InsaneJournal

"Study breaks are best when you never studied in the first place." James said casually, walking into the courtyard during a lazy Sunday afternoon with Sirius behind him.

He approached a bench and went to sit down, before spotting that odd girl Sirius liked (Lipra? Libra? What was her name again?) sitting on a nearby bench with a textbook on her lap. Curses, James could never remember names!

"Hey, it's that girl." He finally said under his breath, pointing to her. "Go ask her to the dance on Thursday!"

"Liska?" Sirius said with interest as he turned to where James was pointing. "Oh yeah...there she is." Sirius grinned slowly. "Studying...perfect time for a distraction. Wish me luck." Sirius ran a hand through his hair as he started off toward the brown-haired girl.

"Nothing better to do on your Sunday afternoon than study?" He asked as he stepped up to her bench.

 The brunette looked up at him, slightly surprised to see him again.

"You...you're Sirius, right?" Liska asked, holding a finger to her lips thoughtfully.

She then smiled. "I've actually been putting it off...I'm terrible about doing homework early." She closed her textbook and moved over so he could sit beside her.

Sirius nodded with a pleased smile when he remembered him (why wouldn't she remember him, anyway?) and sat down next to her. "Ah, procrastination. Nothing like it. An art I'm pretty skilled at myself." 

She laughed quietly, still grinning. "You? I would never have guessed." Suddenly, her brown eyes lit up. "I know who you are! The Gryffindor that always plays pranks. Rumor has it that you have a thousand detentions." There were also rumors that he was a womanizer, but Liska decided to ignore those.

Ah, there it was. The recognition. "Wow, the rumor's up to a thousand?" He grinned proudly - it was quite the record, after all. "Guess it's not too far off the truth...." He laughed. "I take it the fact that I like to play pranks on people isn't going to turn you away or provoke some sort of lecture or something?"

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger absent-mindedly. "As I told you before, these people could use a laugh every so often. I feel like I live in the doldrums sometimes. Wouldn't mind seeing a few Slytherins with pink hair sometimes."

"If only McGonagall had the same outlook on life..." Sirius said with a sigh. "Ever do any pranking of your own?"

"Well..." Liska trailed off, looking around. After verifying their privacy, she turned back to Sirius with another grin.

"I put a spell on the doorknob that leads into the Slytherin girls' dorm a few weeks ago. Their hands were stuck for seven hours." She felt a little guilty about that, and hadn't been brave enough to pull a prank since.

Sirius' eyes went just a bit wider at her confession. "That's brilliant! I can just imagine how upset some of them were. All of them, really." He chuckled. "You know, it's so nice to meet a girl who can appreciate a well-executed prank..."

She shrugged, and adjusted her Hufflepuff scarf. "I'm sure I'm not the only one. The Hufflepuff common room isn't as boring as everyone assumes it is. Plus, rumor has it that you like women. Lots of women."

"Well, you know what they say about rumors..." Sirius waved the thought away. "Lots of exaggeration, little truth."

Liska couldn't help but smile again. "Are you saying that you don't like women, or that you're picky about your women?" He was pretty cute, and Valentine's Day was approaching...

Sirius laughed loudly at that. "Let's just say I won't date just any girl that happens to pass my way."

"Well, that's good." She said, moving her long bangs out of her eyes.

"But you may want to take someone of my gender to the Valentine's Ball, or the rumors will say you've lost your charm. Or turned it on men. Trust me on that one."

"Oh really?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Is this your way of asking me to ask you to the Valentine's Ball, Miss Vulpes?"

Liska blinked innocently. "I don't know where you'd get that idea. Do you WANT me to ask you to ask me to take me to the Valentine's Ball, Mister Black?"

She was a little dizzy from that sentence, but hopefully it made sense. Flirting was tough. She kept a cool expression on her face.

"Why don't I just make matters easy, hm?" He smiled. "Would you like to go to the Valentine's Ball with me this week?"

Laughing, she nodded. "Yes, that sounds great."

Then she developed a serious expression. "Wait. I'm hardly the prettiest girl in school...why are you asking me out, exactly? You can have any girl you want."

"Calling me vain? Ouch..." Sirius' laughed though and shrugged. "You seem to have a good sense of humor, appreciate a good prank, and you are very pretty...Besides, just because I can have any girl doesn't mean I'd want them."

Liska brushed some hair behind one ear and then looked up at him. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to disappoint you."

"If I wasn't sure, I never would have walked over here to say hello." He gave her a charming smile. "So, we're on for Thursday, then?"

"All right. Thursday, then. But won't your Gryffindor mates be sour on you taking a Hufflepuff? Should I go in disguise?" She was only half-kidding.

 "Of course not!" He laughed. "We have nothing against Hufflepuffs. So long as you have no problem going with a Gryffindor..."

"No, of course not." Liska said, waving that comment off. She then narrowed her eyes with a serious expression. "If you were a Slytherin, well, then I'd have to slap you and run away sobbing, but you clearly are not."

"If I was a Slytherin, then I really wouldn't have ever approached you. Biased prats, and all." Sirius rolled his eyes. "So we'll just be thankful we're not Slytherins."

Liska nodded slowly, as if thinking about that. She shivered. "Yes, well, I most certainly am. You know the greasy-haired one?"

"Sni-Snape?" He caught himself. Best not to use names just yet. "Most unfortunately."

"I saw him kissing his girlfriend--Sappho, I believe--in the hallways the other day." She coughed. "I don't like saying things like this, but haven't they heard of shampoo?"

Sirius had the biggest grin on his face. Merlin, he couldn't have picked a better girl. "Trust me, Lis. You're not the only one who says it..."

"And Sappho is the name of a famous lesbian Greek poet." She added, feeling guilty but unable to stop. "I find that...odd. But she's quite scary--I don't think any girl would go out with her. Maybe that's why she chose a long-haired boy?"

"I love the way you think, Lis. I truly do." He smiled at the girl. "You know, a lot of times people's names do reflect who they are...I bet she's just hiding behind Snape as a cover up."

Liska smiled at the compliment, but then thought of the odd couple. "If I were a lesbian looking to cover up my true feelings--which I'm not--I would not pick Severus Snape."

"I don't think she had much by the way of choices, really. Snape's the only one anywhere near her league. And vice versa."

"You mean because no one else can stand the..." She covered her mouth. "Oh, I can't say it, it's so cruel...but then again, I did see them pick--no one else can stand the stench!" Liska finally blurted out.

Sirius probably would have just plain kissed the girl if they hadn't just met and he didn't want a chance of losing her. Instead he just gave her the biggest smile he could muster. "So true, so true." He shook his head slowly. "I had the misfortune of passing by them snogging...most disgusting thing I've witnessed in my life. My best mate and I were thinking of going into the eye-bleach selling business, thanks to those two."

"Four canisters!" Liska said immediately, smiling wide. "I'll take four cans of it. I'll need some for my friends, too. Jane mostly, she's almost thrown up twice."

"Ergh, poor girl. Now that I see there's some interest, you might just get that order fulfilled." Sirius noted the idea for later. "

She let out a nervous breath. This guy...was really nice. "Yes, well, I guess I'd best be going. I mean, I do have to finish this work." Liska glanced down at the textbook. She still had twenty pages left...

"Right, right. I'll stop distracting you then." He stood up. "I'll see you Thursday, though hopefully before..."

Liska nodded, standing up. "I'll try to track you down sometime soon. If not, Thursday will be lovely." She gave him another sweet smile and walked towards the Hufflepuff dorms.

"Sounds like a plan." Sirius watched her walk off before turning back towards James. As he walked back to his friend he gave him the thumbs up sign and a big grin.