Authors Note: Okay, new characters alert! Yay! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! Oh, ps, welcome to the story oh winner of last book's contest!! See if anyone canspot or be spotted, eh? I assure you, it won't be hard if you know her. Even people who didn't know she won will recognize her..

Chapter 11

The Library

On Thursday at 8:00 PM Lily made her way to the main section of the library. When she arrived the only other people there were Madame Pince, Gideon Prewett, and a girl who she knew was in her year, but did not know her name or house. Madame Pince looked glad to see her.

"Welcome, Lily. You're right on time. We'll just wait for more people to turn up, shall we?" She asked, anxiously. Madame Pince had not been the librarian for long, and was always rather nervous. She looked around eagerly, hoping that more students would appear.

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans." Lily said, sitting down next to Gideon and smiling at the strange girl.

"My name's Hazel Brooks, nice to meet you." The girl said, stretching out her hand. Lily took it, shaking it firmly. They smiled at each other.

"What house are you in?" Lily asked.

"Ravenclaw." The girl said.

"Oh, I'm in Gryfindor." Lily said.

"I know." Hazel said. She had straight brown hair and large, chocolate brown eyes. She had long, whispy bangs that shielded her eyes when she tilted her head, which she was doing now. She was very pretty, with delicate features. She was sitting now, but Lily felt as if she would be short if she were to stand. She had thin wrists, all of her was very slim. She was very petite, and obviously shy.

Lily looked up as she heard footsteps approaching. It was Remus. Lily was surprised to see him at first, but when she thought of it, it was only natural that he would be here. He sat across from Lily, next to Hazel, and smiled at her. Introductions were made, and just as they were finished another girl walked in. She was pretty too, but Lily again did not recognize her. She was short, with brown eyes that looked as if they would be hazel in a different light. She was not as petite and Hazel, and was bustier than even Holly.

"Hi, I'm Amy Connell." She said, extending her hand and smiling brightly, revealing a friendly, white smile. "I'm here for the tutoring thing? There was a notice on my board."

"You've come to the right place." Remus said, scooting his chair over to make room for her. "Remus Lupin." He said, holding his hand out.

"Nice to meet you." She said, taking his hand in her own and sitting.

"And I'm Lily Evans." Lily said, stretching out her hand.

"Gideon Prewett." Gideon said, taking her hand in turn.

"Hazel Brooks." Said Hazel in a rather meek voice.

"I'm in Hufflepuff, what houses are all of you in?" Asked Amy cheerfully.

"We're three in Gryfindor, and Hazel is in Ravenclaw. What year are you in?" Asked Lily.

"Sixth. Isn't it horrid? All this talk of N.E.W.Ts when we've only just gotten out of O.W.Ls?" Amy asked, looking around the table for commiseration.

"Yeah. What are you studying to be?" Asked Remus.

"I'm not sure. I want to go to America and be in films. I'm going to be a star one day." Amy declared, and for some reason, Lily believed her.

"What classes are you taking? I don't think I've ever seen you before." Lily said.

"Oh, I'm taking divination, muggle studies- I figure if I'm going to be living with them I might as well know something about them, right?- and charms- always useful- and defense against the dark arts- what with everything happening lately, I hope I don't need it but I suppose it can't hurt, right?- and then astronomy." Amy told them. Her commentary was interrupted by the arrival of another student.

Sirius Black was there, much to Lily's surprise. He looked around the table, and seeing Remus and Lily there tried to leave before he was seen.

"Oy, Padfoot, where are you going? I've never seen you in a library before, got lost, did you?" Remus asked.

"I was here to get help on my potions." He muttered almost inaudibly.

"You were?" Asked Lily, shocked.

"Yes, and don't any of you dare say a word!" He warned them.

"Well, let's get you paired up with a peer tutor then, shall we?" Asked Madame Pince happily, pleased to have a taker. "Would you like to go with Remus Lupin? You two seem to know-"

"No!" Sirius said quickly. "I'm not going with anyone in my house." He said.

"Well that leaves Hazel Brooks and Amy Connell, but Amy doesn't take potions, so Hazel? Do you want to help Sirius?" Madame Pince asked. Hazel peered up through her fringe, looking a little skeptical.

"Sure." She said slowly.

"All right, perfect! You two can go over there where it's quiet. if you need any books, just let me know!" She said cheerfully.

Hazel and Sirius went off to a corner to start studying his potion. Lily and Remus traded a look, and they both had to look away quickly so as not to burst out laughing.

"Well, I'll take a list of your names. You can wait a few more minutes and if no one else shows up you can go. I'll see you all on Sunday!" Madame Pince said, obviously cheered that people had showed up at all. Lily wrote her name on a piece of parchment and passed it to Gideon. When they had all written their names, and still there were no signs of anyone else showing up, Lily, Gideon, and Remus said goodbye to Amy and made their way back to Gryfindor common room.

Hazel and Sirius

Sirius POV

He entered the library and knew that this had been a mistake right away. He had been in the common room working on his potions homework and had been struggling. He had to have top marks to become an auror, and although he wasn't even sure if that was what he wanted to do, he would need top marks anyway. Better safe than sorry.

But as he had entered the library he had seen Lily and Remus, as well as Gideon Prewett. Of course they would be there, why hadn't he realized that? Remus and Lily were both goodie goodies, and Gideon was really bookish. Of course they would be there. There were also two other pretty girls who he didn't recognize. One especially caught his eye. She had brown hair and eyes that were mostly concealed by her fringe. She was petite, and from the little he could see of her face, absolutely beautiful.

Sirius felt his heart slow down when he saw her. Then he remembered what he was here for. This would be humiliating! If the first time he met this girl was when he was asking for tutoring, he would never have a shot with her.

Sirius turned to leave, but it was too late. He had been spotted. Remus called him back. Sirius made a mental note to pound him later.

Madame Pince had paired him with the beautiful girl, and they were now heading off to a corner to study. Sirius did not know what he would do now. If only he could have been with someone else, but he refused to accept help from Gideon Prewett, or Remus or Lily. That would be too humiliating for words. Too bad the other girl Didn't take potions. Sirius sighed, turning to the girl.

"I'm Sirius Black." He said. Madame Pince had said her name, but he could not now remember it.

"I know who you are. I'm not totally stupid. But don't think that just because your name is Sirius Black means you're getting any special treatment." She said quietly, sitting down at a circular table. Sirius sat across from her, bringing his books and parchment and quill and ink out of his bag.

"Well, what's your name?" He asked, surprised by her response.

"Hazel Brooks." She answered shortly.

"Funny, I always thought brooks were blue." Sirius said. "What house are you in?" He asked when she didn't laugh, or even look up, praying that she wasn't in Slytherin. If she was he just might go jump in the lake and hand himself over to the giant squid.

"Ravenclaw." She replied, looking at him from under her fringe. She had large, round, chocolate brown eyes. She was peering curiously at him from under long eye lashes.

"And what year are you in?" He asked.

"Sixth, now did you say you needed help or a new friend?" She asked. Sirius laughed, the girl was funny.

"Help." He admitted at last.

"Well at least you're admitting to having a problem." She said, a smile tugging the corners of her small rosy mouth.

"What exactly are you implying?" Sirius asked, curious to understand the workings of her mind.

"Nothing. What subject did you say?" She asked.

"Potions." He answered.

"Well, your in luck. What have you got there?" She asked, pulling his half started essay toward her.

"It's not very much." He said apologetically.

"Or very good." She added bluntly. "Or very correct." She added, her eyes scanning what he had written for a second time. "I'm assuming that you're writing about the uses of thyme and its medicinal properties?" She asked.

"Yes." He said.

"And I'm also assuming you were sick that day?" She asked again.

"No, I was there." He said, embarrassed. No one had ever been this blunt with him before. Well, his mother, but that was it.

"So You're just stupid?" She asked, apparently very serious.

"I don't like to think so, no." He said, smiling. He liked this girl a lot. Most girls would never speak this way to him, but she said just exactly what she thought and didn't seem to care what he would think of her.

"So you just don't pay attention...ever?" She asked.

"Yup." He said cheekily.

"Not a very admirable quality." She informed him, looking back to the essay. His heart sank. "Okay first of all, did you even bother to look for thyme in your book?" She asked him sharply.

"Not really. I didn't exactly think of that." He said.

"Okay, well start by looking it up. I'm waiting." She added. He opened the book and started turning pages, looking for thyme. "Are you kidding?" She asked, after watching him flip pages aimlessly for several minutes.

"What?" He asked, looking up from the book. He was looking after all, wasn't he?

"Haven't you ever heard of an Index?" She demanded. "A table of contents?" She asked in response to his blank look. She looked as if she were about to cry. "Go to the back of the book. You do know the alphabet, don't you?" She asked.

"Of course." Sirius said. "I can sing it for you forwards and backwards if you like."

"So there was at least one point in your life during which you paid attention, even if it was when you were four." She remarked as he flipped to the back of the book. Sirius gave his bark like laugh again.

"Ah, so this is an index is it?" He asked, looking in wonderment at the words and page numbers going down the page.

"Yes, now apply your excellent knowledge of the alphabet and locate thyme. It should say the page number that the passages on it are written on." She told him. He ran his finger down the list.

"Okay, page 214, wow, this thing is useful. I'm learning already. They should have invented this system a long time ago." He said.

"They did. There are lots of indexes out there." Hazel said.

"No, I meant the peer tutoring thing." Sirius said, looking up at her. She blushed under his gaze. He went to page 214 and read aloud.

"Now start writing." She instructed. "You know the medicinal properties, now say what they are." She said. Sirius began to write, when he had finished she passed it to her. She read it, critically pointing out all his mistakes in spelling and punctuation.

"This is all right. Maybe an acceptable. Now add a conclusion, summarizing it. You do know what conclusion means, right?" She demanded.

"Of course, I'm not stupid either, you know." He said indignantly.

"Gee, when I came here I never thought I would be learning too!" She said. Sirius paused, staring at her. Then he burst out laughing heartily. She laughed too. She had a nice laugh, tinkley like fairy bells. Sirius smiled at the sound of it.

"Wow, it's really late." Said Hazel after the laughter had subsided. "I'd better be getting back…unless you have any other homework you need help with?" She asked, almost hopefully Sirius thought.

"No, will you be here on Sunday?" Sirius asked.

"I suppose I will." She said, tilting her head sideways she he couldn't see her eyes.

"Then I will be too. I predict that there will be a very hard potions assignment that night." Sirius told her happily, getting up from the table and throwing his books and parchment and quills happily into his bag. She smiled at her and left, throwing a careless wave over his shoulder on his way out.

He thought about her the whole way back to Gryfindor common room. When he got there he plopped down on the couch and sighed, staring at the glowing embers. The common room was empty. Sirius could not believe his luck. She would never be interested in him now. She must think that he was a total prat, not knowing what an index was. She was probably really smart too, being in Ravenclaw and everything.

Girls had never troubled him before, they just came naturally. Never before had he met a girl who he couldn't get interested. But apparently he just had. Sirius did not know if it was her saucy personality, her fairy laugh, they way her hair fell in her face, or just the fact that he could never have her that attracted him. But Sirius knew that he wanted Hazel, and that he would do anything to get her, even if it meant getting tutored. Gritting his teeth, he resigned himself to the undignified concept of going to the library for help three times a week. But if that would be his only chance to see Hazel, then so be it. He had never met anyone that witty, and had never met a girl who would stand up to him or critisize him, he rather liked to idea.

Hazel POV

He left. Sirius was gone. Hazel was very shy, and after six years here she still did not have any really close friends. She had probably talked more at one time tonight than she had to any one person at Hogwarts so far. There were girls in her dormitory, of course, but they had known each other before Hogwarts, and Hazel had always felt like an outsider with them. Not to mention they were all pure bloods and she was muggle born. Also, they were only interested in boys, whereas Hazel was thinking of her career, her family, and her studies. She was not interested in relationships.

Hazel had a hard time believing that she had actually been rude and sarcastic. She always thought of things to say to people in response, clever and cutting things, but she had never really had a chance to employ them before. She was also always afraid of saying them. For some reason Sirius Black liked it. He had laughed at her comments, and he had smiled at her. She had only said them because she figured there was no way he would ever like her at all, she had assumed he would be a total git, and so she had decided to say the things that popped into her head. She regretted it now. She rather wished she had been kinder. It wasn't really his fault that he was awful in potions. And that smile.... And he had promised to be back on Sunday. Hazel could not believe it. He was so cute, and he was smart, even if he didn't know what an index was. His writing had not been half bad, he was just lazy.

Hazel had been more at her ease in his company tonight than she ever would have anticipated. When she had first been paired with him she had expected him to be rude, snide, and condescending, but he hadn't been. He had been friendly. He had smiled at her...

But he was also oh so aggravating! Could it be possible that he really didn't know what an index was? Was he really such an ignorant prat? Had he been behaving that way, laughing at her and egging her on, just to rile her up? Or had he been genuinely confused when she mentioned looking in an index? Hazel was irritated beyond measure by him, and she did not even know why. She couldn't read him the way she could other people.

Sirius Black. Hazel thought of all the things she had heard about him. Girls in her dormitory had spent hours sobbing over him, whether it was because he didn't care, or because he had cared and then stopped caring. Sirius was a heartbreaker, and he was dangerous. Hazel did not want to become friends with him if the rumors she had heard were true. He was bad news, and she did not want to get tangled up in that. Sirius was the sort of guy who would say you were the love of his life one day, and then the next day be making out with someone else behind a shed. He was an egotistical git, the sort who would hex you as soon as look at you if he were bored.

She had heard things about him from other members of pure blood families. They had said that he was a blood traitor, and had walked out on his family. Although she did not trust the pure bloods, especially considering they would love to see her killed, being a muggle born witch herself, but she did not respect him leaving his family. That was not right. Hazel could never imagine walking out on her own family. It had been hard enough coming to Hogwarts. The only reason she had done so at all was because her mother had wanted her to. Her father was dying, and her mother was working all the time, and had a six year old son. Well, he was six now, he hadn't been born at the time she had left for school. Hazel had not wanted to leave, but she had done it because her mother thought it would be a better place for her. Hazel was still not sure if she agreed, but she wanted to get a high paying job to make it worth it for her family. She would raise the money for the surgery her father needed to recover, then they would be the happy family she remembered from before her dad got sick.

She enjoyed her quiet, comfortable existence at Hogwarts, even if she was sometimes lonely. She was going to work at the ministry, and rise to the top of the ranks. She needed top grades, and could not afford distractions at this point. Life was easier without friends, and without Sirius. Maybe she wouldn't come back on Sunday. That way she wouldn't have to risk becoming friends with him.

Hazel stood, walking back to her dormitory, the image of that smile burned into her mind.

Authors Note: Okay, so what does everyone else think of Hazel? And Amy? Anyone else smell romance? Well obvi I doas I'm writing it...but anyway, r&r!