"Sirius?" James called him, probably for the thousandth time that day since the moment he arrived at Potter's house. "Sir, are you okay?" he asked, and the boy rolled on his side. It was hot and the covers glued on his skin for a few seconds.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied in a mumble. "I mean – I don't know, I never thought this would happen," he looked down, incapable of standing James' pitiful gaze.
"You wanna talk about it?" his friend asked nervously – he didn't know how to act, he was just terribly worried about him. It was his house, his family, no matter how awful it could've been in the past.
"I'd rather sleep a bit, actually," Sirius excused himself, rolling on his back again, but maintaining his eyes toward his friend. "Thank you for having me," he added with a soft smile. James smiled back but remained in silence after simply nodding. Sirius moved his head, closed his eyes and tried to ignore that heavy feeling on his chest, slowing his breathing to try and get some actual sleep now that he was in a bed. It took him an hour of tossing and turning, but when he finally fell asleep he dreamed of Jude.
Jude woke up nervous: she had got barely any sleep and those few minutes she'd managed to close her eyes and rest, Sirius' face had appeared in her mind. She wondered why – it was July, they hadn't seen each other in a while and wouldn't meet anytime soon, so why was she dreaming of him.
"Hola, chiquilla," her mom entered the kitchen and placed a gentle kiss on her head – she groaned back, putting a tired smile on her face.
"English, mama," she murmured, kissing her mother back on the cheek before sitting at the table. The woman babbled something in Spanish before getting closer to the window.
"Have you seen that motorbike outside? Do you think James's the one driving it?" she questioned, moving the curtain a bit. Jude almost choked on her coffee.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, turning in her mother's direction with her eyes wide open. She'd tried to not think about the fact James Potter lived next to her every single day, and her mother was always there to remind her.
"It's there since yesterday, but I don't think it's much his style," she said and the young girl groaned, tilting her head down and hitting the table with her forehead. The woman turned in her direction and frowned. "Are you okay, amor?"
"I slept badly," she just replied before getting up, chugging down the rest of the coffee in her cup. "I'm gonna go for a walk, maybe that'll wake me up," she added then with a smile, thinking that would probably fool her mom – the fact was that she didn't want her to know how much she'd actually thought about those boys in the past year, one in particular.
She wished that had remained just in her fantasies. That she'd just dreamed of him, at least until September arrived and they'd started school – and that remained just a wish.
She'd been walking around for just ten minutes or so, her head down, completely isolated from the surroundings, when a hand grabbed her by her wrist. She turned around quickly, closing her other hand in a fist and throwing it in the air trying to punch the person behind her as a reflex – and she would've succeeded if they hadn't bent over, avoiding it in a single, graceful movement.
"I thought you were friendlier, Mendoza," Sirius voice arrived muffled to her ears as he got up, stretching his back but not letting go of her wrist. "Is this the way to say hello to an old friend?" he asked then with a grin on his lips. She scoffed.
"You shouldn't have reached for me like that," she replied, moving her arm away from him to cross it against her chest. His grin faded and he looked down for a second.
"You're right, I'm sorry, I tried to call you but you'd kinda spaced out," he scratched nervously the back of his neck, ruffling the tips of his hair. Jude opened her lips to reply, hiding the confusion given from his excuses, but then curled the tip of her nose and tilted her head.
"Yeah, I did, I was thinking about – wait, what are you doing here?" she stopped herself. I was thinking about the dream I had about you, tonight. "Oh, so that's your motorbike," she added then with a little nod, arching her brows – he smiled again, but it wasn't his usual, cocky smile, there was a sad note underneath it.
"Might I ask you how you know about the bike?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. Jude blushed at the implication and then shook her head, tightening her arms around her chest.
"I live next to the Potters, my mother was the one who first saw it," she rambled, and saw Sirius' smile turn into a shocked expression that, despite everything, made her laugh a bit. "Your good friend never told you?" she questioned then in amusement.
"He didn't," Sirius mumbled, looking down and licking his lips quickly. Jude hated that her eyes flew to his mouth just to study his movements, and she forcefully looked away, taking a quick breath in.
"You didn't answer," she said then, and saw yet again Sirius' expression change in the span of a second – there was a halo of melancholy around him that made Jude want to get closer to him, and try to push it away. It didn't fit him. "Wait, you don't have to if you don't want," she gently added, pushing one of her hands in his direction.
"Things in my family aren't easy – not for me, at least," his fingers twitched as he spoke, and he seemed to reach for her just for a second before barely shaking his head. "So the Potters let me stay here, they – they took me in," he explained slowly. He wanted so bad to talk to her about everything – the good and bad, what he liked and what he didn't, his hopes and fear. The dreams she was in.
"Guess we'll see each other more, then," she smiled kindly, grabbed his hand for a single, quick, moment, and they both felt their heart rush in their chest. She turned around rapidly, moving her eyes from him and biting her bottom lip hard.
Jude wait, he tried to say, moving a step in her direction. Thank you for not pushing me – can we walk together? But his lips felt sewed together and not a single word formed.
"Did it ever cross your mind to tell me you and Mendoza are neighbors?" Sirius asked, pocking James side as he sat next to him on the bed. His friend frowned and looked up from his book.
"I thought you were over it – and also that you didn't care right now," he replied simply, making Sirius look at him in confusion – not that James wasn't right, he didn't thought about it a lot in the last period, especially not over the benches, but what about all the year that had passed?
"Over it? What do you mean?" he questioned and James unconsciously frowned again, closing his book with a sigh.
"You know, your crush for her or whatever, unless –" he stopped and widened his eyes as Sirius' face grew red. "Oh, Merlin! You still like her?" he asked in awe before bursting into laugh.
"What? No! What?" Sirius babbled in a high-pitched tone, getting up and shaking his head, then proceeded to walk in circles in the room under the amused look of James.
"Yes, you do," he replied. "You like like her, it's not just a crush," he jumped up clapping his hands. "This is gonna be fun!"
"Shut up, James! You're obsessed with Evans," he pointed at him with the result of him laughing only louder. Sirius covered his face and sighed loudly when the door opened and Euphemia stood there, frowning and glancing from one to the other.
"Is everything alright, boys?" she questioned, a little confused. James was still laughing and waved dismissively, holding his stomach with his free hand.
"We're fine, we're fine – hey, mom, why don't we invite Jude and Lydia over? We used to do that before I went to Hogwarts," he grinned and watched as Sirius' face started becoming paler and paler as his cheeks grew reddish, a horrified look in his eyes and his lips parted. Euphemia looked at him too and nodded slightly.
"I see now – don't worry, Sirius dear, you'll just get teased a bit," the woman told him kindly and Sirius blushed a little.
"What? Oh, I'm fine with it, no problem at all, nothing to tease here," he kept babbling, shaking his head and making James laugh again – the woman had to press her lips together to not laugh too, letting them arch in a small smile.
"Sure you are, darling," she gently caressed his face, pulling his hair back from his eyes in a quick movement. "Well, let me know if you need something," she added then, leaving the room with a little sympathetic wink in Sirius' direction before closing the door behind her. Sirius turned in James' direction, who was still laughing, and pushed him on his bed.
"I can't believe you," he pouted, sitting on his own bed with his arms crossed. James sighed a last, little, laugh laying back and shook his head just a little.
"You know I got your back," James replied, turning his head in Sirius' direction. "If it makes you feel better, I think she's good for you – she used to put you in such a good mood."
Sirius threw himself back on the mattress and hid his face against the pillow with a low growl.
"I'm begging you," he said, his voice muffled by the pillow. "Please stop!"