Disclaimer : You know... The usual... 90 belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling... Rest belongs to me...

Chapter 4 : Friends by the Lake

Delia, Ava, Lana, Sirius, and James all walked out of the castle into the pleasant summer weather. They walked over to their favorite tree and sat down. Sirius and James sat with their backs propped up against the tree trunk. Delia was resting her back against Sirius's bent knees, her legs crossed in front of her. Ava was giving her a very subtle jealous glare while lying on her back, her arms under her head. Lana was sitting Indian style in front of them.

"It's so nice out here." Delia said looking out at the lake and up into the sky.

"It is." said James. He stared up to Gryffindor tower where Lily was sitting doing her homework. "It's a shame Lily and Remus decided not to come."

"Definitely." said Ava, sitting up a little to look at Lana.

"Yea." said Delia, also looking at Lana. Lana gave them a shove-it look and stared out into the lake.

"Well, well… Look who it is. It's Snivellus and his little friends." said Sirius.

Severus Snape was walking towards them, closely followed by Narcissia Black and Bellatrix Black, Sirius' cousins, Regalus Black, Sirius' brother and Craig Kentworth.

"Well, if it isn't Potter, Black and their entourage of lady friends." said Snape with an evil grin.

"Shove off, Snivellus." said James.

"And what are you going to do if I don't?" asked Snape, his grin still there.

"Oh, we'll think of something." said Sirius, pulling his wand out from his pants pocket. He had mastered nonverbal spells last year. He thought "Petrificus totalus!" in his head. All of a sudden, Snape stiffened up like a board and keeled over backwards. All of them started laughing, except Snape's friends.

"We'll get you for this, Black." snarled Narcissia.

"Yea, I'd like to see you try, Sissy." said Sirius.

"Just because we're related doesn't mean that I won't hurt you." Narcissia replied.

"That's right, Black." chimed in Narcissia's sister, Bellatrix.

"You keep thinking that, Bella. And I don't even want to hear what you have to say Reg." Sirius said, looking at his brother.

"Oh, I wasn't going to say anything… To you that is. But maybe Mother will have something to say about it." said Regalus, a sneer spreading across his face.

"I'm sure she'll have loads to say about it." said Sirius. "She just loves telling me off."

"Just because you're the odd one out doesn't mean she doesn't love you as much as she loves me." said Regalus. "No, wait… Yes it does." he said with a sneer.

"Great. Now will you shove off?" said Sirius, getting ready to stand up, Delia trying to hold him down, as his grip on his wand tightened.

"Later, Black." said Narcissia. "This isn't over, yet."

"See you later Sissy!" he said in a mock overjoyed tone. Sirius let himself relax against the tree. "I hate my family." he muttered.

"That's why you're living with me, mate." smiled James.

"True." said Sirius, a smile returning to his face.

They sat out under the tree and talked all about how their summers had gone and how they had missed school. The people and not the actual classes, that is. It was starting to get late, so they decided to go in and start some homework before dinner. When they reached the common room, Lily was reading a Muggle book called "Romeo and Juliet" and Remus was writing a letter to someone.

"Nice to see you again." said Lily. "How was the lake?"

"Wonderful." Lana lied. She could see that Sirius didn't want to talk about what had happened between him and his family.

"That's good." Remus muttered, still thoroughly engrossed in his letter.

They all went up to their dormitories and started to work on their homework. About a half hour went by and then it was time for dinner. The seven walked down to the Great Hall and went their separate ways. Lily, Lana, Delia and Ava went to sit at one end with some other girls and Sirius, James and Lupin sat with Peter and Matilda.

"Hey, Peter. Haven't seen you around much." said Remus.

"Yea, well I've been… err… busy." he said.

They all dug into their dinner and soon, it was over. They all went up into the common room. Ava, Delia, Lana, Sirius and James started working on their homework again. Every once in a while, someone would ask a question about the homework and everyone would give their input. It was about midnight before everyone had finished their work for the night.

"G'night." the girls said as they headed up to their dorms.

"Good night, ladies." the boys replied as they headed up to their own dorms.

Once they were safely in their rooms, Ava confronted Delia. "What were you doing?" she said slightly annoyed.

"What do you mean?" Delia said, getting dressed into her pajamas. Lily, who had retreated up to continue their reading was now looking over the top of her book, trying to pretend she wasn't listening. Lana was half way to the bathroom, looked at Lily and started walking a little faster. They could tell that this couldn't end well.

"I mean you and Sirius. You were so flirting with him! You know I fancy him!" Ava said, starting to get a little more annoyed.

"Calm down Ava! We're just friends, that's all. Alright? So, just drop it." said Delia as she put her robes and uniform in the laundry basket.

"I know you better than that, Dee." said Ava. "You fancy Sirius too and just won't admit it!"

"That's the silliest thing I have ever heard!" said Delia, now becoming offended.

"Really? I saw you with him. Acting like he was you boyfriend or something." said Ava, her eyes starting to mist over.

"Ava, would I ever do something like that to you? You're my best friend and I know you fancy him. Meaning that he's off limits. Alright? I know!" said Delia.

Ava was obviously happy with this answer because she didn't press the matter and went to bed.

Lily and Lana looked at each other. The last time Ava had thought that Delia fancied someone that she fancied, they hadn't talked for a few days.

Luckily, in the morning, both acted like the night before hadn't happened.

A/N : Ok... So here's Chapter 4... I like this one... It's one of my favorites... I would really like to post the rest of the story as it comes but it seems like no one is reading this... So, if anyone want's to continue reading, please respond! I would like to know if people are actually reading this... and like it for that matter... If not, I'll just keep the rest of it to myself... --Erica