The next day Katarina headed to Gryffindor Tower to met James, Remus, and Peter. She'd spent more time than normal getting ready, and was therefore running a little late. As she bolted down the corridor, she nearly ran into Lily Evans.

"Lily, off to Hogsmeade I assume?" Katarina asked, stopping for a moment, to talk.

"Yes, I'm going with Marcus Prince." Lily replied excitedly.

"That's an excellent choice." Katarina commented.

"Are you going with anyone?" Lily asked.

"James Potter."

"Really?" Lily said, raising an eyebrow.

"He's not as bad as you think." Katarina responded. "Anyway, I'm late. Have a good time with Marcus."

"Thanks, good luck with James. You'll need it." Lily answered with a grimace. Katarina laughed in response, before continuing down the hall towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Peter, James, and Remus were outside waiting for her.

"Sorry I'm late." Katarina apologized. "I ran into Lily. Did you know she's going with Marcus Prince to Hogsmeade?" James said nothing, but scowled and kicked out at the wall.

"Shall we go then?" Remus asked, changing the subject. The other three nodded and headed outside, towards the main gate.

The day was surprisingly pleasant. The weather was unseasonably warm and Katarina thoroughly enjoyed spending her time in Hogsmeade with her three male companions. At the end of the day, the four of them ended up in the Three Broomsticks. Slowly their group began to shrink, as first Peter left to go sit with a pretty Hufflepuff girl he fancied and then Remus headed back out, as he had forgotten to buy parchment. It was at that moment that Sirius and Seliina burst in the door. Seliina's face was flushed and she was giggling. She cast a dirty look at Katarina before she and Sirius sat down at a table in the corner. Katarina scowled and took an angry swig of her butterbeer, putting it back down on the bar with more force than she'd intended. James noticed her sudden change in mood and decided to ask her a question he'd wanted to ask her for quite a while.

"Do you fancy Sirius?" He blurted out. Katarina ignored him and took another sip of her drink. "Don't be like that. I won't tell him." James promised. Katarina sighed.

"Alright, I fancy him. I must say, I wish I didn't, but I do. Obviously, so does Seliina. Who do you think is going to win that one?" Katarina replied sullenly.

"He thinks you're head over heels in love with Remus." James replied. Katarina promptly choked on her butterbeer.

"Where did he get that idea?" She spluttered.

"He was the only one you seemed to not despise."

"But he is the decent one, everyone knows that." Katarina protested. "Just because I knew that, doesn't mean I fancied him." James nodded in reply.

"I told him that."

Just then Katarina noticed that Sirius was watching her and James out of the corner of his eye. She suddenly had an idea. She decided to just go with it. She grabbed James by the shoulders and kissed him. He nearly fell off his stool. "Shh." Katarina told him, before he could say anything. "I have a plan, I promise." James nodded and followed Katarina as she took him by the hand and led him outside.

"What the hell was that?" James shouted, as soon as they were far enough away.

"Potter, it suddenly occurred to me that the only way to get Sirius is to beat him at his own game. He thought I was mad for Remus, so he decided to go out with Seliina because he knew it would drive me up the wall. Now I'm going to show him that it wasn't Remus I was after, it was you. I told you before, I don't fancy you, but I am going to pretend to."

"Thanks, but I'd rather not be used like that." James retorted.

"Do you want Lily?" Katarina asked suddenly.

"What? Of course, what kind of question is that?"

"Lily loathes you. She thinks you're conceited and extremely pig-headed. Now, she's probably right on both counts, but I think she can be persuaded to change her mind. If she sees that you are capable of attracting a sensible girl, she may reconsider her opinion. Secondly, if she fancies you even a little bit, seeing you with someone else will probably make her rather jealous. It's not the most honest way to get a girl, but I think she's a little extreme in her views." James thought about Katarina's proposal. It was a plan worthy of Slytherin, which worried him. At the same time, he was dying to show Evans that she was wrong.

"Alright. We'll try it. But if it's not working, we abandon it." James told her.

"Agreed." Katarina replied. They shook hands, sealing their pact, and headed back to the Three Broomsticks hand in hand. As they entered the bar, Katarina noticed that Seliina and Sirius were still snogging in the corner. Katarina forced herself not to scowl. She sat down at a table with James, still holding his hand.

"Ready?" He asked. Katarina nodded. James leaned across the table and kissed Katarina softly. A moment later Katarina broke the kiss.

"Am I interrupting something?" Remus asked, a perplexed smile on his face. Katarina blushed.

"Not really. Have a seat." James offered.

"Forgive me if I'm being a bit thick, but I'm a little confused." Remus stated, as he sat down. "I thought that you generally disliked the lot of us." Remus asked, gesturing at Katarina. "And I thought that you were completely mad for Lily Evans." He added, looking at James.

"I never really disliked you." Katarina replied. "I was having a bad start to the year, as you know, and I've never liked the way James and Sirius treated Severus. But I don't think you're all bad."

"As for me, I am completely mad for Evans, but she can't stand me, so there's really no point in pursuing her, now is there?" James returned.

"I have a feeling this is going to be a very bizarre year." Remus mused thoughtfully, as he glanced from Katarina and James to Seliina and Sirius.

When they got back to Hogwart's, James walked Katarina to her Common Room.

"Well, it was certainly an interesting day." He told her.

"I'll give it that." She replied with a smile. She kissed him softly on the cheek before heading through the portrait hole into the Ravenclaw Common Room. Seliina was sitting in one of the chairs, with a large grin on her face.

"Why you sly little vixen!" She exclaimed. "Now I see why you were so cranky these past few days!"

"You do?" Katarina asked, confused. This was quite a mood swing for Seliina.

"Yes! You were obviously nervous about how to tell James you fancied him and I can see that me going on about how wonderful Sirius was made it worse. I'm so sorry for saying you send the fellows running, as it's clearly not true!" Seliina said, giving Katarina a hug.

"You're absolutely right." Katarina replied. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean what I said."

"I'm so glad we're not fighting anymore." Seliina said. "It made me miserable."

"Me too." Katarina agreed. "Well, I think I'll go for a walk. I'm feeling a little restless. I'll see you at dinner, then?"

"Okay."

After grabbing her schoolbag from her room, Katarina exited her common room into the corridor. She decided to go for a short walk before heading to the library to finish her schoolwork. It was still early, so there were quite a few students in the corridors. Many of the older students gave Katarina strange looks as she walked by, no doubt they had heard about what had transpired in the Three Broomsticks. Katarina ignored them, but was intrigued by their interest. She knew James's infatuation with Lily was well-known, but she didn't think that news of him snogging someone else would create so much chatter. She decided to cut her walk short and head straight to the library instead. Perhaps if she worked until dinner, she could avoid all the curious stares.