Really, I thought to myself, does he have to exaggerate so much?
I had only mentioned how atrocious Slughorn's comb-over was looking these days, and yet James Potter was practically rolling on the floor, clutching his side in laughter. It wasn't even that funny. Remus and I exchanged glances.
When James had finally calmed down, he placed his hand on my thigh.
"Merlin, Evans. I never knew you were so funny!"
I forced a smile as I shuffled out of his reach. "I-it really wasn't all that hysterical," I muttered.
Sirius smirked. "Not as hysterical as that weird face James makes when he's forcing laughter."
James' face went red, and he hit Sirius on the arm. Sirius winked at me and I felt myself go a bit pink.
I'd have thought that by now James would have relaxed around me. We'd been friends for months. I was starting to enjoy his company- that was, when he wasn't pratting around, usually trying to impress me and failing terribly. I did feel a little sorry for him in a way – he was kind of a running joke between Sirius, Remus, Peter and I. Nonetheless, he was much more tolerable these days. More to the point, I'd have hoped I could relax around Sirius by now. Every time his brown eyes gazed over to me, my stomach did backflips. No wonder I could never date James. It wasn't James I liked.
After his embarrassment had died down, James cleared his throat. "So anyway, I keep meaning to say – Slughorn's having another party tomorrow. For Halloween, obviously – Christ, he invites me every time he passes me in the corridor… But yeah, fancy it? If I have to go, I'd rather go with friends… And merlin knows I'll never hear the end of it if I miss another of his stupid parties."
There was a murmur of agreement from the others, and James looked to me.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah… I can go" I said, lacking enthusiasm. I'd been invited numerous times too, and I'm sure I disliked them as much as everyone else did.
"It's a date then!" Sirius chimed, and I locked eyes with him. He flashed one of his cheeky smiles at me, and I was done for – forget pink. I was doing the Gryffindor colours proud. I looked away quickly, hoping no one had noticed a thing, and then James stood up and stretched.
"Well, I'm gonna call it a night," he ruffled Sirius' hair as if he were a child, patted Remus on the shoulder and then disappeared out of sight up the stairs to his dormitory.
"Me too," Remus yawned, "Feeling a bit… peaky." He caught Peter's eye and smiled mischievously, as he so often does, and the two left also.
Just me and Sirius left. Great.
For years I've been able to play it so cool around him, rejecting James' offers of dates and cutting down his ridiculous attempts to impress me, and relishing the laughter it would receive from Sirius. But since I'd become friends with the group… I wasn't my usual self. No witty remarks, no sarcastic comebacks. I was just too shy being so close to Sirius, and I hated it.
"Bedtime then, Evans," he said to me in a low voice. There was a single strand of curly hair hanging just above his eye. I could have so easily just reach out… brushed it away… entangled my hand in his long wavy hair… pulled him closer…
"Yeah," I smiled, and then ran away up to my dormitory showing myself that I really was just a shy little schoolgirl with a crush.