Author's Note: Yes! Another chapter! I was literally chained to my computer when I wrote this. I'm not totally pleased with this chapter, but I've gotta get the story moving along. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys mean the world to me!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, a mysterious woman named Jessica would end up having sex with most of the male characters.

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The next day in History of Magic, our last class of the day, I decided to write Robbie a reply. I took out a sheet of paper, which gave off the illusion of me beginning to take notes. Lily smiled proudly at me. But everyone else could tell I had no intention of writing what Binns was saying. I looked at the note Robbie had sent me. "Sex Kitten, you must be exhausted..."

I tapped my quill against the parchment and thought of what to write. I hated writing openings to letters. They were always so awkward and hard to think of. I tried out a beginning.

Dearest Darlingest Lover, Robbie.

No, it sounded too schmaltzy. I scratched it out and tried again.

Ello, poppet!

Too pathetic.

Mr. Big Knob,

Good Lord, no.

After a few more failed tries, I couldn't figure out why I was having so much trouble with this. I was putting far too much time into this. Sirius, who was sitting behind me, kept trying to see what I was writing, which earned him a few light but firm slaps on the cheek, and the pull of the nose. I contemplated asking one of the girls what to write, but that would only solidify their assumptions of what I thought of Robbie. I laid my head against my desk in desperation, thinking the blow to the forehead would activate some sort of brain function.

Surprisingly enough, it did.

Madame, It brings me great disdain to tell you to please refrain from hitting on me. I do not condone to sexual harassment. Do not force me to report you to the headmaster, as I know he will not approve of your senile behaviour. And I know my wife, Sirius Black, will not find this amusing at all either. He is a pirate and will keelhaul you, or feed you to sharks. Either way, you're dead. Am I to assume you are dateless and lonely for the ball? How tragic. Maybe you should try being charming instead of harassing your victims. I would hate for anyone to go through what you do to me. Good day! Hatefully yours, The Sex Kitten.

I read over the note and smiled. We used too much dry sarcasm in our correspondence, but Robbie made it fun to do. I folded the note, and handed it to his sister in my year, Rebecca, who understood it was for her brother. Sirius raised an eyebrow at me and I matched his look. I'm sure I've said this before, but ooer, he made me feel all sort of faint like I'd pass out when he did that. He was quite sexy when he did it. Oh gosh, I've said that before, haven't I? Well, he really is.

After class, Rebecca asked me what the note was regarding.

I shrugged. "Nothing too important," I told her. "Just replying to a note he sent me last night. Make sure he gets it today, yeh?"

Rebecca nodded and smiled. "No problem."

"Thanks, mate. See you!" I said as I went to catch up with the gang.

"The ball is tomorrow!" Jude squealed. "Aren't you excited, love?" she leaned her head on Remus' shoulder as the held hands.

"Should be fun," he smiled at his girlfriend. "I'm not thrilled about the dancing bit."

"None of us are that good anyway," James said.

"Well, maybe the Marauders aren't." I winked at Lily, who winked right back.

"Eh?" Sirius looked at me funny. (I wish he'd raised an eyebrow then, he looked soooo attractive when he did it.)

Lily grinned. "Last summer, the girls came round for a few weeks," she explained. "All we did was dance to disco records and go round London."

"Oh, dear!" Nina laughed. "Remember the bison horns we bought at the flea market?"

"They were so ace, you guys," I reminisced. "It was Bison Disco Inferno all the time! It's a shame your mum threw them away, Lily."

Lily sighed. "I know. Even if it was by accident it was still a tragic day."

"I'm sure Tuna wasn't too upset with the loss," I giggled.

Petunia, or Tuna as I called her, was Lily's tragic older sister. She was a muggle, and absolutely hated Lily for being a witch. She enjoyed all things normal, orderly, and not magical. When we stayed at Lily's all Tuna did was hide in her room or visit her lardy boyfriend, Vernon, who has no neck. Tuna was incredibly lanky, and had "racehorse elbows". On top of that, she looked like a horse. Lily tried to make peace with her sister many times, but Tuna just found it easier to pretend Lily didn't exist.

"Well, you'd always run into her room and disco, no wonder she was glad when they were gone," Lily reminded me.

Jude was crying so hard from laughing now. "But it was pretty funny when we were all in our knickers and when we walk in she and Vernon were--"

"Spare us the details, please!" Sirius said dramatically. "I don't need to hear about horse women and lardy men. I'd like to eat dinner tonight."

"Well, Vernon was wearing less than we were..." Jude trailed off.

"And Tuna, thank God, was under the covers," I added.

"Heaven knows what she had on," Nina laughed.

"Or didn't!" Jude howled.

The girls and I were all having trouble walking from the intense giggle fit. James had begun to walk ahead of us, pretending he had no idea who these sad, sad girls were. I was clutching Sirius, trying to keep from falling, so he wasn't going anywhere.

"You know something, Jude?" Remus stopped walking, causing his girlfriend to stop.

She cocked her head to the side and smiled. "What, honey?"

"You," he kissed her cheek. "Are," he kissed her forehead. "A total," he kissed her other cheek. "Nutter." With that he leaned in and gave Jude a long, mushy kiss on the lips.

"Moony, we're in public!" James cringed and pretended to vomit.

Sirius just shook his head at his friend, who was still staring intently at his darling Jude. "Are you sure she doesn't have your balls in her bag, mate?"

Lily punched him in the arm. "Don't be jealous just because he's got someone that likes him."

"I think you mean 'luuuurve', Lily," I swooned. "They aren't even in love. They're in luuuurve, babe!"

"Mmmm, yeah," Jude sighed and kissed Remus.

The pair was almost too perfect. It was like they were made for each other. Jude had got Remus out of his shell. More like pulled but all the same. He was now more expressive and found it easier to show his affection in front of everyone. Jude had passed on her crown as Gossip Queen to a sixth year Hufflepuff, Katie Luis. She realised she did not need to know the affairs and goings on at Hogwarts, because all she really needed was her Remus. And he seemed to enjoy all the attention she was giving him. Mind you, they didn't ignore us the way some couples would their friends, but they did spend an awful lot of time together. "Studying" they called it. They were studying, but not books. More like studying each other anatomy. Jude said they were going to wait for a while before the whole she-bang, but they were still pretty physical when they were by themselves. One night we asked her if she thought they were moving too fast, and she v. v. wisely responded, "There's no such thing as rushing true love."

Jude was so full of wiseosity when she did that.

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The next morning, all the girls awoke at the same early hour. The entire dormitory was in a dither about the ball. Jude was performing complex hair spells to shorten, bleach, and wave it to look like the era she was dressing in. Lily, who was going with a seventh year Hufflepuff, Andrew Vance, seemed to know what she was doing. She was going as Tinkerbell to his Peter Pan, and her long red hair was at perfect voluminosity for the look she was trying. Nina and Jean-Claude were going as mime/acrobats (well, JC's French, give him a break). She had bought white makeup, deep red lipstick, and was borrowing Lily's pink blush. She had bought long, black and white leggings and a skin-tight black tank top go go with it. Nina made the look work, even for her. She had even died her light blonde hair a dark black to complete her appearance. I had a feeling she was going to keep the hair even after the ball. The French Way was really starting to stick to her. She wore a baret on weekends now, and those ridiculous dark sunglasses, and even worked the micro-mini Mod dresses. The look suited her quite well, I can't lie. And Jean-Claude was v. v. chic. The two always conversed in French when they were alone. It was très très adorable.

I, on the other hand, was going completely mental. All of my friends had stellar costumes, which made them look like actually women with the certain girly parts all women have, while I looked like a loon from Pirate Island. In a final act of desperation, I went to the Marauders' dormitory, to tell Sirius I was a total dolt for making him be a pirate with me.

Without knocking, I walked into their room, screamed, and slammed the door. The boys were still getting dressed. Unfortunately, the only one who seemed to be naked from the bottom down and had his back turned to me was my brother. And I had seen his arse. Ugh. I knocked again.

"Sorry for not knocking before," I said, completely embarrassed. "James, cover yourself so I can come in? I've got to talk to Sirius."

But instead, the bloke in question came outside, smirking. "That was brilliant, love," he gave me a kiss on the cheek, which made my face get hot. "What can I do for you?"

My face turned even redder, and I looked down at my feet. "You're going to think I'm a total prat for saying this."

Sirius laughed. I luuuurved his laugh. It sounded like a bark, which came as almost no surprise, since his Animagus was a dog. But then you know what he did? He did the eyebrow thing that I so loved. And I almost died. Promise, I almost did. "You know I already think that, Joni."

I punched him on the arm lightly. "Shut up."

"Well, what did you want to ask me?" he laughed again.

"Nevermiiiind," I whined. "It'll be too late." I started to walk downstairs when Sirius grabbed my arm.

"Love, you'd better tell me now," he warned playfully.

I sighed. "You're going to give me endless shit for this, but..." I trailed off.

"But...?"

"Iwannawearadifferentcostume!" I said quickly, hoping he wouldn't catch what I said.

Fat chance.

Sirius' face soon adorned a knowing grin. "Finally came around, eh?" he quirked an eyebrow. I almost snogged him right there, seriously.

I shrugged. "It's just..."

He put a finger to my lip. "Say no more, babe." he smiled. "We'll grab a quick breakfast and go round to Hogsmeade right after, okay?"

I smiled. "You're sooo wonderful. Thank youuu, I'd hate to go to the ball and look like a bloody prat."

"You always look like a bloody prat."

"Shut up!"

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Within an hour, Sirius and I had made our way through one of the school's many hidden passageways, until we made our way to Honeydukes' basement. I was wearing my green pea-coat and red sweatpants. I decided to don the Christmas gear early. Sirius and I brought the pirate costumes with us, to exchange for new ones. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, going to a costume shop to exchange on Halloween, but Sirius and I weren't the smartest people, so it worked out.

When we arrived, the store was, surprisingly enough, still fully stocked. We began to browse around just as we had a few weeks ago, but this time with more urgency. He begged me again to do the Sir and Lady gig, but I refused wholeheartedly. It was a last resort.

"Why, love?" Sirius pouted. "It'll be a riot. You said you wanted to look pretty, right?"

"I know, but I won't be able to enjoy myself in a three-foot wide dress," I patted him on the head. "We've got to disco, babe. Not stuffy waltzes or anything."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Fine," he grumbled, but suddenly his face was much cheerier.

"Wha?" I looked in the same direction he was and soon had a smile to match his.

We had found the costumes of the century. We quickly exchanged costumes, and left Hogsmeade, feeling very elated with our costume idea.

"We will be the talk of the town in these, love," I smiled as I looked into the bag at my beyond groovy outfit. "It's going to be wild!"

"It's absolutely hilarious that muggles dress this way, though," Sirius laughed. "Just look at it! Who could wear that?"

"John Travolta," I smirked. "Maybe not as flamboyant..."

"Who?" Sirius quirked an eyebrow.

"That's the trouble with you, Black," I patted his head lightly. "You don't know anything about muggles."

When we returned to the castle, I ran into Rebecca Green, who gave me another note from her brother. I got another speech from Sirius about his cock-and-bull, and then a rant about how much he liked me from Jude and the girls. It was only my second time hearing it, and I was already tired of their constant nagging.

Robbie's note read, To Whom It May Concern: Deepest apologies, miss. You know how perverts like me enjoy worshipping goddesses. Yes, you have been promoted from Sex Kitten to Sex Goddess. But take note, you are now in the ranks with Farah Faucet and Twiggy. Be honoured. And to celebrate your new title, I expect you to save a dance for me tonight. If not, I'll be forced to throw myself off the Astronomy Tower, for the lady I worship does not love me. I'm sure your wife will agree than you are, indeed, a goddess and deserve to be treated as thus. Tell me about your Christmas plans, beautiful. Meet me under the mistletoe, Robbie.

I giggled as I read it. Twiggy was not only one of my fashion idols, but was Robbie's almost pathetic obsession. I'd be damned if he didn't wank off to pictures of her. Maybe that's a bit extreme, even for Robbie. All the same, Twiggy was his first true love. I think she may have ruined him for all other women. I wrote him back right away.

Lowly Mortal, you really need to find yourself a girl, mate. I hear a Rebecca Green is still unspoken for? (I know you want to bathe yourself after that.) Sex Goddess now? Ooer, you're making me blush. Highly inappropriate, as goddesses do not blush. Also, as goddess, I must thank my oh-so-modest worshippers with a dance. Therefore, take a number and get in line, baby. There's enough of me to go around at the ball. The wife seems to agree with your praise, but however, wishes for you to sod off. Which I, as a goddess, find most rude. The Yuletide Cheer will begin after midnight tonight, which is the start of November. Meaning, only one month and twenty-five days until the loveliest day of the year. I shall send you my list tomorrow morning, so be ready for a shopping extravaganza. I have high hopes from you, since I'm your goddess now. Mistletoe? Possibly. Like, I said, take a number. Sex Goddess.

I ran downstairs to find anyone who was leaving so they could give him the note. Unfortunately, the only ones that were either leaving or coming in were the treacherous girls from years one to four. Amongst the sea of pre-pubescent girls, I found a familiar redhead.

"Oi, Bill!" I shouted. Weasley turned to see me, and smiled coyly. "Hey, dear, how are you?"

He grinned wider. "Fine, thanks. Yourself?"

"I'm fabulous! You excited for the ball tonight?" I asked sweetly.

"Uh huh!" Bill nodded quickly. "I'm going as a vampire."

"What a good idea!" I patted the first year on the head. "Do you have a date?"

Bill looked surprised. "You're not askin' me to the ball, are you?"

I laughed. "Oh, no, love. Just making conversation."

"Oh," he seemed a bit disheartened. "I'm going with Meredith Hughes in Hufflepuff."

"Yes, know her," I lied. "She's very nice." Of course, I had absolutely no idea who she was. Bill was the only first year I could tell apart from the others, probably because of his red hair and how he and my dad were friends. I asked Bill to deliver the letter since he was leaving, which he promised to do as soon as he could. I gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder before returning upstairs to my dorm.

The moment I was inside, a huge black dog jumped on me and began to cover my face with his slobber.

"Fuck, Sirius!" I swore as I pushed the dog off of me. "Was that necessary?"

The dog barked playfully, and began to chase his tail in reply. I couldn't help but laugh. Sirius was an adorable dog.

"Aww, wookit the wittle Snuffles," I cooed at the Animagus as I pet him on the head. Sirius seemed to like the name I gave him. He barked happily again, before changing back into his natural state.

"Snuffles?" he laughed. "Cute name, babe." He put an arm around me as we sat on my bed. It was ten o' clock, everyone was still out at breakfast.

"Sooo, what can I do for you?" I questioned the incredibly gorgeous bloke on my bed.

Sirius shrugged as he began to lie down, and pulled me with him. "You like this, don't you?" he asked.

I gave him a strange look. "What?"

"This," he placed an arm around my waist and hugged me close so that my face was mere centimetres away from his. My eyes stared deeply into his silver ones. I could have died right then if I wanted to. "You like cuddling with me, don't you?" his warm breath tickled my face.

I closed my eyes for a moment, inhaling his smell. Phwoar, he was intoxicating. I'd have ravished him right there if I hadn't been in my right mind. But then again, I never was when the moment was opportune.

"Mmm," I sighed deeply and cuddled into his chest. He placed his chin on top of my head and kissed the very top of it. "Let's stay like this for a while," I yawned. I had never ever felt so content in my life. it was perfect how he would just come and snuggle me the way he did, without me asking, or any work on my part. It was like he had a sixth sense about when I needed a hug, or an embrace, or just to rest with him. Our relationship was more than I could ever ask for, even just as friends. Sirius Black was an amazing guy. I could have spent forever just the way we were. And he didn't seem too eager to move either.

For a few hours, nobody surprisingly enough, came up to the room, so Sirius and I talked quietly on the bed for that time. Mostly about nothing; how we felt about this, that, and the other. It was windy and a nippy outside, just as autumn here always was. Sirius told me how excited he was for the holidays, just so he could have some time to relax with everyone.

"Especially me," I laughed quietly.

"Of course." I didn't have to see his face to know he was grinning brightly.

Both my hands were resting against his chest, and one of his was running through my hair, which I had decided to grow almost as long as Lily's. Last year I had done the Farah Faucet look and the summer before that I'd pulled off a very "Mod" hair-do. I'd opted for a more 'hippie' look this year. It was easier to deal with, surprisingly. I liked having it incredibly straight with my bangs sitting over my forehead. The look, to me, was relaxed and calm, something I enjoyed. I felt Sirius bring a few pieces of my hair up to his nose and inhaled the smell of my shampoo deeply, seemingly enchanted by it.

"You know, I've always loved your hair, Jo," he told me.

I looked up at him. "Yeah?" I smiled. "Even when I did that ridiculous pigtail thing in second year?"

Sirius smiled. "Even then. Remember when I used to pull them in Charms all the time?"

"I gave you such shit for doing that!" I laughed. "I'd always turn around to yell at you and you had that stupid grin on you face..."

"That was my seductive smile that would make you fall for me," he remembered. "I've perfected the technique now, of course."

"What makes you say that?" I smiled.

Sirius looked down at me intently. "Because you've fallen madly in love with me, haven't you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, yes, Sirius," I giggled. "Your charm was just too much to bear."

His eyes danced with laughter. "I thought as much," he chuckled as he places my head under his chin again.

I sniffed his sweater deeply. "You always smell so pretty," I yawned.

"And you always get tired when we cuddle."

"I get to so relaxed though. You're like a pillow, but better."

"Glad to be of service."

We drifted into silence again, simply enjoying the pleasure of the other's company. My cat, Samson, made his way into the room, mewed, and jumped onto the bed on top of us, to enjoy the heat our bodies were providing.

"Hey, sweetie," I cooed to my orange tabby, who purred and closed his eyes.

"Sleep?" Sirius yawned. "Not a bad idea..."

"Mmm." I barely heard what he said. The combined comfort of Samson and Sirius was enough to put me to sleep.

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"Hurry up!" Lily yelled as she banged the bathroom door. It was nearly time for the ball, and I was still fixing up my makeup, trying to glam it up as much as possible. I hadn't told anyone about my and Sirius' costume change. They were all in a big surprise. I grinned as I applied even more lipstick. 'If I hadn't fallen asleep with Sirius earlier, I'd probably be in the Great Hall now,' I groaned inwardly. Still, the time with Sirius was so so enjoyable, I didn't care. Finally pleased with my appearance, I walked out of the bathroom, to greet three shocked faces, all belonging to my roommates.

"You like?" I struck a pose.

I stood in a shimmering silver disco catsuit. There was a very low V-neck that went down to my sternum, helping my chest look bigger. (A/N: It sounds kind of low, but it's really not. Joni's pretty flat.) The costume had enough sequins and glitter to make Liberachi proud. I wore shoes to match, platform, of course. They were a bitch to walk in, but it was just for one night. Besides, I was a groovy dancer, so I was pretty confident I'd be fine wearing them all night. I wore silver lipstick, eye makeup, and had spinning silver stars on the ends of my eye, near my ears. I even charmed my hair to become a silver afro. I was completely pleased with my outfit.

"You look amazing!" Lily squealed as she hugged me. Her costume was very realistic, her face was sparkling with green and gold and she had on ruby red lipstick. The green dress she wore almost looked like leaves, and was quite short, but didn't look vulgar. Nina, who had shown us her costume the day before, looked as good as ever. She had found long, white gloves to wear with her costume, which, I think, completed the look. Jude looked dahhhhling in her maroon dress and skullcap. And as I predicted, her legs looked fab. She was wearing pumps that I knew she would be dying to pull off by the end of the night.

"I thought you were going to be a pirate?" Nina queried.

I shrugged. "Sirius and I exchanged them today for these." I gestured to my costume, before adding with a wink, "You should see what he's wearing."

We all walked down the stairs, Jude and I moved slowly because of our ridiculous shoes, into a common room of fellow Gryffindors dressed like monsters, ghouls, nurses, devils, etc. James was with his date, a fifth year Prefect, Gemma Brown. Lily looked warily at the pair, as the vampire James Potter was talking animatedly with his Vampire Bride. I could sense some jealousy, which I think, was the approach James was going for.

Remus soon joined us, and I told him how jealous I was of his suspenders before snapping them across his chest, hard. He didn't seem to appreciate it, but he laughed it off after the initial pain went away. When Nina asked if Peter was coming, Remus shrugged, still unsure what was wrong with their Wormtail.

"He didn't tell us anything when we asked," Remus explained and James nodded.

"Poor bloke didn't even talk when we asked who he was going with and why he wasn't wearing a costume," James sounded seriously worried.

"I'm sure he'll come around," Jude said cheerily. "You look good, sweetie." she told Remus.

"Ladiessss, I have arrived!" I heard a familiar voice come from behind me.

I turned to see my date, Sirius Black, looking almost as fabulous as me. He wore a gold tight pants and a long-sleeve Lycra shirt to match instead of the silver catsuit I had on, and hadn't done any kind of makeup, but wore a gold afro wig. We winked at each other and everyone complimented our amazing costumes.

We sort of did a hair high five, causing Sirius' wig to fall off. "You goof," I smiled at him.

"Right, let's get this party started!" Jude shouted before the lot of us filed out of the common room and into the hallway. There, Lily met Andrew, and Nina met Jean-Claude. Andrew gave Lily a kiss on the cheek, and James looked like he was about to throttle the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain. I gave Nina and Jude a knowing look. We all knew James was growing on Lily more and more, but she refused to admit the fact that she had a new founded soft spot for my brother.

When were all situated, we walked to the Great Hall. The staff had really outdone themselves with putting the ball together. It looked like a disco that Lily had taken me and the girls to last summer, complete with disco ball, lasers, and that mad dancefloor that had the neon light squares. There were tables for people to sit in, along with chairs along the exit wall.

"This is fab!" Nina exclaimed.

"C'mon, let's dance, love," Jude yanked Remus onto the dancefloor before he had the chance to protest.

The rest of us laughed at the pair and made our way over to a table. Instantly, food appeared at the table. Flitwick had definitely charmed the tables to do that, we saw it happening all over the Great Hall. James and Gemma seemed to be enjoying themselves, she was whispering something in his ear that he found extremely hilarious. Lily tried to ignore him, but I could tell she was holding herself back from beating Gemma into a bloody pulp. A few people walked by and complimented Sirius and I on our costumes, and we attempted another hair high-five, which failed miserably again.

"Let's go dance," I commanded as Sirius put his wig back on.

He jumped up happily and led me into the sea of dancing fools. We found Remus and Jude, who seemed to having a fabulous time. Jude was teaching Remus how to dance with her, and he seemed to be catching on quickly. I started the side shuffle, and Sirius joined in. Before I could finish, he picked me up and spun me around. I laughed hysterically when he put me down and mimicked the hip jerking and extended arm movements that John Travolta worked in his famous disco flick. Nina, Jean-Claude, Andrew, and Lily, soon followed us onto the dancefloor.

"Boogie Vonderland!" Jean-Claude cheered in that thick French accent of his. Oh, dear, I loved him.

The Hustle came on, and nearly everyone jumped up to dance the simple groove. Lily, Nina and I pulled Jude away from Remus long enough to tell her, "We made up a smashing routine to this, you can dance with Remus later!"

We all remembered the moves we made up all those months ago in July, and completely tore up the dancefloor. Our dates laughed at us.

"You're all insane!" Sirius howled.

"We need the bison horns!" Nina whined after a triple spin and an arse wiggle. "it's just not the same without them!"

"We're still workin' it, girl!" Jude shouted back.

"Everyone's watching us, see?" I laughed.

It was true; people had started to step back to make way for our synchronised, funky and fresh dance moves to the records being spun. It was such excitement being the centre of attention. I started to feel like Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. It was such bliss.

Suddenly the music stopped. There were boo's and hisses heard around the Great Hall. We wanted our music back!

At times I was afraid

I was petrified!

Kept thinking I could never live

Without you by my side!

Almost the entire population of females in the Great Hall screamed in excitement, especially the girls and I. We all grabbed our dates, and Gemma joined us girls, wanting to get in on the action as well. James and our dates all seemed unsure of what was going on, but they all caught on quick enough to groove with us. The girls and I all wailed the lyrics to the beginning with every other girl present, and began to do a sort of Hustle.

Nearly an hour later, the girls and I (minus Nina, who had disappeared with Jean-Claude a few songs back) were still dancing the night away, The Marauders all were tired of watching us dance, and went to talk amongst themselves. For some reason, discoing made us all so relaxed and free. We were all having the time of our lives, soaking up the euphoria that is dancing.

Jude went to sit down first, her shoes were bruising her feet, followed by Gemma, who was quite fun when she wasn't with fraternising with my brother. Lily and I were the final two, still enjoying ourselves immensely. Sirius finally had to come and pull me off the dancefloor, saying I was going to bust a hip with all the swivelling they were doing.

"Let's go talk," he begged me.

I rolled my eyes. "Fiine, I guess I could--"

"Kitten!"

I turned to see the man himself, Robbie Green, in a toga and a olive branch crown, and Birkenstocks as his Roman sandals. I ran over to him gleefully, and he picked me up from hugging me so tightly. "Robbieeee!" I squealed, completely oblivious to the incredibly angry Sirius stalking off with Lily to our table.

"You look smashing, goddess," he grinned.

"What's with the look, Caesar?" I giggled.

"I'm Marc Anthony, thanks very much," Robbie huffed. "I was hoping you were going as Cleopatra."

I rolled my eyes. "Wrong millennium, mate," I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Christ, I haven't seen you in forever! You got my last note, right?"

He nodded. "I'm eagerly anticipating your Christmas list,"

"Good to know."

"Want a drink?" Robbie asked, placing an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close.

"Sounds lovely," I grinned at him as we made our way to the other side of the Great Hall, away from the group I came with.

We sipped some punch and chatted, before I said I was still really hot. "Can we go outside?" I asked. "It's quieter out there anyway."

Robbie grinned deviously. "If you want a snog, Jo, all you need to do is ask."

I scoffed. "With you? We goddesses can do much better than that."

We walked arm in arm out of the Great Hall, and went to the field, a few steps away. The cool autumn air caressed my face lightly and I sighed. The dancefloor had been incredibly hot and I was thankful I didn't have any B.O. or wasn't dripping with sweat. Robbie sat down on the cool grass and gestured for me to do the same. My platform shoes made my arse too far away to sit, so I sort of fell instead of sat down.

"Soo, how have you been?" Robbie asked.

I shrugged. "It's been a bunch of everything. Remus planned Jude a surprise party at Hogsmeade, and now they're dating... Sirius is being himself, and James turned down off his Prat Switch. The girls are doing fine."

"You didn't answer my question, sweets," Robbie chuckled and pulled me close, leaning his mouth next to my ear. I could feel and hear him breathing slowly. "How have you been?"

I bit my lip. I was a little confused with Robbie's behaviour. Though he wasn't groping me or being the pervert Sirius claimed he was, I could tell things were heading in the direction of snogging.

"Erm, I've been good," I said plainly, trying to hide my nervousness. "Just lots of stuff to think about."

"Stuff like what, kitten?" he asked playfully and brought his hand to my cheek, He moved my face so it was almost touching his. It was dark enough for him to not notice me blushing.

I shrugged again. "Dunno."

Robbie laughed. "You're too gorgeous, love," he told me, bringing our faces closer together. My mind started racing. 'Fuck, shit, bollocks. What am I doing?' my brain shouted. 'I've got to get out of this!'

Thinking fast, I pulled myself to my feet, stumbling in my shoes. "Well, I promised you a dance, didn't I?" I smiled awkwardly at the boy who had almost nearly kissed me.

Robbie looked taken aback at my sudden elevation, but stood up nonetheless and let me lead him back into the Great Hall. I was still as hot as ever when I walked back in. I noticed Jude and Remus in a corner, snogging each others brains out, and everyone else was sitting at the same table, talking. Shockingly enough however, Gemma was sitting on James' lap. Lily continued to glare at the brunette and Sirius looked really upset about something. I wondered what was bothering him, but Robbie pulled me onto the dancefloor too quickly for me to talk to Sirius.

We ended up dancing for longer than I expected, Robbie was really good. He kept doing all these intense moves I couldn't keep up with, but eventually a slow song came on and I told him I had to dance with Sirius for one of these.

"Go find your date, you pimp," I pinched his cheek.

"Oh, please," Robbie laughed, "she's probably off snogging Lestrange or something."

I raised an eyebrow. "Who would you take that would rather snog Lestrange?"

"Bellatrix Black."

"You took her?" I almost screamed in surprise. Sirius' cousin, Trixie we called her, was absolutely mad. She found immense pleasure in hexing first years, even in her own house, and somehow never got caught. Most of the students at school, even the blokes, were terrified of Trixie Black.

He shrugged. "She asked me. I wasn't keen on going with her, but she would've castrated me if I hadn't. Besides, she needed someone to make Lestrange jealous."

I laughed. "You're mad. Go find some other girl then, I've got to dance with my date." I walked off to find Sirius, who seemed to be very upset. He wasn't talking with anyone, and he didn't even look up when I went to sit next to him.

"What's got you in such a bad mood, eh?" I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Sirius grunted in response and jerked his head to where Robbie was dancing with a girl dressed like an exotic belly-dancer.

"Babe, he's my friend, we just had a chat outside for a few minutes," I assured Sirius. "Why in the world would I ditch you to snog him?"

He sort of shrugged, not totally convinced.

"Stop being such a bloody child and come dance with me," I begged. "It's a slow song, it's no talent required."

Sirius sighed. "Fiiine," he groaned, but then smirked. "Only because you'd look like a bloody tart out there by yourself."

I grinned back. "That's my snookie-baby! C'mon." I took his hand and pulled him up.

We walked slowly into the sea of couples and finally stopped. Sirius wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I giggled as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He smirked and put his arms around my waist, and pulled me close. A small shock of electricity went up my spine. One of his hands was moving up and down my back slowly, an almost sickeningly sweet gesture. We locked eyes the entire time, not speaking, just staring at each other. I thought I would melt right there. Sirius raised an eyebrow and grinned down at me. He brought his face down to me so our lips were nearly touching. My breathing hitched. I would SO rather kiss Sirius than Robbie. And I almost did! But someone came and pushed Sirius from behind, getting the two off balance. We both looked behind him angrily, wondering who would push him unless they had a beating in mind. I would put in my two sense as well after they stopped on my wildest dreams from occurring.

"Oh, quelle suprise," I rolled my eyes and glared at the biggest prat I had ever met, Rodolphus Lestrange.

"What the fuck, Lestrange?" Sirius glared at the seventh-year Slytherin with great disdain.

That arse just chuckled. "Was I interrupting anything, mate?" he said maliciously.

"Sod off, you git," Sirius snapped back. "I hear Snivellus is pretty lonely back in the common room, why don't you go comfort your boyfriend?"

"Odd," Lestrange began, "If I'm with Snape, why'd I catch him shagging your girl last night?"

"Don't ever talk about Jo like that," Sirius growled lowly.

Lestrange looked surprisingly confident. I shot him the iciest glare I could manage while slowly reaching for my wand. If that bastard tried to do anything to Sirius I'd be there to stop him.

"Ooh, so she is your girl then?" Lestrange scoffed. "Even after what she did with that Ravenclaw?"

"That's the biggest pile of shit I've ever heard!" Sirius was red with rage.

Lestrange started to cackle, which sounded more like a weasel in pain than a laugh. "Hell, after fucking Snape and Green, you think I could have a go at her? Heard she's not too expensive."

That was the final straw. Sirius had had enough of him. Without warning, he pulled out his wand and shouted a hex at the Slytherin, which sent him flying back at least four feet. A huge gang of his fellow Slytherins, including Trixie, ran over to him, but soon ran away in disgust. Sirius had made it so the only things that came out of his mouth were enormous, slimy, disgusting slugs. Bellatrix's eyes instantly shot in the direction of Sirius and I. Her cousin raised his head high, as if challenging her.

"What, Trixie?" Sirius taunted. "Going to tell ol' Sluggy on me?"

Trixie was seething by now, and as fast as she could, took her wand out and pointed it at Sirius. "Stupefy!" she shouted.

But I was quick to stop the spell from hitting Sirius. "Finite Incantatem!" I shouted.

A huge wall came out of my wand, blocking Sirius from the spell Bellatrix had conjured. She glared at me, but before she could do anything, Professors Hooch and McGonagall came running into the chaos. A crowd of people had started to form when Lestrange went flying, and Hooch began to shoo them all away.

"What is the meaning of this?" the Headmistress nearly shrieked. "Miss Black, I'm shocked! Even you know better than to attempt to jinx someone in a crowded room!"

"Professor, Sirius hexed Lestrange!" she argued and pointed at the fallen boy. "Look at him!"

"Oi! He was badgering Joni!" Sirius shot back.

"Detention!" McGonagall said without another word. "For all four of you!" she pointed at Sirius, myself, Trixie, and Lestrange.

"Wait, why Jo?" Sirius asked. "She didn't have anything to do with this!"

McGonagall pointed a finger at Sirius. "It would be wise of you to keep your mouth shut, Black. I'll expect to see all of you for one week of detention, starting Monday." She began to walk away before adding, "And I am taking twenty points each from all of you. For extreme disregard for the rules and inability to control oneself."

I glared at Trixie and Lestrange before turning to Sirius, who looked extremely upset. "I'm really sorry," he began. I put up a hand to silence him and wrapped my arms around him.

"It's not your fault Lestrange is a git," I said quietly. "And would you rather have detention with just those two prats?"

Sirius smiled at me. "I guess not..."

"See?" I patted him on the back. "It's all ancient history to me now. Besides, it's just a week."

Everyone had heard about what had happened by the time Sirius and I went back to our table. News travels fast.

"I can't believe that bastard!" James fumed. "Where does he get off?"

I grabbed my brother's arm to calm him down. "Let's just forget about it, okay? We can't let shit like that ruin our night."

Lily nodded wisely. "She's right, who needs to think about those idiots when we could be having a good time?"

"Let's go dance, Lils," Andrew stood up and pulled Lily with him. I waved her off, and caught her glance at an angry James before going off to dance with her date.

James whispered something into Gemma's ear, she blushed lightly and nodded. The two left the Great Hall to do Merlin knows what. Sirius seemed oblivious to the whole thing, while Jude, who had just returned with Remus and pointed behind her at James leaving with someone who wasn't Lily. I shrugged and the two sat down. Remus said Trixie and Lestrange had left as well ("No doubt to shag and think of ways to kill me," Sirius said).

"This has been fun though, hasn't it?" Jude said happily. "Everyone's costumes are so groovy!"

I rolled my eyes. "Please, as if you've been able to look at costumes while you're sucking on Remus' face?" I teased.

Jude huffed. "For your information, we weren't just snogging."

"Moony, you know it's highly inappropriate to shag someone in public," Sirius wagged a finger.

Remus turned red. "We were just talking," he defended himself.

"Course you were," Sirius laughed. "And I'm Louis XIV."

"Off with his head!" I pointed at him and laughed.

As the night wore on, more and more people began to leave, Lily and Andrew being two of them. I rolled my eyes at Jude, who returned the look. We were going to give Lily a long scolding for this. And I'd find some way to pull James aside and tell him to stop pratting and ask her out. I think he was doing this on purpose. This year, he was buggering Lily less and less. She pretended to relieved to have a break from my brother's antics, but anyone with half a brain (i.e., not the Marauders) could tell she was extremely jealous. The other Mad Hatters believed James had finally taken their advice and moved on, but the girls all knew what he was doing. It was probably the smartest thing I had ever seen my brother do. I was proud of him.

"Babe!"

All four of us turned around to see Robbie walking towards our table, his eyes focused on me. I smiled at him and waved him over. Sirius' face went from elated to completely cheerless. I gave him a look as if to say 'Be nice!' and stood to give Robbie a hug.

"Hey, didn't I just see you, mate?" I smiled at him.

"Well, yeah," he sat down in the chair next to me, earning a glare from Sirius. "But I saw what happened with Lestrange. You okay?"

I nodded and took a sip of my punch. "Starting to regret going with her yet?"

Sirius glared even more darkly at Robbie. "She's your date, man?"

Robbie put up his hands in defence. "Hey, it's not like I didn't want to say 'no', because, trust me, I did."

"Why didn't you then?" Sirius demanded.

"I had my manhood to consider, mate," Robbie cringed. "You really think your cousin would let me decide if I wanted to go with her?"

"He's got a point," I told Sirius, trying to calm him down, but he just mumbled something and then turned away from Robbie and me. I shrugged it off and we continued our conversation. I felt rude blowing Sirius off like that, but if he wasn't going to make an effort with being nice to Robbie then it was his loss.

"Excited for the Quidditch game next Saturday?" I asked. He was Captain of the Ravenclaw team, as well as their Chaser. His team was playing Gryffindor, and though the rivalry between our houses was nowhere near as bad as between us and Slytherin, our games always proved to be very interesting.

"I just hope Gryffindor's ready for a beating," Robbie smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please. My brother may be dim in his classes, but he's been working on new plays all bloody summer. There's no way we'll lose."

The season had begun last week, with Gryffindor beating Slytherin, 270-190. James was ready to lead his team into victory this year. He was incredibly determined to win the Quidditch Cup and nothing was going to get in his way.

Remus and Jude left the table to go dancing again, leaving Sirius with me and Robbie. I could have sworn I heard Remus say, "Stop being a prat," to Sirius before he left. My date, though, was still being too stubborn for his own good. I knew Robbie could sense the tension Sirius was creating, but tried to ignore it. We both attempted several times to include Sirius into the conversation, but failed each time. He was being ridiculously childish now, but I didn't want him to snap at me if he was having a mood-swing.

I leaned toward Robbie. "Hey, is it cool if I catch ya later?" I whispered. "Sirius is being a baby, he just refuses to talk when you're around."

Robbie glanced at Sirius before nodding. "S'alright. I'll owl you, yeh?"

I smiled. "Sounds good."

"Excellent," Robbie started to get up. "Later then?"

"S'later."

He gave me a kiss on the cheek before walking over to some of his mates. I turned to Sirius, who was glaring at Robbie as he walked away.

"Why do you hate him so much?" I asked, drawing him out of his one-sided staring contest.

He tried not to make eye contact with me. "I just don't trust 'em," Sirius grumbled.

"But you just saw that he wouldn't try anything on me," I tried convincing him. "And I told you when we were outside all we did was talk." I had decided it was best for him not to know about my almost-kiss with Robbie. He hated the kid enough already, he didn't need actually proof to his theory.

"Whatever," my date shrugged, then raised his eyes up to mine. "Wanna head back?"

I yawned and nodded. "It's getting late," I said. "What time is it?"

"Ten to midnight," Sirius told me, looking at his watch.

"Yeah, let's get these shoes and stuff off. We can take a walk around the grounds later tonight, want to?"

He smiled. "Love to. I can't believe I wore shoes like these," he sighed as we left the Great Hall.

"Neither can I!" I laughed. "But it's Halloween. You're supposed to wear a ridiculous outfit you would never be caught dead in."

"I had fun though," Sirius put an arm around me.

I rested my head on his shoulder, mindful to keep my afro out of his face. "Me too."

We walked the rest of the way to the Gryffindor tower in silence. There were a few people lolling around, all of them had changed out of their costumes and donned pyjamas or more comfortable clothing. I told Sirius I would come up to his room when I was ready, and we both went to change for our walk.

I pulled on sweatpants I used for the yoga classes I took with Jude over the summer, and a white thermal shirt. It was cold outside, so I pulled on wool boots a fmy mum had bought me in Australia, and my school scarf. This time I knocked on the Mad Hatters' door just as a precaution, and Sirius let me in.

"I'm almost ready," he said as he opened the door. "My shoes were a bitch to take off."

"No problem, I--" I froze when I saw Sirius in only his skivvies (A/N: meaning in his underwear!). He was facing me, which gave me a very nice view of his chest. Phwoarrr, how had I not noticed how fit he was when he had on his school shirt? I could tell he was pretty toned and lean, but I don't think I could have pictured him looking like... oh, fuck, I didn't even know! But I knew one thing; he was puuuurrrfect. Sirius turned around to grab his shirt off his bed, which snapped me back into reality, if only for two seconds. I looked down, and smirked appreciatively at his rear end.

"Nice butt, Black," I said smoothly.

Sirius laughed. "Thanks. And it it's any consolation, yours is almost as nice."

Oh, damn. I hadn't been expecting that. He turned around after pulling his pants on and caught me blushing. "No need to be modest, babe." Sirius hugged me close and gave my bum a delicate pat. "I'd never noticed until tonight. That catsuit was a good choice."

My face only turned redder. "Shut uuup," I wiggled out of his grasp. "Next you'll be going on about my tits or something. DON'T!" I pointed an accusing finger at his mouth, which started to open. He was obviously going to mention the body part in question.

Sirius put his hands up in defeat. "Fine, don't let me shower you with the praise you so deserve."

"Let's go, pervert," I threw his shoes at him, which he caught, and started to walk out.

"Oi, wait up!" He shouted back at me. I was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs when he came stumbling down, hopping on one foot while he tied his shoe on the other.

"You're pathetic."

Sirius grinned cheekily. "But you still love me."

"Unfortunately," I took his hand. "C'mon."

Sirius took out the Marauders' Map to make sure we wouldn't have any professors or Filch coming after us. We took a slightly longer route downstairs because McGonagall was patrolling a hallway that we used as a shortcut. We were walking past deserted classrooms when we suddenly heard a loud BANG! come from one. I froze.

"What was that?" I whispered.

Sirius looked at the map and grinned. "Looks like Prongs is getting lucky." He pointed to a classroom that was two doors ahead of us. I saw two names, James Potter and Gemma Brown, almost on top of each other in the room.

I smirked. "Let's pay them a visit, hmm?"

Sirius nodded in agreement. We both tiptoed over to the door where the canoodlers were, grinning all the way.

"Alohamora!" I whispered.

The door unlocked, and Sirius swung the door open, to find my twin with his date on top of a desk, his glasses on the ground and Gemma's dress riding up her thighs. It looked like they were sucking each other's faces off, and I almost gagged. That was my brother.

James was surprised to see us, while Gemma looked like she wanted to melt onto the floor.

"Ha HA!" Sirius shouted triumphantly. "Finally getting some after six years of celibacy here, eh? Good man!" he approached his friend and pat him on the back. Gemma was trying to sneak out slowly without being noticed; she had turned a bright fushia from embarrassment. I let her go, knowing she didn't need to be anymore humiliated than she was.

"James, you're such a hussy," I teased my brother, whose face was starting to match the colour Gemma had turned.

"Seriously, Prongs, what were you doing?" Sirius howled.

James picked his glasses off the floor and gave us an almost pathetic look. "Please, don't tell Lily?"

I rolled my eyes. "You kidding? She's probably off making babies with Andrew. I doubt she'd care."

James' head fell.

"You know, they have 'gullible' written on the ceiling," I told my thick brother.

"Where?" Sirius looked up abruptly, eyes scanning the ceiling of the classroom. "I don't see it!"

I hit him on the head. "You're so dim. I'm telling James that I was lying, you dolt."

Sirius gave a quiet "oohh," before taking out the Marauders' Map and looking over it. He smiled. "See, mate? She's not with that Vance bloke! Don't worry about it!"

I glanced at the map at the same time James did, but neither of us were smiling when we saw where she was. Even Sirius hadn't looked at the name of whom my best friend was with.

"SNAPE?" we all shouted.

"I'll kill him!" James raged.

"What the hell?" Sirius was dumbfounded.

I stopped the maddest of the Hatters from pursuing the pair. "Look," I told them, "I'm sure there's a legitimate, non-romantic reason Lily's with him, okay?"

"How can you be sure?" James asked in panic. "What if they're doing... things together?" he and Sirius shuddered.

"Because, unlike you lot, I noticed how bloody jealous she looked when she saw you and Gemma together, James. Meaning she wouldn't do anything with the greaseball."

My twin perked up. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Positive. She looked really miffed when she saw you leave with her too."

James punched a fist in the air. "Yes! My plan's working!"

"Reverse psychology?" I asked.

He nodded. "I mean, Gemma's nice and everything. Good snog too..." he reminisced. "but I only asked her so I could show Lily I'm not totally in love with her anymore."

"But you are," Sirius reminded him.

James tapped his nose lightly and pointed at Sirius. "But she doesn't know that, does she? I haven't asked her out once this year!"

I clapped for him. "Very commendable."

"Thanks, sis," James kissed me on the forehead in that weird brotherly way he always did. "I'm gonna go back to the common room. See ya later."

"'Night," I said as all three of us left the empty classroom, and James walked in the direction we had just come.

"Oi, that was good," I giggled quietly.

"Who knew ol' Prongsie had it in him to snog another girl?" Sirius laughed as we walked into the cool air outside.

"Mmm, this is a nice breeze," I sighed as we continued to walk around the lawn.

Sirius started to laugh lightly, then pulled both of us onto the grass.

"Oi, now I'll have stains on my arse!" I whined.

"Shh," he put a finger to his lips and lay down flat on the ground. "Look at the stars."

I looked up, and sure enough, the clear sky was showing an amazing view of thousands of stars. It was so beautiful. "Wow," I whispered.

"I know, isn't it?" Sirius pulled an arm around me, bringing me closer. "Can you find any constellations?" he asked.

I squinted up, trying to find any, and nodded. I pointed to three bright stars. "There's Orion's Belt. And Orion's right there." I connected the stars to show Sirius where he was.

"What else?" he said into my hair.

"Well, I can see the Ursa Major and Minor, the Big and Little Dippers," I pointed to two almost ladle-ish constellations, one bigger than the other. "Divination's a really good subject, you'd like it. I mean, we already learn about the constellations in Astrology, but Divination explains them and how they affect our lives." I told Sirius.

"I'd prefer the free periods than adding another class," he mumbled and I laughed.

Looking back up at the sky, I showed him Polaris, Gemini and Draco. I was surprised to see Hercules in the sky this late in the year, but he was nearly gone off the horizon.

"Oh, look!" I pointed fiercely. "There's you!"

"Wha?" he sounded confused.

"The constellation Sirius," I explained as I pointed to a cluster of stars and showed him the stars that made up Alpha Canis Major. "Then there's Alpha Canis Minor right there."

"Is that where my mum got my stupid name?" Sirius huffed. "Some stars?"

I rolled my eyes. "You have a lovely name. And I think it's a neat idea to name your children after constellations. I might do that. Maybe Draco for a boy or something. What do you think?" I looked up at Sirius, who shook his head.

"Draco? Please, he sounds like a snake or something," Sirius said. "I think I'll be naming our kids, love."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "And who said I'd ever let you impregnate me?"

"Well you never shot down the idea before," Sirius wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making me laugh.

"You are so fixed on the idea of having sex with me, aren't you?" I laughed.

"Because you know one day you won't be able to resist my charm anymore," he teased me.

'Too late,' I thought to myself. 'About three years too late.'

We sat together for a while in the grass, with me occasionally pointing at another constellation occasionally. I had even found the planet Mercury, which looked like an unusually large star. Sirius kept teasing me for my love of Astrology, but I just told him to bugger off. By one o' clock in the morning, we were getting cold, so we retreated back to the common room to talk more before going to bed.

We saw Remus going upstairs, and he asked us if we'd seen Peter, which we hadn't.

"He wasn't at the ball, was he?" I asked worriedly.

Both Marauders shook their head. "Haven't seen him since this morning," Sirius said.

"Me too," Remus ran a hand through his sandy-coloured hair. "If you see him coming up, tell him to wake me up, yeah?"

We both nodded before telling Remus goodnight.

Sirius and I talked for a long time, before I started nodding off while he was telling me a story from when he and Regulus were little and still got along.

"Are you listening?" Sirius nudged me.

I nodded softly and then yawned viciously. "Keep going, it's a good story."

Sirius kissed my forehead and ruffled my no longer silver hair. "You're tired. Go upstairs."

I shook my head no and cuddled closer to Sirius, wrapping my arms around his neck and curled into a ball. "I don't wanna."

"You know I can't get up to your room without turning into my Animagus, and I can't carry you as a dog."

I yawned again. "Then lemme stay here..." I said quietly.

Sirius shook his head. "You're too much, you know that? Here, you can sleep in my bed, I'll sleep on the floor in the room."

"Wha? Nooo, you can stay in the bed with me. We shared a bed last summer, 'member?" my speech was slurred from my tiredness.

The first night Sirius had come to my and James' house after the fiasco with his mother, I insisted he sleep in my room with me. I said he needed someone there with him while he slept. James wasn't keen on the idea. I told him if he wanted to sleep with Sirius that was fine, and I would always respect his lifestyle choice. To preserve his masculinity and help his friend feel more at home, he agreed for Sirius to stay with me for the next. Sirius had cried so hard that night. It was the first time I had ever seen him break down like that. I held him while he let his feelings out, just cradling him in my arms. As he fell asleep, he said he was so glad to have me there to comfort him. My heart swelled at least three times its normal size when he told me, and I said it was the least I could do as he finally went to sleep. I never told anyone this, but I barely slept that night. I watched Sirius sleeping. He was so peaceful and content as he rested the way he had, I almost started to cry myself. I wasn't sure what almost brought me to tears, but then I knew I would never love anyone more than Sirius.

He wrapped his arms around my torso, and under my knees, and lifted me up. "Fine, we'll both stay in my bed. Just don't let James kill me when he sees us in the morning."

I nodded tiredly and yawned. I rested my head on Sirius' chest as he carried me bride-style up the stairs, and down the hallway to the Mad Hatters' room. Snores were coming from James and Remus' beds; Peter was still nowhere to be seen. Sirius laid me down gently onto his bed, took off my scarf and boots, and lifted me so we could both get under the covers. I wasn't wearing socks, so the sudden chill of the room made me shiver and move closer to Sirius, who then put an arm around me, to pull me closer. I sunk deep into the warmth of the covers and Sirius, and felt myself drifting into a welcoming sleep, but not before feeling Sirius' lips kiss my forehead and hearing his voice whisper, "Good night, beautiful."

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PHEW! I wrote most of this today! All day! I feel so accomplished. D

Review! Hope you enjoyed it?

Sorry if Joni and Sirius seem too much like a couple here. I'm setting the tone for the next chapter. Actually, it might not be the next chapter, but it's in the near future.

Also, I might be changing the rating to M soon. Just because I started writing "fuck" alot in this and the next chapter. Lemme know if you think I should.

Kthx.

Jess.