Chapter Twelve
Professor Hayley Asher

Sirius checked his hair in his mirror quickly, before shoving it back into his bag. He looked around to make sure that nobody saw the infamous Sirius Black checking himself out in a handheld mirror.

He took a deep breath and walked into the Astronomy classroom.

"Hello Sirius," Professor Asher smiled at him in surprise, as she handed out charts to each desk. "You're early, it's only quarter to twelve."

Their Astronomy lesson began at midnight, and Sirius had made an effort to arrive much before anybody else did. "You want some help, Professor?" he asked, in the most charming voice he could muster.

"Sure, could you set up the telescopes for me?" she replied, smoothing down her grey skirt, oblivious to the way he was drooling over her.

Suddenly the door burst open, and James and Remus strolled in, huge smiles plastered across their faces. "Sirius! We thought we'd find you here!" they said simultaneously. It sounded rehearsed.

"Hello," Sirius said dully, glaring at them.

"Here so early Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, in mock-horror. "I think someone's got a little – "

"Why don't you help me out with these telescopes?" Sirius said loudly, dragging his two friends to the other side of the classroom, away from Professor Asher. "I hate you guys," he hissed.

"We couldn't resist," James grinned widely, checking out their teacher as she wrote on the blackboard. "She has Chdefinitely gotten hotter over the summer."

"You don't want Evans to hear you saying that," Sirius muttered bitterly, annoyed at the fact that he could no longer be alone with their Professor.

"Ah, she's willing to share!"
"Or your bloody girlfriend, Remus,"

"Hey, I wasn't the one staring at her arse," Remus frowned indignantly, averting his eyes.

The classroom began to fill with people, and the trio were forced to stop hovering by the telescopes and sit down in their usual seats in the front row. It was the only class where they sat in the front row, except for Transfiguration.

"Welcome back everyone," she smiled at them, and Sirius sighed lustfully.

"She's amazing," he whispered to James, who smirked.

"Well, now you know how I feel about Lily."

"This is more than that, James! This is true love!" he protested.

James frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"James and Sirius, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of us?" she asked pointedly, and they both fell quiet at once.

"There's something I'd like to share with her," Remus muttered under his breath, and they both stifled laughter.

"No Professor," Sirius said smoothly, grinning up at her. She faltered slightly under his handsome charm, but looked away before he could make anything of it.

-*-

"Why does Astronomy have to be at fucking midnight?" Sirius moaned, buttoning up his shirt. It was the following morning, and as usual for a Wednesday night, they had only gotten six hours of sleep. Sirius had a tendency to swear when he was tired.

"Because you can't look at the stars when it's daytime," James pointed out, yawning as he did up his tie.

"Fuck off."

"I hope they don't run out of pancakes by the time we get downstairs," Peter babbled, fully awake. "I'm so in the mood for pancakes today. Oh, isn't it a nice day today? It's sunny, for once. It's never sunny these days. Autumn really depresses me, you know? It's like – "

"For the love of Merlin, Peter – "

"Just because I chose my subject sensibly and was clever enough to know to drop Astronomy, doesn't mean you should yell at me," he said smugly, and Sirius looked as though he might throw something.

"Just because you have a vagina, doesn't mean – "

"Sirius, you're going too far," Remus chuckled, walking out of the bathroom and towelling his fair hair dry.

"Will nobody let me finish a bloody sentence around here?"

-*-

Lily fought back the uncharacteristic urge to kick the minuscule first-year who had delivered her the handwritten memo from Professor Dumbledore. She couldn't be less enthusiastic about having to throw a freaking Halloween Party, courtesy of James freaking Potter.

If anyone else was Head Boy, she'd be the most enthused person there was.

She crossed her legs and sat in an armchair in the common room, waiting for him to come down.

"I don't see why you're bothered. I think it's a great idea," Victoria shrugged, and Lily glared at her.

"Who asked you?"

She chuckled. "Just saying. Jeez."

Just then, the four Marauders rounded the corner of the spiral staircase, looking surprised to see the girls waiting for them. James cocked his head to the side, subconsciously licking his lips.

"Hey," Remus and Victoria embraced, and kissed each other in greeting.

"Alright Potter, listen up, and you'd better write this down," James looked surprised to see her talking to him at all, let alone expecting him to take notes. "We'll have the party on Halloween night, and we'll scrap the feast completely. The house elves won't mind, they can put all the energy into the food for the party. And I think we should probably organise something for the first to third years to do too. We'll have the – "

"Wait, what?!" James interrupted her, trying to take it all in. "What party?"

"For the love of God, you suggested it Potter!"

He looked confused for a moment, until – "Oh! The Halloween bash! Trust Dumbledore to get us to throw a good old-fashioned shindig."

"Yes," she said shortly, before continuing with her flow of speech, as they walked down to breakfast, their friends in close pursuit. "We'll put the Hufflepuff Prefects in charge of decorations, the Ravenclaws can get all the food organised, and the Gryffindors can be in charge of music."

"And the Slytherins?" asked Remus, who had caught up, eager to be of help.

"They can clean up?" James suggested innocently.

"They can arrange the location and things like that," Lily supplied, ignoring James' comment. "We'll need to send some prefects down to Hogsmeade of course, to get supplies. Or of course, we could order them by Owl Post, if that's easier? And then there needs to be a..."

She carried on talking at the speed of a Nimbus '96, and James drifted off for a moment. He watched her speak, noticing the way she tucked her long hair behind her ear, then pulled it out again, or how her eyes flashed excitedly every time a new idea sprang to mind.

"Are you listening to a word I'm saying, Potter?" her sharp voice pulled him back to focus.

"Yes! You were saying, we need to arrange a band. And then you were discussing what bands to get," he said hurriedly, grinning.

She pressed her lips together. "You heard what I said. That doesn't mean you were listening," she muttered. James chuckled.