Chapter 4: The Prince & Prongs
'Special Edition: RISE OF A NEW DARK LORD IMMINENT, MUGGLES MAIN TARGET' were the words that screamed out of the front page in today's Daily Prophet. Feeling a tight knot forming in her stomach, she read on.
'The magical world finds itself, yet again, on the brink of sinking into Darkness as rumours of the rise of another Dark Wizard does the rounds. If whispers on the streets are to be believed, said wizard, whose identity continues to remain unknown, is expected to amass more support and following than even Gellert Grindelwald had during his time. If Grindelwald was famous for his dream of overturning the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy and creating a new world order in which, wizards were the benevolent overlords of their world, the current Dark Lord, also known as Lord Voldemort, is commonly known for his hatred for Muggles. Going by the "Purist" view, Voldemort is believed to staunchly support the idea of keeping "Magic" accessible to only purely magical families with untarnished bloodlines and ancestry; there is no place for Muggle-borns in this world. Though the rumour mill about this Dark Lord had been abuzz since 1970, the lack of activity or any signs of Dark Magic at play, kept the Ministry tongue-tied on the matter; it has, however, become clearer only in recent times that the Dark Lord has, indeed, been using the time to befriend and gain the support of beings and creatures that the Magical community have blatantly rejected till now: giants, trolls, werewolves and vampires. What is bound to happen next remains unclear, but it is certain that the Dark Lord's first target would most likely be Muggles followed by Half-Bloods.'
"Why do I get the feeling that the Ministry isn't telling us something?" Isabella asked, as she tossed the paper aside and frowned at her abandoned toast. "We've been reading about this wizard for months now, and it's pretty much the same thing said in a few different ways!"
"Why read them, then?" asked a very cheeky Claiborne; she did not even have the courtesy to look up from her essay!
Throwing a playful death glare in her best friend's direction, she continued on. "You can't pretend that this is nothing, Jones!" she stressed particularly on the last word. "I can't believe this... Our world is slipping into Darkness faster than I had originally anticipated," she said, this time looking positively worried. It was very early on Saturday morning and Isabella, along with Claiborne, Alice and Mary, was in the Great Hall having breakfast and working on their homework at the same time.
"Are you honestly getting worked up because of an article?" asked Claiborne, looking up from her Potions essay. "You said it yourself, Izzy, the Prophet is hyping this man up for the heck of it! It's merely to rile people up and get them on their toes for no reason, and you're falling for it brilliantly!"
"I don't think it affects you as much because you're not a Muggle-born, Clay. I mean, Purebloods almost never have anything to worry about, do they?" Mary replied, looking sick with worry. "This man is changing our world... He's openly questioning and talking about things that were buried deep within our society for a long time now. He's stirring up conversations that were frowned upon by a vast majority till now; he's telling them that its finally 'OKAY' to not be okay with the current order of things, that... it's okay to call yourself a 'Purist' once again! That it's FINE to treat us Muggle-borns as third-class citizens..."
Isabella nodded, deep in thought. "It won't be long before it's on everyone's mouths," she concurred, sighing heavily. "Mary's right, this man is starting a revolution that's going to spin out of control and none of us will be able to do anything about it, except get sucked into the storm ourselves! I won't be surprised if he starts killing Muggles off to make a point... It's all only a matter of time, you know?" she said, and looked towards the Slytherin table, a weird kind of fear creeping up inside of her.
"Okay, but he's not after our necks today, is he?!" Alice groaned, looking up from her essay. It was funny how, of the five girls, nearly four of them, with the exception of Claiborne, were all Muggle-borns. "Our biggest threat right now is not some shoddy Dark Wizard, it's Sprout, so can we all agree to panic about this Voldemort man for when he actually strikes?" she said, bringing a smirk on Isabella's face. "Besides, I really need help with this essay, Izzy, you know how much I suck at this!"
"Okay, Parker, stop yanking my wand!" Isabella chuckled, and begrudgingly bent down to help Alice with her Herbology homework. Isabella did not know what it was that was bothering her so much, but she had to consciously put an effort to push all thoughts of this Dark Wizard out of her mind and focus on school work; this was going to sound MAD, but she somehow could not shake off the feeling that there was some sort of a weird connection between her and this faceless man...
Looking up at the teachers' table, Isabella saw Dumbledore chatting away with Flitwik and Slughorn, the three of them huddled together, as if they didn't want to be overheard, looking grimmer than ever. For some reason, she was beyond certain that they were discussing the article as well, immediately confirming her theory that there was more to this wizard that what the press was letting on.
Stop obsessing, Isabella! she told herself before gathering her things and getting up from the long table. "I'm heading up to the library," she declared, making Claiborne and Alice grace her with shocked expressions on their faces. Frowning amusedly, she bit back a smirk before saying, "Just need a bit of calm and peace to focus, that's all?" she said, reassuringly, inviting more dramatic gasps from them, as if they were hurt that she thought they weren't quiet enough for her. "Oh, stop it!" she grinned, making the three of them burst out laughing too. Still laughing, she blew them a kiss before disappearing out of the Great Hall.
The next three hours were spent buried behind a heap of books in the library, with the sole of determination of completing as many damned essays as possible over the weekend. She scratched away with her quill so determinedly that, she was sure her hand was going to fall off any second. At one point, her brain felt so fried that she was positive her sentences were starting to sound like random gibberish coarsely pieced together! Sighing loudly, she finally gave up pretending to concentrate on her Potions essay and started wrapping up her stuff.
"...I cannot believe you just said that!" said someone from far away; it was a voice that Isabella instantly recognised and it was moving closer towards her.
"I still don't understand what you're so upset about, Lily!" said Severus Snape, another fifth-year Slytherin boy. "Since when did you start caring about that lot, I thought you hated them too!"
"I don't hate anyone, Sev! I just dislike them, but it still does not give you the right to talk about him like that, it's downright mean..." Lily replied, sounding more aghast than anything else.
"Oh, that's right!" he mused sarcastically, "what I said about him a moment ago was 'mean,' but all what they do or say to me everyday of every week for the last five years is quite fine, I suppose, eh, Lily?" he challenged her, just as the two of them appeared from behind the book shelf and into Isabella's view. Isabella, for her part, ripped an old book from the bookshelf closest to her and pretended to be deeply engrossed in it as the two of them continued to argue behind her.
"I never said that, Sev!" Lily yelled crossly. "I've given James a piece of my mind every time he's so much as breathed on you, and you know that! You know that I do not, even in the slightest, approve of their behavior..."
"...Lily, I'm not an idiot, I see everything!" he whisper-yelled. "You say you despise them, that you can't 'stand' them and all that garbage, but do not try and deny the fact that, lately, you have been getting mighty chummy with that plonker, Black! And you never say one thing out of line to Pettigrew, Merlin knows why, since he deserves as much respect as does a teaspoon! And now, you're throwing a racket because I said something about Lupin?!"
"It's not who you said those things about, Sev, it's WHAT you said about him that concerns me!" she retaliated fiercely. "It's gotten me worried about the kind of person you're becoming! Sev, this is not who you are... at least not the same thoughtful, kind person that I grew up with...?!"
"He's dead!" he snarled back and the two of them ended up staring at each other for a full minute. Isabella looked up worriedly from behind a book called, 'The Rise Fall Of The Sacred Age' and saw Severus's handsome face contorted with repulsion. She didn't, for a second, approve of him talking to Lily in this manner and would have gladly knocked him out cold with this heavy book in her hand. "I'm sorry, but five years of enduring mere insults and humiliation at the hands of four extremely dimwitted bunch of tossers has most definitely changed me! It's bound to happen to anyone, but, of course, you wouldn't know because, you were never at the receiving end of it, were you?! So, excuse me, if I think you're just as dead from the neck up as they are!"
Lily simply gaped back at him, clearly rendered speechless. "Severus, I hope you understand one thing," she started, eyeing him dangerously. "I am only just learning to see the goodness in people despite their flaws. James is unfortunate and a PIG HEAD of the highest order! He IS mean and he will CONTINUE to be the biggest prat the world ever saw..."
"BUT?" Severus growled through gritted teeth.
Lily drew herself to her full height before answering a very red Severus. "...but, I respect him for what he's doing for Remus," she said in a quiet voice. "I didn't think he was capable of being a decent human being in the remotest sense, but now, I think he's more compassionate, mature and kind than both of us combined!" she glared daggers in his direction, her chest heaving and falling in anger. "He's a much, much better person than you or me are and you cannot deny that, especially after what I heard you just say about his best friend! HOW could you want some dead just because of what they are?! That was mean and UNFORGIVABLE!" she said and slammed her copy of 'Magical Drafts and Potions,' inviting a very stern 'Shhhhh!" from Madam Pince, the librarian.
Severus looked like he would explode any second now. "How exquisite," he snorted, sarcasm dripping from every pore on his face, "so, it does not matter at all that I, your best friend, was hurt and humiliated beyond expression all these years by those prats... All that matters is Potter's ability to 'ACCEPT' and entertain a shoddy WER—!"
"Shut up, Severus!" Lily silenced him immediately, and frantically looked around to see if anyone heard that; as she scanned every corner of the library though, her eyes finally fell on Isabella. Her eyes widened in complete shock while Isabella turned a deep shade of red around her ears. "I'll see you tomorrow, Severus," she hissed curtly to which he shot back with a, "Not likely!" and stormed out of the library without even giving her a glance back.
An earth-shattering silence fell between them as Lily rubbed her face in complete frustration while Isabella simply seethed in mind-numbing embarrassment. Shaking a little in nervousness, she put her book down and looked apologetically towards Lily who looked like she was on the verge of breaking down completely. Without another word, Isabella stood up, went round the large table that sat between her and Lily and wrapped her arms around her. "If it helps, Severus is an IDIOT," she whispered in Lily's ear, making her smile a little despite the tears that streamed down her face. A moment passed when neither said anything and simply sat in silence, giving Lily enough time to deal with the shock of it all.
"Come on, I'm starving, let's get out of here," said Isabella at long last, and Lily nodded. They got up and packed their stuff and, on their way out, Isabella made an entry for the book she had held for the fifteen minutes that Lily and Severus argued for. "Severus has changed, Izzy..." Lily said out of nowhere, shaking her head to herself. "I'm rather scared of what he's becoming... It's slow but blatantly evident..." she said, staring into empty space. "He's become a snob all of a sudden, you know? He snaps at me, looks down upon me, insults me sometimes, is extremely short on temper of late... I mean, I don't even know him anymore!" she muttered, looking worriedly at Isabella. Another painful moment passed as the two of them broiled in yet another bout of unimaginable awkwardness.
"How much did you hear?" Lily finally mustered up the courage to ask her as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Quite a bit, I'm afraid," Isabella replied truthfully, making Lily cringe.
"Remus is going to kill me!" she groaned, almost shuddering at the thought.
"Oh, that?! No, I still have no clue what that was about, Lily, so you're fine," she assured, finally managing to relax Lily's facial muscles. "And don't worry, I don't want to know what Remus's big secret is, but..." she stopped in mid-sentence and read Lily's expression before continuing, "as your friend, I ought to be honest with you, I think..." she said and surveyed her friend a bit.
"Hit me," Lily simply said, bracing herself for good measure.
"Well, Lily, I think... I think Severus does have a point, you know?" Lily's eyebrows shot up far and high in her forehead at this sudden anti-climax statement. "Don't get me wrong, but unlike you, Severus has does not have that many people he can call as 'friends'. Literally no one to fall back on, you know? He has only you and, hard as it may be to admit, but he's not wrong to feel you ought to take his side when it concerns the Marauders."
"You think I don't know that?" Lily asked weakly, her exasperation more than evident. "It's just... He drains me, Iz. He whines and sulks all the time, enough to make me want to pull my hair out! He is not even remotely capable of forgiving people and it's tiresome..."
Isabella simply smiled. "Doesn't he remind you of someone else who was like that when we first started here?" she asked, speaking about herself. "If you recall correctly, I was the exact same too, a couple of years ago. I was bullied too, by James and Sirius for being fat and slow when I first came here and it's taken me forever to feel better about myself... Of course, things have changed now, because of Quidditch, but the scars are still there, Lily..."
Lily's face fell instantly. "Oh, I hate James!" she declared crossly. "I mean, the NERVE to think that he's better than everyone else, and for what? For having a head full of dung?!" she said, grinding her teeth for full measure.
"Are you forgetting about his girlfriend? Sirius is even WORSE, the plonker! Him and I were practically joined at the hip growing up and I know how much fun we used to have playing together, so if he ever told you I am as boring a troll, DON'T believe him! And to think I was suddenly 'invisible' to his eyes the minute we stepped into Hogwarts truly did hit me like a storm! He was suddenly embarrassed by me and how I looked and wanted to have nothing to do with me!" she said, feeling her temper rising once again. "So, basically, I'm still mad at him, I still WON'T forgive him and funnily enough, I can't STOP thinking about him either!" she almost shrieked, making her voice echo through the empty corridor.
Lily had to do everything in her power to not burst out laughing at the murderous expression on Isabella's face.
"Anyway, my point is," she finally said, forcing herself to calm down by fanning her red hot face (Lily's restrain was short-lived and was laughing zealously at her best friend now), "your situation is really tricky, but I think Severus might be right this time..."
Lily's laughter died away instantly. Gaping disbelievingly at Isabella, she bit her bottom lip, deep in thought, as the two of them bustled into the noisy Great Hall. "Alright, fine!" she groaned and marched towards the Gryffindor table, although still undeniably disturbed. Their end of the hall was, as usual, bursting with activity, as fellow House-mates plopped mountains of food onto their plates as if they'd been starved for days within these walls. Isabella and Lily joined their friends, who still had their books and quills and parchments spread all over them as they feasted on the food.
As soon as they approached though, Claiborne and Mary's faces lit up. "Hi, there, Princess!" cooed Claiborne, wiggling her eyebrows at her. "Mr Evantrap wanted me to give you this!" she said, grinning teasingly.
"Ryan?!" asked Isabella, taken aback and turned slightly pink in the face. Taking the note in her hand, she looked up to find Ryan chatting away to glory with Sirius, Peter and a whole bunch of sixth and seventh-year boys a little down the long table.
"Someone's got themselves a boyfriend..." hummed Mary from across the table, prompting Isabella to throw a handful of lettuce at her whilst fighting the urge to smile herself.
'Princess,' it read on the outside and Isabella flushed immediately. Bracing herself, she opened the little parchment and inside, in beautiful writing, were the words, 'Just wanted to say you look beautiful today...'
Isabella instantly scrunched up her nose in wild embarrassment and her skin prickled all over with goosebumps.
"Blithering barnacles, he did NOT just write that!" yelled James, who had secretly read the message over Isabella's shoulder and was looking positively nauseated. "Why, I mean WHY do men completely lose it when a girl comes a-knocking?! I just... I don't understand it!" he guffawed loud enough for Ryan to hear, and shaking his head in utter mock-disillusionment.
The teasing snicker that played on James's lips, though, was enough to make a hippogriff want to light itself on fire.
"Piss off, Potter!" Ryan called back, grinning sheepishly.
"You deserved that," Isabella said to James in a low voice. "Hush, Williams, I'm only doing you a favour, you know?" he sniggered back at her, making her sigh exasperatedly. "Be honest, did you appreciate that even in the slightest?" he said, already laughing so much that his eyes were starting to water.
"No! But don't make it so obvious!" she said through gritted teeth and resisted an urge to crash her fist into his skull. Unfortunately though, this only made James, laugh even more! Clutching his stomach for good measure, he literally had to lean onto Isabella for support as he continued to laugh away to his heart's content.
"James, you prat!" she muttered, dancing under his weight. From the corner of her eye, Isabella noticed Sirius's head cock to a side to see what the commotion was about and soon enough, he broke off from the boys' conference too and ambled towards them to join in on the conversation, Peter strutting right behind him (Ryan, Isabella noticed, was craning his neck over the heads of his friends to catch a glimpse of her).
"What's going on?" Sirius asked, very intrigued by James's blood red face.
"Just... Ryan... He's... Mate, you should read his note here!" James spluttered, still howling his lungs away. "He's so WHIPPED!" he said, making the hand gesture for emphasis.
Sirius's eyes met Isabella's for a brief second and found her begging him to do some damage control. Winking at her he spoke, quite unable to control the smirk bursting at the corners of his lips. "Right, and I suppose you think you're the 'Smooth King' the world needs to learn from, eh, mate?" he offered, now looking purple in the face from his efforts keep a straight face.
James nodded arrogantly, still weak from hearty laughter. "It's like we share one brain, Pads!"
Lily, who had found it very hard to sit there and watch this go on for so long, finally seemed to take it no more. Rolling her eyes, she said, "You know, Potter, you would be much more likeable if it wasn't for that hole in your face that noises come out of!" she snapped, almost like a reflex action.
Suddenly a noise as that of someone choking on their own vomit filled the air, as James exclaimed and dramatically clutched at his chest in disbelief. Looking wide-eyed at his friends, he looked like he couldn't believe this was really happening. "Did she just...? Talk to me...?"
The girls all groaned in unison. "Ugh! How do you have the energy, James, good Merlin!" exclaimed Claiborne from the sides, but nothing was going to dissuade him now, unfortunately.
Excitement levels were sky-rocketing now as James looked at Lily as if she was the fairest lady in all the land! Sirius cursed under his breath and jumped up to avert the impending disaster that was heading their way. "Now, Prongs, honestly —"
"— ANNOUNCEMENT!" James exclaimed to the general public. Sirius slapped his own forehead and cringed wildly in embarrassment whilst hiding his face behind his large hand. Several heads had turned towards James by now, and Sirius was left sniggering helplessly to himself.
"Someone should ban you fifth-year boys from the Great Hall!" Calum Harper, another seventh-year, cheekily called out.
Waving him off, James continued. "Let me just say that right now, this very second, is a momentous time in James Potter's life, ladies and gentlemen!" he declared, spreading his hands out and addressing whoever was willing to listen to him. In response to that, a couple of seventh-year boys showered him with food scraps from the back that he playfully ducked from; Peter was bent double in laughter while Sirius continued to his his face in inexplicable shame. "Because, believe it or not," he continued, looking keenly into the faces two tiny Ravenclaws from the table next to their, "I finally managed to get Lily Evans to talk to me without having to provoke her!" he sniggered, and swung around enthusiastically to beam into the bored face of Lily. Still grinning from ear to ear, he said, "I must say though, baby, the wait was TOTALLY worth it, good heavens!" he hummed and eagerly bent low getting seductively close to her face.
Perhaps he saw something etched in Lily's expression, because a second later, something flickered in his eyes and his face changed completely, going from being nauseatingly flirtatious to downright concerned in under two seconds. In that instant, the world around him seemed to disappear; all childish playfulness flew right out of the window and got replaced by a grim, solemn expression; all that existed for him in that instant was the crestfallen face of Lily... Nothing else mattered, not even the fact that they were being gawked upon by a whole bunch of people smack in the middle of the Great Hall. Clawing on to her gaze, he shifted a little and asked, "Are... Are you alright...?" his voice low and dripping with genuine concern.
A flash of surprise crossed her eyes, as he continued to hold her gaze, scowling a little. It was unbelievable how he saw right through her like that. Blinking distractedly, she quickly recovered.
"Of — Of course! Never been better!" Lily lied coldly, but this time, it triggered an even bigger volley of astonishment from her girlfriends. Because, never before has Lily ever 'answered' a question that was posed by James Potter, not without first making it downright brutal at least! Sirius, Isabella noticed, also seemed mildly impressed...
None of this registered in James's mind, however, as he simply stared back at her, his features still etched with worry. Without another word, he instinctively turned around and looked straight at the Slytherin table to find Severus's eyes fiercely hooked on to Lily, looking more dour than usual—and that was all he needed to see, because he knew immediately what Lily's problem might be about. His face hardened at the revelation and he shook his head a little in disbelief. Giving Lily one last hard glance of disapproval, he mutely got up and strode back towards the bunch of older boys, leaving a void behind him. Isabella thought he was secretly fuming on the inside, but couldn't be sure.
"What's up with him?" asked Peter, completely oblivious to the mood around him.
Sirius smirked at his friend. "Read the room, Peter!" he said and threw his hand around his shoulder before steering him away from the girls one more time.
James and Lily ended up avoiding each other for full measure after that little exchange in the Great Hall, for reasons unknown to the rest of them.
The rest of the weekend was spent in the Common Room, hidden behind heaps and heaps of parchments and books, as the fifth-years (surprisingly, including the Marauders) worked hard as one big unit and helped each other out with their homework (and by 'help,' it meant shameless ripping off of Isabella and Claiborne's finished Transfiguration and Charms essays by The Plonker Himself). Edgar, perhaps, was slightly more courteous and offered to help with the research at least as he and Alice worked together on their Potions essay.
"Excellent work, today, class!" clapped Slughorn, on Wednesday morning, grinning happily at the bubbling cauldrons in front of him. "A very talented bunch, I must say," he continued, chuckling a little, his belly jingling with the effort. "Make sure to submit your homework by end of Friday and students with the best essays might just win an invitation to the party in the evening!" he called out happily as the bell rang. There was a scraping, as everyone stuffed their backpacks with their belongings when Isabella noticed Slughorn approaching Lily and Severus's table in front of her. "Exceptional brewing skills Mr. Snape, I think you just earned your House ten very well deserved points for that near perfect concoction of Invigoration Draught!" he gushed, making Lily beam at him in happiness. "Also, I'd very much like to see you and Ms. Evans here at the party, on Friday!"
James clenched his jaw in annoyance, and graced them with a look that could've killed a dragon! Sirius noticed it too and almost resisted an urge to roll his eyes at his thick friend, who mutely shoved his scales back into his bag and stormed out of the class. Giving Remus and Peter a knowing look, Sirius hurriedly packed his bag too and trotted after James on 'bro-duty.'
"So, it looks like career-planning from this year on is going to be slightly different, did y'all hear about it?" asked Frank Longbottom, a sixth-year Ravenclaw student, sitting on the ledge next to Sirius and Remus in the Wooden Bridge, where several students were chatting their stress away. Incidentally, most of the fifth years and Frank seemed to have had a free period at the same time and it looked like he'd decided to spend it with the Marauders instead.
As far as Isabella knew, if there was one person that the Marauders absolutely loved and celebrated as their own "brother" apart from themselves, that person was Frank Longbottom. She didn't how they ended up getting so close because, one, he was year above them, two, he was from a whole other House, and three, he was not ONE bit as reckless as them; if anything, he was the polar opposite of what defined the Marauders: extremely mature and well-behaved, unbelievably obedient and irritatingly methodical.
"What d'you mean?" asked Remus.
"Well, it looks like the Ministry wants to tighten security on the back of rumours of a Dark Wizard rising, and don't seem to have enough hands on board to fight him off. So, they may make it mandatory for all students, fifteen years and above, to apply for the Auror program this year! Also, it looks like Dumbledore has agreed to keep Hogwarts as the initial training grounds for young Aurors..."
"You can't be serious!" said Edgar, looking particularly pleased with this information. "I've always wanted to be one, now I won't have to work so hard?!" he grinned sheepishly.
"Not so fast, you still have to pass the exams, mate!" he sniggered. "It's not official yet, but the school is planning on keeping a very N.E.W.T-like exam from fifth-year onwards this year, so you lot stand to get inducted into the program too!"
"What's the deal?" asked Isabella out of nowhere. "He's ONE wizard, how long would it take for them to capture him and throw him in Azkaban?"
"I don't think you understand the enormity of the problem here, Izzy," replied Remus. "He's not just some wizard, he's more like the voice of several thousand Purists of the world. Firstly, I doubt if he's any ordinary wizard who's threatening to wreak havoc in our world, he must be someone really powerful, someone even the Ministry fears."
"Secondly, even if he's somehow captured, his supporters may rally against the Ministry and the whole thing stands to blow out of proportion... Basically, it's fraught with complications..." Edgar concluded for Remus.
"But, I don't understand! Why hasn't a formal announcement of this been made?! If we're going to have N.E.W.T's this year, we have less than eight months to prepare!" squeaked Lily, looking aghast.
"So, that's why they've been dumping us with so much work of late!" exclaimed Sirius, having a sudden revelation of sorts.
"What does it matter to you? All you ever do is 'borrow' our homework," Isabella shot back.
"I'd really only blame you for that, you know?" Lily said, being the irritating 'voice of reason' when she least needed it. "Anyway, good talk, but free period's over and some of us need to get back to classes, so adios!" she declared and swung her bag over her shoulder.
"Is it time already?!" Isabella exclaimed, looking at her watch.
"Whoa, what's that?!" Sirius gasped and grabbed hold of her wrist, examining it as if it was pure gold studded with emeralds all around.
Isabella rolled her eyes. "It's a wristwatch, Sirius," she replied, yanking her hand away from his grip and walking towards the castle with the rest of the fifth-years.
"What does it do? And this one's far too big for you tiny hand, don't you think?"
"It tells time! And I like it big..." she muttered.
Sirius's eyes widened. "YOU DO, do you?!" Sirius chuckled teasingly whilst gracing her with the most petulant wink ever, making her roll her eyes yet again in complete and utter disgust. "Tell you what, give it to me..." he growled, battling with the latch on the large, black steel watch for well over a MINUTE (only very slightly exaggerating this), "...and I won't tell James what you just said!" he said, finally managing to break the mega science behind it and grinning away with her watch strapped neatly around his wrist.