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This was simply unacceptable! Absolutely out of the question! Sirius growls under his breath as he turns on his, continuing his cagey pacing. Remus peers up and over the top his book, watching his closest friends bounce back and forth in front of the fireplace of the common room. He wrinkles his nose with dismay, silently pondering whether or not he should address the irritating marching. But one look at the scrunched expression marring Sirius’ usually calm demeanor encourages the werewolf to remain silent. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t already guessed what was eating at his friend’s sanity. With that in mind he returns his focus back to the open book in his lap, doing his best to ignore what he could on describe as growls.

“A Slytherin? Really!” Sirius finally exclaims angrily.

“Ah. And the truth finally comes out,” Remus utters simply, shutting his book and offering Sirius his undivided attention, “It could be worse really.”

Sirius rolls his eyes, utterly unconvinced and the jarred expression upon his visage reveals his
vexation quite neatly.

“It could’ve been Snape.”

That comment is enough to get Sirius to be still—much to Remus’ relief—and the man offers his friend a noncommittal grunt of agreement. Indeed, it could’ve been Snape. Still having to be paired for Herbology with Snape’s closest ‘friend’—other than that damn Malfoy—had to be the next worst thing.

“Sometimes I swear I have the worst luck…”

“He says to the werewolf,” Remus supplies sarcastically as he rises to his feet, nestling his book beneath his folded arms.

Sirius offers Remus a sheepish grin and Remus is unable to feign ire any longer.

“Think of it this way. (Name) is a very bright girl and right now you could really use the boost in your grade.”

Sirius frowns with the wrinkle of his nose he lackadaisically settles himself down in the armchair Remus had just vacated. Remus turns to face his friend with a sigh.

“It’s only for a few classes. I’m fairly certain it won’t kill you.”

“That’s what you think,” Sirius retaliates in a huff of breath.

“What won’t kill who?” another voice inquires from the slight distance.

Both boys look up in time to see Lily approaching their temporary abode, a beige fleece blanket wrapped about her slight shoulders. Remus proffers a soft smile as she draws near and Lily returns his gesture a smile of her own, before shifting her gaze to Sirius’ bundled form.

“What’s got you all disgruntled?” Lily wonders aloud as she perches herself upon the burgundy armrest.

Sirius merely supplies Lily with the rustle of fabric as he shifts to resituate himself in the armchair. A curious smirk graces the witch’s lips as she turns her inquiring gaze on to Remus’ form. Swiftly Remus holds up a hand, palm up and open, with the slight shake of his head.

“I think not. I’m fairly certain I’ve met my ‘good friend’ quota for the night. With that in mind, I shall depart. Good night you two.”

Lily shakes her head with amusement as she watches Remus vacate the premise to turn in for the night. Her eyes then veer back to Sirius’ huddled figure.

“Well? Do you intend to tell me what has you so…upset?”

Sirius gives the redhead a sideways glance, silently contemplating if he should even bother. But the look in Lily’s eyes relays every ounce of her resolve. She would not part from him until she obtained what she sought after.

“I got paired with a Slytherin in herbology class…”

A slight frown graces Lily’s face as she eyes him somewhat miffed. Her lips draw into a tight line and momentarily she is silent and observing. Eventually a dismayed sigh slips past her lips as she runs a hand through her fiery tendrils.

“A Slytherin? Is that what you’re concerned about? Honestly Sirius.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You have a way with the beast, while I do not.”

Lily is able to easily divulge as to whom Sirius is speaking of and promptly she reaches out to roughly jerk at his ear.

“Oww! What’s wrong with you, Evans?”

“Be mindful of how you speak about my boyfriend, Black,” Lily replies, a smug smirk playing about her lips, the flickering flames of the fire caress her face splendidly.
Sirius sighs in defeat as he shifts once more to turn his back to his so-called friend, “I cannot believe that you’re picking Snape over us. I thought Gryffindors were supposed to stick together or something.”

Lily shoves lightly at his back, softly urging him to make space for her slip down and sit beside him, and with feigned reluctance the Gryffindor silently abides. Lily withdraws her blanket from her shoulder, neatly folding it across both their laps—though that proved to be an awkward task what with the way Sirius was situated upon the chair.

“We do and I am. It’s just I figured you’d be a bit more open-minded, especially as of late. Even Severus has gotten better at holding his tongue when I discuss you all.”

“Oh, you must be so proud. You’ve tamed a Slytherin. Rejoice! Let us rejoice!”
Lily frowns at Sirius’ histrionic display. Honestly, the boy could be quite dramatic if he really wanted to.

“Listen here, Sirius. The way I see it, you can go about this two different ways. Firstly, you can just make things overtly difficult for yourself by being unjustifiably stubborn. Or…,” Lily pauses to see if Sirius will feel inclined to give her the time of day to carry on and only when the Gryffindor leans his head back to peer at her expectantly does she continue on, “Or you can try to be civil and do whatever is necessary to make sure this arrangement doesn’t botch your grade.”

Sirius supplies Lily a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and Lily then moves to rest her head upon the back of Sirius’ shoulder, “Well, who knows! Maybe having a Slytherin for a partner might even help you pull up your grade.”

“Hahaha,” Sirius pretends to laugh, throwing up a lone hand up in defeat, “I suppose you and Remus just find yourselves to be so very amusing.”

Lily chuckles lightly as she places a soft kiss into his hair, “We just worry, is all. After all, that’s what friends do.”

Lily shuffles to her feet, dragging her blanket from Sirius and wrapping it back around her shoulders, “I think I’ll head to bed now. I’ve got an exam tomorrow. Perhaps it’d be best if you did the same. After all, you’ve got to stock up on all the energy you can in order to deal with your life altering crisis.”

Lily snickers at her own joke and Sirius merely waves her off with the swift snap of wrist before he rolls over, visage now facing the back of the armrest, “Whatever.”

“Oh, don’t be juvenile. You’ll be fine, love, I promise.”
Lily moves forward to lightly pat the other Gryffindor atop his head before turning on her heels to head for her room, “Good night, Sirius.”

“G’night,” Sirius replies softly, eyes veering over to the flickering flames.

Tomorrow was going to be hell. Sirius was simply sure of it.
“Alright, class! Now that we’ve discussed the basics for this project I’d like you to settle into your pairs and discuss what you intend to have your project focus on before you all scamper off to wherever you need be next.”

There’s a motley of noise—grunts of annoyance from the less fortunate pairings and pleased sounds from those who’d been lucky enough to be paired with someone they could actually stand—including the sound of screeching stools and shuffling feet as students sought after their partner. Remus rose from his feet and placed an understanding hand on Sirius’ shoulder.

“It’ll be fine, mate. Now be a gentleman and go to her. It’s only polite,” the werewolf encourages as he slides his books from the table top and into his arms.

“Easy for you to say,” Sirius mumbles as both her and Remus turn to see Remus’ partner, a fellow Gryffindor, waving him over.

Remus turns his attention back to Sirius with a borderline smug smile and shrugs, “We can’t always win, now can we?”

Sirius delivers a half-hearted punch into his friend shoulder before he kicks his stool from out of his path, “See ya later then…if I’m still alive, that is.”

Remus can’t help but roll his eyes at that, an amused smile playing about his brows, before he turns to head over to his own partner. Sirius follows suit, begrudgingly so, and sets out for his own partner. She is silent when he approaches and even as he settles into the chair beside her, she offers him no acknowledgement.

‘Alright. Maybe she’s not the socializing type. Just play nice,’ Sirius beseeches himself.

“Sirius Black,” he says politely, extending a hand in her direction.

“Yes, I’m well aware of who you are,” she replies promptly, finally lifting her head to look at him, “And it is because of who you are I find myself concerned.”

The Gryffindor’s eyes furrow in puzzlement as he observes his partner. Surely she was putting him on, right?

“Uh…I beg your pardon?” he finally manages.

“Let me clear, Black. I have no time for childish shenanigans. Some of us happen to value our education and I’ll be damned if I allow you to soil mine.”

Sirius blanches momentarily before his astonishment is swapped for irritation, “Okay, who the hell do you think—!”

The Slytherin hold up a swift hand, effectively silencing the Gryffindor, “All you have to do is as I say and we’ll be fine. Understood? Good.”

She then turns to her left to draw something from her bag and Sirius finds himself unable to coerce his voice out as he simmers in disbelief. The witch then turns to him, sliding a bundle of parchment paper across the desk and in front of Sirius.

“I’ve already drawn up the plans for our experiment. All you have to do, as I said before, is follow my lead as well as those directions,” (name) rises to her feet, swiftly and elegantly dipping down to retrieve her bag and place it across her shoulder, “This I’m sure that even a Gryffindor like you can’t manage to bollocks things.”

She imparts Sirius a quick and curt nod, before spinning delicately on her heels and making her exit, robe swaying as she all but sashays out of the greenhouse. Sirius watches her depart, silently staring at the door even after (name) has fallen from view, before shifting his gaze down to the papers resting in front of him.

The ire that comes him is somewhat delayed, but when it hits him it’s a train wreck and then some. Sirius finds a burning urge to simply shred the papers with his bare hands—magic be damned! Sometimes one needed to feel the damage beneath their palms. But he is deterred from doing so when he looks down and genuinely takes that paper in.

The handwriting is pristine, words even spaced and paragraph wondrously arranged. Charts and diagrams litter the majority of the six pages—neatly of course—with writings within and around them. It’s impressive work, pristine, industrious and reliable, even Sirius can admit that and that rather irritates him.

“Damn Slytherins,” Sirius grumbles under his breath as he angrily shoves the papers into his bag, clambering to his feet with aggravated steps.

Honestly the Gryffindor isn’t too sure as to what’s pissing him off the most: the fact that (name) had practically declared what their project was to be or that it was a pretty damn good idea and they’d likely get an easy O off of work like it.

“Damn. Damn. Damn Slytherins…”
“Come on, mate. It’s hard to enjoy my meal with you frowning like that,” James teases, ushering a playful jab into Sirius’ side with a wide grin.
Sirius doesn’t rise to the bait, instead opting to take up another spoonful of soup.

“I mean, I’m not exactly fond of Slytherins either, but this is getting a bit out of hand.
Sirius again opts to remain silent as he glares across the dining hall. Truly, if only glare could kill, then (name) would be dead twelve times over…and then some.

“I know you’re probably plotting your revenge for the pain you’ve endured the last few classes, but I’d highly suggest you don’t. Let’s face it, she’s a girl so no matter what you do or what you say, you’ll always be wrong and she’ll be right.”

“What exactly are you trying to imply, James?” Lily questions from the other side of the table, a brow raised daringly.

James is swift to hold up both his hands defensively, shaking them in time with his head, “That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh? What exactly did you mean?” Remus chimes in, more that delighted by the idea of throwing James under the train.

James throws his so-called friend a brief and lazy glare before he turns his attention to Lily,

“What I was trying to say is that things work differently with girls. What we’d normally get away with another bloke won’t work with a girl. All she has to do is turn on the waterworks and she’s already won.”

Remus smirks around the rim of his glass of pumpkin juice, gaze shifting expectantly to Lily as he awaits her response. Lily shrugs, a devilish smirk playing about her lips.

“True,” is all she offers as a response and then takes up a forkful of rice.

James chuckles and falls silent as Lily and Remus divert the conversation elsewhere. James waits for the new table topic to really marinate and settle in before he leans over to whisper in Sirius’ ear.

“Point is when it comes to a lady like (name) it’s best to do what you know best.”

The hushed statement is enough to enamor Sirius’ attention, ears perking up with much interest and the expression on his countenance is enough to warrant James to continue speaking.

“It isn’t as though you’re unfamiliar with ‘courting’ a girl,” he says, emphasizing his words with discreet air quotes, “So just play by the same rules.”
Sirius shakes his slightly with slightly furrowed brows, “What are you prattling on about?”

“Aw, come on mate! Think about it! It’s a prank with no backlash. You being unreservedly nice to her, borderline flirty, will definitely put her on edge. You cannot tell me that wouldn’t be fun to watch.”

Sirius searches James’ eyes for any sign of playful deceit, but all his finds is that same passion the other male always has in his eyes whenever he’s up for a right prank. A slow smirk slips onto the Gryffindor’s face as he digest his friend’s implications. It wouldn’t be the nicest thing Sirius has ever done, but Sirius is fairly it isn't be the worst either. And besides, what would be better than seeing someone as uptight—and likely unhinged, as Slytherins tend to be—as (name) unnerved and uncertain. As of late, nothing. Absolutely nothing sound better. Sirius offers James a wide grin, one of which James returns with a wide on of his own.

“What are the two of you grinning about? You both look positively bonkers!” Lily inputs the moment she notices the other two boys from the corner of her eyes.

Sirius waves her off with a lazy wave of his hand, “Nothing! Honestly Lily, you worry much too much.”

With that said Sirius turns his focus back to his meal, properly eating with eyes full of mirth.

“Well he seems right as rain,” Remus mutters with suspicion, unsure as to what’s transpired but fairly certain it can’t be good.

“Oh, come off it, Lupin. I just know what to say to cheer a fellow up, is all. Isn’t that what mates are for?”

Lily and Remus promptly look to one another with duplicate expressions of uncertainty. Neither were too sure as to what the other two were conspiring, but they knew better to press so soon, especially not when both James and Sirius so determined to maintain sealed lips. So for the rest of the night neither Gryffindor mentions what each knew was to eventually come to play.