O0o0O

Lorraine's eyes flickered open, immediately darting to the clock hanging on the wall. The small hand was just below the twelve and the big hand was between the nine and ten. It was 11:48.

She turned over so she wasn't facing the clock anymore, and closed her eyes again, trying to fall back asleep. "Wake up, Lorraine." Came a voice that Lorraine could not recognize because of she was still half-asleep.

"No." she groaned tiredly, covering her ears with her pillow. "Leave me alone."

"But you're going to miss lunch. Evans has been coming in every half an hour to see if you're awake!" said a different voice.

"I don't caaare." She mumbled, her eyes closed shut.

"But we do!" screamed two of Lorraine's dorm mates, Carlie and Matilda.

So Lorraine grouchily got out of bed and got dressed. She walked down the stairs into the common room without brushing her hair. When she saw that Lily was sitting on the couch and talking to all four of the Marauders, she quickly grabbed a hair band and tying her hair up into a ponytail.

Lily motioned to Lorraine to come sit with them, so she walked over and sat down on the table in front of the couch they were sitting on. Remus and Peter were sitting on the armrests. Sirius was sitting next to Remus, but on the back of the chair, so his feet were where you're supposed to sit. Lily and James were sitting in the middle. James's arm was around Lily's waist.

"Good morning." Lily said.

Then each of the four boys said good morning, then Lorraine.

"Guys, this is Lorraine. Lorraine, this is Remus, Peter, James and Sirius." Lily introduced them all.

Lorraine smiled widely. "Hey." She suddenly wished that she had brushed her hair before coming into the common room.

"Why are you sitting all the way on the table? Sit on the couch!" Sirius said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the couch so she was sitting on his left and James' right.

Lorraine smiled up at Sirius, then looked down at her hands awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to say.

"You're hair's messed up." Sirius grinned.

Lorraine laughed slightly. "Oh so Potter's allowed to have messy hair and I'm not?" she said.

"Prongs has a right to have messy hair." Sirius laughed, leaning down and kissing Lorraine's cheek.

At first, Lorraine was shocked at what Sirius had done, but after a few seconds, she realized that Sirius kissed girls who were just his friends. Lorraine smiled brightly, looking up and kissing him back.

"You don't look good with black hair." Sirius said, taking Lorraine's hair out of the hair band so it fell to her shoulders. He tapped her head with his wand and her hair turned brown. "Accio mirror!" A hand mirror flew into his hand and he handed it to Lorraine so she could see her new hair color.

"Ugh!" She said, staring at her reflection. "Change it back."

"Change it back yourself." He tapped her head again and her hair turned dirty blonde.

"Well…. It's better than brown." Lorraine said, taking her red hair band back from Sirius and tying her hair back up.

"So you're keeping it like that?"

"Well, I can't change it back, can I?" Lorraine could tell that Sirius had thought that she would be more stubborn and make him turn it back, but she could admit that she wasn't obstinate at all; She was the opposite of stubborn.

"I could've changed it back for you." Said Remus, who was apparently listening to their conversation.

"Well… I sort of like it better this way." Lorraine said.

"Now all you have to do is brush it." Sirius grinned.

O0o0O

What really surprised Lorraine was how easy it had been to become friends with the five most popular people in their year. The hardest part was to stay calm and make sure that none of them ever rolled up her left sleeve. During lunch, she didn't sit with them, but by herself. After lunch, she really didn't feel like talking to anybody, so she quickly got out of the Great Hall before they could stop her.

Lorraine sat outside by the lake, barefoot, her toes in the cold water. She watched the shadow of the squid in the water, swimming around.

She didn't seem to get bored, just sitting there. She seemed lost in her own thoughts, which she could not recognize. She was thinking about something, of course, but she had no idea at all about what her thoughts were. Maybe she was thinking about Voldemort. Maybe she was thinking about her hair. Maybe she was thinking about Sirius.

When she felt a drop of rain fall onto her hand, Lorraine tumbled into reality. She took her feet out of the water and put her shoes back on.

She managed to get into the castle before the rain started falling too much.

A new set of friends,
They'll be here 'til their end.
But the end's coming soon,
Then I'll cause their doom.

A new set of hair,
That won't stop despair.
Head tapped with a wand,
Then it was blonde.

A new dream to see,
But it won't be free.

A new mile to run,
For a knife and a gun.

A new letter to send,
So I can cause an end.

O0o0O

Lorraine sat in the corner of her dormitory, on the opposite side of the window. She couldn't really understand why she wanted to be away from people suddenly, but she had a feeling it was because she was scared of… Well, scared of being there. Deep inside she felt strange. It was a feeling that she couldn't describe. She was pretty sure it wasn't happy, and it wasn't just scared. It was sad as well, and a bit bored.

She tapped the floor boredly, sliding down so she was lying on the floor, instead of sitting. One thought ran through her mind, one word. What?

Suddenly tired of doing nothing, Lorraine jumped up and went into the common room. Sirius was sitting on the floor and talking to Peter as he played wizard chess with Remus. James and Lily weren't in the common room.

Lorraine sat down behind Sirius. He didn't seem to notice her as he watched one of the chess figures move.

She made no effort to get him to notice her. Peter and Remus knew that she was there, but could tell that she didn't want them to tell Sirius. They didn't know why, though.

Lorraine sat there. She was lost in her thoughts again, and actually knew what she was thinking.

I love your hair, Sirius… Sirius, just turn around. Sirius, you're so stupid. Sirius, will you please turn around. Sirius, can you tell me why it's so hard for you to notice me? Sirius, in case you don't know, I don't like you as more than I friend. If you ever ask me out, I'll say no. Sirius, I'm gonna kill you…

Lorraine wasn't sure if she was breathing. She definitely didn't hear herself breathing in and out, and her chest wasn't going up and down…. But if she hadn't been breathing for so long, wouldn't she have fainted by now?

Maybe she was breathing just couldn't tell… Tiredly, she just fell onto Sirius, leaning on his back, with her arms around his neck.

"Lorraine?" He turned his head around as far as he could so he could her.

Lorraine nodded slowly, her eyes closed.

"How long have you been there?"

"Dunno…" She said quietly. She was breathing now.

"Oh, well…" Sirius pulled her off of him so she was now sitting next to him. "What's up?"

"I'm tiiired." She laid her head on his shoulder.

"Then go to sleep."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because then I'll wake up at 8 PM and I won't be able to go back to sleep, so I'll have to spend the night awake. And that's worse than being tired now, because then I'll be bored."

"Oh… Well, you can read a book…"

"No."

"Do homework?"

"No."

"Draw?"

"No."

"You can come wake me up. Then you won't be bored…"

"But… I don't think I'll go to sleep. And don't argue."

"Okay."

Lorraine closed her eyes. She wished she could fall asleep right there, right then… And she did.

Sirius kissed her cheek, then carried her over to the couch and laid her down.

O0o0O