"This hot cocoa is delicious, you've really outdone yourself, Sirius."
Sirius looked over at O'Malley as he sat back down, two cups in his hands for him and James and everyone else already taken care of. The group was all sitting on a ledge overlooking the Entrance Hall, squished together as they cheered on the Hufflepuff team as they reentered the castle with banners held high and their own cheerleaders following behind them. Sirius gave her a smile finally, getting comfortable between her and James and realizing how tight the fit was.
His whole right side was flush with hers, legs touching from hip to toe as they swung their legs back and forth together and knocked their feet together off and on. Taking a long drink from his mug, he tried to forget how idiotically he acted that morning and tried to pretend that it had never happened.
Best for everyone that way, in the end.
"I am a master in cocoa making – no one better in the whole of England."
"Oh stuff it, Padfoot." James laughed, a dark brown chocolate mustache above his upper lip. "The house elves made the cocoa, not you. You have no claim."
Elbowing him, he listened to O'Malley laugh and snorted. "I brought it all the way up here without it getting cold, you twit. I am a master of being nice, if nothing else."
"Such a master skill for a wizard, really. Bravo Sirius, you deserve an award!"
"I will kill you and your family, Prongs."
O'Malley laughed again, looking so happy when he looked back at her that he couldn't help joining in. It was infectious, as had been a lot of her lately, and he was so aware of her sitting next to him that his hand began to sweat around his mug and he had to distract himself. Noticing Evans sitting next to James, he nudged his best mate and smirked.
"So, you actually talked to Evans without any threats against your life or grossing her out with the horrible thought of dating you?" He teased.
"I'm very dateable, thanks much," James defended, "but yeah, it's quite amazing actually. She's been smiling and laughing all day – I think she might be dying of an illness or something."
"To look at you twice? Definitely."
James smirked with a laugh, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "I'm bloody handsome, admit it."
"Of course, Prongs, you're irresistible to the end mate."
Hearing O'Malley snort, their feet still touching and the heat of her running up and down the side of him, he took a deep breath and turned back. Dropping his usual wink, Sirius realized she wasn't even bothering to look at him any longer. She handed him over her mug and then turned to hop off carefully before running down the steps to find Blake in the crowd.
Staring down at them, Sirius rolled his eyes and realized he didn't have any reason to not like Blake; he didn't know him, he might've been a stand up bloke, but he had this way of looking at O'Malley that made his skin crawl. Maybe it was the way Blake seemed to think just because he had things in common with her, that it made him superior. Or the fact that by being a muggleborn he became infinitely more interesting than anyone else. Glaring down at him again, he lifted a hand and pretended to squash Blake's head between his fingers.
"What're you doing, Sirius?" Remus asked, sliding over to vacate Gemma's empty spot and sipping slowly on his cocoa.
"Nothing, just a bit bored is all."
"So, you're not trying to squish Mathais' head with your fingers?" Remus snorted.
"Shut up, Moony."
"Well I never took you for a very smart person, but tell me, did you really get into it with Regulus last night?" He asked, Sirius realizing he must've overheard him talking to O'Malley at the match. He took a deep breath, not wanting to admit anything but stopped pretending to kill Blake long enough to look over at his mate.
"Yeah, I did…why?"
Remus shrugged a little, drinking more of his cocoa. "Why didn't you tell anyone? We would've helped out, y'know."
"I was going to, honestly, but I ran into O'Malley in the common room and got…I don't know, distracted I guess." Sirius watched as she laughed below them, Blake looking too happy for his comfort. "It wasn't that big of a deal though."
"She can be very distracting," Remus mused, looking below them as well, "But what did you two fight about?"
"Normal things; how Uncle Alphard wants me to come to his house for Christmas, how I'm so rubbish at being a muggle hating bastard, things like that. Like I said, not a big deal."
Remus nodded. "If you didn't look like him, I'd say you two weren't even related."
"Oh come on, Remus – I can be a bastard. Just because I don't want to murder muggles in the street doesn't automatically make me a saint or anything." He said somewhat quietly, still remembering when he'd sent Snivellus in after a wolfed out Remus the year prior. He hated remembering that part of him. "I'm a right twat."
"Sure, you can be, but it's nothing unforgivable," Remus nudged him, "and stop thinking about it. I know you are so don't argue, you need to let that go Sirius. I've forgiven you, James has, and so has Pete; you made a mistake, no one's going to hold it against you anymore."
Except me. He though, too many nights spent up torturing himself over it over and over again.
"And I never said you were a saint."
"I can push you to your death you know," he smirked, looking back at Remus, "You might even land on Blake and then my day will be made even that much better."
His friend laughed, Sirius noticing that O'Malley was finally heading back. "I can't believe it's actually happening."
"What are you going on about?" Sirius asked, eyebrow cocked on one side.
"The two of you have been at each other's throats forever, and now that you're mates, you're obviously starting to realize she's pretty great. And obviously she's spectacular if she managed to catch your fancy—"
"Oh come off it, Moony, I do not fancy O'Malley."
The words almost felt like a lie but he held true to them, glaring at Remus. O'Malley came back over and was about to sit next to Remus before his mate slid back and she took her old seat. Sirius rolled his eyes, realizing he was going to have to stop acting like an idiot around her if Remus was getting such a wrong idea about things. Waiting until she'd slid in next to him again, he handed over her cocoa and she gave a bright smile.
"Today was actually pretty great, Sirius – thanks." Sirius watched as she bit her lip and seemed to think something over before leaning over and hugging him with one arm. He laughed a little, holding her close and noticing a deep, peppermint smell on her skin that relaxed him. He loved that smell, it was just like Peppermint Imps, and he suddenly remembered a few times in the past when he'd been close enough to smell it. He was almost reluctant to let go, but shook his head and got over the seductive scent and remembered it was O'Malley. "I'll make sure to come to your match in a couple weeks, alright?"
"You'd better," he smirked, "I'm never sexier than when I'm flying."
O'Malley snorted. "Is that so?"
"Oh yes, the wind does amazing things for my hair." He dropped a wink, her lips pressing together hard as if she was trying not to laugh at him.
"I've seen you on a broom before, Sirius," she laughed a little now, drinking deep from her much, "You just look like you've been struck by lightning."
Sirius glared at her in return, Remus laughing on her other side. "It's true, Padfoot; it's not a good look."
"You're just jealous your hair is not as amazing and beautiful as mine, Moony."
"No one's hair is more amazing than mine!" James interrupted, leaning forward on the ledge so he could look at all of them with a big, shit eating grin. "It's basically made for shagging."
"Don't listen to the buffoon, O'Malley – he's mentally insane. Twombly's got him on this potion twice a week but it seems to be making things even worse. There's no hope for him." Sirius nudged her, her face breaking into a bigger smile as she continued laughing and nudged him back.
"I think you're all insane, honestly. Especially you," she poked him on the nose as his eye crossed, "You are the maddest of them all."
"Is that so? How can you tell?"
"That look in your eyes, it's just spells 'mad as a loon', Sirius. Absolutely mad as a loon."
"Is that what you see? Really?" He asked curiously, staring at her hard. O'Malley blinked almost nervously, her long lashes fluttering as he smirked. "Come on Gemma, look."
O'Malley bit her lip, her eyes so blue as he smirked. "Pure madness," she spluttered finally, something he must've said making her uncomfortable. Sirius realized he was flirting only after he heard Remus snickering, making him feel like an idiot as he sat back. "I should get back to the dorm…I still have that homework I wanted to finish."
"Right, yeah, you do that." He gave a tight smile, "See you later, O'Malley."
Sirius noticed an odd look on her face as it dropped only slightly, but she shook her head and slid off the ledge a second later. Remus stood to join her for her study session, and O'Malley squeezed his shoulder as if to say goodbye and repeated it when she passed by McKinnon as well. He watched her for only a minute longer, Remus talking to her and the both of them laughing about something as they turned the corner and disappeared.
Hopping off the ledge himself once they were gone, Sirius told James he'd meet him back in the dorm but his mate was lost in conversation with Evans and likely didn't hear him. They were talking about a muggle thing called a plane or something, he wasn't really sure so he left them behind. Walking off in the opposite direction as O'Malley and Remus, he felt like it'd be good to just have some time alone to clear his head.
Hogwarts was still buzzing from the match, some Hufflepuffs running up and down the corridors screaming about their win at the top of their lungs. Sirus laughed, knowing in two weeks Gryffindor would be cheering the same way over a victory against Slytherin. At least he hoped so; they were good enough to beat them, there was no doubt in that, they just had to play as a team and not like the wonky mess they'd been the past weeks in practice.
"We keep running into each other."
Sirius's head popped up from staring at his feet as he walked, finding his little brother half way down the corridor with his hands deep in his pockets. Regulus looked so much like him; their height, hair, and clothing style all that really differentiated as his brother's slicked back hair slowly fell into his face.
"How unfortunate." Sirius sighed, suddenly wanting to walk in the other direction to go and have a fag. "Not really how I wanted to spend my afternoon."
"It's not like I sought you out, Sirius," Regulus scoffed, "Are you still thinking about going to Uncle's for the holidays?"
"Why does it matter, Reg? Seriously, it's not your business anymore on what the fuck I do or don't do," Sirius felt the urge to stomp off similarly to what he'd done the night before, but decided against it. Maybe it was finally time to talk. "You obviously don't care about anything else in my life, so why is this such a big deal?"
"I'd care if you stopped acting like you were something you aren't," his brother said slowly, sighing as he leaned against a wall, "You're still a Black."
"As if that means so much."
"It means," Regulus seemed irritated – that made two of them, "you're walking on the wrong side of the line. It's going to get worse, we all know it, even the muggleborns, and you're still acting as if it's not. Mum and Dad think it's best to be on the Dark Lord's side, it's where we belong, Sirius. You're going to end up getting yourself killed and then what?"
His little brother looked at him so earnestly, but Sirius was closer to punching him then giving into the bullshit he was spewing. "Really? Are you still that naïve to think killing people who have no way to defend themselves is going to make the world a better place? Wake up and smell the roses, Reg – Voldemort just enjoys power and killing things that scare him; this isn't about what Mum and Dad think anymore, you need to start thinking for yourself."
"They have ways to fight back—"
"No, they don't," Sirius cut him off, dragging a hand through his hair before he kicked at the wall, "We have bloody magic, Regulus; we have a killing curse that they won't even see coming. What the hell do you think they'll do when you lot show up in their homes and pull out a wand?" He thought about O'Malley for only a minute, remembering how she used to read books and dreamed of magic. How many other muggle children thought that way? And for them to get killed because of it? "You think they even know what's going to hit them? You're leaving them completely defenseless."
Regulus moved from the wall, walking closer. "They're overrunning everything, taking over the school –"
"Taking over the school? What school are you going to, Reg? You lot are attacking them left and right and half the girls in my dorm won't even go out after dark. Is that really something you're proud of? You're hurting innocent people, and soon enough you'll be killing them if you don't wake the fuck up." Sirius shouted now, shoving his brother and hoping to knock some sense into him once and for all. "What have they done, Regulus? Give me an actual reason to go after them, c'mon; WHAT HAVE THEY DONE?"
"They're muggles, Sirius—"
"Oh sod off." Sirius groaned, "I can't believe you aren't seeing how wrong this is."
Regulus looked at the floor, hands pulling at the sleeves of his jumper. "But Dad says—"
"It's time to get your head out of Dad's ass, Reg – look around at everything for yourself. Nothing is so black and white that you can just decide like that. You're old enough to finally talk back, you know, and if you're still sitting at home expecting me to come help you murder innocent people well…you're completely off base."
Sirius turned, wanting to forget about all of this as Regulus reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt. "I…I don't want to kill anyone, Sirius."
"Regulus," Sirius sighed, remembering how many times in the past that he'd tried to help him and was only left getting punished or hurt in return, "Go tell Voldemort to fuck himself and grow up. If you don't want to do it, don't."
Walking away, Sirius left behind his little brother like Regulus had done to him so many times before. No matter how much Sirius still loved him, no matter how much he tried to stop hating him, he couldn't keep either emotion separate when he thought about Regulus just standing by and watching him get the shit beat out of him. He'd never said a word against it, no matter how bloody Sirius ended up, and he was tired of being the family punching bag.
He wasn't going to be able to stay there much longer.
Making his way out into the courtyard, he pulled the fags from his pocket and leaned against one of the columns. Lighting one up, he tried to relax and get rid of the anger and tension building in his shoulders without just going out and punching something. Letting the cool air whip around his face and closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and thought of the smell of peppermint.
Slughorn was being even more boring than usual the following week, dawdling on about love potions and luck potion and bollocks like that. Sirius didn't have energy to care; he was exhausted from a late night Honeydukes raid and would almost rather listen to Snape read his History of Magic book aloud than listen to this. Sitting back with his mates, Slughorn got the girls excited about Amortentia and invited everyone up to smell what their heart desired.
Sirius wasn't in the mood.
"Come on you old sod," James yawned, standing up from his chair, "Let's have some fun, yeah? Don't you want to know what your perfect bird would smell like?"
Sirius snorted. "She'd smell like me after hours of shagging, that's what she'd smell like."
"Ugh, that's disgusting, Sirius," Remus groaned, the three of them pulling him up as he continued to protest, "Just come on."
"You're a prude that know nothing of the wonders of shagging a girl's brains out, Moony." Sirius yawned, all of them in line behind the girls, "Find that muggle girl from last summer over the holiday and have some fun. It'd be good for you."
Remus flushed, cheeks red. "Stuff it, Padfoot." Laughing at his mate, he noticed O'Malley and MacDonald standing in front of them and he idly wondered what the Irish girl would smell.
"So then, Prongs, what do you think you'll smell? Evans' knickers?"
James laughing, punching him in the shoulder as he shook his head. "You're in a right mood today, mate."
"Sorry, I'm just too bloody tired for all of this. And honestly, who cares about this shit?"
Looking back towards the front, he saw O'Malley at the cauldron now. She was standing on a stool, long hair held back as she bent over it and took a deep breath. A warm smile graced her face, turning back to MacDonald with a bounce in her step as Sirius tried to move a bit closer as she relayed the information to her mate.
"Rain…leather…"
It was all he could make out, his mind racing to figure out who the hell would smell like rain of all things. MacDonald went, then Remus, and finally it was Sirius's turn.
Walking up slowly, he bent over and took a strong whiff that seemed to relax him instantly. The first obvious scent was a strong peppermint, wafting all over him like a warm blanket. Then it just smelled like a cold day, fresh and clean like the first snow. Following that was something strong, a bit spicy like cinnamon or some kind of cookie but he couldn't really place it. And then, just at the end, an intense smell of clean cotton as if he was curling up in bed after his blankets had been washed.
"So, what did you smell? Any sweaty birds?" James joked, coming back after smelling it himself.
"It was heaven," Sirius laughed, the whole thing still washing over him as they all went to sit back down.
"Well I smelled lunch; cherries, apples – I am dying for some pie. Amortentia knows how to make a bloke hungry." James complaining, sitting back in his chair and rocking it on its legs. "And we still have hours until lunch."
"And I smelled chocolate; I'm starting to think I have a problem." Remus muttered, going into his bag to pull out a handful of chocolate candy.
Sirius snorted, patting him on the shoulder before they had to begin making a potion. "The first step is admitting it, mate."
After a while, Slughorn came around for marks and gave him his usual high grade even if the potion didn't completely kill the leaf he'd dropped in. Rolling his eyes at the blatant arse kissing but just shrugged and let it go as usual; if it gave him good marks in Potions, so be it. Watching as the professor walked around and declared Snivellus the winner of the Felix Felicis, he noticed many disappointed faces, the main one being O'Malley's.
"I swore I was going to win that bloody thing," O'Malley complained as they left the dungeons, stuffing her things into her bag angrily, "I had it all down perfectly this time! I hate when Slughorn plays favorites."
"Yeah, well, mine was pretty good too…stupid Snape." Evans said, all of them shooting a look back over at Snape who was holding his potion up proudly as the Slytherin's patted him on the back.
"At least you didn't melt your cauldron into a tiny metal disc," McKinnon groaned, all of them walking up the stairs, "I hate having to send home for a new one all the time."
"How do you even function, McKinnon?" Sirius joked, the blonde smacking him in the arse with her bag as she passed.
"I suck at Potions, what's new? You pretty much just suck."
"Oh man, ouch, that really stung." Sirius snorted, "I need to go see Twombly and get a plaster for my wounded soul."
"Sod off, you wanker." McKinnon laughed, Sirius sticking his tongue out once before falling back in step with O'Malley.
"So what did you smell then, Sirius?" She asked politely, the group of them walking out to Herbology. "Anything good?"
"Nah, nothing too exciting," he said, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to forget about the peppermint. "Nothing I've smelled all at once before, that's for sure."
"Yeah, me either. I'm not even sure I knew one of them; how can that be attractive if I don't even know what it is?" She went on, holding her book close to her chest as he gave her a small grin.
"I don't have a clue, O'Malley, I don't."
Talking a bit more about nothing in particular, they showed up at the greenhouse and separated to be with their partners. O'Malley left and walked over to Blake as Sirius rolled his eyes and went to stand at the end of the table with his mates and the girl who was his new partner for the day. She had pretty red hair, the color of copper almost, and chocolate brown eyes he thought Remus would really appreciate.
"Hey Sirius," she giggled, her name lost in his head as she sat down her bag next to him.
"Hey."
"You looked fit on your broom last night," she continued, everyone getting out their supplies. Sirius realized she must've been watching their practice the night before and gave a smile back to pretend he was interested.
"Thanks – you looked fit watching me." He lied, trying to hear what the professor was saying.
"Oh!" She giggled again, "You noticed me then?"
"I always notice when there's a pretty girl around." His eyes seemed to catch O'Malley's, watching as she gave a little smile across the way before turning back to Blake. "How couldn't I notice you?"
"Such a charmer."
"That's me."
Sirius listened to her only partially for the rest of the class, nodding and saying what he needed to so he could keep her happy. Hearing O'Malley laughing at one point, he whipped his head up to find her at the other end of the table and almost cut his finger off. He watched her as he sucked his finger into his mouth and sucked at the nick to get it to stop bleeding. Shaking his head, he got back to work and wondered what the hell was wrong with him.
"Did you want to hang out after dinner?" Charlotte asked, her name finally ringing a bell in his head as she fixed her black and yellow tie.
"Yeah, sure – I'll meet you up on the third floor."
"Wicked."
Winking at her like he usually did to make sure a girl knew he was interested, Sirius turned back to his work and tried to ignore the feeling that he actually wasn't. It wasn't as if the girl wasn't fit, because she was, it was just that he was exhausted and feeling a bit confused about stuff. The last thing he wanted to do right now was stuff himself into a broom cupboard and mindlessly snog someone for an hour or two, but he was Sirius Black.
He'd be more interested after some food.
Charlotte ending up being a good enough snog; not too much spit, her hands knew where to go and where not – but Sirius still wasn't into it. He kept stopping, letting out a long sigh and letting her slobber on his neck as he stood there. She was pretty bad at that, nothing but tongue and sticky gloss all over his skin by the time she decided she'd molested his neck long enough.
Finally just deciding it was over, they both left the broom cupboard together as he buttoned his shirt and noticed O'Malley and MacDonald walking towards them. Sirius felt an intense urge to push Charlotte back in the closet before they saw them, but it was too late for that. MacDonald rolled her eyes as if she was used to finding him like this and O'Malley flushed as she bit her lip.
"Hey Sirius…Charlie," she smiled at the Hufflepuff as Charlotte giggled, "We have Astronomy with the Ravenclaws this year, don't we?"
"Oh, yeah…we were just having a little fun. Hope you guys have as much fun with the stars." She turned and kissed Sirius hard, catching him off guard and splitting his lip a little before she waved at everyone as she turned to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Gemma!"
"Yeah, of course…bye, Charlie."
They all watched her leave, a skip in her step before she disappeared behind the corner and Sirius turned back to the girls. "You know her?"
"I tutor her in Ancient Runes sometimes." O'Malley said, not looking at him.
"Oh, right." He coughed a little awkwardly, still fixing his shirt.
"Yep."
O'Malley sighed, rolling her eyes as she began to walk again. "Brilliant!" She said sarcastically, Sirius sorting himself out finally and grabbing his bag. He couldn't help staring at the way her hips swayed back and forth in front of him, hypnotizing him slightly as MacDonald fell into step next to him.
"You're bleeding a bit there, Black, and as much as I know you love people to think you're some great badass, blood dribbling down your chin really isn't sexy." MacDonald noted, handing him a tissue she had in her bag. "Trust me."
He shook his head and blotted at his mouth. "I hadn't realized she'd attacked me that hard – bit of a crazy one, that Hufflepuff."
"It's not like you minded." O'Malley scoffed, not turning back to look at them.
"I'm not usually a guy who likes bloody lips after a snog, O'Malley – I'm actually quite the gentle lover."
He could practically see her blue eyes rolling at him. "Whatever."
"Think Blake with bruise you, Gems? He seems like he could be a feisty badger!" MacDonald laughed, O'Malley finally turning back with red staining the apples of her cheeks.
"I agreed to study with him, nothing more. Why are you all acting as if I'm getting ready to marry the bloke?"
"Nothing more my arse," the girl next to him laughed, "studying with you is about as intimate as shagging in your silly little world."
O'Malley's eyes went wide and Sirius choked on a cough as he tried to cover up a laugh. "Mary MacDonald! Stuff it!"
"Gemma O'Malley!" MacDonald shot back. "Come on, it's totally true. Well, except with Remus I guess. I'm sure you two just study…unless you've been snogging him in secret."
"Shutting up would be really good for your health right now, Mare."
Sirius laughed, MacDonald not letting up as they kept heading towards the Astronomy Tower. "What? Has Remus Lupin actually used a move on you? Are you getting a bit more studying done under the library table?"
"Oh my God – Remus has…you are…ugh! Mary, you're absolutely impossible!"
"Did he really? Has ol' Remus used his well tuned gentlemanly skills on you? Seduced you with the ways of chocolate?" Sirius joined in on the teasing, enjoying how flushed her face was, "Supposedly he's a real animal."
"How would you know, Black? Snog Remus often?"
Sirius snorted, noting how she wasn't saying his name anymore as he poked and prodded. "What I do in my dorm is none of your business. Remus is too precious to kiss and tell about."
"I hate you both." O'Malley groaned.
"She just can't admit to how sexual studying is," MacDonald continued her assault, O'Malley flipping them off. "Those books must be such a turn on, Gems."
"Why don't I hit you with one and see just how much you like it?"
"Oh, feisty," Sirius joked, O'Malley turning around again to glare, "What? I bet you're loads of fun in bed, Leprechaun. Especially with the book hitting…very kinky."
She was turning so red that he wondered if there was any blood left for the rest of her body. "I don't..you – you don't know anything about that!"
"Eh," he shrugged, "the nerdy ones are always the kinkiest."
"Oh my God, just kill me now."
"I bet there's a girl just dying to be tied up under all those books."
"You did enjoy being blindfolded for that game last year." MacDonald laughed, O'Malley still standing there with her hands on her hips. "You've been holding back on these fantasies, Gem – and here I thought you were a prude."
"Do you hear yourselves? Honestly? Is this fun?"
"I think it's loads of fun," Sirius smirked, "Imagining you tied to a bed is hilarious." The vision of her tied to a bed flashed through his head a second later and it wasn't as funny as he thought…no, not funny at all. He shook his head, trying not to think about her like that.
"Stop imagining it, Black."
He glared. "I wasn't."
"Whatever you say," she fixed her hair and turned her eyes away from him, "but you're a teenage boy. You're all the same – thinking about shagging all the time."
Sirius snorted. "Well, yeah – shagging is amazing."
"I'd tend to agree." MacDonald spoke up again.
"Can we please stop talking about this?" O'Malley asked.
"Whatever you want Gems," her mate said, "I s'pose that's enough corrupting for the day."
"Oh, I don't know, I could stand for a bit more corrupting." Sirius smirked, watching as she turned back one last time and glared heatedly.
"Fuck off, will you?"
Finally getting to the stairs of the Astronomy Tower, the three climbed up the winding steps until they reached the rest of the class. Walking over to the usual crowd, he sat he bag on the ground and noticed that the telescope was already set up. Remus and Pete were playing exploding snap as they waited and James was talking to McKinnon about something. He took a look over at O'Malley who was sliding down the wall next to Evans and laughed when she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Ah, the resident star boy has appeared!" James joked, Sirius thumping him on the head as he sat between him and McKinnon.
"Such a twat, Prongs."
James snorted. "Grumpy, grumpy…you smell like a girl, Sirius."
"No, I smell like a man. Also, at least it's better than roast beef, which someone here reeks of," Sirius noted, watching as Peter checked himself and shrugged, "Pete, lay off on the meat, okay?
"What? I was hungry." He defended, pouting as he sat back.
"You ate a whole pig." Remus argued, reading his book with his wand lit above it. "I thought you were going to blow up just watching you eat"
"It was delicious, salty goodness. I can't help it."
"With that and all that bloody cheese Catchlove keeps bringing you, you'll be the size of Hagrid by Christmas." Sirius teased, pointing at Peter's little belly. "Watch yourself, mate."
"Yeah, not all us can eat like a sloppy pig and look like Sirius," O'Malley said with a tight smile, everyone laughing.
"Hey, I can't help it if I eat enough for five people and still look this sexy!"
O'Malley rolled her eyes and tossed a rubber at him. "Go fall off a bridge, Sirius."
"Think I'll pass on that one, Leprechaun."
A few minutes later, Professor Sinistra got the attention of the class and began to talk about the constellations and stars they needed to chart and which myths they needed to read up on for the next class. O'Malley was the first up and at the telescope as per usual, her need to be the best and to get things done quickly never seemed to sway.
Unable to help himself as his eyes lingered along the line of her legs until they disappeared under her skirt or watching the way she crinkled her nose when she did something wrong, Sirius felt stupid as he finally brought his attention back around to James. Looking up the myths in the books and marking them for reading later, he heard O'Malley sigh and slowly looked back again.
"Where the bloody hell is Pollux?" She swore, her face pressed against the telescope as she moved it around. "It's always right there!"
Sirius snorted, her arms flailing around a bit like as if the stars were playing tricks on her. Standing up, he walked over and pushed her out of the way with his hip, "Let me take a look, O'Malley."
"Fine," she sighed, "I guess you are our star boy."
He flicked her in the nose and turned to the telescope. "If you start that too, I'll throw you off the tower."
"Starlight, star bright…"
"Stop it with you bizzare muggle spell." He heard her snort and break out into laughter, making him look up again as Evans and MacDonald joined in. "What is so funny?"
"That's not a spell, Sirius," Lily laughed harder, "It's a nursery rhyme."
O'Malley knocked him in the hip as he had done to her a few minutes ago. "Afraid of my spooky muggle magic, Sirius?"
"You're mad, you are."
"Maybe. Oh Lord, that shouldn't be funny but I'm so freaking tired," she yawned, sitting back down as he tried again to locate Pollux. "If I fall asleep, just leave me here, alright?"
"Sounds like a plan, Leprechaun."
"But…don't, really. I don't want to sleep up here alone."
Sirius smirked, finding the star in the east and grabbing her arm to haul her back up. Moving out of the way, O'Malley bent next to him to peer through the telescope and he rested his hand on her back without really thinking about it as she looked around. Once she spotted it, she stood back up and gave him a small grin.
"All found then, O'Malley?"
"Yep." She went to mark it on her paper, turning back to him when she was done. "Too bad we can't spot you up there this time of year, huh?"
"I'm up there, hiding somewhere…I'm no show off, you know."
"Oh come on," she scoffed, "You're the brightest star in the sky, Sirius – it fits your ego to a T."
Smirking, he nudged her a little. "Doing research on me now, Leprechaun?" Sirius teased, watching as she rolled her eyes. "I'm flattered."
"We learned about Sirius in first year, you know – don't act like I sit around reading up on a star that really has nothing to do with you."
"Liar."
O'Malley laughed, going back to sit with Remus and James to finish filling out their charts. The rest of the class went rather quickly, Sirius more than happy for it as he was about to fall over on his feet and sleep where he landed. It was as if O'Malley's idea of sleeping in the tower was sounding better and better every minute.
"I think I'm dying, mates." Sirius groaned on the way back to the dorm, his whole body feeling heavier than usual and his feet feeling as if they had a hundred stone added to them both. "Seriously dying here."
"You'll live," Evans said, leaving him behind to catch up with McKinnon.
"I hate you, Evans!" He shouted, O'Malley laughing next to him before he turned on her with a sleepy grin. "Hey there, Gemma Bean."
Her eyebrows shot to the top of her head. "What did you just call me?"
"You're my new best friend!"
"Sirius Black, whatever you're planning just don't, okay?"
He smirked the best he could. "Carry me?"
"God, no! You're a foot taller than me, Sirius, not to mention loads heavier," she tried to speed off away from him but he grabbed her shoulders and lazily tried to climb on her back, "Sirius, stop!"
"Oh come onnnnnnnnnnn, you love meeeeeeee." He whined, "Carry me!"
"James! JAMES!" O'Malley shouted, everyone turning back to see Sirius with his arms wrapped around her neck and one leg awkwardly wrapped around her hips. "GET HIM OFF OF ME BEFORE HE KILLS ME."
"What in Merlin's name are you doing, Padfoot?" James laughed, jogging back to grab him off her. "G isn't a tree you can climb."
Sirius pouted. "She was going to carry me back."
"Maybe in crazy land," O'Malley tsked at him, "You need to watch him James; he's like a lost puppy without you around."
Sirius started laughing, poking her in the nose. "Oh…lost puppy, that's funny. If only you knew, Leprechaun."
"Knew what, exactly?" She asked curiously, James coming to stand between them.
"That Sirius has a brain the size of a corgi, obviously," his best mate interrupted, grabbing onto his arm hard and hauling him down the corridor and back up to the dorms, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I'm tired – how many times do I have to say that?"
"Fine, that's great Sirius, but does that mean you can just go around telling girls you're a bloody dog? Snap out of it mate." James pushed him on his bed once they'd made it upstairs, Sirius landing on it with a big thud.
"Yeah, right, sorry mate."
James snorted. "Whatever mate, but no treats for you this week."
"Ruff ruff to you."
"You're adorable."
"I know."
Moving up on his bed, Sirius ripped off his shirt and tie as quickly as he could. Dropping his shoes off the edge of the bed, he closed the curtains and sleepily lit the flames in his jar. He moved and got settled against his pillows and momentarily thought of earlier things from before class. About being tied up, of silk along skin; red, gold, and freckles along a blushing body. The smell of peppermint relaxing him, and finally two big blue eyes as he fell into a deep sleep.