(James POV)

As Remus and I were changing into our bathing suits, Sirius was pacing the dormitory that we shared and refusing to shut up about Ally's friend, Catsy.

"Listen mate, stop worrying! All the girls love you," I coaxed. Anything to get him to shut up.

He glared at me. "Easy for you to say," he spat "that short girl you like won't be there."

"Shut up," I retorted, masking just how true that was. "Her name is Ally." Sirius made a "whatever" gesture.

Remus walked in between us. "Maybe Catsy will invite her friends. After all, Sirius, when you invited her, your wording suggested an open invitation." He reasoned wisely.

James gulped, never having thought in those terms. He flattened his hair and ruffled it up again in his nervousness. "You don't really think so?"

"Look now! Jamesey is scared," Sirius taunted, making the "r" in scared sound like a "w."

James rolled his eyes. "Let's just go."

--

(Catsy's POV)

As I pulled my bathing suit on and then looked thoughtfully at the multicolored paper clip bracelet on my wrist, knowing that the matching earrings were in my ears, I debated whether or not to invite Rosie and Ally down to the lake with me and the guys. I finally decided that I would, since I knew that Ally and Rosie would enjoy the company of Ruffles and Puppy.

I glanced at myself in the mirror quickly before raising the bracelet to my mouth. We each had a matching set of paper clip earrings and bracelets for communication. We'd bewitched them a few years back and they'd served us 

pretty well since then. The earrings let you hear what was being said to you and the bracelet served as the mouthpiece.

"Hey guys," I hissed "Meet me at the lake in five minutes." I didn't wait for a response and crept out of the dormitory.

--

(Ally's POV)

I gawked at Rosie as we sat in our dormitory, having heard Catsy's message at the same time. We'd both put on our bathing suits already and had just been about to tell Catsy to meet us at the lake.

"Did you hear that? She already knew!" I laughed.

Without further ado, we made our way out of the castle and ran into Catsy near the oak tree form earlier that afternoon.

Rosie, appearing to be curious in regards to Catsy's source of information, asked "How did you find out?"

Catsy's reply was simple: "Sirius."

--

(James POV)

Down at the lake, Sirius paced some more, worried that Catsy wouldn't show up after all.

"Do you think she's always this late?" Sirius finally asked.

"She is. All the time." remarked a girl's voice behind him.

He spun around, shocked to see that Catsy, Rosie and Ally stood there, all in bathing suits. Rosie had been the speaker.

James stared down at himself, blushing, and pulled off his sweatshirt. He'd figured he would be cold after getting out of the lake, but he wanted to show off his hard-earned muscles if Ally was here. Remus, James saw, was trying to gauge 

Rosie's reaction to him, as well. "At least we're subtle," James thought, "Sirius is staring at Catsy like she's a bottle of fire whisky he wants to gulp right down."

--

(Rosie's POV)

As the guy's eyes wandered around as if they were cars on a Sunday drive, I began to feel self conscious. James looked like he couldn't figure out what he was supposed to be doing. Thankfully, Catsy broke the ice at that moment.

"Last one in is a rotten house elf!" she yelled.

She sprinted away immediately and Sirius was hot on her tail. Myself, I thought I would risk being a rotten house elf and I noticed that Remus held back as well. Ally looked hesitant until Sirius waved James into the water. When she saw that Ruffles was going, she smiled and said "Come on, Rosie."

Remus ended up being the rotten house elf as he jumped into the lake's freezing depths right after us.

I could feel the numbing effect of the water on my toes nearly at once and did a lap around the area where everyone had landed. Ally was doggy paddling in place, Catsy was under water and the guys were pretending to be oblivious to the cold. Catsy came up then, splashing all of us.

Ally laughed, startled, and went to chase her for revenge. I'm usually not bothered much by the cold water, but there was something about it this time that gave it an eerie and singular feel.

My toe brushed something sharp. I looked down and a scream erupted from my mouth. Ally looked over at me in concern. "Rosie?"