One minute Millie White was drooling peacefully over her advanced Arithmancy textbook, her "quick study break" having morphed into an impromptu powernap; the next she was being rudely jerked awake by a terrified yelp followed in quick succession by a dull thud and a loud and vehement string of swearwords.
She frowned. It seemed as if her neighbour was up to his usual shenanigans.
Normally, she didn't mind. The walls were thin, and now a senior at Hogwarts College of Magical Arts, she was quite immune to the sounds that filtered through the thin walls of the dormitories. Although, one would think that with a little soundproofing charm, all would be fixed. Alas, it was but one of the many charms that refused to stick to the ancient walls of the dorm rooms.
Still frowning, she returned to her Arithmancy textbook, hoping that her nap would somehow make the tiny text a little less blurry and a little more comprehensible. On any other night, musing about her rather mysterious neighbour's early morning adventures would've been amusing, but midterms were looming and not even her tall, dark and handsome neighbour would stop her from maintaining her 4.0 GPA.
Besides, he'd probably just stumbled into his bedside table after a late night out spent partying and drinking. At least, that's what she assumed Sirius Black did during his evening hours. Despite living in Gryffindor Hall for the past three years, and now been neighbours for almost two months, Millie knew very little about Sirius Black.
Of course, she knew of him. Everyone knew of Sirius Black and his friends. Hogwarts was too small to boast a proper fraternity, but if they ever had one, the Marauders would be declared co-presidents without any competition.
Millie preferred to keep herself to herself for the most part, and thus avoided him and that crowd on principle. But, they were neighbours, and as neighbours, had exchanged polite and vaguely friendly greetings in passing.
She shook her head to rid herself of all thoughts of Sirius Black and his frat boy ways, returning her attention to the pages in front of her.
But she was interrupted once again, this time by a persistent knocking on her door. Sighing, she debated whether or not to answer it. It was three-o-clock in the morning after all. What business did anyone have banging down on her door at such an hour?
Then again, whoever was at the door must have very good reason to be there. So she got up, shoving her bare feet into a pair of tennis shoes lying near her bed, and stomped the short distance to the front of the room.
Not bothering to check who it was, she swung the door open with more force than necessarily required, and said "What?" at the person who dared disturb her revision at such an ungodly hour.
The somewhat startled face of Sirius Black looked back at her. His fist was still raised in preparation of his next volley of knocks, his hair was beyond dishevelled, and his startling grey eyes stared back at her scowl with an almost unnerving intensity.
Oh, and he was only wearing a towel around his waist.
At this realisation, Millie felt a hot blush creep up her neck. Thank God her cheeks didn't actually go pink. That would've been even more mortifying. Shoving aside the prickly feeling of seeing that glorious chest in such vivid detail, she focused on her annoyance and asked, "Can I help you?" as cool as the liquid nitrogen they used at the ice cream store in the town.
Sirius blinked once. Twice. "Er…" Was his first articulation. Great. Not only would Millie White think him incredibly rude, but also incredibly stupid. And that was not the impression he wanted to make on her. She'd kept mostly to herself during the past two months of their acquaintance, but seemed like a friendly girl, a shy smile and a quiet word of hello always at the ready whenever their paths crossed.
As a happy bonus, she was hot.
Even dressed in faded flannel pyjamas, a tank, a sweatshirt, and that adorable scowl, she was a knockout. Something warm and a little prickly spread around the vicinity of his heart. God, he had it bad.
Her foot started tapping impatiently on the linoleum floor, bringing him back to his senses.
"I was wondering if I could ask you a favour," he said, finally remembering to lower his hand, ending his imitation of the Statue of Liberty.
"At three in the morning?" she asked, her scowl still in place.
"Um…" he ran a hand through his hair nervously. He'd never pegged her as particularly intimidating, but here she stood, a good half-foot shorter than he, her expression scary enough to fell even the mightiest of men – and Sirius was plenty mighty, he knew. "Yeah?"
She raised a single eyebrow, the eloquence in that act momentarily robbing him of speech. An awkward moment. Two.
Finally, his faculties returning to him on the ebbing wave of his debilitating crush, he said, "There's a spider in my room."
This, apparently, was enough to make her raise both her eyebrows. "A spider?" she clarified.
He nodded, his black hair falling into his eyes. He needed a haircut.
"And this is the reason that you were knocking down my door at three in the morning in nothing but a towel?"
"I wouldn't describe it as knocking down the door, exactly –"
"And what do you want me to do about the spider?" she interrupted, clearly unimpressed with his attempts at conversation.
They were rather poor attempts, so he guessed that was understandable.
"Can you get rid of it? Please?" He tried to express his need for assistance without projecting his fear of the arachnid in question, but he suspected that it was a futile attempt since he wouldn't be standing in front of her asking for her help if he wasn't scared shitless.
Millie watched him for a long moment, her firewhiskey-coloured eyes lacking their usual dreaminess. Then, coming to some sort of decision, she shrugged, and said, "Let me just grab my wand."
"Thanks!" Sirius replied, feeling far more relieved at the prospect of not facing the monster in his room alone than was probably manly. But owning up to one's fears was also manly, right?
Right.
"Where is it?" Millie asked upon entering Sirius' room. She was surprised to see that the place was relatively neat and clean. No magazines with scantily dressed women were in sight, no dirty laundry acted as carpet on the floor, and whilst the calendar on the wall over the desk did feature motorbikes, it also featured assignment due dates. Hell, even the bed was made up.
In short, Sirius Black's room was far cleaner than hers would ever be.
"Over there," he pointed to a space next to his desk, in front of his bed. Wand held lightly in her hand, she walked over, the bottom of her flannel pants whooshing softly against the furry rug that took up most of the floor space. It seemed like a comfortable place to lay down and study.
Not that she was thinking about studying in Sirius' room.
Just like she was not thinking about how nice he smelt, fresh out of the shower, the scent of his deodorant lingering pleasantly in the air between them.
"I can't see it," she said, her voice coming out far sharper than she intended because of her annoyance at learning that her frat boy neighbour smelt really nice.
"It's gone?" Sirius asked, a note of alarm entering his voice.
She turned around to look at him. "Isn't that a good thing? You wanted the spider gone, and now it is."
She watched as he shoved his hand through his hair again in agitation, making it appear even more sexily dishevelled than usual. She couldn't help but take advantage of his momentary distraction to appreciate the almost-naked body that was on display. Her appreciation wasn't exactly sexual – no, he was far too perfect for that. The blue towel hung perilously low on his hips, revealing a sun-kissed upper body, every muscle outlined by skin stretched taught. The muscles of his arms were also defined clearly, almost as if for Millie's viewing pleasure alone.
No, Sirius Black, whilst ridiculously attractive, was not to be approached. His was a beauty to be admired from afar with inarticulate murmurs of half-comprehension, like a painting in an art gallery you had no business being in.
"This is horrible! Now it's crawling around somewhere in my room, waiting for me to lower my guard so that it can attack me!" he cried, jerking Millie out of her musings.
"You never mentioned it was an Acromantula," she replied evenly.
Sirius looked at her as if trying to work out whether she was being serious or not. She inwardly sighed. Aside from being ridiculously introverted, her sense of humour was often too dry by half for most people's tastes.
"They're the only species of spider I know that'll attack you without provocation," she further supplied, deciding that what the hell – she'd come this far.
Still watching her to discern her true meaning, he replied slowly, "It was big enough to be a baby Acromantula. It'll definitely attack me then."
It was Millie's turn to wonder if he was joking or not. She couldn't help the small smile that curved her lips though, at noticing the mischievous twinkle in his eye. And just that quickly, Sirius Black went from being an unapproachable work of art to a ridiculously attractive individual with a sense of humour almost as sly as hers. A match made in heaven, if she was given to romantic notions – or the concept of heaven.
"We'd better hunt it down then," she replied gravely, despite her amusement.
Sirius followed Millie around his room, as she looked in every place a spider could possibly hide. He trudged behind her in a sort of daze, mesmerised by the way her straight dark brown hair caught the light, how it moved in a sheet over her shoulder as she peered into the darkness under his desk.
"Thank you for doing this, by the way," Sirius said as way of beginning a conversation. He wasn't comfortable with silence.
"No problem," she replied absently. He knew this just to be politeness on her part. Of course it was a problem. He'd dragger her away from the comfort of her room at three in the morning to hunt down a spider wearing nothing but a towel. He'd received the fright of his life at seeing the huge thing waving its legs in the air when he returned from the bathroom, and in a panic-induced haze, turned to the first person he could think of.
"I'm really sorry about disturbing your studying," he continued, rather enjoying the view of Millie White's backside as she looked under his bed by the dim light of her wand.
"How did you know I was studying?" she asked, standing up and turning around to look at him curiously.
"Er…" He stalled for time. How did you politely inform someone that you may or may not be paying more attention than acceptable to the habits of your cute neighbour? There were all sorts of things he knew about Millie White, like how she was a night owl, preferring to do her laundry after midnight, and that she only liked to study in the common room downstairs between the times of nine and one, and that her favourite teacup featured their school mascot, Boris the bumbling dragon sleeping belly-up. "I've noticed that you study late sometimes. And I figured that since your light was on…" he shrugged, trying to play it cool.
A slight furrow appeared between the arches of her eyebrows. "Oh," she said softly. "I see."
Sirius went to shove his hands in his pockets, realising too late that he was wearing only a thin towel. The force of his movements was just too much. The towel began to slip.
Millie's eyes widened, before she gave a little gasp and closed her eyes tight.
Sirius didn't know whether to feel embarrassed by the sudden decision of his towel to abscond his body, or to grin at Millie's reaction. Since she looked so adorable with her eyes scrunched so tightly and her shoulders a little hunched in mortification, he decided with the grin.
"Is this always your reaction to seeing someone naked?" he asked casually, picking up the offending piece of cloth from the ground and wrapping it firmly around his waist once again.
"I'm trying to give you some privacy, you moron!" she said through gritted teeth.
His grin widened. Interesting. Millie White was a little reserved when it came to nudity. Good to know for the future, he supposed. "I don't mind if you look," he teased.
Her face morphed into one of anger at his outrageous remark, her eyes remaining steadfastly closed. "I mind if I look. Your sudden nakedness is unsolicited."
"That… is very true," he agreed. His delight in her reaction though could not be contained. Hell, he'd simply have to find an excuse to talk to her again after they found and annihilated the blasted spider.
"Is it safe to open my eyes now?" she asked, apparently pacified by his quick agreement.
He couldn't help it – he laughed. "Yes, it's safe to look again, darling."
She opened her eyes with an hmph and glared at him. "You could've put some pants on," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.
Sirius tried not to notice the way the movement moulded her sweatshirt to her chest – too much. "But how would I shock your delicate sensibilities if I had pants on?"
Opening her mouth to give a scathing retort, he was sure, she instead froze. Her eyes widened, and her mouth gaped a little.
"Millie?" he asked, all teasing gone from his voice.
"Don't. Move," she said, no less forceful for her soft voice.
He froze instantly. "It's behind me, isn't it?" His voice had become just as soft as hers, his impending death giving him an air of solemnity that was rare to him. "Do you think it'll be a quick death?" he asked.
That seemed to snap her out of her shock at seeing the giant whopping creature of death and despair. "Sirius, it's on the back of your door, which is at least a good five feet away from where you're standing. I don't think it can reach you."
"Those things are fast, you know, especially when they scent prey." And Sirius had no doubt in his mind that the spider considered him prey. Why else would it have been lying in wait for him to return from his shower, unarmed and vulnerable?
She rolled her eyes at what seemed to him to be a very acceptable amount of concern, and moved towards the door. Her arm brushed against his as she went past him, the bare contact raising gooseflesh over his skin.
Yup, definitely going to see her again if he came out of this alive.
He turned around to watch her as she stopped within arm's reach of the spider, her wand arm pointing steadily at it. "It's not even that big," she muttered as a silvery thread slithered out from the tip of her wand. Upon reaching the vicinity of the spider, Millie twirled her wrist a little, making the thread elongate and flatten into a mesh ball, the spider encased safely within.
Taking a step back and turning around to face Sirius again, she waved her other hand in the general direction of his window. The spider hovered ominously between them, its silver prison glowing with an eerie light.
Sirius moved with great alacrity to open his window and get the hell out of the way as Millie followed him.
She stuck her hand out the window, and with a casual flick of her wrist, flicked the spider out into the ether, the silver ball disappearing half an instant later.
Drawing back in and sliding the window shut, she turned towards him and said deadpan, "Done. You are saved."
"Thanks," he replied, his gratitude and relief very genuine despite the dryness of her tone. He could've kissed Millie White just then. Although, to be fair, it didn't take much on her part to make him want to kiss her in the first place.
"If that's all… I'd better get back to my studying," her eyes flicked to the closed door, and she fidgeted a little, almost as if she was suddenly uncomfortable.
Sirius nodded. "Of course." He walked behind her to his door, standing maybe just a little too close than was polite as she swung it open and stepped outside.
He leaned against the doorframe as she took a few steps down the corridor towards her room, before pausing and turning around to look back at him.
She seemed almost surprised to see him standing there watching her. "Um… goodnight," she said, her voice returning to the almost-shy softness with which she greeted him in all of their encounters to date.
"Goodnight," he replied. "I'll see you around?" he couldn't help but add.
She nodded. "We are neighbours, after all."
He nodded again.
Neither of them moved.
"Wanna hang out sometime?" he blurted. He cringed internally. Wanna hang out sometime? Hells bells, was he fifteen? It was strange for him to be so nervous around women – usually, he had no trouble flirting and charming them. But his first real crush in Merlin knew how long, and he'd been reduced to a blubbering fool. Fantastic.
"Um…" she began, staring at him as if he was a little deranged. He definitely felt a little deranged.
"Like a date," he clarified.
A heartbeat of total silence.
"You want to hang out… as a date?" she asked, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion. He decided that Millie White had the most expressive eyebrows.
He shook his head. "Forget about the hanging out part – just the date. Would you like to go out on a date? With me?" Sirius felt like banging his head against a wall. Who the fuck would she have thought he meant? Nearly Headless Nick?
Her face cleared all of a sudden, and when her lips quirked at the edges into the hint of a smile, his heart lifted in hope. But then, it fell all over again when she said, "You don't have to do that."
He frowned. "Do what?"
"Ask me out just because I got rid of a spider. It's okay. Your secret's safe with me."
"That's not –" he began hotly, but she interrupted him.
"Ask me again once the rush of surviving your brush with death's passed." The quirk to her lips was now a small smile, and there was mischief dancing in her eyes.
He paused for a moment, just to take her in, before nodding slowly. But he knew she expected him to not ask again.
"Goodnight, Sirius," she said again before turning to head to her room.
Millie couldn't help but glance up towards Sirius' room before heading into her own. She was a little surprised to see him still leaning in his doorway, watching her intently, the smile on his lips revealing a lean dimple in his left cheek.
Their eyes met.
Mischief and laughter sparkled in those clear grey irises. His smile deepened as he said, "Goodnight, darling."