"Those Silencing Charms we put around your bed are wearing off: there's a reason no one in this dorm got any sleep last night." James Potter

CHAPTER SEVEN

I heard him before I saw him.

The sound of running water, coming from where I instinctively knew the bathroom should be, was rudely interrupting my morning lie-in so I rolled over onto my back, eyes still closed, and put a hand to my forehead with a frown. Pain flooded from my fingertips and I moaned in agony; I must've missed the turning to Sunday-morning bliss and instead arrived at Hangover Central. Spectacular. I opened my eyes and glanced around, expecting to find Sirius snoring beside me, but the bed was empty. My fingers reached out and stroked the indent in the pillow where his head had been.
Don't read that the wrong way; I was trying to make sense of everything, not being all soppy and emotional. It only dawned on me where I was and what had happened when I looked down and found that I was naked. In Sirius Black's bed.
Again.

Blearily, head still throbbing like an organ, I untangled my legs from the sheets and peered out between the curtains at the dormitory. The first thing I noticed was that it wasn't mine. I felt no panic at this though; after all, I'd woken up here before and unlike last time I could pretty much remember what had gone down. Not that I really wanted to think about that now.
The second thing I noticed was that it was deserted, clothes and bottles scattered all over the floor and a strangely familiar pink lace bra sticking out from under the bed opposite. Hazily wondering what the time was, I put a foot out of bed, leaned forwards to stand up and was immediately assaulted by a blinding ray of sunlight from the skylight window above that struck me right in the eye. My retinas seared in painful protest and, blinking like mad, I let out of gasp of surprise; not only was I probably now sightless for the next hour, but the sun was already up high in the sky, meaning it had to be midday at the earliest. I had not only broken my promise to myself and gone back for seconds with Black, but I had also slept through breakfast. I couldn't decide which was more tragic.

Collapsing back onto the bed, I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them to stop myself from shivering. Should I go and talk to him? Ask him what was going to happen now? Apologise? I checked myself. No, why should I apologise?! I hadn't done anything wrong after all, and maybe I was just making a big deal out of something that was commonplace. This was probably an everyday occurrence for Sirius, I thought glumly, gazing at the large purple hickey he had left on my shoulder with a shudder. What was the norm for this? Did I just nick another one of his T-shirts and stroll out shameless? A horrible thought struck me: what if we meant to act like a couple?! A sudden mental image of Sirius and I walking down a corridor hand in hand flashed before my eyes and I suppressed the urge to gag.

I stood up slowly, holding a sheet around myself more to keep warm than to protect my dignity, and made my way across the room to stop outside the bathroom door but just as I had raised my fist to knock, a wave of nerves hit me like a speeding train. What if he told me to leave, or laughed at me? What if he never wanted to see me again? His words from yesterday floated like a storm cloud in my head; "I can't believe I slept with someone as pathetic as you...I must've been out of my mind." Who was I kidding? Sirius was a morality-free zone. It wasn't as if we were going to boil the kettle, break out the biscuits and have a nice cosy heart-to-heart. He'd probably tell me to grab my clothes and scat before the rest of his dorm came back.

But I couldn't just leave without saying something. That felt awfully similar to yesterday when I had bolted for the hills at the mention of commitment and left him standing there, probably feeling like an idiot. And all because curiosity had well and truly beaten the cat into the dust with a red-hot poker. Lupin's secret should've stayed Lupin's secret.

"Sirius," I said hesitantly. "Sirius, I think we should talk about this."

There was no sound from within, just the continuous rush of the water from the shower.

"Sirius!" I said, louder this time. Still nothing. I knocked on the door. "Sirius, we need to talk. I'm not leaving till we've sorted this out once and for all."

At that moment, just as I was about to kick the door in frustration, I heard something that made my blood freeze, and it didn't come from the bathroom. It was the distinct and unmistakeable sound of footsteps on the stairs leading up to the boy's dormitory. And they were getting closer.

Panic, hot nauseous shivering panic shot through my veins like a curse. The last thing I wanted was to be discovered naked trailing a sheet that had clearly come from Sirius's bed, banging on the door of the bathroom to try and get said shag-partner's attention and, making a wild decision for lack of any other noticeable hiding place, I flung open the door of the bathroom, dashed inside and slammed it shut behind me, just as James Potter entered the room, letting the bedroom door bang against the back wall.

The water stopped and Sirius's face appeared around the shower curtain. He gazed at me in confusion for a few seconds and opened his mouth to ask what the hell I was doing, just as Potter on the other side of the door spoke up:

"Oi Padfoot! You awake yet or what?" Sirius's expression turned to one of horror. I desperately put a finger to my lips, mouthing at him not to make a sound.

"How much did you drink last night, mate?" I heard James fling himself down on his bed. "I only just remembered we have that detention with McGonagall today, and you're bloody well not getting out of it: I'm not going on my own again." Silence. Sirius seemed to have forgotten how to speak; his mouth was opening and closing but no sound was coming out. "Padfoot? That is you in there, right?"

"Say something!" I hissed desperately; if he didn't reply in the next five seconds, James was going to realise something was up and the whole operation would be blown. It was one thing telling Lily and Remus, who were my two best friends, but if James Potter found out I'd been screwing his best mate, I might as well paint it on bed sheets and hang it off Gryffindor Tower for the whole of Hogwarts to see – the male version of Marlene, he was a one-man rumour mill. In his defence, it's hard to keep people's secrets when you're the most popular guy in the whole school.

Sirius swallowed. "Er...yeah, it's me," he called, sounding as if someone had run over his balls. "I'm just…having a shower."

"Well hurry up. I need to tell you about the progress I made with Evans," said James, trying and failing not to sound ridiculously happy. "I don't know what I did but she's suddenly into me."

Sirius momentarily forgot I was there and snorted in disbelief. "Has she had some sort of personality transplant?"

"If she has, I'm not complaining," said James gleefully. "The whole thing's turned a complete 180. She didn't even glare at me when I ruffled her hair this morning: I knew that was the key to a girl's heart."

"Good move, Jamie! Maybe you should try it out on McGonagall later and see if she lets us off detention.

I rolled my eyes.

"Nah; I have to play nice for a while. I'm already maxed out on detentions this month and if I get any more, Quidditch is going to suffer. If Slytherin beat us next match I'll never forgive myself."

"Well if we're not on top form before the match, we could always sneak into the Slytherin team's changing rooms and put some of Wormtail's itching powder in their robes. Remember? He tried to copy the Zonko's recipe but it ended up three times as strong. They won't even be able to fly straight," said Sirius, grinning.

"Moony said we used all of it on Snape's underwear last week."

"Oh yeah. Forgot about that."

"Shame that Hufflepuff girl you cheated on had to go rabbiting to McGonagall. You've got to stop pissing off all these girls; it's creating problems for the rest of us."

Sirius smirked. "You neglect to mention, dear Prongs, that she provided me with a good week's worth of enjoyment up on the Astronomy Tower."

"I thought you were going after McKinnon for that," said James idly. "Or are you still sleeping with that Isabel girl from Ravenclaw?"

"Isabel?" Sirius looked genuinely confused. I stamped ferociously on his foot: he let out a gasp of pain and turned to glare at me with a what-was-that-for expression, but I was already scowling right back. "Do you do anything but sleep around?" I mouthed furiously.

Sirius grinned at my expression and shrugged. "Nope, neither of them," he called back to James. "I wouldn't touch McKinnon in case Moony decides to forget his Wolfsbane and rips my head off. And Isabel...been there, done that. She got boring fast."

I scowled at him, mouthing "You're disgusting." He winked in reply.

"So who is it at the moment? Don't try and be all secretive, or I'll think you're banging Evans."

"As if. And I'm not being secretive: this girl just isn't worth mentioning."

"Not worth mentioning?!" I hissed incredulously. "What happened to 'last night was sensational',asshole?!"

James laughed. "Do I know her?"

Sirius grinned at me, his eyes locked on mine as he replied, "Yeah. She's nothing special though. I reckon she's way more into me than I am into her."

For a moment there was silence. In the bathroom, I had snapped and was now silently trying to punch Sirius in the face, unsuccessfully as he both bigger and stronger than I was and was holding me off with ease. On the other side of the door however, James, completely oblivious, yawned and stood up.

"Alright, don't tell me. We all know something's going on though, Pads: you only close the curtains around your bed when you've got a girl over and by the way, those Silencing Charms we put around there after the Macdonald incident are wearing off. There's a reason no one in this dorm got any sleep last night, and alcohol's only a small part of it," he added jokingly. "Hey, did I leave my glasses in there earlier?"

I heard footsteps and suddenly the bathroom door handle was turning. Seriously, boys have no boundaries. I screamed noiselessly and dived for the shower, dropping my sheet in the process, colliding with Sirius, who was mouthing protests, and ripping the shower curtain closed behind me. A few seconds later, it properly sunk in that I was standing in a shower with Sirius Black with water streaming down into my eyes, hiding from his best mate who was less than five feet away from us. Oh yeah, and we were both completely naked.

James entered the bathroom and walked over to the sink, hands feeling around the shelves for his glasses. We could see his shadow on the curtain, which was thin and dangerously see-through, still swinging slightly from where I had wrenched it shut. I gazed intently at it, determined not to look at Sirius who was uncomfortably close, the shower itself being only a few feet wide even with me as I was, back flat against the wall in a vain attempt to protect my personal space. I prayed that James would find his bloody glasses and get out. However, like always, it seemed that universe had better things to do than listen to me.

"So, please tell me you've moved on from this whole thing with Emmeline Vance," said James, checking himself out in the mirror. I went cold, and not just from the luke-warm water that was cascading over my skin.

"Definitely not," replied Sirius.

I glanced up in disbelief to find him grinning at me, one hand on the wall by my head and his skin sparkling with water droplets. A part of me wanted to tell him to shut it in case James figured out what was going on, but suddenly I was having very mixed feelings about his close proximity and was becoming slightly intoxicated with the lemon and pine tree scent. It was actually a very pleasant aroma when you got used to it. Almost sexy.

James took his time replying. "Look mate, I get that she's nice –" I smiled at him "– and I get that she's good-looking –" I stroked his shadow on the curtain fondly "– but honestly, she can be a right bitch when she wants to be."

My smile vanished and was replaced by a contemptuous middle finger and a black scowl.

"I like that about girls," said Sirius, still grinning. Our noses were practically touching and he was curling a lock of my hair, which was now soaking wet, around his finger. "I'd rather have someone with a bit of personality. Maybe I'll see what she's doing on Saturday." It was becoming increasingly difficult to think rationally, especially as he was speaking in a low husky voice directly into my ear and our bodies were now pressed intimately together. And seriously, he smelt so good.

James snorted. "Don't start this again. I thought you were over this; she's way too proud even to think about saying yes to you. Newsflash: you've got a bit of a reputation."

"I don't think she'd mind that," said Sirius, trying not to laugh. So far, I had failed to see any humour in the situation, caught as I was between anger and arousal, but even I had to admit it: if James could see us now he would fall off his broomstick. I grinned, then suppressed a giggle, then began to silently shake with laughter.

James ran a hand through his hair and opened the door to leave. "Your funeral. Don't forget we've got Quidditch in half an hour."

I stopped laughing abruptly as the door closed behind him. "Quidditch?!" I burst out. "We have Quidditch now?! I'm not going. Tell James I'm mortally sick. I haven't eaten anything in twenty four hours; he can't expect me to play when I'm half-starved."

"Calm down," said Sirius, still playing with my hair. "I thought you said you wanted to talk."

"Well that was before your evil roommate shows up and starts snooping around," I grumbled. "Do you realise how close that was? If he'd found me in here, can you imagine what would've happened? And what did he mean about the Silencing Charms?"

"Well, I used to date this girl who was pretty loud when it came to forepl –"

"Oh Merlin, do not finish that sentence! I meant about them wearing off!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Don't sweat it; it's nothing they haven't all heard before."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better, is it?" I pulled my hair out of his grasp and stepped out of the shower, shivering momentarily at the cold air on my damp skin. "Well, I must say that conversation was extremely enlightening. I had no idea our Quidditch winning streak has got nothing to do with skill at all: we should all be thanking you and Potter for being such excellent cheats."

"I don't see the rest of Gryffindor complaining," retorted Sirius. "And anyway, just because you've never broken a rule in your life doesn't mean the rest of us can't have fun."

"That's it Black, just go ahead and make this personal," I snapped.

"Oh please! You think everything I say to you is an insult!"

"That's because it usually is!"

"But when I actually make an effort to be nice, you throw it back at me!"

"Sirius, you can't just expect me to –"

Caught up in our usual shouting match, neither of us had remembered to keep our voices down. James Potter had not yet left the dormitory and, hearing raised voices coming from the bathroom where he'd been standing not one minute ago, he strode over, wrenched the door open, and was met with the sight of me and Sirius, completely naked and soaking wet, faces contorted with rage and inches apart, shouting at each other in fits of anger. I broke off mid rant at the sound of the door opening and glanced around. James was staring at us with a mixture of shock, confusion and horror on his face. For a few seconds, the three of us stood stock-still, lost in the bizarreness of the situation.

I was the first to come crashing back down to Planet Earth.

"James Potter, you turn around right this instance," I growled, hunting wildly for a towel to cover myself up and, upon discovering that Sirius had taken the only clean one, whipped the mat off the floor and wrapped it around myself Roman-style.

James turned around hastily, clearly fighting the urge to the laugh. Sirius obviously had the same urge but was not fighting it very hard for the next second his face cracked into a grin and he began to snigger. Pretty soon the two of them were in fits of mirth, rolling around on the floor and clutching their sides for support.

"Honestly," I snapped, stalking out of the bathroom holding the mat around me. "This isn't funny. You'd better not tell anyone about this, James, or you can bet your arse Lily won't look twice at you in the future."

"You were...just standing there...naked..." gasped James, tears rolling down his face. "And you...didn't even know I was..." He gave up the battle of speech and howled with laughter.

"Oh well done," I said icily. "It's not my fault you evidently didn't know where to look. Now get the hell out, I need to find my underwear."

This simple declaration of the facts sent them both into more peals of laughter, so, having no choice but to resort to desperate measures, I plucked Sirius's wand from his bedside table and shot a pimple jinx at both of them. Sirius ducked just in time but I got James smack in the face. That sobered him up nicely, I can tell you.

With James gone to lick his wounds and Sirius being uncharacteristically respectful of a girl's privacy, I was left alone in the boy's dorm. I had not been lying earlier; I really was going to have go on some twisted treasure hunt in search of my underwear. I found my bra under the bed along with one of my heeled sandals, but my pants had somehow ended up flung over the curtain rail, meaning I had to spend a good twenty minutes jumping up and down to try and reach them before I eventually managed it. My dress, which luckily I had never liked that much, was completely ruined, Sirius having no idea how female garments should be treated and instead of doing it the traditional way and unhooking the back, had decided to just rip it open. I didn't care about the dress as it was too short for me anyway, but what was quite worrying was the fact that I now had nothing to wear. I didn't fancy a stroll down to the common room in my bra and pants, thank you very much: I'd already exposed myself far more than I would've liked today and didn't plan on repeating that any time soon.

I cast my eyes around the room, searching for something I could wear. James's hoodie lay abandoned on the floor, but he was bound to realise it was missing and people might get the wrong idea; there was a set of robes hanging from one of the bedposts, but on closer inspection they turned out to be Lupin's, fully kitted out with a gleaming Prefect badge that would draw far too much attention to myself. Eventually, my eyes lighted on Sirius's Quidditch jersey, lying at the foot of his bed.

I picked it up and fingered the soft material, running my finger over the smooth line of the golden G for Gryffindor on the front. It smelt of him, smelt of pine trees and fresh lemons. It was the same smell that I'd breathed in when we'd been in the shower together half an hour ago. It was the same smell that had washed over me yesterday in the dark second-floor corridor. It was the same smell that still clung to the T-shirt that lay in the corner of the girl's dormitory bathroom where, over a month ago, I had flung it in a fit of rage.

I pulled the jersey over my head and turned to look at myself in the mirror. It fell to my knees like a dress, the shoulders reaching almost down to my elbows, but it was warm and soft inside. I gazed at my reflection. A month ago, I would've shuddered at any mention of wearing something of Sirius Black's; it would've felt too much like a label proclaiming me his. But the walls that had been so resolutely strong against this idea were slowly coming down. I didn't care about what anyone else thought; I didn't care that people would say I was doomed forever to hang on Black's every word and follow him around the castle like a puppy. I wanted to be with him, he wanted to be with me and that was all that mattered. Sensible was yesterday's Emmeline: today I was being reckless. I closed my eyes and silently relived the way he had kissed me yesterday, the feel of his hair between my fingers, his hands on my waist, consciousness caught adrift in the stormy ocean of his eyes.

In that moment, I felt suddenly connected. It was as if you've been staring through a curtain of rain and suddenly the sun comes out. Everything was clear and bright. For the first time, I knew what I wanted, and I didn't even need alcohol to help me get there.

I pulled on my sandals and dashed out of the dormitory, laughing out loud when I thought of what Sirius would say. He would laugh because I had finally made up my mind just as he had predicted. He would joke that if he'd known all it took was one more night then he would've got me drunk sooner. And then he would tell me that he wanted us to be together.

As I emerged into the common room and glanced around, I half expected my conscience to put up a fight, but the little voice had been silenced and no guilty messages of retribution were invading my brain. I spotted the person I was looking for across the room and hurried over.

"James! Have you seen Sirius?" I asked, grinning. "I need to find him. I need to talk to him."

James looked uncomfortable. I suddenly remembered that not long ago he'd been staring at me naked, and laughed. "It's ok. I'm the one who should be embarrassed, not you."

"No, it's not that. Sirius...he's not here."

"Oh. Do you know where he is? I've got to tell him something."

"He went to the Owlery, but listen, Em –"

"The Owlery? That's weird; I didn't even know he had an owl." I laughed again. Everything seemed funny. "Thanks James."

"Emmeline, wait. I don't think you should –"

"Oh relax! I'm not mad at him or anything," and with that, I ran out of the portrait hole and headed straight for the grounds.

Outside, it was cold and fresh. The afternoon air stung my cheeks but it spurred me on, my feet running in time with my pounding heart-beat. My hair, still wet from the shower, streamed out behind me and I stretched out my arms. This felt amazing. I should make decisions about things more often; life is better on impulse.

I took the steps up to the Owlery three at a time, still laughing at nothing, and pushed the door open, planning on surprising him.

I was the one who was surprised.

The smile froze on my face. Up against the wall was Sirius with a blonde girl I didn't recognise. And they were kissing, his arms tight around her waist and her hands locked in his hair.

A/N Poor Emmeline :( So this was a dick move for Sirius, but that isn't the whole story. Hope you enjoyed Chapter 7!