Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K Rowling - I just spend my time imagining the time when the Marauders and Lily were in school.

Summary: When Bridget's Auror father is killed on a mission at the end of her Fifth Year, she returns to Hogwarts trying to deal with her grief by shutting her friends out. But when an ignorant DADA Professor angers both Bridget and a certain, good-looking Gryffindor boy, she finds herself opening up to someone again and putting herself back together. SB/OC

The Before and After

As soon as I'd stowed my trunk away on a luggage rack, I was walked slowly through the corridors of the Hogwarts Express, mainly to avoid seeing anyone that I knew. In the compartments that I passed, I could see groups of students chatting to one another, excited to be going back to school or in some cases, going to Hogwarts for the first time. I could not share their enthusiasm. I had a heavy weight on my shoulders and hanging over my head and I couldn't shake it. Maybe that's why I stayed clear of the third compartment from the front of the train - the one that my mates and I always sat in. I strolled through the hallway listening to the chatter and laughter ringing out from each compartment and sighed.

I could remember laughing like that.

It wasn't even much of a stretch: I could pinpoint the exact time I was laughing the way those people were laughing.

It was the week before OWLs and I was sitting with Arron and Nicola in the Courtyard before dinner. The air was crisp but there was the promise of warmth even as the sun set behind the mountains that surrounded Hogwarts. Nicola had a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean stuck up her nose and Arron was unsuccessfully trying to get her to sneeze it out. I was holding my sides, crying with mirth as I watched Arron tip Nicola's head back and look up her nose.

"How did this even happen?" I managed to choke out between giggles.

Nicola looked at me and spoke in a nasally voice that was most definitely not her own. "How do you bloody think it happened, Bridget?!" she snapped at me, glaring at her boyfriend who was now desperately rummaging through her bag.

"Don't you have any tweezers or anything?" Arron asked, timidly.

Nicola's nostrils flared in response and I choked back a new round of chuckles. She shifted her glare to my face and I hid it to avoid infuriating her further.

"Hang on, here you go," I said, hastily handing him tweezers from my own bag. "Mind you wipe them off after, though. I don't want Nicola's bogies in my eyebrows later."

Arron stared at me, a wild expression in his eyes and we both bit back more laughter as Nicola began to whine.

"Oh just take it out…please, please pull it out!"

"That's what she said…" I heard a boy snicker as he and his mates walked passed us to go to the Great Hall. I stared determinedly at the floor to stop myself from offending my best mate more than I already was.

"Who the hell said that?! Was that James Potter? I'll murder that dumb Gryffindor git," the normally even-tempered, Nicola fumed as Arron gently pushed her head back so that he could attempt to extract the bean. However, he was having even less luck than I was at holding back his laughter, so he put the tweezers down and looked at his girlfriend apologetically.

"My hand's shaking, love. Maybe we ought to go to the Hospital Wing. Otherwise, you'll have to do it, Little Bridge," Arron said, turning his eye on me.

"The Hospital Wing?! Because my idiot boyfriend tested out a spell on me when he didn't know what it did?!" Nicola shrieked.

"What spell?" a low, husky voice interrupted, from behind us.

"Waddiwasi," Arron explained as the three of us looked up to see Sirius Black staring back. He had his hands in his pockets and a slight quirk in his eyebrow as he took in the sight of Nicola's bean-filled nose.

After a moment, he said, "O'Reilly, you left your quill in Arithmancy," and tossed it to Arron who caught it.

"Thanks mate."

Black nodded and inclined his head at Nicola and I before starting to walk away.

"Well, I'm not gonna pull the bean out either!" I said before suddenly having a stroke of genius. Black and Potter were always doing weird things - this would be right up his alley. "HEY! Hey Black!" I yelled, shocked at my own boldness.

He turned and looked at me expectantly, if not a bit impatiently.

"What?"

"Ever pulled a bean out of someone's nose before?" I asked coyly.

A slow smirk slid on to his handsome face and he walked over looking quite excited. Well, excited for him. He was one of those types that seemed to have a cool response to everything - never too eager, never over the top…just, cool.

"Do you mind Hobbs?" Black asked, his eyes glinting as he took the tweezers from me and held them in front of Nicola's face, snapping the teeth open and shut.

Nicola looked like she was in two minds. On the one hand, Nicola and I were not generally on speaking terms with Sirius Black and the other loud and merry Gryffindors he hung out with. On the other hand, she had a bean stuck uncomfortably up her nose and he was the only one in the general vicinity that was willing to take it out.

"Just get it out of me, please," she said, shutting her eyes and tilting her head back.

Sirius paused and looked at me with the widest grin I'd ever seen on his face in the five years we'd been in school together.

"I just want to say….thanks for this," he said with a wink. I smiled back as coolly as I could before turning my face away to hide my flush.

And then he was leaning close to Nicola, sticking the tweezers up her nose, his face full of glee. Arron and I didn't even bother holding back our laughter at this point because Sirius was laughing with every movement. Nicola cringed as the tweezers entered her nose and Sirius grinned excitedly.

"This is bloody brilliant value," he muttered, glancing mischievously up at Arron and I. As he pulled the bean out, he practically guffawed and looked at it with a mixture of disgust and awe.

"Ugh, Ravenclaw bogies…" he joked, waving the bean in the air.

"I can breathe!" Nicola gasped. "Thank Merlin!"

"Honestly, you can just call me Sirius," the Gryffindor said with mock modesty.

"Thank you!" Nicola said briskly before turning to Arron. "And now, YOU. You are going to eat this," she said, her eyes narrowing.

Sirius and I made identical sounds of disgust but stared on in uncontrollable interest. Arron looked at his girlfriend in horror. Arron was broadly built with biceps as big as Nicola's head but he seemed to be cowering away from the thin girl glaring at him.

"Are you having a laugh?" he said, weakly.

Nicole grabbed the tweezers from Sirius and held the snot covered bean in front of Arron's disturbed face. Sirius and I watched with bated breath as Arron squeezed his eyes shut and slowly moved towards the bean. I began to slow chant "Eat it…Eat it…" and Sirius let out a delightfully, adorable bark of a laugh. When Arron's tongue was within millimeters of the bean, Nicola snatched it back and gave him a quick kiss.

"That's disgusting you know, Arron," she said solemnly.

Sirius and I laughed loudly along with them and the four of us stood up to go to the Great Hall for dinner. As his mates had already left, Sirius walked with us, smirking as he watched Arron and Nicola bicker. The three of us were teasing Nicola and recounting the events until we reached the Ravenclaw table and saw Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall standing there looking rather solemn. We stopped short and exchanged confused looks.

"I don't think I've done anything wrong recently," Sirius said out loud, looking over to the Gryffindor table where his friends were sitting.

"You don't reckon we're all somehow in trouble, do you?" I whispered to Sirius before he tried to escape to his own House table.

He chuckled and shrugged. "I can't imagine how."

"Ah, Miss Willoughby, would you come with us please?" Flitwick said in a voice rather less squeaky than usual.

"I had nothing to do with the bean!" I protested. Behind me I heard Sirius give a funny cough.

Flitwick and McGonagall exchanged confused looks.

"Miss Willoughby, I'm afraid this is a fair bit more serious than beans. It…it is a family matter," Professor McGonagall breathed, looking distressed. "We have to see the Headmaster."

My mouth hung open for a moment. And in that moment, I knew. This was about my father. My father, the Auror. The Auror, who was fighting in this very dangerous war. My dear old dad, who always said goodbye to me like it was the last time.

Nicola and Arron were looking at me with concern and I could see that Sirius Black also seemed to be hovering nearby, albeit uncomfortably, unable to escape, His hands were stuffed in his pockets as he stared over at the Gryffindor House table. Why was he with us, again?

As I could suddenly think of nothing but my dad, I said nothing else but nodded at the two Professors before following them out of the Hall in a kind of trance.

Yeah. That was the last time I laughed. Before they told me that my father had been killed during a top secret mission and was never coming back. I left that very evening to meet up with my older brother, Chris and a week after the funeral, I went to the Ministry to sit my make-up OWLs. I'm surprised I scraped any at all, but here I am with a spattering of E's but mostly a disappointing amount of A's to my name and I'm on my way back to Hogwarts for my Sixth Year.

I should have come back with mostly O's, but what did that matter when my dad was dead?

The carriage ride and Welcome Feast were just like the train journey: I spoke to no one and no one spoke to me. The people sitting around me seemed to be fidgeting more often than not, but no one seemed to dare to say anything. I stared towards the front, watching the First Years get Sorted as if it were the most important ceremony I'd ever attended. I purposely avoided the eyes of Nicola, Arron and the rest of the Sixth year Ravenclaws that made up my group of friends. I ate quietly, barely looking up from my meal and then turned to the front once more, feigning an expression of polite interest.

'Don't let him mention Dad. Please don't let him mention Dad," I begged silently. Thankfully, Dumbledore seemed to have enough tact to leave names out of it, though his speech about the regretful losses sustained in the past few months of the war seemed a little hollow to me. Great man though he was, Dumbledore didn't know a thing about my loss or my pain. As soon as he dismissed us, I turned away from his piercing blue gaze and escaped to our tower. Luckily, using the one shortcut I'd never shared with any of my friends, I made it to the brass knocker well before anyone else.

"Please be easy," I sighed, knocking three times.

The Eagle blinked at me and said,

"I am the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space;

the beginning of every end and the end of every place."

I rolled my eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. "You're the letter E".

The door swung open and I hurried inside, desperate to get up to my four poster so that I could pull the hangings around my bed and hope that Nicola would have the sense to leave me the hell alone.

No such luck.

The trouble was, there were only two female Sixth Year Ravenclaws and even though, I used my practiced, deep sleeping breaths, Nicola pulled the hangings back roughly anyway. I looked at her and she looked at me with round, glassy, green eyes and suddenly she had thrown herself at me, hugging me tightly, sobs raking through her body. I patted her on the back a bit, unable to feel anything but numb. When she finally pulled back from me, she stared at me with a hard look, though her teary eyes gave her away.

"I am so sorry," she said.

"Thanks."

"Do you want to talk?" she prodded.

"No. I'd just like to sleep, please," I said looking at her tiredly.

She studied my face for a moment before nodding and getting off my bed, I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head ignoring the fact that she hadn't seemed to have moved from my side.

"I missed you Bridge."

And though I'd missed her too, more than she probably knew, I said nothing.

"Morning," Nicola said when I opened the bathroom door the next day. Her light brown hair was mussed up around her head and she was rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Hi," I said, sitting on the edge of my bed to buckle my shoes and wait. She disappeared in to the bathroom for about ten minutes and came out looking like her her usual, well put together self.

"You were quick," I commented, blankly.

"I didn't want to keep you waiting too long," she said, glancing quickly in the mirror on our way out of the dormitory.

"So, how was your summer?" I asked as we headed downstairs.

"Oh, you know. It was okay."

"That bad, huh?"

Nicola smiled at me and shrugged. "I just spent a lot of time with Arron…nothing special."

"That's nice. How is he?" I said, following the crowd of Ravenclaws that were exiting the Common Room to go down for Breakfast.

"He's good, he's really good," Nicola said, still watching me very carefully.

"Sorry I didn't write back or anything," I said, looking at the floor.

"Aw Bridge, it's totally understandable. We were just worried about you. I'm still worried about you. Are you sure you're okay? I mean…as okay as you can be?" she whispered, grasping my wrist and widening the gap between us and the crowd.

"I'm fine. It's weird to be back," I admitted. Having missed the last month of the year and not being in contact with any of my friends had made the time and distance seem so much longer. I now regretted not having written to Nicola. My tragedy seemed very fresh to her, whereas to me, it seemed as if I'd been going through it for ages. Maybe if I'd answered any of the letters she'd sent me during the summer, I wouldn't have to put up with this very foreign expression of worry that she now seemed to have plastered on her face constantly.

"It'll take some time but I'm sure you'll be back to normal soon," Nicola said before gasping and covering her mouth. "I mean…as normal as you can be, after…"

I shook my head. "Nic, stop it. Please."

"I'm not sure how to act though Bridge," she said, biting her lip.

"Just act like we always do. I'm fine. I will be fine," I said, forcing a smile on to my face. "Okay?"

She didn't look convinced but nodded and linked arms with me. "Then forward march to breakfast - I need some bacon!"

I smiled. "Parents still on that vegan kick, are they?"

She laughed her pretty, easy laugh and rolled her eyes. "Have you ever tasted tofurkey? It's disgusting."

I smiled as Arron threw his large, meaty arms around me and crushed me in to a bear hug. He looked down in to my eyes and grinned.

"We really missed you Little Bridge," he said, sincerely.

I didn't say anything but smiled and looked down the table to the rest of the Ravenclaw Sixth Years. Arron's three roommates sent out a loud cheer of greeting and waved me over, so I took my place and began to pile some eggs, bacon and toast on to my plate. Luckily, most of them had the emotional maturity of sandbags and were already exchanging silly, meaningless stories of the summer and ignoring my very public family tragedy. I didn't have to say a word and just listened, as I kept an eye on my bacon, which Nicola seemed to be eying hungrily.

"Yea, me Dad and I went 'round the Muggle pubs and I didn't even need an ID. Dear ol' Dad just used the ol' Obliviate on 'em and I was in. We got massively pissed. Have you lot ever tried Vodka?" Benjy Fenwick, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain said.

"Nah, but my Dad says it's nothing compared to Gillywater. Do you reckon they'll serve us drinks at Hogsmeade, now that we're Sixth Years?" Matthew Pritchett, his best mate asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Matt - you still look like you're twelve!" Nicola joked, to which he made a face. Arron laughed and cuddled Nicola to his side.

"Love, just because he's the same height as the Second Years, doesn't mean…" Arron ducked to avoid the apple Matt had thrown at his head and the group laughed loudly. I smiled, glad that the three letter word had stopped coming up so often and took a sip of my pumpkin juice.

"You know what though," Ollie Chamberlain started in his soft, calming voice. I loved Ollie's voice. I also was quite partial to his bright blue eyes, but the sentence that followed made my stomach sink, yet again.

"My Dad says that Broomsticks can sometimes be a little tight with the alcohol but The Hog's Head isn't too fussed about who they serve."

"Blimey, are all your Dads alcoholics or something?" Arron joked.

I pushed my chair back with a loud scrape and picked up my bag.

"Bridge? Where are you going?" Nicola said with concern as the rest of the group stopped laughing abruptly.

"Dunno…Transfiguration I suppose," I shrugged before turning away and walking to the exit.

"But she doesn't even have her timetable yet," Ollie said.

"Is she okay? She looks a bit off and I've never heard her talk so little in my life!" Benjy asked Nicola.

"You fools. God, I'm a fool…don't you get it? All of you tossers going on and on about your dads…"

I tuned out then and quickened my footsteps to turn the corner out of sight. As soon as I got there, I threw my back to a wall and sunk to the floor. Covering my face with my hands, I took a few deep breaths and tried to reason with myself. It wasn't their fault that their dads weren't dead. They shouldn't be expected to stop talking about them just because I didn't have one anymore. It's not as if I used to storm away from conversations when people mentioned their mums and I don't have one of those either. Hearing some voices from the Great Hall getting closer, I hurriedly got to my feet and set off towards the Transfiguration corridor and stood outside the door for a full five minutes before I suddenly began to wonder if I was even allowed to take Transfiguration. I'd only got an A for my OWL, though I'd been expected to receive an O and now I was all confused. Besides, I wasn't even sure if Transfiguration was my first lesson of the week anymore.

Thankfully I didn't have to wonder much longer as I saw some familiar Sixth Years approach the classroom. Hannah Simmons, a nice but sometimes gossipy Hufflepuff walked over with a smile and stood beside me. I smiled back and looked at the wall, tapping my foot a little impatiently. Hannah seemed to be quite fidgety herself and I found out why, just as the line in front of the Transfiguration classroom had gotten long and noisy.

"Oh Bridget! You're so brave, I am SO SO sorry about your dad!" Hannah exclaimed loudly, her voice tearing through the commotion in the corridor. It fell almost silent as several pairs of eyes turned to look at me with a mixture of curiosity and pity. Trying my hardest not to lose it, I just gave Hannah a tight-lipped smile and a nod.

"Thanks."

"If you ever need to talk about it…you know, I'm here for you," Hannah said dramatically, stroking my back in what she seemed to believe was a comforting way. Unfortunately, I was already feeling a bit ill and the motion wasn't doing much to help.

"Back off Simmons, give her some bloody air," came a sharp, familiar voice that made my tense shoulders relax a little.

Nicola was storming towards me, glaring at anyone looking and stopped right in front of Hannah, who smiled awkwardly.

"Oh I'm sorry…" she said to me, before turning around to talk to some of her friends.

Nicola was making a big show of handing me my timetable and talking a mile a minute about my subjects, so soon the attention slipped away from me and I could feel myself breathe again.

"Thanks," I whispered, grabbing her hand and squeezing. She looked at me, her face still full of concern but shrugged nonchalantly.

"So listen, Flitwick said that considering your circumstances, the normal grades that are needed for some NEWT subjects don't apply to you and you can basically take whatever you want, but keep hush-hush about your grades so no one else expects special treatment, yeah?. I just sort of listed the subjects that I remember you wanting to do, but he said if you'd like to change anything, see him at Lunch."

I nodded and looked down at my timetable. Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology and DADA. Basically all of the subjects I needed to become an Auror: my life's ambition until four months ago.

"Is it okay?" Nicola asked.

"Sure, thanks," I said, because I wasn't quite sure it wasn't. But before Nicola could prod me with any more questions, Professor McGonagall had appeared, clapping her hands and gesturing for the class to enter. I did so and headed straight to the middle table in the second row - the seat Nic and I usually occupied, but to my surprise, I saw that there were labels attached to the desks with names written in McGonagall's calligraphy.

Nicola Hobbs Lily Evans

The rest of the class seemed just as bewildered and pretty soon, there was a pile-up in front of the door as everyone seemed very confused as to where they were supposed to be sitting.

"Settle down. Do come inside, Mr Potter, don't dawdle in doorways! You too, Black."

The class stood in a group in front of McGonagall, who was looking at us all sternly. When we fell silent, she addressed us in her firm and clear voice.

"Welcome to Sixth Year Transfiguration. We will be beginning studies for your NEWTs that will take place at the end of Seventh Year and these are the most important exams of your Hogwarts magical education. While I am pleased so many of you wished to continue my subject, I must be quite frank - I was not at all pleased with the marks you received for your OWLs. I had expected many of you to get O's and the standard slipped severely last year."

The class muttered to each other uncomfortably and some looked at their feet in embarrassment or dismay. McGonagall stared at many of our faces and began speaking again. "In fact, we only received 4 Outstanding marks."

There was a scuffle towards the back of the room and many students turned to see the four Gryffindor boys: James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black exchanging subtle high-fives. Ignoring the gesture, McGonagall continued. "As a consequence, I have for the first time decided to admit a select few students who only received an Acceptable at OWL but showed a great deal of promise before exams. Do not take this lightly however, I am very disappointed and I will not tolerate any more slacking off in my lessons. Do I make myself quite clear?"

"Yes Professor," the class mumbled together. I felt my cheeks burning as I realized that I was among the select few with the low marks that ordinarily wouldn't have been accepted in Professor McGonagall's NEWT class.

"Now, in an attempt to exercise some positive influence on you all, I have assigned seating for the first term so there will be no excuse for chit-chat and dilly-dallying. There will also be a test at the end of the term to determine whether I believe each and every one of you are fit to keep up with the coursework. Now, find your seats and open your books to page twenty-five."

With that, the Professor turned her back to us and busied herself with the blackboard that was now displaying words as she waved her wand. Everyone hastily shuffled around the room trying to find their names and get seated quickly, so as not to push the Professor any further that day. Although I was embarrassed at being among the thickest people in the room, I was quite relieved that I wouldn't need to sit beside my best friend today. Nicola was not herself - she was too worried about me and right now, I needed to sit next to someone that wouldn't care if I looked sullen and withdrawn. I found my seat a minute later, right at the back of the room, somewhere I would never normally choose. I collapsed in to the seat on the right and pulled out my book, not even bothering to look at the name on the other side of the desk.

"Who would've guessed we'd be top in Transfiguration, eh?" a pleasant but cocky male voice said nearby.

The answering voice was attractively husky and sounded amused as he scoffed, "Us. We would've guessed, James"

James Potter and Sirius Black chuckled to each other before stopping beside me.

"Well, this is me," Black said and I looked up to see him pulling out the seat beside me. I glanced over to double-check and there, bright as the sun, was his name on the other side of my desk.

"Alright Willoughby?" Black said, politely.

And suddenly I felt bile rise in my throat. I stared at him and covered my mouth in dismay before running to the front of the room and vomiting straight in to the wastepaper bin. Panting a little, my eyes bleary, I looked up to see the faces in the room looking on in disgust. There was Nicola, half way out of her seat to get to me and then, His face: handsome as always, but horror-stricken as he exchanged a look with an equally surprised Potter.

"Miss Willoughby? Are you alright?" Professor McGonagall was saying frantically near my ear.

"I…yes…I don't know what happened," I muttered, truthfully.

"Do you need to go see Madam Pomfrey?" she asked, her brow furrowed as she studied my face.

"No…I just need some water," I whispered, closing my eyes tightly and shaking my head.

"Why don't you take a few minutes to get yourself in order?" McGonagall suggested in a low voice and I nodded and swallowed.

"Yes, thanks Professor," I said as I rushed from the room.

Why did I have that reaction to him? It should have meant nothing to me. Maybe if the events from the end of the year and over the summer hadn't happened, I might have even been secretly pleased. He was gorgeous. Every girl at Hogwarts thought so. And he was cool and mysterious and definitely a challenge. As far as I knew, Sirius Black was a sort of phenomenon at Hogwarts. He and his friends were among the most popular students in the school and decisively, the top of the Sixth Year food chain. Girls had tried and failed to capture his attention since our hormones had kicked in, but he was simply an unattainable treasure. I very much enjoyed looking at him of course, but had never had enough classes or interactions with him to develop feelings for him. In fact, I had trouble remembering any conversations we'd had….except one. Which is probably why I had that reaction to him. It wasn't really about him at all. He just happened to be the last person I spoke to, before my life changed forever. I shared my last laugh with him, which was funny, considering it was also the first time we'd had a laugh together. But seeing him now, somehow brought me right back to the moment when Flitwick and McGonagall said that they had some bad news.

"You don't reckon we're all somehow in trouble, do you?" I whispered to Sirius.

He chuckled and shrugged. "I can't imagine how."

After going back to my dormitory to brush my teeth and wash my face, I returned to class with a quiet knock on the door. Professor McGonagall greeted me and studied my face.

"Are you well enough to continue this lesson, Miss Willoughby?"

I nodded. "Yes Professor."

She looked at me for another moment before nodding. "Very well, please ask your desk-mate for his notes on the first twenty minutes and proceed to follow the instructions on the board."

I nodded and walked slowly to my desk, desperately trying to avoid the curious eyes surrounding me. When I reached my place, I saw that Sirius was balancing on the back legs of his chair and waving his wand, looking quite bored. I was surprised to see there were already three Conjured flowers lying on the desk and couldn't help but feel impressed at his skill. He looked up for a moment and then let his chair drop back to the ground.

"Excuse me," I said, as politely as I could, so that I could shuffle past him. Without a word, he pulled his chair closer to the desk so that I could brush behind him to reach my seat. My book was still open at page twenty-five, but the theory that was described on the pages, went straight over my head. I glanced at Sirius out of the corner of my eye and saw that he looked very stiff and was no longer casting any Conjuring spells.

"Um, Black, could I see your notes from the beginning of the lesson?"

Sirius turned to look at me and I tried to give him a weak smile but I'm sure it only came out as a grimace. He was staring with those deep, stormy, grey eyes of his and I started to feel a little self conscious.

"Okay," he said in his low, bored voice. "On one condition."

I was in no mood for games, but I did throw up immediately upon seeing his face, so I supposed I should be kind at least.

"Shoot."

"Tell me why you threw up as soon as you saw my face," he demanded, looking at me expectantly, his mouth in a hard line.

"Pass," I said and shrugged. I bent over the book and tried to make sense of what was written in the text when I heard him sigh.

"Oi Moony, give us the notes from the start of the lesson."

I looked at him through the corner of my eye and saw him holding his hand out towards his friend, Remus Lupin.

"Okay mate, but why do you need them?" his friend asked in confusion.

Sirius didn't say anything but took the pages from him, waved his wand to make a copy appear, before handing the original back to Lupin. He pushed the copy towards me and returned to conjuring his pretty, white roses.

The rest of the lesson continued without much event but I was relieved that I managed to conjure a flower towards the end of the period that thankfully, put me back near the top of the standard of the class. When McGonagall asked us to pack up near the end of the lesson, I looked up to see James Potter presenting her with a beautifully bloomed, red rose. The class laughed and McGonagall shook her head looking fairly amused herself. I was quite surprised to see the Professor had a very nice smile and wondered if the Gryffindors saw it more often than the other Houses. From beside me, I heard Sirius scoff and roll his eyes at his friend.

"Nutter," he muttered as he shoved his books in his bag. The pile of roses on his desk suddenly seemed to offend him. He gathered them up in a bunch and looked around the room and finally settled on me, a little awkwardly.

"You can have them if you like," he said to me as I stood up too.

Despite the mood I was in, I felt my ears twinge warm before I shrugged. "Better give them to someone who'll appreciate them more."

Sirius nodded and let me go past him to meet up with Nicola outside the classroom. A few moments later, I heard another round of laughter and peeked in to the room to see Sirius, presenting Professor McGonagall with a bouquet of his own.

"Show off!" Potter said as the four boys left the room laughing.

Sirius shrugged. "Well yours was just appalling! And you call yourself good at Transfiguration?"

The boys all laughed again and sauntered away together down the corridor.

"Did you see that Potter gave the rest of his roses to Lily Evans? I could have sworn she actually blushed. I think she was too surprised to remember she thinks he's an arrogant, bullying toerag," Nicola laughed and shockingly, I joined in. This seemed to put a wider smile on her face and the two of us walked arm in arm up to the Common Room to enjoy a nice free period.

A/N: If any of you have read any of my stories, you probably want to kill me since I never seem to finish them and end up starting a new one. This story however, has a plot - a story arc, scenes planned out - so I genuinely believe I will complete the story and stop frustrating any of my readers. So, please give it a chance and shoot me a review! Thanks for reading.