Sirius Black sits with his nose practically pressing up against the cracked window of the train compartment, sticking his tongue out at James' petulant expression as Remus settles their daily argument with a snap of his fingers.

The cigarette resting between Sirius's fingers lights and he grins wickedly, taking a long drag before exhaling through the window. He wants desperately to learn how to do the magic trick for himself, but Remus refuses to teach him. Peter complains about the chilly September air whipping past them as the Hogwarts Express chugs past the rolling hills of Scotland, but it's the only way to keep James from leaving the compartment for the duration of the trip so there's really nothing Sirius can do about it.

James hates this particular bad habit of his best mate's with a vehement passion, and incessantly goes out of his way to deter the boy from it; rants about the detrimental side effects, stubbing out every cigarette he catches him smoking - no matter how recently it was lit, throwing all the ones he can find in the trash, and even threats of telling Euphemia. None of it has worked so far but that doesn't deter him. Sirius can all but sense another lecture about to begin and decides to beat him to the punch.

"If you want my opinion, Prongs-"

"I don't."

"You're really just upset about Evans turning you down again-"

"As if Emaline isn't going to do the same thing as soon as she sees you!"

"She loves me, she just doesn't know it yet." Sirius shrugs his shoulders, appearing so confident in his answer. "Besides, you're changing the subject. This isn't about me-"

"Maybe it should be," Remus interjects before he can poke more fun at James. "That girl will date the giant squid before she ever dates you."

"Honestly, you should just move on," Peter adds. "She's made it pretty clear it'll never happen and it's kind of weird that you're this obsessed with my sister."

"If you lot would let me get more than one sentence at a time out, I'd tell you about my new plan. It's foolproof." Sirius waits for all eyes to fall on him, pausing dramatically to take another drag of his cigarette. "I won't be asking her out this year. It'll drive her crazy to think I've actually moved on and she'll come running."

Peter is the first to respond, laughing loudly when it becomes clear the boy truly thinks this will work. James and Remus are quick to follow, practically having to hold each other up as they laugh so hard tears spring to their eyes. Sirius, on the other hand, does not find this funny in the slightest and crosses his arms until his friends are able to compose themselves.

There's a knock at the compartment door, causing an abrupt silence as all four boys turn to see who is poking their head in. Peter sits up, hoping to see the trolley lady, only to sink back into his seat in disappointment when it's only his sister.

Seventeen-year-old Emaline Pettigrew smiles politely at the boys, wondering what on Earth could be so funny it'd have them nearly on the floor.

"Hey, Pete, did you-"

Sirius is suddenly standing directly in front of her and this sets the other boys off all over again, confusing the older girl even further. Laughing so hard he's now actually crying, James has to lean into Remus's side to wipe his tears away on his jumper, though Remus is too busy struggling to breathe through his own laughter to notice.

Sirius ignores them all and his allegedly foolproof plan is thrown out the window as he grins seductively with his half-smoked cigarette perfectly perched between his lips.

"How was your summer, darling?"

Emaline scoffs, prepared to respond rudely and continue the conversation she had been trying to start, but she's forced to do a double-take when she realizes she now has to look up in order to be able to look the younger boy in the eye.

She most definitely did not have to make this effort before the summer break; if anything, Sirius had barely been the same height as her.

Living with the Potters must be doing wonders for him because Emaline is suddenly noticing all kinds of new details that couldn't possibly have been a part of him before. Surely his jawline hasn't always looked like it can cut glass, nor has his t-shirt advertising a muggle band always fit his figure so nicely. His eyes haven't been always been a beautiful ocean blue and-

Oh no.

A new realization hits her like the Knight Bus and Emaline nearly flees the scene immediately, having no idea how to process it and especially not being able to think clearly when Sirius is grinning at her, still waiting on an answer.

She briefly wonders if he can read minds, because her cheeks are heating up and his eyes are widening and there's no way he doesn't know exactly what she's thinking.

Luckily, James comes to her rescue.

"Quit breathing smoke down the throat of Gryffindor's second-best Chaser!" He chastises, grabbing Sirius by the back of his shirt and pushing him back into his seat. "I will not have your lung cancer in a package damaging my healthy team."

Emaline blinks rapidly, suddenly remembering to breathe now that Sirius is no longer towering over her. She purposefully turns to Peter, fixating her gaze on only him.

"Did you lose anything while getting on the train?"

He hesitates, considering her question before confidently shaking his head. "No."

"Are you sure?" When he nods again, she nearly rolls her eyes. "So you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Ema," Peter sighs, growing exasperated with whatever game she's attempting to play. "What's your point?"

"Oh, nothing." She can no longer keep her grin at bay, revealing the second wand she's been hiding behind her back. "I guess I'll just keep this wand I watched fall out of your pocket, since you obviously won't need it."

Peter gasps, patting each of his pockets before leaping up to snatch the wand out of her grasp.

"Hold on!" Emaline tuts, not letting go when he tugs on it. "Isn't there something you need to say?"

"Thank you!"

"I was actually hoping to hear 'you're the best sister ever', but that works too," she jokes, relinquishing the wand to its rightful owner and turning to leave. "I'll see you at Hogwarts."

"Won't you sit with us?" Sirius asks, holding both hands up to show that his cigarette is gone when James goes to protest. "I won't smoke around you athletes, pinky promise!"

Though she has no intentions of accepting the offer, Peter answers before she can.

"She has her own friends to sit with," he says, practically pushing her into the corridor and slamming the door in her face. "I'm sure Cynthia is looking for you. Love you, bye!"

Emaline frowns at the abrupt dismissal and almost re-opens the door to sit in the compartment out of pure spite. But Peter is right - she does need to find Cynthia Finnigan. If anyone can make sense of her utterly ridiculous new line of thinking, it's her best friend.

Because there is simply no logical way she could ever like Sirius Black.