Rise and Shine

[Cerridwen Baine]

Cerridwen was always up well before the sun. Because she had to welcome the sun, as per part of her religion. She was also up early, because it was how she was able to do a few things. Like pull a prank, or get some work finished. But this morning, this nice September morning, it was time to pull a prank. Pull a lovely prank at that. She had to get back at Sirius for the whole exploding quills thing. So she was going to get him in a rather nonmagical way. A very slightly non-magical way.

Sneaking into the male dorm had been easy. Most had seen her around there in the early mornings, and just went back to sleep when she did so. She set up the alarm clock beside Sirius' bed. Grinning faintly to herself as she chuckled. This was going to be a rather interesting course of events. She used her wand to quietly set up the bucket above his head in his bed, and let the pulley system fall into place. There was a rope attached to the bucket, and there was a rope carefully attached to the middle of Sirius' blankets, using magic.

Sirius was like normal guys, as far as she could tell. So she expected that as soon as the alarm went off, it would wake him up, and he would yank the blankets up over his head, or at least go to do so. Then the bucket above his head, would tip and spill the potion across his head. The potion was created to specifically dye hair, and fabric. It was non-toxic to the eyes, and would just stain his skin just barely. It was meant as an easy to fix prank, because it simply washed out, simply and easily washed out.

As soon as everything was set up, the young woman gave a small smile. She resisted the urge to smile, and ducked down a little. With a wave of the wand, she set off the alarm, and bolted. She wasn't stupid, she knew what his hair meant to him. But she was going to make sure she wasn't around when he finally got himself out of bed. She was going to hang back a little, and wait to see the reaction. Before she would bolt down the stairs to the common room.

She knew this would cause a little trouble, but she couldn't help herself. The good thing was, the alarm clock would only go off for a few moments, but she knew that Sirius probably wasn't the only one that was gonna wake up to it. People should be aware now, that the Marauder's weren't the only pranksters. She was one herself, and had been trying all of her time at school, to outdo them.

This was going to be bloody fun!

[Sirius Black]

As summer rolled into fall and the school semester started, many students had to rearrange their sleeping patterns to make sure they were up in time for early classes, the standard breakfast, and the usual cramming. Many students, Ravenclaws in particular, rose with the sun on most days so as to get an early start on the day and to catch up or get ahead in all of their classes. Early mornings were a part of school life. Everyone had to get used to them…well, everyone except for one.

Sirius Black had never been a morning person. In many ways he knew he was nocturnal. He would spend most nights up and about, setting up pranks, running amok with his friends, or off at various random parties. The closest to being a morning person Sirius ever got was when he stumbled into bed in the wee hours of the morning to pass out after a night full of tomfoolery. James, who always by Sirius’ side fared no better than Sirius, though he still managed to get his arse up on occasion to get some breakfast. Remus, who had always been a punctual guy revelled in being the Marauders own personal alarm clock. He had gotten quite creative over the years, from banging pans magically in Sirius’ ear to levitating all his blankets out the window. On Sirius’ part he had never become that creative with the classic “Shove off Moony” retort. Then there was Peter. Sirius never got a read on him. He just assumed Wormtail woke up as soon as he heard the rest rustling about.

It came with a thunderous roar that jolted every hair on Sirius’ skin on its end. Flailing his arms around, Sirius groped for the alarm clock. Did he even own an alarm clock? His body jolted violently upwards as he yanked his covers further over his head and that was when it happened. The ice chill covered the blanket over his head and seeped through. The spell was repugnant which made his eyes water under their lids. Sirius began shaking his head fiercely, forcing him out of his covers and keeled over on the side of his bed.

“Shove off Moony!” he growled tiredly, but as his eyes adjusted to the light he realized that Remus was only just rolling over in his bed from the racket he had been making.

His eyes darted to James’ bed but he too was out cold, and Peter too was off in dream land probably dreaming about cakes and pastries and other foods. He then looked towards his own bed where he saw the purple-ish goo over his sheets. Sirius’ hands jolted to his head. He felt the smooth strands of his precious dark locks. Everyone who knew Sirius knew that his hair had a life of its own. It was more important to Sirius than any girl had ever been. His eyes were wide as he grabbed a handheld mirror he saw glinting under a pile of rubbish.

“Bloody hell…bloody hell…” he muttered as he turned the mirror over and to his horror saw the result. His long, dark, beautiful locks were now splotchy with a pale purple colour. He dropped the mirror in horror. Reeling he turned his head and spotted something out of the corner of his eye near the door way.

“BAINE!” he screamed as he jumped out of bed, wearing only his navy and white striped boxers, “I HOPE YOU KNOW YOU JUS T SIGNED YOUR DEATH CERTIFICATE!”

He hopped out of bed and lunged towards the door. He skidded in the hallway and that’s when he saw her trying to make a getaway.

“Think this is funny do you?” he said angrily, though deep down he knew it was a brilliant move.

[/size]

[Cerridwen Baine]

Patience was a hard creature to come by, even harder of a creature to tame. Cerridwen just had to wait, and patiently at that. Patiently as she ever had. She wondered if any of the boys had ever realized it, that she picked on Sirius' more then the others. She did her best to get under his skin, cause that's the only way she knew how to show she cared. Well asides for the holiday presents, that she gave to all of them. She had gotten to know Sirius better then other girls, because James was her best-friend. More like the best friend she had. Her eyes narrowed a little as she waited. It was hard, very hard to wait. But slowly everything unfolded. It was like a house of cards collapsing.

Amber eyes widened, as she tried to stop her laughter. His reaction! His reaction! A gasp of laughter leaving her as she tried very hard not to break down in tears of laughter. She felt like falling over, but then she heard the scream. A gasp leaving her as she bolted down the staircase. She jumped on to the flat edge of the railing and started to run down, it would save some time, and she was half sliding as well. Which meant she could get away from Sirius. "Come on Black! Take a joke, good mornin' to ye too!" The girl exclaimed as she jumped down from the ledge and landed on the common room floor.

She kept some good distance between her and Sirius though, she wasn't an idiot. That didn't stop her from checking him out a little, not that others would see it as that. But damn, he looked good in just boxers. Nudity, or nearly nude, didn't bother her. It was because of her brothers, of which were always causing trouble. Also they were always running around naked, most of the time that is. A laugh left her as she spun around on one foot. Her cheerful face was bright and cheerful. "C'mon Black, live a little. It jus' washes out!" She said as she laughed even more.

This was definitely a good morning for her. It definitely took her mind off of the fact that her mother hadn't returned from her mission yet. That they hadn't heard anything about it either. They had no notices from her mother, and the Ministry wouldn't say a damn thing on whether she was alive or dead. So these pranks that she pulled, they were Cerri's way of getting her mind of off of things. She hadn't even told James yet. Which was bad, but he was so burdened down as is. Seriously! He was head boy, and he had Lily Evans to deal with. Not to mention his fanclub.

[Sirius Black]

With all the commotion going on in the Gryffindor dorms that morning, it was shocking that no one had gotten up to see what all the fuss was about. Gryffindors, or anyone for that matter, always were curious when it came to being jolted awake in the early morning. Although, the Gryffindors were more used to it as all four of the pranking Marauders were in their house. Usually the pranks were directed at Evans and her posy though and not the Marauders themselves.

Sirius was seething and swore he could feel his scalp burning due to the potion in his hair. If he lost his hair he was certain this would be the last prank Cerridwen Baine ever pulled. She laughed and called back to him as she scooted down the stairs and into the Common Room. He really should have known from the beginning all of this was hers. For some reason, James’ little friend had taking a liking to pranking Sirius more than any other Marauder. Was he really that good of a target? He had never gone out of his way to prank Cerridwen, though she did stumble on his pranks more so than what he intended. Either she had bad luck or just bad timing.

“HAH! TAKE A JOKE?!” he hollered back at the Gryffindor tomboy, “ LOOK AT MY HAIR!”

He raced after her and with his long legs managed to catch up in a matter of moments. Sirius had known Cerridwen since first year. He really never took much notice in her until she started hanging about James on occasion. She was a decent girl to hang out with, but if he was being honest he never really thought of her as a girl. She acted so much as one of the guys oftentimes Sirius treated her just like one.

There were a few people scattered around the common room when Sirius arrived to face off with Cerridwen. He didn’t care that he was half naked. If he was being honest, he preferred being naked. He was a little too comfortable in his own skin at times, which made it all the more fun to bother people who were as comfortable. His body still held the remnants of summer with a dark tan. He knew his fan club would be talking about this incident for weeks when they found out. After this, Sirius wouldn’t be surprised if they made Cerridwen Baine their President.

His eyes were wide and his muscles were stiff with the tension. He picked up a bit of his hair and looked upwards at it longingly. It was as if he thought by looking at it long enough it would all wash away like a bad dream.

“Well I’m glad you think this is so funny Baine,” he chortled, “ One of these days I’m going to kill you.” He added as he shook his head.


Cerridwen continued to laugh harder with each passing moment. She added another comment and

"C'mon Black, live a little. It jus' washes out!"

Sirius was again reeling. Anyone who knew Sirius was aware that if he “lived” any more than he already did he would be dead in a ditch somewhere. He lived with so much vigour that many were shocked that he hadn’t accidently killed himself already. He lived on the edge. He wanted the risk and tired easily. When he was bored he did wild, crazy, and unimaginable things. Cerridwen was just asking for it now.

He had to let out a barking laugh at her comment, “ Wash out? HOW KIND!” he said again grabbing another bit of his hair.

Yes, he was being a bit over dramatic, but to him, his hair was his life. It was the aura around his sexy appeal. Actually, now that Sirius thought about it, his fan club wouldn’t make Cerridwen their president, they would probably kill her.

Defeated, angry, and a bit depressed, Sirius had to admit, at least to himself, that he had been topped that morning. If he hadn’t been up until three in the morning with a lovely blond woman who thought he was twenty-two he knew Cerridwen would have never made it out the door with her hair still its shade of brown.

Her laughter was almost infectious. If he wasn’t so angry he probably would be holding his sides with laughter as well but in this case he was still heated. His precious hair looked like a turnip and it was all thanks to Cerridwen Baine.

“Oh you’re just hilarious,” he added sarcastically, “So did Prongs put you up to this or did you come up with it all on your own?”

He half wanted to know and half wanted to get his mind off of his poor hair. He was going to have to get a quick fix for that and if it took an entire day of figuring it out Cerridwen would do it and if they couldn’t she would for sure have a matching head of lovely purple hair.

[/size]

[Cerridwen Baine]

Cerridwen was trying her hardest not to dissolve into giggles. It was obvious that the young woman had undergone a bit of a change in the summer. She had kind of kept herself away from the Marauders, except for James. She was ashamed of what her grandmother had done to her. Her hair longer, falling around her shoulders and back, and her clothing was tailored to show off a figure, a figure that none of the group knew she had. Well James maybe, he had visited her parents place in the summer, and they had gone skinny dipping. The rest, when they visited, she usually wore some baggy clothes that clumped up and hid everything.

Why was she so dead set on hiding what she was? Well that was for others to figure out. Of course her mind was focused completely on Sirius, and the fact that he was yelling at her. “HAH! TAKE A JOKE?!”, she heard him yell, her cheeks flaring with color as she pressed her lips shut tight. "“ LOOK AT MY HAIR!”, nope, wouldn't work! She burst into laughter as she shuddered and wracked with it. She felt tears leaking from the corner of her eyes, as she laughed.

“Well I’m glad you think this is so funny Baine,” He said this, and Cerri was starting to feel guilty. She had wanted to pull a prank on him, not shatter his self-esteem, which was what she was feeling like. "Gee, Black, I - ah..." She was at a loss for what to say, as she continued, and she winced. "One of these days I’m going to kill you.”. "Och, Black. If ya gonna do tha', can ye make sure I die after getting my first kiss?" She found herself blurting. Alright, sometimes being overly truthful was dangerous.

She took a long breath and shook her head as he continued to speak. "Nay, It was all my doing. Ya know that James doesna prank as much as 'e used ta. He's 'Ead Boy now." She whispered as she watched him. She sighed heavily and approached him and twisted her wand a little, as she picked up a piece of his hair. The water ran from the wand and on to the hair that was in her hand. She pulled her hand away, and showed him it was coated in purple. " I know ye habits, you like ta make yooself presentable to the ladies. So I figured ya would wash it out first thing, anyways." She said, looking rather mullified and dulled down. That bright cheery laughter that had been there moments beofre, was gone.

She looked kind of dully sad, and she remembered why she had been pulling more pranks this year, epsecially this week. There wasn't really as much of her usual heart in the pranks either, it was as if she was pulling them to get her mind on something else. Which was really the truth, and that was because of her mother. She worried about her mother all the time, and her two brothers who were both Auror's. She wondered how much her friends might worry about her, when it was her turn to go.

[Sirius Black]

To anyone watching the scene unfold in the Gryffindor Common room they would have been dying of laughter. To see someone as doted upon by the female population as Sirius Black have purple hair, ranting and raving like a lunatic while a mildly impressed Cerridwen Bain stood and laughed was almost too much to take. His precious hair was not only precious to him but to every girl who had a thing for the seventh year. It had a life of its own in many respects. It actually wouldn’t be surprising if his fan club had meetings where they only talked about it. Sad as it was, it was a proud part of who he was. Though he had to admit he had been gifted with good hair. He never spent much, if any, time on it and it still managed to fall in a graceful mess on top of his head. Now it just looked like a turnip. Sirius could already hear the collective cries of his fan club when they heard the news.

Cerridwen laughed until Sirius could have sworn she looked like she was going to keel over in pain. Sure, had the situation been reversed Sirius would have done the same thing. Actually, he would have been worse. There was nothing like a prank going off without a hitch and this one definitely was executed to a tee. All his overreacting had just been a part of the fun. He knew he would get her back eventually. She did target his baby after all.

As he continued to rant he began to watch as her smile turned sour as if she was starting to rethink her positioning on the prank. Was she starting to feel guilty? Now it was Sirius’ turn to smirk. Sure, he was upset, but he was really just giving her a hard time. He could respect a good prank even if he would never admit it out loud.

"Och, Black. If ya gonna do tha', can ye make sure I die after getting my first kiss?"

This was probably not information to give a boy who had just seemingly lost everything. He couldn’t help but blurt out a laugh at this comment as the conversation took a momentary side track, “ Bloody hell are you marking mad?!” he laughed. This was completely absurd to him. It wasn’t a secret that Sirius had kissed his fair share of girls. It was astounding to him whenever he came across someone so unlike himself in that category.

He was baffled by her honesty and the oddity of being seventeen and never been kissed, “Is that even—wait, I can help you out,” he said, “ You know since you decided to so graciously help me out with my hair this morning,” he added with a smile that he tried to pull off as being innocent.

He turned to look at a small boy in the corner of the room who had been watching on with interest, “ Oi-you! It’s you’re lucky day! “

Sirius walked over to the boy, a smirk lingering on his lips as he looked back teasingly at Cerridwen. The boy looked wide eyed at the scantily clad Sirius as he put his arm around the top part of the large armchair he was sitting in.

“Hey, what did you say your name was?” he said in a voice as sweet as he could muster. Looking down at the boy he smiled.

”Will,” squeaked the boy uneasily.

“Well Will, like I said, it’s your lucky day---“ she that uh, lovely, uh, girl over there?” he pointed over at Cerridwen. IT was a bit weird trying to describe her as anything but one of the guys but it was his time for revenge and he shook it off without another moment’s thought, “ Well she’s been waiting for a guy like you to sweep her off her feet, you know, give her that knock out, oh baby that’s what I want kiss--”

Sirius could hear Cerridwen going off about how the hair potion washed out. She had backed down far quicker than he had imagined. He expected her to watch as he suffered through making an antidote.

He looked back over at her and smirked again, devilishly, “ Sorry what was that Baine? I couldn’t hear you through the purple hair,” he added teasingly.

He turned back to the now petrified Will, “ So, what do you say? “ he told the boy with a knowing wink.

Oh this was just too good. Cerridwen had to know by now that Sirius would never go down without a fight. Despite never being on the Quidditch team in his life, he was more competitive than any player. Lose was definitely not in this Gryffindor’s vocabulary.

[/size]

[Cerridwen Baine]

Cerridwen felt her heart sink at his laugh. This was exactly the reaction she had come to expect from him. That crush had formed, and every time she saw him with a girl she wondered 'why not me, why can't it be me.'. It only caused more conflict within her, as she heard his words. Then she watched what he was doing, her cheeks actually flaming with color, as she held her wand at the ready, her features going ruddy with anger now. He had taken her confession, and used it against her. In a way that honestly hurt, and it was making her angry. Not just because of what he had done, but also because he was dragging an innocent in on his revenge. She felt the anger rising as she stared at him, her eyes widening further.

She listened to him, and her heart sank even further. The anger rising, he had difficulties calling her a girl, even for the prank. Bloody hell, how could she have ever thought she might have a chance at ever confessing to him? Ever? He was a friend it seemed, and would never be anything else. She was just a guy to him, which was how things had become, due to her own actions. She shook her head a little and looked to the side. Not liking the prank he was pulling now, this was not a fair prank, this was a vicious one. With how sensitive she was already, given the situation with her mother, she was more then suspect to the feelings of her heart. Especially getting this kind of reaction from him. The anger spiked more as she turned her head towards him now, fire snapping in her eyes.

"You take this as a joke Black! My lack of interactions with males? You take this as a bloody JOKE!" She exclaimed, getting a little louder at the end as her fists balled up, she looked at the boy. "He's setting you up to be hurt, and have a downfall of which you will never forget. Ignore Black, he doona know what he says." She said as her anger continued to spike now, there was tears glittering in her eyes as she approached Sirius, her gate changing a little as she growled low in her throat. A growl rather akin to a wolves. It was all a damn joke to him? The fact that she had never been kissed, the fact that she hadn't so much has been called pretty by a boy outside of her family. She had never had a boyfriend, never been held!

He counted it all as a damn joke, was using it as revenge for his hair. Bloody hell, she knew he was vain, but she thought he could take a joke. This was not the right way to respond to a perfectly executed plot. That was it, all the stress all the build up just snapped the girl. She had been planning on getting it all washed out for him, be nice and laugh it over with him. Hell she had laughed it over with him, when he had replaced her entire wardrobe, how DARE he laugh at her like this. How dare he torment her like this. This was more then enough to make the young woman snap, and not in a good way. " Ya think it's a bloody joke! You laugh about the fact, that I'm te only gal that hasn't been kissed, in the whole bloody year. I'm damn well aware that I doona have experience, but ya doona have to respond in this way!" She snapped.

There it was, the right hook, and it was aimed for his chest. It was aimed for his chest, and it was going to hurt. Because of her anger, because of the pain welling up in her. There was tears too, already going down her face. Baine didn't cry about silly things, she didn't cry hardly at all, and it seemed Sirius had hit a sore spot on her.

[Sirius Black]

So far the morning had brought more surprises than most could scarcely keep track of. It had begun on such a high and went through its peeks and drops so quickly that it was hard to figure out where it was to go next. To think that breakfast hadn’t even been served yet was an anomaly. It was almost laughable the way things were changing, and despite Sirius’ anger at the beginning of the morning, he could even attest to this light heartedness. Sirius was a jokester by nature. His attitude towards any situation was always light hearted and sarcastic which drove many of his enemies mad and made him all the more endearing to those who hung around him. He liked to make people laugh and liked to laugh himself. He viewed life as a sort of game in which one’s ultimate goal was to have a good time. Sirius was like a high volume, fast paced party everywhere he went and unlike his name, he never took anything seriously.

Sirius was smirking towards the boy he assumed to be, at the most, a third year. This “Will” had no idea what he had signed up for when he decided to get some early morning reading done in a seemingly quiet common room. He mumbled and stuttered at Sirius’ proposition and Sirius had to hold himself from collapsing into a fit of laughs. Not only was he getting Cerridwen back he always was getting this Will kid as well. Two for the price of one...damn, he was good.

Before the poor kid could think up an answer things again took another strange turn. Cerridwen’s choked voice grew louder with each passing syllable as the roles from earlier that morning reversed. Sirius was gobsmacked with the reaction given by Cerridwen. Didn’t she know he was only trying to have a bit of fun? He picked on her countless times before. He had a habit on picking on pretty much everyone, just ask Peter. It was always good natured. Everyone always knew he was only joking. Had he struck a sensitive area with Cerridwen?

“Woah, woah, woah,” Sirius said, standing back up and putting his hands in the air, “Hurt and downfall? Bloody hell Baine, I was only having a bit of fun.”

He put a hand through his purple hair. So much had been going on that he nearly forgot that it had been dyed.

“If you don’t remember you’re the one who started this with your little prank this morning!” he added a bit defensively. “Since when did you go and get all sensitive anyway? It’s a joke just like yours...except mine may have gotten you some action!”He gave a wink and a laugh at the boy who had gone invisible in his seat once more. He really didn’t know what to do or say. Usually when girls were angry he backed out and left them to their emotional rollercoaster but he had never considered Cerridwen to be capable of that.

He watched as she crossed the room, a glint in her eye that mixed sadness, embarrassment, and pure anger. He felt himself tense as she approached and knew he was in for it. Cerridwen Baine had certainly changed over the summer.

" Ya think it's a bloody joke! You laugh about the fact, that I'm te only gal that hasn't been kissed, in the whole bloody year. I'm damn well aware that I doona have experience, but ya doona have to respond in this way!"

Bloody hell he had hit a sore spot with her. How was he supposed to know that? Before he could retort or mutter a stupid apology, however, her fist collided with his bare chest, causing a sharp, jolting pain. Sirius stepped back and gawked before groping at his pectorals.

“OUCH! BLOODY HELL WOMAN! Have you been hanging out with Evans now too?” he said as he looked down at his chest.

He and Lily Evans had always had a bit of a violent relationship. She had always found a reason to hit him whenever they were within ten feet of each other. Sirius always assumed that it was because Lily couldn’t keep her hands off of him. Now she was spreading her evilness to unsuspecting people like Baine. He for sure knew that Cerridwen had changed over the summer and he wasn’t sure he liked it as much as the old version.

He continued to look down at his chest and then back up at Cerridwen repeatedly. Though the blow was nothing compared to actual fights he had gotten into with men and boys in his past it still hurt when someone unexpectedly lands a punch square in the chest.

“I’m sorry alright? Don’t need to go all violent on me,” he continued as he noticed the pain in her eyes, “ Besides, I’m sure you aren’t the only one in our year. Merlin knows there isn’t a chance of Peter ever getting laid.” He added, knowing that this would make Baine laugh.

A joke at Peter’s expense always seemed to get a laugh even in the roughest of circumstances. At least the kid was good for something, though.

“So are we good? Or do you need to punch me again?” he said with a sarcastic smile, “ Just not the face, you’ve done enough damage to the upper most part of my body this morning.”

He let out a laugh, wondering what her reaction would be. He had always treated her just like he would treat any one of his guy friends but he was starting to wonder if that was one of the sore spots she now had with him. He could never figure out girls really and this was the first time he had to reconsider how he had to act around Cerridwen Baine. Such a pity.

[Cerridwen Baine]

Cerridwen felt the rage rise with in her as her heart spluttered in her chest. She realized she had crossed a line, as Sirius backed up. His words made a small shuddering smile cross her features, but it didn't stop the cracking in her mind. Like many guys, she had made a habit of holding in her emotions. She had been there a few times for James, when he had a break down. But this may actually be the first time that Sirius had seen her break down. Her breath came out in a rush, as her shoulders shook. She pulled on the skirt of the damn uniform, and frowned faintly. Her damn grandmother tailoring all her clothes to be like the other girls. Form fitting, pah, who needed that.

Cerridwen shivered a little now, as she reached out. "I willna hit ya again, Sirius. You're mah friend." She said as she took another long breath. Her eyes watching him now as she tried to figure out to explain this. "Look at me Sirius, actually look a' me." She said this as she motioned to herself. From the skirt that was shorter then it used to be, to the dress shirt that was now tailored close. There was a figure there, that only one of the Marauders had seen. Her summer had changed her in many ways, and it had not been ones she had liked. She was living in hell right now, because of her grandmother. She was living in hell because of her mother. " I doona look myself, and half te time, I doona feel myself." She said as she shivered a little.

She shook her head and crossed her arms under her chest, a gesture that may very well look different, because of the change in clothing. " I didnae make these changes myself. They were forced on me. My grandmother is trying to get me a pureblood husband. I doona like being stuck like I am. On of the guys, physically female. Yet I cannae really belong to either world. I'm... sensitive about my lack of experience, because I do have feelings, like anyone else. How would ya feel if a girl told you that she'd rather shad Peter? Because he was more attractive?" She whispered as she watched him.

She wanted to hear his answer, get him to understand that she had been breaking inside. Hadn't he noticed that the exchange of pranks the last two weeks, had not been her usual full hearted pranks. She had tried this one, as a way to pick up her mood, and try to take her mind of things. " It doesnae help that my motha is missing."

[Sirius Black]

Sirius wasn’t really friends with a lot of girls he hadn’t already a fling with. Sure there were the odd few but generally, Sirius had at the very least drunkenly kissed them. He didn’t try to make this a habit but it always just sort of worked out that way. He was a flirtatious guy after all, and he wasn’t exactly a novice when it came to the dating scene. While he was naturally easy going and smooth with women he could never really understand them on a deep emotional level mostly because it was just flat out hard to keep up with them. He didn’t know if it was PMS or just a way to confuse guys until they were jelly in their hands, but the ups and downs were so frequent with most women that there was no wonder all of Sirius’ closest friends were guys. At least they were on the same wavelength. While Cerridwen had never been one of Sirius’ best mates, she had been one that Sirius always be himself around. He didn’t have to smooth talk her...hell he didn’t even try to flirt with her. She had always been mellow like one of the guys and as such he treated her like one.

Cerridwen backpedalled on her previous statement when she said she wouldn’t hit him. He shook his head with a chuckle and replied, “ Well I think you just have!”

He looked down at the red mark on his chest. The evidence was plain for anyone close enough to see. She could pack a punch and he knew for certain she took some lessons from Lily Evans. He continued to laugh but apparently he was the only one who thought it was funny. Cerridwen’s tone had turned serious as she told him to look at her. He turned his head, tilting it slightly, not knowing where she was going with this conversation now.

" I doona look myself, and half te time, I doona feel myself."

“You don’t look any different to me…” Sirius started but sharply stopped when she continued to go on.

In reality Sirius wasn’t that observant of a person. He really didn’t see what was going on unless it was laid out in front of him. He never took the time to really look at things. His attention was so quickly changed to something different he really didn’t have the time to observe things closely. He was a guy; he didn’t look at the little things. Unless they were spelled out for him or had massive boobs the chances of him really taking notice were slim.

But now that Cerridwen pointed it out Sirius could notice the difference in her appearance. What he thought was just a personality adjustment that had taken place over the summer was clearly much more. Her hair was longer for one, and her clothes actually fit her. Was her grandmother trying to make her more feminine or did she want to be treated like more feminine like? Clearly her choice in friends would only hinder this change. The Marauders weren’t exactly that way. He continued to look her over and think about how she had changed and by the time he had exhausted this he had to snap himself back into reality just as she was finishing up what she was saying.

“How would ya feel if a girl told you that she'd rather shad Peter? Because he was more attractive?"

Clearly only getting the last bit out of the conversation Sirius snorted a laugh, “ Yeah, like that would ever happen.”

The day Peter Pettigrew was able to one up Sirius he would have to be locked away in Azkaban out of pure shame. He couldn’t even picture Peter around a room full of women without at least having a platter of comfort foods to ease his nerves.

Cerridwen admitted something Sirius was not aware of in the disappearance of her mother. While Sirius had never been close to his own mother he suspected this to be taking its toll on his friend Cerridwen. There had been a lot of funny things going on these days. There had been more disappearances now than there ever was which was probably why Cerridwen’s mother’s disappearance was swept under the rug a bit.

“Sorry Baine, I had no idea ‘bout your mum,” he said as he pushed a hand through his purple hair, “There has been a lot of funny stuff going around England these days though…it’s quite odd.”

He pursed his lips together, not wanting to reveal too much. He knew exactly what was behind it but wasn’t really at liberty to say.

“So, how am I supposed to get this stuff out of my hair?” he said cheerily, trying to change the subject, “ I don’t know if purple is really my colour.”

[/size]

[Cerridwen Baine]

Cerridwen had to bite back her own laugh, as she shook her head a little. Running her hand back through her hair. That was a bad habit she had learned from all of them. Her gaze was cast to the side for a moment, as she composed herself. Damn that grandmother of hers, damn her and her need to marry Cerri off to a pureblood. Bloody hell, there was a pureblood that cerri was already attracted to, but there was no way in the nine hells that her grandmother even wanted her to have anything to do with him. She blushed darkly and scratched the back of her head, as she realized what she had pointed out. All of her clothes were like this now, hell she didn't even have PANTS because of that woman.

"It's ok... mums job is dangerous. She's an Auror." She said as her features strained a little. Stopping as she looked towards the boys dorm again. Her eyes closing. "Mum being gone, is how Grandmotha has been doing all she's been doing. Blood 'ell, I don't wanna turn into a Pureblood pretentious bitch, not like 'er, not like most of the girls that judge based on blood." She said as she shuddered faintly and tilted her head down. A groan leaving her as she heard his words. She smiled weakly as she stepped closer to him, showing the purple on her fingers. It didn't stain them much, and was already rubbing off of her skin. She scratched her head again, and looked up at Sirius.

"I'm sorely sorreh, Sirius. Let's get that taken care of, it's easy..." She said as she waved her wand, forming a bowl in it. She set it down on the nearest end table, and looked back at him. " Do ya trust me?" She whispered as she watched him, a smile on her face as she filled the basin with water. It was as she said, that it was a wash out mixture. She had done this as the way to help alleviate her pain. But it had turned into a weird confession moment. She shook her head a little, and frowned lightly as she twisted her head to the side. "Eh, Sirius... sorry for what aye did, but seriously... it twas payback for the quill incident." She said as she teased him.

She passed a bright smile his way, tucking her hair behind her ear. Nervousness showing on her features, as she shivered from head to foot. She slowly shifted how she was thinking, as her anger faded. She felt that pounding of her heart now, the pounding that started around him. She motioned to him again, as she closed her eyes. She was definitely going to have to keep things hidden.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius always had a particular way with his words. No one really could stay mad at him for long...unless they were Slytherins. Oddly enough they never could stay happy with him...he didn’t think they were ever happy with him but then again he didn’t much care. He and the house of Slytherin had a long, boring history he wasn’t about to get into at the moment.

Sirius nodded as Cerridwen spoke about her family life. Oddly, Sirius had never heard much about her family life...mostly because whenever they hung around each other they were in a large group laughing and fooling around. It was strange to hear how similar their lives were in regards to their pureblooded family prejudices.

“You could always just do what I did,” he said with a devilish smile, “ Say f**** ‘em and move in with James. IF that doesn’t shut your grandmother up than nothing will!”

Sirius laughed but internally he was disgusted at what his life had come down to in regards to his family. How could they have been so simple minded? Everyone around knew who his family was and they knew their stance on things because of how they were in public. Sirius was nothing like his family and made it a point to act as far from a Black as he possibly could.

Sirius smiled slightly as he saw the purple tinge on her fingers. Even if Sirius hadn’t caught her she would have had the evidence on her fingers.

“Nahh, it’s alright. I mean if I would have thought of it I would never let you hear the end of its brilliance,” he said lightly, “ A prank’s a prank but next time let’s leave my innocent hair out of it.”

He smirked at the remark about his hair being innocent. It was odd to have him say such a word for he knew that innocence was never the first thing that popped into someone’s head when they thought of him.

He watched as Cerridwen preformed some magic that conjured up a bowl and water. She set it down on a table and looked over at him. This was the difference with Cerridwen and Sirius, he would have never thought to be nice enough to make the potion a wash out...nor would he have helped fix it. He would have been too busy laughing.

”Do ya trust me?” she asked quietly.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders, “ I did and look where it got me,” he teased as he pointed at his purple hair.

He sauntered over to where Cerridwen was sitting with the water basin. Putting a hand on the top of the couch he leaped over its back and landed smoothly onto the cushions of it. He beamed playfully as he looked over at the water basin.

“Oh yeah...the Quill incident,” he reminisced, looking slightly upwards. That had been a flawless prank he would never forget and clearly neither would Cerridwen.

It had been a hot Spring day back in sixth year. Sirius was bored and obviously not sitting in study hall with the rest of his classmates. He and James were instead lying on the roof of one of the towers, staring at the clouds in the sky and trying to find something to spark some fun. It was never a good thing to have a bored Sirius on one’s hands as he always seemed to come up with the most wild and crazy ideas. It was on the roof that he had come up with the brilliant idea to prank the study hall with enchanted quills that once used would write things like Sirius is a sexy beast or James’ rippling muscles make my heart sing.

It was a pity Moony hadn’t been with them to work on the spell because when they had gotten to the study hall they still hadn’t mastered it. They decided to start with an unsuspected Cerridwen who was engrossed in a rather large book, but instead of the quills writing on the parchment, they began writing on Cerridwen...all over Cerridwen.

It was still brilliant, even with their little mix up. She had been so mad that Sirius had sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes.

“So you’re sure this will work?” he asked, “Or is this another one of your tricks to get me back for that little impromptu dating back there?” he added with a barking laugh.

[/size]

[Cerridwen Baine]

Cerridwen smiled weakly as she looked towards Sirius, his words held merrit, but she was stuck in a pretty bad situation. "My and mah siblings that are still in school, are supported by her. My father is pretty poor, and my mom gets all her money from her mother. Everything she makes at work ends up getting poured into supplies for work, and for keeping the house going. If I tell Grand'ma ta go foock 'erself, then we all end up with nothing." She said as she smiled at him weakly. She felt a little nervous now, but she kept her eyes closed for a moment to focus herself. Her heart was beating like a drum, pounding in her chest and causing her breath to rush from her for a moment. She had to focus, she couldn't let him effect her this much.

"O' course, it twould be okay if you had thought of i', but because it twas me, you cannae stand it." she said teasingly as she shook a finger at him. Her lips pulling into a brighter smile at his next response. There was an urge within her, one she was pushing down. All she wanted to do was lean forward and kiss his forehead, but the worst of it was her heart. She couldn't let herself do that, because she knew that she wouldn't be able to turn back then. She knew she wasn't up to his level, and she knew that she wasn't what he looked at. But now that she realized it, all of those girls he saw were quick things. He never stayed with a girl for very long, and that made her wonder what made her think that she could be any different.

Cerri laughed softly as he brought up one of the other Quill incidents. She could forgive him anything, she could forgive him anything. Wow, it was so odd to realize that. She liked Sirius so much, that she could forgive him anything. Which really proved to her exactly how much she felt about him. How much she felt and probably would never allow herself to give in. Her eyes closed for a moment, as she took another breath. Opening her eyes again she smiled brightly at him. Her lips pulled into one of her old and bright smiles. Her hands braced on her hips now as she watched him. "Och, I'm bloody sure it'll work. Now rest ya head back, and I'll get it rinsed out." She said as she walked forward. Gently she cupped water from the basin, and smoothed it through some of his hair, watching as the liquid turned purple, sliding out the dye.

When water mixed with it, the dye became soluable, and just melted away. The color even began fading away in the basin, as she worked on getting it rinsed from his hair. A shiver raced through her, as she realized exactly why he was so prideful of his hair. The strands sliding between her fingers silkily as she rinsed them. She found herself getting lost in the sensations, and didn't realize a groan left her. That was when her mind snapped back, and she snapped her wand towards him. Drying his hair and making her step back. "Och, all... erm... fixed. Ya should get yooself dressed." she said in a soft and rather quiet voice. Why was he effecting her so much?

[Sirius Black]

The Wizarding World had always been one that was teetering on a very thin line. There were many aspects and values that made it distinct from any other Sirius had ever come across. There was so much more to it than its magical qualities. The traditional ways were always been reinvented for new ones and with that came different ideals and tensions from various groups. Like a house of cards, a change in the wind could cause it to tumble down. Nowadays it felt as though it could tumble within any second. The pureblood prejudices held by certain families were strong and influential ones which shaped a repulsive undercurrent within circles. Sirius had seen this all first hand when he lived at his family’s home. The Blacks were notorious for their pureblood sympathies that were anything but kind to anyone outside their circles. The truth of the matter was families like the Blacks were a dying breed. More often than not prominent wizards and witches were coming from halfblood or muggleborn backgrounds. Sirius had never understood the dilemma his family had with this and for that he was out casted. Having spent time with a number of people from various backgrounds that turned out to be amazing people he knew he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Well it depends what your definition of nothing is,” he said with an enigmatic smile.

Sirius had grown up in a family that was quite well off. He had never felt the pain of going hungry nor had he ever felt the chill of being cold. When he left his parents house they abandoned all forms of contact with him. He was no longer a Black in their eyes. As soon as he disobeyed he lost all entitlement. Still, he managed to get by. His uncle Alfred had left him some gold, he worked a bit over the summer doing random jobs, and the Potters were always kind to him. Even though his stability was in doubt he had never felt so free and so happy.

He wasn’t certain of Cerridwen’s situation nor did he want to push the matter further. If he knew anything about stressed families he knew that talking about it did not levitate the stresses. The problems his family had wouldn’t be mended with words. Instead, shuffled himself closer to the basin so that he could get the lovely purple colour out of his hair. He did as he was told (surprisingly) and put his head in the basin. He felt a chill as the cool water hit his scalp.

“Ah! You didn’t tell me it was going to be cold!” he squirmed as more water was poured over his hair.

There was nothing worse than cold water being poured over him in the light of an early morning. He had experienced it at least a dozen times in his time at Hogwarts all thanks to his best mate Remus Lupin. It was just another one of his many tricks to get Sirius out of bed. Sometimes Sirius wondered if his genius friend had more evil genius tendencies than others.

He was in his own world of thought when he was brought back to reality with a guttural growl from what sounded like a dying cat. Wait-was that Cerridwen? Sirius’ brow furrowed as he didn’t know if he heard her correctly or if he was imagining something else. Before he could decide Cerridwen had spoken.

"Och, all... erm... fixed. Ya should get yooself dressed."

Sirius sprung up from his sitting position at her words. He instantly put his fingers through his hair feeling its smooth texture he had been so used to. He bounded over to one of the paned windowed and looked at the slight reflection in the window. No longer did his reflection include anything purple he stared at his normally black hair once again. He shook it, letting the damp pieces flop almost too perfectly into his eyes before taking his hand and pushing it back off of his lightly tanned face. He turned around and gave Cerridwen a perfect smile of approval. He moved back over to the couch where he collapsed onto, spreading himself from one end to another, his glorious hair glistening in the sunlight streaming in from the windows now.

“Why? Does it make you uncomfortable Baine?” he teased as he reflexively scratched his chest, “ I think I’m doing the female population of Gryffindor tower a great service. I should get a medal or something for this generosity.” He added with a barking laugh as he stared up at the ceiling, happy to have his hair back to normal.

[/size]

[Cerridwen Baine]

Cerridwen watched him now, her arms crossed nervously under her chest. An old habit, that she knew would never die out. Inside her head, everything was spinning, her eyes only held a few flickers of emotion. She was doing her best to keep herself in control of herself. She never wanted to seem like one of those fangirls to him. She was one of the guys, how could he ever see her differently. If she wasn't schooling her mind so well, that probably would have made her wince. That thought that had been nagging at her, and creating the fear she held deep within her. The fear that kept her from acting out what her heart wanted her too.

She would just suffice to be around him, and watch his life grow. What mattered was that he was happy, right? That's all that could possibly matter. Unfortunately, the young woman had her facts a little skewed. But anyone telling her that, would likely get hit. She believed it so fiecely, that she had never even made any sort of move towards him. Mostly because she didn't know how, I mean what was flirting? She didn't really even know how to do that. Which was kind of sad considering her age. She had seen the things that Gwydian, and Sirius, had done over the years. But she doubted she had the kind of courage to act that openly sexual towards people. She seriously lacked that kind of courage.

Which was odd, considering she was very courageous. And all of these things were muddling up, and mixing in her mind. She almost missed what he said, and then blinked rather quickly to clear her head. She fought the emotions inside of her, but what she couldn't fight was the rising flush of color to her cheeks. Were she a girly girl, it might be rather pretty. Probably still was rather pretty. Not in her eyes though, not in her eyes at all. She didn't like blushing, it felt rather silly. She could feel how hot her blush was burning, as she looked away from him for a moment. She had never really reacted like this to him before, at least not to his face. Usually Cerridwen was calm and collected, never so much as batted an eyelash when he was running around almost naked.

But for some reason, this moment made it worse on her. Her fingers still tingled from the feeling of his hair. She caught herself looking at her hands for a moment, and then found she was staring at his chest. Shaking her head a little, she worked on how she was going to respond to him. She looked up slowly, amber eyes meeting his oddly gray blue ones. "Eh? Oi, seriously? Sirius, ya can have ya fangirls all ya want. But tis September, so is a tid bit nippy outside. I'm surprised that ya haven't even batted an eyelash at the cold." She said as she reached up nervously now, her fingers deftly tucking her hair behind her ear. Yep, her cheeks were still burning rather warmly.

Sirius was probably going to get a kick out of it. For the first time in her life, she was showing signs of being a normal teenager. Hormones making her feel all wonky, and just her luck that Sirius was the one that got to see it first hand. Which was probably a bad thing, she just hoped he didn't tease her about it again. "Look, can I ask ya a question? A seriously important one." She murmured nervously. You could tell when Cerri was nervous, because that nice thick scottish brogue started to flow even more. It sounded a bit musical with her though, something about scottish women and their brogues. Never sounded anywhere near as harsh as the mens.