Memories (Open to all Gryffindors!)

[LILY MICHELLE EVANS]

Like always, Lily had enjoyed this years sorting ceremony and feast. The event had left her in an odd mood, at a state somewhere between anxiousness and sleepiness. This was her first day back, in her fifth year and time felt like it had flown. It felt like only yesterday that she had held her breath as she waited to have the sorting hat placed onto her head.

Sitting in the common room she let her mind wander to that very first day, the excitement she had felt was like no other. Her parents had waited with her at Platform 9 3/4 for what seemed like forever, while Petunia stood arms crossed with the most sour expression on her face. It hadn't gotten her down though, no matter what Petunia said Lily knew that it was jealousy that fueled her hatred of all things magical. Lily couldn't blame her, if their positions had been switched, she would be jealous too.

When Lily finally boarded the train she felt the excitement and magic in the air. She knew that she was special and that even though it seemed like there were so many other magical people there, she was still one in a million. Lily remembered taking a seat next to Severus, a Severus who had not yet been lured by dark magic, who had not yet felt embarrassed by the fact that his best friend was a muggleborn. The two barely said a word to each other; they were both too preoccupied taking all of the sights and sounds in. Severus had been exposed to magic already, he had expectations of what Hogwarts would be like, and Lily had none. She tried hard to remember the rest of the trip to the castle, but her memory became cloudy.

What she could remember was the first time that she saw Hogwarts and what a magnificent sight it was! A brief wave of nervousness had come over her, but she quickly replaced it with excitement and wonder. The entrance hall had seemed huge to her, now it seemed to grow smaller each year. Lily beamed when she saw the Sorting Hat and her eyes filled with adoration when she laid eyes on Albus Dumbledore for the first time. He seemed so distinguished and powerful, yet his eyes were extremely kind. Even when Dumbledore spoke in his most booming voice, there was tenderness in his voice that made anyone near him feel safe and cared for. She sighed as she relived the memories and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened her eyes she was startled to find a person sitting next to her, adjusting her eyes to the dim light and the roaring fireplace she tried to focus on whoever it was.

(Kind of lame . .but whatever!)

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

Each year, Sirius found himself being more and more annoyed by the sorting ceremony. It was just the same bloody thing every year! Still, he amused himself by cheering for those who were sorted into Gryffindor and hissing at those who were thrown into Slytherin. Did Sirius care that he was hissing at eleven year old children who were probably nervous out of there wits for their first year of school? No, not at all. In fact, he saw it as doing them a favor; if they were Slytherins, they were going to have to get used to house rivalries so why not get it started right off the bat? A besides, what ever jeers or hisses he threw at the newly sorted Slytherins was nothing compared to what he got from his parents after telling them he was in Gryffindor.

Sirius remembered his sorting very well. He knew that most everyone who was familiar with his family name expected him to be sorted into Slytherin. Even from a young age Sirius knew that he didn't want that. When he thinks back on it now, Sirius can't remember if that mentality was because he genuinely disliked his family's moral code or if it was simply because of his rebellious nature. He tended to think it was more so the latter; a good way to get Sirius Black to do something, was by telling him to do the opposite. The more his parents has praised Slytherin house and told him he would be a member one day, my Sirius more and more opposed to the idea.

Once the news got to his parents, Sirius didn't hear much from them until he came home for winter holiday. Sirius couldn't remember what his parents said to him; there was so much and it happened so intensely that it's all a big blur to him now. He specifically remembers them using words like "embarrassed", "disappointed", and "mortified". The only thing that rivaled the confusion of the event was how Sirius felt about it. Had he been please to see what distress he caused? Had he been hurt by his parents reaction? Sirius liked to think that he didn't care what his parents thought, but if that were the case, why was the memory of this keeping him up?

The night after each sorting ceremony since his second year, Sirius was reminded of how his parents reacted to his own sorting and it kept him up for most of the night. It pissed him off! He was supposed to be happy now because he was back at hogwarts and back with his three best friends! He hated that his parents could have some sort of effect on him even when he was hundreds of miles away. He hated his parents with their stupid ideals, stupid house, and he especially hated his father's big STUPID FACE!!! Laying in bed, staring at the top of his canopy, and festering in his own anger and self pity was a waste time. He got up and went down to the common room, more for an excuse to walk somewhere to clear his head than anything else.

The common room had only one other occupant; Lily Evans. Of course Sirius would run into the only other person who rivaled him in terms of James Potter's affections. Well, friendly affection towards Sirius . . . at least he hoped they were friendly, but part of his ego couldn't help but think that even someone as straight as James Potter would go a little gay for Sirius. He was Sirius Super Awesome Mega Foxy Hot Black, after all. Still, despite this small rivalry, Sirius had no problem with Evans other than the fact that she didn't swoon over him like most of the other girls in the school. He just hated when his good looks weren't appreciated.

Evans appeared lost in thought, so it was easy for Sirius to creep up and take a seat next to her. It didn't take her long to realized he was there, and she didn't seen to pleased by his sudden appearance.

"Well hello Evans!" he said, "have a good summer, then?"

((YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT; Sirius Black has feelings and he's a little emo about them! DEAL!)))

[LILY MICHELLE EVANS]

When her eyes finally adjusted, she saw that it was Sirius Black sitting next to her. She couldn't help but grin, awaiting some kind of come on or flirtation. To her surprise, all he did was say hello and ask her about her summer, weird.

"Are you ok Sirius? Are you running a fever? I don't believe it's you, actually saying something polite to me."

She grinned at him, pleased with her own bit of teasing. Perhaps Sirius wasn't as much of a brute as she thought he was, maybe this year he had turned over a new leaf. Nah, he was probably still as rude and egotistical as he had been the year before. Also, he was probably geared up for a whole new year of tormenting Severus. It wasn't hard for Lily to guess that in a matter of days Sirius would be jinxing Severus left and right and that this brief moment of friendship between herself and Sirius wouldn't last very long. Still, Lily was raised to be polite and was genuinely interested in how her fellow Gryffindor student spent his summer.

"Ok, I'll bite. How are you Sirius? And my summer was fine, thank you for asking. I missed magic quite a bit though, living in my completely magic-less household . . it was a little much to bare at times. I'm glad to be back, how about you, do anything exciting this summer?"

Lily hoped that by asking him how his summer was he didn't take it as an invitation to rattle off how many girls he had 'met' over the summer. She knew all about his reputation with the ladies and could not at all understand how anyone could find him attractive enough to fall all over him. Lily did not consider him charming, instead she found him vulgar and rude. Now she wasn't blind and she could see that he was rather attractive, if you could get past his personality.

Truthfully, Lily was glad to see a familiar face. After being away from magic for so long even the people who she found slightly annoying were a welcome sight. For a moment she felt like there might be more to Sirius Black than met the eye (and ear). She couldn't deny that something seemed a bit off with him, but it was a matter that at the moment she would not pry into. Instead, she'd wait for a reply before she made any assumptions. It was public knowledge that Sirius did not have the best home life, being the only Gryffindor in a pack full of Slytherins couldn't have been easy. Other than that much, Lily barely knew anything about Sirius's family or him for that matter, just rumors she heard whispered in the hallways.

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

Jesus tap dancing Christ in a bikini in mid-winter, couldn’t Sirius be a little nice without people thinking there was something wrong with him? Certainly, Sirius had the capability to be friendly to other people. At the moment, Sirius just didn’t feel like being obnoxious. It took a lot more energy than people realized, and while trying to cover up the strange emotions going on in Sirius’ head right now, he just didn’t feel like it. Plus, there was the fact that he was talking to his best friend’s crush and it wouldn’t do James any good if Sirius were rude to Lily, even if she was friends with that walking ball of grease, Severus Snape. Oh, Sirius could hardly wait to test out the jinxes he learned over the summer on old Snivelus.

“No, Evans, I am not ill, but your concern is noted,” he said a little harshly, but flashed her a grin to show that he was joking. “Must I be ill to have a casual conversation with a fellow fifth year? We have most of our classes together, after all, and it simply wouldn’t do well to not be friendly with one another.” Quite frankly, that really didn’t matter to Sirius all that much; he was so used to conflict that he hardly cared if didn’t get along with other gryffindors in his year.

For a moment, Sirius regretted approaching Evans in the first place; he was in no mood to talk and a talk with Evans was going to take a lot of effort on his part to seem casual. What if he faltered and ended up talking about his feelings? GROSS. No, he would bottle those up deep in the back of his mind where THEY BELONGED. You know, somewhere where they would eventually drive Sirius to insanity or something like that. That’s just how he rolls.

“Well, since you asked, I’m doing rather well now that I’m back at school,” he said, trying to as a touch of his usual demeanor by sitting back with his hands behind his head, “ the summer was a bit blah, which is only to be expected at the Black house, but I did manage to escape a few times for some well deserved freedom.” Sirius was really curious to see why James was so into this girl. She was pretty, yes, but that didn’t explain the severe infatuation James had with her. Sirius could sense that there was a little something different about her; she certainly didn’t smell like most girls. Evans had more a fresh scent, rather than a perfume smell like most girls. Of course, that was the type of thing that only Sirius would notice so that wouldn’t explain James.

[LILY MICHELLE EVANS]

For a moment Lily felt like maybe she had been too hard on Sirius, that maybe her prodding and teasing of him had been a little too rude and a little too harsh. She hadn't meant to offend him, usually it was hard for Lily to offend anyone. To most everyone Lily was a sweet and kind girl, but one that would not be walked all over or taken advantage of. She had an inner toughness that when needed would show itself, but right now she was feeling soft and guilty. Lily fought back a gasp and almost jumped when Sirius spoke so harshly to her, but was relieved when he flashed his trademark smile to show that he was joking. She suppressed a little bit of nervous laughter and listened closely as he replied.

"Well I suppose your right Sirius, that wouldn't do at all. I apologize, perhaps I've misjudged you, you're not nearly as rude as James Potter."

Lily immediately wished that she could take her words back, she was not a gossipy girl and was not about to start badmouthing James behind his back, especially not to his best friend. Her cheeks flushed at what she had said and coolly thought of a way to smooth it over. She sighed before she began, so much for striking up some sort of friendship with Sirius.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that either, James isn't all that bad I suppose. And really, I've never thought that you were a bad guy either. I just must be honest with you, I can't understand why you're always picking on Severus Snape. But, it's our first night back . .I bet you'd rather not get into that right now."

She smiled, showing some kind of apology and truce. Lily hoped that she hadn't offended Sirius too much, but he had always seemed like someone who wasn't offended very easily. This had probably been the first real conversation the two of them ever had and Lily smiled at the thought, no wonder it wasn't going so swell.

"I'm glad to hear you're doing well," she said quickly, trying to change the subject and ignore the guilty knot twisting itself in her stomach. For the first time since her second year, Lily felt guilt for speaking her mind and letting her words just fly out. Most of the time she was much more eloquent than she was being, perhaps Sirius had an effect on her much like he did all of the other girls in their house and year. She shook her head at the thought, she wasn't effected by any young man.

"Escaping eh? I always feel like when I come back to Hogwarts I'm escaping from home. It's suffocating to not be able to do any magic and my sister is always making me feel like I have some sort of disease for being magical."

Lily gave Sirius a sideways smile, she didn't expect him to be as open about his home life as she was about hers. She was not ashamed that she came from a muggle family; in fact, she was rather proud that after a long line of muggles she was the lone magical one. Her parents made her feel special for this, but Petunia was so filled with jealousy that it was impossible for her to feel happy for Lily. Petunia's jealousy meant that Lily couldn't say much about all things magical, no matter how much she wanted to.

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

As soon as Evans made the comment about James, Sirius burst out in laughter. It really was funny on multiply levels; firstly, James was completely head over heals for Evans and the girl just commented on how rude he was. That was just funny! Oooh the cruel irony. Well, that was going to make this year very interesting and entertaining. Aside from the irony of the situation, there was the fact of how bluntly Evans had said it! Like she had no shame about it at all. Of course, being the charming girl that she was, Evans quickly began to apologize, which took away much of the hilarity from the situation. Oh well, it had certainly cheer up Sirius; he enjoyed a good joke at the expense of his best friend.

"Really, don't worry about," said Sirius as Evans began to apologize, "I can see why you would feel that way. I know James may come off as rude but. . . think of it as just he was of showing friendly affection, well, in some cases. Other times he really is just genuinely rude, but we are fifteen year old boys after all and you really can't expect much from us."

Sirius wasn't trying to defend James, he was just explaining the mentality of a fifteen year old boy. Sirius found it really odd that so many girls didn't understand boys. There really wasn't much to the males at Hogwarts. Chances are that the girls are just thinking to hard. That or they're too annoyed to try. Now that Sirius thought about it, it was probably the latter.

"Snivelus?" Sirius said with a mildly disgusted look on his face, "I pick on him because his a bloody, greasy little slytherin twat. Evans, you have to understand, he hates us as much as we hate him. He'd kill me if he had the chance, and I can't really say I'd hold back if given the opportunity. It's a balance to the universe really, and who am I to go against the balance of the universe? Look, Evans, it's really best for you to not get involved with it. In fact, you should probably stay away from Snivelus; have you seen the guys he hangs out with? That group has 'shady' written all over it and their not exactly the type to be accepting of muggleborns. In my opinion, Snivelus is going to get what's coming to him."

It was widely known around old H-Warts that James and Sirius did not get along with Severus Snape. It was unfortunate for James that Evans happen to be a friend of the greasy Slytherin boy. It was also widely known that the people that Snape hung out with were the 'bad' crowd at school. They were all people like Sirius' family; all caught up in pure-blood pride, muggle discrimination, and dark magic. The thought of it made Sirius sick. At school, he hoped to get away from all there, but no! There had to be a little group that specialized in all the crap that Sirius hated.

Sirius felt like he was coming out of a fog of hatred when he realized that Evans had changed the subject to her family and her home life. "Your sister sounds like a bitch," said Sirius bluntly, much like the way Evans had spoken about James, only Sirius would offer no apology. He was just the type of person to speak his mind and be honest with people. "She reminds me of my little brother, the stupid idiot. You'd think he'd be smart enough to know that the Ministry can't tell if I used minor jinxes in my parents house! Nope, he goes and calls me a blood-traitor so I cast a jelly legs jinx on him while he's standing on the second floor landing so he falls down the steps! He's really quite dim, but I've heard old Slughorn talking about him like he's some sort of genius! The man really must have some poor judgment, well, he is the head of Slytherin house after all."

Even though Slughorn did seem like an alright fellow, Sirius upbringing made it virtually impossible for him to like any Slyhterin ever.

[LILY MICHELLE EVANS]

Lily was relieved beyond belief to hear Sirius laugh at her comment about James, so much so that she was compelled to laugh with him. The whole situation seemed so silly, her getting so worked up over it and Sirius thinking that it was funnier than it really was. It wasn't like she told a joke or something, she couldn't imagine why he thought it was so funny. It didn't matter, she laughed along with him anyway and it put her in a significantly better mood.

She tried to stifle her laughter as Sirius talked, but the oddness of it all made it hard for her to control the giggles from escaping. Finally she gained enough control over herself to listen to what he was saying and to formulate a response. At least Sirius agreed with her, which was kind of surprising considering that Sirius was best friends with James. Of course, he came up with a way to defend and explain his friend's behavior, one that Lily didn't find too convincing.

"I'm not sure it's friendly affection, I think maybe he tries to annoy me on purpose. And come on, you said it yourself, you're fifteen year old boys, that means you should be a little more sensitive and respectful. Well, maybe . .or maybe you're right. I know! Perhaps Potter has a crush on me or something, that sure would explain a lot!"

She scoffed at the thought and couldn't help but laugh at her own little joke. Imagine, a toe rag like Potter ever actually having genuine feelings for someone or something. The more she thought about how absurd it would be if Potter liked her, the more she laughed.

When regaining herself again, Lily sighed at Sirius's comments about Severus. Part of her believed he was right and it was well known that Lily was not a fan of his new friends. They were dealing in dark magic and Lily knew it, but for some reason she just felt like Severus was better than they were and maybe she could pull him away from that group.

"But you have to understand, I know Severus isn't as bad as he acts around those guys. We've been friends for years, he would never do anything to hurt me and if I asked, he would never do anything to hurt you guys either. I have to believe there is good in him, no matter who he spends his time with. I have to stick by him, I'm the only real friend he has. Do you think those other guys would still be friends with him if they knew he spent almost every day with me during the holiday? They'd drop him instantly . . ."

Lily sighed again as a bit of realization crossed her face, of course they didn't know Severus was friends with her, he was probably ashamed to admit it. She tried to convince herself otherwise, but in the back of her mind she knew it was true. Her best friend was becoming just like the other muggleborn haters and no matter what she did she couldn't think of any way to stop it. Of course, she wouldn't tell Sirius she believed he was becoming what Sirius said he was. No, unless Severus did something really horrible, she would always defend him and stand by him.

She was a bit annoyed when Sirius called her sister a bitch and her brow furrowed at the thought. As much as she couldn't stand how Petunia treated her, she loved her sister. True, their relationship was not very good, but she wouldn't go around having anyone bad mouth her.

"Now Sirius, bitch is a bit harsh, she's still my sister." Lily tried to be as nice as possible, while still getting across the point that she wouldn't have Sirius call her sister names. She realized that Sirius would do and say what he wanted anyway, so she didn't push the issue much further. Besides, name calling rarely caused any harm, right?

Lily giggled at Sirius' story about his brother and the jelly legs, but gave a light-hearted sigh as he started talking about Slughorn. She adored professor Slughorn and he liked her just as much, which is why she was part of his club. The Slug Club was a special group of students, advanced in potions enough that Slughorn thought it would be beneficial to teach them additional potions tricks.

"Oh come on, Slughorn isn't bad at all. He may be the head of the Slytherin house, but he doesn't care about your blood. I know from experience. We get along famously, he even invited me to be part of his Slug Club."

A sense of pride was hidden in Lily's voice as she spoke about being a part of the Slug Club, but she would never actually brag. No matter how proud she was, Lily didn't think that being too proud or bragging about yourself would get you anywhere. She knew that being humble and focusing on your studies were two things more important than telling the world how great you are.

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

As Lily continued to talk about James, Sirius had three options at this point; he could just come out and admit that James had a crush on her, he could keep making random excuses, or he could change the subject with no further explanation. The latter seemed pretty suspicious and the first option seemed almost like betrayal, even though Sirius was certain that Evans was going to know for sure, within the next few weeks, that James had a crush on her. As he carefully reviewed his options, Sirius kept his cool. He simply smirked, shook his head, and gracefully moved a piece of hair out of his face to mask the fact that he was actually doing some serious thinking.

"Evans, if every boy that annoyed you had a crush on you, than you would be an even bigger flirt that me," he sad finally, "Like I said, at this age you can't expect anything else from us. It's every teenage boy's God given duty to ignore the opposite sex. Unless you're me of course; then your just God's gift to the opposite sex."

Sirius smirked at his own arrogance. He knew the statement would make Lily think less of him, but hopefully it would distract her from thinking about whether or not James had a crush on her. Plus, Sirius had to make sure that Evans didn't fall for him instead of James. It was possible that it could happen; Sirius was so used to putting his charm on for girls that sometimes he simply couldn't help it when they fell for him. His looks were enough to get any girl to fall head over heals for him, but when you combined that with his wit and charm, he was a genuine babe magnet. For Evans, he had to turn of his charm while maintaining his cool, which was a lot harder than it sounded. The plan was to almost make James seem humble in comparison to him. Really, James better appreciate all the hard work Sirius was putting in for him. Sirius always got enough girls for himself, it was about time he put some work into getting one for James.

Sirius couldn't help but sigh as Evans tried to defend Snivelus. That boy had certainly pulled the wool over her eyes. Obviously, if Snape had to pretend to not know Evans to get those other Slytherins to like him, than he wasn't a very loyal friend! Sirius always saw loyalty as one of the most important qualities in a person. It was something that Snape severely lacked in terms of Evans, and that was one of the reasons why Sirius disliked him so much. It seemed like there really was no convincing Evans about Snape's true nature. Unfortunately, she was just going to have to find out for herself one of these days and that wasn't going to be pretty. Hopefully, when that did happen, it won't be the type of rude awakening that would cause Snape's buddies to hurt her because Sirius knew what those guys were capable of and what they were willing to do to 'mudbloods'. Though Sirius and Lily weren't best buddies, he would hate to see anything happen to her because, he had to admit, she was a good person.

Sirius said nothing else about Snape because there simply was no talking to Evans about it. Instead, he just grunted and shrugged and allowed her to move on to the next topic; he sister. Evans wasn't very please about Sirius opinion on that matter either. "Sorry, but I call them like I see them." he said simply. Sirius wasn't the type to bother thinking about why someone was the way they are. Instead, he preferred to just judge them based on the way they acted, and the way Evans described her sister, she acted like a bitch.

"You're own sister shouldn't make you feel like shit because you're different from her, that's fucked up."

Sirius knew what it was like to be treated poorly by your own family for being different. It was probably the thing he was most bitter about in his life and he simply couldn't not understand how Evans could be so forgiving. You're family shouldn't make you feel like crap no matter what. Period.

Sirius had forgotten that Evans was one of Slughorns favorite students. The man was charming, in his own way. Being a master of charm, Sirius could tell when he was around someone else with the same talent and was also immune to it.

"Oh, that's right, Evans, I forgot that your a member of the 'Slug Club'," he said with a smirk, "I've been invited to join, of course, but I was little put off when old Sluggy told me that I "would have made a fine Slytherin." I don't know it he's genuinely fond of me or if he just wants to be able to say that both of the Black brothers are in his little Slug Club." Sirius knew the family lineage was more important to Slughorn than actual talent. The kids in his class that came from wealthy, or well connected families were always the first to be invited to the Slug Club, then the one who Slughorn thought would be successful would be next. It was all self fulfillment for Slughorn, and Sirius wanted nothing to do with it.

[LILY MICHELLE EVANS]

Laughing was just about all Lily could do, Sirius' blunt words and 'I don't give a crap' nature weren't particularly new to her, but were a bit more extreme than those she had encountered before. Of course she was well aware that most things he said were in a fun, jesting manner, even if some of them were in poor taste. This, Lily guessed, was just a way of masking his true feelings. Although, when he talked about women Lily truly believed that his ego was as big as it seemed. What made her laugh the hardest was the line about Sirius being God's gift to the opposite sex, puh-lease! Sure, he was rather easy on the eyes and he was quite charming and funny, as well as truthful and loyal . . . wait, no. Just no. Lily found herself starting to think like every other girl at Hogwarts and cringed slightly. She would not be a giddy school girl worshiping the ground he walked on, absolutely not. Lily had more sense than to waste her precious time and emotions on him. Lily had more sense than to waste her time and emotions on any boy! She was the one girl she knew that remained completely immune to Sirius Black's charm, there had to be someone who kept that big fat ego in check and Lily was more than happy to be the person to do it. But, oh no, was she being flirtatious? Could he possibly mistake her prodding and teasing for something more than friendly joking? She dismissed these thoughts like she had dismissed the others, like usual she was overanalyzing things.

"My my, what an ego you've got on you. Just when I thought that perhaps you were a charming fellow, you prove me wrong. Oh and Sirius, I find it impossible that anyone could ever be a bigger flirt than you!"

Lily let a big grin slide itself across her face and she let out a chuckle, Sirius had her almost completely laughed out. She figured that her response was innocent enough; it kept things friendly and light. He had to know she was just kidding, well sort of, she meant it about his ego, but not in a derogatory sense. When the topic of conversation turned to Snape and she had said her peace, she couldn't help but notice the sigh that Sirius let out. He obviously disagreed with her, but she was grateful that he wasn't going to push the issue. Her feelings about Severus and their friendship were changing every day and it would take too much out of her to say anything more. So, the topic of conversation shifted to her sister, another emotionally draining situation.

"Well I'm not saying she can't be rude and harsh, but she was once my best friend. And you're right, it's not fair of her to treat me the way she does because I'm different. I know why she does it, she's completely jealous, instead of being happy for me and realizing that it's not like I set out to be a witch. .or even knew that I was one. You know, she wrote a letter to Dumbledore begging him to accept her to Hogwarts, so I know she's jealous. My parents love having a witch in the family, they're very proud of me. She can't stand that either, she's desperate for attention."

Lily stopped when she realized she had said too much, Sirius' parents weren't proud of him for being sorted into Gryffindor, so it probably didn't make him feel too good when people talked about their loving families. Also, Lily was starting to sound like a bitch, an entitled, indignant bitch. She shook her head at her own words, but didn't apologize for them just yet. After all she had said she figured that Sirius wouldn't judge her too much.

Then there was the Slug Club, Lily had no idea that Sirius had been invited. Just the knowledge that he was gave Lily a greater amount of respect for him and it proved to her that Sirius was intelligent and talented in more than one area (that one area being his ability to charm the ladies). She thought that maybe him not joining the Slug Club was more out of a hatred for his brother than a hatred of Slughorn, which was something she couldn't blame him for.

"I suppose it is best you didn't join; one Black brother is more than enough for me. Every time Slughorn has his back turned he hisses 'mudblood' at me. I've been tempted to jinx him more than once. But if you're genuinely talented in potions, you shouldn't let your talents go to waste. I'd be happy to show you some of the more amusing things I've learned in the Slug Club sometime, if you want."

Lily had finally extended an invitation to actual friendship to Sirius, she felt as if after this conversation he had earned it. Whether or not he would actually take her up on her offer she had no idea, but she decided that she would not mind spending time with him. Plus, she had been relatively successful in not falling for his charm and she'd love to challenge herself again.

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

Clearly, Lily wasn't as immune to Sirius' charms as she thought! HA! Sirius was almost disappointed; it would have been so much easier for James if Evans' was better at resisting Sirius. Alas, this was going to be harder for James that Sirius thought. Well, Sirius could hardly blame Evans; she was sitting on a couch, alone, with Sirius Orion Black. It was a tempting situation for any girl. Yes, she had said that she thought he was charming and that's he'd prover her wrong and blah blah blah. Psh, yeah, if Sirius had proven her wrong, than why was she giggling like a school girl? And as far as his ego went; girls loved the ego. They said they didn't, they pretended to act like they didn't, but they did. They TOTALLY did.

"Well, when girls like you stop having giggle fits around me, maybe my ego will deflate a bit," said Sirius with a grin, "but until then, it's just going to keep getting bigger and bigger. I can't really help it ,you know, and it's kind of your fault. Well, not specifically your fault, but girls in general; so many treat me like a celebrity so it's hard not to act like one."

When you got right down to it, Sirius Black was the closest thing to a celebrity that Hogwarts had. This conversation was certainly brightening Sirius' mood; he could hardly remember why he had been in such a sober mood when he first came into the common room. Evans had reminded him how differently he was preserved at school compared to at home. At Grimmauld Place, Sirius was treated more like a cockroach infestation rather than a family member, but at school, Sirius was kind of a big deal. All the girls love him and all the guys thought he was awesome, except for the Slytherins, but they didn't count at school or in life. And Sirius took a little bit of pride in knowing that his existence probably cause his brother a lot of grief. Being in Slytherin and being the brother of the famous Gryffindor, Sirius Black? That certainly can't be working out well. Regulus had to be getting a lot of shit for that, and Sirius couldn't be happier about it.

"If your sister is that desperate for attention than maybe she should become a hooker; I'm sure she's get plenty of attention then," said Sirius with a slight edge to his voice. He wasn't really joking anymore; at this point, he was really starting to dislike Lily's sister and he'd never even met her! The more Lily tried to defend the girl, the more Sirius disliked her. Perhaps it was because Sirius was just bias against shitty siblings. Sirius considered James to be more of a brother than Regulus ever was. "I can't really say Regulus is a little bitch because he wants attention; Lord knows he gets enough of it at home. Jealous, maybe. . . I mean, he wasn't really blessed with looks or charm . . . or a normal sized head. But, I don't really think that's the case; I think that he's just genuinely a little prick who needs to have his ass kicked. Maybe your sister just needs a good, swift kick in the ass to straighten her out."

Sirius didn't think Lily was an indignant bitch because he was too focus on how much each of their siblings sucked. If Regulus wasn't such a muggle hater and if Evans' sister wasn't so jealous of wizards, they two probably could have been good friends and plotted the doom of Lily and Sirius together. Or, they could just be forced to be together as they are now, like that muggle show 'The Odd Couple", and provide Lily and Sirius was lots of entertainment. Or they would just kill each other. Either way, it would be awesome!!!

Sirius wasn't surprised to hear about his brother's behavior at Slug Club meetings. "Wow, my brother is dumb, you'd think he'd be a little nicer to Gryffindors knowing that I'm in the house and that I can always let it slip that he still wets the bed- OOPS! Did I just say that? Well, cat's out of the bag now!" Sirius mocked remorse as he rolled his eyes.

"You learn 'amusing things' at these meetings? Well, I'll be the judge of that, in fact, I'd like to take you up on your offer right now." Sirius couldn't believe that Slughorn had a proper sense of humor. Every time Sirius thought of the man, all he could think of was crystallized pineapple and purple velvet smoking jackets.

((sorry, started to develope a bit of a headache near the end))

[LILY MICHELLE EVANS]

"Well, when girls like you stop having giggle fits around me, maybe my ego will deflate a bit,but until then, it's just going to keep getting bigger and bigger. I can't really help it ,you know, and it's kind of your fault. Well, not specifically your fault, but girls in general; so many treat me like a celebrity so it's hard not to act like one."


Blegh! As much as she hated to admit it, Sirius had a point. A pointy tail, that is, and devilish horns protruding from his head. She internally chuckled at the thought, it was the only thing keeping her from getting up and walking out of the room. What impressed her most about her encounter with Sirius was that she was able to look past what terrible things he had done and said to Severus and give him a chance, not that he truly deserved it, especially since with each word he spoke he was proving himself to be a completely self-centered git. As childish as it was, she was tempted to just stick her tongue out at him and call him a troll bogey.

"Oh and like if girls didn't pay attention to you your ego wouldn't be huge? I'm surprised you have enough room for a brain in that head of yours, since your ego is taking up so much space. Really Sirius, the only person who views you as a celebrity is you and your lap dog James Potter."

Lily had made her statements in an almost matter of fact tone, but not a venomous one. She was half teasing, half serious, but Sirius was so caught up in thinking about himself that she didn't expect him to notice. What had she been thinking? Why on earth would she ever allow herself to think for even a second that Sirius Black was a nice, charming young man? After all he had said and done to her best friend, the person who she felt like cared for her most, he couldn't be trusted to be more than an acquaintance. Granted, maybe she was being a bit hard on him, he didn't treat her terribly, but sometimes an attack on Sev felt just as bad as if he had attacked her personally. Sighing, she pushed away her negative thoughts about Sirius and tried to focus on their conversation. She wasn't going to like him any better or feel inclined to speak to him at all if she continued to dwell on his past actions. Also, Lily figured that she wasn't going to be a person she liked very much if she insulted Sirius any further, so she shut her mouth tight after her last comment.

Her eyes widened at the hooker comment, no one had ever had the nerve to say something like that in front of her before. As much as Severus hated Petunia, and hate isn't a severe enough word for his dislike of her, he would never say a rude thing about her in front of Lily. She chose to ignore it, Lily was ignoring a lot lately for the sake of keeping the peace with people. If she had things her way everyone would be mindful of each other, kind and accepting, but she was realistic enough to know that her perfect world could not and would not ever exist. Her fifth year was going to be challenging enough without having some sort of argument with every single person who slightly offended her, she had to pick her battles wisely and this one didn't seem worth it. Besides, why should she defend Petunia when she knew that if Tunie had been in a similar situation she would not do the same? It was a big waste of time and Lily was tired of wasting her time.

Lily scoffed when Sirius said something along the lines of Regulus not having a normal sized head, look who's talking! She cocked an eyebrow at the swift kick to the ass comment he made about Petunia and nodded in semi-agreement. Lily was not a fan of violence, but the thought of anyone giving Petunia even the slightest kick to the bum was a bit amusing. She rested her head in her left hand and listened closely as Sirius talked. He was surprisingly funny when he was making jokes about someone other than Severus. HA! Regulus wet the bed! If Lily were a more manipulative person she would immediately use this new knowledge to her advantage, but instead she tucked it away and decided that she would only bring it up if absolutely necessary.

Sirius had answered her invitation quicker than she had expected him to, she was completely unprepared to show or teach him anything. The only thing she could think of was a new spell Severus had shown her a day or two before, a rather clever one that grabbed it's victim by the ankles, turned them upside down. He had come up with the spell by himself and Lily had been very impressed. She felt a little bit guilty that she was about to teach it to Sev's arch enemy, but she saw no harm in it. Lily stood up, aimed her wind and gave Sirius a sly smile before she used the jinx on him. Levicorpus was a non-verbal jinx, so all she had to do was aim her wand carefully, concentrate and think the word.


((I read on HP wiki that the Levicorpus jinx was very popular in the Marauder's 5th year . .soooo . .it seemed appropriate to use at this point in time.))

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

Would Sirius’ ego still be huge if girls didn’t pay attention to him? First of all, with a face like his, it was impossible for girls not to pay attention to him! But, if it were to happen, his ego probably would be hurt quite a bit. They way girls drooled over him was part of what gave Sirius his confidence. He would still have his wit and charm, but that was only half of it. . . Wait, with all things considered, his looks, his wit, and his charm, it was impossible for girls to ever not be attracted to him, so why was he even thinking about the possibility? Everything that made girls like him was everything that he was!! So. . . if girls didn’t like him, then he wouldn’t be him; he would be . . . . like Peter! He would be ugly, dim, untalented, and sexually attracted to James Potter!

“Lily, if girls didn’t like me, then I wouldn’t be me,” he said slowly, as he was still mulling over the concept, “so what you’re suggesting is some type of paradox. . . Oh, and you’re wrong because my ego really wouldn’t be as huge because I wouldn’t be me, you see?” Sirius had taken the suggestion rather seriously, and replied to Lily in such a way. The whole mental process that brought Sirius to that conclusion left him with a headache and many philosophical question about who he was.

“And, James really isn’t the dog,” Sirius muttered to himself with a grin. If only Lily knew just how much of a dog Sirius really was. It was only his first night back at Hogwarts, so he had yet to try out his new ability on the ladies. Of course, he couldn’t go around changing into a dog to get attention; that was illegal because his animagus ability remained unregistered and Sirius intended to keep it that way. What was the fun in transforming into a dog if everyone, especially the ministry, knew who you were? Sirius had weird hunch that being unregistered would greatly come in handy one day. Until then, Sirius could use his ability to anonymously get the attention of the opposite sex by pretending to be a loveable stray from the local village. He couldn’t wait to have the ladies rubbing his dog belly and scratching him behind his doggy ears! Not to mention the fact that he could sniff crotches without offending. One of these days, Sirius would approach Evans as a dog and she’ll want to rub his belly just like every other girl will!!

Did Sirius notice the subtle change in Lily’s demeanor after he’d made the comment about her sister? No, no he did not. Sirius hardly ever took the time to notice or consider the type of impact that his words would have, unless he wanted something, like a date or to get out of some type of trouble. It wasn’t because Sirius was inconsiderate; he was just a typical immature, fifteen year old boy who didn’t think beyond the present.

Sirius had been very sincere about Lily showing him a spell, but before hirius even knew what was happening, he was hanging upside down in midair. He didn’t even get the chance to register why it had happened. “WOAH!” he exclaimed out of shock. Once he realized what had happened (it was Lily’s fault), Sirius calmed down. “Hmm. . . This is going to give my hair so much volume!” he said with glee as all the blood in his body rushed to his head, “Ok, I’ll admit; that’s quite a useful spell, but you’ve made your point. Can you please let me down before I pass out?” Evans had no idea how amusing of a spell Sirius found it to be. He made a mental note to remember it for the next time he ran into Snivellus! Oh what cruel irony that the spell Evans had taught Sirius would be used against her best friend! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

((gaaa, it’s poopy ☹ ))

[LILY MICHELLE EVANS]

Lily watched Sirius' face carefully, with a bit of a smirk on her own. He seemed to be thinking rather hard about what she said and it honestly made her feel proud. It wasn't her intention to give him a headache, or to cause him to spiral into some identity crisis, so when he started off slowly saying that if girl didn't like him then he wouldn't be him Lily was kind of relieved. Then he said that what she had suggested was a paradox, would she argue, would she challenge what he said and present a new idea of her own? Nah. Lily didn't think it was worth it, if a self-absorbed, girl obsessed person was all that he thought he was, why should she try and convince him that he could be anything different or anything more?

This brought Lily to thoughts about her own personality, lately the girl she had been for the last four years she had been at Hogwarts was being replaced by a level-headed young woman. She was well aware that she was losing some of her girlish charm and her wonder of the world that attracted a lot of people to be her friend. Lily was becoming increasingly focused on her school work, while trying to deny herself any of the normal things a fifteen year old girl felt and involved herself with. For example, she had only thought briefly about the upcoming Halloween dance and immediately pushed the thought of her taking the time to get dressed up and go with a date aside. It wasn't that she had low self confidence or even that she didn't want to go, she just didn't want to spend too much time mulling over the idea and stressing out over it like every other girl in her year did. Besides, the person she'd like to go to the dance with would probably never ask her, so what was the point in worrying about it?

Lily heard Sirius mutter something about James not being the dog and was momentarily offended. What could he possibly mean by that? She seriously hoped that he wasn't trying to say something about her; otherwise he'd be in for a jelly legs jinx! Figuring she wasn't supposed to hear what he said, she didn't reply at first, but really it was too good of a statement for her to resist.

"No, you're right. You're the dog, Sirius."

Oh the irony! If only Lily knew about his big, hairy secret, then she would find her little comment extremely hilarious. However, she did not and her comment was just an innocent joke at the expense of Sirius. Of course, he just might be shocked to hear someone else other than his fellow Marauders make a joke like that, but Lily would never pick up on this or understand why.

Just seeing Sirius helpless, upside down in the air brought an odd sense of joy to Lily. She had not intended for her little demonstration to be malicious, but part of her felt like she could take this opportunity to get back at Sirius for all he had said and done to Severus. She really considered it, but being the good-natured person she was, Lily finally let him down when he asked.

"See, I know a cool trick or two. Don't act like you're not surprised. Admit it, it wasn't just useful . .it was TOTALY AWESOME."

Lily grinned at Sirius as she watched the color drain from his face; she had been in complete control of a situation involving Sirius Black. This gave Lily an incredible sense of pride, not every girl could say that they were in control with Sirius around. She wanted to tell Sev what she had done, but she didn't want him to be upset with her for showing Sirius the trick. Her good mood was quickly erased when she thought of what might happen now that Sirius knew about it. Surely it would be all over school, but not only that, Sirius might try to use it on Severus! This made her heart beat rush, her cheeks flush and her stomach turn with guilt. No, Sirius wasn't that cruel, was he?

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

Had Sirius know that Lily considered him to be such a one-dimensional person, he would have been very offended and slightly hurt. Was Sirius only a self-absorbed, girl-obsessed person? Sometimes, yes, other times he was a conniving (sometimes cruel, but only when it came to Snape) prankster, other times he was a smooth talker who evaded trouble, but there were times where Sirius could be quite a nice fellow. And he always considered himself to be a loyal friend. It was a shame that his better qualities had to be masked by his less appealing ones. Except for his looks, he didn’t wear a literal mask that covered those up, nor would he ever do so. That would just be a crime. He did have a bit of a metaphorical wall that kept people from really getting to know him, other that James and a little bit with Peter and Remus. Most people just didn’t understand just how complicated Sirius Black’s mental and emotional psyche was. He was very closed off emotionally because of all the verbal abuse from his parents over the years; ever since he’d made his moral views know to the family they didn’t consider him ‘normal’ by Black standards. So, that took a bit of a toll on his self esteem, which covered up with extreme arrogance and reliance on his looks. He’s also incredibly reliable on the relationship that he has with his three best friends because his family hate him, so his friends are all his has. The problem is he doesn’t know how to properly show his appreciation for his friends because of his closed off emotions, so he’s always a little paranoid they might get sick of him and dump him. BUT, most of the time, Sirius liked to tuck all the unpleasantries to the back of his mind where they will eventually consume him and in the mean time he will cover them up with his ego, looks, wits, and charm.

Deep down, Sirius just needed a hug. That was probably why he chose to turn into a dog; people loved dogs! Dogs don’t have to do anything to get people to like them. They just have to wag their tails and look happy and people will just pet them, rub their bellies, and cuddle! That’s all that Sirius wanted; someone to rub his belly. When he was in dog form, of course. When he was in human form, he would prefer that someone would rub something else, hehe.

Sirius only grinned when Lily said that he was the dog. He would have loved to say something alluding like ‘you have no idea’ or ‘more than you’ll ever know’, but Evans was a clever witch, and if she thought about it enough, especially if Sirius did start roaming the school grounds as a dog, she would probably figure out his secret and the others would KILL Sirius if that happened.

When Lily finally let Sirius down, he landed back on the sofa, bounced off and hit the floor in a bit of an awkward position with his hair an awful mess. Though most people might be a little ticked off in that situation, Sirius wasn’t, quite the contrary in fact; he was rather amused. He let out a bark-like life and sat up against the couch.

“Ok, I’ll admit that was pretty awesome, but,” he said as he slowly got up, rubbing his now sore bum, “I think that slight throbbing in my ass is my cue to go to bed. It is getting a bit late you know, and tomorrow is our first day of lessons of fifth year.” Sirius got a glimpse of his hair in the reflection of a window and quickly fixed it.

“This has been. . . a surprisingly pleasant evening with you Evans. I don’t care what the other girls say, you’re a very lovely person.” Said Sirius with a grin to show that he was joking, “Good night, Evans. I shall see you bright and early for lessons tomorrow.” With that Sirius gave the red head a wink and headed up the stairs to the boys dormitories.