Well, here's the rewrite of this chapter! The awfulness of the original has been bothering me for a while, but I haven't been able to get around to fixing it until now. If you really want to read it (though I don't know why, it was awful), e-mail me and I'll send it to you.

Disclaimer: Do we really need these? No, for two reasons. One, it's abundantly obvious that I don't own Harry Potter, and two…I doubt JKR, a nice, kind (and awfully wealthy) children's book author, wants to go around suing fanfic writers for living out their shiny little hopes and dreams.

Dear Diary,

Remember me? I haven't written in a while; a month to be exact. This summer, I could spend so many lazy hours just writing, and doing basically nothing else. But since I got back I really haven't had the time…In fact, I haven't written ANYTHING yet about my sixth year at Hogwarts. I guess there are a lot of things that have changed, which I was scared of, but many things are still the same. For example: James Potter is still an arrogant prat, Remus Lupin remains the only remotely sane "Marauder" of the lot, Amber and Alice are still dating Remus and Longbottom, and Adriyana and I are still joined at the hip. Not literally, of course. Though that would be rather amusing…how would we ever use the loo?

It's in Adriyana, though, that I notice the most change. She's acting strangely lately. I think she likes someone, which is good, because she hasn't had a proper boyfriend since Gideon Prewett in fourth year. I would say Adriyana gets bored easily with some guys, but that's not really true…she gets bored easily by EVERYTHING. There isn't a thing that Adriyana doesn't think could be made more exciting. Usually by means of explosion or some kind of cheek on her part. Still, I wonder who she's crushing on.

Hey, here she comes now. I'll ask her. It must really be serious if she hasn't told me yet.

Lily

P.S.—She just told me. Oh, Merlin. Agie…MY best mate Agie…fancies Sirius Black? No, it can't be.

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"EVANS!" James yelled, stomping across the common room carelessly.

Lily whirled around, scowling at him. "What is it, Potter?"

"Wanna be my date to the Halloween Dance?" he asked, holding out his arms.

"Let me think about it," Lily deadpanned.

"Really?" James asked, incredulously.

"Yeah…it's going to take a lot of thought, though…I'll let you know around Christmas, I guess."

She walked away before she could hear his confused, "But won't the dance have ended by then?"

The stupid git would never change. Lily consoled herself with the fact that at least word of the dance was getting around. Once the four girls of Gryffindor's sixth year had heard that Frank Longbottom had been dubbed Head Boy, they'd been petitioning him to ask Dumbledore if they could have one. It had been YEARS since Hogwarts had had a dance of any kind, all they had was this stupid "Seventh Year Back To School Banquet," which, as the name suggests, was only for the seventh years, and Lily wasn't even sure any actual dancing was involved.

"MAYBE JUST ONE DANCE…OR SOME PUNCH?" James yelled, his voice reaching an astounding volume in an attempt to get Lily to hear it from her new location, on the other side of the common room.

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"I don't get it! Why won't she say yes?" James asked his fellow Marauders, slumping on the couch, seemingly defeated. Well, maybe for a day or so.

"Prongs…" Remus said, sighing. "She's not going to change her mind unless you start acting different."

James groaned. "But I like me this way!"

"Well, it's pretty clear that Lily doesn't…"

James scoffed, as if the very thought of such a thing was impossible. "How would it help me to get a date with Lily if I stopped asking Lily on dates?"

Before Remus could answer (not that there was much to say to James' question that hadn't already been said…several times), they saw a girl coming toward them.

"Hello," she said, finally reaching them. James didn't recognize her, but she looked like she was only a year or so younger than them, with short blonde curls and dark eyes.

"Can we help you?" Peter asked, and raised one eyebrow.

"Sure," she giggled. James rolled his eyes. "I was just wondering…since Sirius has no date yet for the Halloween dance—"

"Sorry, not interested," Sirius said flatly, not even looking at the girl, but straight ahead, to where Lily and her friends were sitting.

The girl stormed away, as James gaped at Sirius. He shouldn't be that surprised, really; Sirius, who was usually known as a heartbreaker, sometimes being seen with a new girl every few days, hadn't as much as looked at one since toward the end of their fifth year.

Well…there was one he'd been looking at quite a lot, actually.

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Remus watched his best friend as he stared down the group of girls. Being the reasonable one of the group, he'd known that Sirius would have to feel something for a girl at some point in their time at school, even the tiny spark that was the crush he clearly had on some girl right now.

He looked in the direction Sirius was gazing…it didn't take a genius to figure it out. Sirius would never go for Lily, because James would kill him, and he wouldn't be hung up on Remus' own girlfriend, Amber, either, because "he doesn't go for chicks with glasses." That left just two of them, Alice and Adriyana. He compared the two. Alice was fairly smart, but wasn't as pretty as Lily or Adriyana, who she was seldom seen without. Adriyana was indeed very attractive, and, though she possessed a strong wit, wasn't known for living up to her last name in the "genius" department, to say the least.

But…Alice wasn't single, and Adriyana was. Plus, now that Remus thought about it, if he had to pick out the perfect girl for Padfoot, she'd be a lot like Adriyana. A girl who loves to laugh and can take a joke, who would rather spend time hanging out with Sirius than doing her homework, and who would also appeal to the shallow side of Sirius that Remus couldn't just pretend didn't exist.

Yes…Adriyana Dumbledore was an excellent match for Sirius Black.

Remus cleared his throat, and all the other Marauders looked at him. He opened his mouth, trying to say it casually, but also aching to laugh as he thought of what Sirius' reaction would be, "Padfoot, Why don't you ask Adriyana to the dance?"

And Sirius did not disappoint him, jumping nearly a foot in the air before he began to sputter, turning a spectacular shade of red somewhere between "Hogwarts home-style tomato sauce," and "Peter's mum's lipstick."

Remus Lupin, master of unearthing hidden emotions, Remus thought, with a satisfied grin one usually wore when they hit the nail on the head.

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"…That looked like it went really well, Lils," Adriyana said as she approached. Lily glared, but burst out laughing a second later.

"I'm not kidding! Normally, a bloke won't offer to get you a drink until you're actually at the dance!" Adriyana said, grinning.

"Not like I'd ever let him take me. I've never seen such an extreme case of megalomania in my life!"

Adriyana stared at her blankly for a moment. "Not all of us read the entire bloody dictionary over the summer," she said, finally.

Amber, with a self-satisfied smirk, said, "She means James is exceedingly arrogant, and has an undeserved sense of satisfaction." Amber always got excited when she knew something Adriyana didn't. She never gave up a chance to correct any of the four girls when they said something wrong, though when she corrected Adriyana it was in a more condescending manner. The two were still friends, but Amber always got a kick out of one-upping Adriyana, and none of them knew why.

Adriyana shrugged. "I've got bigger problems right now," she said.

Lily looked up at her. "What is it?"

"Nobody's asked me to the dance yet!"

Lily sighed. "Agie. It's not that no one's asked you…it's that Black hasn't asked you."

"Yeah, but none of them are Si—er, none of them fit my…um…criteria."

"What would those be? Black hair, grey eyes…" Lily went on and on, and Adriyana looked over toward where the Marauders were sitting, and smiled.

Why don' you jus' ask 'im?" Alice said, as eloquently as one with seven pieces of Drooble's Best-Blowing Gum stuffed in their mouth could.

Adriyana shrugged again. Lily knew she was kind of self conscious when it came to Sirius because the rest of his family treated her with a less than friendly demeanour. Adriyana hadn't ever let any of the things that Bellatrix and Narcissa said bother her before, but Lily knew what Adriyana was thinking, how it would be so easy for them to impress their thoughts upon Sirius.

"Come on, Agie...You're almost too good for the boy," Alice said. Lily nodded in agreement, sizing Adriyana up. She had lovely, though abnormally large, purple eyes (which were the colour they were a result of a "Potions accident" in her youth…and another reason why Lily will never do anything James Potter says…how Agie could drink a random bottle he'd given her, Lily would never know), pale freckles across the bridge of he nose, and long, light brown hair that fell in messy waves. It drove Lily mad when a piece of it fell in front of Adriyana's eyes, but Adriyana didn't seem to mind. It wouldn't surprise Lily if she walked around with that one supremely annoying piece hanging right over her left eye just to annoy people (like herself) to no end.

A part of Lily…a rather big part, actually, was worried for her friend. She knew about Sirius' reputation…they both did. She was shocked at Adriyana. How could she fall so easily into the trap that was Sirius Black? She thinks she can change him, does she? Lily snorted. Boys don't change. Sure, she used to be mildly attracted to the way James Potter looked, but once she saw what a bullying toerag he was she'd given up on him immediately. Why? She knew he'd never change, and she liked her heart unbroken, thank-you-very-much.

Adriyana, though…how could she be so stupid, to think that Sirius Black would want a girlfriend?

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The next day, in History of Magic, Sirius took the seat right next to Adriyana's usual seat. She looked like she was blushing a little when she sat down.

Usually, she sat there in a half-asleep trance, but today, it looked like something was distracting her, and making her jumpy. She sat there, painting her nails with odd colours of nail polish, like green, blue, and purple, drying the polish with her wand, peeling it off, and starting over again.

She was just putting on her third coat of the purple polish when a note came whizzing across the room, hitting her in the head with a faint rustling noise. She pulled the balled-up parchment out of her hair and read it.

Sirius watched intently. After a minute or so, she scowled angrily, scribbled something at the bottom of the note roughly, and passed it to him. He jumped a bit as she smiled at him.

"Give it to Thomas," she said shortly, avoiding his eyes. Sirius couldn't help himself…WHAT could the note say?

He casually dropped it under the table, shot Adriyana an apologetic smile, and dove after it.

He unwrapped the note from the tight ball Adriyana had made it into with her fist, and read:

Adriyana,

You're hot. Would you like to accept the honour of coming to the dance with me? I can show you the Ravenclaw common room afterwards, and my dormitory, and my bed…hell, I can show you EVERYTHING, baby.

Sirius made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. How could anyone talk to someone as great as Adriyana like this? He knew Broderick Thomas had a bad reputation…a lot like himself, actually. Would Adriyana just hate him too because she thought all guys were like this?

Beneath the letter, Thomas had made three boxes, next to each he had written either "yes," "no," or "maybe." Adriyana hadn't filled out any of these boxes, but there was a fourth box underneath, written in purple ink and bubbly, girly handwriting. He wondered vaguely why she wrote in purple ink, and laughed when he read it:

Go bugger yourself, Thomas. Merlin knows nobody else will.

Then she'd made put a check through the box next to it. He grinned, and read the rest of what she'd written at the bottom of the letter:

Wow, Thomas, you sure do know how to compliment a girl. Because you're probably too thick to figure it out, I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm being sarcastic. No, I'm not interested in you, and no, I never will be. I'd never date anyone like you, you great prat.

The last sentence made Sirius cringe. He REALLY wanted a chance with Adriyana…ever since fifth year. He'd even stopped dating other girls because none of them were anything like her…or, at least…what he'd hoped she'd be like.

"Sirius? Hey, Black! Did you die down there, or something?" He heard Adriyana's voice call.

"Dammit!" he whispered, quickly crumpling up the note again. "I'm fine, Adriyana!" He shot back up, grinning sheepishly, and tossing the note back at Broderick a bit harder than someone who didn't know its contents would.

Adriyana turned around again with a small smile, focusing again on peeling off her nail polish.

Sirius stared at her in shock for a minute. Oh, Merlin. She really though he was like Thomas! That's why she'd been acting so strangely around him lately! Fuck.

No. Sirius wouldn't let himself quit that easily, he hadn't even had a chance yet!

A note landed on his desk. He opened it roughly, assuming it was from Broderick again, and had just missed Adriyana.

Padfoot,

Definitely not Broderick. He recognized it a second later as Remus' untidy scrawl.

You have to make her feel special. Trust me. Think of doing something that's the polar opposite of what you usually do with, to, or around girls.

-Moony

Sirius grinned, ignoring the jibe and looking instead at the advice it concealed. If that's what Adriyana wanted, that's what she'd get.

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Merlin, how can this really be happening? Sirius must be just like Broderick, yet I still like him. I'll bet he read that note while he was under the table, and now the thinks I'm some kind of tart…

Adriyana shook her head, turning her focus back to her potion. Lily looked up from her cauldron, its contents looking exactly like it should. She raised her eyebrows when she saw the contents of Adriyana's cauldron, which looked like pale pink porridge.

Suddenly, she brightened. "Agie," she whispered. "Add five drops of Hellebore, a pinch of Asphodel, and then spit in it!"

Adriyana stared at her like she was crazy, then started adding ingredients. She was terrible at Potions, and Lily was Slughorn's favourite pupil. Who was she to argue?

Adriyana managed to fallow Lily's steps without messing them up, but as soon as she spit into the cauldron, the contents turned a blinding, fluorescent pink.

Adriyana looked up at Lily, who was grinning maniacally. "Lils, you prat! I thought it would fix my potion. This doesn't look like "pale chartreuse" to me! And I don't even know what chartreuse is!"

Lily laughed. "I didn't say it would fix the potion, but here's a bottle. I want to slip some in Potter's drink at dinner. Should be interesting."

Adriyana poured a ladleful into the bottle, then pocketed it, her eyes flashing over to where Sirius was working. Forget giving it to James, she had better ideas.

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"What will it do, exactly?" Adriyana asked Lily, twirling the glowing bottle in her hand.

Lily just smiled, eyes glinting mischievously. "You'll see."

"And how the bloody hell do we get Sirius to drink it? We can't just slip it in his drink! I mean, I would think it odd if my water started glowing pink. I would think twice before drinking it, really," Adriyana said.

"Just one question…If you like the guy so much, why are you torturing him?" Amber asked, putting her fork down.

Adriyana sighed. "First of all, I don't know what it does. It could be anything from a love potion to melon juice. Secondly…I'm using it as a gauge for how much he likes me. If he gets really mad, he doesn't, and…well, I haven't got that far yet, but still!" Adriyana said rapidly, then smiled.

"Still, we can't just go up to him and say, 'Hey, Black! Drink this shiny pink goo because Agie thinks you're really fit!' I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way!" Lily said.

"Wait…I got it!" Adriyana said, suddenly. She turned to Lily. "Play along, yeah?" Lily nodded.

Adriyana stared at the bottle in her hand, and, talking very loudly, said, "Oh, Lils! I can't believe this stuff is firewhiskey. Who knew…um…pink…made it stronger?"

Lily looked up at her, sceptically, then snapped back into focus. "Oh, yeah…I did do…that thing," she said, in an equally loud voice.

Adriyana looked up, seeing James and Sirius walking towards them. "That was almost TOO easy," Lily whispered. Adriyana snickered.

"'Lo Evans…Agie," James greeted them, leaning against the table 'casually.' "What's that?" He pointed to the bottle.

Adriyana stared up at Sirius, saying nothing. After nearly a minute of silence, Lily elbowed her in the side.

"Oh! Um…it's…con-concentrated whiskeyfire….er, I mean firewhiskey." Adriyana said, blushing.

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She's adorable, really, with the stuttering and the blushing, Sirius thought. But why's she doing it?

He held his hand out to her. "Can I have a bit?"

She smiled, handing him the bottle. "Sure," she said, winking at Lily.

Sirius downed half the bottle in one impressive gulp. It really didn't taste like anything, just lukewarm water. It didn't give him the buzz alcohol usually did, either. It was making his head feel rather warm and tingly, but not in the buzzing, swimming fashion he thought he'd get.

He handed the bottle back to her. "Thanks, but I don't think that's firewhiskey," he said.

She burst out laughing, looking up at him. "That…that much is abundantly ob—obv--obvious!" she choked out.

Lily and James were laughing as well. "Well, Black…you've given us all a good reason not to drink alcohol!" Lily snorted.

"What're you going on about?" Sirius asked, and Adriyana handed him the mirror she kept in her rucksack.

A/N—I like this alternate chapter much better. Still not my favourite, but at least it doesn't make me cringe in pain.

Don't forget to leave a review…tell me if you like the change! I know, it's like getting a whole new chapter, right? Well, it basically is, but still…