Behind These Eyes - 9
Disclaimer – I own nothing except for Kat.
A/N – So…I haven't updated this forever, but I came across it when doing some other bits and after reading through it I decided that I needed to give it another go. Hope some of my old reviewers and readers are still around! This chapter is fairly short as I try and get back into the story. This chapter is also a complete ramble as I'm not sure how to get to the next bit of the story. Ah well – reviews always welcome!
The Muggle-Studies classroom was empty on Monday morning as Kat entered. Professor Huntley wasn't even there. She breathed in, inhaling the smell of chalk and parchment, the odour that permeated every classroom in the castle.
Edging carefully between the desks, she sat down at her usual table and started setting out her parchment and quill.
The sound of the door made her jump, but even though she heard heavy footsteps stride into the room, no one spoke.
"Professor?"
There was a non-committal grunt from the front of the room and she winced.
"Sirius."
He grunted again and she heard the creak as he sat down. Now that he was closer she could smell soap and shampoo, but she could also practically feel the cold shoulder her was giving her.
"About the weekend…"
"Don't worry about it," He said shortly. She heard him take a deep breath and for a moment she thought he was going to say something else, but then there was the scrap of his chair as he turned it slightly away from her.
Kat sat through class with hot tears pricking at her eyes. In front of her the dicta-quill scratched away merrily. The professor was talking about Muggle Government, but Kat barely heard a word of it. All she could think about was the smell of Sirius so close to her, and yet the cold distance between them.
Why was it upsetting her so much? Until this year he had been a mild irritation in her life, but certainly not anyone for her to waste time thinking about. Now he seemed to dominate most of her thoughts. Just before the end of the lesson she made up her mind to speak to him, to try and apologise, but as soon as the bell rang, she heard the scrape of his chair and his voice as he said goodbye to the professor on his way out of the door.
When Kat reached the Hall for lunch that afternoon she hesitated outside the door. She hadn't left her dorm all day Sunday, and none of her roommates had come to find her. She figured she had upset them as much as she had Sirius. Taking a deep breath she stepped into the hall. The noise level dropped almost immediately, and Kat could practically feel the stares boring into her. She knew that silence, it meant people had been talking about her and had stopped as soon as she came in.
Suddenly she didn't feel very hungry anymore.
"Kat," Lucy's voice called out behind her as she turned and stumbled out of the room.
She ignored it, hurrying up the stairs, one hand running up the smooth marble of the banister.
"Kat, wait!" Lucy's voice was breathless and Kat could hear footsteps behind her. "I'm not going to chase you all the way up the stairs."
Reluctantly Kat stopped, turning slightly in the direction of Lucy's footsteps. "What Lucy?"
"You not going to come and eat?"
"I'm not really hungry."
"Rubbish. Look, you've just got to ignore everyone…you know what this school is like. Everyone likes to gossip."
Kat frowned. "You too?"
Lucy groaned. "Seriously Kat, you need to stop being so paranoid. I'm your friend."
"It didn't feel like that on Saturday."
Lucy was now close enough that Kat could feel her body heat, so she wasn't surprised when she felt a hand on her arm. When Lucy spoke next there was a hint of guilt in her voice.
"I really didn't think it would matter. Sirius seemed happy enough, and I really wanted that chocolate."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Alright, alright. So I thought if I said anything you'd say no. I know how much you hate Sirius…"
"I don't hate him…"
"You could have fooled me." Lucy tightened her grip on Kat's arm and steered her back up the staircase and through a door. The room beyond, from the smell, was one of the girls bathrooms. There was the sound of running water and then someone stepped past them through the door and they were alone.
"I just…ok…" Lucy sighed heavily, and then Kat could hear her licking her lips. "I admit…I kinda did it on purpose. It's just, you should have seen Rita's face…oh god I'm sorry." Lucy sucked in her breath and reached again for Kat's arm. "Why do I keep putting my foot in it…"
"It's alright, really." Kat reassured her, squeezing the fingers on her arm. "But why? Rita…"
"Is insanely jealous of you. In fact half the girls in the school are. Even the people who weren't in Honeydukes have now heard about how Sirius went charging out of there after you, after having a right go at me I might add. The whole school reckons he's in love with you."
Kat snorted, but then felt her cheeks grow hot as Lucy laughed.
"I know, stupid isn't it. But anyway…say we're still friends, even though I'm a complete cow."
Kat forced herself to laugh. "Of course…"
Later that afternoon Kat couldn't get Lucy's laughter out of her head. Was it so stupid that Sirius might like her? Of course it was, but her own friends weren't supposed to think so. She frowned, she must be really ugly for everyone to be so surprised. Maybe that was the real reason Sirius was blanking her now. Not because he was still angry, but because he didn't want the school to have anymore reason to think that he, Sirius Black, could possibly be interested in Kat Metcalf.
