"I'm gonna bloody kill him," Jude growled pulling the hems of her skirt, her hair a wet mess glued on her face and the shirt now see-through curled on her skin. "I'm gonna find him and kill him with my bare hands," she kept going, walking so fast both Marlene and Dorcas struggled to keep up with her.
"Isn't this a bit too much?" Dorcas asked, her breath short as she apologized to the people the girl in front of them accidentally hit. "I mean, he deserves it, but it's not very convenient for you," she added quickly, and Marlene shoot her a questioning look. She shrugged and pouted slightly.
"I don't care –" the girl turned around a pointed a finger against Dorcas' chest. "He could've sent me on the other side of the forest or on the highest tower of the Castle, but what he said to Lily," something like a snarl left her lips and she turned back again, her hair still sticking to her face. She removed it almost violently and marched through the corridors, the two girls following her short after – she almost slipped on the stairs as she walked to the Ravenclaw's Common Room. "Go check on Lily, I'll be back soon," she said to the others before entering the room and almost slamming the door behind her and in the face of the poor boy who had opened to her.
When she got out she was still fixing her hair, tied in a little ponytail at the base of her skull with just a few locks free to fall on her face that she quickly tucked behind her ears, and looking down she accidentally bumped into someone and had to take a few steps back not to fall.
"You okay, Mendoza?" the boy asked and, lifting her gaze, she met Sirius Black's eyes and the little grin painted on his lips. "That was a nice dip you made out there," he added and his grin widened a bit. In that moment, Jude wanted to punched him in the face.
"Get out of my way, Black," she mumbled, bumping into his shoulder as she walked past him to head towards the Griffyndor's Common Room. He quickly grabbed her arm to stop her and called her with a sweet tone she'd never heard him use. Jude. He had never called her Jude, it was always Mendoza. "Take that hand off me now," she curled her lips annoyed and looked up at him, ignoring the little jump her stomach made when she noticed how close they were.
"Why are you mad at me?" he asked, but nonetheless moved his hand from her and took a little step back, giving her space. "I'm not the one who sent you into the lake, am I?" he continued, cocking his head and arching both his brows.
"No mames," she hissed before crossing her arms on her chest – the guy couldn't help but laugh, but Jude decided to ignore him. "If you and your friend hadn't started annoying that idiot maybe, maybe, things would've gone differently," she turned again and reached the top of the stairs muttering to herself.
"Jude," he called again kindly and she froze, her shoulders still in his direction. She felt him getting closer and tried not to move as he distractedly played with the edge of her little ponytail. "I'm sorry, for both you and Lily – and James's too, but he's too scared to approach you because you seemed like you might've chopped someone's head off," he scoffed a little laugh and moved to her side, letting his arms fall again at his sides. She snorted and rolled her eyes before looking at him for a second too much.
"I will, and for as much as I think you've been a couple of idiots it won't be yours, so you can reassure Potter," she said and started getting down the stairs to go to Lily. She released her hair from the ponytail and bit her bottom lip, still ignoring the way her stomach twisted.
"Hey, Jude," his voice got up a little and she turned midway, frowning. "You know you can call us with our names, right?" he asked with a little laugh. She curled the tip of her nose and shrugged.
"Yeah, I know, Black, but I wouldn't count on it," she replied, winking in his direction before walking away with a little laugh escaping her lips.
"So, he apologized?" Marlene asked with a laugh, throwing then a candy in her mouth before shaking her head. "Unbelievable!" Dorcas arched her brows and took a bit of her chocolate bar as Jude shrugged, curling her lips for a moment before looking down.
"Yeah, well, he wasn't the one who threw her into the lake," Lily said, monotone. "Nor did he called me –" she stopped, shaking her head before sniffing and taking a candy herself, stuffing it in her mouth and looking down, a little frown narrowing her brows.
"Lils, please promise me you won't listen to another word that moron has to say," Jude quickly said, shifting her position and getting closer to her friend. "You've been too kind with him for too long, and I know you care about him but –" she took a little, shaky breath in. "You have to let him go," she whispered softly, quickly licking her lips and brushing Lily's hair out of her face, uncovering it. Lily didn't look at her for a few seconds and then pouted, lifting her gaze and cocking her head to the side.
"It's not that easy, Jude – he's the only one who helped me when it all first started, and I've put so much trust in him it's hard to just let it – let him go," she sighed and Jude wrapped her arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.
"I know baby, but remember that you have us now," she pouted almost mockingly, trying to cheer her up just a little and Lily scoffed.
"Tell me that again when you and Sirius will get together and you'll totally forget about us," she mumbled with a little voice, almost imitating a child – in response, Jude blushed violently and moved from her, parting her lips in a shocked expression.
"What are you talking about?" she questioned in a high-pitched tone and, as Lily laughed softly, Marlene threw a candy in Jude's direction.
"Oh, you know!" Marlene said, laughing more loudly and dragging Dorcas alongside her. "He came all the way to your Common Room just to apologize for something he didn't do, so he could have an excuse to talk to you like he always does," she curled the tip of her nose and leaned forward, smiling widely. "He's clearly head over heels for you, and you don't seem to despise him," she added then, moving up and down her brows in an amused expression. Jude, ignoring her burning face, shook her head.
"I barely tolerate him, shut up," she mumbled, tucking her hair behind both her ears. "He's annoying and arrogant, always acts like a child and thinks he's superior and just the smartest and –" she stopped, waving her hands in a dismissive move just to try and avoid the subject she had just risked to keep going with her comment.
"Well you seem to pay enough attention nevertheless," Dorcas said in a low voice, almost mumbling, and received a candy thrown exactly on her forehead in response, to which she replied with a little ouch.
"You know I might suffocate you in your sleep, right?" Jude questioned her roommate, tilting her head to the side and looking right in her direction. Dorcas scoffed and took the candy that fell on her lap.
"That would just prove my point," she said with satisfaction before taking the candy in her mouth, grinning and cocking her brows. In response, Jude pouted again, muttering a low sure and then looking down, playing with the tips of her hair – because of them, she now couldn't stop thinking about it. Again and again. And to think that they'd organized all that too cheer Lily up, instead it had come to bite her in the back – at least it seemed to have worked by the way Lily's cheeks were reddish with amusement. A little smile ghosted Jude's lips, but she said no more: she didn't have to, even as they mocked her, and thought completely wrong of her feelings – of course she didn't hate Sirius just like she didn't hate any of the other Marauders, but the less she had to do with them (with him) the better. Deep down she found the way they almost tortured Piton amusing – wrong, but still amusing. And after the way he'd talked about Lily, and deep down even the fact that he had thrown her inside the Lake contributed to the feeling of hatred growing higher and higher inside of her.
Jude woke up at the soft, delicate, familiar sound of Dorcas' shouting. Every morning the girl complained about being late – which she never was – and every morning she woke Jude up too soon for her. She complained, hiding her head behind the pillow and letting out the same cry of every morning.
"One day I'm going to wake you up like this, then you'll understand why I want to slap you so bad," she mumbled, rolling out of bed with a sigh and walking slowly to grab her clothes.
"You're never going to wake up before I do," Dorcas grinned, jumping on the spot as she tried to fit in both her shoes at the same time. "And you're also going to be late," she added, fixing her tie. The girl looked at her frowning, and it took her a few moments to realize no one else was in the room besides them. She was actually late.
"What the hell, Dorcas!" she complained, fastening her steps.
"You're gonna be fine," her friend said, leaving the room with a grin on her lips. Jude started babbling in Spanish something that sounded vaguely like a curse as she got ready, her skirt too high on her waists, the buttons of her shirt not matched, her shoes loose and the tie's knot that looked more like a ribbon. She rushed out of the Ravenclaw Tower and almost fell on the stairs, trying to give herself a tone while running – which was an actual challenge. All of a sudden, the stairs moved and she slipped on it, falling miserably before grabbing hold of the runner next to her.
"You've gotta be f –" she started in a growl when a little laugh from behind her stopped her.
"You should watch your mouth, Mendoza – these pictures like gossip," Sirius was sitting on the stairs, his hair ruffled as much as hers, except he didn't look like a tornado threw him in the air before spitting him on the ground. "Are you okay?" he asked then, getting up and moving towards her when she gave no answer.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna punch one of my dearest friends," she replied, rolling her eyes, and Sirius laughed again – Jude realized how much she liked his laugh and slightly blushed at the thought, looking away from the boy.
"You won't be able to reach the class in time, you know that, right?" he questioned then, the ghost of a smile still on his lips as he held out his hand for her. Jude sighed and took it, letting him pull her up with a single, fluid movement. She quickly placed her free hand on his chest so she wouldn't fall again – on him – and tensed slightly at the closeness between their bodies, again.
"I know," she squealed before clearing her throat, taking a step back and fixing at least her skirt. "But I would've if these damn stairs had less sense of humor." As if they heard her, they moved again and she stumbled back from Sirius, hitting her back on the runner before her body got trapped between it and Sirius' own body. He had his arms at her sides, blocking her every movement.
"I think they got offended," he laughed softly, too close to her face. He was trying so hard to hide how fast his heart was beating – it felt like everybody could hear it, rushing in his chest and pushing against the rib-cage like he wanted to get out. "May I?" he asked then, pointing at her tie and cocking his head to the side. The girl blushed slightly and looked away, avoiding his gaze. Please look at me, he thought. Please, Jude.
"I know how to tie a knot," she protested, her voice surprisingly still. He grinned and moved his hands from the runner to her, slowly.
"I'm not saying you don't," he replied calmly, untying it and letting the two edges fall on her chest. She had skipped a button below her neck – when she said nothing, he proceeded to open the first two buttons to fix it, and the girl froze for a moment. When his fingers gently brushed the skin of her neck she sighed closing her eyes, and unconscionably tilted her head back, enough to give him space. Sirius' heart leaped in his chest, and for a moment he was afraid his knees would give up.
Anyone could see us, she thought, incapable of forming any other reasonable thought. See what? She questioned herself then, before feeling the heat from Sirius' body fade. When she opened her eyes, he was watching her, a strange look in his eyes – she cleared her throat and gazed away again.
Please look at me, he thought again, and could feel the begging in his own inner voice.
"Gracias," she mumbled, looking down, the hair covering her burning cheeks. He wanted to get close again, to brush it away from her face just so he could keep studying her traits – what was about her that attracted him so much?
She was afraid that if she kept standing just there, she would've looked like a fool – she was also afraid that her legs were going to give her up as soon as she'd tried to move. But she could risk it. When he didn't reply, she almost rushed down the stairs – I'm not going to fall, I'm fine, everything's okay, nothing happened. She could still feel his gaze on her neck and every cell of her body was screaming at her to go back, to wait and come to terms with her feelings – what were those feelings anyway? What was actually happening to her? Dizzy, she closed the Library's door behind her hoping everything else could remain out of that room.