And the world keeps turning

Alright, that was certainly another mark on the weird scale for this year. First there'd been his surprisingly civil chat with Lily in the Heads carriage on the way here, not to mention the fact that he was Head Boy on top of everything else, but now he was able to sit for an hour with Narcissa Black of all people without hexing her into oblivion.

And was it just him, or was she flirting with him?

Maybe. It wouldn't be a bad thing he guessed, she was rather...shapely...especially under her school robes. But she wasn't his type. In fact, he was sure that he'd seen his type go this way after class. Although the pairings in the classroom had been slightly disastrous for some (he was still smirking over Sirius' face when he got sorted with Snivellus), Slughorn apparently had a shred of compassion somewhere within his heart, and had set them fairly decent homework partners. Well, he'd set him one at least, Moony was an excellent person to work with...whether Sirius would survive (or even attend) any extra-curricular activity with Evans was yet to be seen.

He glanced around the corridors, feeling more chipper than he had in days. It was one of those afternoons that epitomised the end of an Indian summer - the weather was still warm, the ground retaining the heat from the height of its blaze during the day even as it took on a soft, golden glow, hints of orange playing around the edges of the objects that it fell on. He walked through the courtyard leisurely - Potions had been his last lesson for the day and he saw no need to hurry to the Library, especially since Remus had told him he'd meet him there in a bit. So instead he just enjoyed the fresh air, weaving his way through the scattered groups of people that were clustered here and there, nodding at those he knew and smiling at those he didn't, giving a reassuring wink to a timid-looking first year Hufflepuff who seemed to be spinning around in confusion.

Cocking his head slightly, he stopped in front of her.

"Everything alright?" He asked, squinting slightly as he turned more to avoid the direct light of the setting sun. As the girl looked up her eyes widened, obviously catching the glint of his badge.

"Imfinethanks," She mumbled, blushing before speeding off. "Justgottafindthelibrary..."

"But the Library's..." He shouted, pointing to the opposite direction that she'd rushed off to. "That way..." He finished, before shrugging and making his way through the cloisters to enter the building. It took him a few more minutes (and an inordinate amount of willpower to resist docking some points from Slytherin after a passing comment from a fourth year about the Gryffindor Quidditch team) to reach the Library, but he pushed through the doors noisily as he arrived.

"Shhh!" Came the immediate, automatic response from Madam Pince, which was answered with a rolling of the eyes from the Head Boy. The old bat had always seemed to have it in for him, ever since she'd caught him playing catch with Snivellus' latest withdrawal with Remus once in third year. He could remember the agony of the detention even now...the sheer boredom of filing entry after entry into the filefax that, he was sure, inked itself. He cast about for the Potions section, moving towards it with a renewed vigour as the tranquility that comes so naturally with such a place set in. Scanning the rows of texts, he moved along, running his fingers over the spines as he searched for the one he wanted, mumbling under his breath as he did so.

"Precarious Potions, Unstable Solutions, Slinkhard's Guide to..." He said, before a flash of red in the corner of his vision caught his eye. Grinning widely, he made his way over to the table in the corner, hidden from view by the stack he'd been perusing just moments before.

"Evans!" He said cheerfully, taking a seat across from her. "Fancy meeting you in a place like this." He glanced down at the book she was reading from, taking note of the title.

Dammit, that was the one he wanted.

"Err," He started, pointing at the book with his right hand, the ever-present snitch closed between his grasp. "You gonna be much longer with that? Me and Remus'll need it before too long."

Would I mind wha-oh..." He caught on, bending to pick up her quill. He straightened and passed it back to her, his fingers accidentally-on-purpose brushing hers ever so slightly as he did so. She was staring at him suspiciously, but in all honesty, he was used to that now - it seemed that the redhead was constantly on the watch for his next move, purposefully waiting to see what she could pick him up on next.

He didn't think on it. After all, on closer analysis it didn't do wonders for his chances with her and as Sirius said on trying to understand the opposite sex, "In that way lies madness". Or so he thought, as he realised that she was talking again.

"I'm sure he'll arrive." He said, leaning back in the chair. "If he doesn't, I'll tell him to get his arse down to the library. There's no guarantee he'll listen, of course, but it's worth a shot. Sirius generally is as Sirius does."

He shook his head at her next comment. "No, it's fine. Remus isn't here yet anyway, just needed something out of the third chapter when he does come. Besides," He shrugged, "I'm sure I could get a copy of it sent from home, Mum probably has something like it." He picked at the string of his bag strap absently, glancing towards the high windows and wishing that he was outside in the warm Autumn afternoon once more, maybe around the Great Lake...or on the Quidditch field...

Vaguely, he realised that he was daydreaming, and simply sitting at the table with Lily rudely. He cleared his throat and took his parchment, quills and ink out, opening his Potions book at the recipe for the Draught of Hercules. Whilst he wouldn't write on the book itself (Remus would probably have an aneurysm), he always wrote down the small corrections and failed additions to his potions that he'd tried during the lesson after it had ended. His notebook was actually becoming fairly sizeable now, and combined with his Herbology notes he was wondering if he didn't have enough to have a textbook of his own. Not that he would, of course. James was a highly creative person, but his talents were more focused on things that would divert his mind, as opposed to stimulating it. He was one of those people who was born with an easy intelligence, one that came as naturally to him and as conveniently as breathing, but he'd yet to decide whether that was a good or a bad thing.

"So how are you finding it?" He asked after a while, stopping to blot a drop of ink that had spilled onto his notes. "Being Head Girl I mean? Aside from small, first year Hufflepuffs being terrified of me, I haven't noticed much difference...except in workload of course. And the private quarters."

He raised an eyebrow at her choice of words, glancing up from his writing and grinning at the flashes of a smile beginning to flicker in the corners of her mouth.

"Nobody ever said I gave it up. Maybe I'm just as bad as I always was, but you just haven't caught me yet?" He reasoned, underlining a particular point about not using Herrigruff hairs in the Draught. The smell had been disastrously unpleasant, despite the benefits it gave in speeding up the Quickening of the Mercury Essence. "Of course," He shrugged, his eyes fixed on his parchment as he wrote, "Your words imply that I've not been behaving like one, so maybe I've always been like this really and people just think that they know me." He glanced up, his eyebrows raising slightly before he finished adding the last root he and Narcissa had added today. With a sigh, he read over his notes once more before waving his wand over the page, casting a drying spell on it non-verbally as he closed the book, placing it back inside his satchel.

He leaned back in the chair again as he stared at the window, hoping that Remus would turn up soon. It wasn't that he didn't want to be in Evans' company, despite the very civil edge to it, it was just that he'd rather be...out there, really. Summer was made for grass and giant squids, not for Libraries and stuffy books, and they'd been blessed with an extra-long one. Why they weren't taking advantage of it, he wasn't quite sure.

"So I saw you were paired with Malfoy in Potions. Imagine that was fun," His face grimaced slightly at the thought of the blonde Slytherin. They'd never seen eye-to-eye on...well...anything really, but unlike Snivellus, Malfoy seemed to understand the concept of simply avoiding each other wherever possible...not tagging along after his friends, trying to get them into trouble at any opportunity. They had an arrangement of animosity, but Slughorn had fractured that slightly today. "He didn't...give you any trouble, did he?" How did you phrase 'If he called you a mudblood, I'll hex him into next Thursday' tactfully? "Because...well...we know what he's like. His views particularly. I know me and Sirius would be more than happy to...have a word, if he's giving you grief?"

He frowned again at her mention of the Black girl, rolling his eyes in mild exasperation.

"She's pretty insufferable...and I don't much like being used to make anyone jealous." He muttered. "Especially not Malfoy. But we have to get on for the project, so I had to lump all of her shit about blood and all the rest of it." Absently, he wondered if anyone else knew the Library existed other than them, the tables were very thinly occupied. "And this," he tapped his badge again slightly disdainfully. "Is making it very difficult to reply in the way that I'd actually like to." He stood up finally, walking over to the stacks again.

"May as well get started..." He mumbled to himself, pulling out a copy of "Elixirs & Enchantments: An Intermediate Guide To Bewitching The Faculties" before coming back to sit at the table, taking a clean sheet of parchment from his back again before dipping his quill in the inkpot and heading up the page.

"Who's on patrol tonight?" He asked after about five or ten minutes of quiet study, the fact that he really didn't know suddenly occurring to him in the dim sound of quills scratching on parchment. He knew that he should have memorised Lily's timetable last night, but honestly, Sirius and Peter had distracted him with the promise of a trip to the kitchens. Considering he'd missed most of dinner because of a fight between a Ravenclaw fifth year and a Gryffindor sixth year, he hadn't had the willpower (or the inclination) to say no. "Oh, and Dumbledore wants to see us tomorrow evening, he sent me a note in Transfiguration. Sorry, forgot to mention."

"Alright," He said, making a note on a scrap of parchment that he promptly tucked away in his shirt pocket as he divested himself of his robes. It suddenly occured to him that his tie had actually been fastened all day as well. He hurriedly (but subtly, he hoped) popped the button around his neck, loosening the offending article and breathing a slight sigh of relief.

God, what was happening to him?

Although he didn't suppose it was that bad, he thought to himself. Lily had chuckled several times. Several! That was unprecedented in his company, and she'd actually smiled. And this time it wasn't a "you're about to be shuffled off the mortal coil" smile, but a genuine one that he'd put there. He couldn't help the grin, and the slightly uncharacteristic mumble of a reply as she asked him if he wanted to walk with her.

Really, he thought, I can wake up now. This is getting too weird, and I'm not going to want to if it carries on like this. Glancing up at her, his own cinammon eyes meeting her emerald ones, he hoped that he wasn't blushing and that she didn't immediately regret asking him as his lips seemed to move of their own accord.

"D'you really have to ask?" He said, before kicking himself mentally. "I mean, it would make sense for us to go together. Since we're in the same place to start with. We can compare notes...or something..."

Smooth.

He looked away in slight embarassment (a fact that he would never admit out loud), thankful at that point that Remus wasn't actually there to witness his little cock up. Shit, he wasn't used to this. He was conditioned to hearing her tell him that she wouldn't go near him if he were the last man on the face of the earth, that all she held for him was distaste. Not actually ask him if they wanted to spend time together.

Okay, maybe that wasn't exactly what she'd said, but he allowed himself that one, small delusion.

What a day it has been, what could possibly make it any worse? Being paired with Snape in the potions class made Sirius loathe Slughorn all the more. It had to have been the fact that since he wasn't part of the Slug Club it was a punishment of sorts. He would never find himself keeping company with such bookworms as the little group Slughorn doted upon. Whats more is the fact his partner for the next project was Evans, how he deserved this torment was beyond his imagining. Of course Evans would be right off to the library to bury her nose in a tome, immediately beginning the process of completeing the assignment. The notion occured to him that maybe he should take a bit more responsibility and head there himself, but he quickly banished that thought. He had to do something first, to relieve the frustration that has accumulated over the past few hours. He was sure James himself would be feeling the same, seeing as he was paired with Narcissa in the class and he had to suffer her incessant flirting. What a sight that was, watching poor Prongs endure was almost enough torture to him for one day. But as it was, Sirius' mischevious side would instantly move that thought to the side. Though he enjoyed teaming up with his best friend for a practical joke, he also took great enjoyment in pulling one on James himself. Funny he thought since the year began he hasn't seen much of his friend, save a few small pranks they have pulled. It seemed he was more distant and was almost a completely different person when he was around Lily Evans. It couldn't be he thought, it had to be the responsibility of being Head Boy, surely.

Whatever the reason Sirius would not dwell on it long, it was high time he vented his frustration before suffering who knows how long in the library with Lily. He decided it wouldn't be nothing grand... yet , just a small joke on one of the Slytherins. Oh how he loved to see the snobby Slytherin pride flame up into uncontrollable rage. It was perfect, exactly what he would need. His satchel slung over his shoulder he would reach down into the bag and rummage through the unorginized contents. Pushing aside paper after paper it wasn't long before he found what he was looking for, his stash of dung bombs. Retrieving one of the putrid items from his satchel Sirius would make sure to conceal it well in his hand. His years of pulling this kind of stuff off made him a master of keeping 'certain things' out of sight. Treading the crowded halls a group of sixth year Slytherins stood by one of paintings mocking every student that would pass them by. Approaching slowly he would act as if he had not a care in the world, making sure to keep close watch of them from the corner of his eye. When he was close enough one began his insult, "Well look what we have here, if it isn't the bloodtra......" cut off by the cloud of smoke and the gasps and ewws of all that was around. Grinning profusely Sirius took off running and made his way to the library.

Upon reaching the doors to the library Sirius would pause a moment to catch his breath. Hands on his knees he would breathe in heavy gulps of air. Finally able to subside his heavy breathing Sirius entered the library and was immediately sullened. How would he find himself here? The one place he avoided religiously. It was eerie, the deafening silence, the many old and priceless tomes stacked neatly on the shelves. Madam Pince, treading the floors making sure everything was in place and no one was misbehaving. What fun, he thought to himself sarcastically. Slowly walking forward it wasn't long before the old strict librarian knew he was there. Her eye would not leave his sight for a minute, given his reputation. Scanning the room to see if Evans was there, he was unable to locate her. She had to be here, it was unthinkable for her not to be. Walking over to Madam Pince he would ask her, "Has Evans come through here?" his voice was barely above a whisper. The librarian didn't say a word but just nodded her head towards the back corner. Bowing in thanks Sirius made his way towards the table. turning the corner after walking along a shelf that seemed miles in length the sight his brown eyes would witnessed left him in awe. Mouth gaping wide he stared in complete shock. What he saw was none other than his best friend James sitting across from Evans herself. Such a strange day indeed, the thought raced through his mind over and over. Shaking his head bringing himself back to the reality he was facing, he would begin walking towards the two. Coming to the table he slung his bag over the chair and then prceded to plop himself in it resting his hands atop his dark messy head of hair while crossing his legs at the ankles. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." he said in a mock serious tone. "I don't think I would be able to live with the guilt if I were." he continued, now laughing heartily.

Remus entered the library at a slow place, the reason for it and his delay evident due to the small first year Hufflepuff that walked at his side, chattering endlessly about how lost she had been. He looked a bit uncomfortable, although he nodded a few times in the appropriate places to show that he was paying attention, though her words ran together in a sentence that seemed to go on and on.

"and then I saw the Hea-- oh! There's Addie!" and then she was off across the library to where a group of other Hufflepuff first years had been working on their essays for some class or another. Remus watched her go for a moment. That was.. interesting. She'd run into him in the corridor, almost knocking them both over. He had somehow caught her quickly said words about needing to find the library and offered her to show her the way since he was going there himself. Agreeing, she had talked nonstop the entire time there. He gave a small amused shake of his head, before hazel eyes scanned over the other students and tables. They were supposed to be starting research on a potion of some sort, not Remus' favorite subject, but one that he was fairly decent in.

Remus was quite happy with his pairing, although he had to secretly admit to himself that he wouldn't have minded terribly if he'd been paired with Marlene again. She seemed like a nice enough girl, and knew what she was doing... plus she seemed the type that could do with another friend. Although then again many could say for the same for Remus and yet he usually felt content with those he did have, never taking such relationships for granted, because he knew what it was like to do without them. Still, he was a tad worried for the Ravenclaw, but surely she had friends of her own to talk to. Speaking of Marlene, his gaze paused on her, felt sympathy for her working with Severus. A small, but warm, smile appeared as he gave her a small nod in greeting, before he continued looking.

Slughorn, despite his moments of pairing insanity, had done somewhat well with this project’s. Now he just had to find his..And there was James..talking to Lily of all people, although that was not a surprise despite the rising of eyebrows. What did come as a surprise was that there seemed to be no amount of yelling coming from the table, nor hexes. Although.. perhaps they hadn't been there very long. Remus didn't know, but was quite certain that James could not afford, nor could Remus afford for James, to be tossed out of the Library by Madam Pince because he was disrupting her library or .. even bothering Lily who seemed to be one of her favorites.

As he approached the table, he was a bit, okay a lot, surprised as Sirius plopped himself down into his chair. To be honest with himself, he hadn't been sure if Sirius would show up. The library wasn't exactly the other's favorite room of choice. The surprise was easily masked with a grin as he pulled out his own chair, and sat a little more carefully than Sirius just as the other began to laugh. The sound of it only made his smile a bit wider, though he'd caught the tail end of his sentence. "What did I miss?" he asked, curious.

Marlene had already been in the library for quite a while. She had headed here after the Potions lesson, finding nothing better to do than work on the assignment they had been given. To be honnest, it was quite rare that she actually found anything else to do than school work but there was something about this one that made her just wanna sit down and fold her arms, doing nothing. Maybe, since she had been paired up with Severus, it was the knowledge that even if she didn't do the work on her own, he would come up to the professor with something he'd have worked on alone, even though forced to put her name on it as well. She was seriously wondering to herself if it was even worth working so hard on something that wouldn't even receive a look, if not a disdainful one, but she decided that it was better not to take any chances. After all, what if the Slytherin boy decided not to do anything at all and leave it all for her to do? How big were the chances of that happening? She sighed and shook her head. Definitely low, if not inexistant, that's how big the chances were. Actually, she was more worried about him putting his own name on his work, nothing else, and telling professor Slughorn that Marlene hadn't helped at all with it, and so he didn't see why he should bother himself with putting her name on it as well.

Marlene let a slight groan escape her lips and folded her arms on the smooth surface of the library desk, burrying her face in it momentarilly. Then, shaking her head lightly, she sat up straight and took her school bag, carefully placing it on the desk and taking out a few rolls of parchment along with a quill and ink, and some books that she would need as well, even though most information would come out of the library books and not her own. Swiftly, she dipped the end of her quill in the black ink and started down at her parchment, trying to figure what to write first. She wanted to start by making a short plan of what she would do later on, but she wasn't sure of what that was yet. Pressing the tip of her quill against the rugged paper, but soon enough, she found herself doodling instead of writing. With a frustrated sigh, she ruffled the piece of parchment into a small ball and stuffed it in her school bag. Deciding it was no use to start working just yet, she decided to simply re-write her class notes so that they were easier to read. With her mind set on that, she took her notes out of her bag and put them on the desk, next to the blank pages of parchment, and started copying every line with application, completely forgetting after a while where she was or that other people were around, which was easy to forget as there was no sound whatsoever in the library.

After a few minutes however, she was brought back to the world as the library door swung open and closed, making her jump slightly. Not that the noise had been so loud, it had actually been relatively quiet, but she had been so lost in her own thoughts that even the slightest noise had surprised her. Looking up, she saw Remus entering the library and she blushed slightly when he smiled at her, willing herself to smile back. As he headed to the table where his friends were gathered, she sighed and bit her bottom lip, looking back down at her work only to find that there was now a long black line that went across the page, probably caused by the fact that her quill was still on the paper when she had jumped. She fought the urge of banging her head on the table and sighed, ruffling the page one more and starting all over again. She knew there was a spell for that but she never managed to remember it, even though in her case it would be more than useful. Shaking her head at herself, she tried to concentrate once more, though not succeeding very well, and went back to work.

"Hey, Padfoot" James grinned, slapping the other boy's hand amicably as he sat down somewhat ungracefully in the chair next to James. "See?" He said, glancing at Lily, "I told you he'd show up." James' brow furrowed then as a whiff of something reached his nose. Without prior warning, he lunged towards Sirius, grabbing a handful of the boy's robe and sniffing it.

"Ugh, god Sirius, do you ever consider what the poor House Elves have to go through every time they handle this...why do you smell of dungbomb?"

Remus arrived shortly and sat with a bit more culture than Sirius did. James smiled again and slapped his back.

"Afternoon Moony, how goes it?" He asked. "Lily," he gestured at her as if to say 'Look! No curses!', "is using the book we need at the moment, but she said we could borrow a few passages out of it quickly." He was speaking quickly now, the arrival of his friends seeming to give him an adrenaline boost as he laughed and smiled with them, perhaps a bit louder than he meant to. The only person missing was Peter, but the boy didn't take Potions, having opted (rather bizarrely) for a course in History of Magic instead. Personally, James couldn't really think of anything worse than being lectured by Binns for two more years, who looked as if he was on the verge of boring himsef to death half the time as well as his students.

Marlene was still doing basically nothing when Dora entered the library. Smiling a sly smile as she headed to Sirius first, she grinned at her friend as she reached her table and sat beside her.

"I am fine," Marlene said with a grin. "And you seem to be feeling rather good yourself," she added teasingly. "Isn't it a bit early for flirting already?" she asked innocently.

Then she sighed and looked down at her work, shaking her head slightly. She didn't know why but she simply couldn't write anything down... maybe it was the fright of it being rejected by her partner - she wasn't exactly a proud stuck up girl, but it would most likely hurt her if Severus, after well... not helping her at all with the potion work, simply sneered at her and didn't even bother to send a look at what she had done. After all, what was the point of even doing it? Frowning lightly to herself, she closed the book and stuffed it back in her bag before taking out her Charms stuff.

"I was supposed to be working on my potion project," she said slowly. "But I changed my mind. You wanna work on the Charm homework?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

As he sat there Sirius was quite comfortable in his lazy looking position. He really didn't care if he did interrupt anything going on between Evans and James. He was there to study for his project and she was his partner. Whatever they had going on between each other would have to wait until afterwards, or better yet they should just split ways. Since becoming Head Boy James has been spending to much time with the Head Girl. Unfortunately this was none other than Evans. James also would always shut down any idea Sirius had about pranking the pompous tart. This peeved him a bit, since when did James care about who they pranked? This year had started off strangely. Shaking his head he just waited until he was spoken to. But knowing Evans, and the way James acted when he was around her, he figured he might as well not even be there. That is until Moony popped in and proceded to take a seat with them with his usual reserved nature. 'Wow' Sirius thought, here he was sitting at a table with the Head Boy, the Head Girl, and a Prefect. Though two of them were his friends he still felt that their responsibility has been more of a concern than actually being a Marauder this year. The only one who seemed to want to indulge themselves in their antics was Peter. Though he wasn't as vocal and didn't have a large role in any of their plots. But of course he would simply follow orders and side with James. James had become their leader and Wormtail stuck close to his side. He nodded a greeting to Remus as he sat down. "You haven't missed a thing Moony, just silence and boredom." He told him as he heaved a heavy sigh. He was completely out of his element and as bored as one could get.


The longer he sat there the sleepier he got. It seemed that nothing was going to be done, and that they would just sit there quietly. His head would bob as he slowly nodded off to sleep, but catching himself before he fell forward. This was a dull a day as he has ever experienced. Deciding he better sit up before he actually did pass out , Sirius situated himself placing his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together and leaning forward. Taking a moment to glance around the room he saw that his cousin Narcissa had found her way there. He curled his lip up a bit in a digusting look but would pay her no more attention after that. He saw some girl named Alice working at a table nearby but he didn't quite know her. Then his eyes and ears made their way back to his table. While he was looking around he paid no attention to who would stumble upon their table. It was Dory, a very striking girl. Sirius' eyes lit up a bit, but it would take more than just her to bring him out of this boredom. He watched as she greeted everyone at the table, trying to muster a smile to flash at her. When she looked down at him and spoke Sirius' grin half heartedly spread across his lips. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her, it was just the fact of him being in the library slightly depressed him. Looking up at her as she spoke to him he spoke back with as much excitement as possible, "Yes so we do meet again indeed." His smile becoming more prominent now. "And I am quite comfortable, how bout you come sit on my lap and see?" He joked with her flashing her another wink as she walked off to sit with Marlene.

Watching her walk Sirius kinda stared at her back side. It must be the dog in him. He didn't realize what he was doing until he heard James say something to him and slap his hand. With that Sirius turned around trying to act like he was just daydreaming. A grin plastered on his face now as James asked him why he smelled so bad. Sirius couldn't help but grin so wide it looked as if his face would tear it was so taut. "Oh, no reason, I just accidentally dropped one by a group of sixth year Slytherins." He told him as the look in his eye narrowed. "What about you? Why are you sitting in this place with this bull headed thing?" He asked gesturing with his head towards Lily. "I swear I don't see how you put up with her Prongs."

That would seem to cause a chain reaction for in the next instant Lily Evans took over the converstaion spitting what Sirius thought were the most elegant insults he has ever heard. In between them she would greet the other students but always her attention came back to him. When she finished Sirius was almost unable to control his laughter. The look in her eye and how serious she was over every little thing was hysterical. He was barely able to respond. "Why Evans, I'm sorry I took so long I wasn't aware that you missed me so much." He nudged James with his elbow as he spoke. "As for finding the library, that is quite easy. All one has to do is smell the air and pick up your scent and follow it here. Seeing as most of your time is spent in this place." Now looking over at Moony grinning all the while. "And yes love, I do plan on doing my share of the work, but I can also look pretty while I'm at it. Besides, you should stop scowling so much, you're starting to get wrinkles."

Remus smiled happily at his fellow Gryffindor, as his hand was slapped, obviously feeling quite healthy and less tired. "It goes alright," he answered, leaning back in his chair. At the mention of Lily's name, his gaze moved toward her, and then down to the book that she had.

"Thanks, Lily," he said with a grin before turning his attention to Sirius for a moment, not surprised by the other's attitude toward their current location. His favorite part of Hogwarts, it was not. However, Remus felt quite at home in the library, not that he was in there all the time, but he didn't have quite the same feeling of dread toward it as some of his yearmates did. He opened his mouth to say something in response to Sirius saying that he had only missed boredom, when Lily asked him how he was feeling.

He shut his mouth and looked at her for a small moment, wondering why she had emphasized the word "feeling." It was an odd way anyway to ask a person how they were.. it caused him to think that she might have thought he had been ill. Perhaps he was a bit too paranoid. "Well, thanks. How are you, Lily?" he asked. Only in the next moment to be asked how he was doing by Dorcas. He repeated much the same response as he had to Lily. No, they hadn't talked in a while.. though they never had really talked in depth before.

Remus watched the byplay between Padfoot and her with raised eyebrows, Sirius liked to flirt, and from the interaction so did Dorcas, but he was more curious as to whether there was an actual relationship between the two. As the Ravenclaw left, he watched her leave for a moment, though not for the same reasons as his friend, instead his own gaze falling upon Marlene. He smiled, before looking back to Sirius who was talking to James.

He kept himself from wincing at Sirius' words just barely. Those comments would not go over well with Lily, and he doubted it would make her think any better of Sirius and possibly James in association.

Marlene giggled lightly at Dora's comment and rolled her eyes playfully. "Now why would you say that," she said teasingly, poking her friend's arm lightly. "Don't worry, it's not all that bad. Besides, he doesn't seem to mind at all," Marlene said with a teasing grin. Marlene smiled as Dora took out her Charms book and listened to her as she spoke up. "Maybe we should practice on me. Sirius told me to sit in his lap so I could see how comfortable he was after I asked him. Try to levitate me over there." She let out a small giggle. "What do you think?" As soon as Dora was done talking, Marlene burst into a fit of giggles, trying to stay silent as she earned herself a stern look from Madam Pince. Coughing a little, Marlene shook her head and looked up at her friend, grinning widely. "Now that would be a quite interesting thing to do Dora, but I'm not sure many people in this library would appreciate it, apart from yourself and Mr. Black," she said, giggling as she looked over at the table where Sirius was sitting. Soon enough, her gaze fell on Remus but she quickly looked away as she saw him looking at her, blushing deeply.

Clearing her throat nervously, she twirled her hair around her fingers, waiting as Dorcas took her parchment and quill out of her bag, placing her stuff in front of her. She tilted her head to the side as her friend made a comment about having to write a quick note. Nodding simply, Marlene rested her chin upon her hand, looking around the library. Withouth even noticing it, her eyes turned to look in direction of Remus once more, though this time he wasn't looking back, allowing her to examine him more intently. Smiling softly as he talked with his friend, a grin on his face as he seemed happy, less tired than he often looked. Marlene was so lost in her thought that she barely heard Dora as she spoke and sent her note flying toward Sirius.

"Hmm?" she said, coming out of her reverie. "Sorry, did you say something?" she asked, turning to face her friend.

Sirius was quite pleased with himself, firing back at Lily the way he did. It had become a common thing between the two throughout their years at Hogwarts. She never did taking him seriously and she had good reason. He wasn't one to take pride in his studies, he would much rather goof off and hangout with his fellow Marauders. But seeing how this year has started out, what with James becoming more responisble balancing Head Boy duties with pranking, on top of that the massive amount of homework they've recieved already, it had definately taken it's toll. Moony, well he was always the more responsible out of the four but he too enjoyed their adventures in the years past, but like James this year Remus seemed to carry yet another burden. Perhaps it was the thoughts of where they would all go after Hogwarts, they would be of age and their lives were only really beginning. Sirius never really took the time to sit back and think on what he might do once he graduated, he was always the "live in this moment" type of person. As for Peter, well he would go along without question with what they decided to do, more likely what James decided to do.

As he sat there in deep thought, reminiscing the many playful and mischevious moments the four have shared, his features would once again go from a sly grin to a depressed look. He's had the time of his life in the past six years and now the sudden realization that it was all coming to an end crashed upon him heavily. This was the last year they all had together to actually be with the group. After this they're lives would be focused mostly on whatever they decided to pursue. Of course they would keep in contact with each other but the responsibility for being an adult would cause a bit of distance to grow. It seemed strange for him to think things of this nature, but sitting here in this dull place Madam Pince keeping an ever watchful eye on them, it's really all he could do. Until Evans decided to take her mind off of griping at him and start working on the project. Looking back over towards her seeing she still had that scowl she always wore when he was around, Sirius lightly shrugged his shoulders. His attention was soon diverted to a piece of parchment floating right beside him. Raising one brow he lazily reached out and snatched it from the air. Whoever wrote it made it to where only he was able to open it.

Upon opening the rolled up parchement Sirius saw that it was a note. Reading it closely he saw that it was Dory asking if he wanted to meet in a more private setting. Alson noting that his clever comments made it hard for her to concentrate. A sly devilish grin would appear on his lips as he finished reading, he still had his charm. Not wasting a minute Sirius quickly reached for his own quill and parchment.




Rolling the parchment he would make it to where only she could open it as well. Wouldn't do him any good for someone to get it and read it's contents now would it? Though he personally didn't care if someone did or not, he just figured it would be a nice gesture to return the favor. Retrieving his wand he returned the note the same way it arrived, making sure Old Pince wasn't watching as he did. Guiding it back to Dory carefully with the Wingardium Leviosa charm.