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"Psst, Lily." Astrid's whisper lured Lily Evans over to the Hufflepuff table before she could even sit at her own the following Tuesday morning. It was the week after the latest Hogsmeade trip - the last week of November.

"Astrid, hey," Lily sat down looking around for Kelsey whom she found sitting a few seats away making it a point to glare at them while furiously chewing her porridge. There was milk dribbling down Kelsey's chin but she didn't care.

Kelsey brought two fingers up to her eyes and pointed them back over at Lily and Astrid. 'I'm watching you' she mouthed, accidentally spitting some stray oatmeal on the poor kid in front of her.

"Hey-" the boy in front of her went to protest but one look from Kelsey shot it down.

"Err- Are you okay Kels?" Lily asked a little loudly, appearing unsettled.

"Hell hath no fury, Evans," Kelsey replied venomously, squinting her eyes at the two of them. "Hell hath no fury." She shoved the last bit of breakfast in one huge spoon and jerked up suddenly.

Lily sighed sadly while they continued to watch their friend walk away without a word.

"She knows it wasn't our secret to tell, doesn't she?" Lily asked Astrid, unsure now.

"Yes, but you know how she is.."

"I can't believe you're still defending her," Lily accused. "You spoil her too much!"

"I think she's just upset because she didn't realise it on her own like you. That and the fact that she thinks she wasn't deemed trustworthy enough." Astrid also thought there was some unresolved Sirius tension there but she didn't mention it.

"This isn't about her," Lily huffed. "Although spending the day with James wasn't as bad as I'd-" She paused when Kelsey came storming back abruptly.

Lily only truly agreed to that 'date' with Potter to keep an eye on Kelsey for Remus. But when Astrid came up with her own side-plan and James offered to drop the fake date, she went ahead with it anyway.

A part of Lily always wondered: What would a date with James Potter look like? She hadn't been disappointed. Oddly enough, she only had Kelsey to thank for that. The very same Kelsey who was now avoiding her.

Out of nowhere, the sound of a firecracker bursting sounded and Astrid exclaimed, "Hufflin' Helga!! Lily, look!" she pointed up behind her. Kelsey too was staring at the space behind her, so Lily turned.

'I'm very fawn-ed of you. Go out with me again?'

Taking in the magical banner, Lily giggled unlike herself. She was supposed to be the proper one here!

"So? What do you say, eh Evans?" The cheery face of one James Potter brought her attention back to ground level. He looked at her expectedly. She gave a slight nod.

"And just for verbal confirmation..to tell the boys that I didn't imagine this part," he prodded shyly. "..that's a yes?"

Kelsey smiled to herself and made to grab her books. She brought the frown back before anyone noticed her slip-up.

"Yes, James," Lily rolled her eyes.

"I- um Potter?" Lily asked, suddenly worried as more letters appeared out of nowhere where the sign for her had just been.

"Yes, Evans?" he smiled and turned his attention to where hers was, not looking the least bit surprised. "'Bout time," James mumbled.

At the Professors' table, Minerva McGonagall sighed in dismay as the fireworks burst forth into more letters. Just one. She would like just one breakfast without any pranks or mishaps or anything remotely chaotic. Next to her, Albus Dumbledore chuckled to himself and leaned forward with a curious glint in his eye as if to see what was coming next. McGonagall pursed her lips.

"Did she really?" Students whispered.

"I always knew she had that streak. It's a wonder she isn't in Slytherin."

"Not lying, I might take her up on it."

Confused by the haughty, judgemental comments suddenly being thrown her way, Kelsey turned back to look at the bright bold letters that were displayed mid-air, bringing her curious gaze to where Potter, Lily and Astrid were looking.

'Do you have an arch-enemy? Are you looking to drown your next victim to get rid of without proof?

Contact Kelpie Jones today!

Hassle-free revenge - best served cold! Location: Black Lake. Fridays at Midnight only'

Oh no he didn't! Kelsey was horrified! She scanned the Great Hall before spotting the tall-head of dark curls, a little further away, closer to the exit. He stood there, smiling smugly, wagging his eyebrows.

Kelpie or not, she was going to drown him in the lake for real this time. She started making her way towards him, pushing aside interested inquiries:

"Hey, Jones, about that sign-"

"Midnight? Could I meet you earlier?"

"Do you know Chelsea Adams from Ravenclaw? She stole my boyfriend last month and-"

She shot every single person down with one contemptuous look.

"Sirius Black you get back here right now!" She hissed but he was already gone along with Potter.

As students chatted away, gossiping about the contents that hadn't disappeared yet, several small round-shaped products rolled onto the great hall in several rows. There a blinding flash of light before someone shouted 'Dungbomb! Run!' and simultaneously they all released some mustard-coloured smoke.

It was chaos.

In the confusion of the dungbomb prank, students rushed out all at once. Sirius had slinked away a few moments before Kelsey could even unleash her wrath upon him. She was pretty sure she saw Remus and Pettigrew scampering away from Filch in the opposite direction as she left the hall.

It didn't matter anymore. Her current priority was getting as far away before the smell got into her clothes too or worse her hair. Running out of the hall in the sea of students, she could barely make out the direction she was heading in before she felt a firm grip on her upper arm.

What the-

She found herself being hauled away, only to find that the strong grip belonged to Sirius Black.

"Let me go!" Kelsey protested fiercely, trying to free herself. "What are you doing?!"

She was in no mood to talk to him or Evans (yes, it was Evans to her now) or Astrid. The sight of him at breakfast had only fueled her ire on top of the beat that her heart had skipped. It had been building up for a few days now and watching him with Astrid last Saturday had triggered some unknown pit of emotions she had spent a few days mulling over.

Instead of replying, he gave her a cheeky grin and re-directed their route to an emptier corridor with lesser students.

"STRANGER DANGER!" Kelsey yelled as Sirius Black dragged her off.

She was not going down without a fight.

A few students hurried by, making a run from the dungbomb infested smoke that was now seeping out of the Great Hall. Instead of helping, they only sent them funny looks.

That's what years of watching Kelpie Jones and Sirius Black did.

"What do you reckon that's about?" someone whispered.

"Just ignore them. It's probably 'nother one of their bedroom games."

"Ooh, saucy!"

"Well, they do call her Kinky Kelpie for a reason.."

Sirius clicked his tongue. "You're a funny one, Keplie."

Kelsey made a mental note to memorise the faces of those three Ravenclaws to get back at them another day. But for now, she brought her attention back to Sirius. This close she could smell his cologne..the scent of the Amortentia came crashing back to her and she was convinced she was losing her mind.

She was not attracted to Sirius Black!

"I repeat- STRANGER DANGER!" she continued to which Sirius was finally forced to throw a hand over her mouth to shush her. Kelsey was too busy refuting her own internal monologue to do something she normally would have: like lick his hand.

"I'm a charmer of ladies, not some lecherou-"

"Everyone literally saw you dragging me here against my will. I think they get the picture," she huffed coming to her senses.

"A necessary evil to get you talking to me."

"Why do you even care?" she retorted.

"Because.." he had a strange distant look on his face. "Because."

They finally stopped in a lesser occupied corridor and he gave her a once over. She looked a little dazed but mostly furious. His stomach did a nervous backflip.

What if she slapped him? It was a very Kelpie thing to do. He hadn't planned this far in.

"Where's a superhero when you need one," she grumbled, crossing her arms, refusing to meet his eyes. The corner of his lips twitched and he held back a smile.

"Fine. What is it? What do you want?" she asked sharply.

Sirius hesitated for a second. "Are you going to the Hufflepuff-Slytherin game this Saturday?"

"Yes." She watched him rub the back of his head before standing up a little straighter.

"Go to the game with me." He looked at her dead in the eye.

Kelsey was surprised at the flutter that went through her stomach.

No! That's how he gets you by staring into your eyes with the stormy grey ones of his.

"A-Are you an idiot?" she responded instead hoping he wouldn't catch her stutter.

"What?!" That wasn't the response he had expected.

"I already told you I'm going. On. My. Own." What was his endgame?

"Look just go to the game with me would you-"

"And why would I do that?" Kelsey scoffed.

"Because I'm Sirius Black." Suddenly, he was unsure of himself. But he went on anyway, "In case you forgot, there are loads of girls who would die to be in your place."

The girl in front of him was as stubborn as she had been. He didn't think he would have to actually convince her.

"Then do it," Kelsey declared.

"Excuse me?" he asked incredulously.

"Ask them. I dare you to ask any girl out." she went on. "I don't trust your motives, Black." She jabbed his chest with a finger.

"You're impossible," he grumbled.

"Wow such a charmer," she said sarcastically.

"Fine. Go to the game or don't, I don't care!" He looked around behind them to the students passing by. "Oi, you!" He called out suddenly making another seventh-year Gryffindor stop in her tracks.

"Me?" She looked surprised.

"Go to the Hufflepuff-Slytherin game with me," he barked out a little harshly.

"Yes!" she rushed over. "A thousand times yes! Oh, this is just like I'd imagined it would go!"

Sirius' smile faltered. Blimey. He probably caught one of the crazies from his 'official' fan club.

He could feel Jones' smug gleam. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he nevertheless proceeded to fix a time and place to meet before the game with the girl. He'd show Jones what she was missing out on and shove his wooing skills in her face.

Kelsey held back a remark. The ease with which he had moved on hadn't surprised her. The sense of disappointment grew though. Had she for a moment hoped he had really asked her out?

This was just typical. Why wasn't she surprised? That gut-wrenching feeling was back. It was all a joke to him. She watched the Gryffindor skip along merrily after confirming the details of the meet-up that Saturday afternoon.

Sirius let out a laugh. "I mean. You actually thought that I was asking you out," he snickered as she continued making scoffing noises not bothering to hide her annoyance. "You could look a little less murderous you know?"

"Go to hell!" Kelsey let out a frustrated cry. "I knew you were messing with me! That's mean even for you." She played it off calmly but on the inside, it hurt.

Sirius saw the brief flicker of distress on her face and all of a sudden he wished that he had actually stuck to his guns. Unable to himself, he offered the only solution he knew.

"I could turn that frown into a smile," he took a few steps forward and backed her into the stone wall. "Just say the word, Jones," he smirked. She was close enough for him to feel that pang of longing again.

Kelsey's own heart thumped in her chest. It seemed to do that a lot recently with him around. She stared in awe at his chiselled features. She took in a shaky breath and looked at him standing in all his glory with that stupid grin on his face.

In his effort to be flawless and to continue to charm the wits off of Jones, he went to tug her close by the edge of her robes, to hold her in his arms in a swoon-worthy move. He had heard from Moony who had heard from Astrid that Jones was a sucker for muggle 'heroes' in movies.

Sirius was nothing if not a wooer of ladies. Even if he had temporarily failed to get Jones to go to the game with him.

In his haste, however, he accidentally grabbed onto something more squishy instead and he did the first thing that came naturally to him.

Kelsey gasped, absolutely red in the face when she felt Sirius Black squeeze her left tit on instinct. As a reflex, she slapped him.

"You-yo-you absolute pervert!" She shoved him off roughly, making him falter a few steps back in surprise. She turned away to run off but he stopped her by holding on to her hand. The contact sent a spark through her body, making her stop instantly.

"Bloody hell Jones, I didn't mean to-"

"Pervy McPerverson!" She pointed at him and yelled loudly, drawing wary looks from other students.

"Kelsey, please!" he pleaded.

She missed his use of her name as he called out desperately but she pinned him down with a steely look that sent shivers through his spine. He would be sleeping with one eye open that night.

She started stalking away before pausing and turning back to yell at him some more.

"And just so we're clear: Next time you feel like dragging someone away for a quick up the shirt feel-me-up session, make sure it's a girl who doesn't hate your guts," she shrieked.

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"Can you like believe him?!" Kelsey paced around their dorm room recounting the day's events while Astrid lay on her bed munching on snacks. Her anger at her best friend lay forgotten. She had much more important things to do.

Such as complaining about one Sirius Black.

"So let me clarify this.." Astrid took a bite of her crisp. "Sirius Black asked you out..and your response was to dare him to ask someone else?" That's it. Her friend was a lost cause. Astrid was sure of it.

"Well, clearly he was only kidding. He said it so himself," Kelsey insisted, her voice choking a little at the memory.

"Plus, it's not like I even like him.."

"No. you just enjoy spending your free time dreaming of ways to make his life hell."

"And then he had the added audacity to entice me for a kiss!" Kelsey shrieked. Her hysteric voice was making its way back. She was reeling from the fact that she had almost given in until he had fondled her.

"He was flirting!"

"He wasn't. Flirting is what he does with birds he wants to snog-"

"Please," Astrid laughed. "You wouldn't know flirting if it hit you in the face-"

"Pfft, of course I would."

"- Or grabbed your tit," Astrid finished slyly to which Kelsey threw a pillow at her.

"Anyways," Kelsey started, distracted by another line of thought. "Just, last week he was with you on that date. He's moved on a bit quickly don't you think?"

Astrid shrugged, not seeming upset. "It was just a friendly date. We cleared it up."

Kelsey grinned. "Have you thought about what I said?"

Astrid sighed. "Not again. I don't want any part of your '12 Ways to Woo a Marauding Werewolf' plan. I think your record with the Daddy thing was sufficient." Astrid shuddered at the memory. It was a miracle that Remus tolerated her presence after Kelsey's craziness. "Besides, shouldn't you be focusing on your own issues?"

"Issues..being?"

"Sirius Black asking you out!"

"I think you mean Sirius Black fake asking me out and then grabbing my boob to cause further humiliation," she retorted bitterly. "I mean the guy clearly can't keep it in his pants."

Astrid couldn't hold herself back and burst out laughing. "Oh and just so you know. I invited the boys to sit with us during the game."

Kelsey groaned. Great. Just what she needed: Sirius Black trying to find his way into another girl's skirt.

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