Beth woke up excited and filled with energy. She hopped out of bed and showered quickly. She smiled, thinking of Sirius and the hours they'd spent talking (mixed with some heated making out) last night. She felt as though her feet were barely touching the ground. Lily and Linda were still asleep when Marlene clambered out of her bed and staggered into the bathroom (not surprising on a Saturday at –wait, what time was it? Beth was startled to see her watch showed it was only 6:20 in the morning) so Beth left their dorm alone and went down to the Common Room. Once there she stopped, looking around. The room was quiet, empty in the early hour. What should she do? She didn't know how long it would be before Marlene came down and she couldn't sit still, she had to do something.

Beth headed over to the Portrait Hole. She might as well eat breakfast or take a walk. Before pushing it open, she heard a sound from the girls' staircase and turned to see Marlene coming down the stairs, yawning and slightly stumbling. The Portrait Hole opened behind Beth and a pair of arms snaked around her waist, pulling her back against a hard body.

"Good morning," Sirius bent his head to reach her cheek and gave her a quick peck.

Beth smiled and turned in his arms to face him. "Surely you can do better than that," she teased and a smile lit his face. This time, the kiss was neither on the cheek nor remotely a peck. Beth felt her body slump against his as Sirius moved his lips against hers and pulled her closer. Her hands went to the nape of his neck and she responded by parting her lips, sighing in pleasure as Sirius deepened the kiss.

They were interrupted by the sound of a foot stomping. "Oh, hell no," Marlene ejaculated. Beth broke away from Sirius and twisted her head to see Marlene glaring at them. "It is way too early to see this!"

Beth blushed although Sirius just laughed. He waited until Beth turned back to look at him. "We have Quidditch practice this morning. Do you want to come? James will put you to work writing notes on new plays and timing our drills."

"Sure," Beth grinned. It beat sitting around by herself on a Saturday morning. Watching Sirius practice would be a bonus.

"I'll go get my gear and will be down in a minute," Sirius told her, reluctantly letting her go. He left, running up the stairs.

Beth looked at Marlene who was sporting a huge grin. "So, Sirius finally made his move, eh?" She raised her eyebrows at Beth and winked salaciously.

"Um, yeah," Beth felt her face get hot.

Marlene elbowed her. "It's about time. That prat's been edgy and moody the last couple weeks. I could tell he was hot for you after our last Quidditch match. He couldn't keep his hands off you at the party."

Beth smiled. "Were we that obvious?"

Marlene snorted. "Hell yes. Between his grabbing you every chance he got and your wishful little stares, everyone knew it was just a matter of time."

They heard the sound of a door slamming and Sirius raced down the stairs. "Let's drop by the Great Hall and grab something for you to eat" he told Beth taking her hand. He looked at Marlene. "Have you had breakfast, McKinnon?"

Marlene shook her head. "I don't like to eat until after practice. The spins James makes us work on will make me lose my breakfast. I'll see you two at the pitch." She gave a casual wave and stepped out of the Portrait Hole.

Beth discovered she wasn't the only one with excess energy. Sirius pulled her at a full sprint to grab a banana and apple from the Great Hall and stuffed them in his cloak pockets before they ran outside towards the pitch. "Are we late?" Beth asked as they ran, passing Marlene on their way.

"No," Sirius grinned at her with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "I just feel like moving fast today." She discovered why when they reached the pitch and he pulled her under the stands, whirling around to face her once they'd walked several feet. Beth's eyes were still adjusting to the semi-dark when his lips descended on hers. Beth hung on to his shoulders and moaned when he pushed her back against a pillar and pressed hard against her.

"You're an animal," she whispered in his ear when he let her up for air.

Sirius laughed. "You don't know the half of it," He muttered, his breath ragged before leaning in again.

"Sirius, you lech, get your arse out from under the bleachers!" They heard James' voice in the distance. Sirius swore as he pulled away from Beth.

"We'll pick this up later, babe." He gave her one more kiss and they walked out onto the pitch. With a quick wave, Sirius went to the locker room to put on his practice clothes and pads. The rest of the team were warming up, tossing Quaffles and practicing maneuvers. James dropped down to the ground from the air and grabbed Beth's arm.

"Are you willing to write down our times and notes on our plays?" he asked breathlessly.

"Whatever you need," Beth said. James grinned at Beth and took her to the player's bench. He handed her a logbook and timer and explained what he wanted. For the next two hours, Beth diligently recorded times and plays.

At the end of practice, James and Sirius swooped down and landed near Beth. Beth handed James the logbook just as Sirius encased her in his arms, picking her up and swinging her around. When he set her back down, Beth saw James was frowning at her entries.

"What is this?" he asked.

Beth moved to stand by James and looked at him uncertainly. "I made a graph of all of your players, their speed at different distances, their distance throwing, their role in each play and all of the comments you yelled at them to tell them what they need to work on."

James flipped the pages and stared at more diagrams. "And this?" he asked.

"I made several diagrams for each play, the first ones from the side and from above." Beth pointed at the first two. "It's even harder than diagramming muggle sports plays since your flying adds another dimension."

Sirius looked over James' shoulder. Beth shrugged as she pointed to further diagrams. "I'm kind of weird. I like breaking down complex systems into smaller components. Your Quidditch plays have so many variables it was fun working through them." She hesitated. "Will this be helpful to you?"

James mouth slowly split into a smile. "Shit, Beth. This is brilliant. Where have you been all my Quidditch captain life?"

"Try not to drool, Prongs," Sirius told James as he reached around him to pull Beth to his side.

James ignored Sirius and eyed Beth. "Can you help at other practices? This will really help me work out the kinks in our plays and to develop new ones."

Beth smiled. "Sure."

Sirius squeezed Beth's shoulders as they turned back towards the locker room. "You must be hungry. Can you wait a few more minutes while I take a shower?" At Beth's nod, he kissed her temple and strode off.

Beth was left alone when James made a beeline for the locker room. She slowly finished her apple and then walked to a trash can to throw the core away. Another Quidditch team started filing in to practice. A blonde wizard and dark-haired wizard looked at her curiously as they walked past. "That's the muggle exchange student," she heard the blonde wizard tell the other. They did not act very friendly and Beth stepped away, feeling awkward. She went to stand right outside the locker room where Gryffindor players were starting to come out. Sirius stepped out a few minutes later and his face lit up when he saw her.

"Ready for breakfast?" he asked, pulling her close to his side.

"Past ready," Beth said, and then glanced casually back towards the pitch. "Hey, who is the team practicing now?"

Sirius' scowl came back momentarily as he also looked back. None of the players were visible but he spotted a practice uniform that had been tossed on the bench. "The Slytherins. Bunch of prats." He turned back to Beth. "They're the most prejudiced against muggleborns. Luckily, none of them would ever deign to take Muggle Studies so you don't have to teach them."

"We must have a few in Arithmancy, right?" Beth asked. "I don't really know who belongs to what houses outside of Gryffindor."

"There's a few in our class," Sirius said. "They usually steer a wide berth around James and I."

"Why?" Beth asked. They had reached the castle and Sirius opened the heavy door for her.

"Gryffindors and Slytherins have a long history of detesting each other," Sirius replied. "James and I have been in more than our share of scrapes with them. We usually end up proving to them what pansies they are deep down inside so they leave us alone."

Beth slipped her arm around him and ran her fingers lightly up his side. "Do they know you're ticklish?" she asked as he squirmed. "They could use that to their advantage in your little scrapes."

Sirius laughed and swung her around the corner to a deserted corridor. "You're asking for it," he said as his strong fingers went to work tickling her. He soon had Beth laughing so hard she was too weak to retaliate as his hands quickly moved around her torso.

"Okay, I give up," Beth wheezed, collapsing against his hands.

"Good," Sirius' hands spanned her ribcage and he hauled her up against him. "We can practice making out for my prize."

Beth beamed up at him. "You remembered my slang," she said still a little breathless from laughing. His lips lowered to hers and his hands slipped around to her back and down to her waistband, searching for access to her skin. She made an inarticulate sound against his lips when his warm hands found their way under her shirt and up her back. Sirius pressed closer, his tongue as busy as his hands. Beth forgot they were just a few feet from the busy Entrance Hall as desire made her knees go weak. Sirius felt her body buckle and gathered her up closer, supporting her weight effortlessly. The sound of laughter as a group of witches walked close to their corner drove them apart and Beth stumbled slightly as she stepped away from him. Sirius grabbed her arm to steady her.

They stared at each other, breathing rapidly. "Maybe we'd better go eat," Beth suggested when Sirius didn't speak.

He nodded and reached out to put his arm around her shoulders again. "You make me forget myself, Beth. You take advantage of me." He gave her a suggestive wink.

Beth choked. "Me? That's rich. I'm pretty sure it's been you who has been pawing at me."

Sirius put his mouth close to her ear. "We've barely scratched the surface of pawing." Beth elbowed his ribs as they walked to the Great Hall. Lily and Marlene were sitting at the Gryffindor table, chatting and eating. Beth lunged for a seat and happily piled her plate with toast and eggs.

"You were up early today," Lily observed to Beth.

Beth swallowed her mouthful of eggs. "I, uh, couldn't sleep."

James arrived, his hair still wet and his glasses askew. He dropped down beside Lily and kissed her. Lily straightened his glasses and smiled at him. "Good practice?"

James nodded. "Beth did a great job taking notes. And Sirius practices harder to show off when she's there so that motivates the others to keep up."

"I don't show off," Sirius argued. He looked disgruntled and Beth hid her smile by taking another bite of her toast.

Marlene didn't bother to hide hers. "I never thought I'd see Sirius Black smitten. It gives me hope there's some justice in the world."

"What? Why?" Sirius stared at her.

"How many times have you teased your friends when they've fallen for someone, hmm Black?" Marlene pointed her finger at him. "If you think I'm going to miss this opportunity for some payback after all these years, you're crazy."

Sirius turned to look at Beth at his side, who was studying her plate carefully, her lips tightly pressed together. "Do you see what I have to put up with?" He asked her pointedly. "I hope you realize how much I am willing to go through for you."

Beth gave up all pretense of casualness and broke out laughing. "I do and I really appreciate it," she told him with an exultant gleam in her eyes. Sirius couldn't help but grin back at her.

Marlene coughed, a noise escaping from her mouth that sounded suspiciously like "owned". James snickered and Sirius threw an apple at James' head, which James caught grinning. "I've been called 'whipped' more than a few times by you, Padfoot. I see Marlene's point."

Lily nodded. "I remember you slamming me a few times too, Sirius. We want to make sure you can take it as well as dish it out."

Sirius turned to Beth and explained about how he was surrounded by traitorous gits who preferred acting like arseholes rather than best mates causing James to roll his eyes and Marlene to snort derisively. Beth put her hand on his knee under the table and squeezed. "I'll try and make it up to you later," she whispered to him and Sirius raised his eyebrows at her.

"I take back the traitorous comments," he told Marlene, James and Lily. "Give me your best shots."

Marlene gave him a dubious look. "What brought this need for punishment on?"

"None of your business, McKinnon." Sirius winked at Beth.