"Now class, please turn to page 107 in your Non-Verbal Transfiguration textbooks and do exercises 2 and 3," McGonagall said, "I will be out of the room for about ten minutes to deal with some urgent business that has come up, so I would like you all to be on your best behaviour. Thank you class."

Yes! Lily thought happily, this is my chance to talk to James!

She sidled up to his desk, which, irritatingly, he shared with Siriu-Black. (She reminded herself of why she wouldn't talk to said boy and wouldn't call him by his first name, but by Black, which in her opinion, mirrored his personality perfectly.)

"Hey James," she said, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Lily? Yeah sure, go ahead."

"In private."

James stood up and walked to the back of the classroom, where no one sat. "Okay, what's up?"

"I need a Marauder."

"Aw, Lily, I know you want me, but you could just come out and say it," James said smirking.

"Ha ha James, very funny. I want to get revenge on Mel's part because of what Black did to her."

"At the Quidditch tryouts?"

"Yup."

"I'm in. We all know why he did it."

"Who doesn't?"

"Sirius."

"James, what are you talking about? Of course he knows!"

"That's what everyone thinks. But I tried to talk to him about it last night, but all he could say was that he did the right thing and that because she was a seventh year, she had preference over Mel to be in the team! He doesn't know, Lily!"

"I don't care, James! He hurt her bad, even if he doesn't know it. In a way that makes it worse, because it shows he hasn't thought about how she feels about it. So, James, will you help me get him back? Just a couple of pranks?"

"I guess I could be of assistance."

She threw her arms around him, ecstatic. "Thanks, James. You rock."

"Meet me at the common room tonight at 10. We can think of some pranks then."

"Cool," Lily said smoothly, and strode back to her seat. She spent the next five minutes doing the appropriate exercises out of her textbook.

xXoXx

"What did Lily want?" Sirius said brusquely, looking at James inquisitively.

"Nothing, mate," James said vaguely, hoping Sirius would take the hint and drop it, "Hey, you know, about what happened last night-"

"You mean choosing Tara over Mel," Sirius cut in sharply.

"Yes," James said, annoyed.

"For the last time, James, I chose her because she is a seventh year, and so she gets preference over Melissa to be on the team!" Sirius yelled furiously, shoving James with his elbow.

"No you didn't!" James roared back, irritated beyond belief with his supposedly best friend, "You chose her because she's a hot, blonde bimbo for you to fuck!"

"You dick!" Sirius shouted angrily, wallowing in self-denial, "You're just mad because she's Lily's friend, and I didn't pick her!"

James cracked, punching Sirius in the jaw, hard. Sirius staggered back as though he had been shot, "My best friend," he said sarcastically, "What a joke."

"Boys!" McGonagall screamed, coming back into the room hurriedly, having heard the yelling, "Stop NOW!"

Uh oh, thought James worriedly, looks like I'm in trouble. He cringed when he heard that one awful word.

"Detention!"

xXoXx

Sirius woke in the Hospital Wing, his jaw throbbing painfully. "Ouch," he said softly, trying to remember what had happened.

He heard a sob from a corner of the room. "Who's there?" he called, expecting to hear Madam Pomfrey bringing him a vile tasting potion to drink.

"It's me, Sirius,"

"Who?"

"Tara," she said softly, "Remember me?"

"Tara," he breathed, "my darling."

"Do you want to know what happened?"

"Yes."

"James punched you."

"James? But he's my friend! He wouldn't do that!"

"But he did," Tara said, tears trickling down her face. She had been so worried about him.

"But Tara, there must be some mistake! James would never punch me!"

"Sirius, I think you should decide who your true friends are. The seventh year boys are way nicer and more dependable than your 'Marauders.' You can stay with them and hang with them at lunch and dinner. If you agree, I can get a Time Turner and take your classes with you so you're not alone. I love you Sirius, please do this, for me."

"Oh Tara, I will. I'm sure the seventh year boys are much better than James, Remus and Peter. I'll also agree to you using a Time Turner. Are you sure McGonagall will let you, though?"

"I already asked her and she said it was fine, as long as you agreed. Now that you have, I can go and get one from her. See you at dinner, Sirius!"

"See you, Tara!" he said happily, already impatient for that time to come.

xXoXx

"I'm sorry, Lily!" James said exasperatedly, "I didn't mean to!"

"But you did, James!" Lily shot back, furious, "I thought you were serious about pranking Black, but you just HAD to get a detention for tonight when we were going to decide on pranks to use!"

"It was about the issue, though! I was defending Mel and you're accusing me of not being serious about it all?!"

"Miss Evans, Mr Potter, would you like to share your thoughts on the non-verbal Levitation charm?" Flitwick asked the pair.

"No sir," Lily said apologetically, "James was just distracting me."

"I could believe that, Miss Evans," Flitwick said, "If I had not heard you yelling back at him. Detention for the two of you tonight."

"But professor," James protested, "I already have a detention for tonight,"

"Well then, Miss Evans will be joining you tonight."

Damn, thought Lily angrily, Detention with Potter and Black. Fun.

xXoXx

"Chloe?"

"Yeah Kendra?"

"Did you hear about what happened at the Quidditch tryouts last night?"

"About Sirius picking some blonde seventh year over Mel? Yes."

The girl in question looked up at the mention of her name, "Everyone's talking about it, aren't they?" Mel asked hopelessly.

"Um, well," Chloe replied, trying to avoid the truth.

"Yes," Kendra added, "I'm sorry Mel."

"Maybe I'm not that good at Quidditch," Melissa pondered, "Maybe the only reason I've been on the team for so long is because people felt sorry for me."

"Oh Mel!" Chloe said sadly, "You're brilliant at Quidditch! You're the best beater Hogwarts has seen in a long while and if Sirius can't see that, he's blind."

"Thanks, Chloe," Mel replied, a little happier, "I guess you're right."

"C'mon, Mel," Kendra said encouragingly, "You KNOW she's right!"

"I know she's right!" Mel said, her voice laced with conviction.