A/N: Here's an early update to you! Thank you for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting the story :)

Chapter 16: Birthdays

November 1st 1977 (Tuesday)

It was the morning after Halloween and the Gryffindors were having breakfast in the Great Hall. The boys were talking about Sirius's 18th birthday, which was next Thursday.

"So, kitten, have you got a birthday present for me already?" Sirius grinned at Hermione and gave her a soft nudge. She was sitting next to him, as usual, while Lily and James were situated on the other side of the table, with Remus and Mary beside them. Peter sat next to Sirius, while Alice and Marlene sat next to Hermione.

Hermione gave him an amused huff. "You'll just have to wait and see I guess," she said with a secretive look.

Sirius smiled at her and took a piece of toast.

"Well, I for one think we've managed to come up with the best present there is for our Pads here," James said and winked at his best mate. Sirius, Remus and Peter all sniggered and eyed each other slyly.

"Do I even want to know, James?" Lily asked with a hint of warning in her voice. "Do I need to remind you that you are a Head student?"

James merely kissed her on her temple and grinned at her. "We'll see, love."

Despite slightly doubting what the boys were up to, Lily eyed James affectionately and gave him a warm smile and kissed him on the cheek. Hermione grinned at her friends, who were so obviously engrossed with each other, finally having confessed their feelings to one another, and this time nothing was standing between them. Hermione was happy for them both, as it was something she had been looking forward to witnessing. There had been a small period of time where she had feared that she'd somehow changed the outcome of their relationship, since James was dating another girl when Hermione had first met them. But now it seemed that the events on the beginning of the term had been forgotten for good.

"You're officially together then?" Marlene asked from Lily and James with a sly grin, while pouring herself coffee. She had had her fair share of fun teasing Lily about her obvious infatuation with the messy haired Gryffindor. Needless to say, Lily had been in denial for some time.

"Yeah, she's my witch." James said confidently, puffing his chest a bit at the same time. Lily blushed as he took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together. Sirius smirked at Hermione, who tried to suppress the grin that was threatening to spread across her face. She glanced at Remus and Mary who were eating in silence. When the girls had talked on Sunday evening about the previous night, the others had badgered Mary to confess every sordid detail of her night before. Although she usually had no qualms of talking straightforwardly, she turned out to be quite adamant on this occasion.

She had merely told her friends that she and Remus had talked, and that they had decided to see where their relationship was going. Hermione made a mental note to ask Remus about it later, when they'd be having Ancient Runes together.

"About birthdays…Hermione," Lily said, changing the subject away from her and James, "When's yours?" She asked curiously.

Hermione cringed inwardly. Her birthday had of course been on September 19th, but she hadn't exactly told anyone about it. Only Aberforth and the Headmaster had sent her presents; her 'father' had given her a beautiful leather-bound journal along with a large eagle feather quill, and her 'uncle' had given her a unique copy of a children's tale, the Fountain of Fair Fortune, in runic script.

"Er…September 19th…" She muttered, looking hesitantly at the others who all were more or less gaping at her.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Sirius asked with a slightly affronted look on his face.

"Yes, I would like to know that, too." Lily said pointedly, eyeing Hermione with an expectant look. The others muttered their agreements. Remus eyed Hermione with a deep frown, supposedly remembering that they had talked about her age at some point, but not actually shared details about their birthdays.

Hermione gave her friends a sheepish smile. "Well…I was new here and didn't want you to…you know, feel compelled to do something." She said quietly.

James frowned at her. "We wouldn't have felt compelled. In fact, why don't we celebrate Hermione's birthday at the same time as Sirius's?" James said, looking at the others inquiringly. Everyone nodded enthusiastically. James turned to Hermione and lifted his brows in a questioning look.

"Fine," She grumbled. "But no presents."

"Deal." James said.

"Damn. I'm not the oldest anymore." Sirius said pouting, like he had just figured it out that Hermione's birthday was actually before November. "Well, kitten. You win me by almost two months." He said, smirking at her.

"Er…" Hermione said awkwardly. Remus snorted into his tea.

"Pads…She's a year older than us." Remus said, and everyone burst in laughter. All but Sirius, who gaped at his witch.

"Merlin…" He muttered, not finding enough words to describe his astonishment.

Hermione shrugged innocently, patting Sirius on the shoulder.

"When are all of your birthdays?" Hermione asked from the others, intrigued. She didn't know about anyone's birthday, not even Remus's. She vaguely remembered the cemetery at Godric's Hollow, when she and Harry had visited his parents' grave. She quickly pushed the thought from her mind, not wanting to go there right now.

"Mine is March 27th, Remus's is the 10th. Lily's birthday is January 30th and Pete's is July 12th," James explained, and Lily glanced him in surprise at the mention of her birthday, clearly not thinking that he remembered it. James winked at her, looking pleased with himself.

"Mine's July 1st," Mary said.

"And mine is June 25th," Alice quipped from beside Hermione.

Sirius glanced at Marlene. "Marley's is February 14th." He said with a knowing smirk.

Marlene rolled her eyes before she spoke to Hermione, "Probably the only birthday he remembers, besides his own. Trust me, don't hold your breath." She said and winked at her.

Hermione chuckled and decided to ignore the small pang of jealousy she felt. They continued their talk until it was time to go to the first class, which was double Transfiguration, followed by double Charms after lunch and Ancient Runes after that. Tuesday's were tough.

November 4th 1977 (Friday)

Hermione was alone in the library on Friday evening, since her friends were all otherwise occupied, some more than others. The boys were in detention, cleaning the trophy room. Lily was on Heads' business, organising patrol charts, while Mary and Alice were hanging at their dorm. Marlene was yet again with her current boyfriend somewhere in the castle.

Hermione hadn't researched anything regarding the Horcruxes in a while, since she really hadn't had the time between all her other activities. Feeling rather guilty of letting her focus drift like that, she wandered through the restricted section in the quiet library and decided to take a look into the poisons, as they were already practicing a way to destroy the vile objects.

"Didn't figure you for one to spend time in here." A voice spoke behind her.

Hermione whirled around to see Regulus leaning against the shelves near her, staring at her with a nonchalant expression.

"Merlin, you have to stop creeping up on me like that!" Hermione hissed at him. A smile tugged at his lips, and his eyes wandered down to her hands, which were clutching a couple of books. His expression went cold.

"What are those?" He asked, almost demanded with a stony expression.

"W-What? Nothing. Nothing for you to be concerned about," She stammered quickly and shifted her school bag to cover the books. Way to be subtle, Hermione, she thought and rolled her eyes inwardly.

Regulus lifted his brows, came closer to her and wrenched the books from her hands, holding them up so that she couldn't reach for them. He glanced at the books and frowned a bit.

"Hey!"

"Nothing? Why are you looking into this?" He said quietly, looking at her searchingly, confusion written over his face. She first averted her eyes, but soon looked back at him defiantly.

"What? Going to read my mind again?" She asked coldly. His posture faltered, and he frowned at her.

"Of course not. You told me not to." He muttered, giving the books back to her and taking a step back.

She sighed and rubbed her temple, her other hand holding the books. She put them into her bag and turned to him. "Come with me," she said with a serious voice, turning around and exiting the library, not waiting him to follow her.

He did follow her though, with a hint of annoyance in his features. They eventually reached the seventh floor. Hermione started to pace in front of a wall, and Regulus watched her in bewilderment.

"What is this, Hermione?"

"Shush!" She snapped at him. Regulus narrowed his eyes to her but said nothing. His brows lifted in surprise when a door appeared in front of them.

She opened the door and motioned for him to step in after her. He followed her in and stared at the room in shock. They were in the Slytherin common room. Well, the replica of it, at least.

Regulus's gaze trailed over the long, low-ceilinged, dungeon-like room, over the high-backed chairs and the antique sofa next to the fireplace – and Hermione wondered if the place was in fact exactly what he'd seen before he had left towards the library, or did he notice some changes in it.

"Where are we?" He asked cautiously as he turned his gaze back to her.

"Isn't it a bit obvious?" Hermione asked cheekily, smirking at him.

"Well, you tell me. I know this is not my common room, since the place is empty, and something doesn't…feel right." He muttered while walking towards the fireplace, to examine the intricate details of the carved mantelpiece.

Hermione smiled and sat down on the sofa. "Had to try though?"

Regulus turned and came to sit next to her, staring at her again with a stony expression. Hermione shifted awkwardly from his close presence.

"This is the Room of Requirement. The room can turn into practically anything you ask from it." She said nonchalantly. "But that's not the reason I brought you here. I needed a place where no one would be snooping on our conversation."

Regulus gave her a small nod, his eyes moving carefully between hers, searching for something.

"You are a Legilimens?"

"I thought we already established that." He said with an arched brow.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Okay then. How? Since when?"

He looked at her with a thoughtful expression before he answered. "In my family, we are taught at young age to close one's mind against those who might seek access to it," he said quietly.

"You mean Occlumency?" She asked, looking at him searchingly.

Regulus nodded. "Some in my family are accomplished in delving into the minds of others and navigating through them as well." He said and watched her carefully. "My cousin taught me."

Hermione flinched. Bellatrix? She saw a small flicker of realisation in his eyes. Her blood went cold.

"What did you see?" She whispered anxiously. She knew he had seen something when he had used Legilimency against her the other day.

He stared into her eyes, and Hermione could only look back to him pleadingly, hoping he wouldn't disappoint her. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't shake off. His emotions were almost always masked by the walls of his mind, but sometimes, like right that moment, she could see something real in them. Something raw, something that made her feel a bit sad. She blinked, and the next moment that something had faded away, replaced by a hint of exhaustion.

He sighed. "I saw her," he whispered.

Hermione hung her head and focused on her breathing. So…he'd seen her being tortured by his cousin. Was he close to her? What did he think of it? Did he realise his cousin was several years older in her mind than she probably now looked?

"You want to talk about it?" He asked quietly, with a small frown framing his eyes.

She turned to look at him incredulously, anger rising in her chest. "What? You mean my torture?" She said coldly, and he looked away, flinching a little.

They were quiet for a while until she muttered, "I'm sorry. But I don't want to talk about it. Not now at least."

Regulus nodded slowly, looking at the fireplace where the fire was dancing merrily. "I saw the Fiendfyre," he said.

Hermione gasped and he turned back to her from the sound. She stared at him with a hint of alarm in her eyes.

"What else?" She whispered again, her voice trembling.

Regulus gave her a strained look. "I…Nothing. Nothing else." He said and looked into her eyes with a mix of reassurance and pity.

She instantly knew he had seen something else, and she didn't have to guess two times what it was. She saw it from the way he was looking at her, with sadness, with confusion, with anger in his eyes. He'd seen Greyback.

Still, Hermione merely gave him a relieved nod and took in a calming breath. His eyes were darker now, and he stared at her with a piercing look. Hermione shifted under his gaze.

"What about the books?" He asked finally.

"I can't tell you everything, at least not yet. But…I'm learning the Fiendfyre curse." She said and his brows lifted in surprise before she continued, "And I'm not doing it to harm anyone, I promise." She said, her brown eyes shining with sincerity. Well, except Voldemort, she thought wryly.

Regulus's eyes moved over her face, studying her carefully. Hermione couldn't stop herself from staring back at him, fascinated by the different shades of grey in his gaze, by his inscrutable expression, and by his ability to communicate with his eyes only. A short moment after, their eyes met and Regulus stiffened and stood up abruptly, nearing the fire again.

"I believe you." He muttered, not turning to her. She watched his cold exterior with bewilderment. What was he thinking? Why was his behaviour changing like that?

Hermione took a deep breath. "Reg…" She said and he tensed as she addressed him like that, like…they knew each other. And perhaps they did. "You can't tell anyone about this. Not even Sirius. You know why…" She whispered. And Hermione knew that he'd understand. They both knew that Sirius would've never let her go to the meetings if he knew what dangers she was facing.

Regulus huffed softly, staring at the fire. "I won't tell anyone, Hermione." He said quietly, still not facing her.

She let out a small sigh of relief.

"Where is my brother anyway? He'll probably wonder why you are spending your time on a Friday night with me, instead of him." He said, glancing at her finally with an inquisitive expression.

"Oh…Sirius is in detention." She said, wincing as she saw the irritation flash in his eyes.

Yesterday, it had been Sirius's 18th birthday, and as James had promised, they'd had a present for him, indeed. The Marauders had somehow managed to slip Bulbadox powder in the bedsheets and clothing in the Slytherin house, making every last student in said house wearing a scattering of boils the next morning – the morning of the raven-haired Gryffindor's birthday. The boils – and the obvious itching – had appeared only after the students had sat at their table in the Great Hall, probably because of an added charm. Hermione was actually quite impressed by their spellwork, but wasn't going to admit it to the boys. The Marauders had howled in laughter, with Sirius stating that the boil-faced Slytherins had been the best birthday present he had received in years.

That was also how they got caught. McGonagall was handing them detentions right after their laughter had died. Well, at least she had let them enjoy their prank first…

"Do not remind me. I've suffered enough as it is." Regulus said, rolling his eyes.

Hermione snorted. "Oh? Poor little Regulus has suffered in the hands of his older brother." she said teasingly, grinning at him.

He tried to suppress the smile that was tugging his lips. "Come on, it's late. I'll walk you to your quarters." He said, giving her a smile.

November 5th 1977 (Saturday)

The group of Gryffindors was walking together towards Hogsmeade, amongst the other students. James and Lily were on their first official date, with Remus and Mary on a sort-of-a-date, at least according to Mary. Hermione was visiting Ab by herself at first, and then Sirius would fetch her to grab lunch with Peter, Alice and Marlene at the Three Broomsticks. On Thursday morning, Sirius had found a large parcel amongst his birthday gifts from his friends and James's parents. Hermione had given him a motorcycle helmet for his birthday. She smiled as she remembered his puzzled face when he had met her at the common room before breakfast.

"Kitten…You gave me a helmet?" He said, looking at her perplexedly.

Hermione smirked at him. "Yes?"

"I love it. Thank you. But…Why?" He said while taking a hold of her waist and nuzzling her neck. Her breath hitched and it took a while for her to remember that he was expecting an answer.

"Well…You said the other day that you're going to buy a motorcycle? I thought it would be only suitable to take care of your safety, since I doubt you yourself would do it." She said, grinning at him.

Sirius huffed a laugh and nodded to her. "Perhaps. Although it might take some time before I actually buy the thing, you know, being disowned and all," He winked at her. Hermione smiled at him, thinking that perhaps he might get the motorcycle sooner than he expected…

Now he actually had enough money to buy a motorcycle for himself if he wanted, since he had received a large amount of money from his uncle. His uncle had sent him a letter on his birthday, stating that he was leaving an early inheritance for him, as he thought it would be time for Sirius to move into his own place, and thus move on with his life.

Nevertheless, Hermione had a surprise for him. She had come across an old motorcycle, lying broken in the shed in the garden of Hog's Head. She had asked about it from Ab, who had merely said that a patron had wanted to trade it for a glass of Firewhiskey. Aberforth knew it was reparable, but he hadn't had the time to fix it. Eventually he had tossed the thing in the shed and forgotten about it. Hermione had asked if she could by any change buy it from him, as she thought it would be a suitable present for Sirius's birthday. Ab had merely shaken his head and told her to go for it.

As they headed towards the village, Sirius and Hermione walked side by side, with the two new couples in front of them, and the rest of their group behind them.

"I really hope we are not that disgusting, kitten." He said in a low voice and shuddered, while watching James lift Lily's hand to his lips while they walked, giving it a chaste kiss. The couple glanced at each other adoringly every now and then.

"You're exactly like that, Pads." Remus quipped, looking at them over his shoulder, nothing going past his wolfish hearing. "No, scratch that…you're worse than that. A couple of closet saps." He said with a wide smile, while Hermione and Sirius both scowled at him and James, who was busy sniggering to the conversation.

Sirius huffed. "I'm not a sap," he muttered quietly.

"You are," Hermione said with a grin, and pecked him on the cheek.

He leaned closer to her. "I'll show you a sap, witch," He grumbled in her ear, pinching her bum and making her squeak in surprise. Remus snorted in front of them and resumed back to his conversation with Mary.

As they reached the village, Hermione kissed Sirius goodbye and waved to the others before marching towards the Hog's Head. Ab was behind the bar, wiping the dirty counter with an equally dirty rag.

"Hi Ab," Hermione greeted him with a smile, and sat on a barstool.

"Mione," Ab grunted. Hermione was somewhat used to his Neanderthal ways, and knew he was actually happy to see her. "Shall we go upstairs? I'll open the pub in a few hours." He said, motioning towards the door that lead upstairs.

"Sure," Hermione said, hopping off the stool and following him to their living quarters.

As they settled in the sitting room, Ab summoned tea and biscuits for them. Hermione told him everything that had happened since the last time they'd seen each other, which was almost a month ago.

"Still with the Black boy? Going to introduce him to me at some point?" Ab asked teasingly, his brows lifted expectantly.

Hermione laughed and said, "Actually, he will come by later to get me for lunch, and to meet you."

Hermione swore she heard him snigger behind his teacup.

"Ab…Promise you'll be nice to him, okay?" She asked with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

She knew by now that Aberforth was a righteous and unprejudiced man, but she also knew that he liked to provoke and tease others. Not her that much, probably because he felt he was responsible of her or maybe he was protecting her. Or so she reckoned.

"I make no promises," He said and winked at her. Hermione rolled her eyes with mild amusement.

Ab proceeded to inform her about the events at the pub during the past month, as well as asking her about Christmas.

"What are your plans for Christmas? Staying here? Or in the castle?"

"Oh…I'd like to stay with you, if that's okay? I thought we could go to the castle together though, for Christmas dinner?" She said, looking at him expectantly.

Ab grumbled something incoherently.

"Didn't catch that?" Hermione said, even though she had a strong suspicion what it was about.

He and Albus weren't exactly in speaking terms. After her arrival, when the relationship between the brothers had become clear to her, Hermione had been surprised that Albus had managed to persuade Aberforth to take her in in the first place. Neither of them had exactly spoken about it, but she guessed it was about their sister, based on what she had read from Skeeter's book, and the little she had gathered from between lines.

What had happened to their sister, happened a long time ago, and Hermione reckoned it was time to bury the hatchet. At least a part of it.

"You can go. I'll stay at the pub." He muttered, staring at the fire.

"Ab…I think it's time to let the past go. He is your brother, after all… And I think he would be happily surprised if you made an appearance." She said carefully. He didn't answer, or look at her.

"Just this once? For me? I'd like to have a Christmas dinner there with you," She whispered, eyeing him pleadingly.

He turned slowly to look at her and finally gave a sigh. "Fine." He grumbled. "But don't expect me to change pleasantries. With anyone." He muttered stubbornly.

Inwardly, Hermione was whooping and cheering. This had to be counted as an achievement. On the outside, she merely gave him a smile. "Sure."

When the lunchtime was nearing, Ab opened the pub and Hermione dashed to her own room to get some of her belongings before Sirius would arrive. While she was in there, she heard voices downstairs, Sirius's voice and…laughter. What? Soon there was a knock on her door, and she went to open it. Sirius leaned against the frame with a smug smile playing on his lips.

"How…What…?" Hermione mumbled in bewilderment. Had Ab actually laughed with Sirius AND let him come to her room upstairs? What in the name of Merlin was going on?

"You seem to be a bit surprised, kitten?" He said, chuckling as he entered her room and closed the door behind him.

Hermione blinked at him. "H-How did you manage to smooth down Ab so quickly? And how did he let you come to my room nonetheless?" She questioned as she stumbled back a bit when he approached her, with a predatory expression in his eyes.

Sirius shrugged innocently. "I'm just that good with parents," He said, took her hand and tugged her closer. "Scratch that. I'm good with other people's parents," He smirked and proceeded to kiss her chastely, while his hands feathered up and down her ribcage. She didn't miss the small flicker of sadness in his eyes as he mentioned his parents.

Her thoughts soon faded away as Sirius continued to kiss her with more intent, more thoroughly, and with more urgency, making her shiver with need and grab a fistful of his shirt. He pressed his lips against hers again, and again, slipping his tongue into her mouth, tasting her, teasing her until she was panting against his mouth.

When they kissed, it was like lighting a fire that was melting every part of her. He made her head spin, her knees weak, and the way he held her, so close to him, made her feel secure, made her want to hold on to him and not let go.

Sirius's hands drifted lower, stopping over her bum, slowly tracing her clothes with his fingers, before pressing them against her, pulling her flush against his pelvis. Hermione arched towards him, ground her hips to him, making him shudder and take deep breaths.

"Fuck." He said, panting, burying his face in her wild hair. There was so much sexual frustration between them that neither of them knew how long they could continue like that.

"Yep," Hermione whispered, equally breathless. "We should go before Ab comes to check on us." She said after a moment, worrying her lip. Even though Ab wasn't really her father, Hermione still respected him.

"Yeah. Just gimme a moment." Sirius said quietly, calming his breath and adjusting his slacks. He finally retreated, gave her a charming grin and took her hand in his.

They went downstairs, and Ab gave them a stern look. Sirius coughed awkwardly, while Hermione blushed. Chuckling, Ab jerked his head to the back door, which led to the garden.

"It's in the back." Ab grumbled and continued working behind the bar.

Sirius frowned at Hermione, who was already walking towards the door. He followed and was about to question her as he stepped outside behind her. "Hermione – "

He didn't get to finish. There was a motorcycle in front of him. An old, very dirty and obviously broken motorcycle. Hermione was grinning next to it, looking excitedly at his reaction.

"What…? How…?" He stammered, looking at Hermione in bewilderment. She smiled. It was the first time she had seen him that perplexed and speechless.

"I know it's a wreck, but it is reparable. And, isn't fixing it the best part?" She said, a bit uncertainly.

His eyes widened. "It's for me?" He asked with his brows lifted and a grin lifting his mouth.

"Yes. Who else?" Hermione laughed.

"Kitten…Hermione. Just…wow." He breathed, looking at her and the bike in awe. "It's brilliant!" He said with a laugh and took her in his arms, spinning her around. He put her back on the ground and kissed her soundly.

"Thank you." He said finally, looking into her eyes with admiration, the grin never leaving his face.

"You're welcome. Just…wear the helmet at all times you're riding it, okay?" She said, smiling at his enthusiasm.

"Sure thing. And you know, kitten…No we have to get you a helmet too." He said, winking at her.

"Oh, no. I'm not getting on that death trap!" Hermione said determinately.

Sirius laughed, eyeing her with mischief. "We'll see." He gave a final kiss to her temple and together they left the pub, giving their goodbyes to Ab and heading towards the Three Broomsticks to meet their friends.

As promised, the seventh year Gryffindors held a party in favour of Sirius's and Hermione's birthdays later that night. This time, as the evening turned into night and all but the seventh years went to bed, the group skipped the drink or dare –games, and just sat amongst each other near the fire, telling funny stories about Sirius. Not forgetting the Firewhiskey, of course.

"Okay I'll start." Alice said, sniggering. "You remember in our fifth year, when you guys figured out a way to get into the girls' dorm?" She asked, looking at the Marauders. The boys nodded, while Hermione looked a bit suspicious and the other girls laughed. Sirius rolled his eyes with amusement.

"Well, actually, it was Sirius who sneaked to our dorm one night, probably to stalk Marley, or something. Anyways, when he walked further into the room, Lily attacked him and beat him with a book." Alice explained to Hermione, and everyone but Sirius laughed.

"He screamed like a girl and ran away, never returning after that." Lily said, a fond look on her face.

"Oi, Evans! How do you know I haven't returned since?" Sirius said, lifting his brows pointedly.

Lily merely rolled her eyes at him. "You wouldn't dare, Black." She said warningly.

Sirius chuckled and took a swig from the Firewhiskey bottle.

"My turn," Peter quipped from the couch, where he was sitting with Remus and Mary. "The guys already know this, but once, I think it was in our fourth year, Sirius was sure that he could fly his broom standing up." Peter grinned. "He tried to impress a couple of girls from Ravenclaw, but he hadn't bothered to practice it, so naturally, he landed on his arse straight away," He chuckled, the others smirking and sniggering with him.

Sirius shook his head with amusement before he spoke, "It wasn't all that pleasant, let me tell you…"

"Then there's the time when Pads broke into McGonagall's quarters and stole her knickers," James said, smirking at his mate and joining the laughter with the others.

Hermione stared at her boyfriend in shock, who lounged on the floor, leaning on the cosy armchair where she sat. "Godric…Why?" She asked incredulously.

Sirius turned to look at her with a grin and shook his head. "Don't actually remember. Might've been drunk at the time." He said with a small frown.

"But how did you manage to sneak into her quarters in the middle of the night? Wasn't she there, you know, sleeping?" Alice asked.

James and Sirius sniggered. "Well, it wasn't exactly night time then…" Sirius said playfully.

Hermione and Lily stared at him with dumbfounded looks while the others laughed.

"And then we get straight to the occasion when Sirius was passed out, naked, without his wand, in a broom closet on the first floor." Remus said, and everyone burst again in a howling laughter.

"Fucking hell, Moony…Way to shame a bloke," Sirius said, shaking his head.

"Do I even want to know why you ended up there, naked?" Hermione asked, while giggling with the others.

"Dunno. Was drunk as a lord." He shrugged, grinning widely.

"Okay, this has got to go to the top three at least," Mary said, after gulping the rest of her Butterbeer down. "It was last year. You showed up in a pink gown for breakfast." She started, laughing as she went. "Why was that? I mean, don't get me wrong. You looked absolutely stunning with your hair done and make up on." She snorted, as the others chortled with laughter, wiping tears of joy from their eyes. Hermione sniggered at the image in her head and shook her head.

"Well...As much as I enjoyed the little experiment, it was a bet. That I lost." Sirius said with a wry look, narrowing his eyes to James, who merely waggled his brows back at him from opposite of him, where he sat with Lily. "And, it was a muggle prom dress." He said proudly. Lily and Hermione giggled.

"If we are talking about the top three, then we should also take into account Sirius's little acting stunt last year?" Lily said, eyeing James slyly. He groaned and hung his head.

Sirius burst in laughter. "Shite, I almost forgot that, mate!" Sirius said to James, grinning at him.

"Anyway, Sirius somehow managed to impersonate James, and then, in the middle of class he declared that he was gay." Lily explained to Hermione, sniggering and patting James's shoulder. Everyone laughed while James groaned and leaned his elbows on his knees, his hands covering his face in embarrassment.

"I think the top position goes to one particular Valentine's Day, am I right?" Marlene chuckled. Everyone howled in laughter, except Hermione. Sirius pinched her thigh before he started to tell the story.

"Last Valentine's, I sent a mild love potion infused chocolates to old Sluggie. He of course gobbled them up without hesitation." He explained to Hermione with a mischievous grin.

"Oh, Merlin…You actually poisoned a teacher..." Hermione said with her eyes widened in shock. Lily glared at Sirius, shaking her head in disappointment.

The boys sniggered and somehow Hermione knew there was more to it.

"Who was it he thought gave him the chocolates?" She asked cautiously.

"McGonagall."

The boys, Mary and Marlene laughed at the memory. Lily wasn't at all amused. Hermione was with her in this one.

"She, um…Didn't take it that well," Sirius said, biting back a grin. "Sluggie went to her at the breakfast and confessed his feelings towards her, in front of everyone. When he tried to snog her, she hexed him." He laughed, wiping tears from his eyes as he stood up from the floor.

"Circe, you are just…horrible." Hermione said, still a bit shocked by his accomplishments.

"Hey," he said, a daring look in his eyes as he leaned closer to her and murmured to her ear, "Love me, love my dog." Then he proceeded to kiss her, leaning his hands on the arms of the chair, cherishing her lips in a way that made her very aware of the fact that the others were watching them and therefore making her feel slightly embarrassed.

After he broke their kiss, he walked towards the boys' dormitory. "Goin' to see a man about a dog," He muttered to no one particular as he started to walk up the stairs. The others eyed Hermione knowingly, and she quickly changed the topic before any of them had the time to make remarks about their relationship.

"So how did James manage to convince everyone that it wasn't him confessing that he was…not that interested in girls?"