A/N: How long has it been. HOW LONG. Anyway, it was because I was trying to figure out how this would go. The Sirius-Japanese girlfriend this is odd. I apologize sincerely if this ficceh doesn't turn out the way you'd hoped it to.

Crystina Gryffindor – Sorry, I kind of kept everyone waiting for this plot. ^ ^:

Ayumi-hamasaki – You'll find out…next chapter.

Caroline – You didn't scare me. XD I shall…write!

Ivy Crane – Yes. Cliff-hangers. They hang. LIKE CLIFFS. –snerk-

Hermione Rae – Glad you like it. J/L!

Daisy Silk – Domo.

Ekkypoo – You posted TWICE. :O Yeh. I'm writing, I'm writing. ^ ^;

Horse Queen - ^ ^ Damn professors. Not you, though. I appreciate critique.

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I GIVE YOU…

THE TALE OF A PUREBLOOD, PART 4

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"Carrot top, carrot top, carrot top!"

"Shut up! Don't make fun of me! I'll deck you!"

A little redheaded girl placed her fists in front of her face, her face crimson and tear-stained.

"Oooh, whatcha gonna dooo? Hit me?" asked one of the boys who happened to be taunting her. He laughed, approaching her steadily. Looking up at him square in the face, the girl socked his jaw, causing the boy to collapse in both pain and shock.

"Stupid boys." The girl muttered, eyeing them with great distaste. The boy whom she hit stared forward idiotically, his shaggy black locks forming an odd crown shape around the back of his head. The other three boys goggled at the redhead, mouths open wide. One boy had hair just as bad as the first, but with large, un-proportional glasses. The other two had auburn shades of hair, but one was a lot more pudgier than the other. Scowling at them, the little girl rapped the boy with the glasses on the head and stalked off.

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"What…The…HELL!" groaned an unidentified lump from beneath the comforters, as it wriggled violently, and finally fell to the floor. Gathering up all its strength, the lump threw back its covers to reveal a sickly-thin, pale Slytherin 5th year. Standing up, quite disoriented, he made his way to the bathroom, lighting the lantern with an orphan match in his pocket after searching for it blindly in the darkness. Focusing his eyes to the light, he leaned in toward the mirror, studying his flawless features. Sharp ebony eyes, defined cheekbones…it was all there. Although his lips, which were usually pressed permanently into a frown, were now curved into an odd sort of grin. Smoothing down his hair, he grimaced at the amount of slime on his hand, wiping it on a nearby green-colored towel.

Staring at himself, he wondered why he looked so…cruel. Something about his dream gave him a warm, happy sort of feeling, and his face certainly didn't match that feeling, even if his expressions did. The dream…he suddenly remembered why he had gotten up in the first place, and began toward another boy's bed.

"Wake up, Ma—Lucius." Severus whispered, appalled at the urge to call his 'friend' Malfoy, as most of Lucius' enemies did. The blonde-haired boy snorted in his sleep, but showed no signs of waking up. Severus sighed, shaking the boy awake. Squinting through the darkness, Lucius sat up slowly, rubbing his shoulder.

"It's nearly dawn. What business d'you have waking me up at this hour. The underparts of my eyes will be baggy for sure." Lucius whined, his voice amazingly monotonous.

"I had this dream…"

"So did I. About Narcissa, and it was quite erotic, too. THANK YOU for disturbing that for me." Lucius interrupted, pouting. Severus gave him a hard look, and continued on.

"The dream was about…this little red-headed girl, and three little boys. It was quite funny, actually. The girl socked one of the boys because they were teasing her "Carrot-top!" and the boys were surprised at her amount of strength because she knocked the boy out. I found the little girl so adorable; she had this spunky little feel about her." Severus sighed, grinning happily. Lucius stared at the boy, his mind reeling. Who the fuck was this?

"Perhaps because it's too early in the morning or something, but you are definitely out of character today. And, I still don't understand WHY you woke me up." Lucius snapped, his gray eyes still a bit wide from the shock of happiness from Severus' dream.

"I'm sharing it with you because…I don't know, it felt right to. I mean, you're the closest thing I have to a best friend, and I didn't want you to think I was leaving you out on a happy moment." Severus said quietly, shuffling his feet.

"I hate to break it to you, but the relationship we have isn't even CLOSE to any kind of friendship, let alone being BEST friends. Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't CARE to be happy during the break of day when I should be SLEEPING!" Lucius replied nastily, laying back in his bed and rolling over to this other side. Severus watched the boy for a while, contemplating the harsh tone in Lucius' voice.

Returning to his own bed, Severus forgot the burning lantern in the bathroom as his eyes averted to the nimble glow across the room. It comforted him more than anything, as he lay back down, fighting to go back to sleep. He'd wanted to see more of the little girl, as she vividly reminded him of someone he'd met before. Just as sleep was about to claim him, a voice rang out through the dormitory.

"Severus, blow out that damn lantern!"

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"Ow, what was THAT for?!" cried the boy with the glasses, rubbing his head where the girl had hit him. The redhead turned around, smiling sweetly at him.

"You're friends with that boy who teased me. Whoever's friends with that boy is my ENEMY!"

"That isn't fair. I never said anything about you being a Carrot Top."

"Perhaps you should've, so if I hit you, it would've made more sense."

"…You're stupid. You're not telling me why you hit me on the head."

"I think if I told you, you wouldn't grasp it. I might've hit you too hard." The boy sighed, nonchalantly adjusting his glasses. Turning around, he watched his two friends help the dark-haired boy up; an angry bruise swelling upon the dark-haired boy's cheek. "How's your friend doing? Not too bad I hope; with both his cheek AND his pride hurt, after all." The boy turned back toward her, trying to look as furious as possible. Being fairly kind-hearted, it wasn't easy for him to blow up at someone, but in this case, his friend was hurt.

"He's not doing too well, but then again, why would you care?" he snarled, striding towards her and pinning her against the wall. The girl's green eyes began to grow wide with fear as she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away.

The boy's expression changed quickly from anger to surprise as the girl pushed him back, causing him to almost fall over. The girl grinned at him now, giving him a haughty look.

"I didn't want to hurt him TOO badly, just to make him know not to mess with me."

"I think you've made your point. But tell me, why'd you hit me." The girl shrugged lightly, still smiling.

"Because you're very cute." She responded, prodding the boy's nose. The boy's eyebrows furrowed at this, wondering if all girls showed their attraction to boys by injuring them.

"Why didn't you just TELL ME." The girl laughed at his outburst, shaking her head.

"Lily Evans doesn't just TELL people. Too boring," Lily sighed exasperatingly, waving her hand off as she turned and walked away.

"Goodbye, James."