"Crying's not for me,
'cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin',
because I'm free.
Nothing's worrying me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the storm still hammering the dirt road outside, the carriage jolted to a start, the trio within casting dehydrating spells upon each other's clothing to dry off the garments that weren't protected by Bell's umbrella charm. "What a harsh storm, indeed." Remus brushed a wet leaf off his shoulder with a mildly-disgruntled expression as Eva repeated her earlier sentiment in different phrasing. Trundling along its way, pulled by its morbid steeds, the carriage tilted at a slight angle as the road steepened. Eva tossed her feet out and pushed against the opposite seat to prevent herself from sliding off her own, and Sirius, who was by himself on that cushioned perch, turned and folded his legs leisurely along the bench.

"Ah, look at all this space I've got." 

"Can't imagine how Lily's feeling, cooped up with James and three others."

"Really, Moony? I'd say I'm glad for Prongsie. Maybe he'll make a move Evans won't reject this time."

"Sirius, I'd like to warn you-"

"Yes, Angel?"

Just then, a gust of wind blew the sheets of rain directly against the back of the carriage as the vehicle turned onto a slight descent, causing it to jump forward a few feet. Sirius, in a dubious position to deal with this sudden event, was promptly tossed an inch or two into the air and forward. Bell couldn't help but grin with amusement at his expression, yet she still winced as he landed on his right side on the damp floor, the sleeve of his robe catching on the buckle of Bell's messenger bag and tearing along the seam.

"-that we were about to make a sharp turn."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bell offered Sirius a hand up and he took it, moving to sit back where he was as Remus calmly pulled out his wand and magically repaired the damage to his friend's robes. If he wasn't so confident in himself, he might have been embarrassed by the fall, but he just laughed it off like he always did and resettled on the cushioned bench.

"Thanks for the warning, Angel."

"Don't mention it, Swashbuckler."

"What?"

As Remus and Sirius looked at Bell with confusion, she started to laugh softly, absentmindedly running her hand through the right side of her hair. Good god, did she know what just a simple motion like that did to him? Apparently not- and it seemed like she was expecting a joke of some sort, as she was watching his reaction and not Remus', so he tried to scrounge up something adequate as he mentally shook himself back into shape-

"Aye aye, I'm a pirate now?"

"No, no. Do neither of you know the original meaning of that word?"

Bell had that little smirk on her face that Sirius had come to recognize as her 'this-amuses-me-but-only-I-know-why' look. Again, just a little something that he couldn't help but smile at. 

"Remus, do you have a dictionary in your bag?"

"As always."

Bell ruffled through Moony's tattered bag for a moment, muttering something about a definition to herself, and unknown to her downward gaze, Remus gave Sirius a pointed look- "you're flustered". Instead of teasing his friend about having a dictionary of all things in his carry-on, the dark-haired boy fervently shook his head and leaned back against the chair, placing his hands behind his head and crossing one leg over the other, but careful not to repeat his positioning mistake from a few moments ago. He was not 'flustered', in fact, he was 'as cool as a cucumber', which was a phrase Marlene had started using repetitively last year after hearing it from one of her Muggle relatives.

It was true Evangeline Bellamy Roac could get him all in a tizzy without ever meaning to, a power no girl (no person, really) had ever held over him. Sirius thought of his affections sometimes as a blessing and sometimes as a curse. On a given morning, she might say or do something that would leave him full to the brim with so much respect and pride for her, but then the evening of that same day, he'd be kept awake, replaying the image of her subconsciously leaning against his shoulder while laughing at some joke he'd made earlier. Some days, he wondered just how on earth he'd been able to keep his feelings a secret from her for three straight years.

"-'with ostentatious bravado or flamboyance'. See what I mean?"

"Hmm?"

Bell lowered her lashes at him and shook her head with exaggerated disappointment, tut-tutting at his lack of attention. "It's the dictionary definition of a swashbuckler. 'A person who engages in daring and romantic adventures with ostentatious bravado or flamboyance'. If there's anyone who deserves that nickname, it's you, the renowned flirt."

"Well, you know, I've decided I'm changed. A new man. I'll be different this year."

Raised eyebrows from both Bell and Remus, although the latter's was more of a suspicious, 'you are definitely making this up on the spot' reaction.

"Seriously?"

"Yep. Entirely Sirius-ly. All my own way."

In truth, Sirius had been thinking about focusing his charms on only one girl for a while, but he really didn't know how to escape the image he'd built up of himself in the past few years at Hogwarts. 'Playboy' was definitely a good way to describe him- but over the summer, he'd thoroughly decided he didn't want to be like that anymore. Remus assumed this was a spur-of-the-moment thing, huh? Well, he'd be proven wrong soon enough. A sudden idea came to him, a risky but potentially worthwhile project, and a genuine smile grew on his face as he considered just how to propose this to Bell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm going to make this the best year of my life- and I'm thinking you, Angel, could help me out."

Bell leaned a little bit forward, resting her elbows on her thighs and twiddling her fingers with earnest intrigue. What plot could Sirius be meaning to rope her into now? She considered the schemes of previous years- fifth, he'd somehow gotten her to try out for the Quidditch team with James; first, he'd convinced her to befriend himself and his friends; third, he'd persuaded her to sign up for Muggle Studies with him -and how these had turned out- she'd made the team as Chaser while James was reinstated as Seeker; Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter had ended up being the best friends she could have asked for; Muggle Studies was her easiest class and the one that gave her extra time to bond with Sirius, who over the last four years had become her best friend -and came to the conclusion that all his previous life-altering ideas had positive results.

She might as well give this one a shot.

"Oh, really? Do tell."

Sirius rubbed his hands together and Bell could tell she'd made the right decision by the spirited spark in his eyes. "Here's the idea: we come up with- oh, what's the word- lists! Yes, as in, a physical, paper list, one for you and one for me. We'll cast protective charms on them against water, fire, other things- anyway, these lists will be our goals for the end of the year. If we succeed, then we'll give ourselves some sort of prize, see?"

Bell, who'd been nodding understandingly as he elaborated on his idea, raised her head to ask, "And what exactly would be on these lists?"

"That's just it- any goal we might have would be added to the lists. It could be about school, or money, or, say, hobbies, even romance if you want."

A pause in the carriage as Bell took this in- and Remus spoke up with a small grin that seemed to convey the message 'I know something you don't know': "I like it. One of your better ideas, Padfoot."

"Why, thank you, Moony."

"I like it, too. I'm in." Bell extended her hand across the carriage toward Sirius and noticed that his smile grew just the slightest bit when he took it in his grip to shake on the deal. "When should we start making these lists? And how about a deadline?"

"As soon as possible- maybe tonight? As for a deadline- the last day of school, eight pm. After graduation. Sound good?"

"Perfect."

Bell leaned back in her seat, preparing to offer an anecdote of her summer activities to change the topic, as this discussion was clearly over, but Remus tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to look at him instead. His gaze was fixed on something out the window at his left, and so Bell's gaze was drawn there as well- and there it was, the grand castle, appearing just a few hundred feet away, across the old front bridge. Sirius gave an awed sigh and Remus grinned- just as Bell had expected. Her friends always made the same reaction to returning from summer break. She assumed James would be giving a low whistle and Peter would be trying to hold back his excitement with a small smile right about now.

The bridge had been covered with a hovering awning that spanned over and along the walk's sides, a relief to the students still watching the rain cascade to the ground, whirling against and with the sudden gusts of wind. Sirius hopped out of the carriage first- literally hopped, as in, he did a little jump and skipped the step down -and held the door for Remus and Bell before running with them toward the awning. Bell noticed how he held his arms stretched above her and Remus' heads- an attempt to keep them dry as possible -and the gesture warmed her heart. What a great friend he was.

Once they reached cover, Sirius' arms dropped and one lazily fell around Bell's shoulder. "Hungry, Angel?" he asked her and tried to blow a strand of wet black curls away from his eyes. Chuckling, Bell reached over and tucked the stray hair behind his ear.

"Very, so let's get moving."