Trish banged her way into her dormitory. All of her roommates were present, and their eyes drifted to her instantly.

"Hi," she mumbled in greeting, not looking any of them in the eyes. The others mumbled their greetings in return.

Trish and the rest of the Hufflepuff girl's never really got along. They had the type of relationship where they lived together and they knew to stay out of each other's ways. The other girls were all nice and tightly packed in their group of friends and they did things like giving each others manicures and brushing their hair. Her friends...well, if last night was any indication, her friends were crazy.

She put her stuff down on her bad and pulled off her shoes. The other girls were uncharacteristically quiet, but she tried to ignore it. It seemed like everyone was quiet around her lately, save for Jess, Eliza, and Mandy.

"So...Benjy Fenwick, huh?" one of the girls asked

"Helen!" Kara scolded.

"What?" Helen asked. "I'm curious."

Trish shrugged. "We're not together or anything."

Helen surveyed her. "Do you want to be?"

One of the other girls, Tammy, elbowed her, mumbling something in her ear to which Helen hushed.

Trish scoffed. "Hardly. He's a jerk." She watched as the other girls seemed to relax. Helen screwed the top on the nail polish she had been using prior and waddled her way over to Trish, trying to avoid the carpet for her wet toenails.

"That's good," Helen said. "We thought that you were...and then..."

Trish looked at her oddly. "What?"

"I had a thing with Benjy once." She crossed her arms over her chest tightly. "It didn't end well. Hell, it didn't begin well."

Trish cracked a small smile. "He's a bit of a slimy git, isn't he?"

The other girls laughed loudly. Kara went over to Helen and placed a hand on her shoulder, who smiled at Trish widely. "Just a bit," she teased. "Hey, want to let me do your nails?"

—x—

Eliza tapped her fingers against her thigh. Her bag lay next to her unopened but stacked full with books. Her shoes were loose on her feet from the day of walking. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail but pieces of her blonde hair kept creeping into her eyes.

She'd been waiting for a while.

She didn't know where he was. She didn't know why he wasn't back when it was almost nine o'clock at night and there was no where for him to go.

She sighed loudly. It must have been the tenth sigh in the last twenty minutes.

Where the hell was he?

Just when she was getting a little peeved–you know, just a little–she heard stomping on the stairs. She knew that he was the only one in the world who walked up stairs as if he was walking to his death, so she quickly stood and flattened down her skirt.

He turned the corner and spotted her. He shifted his book bag on his shoulder. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh, you can talk now?" she asked.

He didn't answer her question, instead motioning to the door behind her. "I can't get in with you in the way."

"Good," she said. "Where have you been? I've been waiting for an hour to start on our project."

"I was in the library," he answered as if it was obvious. "Working on the project."

She drew back, her inner-Ravenclaw stung. "You worked on it without me?" she asked slowly.

"Well, most of the books on it were checked out, but I got some work done."

She lifted her bag and opened it, showing him the three large books on potions that were inside. "I imagine everyone else has the others," she said.

He shifted. "Right. Well, I'm tired. Could you move?"

"Not until you talk to me. Why are you shunning me all of the sudden?" she asked. "What happened to toasting to our friendship and me getting over your stupidity?"

He sighed, dropping his bag to the ground with a thunk. "Look, I know it's not your fault. Okay? I know. But I don't get in trouble. Ever."

"So?" she asked. "There's a first time for everything."

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I just want to finish this and then forget about it."

Eliza grabbed her bag and slipped it on her shoulder. "Fine," she murmured. She moved past him to the stairs and he walked over to his door. Right when he was about to open it, he turned back to her.

"Hey, Eliza?" he asked.

She turned, her foot hovering on the first step. "Yes?"

"What do you think that thing was?" he asked quietly.

Eliza paused, taking in his frightened appearance. She looked down at her shoes before looking back up at him. "I don't know," she whispered. He nodded and opened his door. She slipped around the corner and down the stairs.

—x—

Jess sighed, looking out through the window. She sat on the ledge in a deserted hall, surveying the almost-full moon. It would probably be full in three days at the most, but she liked it best right now. Everyone always associated the moon as a crescent or a big circle. It was better when it was in between.

She looked down at her hands, going over the days events in her head. She couldn't believe that she had let Alice yell at her in front of everyone. The girl was practically a foot shorter than her and probably didn't stand a chance against a fight with Jess–but it was the fact that she was willing to try that got Jess. Here she was, willing to get her ass kicked just because she was in love with a boy. Jess couldn't imagine that kind of devotion.

Or that kind of desperation.

What would make someone willing to throw away their pride and dignity and lay it all out on the table like that? Who in their right mind would be willing to do that?

Alice, apparently, her mind answered her.

Even still. Sure, if someone challenged her, Jess would have no quarrel with taking a girl down. But she sure as hell wouldn't do it over a boy, one like Paul, no less. What was his appeal, anyways?

His ability to not be affected by your womanly whiles.

She tapped her knuckles against the stone under her. Shut up, brain.

"You know," someone said from behind her. "I could get you in trouble for this."

Jess turned her head slowly to see one of the prefects behind her. "Are you going to?" she asked.

The boy shrugged. "That depends." He walked over and took a seat on the ledge next to her. "You're Jess, right?" he asked.

Jess sighed, flashing him a fake grin. "You got that right," she answered.

"I'm Frank," he told her.

"Good for you," she mumbled, picking at her nails.

"I'm friends with Alice and Paul."

Her eyes shot up to his. "Even better for you."

"Mind if I ask why the hell you're pursuing him?" he asked.

"You're blunt," she noted.

He shrugged. "No point in beating around the bush."

Jess took in his appearance. He was in no way handsome. His eyes were a bit dopey and there were bags underneath them and he had some big honkin' teeth, but she could see the muscles coiled around his arms. He was obviously a Quidditch player–she was pretty sure she'd noticed him playing as one of the Gryffindor beaters.

She dropped her feet to the floor and glanced over at him. "I don't know why I'm pursuing him," she said. "But I know why you're asking."

He looked like he was resisting a smile. "And why is that?"

"You like Alice," she said simply.

—x—

"Alright," Mandy said while jotting down a sentence. She ended it with a flourish and looked up at Remus. "Rough draft done. Do you have your potion kit with you? We should start the potion."

Remus dug around under his bed and withdrew the kit. He wiped something slimy off of it and grinned sheepishly up at her. "Lots of things under the bed," he commented.

She shook her head. "I don't even want to know." She took the kit from his hands.

"It's very interesting," a bored voice said from behind her, "watching you two work."

Mandy lifted her nose into the air. "Well, this is what you should have been doing, so I'm glad you find it interesting."

"It's not interesting," James put in. "At all." He shook his head. "Sirius is just mental."

"Prongs, I don't think you really want to go there," Remus commented.

James rolled over onto his back on his bed. "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."

"I'll give you a hint," Remus said. "Her name starts with an L and ends in a Y."

"There also happens to be an I and an L somewhere in between those two," Sirius commented. Remus nodded.

"You guys are just jealous because I've found my soul mate," James argued, putting his nose in the air.

"No offence, James," Mandy put in. "But she kind of hates you. I live with her. I know."

"Yeah, Prongs," Sirius put in. "Listen to little Mandy here."

Mandy stiffened. "I," she said, "am not little."

"No, but something on you is," he answered, his eyes looking at a part of her anatomy quite obviously.

Mandy made an indignant squeak. "I'll have you know that I am a 36C, you little–" she started yelling.

"Okay," Remus said overtop of her. "And with that we end our program of Things I Never Needed To Know In My Life Ever. Next week's episode: thongs or g-strings!"

Mandy smacked his arm. "Shut up," she grumbled.

"Yeah, Remus, it's not her fault that she has to wear a push-up, it's just the universe's way of–"

"Sirius Black, I wouldn't be talking if I were you," she warned. "Not with the size of your dong being what it is."

He reddened. "You don't even know–"

"Uh, trust me, yes I do," she answered. "I live with Maria Moore. I know."

Sirius didn't have an answer to that and Mandy sent him a smug smirk. James sat on his bed, grinning, while Remus cleared his throat loudly. "Well," he said. "I'm hungry. I'm going to go get some food. James, think you can watch these two for a little?"

"Sure thing, Moony," James answered, saluting him. Remus rose from his spot on the floor and left the dorm. Silence enveloped the dorm and Mandy looked around uncomfortably.

Great, she thought.

—x—

Trish looked down at the magazine that was spread across her knees. She was currently reading an article titled Ten Ways To Make Him Love You but every idea made her cringe at the thought of it. Maybe it was just because she was having horrible luck in the guy department but man did she hate condescending articles.

She glanced over at Helen, who was doing her toenails with the utmost concentration. The other girls were laying on the floor next to them, reading magazines and occasionally reading on out loud to everyone else.

"Hey, Helen?" Trish asked.

Helen didn't even look up from Trish's nails. "Hm?" she asked.

"When did you have that thing with Benjy?"

Helen's movements stopped. She sighed, putting the cap on the nail polish and screwing it on. She placed it on the table next to Trish's bed and laid back against the pillows. "At the end of last year. Maybe...the last few weeks? It didn't last after the last day of school."

Trish nodded.

"I'm not how you think I am, you know," Helen said. Trish glanced up at her, alarmed. "I know you think I'm a girl with nothing better on her mind than gossip and makeup and hair products."

"I never–"

"It's okay," she interrupted. "I know. Everyone thinks that about it. And it's cool, I don't mind. But...I'm not, you know? There's more to me than that."

Trish nodded. "I believe you," she whispered.

Helen nodded, looking at her, before shaking her head with a grin. "Whew! These fumes are getting to my head. Read me something from that magazine of yours, Gretchen."

Gretchen started reading aloud an article from the magazine. Trish watched as Helen continued painting her nails.

—x—

His small grin didn't move, but his eyes narrowed a bit. "What makes you so certain?" he asked.

Jess shrugged. "I read people pretty well," she told him. It was true. It was obvious, the way he held himself. How he went out of his way to talk to her, to tell her he was friends with them. And then there were the bags under his eyes–he practically screamed I'm in love with Alice!

He stood from his spot, stretching. "Well, that's a great story. So, how many points should I take off? Hmm, how about twe–"

"I'm not going to tell anyone," she told him.

He stopped. "What?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Frank, I don't care if you love Alice. I don't care if you love Paul. Okay, there, I might care a little bit–"

"Go on," he interrupted.

She shook herself from her tangent. "Right. The point is that you want Alice, I want Paul. They're together. We're alone. The way I see it there are many possible ways to proceed from here, but one sounds pretty good to me..."

He stared at her. "I'm not following," he said.

Jess huffed. "You're so clueless. You didn't just come up to me for nothing, you know."

"Actually, it's my duty as a prefect to–"

"Blah, blah, I know, I'm friends with prefects. But is that why you came up to me? You could have just taken points away," she pointed out.

Frank hesitated. "So, what are you saying?" he asked.

Jess grinned slowly. "I'm saying you and I–" she looped her arm through his and smiled even wider, "are in perfect company."

—x—

Eliza walked her way into the Common Room, bag bulging at her side. She couldn't work on the project now, considering she didn't know what Robert had already done, and being the Ravenclaw that she was, she'd already finished her homework.

She plopped down into one of the chairs with a sigh. Nothing to do, no one to talk to...

IT was only a minute or two before she felt the sofa move to the right of her. She turned her head and was met with the sight of the Bible Girl, clutching her Bible to her chest and staring up at Eliza oddly.

"Er, hello," Eliza said, giving an awkward wave.

The girl's breathing sped up. "Hi," she whispered.

"Are you...asthmatic?"

"Yes," the girl gasped. "But this is normal."

Eliza nodded slowly. She looked away and put her bag on the ground just for something to do with her hands. When she looked up, the girl was still sitting there. "Can I help you with something?" she asked, very fast. The girl was breathing even harder now but Eliza stared her in the eye.

"I live in your dorm," she blurted out. "You just don't notice."

Eliza cocked her head to the side. "Really?" she asked, curious. At the girl's jerking nod, she put her head straight. "Huh," she said.

"I wanted you to have this," she said, putting her Bible into Eliza's lap. "You need it more than I do."

Was it just Eliza or did that seem like a subtle jibe at her holiness? She looked up, gripping the Bible tightly in her hands and ready to give it back, but the girl was already gone. Not even a moment later, Robert flopped himself down into her vacant seat.

He turned to look at her, opening his mouth to say something before his eyes landed on the Bible. "You're religious?" he asked.

"No," she mumbled, stuffing the Bible into her bag to give back to the girl later. "It's a long story. What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize," he said, taking her by surprise.

"What?" she asked.

He nodded. "It wasn't right of me to blame you. It wasn't your fault that it happened and I shouldn't have blamed you."

Eliza eyed him. "You were...really scared, weren't you?" she asked.

Robert sucked in a breath, his face telling all. He let out the breath and nodded. "Yes," he answered.

She put her hand over his that was resting on his knee. His eyes flitted down to it before looking back up at hers. "I'm sorry," she found herself whispering.

Her gave her a small smile, turning his hand over to squeeze his fingers around hers. He drew his back a second later and pulled his bag onto his lap. "Ready to work?" he asked with a smile.

"You know it," she answered.

—x—

"So..." she said. "Where's Peter?"

Sirius was sulking on his bed and refusing to speak, so James shrugged. "I think he's playing Chess in the Common Room."

"That's...cool," Mandy said.

Silence again.

She sighed loudly, fiddling with Remus's potions kit.

The door flew open. It wasn't Remus in the doorway, however. Instead it was Peter, his face flushed and looking a bit out of breath. "Prongs," he said. "Evans is downstairs and she says she has some things to discuss with you."

James's face instantly brightened. "Later, kiddies," he said to Sirius and Mandy, bounding down the stairs with Peter on his heels. The door shut after them but the words still floated up to them.

"Why, Lily," James said. "What is it that I can do for you?"

"Where's my underwear, Potter?" she demanded.

James was quiet for a moment. "No idea what you're talking about, Lil–"

"I'm not playing games, Potter, where is my underwear?"

"Haha, did you hear how that rhymed?" James asked, obviously nervous. "Ha...ha."

"Funny," Lily answered sarcastically. "But I still want my underwear."

"I don't have it, I swear."

"I will report you, Potter, don't test me."

"What do you think?" Mandy asked quietly, a bit uneasy. "Will she punch him or slap him this time?"

Sirius looked over at her slowly, giving her a long look.

"Maybe a kick?" she asked weakly.

He was still looking at her like that. "Right..." she whispered. She looked around for something to do, not wanting to start the potion without Remus and not knowing where his cauldron was anyways. "Well, I think I'll just go use the loo."

She got to the door before he said anything. "You're not going to want to go in there," he said lifelessly.

"Why not?" she asked, turning the knob. She pushed their heavy door open–their door was a lot heavier than her own. Once it was open, she took a step in and instantly regretted it. A powerful smell of something horrible–a mix between bad eggs and her dad's gym socks–hit her and coughed harshly. "What is that?" she choked out.

"I told you," a voice said from behind her. She swirled around and saw Sirius standing there in the doorway, holding the door.

"What is it?" she asked.

"A potion," he answered. "You don't want to know. I'll get it out of here so you can use the facilities." He brushed past her and went towards the cauldron. He put his hands on either side and started to heave when there was a slam.

He closed his eyes and squished up his face. "Please tell me you held the door open," he said.

Mandy looked behind her to the door. "No."

He sighed loudly. "Try opening it."

She grasped the doorknob. She tried to turn it. It didn't work. She pulled it, twisted it, tugged it, everything she could think of, but the door didn't open and the knob didn't move. She turned slowly to face Sirius, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "What'd you do?" she demanded.

"What did I do?" he asked. "You closed the door."

"You didn't tell me I had to keep it open," Mandy accused.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "There is an illegal potion in the bathroom. The door is heavier than usual. Obviously it would automatically lock."

She huffed, glaring. "Just unlock it, will you?"

He shrugged. "Can't."

Her glare intensified. "What do you mean you can't?" She stepped away from the door, closer to the potion and where Sirius was leaning casually. The smell got stronger but she ignored it.

"Only one of the Marauders can open the door and I don't have mine." He shrugged again. "We'll just have to wait for one of the boys."

Mandy fished her wand out of her pocket and threw it at him. "Open it," she demanded.

He threw it back. "It only works with one of our wands. Don't underestimate us, Mandy."

"Well, at least get rid of the stench," she told him, throwing the wand back.

It fell back into her hands seconds later. "Why can't you?"

She huffed, more irritated than before, before preforming the spell. The rank smell was virtually gone, though if she stepped too close to the cauldron, a bit of the smell came back. "What is that, anyways?"

He shook his head, lowering himself to the ground. Mandy followed his example. "You really don't want to know," he said.

She sat down on the ground, too. "I think I have a right to know," she snapped.

"Not really," he mumbled, putting his head down in his arms.