Chapter Nine: Killed it with Kisses

Olivia

Whatever I did at that party has gone to his head. I swear. Last I checked, he was avoiding me just as much as I was avoiding him (which was similar to how you would avoid a plague, believe me). Now he acts like we're back to being friends? Whatever I said to him must have been way out there. At least that's what I assume. Everyone refuses to tell me, so I guess I'll never know for sure (yea, that sounds likely). Mary keeps slipping up, threatening to spill bits of information that could essentially be quite valuable to me, but Lily's always there to stop her from going too far. And she won't talk if I press her.

But since when have I ever been good at waiting patiently? There was this one time, when this guy—ah, never mind. You probably shouldn't hear that story anyways. Need to know basis, right? Anyhow, Lily has been watching Mary and me like a hawk from Saturday morning through breakfast today, so you can probably figure how much information I've gotten in the past few days.

"Olivia," Lily whispers harshly while poking me with her quill.

What? I mouth, slightly annoyed as I snap back to attention. History of Magic is not a class I enjoy being disturbed in. It's my thinking/sleeping/catching-up-on-homework-I-forgot-to-do class.

"You dropped this," she says, handing me a crumpled piece of parchment.

I stare disdainfully down at it, making a face I'm sure was quite pleasant. "Not mine," I shrug. She returns the gesture and tosses the paper on the floor.

Books are suddenly slammed shut and shoved in waiting knapsacks, signaling the end of class. I jump up, eager to get to Divination, which happens to be the only class on my time-table without Lily in it. Not that I don't love her to death. She just makes getting answers hard.

After getting stuck in a trick stair I forgot to jump, getting some third year to help get me out (not as mean as it sounds— he offered!), and just generally sprinting up to the seventh floor, I arrive at the ladder to the classroom ten minutes late, sweating like some kind of monster. Odd glances (which I assure you I am rather accustomed to by now) are thrown my way as I burst through the trapdoor panting.

The ancient teacher (and self proclaimed Seer), Professor Dillwits (who with a name like that easily earned the nicknames Dumb-wit and Dull-wit), doesn't acknowledge my late arrival; he simply informs us that it's time to grab a crystal ball (though he doesn't use those exact words, and his voice is more of a whisper anyways).

I hurry over to the table where Mary has already returned with a crystal ball. She casts me a half nervous, half suspicious glance as I seat myself, even though I've sat here every class since third year. Dillwits tells us to begin, though what we're beginning I'm not really sure. So the bullshit begins: Mary and I demonstrate our well-practiced 'in-the-Beyond' look and begin making up things we 'see' in the crystal ball. This is the only reason we've passed this stupid class since third year—and the only reason we're Dillwits's favorites. If he ever figures out we're faking, he'll probably die of shock or broken heart or something.

I allow the class to pass like every other, meaning I don't pester Mary about the party. I mean I want to know what happened, but there's a time and place for this kind of thing. Like an empty corridor directly after Divination, which we happen to wander into by 'accident.'

"So was Friday really that awful?" I ask with a grin. I figure that a joking approach is better than a threatening one—for now at least.

Mary cracks a smile and replies, "Well I wouldn't have wanted to be you."

"Oh Merlin, what did I do?" I shake my head.

She chuckles a bit before saying, "You sort of—ha ha—tied the—ha—Gryffindor banner around your neck and—ha ha ha—jumped from couch to couch," she finishes with a fit of giggles. My eyebrows go up and my eyes get big; I really did that? Wow, I am stupider than I thought.

"As entertaining as that is," I continue, wanting to get to the good part (meaning whatever I said to a certain, uh, fellow? Oh you know who I mean), "what did I say to…" I trail off, and we walk for a second in silence.

The smile has dropped off her face now, like this secret is more important than me playing superhero. I can tell she's trying to decide between telling me and facing the wrath of Lily and not telling me and facing the wrath of me. She stops walking, and as I turn to face her, she says, "I don't know, Liv, why don't you ask him yourself?"

I spin around to face the space she had been staring at over my shoulder: Sure enough, he's there, waiting. He seems to have been expecting me to arrive there, but he's genuinely surprised at Mary's presence.

"I told you to come alone," he nearly growls at me. I glance at Mary, who looks just as confused as I do.

"You didn't tell me to come here at all," I snap. This time he's the one with the confused expression as he searches for words to reply to that obviously unexpected statement. But I don't stay around to hear them—I back up from the now volatile Sirius Black, finally turning and running down an adjacent corridor.

I don't know if Mary is following me, but I don't turn around to check. I just keep running for Arithmancy, my only class without the both of them, the whole time thinking about what was on that paper Lily thought was mine.

*Dog Days Are Over*

"How much did Mary tell you?" Lily prompts as soon as I walk into the classroom.

"Just about the couch hopping," I say, the thought of me doing that instantly brightening my mood.

"Impressive," she responds. "I was expecting you to come in here with a full account of everything that went down."

"Well I might have, had Black not shown up," I reply with a shrug, throwing my bag down next to me as I sit next to Lily. Yes, I'm back to calling him Black. I was already distancing myself from him when he flipped out at me, so in my eyes he no longer deserves the title of 'Sirius.'

Lily sighs. "So how much did he tell you?" She knows full well that Mary would have referred me to him rather than take the fall herself.

"Nothing," I say with a shake of my head. "He was kind of pissed. Not that I'll go to him for answers again. We're done," I finish definitively, the last sentence a definite allegory.

"We'll see," she responds cryptically, turning to face the front of the room as class begins.

"But Lily," I whisper harshly. "Why can't I know what happened? I mean, I said it."

She smiles almost apologetically. "I just didn't want you doing anything stupid." I almost laugh out loud as I think, Too late.

*Dog Days Are Over*

"Olivia, wait." I don't bother stopping. "Liv, I'm sorry! Just wait!"

I spin around to meet the familiar voice I've been trying so hard to run away from. "For what, Sirius? For you to get bored of me like every other stupid whore at this school? To be snarled at like I've actually done something wrong?"

"You're not every other stupid whore," he says softly, grinning, but I'm just getting started.

"Like hell I'm not. I'm smart enough to walk away," I spit, turning on my heel to storm down the opposite corridor.

"And blind enough to overlook that I'd never hurt you like that," he calls out. I stop in my tracks but don't bother turning around.

"And how many times have you used that line?" I shout over my shoulder. I'm not sure what I should expect with this question—silence? The words "A few" to rise guiltily from his mouth?

"Once. Right now." All I know is that those words aren't what I expected at all. I glance down at my feet, giving up entirely in this fight. Suddenly, his arms are around me, his voice is whispering in my ear. "Go out with me. For real, like as a couple. As my girlfriend." I turn my head away from his face, not sure how to respond. Is this what normally happens after a fight? "It's okay," he says, backing away. "You can say no if you want."

I smile to myself. I guess this means I don't have a choice—I have to say yes.

"I don't see a reason to," I say seductively, glancing up at him from under my eyelashes.

He recoils sharply. "Oh, okay."

Shit, I didn't mean for it to come across like that! "I meant say no! I don't see a reason to say no!" I shout, trying to cover my mistake, but he still looks hopelessly puzzled.

"So what exactly does this mean?" he says slowly, as if I'm the one with the understanding issue.

"It means you need to get your sorry arse over here and kiss your girlfriend," I reply snarkily, smirking with satisfaction. He grins broadly and obliges.

Damn, we're a cute couple.

**A/N: I know, I know. I've been crappy. I was busy, then didn't have internet, then couldn't think of what I wanted to happen in the middle of this chapter. So don't kill me, please. I won't ask for too much on this one, just a pass from a (deserved and possibly painful) death. I STILL LOVE YOU!**