A/N: Thanks for your reviews! Sorry this has taken a while, I wanted to finish A New Life before I did this chapter. I made it a long one so you will forgive me.

Chapter Three.

I woke up to the funniest thing. James must have been talking to Sirius downstairs about something really random and he ended up saying,

'Hello, this is God speaking.'

Now, Jess, being Jess, decided to take this perfect opportunity and use it.

'Hello God,' she said, in the same, deep tone he had used.

Jesse must have thought he was talking to her because when he answered,

'I wasn't talking to you.' She was quite taken a back and started to laugh, which woke Emma and Ellie, which, at only seven o'clock in the morning, isn't a very wise thing to do.

'You made me wake up!' shrieked Emma.

'I'm so sorry, go back to sleep,' said Jess.

'I am meant to wake up naturally,' she explained.

Sirius ran into the room. The girls all screamed, Emma especially because she was in her pajamas, the rest of us were dressed ready to go for breakfast.

'What are you doing up here?' Ellie asked.

'Stuff,' he said looking around.

'How did you get up here?' Claudia asked.

'Simple spell,' he said. He examined some photos and all the make-up we had. Emma had bucket loads, he found this very interesting.

'Why do you have so much make-up?' he asked, looking at the ceiling.

She looked at him, 'because my sister sends it to me.'

'That's right,' he said. 'Your sister – Annie, right?'

She nodded and he looked very proud of himself.

'This place looks so different when you're not trying to dodge all this stuff on the floor at night,' he said.

I nearly screamed at him, but I didn't. But after a few seconds someone else did for me.

'You've been here at night?' Jesse screamed.

He clapped his hand over his mouth and then nodded. 'Yeah.'

'Why?' Ellie asked.

'To get upstairs to see Marissa Rian,' he said sheepishly.

'Your ex?' Emma exclaimed.

'Yeah, we're on and off all the time,' he explained. 'And when we're on it's a secret, cos she has a boyfriend and I have girlfriends.'

'Plural?' Emma said.

'Well, yeah, most of the time.'

'Get out, now!' I said, 'this is the girls dorm and we don't need you in it.'

'Touché' he said, just before leaving.

Ellie and Claudia started to laugh. I was really mad at them.

'Why are you laughing?' I demanded.

'Because, look at Emma's pajamas,' Claudia said happily.

Jess snorted, I just stared and Emma started to scream in horror.

'Barbie?' Jess questioned.

'This must be some weird joke; I had my Paul Frank pajamas on before I got into bed and now, Barbie's and Unicorns?' she was now starting to hyperventilate.

'What will Sirius say when he finally figures it out?' Jesse asked.

'What do you mean "finally figures it out"?' I said.

'Well he is a bit slow if you –'

'BARBIE?' Sirius shouted from downstairs.

It wasn't long for him to be back up stairs.

'Aren't you sixteen?' he asked Emma.

She nodded, looking at the ground. 'I had my pajamas on when I went to bed and now, I'm wearing this,' she said, pulling and poking at the Barbie who was smiling happily at her.

Ellie went over and high-fived Sirius. He grinned at her and said, 'happy prank day.'

'I'm going to kill you!' she said threw gritted teeth.

'Why do I have to do this?' Ellie asked Emma. She was standing in the middle of the Great Hall standing in the same Barbie Pajamas that Emma was wearing earlier that morning.

'Because I caught you and you deserve it, for making me think I was some weird person who didn't know what pajamas she put on the night before.'

I looked over at Sirius who was in the same pair of pajamas. Emma had duplicated them and made both of them dance the whole way through dinner.

Sirius had complained that he didn't get to eat dinner, but James had whispered something in his ear and he suddenly liked the idea.

He was currently dancing, quite well if I may say so, around the Ravenclaw table. It was quite sad actually, to think that Sirius was so weird but yet so talented. He was a great actor and a fabulous dancer. I couldn't help but laugh at what I had just thought. This got me a weird look from Jess, who just thought I was laughing for no particular reason.

'Hogsmeade this weekend!' Jess shouted.

'Why is it so early in the term?' Claudia asked.

'Does it look like I know?' Jess retorted. 'I don't really care; it's still a Hogsmeade trip.'

Emma, Ellie and I were dancing around in Barbie pajamas now. Totally excited about dating again.

'Yeah, guys are going to start asking us out!' I shouted.

'The only person who ever asks you out is James,' pointed out Ellie.

'True,' I said, 'but to be honest I kind of missed it over the holidays.'

'Oh!' they all said, surprised I had even told them that.

'Well I have someone,' said Ellie.

'Yeah we know, you, Emma and Claudia all have great boyfriends. Well, maybe not you Claud, but he's right for you.'

Claudia nodded.

'Emma? Can I talk to you?' Cameron asked at breakfast the next morning.

She nodded and walked of with him, holding hands.

I sighed and looked around to see if some guy was looking at me and was the guy who was "the one" for me.

The only person who was actually looking at me was James and he had pancake syrup all over his mouth.

'Definitely not him,' I said out-loud.

Jess looked at me weirdly, but said nothing. She was trying to catch the eye of some Hufflepuff guy who played Quidditch. She would only date Quidditch players, which didn't leave many people, considering some of them were girls.

Emma came back, didn't look as though anything had happened, then spilled what had happened.

'Cameron broke up with me,' she said.

'And you're not upset about this?' Ellie said.

'No, he was cheating on me,' she told us. 'With some smart slut from Ravenclaw.'

Sirius and James joined the conversation.

'Ravenclaw's are hot, though,' stated Sirius.

'Thanks for making me feel better,' laughed Emma.

'It doesn't look like you need cheering up,' he said.

'Yeah, well, stuff him.'

'So there are more of us that are single and need dates of Hogsmeade,' I said glumly.

'Wanna go with me?' Sirius asked Emma.

She laughed, 'like you don't have someone to go with already.'

'He doesn't,' James butted in.

'I really don't,' Sirius said. 'Do you want to?'

'I don't see why you're asking me,' she said honestly.

'It's a well-known fact that redheads are good in bed,' he said.

They all laughed, not noticing that he was being perfectly serious.

'Fine, I'll go with you,' she said.

'Thanks, you'll have a great time.'

She ran off, after telling them she had to get ready for Divination, which no one else took. That's where she met Isy, Hannah and Katherine. They're her Divination buddies. It's strange, I know, but don't ask me about it. I know nothing about Divination, and that's why I dropped it.

The guy Jess was eying finally got the message and asked her out, so that leaves me, all alone.

'So, Lils,' James said, sliding up the bench to replace the spot where Emma had sat before she went and read tea-leaves. 'Wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?'

'Is this because you think that whole red-heads are good in bed thing is true?' I asked. Jess started to laugh again, I couldn't wait till she started to have a go at Emma about that, there would be no end to the sarcasm and mean comments. It would really release all the tension.

'No, Lily, come on. I'm better than that, aren't I?' he asked.

The truth was, he could be better than Sirius, and poor Emma had got herself mucked up in all that. She was going to pay for it sooner or later.

'No, James, you're not better than that. Stop asking me!' I shouted and then stormed off. Jess followed me.

'Where are the others?' I asked rudely. I was in no mood to listen to Jess mock me, but I did want to hear Emma get mocked. That was the kind of mood I was in, selfish.

'Do you really want to know?' she asked, which just annoyed me.

'Yes.'

'Fine,' she sighed, 'Claudy is off with Gildy in some closet, and Ellie is probably doing the same with Charlie.'

I shouldn't have asked, I should always listen to Jesse. She has the right idea. I didn't want to know that they were off shagging their boyfriends, when I had just been asked out by the hottest guy in the school – and rejected him. While my best friend had actually just said yes to Sirius. The biggest idiot after James.

My love life was a mess.

'It's a well known fact red-heads are good in bed,' mimicked Jess.

'Stop mocking Sirius,' shouted Emma as she read her sisters column in Witch Weekly.

'Oh, poor darling Sirius is being mocked.'

'I swear, I'll make him come and beat you up,' she warned.

'Well he's so strong, he'll probably knock me over my just touching me,' she laughed.

'SIRIUS!' she called and went down stairs.

'Where the hell is her Prince Charming to come beat you up, I really wanted to see that?' I said, annoyed that he hadn't come back. I had eaten all of Ellie's chocolate stash and was now feeling really bad. I had eaten something like four thousand, million calories and I would have to pay her back with more chocolate.

'Dunno, should we go check?' Claudia asked. I nodded and we all went down stairs.

We walked downstairs to find that there was no one in the common room apart from Ellie who was sitting on the couch reading a magazine and humming to herself.

'So beautiful, such a beautiful disaster…'

'Do you know where Emma and her Muhammad Ali are?' Jess asked.

'Jess! This is not the time to make jokes about Sirius,' I said, trying very hard not to laugh.

'What? Why not? Why is it not the time? Everyone always needs to laugh.'

'Right . . . whatever, you made me almost laugh, now we can get going.'

James came down the stairs and gave me and the rest of a quizzical look. Why did he have to question everything we did?

'Who are you looking for?' he asked. I rolled my eyes and Jess took control.

'Let's see, which one of us isn't here?' she asked sarcastically.

James ran a hand through his hair and then realised she was being sarcastic,

'Oh!' he said aloud, 'Emma and Sirius? They're in my dorm.'

'Why?' Claudia asked, though she didn't really care, she was too busy thinking about her latest visit to the Astronomy Tower, with Gildy of course. Ellie wasn't really paying attention; she was still reading her magazine and humming quietly, though she was slowly getting louder, she was a very good singer.

'Sirius is teaching her about Quidditch, while she pretends to be interested.'

'Oh! How cute!' Claudia said,

'How is that cute?' Jesse asked,

'She cares enough to pretend, derr!' Claud said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The Claudia is a very interesting creature. She is very intelligent, yet she says a lot of stupid things unintentionally, she just doesn't think before she talks.

Those of us who are muggleborn, Jess, Ellie and I, have a saying for when Claud says something stupid, 'That was a Claudak moment, because there is an ad on muggle TV for a type of camera, which says 'that was a Kodak moment.' So one day Ellie came up with the idea of Claudak moments.

I watched, enviously, as everyone went off with their boyfriends. It was Hogsmeade weekend. Everyone had gone off with their boys while I sat and read in the book shop.

It was three hours before someone found me, and it wasn't the right person.

'What are you doing here, gorgeous?' James asked.

'Escaping from you,' I answered.

'Come on, lets get out of here, I have to meet Sirius and Emma at The Three Broomsticks soon, you want to come?'

'Sure,' I answered coldly.

When we got there, Sirius and Emma had drunk a bit too much.

'Hullo,' said Sirius happily.

James sat him down and Emma fussed over how clean the table was.

I was starting to feel was out of place. For starters, I don't drink and everyone around me was. Secondly Emma and Sirius had assumed that because James and I walked in together that we were dating.

'You guys make such a cute couple,' Sirius started.

'And imagine what your kids will look like, so adorable,' said Emma.

James was getting uncomfortable and took a gulp of his drink. I did the same. It was only Butterbeer, I swear. But the others had managed to get hold of Firewhiskey. I don't know how, don't ask me.

The conversations got weirder and weirder. Somehow they got to how muggles have something called "phones" and you talk to people. I had to laugh, it was weird listening to them talk about something they had no idea about. They didn't notice I was laughing at them though. Sirius thought his jokes were funny, even to someone who was sober.

'Why did I have all that Firewhiskey yesterday?' moaned Emma as she lay in bed the next day.

'Because you wanted to impress Sirius,' Jess answered for her.

'And it must have worked because he asked you out again,' Claudia reminded her.

'Bloody hell,' she said. 'Really?'

'Yeah, and then he told us red-heads really are good in bed,' Jess laughed.

We all joined her, everyone except Emma who was moaning.

'I didn't, did I?'

I really burst out laughing then, 'you can't remember the night with 'the great Sirius Black' but he can remember it with you.'

'That's how it seems,' she said, rolled over and fell asleep.

'He was really sweet and kind and nice and happy and –' said Jess happily.

'Spare us the details,' I said; I did not want to be constantly reminded that I had spent the whole trip with James, listening to them talk about the most random things ever. And be reminded that I was the only one who didn't have a boyfriend.

James sat down; beside him were Sirius and Remus. Remus just started to eat his breakfast while James and Sirius poured themselves a big cup of coffee.

Emma drank from her cup too; Cameron passed her, giving her a kind sympathy smiled. As soon as he was out of ear-shot she muttered 'bastard.'

'He's dating Emily that Ravenclaw girl,' James said.

Emma just nodded. She didn't really care; you could tell she was more focused on her coffee.

'Yeah,' she said. 'He's happy with her, and I'm happy with . . . Sirius.'

Sirius smiled at her, and Jesse decided to ruin the perfect picture.

'So, will there be any permanent lipstick on Sirius' face from you, Emma?'

Emma glared at her, and then answered coolly, 'I don't wear lipstick.'

That shut Jess up . . . for a while.

Lauren and Alexandra Rodgers came up to us, Emma's sisters.

'Hey guys,' she said.

'Hey Em. We were wondering –' and after that was a complete mystery, they whispered in her ear. But you could totally figure it out from what she said.

'Why don't you ask him yourself?' she said.

They both giggled. Which was quite strange as they are a year younger than us.

They went over to him and said the same thing. This is where they mystery ended. Which I was disappointed about, I like mysteries.

'I sure am dating her,' he smiled at them. It seemed they would melt.

Emma was getting annoyed and shooed them away. He just laughed.

'They're not that bad,' he said. 'They're better than my sibling.' He looked over darkly at the Slytherin table.

'Forget about that,' I said quickly, now was not the time to hear about stuff like that.

He sipped his coffee as the owls came in. Turtle landed in Sirius' bowl of cereal and wasn't greeted warmly.

'Get out of it you stupid bird,' shouted Sirius. Like I said, it wasn't greeted warmly.

'Why is it called Turtle?' Claudia asked.

'Because it reminds me of a turtle,' he said.

James leant over to Emma and whispered, 'get out, get out now.'

'I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me?' asked Hamish, a really good looking guy. He was in seventh year and in Gryffindor. I totally wanted to go, but what would Emma say? Me, dating her ex-boyfriend. Why did he have to ask me?

'Can I get back to you?' I asked, sounding like a complete idiot.

Oh well, I think to myself. At least someone asked you.

Yeah, but why did he have to leave it so late, I could have saved myself from that incident in The Three Broomsticks.

Ok, having a conversation with myself was an all time low. I stopped there.

'Hey, Emma,' I said casually.

'What's wrong?' she asked.

Damn it, there goes all casualness out the window.

'Nothing,' I said. I swear, I'm starting to sweat. And then I think about what it's over – some guy, so that makes me more casual.

'Sure,' she said and gets back to reading her magazine.

'Can I date Hamish?' I asked quickly, trying to get it over and done with quickly.

'Sure,' she said, not looking up from what she was reading.

'Oh.'

'Yeah, he's good, if you know what I mean,' she continued.

'Oh, that's good. You know I haven't done it yet,' I said, annoyed.

'Right, sorry. Well, if you do, he's good,' she said.

'Are you angry at me?'

'No, why should I be?'

'Because you're all uptight,' I said.

'Are you calling me uptight?'

'Maybe.'

'Great, I'm dating Sirius and the whole world turns upside down and now you want to date the first guy I was "with",' she shouted.

'Sorry,' I said. 'I won't date him.'

'He'll know it was me that made you say no,' she said. 'Date him,' she demanded.

'Um, ok?' I said, completely confused.

'Good, now go and find him to tell him you will date him,' she said.

'How did you know I –'

'Divination is what I am best at,' she said.

'Right, I'll go and . . .'

'Good idea.'

Ok, so all in all, that was a good day. I think . . . I have no idea.

I had a sort-of fight with Emma and kissed Hamish.

I rate that about seven out of ten. The kiss was like "WOW" and the fight got a minus three (cos it wasn't that bad.)

So now we're all in the Common Room with our boyfriends or girlfriends.

James and Katherine – I like Katherine, and so does Emma because they sit next to each other in Divination.

Ellie and Charlie – I don't like Charlie that much, he's not really Ellie's type. I mean the whole "loving Divination" thing spooks me.

Emma and Sirius – need I say more?

Jess isn't here because she's out doing some guy who plays Quidditch.

The same for Claud except it's Gildy.

And me and Hamish, which isn't as awkward as I thought it was going to be with Emma around. She's to busy with Sirius to even notice I was with someone, which is fine by me.

Jess walks in, smiling. Which is always the sign that she's done something.

'Hey Jess,' we all say to her.

She just smiles at us and we all look at each other, nodding.

'Had a good night?' Ellie asks.

'One of the best.'

'Is that sarcasm?' James asks.

'Does it look like she's being sarcastic?' Emma asks.

James just shrugs and goes back to Katherine.

'I am,' says Jesse.

'Oh,' we all say.

'You're getting better,' says Sirius.

A/N: Ok, next chapter might take longer because I really want to put up the seqaul to 'Without Him' before I do anythign else and I want to do something with 'A Lack of Colour' so yeah . . . please review.