Late September 1973

"Kels watch out!" Astrid shouted. Kelsey turned around just in time to see a big blob of brownish algae hanging over her head. A few moments later, the heap of wet, stinking kelp fell on her head, drenching her robes.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Kelsey screamed and got up.

At the same time, Lily, who had also been doing her homework next to them with Mary and Marlene, stood up. The girls had been sitting by a tree near the Black Lake on the grass. Lily's Potions essay was now drenched in the same kelp-water.

"JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER!" yelled Lily. James stopped laughing almost instantly the moment those three words left his beloved's mouth. He paled while Sirius sniggered on.

"Thought you'd miss the sea. Should feel right at home though," he shouted rolling over at the sight of Kelsey storming over to him. "Should've thrown you in the lake instead perhaps...isn't that where Kelpies live? Get it? Blimey, the options are too many!"

Kelsey rued the day they had learned about seaweed aka kelp and its magical properties in Herbology this year. Up until now, the boys had stuck to Kelpie jokes. But now they had more ammo and it simply would not do.

Remus stood next to his friends, feeling a little bad about it since Lily had been unwillingly drawn into this now. He had been the one who had told them how they could obtain kelp i.e. a specific type of brown seaweed for this prank. Peter shifted uneasily avoiding eye contact.

"Well, then you should feel right at home too, Black," she shrieked and shoved him into the Black Lake. Sirius who had seen this coming grabbed her hands and took her down with him. Both students came up for air with Kelsey still holding on to Sirius.

"You utter ass. Let me go!" she continued thrashing around, while he tried to get her to stop. Standing in the shallow part of the lake, Kelsey grabbed some of the kelp off her head and threw it at Black's face making him yell in disgust. He took a few steps in his confusion and tripped over his robes falling back.

"You ruined my hair! It's going to stink now! You'll pay for that Jones."

"Not if I get you first Black," she huffed, blowing air on the strand of kelp on her face. Sirius laughed again.

"Oh piss off!" She grabbed some more kelp and this time, tried to shove it into his mouth, toppling over him in the process. His hands came to her sides, holding her steady as she fell on top of him, both, knee-deep in the water now with Sirius on his back.

"It's 'sod off'. Piss off is so.." he searched for a word.

"American?" she finished his sentence ignoring the fact that he was still holding her. And the fact that that was sending chills down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold water.

Another thing Sirius Black always liked to tease her about? Her American slang that always made itself known when she was fuming mad.

"Mister Black! Miss Jones! This is inappropriate behaviour and I will not tolerate it!" Naturally, Minerva 'Minnie' McGonagall showed up at this very moment. "Detention. One week. Report to Filch separately. I will not have you turning detention and the sacred grounds of this educational institution into some lovefest."

Kelsey felt her cheeks flame, and separated herself from the bane of her existence without giving him the satisfaction of seeing her affected. She didn't even bother coming up with an excuse.

"Evans please! Listen to me. It wasn't meant for yo-"

"You think the fact that it was meant for one of my best friends is any better? Good Godric Potter. It's like you find new ways to reach an all-time low every year." Lily and James were arguing in the background as she grabbed her bag silently and joined Astrid who was waiting for her at a safe distance from the boys.

"Detention?" Astrid asked sympathetically. Kelsey nodded, earning herself a pat on the shoulder.

"I bet if we told Benji about it, he'd hex Sirius for you," she offered.

Kelsey giggled.

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November 1974

"May I compare thee to a summer's-" James started.

"No."

"Lilypad O Lilypad. Wherefore art thou-"

"It's Juliet. And absolutely not." Lily slammed her book shut. It was a free study hour and all the fourth years were sitting in the Great Hall, bent over their essays.

Kelsey smiled to herself. "I can't believe he actually memorised muggle literature. That too Shakespeare," she whispered to Mary quietly, so that Lily couldn't hear.

"He's a crazy one," Mary agreed.

"Crazy in luuurve you mean," Kelsey snickered, nudging Mary who joined her.

"Speaking of did you hear?" Marlene spoke up opposite them, looking up from her own Care of Magical Creatures essay. Lily and James were still in the middle of their argument or as James referred to it, Proclamations of Love, much to their red-haired friend's dismay.

"What?" Mary asked. Kelsey too stopped writing her Muggle Studies essay.

"A Ravenclaw caught prefect Dorcas and Sirius snogging Sirius in the second-floor broom cupboard last night," said Marlene as if it was the hottest gossip in town.

It was. Two weeks into their fourth year, the teenage hormones were catching up. Almost everyone had grown a few inches taller, and a cup size here or there. Sirius Black had finally made his move.

"No way! Snogging? You mean like on the lips?" Mary asked, eyes wide.

"Yes. Tongue too. Dorcas told me he has quite the French influence."

They giggled.

Kelsey felt sick. Not because she was jealous. But because the thought of kissing Sirius Black physically made her sick.

"Poor sod," Kelsey mumbled to herself wondering if she should offer Dorcas her condolences.

"Why are you even sitting here?! All the Hufflepuffs are on your table," Marlene tried to sound offended. "I wonder if he'd kiss me if I asked," she sighed.

The three girls turned to look at Sirius who was sitting a few seats down, between James and Remus, pretending to do homework. His hair fell over the side of his face and so the girls couldn't see him smirking as he eavesdropped on their not-so-hush conversation.

"How does one even get Sirius Black to kiss them?" Mary asked.

"You actually want to waste your first kiss on that guy?" Kelsey couldn't believe anyone would be sane enough for that. Her disdain was obvious.

"That guy is Sirius Black," Mary crossed her arms.

"Exactly. We've known him since he was an icky first year," Kelsey shuddered.

"Are you blind?! Look at him! He's walking perfection," she Mary on.

"Don't bother Mary. She only has eyes for a certain someone else," Marlene eyed the dirty blonde haired fifth year approaching them.

The boy threw a small package on the table. "I think Mum accidentally sent me your socks," Benjamin Macdonald, Gryffindor prefect, and Mary's older brother stopped next to them. He had popped in between classes because he knew his sister had study-hour.

"My fuzzies!" Mary exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, you won't get him to snog you if you talk like that!" Marlene said and Mary stuck her tongue out, as she ripped open the parcel.

"Snog who?" Benjamin aka Benji sat down, interested in making sure his sister wasn't snogging boys. Kelsey shifted to make space for him. His thighs barely grazed hers, making her blush and she pretended to focus on her essay again to stop looking at his perfect face.

"Sirius Black," Marlene whispered to him, looking over his shoulder and pointing. Benjamin shook his head.

"Please don't. I don't need someone telling me my sister was caught in a closet with Black. Mum would have my head," he sounded horrified. Kelsey couldn't stop herself from laughing and earned herself a wink from the boy.

"See- Kelsey understands, doesn't she?" he smiled at her. She beamed back at him.

"Only because she'd rather snog yo-" Marlene started but a startled shriek from Kelsey interrupted them. She had spilled the ink over the table, just missing all their parchments.

The girls and Benjamin shot up, scrambling to clear their papers.

"Kelsey!"

"Oops?" Kelsey sent them a sheepish smile. She didn't know how she had done that.

"Here," Benjamin handed her, the bag he had grabbed off the table just before the ink could reach it.

"My hero," she teased and he feigned a dramatic bow. Her two friends pretended to puke.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Mary muttered.

A few seats down Sirius Black frowned at the scene. His plan to cover smug Benji, the boy who had given him detention last week in ink had backfired. The fact that it seemed that Jones wanted to snog him was most definitely irrelevant.

Beside him, Remus smiled knowingly. It was going to be a long year.

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