"Not exactly," Sirius replied. "Frankly I'm appalled you think I need the help." He grinned a bit. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away." Olivia slowed her pace a bit, looking over at him as they walked. There weren't many people around now.

"Well, there's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up," Sirius said. "I was wondering if you'd like to maybe go with me?" He grinned charmingly.

Olivia blined, momentarily caught off guard. Well, this was new, even for all their sniping.

"Alright," she agreed. "Sure. Why not?"

Sirius grinned.

"Great," he said. "Meet you in the front hall after breakfast that morning, then?"

"Alright." Olivia smiled. "Sounds like a plan." Her smile wasn't quite shy, but it was certainly lacking its normal element of snark.

"Great," Sirius replied. "See you then." With that, he sauntered off, already planning what they might do on the date.

Olivia watched him go for a moment before she went to go find Cat. This definitely merited a Talk, because what the hell had she just agreed to?

Cat was in the Slytherin common room, sitting near one of the windows that looked out into the depths of the lake. She was settled into a comfortable armchair, reading a book she had asked their grandmother to send her.

Since Olivia had the password, she let herself in, and ignored the startled looks from a couple of first and second years.

"Cat," she said as she threw herself into an armchair opposite her cousin.

Cat blinked and looked up from her book.

"Hey," she said, using a finger to mark her page. "What's up? You don't usually come down this far into the dungeons."

"Cat," Olivia whined, "he asked me out." She was still a bit wide-eyed as realization sunk in as to what she'd just agreed to.

"What?" Cat blinked again, trying to make sense of that. "Who did? When?"

"Sirius Black," Olivia hissed, making sure to keep her voice low enough that they couldn't be overheard. "After my last class, less than half an hour ago."

"Really?" Cat asked. She looked around, and then stood up, tugging on Olivia's arm. "Come on, let's go sit on my bed." She led the way into the girls' dorm.

Olivia followed her, shutting the door after them and sinking onto Cat's bed. "He really did," she confirmed.

Cat quickly cast some privacy charms on the green silk four-poster curtains and pulled them shut.

"Tell me everything," she said. "Black asked you out? On a date?"

"On a date," Olivia confirmed. "After class, asked me to wait up. Mentioned the Hogsmeade visit coming up and asked if I wanted to go with him."

"And what did you say?" Cat pressed. She wanted all the details.

"I said yes," Olivia admitted after a moment. "So we're meeting the morning of in the entrance hall." She went pink.

"Okay," Cat said. She considered it all for a moment. "Well, you're more than capable of hexing his ass if he tries anything, and he's easy enough on the eyes. I say go for it."

"Right." Olivia nodded, half convincing herself. "This is going to be an unmitigated disaster isn't it?"

"Not necessarily," Cat soothed. "Drag him to the pet store, go to Honeydukes, maybe see about lunch or something at the Three Broomsticks. It'll be fine. Hex Potter if he tries to start anything."

Olivia snorted. "I'll he them both if someone starts something," she muttered. But she looked a tiny bit calmer.

Cat grinned.

"Good," she said. "They need to know exactly who they're dealing with. Black especially."