Sirius' Tomboy:

A/N: This chapter took me so long to write like eight months, damn and not even that, I ended up halving it because it grew so long. ️

Disclaimer: my story has a happy ending unlike hers. (Yeah to me they aren't happy because people dying isn't fUn.)

Be safe, okay?

"Heya Faith?" I vaguely registered Victori waving her hand in front of my face.

"I think she's dead."

"Then does that mean Sirius killed her?" I could tell Victori was wriggling her eyebrows as she said it.

"Killed her with that smoulder you mean." Edward cheerfully added. "They really are together."

Unfamiliar hands found my shoulders and the thought that accompanied jarred my scattered thoughts.

Why were Sirius' hands familiar to me now?

And why was I not worried about that weird fact? This day just kept getting weirder and weirder. Or was this the normality of everyone else and I just hadn't realised it until now?

"Wha- has Mr Brent finished with the seating plan?"

Edward snickered behind one of his hands as he patted my back with the other. "The lesson's finished, darling."

"What?" I all but squawked and a smirk tugged at the corner of Victori's lips.

I lowered my voice when a couple of eyes turned to us. "Crap, erm, right, I knew that."

I grabbed my bag, stuffing a blank parchment that was supposed to be full of notes into it, with my quills that had dried of ink a long while ago.

"Yeah, the class is over. We tried waking you from your daze but you know." She shrugged. "You were in Sirius la-la land."

I stopped packing away my things to huff, "I-I was not!"

They still laughed and I had to duck my head to avoid them seeing my blush.

Stupid Sirius. I never even blushed before today.

And speaking of the frigging Devil.

The guy himself had swaggered over to our table with a grin on his lips that I was sceptical of. I peered around him and made a show of spotting Remus talking to some of our classmates so I could avoid speaking to him a little bit longer.

"And who must you be?" He was leaned against the table oozing the aura of a popular person. He seemed to know Victori since he angled his question to Edward.

But I didn't dare look at his face.

"I'm Edward Steinburg." Edward's cheeks grew pink as he said it and I smiled.

And they said I fancied Sirius.

But it seemed like Victori was the total opposite and gave him a blank look. "Hi, Black."

Sirius sent Edward a lopsided grin that had him looking bashful then he nodded at Victori. "Morning Celest."

When I could take no more of Sirius' eyes boring into me, I snapped, "what?"

"Are you avoiding looking at me?" He didn't sound cross, only amused.

I peeked at his eyes an saw that they held shards of laughter. "No."

"Good then." He smiled.

Edward and Victori were whispering with knowing looks that irritated me.

But I ignored them all and found an excuse for my eyes to drift from Sirius' stare. "Heya Rem."

The others turned to Remus as he walked towards the group.

"Hello to you too." He seemed to notice the Victori and Edward then and said a polite good morning to the both of them.

"What's next?" Sirius yawned as if he was tired from asking me stupid questions through a plane.

Yeah, I still wouldn't get over that. Aeroplanes were never meant for that stuff.

"I've got Herbology so you'll have to ask Rem." I sniggered at having a reason to avoid Sirius, speed walking past tables so Remus wouldn't grab me.

Haha, he would be left alone with Sirius.

I laughed out loud at his sour face but Sirius' frowned. "Be safe, okay? I need someone to annoy."

I didn't miss the crap-eating grins a certain Hufflepuff and Slytherin were sending me at his words.

I rolled my eyes as I nodded, "don't worry, I will."

Edward started pushing me towards the door, "go on, you don't wanna be late."

I nodded as if I didn't see those suggestive glances he was sending an ever-oblivious Sirius.

"Alright, byas." I waved at them all as I finally left the classroom to go to Herbology.

I felt slightly queasy at the fact that I might not have anyone that I could even talk to in Herbology after being forbidden from being friends with anyone else but my ex ones for so long. And if I looked deep down, I knew I was procrastinating in Mr Brent's room.

But I had to get used to it. The guys were their own group, I couldn't just jump in and think that it was all fine and dandy. No matter how much I wanted it to be. I had a bad craving for groups, to be included and I needed to stop and try and make some friends today. Put the past (as much I could anyway) behind me.

However, if students had noticed my appearance with the Marauders then there was no doubt my they already had. Especially Marlene and everyone knew how much of a crush she had on Sirius. She would take everything the wrong way and I knew that the results wouldn't be pretty.

I sighed up to the ceilings of Hogwarts. Why was life never simple?

I remembered that I was supposed to be regretting my cloak when I stood by the doors to exit the castle. The sky was brewing something bad and the wind wasn't behaving as it should.

Shrugging to myself, I cast an impervius charm over myself. If life hadn't been behaving yet, then why would it now?

I pushed the grand doors open and stood outside into the rain and wind. I walked down the slippery grass path to the Greenhouses, lips curling up at my familiarity with them. I soon stepped into the safety of Greenhouse and slowly took off my spell.

I used the extra seconds I stood by the closed door to look around the classroom, feeling a ridiculous amount of relief when I saw Ebony there. The worry I felt stemmed from the fact that I would be alone. And being on my own was something I tried to avoid no matter what, which I needed to stop because it led me to do things so I wasn't unwanted.

"Hi, Ebony. Erm, is it alright if I sit here?" I stood behind the seat next to her and I hoped against hope that she nodded.

To my relief she did and I sat down on the tall stool, dropping my bag next to my feet, under the desk. I then noticed on her other side of the three-person-table sat another girl.

I recognised her from one of the girls Ebony had sat next to at breakfast. She had white-blonde hair plaited into two neat pigtails and had a splatter of grey freckles on her cheeks. Her eyes were green behind her glasses from what I had seen when she looked up from her book to give me a smile before going back to reading. I'd seen her lots and from memory, I knew she was the Gryffindor, Bertha Jorkins but I'd never spoken to her.

"I know I just saw you an hour ago but how are you doing?" Ebony was just as energetic as I last saw her, possibly more so.

I just chuckled and enjoyed her bubbly personality. "I'm great, why?"

"I don't know..." The sparkles in her blue eyes turned mischievous. "I've heard you're getting a bit roomy with Sirius."

I spluttered before I could answer, half shocked that the gossip mill worked so fast and half-embarrassed from my memory of what he'd sent in a plane.

I would never get over that. It was a frigging plane. A plane.

Even though my cover had been blown, I tried to act nonchalant. "What are you talking about?"

Ebony's gaze just radiated excitement as she nudged me slightly with her elbow. "Ooo so it's a secret then?"

I didn't have a chance to deny her statement when Bertha paused reading and joined the conversation. "If it is, don't let Eb corner you into answering."

Ebony pouted and fake grumbled, "I was only curious Bea."

I watched the exchange, blinking, surprised that even Ebony's friends were nice. "We aren't together anyway, despite what everyone seems to think, but thank you."

Bertha sent me a nod and a soft smile while ignoring Ebony's fake huff and before I could say anything more Professor Sprout made an appearance at the front of the classroom.

"Welcome back my fellow botanists, I hope you've all had a lovely summer."

Sprout wore a jolly smile even as it started to rain harder against the windows. "Today and the following weeks we will be revisiting the Devil's Snare."

Groans mixed with shouts of joy erupted in the classroom and I quietly laughed. Last year a few incidents had happened with the plant and it was obvious who they were.

Sprout walked around her desk, using chalk to write a list on the chalkboard. "Rather than last year where you observed and watched the plants from afar, you will be working in threes to tend and grow the plant yourselves. It will show how much you remember and will be safer, as well as to show how well you work in a group."

She could say that again. The number of injuries I'd seen because of the plant over the years, even when Sprout brought only one out to show us, was ridiculous. Whether it was because of the ignorance of students or just the plants themselves, someone would get hurt.

Sprout stepped back from the board, dusting her hand of chalk powder. "You kids can choose your groups as from experience I've learnt that less bickering means less of you take a trip to the hospital wing. After a few weeks, I will be judging on the final result of your plant. Your equipment is in the front and so is the Devil's snare, you can begin."

"So er," I started, unsure if I was even allowed to be in a group with the two of them. I had been rejected in lessons before and I wasn't a stranger to working alone.

Bertha seemed to understand my dilemma by the way her leafy eyes slightly widened, "you can get the soil from the storage cupboard if you want."

I caught her eye and I understood her unspoken question: you can be with us if you want.

I broke out into a grin and I realised Ebony had disappeared as she made her way back to the table with aprons and spades. "Gals if we're going to get an O in this project we need to work together so Bertha get up, no lazying on the job."

My grin broadened at the fact that they both had accepted me in a blink, not even forgotten that I was there.

"I'll get the soil and pot." I offered, Bertha nodding slightly with a smile curving the corner of her lips.

The lesson went by faster than I thought it would with me being in a group with Bertha and Ebony. I was more than thrilled that I didn't have a choice and was automatically welcomed by them. But I couldn't help but be surprised at how the two girls talked to me like we were all friends.

"So what's your worst weather?"

Bertha had asked the question, adding to the game 20 questions that Ebony had gotten going between the three of us.

I smoothed the top layer of soil in the pot over before I answered, "definitely snow, I have so many good memories with it."

Ebony frowned and it had nothing to do with the plant that kept struggling in her grasp. "So you've had bad memories with other weather types?"

I wasn't even alarmed that I'd let that slip, I was relaxed, more relaxed than I'd ever been around girls.

I shrugged slightly, placing the orange pot on our desk, "it's kinda why I don't like when it's sunny."

Bertha cocked her head, pausing from writing down the steps we were taking in advance for the end of the project. "That's quite unusual."

I shrugged again. a beam pulling at my lips. "But you can't say that dancing in the rain with no problems weighing you down doesn't sound appealing."

I waited for the brutal disagreement, the familiar sneer.

However Ebony's nose scrunched up in thought, baby Snare squirming in her grasp, "nah, tanning in the sun sounds better."

A surprised laugh flew from my lips, more so at the how she disagreed than why. "I've never tried it."

She pouted and I was surprised to find, was that a desirous gaze? "You wouldn't need to, have you seen your beautiful bronze tone!"

I glanced at Bertha confused as I pulled off my gardening gloves. "...Oh?"

She nodded slightly towards Ebony, rolling her eyes not unkindly. "Eb's been trying to get a similar complexion to your own even though I've told her that her pale skin is beautiful anyway."

Ebony's blush was easily seen on it. "Bea just—whatever." After a rather ferocious squeeze from her, the plant gave in and stopped trying to wrap its tendrils around her wrist.

I chuckled at the two of them, passing Ebony the smoothed over pot so she could plant the Devils Snare. "I think that everyone's got their own beauty and it's not necessarily in their looks."

Bertha lifted her quill at my words, "I've been trying to tell her that forever. Eb, I'm willing to kidnap Faith for you so you can listen to what she says."

Ebony seemed startled at her words as if Bertha didn't joke about kidnapping people often.

"Alright, I understand." She exhaled, flicking a few black strands over her shoulder. "You don't need to keep saying I'm beautiful because we both know that's overboard."

Bertha's hand was holding up her face as she lazily smirked. "Is it really? I just see a beautiful friend."

Ebony's cheeks darkened and she forgot about potting the plant as she clasped it. "Bea stop!"

My eyebrows furrowed observing her inky hair, warm blue eyes and milky unblemished skin. "But you are stunning though?"

Ebony whirled around at me, embarrassed, "oh, not you too!"

Bertha laughed a sweet sound as she grasped Ebony's wrist. "Okay, okay, we won't carry on this conversation but Eb remember the Snare."

Ebony puffed before she glanced at her hand and spotted the abused plant that was wilting in exhaustion. "Oh, sugar snaps!"

I laughed with the two friends, having fun for the first time with some girls, who weren't my sisters, in a long while.