Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. Everything belongs to JK Rowling, and I'm merely allowed to play around with them. No copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks to my readers, followers, favourites and, last but not least, my review team! You guys know who you are, and you can boast about it loads! :) Keep voting! This chapter represents the two winning pairings of my poll... Can you guess who they are? Keep voting!

Another 'Cartoon Quote' contest! I hope someone will find it this time.

Chapter 12

-o-O-o-

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!"

Hermione sighed. This was getting tiring. First, Mary hadn't believed it when she told her Sirius and her were dating. Next, Remus didn't believe he had lost his bet and had stared at Hermione's ten straight O's O.W.L. results for hours. And now, Lily was refusing to believe James had been made Head Boy.

"I don't believe it..." she repeated, more quietly this time, and with her hands clutching her mouth. "You," she pointed at James, whose grin was threatening to go all around his face. "Head Boy?" she was turning a slight shade of green. "I'm gonna puke." she mumbled incoherently before leaving the train compartment in a hurry.

"See?" James declared, opening his arms to gesture at himself. "I'm irresistible! By the end of this year, Lily Evans will be desperately in love with me!" he said, laughing at his own plan.

"Would've taken you long enough." Sirius laughed, wrapping his arm around Hermione. "It only took me two months to make dear 'Mione here throw herself into my arms... Which are absolutely gorgeous, mind you."

She slapped him across the head. "You egocentrically arrogant pigheaded sexist freak!" she scolded him, but he just grinned.

"Careful there, love, you don't want me to go mean." he purred, kissing her neck.

"Yeah?" she snorted. "And what will you do?" He pulled away and Hermione was scared to death at the look of pure mischief in his eyes. Before she could tell him not to, he had leaped on her and was now tickling her ribs incessantly. "No… Sirius… You dog, what the fuck?! Stop!"

He stopped for just a couple of seconds to tell her: "Say please." His eyes were glittering, everyone around them was laughing slightly. Even Remus, who had been sulking in a corner, was smirking slightly.

She glared at him. "Go to hell." he spat, venom in her voice.

"Fine." he shrugged and went back to tickling her.

She tried to struggle, but her stick like arms were no help against his Beater's body. "No… Stop it… Fine!" she gave in. "Please!"

"Not convincing enough." he muttered, not taking his hands off her.

She was running out of air. "Please!" she yelled. "Please! Pretty please!"

He didn't stop. "The physical appearance of the please makes no difference." he mumbled.

She writhed under his wondering hands. "I'm begging!" she finally cried out.

He smirked. "If you are, then I have no reason not to give you what you wish." He stopped then, and she took in a great gulp of air, before glaring daggers at him.

She was about to start yelling at him again, but Lily came back in just then. She froze at the door, taking in the scene before her. "Have I missed something?" she asked.

James smiled. "I'm afraid you have, Lily, dearest. Sirius, here, has tortured his girlfriend into submission, and it was rather fun to watch."

Lily had only retained part of the sentence, though. "Lily dearest?" she asked.

"Why, yes of course!" James said, as if it was the most obvious thing on earth. "You are the dearest thing to me, after all." While Lily froze there, obviously stunned, James stood up and declared: "Well, I don't know about you, but I've got rounds to do. See you, people." And with that, he left the train compartment and a still unmoving Lily.

After a few minutes, she did move, though. She gaped like a goldfish a little before asking: "Is he actually taking his duties seriously?" she asked.

Hermione nodded. "He always has, Lily. You've just never looked at him properly."

Lily gulped and nodded, before leaving off to her rounds. Peter spoke up: "What are you talking about, 'Mione? James never took his duties seriously until now…"

She shook her head. "No, he didn't. But I promised James to help him get Lily." she explained.

Remus scoffed. "And once he does get her, he'll get rid of her after only a couple of months."

Hermione smiled. "Believe me; I have a… hunch when it comes to other people's relationships." 'And their deaths' she added sadly, just for herself.

Sirius laughed. "If they ever have a kid, its name will be James Sirius, I'm sure of it."

Hermione shook her head. "I doubt that. Lily isn't the James junior type of girl… Although James will probably beg her to let him name it."

"What about you guys, then?" Peter asked. "Are you gonna pop out some babies anytime soon?"

Both blushed. "Well... err…" Sirius stuttered. "First it might be good if we… err… Started with the simulation."

Remus stared. "You mean you, Sirius Orion Black the third, haven't had sex with your girl yet?"

"Hey!" Hermione burst out. "First: this is none of your business. Second: Do you think I'm some kind of slut?"

"No, no, no, Hermione!" Remus said. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"What did you mean, then, Remus?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I meant that Sirius has the power to woo every single girl in his bed after only a couple of minutes." he explained hastily.

"Do I look like any girl to you?" she asked, standing up. He was about to reply but she cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Forget it. I've had enough. I'm out of here." she declared and left.

"Aw, brilliant." Remus muttered. "I need a drink." he said before leaving too.

Peter looked puzzled. "Aren't you going to follow her?" he asked Sirius a little squeakily.

"Nah." he shook his head. "She's on her period. She's probably changing her tampon by now or something."

"Oooooh!" Peter said. "That explains a lot of things." he added, nodding to himself.

Sirius laughed a little. "Yes, it does." He left it at that for a little while before adding: "I found out the hard way." He grinned.

Peter did too. "You randy mutt!" he accused him, punching him in the shoulder slightly.

Sirius' laughter boomed around the compartment. "I know, Wormtail," he said, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling dreamily. "I know."

-o-O-o-

"Unbelievable!" Hermione muttered to herself, exiting the girls' lavatory. "Perverted arseholes, the whole lot of them."

A voice came from her left. "As much as I like it when you insult my brother and his idiotic Gryffindor sidekicks, if you continue speaking to yourself, you'll end up at Saint Mungo's."

Hermione turned her head and sighed. "Good afternoon to you too, Regulus. I hope you had a nice summer." she said.

Regulus stepped out of the shadows. 'Does that guy always have to be lurking somewhere dark?' she asked herself. "Nice, no. Eventful, yes." he smirked. "Learn the difference." he added, sneering.

She rolled her eyes. He was neatly shaved, as always, although shadows formed under his eyes, indicating lack of sleep. His clothes were impeccable, too, and his eyebrow was arched delicately, in a way that made him seem above all others. His grey eyes betrayed feelings, though, which were properly hidden behind his mask of a face.

"You're staring, Granger." he warned, and she averted his eyes immediately.

"If you were polite at all," she retorted, trying not to look put out by his remark. "You'd have asked me how my vacations have been."

"There is no need to. I know exactly how your vacations went." he told her unashamed. "You revised and passed you O.W.L.'s, you worked at that pathetic excuse for a bar, the Three Broomsticks, you had fun with your friends near the end and now here you are." he finished. She stared again.

"How would you know?" she asked.

He smirked. "Rumours fly, my dear, rumours fly." She looked at him suspiciously, and he laughed. "No, I'm kidding. I just got your last letter."

She frowned. "The one where I told you my work was hell?" she asked. "And about all my plans for the rest of the summer?"

"The very same." he admitted.

She gasped and hit his arm slightly. "You jerk!" she yelled. "Why the fuck didn't you answer?"

He was slightly surprised at her choice of language, but remained calm nevertheless. Besides, he wasn't going to tell her the real reason, which was that he'd been writhing in pain as he got branded with the Dark Mark. "I just couldn't be bothered." he answered, shrugging.

'Bingo.' he thought as he saw her face become red with anger. 'Two birds with one stone. I get to hide the truth, and I make her mad. I am a genius.'

"You utter bastard!" she burst out. "I can't believe I spent my time writing to you and you just probably laid down in bed and thought 'Oh, fuck, it's the Mudblood again, I'm not answering this time, I'll just not answer and make her believe I got captured by Death Eaters and died.'!"

He froze. "That's what you thought?" he asked softly.

She blushed. She had thought that. After all, Harry had mentioned, when he told her about Regulus' presence on the Black family tree, that he had died at a very young age, maybe sixteen or seventeen. So, of course she had been worried. Worried that she might be missing out on the fist murder she couldn't change.

Instead of telling him that, though, she just stared at her feet. "Granger," he said softly. "Why are you so worried about me?" When she didn't answer, he continued. "Why do you care about what I become when I've been nothing but an arse to you from the first time we met? I mean, I haven't exactly been nice to you or anything…"

She sighed and looked up. He looked really troubled. "I don't know." she said. "I have no bloody clue why I care so much, or why I care at all! I hate you, and yet…" she stared in his eyes. "And yet…"

She was at loss for words, but thankfully, he finished her sentence for her. "And yet you can't get me out of your mind. It's not exactly me, just that nagging voice that sounds like me and scares you to death."

She looked up at him. How did he know? During the whole summer, she had thought about his words 'It might just be your last.' Had he said them on purpose just to annoy her? Yet when she stared inside his light grey eyes, she knew he hadn't. He had been sincere. And that scared her even more.

"I guess," he finally said. "We can now both be officially called insane." he smiled slightly. Not his usual smirk, but a real, tempting smile that reflected the inside of his soul.

And there and then, in the Hogwarts Express, she realised that Regulus Arcturus Black wasn't evil. No, he was just alone. He needed somebody. A friend. Someone to confide in. To keep all his secrets.

He needed her.

"Yeah," she laughed breathily, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. "We've both gone totally bonkers."

"You more than me, of course." he added, cheekiness shining brightly in his eyes. "Mudblood." he added after a while. He didn't say it as an insult, more like a joke.

"Pure-blooded snob." she retorted.

"Bushy hair."

"Star-obsessed freak."

"Nerdy bookworm."

"Mummy's boy."

He smirked. "Touché."

They stayed there for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything, before she asked. "So… Truce?"

He nodded, trying to seem reluctant. "Truce… Hermione." he held out his hand.

She shook it. His fingers were unusually warm, for someone with such a pale face. "Truce it is, then… Regulus." She smiled.

He smiled back. "Yes, I know, I rather like my name too."

She laughed. And as they headed back to their respective compartments, they knew this was the beginning, if only the beginning, of a true friendship.

-o-O-o-

Team Regulus, here you go. He got over his prejudices. Now, should I make him die… or not… Hmm… Leave a review and tell me what you think! Also, fell free to try and find the cartoon quote in there. If anyone finds it, I'll give them a preview of the next chapter… And they can have a virtual hug from me.

Also, to the person called 'Leo', you should get an account so I can answer you! :)

Next chapter: Classes start, trouble follows.