Shake 'em off (open)

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

After an hour or so of walking around Diagon Alley with his parents and younger brother hot on his tail, Sirius was finally able to ditch them and go off on his own. It wasn't as if Sirius tried to escape earlier; every time he had tried his mother would call him over to carry something for her. If just being around his ignorant parents and brother wasn't bad enough, just being seen shopping with his parents at his age seriously cramped his style. Eventually he tricked his brother into carrying everything and scampered off.

Sirius didn't get far before his stomach started to growl. If he wasn't about 95% sure the house elf was trying to poison him, he would have eaten lunch before setting off. Now the hunger was starting to get simply unbearable. Luckily, there was an ice cream parlor with in reach and something that wasn't remotely healthy for him sounded extremely appetizing. As he got closer to the shop he could feel his mouth start to water. All he could think about was the delicious dairy treat that awaited him. He even forgot to occasionally check to make sure his bloody parents weren’t in sight.

Mercifully, Sirius made it to the shop and ordered his triple fudge sundae with caramel, strawberry sauce, and whipped cream. The dish of ice cream weighed more than all the bags he had been carrying. He sat outside the shop with his sundae to partake in his favorite activity; girl watching. It was very rare that he got to chick watch in diagon alley, but it was one of Sirius’ favorite places to do so. There was such a wider variety of woman at Diagon alley than there were at Hogwarts and with all the expensive shops around, all the more opportunities to impress.

Apart from his good looks, there were many other reasons why Sirius stood out from most of the other wizards doing their shopping. Instead of traditional wizard robes, Sirius wore a leather boomer jacket and shades, much like something a punk rocker would wear. His mother severely disapproved of the way Sirius dress which only made him more inclined to do so. Besides, chicks dig it.

As Sirius sat there eating his ice cream with his shade on and a breeze lightly flowing through his hair, it was a wonder why no girls had stopped to check him out.

[MADISON AMBROSIA CAULDWELL]

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...

Madison was very responsible, at least by way of being a fifteen year old girl. Her parents trusted her to do a lot of things on her own, and one of those things happened to be shopping. This was probably a HUGE mistake by way of saving money, because if there was one thing Madison liked It was clothing, and shopping, because, well, she was a fifteen year old girl! But she knew what was worth busying and what wasn’t, and for the most part she could limit herself to needs rather than wants.

She knew the streets of Diagon Alley like the back of her hand. Her parents had been taking her here for years, after all. She had always loved to read, and Obscurus Books was a favorite of her family’s. She loved to look at all of the pets in the magical menagerie, and of course she had access to her family’s vault in the depths of Gringots Wizarding Bank. She had no problem hopping in the cart with the goblins to get a few galleons out for the day’s adventure.

But no trip down Diagon Alley would have been complete unless she had made her quick pit stop to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. Madison was in good shape, if she was being modest, and great shape if she was being honest. And while that was mainly because of how active she was with running and swimming and Quidditch, but part of it was because she had a high metabolism. Madison didn’t eat a lot of junk food, but when she did she definitely indulged. Foreign chocolates or rich ice creams were among her favorites, and Florean Fortescue’s was certainly one of her favorite ice cream parlors. Probably her number one.

Today she was trying out one of her new muggle dresses. It was a brand new one, a darker blue color short-sleeved number with a tie-around belt. She was wearing it with a simple pair of white flats, perfect for the summer weather. Though she was a pureblood, she was very into muggle fashion, and she found that Diagon Alley was one of the best places to try out these outfits, since half of the people here were muggle born, or at least came from part-muggle backgrounds.

Walking up to the counter, Madison played with the bow tied at her waste as she looked at any new flavors. “I’ll have a large vanilla sundae with strawberries, chocolate shavings, butterscotch sauce, and whipped cream, please! Oh, and a cherry on top,” she added hastily, paying and throwing a knut or two in the tip jar. Looking around for any friends from school, Madison’s eye caught the back of someone wearing a leather jacket. She thought she knew who that jacket and hair belonged to, but waited until she had collected her own ice cream to make sure.

“Sirius Black,” she said in an accusing tone, but with a smile playing at the corners of her lips. “I knew that jacket had to belong to you. How have you been? Ready to escape back to school yet?” It was no secret that Sirius wasn’t exactly the ideal member of the Black family, and she figured after three months he’d be more than willing to start the school year.

Madison was still holding her sundae in her hand, which wasn’t melting quite yet but probably would be soon. She didn’t want to sit down uninvited, though. After all, maybe Sirius was meeting one of his other friends, or just wanted to be alone. She certainly didn’t want to impose.

((word count: 603))
((Outfit: here’s a visual for you. Yay vintage fashion! www.poshgirlvintage.com/1960s-blue-polka-dot-belted-day-dress-p-449.html ))[/center][/size]

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

Sirius' summer practicing of becoming an animagus had effected him physically in a few ways. For one, he was just a bit hairier than the average fifteen year old male. This didn't bother Sirius in the slightest because he felt like his facial scruff made him look older, which only widen the age range of woman he could hook up with. Another physical change he developed was a heightened sense of smell so he could literally smell when a pretty lady was around. It wasn't that good looking girls are a specific scent, there was actually a number of different scents because all women wore different perfumes and there were certain perfumes that only lovely ladies wore. The more over bearing, obnoxious perfumes belonged to ugly chicks because they think they can cover their ugly with scent. Not true. If anything it ended up being a man replant. With pretty girls, their perfume was almost nonexistent, like you think you smelled something, but you're not sure so you want to go looking for more. That was the type of scent that Madison Cauldwell had.

Sirius had caught onto Madison's scent before the girl had even finished ordering her ice cream, a very impressive feat when you consider all the sweet contaminating smells in the parlor, but Sirius had trained his nose well. When Madison got closer, Sirius could smell her pefume better; it was more of a sweet smell than a floral or fruity one. Most girls fourth year and up went with the more sweet smells. The younger ones went with floral because they obviously stole the perfume from their mothers; only older ladies wore floral perfumes. The sweet smelling ones were Sirius' favorite.

Sirius tilted his shades down his nose to look at Madison properly with out the darken lenses tainting his sight. "Madison Cauldwell," he said with a smirk and gestured for her to take a seat. Madison was one of the better looking girls in Sirius' year and he did prefer brunettes. Blonds tended to be a bit too arrogant for him. Madison was the type of girl who knew how good looking she was without rubbing it your face, verbally at least; that dress she was wearing was speaking louder than any blond ever could. Score.

"Yeah, I got this baby at a punk rock show in London while wandering the underground clubs one night," he said as he brushed some dust of his beloved leather jacket. Punk rock was just on the rise so Sirius would be impress if she knew what the bloody hell he was talking about. "Yes, my little outing to find this number was one of the few moments where I got some relief from the company of my family. Right now is another one of those little moments and I intend to make it last." Sirius took a bit of his ice cream and fixed his shades.

"What about you? What's a pretty girl like you doing wandering these streets alone?" he continued, "You should probably stick with me, you know, just in case."

[MADISON AMBROSIA CAULDWELL]

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...

Madison couldn’t help her smile from growing even wider as Sirius said her name in reply. His smirk was enough to make any girl feel a few butterflies, assuming they were into guys at all. Some people may have been turned off by Sirius’s slightly womanizing ways, but Madison knew better. He was a great guy, and sure he was a little cocky, and sure, he seemed to be almost purposelessly rebellious, but that was just the way he was. Past that, he was fun… entertaining at the very least, and there was never a dull moment around Sirius Black. And that was one of the reasons why she was friends with him. She wasn’t immune to his charms, though she wasn’t helpless against them.

Seeing him motion for her to take a seat, Madison placed her sundae down on the table, careful to not drop the spoon or napkins she had with it. That done, she shifted her purse off of her shoulder and sat it down on the ground next to the chair she was pulling out to sit at. She liked to think that there was a certain amount of grace to her movements, since her mother had put her through a ridiculous amount of ‘training’ and ‘lessons’ on etiquette. In her opinion the whole thing was a waste, since she could be pretty tomboyish at times, especially when it came to sports, but those little elements of elegance sort of infused their way into her everyday life, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

“Of course you did,” she acknowledged, laughing a little. ”My cousin joined a punk rock band, and my family all but disowned him. While we were in London this summer I tried to sneak out to see him play, but my dad caught me leaving the house. Let’s just say he wasn’t too pleased to see his little girl in fishnets and leather, and we left London the next morning. I never did get to go, though… maybe one of these days you could take me,” she suggested, a coy smile on her face. Taking the cherry off the top of the whipped cream, she bit it off of the stem, which she placed next to her bowl. She had no idea what the London Underground scene was all about, and if her cousin wasn’t so rebellious and out to do whatever would piss off his parents the most, she never would’ve known it had existed. The only things she had really gathered about it were the few vague things her cousin told her, and of course her father’s description of “not a place for respectable young ladies such as yourself”.

“I’m glad you managed to get away from your family for a little while. I hope I’m not intruding on some much-needed alone time!” Madison took another bite of her ice cream, catching a few spots that were melting faster than others. “And what about me, mister?” she countered. “You can’t underestimate a pretty girl, we’re the ones you need to watch your back for.” Madison was a tough cookie, she liked to think she could hold her own if confronted, and the wand in her purse comforted her more than any amount of street smarts. “My parents were working, so they said I could come on my own. I just needed some more ink. But you’re right, what if some big bad man tries to kidnap me? Or some hoodlums try to steal my purse! Oh, Sirius, I’m so thankful I ran into you so you could protect me!” Madison threw a hand to her forehead dramatically, swooning like a helpless damsel. “What would I do without you?”

Madison knew that a lot of parents wouldn’t be okay with allowing a fifteen year old girl wander these crowded streets alone, but it was the middle of the day and Madison doubted that anyone was out to get her. She was careful not to carry too much money on her, and she was always aware of her surroundings. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to hang around with someone else for at least a little while longer. [/center]

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

Yeah, most of the time Sirius only had to say a girl's name to make her smile. Every time it happened it boosted Sirius' ego just a little bit more. He knew that there was only a very small percentage of women who were truly immune to his charm and most of those women were relatives or Slytherins. Luckily, Madison didn't fall under either one of those categories so Sirius was golden.

"I'd like to see you in fishnets and leather," said Sirius with a smirk. The image of any girl in fishnets and leather was appealing enough to Sirius, but something about the mental image Madison in that type of get up felt all the more enticing. Maybe it was because she didn't seem like that type of girl, or maybe it was because of the way she ate the cherry from her sundae. What ever is was, Sirius had officially made it a personal goal in like to see Madison in fishnets and leather. . . in his bedroom. There had to be an little extra challenge there because it would make a more impressive story when he told the guys about it.

"I'll take you one of the underground cubs, as long as you promise to dress accordingly . . . and you might have to spend the night at my place since we'll get back late and you're not from the city." By this point, Sirius was the champ at sneaking himself out of the house and sneaking girls in. He's used certain sound proofing spells on his room and magic locks. Since he lived with his wizard parents, the ministry couldn't pick up on simple spells like that, plus if he did get caught he could always blame it on his brother. "You'd have to stay in my room because, naturally, my parents couldn't know you were there . . . and there are no spare beds." Was he going a bit too far? Maybe, but that's what Sirius Black did; he took risks with his flirting. If he didn't he wouldn't have as high of a success rate. His risk taking truly was what made him a master of his craft.

"You know what. you're right," he began seriously, "there could be evil doers anywhere. You'd better sit a little closer to me, just in case." He grabbed the bottom on Madison's chair and playfully pulled her closer to him with a smirk on his face. Upon learning that her parents wouldn't show up out of no where to break things up, Sirius decided to get a bit more daring. "And if you want another cherry, you can have mine." He pushed his sundae a little closer to Madison in encouragement.

Sirius was moving a bit faster than he normally would, but the summer had cause a lag in his flirting; it was just easier to get girls in the confounds of the castle where a girl would do anything out of boredom than it was in the real world. That and the extra horniness was another side effect of trying to turn into a dog. He couldn't wait until he mastered his transformation so he could hump the legs of innocent girls everywhere.

[MADISON AMBROSIA CAULDWELL]

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...

Madison had never found anything wrong with a little helpless flirting. Ever since her first year, when she made another boy blush by touching his hand while handing him a potion’s ingredient, she realized the fun of flirting. Of course, back then things didn’t mean much. After all, they were only 11 and 12 years old, what could really matter then? But now, with the students in her year being 15 or 16 years old, and puberty, and new hormones… well, flirting was getting a little on the extreme side, especially in Sirius’s case. Not that she minded, of course, because what girl didn’t like a little bit of attention every now and again? Especially after not seeing a lot of her friends for so many months.

“I’m sure you would,” said Madison, shaking her head with a disapproving look on her face. She hadn’t meant to put that image in his head, she had only meant to explain why her dad had been so upset. She was tempted to think that if she had on pants and a long-sleeved shirt he probably would’ve let her leave the house, not questioning where they were going. It had taken her quite some time to earn his trust back after that little stunt, that was for sure. She should have known better than to think Sirius wouldn’t comment on her attire.

“I still have the outfit my cousin put together for me, so I’m sure I’ll be able to dress accordingly. As for my accommodations… well, let’s just wait until we get there, shall we?” She knew what Sirius was trying to do, and she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her by trying to get her to agree to stay in his bedroom. And she also knew that the chances of her being able to go to London on her own were very slim, and if she did get a chance to go to the underground clubs with Sirius it’d only be if she snuck out again. But that was an adventure for another day.

Before she knew what was happening, Sirius grabbed the bottom of her chair and pulled her closer to him. “Hey!” she exclaimed, not anticipating his action at all. It caught her by surprise, and she was careful not to lose her balance or knock over her sundae. Madison punched Sirius lightly on the shoulder, pretending to be angry with him for pulling her chair. But her glare was coupled with a slight smile, and immediately and false anger she would’ve hoped to portray vanished. "You're lucky I like you, or this ice cream would be on your head right now," she pointed out.

Madison looked down at the sundae that was pushed towards her, tempted by the idea of having a second cherry, but also tempted by the idea of turning Sirius down. “No thanks, I think I’m good. You can keep your cherry” she said, pushing his sundae back towards him and turning back to her own ice cream treat. After eating another spoonful, she added, “I think I have enough of my own to eat.” Madison was not sure if she was going to be able to make it though all of her ice cream. Why did she feel the need to order so much on her sundae anyway? Splurging was rarely a good idea, especially when it came to food.

“So have you gotten yourself into much trouble over the summer, or are you saving it all for the school year? Fresh new batch of Prefects coming in, and all. I’m sure they’ll need to be tested out sooner rather than later.” There had been a part of Madison that had hoped to be named Prefect, but at the same time she knew that she would never be able to punish her friends for things. She was competitive, though, and that side of her wanted the spot because it meant that the Professors had thought she was the best, better than any of the other girls in her year from her house. [/center] [/size]

((word count: 676))
((other: Sorry, my muse is sort of dead this morning, but I’m babysitting today and I don’t know if I’ll be able to write later, so I wanted to get something up!))

[JAMES CHARLUS POTTER]

James walked down the street stag, and yes pun intended. He'd left his parents at the the Leaky Cauldron to chat with a few old friends while he was left to roam free. He'd already stopped into Quality Quidditch supplies and started putting together his Christmas list. He liked the freedom of being able to roam around Diagon Alley on his own: it made him feel more mature, like an adult. Yet he also liked the security of knowing that his parents were just a few meters away if he needed any money.

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of a new set of robes that he should have been saving for a nicer occasion, but opted against. The dark blue fabric however, was making him hot; it was still summer after all, and so, he slid it off his shoulders and tossed it carelessly over his left arm. He was now wearing only a pale blue cotton t-shirt, slim fitting to show off his toned build for any teenage females wandering around, and a pair of dark blue flair jeans and black converse. To complete the ensemble a pair of aviator glasses hid his currently blue eyes. (He has hazel it's all good). His shaggy black hair was purposefully windswept in appearance, just the way he liked it. Unlike his furry friend, he hadn't grown any more or less hair.

His face was still smooth and hairless, something he was both grateful for and upset about. He didn't want the burden of having to shave every morning, but he wanted to know that he'd at least be able to grow one. He felt for the galleons he had in his pocket and tried to decide where to spend them. Glancing up ahead he saw an all too familiar mop of black hair. He directed his feet towards his friend, regardless of the fact that he seemed to be chatting up a bird.

"Why Sirius Black, you sly dog," he said with a mischievous grin. "You can't be left alone for five minutes without latching onto the prettiest bird in the area." At this he nodded and grinned over at Maddison Cauldwell, he noted. She was in their year, though a Ravenclaw, and a Beater at that. Still, they weren't quidditch rivals yet, the new term hadn't even started. " 'Lo Maddison," he offered. Too bad another 5th year hadn't decided to pop up out of the blue today, he wouldn't have minded seeing a familiar mop of red hair. Maddison was pretty though, he could see why Sirius had latched onto her.

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

She still had the outfit; score. "Well, at the very least you need to remember to bring it to school," Sirius said slyly, "you, know just in case you don't make it to London." Again, seeing Madison in fishnets and leather was officially a personal goal for Sirius, he wasn't about to let the opportunity pass by.

Oh mock anger, Sirius was not a stranger to it. The difference between real anger and mock anger was the difference between getting slapped and getting a smile. It was the standard reaction to the type of action Sirius was just done; the girl knows she should be offended but is too busy loving the attention. "Well, then I guess I am lucky that you like me," said Sirius with his always charming smile.

At the mention of cherries and Sirius keeping his own, the young man let out a loud, bark like, laugh. He resisted the urge to say something about loosing his cherry along time ago as a comment like that was tittering on the border of skeezy. Most girls didn't like hearing sexual innuendos from the guy flirting with them, especially girls under the age of eighteen. He covered up the laugh by putting a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. "Well, if you need help finishing your ice cream, I'd be more that happy to oblige." he said. "but I have to say, I like a girl that isn't defeated by a sundae." One thing that annoyed Sirius was girls who only ate salads. He appreciated a nice figure on a lady, but he also liked s girl with a health apatite.

Sirius was about to enlighten Madison about some of his summer excursions, when an all too familiar face showed up. Part of Sirius was very happy to se his best friend James, but the other part knew all too well about James' cock-blocking tendencies. It felt like one of those moments where the cock-blocking might kick in; James and Sirius hadn't seen each other for a while and no doubt James was going to want to have Sirius all to himself. Still, that wasn't going to stop Sirius from busting James' balls a bit.

"You better hope Evens doesn't hear you say things like that," said Sirius with s smirk, "cus that'll only hurt your chances, mate. Not that you had good chances with her to begin with. Anyway, James, I believe you're familiar with Madison? And Madison, you with James?"

[MADISON AMBROSIA CAULDWELL]

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...

Madison wondered how long he was going to be fixated on this whole fishnet idea. “We’ll see if it fits in my trunk,” she offered, not sure whether or not she’d actually go through with packing the outfit. How on earth would that look to her roommates while she was unpacking?! Oh dear… that had the potential to end very poorly for her and any decent reputation she may have.

Madison took another scoop of ice cream, this one half made of whipped cream. “Well, I wouldn’t want to be known for being defeated by a sundae, since you put it like that,” she agreed. “I won’t let it get the best of me, not this time.” There was still a decent chance that she wasn’t going to finish all of this ice cream, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to try and think positively. It wasn’t that big of a sundae, after all, it was mainly the excessive toppings she chose to include that were slowing her down.

Madison saw James Potter approach them and wondered if this would force Sirius to behave himself a little more. “Hello James!” she replied. “It was my fault, really,” Madison explained to James as he commented on Sirius latching onto ‘the prettiest bird in the area’. “I probably could’ve snuck by without him noticing me, but I was naieve enough to try and hold a casual conversation about the summer,” she joked, obviously all in good humor. Sirius knew she didn’t mind their flirting, in fact, she enjoyed it most of the time. And she did catch the sly, off-handed compliment that came along with James calling her the ‘prettiest bird’, but she chose not to comment on it.

Sirius, however, did not choose to ignore the comment. “I don’t think Lily is going to hold it against you. Are you really still after her?” It was common knowledge amongst the fifth years that James was after Lily Evans, and it was obvious that she wanted no part of whatever it was he had to offer. “I can try to work on her for you, if you’d like,” she offered, laughing a little. “And of course I know James. I do believe I hit you with at least, what, three bludgers last year?” she offered, not really sure of the number but knowing it had happened more than once. They were never hard hits, and most of them had been grazes probably, but that still counted.

Madison loved the sort of comradery that came with being a Quidditch player at Hogwarts. Otherwise she probably wouldn’t have been half as comfortable joking around with James about Lily, even though everyone else did.

“How was your summer?” she asked James, figuring she could catch up with everyone while she was here. She loved hearing everyone’s summer stories. Even people who just stayed at home for three months managed to find an amusing or entertaining story or two about their summer vacation. [/center]

[JAMES CHARLUS POTTER]

James flashed a smirk at Madison as she described the flaw in her plan. "That's a rookie mistake," he said shaking his head with mock disappointment. "I expected better of you, Caulwell." He glanced over at his mate, able to guess or at least paraphrase what was running through his mind at the time, and though he could be an excellent wing man when duty called, he was more interested in sitting and watching just now. "I suppose it was inevitable, all girls fall to the Black charm," ((Which sounded better in my head. . .)) he said, with a short laugh as he plopped himself down in a nearby seat.

James features worked themselves into a slight pout at their teasing about Lily Evans. He would never understand that girl. Why didn't she fancy him? He wasn't exactly unattractive, he'd had his share of offers despite being best friends with Sirius. He'd suggest she was mental, but he wouldn't be pursuing her if she was. "What are you going on about? he replied quickly, changing the pout into a smile. "Evans? Really? I gave up on that ages ago. . . I mean the girl's obviously not ready to admit she's head over heels for me, poor thing."

Though the offer was tempting, he didn't want anyone to 'work on' Lily. He'd get her to come around one way or another. Luckily the two provided him with an excellent verbal escape route. He nodded in agreement to Madison's initial response. "Yeah, we've met before," he supplied. He resisted the urge to make an crude comments, reminding himself that there was a girl present, and not just Moony across from them. "And it was only two if I remember correctly," he corrected her with a good-natured smirk. She was good with a bat though, he'd give her that.

As she asked about his summer, a boyish grin spread across his face. "Well my family went on holiday to Málaga, my mum has some friends there. We got to see Gibralfaro Castle and I have to say it was brilliant. All that old stone and the weather was great," he grinned, reminiscing about the trip. True, he was not fan of history classes, but he didn't feel like he had to be a history buff to enjoy seeing things hundreds of years older than him.

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

"And you know would," Sirius said to James before turning to Madison, "James here has been captivated by the 'Black charm' for years. I've yet to be able to shake him off." Sirius smirked at James; of course he was joking. Of all the people in the world, James was the last person Sirius would want to shake off. The too of them had a bit of a bromance going on; they were as close as two guys could be without actually being gay and Sirius was just fine with that. It was Remus that gave Sirius the confusing tingling feeling that Sirius would suppress with lots and lots of straight porn.

Sirius rolled his eyes as James pretended not to be interested in Evan. He knew for a FACT that James was still pining for the red head. The kid way actually be in love with the little spit fire. She was a pretty enough bird, but far to remarkably immune to Sirius' charm. Sirius was starting to think that maybe Evans was a lesbian, which, well, was just fine with Sirius as long as he got to watch, but he was pretty sure James would flip a shit if Sirius ever mentioned his 'lesbian' theory. Sirius would save all his comment about Evans for now. He would just have to take James by surprise to get the truth out of him. Not that he wouldn't later willing when they were in private. It was just more fun this way.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was three," said Sirius with a laugh, "yep, it was three; I distinctly remember laughing at you three times for nearly getting knocked off your broom by a girl. No offense," he added to Madison. "I like a girl who knows how to whack balls." Yeah he went there and it didn't matter because he was Sirius fucking Black.

Sirius listened to James tell Madison all the things he had already heard in letter. Yeah, James went off to see some old castle and blah blah blah. He took this time to make some good progress with is Sundae. Christ, Mr. Fortscue knew how to make a God Damn sundae. Sirius had become to enthralled by his frozen treat that he almost forgot to make a smart ass comment. "Yeah, James has a real hard on for old castles and shit," said Sirius with his mouth half full of ice cream.

[MADISON AMBROSIA CAULDWELL]

“I’m sorry to have disappointed you, Potter,” Madison replied, hanging her head low and averting her gaze to the ground. “I’ll try harder in the future, I promise. It won’t happen again.” Madison took a few more bites of her ice cream, careful not to drip any onto her dress. They had been sitting there for a little while now and it was significantly more melted than it had been before. The risk of a loose drip or two staining her new outfit was enough to make her pay extra-close attention to how much she got on the spoon before bringing it up to her lips.

“The ‘Black Charm, eh?’” she repeated, rolling her eyes. For a little while James seemed to be lost in thought, and Madison could only guess that he was thinking about Lily now. She thought it was adorable that with all of the flirting and teasing these two boys seemed to do, the only girl James was seriously trying to attract was the one who wouldn’t take the bait. It was a pretty amusing conversation starter among some of Lily’s friends, and being a 5th year girl Madison often got involved in these little conversations. She felt bad for James, but even worse for poor Lily, who clearly wasn’t interested. “Oh, of course. I’m sure she’ll come around eventually,” Madison agreed, not wanting to dwell on an obviously sore subject.

Changing the subject to how many times she hit James with the bludger seemed like a fair enough trade anyway. “Three it was, then!” Madison confirmed. “It’s okay, none taken,” she added to Sirius, who had played the ‘hit by a girl’ angle to make fun of James. She didn’t mind, it was a common reaction to her being a beater. “I’ll choose to ignore that last comment, and move on,” she added, trying to remain the better person and not stoop to Sirius’s level of inappropriateness.

“Don’t mock him,” Madison said, hitting Sirius on the arm again. “That sounds amazing!” Madison reassured James. “I love old places, especially castles. I was so excited when I found out that Hogwarts was a giant castle. It was probably one of the best days of my life,” she admitted. She had phases where she really enjoyed history, but they were always followed by phases where she couldn’t care less about history, and never wanted to hear anything about the past ever again for any reason. Yes, it really was that dramatic.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about having guys like Sirius be so comfortable around her that they didn’t have any reservations at all. At times it was amusing, to hear jokes involving balls, or inappropriate comments. But at other times she wondered if she was just becoming ‘one of the guys’, which would be fine, she supposed, but it made her wonder. Her parents would be mortified, of course, if they overheard any of these conversations. They raised her on the belief that women were to be respected and sheltered, something she obviously disagreed with. Because here she was, giggling at jokes about balls and hard ons. Oh, what the world has come to. But she was sure how she felt about it. She secretly loved it.

((ooc- sorry. that's pretty much crap at this point. I'm having issues with writing, though, so it's the best it'll be for now. :-p))

[JAMES CHARLUS POTTER]

"See that it doesn't," James said with a mockingly stern expression on his face as he wagged a finger at the girl. "And I thought I was so subtle," he said with a small sigh at Sirius's comment initially. He then gave a snort and a mischievous grin played at his lips. "Shaking me off is damn near impossible, especially since I managed to master the permanent sticking charm before last term ended. Sorry mate, I'm here to stay."

James gave a forcibly uninterested shrug at Madison's comment on Lily. He just wanted the subject dropped really, it was bad enough that more than just the Mauraders knew about his . . . infatuation with the girl. Maybe he should spread the rumour that he'd taken the hint and decided to let bygones be bygones. That way he'd be free to win her over with his charm. . .and wit. He was certain she'd recognize his talents and good side, or at least get tired of rejecting him and give up -- which was just as good. Regardless of his train of thought, he was glad when they returned to the subject of quidditch, even if they were misguided in their thoughts.

He was convinced she had only hit him twice. There had been the one hufflepuff girl beater last year who had nearly knocked him off his broom. . .he wondered if maybe Sirius was blending his memories of girls together. He did see so many in just a year. He didn't say anything at his friend's crude comment, he just rubbed at his brow ridged with his index finger and tried not to smirk. At Madison's comment he nodded and whispered loudly. "It's probably for the best."

He shook his head and let out a soft laugh at Sirius's delicate way of putting his interest in old castles. Apparently Madison sided with him though. "Sadly it was only a muggle castle, no famous names I could recognize in it's history, but we did stay in a small community there." He just nodded at her enthusiasm over Hogwarts. True when he'd first arrived at the castle it had seemed huge, amazing and completely fascinating, but after four years there some of the magic had worn off. He did still enjoy venturing down passages no one had seen in ages, just to add on to the map they were finishing.

[• SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

Sirius wasn't very fond of conversations about castles. He just generally didn't like talking about old things like castles, ruins, his mother, shit like that. It was only his deep brotherly love for James that made him put up with it. Sirius would much rather talk about motorcycles, but most purebloods hardly knew anything about them. Girls were another topic of conversation that Sirius enjoyed, but couldn't very well just start up a conversation about ladies with Madison sitting right there, especially when he'd spent a good amount of time hitting on her. He had been making excellent progress on that before James came over and starting commanding the conversation. Sirius could never be annoyed or mad at James for this because it was James, but hopefully James would at least sense Sirius' boredom and think of something else to talk about.

Generally, Sirius liked being the center of attention when he was with his peers because of the little attention he got while he was at home. He wasn't really bothered by being nearly ignore by his parents because it beat the alternative; them nagging him. Though he was allowing James to command the attention in terms of the conversation, Sirius had other ways of subtle ways of attracting attention. While James was talking, Sirius pulled the old "fake yawn and put your arm around a girl" on Madison. He knew it was old and cliche, but he was Sirius Black, he could do shit like that and be smooth about it.

"Only a muggle castle? Oh damn!" said Sirius in mock disappointment, but added a grin to show that his mocking was purely playful. Ok, so it was even more boring than Sirius had thought. Of course he wasn't amused by moving staircases and talking paintings so he could only imagine how BORING a muggle castle would be. "You should tell that story to Evans, maybe she likes castles." He couldn't help it, Sirius LOVED teasing James about Evans! He absolutely loved it. Her constant rejections of him made it all that more amusing. He knew he should have felt sorry for his best friend and should have been supportive and blah blah blah, but Sirius never had a very strong conscious.

"Madison, what do you think about James and Evans?" he asked her with a seriously look on his face, "Do you really think she's 'head over heals' for James?" Ok, James had this coming. He either had to make a successful move on Evans or give it up already. I mean, he couldn't really he in love with her, could he?

[MADISON AMBROSIA CAULDWELL]

“Awww, well aren’t you two just the cutest couple,” she joked after Sirius’s quip about James sticking to him, and James’s confirmation that he was there to stay. She loved the sense of comradery that their little group had, and wished that she had something as great as that. Sure, she had some friends, but to have that group that you always knew would be there, well, that was special. It was a group like that who would be together forever.

Madison caught on to James’s vibe almost immediately. She had caught it before, which was why her reply to Sirius’s last batch of Lily comments had been short, vague, and noncommittal. After all, she was a girl, and girls just understood those sorts of things sometimes. She knew how much it must upset James if he really did like her, to have Lily constantly turning him down and ignoring him altogether. It was embarrassing, but most of all she was sure that it was really upsetting for him. She gave him a small smile, as a last bit of reassurance without saying anything more.

“Muggle castles are cool, too. I’m sure it was lovely,” Madison was also a pureblood, and so her knowledge of Muggle history was very little, practically nothing. She wasn’t one of those hardcore purebloods who turned their nose up at anything unpure, she just had a hard enough time keeping up with magical history, let alone another non-magical line of history. She wished – not for the first time – that she could just remember everything she read forever after reading it once. Then she would be interested in learning so many new things. As it was, she knew that being interested in everything would only frustrate her, so she had to pick and choose her interests carefully.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an only partially unexpected arm around her shoulder. Being around Sirius forced you to get used to borderline rude comments and very close moments. She turned to him with a ‘really?’ sort of expression, shaking her head disappointedly. “You lose 20 points for lack of creativity,” she said, shrugging his arm off of her shoulder. ”Come back when you have something more original.” If he wanted to come across as such a player, then he would have to put more work into it than that.

When Sirius mentioned telling the castle story to Evans, Madison turned and shot him a warning look. There was teasing, and then there was unnecessarily bringing up bad feelings. Sirius either didn’t see her look or chose to ignore it because he continued on about whether or not she thought Lily was ‘head over heals’ for James. Madison gave James an apologetic look, hoping he saw the terrible situation she was in and the fact that she sympathized with him before shooting Sirius a rather intense death glare.

“Well, I certainly can’t comment on that. It isn’t my place, and since I’m not Lily I can’t tell you what she is or isn’t.” She disliked Sirius very strongly at that moment for putting her in that awkward position, since she was friends with both James and Lily and didn’t want to put herself in the middle of anything. After all, she didn’t understand why Lily wouldn’t give James a shot. He really seemed like a decent guy from what she knew of him.