A/N: Sorry to keep you waiting - I had a nightmare week at work and was too exhausted to edit whenever I got home. Thank you so much for your lovely reviews. For those who have been asking, I think this story will have around 50 chapters but I'm not sure yet. Kate and the other characters still have a lot of growing up to do before I feel as though it can be wrapped up. It's mid-November in the story and I don't think Remus and Kate will get to together until at least April. Anyway - I hope you enjoy this one!

Chapter 16: Arsonist Fringe

I would get a spot on the day of the party. It was red and rather large and lurked on my forehead just under full blossom and it throbbed painfully. And it was disgusting. Trust a bloody spot to ruin my life on the day I met Arson Fring – the hottest, most talented, amazing lead singer to ever exist. I had spent all day poking on the stupid thing and now it had gone from slightly red, to horrible and unsightly, and there was only two hours before the party. I'd sat in the shower steaming it for as long as I possibly could, but had no luck. My roommates didn't seem to understand the severity of the situation because Dorcas had just danced her way to the shower and Lily was laying her clothes out on the bed, humming to herself. I felt even sicker when I recognized the chorus of Warbeck's latest pile of poo.

"Do you reckon the gold necklace will look better with my turquoise robes, or would the onyx pendant you gave me last Christmas be better?" Lily asked, coming up behind me and holding both necklaces up to her neck.

"Go with onyx – gold is a bit showy," I said probably for the thousandth time, peering close to the mirror and sighing as I gently felt the tender area around the blemish.

"Did you get dress robes then?"

"Well, I borrowed some from Mafalda," I replied, prodding the spot and wincing as my whole forehead throbbed with pain.

"Stop playing with it!" Lily said, pulling my hand away. "You'll only make it worse."

I groaned and thumped my head down on the table, flinching when the pimple connected with the hard wood. Dorcas' tub of face powder burst open beside my head and I felt flecks of it settle in my wet hair. Urgh, this was a disaster.

"Aren't Mafalda and you quite different sizes?" Lily asked as she started using a drying charm on her own wet waves. Her hair fell effortlessly into loose spirals around her face and when I sat up I bit my lip with slight jealousy, staring at my own powdery hair. I should've started drying it right away so that it had some volume, but I had more pressing cosmetic problems to worry about. Also – I'd spent a bloody age trying to tailor Mafalda's robes to fit my body. I rued the day that I laughed in my mother's face when she offered to pack some dress robes in my trunk just in case I changed my mind and actually wanted to go to one of Sluggy's awful parties as Sirius' guest. "When I find Peter Pettigrew attractive, Mum - that's when I'll go to one of those things. And it will also be safe at that point to commit me to St Mungo's," I'd said.

"Yeah, I had to do a couple of spells to take out the bust, but they're still a little shorter than I'd like. I thought you could help me, but…" I said to Lily

"Of course I can help! Get them on and we'll see how bad they are," Lily replied.

I shook my head sadly. Everyone would be so disappointed by my absence – but it was hopeless trying to convince me otherwise, they'd just have to soldier on.

"But Lily, I'm not going at all."

She laughed dismissively. "Stop being dramatic – you can barely see the spot."

I gave her a look. "Then why, exactly, did you know my reason for not going?"

"It's okay Kate – you can use some makeup," she said, patting my back and throwing her gorgeous hair over her shoulders, smiling at her reflection. She looked as bright as the sun; evil hair goddess that she was.

"Makeup? So it'll look all caked over and disgusting? No thank you," I said, frowning again at the mirror. She sighed resignedly and headed over to her bed to use the mirror over her chest of drawers.

And then, it came to me in a stroke of inspiration; I picked up my wand and pulled a few strands of hair from the front and held them away from my head.

"Dif–"

"Kate! What are you doing?" Dorcas came rushing from the bathroom and interrupted me, just as I was about to use the severing spell on my hair.

"Cutting myself a fringe!" I answered, struggling to pull my arm free. "To cover up this pus-filled infant on my head."

Dorcas laughed and I grimaced at her cruelty.

"You can't pull off a fringe, Kate. Your forehead is too small – you'll look like Jenny Higgins!"

Godric! She was right – I would look like Fringy, and not Lizzy whose haircut really suited her. This castle was simply not big enough for three fringes.

"What am I going to do?" I asked in despair. "Arson Fring might fall in love with me tonight when he sees me from across the room, but then he'll see that I have a third eye and all will be lost."

My friends laughed unkindly at my plight and I draped myself over my chair in agony. It was all remarkably unjust timing.

Dorcas patted my back and reached over my head for a container on our dressing table.

"Hey! Did you spill my powder?"

"I'm sorry. I'll buy you a new tub," I groaned into the table sadly.

I heard her sigh and then groped for another bottle way at the back and when I lifted my head, she thrust it into my hand with a 'Stop being a drama queen' look.

Gladrags Spot Removal Potion – gone in 5 seconds.

I stared at it in awe – I had never seen this particular potion in our dormitory before. No wonder Dorcas always had perfect skin – she cheated!

"Dorcas, you've been holding out on me," I said, dabbing some of the potion on my spot and watching with delight as it shrunk and disappeared. "Thank you! You are the queen of my heart! I will never call you a swot again!"

She rolled her eyes. "I only use it for emergencies because it's awfully expensive. I'm glad I could help though – I couldn't bear it if you spent all night sulking and ruined the party for the rest of us."

She smiled and went off to her cupboard, pulling out a beautiful set of ivory dress robes that would probably make her look like an angel paired with her cloud of pale blonde hair. I shot another look in the mirror and shook my head to discard the flecks of powder – I'd have to run it under the water again, but all was no longer lost because Dorcas had come to the rescue and Lily would help with my robes and I would be the belle of the ball! Arson Fring better like bloody brunettes, I swear.

"When did you have time to get those? They're lovely," I said, going over to examine Dorcas' robes with Lily. They were made of a gorgeous gossamer silk material that put my borrowed robes' nylon to shame.

"Oh, I brought them along in case. I was hoping Slughorn might invite me to his parties one of these days. I hope they don't wash me out - the colour's a bit paler than I remember."

"Well, I'm sure Potter won't be able to take his eyes off you," Lily nodded and then gave a strange little bow as she gazed at Dorcas' hair and gave her own waves a tug.

Thankfully, my snort of laughter was covered up when the door opened. Emmeline entered the room with a towel draped over one arm, a garment bag over the other, and a large makeup case dangling around her neck.

"Er, do you guys mind if I use your loo?" she asked, stepping inside. "Ours is occupied."

"Of course!" Lily said, gesturing her in. "Are all the Fifth Years invited?"

Emmeline shook her head. "No, just Rolanda and Lizzy – Sluggy gave them an invite at the last minute because of the Quidditch last week. Neither have dates though," she laughed, a little vindictively. Her face changed when she saw our expressions and she shook her head.

"Sorry, I'm a little annoyed because everyone wants to give Lizzy a makeover and the room is bonkers right now."

I nodded and went over to my cupboard to pull out Mafalda's ghastly spare dress robes as Dorcas and Lily continued to listen to Emmeline's chattering.

She was laughing again. "I feel a bit bad for her – Rolanda's wicked rich so she express ordered robes from Gladrags, but Lizzy's had to borrow her mate's." She doubled over and Lily and Dorcas exchanged a look.

"You know her mate, Dilys, right? She's a bit, well, curvy and oh, it's a disaster! I tried to help but I had to get out of there before I busted a gut holding back laughter."

"That's not very nice Emmeline," Lily frowned. "Not everyone had dress robes handy."

"Oh I know," Emmeline said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, if you were laughing at her – just wait until you see this disaster," I said, holding up Mafalda's robes.

The charm I'd done to take out the bust seemed to have retracted and for the first time, I noticed a thin rip going up the side of the dress that, if it were to be increased, would become an alarmingly long slit that I'd probably have to charge people to see. It was quite inappropriate.

"Agh! Look at this! I can't go," I whined, throwing it on to my bed in disgust.

"Oh no, what happened?" Emmeline exclaimed as the three girls moved closer to examine the monstrosity.

"Mafalda's hand-me-downs," I sighed. "Lily, please – say you can save it."

She was tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Um, well get them on and we'll see what we can do."

"I'm just going to wash and then I can try to help," Emmeline said, heading into the loos.

Lily made a face as soon as the door closed. "She doesn't seem to like Liz – why was she slagging her off so much? It was well rude."

I nodded. "Yeah, not sure what that's about, but we're not all perfect."

"Yeah – I know she is nice most of the time, but she's a bit gossipy isn't she?" Lily sighed, glancing at the door as the shower creaked on.

I shrugged, prodding at the slit on my dress and yelping as I made it worse. Lily hadn't noticed, she was still watching the bathroom door thoughtfully.

"She's probably just a bit wound up about her date with Remus. And I don't think she and Lizzy get on very well after she replaced her on the Quidditch team. I don't know the whole story," I said quietly.

Lily grimaced. "You know, I don't think she's quite right for Remus."

"What? How d'you mean?"

Lily shrugged. "I mean I get why he likes her – she is a lot like you and Remus adores you. But she's not quite as nice as you. A bit harsher with her words."

I groaned. "Lily! She's just a hormonally charged teenager – we all have a bit of a slag-off behind people's backs. It's what stops us from being really rude to people's faces."

She shook her head. "You're not like that though. If don't like someone – you just let them know. The first time I ever heard you say something really horrible about a girl behind their back, was when you were angry at Lizzy last weekend."

"Well," I shrugged. "You've clearly never been inside my head before."

She laughed and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess she's still growing up."

"And what are we? A couple of wise old ladies?" I said, elbowing Lily. "You realize that we've spent the last five minutes talking behind Emmeline's back, don't you?"

She blushed and ran a hand through her hair. "Oh, I am awful, aren't I?"

I patted her back. "Not to worry Lil – that's what you have me for: to guide you gently into the light. Come away from the dark side, my dear friend, and all shall be well!"

"Not if you're wearing those rags though," Lily said picking up the dress robes. "Go on, put them on so I can see how I can help."

Even though Lily was very good at Charms, the robes still weren't wonderful. But she'd done her best with them and I looked quite presentable – especially since by a stroke of luck my hair had turned out quite nice and bouncy. It must have been the addition of Dorcas' face powder somehow. The bust on my robes was still a little too tight – but that could slide because honestly, Arson Fring and Sirius, the two blokes I would have liked to impress, would probably appreciate that – but the tear was the biggest problem. In the end, the sewing was just too messy so Lily had covered the long line down the robes in these bizarre fabric roses that Emmeline had intended on putting in her hair. We managed to change the colour to be purple enough to match the rest of the material and Emmeline stuck the last one amongst her side-swept pin curls and turned it white, so anyone who didn't look too closely wouldn't notice. Emmeline and I had just decided to not stand next to each other for too long.

Lily had gone off ahead to meet Archie in the Entranceway and Dorcas was so excited about seeing James that she was already down in the Common Room chatting with him, so Em and I came down last – just as Rolanda and Lizzy reached the bottom of the stairs.

I winced. Lizzy clearly didn't have the help of a Charms whiz like Lily, and her too large robes were bunched a little at her side. Otherwise though, she looked really nice and I didn't miss the double take Sirius threw her as she and Rolanda linked arms and headed out of the Portrait hole with just a wave at the Marauders.

Emmeline chuckled. "Yeah, those robes fit her like a glove, don't they?" she said sarcastically when we stepped out to the top of the stairs.

I rolled my eyes. "Quit slagging her off – it only makes you sound like a jealous prat."

Emmeline looked at me in shock. "I was just joking," she muttered with her cheeks glowing. "Besides, I thought you didn't like her either."

I shrugged. "Doesn't mean it's okay to go on about her behind her back. Just give it a rest, okay?"

Emmeline bit her lip but nodded looking a little ashamed. I was really a very giving person – departing wisdom upon the young 'uns. She gave me a small smile and headed down the stairs to where Sirius and Remus were waiting next to an amused James and giggling Dorcas.

Sirius broke into a grin when he saw me, waggling his eyebrows up and down. I fanned my face in response, pretending I hadn't noticed his Lizzy double-take and headed down to him, excited to get off to the party. His pale grey dress robes – the same ones I'd always seen him wear – made his eyes sparkle even more than usual, and his hair was pushed slightly off his face – ugh, why was I insisting on this friends thing again?

"Wowza Kate," he said, taking my hand as I stepped down from the last stair. He glanced at Emmeline and Dorcas, and smiled. "Sorry – you girls too."

Dorcas rolled her eyes and Emmeline laughed. I looked at Remus to perhaps suggest telepathically that he compliment his date, but he glanced away as soon as I met his eyes. He looked a bit dizzy – probably ill again. He had said he was expecting a cold.

"You look beautiful, Emmeline," he finally said, his hands twisting at his sides. I'd never seen him look so neat actually. His robes looked borrowed – probably from James – but they fit him well, and the high collar paired with the strands of grey hair by his temples made him look much older: quite dishy even.

"You look very dashing too, Remus," Emmeline said, slipping her arm through his and stopping him from fidgeting uncomfortably with his robes. I turned back to Sirius and saw that predictably, his eyes had zeroed in on the too-tight material over my chest.

"Oi mate," I said, shoving him. "My eyes are up here."

He laughed. "Sorry pal – I was just looking at those flowers on your dress. Cool."

"Yeah, I lent those to her to cover up this little rip," Emmeline put in, tapping the flower on her head. "Have you noticed I've got one in my hair too?" she added, smiling at Remus and then James and Sirius.

Oh hello there Emmeline. Whatever happened to our plan to not make our matching flowers obvious?

James shrugged. "You can't tell. Should we go then? I feel a prat just standing here with all these people staring at us." He threw a casual arm around a blushing Dorcas and headed to the Portrait hole with a nervous Remus and a chattering Emmeline behind them.

"You do look hot, you know?" Sirius said, linking his fingers with mine.

"None of that," I replied as we followed our friends. "Strictly mates, remember? You are on a yellow card, my friend."

He quirked an eyebrow. "A what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know – I heard Lily's dad say it once. I think it means a warning or something in that mad muggle sport."

He nodded. "Oh…all right then. So I'm guessing your tits are out for Arsonist Fringe?"

I slapped his arm. "Arson Fring! And my tits are only out because I had to borrow these robes from my sister who is about three cup sizes smaller than me."

Sirius bit back a smile. "Ah yes – well, I don't have any drool on my face, do I?"

I peered at him thoughtfully. "Just a bit of slobber – nothing too disgusting."

We laughed and I elbowed him playfully. "Look at us! And they said we'd never be able to pull off this mate thing!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, cause that's the thing I want to pull off right now."

"Sirius!"

"Stop leaving me all these naughty openings then!" he chuckled; rubbing his arm where I'd smacked him once more.

The others had already dispersed among the crowd in Slughorn's magically larger office when Sirius and I stepped through the door into the party. Slughorn was there, greeting the arrivals and he threw an arm around Sirius.

"Don't you two look a treat? Katherine, you haven't seen Mafalda have you? And Sirius – Regulus is right there – why don't we get a nice family photo? The Blacks and the Hopkirks – might be nice for the events section in The Prophet, wouldn't you agree?" he said pompously, nodding to a bored looking Photographer standing poised with his camera.

Sirius and I met eyes and we both spoke at once.

"Sorry Sir, I've suddenly got a heavy bout of stomach pain – I must get to the loo," I said.

"And I think I've just seen James knock over the champagne tower – I better help him fix it," Sirius added and we both dashed past a bewildered Slughorn and met up on the other side of the room beside the perfectly intact champagne tower. James handed us glasses off the top and clinked his with Dorcas.

"So where are Evans and Dodo?" he asked, thrusting his hands in his pockets.

Dorcas' face fell and I prodded James in the ribs.

"Why don't you ask your lovely date to dance, James? You know - to avoid looking like a total arse," I said and Dorcas' mouth twitched. James looked instantly abashed and winced at Dorcas.

"Sorry Dor – do you want to?"

"Sure," she said casually. "I think I see Lil and Archie over there."

I rolled my eyes as they headed off and Sirius sighed.

"Prongs is a clueless prat."

"And Dorcas is a hopeless fool – good pair, don't you think?"

"Emmeline and Remus look cosy though," he said nodding at Emmeline who was waving over Remus' shoulder. "He's still annoyed at me, you know?"

"Is he?" I asked, watching with a smile as Remus twirled her.

"Yeah – says I'm not giving you the space you asked for," he laughed. "But what he doesn't realize is that we're really the best of mates – what looks like sexual tension is obviously just the pair of us reacting to the itchiness of our dress robes."

"How true!" I said. "Urgh, I can't believe they're playing Jane Wolff right now – where are The Ghouls?"

"Did you really just come to this party for them, or did I have anything to do with it?" Sirius said, scoffing.

"Oh don't be so salty Sirius – I quite enjoy your company. It's preferable to being stuck back in the Common Room with Peter and Fringy."

"Be still my beating heart," he grinned. "Well, what d'you reckon? Dance like those tossers or get wrecked?"

I gave him a look and he laughed. We both downed our glasses of champagne and he pulled a flask of firewhisky from his robes and filled them up again. I winced when I'd finished that one and coughed as he poured me another. When we'd finished our second glass of firewhisky, I grabbed his arm.

"Ready to dance like a tosser, Sir!" I said and he wrapped his arms around me. It felt so nice not to worry about where his eyes were darting. It was such a relief to laugh with him like a mate and flirt harmlessly without being horribly on edge. Sirius and I were really the perfect mates if we didn't keep letting our urge to snog get in the way. Even as I thought the words though, he pulled me into his chest and I sighed happily. My stomach jumped a little as I felt him wrapping a strand of my hair around his finger – thank Merlin I hadn't gone through with the fringe. He moved away from me, tucking the hair behind my ears and I stared into his eyes trying to ignore the flutters. The problem was – we really couldn't stop the urge to snog. As I closed my eyes, I suddenly felt another hand close around my arm and my eyes flew open. Remus was there, his face looking excited.

"Fring," he spluttered. "He just walked in."

I gasped and turned around to grab Remus' shoulders and started bouncing on the balls of my feet.

"Oh my Godric. How do I look?"

Remus' eyes darted to the side and I yelped, suddenly remembering Sirius. He looked amused and gave me a shrug.

"Enjoy, I'm going to spike the punch," he smiled and clapped Remus on the back. "Make sure she doesn't fall out of that dress in front of Fring – she'll want him to remember her as more than a pair of tits."

Remus and I laughed and I pecked Sirius on the cheek. "See you later?"

"I'll be the one in grey, " he said, loping off towards the punch bowl where James was chatting to Lily and Archie. I was shocked to see that James was joking amiably with the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, but then felt Remus' tug on my arm and hurried after him towards the stage where The Ghouls were setting up. I couldn't see Fring anywhere, but I straightened my hair anyway, beaming at the toothless and hairy drummer as he twirled his drumstick. Remus had his hands in his pockets but his eyes looked equally excited as mine as we watched the band set up their equipment. Shockingly, we were the only two who'd left the dance floor, but that was better for us, and their severe loss. I wondered whether the band would open with 'You avada-ed my heart' or go with the more old school, 'Flying like your Silver Arrow'.

Suddenly a thought occurred to me and I elbowed Remus.

"Did you ditch Emmeline?"

He shook his head. "Nah, she went off to the loos with Rolanda twenty minutes ago. I don't think I'm showing her a very good time."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What did you do?"

He shrugged.

"Remus!"

"Nothing. She just seemed bored," he said lightly before poking my ribs. "There he is."

I was sufficiently distracted because the reincarnation of Merlin – if he'd been hot and had the voice of an anguished angel – emerged from a side door and hopped onto the stage. Arson Fring had dark, shaggy hair and wore a muggle-inspired red suit with a ruffled collared, white shirt, but his eyes were what drew me in. Black as coal but more intense than any eyes I'd ever seen, they scanned the room before they rested on Remus and I. He gave us a little incline of his head and I dug my fingernails into Remus' arm. He didn't flinch; just grabbed my hand and we stared up at The Ghouls in awe.

"All right Hogwarts – let's fade away," Arson said in his soft and dreamy voice. And then…

UGH. The Ghouls were covering Celestina bleeding Warbeck. Remus and I watched in shock and despair as Arson's hypnotic voice slayed through the first bars of 'A cauldron full of hot strong puke (love)' and turned to each other in disgust.

"What are they playing at?" he hissed as the rest of the party cheered and started dancing excitedly.

I shook my head. "It must have been Slughorn's idea – get them to play the popular stuff like they're some bloody wedding cover band! How dare he?"

Remus glared at where Slughorn was patting his belly and chatting to the new Minister, Lorcan McLaird. Dorcas was nearby with a group of other swots – including my sister – chatting to the Deputy Minister, a rather formidable looking woman named Millicent Bagnold.

"We've got to call out requests," Remus said. "So they know they've got fans."

I nodded fervently. "Amortentia?"

"Or Silver Arrow," Remus replied.

When the Warbeck cover came to a stop, I saw Arson Fring scowl and look over his shoulder to mutter something to his equally unimpressed bandmates.

"Silver Arrow!" Remus called.

"You still love him even though he gave you Amortentia!" I yelled, cupping my hands around my mouth. The band froze and Arson's head snapped forward to look down at us in surprise. I gave him a hopefully sexy grin and his mouth curved into a small smile of its own. He nodded and turned back to his band, before grabbing the mic and saying in his low voice, "Okay – and now let's educate your musical taste."

And then they started playing Amortentia and Remus and I danced along, singing back the words. The look on every member of The Ghouls' faces seemed like they'd never expected to find two of their biggest fans at a Hogwarts gig.

About an hour later, The Ghouls strummed the last chords of 'You avada-ed my heart,' and I squeezed Remus around the middle with a contented sigh. He ruffled my hair and waved up to Arson, who now squatted on the stage in front of us so that he was at eye-level. Someone had turned on the wireless while The Ghouls packed up their gear, but I didn't even care that Proctor was now beating through the room – I was so close to my idol, I could see the stubble on his chin.

"All right?" he said with a smile.

"You were brilliant, mate," Remus replied and Arson nodded.

"Thanks – seems like you two are the only ones who thought so. Your Professor doesn't look pleased with the lack of dancing."

"Our Professor wouldn't know good music if it snogged him," I said, rolling my eyes.

He smiled. "Good to know not all of Hogwarts is lame like I remembered."

"Oh no, everyone here is lame. Remus and I are the exception."

"And who are you?"

"Kate Hopkirk," I said coolly as I screamed and shrieked on the inside.

His mouth twisted up again. "Well, Kate Hopkirk, thanks for the support."

"Oh no problem," I replied dismissively, even though I was dying with glee. "It's really part of my general public service – I'm always telling musical icons how wonderful they are. They really look to me when they're having a bit of self doubt."

He let out a surprised laugh and it was a soothing, musical rumble. I might have squeaked in response, but thankfully it was quiet enough to go unnoticed. He glanced at Remus. "You've got a keeper here, mate."

"No!" I shouted in distress and Remus dropped his arm off my shoulder. He gave me a look as if to say, 'Oh dear Merlin Kate – stop being so uncool' and then chuckled with Arson.

"We're not together."

"Not at all," I nodded eagerly.

Arson gave me another one of his barely-there smiles and his eyes drifted down to my dress. When he looked up, he gave me a little wink. "Okay then Katie, I'll remember your face the next time I'm feeling insecure. Thanks again, both of you."

And then he shook Remus' hand and turned to help his bandmate carry his drums off stage.

"Remus?" I said as he steered me away. "Can you pinch me? I might be dreaming."

"He called you Katie," Remus laughed.

"Isn't it a lovely nickname?" I sighed as Remus let go of me.

"There's Emmeline – go and get yourself a drink. You look all moony-eyed and ridiculous."

I waved goodbye dreamily and sauntered off towards the punch bowl. Sirius was standing in front of it talking to a girl in a blue dress and even when I recognized her as Lizzy, the smile didn't leave my face.

"And are you all right with that? He was really rude to you," she was saying.

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, well Regulus never has anything nice to say anymore."

"You worry about him."

"Yeah, but he'll be all right – he's not dumb enough to really join them. He just likes hanging off the arms of more powerful evil pricks like Mulciber."

She nodded but looked unconvinced by his casual tone. "You put up a good front."

He laughed and shook his head. "What about you? You all right? You looked a bit lost over here."

"Oh yeah – I've never been to one of these things before. I wasn't sure what to do. Parties are a bit overwhelming for me…attention and stuff."

"You're doing fine," he smiled. "And you look nice."

She blushed and I felt myself sink a little under my joy.

"Oh, have the band finished? I didn't like them much – a bit depressing aren't they?" she said and as I rolled my eyes, Sirius chuckled.

"Yeah they are – Kate likes them though."

"How's it going with her?"

"Yeah, not bad. Although she seems more focused on other lads tonight. Guess I can't really blame her," he said as his eyes swept the room. They were duller than I was used to seeing them – his face looked exhausted.

"Where is she?" Lizzy asked as she patted his back comfortingly.

Yeah, that was about as much as I could handle of that nonsense.

"Right here!" I said, from behind them and they both jumped. Lizzy reddened but Sirius smiled even though the tiredness was still etched under the quick cover up.

"Have a good time?"

"He spoke to me!" I said, ignoring Lizzy.

"Yeah I saw that – surly prat couldn't keep his eyes off you," Sirius said and Lizzy and I laughed in uncomfortable unison.

I was feeling a little odd. On one hand, I was still on a high from my conversation with Arson – but on the other, hearing Lizzy and Sirius discuss things like his brother and me and her shyness made me suddenly feel ill. How could I have actually thought Sirius and I could be mates? We never had conversations like that – all we were good for was snogging and laughing. The Marauders and obviously Lizzy, were the people he actually connected with – I was just good for managing his hormones. The thought made me feel sick. And even though everything in me was screaming that I was being a jealous idiot, I couldn't quite help saying my next words.

"Well – d'you want to snog?"

Sirius laughed in surprise and I saw Lizzy redden again – I still hadn't looked at her. I couldn't.

"Will you be picturing his face?" Sirius said, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"The only face I'll be seeing is yours," I replied bluntly and his eyebrows shot up again.

"Well, you know I can't say no to that," he said, moving forward and wrapping an arm around my waist. "See you later Liz."

"Have fun," she smiled before her eyes shot to me.

"Thanks," I replied, threading my fingers through the hair at the back of Sirius' head. She nodded and then walked away rather quickly, stumbling over her feet on the way.

Sirius turned back to me with a grin. "So, are you just using me or are we back on?"

"Yeah, I think you can come off the yellow card now," I smiled back.

"Thank Merlin," he muttered as he pulled me against his lips.

A/N: So yes, Sirius and Kate are quite idiotically back together - but don't worry there is a LOT of Remus/Kate interaction in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!