Fuel to the Fire

Chapter 1: P for Peyton.

The crowd roared loudly, the noise echoing around the stands. The score was dead even and neither teams Chasers had scored for at least 30 minutes. It was an intense game, but Gryffindor verse Slytherin matches always were... as were finals... Which is what this game was. The Hogwarts Quidditch Final.

"Anything, Squirt?" the captain and my brother, Zack Fox, yelled at me from the goals as I passed. I shook my head grimly, aware that Regulus Black was watching me like a hawk.

Below me I could see Black (Sirius), McKinnon and Potter, moving with incredible speed. This was the final. This mattered.

A sickening crunch made me turn back to the chasers.

"MARLEY!" I screamed as my best friend plummeted to the ground.

Black and Potter worked quickly as the penalty whistle sounded, swooping down to catch her.
The crowd roared louder as a timeout was called.

I swooped down to my team. "Marley? Are you ok?" I gripped my best friends' hand.

"I'm fine. I'm fine" she repeated, pushing away from Sirius's arms. "It's just a bruise" she looked over her arm and nodded. "Any time you want to catch the snitch would be nice, Pey" she glanced at me.

"I'm working on it... There's not much sun right now so it's a little hard" I folded my arms across from me.

Sirius nudged my arm and smiled. "You can do it, Fox" his silvery grey eyes studied mine for longer than they should and I felt my stomach tighten.

"Alright. This penalty will put us behind 20 points. We can still win" Zack cleared his throat.

"What?" I exclaimed. "Why is it their penalty? Marley was the one who fell!"

"Flint is saying she tried to push him. Smethwyk is taking his work" James scowled deeply in the umpires direction. "Now would be a good time to get the Snitch, Squirt" he shot me his 'this is Quidditch' face. I nodded, my stomach tightened again.

The whole game rode on my ability to catch the snitch. The final, the cup, the game.

"Pey, you can do this" Sirius grabbed my arm as the whistle sounded. I glanced at him and smiled widely, ignoring the niggling feeling in my chest his smile induced.

"I know" I shrugged him off and mounted my broom again. I took off into the sky, cursing the fact that there was no sun. If there was no sun how was I meant to see it...

"Snitch" I gasped as I saw the flash of gold across the field. It was hovering just by the Gryffindor stands, ground level.

Regulus perked up as he saw I'd seen something. I narrowed my eyes and threw myself in the opposite direction. The wind whipped my blonde curls behind me and made my blue eyes water. I had to do this.

Regulus followed behind me and I smirked to myself.

"I'll get you, Fox" he growled. The crowd screamed as we got closer and closer to the ground. "I'm a better flyer, Fox" he laughed as his broom levelled with mine. "Did you think you could outfly me?" he laughed. I shook my head. No I couldn't. He had a Cleansweep 500. I only had a Stargazer 490. The Stargazer was lithe and agile, but the Cleansweep had the speed.

"No" I smirked, sucking in a deep breath "but I can outwit you"

I held onto my broom tightly and threw myself backwards. I wasted no time seeing if Regulus had smashed into the ground before I flew in the opposite direction for the snitch.

It felt like minutes since I last saw it, but really it had only been seconds. The snitch was still hovering where I left it and I smiled.

Hand outstretched, my fingers curled around the tiny gold object.

"We won!" I screamed as the siren sounded to end the game. I skimmed the ground with my boots and held the snitch up for everyone to see.

I screamed and laughed as my team crashed into me. Brooms poked bad places, hands grabbed everywhere and we all shouted in delight.

Someone grabbed me by my wrists and yanked me from the mess of people.

"Fox... You... Ah" Sirius stammered before crashing his lips to mine.

I wound my hands through his hair, tugging at the soft strands between my fingers. "Mmm Sirius" I mumbled.

"I've wanted to do this for so long, Peyton... I... Mmm..." He mumbled against my lips. I sighed happily. Sirius Black was kissing... me...Wait... Sirius and me. Kissing. What the –

"WA-AGH!" I jolted awake and stared at two, big green eyes in front of me.

"You're drooling" My little brother pointed to my pillow, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

"BOOGER! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" I screamed, sitting upright in bed. He grinned.

"Why were you dreaming about Sirius and smiling?" He took a few steps back. I could tell he was getting ready to run. "Do you luuurrrve him?" He dragged the word out in an obnoxiously loud voice. "Do you want to kiiissss him?" He did it again. I glared at him.

"You have three seconds to get out of my room, Booger..." I held up my hand. "One..."

"Peyton and Sirius, sitting in a tree – "

"Two..." I held up two fingers and narrowed my eyes.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-AGHH!" He screamed as I sprang from my bed. Booger bolted from my room and down stairs, still singing that wretched song. Bloody little brother.

His name, of course, isn't Booger. It's Bradley. Booger is close enough so that's what I call him. My family has a habit of giving each other weird nicknames and then sticking with them. My younger brothers Dylan and Parker are Dill and Pickle, and our older brother Zack is Bean on account of him being so tall like a beansprout. I, on the other hand being so genetically blessed with 'The Short Gene', am Squirt. Thankfully, to most of my friends, I'm just Peyton, or Pey. Or Fox, depending on the mood, situation or person.

I sighed and pulled my blonde curls away from my neck as I got energised for another day of holidays. Was it sad that I was practically counting down the minutes till I could go back to Hogwarts?

Ok, Maybe a little sad.

But Hogwarts is the most awesome place on Earth. Trust me I know, seeing as how I was raised as a muggle. I knew about magic, my mum's the witch in the family, but both my parents insisted I get a good muggle upbringing to make me a more rounded and wholesome witch.

What it really meant was, in the holidays I missed out on seeing my friends because we lived in a small town called Upminster, which is far away from anything remotely magical. I sucked royal fudge.

Booger stayed away from me for the rest of the morning – thankfully or I might have ripped his ears off. I didn't exactly need to be reminded of my stupid dream.

"I just wanna use your love, tonight tonight tonight toni-i-ah-ight" I sang along to my radio as I cleaned my room, dancing when the moment felt right.

A squawking at the window made me jump and turn the song down. I smiled when I saw James Potters' bird sitting in the window.

"Hello Gertrude" I greeted the large Barn Owl affectionately and offered her treats from my own owls cage. Bernard looked at me reproachfully but I ignored him and took the letter from Gerty.

I sat on my bed and opened it.

Squirt – See what I mean when I said most? James was the only one I allowed to call me Squirt. It was usually a family thing. James was close enough.

I'm having a party of sorts at my place tonight. Haven't seen you in a while and I miss you. – There was a smudge in the ink and then it continued. Alright, sorry. WE miss you terribly, we being Sirius and myself and WE want you to come and spend the remainder of your holidays with us at my place. (Are you happy Pads?).

Bring Lily if you – there was another smudge there and then someone else must have taken over the quill.

Fox, you better come tonight or I'll come collect you myself. Actually that's not a half bad idea... wait till you see what I acquired this summer. – I could almost hear him smirking. Whatever it was couldn't be good. I'll pick you up around 5 pretty lady. Look smokin' (you always do) and I'll see you then.

Love, Sirius

And James - James had added at the bottom.

I laughed and folded the envelope up. "HEY MUM!" I yelled through the house.

"WHAT!" She yelled back.

"I'M GOING TO JAMES' TONIGHT!" I started gathering all the stuff I would need to take to Hogwarts with me and threw it in my trunk. "I'LL PROBABLY SPEND THE REST OF THE SUMMER THERE TOO... IT'S ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS ANYWAY... CAN'T HURT!"

"WHO ELSE WILL BE THERE?" She yelled back again.

"JAMES AND SIRIUS MOST LIKELY. OF COURSE EVELYN AND LUCAS" I listed off James' parents for good measure. Mum used to go to school with them at Hogwarts and knew them well. Truthfully, it was probably the only reason I hadn't got a flat out no in the first place.

"WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING THERE?" She asked.

"Oh I don't know mum, having lots and lots of sex, drinking heaps and just sexing all the time" I muttered to myself as I packed all my underwear in the trunk.

"I can hear you, you know" She appeared at my doorway and made me jump out of my skin. She had one hand on her hip and a washing basket on the other. She didn't look impressed.

"Merlin woman, you scared me!" I put my hand over my heart like I was having heart failure and then grinned. "But seriously, it's James and Sirius... practically an older more grown up version of Booger, Bean, Dill and Pickle" I stared at her and she stared at me. Then we laughed. "Ok so maybe not, but the point is, I don't see them like that" Well James anyway I added in my head. I wasn't gonna tell my mum that. She'd never let me go if she knew I kind of had a thing for one of my best friends. "So can I go?"

Mum looked pointedly at my trunk on the floor and sighed. She blew a strand of blonde hair, much like my own, off her face. "I don't have much choice do I?" She asked.

"Nope. Sirius is coming at 5 to pick me up" I smiled happily and bounced over to kiss her cheek. "Oh! I better call Lily and see what she's wearing to the party" I let go of my mother and went over to my phone to call my other best friend Lily Evans. I would have called Marley as well except she doesn't even know what a telephone is.

"Hello, Lily Evans speaking?" she answered politely.

"Hello Lily Evans this is Peyton Fox, how are you?" I said in the same voice.

"PEY! OH MY GOD THANK GOD YOU CALLED!" She squealed. "JAMES HAS WRITTEN TO ME – "

"Lil... Volume" I held the phone away from my ear.

"ABOUT A HUNDRED TIMES TODAY!" She continued to talk.

"LILY! Volume!" I said again. She ignored me again.

"AND THEN WHEN I THINK A LETTER IS FROM REMUS..."

"Oh let me guess... it's from James" I said dryly, throwing myself on my bed.

"IT'S FROM JAMES TELLING ME ABOUT SOME PARTY HE'S HAVING TONIGHT AND HOW I SHOULD GO BECAUSE IT'LL BE FUN AND – "

"LILY EVANS WILL YOU STOP YELLING DOWN THE PHONE! Merlin, it's like fudging talking to James when he uses a telephone" I yelled into the phone. There was silence. Ah ha! Success!

"Sorry. I'm just annoyed" She grumbled. "He's just so annoying sending my letters every day. My parents are getting suspicious" She sighed dramatically. "I'm had to hex Petunia twice already. Stupid cow"

"Oh it's so hard. Being doted upon and written to every day of your life is such hard work" I fake pouted and rolled my eyes. "So, are you going?"

"Are you?"

"Well I have no choice, Sirius is picking me up at 5" I answered.

"Oh Sirius, hey?" I could tell she was giving me that look. That famous 'I'm-Lily-Evans-and-I-Know-All' look. She was quite good at it. It was annoying.

"Lily. No... not like that" I sighed, flopping back onto my pillows and playing with a strand of curls. "You know he doesn't like me like that" I grumbled. Lily was the only one who knew about my current infatuation with my friend. She thought it was hilarious, of course. "Although I did have a pretty weird dream where we kissed at the end of the Final Quidditch match last year" I relayed the dream to her and she snorted.

"Maybe your dream was telling you something?" I heard her shrug. "So what are we wearing tonight" She (thankfully) changed the subject and we got talking about dresses and clothes and what we were going to wear.

Typically, I was still getting ready at 4:47 as I hadn't gotten off the phone to Lily until 4:05 and realised I hadn't finished packing or finding my stuff or choosing my outfit for the night. It was quite the dilemma.

I was in such a rush I didn't even leave my room to investigate the loud roaring noise I could hear in the street.

"MUM! WHERE'S MY OTHER WHITE SHOE!" I got down on my hands and knees to look under my bed.

"Oh dear" I heard her say. "Oh... dear..."

"MUM! MY SHOE!" I bellowed.

Faintly I could hear Booger happily shriek with delight and Bean greet someone... but then silence. I sighed and stalked from my room to find my family.

"Mother this is a tad... important..." I trailed off when I realised that non-other than Sirius Black was standing in my living room. His hair had grown longer over the summer and fell in his eyes. Merlin he looked so damn gorgeous. So... completely...

"Looking good Foxy" He winked, shooting me that wolfy grin of his. My eyes widened when I realised I hadn't actually put my clothes on yet and I was standing in front of Sirius Black in just my underwear. My fluro-pink boy shorts and white bra to be specific.

My cheeks reddened and I crossed my arms quickly over my chest.

Bollocks.

"Merlin, Squirt. I don't want to see that" Dill groaned from his spot on the couch.

"WHY IS MY SISTER IN HER UNDERWEAR!" Pickle yelled, coming in from the kitchen. Sirius continued to grin lecherously at me. He winked. I squeaked.

"Balls!"

I made a dash for my room, my cheeks red with embarrassment.

"LANGUAGE PEYTON!" Mum yelled. I ignored her. My language was appropriate for this moment.

Sweet frick, Sirius Black had just seen more of me than he probably ever wanted to see of me. What the hell ass balls was I thinking leaving my room in my underwear so close to his arrival! And the NERVE of him saying WHAT HE SAID in front of my family.

Well... I... will have to smack him next time I see him... and have clothes on.

I wiggled into my tight jeans and pulled a white halter top over my shoulders. I let my hair fall free from its tie and it cascaded around my shoulders in more of a mane than a wave. It was quite depressing how close I came to looking like my house mascot.

"Are you dressed yet?" I heard a sharp knock on the door before it opened.

"Oi! I didn't answer!" I exclaimed, throwing my socks at his head. He grinned and caught them easily.

"I know, I was hoping to see you those hot pink knickers again" He winked. I reached for the next closest thing when he held his hands up in defence. "You look lovely, Pey. Come give your best mate a hug yeah?"

I put down the potions text book and went over to my friend. I wrapped myself around him like a spider monkey and inhaled deeply. He smelled like grass and woods, like he always did. "Summer has been so boring without you" I sighed. He laughed and it vibrated against my cheek.

"My summer hasn't been the same without you, Pey" He murmured, pressing his lips to my head. My stomach squirmed as I remembered my dream. My stomach squirmed again as I remember my dream didn't happen exactly that way. I mean, we did win the cup last year but it had been Marlene Sirius had kissed, not me.

I should probably do some quick explaining. It's a long story, but, see, I'm sort of in love with Sirius Black, who is one of my best mates. It's a recent love... like I didn't see him in first year and fall head over for him. No, it's only been since the beginning of 6th year when I realised that he knew me better than anyone else did. We fit together so nicely and I (stupidly) let my feelings develop. It was annoying because I knew he didn't feel the same, but what could I do? Tell him?

Ha. Fat chance.

"Peyton? Hello, earth calling Peyton?" Sirius clicked his fingers in front of my face. I blinked and he smiled. "You're so spacey, Pey" He chuckled and brushed some hair off my cheek. My heart rate accelerated. "Is your stuff ready?"

I disentangled myself from his arms and nodded. "Yup, it sure is"

"Isn't that your potions book?" he pointed to the book I was going to throw at him.

"Yes" I nodded.

"Don't you need it?"

I glance at him and we laugh. "Nahhhh"

"Peyton, do you need that book?" Mum called from the lounge in her warning voice.

"I better pack it just in case" I nodded and quickly stuffed it in my overflowing trunk. "Let's go".

I followed Sirius out of my room and through my house.

"You know it's a good thing I turned 17 last week" He turned and said over his shoulder.

"I have your present in my trunk, I'll give it to you at James'" I motioned for him to keep walking because I was walking behind him and if he stopped I would walk into him.

"I didn't mean that, but thanks..." He laughed. "I mean I have to levitate your trunk onto the bike"

"Bike" I raised my eyebrow. "What bike?"

Plea's Note:

I'm BAAAAACK. To those of you who are new, HELLO! I'M PLEA! GO READ MY OTHER STUFF KAY! To those returning reviewers, HI I LOVE YOU :D write a review and let me know what you think ;)