A special thank you goes out to Freedom is choice, Antyto-sama and Miss Mello for reviewing the previous chapter.
4
It is not a hard thing to do to convince Sirius what a great idea it would be to launch a dung bomb attack on Filch, I'm sure he would have happily gone along with it in his normal state of being as well. I'm not so sure the same can be said about telling Miss Pince she should date professor Slughorn, or serenading the second year Slytherin boys, or dropping a hiccuping potion in the pumpkin juice supply of the House Elves. The Sirius that hangs on my every word though, is very easily persuaded to give into what I want.
I can enjoy a good prank every now and then, when I'm not the usual victim of today's partner in crime. Even I have to admit that the Marauders can come up with some really good ones though this is the first time I've ever collaborated. It's kind of nice, doing this with Sirius for a change instead of getting it done to me. I had no idea it was actually possible for me to have so much fun with him.
We're running away from Madam Pomfrey after she got caught in a water balloon war between us and Peeves. Since they all just fell through our opponent, I think it's right to say we lost. Nonetheless, I had a blast. Up until the point Pomfrey started screaming at us for what we did to the hallway and accidentally her hair of course. I'm pretty sure she recognised us as she was shouting 'Black! Pellt!' the entire time, but Sirius still pulled me along in a mad escape and I kind of just followed.
One floor up, Sirius pulls me into a hidden alcove behind the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls to dance I had no idea even existed. Though it's quite narrow, it's still big enough to be standing in it with two people and keep a distance between us that I'm only mildly uncomfortable with.
"Why did we run?" I finally question. "She knows it's us."
"Give her some time to cool down," He smirks down at me. "Poppy will be much milder if she runs into us later."
"Poppy?" I frown. "You're on first name bases with the Hospital Wing Matron?"
"I do, occasionally, spend some time there."
"You do?" I frown.
I'm sure there are plenty of pranks that went a bit awry, but being admitted to the Hospital Wing, occasionally, sounds a bit more worrisome that an involuntarily explosion.
"Don't worry, all my body parts are still intact," He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, for which I slap him of course.
Even though I'm officially appalled at the remark, I can't help but let a little laugh escape me. At hearing me laugh, the flirty expression slips off Sirius' face and that amazed, beaming expression returns like I'm some kind of freaking miracle. It still makes me uncomfortable of course but I guess it really makes Sirius kind of radiant in return as well. Damn, I think I've spend too much time with him today. The Black charm is getting to my head.
"I like it when you laugh," He says to me softly, making the whole moment feel that much more intimate. "I really like it when I make you laugh."
Sirius has always had a good sense of humour, it just often crosses the line between funny and insulting when he addresses me. Today though, he was just really, really fun.
"I bet you say that to all the girls," I tease because I know for a fact Sirius Black sprouts a lot of gooey nonsense like that when he's trying to get in a girl's pants. The things Mackenzie relayed to us last year were horridly hilarious. This, not so much.
"Is that the problem?" He frowns. "You don't like me because you think I've been with countless other girls? They mean nothing."
"Sirius-" I start, knowing I don't have to take anything he says today seriously.
"Because I haven't been with nearly as many girls as everyone thinks. Only three."
"What?" I laugh. "You can't expect me to believe you've only dated three girls before."
No one in their right mind would ever believe that. This year alone, I've already spotted him making out with five different girls.
"Dated? Oh, no, that's only one. Just Polly."
"What about Hayley Lancer then, or Juliet Heathsbrough, or Elena Jace? And I know for a fact you've been with Mackenzie as well."
There's no way I'm believing that lie.
"I've been on dates with lots of girls, and usually that is accompanied with kissing but none of those were ever my girlfriend. I never even slept with any of them, only three."
I have to remind myself not to believe anything he says under the influence of Amortentia but then why does he look so bloody sincere?
"I can easily come up with eight girls who have said-"
"Exactly," He interrupts me. "They say we had sex because they like everyone to think we did. And when a gorgeous girl wants to make people believe I gave her the best night of her life, who am I to call her a liar?"
"You're serious?" I frown.
"Oh, Lena, don't give me such an easy opening for a joke," He smiles. "But yes, I am."
I find myself actually believing his words. Because despite the many dates and make-out sessions, I don't think I can come up with any girl I'm absolutely certain of that did in fact sleep with him. Even Mackenzie admitted that though they had gone on dates for a month, they never did anything more than shove tongues down each other's throats. She certainly never declared herself his girlfriend either.
Could it be, that the most sought after guy in the entire castle is not the sleaze everyone thinks he is? That I always accused him of being?
"I call you man-whore," I say, as though he somehow forgot.
"Yes, you do," He smiles. "It seems to really aggravate you. I like it."
"Why?"
"I can pretend it's because you're jealous."
I don't know what to believe anymore. He seems so sincere about this whole confession thing but if he really did feel that way about me, why didn't he ever say anything? Why did he act like I appalled him? Why would he have done all the things that he has? It makes no sense!
"You dated Mackenzie," I narrow my eyes at him in accusation. "You dated one of my best friends. Why would you do that if you really liked me?"
"I really just did that to piss you off and it definitely worked. Once again, I hoped you were jealous."
"I was worried that you were going to hurt my friend," I scoff.
Which, thankfully, he didn't. They kind of just shimmered out and after that she dated Jake Nicolin for four months.
"I didn't," He stresses. "I knew it would hurt you if I did."
It's true then? Sirius Black liked me?
"If you liked me, like that, why didn't you ever say anything?" I frown.
"If I had told you, what would you have said?" He raises an eyebrow at me.
I would have assumed he was messing with me, or that he got hexed. And then I'd hex him for messing with me.
"Good point," I admit.
"And, Lena?" I jump a little when his hand grips mine in the tight alcove. "There is no liked, past tense. I like you, then and now."
"Are saying you've liked me for nearly two years?" I stare at him in shock.
"Well, there's been periods I thought I stopped but I never really did. I have been quite deeply infatuated with you for two years, yes."
Holy shit! What?! Sirius Black likes me, and has felt that way for two years during which we did nothing but yell at and insult each other. Is that what infatuation feels like?
He's still holding on to my hand and I find I don't actually mind. His hand is warm and soft and it's nice, that someone wants to hold my hand altogether. But then Sirius starts leaning down, like he's been trying to do all day, and I could totally pull away and push him off if I wanted to but I'm not actually doing anything. Is this really happening? Am I really going to let Sirius Black kiss me? The idea doesn't seem as appalling as it used to be. Usually he's an ass and rude and so aggravating but today he's fun and charming and kind and perhaps I actually want this Sirius to kiss me. Yes, that's it. I'm not going to push him away and let him kiss me but I'm not kissing him back. That way I can still pretend he enforced this on me once he regains his senses. And at the same time I get to finally know what it's like to be kissed by Sirius Black.
"There you are!"
I turn my head to the person who's discovered us in the hidden alcove, making Sirius' lips fall on my cheek instead of my mouth. I stare with big eyes at Peter Pettigrew who's holding back the tapestry and looking at us like he expected us to be on the verge of killing one another, not making out. Which we weren't! And I desperately hope it looked to him like I was pushing Sirius away, my hands did somehow find their way to his shoulders.
As emotionally confused as I am about this sudden interruption - I don't know whether to be disappointed or relieved that the kiss missed its mark - Sirius is definitely settling on angry.
"What the hell, Wormtail?!" He glares at his friend, still standing unusually close to me.
I quickly push him backwards so that I can slip past Peter and out of our hiding spot.
"I've been following you for almost an hour. Every time I nearly catch up to you guys, you sprint off in another direction."
Well, we have been moving all over the place this afternoon but how would he know that?
"How did you find us?" I frown.
Did he just randomly guess this hidden alcove is where we'd be? What are the odds? Or maybe this is where Sirius takes girls every time he's missing.
Peter seems to get uncomfortably by my question, so I'm guessing that this really is his make-out spot. That makes me feel kind of dirty, and stupid for thinking I could possibly-
"He found us with the Map," Sirius simply says when he comes to stand with us in the hallway.
"The Map?" I dumbly repeat.
"Padfoot," Peter says in warning but he's about as threatening as a koala bear so Sirius simply spills the bean.
"The Marauder's Map," He pulls a piece of paper out of Peter's back pocket. "It's a map of Hogwarts that we made. Here, I'll show you."
Peter looks at him in horror while I creep closer in fascination, watching him tap the parchment with his wand and whispering 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'.
When I snort at his choice of words, black ink suddenly starts spreading from the tip of his wand to the rest of the parchment, forming a blueprint of what I think is Hogwarts. Yep, that dot just said Poppy Pomfrey. It's definitely our school.
"This is amazing," I breathe out as I let my fingers trace the lines on the parchment, representing the Ravenclaw common room.
"It's also a secret," Peter looks at Sirius with something that must have been a glare but he never could look at the guy with anything other than adoration.
"I keep no secrets from Lena," He simply replies.
While that does give me the opportunity to let him tell me all his dirtiest, most embarrassing secrets, it doesn't feel quite right that he's telling me things he probably swore to his friends he'd never, ever tell.
"I won't tell anyone," I promise Peter, who's probably worrying about how James and Remus will partially blame him for Sirius' loose tongue.
"You better," Peter sighs. "Because if you do-"
"Are you calling Lena a liar?" Sirius threateningly steps in front of Peter, shielding me from view like I'm some poor little first year who needs to be protected from a bully.
"W-what? N-no..."
"Knock it off," I push Sirius to the side - I suspect he's letting me because I'm definitely not strong enough to hold back a pissed off Black - so I can look at Peter's frightened face once more. "Why were you looking for us anyway?"
I hope changing the subject will somehow make everyone cool down.
"McGonagall let me off earlier so I thought I'd come relieve you."
Oh, right. I had made a scene this morning about how no one wanted to assist in keeping Sirius away from me. That does seem a bit over-exaggerated now but only because I actually ended up having a great day. Who knew? Of course Peter doesn't know that so it was pretty considerate of him to come and babysit his friend for me.
"That's really nice of you, Peter," I say.
"Yeah, well, I assumed you'd be tired of playing babysitter by now. I'm actually surprises you're both still alive."
"She's not babysitting," Sirius scowls. "We're on a date."
Well, technically... I have no idea what today was.
"Yes," I nod, just to placate him. "We are, but I think it's time to call it a day."
"What?" Sirius turns a quarter more to look at me. "Why?"
He once again looks destroyed at the thought that he won't get to spend time with me anymore. He makes a very convincing expression of despair.
"Well, euhm..." I can't actually come up with an argument. "Don't you want to spend some time with Peter?"
"No," He scoffs quickly.
I'm pretty sure his friend should feel insulted by that reaction. In his right mind, I think Sirius would have jumped at the opportunity to get away from me and hang out with a fellow Marauder. This Sirius though seems adamant on staying close to me.
"Well, I have some stuff to do myself," I try.
"We can do them together!"
Nice as it has surprisingly been to spend time with this Sirius, I could use a breather.
"We can't," I shake my head. "Because... 'cause it's... a surprise!"
"A surprise?" He frowns.
"Yes, for you. I'm working on a surprise for you," I lie.
"Really?" He suddenly perks up, happy at the lie that I'm spending my free time organising something for him. It almost makes me guilty.
"Yes, so of course you can't see it yet."
"Of course," He nods understandingly.
"Okay, let's go then," Peter takes off with a pouting Sirius following after him.
"Wait," I say and as soon as I do, Sirius rushes back to me like some happy little puppy who just heard the key turn in the lock at the end of a long, lonely day.
Peter watches expectantly at what I'm going to say but this is for Sirius' ears only so I glare at him until he looks away and slowly turns the corner.
"Tomorrow, after breakfast," I specify the time. The timing is very important. "If you still feel like hanging out sometimes, that... that would be cool with me."
Sirius smiles and leans down to whisper in my ear.
"Does that mean you'll be my girlfriend?"
"No," I push him away but unlike last time, I'm actually laughing. "Now, get out."
"I'll see you soon?" He pouts.
"Yes, soon. I promise."
Watching Sirius Black skip down the hallway is not as funny as one would think, it's actually more endearing than anything else. Merlin, I really have been spending way too much time with him today.
