Liesel walked Romulus through the common room and asked who the Captain of the quidditch team was and she approached him. "Hey? You're Jones, right?"
"Yes," the freckled ginger-headed boy said and he looked up from his playbook.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
The seventh year looked up and eyed the pretty new girl along with her dog and nodded. "Certainly...I'm sorry, what's your name again?"
"Liesel Rhodes, listen, I've just heard a disturbing announcement..."
"Oh?"
"About the game tomorrow..."
The boy smiled. "Yeah, without Black, we actually have a shot at winning..."
Liesel nodded. "Yeah. Ummm...about that. I just heard that he's back on the team."
"When did you hear that?"
"Just now."
"Yeah, he was with me when I was walking my dog."
"Oh yeah, I'd heard that he had a new girlfriend." He rolled his eyes. "So you're the girl-du-jour, huh? Damn. I knew the man moved fast, but this is unprecedented even for him!"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, word gets around. Prepare yourself to be hated by every girl in the school." He smiled sympathetically as his co-captain chuckled behind her. She turned around to find his eyes on her rear end and she snapped her fingers and raised her brow at him
"FOCUS!" She rolled her eyes. "The match?"
"I don't believe it," Jonson said.
"You'd better or you guys are gonna get killed on the pitch tomorrow!"
Jones' face lost all color and his eyes grew large at having heard her words and seeing her head nod. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"No. I'm just his girlfriend apparently." She put her hands on his hips.
"Oh no."
"I'm sorry to have had to tell you, but I thought you should know. I'd hate to have to watch my House team to bumble around like a bunch of idiots on the pitch. At least this way, you can prepare, even if it's just a little bit?"
"Oh yeah...prepare to get our arses handed to us on a golden platter," he replied sullenly.
"But I saw you guys the other day on the pitch..."
The boy looked into her eyes and shook his head.
"Hey look, the team I saw was fluidic and cohesive. Be that team tomorrow! You never know...you might just give them a run for their money!" Liesel smiled.
The Captain nodded his head and rose quickly to gather the members of his team for an emergency meeting. Liesel made a point to listen in and felt the bottom fall out of her stomach when she overheard that they decided the best defense was a good offense...they were going to take Black out early in the match.
_____
Sirius was unusually sullen as he returned to the Gryffindor common room followed closely by James beneath his invisibility cloak and Wormtail who had been skirting the stone walls. Sirius muttered the current password and the painting swung wide open for him. He walked in on a celebration and as the guest of honor, he was rushed at the door by Remus with a tankard of his favorite, Ogden's Old Fire whisky. As the crowd became quiet at having seen his expression upon his entrance, he heard his favorite music blasting through a set of handcrafted speakers...ACDC.
"Did you hear? Did James find you?"
"Obviously. I'm here and it's not even ten yet." He looked at Remus' shocked expression. "Yes Remus, he found me."
"Hey, I've busted m'arse all summer to get you reinstated! Lily sent about a thousand letters as well..." Remus said excitedly, then his face became suddenly somber. "What. Is. Wrong?"
At having seen the disappointed expressions on everyone's faces he looked into Remus' hazel eyes, Sirius finally smiled and he chuckled as he looked out at everyone.
"Is it that you're surprised," Remus asked.
Sirius nodded silently.
"Shocked and amazed?" Remus' grin grew wide as he nodded his head excitedly.
Sirius' chuckle slowly turned into a gut-busting laugh as he nodded. "Yes!" He wrapped his arm around Remus' shoulder and gave his a quick squeeze. "Thanks mate!"
"You're welcome," Remus replied smiling finally.
He looked for the auburn-headed Prefect and took her hand in his and squeezed it gently as he kissed her cheek. "Thanks Evans," he said warmly as she beamed and nodded.
He found himself in the very center of the Gryffindor common room and he lifted the tankard and shouted to the song, "It's been too long...I'm glad to be back!"
Those in the Gryffindor common room erupted with jubilation at the prospect of winning the House Cup by a landslide.
_____
Liesel was certain that everyone left in the common room could hear her heart racing as she led Romulus upstairs. Tears streaked her face as she opened the door to the dorm room that she shared with Kaitlyn and Abbey. She pointed to her bed and removed Romulus' leash and he trotted over to her bed and crawl up and lay down as she went over to her wardrobe.
"About time you got back, Misses Bee!"
"Yeah," Liesel replied quietly.
"What's wrong, Misses Black," Abbey asked sarcastically. "Sirius file for an annulment already?"
"Stand down, Abbey," Kaitlyn yelled from across the room as she struggled to be free of the confines of her blanket burrito.
Liesel closed her eyes and let out a mournful sob and Abbey was the first by her side since Kaitlyn was still trying to untangle herself.
_____
Before too long, Sirius leaned against a cold stone wall with his nearly untouched tankard in his hand, watching the participants of his party. James finally ambled up to him and leaned on the wall next to him and held out his own tankard. Sirius lifted his tankard toward James'.
"Here's to annihilating Hufflepuff tomorrow!"
"Yeah."
"What's wrong? I can tell it's major..." James asked with worry for his friend.
"Liesel...She won't be there," Sirius replied quietly as he smiled and nodded at a party-goer who wished him good luck.
"I'm certain that you misunderstood."
Sirius looked into his best friend's eyes. While his face was still frozen in a perpetual smile, James could easily tell that his eyes were still full of hurt.
"What did she say, Sirius?"
"I told her that I'd look for her in the stands and she said not to bother, that she wouldn't be there."
James shook his head. "I can't imagine that she'd..."
Sirius nodded his head and took a gulp from the tankard. "She said and I quote, 'don't bother. I won't be there.' Pretty hard to misunderstand that, James."
James' face turned somber. "Well, perhaps she's unwilling to show her support for you, I mean, and don't get me wrong, but she is new here and we are playing her house tomorrow? Or perhaps she's unsure and doesn't wish to divide her loyalties?" James shrugged his shoulders.
"I hope that's all it is," he said under his breath.
"I'm sure it is. That girl fancies you as much as you fancy her!"
"You think so?"
James stared at Sirius over the rim of his glasses. "Are you daft man? I saw that face-plant last night!"
Sirius barked a laugh and nodded. "Yeah! It was a good one!"
"Are you kidding me! Hell! Even I felt it from twenty feet away!"
Sirius leaned in and his face suddenly became animate as he laughed and he nodded. "I'm still feeling it!"
"Sure it's not the Ogdens, mate?"
Sirius raised his brows and shook his head. "Nope, it's definitely not the drink!"
The party seemed as if it would last well into the night, but James insisted that the team head up to bed...even with Black reinstated and the win was assured, they still wanted to put on a good showing. He'd asked that the Common Room be cleared out and the party be moved into the dorm rooms.
_____
Liesel explained that she had informed the Hufflepuff Captain and co-captain of Black's reinstatement and that she overheard them coming to a general conciseness regarding a strategy.
"Which is what exactly," Kaitlyn asked with concern.
"They're going to take him out early on in the match."
"THAT'S GOING TO LAND HIM IN THE HOSPITAL WING," Abbey said, yelling at her.
"I KNOW THAT! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I WANT HIM HURT!"
"Calm down," Kaitlyn said gently.
"What I want to know is, do you love him," Abbey asked.
"What," Liesel asked with surprise.
Kaitlyn smiled as she held on to Liesle's hand.
"Do you love him?"
"I DON'T KNOW! I'VE NEVER BEEN IN LOVE BEFORE!"
"Well, clearly you do," Abbey said in a more gentle tone "And everyone's seen how he looks at you." She sighed. "We have to let them know."
"HOW!"
Abbey sighed. "We can bang on the Gryffindor common room door..."
"Oh yes, we can just willy-wally our way into the corridors and bang on the Fat Lady's face and hope that somebody hears," Kaitlyn said. "No, we have to tell McGonagal. She's fiercely loyal to her team."
Liesel nodded. "Yes she is. It's all in her bio. I read up on all the teachers and staff before I got here."
"What if we see Flich," Abbey asked.
"WE?" The other two girls said simultaneously.
"Well, yeah! Surely you don't think I'm not going as well!"
"Well, come on then...the sooner, the better. Let's get this over with," Kaitlyn said as she donned her house shoes and house coat.
The girls walked through the rounded corridors and then through the Common Room and made their way up the last sloping stretch toward the exit. They saw a bright light emanating from beneath the door.
"Dumbledore," Liesel whispered.
"What," Abbey whispered.
"Dumbledore...when my mom was a student here, she used to meet up with him and fix him french toast. Apparently, it was his favorite."
"Your mother was a student here? You mean, she wasn't American?"
"Neither of my folks are American. I'm not either."
"You're not?"
"No. I was born at Saint Mungos in London. Which reminds me..."
"What," Kaitlyn asked.
"I gotta remember to see if he knows what time he was born."
"Who?"
"Duh. Sirius!"
"Oh. Why?"
"A couple of reasons," she said.
"And they are?"
"I can do his chart for one thing and..."
"Yes, go on?"
"I'll know which one of us is older!"
"Your birthday is on the same day," Abbey exclaimed.
Liesel nodded. "Mmhmm."
"Well, that explains the heat," Abbey said under her breath as she rolled her eyes.
Liesel erupted into a fit of giggles as she nodded her head.
Kaitlyn covered her friend's mouth with the palm of her hand. "Shhh! Come on, " she whispered.
"Here we go," Liesel whispered, as she inhaled deeply and opened the door.