Looking back on it, Hallie wasn't quite sure why she had let Sirius Black escape without so much as a point deducted. Perhaps it was his apparent sincerity when he told her he wasn't doing anything bad outside of just breaking curfew. She hadn't actually caught him doing anything after all. It could have been because all the paperwork was a bitch to fill out and that she wasn't going to put more effort into her prefect position than absolutely required. Not to mention she'd then have to tell Garrett she lied about not seeing anything.
She didn't let herself think about the (strong) possibility that it was his mischievous grey eyes that softened her.
Regardless, the next day at breakfast when Severus Snape and several other students sitting near him at the Slytherin table suddenly began squawking like chickens, Hallie was pretty sure she figured out what he was doing last night. Snape appeared to know who it was as well, pointing at the Marauders with an angry caw.
Hallie twisted in her chair to send a dark glare at the culprit herself.
He was busy observing the Slytherin table with a smug look but then his eyes wandered to catch everyone's reactions and met hers. He looked surprised to see her again but then smoothly winked and mouthed sorry, sweetheart with an utterly unrepentant grin. Fucking liar.
Mercifully, no one around them seemed to notice they were looking at each other. Beside him, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew were roaring with laughter at the affected Slytherins, who were now flapping their arms and pecking at their food. From the alarmed looks on the Slytherins' faces, it didn't appear to be a conscious decision. Remus Lupin appeared to be laughing as well but was hiding it behind a sleeve.
"Close your mouth," Ben advised her. "It's not a good look for you."
"And why are you blushing?" Asha turned around but luckily couldn't follow Hallie's line of vision through the dozens of students.
"I'm not blushing. It's just warm in here."
"Don't tell me you're blushing over Snape!"
Hallie rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."
But Asha and Ben were too amused already.
"Honestly, the half-bird look is an improvement on him," Ben noted.
"No wonder you're attracted to him now," added Asha.
"I hate you guys."
Professor Davis stood in front of them with a critical eye. This wasn't something new to OWL year as she was typically a tough professor.
Asha and Hallie surreptitiously peered down to see her shoes. Professor Davis was the most fashionable of their professors and the luxurious emerald green cloak she wore would be difficult to match.
"I can't see them under her cloak. You?" Asha whispered.
"I think they're black but I can't see the style…"
"Ms. Jameson, Ms. Chaudhari, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Professor Davis's sharp voice cut across their mutterings. They shrank back.
"No," Asha squeaked. Hallie merely shook her head no in a fearful silence.
"I suggest you pay attention then if you would like to pass your OWLs at the end of the year," she said icily. Hallie caught Ben throwing them a sympathetic wince from a few seats away. Asha paled and nodded weakly at the professor. "Today we will be learning the Impediment Jinx as part of our dueling unit. This will likely be part of your practical OWL. Everyone, pair up."
Defense Against the Dark Arts used a lot of charms and jinxes so Hallie typically excelled in the practical portion of the class but struggled with the written material since memorizing was not her strong suit. Asha was the exact opposite.
"Try having a more firm grip on your wand," Hallie suggested. "It would better simulate how you'd hold it in a real duel."
Asha screwed up her face in concentration. "Impedimenta!"
Hallie's limbs felt a bit more sluggish and heavy but nowhere near the completely frozen state she was supposed to be in if the spell were at its full force.
"That was good!" she said encouragingly. "Maybe use a—"
"Yes, I know," Asha snapped.
In a spot of unfortunate timing, Professor Davis, who had been making rounds around the room to check on students, stopped at their duo.
"Jameson, you first."
Hallie performed the jinx without hesitation and Asha froze completely for several seconds.
Professor Davis nodded in approval. "Nicely done. She stayed immobile for 10 seconds, the current class record. Make your wand movement a bit more horizontal than diagonal and you might even get it to a full 15 seconds."
Hallie simply nodded as the warm feeling of pride crept over her. From Davis, this praise was as effusive as it was ever going to get.
"Chaudhari, your turn."
Asha shook off any lingering effects of the jinx and cast the jinx on Hallie once more. Hallie felt the same result as last time but for Asha's sake, tried to stay as still as possible so Davis would think Asha's spell was stronger than it really was.
"Jameson, I can tell you're faking. Chaudhari, put more force into it. Dueling jinxes take a great deal of energy. Concentrate your power and fix your stance to be more solid. I expect to see some improvement by next week."
"Yes, ma'am." Asha looked defeated.
The class finally ended with Professor Davis assigning them a short essay on the practical applications of the Impediment Jinx and the theory behind it.
"I hope they have that mac and cheese from last week at lunch again today," Hallie said, reminiscing about the pepper jack cheese in it that was frankly life-changing. "Wasn't it so good?"
Asha was quiet for a moment. "I think I'm actually going to go practice a bit more before Potions. I'll pick up something from the kitchens later, don't worry about me," she said hastily and left before Hallie could do anything more than frown.
Hallie figured that her interaction with Sirius Black was a one-time only kind of deal. But next Wednesday on her patrols, there he was again.
"Come here often?" Sirius threw her a lazy grin as he walked towards her. Hallie did not smile back.
"Impedimenta!"
He froze mid-stride. Hallie looked over her work in satisfaction. It was good to know she could do that out of the classroom environment. With a wave of her wand, she performed the counter jinx.
"What the hell was that for? I obviously wasn't going to attack you." He scowled but Hallie only narrowed her eyes more.
"You lied to me." She tried not to sound too petulant but didn't quite succeed. Sirius's mouth twitched as though he were trying not to smile.
"I guess I deserved that," he finally admitted. His sharp grey eyes looked at her in amusement as they met in the middle of the hallway again. "It wasn't personal. And if it helps, I did that before I saw you."
"Then where did you go afterwards?" she demanded, crossing her arms. "You weren't headed for Gryffindor Tower."
He hesitated, running a hand through his long hair. "I went on a run," he said finally, eyeing her uncertainly.
His sudden uncharacteristic reticence made her pause and consider that he was potentially truthful this time. Except she'd thought that last time and now she just looked naive.
"In the middle of the night?" she retorted. "How dumb do you think I am?"
His eyes slid exaggeratedly to her Ravenclaw tie and then to her prefect badge.
"Oh, I'm sure you're more than qualified to be in your position, love," he drawled, dragging his gaze along her body as he met her eyes again.
He was flirting with her! Again! The audacity. Hallie narrowed her eyes at him without any confidence that he would actually take her seriously.
"Five points from Gryffindor."
"What! Ok, fine," he groaned. "I really am going for a run, I promise. It just helps me clear my head at night. I swear," he added imploringly, seeing that Hallie was still skeptical.
"So you won't mind if I follow you?" she challenged. He spread his arms out in a welcoming gesture.
"I'm an open book. Let's go right now."
"Fine."
As they walked together in silence, Hallie regretted calling his bluff. Honestly, she didn't really care what Sirius Black did at night. Only her pride had been hurt and now she was going to—what? Watch him run around the lake at night? Maybe she should have just stuck to her regular patrols and given him the free pass he seemed to get from everyone else in life.
Well, except from his family, she thought with no small amount of guilt. But everyone knew the Potter family had taken him in like their own son. His voice suddenly broke her out of her distracted thoughts.
"Look, I'm not going to promise that I'll never pull a prank or break any school rules again. We both know that's not going to happen." He offered her a smile. "But how about you let me just go on these runs every Wednesday night during your rounds and I promise I won't do anything then so you don't get in trouble for not catching me? You can even escort me from Gryffindor Tower to the doors so you know I'm not going anywhere in the castle."
That… was rather out of left field. And certainly open, like he'd promised. Hallie tried to envision any scenario for how he could get into trouble but came up blank.
"I might be willing—"
"Wait. I don't actually know if I can promise no pranks on Wednesdays."
"Are you serious right now?"
"I'm like 93% sure I can avoid Wednesdays. But if I can't, I'll promise to avoid you so you won't have to deal with us. How about that?" He seemed a bit too satisfied for coming up with what was, in Hallie's opinion, barely a plan. "I really just need to clear my head sometimes and this is the only way I can."
He looked at her pleadingly. Hallie was not about to buy his act but if she knew what to expect from him in advance, it could make her life a bit easier.
"We'll try it for a month," she decided. "If you do anything like what you did last week, I will actually give you detention."
"Brilliant. You know, Ravenclaw, I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship." Sirius threw an arm around her shoulders and Hallie shrugged him off.
"Let's see you run first."
They stood by the large doors leading to the lake. Sirius tucked his wand in his sock and without another word took off running.
He did actually look more relaxed while running. Well, she'd know soon enough if he lied to her. Once he was about a quarter of the way around the lake, Hallie left to go report back to Garrett.
Until next week, Sirius Black.