Hi. Read now.

"Soo…" "Hmm…." "Yeah… So you…" "Yeah…"

Belle tapped her fingers on the table and said, "That's… Unexpected. You're a metamorphmagus…" "Yep…"

"And so… In your excitement to tell me… This happened?" Belle continued, pointing to Rose's face. Or at least what was supposed to be Rose's face.

"Yep." Rose replied.

(A/N: Okay!!! Explanation… Rose was so looking forward to telling Belle that… Belle's face, which appeared in her head… Appeared on her face)

"CHANGE BACK!!!!" Belle demanded, shaking Rose by the collar.

"Okay!!! Just… give me a second." Rose said. She scrunched up her face in concentration, and her face slowly turned, changing back to her own face.

"Thank you. Now… Down to business. You just gave me a great idea. Much more on our list." Belle said in the same level of perkiness.

"Our list. Right…" Rose whispered, once again remembering Sirius.

"Earth to Mare. Okay, horse-face, any ideas?" Belle tipped to one side then turned, but was greeted by a surprise.

"Aaaaahhhh!!! What the f-" She fell backward, startled by what looked like a dragon, with bloodshot eyes and foam at its razor-sharp teeth.

Then there was Rose.

"Hahaha!!! You should have seen the look on your face!" She laughed. "I think you're getting the hang of this." Belle said sourly.

"Belle… Have you ever had experience sending love letters?" Rose asked out of the blue, making Belle tip over slightly.

"What? Well, no, but is there a particular reason you asked that question?" Belle questioned suspiciously.

"Yes." Rose replied blankly.

"Well? Why?" Belle asked.

"Like I'd tell you." Rose said.

"Darn. Who are you in love with?" Belle kept on.

"The one who saved my life." Rose replied simply.

"What?" "Nothing."

"Who saved your life? What-?" Belle nudged Rose.

But Rose simply looked into space without care.

Yes, I'm here again, not about the marauders, but about Mare. She's in love!!! By my bloody heart, she's in love!!! MARE!!! But was she in a life-threatening situation, cuz I'll never forgive myself if she was without me. She's such a hard egg to crack. I'm checking for her sake. You know what. INVESTIGATION! That's what.

Signing off

-B.

Hello Sirius. You may as well not know me, but I love you. You give a lot of meaning to me, really. If you want to send me back a message telling me to bug off or what, just leave a letter at the tree with a branch different from the others, beside the lake. There's a hole in the side of the different branch, leave your letter there.

I'm absolutely serious. I hate you, but I love you. If that confuses you, fine. I mean. I used to hate you with all my gut, but now…

-Mare

P.S. If you hate me, you know what to do.

P.P.S. Mare is not my real name, and neither is Horse-face.

P.P.P.S. I'd really prefer it if you called me Mare. And I'm restraining myself from writing a post post post postscript.

P.P.P.P.S. Sorry, not enough restraint. I love you.♥

Sirius yawned over his cereal, purposely hitting James' head as he stretched his arms out.

"Hey! You-" James started, but Sirius interrupted him.

"Yo, owls are here." He said, as the loud flapping of wings and hoots from the owls filled the great hall.

As they spread around, Sirius was greeted by a considerably small owl coming down with a short note attached to its foot.

"Huh?" Sirius gave the owl a bit of cereal and took the note, unwrapping it.

His eyes moved over the note, and they widened, as did his mouth to a grin.

"What's that, Padfoot?" James asked, trying to grab the note.

"Nothing!" Sirius insisted, stretching the letter out of James' reach, only to have it snatched away by Remus.

"Hello Sirius…" He started, but didn't bother to narrate the rest of the note and grinned.

Then he snorted.

Then he laughed.

Loud.

"Moony!!! It's not funny." Sirius said.

"No, it's sweet." Remus said.

"What does it say???" James begged to know, but Sirius tried hard as he could to keep him from Remus.

In vain though, as Remus started narrating again.

"Hello Sirius. You may as well not know me, but-" "Okay!!! Read it Prongs, but don't show it to anyone else. Peter, you too." Sirius surrendered.

"Good work, Moony. Didn't know you could be that evil." James congratulated.

"You guys rub off on me." Moony said with a mischievous grin.

Rose, with a look as unreadable as possible, sat beside Remus, who was busy talking to his friends.

She could overhear him talking about her note, and she almost felt stupid for sending it.

But then, she heard Sirius say something.

"Hey, maybe I'll write back."

And that was when Rose's hair turned a great mix of pink and light blue. Love and Happiness. She smiled to herself, until she noticed Sirius get out of her seat.

"Hey, Harper, that's a new color." He said, pulling on her locks again.

"Bug off, Black. Enjoy your note more and leave me alone." She said, snatching the note from the table and throwing it in his face.

Stupid! That was the thought running through her mind as she walked away.

"Brilliant!!! Did you see Black's face when you mentioned the letter? How did you know it'd affect him that way?" Belle asked.

"I- didn't. Just hated him for bothering me, and got into his face about the first thing that popped in my head." Rose replied uneasily, secretly praising herself for the excuse.

"Hey, are you going to your favorite spot?" Belle asked.

"Yes, so don't bother me. I'll be drawing." Rose said.

"Sure. I'll be doing something else anyway." Belle said dismissively.

Getting to the tree by her favorite spot, she was surprised to see a parchment wedged in the hole already, and she was about to grab it, before a thought occurred.

He could be watching.

She went behind the bushes, pretending to ignore it and hid, concentrating hard.

To her surprise, she didn't have to concentrate that hard as she easily turned into what she wanted: an owl.

She wondered if it was normal for metamorphmagi to turn into animals, but dismissed the thought, and as she got the feel of her wings, flew to the parchment and grabbed it.

She saw Sirius approach from behind some rock with a disappointed face, and she flew away.

When she was sure he was gone, she flew back to her spot and changed to herself, checking her hand mirror before opening the parchment.

Mare, am I right? I don't want you to bug off. You could help me a lot, really. I'd really like if you wrote more. I mean it. Hey… Are you really a girl? Heh, just wanted to know.

Listen, are you in my year? If you're any older or younger than me by MORE than a year…

Anyway, I think I will enjoy talking to you.

-Padfoot

P.S. That's what you'll call me from now on

P.P.S. I had to hurry with this letter, so I hope you will reply.

Belle somehow ended up in the hospital wing. Screw the somehow, she got cornered by the slytherins looking for Rose, and got beat up in her place.

She didn't blame Rose, but would've liked it if she healed her bruises herself.

"Alright, you can go. But you shouldn't get involved with this sort of thing. First Mary Rose, now you… Your friendships need some work." Madam Pomfrey sighed.

"What? Wait… What happened to Rose?" Belle asked, jumping up.

"Nearly drowned, and at six in the morning too. That girl…" The healer shook her head.

"What- How- Why didn't she tell me?" Belle wondered. "Okay, thanks, I gotta go, bye!" She added, sprinting out of the hospital wing.

"They must be rubbing off on each other." Madam Pomfrey sighed.

"Hey!!! Why didn't you tell me!?" Belle demanded, shaking her by the collar.

"Wha-huh? Oh, hello Belle." Rose said in a strange, dreamy manner, as musical as her laugh.

"Don't 'hello, Belle' me! You almost die and don't tell me!?" Belle cried out, snapping Rose out of her dream-like trance.

"I didn't want you to fuss so much. I don't like putting burdens on my… my friend…" Rose mumbled.

"That's what REAL friends do! And REAL friends tolerate their friend's burdens! Did you think I'm not your real friend?" Belle demanded.

"No, I just…" Rose got cut off when Belle caught her in a tight hug, and Rose could've sworn she heard dry sobs coming from her.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll come to you when I'm in trouble, okay? Don't get so worked up." Rose comforted.

"Okay. But you owe me. Now you have to help me in getting back at the four." Belle said. "Why do you want to get back at them? What'd they do to you?" Rose asked.

Belle flinched at the memory.

FLASHBACK

Belle was enjoying the breeze as the Hogwarts express kept going at an alarming speed. She was starting fourth year, and she was so ready to get there that she decided to get out of her compartment.

Bad idea, because the marauders had decided to play a joke on their prefect, and it didn't go so well for Belle.

A lot of things happened that she never talked of ever again.

END FLASHBACK

"I'd rather not talk about it." Belle mumbled.

"Anyway, why were you so light-headed just now? You looked like you were in lala land or something."

"NO!!!!" Rose exclaimed, a little too quickly.

"Right, I'm sure. Now, we'd better put your metamorphmagus powers to good use." Belle said, reverting to her bright and cheery self.

"After I write something." Rose said, going away.

It had been three weeks since the first note, and many more followed. By now, Sirius couldn't go a day without company of his pen pal's letters, which evolved to much larger, more meaningful ones.

Then there was the magic parchment. Mare had left it with one of her letters, and so they wrote with each other on a daily basis.

The parchment allowed them to send short messages to each other, with a secret messaging that allowed only them to handle what was written.

(A/N: Think of a cellphone without the works. Only messaging and no pay)

Can't you just tell me who you are?

Of course not, Padfoot. It'll take all the fun out of secrecy.

You torture me too much, love.

What'd you just call me?

You can read right?

Right. But I…

What?

You know I love you right?

Of course. And I love you.

What? You…

I'm absolutely serious.

You've just made me the happiest girl in Gryffindor.

So you're Gryffindor!!!

I… ummmmm

Hah! It should be easier to find you then.

No way. I'm not letting any more information slip.

Good luck. I'll find you if it's the last thing I do.

Yeah, good luck with that. ooo & xxx

Later on, Sirius tried to see any 6th year girl in Gryffindor who seemed happier than usual, but to no avail.

Then he walked, alone, down to the tree beside the lake, when he saw Rose Harper emerging from her spot, looking unusually cheery, wearing a pretty smile.

He also saw a bunch of her writing materials with her.

She- Is she-? Nah, it couldn't be. He brushed the idea away and approached her, and noticed that her hair was blue and pink again.

"Oi, Harper, what're you so giddy about?" He called out. She kept her smile, but forced it into a frown as he neared.

"None of your business, Black." She replied, holding her papers and materials tighter.

"Have you been drawing? Let me take a look." He said, grabbing her newly finished illustration.

"No!!!" Rose lunged for it before he could see the subject and ran away with it safely tucked out of sight.

Sirius just stood there wide-eyed.

He had seen the beautiful color of a sunset over the lake in the drawing, and the cool color of the grass and trees, and two people. He didn't see who, but he was sure that the drawing in itself was beautiful.

Just like her, I expect. He thought, and then hit himself.

No way, This is Mary Rose Harper, the biggest bitch in the Gryffindor. I can't be falling for her, definitely not. Anyway, I have Mare. He thought, smiling to himself.

I DO love Mare. I really do.

Next bit, either Sirius meets 'Mare' or the pranks start playing, and it involves custard cream, taking a bath, and... Well... Yeah. People don't like me, I guess, so my review space has been eaten by maggots. Lucky I got a new one, so R&R PLEAZE!!!