As usual, I own nothing but the Zeller family. Edited to say thanks to google for my new cover for the story. I'm not sure who made the picture, but I've seen it a few times over the year. So credit to the proper maker, t'was not me :)

Autumn chill had begun to set into the castle, Ruby could feel it in her bones. Late October and she was already wishing she could ditch school robes for thick sweat pants and one of her brother's hooded sweat shirts. However, looking like a bum was definitely frowned upon, at least by her Head of House who had sent Ruby back to her dorms when she tried to pull off her most comfy and warm outfit.

Luckily classes were done for the day, and she could curl up next to the roaring fire in the Gryffindor common room with the pretense of working on homework. However, a Hogsmeade trip, the first of the year, was tomorrow so instead of focusing on switching spells, Ruby was thinking about Honeydukes Best Chocolate and the terrible things she might do to get a years supply of the stuff.

Glancing over and seeing the wistful, glazed over look on Remus's face told her that she wasn't alone in putting homework off for another day in favor of daydreaming about Hogsmeade. Stuffing her book and loose parchment into her bag, Ruby instead stretched out, wiggling her bare toes in front of the fire to warm them up.

"Put those away Roo. You're stinking up the whole common room!" Amery teased, easily dodging the quill that Ruby had thrown at him in retaliation.

"Oh stuff it. Everyone knows you wear your shoes everywhere cause if you took them off, we'd all suffocate and die. The rest of the boys probably have to wear gas masks at night so they don't die." Roo rolled her eyes, lifting her leg farther up in the air and shaking her foot in her brother's direction.

Before she could react, Amery was on his feet, grabbing his sister by the ankle and yanking her to the ground with a maniacal sort of laugh as he flipped her over and sat on her back. "Remember who's bigger." He said tauntingly, easily batting off Ruby's flailing arms.

"I'll put a Galleon on the boy." Sirius called out, his homework long abandoned, watching as Ruby tried to upheave her brother.

"Traitor!" Roo yelled at him, although no one could really understand what exactly she had said since it was muffled and intermixed with the sounds of her grunting. Even Lily, who was likely done with all her course work but always made sure the common room was a neutral place for people to study, was laughing along.

Taking pity on Ruby and her pathetic attempts to throw off Amery who was not much taller than her, was heavier and stronger, Peter got up and took hold of one of her hands and attempted to pull her out from underneath him.

After a few shrieks about her shoulder being dislocated, Peter finally managed to give Amery a good shove and free Ruby. Pink hair stood up every which way, looking remarkably like James, but her face was very red as she glowered back at her twin. "I'm going to get you back for that Amery Felix!" She pointed a finger into his laughing face, and tried to look intimidating even though her face was threatening to split into two with a grin.

Loud groans rang out across the room and the rest of the seventh years started to protest loudly at the idea. "No, whenever you two get like this, no one of us can relax!" Lily rolled her eyes. "'You're always scheming and then when it backfires, we all suffer!"

Sirius snorted in agreement having been on the receiving end of suffering after twin revenge had gone wrong. "Yeah, I'm not getting mixed up with you two again."

"That's fine. Peter is on my side anyways." Ruby shrugged and elbowed Peter. He looked like he might argue for a second, getting involved with Amery and Ruby was not something he really wanted to do. But one silencing look from Ruby, he decided to go with silence and just nod his head. He would just have to spend the rest of the weekend avoiding her then.

"Whatever Roo, you're a lunatic." Amery said, with a good natured laugh. "Well don't forget in all your mad planning to attack me that you agreed to meet Naomi Gladrags for new dress robes."

"It's not attacking if you made the first strike." Ruby huffed, flopping down in her previous seat after flipping him off. "Best not to find yourself alone in Hogsmeade, because Naomi or not, you'll pay."

"You are so overdramatic Zeller." James snorted, coming up behind her and ruffling her already rumpled hair while she batted his hands away.

"Oh piss off." Ruby rolled her eyes, but grinned at him none the less. "Don't forget you're the one who shares a room with him. Maybe I'll forget which bed is Amery's and get you instead."

"Nope, not getting involved with this time. Not again." James said pointing a finger in her face before taking a few steps back as if she were somehow infectious. "The ringing in my ears just stopped from last years Zeller's war." He shook his head, giving Peter a sad look. "Tough luck Wormy. Nice knowing you." Sirius joined in with a loud round of bark like laughter.

"Why are you laughing Sirius? You owe me. You are the one who gave me a bloody nose last practice and you said you would make it up to me." Roo raised an eyebrow in his direction, a smirk playing on her lips.

"All of you are a bunch of nutters." Remus shook his head, finally closing the book in his lap. He usually tried to stay out of their trouble making, but failed usually. However, he was drawing a line here and not getting involved with the twins. Dealing with James and Sirius was enough. "Lily, I believe we have rounds tonight." He stood, and led Lily out of the common room, who wore a grateful look not getting tangled up in what was sure to become a mess.

"That was your own fault. You were playing like a maniac." Sirius countered after gracefully flipping Remus off over his shoulder. Even though he tried to look disapproving, everyone knew that Sirius couldn't refuse a good sibling war.

"Oh, how you wound me Sirius." Ruby said dramatically, clutching her heart before standing and marching over to Sirius and Peter who had retreated behind his friend. "I expect you both to have some kind of revenge plans by tomorrow morning." She turned back to Amery who wasn't even trying to disguise his eye rolling. "Breakfast is not off limits. Hogsmeade is, because I don't want to ruin Naomi's day. Either way, you should watch your back."

"Has anyone told you that you are absolutely insane lately Roo?" Amery rolled his eyes, as he pushed himself up off the couch and in one swoop threw his sister over his shoulder.

"Don't start spinning her around, she'll hurl again!" Peter cried out before scrambling off the couch and hiding behind it. Without a second of hesitation, James and Sirius vaulted over the back and joined Peter away from the splash zone. Many dealings with Ruby made them quick learners when it came to her aptitude for vomiting. Although she could fly cirlces everyday of the week, on the ground, her stomach was a touch more sensitive. There were more incidents of Ruby puking because of rough housing than anyone liked to think about.

"Fair point." Amery countered and instead took pity on everyone else and dropped his sister unceremoniously on the couch before making a mad dash out of the common room before she could get her bearings and go after him.

"Bet he's going off to snog that Elodie bird in Hufflepuff." Ruby scoffed before sliding off the couch and onto the floor. Even though Amery wasn't that tall from the ground, being hung upside down like that did something to her insides.

"She is quite fit." Sirius said, after poking around to make sure the coast was clear. He took seat directly behind Ruby and gave her head a good pat. "Head between the knees, Roo."

"Stuff it." Ruby mumbled before dropping her head and resting it on her knees while her stomach settled. "She's not that good looking."

"What's not to like?" Sirius gave a shrug, clearly not taking note of Ruby's tone. "Not too tall, great arse and a nice smile. Not as good looking as Meadowes but definitely competition."

"Ugh, you are a pig. Maybe once Amery is done snogging her, you can have a go at her. Sure Dorcas would love that." Ruby bit out before jumping up and stomping up the stairs to the girl's dorms.

"What is your problem?" Sirius called out after her, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"You are really thick sometimes Padfoot." Peter commented, with a shake of his head, as he started setting up a chess board for him and James.

"Like you know any better Wormtail," Sirius rolled his eyes, and slumped back into the cushions.

"More than you apparently," Peter retorted with a snort and turned away to let one of his pieces overtake James.

The next morning, the seventh years were greeted with a blistery but sunny day. The air was cool and crisp, and all the Gryffindor girls were in varying states of layers. Willow, small and thin with a strange fashion sense had layered on three thick sweaters of mismatching patterns with thick tights underneath a knee length skirt and clunky boots. Mary, who Ruby was convinced had lava running through her veins only wore a thin jumper and pants, and gave up a long time ago convincing her roommates that she wouldn't be cold. Although Lily had been purposefully vague on her Hogsmeade plans (Ruby suspected a date of some sorts), she was decked out in a nice dress with a jacket and scarves.

Ruby, who had no date lined up and was not in denial about the definite chill in the air, put no real effort into dressing herself well after the other girls started getting ready. Sleep was infinitely more important. So while Lily debated on the perfect lipstick shade (even though she insisted there was no real reason for it), Ruby pulled a pillow over her head and tried to block out the chatter. An afternoon with Naomi caused no reason to make herself presentable.

When their chatter became unbearable to sleep through, Ruby finally got out of bed and began dressing herself. Jeans, thick socks she most likely stole from Jude before he moved out, some cartoon t shirt that hung loosely on her frame because it belonged to Zane who was a few sizes larger than her, a leather jacket she pilfered from Sirius when it grew too small for him and her hair tied pack with a bobble Naomi gifted her several Christmas's ago.

All in all, it took her 10 minutes to get ready and down the stairs while Mary and Lily squabbled over shoe choices.

Normally, Ruby would wait for the girls to round themselves up, lounge by the fire with the boys. Maybe go to Zonkos with James and Sirius before going to the Quidditch store, meet up with Amery for lunch and then window shop for the rest of the afternoon. But she promised this day to Naomi and after the stress of the summer, she wanted to make it nice for her. So Ruby wasted no time waiting around in the common room and went directly to the Great Hall, wondering exactly when Amery would discover the wartcaps she put in his underpants.

The sisters had decided to skip breakfast in the Great Hall, and head straight for Hogsmeade to get an early start and eat there, so Ruby turned corner at the stairs and went right out to the courtyard where Naomi was waiting for her.

Although not quite as little as Ruby as always thought of her, Naomi still had a sweet doll face. Her light blonde hair hung over one shoulder in a braid while the rest of it was tucked under a knit hat she knew that their grandmother had given her last Christmas. Jeans were tucked into dark and supple boots that stopped short before her knees. A wide grin broke across Naomi's face as she rushed her sister and hugged her tightly.

Ruby always felt bad that her little sister was off in Ravenclaw by herself. Although Roo was not fond of her baby sister when she was first born, she had grown protective over like any other sister would. Naomi wasn't as thick skinned as the rest of them. She was more sensitive, naïve even and innocent. Although Ravenclaw was certainly the perfect fit for the mini Zeller prodigy who's mind was so much like their mother's, Ruby still wished she was able to spend more time with her and ultimately keep an eye on her.

Even though she was two years older, Naomi was starting to gain a few inches on her sister. The Zellers on principle were not very tall bunch, Ruby was still the shortest at 5'2 and was certain not to grow anymore. Naomi was already an inch taller and in her heeled boots, even more so.

"Come on brat, we should get a move on it before all the good pastries are taken." Ruby grinned, looping her arm through Naomi's and started pulling them down the path to Hogsmeade.

By mid afternoon, Ruby's cheeks were as red as her name implied, and she was sweating slightly as the sun beat down on her and the leather jacket trapped all the heat inside. The pair of them had been running all around Hogsmeade for the better half of the day, only stopping briefly to eat. A pastry at Madam Puddifoots (Roo refused to eat inside), fawning over the littlest owls in the post office, shopping for new dress robes, entirely too long in Zonko's (for Ruby, of course) shared butter beers at the Hog's Head, and then trying all the free samples Honeydukes had to offer.

Even though they were feeling a bit queasy from the amount of chocolate they had inhaled, a trip to the Three Broomsticks was in order, mostly for a hot beverage to warm their frozen fingers. Between the sun and her jacket, Ruby was roasting slightly but her poor fingers and toes were catching the worst of it. Plus Rosmerta always had something hot cooking in the back, usually some kind of soup.

"So after lunch, what do you want to do next?" Ruby asked, as they shuffled through the crowded pub. At the counter she ordered a few butter beers and big bowls of some creamy looking soup before ushering Naomi into the nearest corner table.

"Would we be able to go to Tomes and Scrolls? There are a few books I want to buy for Jude." Naomi answered after a moment's pause. Without a doubt, she was the most generous and considerate out of all of them. "Maybe we could try to get into the Wireless Station? I know there's that one host you really like. Oh! And Maestros! Katherine was mentioning some sheet music. Has Peter told you that she plays the flute? She's really quite good."

"Well, me and Pete don't usually discuss his sister much but he's mighta mentioned it." Ruby answered with a laugh. Not many people even knew that Peter had a sister and were perplexed upon meeting her. With smooth dark skin, and bright eyes that could light up a room, Katherine Pettigrew did not look like the family who's last name she had, who were all blondes and watery blue eyes. Katherine had been adopted at birth and always knew the Pettigrew's as her family. In the same year as Naomi, the pair became quite good friends.

"But how about you? You want to go to all these places for everyone else, didn't you want to do something for yourself?" Ruby questioned, with an eyebrow raised while the barkeep placed bowl full of thick potato soup in front of the pair of them.

"We already got new robes, that's all I needed." Naomi shrugged. "Besides I just wanted to spend the day with you."

Ruby just smiled, elbowing her softly and starting tucking in on her soup. "Rosmerta is a godsend." Before Naomi could comment on the barmaid's soup crafting, there was a loud commotion near the front of the bar. Ruby turned her head just in time (she was rather consumed with her soup) to see a sopping and dripping Sirius storm out of the door, leaving behind a red faced Dorcas Meadowe's clutching an empty glass of what she could only assume was butter beer.

Although her first instinct was to rip off Dorcas's head and then run after Sirius, Ruby stayed firmly planted in her seat, turning away, her lips pursed in a tight line.

"What do you think that was about?" Naomi said quietly, even though the bar had turned back up to its usual volume.

"No idea. Meadowes doesn't like her boy toy acts out of line." Ruby snorted before she could stop herself. She always tried to be a little bit nicer when Naomi was around, be a good influence and all. "I mean, they just fight a lot. Who knows with those two." She tried to pass off a non-committal shrug, as if she didn't care. Truth was she was dying to find Sirius to ask directly or talk to one of the other girls to hear what they may have heard about it.

"Why are they even dating then?" Naomi asked, finally turning away from a red faced Dorcas.

"Because Sirius is good looking," Ruby said simply, a bit of an edge to her voice. She could have gone on about how stupid Sirius was when it came to dating, only messing around with the ones who didn't really care about him. Only the status of dating a well liked, and good looking guy. Or wanting the thrill of dating the leather jacket wearing, smoking bad boy. It drove Ruby insane but she never felt it was really her place to even bring up his romantic conquests, less she be perceived as jealous.

Maybe a little bit jealous and envious, admittedly but mostly concern for her friend.

Draining the last of her butter beer and soup, Ruby made a motion for Naomi to follow her. If they wanted to go to the last few places on Naomi's list, it was doing them no good sitting around in The Three Broomsticks speculating about other people's relationship problems. "C'mon, if we want sheet music and books, we better get a move on it." Ruby smiled, draping an arm around her sister's shoulders, nudging her with her hip.

The duo were nearly out the door when Dorcas's shrill voice called out for them. "What do you think you're doing Zeller?"

Ruby let out a loud sigh, dropping her arm from Naomi and turned to face Dorcas with the most annoyed look she could muster, which under the circumstances was not very hard. Although they were never friends and therefor never had a real conversation, there were plenty of accusations over the two years that Sirius and Dorcas dated on and off. Dorcas never liked that the two of them were so close. She never said it directly to Ruby but she had heard enough through other people, if not Sirius himself.

"No time for your hysterics today Meadowes. Perhaps we can pencil something in later, but I'm a bit too busy to hear about your boy problems." She said before pulling open the door to the pub again and maneuvering her and Naomi out. Roo was not interested in some cat fight in the middle of The Three Broomsticks for everyone to see.

"Don't act like you aren't running off to find Sirius!" Dorcas was right on their heels, slamming the door behind her.

"Get a grip, Dorcas. I'm with my sister. Piss off, alright? I don't care about your weekly drama with Sirius. Really, I don't give a shite."

"Okay, like everyone doesn't know you've been pining after Sirius for years!" Dorcas countered with a sarcastic laugh. "Don't you get it? If he wanted to be with you, he wouldn't be dating me."

"Considering you are out here shouting at me, and obviously threatened by me, I doubt you are still dating." Roo rolled her eyes. "I'm not entertaining this anymore. Cheers."

"Merlin, you are desperate. I can't wait to see what you come up with next to try and get Sirius to pay attention to you."

Ruby just scoffed, and started stomping off towards the Maestro, middle finger raised in the air. When she didn't see Naomi scurrying beside her, she stopped again to see her sister still rooted in place, staring down Dorcas.

"Naomi, come on. I want to get out of here." Ruby called to her, hands on her hips, irritation leaking into her voice.

"You are acting rather nasty, you know." Naomi said matter of fact, ignoring Ruby entirely. "Maybe that's why you and Sirius fight all the time. Perhaps you shouldn't date anyone until you get yourself in order." Naomi shrugged and turned heel to catch up with her sister before Dorcas could retort.

The sisters walked in silence for a few minutes, still on path to go get sheet music for Katherine Pettigrew.

"You shouldn't have said anything, you know that right?" Ruby said after another beat of silence, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Well, she was being nasty." Naomi said, looping her arm through Ruby's. "You would have said worse if someone was being that rude to me."

"I know it may not seem like it, especially when she's screeching about Sirius but Dorcas is really smart. And petty apparently. If she says anything to you," Ruby let the implication hang in the air.

"You are so dramatic." Naomi rolled her eyes, and gave her sister a shove before making a dash for the music store. She took a minute to recover, but Ruby took off after her, sure to tackle her before she even made it to the door.

Although they were one of the first people in Hogsmeade for the morning, Ruby and Naomi were some of the last ones back. They didn't start making their way back to the castle until the sun set and were just coming through the doors when dinner let out. Naomi had spent a considerable amount of time picking out books for Jude and when Roo offered her another two galleons for books for herself, she practically had to drag Naomi out of the store.

Ruby didn't mind too much though, because she knew news of her shouting match with Dorcas had likely made its rounds. So the less people whispering about her while she tried to eat, the better. Instead, they had dinner in town again and only when their noses were numb did they start back for school.

After hugs and promises to do it again, Ruby left her sister to the stair cases leading up to the Ravenclaw tower before turning and making her way in the opposite direction. Although they were constantly moving, Roo could still feel the chill in her bones and couldn't wait to plant herself in front of the fire place.

"So Roo, I heard that you and Meadowes got into a hair pulling, cat fight over our dear and beloved Padfoot." James crooned, sneaking up behind Ruby as she climbed up the stairs causing her jump in place.

"Gross, is that what people are saying?" Ruby rolled her eyes, not before shoving James's arm off of her. "Speaking of beloved Padfoot, why isn't he with you? Gone to kiss Dorcas's booboos?"

"Touchy, touchy Ruby," James teased. "One might start thinking Dorcas was right."

"Yeah, keep it up and I'll have Naomi come and yell at you too." Roo scoffed. "Can't you exercise a little control over your idiot friend Remus?"

"I've tried, and failed miserably. Can't take another failure," Remus said in mock sadness, stepping past Ruby and giving the password the portrait.

"That's probably what Prong's parents said after he was born, why he's an only child." Peter snickered as he jumped out of reach of James's hand.

"If this is how you lot are going to act, I'm just going straight to bed." Ruby shook her head, casting a longing look at the roaring fire. But her sanity was worth more than a cozy nap.

"No worries Roo, we'll make sure Sirius knows you send your love." James cackled, plopping himself in front of the fire.

"Yeah, make sure you do, right after you're finished snogging him."

So, a little bit longer than usual, and 2 weeks later than I anticipated but here it is, none the less! I was a little conflicted about this chapter and where to leave off, but it had a mind of it's own. But, we got to see a little bit of Ruby's jealousy that she tries very hard to conceal. Although she may seem a little one dimensional here, Dorcas is actually a lot of fun to write and you'll be seeing more of her in the future. She'll probably have her own section dedicated to her next chapter because she's more than a Sirius fan girl with a bad attitude. It will definitely be interesting to see how Sirius reacts to news of the Ruby/Dorcas (and Naomi! My fav!) shouting match. Do you think he'll be appreciative or angry at Ruby for speaking her mind?

Hopefully the next chapter shouldn't take as long to write! Please please let me know what you think, reviews give me life :) Thanks for sticking with me so far, really.