7. Barfs, cures and damage- control
The sofa in the Potter's House
Sirius' POV:
"Ugh barf" said the note at the side of the paragraph, written in pretty cursive. Honestly, I saw what she meant- the book was barf-worthy. It was sappy and emotional and had none of the "character development" that Moony always went on and on about.
But Emilia's notes in the margins were brilliant and much more engaging. I honestly just read the entire book because I wanted to see how she felt about it, more than what was actually being said.
"Cringiest novel ever..." said the note right under the "The end" of the novel. I grinned.
The front door opened right on cue. Emilia walked in, looking visibly drunk. She took off her heels by the stairs and stumbled up, giggling to herself.
I sighed and went into the kitchen. I poured her a glass of water and a dose of the hangover cure and walked up to her room.
She might hate me, but I was going to go up there to replace her book anyways. At least that's what I told myself.
I was really beginning to wonder how I'd missed a person like her, despite our circles running so close. She was so incredibly easy to be around. I didn't know what I'd done to make her feel so uncomfortable around me. She seemed adamant to fall into our old relationship (or lack thereof) but it was harder now that I'd had a glimpse into her personality. She wasn't just James' sister anymore.
"Hey."
She nodded in acknowledgement.
"Here," I said, giving her the water and putting the potion on her bedside table. "You know it's illegal to drink at fifteen, right?"
Her eyes widened. "Are you going to- to tell on me?"
"Nah."
She nodded.
"So, how did it go?" I asked, setting down her book at her desk.
"Where did you get that?"
"You left it in my room the other day."
She nodded sleepily. "Did you like it?"
"Your notes were better," I grinned. She flopped down on her bed, hair a halo over her head.
"Did you like Eva?"
"She's okay. She's nice."
A silence followed. I thought that she'd fallen asleep.
"I went there for d-damage control, you know."
"What do you mean?"
She scrunched up her nose. She does that a lot, I noted. "They all know. They were saying horrible thingss. They called it the Black Scandal."
I smiled at her concern. "Yeah, I figured they would. This kind of stuff doesn't take long to get around."
"Well, it's horrible and you don deserve it," she said with drunken conviction. It made me want to hug her.
"What did you do?" I asked her instead.
"Deflected everything. E-Everytime they would ask, I would just bring up some weird irrelevant thing. It was funnyyy." She giggled. And once she started, she couldn't stop. The sound was infectious.
"How'd you get so drunk?" I laughed.
"Beer pong. I'm terrible at it, but so were they."
"You sure you didn't say something when you were drunk?"
Her smile slipped off her face. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."
I nodded.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It's fine. They all know anyway."
"N-no, not that. About the other thing, t-that day. I don't hate y-you, you know."
"Don't you?"
"You're one to talk," she said indignantly.
"I don't hate you. I've never really thought about it until this summer. I'm only reminded of your existence when I run into you around the house. And we've never talked. And I don't know why. I feel like you do."
She looked down. "It's complicaatedd."
"Why?"
She shook her head. "If you think I hate y-you, whyr you here?"
She made a brilliant point. Why was I here? To return her book. Then what the fuck was I doing?
"We'll talk when you're sober," I said, walking out.
I walked across to my room to find James siting on my bed, wearing an accusing expression.
"What?" I asked.
"What was that?"
"What was what?"
"What were you doing in her room?"
"I was returning her book."
"Why do you have her book? And since when do you read?"
"She left it in my room," I said, ignoring the last part, because I didn't know either. I already knew Moony was going to hear about this, and I was dreading it.
"She left it in your room?" James asked scandalously.
My eyes widened, "No, no. No. It was daytime and we were fully clothed and she came in and she left it there, that's all. I'm not into her James, get over yourself," I hastily remedied.
He huffed, "She called you pretty the other day. And you've been all gooey-eyed and everything. And you brought her a hangover potion. You've never even done that for me. I'm not stupid."
"Except when you are," I grinned.
He was not amused. "Look, I barely know her. Which I don't get why, by the way."
He shrugged. "We used to be close when we were younger. She went through a bit of a difficult phase a little before I left for Hogwarts. I guess we just started growing apart. And the next year, when she started, our relationship was completely different," he said.
"And you don't mind it?"
"I'm not losing any sleep over it. We don't have to be like attached at the hip. She's got her thing and I've got mine."
I nodded. "She's just easy to like, is all. Now get out of my room, I want to go to sleep."