Chapter 17 - Two Birds One Stone

This is looking like a contest,

Of who can act like they care less,

But I liked it better when you were on my side.

The battle's in your hands now,

But I would lay my armour down,

If you'd say you'd rather love than fight.

- Story of Us, Taylor Swift

She ignored him for the last two days of the holidays.

He sulked for the same amount of time.

She made sure that he was never in her company for more than two minutes.

He took every opportunity to corner her.

The only time Marlene acknowledged his existence was when she yelled at him to leave her alone, and the only time he didn't try to pull her over and talk was when she threatened to castrate him and hang his body from the Astronomy Tower.

James was anxious about the long train journey back to Hogwarts: seven hours in a small compartment wasn't exactly going to fly by with Marlene and Sirius sitting opposite to each other, glaring evilly. He owled Remus and Lily (the latter with trepidation seeing as he wasn't sure if she'd want him owling her) to warn them of the development of their two mutual friends.

The tension at the platform was almost palpable; Sirius and Marlene were steadily avoiding each other's gaze, with Mary and Lily desperately trying to make conversation - and failing. Their normal compartment seemed to be split in two, with the Marauders sitting on one side, the girls on the other.

Ten minutes passed in silence after the girls gave up trying to start a conversation, then twenty, then half an hour. No one wanted to say anything and make it worse. Mary was looking thoroughly confused as to why everything was so awkward, having not been able to go to the New Year's Party and she folded her arms across her chest and scowled around at them all.

"Is no one going to explain why were like this?" he demanded, looking mildly irritated.

Marlene and Sirius both rolled their eyes simultaneously.

James shrugged and Remus didn't comment. Even Lily didn't say anything. Peter didn't understand either, so kept quiet.

"Tell me now or I'll find somewhere else to sit. I'm not staying here in silence for six more hours," Mary warned, standing up and motioning towards the door.

Just as Mary reached out to slide the door back, it opened before her hand touched it and a tall, slim, dark haired figure appeared in the opening. Her enigmatic smirk revealed only one discernible emotion: triumph.

Marlene's sharp gaze flashed up from where she was staring at the floor, and she narrowed her eyes.

"What do you want, Vance?" she sneered, also standing up opposite the taller girl.

Emmeline just kept smirking as she pushed past Marlene, towards Sirius. She slid onto his lap, while the others stared in disbelief, and snuck her arms around his neck, twisting her long fingers (nails today painted a blood red) into his black hair.

Raising an eyebrow at her, Sirius pushed Emmeline off his lap onto the empty spot next to him.

"Vance, what are you doing?" he asked gruffly, staring at her as she moved her hand back to rest on his shoulder, nails digging in ever so lightly in a possessive manner.

Pissed off, Marlene whipped out her new, pale wand, took a step forward and jabbed it at Emmeline just under the cheekbone. "Just what the hell are you doing?"

Emmeline knocked Marlene's wand away, mouth dropping open. "I'm sitting with Sirius, got a problem, Marlene?"

It took all of the blonde's self restraint not to spill everything to the whole carriage (then snog Sirius senseless) but somehow she managed t and chose to hex her former friend instead.

Emmeline's raven black sheet of hair slowly, from the perfectly straightened tips to the sleek, well-brushed roots, turned a glorious glowing silver. Forcing herself to stay calm, Marlene smiled innocently as sniggers broke out amongst her friends.

Frowning, Emmeline turned to check her reflection on the glass of the door window and her jaw dropped even more.

"What have you done?!" she hissed, eyes flashing dangerously.

Marlene merely shrugged: "Aren't men supposed to like older women? My bad."

Turning sharply on her heel, Emmeline glowered at Marlene and slapped her harshly which made her stagger backwards.

"I hate you," Emmeline spat, voice filled with pure venom, "Nust because you aren't good enough for Sirius and he doesn't love you, you try to stop anyone else having what you can't!"

Raising an eyebrow so it was perfectly arched, Marlene out her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?"

"You think that just because he once had a thing for you, he'll never look at another girl again, and that only you should have him. That's /just not true/," the other girl said, shaking her veil of white hair in anger.

"I am here you know!" Sirius interrupted, looking severely pissed off at Emmeline.

The two girls just kept glaring at each other, wands outstretched.

"Whether Black had or still has a thing for me is irrelevant. He means nothing to me," Marlene ground out, "Whatever we may have had is gone. We're done. In fact you're welcome to him. Just don't do it in front of us."

Even though Emmeline looked triumphant, Sirius was more disappointed than he'd admit: nothing? He meant nothing to her? At all?

He stared in disbelief, stormy eyes meeting blue ones.

She stared back, face blank.

Emmeline huffed loudly and flounced out, muttering curses under breath and trying to hide her hexed hair.

James muttered something in Sirius' ear and motioned for Peter and Remus as well. The four Marauders shuffled out, leaving the gob-smacked Lily, the utterly confused Mary and the near to tears Marlene.

"She's a lying bitch," Marlene snapped, "I do not have a 'thing' for Sirius."

"If you say so," Lily muttered to Mary.

The welcome back feast went uneventfully as usual, with Quidditch practises for Hufflepuff and Gryffindor being announced the next day. The same went for their lessons, nothing new or interesting to discuss. Students, who had been dreading their return to school, went along with their monotonous time tables with the despairing compliance of the first day back.

Finally, after the exhausted Gryffindors had retreated from the classrooms, it was time for Quidditch.

With more enthusiasm than she'd had all day, Marlene changed quickly, flatly ignoring Emmeline on the other side as she snatched up her gloves and hurried out.

James and Siri's were already changed when she reached the pitch, and while James grinned and ruffled her hair, Sirius did nothing but turn away to practise hitting a Bludger by whacking a goal post much harder than was necessary.

"Hey!" Marlene grinned back, ignoring Sirius as well as James tousled her wavy hair.

Emmeline emerged from the changing rooms along with the other three members of the team. James clapped Sirius on the back and straightened up to call everyone to order.

"Alright you lot, I'll set up some drills and you can split up to complete them. We haven't got along because the 'Puffs are out here in an hour, so make sure to try your hardest. Marls take Rue and Jacob and do some fartlech training - make sure they're going so fast they're almost falling off."

"Yessir," she called, grabbed the tiny little Keeper and Jacob, the Seeker and her broom before tugging them down to the other end of the pitch.

"Sirius - OI, Padfoot?" James sighed, jabbing his friend who was attempting - and not succeeding - to avoid watching Marlene.

"What?" Sirius said, head whipping around.

"Take Benjy and work on dodging bludgers, the Beaters needs to be able to as well as the Chasers and Seeker," he commanded, looking back at the one team member remaining: Emmeline.

Sirius slouched off to comply and James turned to Emmeline, folding his arms firmly.

"Right."

She raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow and folds her arms, mimicking him.

"Don't look at me like that, you know what I'm going to say. I don't want my Quidditch team messed up because of your little grudge against Marl-"

"She's the little bit-"

"Don't interrupt me, Vance," James snapped.

She flushed with indignation and tossed her head.

"Because of your little grudge against Marlene," he continued, "And I'm not expecting any problems. Do you understand me?"

"Fine, yes, captain," Emmeline said sulkily, resenting having to call him that.

James nodded and turned back to watch the others work. The only new members of the team were Rue, the Keeper, and Jacob, Seeker, but the team meshed together as a whole despite the tensions between the four sixth flyers. They rotated around the drills every five minutes so everyone practised everything, and James hovered by the goal posts, absentmindedly passing a quaffle backwards and forwards with Emmeline.

"ALRIGHT, SET FOR A GAME! SIRIUS, BENJY, RUE DEFEND, CHASERS ATTACK."

He flew over to Jacob, who looked confused as the others set up.

"I want you to watch us and call out any weaknesses or gaps, okay?"

"Yes captain!" the boy said enthusiastically, zooming into position

"ON MY WHISTLE," James called as he swooped towards the formation Emmeline and Marlene had set up, blowing his shrill whistle.

Benjy and Sirius worked fluidly together as Beaters, Rue diving almost off her broom to stop shots; James, Emmeline and Marlene easily fell into a rotating formation, making it difficult for the bludgers to hit them and simple for them to take multiple shots in a row.

However Emmeline was flatly refusing to pass to Marlene, meaning they could never get into the right position to score. Jacob, along with everyone else, noticed it and flew down to stop play, feeling very important.

"Uh... Emmeline? You aren't passing to Marlene at all. I've noticed five times already that passing would've meant you had a better line with the goals," he said quickly, nervous about calling the much older girl out.

Emmeline scowled and Marlene smirked.

"Okay guys, ten more minutes with that suggestion and then we'll call it a day," James said, patting the boy on his back.

They call flew back into position, Emmeline and Marlene shooting daggers at each other with their eyes as James passed the quaffle to Marlene, who dodged a bludger from Benjy and passed to Emmeline. James was busy avoiding a powerful and well aimed shot from Sirius so she reluctantly passed back to Marlene, but it was a poor shot, purposely too far in front of her.

Pushing herself forwards with a sudden burst of speed, determined not to be made a fool of by her adversary, Marlene accelerated to try and reach the spinning quaffle. Her hand scraped the worn leather, the rough surface only just out of reach, but she had stretched herself a little too far this time.

Feeling herself over balance, she abandoned her attempt to catch the quaffle and desperately tried to correct her position to no avail: terrified of falling from so far up, she let out a strangled cry, alerting the others to her crisis.

James, Benjy and Rue all started to swoop over but the were too far away to help. Jacob looked petrified and clutched his broom but Sirius just stared while Emmeline sat there smirking.

"Help," Marlene yelled as she lurched over the handle of her broom, the rush of air around her falling body sending jolts of fear and adrenaline through her as the Quidditch stands tumbled and rolled as she fell, arms windmilling in a failing attempt to slow herself down.

Sirius was by far the closest and could have easily caught her as she fell. He jolted into action, pulling his broom round and flying forwards in the direction of Marlene. Then he stopped.

Even falling for a few seconds was enough to unnerve her and she screamed as the spinning ground rushed up to meet her, senses in disarray. Her body hit the floor with a sickening thud, and they all raced towards the floor, encircling her.

Blonde hair splayed out across the muddy ground, her arms and legs at angles that were painful to even look at, Quidditch robes tangled and wrapped around her, splattered with mud

Her broom still hung in the air and Sirius grabbed it as he flew down, Emmeline following him with a small frown creasing her forehead. Rue, who knew some basic first aid, yelled and Jacob to run to the Hospital Wing and get Madame Pomfrey as she tried to wake Marlene up with out moving her too much.

"She's... She not d...?" James stammered, dropping to the ground next to his friend.

"Dead? No," Rue whispered, guiding James' hand to the erratic pulse on Marlene's neck.

He breathed a sigh of relief, some of his fears alleviated and turned to Sirius as Benjy returned quickly with a blanket.

"What the HELL, Padfoot?" he demanded, folding his arms across his chest.

Sirius raised an eyebrow coolly, but a little work of guilt was taking up residence inside of him as he tore his eyes away from Marlene's unmoving form. "What the hell what?"

"You know fucking well what," James snapped.

"If I knew I wouldn't have asked," he retorted, rolling his eyes.

James took a step forward and jabbed Sirius' shoulder sharply, making him wince.

"You were definitely close enough to catch her and we both know it. But for some selfish, sick, twisted reason you let her fall?" He looked at his best friend in disgust, ashamed of his behaviour. "You would do this over some stupid argument from New Year?"

Sirius' face drained. "She said she wanted nothing to do with me, she said we were done."

"SHE WAS SCREAMING FOR HELP AND YOU LET HER FALL!" James roared, face turning red.

James and Sirius stared at each other - James in anger, Sirius in despair - until Jacob came back, followed by the extremely worried Madame Pomfrey.

Crouching down at Marlene's sided, she reached for her wand and some potions from her bag. James sent one last furious glance at Sirius before returning to Marlene's side, trying to seem like he wasn't worrying. Smiling at her as she started to wake blearily, he felt her reach clumsily for the blurry image of his hand.

"My... My legs hurt, James," Marlene mumbled, each letter an effort to pronounce.

"It's okay, Madame Pomfrey will take you to the Hospital Wing and you'll be fine really quickly," he promised, taking her hand as the nurse levitated her and conjured splints around her legs, which still looked oddly twisted.

The whole team hurried after their injured friend, giving Sirius very dirty looks and leaving him alone in the middle of the empty pitch, his broom and Marlene's dangling uselessly from one hand.

As soon as he was inside the boys changing room he sank onto a bench, cradling his head in his hands. Taking deep breaths to call himself down, he grabbed his pile of clothes and a towels heading towards the showers. Through the he could hear the rapid rattle of a shower spluttering into life in the girls' room. Sirius knew who it would be: the one person on the team who wouldn't have gone to look after Marlene. Slipping into the opposite changing rooms, he padded towards the showers.

The person stopped moving.

"Who's there?" Their voice was ringing with smugness; they knew full well who was outside.

Sirius knew that, but he still answered. "Sirius."

The bolt slid open smoothly and the thin cubicle door swung one revealing Emmeline Vance, a fluffy white towel wrapped securely around her, black hair slicked back from her face.

"Why are you in the girls changing room, Sirius?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow and smirking.

Sirius took a step forwards, also smirking, but his grey eyes were flat, dead. Lifeless. "Can't you guess?"

She grinned and walked over, tanned feet leaving watery footprints on the smooth, tiled floor. "Of course I can," she purred, wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers into his wind-swept hair.

Maybe this was the way out, he mused, trying to focus his attention on the girl in front of him, not the one in a cold white bed in the Hospital Wing. Maybe he just needed to force himself not to care about Marlene. He could pretend she hadn't admitted having feelings for him, of course he could.

Stooping slightly, he pressed his lips against Emmeline's, deciding to just do this and prove to everyone - and himself - that he was not pining for Marlene, and that he wasn't trying to 'deny feelings for her' in any way.

Emmeline responded quickly, taking advantage of his desperation to prove something by tugging on his Quidditch top and reaching for his trousers. For once he complied and allowed her to proceed as her towel fell away and he became rather engaged in proving just now not in love with Marlene he was.

Up in the Hospital Wing, Marlene was being placed ono a crisp, white bed and was struggling to keep her tired eyes open. All her limbs ached, and she could feel that her legs were out of place. It was a disconcerting feeling, not being able to move your own limbs, and every time she tried they gave a sharp jolt of pain to her nervous system which only increased her overall feeling of pain and sleepiness. Maybe, she thought, if she slept, it wouldn't hurt. But James, Remus and Peter were here, as well as Mary and Lily, as James - good old James - had fetched them, knowing they'd want to be there with her.

While Madame Pomfrey poured potions down her throat to ease her pain, james explained what had happened in a low voice, and Remus scowled at his recounting of Sirius' behaviour.

"Where is he now? The idiot, honestly, I thought he had learned his lesson in fifth year with Snape, but clearly not. He never knows when he's taking things too fucking far," Remus ranted and pulled out the Marauders' Map from his back pocket, spread it out on a spare bed behind him, scanning it with annoyed eyes for the figure of Sirius Black.

Those annoyed eyes widened to horrified eyes as he found hi friend on the grounds. More precisely in the girls changing rooms for Quidditch. "Uh, shit."

James looked over his shoulder, as did Peter, blocking the girls' view of the precious Map, and they all looked at each other with equally disgusted and shocked expressions.

"What? What is it?" Lily demanded.

James gulped. "Sirius is possibly having sex with Vance as we speak?"

"That is not only sickening to know about but it's underhand and cruel too. Can I slap him?" Mary said, face dark.

"Feel free, I'm not impressed with him at all at the moment," the bespectacled boy replied, messing up his angrily as Remus said, "If I don't first."

Glancing over at Marlene, who was still arguing over potions with Madame Pomfrey, Peter leaned a little closer and piped up. "Should we tell her? About Sirius a-and Emmeline?"

"Don't tell her," James butted it, smiling at Peter, "This would only hurt her - there's definitely some feelings between those two."

"James, keep up, me and your mate here have been trying to get them together all year, we know there are feelings there," Lily said with a smirk born of spending time with the Marauders.

James and Peter stared at her, amazed, while Remus chuckled and Lily laughed, drawing Marlene's attention.

"What are you lot laughing at? Not my - ouch! - pain I hope?" she called, forcing a smile onto her face but wincing as Pomfrey slid a needle into her arm.

Remus hurriedly muttered 'mischief managed' to clear the Map so Marlene couldn't possibly see anything while the others plastered smiles onto their faces.

"Don't worry, Marls, we were just laughing over this letter I got from Petunia," Lily lied easily, sending a reassuring smile to her friend, "She was rambling on about her boyfriend and how he was so much better than any witch or wizard and was going to own his own company. It's quite amusing, actually."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me she'd written?"

"Because it's not a big deal," she shrugged, tucking her thick, auburn hair behind ear.

Marlene was too stiff and and comfortable to protest and she slumped back onto the many pillows, finally allowing Madame Pomfrey to give her the rest of the potions.

Giving Remus, Peter, Lily and Remus a stern look, Pomfrey gave Marlene one last vial of coloured drink that lulled her into a deep, peaceful sleep, and then ushered her concerned friends out of the Hospital Wing.

Waking the next morning with the bright, white light glaring through the thin curtains of the Hospital Wing, Marlene groaned and tried to sit up. Disorientated, she rubbed her eyes and saw out of the corner of her eye someone quickly exiting the room. Marlene only saw a pair of broad shoulders, silky black hair and hands thrust deep into pockets of low slung trousers leaving the room but she knew instantly who it was: "Sirius?" she breathed.

He didn't turn around and she slumped back against the soft pillows.

Why had he been there? What had he been thinking? He hadn't even tried to catch her as she fell, why would he care that she was in the Hospital Wing? A glimmer of hope that he might actually care fluttered in her stomach, then died. He didn't have to care as she had been the one to say she wanted nothing to do with him, and Marlene needed it to stay that way. Falling in Love with Sirius Black was a dangerous road to pursue, and one that she couldn't be allowed to walk down for much longer.

Once Madame Pomfrey had checked her over one last time and had given her strict instructions to stay calm and in no circumstances to run, Marlene was free to go. She agreed readily to the terms and grabbed her things before returning to the Gryffindor Tower to change, find her school bag and walk slowly and carefully down to teh Great Hall for breakfast, limbs aching.

Her friends were already seated, deep in conversation: James' face was earnest as he gestured around, pushing his glasses up his nose as the slipped down, black hair scruffy as usual; Lily was rolling her eyes at him, her red hair falling out of a loose ponytail as she added the occasional witty comment; Mary huffed and folded her arms, clearly annoyed at whatever they were talking about, make-up lined eyes, glaring around at whoever annoyed her the most, which seemed to be Sirius; the sandy haired Remus was sighing and trying to stop the irate Sirius punching James; and Sirius? Well...

Sirius was an unpleasant mixture of deathly pale and angry red, torn between shock and irritation, and he was trembling with his stormy eyes flashing dangerously. "I am not trying to prove anything," he snapped at Lily, who had just mentioned Sirius' reaction to Marlene's fall from her broom.

"Oi," James said sharply, "Don't talk to Evans like that!"

Sirius glowered and returned to stabbing his already mashed up scrambled eggs with such venom he almost broke the plate.

Marlene walked over hesitantly and slipped into the only spot available. Next to the explosive looking Sirius.

Her arm only just brushed his as she sat down, their eyes only locked for one second and she looked around, but Marlene flushed a brilliantly vibrant shade of pink and let her blonde waves fall as a curtain between them as Lily shot Sirius a knowing look. He growled under his breath, making Marlene remember just how much she needed to avoid him - he wasn't allowed this type of power over her. Breakfast continued in a similar fashion, with Marlene and Sirius knocking against each other, glaring, and their friends sniggering in the back ground.

Eventually breakfast was over and the whole school swarmed out of the Great Hall to their first lesson, the Marauders and the girls all making their way to Charms. The classroom was on the other side of the castle, and Marlene took advantage of the long walk to distance herself from her friends and avoid Sirius for 15 minutes longer. Arriving at the classroom early, even before Professor Flitwick was there, Marlene leaned against the cool, comforting wall of the corridor, bag hanging from her shoulder which was starting to ache form the weight of all her books.

Closing her eyes, she dragged a hand through her hair and sucked in a deep breath as the rest of the class trickled into the area. Her friends arrived last, having been trying to give her time. She wasn't sure why they were acting like she might explode any second, but Marlene had guessed it had something to do with Sirius and the disgusted yet worried looks Mary and Lily were sending him.

Silent as they filed into class, Mary and Lily nudged Marlene around, making sure she was next to Sirius.

"Lily, don;t make me -"

"You said, and I quote, 'I don't give a Hippogriff's turd about him' so sit next to him and suck it up," Lily grinned, plonking her stuff next to Mary in front of the classroom, leaving Sirius and Marlene looking oddly out of place by themselves.

Marlene slammed her books down onto the table with such ferocity it made James, who was on the table just in front of them, jump. In fact, everyone was edgy, but the class started without too many problems.

Not that Marlene was listening to the squeaky professor anyway, nor was she focussing on charms at all. She was actually staring absentmindedly at the boy beside her, despite her attempts not to, and thinking hard about why he had to be so damn contrary. On the one hand, he had spent mot of the final days of the holiday trying to get her to talk, dragging her into various rooms in the Potter Manor to 'discuss' things (which Marlene was sure would only be to jump her, not to talk), but on the other, as soon as they hd returned to school he had simultaneously tried to corner her and ignore her, the result of that being her fall from the broom and the dark haired Gryffindor not even bothering to help. Now he was just ignoring her, but any one could see it wasn't working.

Unsure as to exactly what he was trying to do, she turned her thoughts to his emotions and feelings. It was clear he didn't hate for what she said (Marlene found too much relief in that to feel secure) but he also wasn't trying to declare his love for her. Basically, Marlene McKinnon was so close to completely and utterly forgoing any emotional attachment to Sirius Black, it was a wonder she didn't just explode on the spot with annoyance and unrequited feelings (but of course, they were returned, she just didn't know that yet).

Charms passed in a haze of staring at books and mindlessly copying Flitwick's movements to learn a new wand position, and eventually he instructed them to pack their things away and get ready for next lesson. Lily breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Marlene and Sirius had managed to survive the hour without biting each other's heads off. However she had forgotten that they weren't out of danger yet.

A certain raven-haired Gryffindor joined them as Flitwick ushered them out of the classroom. "Potter," Emmeline said coolly, tossing her loose hair over her shoulder, "When's the next practise?"

James raised an eyebrow, but did reply. "Next Tuesday, why? You never really care until I announce it at breakfast or whatever."

She sent Sirius a sideways look and smirked. "I've got some flaws that I want to perfect and that requires practise, you know?"

Sirius snorted, unable to contain himself. "Slut."

"What did you just call me?" she said, turning to him quickly and looking offended.

"A slut," he repeated calmly, grabbing his bag and swinging it onto his relaxed shoulder as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"And how do you get that? Because you sure as hell shagged me back," Emmeline said angrily and Marlene visibly paled, taking a step away from him.

Lily and Mary shot each other a look and hooked an arm each around their friend, pulling her away. Even out in the corridor, however, you could hear Sirius' cutting voice, carrying over the excited murmurs of classmates.

"All I got out of your little sly question was that we have shagged once, you want it to happen again and I don't," Sirius said scathingly, "And you're sure as hell right about the practise - I've had better from a Hufflepuff."

Emmeline's furious shriek could most definitely be heard from outside and she flew out, a furious look on her face.

Sirius sauntered out a few seconds later only to be pounced on by Marlene who had wrenched herself free from Mary and Lily.

"You!" she spat, jabbing his chest with her finger, "You - you slept with her?!"

"Yeah," Sirius said with a grin but his eyes were guilty. "After Quidditch."

"How could you, Black? I mean, how much lower can you sink?" Marlene hissed, glaring poisonously at him.

"I thought you said you didn't care, McKinnon?" Sirius sneered.

She was only stumped for a second. "I don't."

"You don't?" Sirius replied, raising an eyebrow.

"No. Not at all."

"Then how can you get mad at me, McKinnon, hmmm?"

"Because... Because..." she spluttered, "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO BLOODY INFURIATING?" Marlene yelled, face turning red.

"Miss McKinnon!" a squeaky voice said from behind her and she whirled around to look down at Professor Flitwick, "Detention for you and Mr Black for disrupting learning and foul language."

Sirius choked on his laughter while Marlene gaped.

"What, that's not f-"

"Detention," he repeated, "Tonight at 8pm. Do not forget."

He scurried off in the direction of the staff room, leaving a gobsmacked Marlene and a sniggering Sirius in his wake.

Turning again, she slapped Sirius hard on the cheek, stinging her hand and leaving a red handprint of his otherwise smooth skin.

"Idiot, you just got me a fucking detention!"

Sirius shrugged and smiled at her. "Actually, you just got me a detention - I wasn't doing anything."

"SHUT THE HELL UP, BLACK."

OH. MY. MERLIN. You guys are seriously the best reviewers ever, okay? 100. FREAKING. REVIEWS. (well, 104 but shhhh) ONE HUNDERED. I love you all forever, have a pile of internet cookies.

And to reward you for this loyalty, I have written more stories for you to review:D Go check them out? There's one out now, called 'Weep, Little Lion Man', which is Blackinnon, and n=another coming soon about Frank and Alice Longbottom! :3

- PIAM

ps luv u all bbz xxx