Chapter 3 / Ladies' Man

Sirius turned over for what felt like the fifteenth time that hour. He sat up, running his hand through his damp hair and threw the blankets off of himself. Doesn't the air conditioning ever work in this bloody place? He ripped back the hangings on one side of his bed and a cool breeze greeted him. Must just be me...

He looked over at the table beside his bed. There, over two weeks ago, he had sat down the little bottle of Felix Felicis. Currently the moonlight was shining on it, making it look even shinier and more tempting than before.

Wondering what time it was, he stood up and grabbed his wand, then walked to Peter's bedside. "Lumos!" he muttered,and glanced at Peter's watch. Swearing, he walked back over to his bed and laid down. 5:30 in the morning? he thought angrily as he said "Nox!" Why couldn't he get any sleep? This was the third night in a week and a half that this had happened.

That's when he remembered the brief dream he had. Smiling to himself in the dark, and thankful that nobody else could see what he was thinking, he closed his eyes. That's when all the turmoil started up in his head again.

Damnit. Can't a guy ever think about girls without being distracted?

Truth was though, the girls were what was causing his problems. Sirius rolled over and stuffed his head in his pillow. First of all, there was the girl he couldn't stop thinking about, the one he had to have. Smiling again, he remembered watching Jace read by the fireplace, watching her in class being one of the successful ones to get the nonverbal spells right (second to James, who had mastered them at the end of fourth year).

He rolled back over, and sighed. But no. No matter how hard he tried, for the past year and a half all she ever hinted at being was friends. Cringing, he remembered how he hated that word.

Speaking of friends...

His mind then turned to Ash. The other part of his problems. They had known each other since first year, but he had only been around her alot more the past two years.

And damn, has she done some growing up.

Granted, she was still fairly enamored with Sirius. And he figured she always would be. But she wasn't so immature about it anymore. And he didn't really mind. She was becoming someone he could talk to, someone who understood him, and could give him advice on girls, no matter how hard it was for her. The fact that she cared so much about him attracted him to her, but on the flip side, Jace was the one he could have more fun with.

Throw in that spastic fan club, and I've got a mess on my hands.

Sirius turned over on his side, and reached out for the bottle of Felix. He held it in his hand, and noted how warm it felt. I wonder what it tastes like...

Yawning, he set it back down. Today was Saturday. There was a Quidditch game against Slytherin that afternoon.

I think the need has arisen.

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"Damnit, Padfoot, get up!"

Sirius felt a pillow hit the back of his head repeatedly, and he slid off the side of his bed where he had been hanging over dangerously for the past three hours. Swearing, he stood up and yanked the pillow from James' grip.

"You know, I was worried about you the other day when you were up before me, but I guess we have you back. It's almost noon. You needed to get up already so you can get ready and get some food in you before the Quidditch match later. That, and I want to run through our plays one more time before the game." James snapped, slightly bitter. He turned and walked out the room, Peter following him, and shrugging at Sirius as if to say "Don't know what's gotten into him."

But Sirius knew perfectly well what had gotten into him. This was James' first year as Quidditch Captain. And this first game would either make him or break him. Everyone knew he was extremely talented on the field, which just added more pressure, leaving everyone to wonder if he would be as good a Captain as a Chaser. Add to that the game was against Slytherin, and Lily would be watching, and James might as well have been fighting a dragon for all the stress he was under.

Apparently the stress was taking its toll. At lunch, Sirius noted bitterly that for all the ranting James was doing about the other members of the team not getting enough food for the match, he had made barely a dent on his own plate.

"Prongs, maybe you should stop harping on us about not eating and take your own advice." Sirius scoffed, pointing to James' untouched potatoes and broccoli, and the half-eaten piece of ham.

James stood up. "Sorry if I want to win. Sorry if I'm trying to be a good Captain and HELP OUT MY TEAM." he retorted, storming out of the room.

Peter cringed, while Remus sighed.

"What's gotten into him?" Cai asked, sitting down. Ash and Stephanie sat down next to her, eager to hear what they had missed.

"Just stress." Remus said, poking at the last of his broccoli. "It's the first game of the year, first game for him as Captain, and it's against Slytherin. Could the odds be even worse? He's losing his head, and at this point we'll be lucky to win."

That's when Sirius remembered it. The answer to his problems. "Thanks Moony!" he said excitedly, and ran off out of the Great Hall.

Remus shrugged, seeing the girls' inquiring look.

"Great." Cai groaned. "He'll be a git at practice, then."

"Practice?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah...he called for an emergency practice...says we're not ready, and he wants to run through the plays one more time."

"You guys are ready." Stephanie said. "You've been ready. Your team is flawless. James just needs to calm down."

"Yeah, but the chances of that are slim. Like Remus said, we'd need to be lucky." Cai said doubtfully, and she then dug into the ham.

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Five minutes later, Sirius was darting into the boys' dorm. He ran over and fell down on his bed, grabbing the bottle of Felix Felicis.

Hmmm...I wonder how long this lasts? I should probably only drink half, and see. That way I won't waste any, and if I need some for later, I'll have it.

Sirius tilted his head back and started drinking it. It tasted so good, like sweet honey mixed with ripe, juicy fruit, that he forgot about drinking half and downed the whole flask of it.

For a minute he felt normal, and started wondering if it worked. But then, as soon as he stood up, it hit him like a brick wall. He felt slightly dazed, but more...happy. Like he was having the best day ever and nothing could go wrong.

Smiling mischievously, he grabbed his broom and bat and headed down to the Quidditch Pitch.

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James' stomach did a backflip as he heard the crowd two hours later. Three-fourths of the students were currently yelling a loud chant of "GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" Which never used to bother him. But today was different. He was the most nervous he had ever been in his life. This was one of those 'defining moments' everyone talked about.

And it didn't help that his own best friend wasn't even backing him up. Sirius had been acting strangely ever since lunch. He was acting like he had had too much firewhiskey to drink. Well, his logic and wording was messed up anyways. He was otherwise fine, he walked straight, talked normal, flew awesome, and every one of the Bludgers he hit smashed into their target with pinpoint accuracy. He just seemed really...distracted.

Whatever he's on, he needs to be on it more often. James thought, standing in the doorway that led to the field. He commanded all of the team to line up. Standing there, waiting for Madam Hooch's whistle, normally the Captain would give an encouraging speech. But James had nothing to say, he was too choked up to speak. Finally, he managed to get out a sentence. "Play like you did at practice today, and we have this match in the bag." he said, to the cheers of the team.

At that moment, the whistle blew, and the team headed out onto the field. The other six members of the team took off once outside, but James walked to the center. He shook hands with Kyle Flint, the Slytherin 7th year Captain. After a minute of what felt like James' fingers being crushed, he mounted his broom. Soon the Quaffle was up, and the game had begun.

And as soon as it had started, to James' suprise, it ended. Thirty glorious minutes of Quidditch. Cai had made some spectacular goals, as had James, and Mark Spinnet. They got the team score up to about 240 when the Snitch was caught. Sirius had knocked out three-fourths of the Slytherin team with Bludgers, and they had to use every reserve player they had. And finally, Maggie Bell had made wonderful use of the Wronski Feint after seeing the Snitch on the opposite side of the field while being tailed by the Slytherin Seeker.

"You did it!" Lily cried, running up and hugging James, as the Gryffindors piled out onto the field, much to Madam Hooch's dismay. She, Ash, Stephanie and Remus led the crowd onto the field, all four screaming for joy at the team's victory. James' stomach did another backflip. He wanted so much to just kiss her right then and there, but seeing a warning look from Ash out of the corner of his eye, and remembering what she had said two months ago ("James, if you just laid off and let her come to you..."), he decided against it, and just gave her a quick peck on the cheek. But he was suprised when she returned the favor.

"I'm so proud of you." she said cheerfully, amidst the crowd that had grown to not just celebrating Gryffindors, but now included various Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. "You may still be a prat who likes to annoy me by asking me out, but you've proven today that you can shoulder a decent amount of responsibility. And that shows maturity."

James just grinned like a fool.

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The Gryffindors had immediately called for a party. The Marauders spent the afternoon hiking into Hogsmeade to gather supplies, while the rest of the school was getting ready for the Halloween feast. They returned just in time, and stashed all the butterbeer, candy, and firewhiskey that, to the other three's suprise, Sirius had managed to get from the Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosmerta had been all too happy to supply him with it, saying that even though he was breaking rules just by being there, and adding on to that the fact that firewhiskey was illegal for anyone not of proper age, Gryffindor's victory over Slytherin deserved a decent celebration.

Everyone acted normal at the feast that night. The Great Hall was garnished with decorations as usual, and Dumbledore gave his typical speech for everyone to have a wonderful Halloween, and he congratulated Gryffindor on their victory (the score ended up 390 to 80).

Finally, it was time for everyone to make their way back to the common rooms. Once there, Sirius told Peter to be the lookout. Groaning about how he was always the lookout, Peter ambled outside to keep the Fat Lady company. That's when Sirius, James, and, against his better judgement, Remus brought out their stash of goodies from hiding.

That's when the party really got started.

It ended up going late into the night. There were several close calls of Peter falling asleep, and a rather drunken Sirius threatening to go wrestle the giant squid. James didn't doubt he could do it, since he had noticed when they were in the boys' dorm that the Felix Felicis was gone. He couldn't help but wonder if that's why he was doing so excellently on the field today, if that's why they were having this celebration at all. Sitting in front of the fireplace, across from Lily, James voiced this thought.

"Are you sure it was gone?" Lily asked doubtfully. She was rather annoyed that Sirius had stolen anything at all, but to add to that the fact that he used it on a Quidditch day...well, she didn't want to think of the consequences just then. "Because if Professor McGonagall finds out about it..."

"We'll be in loads of trouble. I know." James said, sighing. "But she won't find out."

"Well...he did seem to be acting a tad strange." Lily mused. "Normally he's rather cocky, but today he was just downright arrogant. And strangely, extremely happy."

"All the side effects of Felix Felicis." Remus said, appearing behind the couch Lily was sitting on. James shot him a warning glance before speaking.

"I thought you'd be off celebrating this fine victory with Jace."

Remus returned the look. He knew Lily would pick up on something by the way James' tone was, and didn't feel like having her--or anybody--know his feelings yet. He didn't even know his feelings yet, he was still unsure of the gray area that was between he and Jace. "No...she said something about being tired and wanting to think. So I figured I'd give her her space for now."

"How thoughtful." Lily said, glancing at James.

The three stayed in awkward silence for a minute, but that was soon cut by a rather loud cheer coming from the other side of the common room. James stood up to see what all the commotion was about, and when he saw, a sarcastic look came across his face.

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Ash was talking animatedly with Cai and Stephanie, reliving the match for the fifth time, play-by-play. They had just reached the part about Cai throwing the Quaffle across half the field to score when all three heard the students making noise. Cai was the first one up, and when she saw what was going on, she turned back to Ash with a slight look of horror on her face. She quickly disguised it with a smile, and muttered something about the stupid students, making commotion over nothing.

Ash raised an eyebrow, knowing someting was up. Apparently, Stephanie did too, as she herself took a look. She turned back and said in a hushed tone: "Caila's right. They're just stirring up trouble."

Now Ash was sure something was wrong. She shot up, confused, and started to head across the room, Cai pulling her one arm and Steph pulling another. "Gerroffme!" she yelled, trying to break free of them. But it didn't matter, she saw what the other students were excited about.

For there, on a table across the room, was Sirius snogging Emmaline Vane rather heavily.

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Jace was getting tired, and was staring out the window. Honestly...I'm glad we won the game, but this is ridiculous, having a party at all hours of the night. She looked around the room, watching everyone behaving wildly. She was sure it was a matter of time before Professor McGonagall came in, chiding them all for putting up such a ruckus.

Her eyes landed on Remus, who was standing behind the couch that Lily was sitting on. She had become rather fond of him lately, but kept telling herself it was just because they were becoming such great friends.

Although she wasn't entirely convinced that that was the only reason. She was pretty sure she would've fancied him anyways. And Sirius wasn't helping matters any, he kept bugging her lately, acting really immature and stupid around her.

He acts immature and stupid anyways. She thought with a grin. She knew he did it to make her laugh, and she was fairly sure that the rumors circulating that he liked her were true. She had even heard James mention it in passing several times during class.

And, she had to admit to herself, that his plan was working a little bit. He did make her laugh, and he did brighten her day, no matter how annoying he seemed while doing it. It's because he cares. She constantly reminded herself. And she liked that feeling, knowing that somebody cared about her. But so did Remus. He cared about her too.

She stood up, yawning and stretching. She walked across the room, and was at the foot of the staircase to the girls' dorm when everyone piped up. All the more reason to go to bed. She thought, stopping. She tried resisting the urge to turn around and see what was going on, but couldn't.

And for some odd reason, when she saw Sirius on that table with Emmaline, she was mad. She stood, transfixed, at the foot of the stairs, glaring at the scene in front of her, as if the whole House had betrayed her.

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Ash felt as if her heart had stopped for a minute. This can't be right...it's a dream. Yes, that's it. I'm really unconscious. I had too much to drink. It's a DREAM.

Hell. This is no dream. It's a nightmare.

"LET GO!" she yelled, enraged. Cai and Steph were so shocked at her outburst at them that they did, in fact, let go. Caila realized the mistake in this and went to grab onto her again, so as to keep her from attacking the two, but she didn't reach her in time.

"Leave me alone. Don't worry. I'm not doing anything rash." Ash muttered angrily as the two followed her to the Portrait Hole.

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Sirius pulled away from Emmaline and looked up after hearing everyone's hollering. He smiled like an idiot, looking around the room, as if he had just won another trophy. And that's when he saw Ash storming out the room, while Caila and Stephanie were standing in shock.

And then, for the first time that day, he felt sad. He climbed off the table and walked across the room, ignoring the calls from everyone. He walked right out the Portrait Hole, knowing exactly where Ash was headed.

I am such a bloody idiot. But that was fun!

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Remus turned, seeing Jace cross the room, and then turn back around and shoot daggers with her eyes at the room. "I'll be right back." he said to James and Lily, and ran across the room to where Jace was.

She saw him coming though, and made to go up the stairs. But Remus was too fast, and pulled her back. "Come here." he said, grabbing her hand. She frowned, but obeyed, and came down back into the common room. She looked up at Remus sadly, and he looked down at her concernedly.

And for that one second, they really, truly understood each other, as he pulled her into an embrace.

"It'll be fine." Remus said, whispering in her ear. He had no clue why she was a bit upset, but he knew it bothered him that she was.

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A/N: So I get to chapter three before stupidly realizing I have yet to make a disclaimer. So here it is.

I own none of this. Except the plot. And Ash. She's my character. I wish I owned Sirius though...-stares off into space idly-

Oh, hey, anyways. Yeah. I don't own anything you recognize basically. That's all JKR's work. What an awesome lady. And then Cai belongs to my friend Caila (who'd have guessed? xD), and her pen name on here is Maxie Fonseca. And Stephanie belongs to my other friend, and her name on here is tuttleturtle. Finally, Jace belongs to yet another friend of mine, but she's not on here...but she's on Neopets! padfo0t is her screename, if you ever wanna drop her a line and say what a great character she's created xD

Oh, and aha! A review already! Sweet!

Sarah Shima: Yeah. The Marauders are GREAT. I luffs them, especially Sirius. And it's like you said, you can have so much fun with them, because there's no set guidelines. I mean, obviously, Remmy can't be all like, "I think I'll go shank Snivelly today..." but you can have fun with them :D Thanks for the review though, and I shall be continuing this :D You think this one's good, go read "Wake Up, Flower" by Cai (Maxie Fonseca). It's got pretty much the same characters, just a different storyline. I think it's in my fave stories...dunno. But it's funny :D