Kelsey was dying. Metaphorically that is. It was the first week of October and she was drowning in assignments. In fact, most seventh years were busy reviewing six years' worth of notes.

Turns out, professors didn't believe that free time was a luxury meant for those in their last year. This is how between successfully making amends with Astrid and keeping up with all her classes, she forgot one tiny detail; the danger of a Sirius Black unchecked.

He wasn't anything if not petty and creative with pranks. He had six years of practice with his comrades in mischief. And petty he was. With most students busy writing essays, he masterfully managed to get by with his thanks to help from Remus. This gave him ample time to figure out how to go about actually executing the last part of his plan now that he had Jones' dodgy-looking muggle item.

Unfortunately, it was also the reason he was distracted during Quidditch practice that evening. While Kelsey was tucked away in the Hufflepuff common room furiously quilling an essay on 'Key Historical Events that shaped the Muggle-Wizard dynamics', Sirius barely missed getting hit by a bludger.

"Oi, watch it!"

Sirius swerved out of the way just in time. The bludger whizzed past his ear and he winced at the closeness.

"Okay, that's it! Time out," James yelled. The other members of their team groaned and flew down to the pitch. James hovered over to his friend and snatched the bat from his hands.

"Sirius you twat!" James cursed him between hits to his arm.

"What's gotten into you? You're never distracted during practice," the team captain demanded.

Sirius gave him a guilty look. "Stuff," he mumbled.

"Padfoot. I love you mate and I mean this in the nicest way: but you need to figure out your issues with this 'stuff' off the pitch. Hopefully, before she doesn't cost us our very first match of the season," James glared at him, crossing his arms.

"I have no idea what you mean," Sirius replied with an unreadable expression, pretending to rub dirt off his nails mid-air.

James made an exasperated sound. "Just look where you're flying, would you? I don't need you bumping off my Chasers before the season even starts. And hit a bludger while you're at it. We're not losing our first match against Ravenclaw," he declared sternly.

"A Beater who gets knocked out by a Bludger," James grumbled. "The shame!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. His best-friend was nothing if not dramatic.

ϟ

Good morning class," Professor Dustings, their DADA teacher for the year walked in, looking fresh as ever. It was Tuesday morning and she had the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff session.

"Morning Professor," the students chanted back.

She looked over the class. Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors didn't separate themselves by their House. Unfortunately, it caused more chaos and headache for the Professor than it should.

"With the Unforgivables out of the way, we're moving on to the next unit. For the next two weeks, we shall be learning the Patronus Charm," she announced.

Sounds of Oohs and Aahs passed through the class.

"Isn't that a charm?" one Hufflepuff commented trying to sound witty.

"A charm that protects us from Dementors, you idiot. You know Defense against those Dark beings," Kelsey shot back interrupting class even further.

The whole class broke out into arguments over the debate of which class the charm belonged in. The Professor sighed. She liked the Ravenclaw-Slytherin sessions much better. They just did their work quietly.

"Class!" The Professor called out and they settled down once again.

With one last warning look, she proceeded to explain the charm theory, spell and instructions.

"Now initially you might produce a small shield-like Patronus, but with more practise, you will be able to produce a Corporeal form eventually. Of course, it also depends on the strength of the memory you use so be sure to pick one that has a lot of meaning."

All students took a few moments to think it over.

"With that in mind - there's no time like the present to start. So pair up everybody. Up and off!" Professor Dustings flicked her wand as the students got up. The desks and chairs were pushed to one end of the classroom.

"Hey, As-" Kelsey turned to her right, expecting Astrid to be there. Instead, she saw Sirius Black standing there looking unusually mellow.

"Walker, darlin'. You wouldn't mind switching for the class would you?" Black asked. He had strutted over with utmost haste, her comic was tucked away in his bag that he brought over with him.

Astrid gave her best friend an unsure look.

'Don't you dare' was what Kelsey's silent glare told her.

Sensing Astrid's reluctance, Sirius stepped up his play a bit.

"Moony- my mate's looking a little lonely there, don't you think?" He smirked at Astrid, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Astrid blushed and walked over to where Remus was. Kelsey scoffed and crossed her arms in annoyance. So much for Bros before Hoes.

"Miss me Jones?" he said confidently.

"What did you do? " She cut him off sharply, now on high alert. Why did he want to pair up with her? What was his game?

"I just wanted to see how my favourite Water Spirit was doing. Drown any unsuspecting victims in the Lake lately?" He touched a hand over his heart.

"Not yet. But I can think of a few," she eyed him pulling out her wand. "Let's just finish this shall we?"

They faced each other. Kelsey decided to go first and drew out her wand. She mulled over a few memories, thinking over what stuck with her; the ones that flickered a sense of warmth in her. A few crossed her mind: Her parents seeing her off on her first day; celebrating her seventeenth birthday over the summer with Astrid, Lily and her parents; her Hogsmeade date with Benjamin..

A thin wispy silver light came out. The Hogsmeade date subconsciously diverted her thoughts to the dark-haired boy in front of her.

Watching Black's face scrunch up in anger at his unnaturally coloured hair..

"Expecto Patronum," she said again and swished her wand. The light was a little stronger this time.

She stared into his grey eyes, shining brightly. He was grinning at her as if he was up to something. But his smile made her a little nervous. She felt a blush creeping up her neck.

The warmth that spread through her when she had her first kiss..

Her eyes widened in surprise as the shield was a lot more pronounced and knocked Sirius back a little. He hit the floor and his head a little harder. The sudden force had caught him off guard.

No way, she thought. That had to have been a fluke.

"Bloody hell Jones. That must have been something of a memory," he rubbed the back of his head as he got back up. "Care to share?"

"It's your turn." She took a few steps back to make space for him in case he knocked her down.

"Come ooon," he whined. "I saw you get all red. Was it our very special kiss two years ago?" he hummed playing with the wand in his hand.

She let out a frustrated noise. "If you must know yes it was about a kiss. On my date. With Benji. You know- tall, blonde, looks like he stepped out of a movie-"

Sirius pursed his lips. "Yes, yes. I get it. Perfect Prefect Benji," he said suddenly miffed. His annoyance didn't let him pull together even a thin wisp of a shield. He tried to think of memories powerful enough with his mates but his mind kept going back to his family, Regulus, and the irresponsibly dangerous prank he had played on Snivellus last year.

Of course, Jones managed to get hers out of the way. He had been a witness to that kiss between Jones and Macdonald himself in Hogsmeade. The more he thought about it the more frustrated he became with the lack of his own ability to produce a Patronus. He furiously swished his wand in the air.

He looked around the classroom to see Remus casting his, with Astrid looking on in awe as they shared a smile.

"Watch it Black! You'll take someone's eye out!" In front of him, Jones glared. He merely grunted in response.

By the end of the lesson, only half the students including Lily and Potter had managed to produce a sliver of the charm. Sirius still struggled. None that he could think of were powerful enough.

The students gathered their belongings. Kelsey walked over to her friends to ask them about their memories. As she approached Lily, she saw that the redhead was still talking to Potter. Keyword, talking- not biting his head off.

She remembered Lily's words from a few days ago. 'He seems to be a bit more tolerable this year. And they haven't really bothered us that much.' Kelsey hadn't missed the way her eyes had swept over Potter during Quidditch tryouts either. Perhaps her friend did have a thing for jocks.

"What was that about?" Kelsey questioned as Potter walked back to his friends. Lily smiled and was about to say something when Kelsey saw her eyes widen to the shape of saucers as she witnessed something behind her.

"PADFOOT NO!" was all Kelsey heard before a body came crashing into her.

"Black!" she groaned on the floor. Was this really his best payback? Her bag had fallen, a few of the contents spilling on the floor.

"My bad," he said, not sounding sorry at all. He got up without even bothering to offer her a hand up.

And they say chivalry is dead, Kelsey thought bitterly. She took a few moments to come to terms with the pain in her butt from falling down before sitting up a bit better to gather her books.

She reached a hand to grab one of the books that was sprawled open when she stopped. Wait, that didn't belong to her. How did it fall from her bag?

Astonished at the sight, in front of her she gawked at the magazine that lay before her.

"Miss Jones are you alrigh- what in the name of good Godric?!" Professor Dustings who had shuffled over to help her up also stood staring in shock.

Kelsey sat up straighter, not believing the sight in front of her as students passed by, shooting her disturbed looks. Next to her, she heard Sirius Black clicking his tongue loudly drawing even more attention. He bent down and picked up the PlayWitch and opened it to a random page.

"10 Tricks to Get Him Hot and Bothered," he read with a straight face. "Blimey Kelsey didn't know they delivered these to Hogwarts." He held the magazine up to his face to hide the unmistakable smile that donned his face.

"Miss Jones!"

"It's - it's not mine! I swear!" She got up and went to try and snatch it out from his hands.

"Number 1: For a more sultry approach, lazily drag your hand up his thigh, subtly, in a public place. A sign of what's to come; leave him wanting more," Sirius continued reading.

"Mister Black, please stop!"

Behind Black, Potter and Pettigrew were laughing without remorse at the hilarity. Lupin stood stuffing a fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing too hard. He was supposed to be the sensible one after all.

"Profesor! He did this! I swear!" Kelsey jumped on Sirius but he turned just in time. So she did the next best thing. She leaped onto his back.

"Detention! Miss Jones! You may report to Mr Filch this evening," The Professor, now red in the face magically summoned the book away from Sirius' hand. The magazine flew a few feet into her hands. The explicit contents moving as the witches did some not so PG-13 poses. She left the classroom with the few remaining students still in shock.

By now Lily and Astrid rushed over to Kelsey, trying to pry her off the Black family heir as he too tried to swat her away like a fly.

"You're barmy Jones!" He turned around, twirling Jones with him on piggyback. Kelsey let out a frustrated grunt and kept at it.

"Kelsey! You're a Prefect!" Lily hissed trying to stop Sirius.

"For the love of Merlin, Jones! You need to calm down! Look at her- she's mental!" he exclaimed as she tried to put him in a weak choke-hold.

"Potter! Remus! Some help?" Lily shot daggers at them.

Potter was the first to rush over. Kelsey was in the middle of kicking Black while still on his back. As the two Heads tried to untangle their friends, Kelsey accidentally kicked Potter roughly sending him crashing into Lily. He caught her just in time, turning them over so that he landed under her, softening her blow.

Kelsey shrieked guilty and immediately got off of Black.

"Crap! Lily are you alright?" she shrieked.

Lily Evans was on top of James Potter, her knees between his legs, hands flat on the ground holding herself up. Her long red hair fell over her face, hiding her expression. Meanwhile, Potter's hands were on her waist holding her steady.

"Hey," he breathed.

"H-hey," Lily managed to stutter. She could feel warmth flooding her cheeks the moment she noticed the cosy placement of his hands on her body. She knew she should move them, or make a snarky comment. But she couldn't form a thought.

"All good there, Evans?" he looked up into her green eyes. Lily Evans had never been so close to James Potter. She wasn't prepared for the whirlwind of butterflies she felt swoop through her as he stared at her with a worried expression.

"Huh?" Lily sounded dazed. Potter chuckled softly.

"Do you mind?" he asked nicely. Lily, scurried to get up in a rush. In her nervousness, she accidentally kneed him in the crotch when she moved.

"Evans!" Potter groaned, doubling over in pain and holding onto his nethers.

"Sorry," she squawked, rushing back to check on him.

Sirius was about to go help his friend up when Remus stopped him. "Let him be. We'll be hearing about this later probably for a few days," he whispered quietly.

"I always knew Prongs was a bottom," Sirius snickered. Kelsey shot him a disdainful look suddenly remembering his horrid prank.

"Let's go. We have class," Astrid was dragging her away before Kelsey could make another move to embarrass herself. Surprisingly Kelsey came along with any resistance. Head held high, nose up in the air, she walked past Sirius Black without another glance.

ϟ

harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Paper_bird_charm