"Ah, I must admit a couple of them would be disappointed ..." said Sirius, smiling dreamily.

"A couple ? About a hundred ! They're all crazy about you and -"

"A hundred ? Well, I'm not really suprised -"

"Sirius, are you listening to me ?"

"Of course, honey, of course ..." he said, smirking.

"Please, save your honey for the other girls." she had replied briskly.

"I know. So, secrecy ? If you want it, I want it, all right ? And this is kinda exciting, isn't it ?"

So Sirius Black, the cocky Marauder, had a girlfriend and no students in Hogwarts (even James) knew about it.