Chapter 3

The rest of the day was spent visiting the rest of Hogsmeade. By far, the place that Aerin loved most was the sweetshop, Honeydukes. She bought some of almost everything in the store, running to and fro from counter to counter, trying something new each time.

However, the boys preferred Zonko's Joke Shop. Sirius and Remus took the privilege of showing Aerin which items had what effects, while James went about examining any new inventory Zonko's had gotten in. All of them emerged from the store, pockets bulging with different sorts of prank materials.

The only awkward situation they ran into was when they went to look at the Shrieking Shack. Aerin was quite curious about it, and kept asking questions. The boys simply tried to change the subject each time.

Finally, when all of them had depleted their money a considerable amount, they decided to head on back to Hogwarts.

They all walked in silence for awhile, until they reached the grounds, and Hogwarts came into view.

Sirius glanced over at Aerin, noting that she was shivering. He took off his jacket and held it out to her.

Aerin shook her head vigorously, and immediately clenched her teeth as she tried to stop shaking. "No… I'm good," she insisted. When Sirius raised an eyebrow, she shrugged uncomfortably and once again assured him that she was alright.

Finally, they made it inside, and went on to the Gryffindor Tower. Each of them took up the time their own ways. James and Sirius were cheerfully debating over who'd bought the best items from Zonko's, while Remus watched them amusedly. Aerin was sitting by one of the windows, her quill flying wildly across a piece of parchment. Peter was putting in an opinion or two on James and Sirius's debate.

One by one, they headed up to bed until they'd meet up again at one in the morning.

Remus decided to actually try and get some sleep in, before having to head back down to the Common Room. This proved difficult, however, since James and Sirius decided to keep themselves awake by talking to each other until the time came around. By the time one' o'clock finally arrived, both Sirius and James had been bombarded by a flurry of pillows from Remus's direction. Poor Remus had been desperately trying to shut them up.

Quietly, each of them got up and crept downstairs. However, they were surprised to see Aerin already there.

She didn't look so great, though. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked a bit paler than usual. Upon seeing them, she opened her mouth to say something, but ended up sneezing instead. She sniffed a little bit. As they stared at her inquisitively, she shrugged. "I caught a-" the red-haired teen started, before being cut off abruptly by a fit of coughing. "Cold," she finished.

Sirius raised an eyebrow worriedly. "If you're not feeling okay then maybe you shouldn't come along."

Aerin gave him such a fierce glare, that he knew that had been a worthless suggestion.

James glanced from one to the other, impatiently. "Okay… she's got a cold, but she wants to go… so let's just go!" he whined.

Sirius sighed in defeat, and relented, though not before sending another worried glance at Aerin.

It was so late, James had figured there was no reason to use the invisibility cloak, though he did love to disappear under it. Most likely, it was better this way, considering Aerin didn't even know about the cloak, and he wasn't sure yet of how well she could keep a secret.

So, as they carefully stepped out from the portrait hole, they would've been perfectly visible by the pale moonlight that was shining through the windows. Fortunately for them, all of the professors had already gone on to bed.

They all made their way silently to the dungeons, no one saying anything, just in case someone was still on watch. However, the silence was broken by James, who'd had a sudden question pop into his mind. "Hey… we don't know exactly where the Slytherin Tower is, do we?" he asked.

Remus gave James and Sirius a sort of 'I-told-you-so' look, but sighed, showing that he'd been looking forward to this prank as well.

Aerin, on the other hand, was smirking away, though you could still tell she was sick. The boys waited eagerly, but nervously, for they'd pretty much come to understand that that smirk of hers often meant she knew something that they didn't.

Presently, they continued walking, and Aerin took the lead when they arrived at the dungeons. The only sounds were once again their muffled footsteps, and Aerin's occasional cough or sneeze.

She stopped suddenly at a part of the wall that appeared to be blank. On the wall opposite from it, hung a portrait of a rather grouchy-seeming man, who it turned out, had decided to stay awake. When he saw them approach, his mood decreased further. "You lot! I'll report you to the caretaker if you don't-" he started grumpily.

Aerin coughed. "Oh, shut up, you," she told the portrait irritably, before turning back to the blank wall. "Boomslang," she remarked.

The boys watched excitedly as a door was revealed, as if from nowhere, and slowly swung open.

The Slytherin Common Room was not at all pleasant, being filled with shades of greens, and occasional cold-looking silvers. Even the fire seemed distant, and not as warm as the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room had been. At least no one was downstairs, though. The boys headed for a staircase that they assumed led to the boys' dormitory. However, they were proven wrong as the staircase changed to a slide, and they were sent tumbling down again.

Remus stood up dizzily. "Okay… so that was the girls' dormitory," he corrected, waiting for James, Sirius, and Peter, before heading over to the other staircase. When they looked behind him, they were surprised to see Aerin was able to come up the staircase to the boys' dormitory.

"That's not fair…" James grumbled under his breath.

All of them kept going, until they finally approached the right room.

"Lumos," Aerin whispered quietly, giving them just enough light to tell who was whom in the room.

James approached a sallow-faced, pale boy, who had greasy hair, and quite a large nose. Aerin supposed this must be Snape.

It was taking everything he had in him for James not to laugh as he raised his wand. Finally, he mumbled something almost inaudibly, and the greasy mat of hair that belonged to Snape was instantly turned the same sort of pink that Sirius's had been. All the boys, plus Aerin, were holding their sides from struggling not to laugh out loud.

Finally, Sirius calmed down a bit. He made his way over to the trunk at the end of Snape's bed, and muttered, "Alohamora," so that the lock on the trunk came right off.

"What are you doing?" James hissed over to Sirius curiously. He'd been planning on leaving to head back to the Gryffindor Tower shortly after dying Snape's hair.

Sirius pulled out all of Snape's robes, including his winter cloak. He smirked for a moment, before raising his wand and pointing it at the robes and cloak. They too were dyed that brilliant pink. Though it may have been her imagination, Aerin was pretty sure that they looked a bit frilly now as well.

Sirius grinned proudly as he tossed the clothes back into the trunk, and put the lock back on.

Suddenly, two things happened at the exact same moment- Aerin sneezed loudly, and her wand stopped supplying light.

All of them stood perfectly still for the moment as they saw Snape's outline stir slightly. They held their breath as the outline groped for something at his bedside table that was certainly his wand. But- to their relief- Snape laid back down and rolled over.

Each and every one of them remained silent for about five more minutes, until someone- it was hard for Aerin to tell which of the boys was which in the lighting- pointed over towards the staircase, meaning it was time to scram. They all walked quickly down to the Common Room and into the dungeons, taking great care to be silent, until they finally broke out into a run.

All of them ran and ran, from the dungeons, all the way up to the seventh floor. After speaking the password to the now very irritated picture of the fat lady, they walked into the Common Room, looking exhausted, but content.

James high-fived Remus. "That was awesome!" he half-yawned. Remus and Peter nodded their agreement, and then headed up the staircase to the Gryffindor boys' dormitory. James was half-way up the staircase when he looked back at Sirius. "Padfoot? You coming?" he inquired.

Sirius shook his head, his shaggy black hair falling perfectly in place whenever his head turned. "I'm gonna… just wait here for a little bit more. I'll be up in a minute or two."

James shrugged. "Suit yourself," he replied indifferently. With a final confused look at Sirius, he headed on up to the dormitory.

Sirius stared over at the reason he'd stayed behind- Aerin. She was so pale, that she almost looked like a corpse, and as soon as she'd entered the Common Room, she'd curled up in one of the armchairs. He was pretty sure she was asleep now, since her breathing was even, though shaky.

For how long he sat there, he wasn't sure. It felt like a hundred years might have passed before he stood up and walked over to her. As his hand cautiously pressed against her forehead, he jerked it back in surprise. She had a fever, and a very high one at that. Without a second thought, he rushed up the stairs to the boys' dormitory and grabbed some of the blankets off his bed, running back down again before he could tell whether anyone was awake or not.

He laid the blankets over Aerin tenderly, then sat back down again. Her fever had been so high, that he'd made up his mind to stay down for an even longer amount of time.

Just as he was beginning to doze off, he heard a noise from behind him that sounded like someone clearing their throat. Sirius jerked around in his seat, and saw the cause of the sound. James was standing there, still in his pajamas, smirking at Sirius.

Letting out a low whistle, James vaulted himself onto the couch, and remained smirking. "So… the infamous Sirius Black, most wanted of the entire female population at Hogwarts… actually 'likes' someone?" he asked, grinning.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Sirius protested stubbornly.

James jerked his head over towards Aerin. "Sure you do! C'mon mate, you've been head over heels for that girl ever since she walked through the doors. You're crazy about her."

Sirius couldn't think of anything to say in his own defense, so he stared at the floor in silence.

"I mean, you even acted nervous around her at one point! You, of all people! Usually you just ignore girls who are around you, but with her, you flirt all the time!" James remarked.

"You mean the way you flirt with Lily?" Sirius asked, in hopes that he could get James to shut up.

James nodded. "Yeah, the way I flirt with… hey!" he replied indignantly. Then he sighed. "You're hopeless, you know?"

Sirius grinned and shrugged.

James shook his head. "You finally find a girl who doesn't act like a bumbling idiot to get your attention- and you won't even admit to your best friend that you like her!"

Sirius smacked his forehead exasperatedly. "I never said I liked her! And… how do I even know she likes me?" he added.

"Have you ever met a girl who didn't like you?" James reasoned.

Sirius thought for a moment. "Lily!" he protested.

James smirked proudly. "That's because Lily likes me. But for nearly every other girl, they probably snog pictures of you before they go to sleep!"

Sirius slumped down in his seat. Sometimes, he couldn't tell whether James spoke words of wisdom, or those of a complete moron.

The next morning, Aerin opened her eyes slowly, squinting as she adjusted herself to the light. It took her a minute to realize that she was all alone in the Common Room. She felt surprisingly well-rested for someone who had slept in an armchair all night. It was an even greater surprise to her when she felt something covering her. It turned out to be a few blankets.

She sat up in the armchair, letting the blankets fall to the floor. It was amazing how much better she felt since last night. Her fever had diminished till she was just the right temperature again, and she was no longer pale. Even her coughing and sneezing had disappeared.

After a moment, she stood up. The boys were nowhere to be seen, and it was a Sunday, so she knew there were no classes.

The mystery of where the boys were was solved as she stood up and walked over to a window. She could recognize her friends out on the grounds, even if it was from a distance. Just as she was about to leave the Common Room, she thought about the most likely reason that she'd caught a cold yesterday. Quickly, she ran up to the girls' dormitory and grabbed a jacket. She didn't want to make the same stupid mistake twice.

Another thing she'd been able to recognize from a distance was a thick blanket of gleaming white powder. While she'd been exhausted with fever, it had snowed heavily last night.

The boys were trudging through the snow, talking cheerfully amongst one another, when, at the same time, they recognized the auburn-haired teen who was running as fast as she could to catch up with them. Just to be a pain, James elbowed Sirius, jerked his thumb over towards Aerin, and then flashed him a thumbs up.

Sirius sighed and ignored him as they stopped to wait for Aerin, but when James continued to get on his nerves, Sirius stomped on his foot hard, causing James to grab his foot in pain.

Aerin grinned at them as she finally joined them. "Er… anyone want to tell me why James is hopping on one foot?" she asked, laughing a little.

"Er… cause I… like to try new dance moves in the snow…?" James tried.

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, James is weird like that," he added.

James gave him a look that quite plainly told him not to push his luck.

Sirius merely snickered. Then he looked over at Aerin. "Are you… er, feeling better? You had a really high fever last night," he told her, a worried expression on his face.

Her face reddened slightly as she desperately hoped that she hadn't made too much of a scene. "Oh, I'm fine. When I was younger and got sick or something, I'd always get fevers that were over one hundred degrees or something like that," she explained hurriedly.

That only made him look more alarmed. "Aerin, are you sure you're alright? I mean, should I have gotten you some medicine last night?"

She grinned sheepishly. "No, really, I feel fine," Aerin assured him.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, stating silently, but quite clearly that he still didn't believe her.

As Aerin noticed his look, she stopped walking, arms crossed indignantly. "So you won't believe me?" she asked solemnly.

Sirius blinked, not knowing how to respond. He turned towards James and Remus, hoping they'd give him some sign of what to do. However, before any of them could signal anything, Sirius was hit in the back of the head with a fistful of snow. He turned around slowly, only to see Aerin staring at him smugly.

Sirius wiped the snow out of his hair, and couldn't help but grin.

James started laughing. "Ha! Padfoot just got-" he started to taunt, but was cut off abruptly as a snowball hit him in the face. It was difficult to tell whether it was Aerin or Sirius who had thrown that snowball, seeing as both of them were laughing, and both looked remarkably guilty.

James narrowed his eyes at both of them after he wiped the snow off. "Alright, that's-"

He was cut off as yet another snowball pummeled him. Sirius was the culprit behind that one. He'd made a few more snowballs, and used his wand to make them levitate a few feet off the ground.

James gulped, eyeing the snowballs nervously. As the snowballs began to chase after him, he ran as fast as he could across the grounds. Even Remus and Peter couldn't help but laugh as James tripped and fell face first in the snow.

Sirius walked over to help James up, still laughing cheerfully. James stood up, looking annoyed. He spat out a mouthful of snow so that it landed on Sirius's shoe.

"Nasty!" Sirius whined, shaking his foot so the snow-spit came off.

James grinned triumphantly. He wanted to pay Sirius back for pelting him with snowballs, and he was just getting started.

Sirius scooped up another snowball, patting it down so it was firm. He was just about to aim it for James, when another ball of the powder hit him in the back of the head again. Not dropping the snowball he'd just made, Sirius turned around to see who'd hit him.

Aerin was standing there, grinning. "You were leaving me out of the game," she explained simply.

Sirius let the snowball fall to the ground, and wiped his hands off, though still smirking. "Well, I guess we'll have to fix that."

Aerin stood there for a minute, staring at him with a confused expression. Then she broke out into a run, simply because she had no idea what he was going to do.

Sirius ran right after her. Unfortunately for Aerin, he was a bit faster than her, and soon he was right behind her. The chase continued only for a few more minutes, when Sirius finally caught up to her, and pinned her by her shoulders against a nearby tree, firmly, but not in a way that hurt her. "I win," he told her cockily.

Aerin struggled to get free, but it was to no use. "Let me go!" she demanded.

Sirius pretended to think over her request. "Hmm… not until you admit I win!"

Aerin sighed exasperatedly. "Win what, exactly? It's not even a snowball fight anymore now that you have me trapped against a tree!" she told him indignantly.

Sirius paused. "That's a good point… okay, well, I guess it was sort of like tag, so you still have to admit that I win!" he laughed.

Aerin would have smacked her forehead if her arms had been free. "Nu-uh!" she replied.

He laughed. "Then you'll just have to stay against this tree until you come to your senses and admit that I win."

She considered for a moment, then merely leaned against the tree, as though she was quite comfortable right where she was.

Sirius continued to hold her against the tree, convinced that she would bend to his demands sooner or later. When she continued to remain silent, he frowned a little. "You're no fun sometimes," he whined.

Aerin grinned contentedly. "I've been told that before," she nodded thoughtfully.

Then, without meaning to, Aerin admitted that he had won… whatever game they'd been playing, while Sirius let go of her, at the exact same time. They stared at each other for a moment, both grinning sheepishly, and each certain that the other had relented first. Unfortunately… the moment was broken as James just 'happened' to pass by, giving a very loud cough that sounded remarkably like the word "flirt".

Sirius shot his head around to glare at James, but when he glanced back at Aerin, he was blushing just a bit.

Remus, who had preferred to merely watch their snowball fight, rather than join in, suddenly looked towards the big doors that led into Hogwarts. "Here comes trouble!" he remarked cheerfully.

James, Aerin, and Sirius all whipped around to see what Remus was talking about. It only took them about two seconds to figure it out- there, storming across the grounds right at them, was Snape. His hair wasn't pink, letting them know that he must have found someone to fix it, whether it was a professor, the nurse, or another student. For a moment, they fretted that perhaps no one had seen his hair before it had been returned to normal. However, their worries were eased as a crowd of a few students followed him out of the building for a few steps, pointing at him and laughing.

Snape looked absolutely furious as he continued to approach the boys, but they, on the other hand, looked absolutely delighted upon seeing Snape. In their minds, the chance to make him miserable was like getting an early birthday present.

Sirius leaned against the tree that he had previously trapped Aerin against, casually, as Snape finally reached them. James was leaning against the tree as well, hands in his pockets. Remus remained where he was.

Snape glared at all of the boys, not really noticing Aerin. It was plain to see that he hated them with as much disdain as was possible to muster. "It was you, Potter!" he spat out.

James cocked his head to one side, looking confused. "What do you mean, Snivellus?" he asked, attempting to sound innocent.

"My hair!" Snape growled.

"Sorry Snivellus, but James isn't responsible for how greasy that rat's nest you insist upon calling 'hair' is," Sirius grinned.

Snape shot Sirius a glare, but silently stormed off to a different part of the grounds.

All of the boys started laughing at once. James was laughing so hard, he slipped and landed flat on his bottom on the snow. Pushing himself up to a sitting position, he continued laughing.

Even Peter was cracking up a little, despite the fact that he was still terrified of Aerin.

Remus grinned. "The look on his face was pure gold! At least now we know just how much he 'enjoyed' your little prank."

Sirius nodded. "I'll bet we just made his day," he smirked. "Maybe we should try to 'cheer him up' more often?" he suggested jokingly.

Aerin laughed a little, then stretched a bit. "Well… what do we do now?" she asked, looking bored, but content.

James shrugged. "I dunno… how about we head back inside?" he asked.

"Why so soon?" Remus inquired, though he really didn't care too much either way.

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, why now? We've only been out here for a little bit."

James sighed wearily. "Because, this snow that I'm sitting on is very cold, and I think my butt's starting to get numb."