Barbara knew James had no intentions on studying, which was why she made sure he did by locking him with a body-binding curse in the boys' dorms.

"Now, Jamesie," Barbara said as she sat next to her brother, who wore a giant glare, "you study with me and we'll both make high marks on our final tests of the year or I leave you here and you'll receive the same grade you would've made if you weren't stuck. So, what do you say?"

Barbara looked over to see James using his puppy dog eyes. She took that as a yes. "Okay then, finite incantatem!"

James shot up from his previous state of paralysis and immediately tackled Barbara. "You-"

"Petrificas totalus! If you wanted to escape, James, there's no point. I've got Lily guarding he door out there with Marlene," Barbara smirked at her accomplishments as she watched James'a glare return.

She took the spell off of him; and this time he sat on the bed with her. "How did you manage to pull this off?"

"Well," she began, proud of her work, "Lily and Marlene needed a quiet place to study. And since Remus and Peter are in the library with Frank and Sirius is roaming the castle, I knew you would be here alone. I employed Lily and Marlene by giving them a sickle each to sit out there; and I was going to give them one Knut each to hex you if you tried to escape... but they both said they wouldn't mind."

James looked at Barbara with an offended look. "Since when have you gotten better than me with plans?"

"Since birth, dear James, we just didn't know how far back until we met."

Barbara and Lily walked out of their Potions exam with confidence. "How do you think you did, Lils?"

"Not too bad. Sev and I studied a lot on the properties of boomslang skin, I'm just happy that these weren't OWLs or anything. The Fifth Years wouldn't stop talking about them during lunch. How'd you do?"

"Well, dad is a potioneer so James and I had this down. We studied more for Transfigurations and Charms because we wanted too marks in those classes."

Lily gave Barbara an odd look. "You mean to tell me your brother knows how to open a book and study?"

Barbara shrugged. "He can when he wants to. I bet Sirius doesn't, though."

"I think I did very well, thank you very much!" Barbara and Lily stopped on their tracks and turned to see Sirius wearing a mock-hurt expression. The girls rolled their eyes.

"Sirius," Lily began, "it's obvious you didn't study. You even said so yourself."

"That doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing," he walked with the girls in the middle with a smirk playing on his lips, "unlike you ladies, I have a natural gift when it comes to taking tests. I don't need to study."

"Oh please," Barbara scoffed. She, Lily, and Sirius walked over to the side of the hall so as to not be in anybody's way, "James told me he has a higher grade than you do in History of Magic; and I know his grade in that."

Sirius put a hand through his hair, not knowing how to argue with Barbara. "Okay, you got me there. Does that mean I can't ask you out?"

"Where would you even get the idea that I like you like that?! All we do is either argue or bother each other." Barbara felt guilty for the way she worded her refusal to be one of Sirius's girlfriends; but she was too shocked. How could her brother's best friend think she was interested when they've only had arguments.

"Well when you put it that way... I take it as a no?"

"Lily, I'll catch up with you in a second," Barbara turned to Lily, silently communicating for her to leave. Lily received the message and walked away, but not before winking at Barbara.

"Look, Sirius," Barbara said, turning back to Sirius, "we're barely even friends. We literally only argue or insult each other. Also, you're pretty annoying because all you do is show how arrogant you are. If you're not careful I'm going to start calling you an arrogant toe-rag like Lily does to James. Let's try to be acquaintances but don't expect to get far."

Barbara turned on her heel away from Sirius and walked towards the direction Lily wandered off to.

What a way to end the year, she thought to herself as she looked out the window of the train. She was heading home for the summer.

Barbara had made a small group of friends she loved dearly. Remus, Lily, Barty Crouch Jr., and Marlene were always there for her to rely on if she had trouble with her school work.

Remus and Barbara formed a close relationship due to him being a werewolf and her being a vampire. She learned that the tales of vampires and werewolves being rivals was completely misinterpreted by muggles and wizards alike. Instead, she discovered the true reason the rivalry came into play was that each magical being was competing for jobs. Since both beings were being persecuted, they had to compete in the work field in order to sustain a living. Remus and Barbara, when alone in the library, made plans for how I change it in their futures. Hopefully, Barbara thought, we can do it as soon as we get out of Hogwarts.

Lily was Barbara's best friend, without a doubt in the girl's mind. Lily had stuck up for her when Severus Snape made a snide comment about the Potters. The fiery ginger also kept her dislike for James at a minimum when the Potter twins were together, which Barbara greatly appreciated. She knew James was being an idiot towards Lily and told Lily she would try to make James to be less annoying around the duo when they were forced to be together.

Marlene was the girl Barbara slightly envied. It didn't matter how nice Barbara was, Marlene was always the more popular when they walked through the halls. She had friends in other Houses and knew how to socialize a lot better than Barbara did. When Barbara first met Marlene, she was slightly intimidated; but after becoming her friend, no bad blood was between the duo. She was thankful Marlene was able to help her branch out and make acquaintances in other Houses.

Barty was someone Barbara pitied and adored at the same time. He reminded Barbara of Severus with their moody looks on the world; but Barty was less prejudice than his Slytherin counterpart. She saw his kind heart had been repeatedly put through jinxes, which made her heart break for him. She hoped that Barty's self worth would improve during their time apart.

When she and James hopped off the train, Barbara had made a mental list in her head of what to tell her parents. She would tell them about her new friends, the likes and dislikes of each classes, and how James was really going at Hogwarts. She decided not to tell them about the incident with Sirius because it was just another thing to cloud her mind.

This summer, she decided, was when she would focus on the good more than the bad. Also, she noted to herself, sleeping a lot sounds like a good plan.

Yes, Barty Crouch is technically two years older than them; but this is fan fiction so... deal with it :3