Don't Let Your Guard Down
chapter 39
I know, I KNOW. it's been waaaaaaaay too long. SORRY! I've been on break and been soooo busy. but here's the scond to last chapter! That's right, only one more chapter after this.
Disclaimer: I hope that after 39 chapters, you know that I'm not J.K. Rowling.
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Gigi skipped up the stairs, taking them two by two. She grinned to herself as she thought about her and Sirius and how they were truly back together. She was so happy to be back together with him…her boyfriend. She smiled at the thought of Sirius being her boyfriend and couldn't wait to spend some alone time with him.
Gigi opened the door but then stopped when she saw what was happening in the boy's room. "Oh…my…god."
"This isn't want it looks like!" Sirius cried out almost immediately.
"It looks like you're playing Twister," Gigi explained.
"Oh," Sirius said. "Then it's exactly what it looks like."
"So many questions…not sure which to ask first," Gigi said slowly. "Oh! I've got one…." Gigi placed her hands on her hips, "why the hell are you playing Twister?"
"The girls downstairs gave it to us for free," James said with a shrug.
"Still doesn't answer the question."
"We're avoiding studying for our exams," Remus said with a shrug.
"Oh," Gigi said and then paused to think about it. "Can I play?"
"Okay," Sirius said. "But then it's gonna have to be strip Twister."
Gigi gave him a look.
"Okay, okay," Sirius said, "naked Twister."
Gigi went over to Sirius and lightly tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to fall over. "Hey! I was gonna win that game!" Sirius cried out from the floor.
"Are you sure?" James asked. "Because you haven't won the other eight games we played."
Gigi coughed on air. "This is your eighth time playing this game?"
"Actually, it's our ninth time," Remus said and then hesitated. "That doesn't make us look any better, does it?"
There was a knock on the door just then. "Who the hell knocks on our door?" James asked, tripping on Peter's leg as he looked up at the door, causing both of them to crash onto the floor, right on top of Sirius.
"Come in!" Gigi cried out, amused at the picture she saw in front of her.
"Hey, I'm looking for James," Lily said, poking her head into the room.
"He's on top of Peter and Sirius," Gigi said.
James gave a sheepish grin to his girlfriend. "Hi honey?"
"So this is why you disappeared over an hour ago?" Lily asked. "I thought you were just coming up here to get a book."
"I got distracted," James answered shamefacedly.
"We can't help it if we're hot Lily," Sirius said with a grin. "Oh and another thing…get off me!"
James and Peter quickly scrambled to their feet. Remus looked at them and then spun the spinner. "Right hand red."
"Oh, give me that," Peter said, swiping the spinner from Remus's hand.
"Hey Lils, wanna play?" Remus asked.
"I have my hardest exam tomorrow! I have only read through half the book and I have no idea where to start looking in my notes," Lily cried out. She thought about what she said and glanced around at her friends. "So…right hand red?"
The group laughed as everyone but Peter put their right hand on a red dot and glanced up as Peter spun the spinner again.
Two hours, thousands of snacks and soda, and grabbing Kacie on the way later, the game was still going strong. Lily grinned at her best friends as she spun the spinner, happy that they were able to keep her mind off studying.
"Left foot blue," Lily announced.
"Damnit! Not left foot blue. Anything but left foot blue," Sirius cried out, as he came tumbling down onto the mat.
"Face it Si," James said. "No matter how many games we play, you are never going to win."
"Well let me tell you something," Sirius said. "We are playing this game as many times as it takes until I win."
Gigi groaned, causing her to crash into Remus, bringing them both down onto the floor. "Why don't we just go run two miles or jump off a cliff? That seems more enjoyable."
"I'm with you on that one," Lily said with a laugh.
Sirius growled under his breath and plopped down on his bed, watching Peter, James, and Kacie battle it out for the win. He smiled as Gigi came over and sat down next to him. "I don't want this to end," she said softly to Sirius.
"Don't worry," Sirius assured her. "It won't end til I win."
"Oh great, now it's gonna be the never ending game," Gigi teased. "And I didn't mean this game. I meant all of us hanging out together."
"It won't end," Sirius said positively. "It can't end. There's nothing else in my life but you guys."
Gigi linked her arm around Sirius's and rested her head on his shoulder. "What do you think you're gonna do after Hogwarts."
"Be a brain surgeon," Sirius teased. Gigi hit him playfully as Sirius shrugged. "I haven't given much thought to it."
"Hogwarts ends in two days," Gigi pointed out. "Don't you think it's time to think about it?"
"If I think about what I am going to do after we graduate, that means that Hogwarts is truly ending," Sirius said, looking at Gigi and giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "I don't want to think about it until I absolutely have to."
Gigi smiled at Sirius and kissed him on the lips. "Then don't," she whispered, nestling closer to him.
James held open an empty tin of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. "Alright," James said, waving the tin in the air. "Who ate the last cookie??"
The whole group burst into a fit of giggles. "You ate the last cookie," Lily responded between her laughs.
"Oh," James said and then gave a sheepish smile. "Carry on."
Lily grinned at him. "Ya know," she said, walking seductively over to him. "You're sexy when you're serious." Lily smiled wider. "Too bad it was about a cookie."
"I can't help it," James said. "Food turns me on."
"That goes on the list of things I did not need to know about James," Kacie cried out from across the room, biting into an oatmeal cookie. "Yum. Who made this?"
"Me," Sirius spoke up. Kacie gave him a look. "And by me…I mean a house elf."
Kacie laughed and finished up the cookie. She looked over at Remus lying across the Twister mat with Peter relaxing in a chair beside him. She licked the crumbs off her fingers as she glanced over at James leaning against a bedpost with both arms wrapped around Lily from the back. Kacie kept a smile on her face as she turned her gaze to Sirius and Gigi who were lying down on his bed, their fingers entwined.
"This is such a perfect memory," Kacie spoke up. "All of us hanging out together. Nothing could ruin this moment."
"Shit! I have so much studying to do," Lily cried out, glancing down at her watch.
"…I spoke too soon," Kacie groaned, gathering her things. "I suppose we did waste a lot of studying time."
"Waste? You call this a waste?" Sirius cried out. "Twister will never ever be a-"
"It's a complete waste of time," James explained.
"That's basically like saying my life is a complete waste-"
"Don't finish that sentence because I will then feel the need to make a mean comment about your pitiful life and I don't feel like sleeping alone tonight," Gigi said with a grin, receiving a playful pout from Sirius.
"Ugh, I can't believe how much work I have to do before the end of the school year," Lily groaned.
"Oh my god, I have so much to do! I'm not gonna get any sleep tonight!" Sirius freaked out. He glanced around at his friends and then burst out laughing. "I almost believed myself for a second there."
"I didn't," James responded, throwing a pillow in his direction.
Gigi was biting into an apple when she noticed a little bit of light coming from an empty classroom. She poked her head in and gave a questioning look when she noticed who it was.
"What are you doing?" she wondered.
"Studying," Sirius said, not even looking from his textbook.
Gigi paused. "No, really. What are you doing?"
Sirius looked up at gave her a smile. "Don't tell anyone. It will ruin my reputation," Sirius teased.
Gigi shrugged and turned around to leave but stopped when Sirius spoke up. "What are you doing right now?"
"On my way to take a nap," Gigi said, whirling around.
"Nap here," Sirius said.
Gigi raised her eyebrows.
"And by nap, I mean snog me," Sirius said with a grin.
Gigi laughed, kicked the door closed behind her, and threw away the apple core she was holding. "So are you really studying? Because you can honestly tell me what you're really up to."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Why do you think I'm studying in an empty classroom?" he patted his lap and Gigi came over and sat down on it, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I can't get distracted by anyone or anything. That's why no one sees me studying."
"Ah," Gigi said. "Well I won't tell anyone that you really do study. We don't want people thinking that you're actually smart."
"That's all I ask," Sirius said.
Gigi looked at him and burst out laughing at that comment. She snuggled closer to him and shut her eyes. "Hmm, this is a much better place to nap."
Sirius brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her on the forehead. He was staring intensely at her, not believing how gorgeous and peaceful she looked at that moment. She opened her eyes when she felt Sirius's lips on her cheek and smiled at him, not tearing her eyes away from his.
Gigi softly said, "So what are you studying?"
"Female anatomy," Sirius whispered almost inaudibly as he brought his lips to hers. She draped her arms around his neck and intensified the kiss.
He tore his lips away from his and they spent a few seconds just staring at each other, trying to read the verbal clues. Gigi reached for his shirt and slowly unbuttoned it, pealing it off his arms, and throwing it to the floor.
Sirius pushed the books to the side with his arm, not caring when they fell to the floor with a loud crash. He kissed the hollow of her neck and quietly whispered, "I suddenly really like studying," before he slipped her shirt over her head and it fell onto the floor with his shirt.
"Okay, so did anyone else understand the whole second page of that exam?" Kacie asked with a groan.
Sirius stopped walking. "There was a whole second page??"
"It's not like you would have understood it anyway," James pointed out.
Sirius paused and then shrugged. "Yeah, that's true."
"Now, c'mon guys," Lily said. "Give him some credit. He could have known some of it."
"It was about the monsumilium curse," James pointed out.
"What the hell is that?" Sirius asked.
"My point exactly," James said with a smirk in Lily's direction.
"I'm just glad…oh my god!!" Sirius shrieked, stopping in the entrance of the Great Hall. "This is the best going away present ever!!"
"Huh?" everyone questioned.
Sirius pointed to the food on the tables. "Hell yeah! It's hamburger day!!" James cried out.
"Oh god, not this whole stuffing our mouths disgustingly, spewing hamburger in every direction, calorie fest thing again," Kacie groaned.
"It's called a hamburger eating contest," Remus pointed out.
"It's called the best freakin contest ever!" Sirius cried out, running to the hamburgers.
"Apparently we have renamed the contest," Remus said with a laugh.
"When will he ever grow up?" Gigi moaned but secretly smiling to herself, not being able to believe how happy she was with Sirius, thinking back to last night.
"I think we can safely say the answer to that question is never," Lily said with a laugh, as Peter, Remus and James jetted towards the hamburgers as well. "And they'll never grow up either."
"At least we can be grown-ups," Kacie said, shaking her head and walking towards the table.
"HEY! Don't take all the hamburgers, you hamburger-hoggers!" Gigi cried out, sprinting towards the table.
"I stand corrected," Kacie said, shaking her head again. Lily linked arms with Kacie as they walked towards the Gryffindor table and sat across from the guys.
"Where's Georgie? Where's Freddie?" Sirius asked, grabbing a bunch of hamburgers from the bowl and piling them up on his plate. "We should so start this contest without them."
"Just give them a few minutes," James said, rolling his eyes. "They're probably at the nurse after having a panic attack from that ridiculously hard Defense Against the Dark Arts exam."
"They're right over there," Gigi noted, pointing to the Hufflepuff table.
"And perhaps they're sitting right over there," James corrected.
"Georgie! Freddie! Get your asses over here!" Sirius shrieked.
"I have never seen him get so excited over anything in his entire life," Gigi said.
"Except girls," James pointed out, turning around on the bench to face her.
"Hmm, I don't know," Gigi said slowly. "He's never this excited around me." Gigi turned to Sirius. "Close your mouth Si, you're drooling."
"Wanna kiss?" Sirius asked with a wink.
"Ew," Gigi said. "Suddenly I'm happy that you don't get this excited when you're around me."
"Clearly we know what his life priorities are," James said as he watched Sirius pile hamburgers on Georgie and Freddie's plates. "Food…girls…then breathing."
"Nuh uh," Sirius said, shaking his head. "Food…then sex…then breathing."
Gigi picked up and entire hamburger and threw it at Sirius.
"HEY! You are wasting perfectly good hamburger there," Sirius exclaimed. Gigi gave him a look. "I mean…I love you, honey," Sirius said in a foolish voice with a goofy grin.
Gigi froze in place. "Um…what?"
Sirius also froze and choked on the hamburger that was currently in his mouth now. He coughed a little and with the help of James' patting his back, he coughed it back up.
After he was done coughing, Sirius wiped his mouth and stood up from the table. "So…let's get this contest started!" Sirius cried out, mentally hitting himself for telling Gigi he loved her in a way that made it seem like it wasn't a big deal. He didn't even know what love was and here he was, throwing out the word as if it was nothing. He never even used that word before, except to describe cookies and chocolate…and mini skirts.
No one else seemed to really understand what happened and didn't notice the tension between Sirius and Gigi. "You guys in or out?" James asked, looking up at Kacie and Lily who were currently sitting on the side of the table.
"We are so out," Kacie answered.
"Oh c'mon! It's a day before we're out of this place!" Freddie cried out. "You have to play. It's like a rule."
"There's now a Hogwarts rule that says you can't graduate if you don't participate in a hamburger eating contest?" Lily questioned.
"Yup!" Freddie answered quickly.
"I'm Head Girl. If that was a rule, I'd know about it," Lily said smugly.
"So?" Georgie asked. "James is Head Boy and he still knows nothing."
In mid-bite, James answered, "Ya, iss thrue."
Lily thought about what Freddie had just said and shrugged. She turned to Kacie. "How many times after this are we ever gonna be able to participate in a hamburger eating contest with some of our closest friends."
"Never. That's the point," Kacie pointed out. "We'll be in the real world…where that isn't acceptable behavior."
"Oh shut up," Gigi said. "You sound like Lily."
"Hey!" Lily cried out.
"It's true," James pointed out.
"Yeah, okay," Lily agreed.
"Fine! Are you happy?? You've talked me into it! I will get fat from eating ten hamburgers!" Kacie burst out.
Everyone looked at her. "We hardly said anything to you…" Remus spoke up.
Kacie shrugged. "Give me some hamburgers."
"And don't worry Kace," Sirius said. "You'll probably only get through three or four by the time this freak-" Sirius pointed at Gigi (without making eye contact of course), "-is finished."
"What? You don't think I can win this?" Kacie asked, putting her hands on her hips and stepping off the bench.
"No way," Sirius said. "You're not adequately prepared like the rest of us."
"It's true," Lily said. "I'll be surprised if I get past three hamburgers."
"I'll be surprised if you get past one," James snickered.
Lily took a hamburger and stuffed it in his mouth and stuck her tongue immaturely out at him.
"Alright, let's get this contest started!" Sirius cried out, taking charge and standing up from the table, facing the participants. He laughed as Kacie neatly fit a napkin into the top of her shirt and Lily carefully put her hamburgers in tidy order on her plate. "You are such girls."
James turned to look at Kacie and Lily and burst out laughing. "That tends to be a quality I like in my girlfriend."
"She's neatly stacking her hamburgers! That's not a girl, that's a freak!" Sirius cried out.
"Um, hello? I'm standing right here," Lily burst out.
"Oh honey, you're sitting, not standing," James said. Lily growled at him. "You're gonna stuff another hamburger into my mouth aren't you?"
"Seriously, what's wrong with your girlfriend?" Sirius asked, as Lily continued to stack her hamburgers in a row.
"You want the list?" James snickered.
"Sitting right here," Lily cried out.
James turned to Lily with a smile and got a hamburger thrown into his face.
"At least she didn't stuff it in your mouth this time," Sirius explained with a shrug.
"Yeah, but this one had ketchup on it," James muttered, using a napkin to get ketchup off his face.
"You guys have that love-hate relationship going on, huh?" Freddie asked.
"More like a love-hate relationshit," James muttered jokingly.
Lily turned to him and gave him a look. James pointed to the hamburger in her hand. "You're gonna stuff that down my pants, aren't you?"
Lily grinned and smashed two hamburgers in his hair.
"I really hafta learn to stop talking," James said with a groan as he rustled his hair, trying to get every piece of hamburger out of it.
Sirius gave him a look.
"Around Lily, at least."
Lily laughed as she slapped the hands Kacie and Gigi put up for a high five.
"Man James, you are whipped," Georgie said with a laugh.
"I am not! Never in my lifetime will I be whipped by a girl," James exclaimed and then he glanced over at Lily. "Please tell me we're out of hamburgers."
"Yeah and besides, you're wasting perfectly good hamburger!" Sirius cried out, snatching the hamburger out of Lily's grip and stuffing it in his mouth.
"Hey, I thought we were getting this contest started?" Remus asked.
"This is just substance food," Sirius said with his mouth full, hamburger spewing out in several different directions.
"Wow Gi, you are one lucky gal to be dating…that," Freddie said. "For lack of a better word."
"Yeah," Gigi said, obviously distracted. She couldn't help but think about what Sirius said earlier. I love you honey. Of course he was just saying it in a joking manner…but still, the words came out of his mouth. Joking or not, he actually said that. But did he mean it? Why would he say it if he didn't mean it?
Gigi sat there as everyone else gathered their hamburgers and conversed about the contest. I mean, she knows that they finally took their relationship to another level…a wonderful level. She smiled to herself thinking about Sirius's little "study session" the night before. But…he never used the word love before except to describe food, or classes being cancelled, or mini skirts. Never ever had he used the word around a girl before, especially his girlfriend.
Shit, Sirius thought to himself as he glanced over at Gigi completely zoning out and not answering Lily as she asked Gigi a question. The only thing she could be thinking about was how he so stupidly said the "L" word when he clearly didn't mean it…
…or did he?
"THREE…TWO…ONE…GO!" a Gryffindor fifth year claimed as everyone dug (or neatly picked up in the case of Kacie and Lily) into their hamburgers. That took both Gigi and Sirius out of their trance as they picked up at least two hamburgers each and mashed them into their mouth.
"Ew, look at the boys. They look so disgusting. They have more hamburger ending up down their fronts than actually in their mouths," a friend of Freddie and Georgie's spoke up.
"Look at the boys? Screw them, look at Gigi. She's an animal!" another friend cried out.
"Thannlk ya," Gigi said with her mouth full of at least three different hamburgers.
"Those boys will never attract girls like this," a voice said from the end of the table.
"Except girls like that," someone said, pointing to Gigi as she stuffed hamburger into her mouth.
"I think Kacie and Lily are playing who can be the neatest hamburger eater," Lucie said, poking her head over the crowd.
"And Lily is definitely winning," a Ravenclaw seventh year boy answered.
Kacie gave him a gesture with her finger that would not have been appropriate in front of professors.
"Suddenly I'm loving Kacie," the boy answered seductively.
"Sheez ssingel!" Gigi cried out.
"Huh?"
"She said, she's single," Lily said, looking up from her hamburgers.
"And very attractive looking right now," another boy added. "Especially with that hamburger hanging out of her mouth."
"COME ON KACIE! My money's on you!" the first boy cried out.
Kacie looked up at him and then started digging into her hamburgers as if she was a cave woman…or Sirius.
"DONE!" Sirius cried out, holding up his empty plate.
"Damnit!" Georgie cried out, swallowing the rest of his seventh hamburger.
"Man, I really thought I was gonna win," Lily said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and pushing her plate of eight hamburgers towards James and Sirius who gladly dug into them as if they haven't eaten anything all day.
Kacie gave them a repulsive look and was taken aback when Remus also started digging into the plate of leftover hamburgers. "You guys are pigs."
"She says that with love," Peter said, even though the boys were too consumed with food to realize what was going on around them.
"I think I licked that one," Kacie said, pointing to a hamburger in the center of the plate.
Sirius shrugged and grabbed the hamburger she was referring to, sticking it into his mouth.
"I am officially disgusted," Kacie said, giving Sirius a repulsive look.
Gigi wiped her mouth off, chugged a glass of pumpkin juice, and stood up. "I think I'm gonna get out of here."
"But we just got here," Lily said. "And it's not like we have any more classes or exams or anything. It's like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders."
"We're free!" James cried out between bites of hamburger.
"Or you could put it like that," Lily said.
Gigi shrugged. "I just feel really hot. I'm gonna get some air."
"Want some company?" Lily asked and then jumped up. "Ew! James!"
James picked up the plate that fell on Lily and then eventually on the floor. "Oops, sorry."
Gigi laughed a little. "You seem to be preoccupied. I'll just see you later." And with that, Gigi sauntered off.
Sirius had been listening to the whole conversation and sighed, pushing his plate of hamburgers out of reach. He leaned back on the bench and sighed.
"You're full?" Remus asked. "I don't think I've ever seen that happen in the seven years that I've known you."
"Yeah," Sirius said, obviously preoccupied with something else. "I'm gonna get going too. See you guys later." Sirius shook his head and rolled his eyes when it didn't seem that his friends were paying attention to him because they were too busy eating some—I mean all the leftovers on the table.
"Gi, wait up," Sirius called out. He attempted to yell it out but it came out weaker than a yell only because he wasn't quite sure what he was going to say to her…and that worried him a little bit.
Gigi froze in place, not sure if she wanted to face him or not. She sighed under her breath and then turned to face him. "Hi."
"You ran out of there pretty fast," Sirius said, mentally kicking himself for stating the obvious and not having anything else prepared to say.
Gigi shrugged. "Too many hamburgers. I was ready to throw up."
"Oh," Sirius said, ready to crawl into a hole and die.
Gigi and Sirius just stared awkwardly at each other, neither one knowing if it was okay to leave but neither one having anything to say.
Sirius took a deep breath and couldn't believe he was gonna bring the 'forbidden subject' up. "Look, what I said in there…" he trailed off, reading the pained look on Gigi's face.
"Oh yeah, I know you didn't mean it like that or anything," Gigi said really fast, her face getting hot from embarrassment.
"Oh, right. Yeah, of course not," Sirius said quickly.
Gigi's heart sank and she wasn't even sure why. She cleared her throat. "So um…congrats on winning the contest."
"Oh c'mon. We all knew I was gonna win," Sirius said. "I have such a big mouth."
Gigi let out a fake laugh. "Ain't that the truth," she said, forcing a smile.
It grew quiet again and Sirius spoke up, tired and afraid of the awkwardness. He was afraid that he would say something else he'd end up regretting. "Well…I have homework to do. I'll see you later."
"But you never do homework!" Gigi called out as he darted down the hallway.
"Now's as good a time as any to start!" Sirius cried out over his shoulder.
Gigi stood there for a second and then said to herself, "And school is over."
"I hate you," Sirius cried out that night, throwing his pillow at James.
James looked up at Sirius pacing back and forth in his room. "Can I ask why?"
"No wait," Sirius said, still pacing. "I hate Lily. Where is she? I need to yell at her."
"Wait, what? First tell me what's going on," James said, putting down the clothes he was folding at looking up at his best friend.
"No! Need to yell at Lily," Sirius burst out. "Wait, no. I hate girls. I need to yell at all girls."
"Now, is that all the girls in the world? Or will just the Gryffindor girls do?" James asked.
"You're mocking me," Sirius said sternly. "This is not a time to make fun of me!"
"Now is a perfect time to make fun of you because you aren't making any sense," James exclaimed. "Why the hell do you hate me, Lily, and all the girls in the world?"
Sirius sighed. "I never thought about love before. It never once crossed my mind and then you and Lily have to go and fall in love." Sirius narrowed his eyes and looked at James. "I hate that."
"So lemme get this straight," James said slowly. "You don't hate Lily and I. You just hate love."
"NO! I hate you and Lily," Sirius cried out.
James gave him a look.
"Okay," Sirius said with a pout, slumping down in a chair besides James's bed. "I hate love."
"I'm gonna need more information to piece together whatever the hell it is you're trying to say," James said.
Sirius sighed heavily and didn't say anything for quite awhile. After what seemed like hours of silence (but was actually just two minutes), Sirius looked up at James and got the nerve to ask, "How do you know if you're in love?"
James gave him a suspicious look. "Why the sudden urge to find out what love is about?"
Sirius sighed and glanced down at a picture of Lily and James that was sitting on his nightstand. He smiled slightly at the picture, happy that his best friend was in a healthy relationship. He laughed a little too himself as he thought about the friendly arguments that the two of them had at lunch that afternoon. "Forget it. Let's go get drunk on our last night here."
"Hold up!" James called out before Sirius could walk out of the door. "Do you love Gigi?"
Sirius shrugged and then groaned. "I don't know!" he exclaimed, running his hands nervously through his hair. "I wish I knew what the hell love was. Why oh why did I have to go and say I love you to her??"
"You told her that you loved her?" James exclaimed, clamping his hand over his mouth. "Oh my gosh. Sirius Black actually used the word love…and not about mini skirts."
"Well not really," Sirius said. "It kind of just slipped out in a joking manner so we decided that it didn't mean anything."
"We?" James asked with raised eyebrows.
"Okay, me," Sirius exclaimed. "Me said it meant nothing."
"You mean 'I' said it meant nothing," James corrected.
"You told my girlfriend you loved her but it meant nothing??" Sirius cried out, standing up and clenching his fists.
"No! You used the wrong grammar in your sentence, you dolt," James said.
"Oh who cares, we're out of school," Sirius said, plopping back down on the bed.
"Too bad you still need another seven years here," James muttered. "But anyway. So you told Gi that you loved her but then you said it didn't mean anything?"
"She was being all awkward! I figured she didn't love me back and she was worried about hurting me. So I just quickly made it so there wouldn't be a problem," Sirius said. "Does that sound positively stupid?"
"Yes," James said immediately. "But it is you talking." James looked up at his best friend. "So what I'm hearing is that you do love Gigi but you were afraid of rejection so you took it back before she got the time to say she didn't love you back…although you don't actually know if that's true."
"Yes," Sirius said. "Wait, no. I mean...you got that from what I said?"
"Yup."
"Oh." Sirius paused to think about what James said. "But I don't love Gigi."
"Are you sure?" James said really slowly, giving Sirius time to think about it.
"What is this, a test?" Sirius wondered.
James gave him a look.
Sirius sighed. "I don't want to lose her," he said softly.
"Oh, but avoiding her because you're afraid of the 'L' word is better?" James asked.
Sirius threw another pillow at James. "When did you become so smart?"
"It's a gift," James said with a smirk.
"More like a curse," Sirius muttered with a hint of a smile.
Sirius sighed again; he wasn't in love with Gigi. He was Sirius Black…the guy of one night stands and no commitment. No way was he in love…right? He looked up at James. "How do you know if you're in love?"
James shrugged and turned his gaze to look at the picture of Lily on his desk. "You just know," he said with a smile.
Sirius looked at his friend smiling at a picture of his girlfriend and groaned. "Okay, you're grossing me out."
James shook out of his trance and turned back to his best friend. "Let me ask you a question. Why do you think you're not in love with Gigi?"
"Uh hello? Because it's me. Sirius Black! Commitment is something I never thought I'd do. Dating a girl longer than a week is something I didn't understand. Sticking to one and only one girl...no way! I'm the player type of guy," Sirius said.
James grinned at his best friend but didn't say anything.
"Okay, why are you smiling at me like that?" Sirius said slowly. "You're creeping me out."
"You love her," he said.
Sirius didn't say anything for a bit. "Care to elaborate?"
"You didn't think you did commitment. You never thought of dating a girl longer than a week. You didn't think that you would ever be able to stick to a girl longer than a carton of milk stays fresh," James explained. "But look at you. You have a girlfriend who you've been with for a while…despite a few rough patches. You have committed to two different girls, well sort of."
"Still not getting it," Sirius said.
"You were afraid of all of those things but you managed to get past all of that," James said. "So basically, you're afraid to say you love Gigi, but you're gonna get past that."
"But how are you so sure that I love her?" Sirius asked.
"You're just afraid Sirius," James said. "Don't you get it?"
"Obviously not."
James rolled his eyes. "What are you so afraid of?" James asked sincerely.
"Well, I'm not a fan of spiders. Or homework."
"You're afraid of homework?" James asked with a snicker.
"I have nightmares of it suffocating me in my sleep," Sirius pointed out.
"Okay, that's something you should never ever tell anyone," James said. "…ever."
Sirius laughed. "Oh! And I'm really afraid of death. And those things that muggles ride in…plane thingys."
"I'm not talking about…airplanes? You're afraid of airplanes?" James cried out. "You learn something new about your best friend every day."
"I'm also afraid of-"
"I'm talking about with Gigi. I'm talking about love, you dolt," James said.
"Why didn't you just say that?" Sirius asked.
"This entire conversation has been about love. I thought it was implied," James said.
"Never assume I know something is implied," Sirius explained.
James was about to retort to that and then he it finally dawned on him as to what Sirius was afraid of. "Oh wow…you're afraid of rejection."
"Huh?"
"You're afraid to tell Gigi you love her because she might not say it back," James established.
"No, that's not it. I'm afraid to say I love you because I don't know if I do love her," Sirius said.
James gave him a look.
Sirius sighed. "When it comes to relationships, I just feel so stupid."
"That's not just when it comes to relationships," James said.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "There's a day and a half left of Hogwarts. What if I screw it up and then we leave and I never see her again? What if I mess things up and I don't get a second chance to get it right?"
"Actually, it would be a third chance," James spoke up. Sirius glared at him. "But we don't need math anymore…we're out of school."
Sirius heaved a sigh and fell on James's bed onto his back.
James cleared his throat and turned to his best friend with soft eyes. "You also only have a day and a half to tell her how you feel before you graduate and go out into the real world to do who-knows-what."
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, sitting up and leaning against his elbow.
James sighed and fell back onto his pillows. "Lily is talking about going to a university in another country. What makes you think Gigi isn't thinking about something like that? You don't know what's gonna happen after graduation. So what I'm saying is that you say you only have a day and a half and you could screw things up…but you also only have a day and a half to tell her how you truly feel. What if you never get another chance to tell her how you feel?"
Sirius bolted up. "What? You think Gigi could be going to another country?? You don't think we'll be together after Hogwarts??" Sirius gasped and brought his hand to his mouth. "Oh my god…I love her."
James grinned.
"I picture our futures together. I didn't do that with Lucie. And I didn't do that in the beginning of Gigi and my relationship," Sirius said. He was silent for a few seconds thinking over this new realization. "I love her," he whispered to himself.
James' grin grew bigger. "Well don't tell me. Go find Gigi!"
"Thanks Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed. "Have I ever told you that you're awesome?"
"No."
"Oh…you'd think I would have by now," Sirius said and then he raced out of the room.
"And then Sawyer Tunkin called me hot," Gigi said with a huge grin on her face.
"Um…you do know that you have a boyfriend, right?" Kacie asked.
"Oh, I know that," Gigi said, rolling her eyes. "But it's flattering. And not only did he call me hot, he told his pal that I have a 'smokin ass.'"
"Guys are pigs," Lily muttered.
"Hey! Don't rain on my parade," Gigi said. "Anyone who calls me hot is a wonderful human being."
"Why not jump into bed with him?" Lily mumbled with a hint of a smile.
"I would…but I don't think Sirius would appreciate it," Gigi joked.
"How come all the guys want you?" Kacie whined. "Is my ass not 'smokin?'"
Gigi shrugged. "I dunno. Turn around and let me see your ass."
"Okay, this conversation has taken a strange turn," Lily said.
"You're just worried that you have the least 'smokin' ass out of all three of us," Gigi said.
"I am not worried—wait, you think my ass is the worst out of all three of us?" Lily questioned, stopping dead in her tracks and putting her hands on her hips.
"Whose ass is the worst?" James asked, joining the girls as he strolled up from a perpendicular hallway.
"Lily's," Gigi said with a shrug.
"Not from where I'm standing," James said with a wink. The group burst out laughing as they walked towards the Gryffindor tower.
"The point is," Gigi said, smiling wide. "I love guys and this is the best day ever."
"Does that mean you love Sirius back?" James asked.
Gigi slowed her walking pace. "Huh?"
"When Sirius told you that he truly loved you, what did you say back?" James wondered.
Gigi froze in place. "What?"
"Well?? Did you say it back?" James questioned.
"Sirius told you he loved you??" Kacie squealed.
"No," Gigi answered.
Now it was James's turn to freeze in place. "Wait…but you just said that you loved boys."
"Yeah because someone called me hot today," Gigi recalled.
"Oh, shit," James said under his breath. "Well…I gotta go. I'll-"
"You're not just referring to the slip up at lunch today, are you," Gigi stated. She already knew the answer so she didn't bother stating it in the form of a question. "So what the hell are you talking about?"
"Nothing," James said quickly. "Seriously, I'm late. I hafta go now."
"You aren't going anywhere," Gigi cried out.
"I'd listen to her," Lily said in a low voice. "The vein is starting to pop out of her head."
"Look Gi," James said slowly, afraid that she was about to bite his head off, "I must have just heard something wrong. It's no big deal."
"Apparently my boyfriend has been talking to you about loving me instead of talking to me and then I have to go and hear it from you," Gigi exclaimed. "And you call that no big deal??"
"Yes," James said, "I mean no. Maybe? Crap, I don't know the answer."
"It isn't a test," Gigi said, rolling her eyes.
"Then how come I feel like I'm failing?" James asked, cowering into a corner.
Gigi sighed. "Did he really say that he loved me?"
"I honestly have no idea what I'm talking about," James said. "You know that that's usually the case. You should talk to Sirius, not me."
Gigi grew frustrated. She thought the whole 'love' thing was out of the way and wasn't a problem anymore. She didn't want to worry about it anymore…right? She was glad when Sirius told her that he didn't mean it. Then why, if that is the case, did she feel so let down when he agreed that it meant nothing when she brought it up?
"Yeah," she said, obviously distracted. "I'm going to go find Sirius." But she knew there was no way she was going to go find him. In fact, she knew that she was going to avoid him at all costs…and she couldn't really understand why.
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Uh oh...what's gonna happen to Sirius and Gigi? Is the whole group gonna make it to graduation without any fights or breakups? REVIEW TO FIND OUT!