Play the Game ✔️

Midnight Train

Sirius Black closed his eyes and listened to the clickity-clack of the steel wheels of the train as they spun furiously on the steel rails beneath him. He was happy to be returning to school, as his summer was mostly unbearable. He didn't know what would have happened to him if the Potters hadn't taken him in. Remus Lupin was sitting pretending to read a book as he listened privately to his new transistor radio through a single earpiece, occasionally trying to scoot Peter Pettigrew over as he too dozed, leaning heavily on Remus' arm. His best friend James Potter was off hunting the ever-elusive Lily Evans as if she were some big game trophy to be mounted on his wall.

In his nightmare, Sirius' mother had been yelling to him and he opened his eyes, waking up, swinging. James had managed to catch his fist and held his hands around it as he stared hard over the rim of his glasses, knowing that the other two boys were on their feet...for just in case.

"Oi Sirius!"

Sirius swallowed hard as he blinked himself awake. "Sorry mate. I didn't connect, did I," he asked sheepishly.

"Not this time," James replied gently, although he was grinning as he shook his head.

He looked out the darkened window only just having realized that they were no longer moving. "Oh, we're here! Damn, that was fast!"

"I would think so, you slept the entire way mate!"

Sirius shrugged his broad shoulders and yawned and suddenly remembered the joint in the pocket of his shirt and checked to make sure it was still there. "Damn. Forgot all about this!"

"That's okay, we can work it in before the feast," James said grinning.

"You're not really going to smoke that are you, Sirius," Peter asked.

"No. We all are," he said and looked directly into Remus' eyes. "Aren't we, Remus?"

Remus put his radio into his satchel and Sirius watched a wolfy grin materialize slowly on his face as he looked up at his friend.

"Excellent," Sirius muttered under his breath as he patted his pocket.

Within minutes, they were sitting in a carriage and were whisked off in the direction of the venerable castle.

Remus had been given the Fat Lady's first password of the new term and took his place next to Lily Evans at the head of the Gryffindor table and helped her pass out slips of parchment with the password to each of the students and had several left over for the new first years. He found it difficult to keep his composure as James continued to make faces, causing Sirius to laugh hysterically and Peter to snort through his laughter.  "Shut up," Remus hissed. "You're going to get us all in trouble and we haven't even done anything yet!"

"The operative word being, yet," James said beneath his breath.

"Too right," Sirius replied as he looked over at the other tables to check out this terms new prospects and he eyed a few Hufflepuff girls wandering in and he sat up straight as he caught sight of someone he'd never seen before trailing behind them eyeing up everything in the room as if she'd never seen it before.

"Come on! We want to get a good seat!"

She smiled brightly. "Yeah, I'm coming--" She was entranced by the floating candlesticks and the night sky visible through the ceiling...at least that is what it looked like to her even though she was aware that it was  enchanted. "Wow," she whispered to herself as she walked head on into something that wasn't there a moment prior with a gentle bump. She felt a pair of strong hands move to her waist, holding her body in check, lest she fall backward. She cast her glance directly in front of her, her eyes focusing quickly. And there she saw the loosely knotted tie in burgundy and gold over an adams apple and found herself staring into the gray eyes that were looking down at her with appreciation...there was no smile on his face,  but rather, it was in his eyes. He had caught her with lightning fast reflexes and then held her still, first by her waist, then by her shoulders so that she wouldn't fall.

"Thank you," she said. "And who might you be?"

"I'm Sirius," he said.

"Yes, I'm sure you are," she said, almost laughing.

"Do you have a name by chance?"

"I do yes, " she said smirking.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me what it is?"

"Damn," she said in a low voice that was barely above a whisper. "You really are a cutie, aren't you?"

The handsome boy raised his brow and looked her over as his mouth finally carried a lop-sided grin. He opened his mouth to speak, but she  placed her finger over his lips.

"Too bad you're a jerk," she whispered. She winked her eye at him and skirted past. "Thanks for the compliment though," she said over her shoulder.

Sirius' face flushed pink. Yeah, same here,  he thought to himself and he craned his neck to watch her walk away, as well as the hem of her skirt swishing to and fro. He stood in the middle of the aisle as she sat down on the bench and brought her legs up  to swing them around. Just as he was about to do the same, she turned her head slowly and looked him over just as slowly as he had and smiled  to herself, then turned her attention to her classmates.

Sirius raised his brow. "Challenge accepted." Realizing that he had the unwanted attention of every pair of eyes in the Great Hall, except the pair he wanted on him, he turned and returned to his seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Oooh! Give that man a tall glass of iced water!"

"Why James," Peter asked.

"Because Pete! He's just been burned!" James grinned.

Remus waved his wand and produced a large tankard of what looked to be ice water and levitated it toward his handsome friend and set it down before him. Sirius forced a smile.

"Thanks mates. All of ya," he grumbled as he drank the contents of the tankard. Moments later, his ears produced steam, garnering him much laughter from the Gryffindor table as well as from anyone who was watching. He looked over his shoulder and grinned at the new girl and shook his head. It became crystal clear to him that she didn't find the prank as funny as everyone else did...

This one is gonna be tough, he thought to himself, but he knew that all good things were worth working for...he would bide his time and work his little Badger girl over...slowly.