"MUST BE… GRYFFINDOR!" THE HAT FINALLY ANNOUNCED after a moment of deliberation. The Gryffindor table erupted in an uproar of applause. Iris smiled, hopped off the stool and sashayed her way to the Gryffindor table.
Bursting with excitement, Lily launched herself at her sister once Iris sat down next to her. "Oh, Iris!" Lily cooed as she squeezed her twin into a tight hug.
Iris struggled in her sisters grasp and gasped out. "Lily, can't breath," Iris said as her face started to turn as red as her hair. Lily quickly let go but kept her within arm's length.
"I'm just so excited, not only are we in the same school again. But we're in the same house!" Lily gushed pulling Iris in for another hug. Iris squeaked as she tried to fight against Lily's hold, but Lily was far stronger than Iris. It was always like that. It wasn't that Iris was weak, Lily was just extremely strong, especially this excited.
"Welcome," Headmaster Dumbledore's voice boomed over all of the students, silencing them all. "I welcome back returning students and welcome incoming students." His eyes swept over each student and observed the new ones as well, his eye lingering on Iris. Not that she noticed though, she was too busy looking around the Great Hall with large eyes.
"I hope that this year will be just as magical as the last. However, I have a few announcements to make. In no circumstance shall a student enter the forbidden forest. I fear if you do, you will face a horrendous death." That statement caught Iris' attention, "I must also insist that each student obeys the curfew. Otherwise disobeying can be punishable with detention with our own, Mr. Filch." Dumbledore said gesturing to a man who stood in the far corner of the room. With slick grey hair, pale eyes and yellowing teeth he sneered at the stares he got from others. At his feet, a brown, black and white tabby cat sat licking its lips. "Now, let's eat," Dumbledore announced. Suddenly, food appeared on the plates in front of all the students.
Iris quickly started to pile her plate high with an assortment of delicious foods. However, before she could dig into the foods she had chosen, she was tapped on the shoulder. Turning to her right, Iris came face to face with a girl her age. Dark brown curls framed her face, chocolate brown eyes gleamed with happiness as she stuck her hand out towards Iris.
"My name's Marlene McKinnon," The girl, now named Marlene, said with a warm smile. Iris returned it and shook the brunette's hand with a smile.
"Iris Evans," she introduced herself.
"You're Lily's sister, right? She told us that you were coming this year over the summer." Marlene said as she too started to pick out food from the platers in front of them.
"I know, she constantly got owls over the summer. I barely got any sleep because of her constant giggling at night." Iris complained as she stuffed some food into her mouth. Her eyes widened as she moaned in delight. "This is great!"
"If you think that's great," an arrogant voice said as the girls in front of Iris were pushed down the bench to make room for four boys. "Then you'll definitely like desert," Sirius flirted as he sat in front of Iris. Said girl rolled her eyes.
"Eh, I don't like sweets that much," Iris dismissed smirking. She leaned forward with her head resting on her hand and her elbow on the table. "What else did you have in mind, darling." Lily nudged Iris in the ribs and raised a questioning brow at her sister. "What?" Iris asked slyly as she leaned back in her seat and tried to ignore Lily as she rolled her eyes. However, she didn't ignore the fact that Sirius started to become flustered, she relished in his embarrassment.
"We only came over here to welcome you to Gryffindor, Iris," James said as he took some food off of Lily's plate. As a result, Lily swatted his hand away.
"That wasn't the only reason, James wanted to come see Lily as well," Remus chuckled.
"Shut it Moony, Sirius wanted to see Iris too," James muttered stuffing his mouth with his stolen roll of bread.
Sirius cleared his throat, "we all came over to welcome you to Gryffindor, that's all."
"Hmm, I'm sure," Iris said as she turned to the fourth boy who sat furthest away from her. "You're Peter I presume," The boy in question nodded his head meekly. Iris smiled warmly, seeing that the boy was shy and hesitant to speak. "Well, nice to meet you, I'm Iris," she smirked, "but you probably already know that."
"You sound as arrogant as Potter," a african-american girl said to Iris. Iris raised a brow as she leaned forward so she could see past Lily to the girl.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Depends on who you ask."
"Iris, this is Wendy Hunt. Wendy, this is my sister Iris," Lily introduced the two girls. Iris nodded her head before reaching across Lily to shake the other girl's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you, dear," Wendy said with a warm and inviting smile.
"Same here," Iris smiled before turning back to the food. "Now, time for more food!"
---
Once the feast was over, and all the students were full of food they all headed to their dorms. Iris followed her sister and her new friends up to the Gryffindor tower. They walked up the confusing, always changing staircases and made it to the portrait with the fat lady.
"Geez, I'm going to get lost while trying to get to class," Iris complained as they walked through the portrait and into the Gryffindor common room. The vibrant, warm colors decorated the common room and greeted the students who were ready for bed. Around the room, eager and tired students sat in the chairs and spoke animatedly with each other about the new year.
"Don't worry, we'll help you find your way around the castle," Marlene dismissed as she hopped onto one of the unoccupied couches. "Most of us got lost on our first day here, it's nothing to worry about."
"Well, she'll have us to show her around," Wendy commented. "But I suggest we go to bed, early morning tomorrow. And I don't want to be late to the first breakfast this year, again." She glared at Marlene harshly. Said girl raised her hands in mock surrender and chuckled.
"It isn't my fault someone kept me up all night," Marlene said before clearing her throat. "James Potter is one of the most inferable boys ever I have ever met." She said in a squeaky high voice, obviously trying to mimic Lily's voice. Lily glared at Marlene and huffed with her arms crossed.
"Is that suppose to be my voice? Because that definitely didn't sound like me," she snapped.
Iris laughed lightly, "I don't know Lil, it sounded pretty close." Lily glared at Iris before launching herself at Iris and tried to catch her. But Iris slithered out of her grasp and ran to the other side of the room with Lily right behind her. The girl laughed as they watched Lily try, and fail, to catch her twin around the room.
When the girls calmed down, and Lily finally caught Iris and proceeded to hit her a few times, they all went up to their shared dorm. "Here, Iris, this is your bed," Lily said as she pointed to the bed beside her, which was right next to the window. Outside the window showed a view of the black lake, it's murky waters shining in the moonlight.
"Yeah, and the bathrooms over there," Marlene yawned as she pointed to a door that was on the other side of the room. "I'm changing first," She quickly gathered her clothes before stumbling her way into the bathroom as fast as she could. Wendy raced after her and complained that she always took the longest. Iris hopped onto her bed and sat with her legs underneath her. Shadow, Iris' midnight black kitten, trotted into the room and leisurely made his way onto Iris bed with one leap. Iris scooped the kitten up and cuddled him in her lap.
"We really should go to bed," Lily commented as she pulled out some pajamas from her trunk. She then poked Iris in her side. Iris squirmed and tried to get away from her sister, "you too, I don't want to have to force you out of bed in the morning."
Iris rolled her eyes, "yes, mum. Don't worry about me, I'm tired myself." She yawned.
The girls soon started to get ready for bed. Putting on pajamas, brushing hair and setting out their uniforms for the school day tomorrow. All the girl's chatter died down as they all settled into their beds and soon enough soft sores filled the room. Iris laid on her side away from the other girls in her dorm. She wasn't asleep. And she wouldn't be for the next couple of hours.
After determining that everyone was asleep, Iris quietly got out of her bed. Shadow, knowing that Iris was causing some trouble, also jumped off of her bed and followed her. Staying as silent as she could, Iris rummaged through a few of her belongings and finally found a small box of sweets. Snickering to herself she stood back up and made her way out of the dorm with her black kitten following after.
But in her moment of mischief, Iris did not notice her sister was no longer asleep. Lily cleared her throat, "where are you going?" Iris cringed, of course Lily was awake. She probably knew that Iris was going to do something tonight. Iris closed her eyes and turned around to be met with the annoyed glare of her twin.
"Hey, Lil," Iris whispered sheepishly as she held the box of sweets behind her back. Lily tilted her head as a way of saying 'explain', "ah, you must be wondering what I'm doing."
"Yes, you're right," Lily said before snidely adding, "for once."
Iris placed a hand over her heart, "for once? Lil, sister dearest, I'm hurt."
"What are you doing, Iris?" Lily questioned harshly, obviously irritated. She could be getting sleep right now, or maybe even studying from her new books for her classes. But no, she has to make sure that her sister doesn't end up blowing up the school or something. Which has happened before.
"Nothing," Iris said unconvincingly as she tried to think of an excuse. "I just couldn't sleep is all."
"Iris, you better no-" Lily started to say as her voice rose slightly. But the twins froze as Marlene stirred in her sleep, mumbling incoherent words before settling back down in her bed. Lily sighed and glared at Iris, upset that she couldn't yell at her right now. "Downstairs, now." She commanded in a soft tight voice before passing Iris and marched her way down the stairs and into the common room.
Iris cringed again, she glanced down at the kitten at her feet who rubbed against her legs. "I'm in trouble aren't I, Shadow?" He only meowed in reply and purred softly in a way to say, 'yes'. Iris sighed before she followed after Lily and down into the common room. She made sure to try and hide the box of her sweets behind her back the best she could.
Once she started to get closer to the bottom of the stairs, Iris could hear a few additional voices. She recognized Lily's voice right away, and she could recognize James' voice as well. It sounded like they were arguing with each other. Then a third voice spoke up, Remus. Then a fourth voice commented on what they were saying, Peter. And finally Sirius Black had opened his big mouth to say something, but before he could he saw that Iris was at the bottom of the staircase. His eyes grew wide as he ran a hand through his messy black hair. He wasn't entirely sure, but as soon as he saw her he became nervous.
He smirked the best he could to mask his nervous feeling and turned to Iris who watched him with amusement dancing in her brown eyes. "Look at who it is," he confidently said causing the others to turn to Iris. "Couldn't stay away from me could you?"
Iris smirked, "'fraid not, my bed's a tad bit cold." She smiled flirtatiously towards him, almost forgetting that they weren't alone. "Mind helping me… heat it up?" She slyly asked. James coughed loudly in surprise, whatever he and Lily had been arguing about was long forgotten about. Sirius stood with his mouth agape as he stared at the girl in front of him.
"What are you doing down here?" Remus coughed as he tried to let Sirius compose himself. Remus was also surprised by what Iris had said, but he was the first able to recover fast enough to change the topic.
Feigning innocence, Iris blinked her long eyelashes, "me?" She did her best to act clueless, "I could ask you the same question."
"And we asked you first!" James exclaimed once he finally regained his wits.
"I just couldn't sleep… I'm just so excited for school!" Iris tried to explain, even though Lily could see through her lie.
"Really? Since when have you been excited for school?" Lily asked bored and crossed her arms over her chest, "what's behind your back?"
Iris furrowed her eyebrows, "behind my back? Uh, nothing!"
Lily looked at Iris with an irritated look, was Iris really going to start to play this game this late at night. "Yes, behind your back, I saw a box in your hands."
"It's just a box," Iris tried to explain while she walked closer to the group. But Lily could tell that she was itching to get out of the room. "There's nothing in it."
"You say nothing, and yet I'm still suspicious."
Three out of the four boys watched the girls converse with each other. They dreaded seeing Lily's temper, and they knew that if she yelled she would probably wake up the entire tower. And if Lily had a horrendous temper, they couldn't imagine what Iris was like. They even paled at the thought of the two of their tempers pinned against each other. They really needed to get out of there before things got worse.
Not paying attention to the bickering between the twins, the shaggy-haired boy was still gobsmacked by what Iris had said ages ago. But he couldn't help but think he'd take her up on her offer. "And you have every right to be suspicious," Iris said before quickly adding, "but you can trust me! I'm not doing anything bad, I swear!"
"Then what where you going to do with an empty box?" Peter asked confused.
James' eyes sparkled with excitement, "are you going to prank someone!?"
Iris shook her head vigorously trying to convince them that she wasn't going to go prank anyone. Even though that's exactly what she was going to do. "No! I promised Dad that I wouldn't," Iris said confidently. But her confidence deflated when Lily spoke up,
"Actually, you said, and I quote, 'I make no promises'," Lily said as she tried to mimic Iris' voice.
Iris' jaw clenched before she spitefully spoke.
"Is that suppose to be my voice? Because that definitely didn't sound like me." Iris quoted Lily from earlier in the night and also mimicked her voice. Lily glared at the satisfied look on Iris' face, and she was just about ready to pounce on her. But before she could, Remus tried to defuse the situation.
"Why don't we all just go to bed, we do have school tomorrow morning," Remus suggested sheepishly. Peter nodded his head to as he saw Lily was starting to become even more agitated. And Iris' innocent act was only making Lily's temper worse.
"Yeah," Peter squeaked and agreed with Remus. "We don't want to be late for class tomorrow!" He dashed past the girls and headed up the stair towards the boy's dormitories without a good night. He did not want to be in the room when either Lily or Iris exploded.
"See, Wormtail has the right idea," Remus said as he sheepishly made his way towards the stairs. "Night Lily, Iris," He bid the girls goodnight before disappearing up the stairs. Now there were only four teens left in the room.
"Looks like it's only us," James said as he came to stand next to Lily. Trying to be smooth, James tried to place his arm around her shoulders. However, Lily was faster and pushed his arm away and turned her glare onto him. He yelped as he backed away from her. He might love this girl with all of his being, but he had to admit she can be scary. "Ha, I guess I should get going too." He turned to Iris as he started to back up towards the stairs, "see you tomorrow, Iris."
"Night, Potter."
"See you in your dreams, Lily," he said flirtatiously. Lily glared at him and started to march towards the stairs too. James yelped in terror as he turned to scurry up the stairs. Lily rolled her eyes as she turned to Iris with a tired look.
"Go to bed, Iris," Lily sighed as she turned to Sirius, who still hadn't said anything. "Stop her if she tries to leave," Lily ordered Sirius before disappearing up the stairs. Now only Iris and Sirius remained.
It was quiet in the common room, the only sound that was heard was the crackling of the wood from the fireplace. Iris sighed as she rolled her eyes. Couldn't Lily let her have her fun? Iris just wants to let Hogwarts know that they have a new prankster in their midsts.
"Are you going to do what Lily said?" Sirius broke Iris out of her thoughts, "I have a feeling that you aren't."
Iris smiled towards him and strutted her way to stand in front of him, "you've known me for a short time, yet you seem to know so much about me." Iris laughed lightly, "I won't tell Lily if you don't," Iris said hopefully.
Sirius smirked, "I don't know, you might have to convince me, love."
Iris raised an eyebrow, "and do tell, darling." Iris sighed, "how can I do that."
Sirius smirked as he leaned down to be level with Iris. On the inside he was flustered, the two of them were extremely close. And one wrong move would end up with his lips on hers. Though he wouldn't complain about that. Iris was also slightly embarrassed, her breath had hitched ever so slightly. But she was able to hide it easily as Sirius was able to hide his embarrassment. "Why don't you let me help you… heat up your bed."
Iris' mind went blank as she stared at the boy in front of her. How was she supposed to respond to that? Should she respond to that? She had no idea whether or not he was serious about that. Though she had a nagging voice in the back of her head saying, 'Merlin, yes'.
Sirius stared at Iris with a calculating look. Did he say something wrong? Of course, he did. What sane person would say that to someone they've just met? Was she going to yell at him? Never talk to him again? But then again why should he care? She was just some girl, she was just like all the other girls here at Hogwarts.
No, that's wrong. She wasn't like the other girls here. She was different, she's new, and Sirius want to know just how different she is. No, he needs to know. Sirius opened his mouth to apologize for what he had said, but before he could utter a word Iris laughed lightly.
"Egear to take me up on my offer are you, darling?"
Sirius calmed down on the inside, though his stomach was still doing flips. She thought it was a joke. She hadn't taken it seriously. Sirius could only thank Merlin that she wasn't weirded out by him and didn't want to run away after his comment. He was grateful that he hadn't just lost the chance to get to know Iris Evans.
"I suppose so, love," Sirius said confidently as he tried to hide his anxiety. "I just can't miss the opportunity to spend the night with a beautiful girl like you."
Iris laughed again, "let me go and I'll reward you another time, darling." She tried to walk past him but was stopped when he wrapped an arm around her waist from behind. Her eyes widened as she had an instinct to try and squirm her way out of his arms. She felt flustered and slightly uncomfortable in this position, she felt her face begin to heat up. But his hold wasn't harsh or possessive. His hold was gentle and his hand barely touch her body with only a feather-like touch, as if he was afraid of how she would react. And he was.
"Now, as much as I'd enjoy that, I'd rather not be killed by your sister."
Iris cleared her throat and willed her flaming cheeks to cool down as she turned around to face him, yet she was still trapped in his arms. "Come on, Sirius, please?" Her big brown eyes stared up at Sirius with a pleading look.
Normally, Sirius would be able to say no, but staring into her enormous chocolate colored eyes caused him to falter. How could he say no to Iris? Especially when she says she'll reward him. How did this girl have such an effect on him? He's only known her a few hours, for Merlin sake!
"I won't tattle," Sirius whispered with a smirk. Iris smiled brightly, leaned up and kissed Sirius on the cheek. Enjoying the burst of red that blossomed on Sirius' cheeks, Iris winked at him and turned around to walk towards the exit of the common room.
"Sweet dreams, darling."
Sirius smiled stupidly, "oh sweet dreams indeed." His smile then faltered as his eyes widened, "what the bloody hell is happening to me."
---
Iris walked the halls of Hogwarts as she held the box of her own creations tightly. Shadow walked alongside her and inspected every object he had never seen before. Iris mentally laughed as she imaged what tomorrow morning was going to be like. She thought that this was the greatest way to start the new year. The first prank on the entire school. Using her own creations she made over the summer.
There were four different types of sweets that she had in her box. The first is puking pasties, and just as the name suggests whoever eats it will puke. The second is dye toffees, whoever ends up eating these will end up with a different color hair and eyes. Just image, someone with neon orange eyes and dark green hair! The third is voice sweets, (Iris still had no idea about what to call them.) and they are her favorite. When someone ate it one of two things would happen, either their accent would change or their entire language would change. And no matter how hard they tried, people would not be able to understand them. And lastly, the fourth sweet is switching cremes. (And once again, Iris is not very good at coming up with names.) If two people were to eat the cremes at the same time, they would end up switching clothing or switch voices. But if the recipient of the sweets is unlucky, then both of these reactions would happen.
Either way, it was bloody brilliant! Iris could only imagine the chaos that would ensue in the morning. It was going to be, as stated before, bloody brilliant. Iris was a genius when it came to concocting different pranks. Whether it be making up a spell, a potion, or little trick, Iris was a master. It was like she was born for pranking.
Now all she had to do was find the kitchens, however, that was easier said than done. Wandering around the halls aimlessly, she was looking for any sign of the kitchens, but she found nothing. It felt like she had been walking around for hours, and her feet were starting to throb. She was tired, cold and about ready to give up and head back to her dorm.
But before she could decide whether or not she should head back to the Gryffindor tower, Shadow hissed. His hair stood straight on his back that was arched towards the sky. Iris turned around to see what Shadow was looking at.
A sheepish house elf stood in the middle of the corridor with wide eyes. The pans it had been holding clattered to the ground. Iris cringed at the sound and tried to calm down the elf. "Hey, hey, it's okay," she rushed out as she approached the elf. The elf wore what looked like a faded pink pillowcase as a dress and it had enormous, round baby blue eyes. "Don't yell or anything, I'm just looking for the kitchens," Iris said in a calm voice.
The elf stared at Iris with a curious look, "miss is looking for the kitchens?" The elf then muttered to itself for a moment before looking back at Iris with her wide eyes. "Mitzy can show miss to the kitchens, if miss is hungry, Mitzy can cook for miss."
Iris smiled kindly at the house elf, now named Mitzy, and kneeled down to her height. "I just want to bring some sweets to the kitchen for tomorrow's breakfast." Iris explained, Mitzy tilted her head in confusion, "I just want to give everyone a little… uh, welcome present of sorts." Iris said sheepishly.
Mitzy nodded her head as she smiled brightly, and even though her teeth were slightly crooked, she looked adorable. "Mitzy will help miss, come on." Mitzy started to lead Iris down the hallway Iris had just come from. Iris huffed, of course, she was going the complete opposite way.
The trio walked in the halls for only a few minutes before they stood in front of a portrait of assorted fruits and trees. "This is the kitchens?" Iris asked confused. Mitzy nodded her head and reached her small hands to the pears in the picture. She tickled them and, surprisingly, they giggled. The portrait swung open and on the other side was a gigantic kitchen.
House elves scurried around the kitchen working together to make breakfast for the morning. Mitzy shuffled over to Iris and reached the box that Iris held. "Mitzy can take the sweets from you and give them to the other students for breakfast tomorrow."
Iris smiled warmly and handed the box to Mitzy, "thank you Mitzy, and you can just call me Iris. Not miss."
"Okay, miss Iris," Mitzy beamed happily and ran over to the kitchens and inspected each of the sweets. Iris shook her head and sighed. Because it was late and she was quite sleepy, Iris decided that she should head back to the common room.
"Thanks for your help Mitzy," Iris said as she weaved her way through the many house-elves that worked tirelessly to cook. And a hand full of them did not appreciate the witch slowing down their late-night routine. "Just don't tell them that it was me," Iris said slyly as she kneeled down to Mitzy's height.
Mitzy tilted her head in confusion before nodding her head. "Okay miss Iris, Mitzy won't tell. It will be a surprise!"
Iris smiled kindly and nodded her head in gratitude. "Good night, Mitzy," Iris tiredly stood up and headed for the portrait hole.
"Goodbye, Miss Iris, come back soon!" Mitzy shouted excitedly over the other bustling house elves who were desperate to finish their work. Iris made her way out of the kitchen, the black kitten trailing behind her at a lazy trot.
---
Iris trudged along the corridors of her new school. She yawned as she tried her best to stay awake, but her eyes constantly threatened to close. She wished that this damn castle was smaller then she might be able to get to her bed faster. From the pitch black sky outside, Iris guessed that it was midnight. At a time like this, she would usually be in bed, asleep and dreaming of sweets or pranking Severus.
But no, she had to prank the entire school! She mentally groaned. Her effort will be worth it though. This spectacular prank will let the entire school know that she's the newest prankster in this castle. And she wasn't going anywhere.
The corridors were eerily quiet. A quiet that chilled Iris to the bone, and now she was chastising herself for not wearing a sweater. Iris wrapped her arms around herself and tried to trap in as much heat as she could against her body. This strategy barely worked, but it at least kept her fingers and arms warm.
She was almost to the Gryffindor tower, and just a few minutes away from jumping into her comfy and warm bed. However, as she rounded the corner towards the tower she halted in her steps. She had run into someone. Annoyed, Iris huffed at turned to the person with a glare. "Watch where you're going!"
Iris' glare softens however and was replaced with a flame of mischief. In front of her stood her good friend, if not brother-figure, Severus Snape. "I-Iris? What are you doing here?"
Iris smirked and crossed her arms over her chest, "I could ask you the same, Severus."
Severus gulped, "I couldn't sleep, a-and I wanted to walk around the castle."
Iris' eyes narrowed as she saw Severus twitch and fidget under her stare. Iris hummed, "okay," she drawled out and put her arm around Severus' shoulders. "If that's true, then why are you all the way up here, by the Gryffindor tower?"
Her questions sent a shocked shiver up his spine as he became even more nervous. What if she found out? What if she already knew? Either way, she was going to kill him. "I-I just kept walking around, a-and I didn't realize I was up here. Besides, I think w-we should head back to our dorms." He tried to divert the conversation and convince Iris to just let it go. And there was a huge chance that she would just leave him alone and go to sleep. Seeing as she only ever ate, slept and pranked. At least, that's what Severus thought that's all she ever does.
Iris yawned, proving Severus' theory, and scratched the back of her head. "I suppose you're right, Sev." Iris coughed slightly in embarrassment, "but we should hang out sometime."
Severus smiled. Iris never really liked to say it out loud, but she enjoyed hanging out with Severus, and he knew that. He also knew that Iris was too arrogant to even disclose the fact that she had other emotions besides mischief and anger. There weren't any other people that she showed affection to besides her sister and her parents. She just wasn't a person who was good at dealing with her own feelings. But he knew that she always got a kick out of playing around with other's feelings.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Severus said softly.
Iris yawned and nodded her head with a lazy smirk. "Right, well, it's now the ungodly hours of the morning so if you'll excuse me," Iris said as she picked her black kitten up from the ground and he buried himself into her chest.
She patted Severus on the shoulder and started to walk the way that he came from. "Good night, Iris." He called out to her after she passed him. In reply, Iris waved over her shoulder lazily before disappearing around the corner. Severus sighed in relief. He could only thank Merlin that she was too tired to interrogate him about why he was really up there. He gulped and placed his hands in his pocket and held the small glass vial.
---
Iris walked into the common room with Shadow now asleep in her arms. She trudged her way towards the stairs in the common room to her dorm. But an obnoxious snore stopped her in her tracks as she nearly jumped out of her skin. Her startled and wide eyes stared at the lump that laid on the couch.
Iris tilted her head in confusion as she couldn't figure out who that was. Shadow wormed his way out of her arms and meows softly before strutting his way up the stairs to the dorms. Iris ignored her black kitten and tiptoed her way over to stand in front of the couch.
Once she saw the messy mop of black hair she knew that it was Sirius Black who laid on the couch. Iris' eyebrows furrowed, why was he down here? Considering how late it was, Iris suspected he would be up in his own dorm by now.
Why had he stayed down here?
The only explanation she could really come up with was that he fell asleep by accident after she left. (Iris dismissed even the thought that he had stayed down here to wait for her.) She tiptoed on the fluffy, soft carpet to stand in front of the plush couch where the teenage boys slept soundly.
Iris thought he looked so peaceful sleeping there as he snored lightly. She smirked and pulled out her wand and wracked her brain for a certain spell to use against Sirius.
"Aguamenti," she muttered and started to laugh uncontrollably as a jet of water spewed out of the tip of her wand. Sirius jumped, startled, and tried to scurry away from the frigid water that was pointed at him. He jumped over the back of the couch to escape the icy water. Once he climbed over the back of the couch, Iris couldn't help herself but fall on the ground and laugh nonstop.
Sirius caught his breath after being woken up unpleasantly. He heard laughter from the other side of the couch, obviously the person who decided to rudely wake him up. Scowling, Sirius quickly sat up and was about ready to shout at the idiot who decided to prank him. He suspected it to be James, Remus or Peter who came down to get him. He knew he ended up falling asleep on the common room couch waiting for Iris to come back, and he didn't appreciate being woken up like this.
He poked his head up from behind the couch and was prepared to hex whoever decided it was a good idea to use Aguamenti, a water charm, on him. But once he finally saw who it was he froze and tried to compose himself to the best of his ability.
"Rise and shine, Black," Iris giggled as soon as she saw his head of shoulder-length black hair popped up from behind the couch. "I trust you had a restful sleep."
Sirius glared at his new friend and ruffled his hair as he stood up. He tried his best to brush back his hair to appear to be tidy as the girl in front of him glowed in amusement. Despite it being at his own expense, he quite enjoyed seeing her like that. He would gladly do anything to keep that wide, blinding smile on her face all the time. Yes, her smile is pretty, the way her eyes crinkled in joy is adorable and her laugh sounded like a song that he would listen to on repeat. Merlin, what is wrong with him! No girl has ever affected him like this! He shook his head as he released his thoughts had wandered to a strange place. "I did thank you for asking," he rolled his eyes, "but I could have gone without the rude awakening."
Iris tried her best to suppress the giggles that tried to crawl out from her throat. "Sorry, Darling," She strolled over to him with long sensual strides and quickly muttered a hot-air charm to dry Sirius off. "You were just so vulnerable, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity."
Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy hair and flashed a lazy smirk. "I suppose we should head to our dorms. Or perhaps," he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him once she was close enough as he tried to flash his most charming smile. "You'd like to come to mine."
Iris giggled nervously at the close proximity of the black haired boy. She is so lucky that she's capable of hiding the blush that tickled her cheeks. "To repay you for letting me leave?" Iris tapped her chin and pretended to be in thought. "I don't know, I'm kind of tired, and I'd rather have more privacy than you're dorm room."
Sirius chuckled and yawned, "I guess I'm tired too."
"Well then, goodnight Black." Iris pecked Sirius' cheek and pried herself away from his arms. She felt completely uncomfortable in his arms like this. It was far too intimate for Iris. She thought that she could handle him holding her before especially when he couldn't see her blushing. But when she was in his arms she could feel her insides melt, it was something she had never felt before. And she wasn't sure if she liked it.
"Yeah, goodnight, Iris," he sighed dreamily as he watched her strut her way up the stairs. He coughed as he realized that after a few minutes he was still staring at where she had disappeared. He racked his brain for an explanation on why he could be acting this way around Iris, but he came up empty-handed.
Sirius quickly made his way up to his shared dorm with the other marauders. And once he opened the door to the dorm, he found his three friends sitting on his bed. "And look at who it is, so how lucky did you get with my future sister-in-law?" James arrogantly asked from his bed which was right next to Sirius', where Remus and Peter now sat.
"Huh?"
The three boys glanced at each other and simultaneously rolled their eyes. "Really, Sirius?" Remus snorted, "we thought the two of you had gone off and found someplace to shag." The boys all chuckled as they teased Sirius. Said boy scowled lightly as he tried his best to hide his embarrassment as he walked over to his bed and pushed Remus and Peter off of it.
"As much as I would have enjoyed that, the both of us were quite tired."
James scoffed, "that's never stopped you before."
Sirius huffed and crossed his arms, "why are you so adamant about me shagging your 'future sister-in-law'?"
James shrugged his shoulder with a smirk, "we all know you were undressing her with your eyes since you first met her. Which was only a few hours ago, mind you."
The boys chuckled at Sirius' expense. Sirius huffed and ripped off his shirt in frustration as he got ready for bed. He was irritated with his friends as they were constantly teasing him about Iris. He knew that she wasn't like any other girl he has encountered and she affects him far differently than the other girls he has dated. He does not like the fact that they decided to use that to their advantage.
"Like I said I'm tired, so go to bed," Sirius scowled and climbed into his bed. Doing as told, the three other Marauders scurried into their beds and had bid each other good night.
---
In the girl's tower, Iris quietly tiptoed through the maze of sleeping girls and climbed into her bed. Shadow was already curled up at the foot of her bed and sleeping soundly. Iris quickly got under her covers and sighed as the warm, velvety covers engulfed her frigid body.
She stared up at the ceiling as she tried her best to fall asleep. Despite the fact that her eyelids dropped down, she wasn't able to fall asleep. A weird sensation bubbled in her stomach and caused her whole body to feel jittery.
She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew that she had been feeling it ever since she was with Sirius. It irritated her slightly. This strange feeling was what was causing her to turn restlessly in her bed. She had to find out what exactly it was because she was clueless. Maybe she should ask Lily about it.
Laying on her side, she stared out the window that presented the beautiful castle grounds. She could see the mysterious, murky waters of the Black Lake, faintly see the outline of creepy figures that walked along the treeline of the forbidden forest and mythical creatures that flew in the trees. Everything she could see begged for her to explore it. Smiling slightly, Iris allowed sleep to suffocate her as she dreamed of schemes and plans that she would definitely use on her new peers and friends. No one was safe from her brutal pranks.
She was definitely going to enjoy her time at Hogwarts.