A/N: Thank you for the reviews! And thank you to my beta, Classic Cowboy :)

Chapter Two

Helena kept her eyes peeled over the next few weeks for whatever the Marauders were going to do to draw Dumbledore out of his office, but nothing happened. No massive explosion of dungbombs, and no first-years being suspended by their ankles from the north tower either. It was going to be spectacular, whatever it was. She had debated with herself about telling Lily, but then decided against it. They were going to be breaking about a million school rules—as Head Girl her friend wouldn't ignore that.

Though that wasn't stopping James.

By the third week of term, Helena had decided that the Marauders had lost their nerve. It seemed unlikely after their years of rule-breaking, but one never knew. NEWTs were important after all, especially to Remus, and even to James and Sirius. They were all present and correct in the Charms lesson she now sat in.

Disillusionment Charms was the subject today, which would be especially useful for the prospective Aurors in the group. As well as the prospective Death Eaters, Helena thought, glancing across the room to where a bored-looking Bellatrix sat. It hopefully wouldn't be a charm she'd have to use all that much in the future, especially since it involved a non-verbal incantation—which Helena had struggled with since they were introduced to the curriculum last year. When she wasn't thinking about it, could fool herself into thinking they were just a verbal spell like all the others, then the magic came easily. She was able to perform whatever spell it was quickly and cleanly. But in a situation like this, in a class where she was very aware of her limitations...

They were supposed to be casting the spell on their hands—whether against a window or the desk—and most of the people around her had done it. Lily, next to her, had done it within the first ten minutes of the lesson. Unfortunately she was too busy helping Amelia with her spell to see Helena was having difficulty.

It didn't seem to matter how loudly she thought the spell, nothing happened while she was concentrating on it. It was problem that would be resolved over time, but it was unfortunately a problem that would stop her graduating unless she overcame it before she left Hogwarts.

"Are you having trouble with the spell, Helena?" came a voice from her right.

Startled out of her reverie, Helena turned to face Damocles Blaby. She struggled to maintain a neutral expression; Blaby was to her what James was to Lily—an unwanted suitor. Only Helena hadn't been enjoying his attentions long enough for icy politeness to give way to open hostility. "Not at all, thank you." Or at least no trouble that you're going to help me with.

"Are you sure? The Disillusionment Charm can be tricky to master."

"It really isn't," she assured, putting her right hand on the desk and tapping it with her wand. A cold, liquid sensation spread across her skin, and then her hand was suddenly the exact colour and texture of the desk underneath it, down to the knots in the wood. She grinned in relief.

It did not make Damocles back off. "Oh how marvellous! Congratulations, Helena, really well done!"

Damocles wasn't as blatantly evil as most Slytherins were, but he was very pompous and putting up with him for more than five minutes wore down almost all of Helena's patience. "Thank you."

"Would you help me?" he asked as she turned away, laying a hand on her arm.

Helena shrugged it off. "I really don't think you need my help."

"But I do," he smiled. "Potions is my area of expertise, Helena, but when it comes to Charms you're far more talented than I. Say, I have an idea. Why don't we meet in the library later tonight-"

"I really don't think that's a good idea, Damocles," she started. "Neither of us need help in either class-"

Flitwick's angry voice interrupted her. "Miss Malfoy! I assume you still wish to realise your ambitions of being a Healer, in which case chatting to your boyfriend and disrupting my class must cease immediately! If it does not, I shall be forced to remove you from my class so that the students who do care about their NEWTs are not disturbed further!"

Stung, Helena forced herself not to argue. The fact that Damocles was not her boyfriend would be completely irrelevant to Flitwick. "Sorry, Professor," she murmured, gloweringly aware of Lily giggling silently beside her.

"Welcome to my world," she grinned once Flitwick's attention had been turned elsewhere.

"Shut up. James isn't a twat."

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, he isn't a stupid twat."

Charms progressed in relative quiet after that, with both girls mastering Disillusionment Charms before the end of the lesson and Helena re-securing her place atop Flitwick's favourites list. They left together, chatting animatedly.

"Helena! Helena, wait a moment."

"Oh no. Lily, hide me."

Too late; Damocles was already almost upon them. "Helena, we didn't get to finish arranging to meet tonight-"

Helena looked around wildly, searching for any solution to present itself. Her eyes fell on the four boys walking in front of them. Speeding up, she grabbed Sirius' hand and yanked him down a side corridor which ended in a large landscape in which horses were grazing. They scattered with annoyed whinnies when she pushed him up against the canvas.

"Hellfire, what-"

He shut up as Helena grabbed him and kissed him. Stunned, Sirius just stood there like a lemon while she did so, contributing nothing to the effect. If he didn't get the idea soon then there'd be no point in- His hands came around her waist and pulled her closer just in the nick of time. By the time Damocles' footsteps came around the corner looking for her, Sirius had one hand buried in her hair and the other one somewhat lower than her waist, his mouth devouring hers. Wow the boy could kiss.

Damocles left soon after that.

As soon as he'd gone, Helena pulled away. "Sorry about that."

Breathing raggedly, Sirius stared at her. "What…the fuck…was that?"

"Pretty good actually," she grinned.

"No, I mean—where did it come from?"

"A need to deter Damocles. Drastic times call for drastic measures. If he thinks I'm hung up on you then he's not going to bother me any time soon. Don't worry, Padfoot, I don't need anything more from you." She kissed his cheek. "Thanks."

It was a while before he moved from the dead-end corridor—the kiss might not have been real but it had definitely produced something solid. And something that was annoyingly hard to get rid of for several minutes.

He walked into the common room fifteen minutes later to find James building an Exploding Snap house of cards, and Remus coaching Wormtail through his Potions theory.

"You remember that discussion we had a few months back, about Helena?" Sirius asked casually, sitting down and knocking James' cards over.

Eyebrows singed, Prongs sent an annoyed look over to Sirius. "No."

"About whether or not she was really a virginal ice queen?"

"Oh. Vaguely."

Sirius brushed his hair out of his face and picked up a copy of the Prophet, leafing idly through it. "Well, she's not."

"What? How do you know?"

"Hmm?"

"How do you know she isn't?" James said again, looking almost fiendishly interested.

"Oh—it's impossible for virgins to kiss like that, believe me."

"You kissed her?" he asked, looking vaguely disgusted.

"No, she kissed me."

"But she's…like our sister."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, feeling oddly placated by that. It certainly wasn't how he thought of Helena, wasn't how he'd ever thought of her. Even when thrown together as children who didn't fit in she had never been a sister to him. "Not to me," he shrugged finally.

"Yeah but…why would she kiss you?"

"Thanks for the self-esteem boost, Pete."

"Sorry," Wormtail apologised immediately.

"Peter has a point though," Remus said. "Helena knows what you're like with girls. Why would she expect any better?"

"Oh, she doesn't. Damocles wouldn't leave her alone after Charms, so she kissed me to get rid of him."

"Right. So this whole not-kissing-like-a-virgin thing could have just been a performance."

"It wasn't."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "And you know this how?"

"I think I know what a real kiss feels like, Moony."

"But you've just said yourself it was to fool Damocles."

"Yes, but-"

"So she could just be a good actress."

There had been no act in the hotness of her mouth, though, or the way her body had pressed itself the length of his, or the way her tongue had- "It was not an act."

"If you say so."

"Damn it, Remus, I-"

"Moving on," James interrupted, "Damocles still won't leave her alone?"

"Apparently not."

"But that's like six months she's been saying no to him. That's verging on stalking her."

"I really don't think there's anything sinister about it," Remus said calmly.

"Not yet there's not! Seriously, if she had to kiss Padfoot to get away from him, it must be bad. We should do something."

"Like what?"

"Like…defend her!"

"She's not a castle, James."

"No, but she's our friend, isn't she? And some guy is hassling her—don't you think it's our duty to help her out? There's some kind of code which applies in these situations you know," he said thoughtfully.

"Right…and how long have we been knights of the round table?" Remus asked.

"No, Prongs is right!" Sirius piped up. "We have a duty to Helena, as her friends, to make sure this pervert doesn't bother her anymore."

"She'll kick your arse."

"Nah, girls love all that chivalry stuff."

"Of course they do."

"Even Helena loves it."

Remus looked up dubiously. "Of course she does."

"Shut up, Moony."

Needless to say, Remus did not accompany James and Sirius on their hunting trip later that evening. Just after dinner was of course the best time to ambush a stray Slytherin, especially a geeky one on his way to the library. They cornered him in a third-floor corridor.

"Oi, Blaby! We want a word with you."

He turned with a look of impatience. As a Slytherin, he was no stranger to being hassled by the Marauders, of course, but he bore it with less hostility than the others. Mainly because he believed them—and most other students—to be below his notice. "Can't it wait? Some of us have important things to be getting along with."

"Actually it can't," Sirius said. "See, you've been harassing a mate of ours. And she doesn't appreciate that."

Blaby raised his eyebrows and drew his wand. "Oh, and I suppose because she's yours now, Black, you feel the need to defend her? Miss Malfoy has better taste than to stick with you for long, and when she realises her mistake, I will be waiting to show her the light," he smiled smugly.

He wasn't smiling so smugly when bat-shaped bogies the size of bludgers emerged from his nose and started whacking him over the head with their wings. James followed it up with an expertly placed jelly-legs jinx. Blaby didn't keep still either, and shot an antler jinx at James, ironically.

"Protego!"

Damocles switched his attack to Sirius. "Avis!" Like bullets, a dozen tiny songbirds fired out of the end of his wand, all pecking at Sirius' scalp. He banished them, and then flicked his wand at Blaby; the Slytherin was hoisted into the air by his ankle. But he hadn't let go of his wand.

"Sectum-"

"Stupify!"

Blaby dropped headfirst onto the floor. Behind him, wand outstretched, was Helena. She held a book in her other hand, and had apparently been coming back from the library. She looked at the two still-standing boys, eyes wide in shock. "Are you two out of your minds?"

"No! We were- defending your honour!"

"My honour?" she repeated. "You attacked Damocles on my behalf? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Well he won't be hassling you anymore," Sirius pointed out.

"How dare you," she breathed furiously. "How dare you?"

"We thought you'd be pleased."

"Pleased? Pleased?" She stalked forward, index finger out and stabbing Sirius in the chest. "You should know that I can take care of myself and you," she yelled, turning on James, "should not be such a bloody hypocrite!"

Bewildered, the lads look at each other. "But he was-"

"-pestering me, yes! Which is exactly what you have done to Lily on a daily basis for over a year! Of all people, Prongs, you are the last one who should be defending girls from guys who won't leave them alone!"

James opened his mouth to argue, but apparently couldn't come up with a way to defend himself. "It's not that we didn't think you could take care of yourself," Sirius said, "but you're a woman, it's a gentlemanly thing to do!"

She laughed shrilly. "And since when have you been a gentleman, Black? You wouldn't know chivalry if it bit you on the arse! And now, because of you, I have to take this idiot up to the hospital wing! And believe me, if he wants to go to McGonagall, I am not going to be stopping him!"

She turned a rigid back on them, and levitated Blaby up into the air again, floating him up the stairs. In her wake, James and Sirius stared at each other. "Women are insane. We were watching her back for God's sake."

Two hours later, Helena was still fuming. After explaining the situation to Nurse Pomfrey, the matron had then decided that further action was needed, and sent for Professor McGonagall—who, being a very shrewd woman, had decided that the worst punishment Helena could face (for it had been her spell which had knocked him out, after all) was to be there when Blaby woke up, and to be his primary caregiver (read: errand girl) for the next few days until he was fully recovered.

When Damocles woke, he thought all his Christmases had come at once, that much was clear from his expression. "My dear Helena…"

She was going to kill those two miscreants.

Two hours later, Helena was still fuming. After explaining the situation to Nurse Pomfrey, the matron had then decided that further action was needed, and sent for Professor McGonagall—who, being a very shrewd woman, had decided that the worst punishment Helena could face (for it had been her spell which had knocked him out, after all) was to be there when Blaby woke up, and to be his primary caregiver (read: errand girl) for the next few days until he was fully recovered.

When Damocles woke, he thought all his Christmases had come at once, that much was clear from his expression. "My dear Helena…"

She was going to kill those two miscreants.

But it wasn't long before a rather clever plan occurred to her. There was no point in hexing them—aside from the fact that it would get her in mountains of trouble with McGonagall, it wouldn't do anything to teach them any kind of lesson. But annoying them? That was well within her grasp. And with Sirius, maybe she could even dent his pride a little. God knew he needed it.

All she had to do was wait for Damocles to ask her out. Which he would. He always did after all. She gave the boy a smile and called Nurse Pomfrey over. Within a few moments, he had been given the all-clear, and was dressing. When he came back out again, she picked up his bag before he could reach for it.

She smiled at his questioning glance. "Don't want your balance do be affected. You never know with bumps on the head."

"Ah. Very wise, Helena."

They walked down the castle slowly together, chatting. Helena didn't have to bother coming up with flirty lines – it wouldn't make any difference to Damocles. All she had to do was breathe and he'd assume she was flirting with him. At the doors to the Slytherin common room, she handed his bag back to him.

"Rest up, won't you? And I'll bring your breakfast to you in the morning?"

He lit up. "Well, that won't be necessary. I'll meet you in the Great Hall."

"Wonderful." Swallowing her revulsion down, Helena even leaned in a placed a kiss on Damocles' cheek. "Goodnight."

He grabbed her wrist before she could leave. "Say, I have a better idea. How about instead of meeting for breakfast, we go into Hogsmeade for the day? For- For lunch, perhaps, or dinner?"

Ah, victory. Helena smiled and nodded. "Of course. That sounds lovely."

As she walked back up to Gryffindor Tower, she did pause briefly to wonder if she should be feeling guilty about using the poor lad like that. It wasn't morally praiseworthy, or really even passable. But really, Damocles was arrogant, slimy, snobby and clingy. She wasn't going to break his heart – he didn't want her, he just wanted the idea of her. He wanted the prestige that her name brought. And the wealth that the dowry of a Malfoy bride would bring. He needed taking down a peg or two. Sirius needed taking down a peg or ten – she didn't really see much wrong in how she went about doing it.

So, the next day when she was approached by the aforementioned Marauder, she was already feeling a little bit smug. He was holding two things – one, a tiny glass bottle containing a few hairs, and the other, a tiny square of rag.

"We got it. One piece of the Sorting Hat, and Filch's…hairs."

She looked up, eyes narrow. "I haven't heard any explosions. How'd you get them?"

"You constantly underestimate me, Hellfire."

She kept up the glare.

"Alright, Moony got Dumbledore out of his office and we snuck in long enough to attack the Sorting Hat, good enough?"

"How did you get in without the password?"

"If I told you, I would have to kill you."

"That was Remus too, wasn't it?"

"Maybe."

"Alright, how did you get Filch's-"

"You really, really don't want to know."

"I suppose not."

"So will you come and tell us what the next stage is? We have the things you said we needed for the map."

"I can't. I have a date."

"Oh. Okay." A pause. "With who?"

There was no jealousy in his tone, or hurt—but there was a deep suspicion. "Does it matter?" she asked archly. "Because I don't think it's any of your business."

"Seriously, Helena. It had better not be who I think it is."

"Yes, Father," she smiled sweetly as the Fat Lady swung shut behind her.

Dinner was as much of a disaster as Helena had feared it would be. Damocles had hired a private function room in the Three Broomsticks for the two of them, so that they could enjoy a candlelit dinner together. She endured Damocles talking about himself from starter to the time dessert was served before he introduced the topic of her family.

Damocles was all admiration once Lucius' name was mentioned; Helena answered his questions as brusquely as she possibly could. There was little love lost between she and her sibling, and as far as she was aware 'What he was doing these days' was joining forces with Voldemort and torturing as many muggles as possible.

She settled for a neutral, "He's getting married."

"Oh really? To who?"

"Narcissa Black. Bellatrix's sister."

"Oh, of course. I supposed you've heard the scandalous news about their older sister?"

Helena raised an eyebrow. Come to think of it she hadn't seen Andromeda at any family events in a while. "No."

"Well, last summer she married quite without her family's permission, simply for a love match. To a – and this is the shocking thing for such a respectable girl – to a muggle."

"And?" she asked coldly. "What exactly is wrong with marrying for love, no matter who it is? The heart wants what it wants."

"Yes, but a muggle, my dear! Just imagine if they were to have children! The noble Black blood tainted like that!"

Her nerves crackling with anger, Helena put her hands either side of the table. "Damocles. Before we proceed any further, I should tell you. One of my best friends is a muggle-born witch, and because of my 'scandalous' behaviour, my father is seriously considering disinheriting me." Who knew, that could well be true. "I think you have to decide if a respected but penniless name is worth your effort. Rest assured, I shall endeavour not to be too heartbroken if you reject me."

Well, he did it in as chivalrous a manner possible – but he still rejected her. After three years of pursuing her as a perspective bride, Damocles gave up all interest in her. Feeling completely triumphant, she let him walk her back up to Gryffindor Tower.

"Helena…please do let me know if you ever-" he paused doubtfully.

"Come to my senses?" she sighed dramatically. "I will try, Damocles, I will try."

He leaned in and kissed her gently, regretfully, and then left. Helena smiled at his back, and then shook her head, turning back to the Fat Lady and giving the password. As expected, Sirius was waiting up for her, looking furious. "Does your friends standing up for you mean nothing to you, Helena?"

"I don't know," she snapped, throwing her shawl onto one of the sofas, "does respecting your friends' independence mean nothing to you?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous—you respect James and Remus just fine, but then they're male. But you assume that as a woman, I need rescuing if I get into difficulty! You are a sexist pig, Black, and it makes me sick to think I actually let you touch me."

"You still deliberately went out with Blaby just to piss us off!"

She snorted. "And clearly, it worked!"

"You made us look like complete fools!"

"Good!" she yelled. "You are complete fools, and you're the only ones who can't see it!"

"What, so you took it upon yourself to teach me a lesson? All the teachers in this school have failed, Helena, I seriously doubt you could succeed. But believe you me, next time I'll let Your Royal Highness deal with it all on your own."

"Finally! You might enjoy playing the knight in shining armour, Sirius, but don't ever forget I'll never need you to rescue me!"

"Great!"

"Fine!"

Silence fell, and they both caught their breath while glaring at the other. Eventually Helena picked up her shawl and headed up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. "I'm going to bed."

"Right. I'll see you in the morning."

"Count on it!"

Sirius gave her the finger and stormed up the stairs to his own bed. It was a long time before he fell asleep though, still completely furious. Damn that woman! No one could get under his skin like Helena, no one. Whatever he tried to do for her, she threw back into his face—and then whatever she did for him, it was impossible to do the same. Admittedly, maybe she had a point. Maybe she was perfectly capable of looking after herself and maybe he had no right to tell her how to run her life. But she completely ignored the fact that he did it with the best of intentions, all of them did. If, in the course of chivalry, Helena's independence was sometimes trodden on, that could hardly be helped. It was just the bloody madam was too stuck-up to realise that all her friends wanted to do was help.

He gritted his teeth. In some ways she really was a typical Malfoy.

But what really pissed him off, what really, honestly made him completely angry—was the fact that she'd turned out to be such an incredible kisser.

By the next morning, as had always been their relationship, they were both equally quick to forgive and forget. Breakfast saw them on strained speaking terms, lunch acquaintances, and by dinner they were friends again.

A/N: Review please!