Sugar & Spice

*Sirius's Point of View

I slipped out of the portrait hole, not bothering to check if anybody could see the Fat Lady opening by herself. I had other concerns.

Where is she? I wondered, peering down the corridors in all directions. I faintly caught the sound of voices – one loud voice in particular. The very sound of it made me grit my teeth.

I took off after them and caught up at the bottom of the grand staircase outside the Great Hall.

"...match in '71 was the best – it was France against Scotland. Amazing. The Minister of Magic actually shook my hand – he's a friend of my father of course. Maybe you've heard of him…?"

I nearly gagged, I was trying so hard to stifle my snigger – especially when I saw the look on Tammie's face. Like she was in pain. He obviously didn't notice, the plonker was so in love with himself.

He led her by the arm outside and I quickened my pace so that I was only a step behind Tammie. I closed my eyes and breathed in the smell of her perfume, if perfume it was. I'd forgotten how nice it was – like something I might smell in a love potion, a mixture of sweet almonds and a soft herb I couldn’t quite define.

An unconscious smile crept across my face as I remembered the first time she'd opened up to me, which was the first time I'd caught that sweet scent, even if the barrier had come down soon after.

"…you seen me play? Oh yeah, been on the team since I was in my 2nd year – Captain says I might get a place for England when I've finished with Hogwarts." I smirked; I knew the Captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team – Fae Wood. She couldn't stand him either, so I could only assume that compliments were the only way to shut him up during practice. Either that or she’d actually lost her marbles.

As we passed the Whomping Willow, McLaggen drowning Tammie in details of his previous relationships, an amazing idea struck me. I actually laughed, but luckily they couldn't hear me as I’d dropped back somewhat.

I pulled out my wand and pointed it squarely at his arse.

"…said I was the best she'd ever had!" Fucking prell,I thought. I silently cast the spell that I knew would put Tammie off him enough to give me a chance...and give me a much-needed laugh.

I sped up my pace so that I was close enough to see every hair on his arm, watching closely and shaking with silent laughter.

He frowned mid-tale. Tammie, looking greatly relieved, glanced up at him. I was positive she hadn't spoken a single word since they'd left the common room.

His hand crept towards the seat of his trousers and he tried to scratch inconspicuously, but I was looking at Tammie and I watched as her eyes followed the movement with distaste. I stuffed my fist in my mouth and dropped back a bit, hoping they wouldn't hear me.

Then the jinx took full effect.

*Rosie's Point of View

"I swear to God Red. His finger damn near disappeared up his arsehole."

The room was filled with the sound of evil cackling. I'd known beforehand she'd be delighted. Granted, I thought it was hilarious too, but I was more disgusted than anything. Lily tried to calm herself down enough to talk.

"Wha-what ha-happened?"

"I don't know! That's the thing – one minute he was fine and then the next he was itching like he had ants in his pants! I swear, I am beyond disgusted – I'll never look at him the same again…if ever. My God, if I thought he was insufferable before, there's no way I'm ever going out with him again, even if it would drive Black mad." It was quite some time before Lily was able to speak. Or breathe for that matter, judging by the look of it.

"Hate to say I told you so." I collapsed back onto my pillows and sighed deeply, my eyes searching out strange shapes in the gold pattern above me.

"Please. You're beside yourself." I laughed. She inspected her nails and smirked.

"You asked for it Tammie. I mean, come on – McLaggen? Total dolt. Everybody knows that."

"Yes well, I think I could've done with not knowing first-hand exactly how true that is." I had to laugh then; the image of him running off back towards the castle - scratching madly all the way - would be etched into my brain for all time.

Afterwards, as I'd stood alone where he'd left me near the Black Lake I'd heard such a strange sound – like choking - and I still hadn’t the first idea what it had been. I was still trying to figure that part out.

"You know someone jinxed him, right?" Lily mentioned offhandedly, pulling out a book from under her bed and propping it up against the her bedpost. I frowned and swung my legs up under my covers, cold as it was getting with the window so close to my bed.

"But we were alone!"

Realisation dawned and I sat up, staring at Lily. "It was Black!" I exclaimed, swinging my legs off the side of the bed. She smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand and I thought I heard her mutter something along the lines of 'Oh brother.'

"Tammie…"

"No! You don't know him like I do! It was! It was him, I'm telling you it was him!"

"Tammie!" She snapped, finally sitting up. "Get a grip. Not everything has to do with Black! Merlin's beard…" I sat down again on the edge of the bed, staring at my down-to-the-quick nails.

I knew it was him, but I couldn't explain to Lily that he'd been wearing James's invisibility cloak. That wasn't my secret to tell. I had to admit it to myself though: Black had done me a huge favour. And it had been a pretty good prank.

No, I wouldn't say anything to him. That would mean I'd have to thank him and Merlin knew that would never happen. Not if I had anything to do with it.

"Good girl." I gave her a sarcastic smile and pulled out a muggle novel titled 'The Hobbit'.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Sirius's Point of View

If I'd had it my way, McLaggen would have stayed 'itchy-arsed' forever – I was of the strong opinion that it would shut him up, if not forever, then at least temporarily – but unfortunately the spell wasn’t a very powerful one, and Madam Pomfrey had him fixed up in no time.

I knew Tammie would figure out it had me who’d jinxed him sooner or later, and now I was just waiting for her to thank me in person.

It was a brilliant plan in my opinion.

By the end of the day though, and after we'd had two classes and a study period together, and after she hadn't even looked at me once, I realised that I might be hoping for a bit much. When I expressed my thoughts to Remus he started laughing and wouldn't stop even when I threatened to jinx him with the same thing I'd gotten McLaggen with.

"Oh yes, Padfoot – completely fool-proof plan. I'm surprised she hasn't gotten down on her knees and paid homeage yet!" And he continued with the roaring laughter. All I could do for a few seconds was glare, unimpressed.

James and Peter were absent. It was the last period of the day, but we were the only ones with a free hour. In the corner Evans and Tammie sat, heads bowed low over their essays. I wasn't sure anymore if Tammie was listening.

I was beginning to lose hope – what if she was over me? And did that even apply? I mean, had she ever really been into me? Did I even want to hear the answer if it wasn’t the one I wanted – needed even?

I frowned across the coffee table at him.

"I'm sensing sarcasm. Moony Lupin, are you taking the piss?"

"Wouldn't dream of it Padfoot," He smirked, putting his book down; a sign to all that he was paying complete attention to our conversation. Although having said that, I knew Remus was absolutely and fully capable of absorbing every little detail around him even when concentrating on reading.

"So why did you laugh? Do you disagree that my plan was flawless?" He laughed again, going pink in the face after a few moments. It was all I could do to watch, my hopes sinking fast.

"You know how much of a bloody idiot you are, right?" He asked, glancing back towards Tammie and Evans. I sighed, deflating inside. For some unfathomable reason Remus knew a bewildering amount about girls and girl behaviour. I might've thought he was gay if I hadn't known for sure that he was very much interested in the opposite sex.

"So you do disagree."

"No shit, Sherlock. It's going to take a bit more than that to win her back." He rolled his eyes and sagged back against the cushions, propping his feet up on the coffee table next to mine.

"Okay, I'll bite: what the hell do I have to do? Grovel?" I offered with distaste. He thought about that for a minute and I watched him with fascination; you could see it in his face - he processed all these little bits of information and always came out with the most probable answer. I doubted a day would ever come when he would be wrong.

"…Nah. No, I think she wouldn't go for that. But…okay, here's what you should do…"

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*Rosie's Point of View

The bell rang for the end of the day.

Unlike the rest of the class, I didn't move from my seat; I was so confused. I still couldn't understand the whole animagus concept. My brain just seemed to twist uncomfortably every time I tried to wrap it around it.

I poured over my essay, ignoring the students milling around me.

Unfortunately, I hadn't managed to convince McGonagall to move either myself or Black, but I tried my absolute, utmost best to ignore him totally.

Much to my consternation he would sometimes speak to me, and I was always aware of him, andI had to fight the urge to look at him when I saw him move out of the corner of my eye. Apart from that, our arrangement suited me just fine.

This is how I knew he was still there. This is also how I knew he was looking at me.

It was so difficult not to look at him when he did that. It was like an itch I couldn't scratch.

"Tammie?" Ignore him.

"…Tamms?" Be strong…

"Tamsworth!"

"What? Merlin's fucking beard, leave me alone! What the fuck's wrong with you Black? You're a constant pain in my ass!" A small smile played around his lips as he just watched me calmly. Then my mouth popped open ever so slightly as our eyes met momentarily.

I'd forgotten quite how devastating handsome he was.

"What?" I prompted, looking down at my essay. Scritch scratch, scritch scratch...

"You need to be tutored." He informed me easily, his eyes following the motion as I crossed out whole paragraphs of my essay and finally ended off by stabbing my quill through the parchment.

"Keep dreaming." I grated out, taking another piece of parchment from my bag and starting anew.

"You want me to take this to Dumbledore? It's my job to keep you up to date," He was suppressing a smirk – I could see it in the way his gray eyes twinkled and sparked with mischief. Before I even knew it I felt my cheeks heat slightly. Much as I hated to even think it...I really did love – and miss - that smirk.

"Fuck you." Don't look at him again Tamsworth…

"You should." He quipped shamelessly. I attempted a cruel laugh I’d once heard Lily use, but it sounded slightly off – nervous.

It was no use; I picked up my bag and swung it across my shoulder, grabbed my essay, quill and ink and then left without looking back. I didn't even pause to put the stopper in the ink, accidentally spilling a huge splash of it on my white blouse.

To my relief he didn't follow me. God forbid he see me smile at something he said or something. He might actually think I'd forgiven him.

"It's official. I officially have no self-control," I remarked quietly to myself. I knew I wasn't kidding anyone; it was only a matter of time before I spoke to him again – in a non-hostile way.

But that didn't mean that we were okay again. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It would be a long time before we got back to the way we'd been.

Well that was the plan anyways.

I surprised myself by smirking – actually smirking – as I made my way back to Gryffindor Tower.