Chapter 3 – N.E.W.T.s

Disclaimer: Once again, not mine, just playing in the Harry Potter World for a little while.

Author's Notes: Again, a huge thank you to DracoGurlForever and to Madison who have helped me whip this chapter into shape. Also thank you to everyone who has read this story, and a bigger thank you if you have left a review. It's lovely to know that people are enjoying reading a story I first started writing over a year ago. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I would love it if you would like to leave a review. :-)

Sirius woke on the first day of classes with a smile. For so many years now, Hogwarts had been Sirius's favourite place in the world to be, and today it still felt just as good to be here. Since his first year, Hogwarts had been his safe haven from his draconian family and their pure-blood mania. Hogwarts remained his second home even now that he had left his parents' house for good and had moved in with the Potters. The Potters had become fond of him over the years that he and James had been friends. When he had turned up on their doorstep during the summer holidays after an atrocious argument with his parents, they had welcomed him into their home as a second son. As Sirius got dressed for school, he allowed his thoughts to wonder back to that fateful fight which had caused him to leave the Black house for the last time.

'Sirius Black! Get down here ... now!'

'Cheers, Prongs,' Sirius replied in a similar tone, trying to repress the anger and hopelessness that was stirring inside him. 'I suppose I should go and see what the snakes want with me now,' he sneered. Sirius saw James nod his head slowly as he slipped the mirror into the pocket of his jeans before pulling himself reluctantly off the bed.

Perhaps he thinks it will offer him some protection if things start getting thrown, Sirius snickered mentally to himself. It wouldn't be the first time objects had been thrown or hexes uttered in an argument. Sirius thought about the small scar that he had on his left forearm. He had received it during an argument two years ago when his mother had launched a cup and saucer in his direction. It had hit the wall, but one of the shattered china shards had lodged in his arm.

'Enough.' Orion Black took a step toward Sirius and held him in a stern gaze. 'Sirius, the time has come for you to start towing the line. This ...' Orion paused to look over Sirius's choice of clothes, his lip curling in distaste, 'behaviour has gone on long enough. You have an opportunity here to repair the damage you have inflicted on this family over the past five years. As you know, keeping the family line pure is highly important, and as the oldest, you are expected to provide an heir. To this end, your mother and I have been in talks with Theodor and Belinda Rosier. We've reached an agreement among us, and you are to be engaged and married to Dahlia Rosier.'

They want me to get married? To a Rosier, no less! Sirius was having a hard time processing all that had happened, but slowly the shock began to subside and anger bubbled up to the surface in its stead.

Sirius turned as he reached the door to answer his mother. 'Yes, I do; but, sadly, it is only in my wildest dreams that we are not related.' With that, he left the room and the house, hearing his mother's shouts all the way to the end of the street.

'Hey, Pads! You ready yet? I want to get to breakfast.' James's voice broke Sirius's reverie, and he gave James an answering grin.

'Sorry. Yeah, I'm ready. Let's get this show on the road.'

The Great Hall was filled with students, and the Marauders were greeted by the cacophony of morning chatter as they made their way to the Gryffindor table. Sirius took up a seat next to Remus, and James and Peter sat down opposite them. The boys all began to pile food onto their plates, and Sirius and James ended up fighting for the last sausage on the platter closest to them. James managed to claim victory over the sausage, spearing it with his fork and whipping it quickly out of Sirius's reach, and he then proceeded to take great joy in making a show of eating the sausage very slowly and very loudly. In fact, James was so vocal while eating the sausage that the third year who had been sitting next to him shuffled down the bench slightly, all the while giving James a funny look.

'You are a right git,' Sirius grumbled.

James smiled sweetly and took another bite of the sausage. 'You need to work on your reflexes, mate,' James replied smugly. 'I can't help it if I'm just better than you.'

Sirius pulled a face before settling into eating his own breakfast. He waited until James wasn't looking before he cast a quick charm on the jug containing the pumpkin juice. Slipping his wand back up his sleeve, he saw Remus looking at him with an enquiring eyebrow raised. Sirius held a finger up to his lips and gave Remus a wink. Remus replied with a small smile before continuing with his breakfast.

'Say, James, could you pass me the pumpkin juice please?' Sirius asked.

'Sure,' James replied as he reached out to lift the full jug. Just as the jug came clean off the table, the handle snapped where Sirius had weakened it with his spell. The jug tumbled back to the table, and the contents spilled all over James's lap and his plate. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all fell about laughing as James's cheeks flushed red.

'You git!' James shouted, causing everyone near them to look round to see what had happened. James quickly pulled out his wand and muttered, 'Evanesco!' causing the pumpkin juice to vanish, but the remnants of his breakfast were a lost cause. 'My robes are going to be sticky all day now!' James grumbled.

Sirius wiped the tears from his eyes. 'Next time, don't steal my sausage.'

After breakfast, all the sixth years met with Professor McGonagall briefly to finalise their N.E.W.T. course choices before being issued with their timetables. Sirius didn't have any classes scheduled for the first period of the day, so he spent it relaxing in the common room with the rest of the Marauders before leaving for Arithmancy with Peter. When they got to the classroom, there were already a handful of students there, including, Sirius noted with glee, Severus Snape. Sirius gave Peter a nudge and walked over to the free seat behind Severus.

'So, Snivellus, have a good holiday?' Sirius swung back lazily on his chair as he spoke in a falsely sweet tone.

'Shove off, Black.'

'Now that's not very nice, is it? Here I am, just trying to be friendly.'

'I agree; that was very rude,' Peter picked up. 'Must be something about the way he was brought up; obviously, he wasn't taught manners in the pig sty.' Peter winked at Sirius, who was grinning evilly. Even from the back, Sirius could tell that his remarks were having the desired effect on Snape. Just then, though, Professor Kearney came through the door, and the class came to attention.

The class, and in fact most of the day, passed relatively quickly. All the teachers seemed to give the same speech about how important N.E.W.T exams were and how much they were expected to work. Soon, Sirius found himself packing up his things at the end of their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the term.

'Well, I'm off to History of Magic,' Remus said. 'Where are you all off to now?'

'Wormtail and I have Astronomy. What do you have, Padfoot?' James replied.

'I've got a free period now – I think I might go up to the common room and see who is about,' Sirius finished as he looked around the classroom.

'Think you might get a head start on this homework?' Remus asked innocently.

'Yeah, Moony, that's what I'm going to do – homework,' Sirius drawled with heavy sarcasm before adding, 'Oh, and look, pigs really can fly!' The two boys laughed as they picked up their bags and made their way out of the classroom, pausing by Sophia and Lily as they did.

'Hey, Lily, you are carrying on with History of Magic this year, aren't you?' Remus asked.

'Yes, I am. Are you?'

'Yep. Fancy making a move, then? Can't wait to hear the 'N.E.W.T.s are important' speech from Binns ... I'm sure it will be riveting,' he said sarcastically. 'What do you have next, Sophia?'

'Oh, I've got a free period, so I think I'll go to the library and start on McGonagall's essay,' she replied, swinging her bag over her shoulder as she did.

Sirius perked up and started to pay attention to the conversation. He didn't know who would be in the common room, and he wasn't keen on the idea of spending the period by himself, twiddling his thumbs. If Sophia was definitely free, then she was a much better option, even if he did have to do some work at the same time. Hopefully he could distract her with conversation and escape that fate too.

'Mind if I join you?' Sirius asked with a smile. 'I'll be all on my own, otherwise,' he finished with his best puppy-dog-eyed look.

'Sure, why not,' Sophia answered with some trepidation.

'Great, but can we go to the common room instead? I can't stand the silence in the library,' Sirius asked.

'Yeah, that and the fact that the last time you were in there, Madam Pince chased you out while beating your head with a book because she caught you writing in the margins,' James chuckled as they all filed out of the classroom.

It didn't escape Sirius's attention that Sophia seemed unsure about spending this free time in his company alone. As he thought about it, he realised that, despite having been friends with her for the past year and a half, he'd never had a conversation with her without the other Marauders being present. They meandered back through the castle to Gryffindor Tower where they found the common room to be nearly empty. They settled at a table by the window where Sirius could see out across the grounds to the Forbidden Forest.

'So, what did you make of the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?' he asked in an attempt to get Sophia talking. He'd noticed that she had been quite quiet on the way up to the common room.

'Professor Ward? He seems nice enough. I guess I'll reserve judgement for when we actually start being taught spells and not just a lesson on the importance of N.E.W.T.s,' Sophia replied, rolling her eyes.

'Oh, so you've had those speeches all day too, have you?' he replied with a chuckle.

'Yeah – couldn't the teachers just all get together at the beginning of the day and get it over and done with in one go?'

'I know what you mean. James and I played hangman during them,' he informed her cheerfully, causing her to chuckle lightly. 'You know, I don't think we've ever had a conversation between just you and me, have we?'

'I did wonder if you would realise that,' she replied sheepishly.

'You're quite shy, aren't you?' he inquired gently.

'Compared to you, Sirius, I think anyone seems shy,' she chuckled, 'but yeah, I do tend to clam up around people that I don't know well.'

'Why is that? I mean, what's made you shy?'

'I don't know ... maybe it's a self-preservation thing. I guess I just like to keep to myself.' Sophia shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention to her textbooks, which were laid out on the desk.

'Sorry, I've made you uncomfortable, haven't I? How about a change of topic?' He leaned back on his chair while he tried to think of a topic that would help her relax around him. 'Will you be trying out for the Quidditch team this year?'

He noticed the strange look that she gave him before answering. 'Are you trying to be funny?' Sirius wasn't sure if she was joking with him or if she was slightly ticked off. When her stare didn't ease, he suspected it might be the latter.

What did I say that was so bad? he thought worriedly.

'Do you not remember flying lessons in first year?' Sophia raised an irritated eyebrow as she continued to glare at Sirius.

Yep, she's definitely got her broom in a knot about something! He was relieved to note, however, that it didn't seem like she was too angry; she looked more like she couldn't believe that he didn't know what she was talking about.

He thought quickly for a moment. All he remembered about those lessons was larking around with James and trying to knock others off their brooms ... 'Oh Merlin. Yeah, I remember now. James and I managed to knock you off your broom, didn't we?'

'No, you managed to knock me off my broom when I was ten feet in the air. I had to go to Madam Pomfrey with a broken ankle. I've tried to avoid brooms as much as possible ever since.' Her voice showed that she still hadn't quite forgiven him for that, even though it happened five years ago.

'I'm sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt. I actually didn't mean to make you fall off. It was stupid.' He gave her a sincere look as he spoke before giving her a sexy smile that he hoped would convince her to forgive him ... It would be a long free period otherwise.

'Well, that's noble of you.' She still sounded slightly cross, but after a moment of silence, she gave a big sigh, and he knew he would be in the clear. 'I know you didn't really mean to hurt me – I could tell that by your face as I was carted off to the hospital wing.'

'Still – it's given you a good dinner party story, hasn't it?' he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

'Yeah, I suppose it has,' she chuckled.

They spent the rest of the free period chatting about previous Hogwarts experiences before heading off to Charms class for the last period of the day. As neither Lily nor any of the Marauders were taking this class, they sat together near the back. Once again, they suffered the N.E.W.T.s speech, and Sirius found himself studying the girl whom, for the past five years, he'd barely noticed.

He'd never quite understood what Remus had seen in her – she was nice enough, but she'd always seemed quiet and, to be honest, a bit boring whenever he'd been around her. However, after talking to her by herself, he realised that while she was shy, she had a wicked sense of humour not too dissimilar to his own. He guessed she must have been slightly intimidated by being around all the Marauders at once – Well, we can be a bit rowdy, I suppose, he thought.

Suddenly, Sophia looked up from her notes and caught him staring at her. 'What?' she mouthed at him, obviously confused at what he was doing. He shook his head and turned his attention to the parchment in front of him.

As he doodled, his mind continued to process his changing perspective of Sophia. He thought back to the previous year – his memories showed him a plain looking girl who didn't seem that interesting; yet, now when he looked at her, he no longer saw a timid girl. She'd proved on more than one occasion this afternoon that she could hold her own against him. He'd liked seeing that side of her as it allowed him to tease and have fun with her in much the same way as he did with the other Marauders, but he also saw that there was still a softness and kindness about her. Yes, now he could quite understand how Remus and Sophia had become friends. He also wondered how he'd never noticed the vibrancy of her blue eyes and the way they seemed to twinkle when she laughed. They seemed so familiar to him, but he couldn't place why he recognised them. His musings were cut short when he heard the bell ring and everyone started moving.

Sirius spent that evening lounging in the common room with the other Marauders. He tried to apply himself to his homework, but that lasted all of an hour, and after that the four boys spent a disproportionate amount of time trying to come up with some new prank ideas. It wasn't until later that night, just as he was on the cusp of sleep in his warm bed, that his thoughts turned back to the enigma that was Sophia before his mind finally slipped into a dreamless state.