Chapter 24
**
"So I heard that Sirius wasn't too happy that you and Jordan went to the library to study." Lily said when we were doing some homework in the dorms. I needed a friend right now and Lily was there.
"Yeah, do you think it was wrong of me to agree to study with Jordan?" I asked confused. I used to be so full of womanpower and I always knew what to do.
"No, of course not. Ash, you need to keep in charge, don't let him control you, that's what all guys want but us women have to stick together and keep strong." Lily said.
"Lily, I don't know what to do. He seems so mad and I want to be mad at him and yet I want us to be together and not fight, you know what I mean?" I asked her.
"Ash, the only piece of advice that I can give you is. don't lose your strong opinion or your mind." Lily said and we giggled. I knew she was right; I shouldn't lose my strong opinion. That was one of the things that made me, one of the things that made Sirius fall in love with me. But I also knew that he had his own strong opinion and that's why I fell in love with him.
I went to bed that night thinking about what I was going to do. When I had returned to the common room that night I found Sirius surrounded by girls and it didn't even faze me. Why? I used to be so uptight about those things. If a man was mine then he was ONLY mine.
"Ash?" I heard a whispering voice. It was a manly voice and I couldn't figure out where it had come from though.
"Ashleigh?" I heard it again. It was coming from the window. I got up and went to the window that over looked the forest. I loved the view and we were so lucky to get the view. I looked out the window but I didn't see anyone.
"Hi!" Sirius said. His face popped out right in front of me and I fell on my butt. He chuckled and I scowled. I jumped up and rubbed my butt it hurt. He was floating on his broom.
"What are you doing?" I asked in a hush urgent whisper.
"I came to talk to you." He said.
"You couldn't talk to me earlier?" I asked him. He hung his head for a second and then he looked back at me.
"Ash, come with me. Please." He said. I glanced back at Lily and the other girls.
"I don't know." I started to say and then he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the window. I was dangling and trying not to scream.
"Sirius! Let me go!" I said loudly. The cold air was whipping at my bare legs. I was wearing shorts and a tank top. I was figuring that I would stay in my warm room. Sirius pulled me up with all his strength and he set me on his broom. I was in front of him and we started to go down slowly. I was catching my breath.
"I'm sorry." He said. I clung onto him. I was so scared of heights.
"Sirius get me down now. I'm scared of heights." I said.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." He said.
"That's because you don't know me. You think you do. But you don't." I said. I was feeling mad now. He didn't have a right to do that to me.
"Ash, we need to talk." He stated.
"What's so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow?" I asked him. I was very curious. We weren't going down anymore, we were going toward Hogsmeade.
"I need to tell you some stuff, and I want you to tell me a few things. You are right, I don't know you, I don't know you as well as I would like to. So lets get to know each other." Sirius said. I was dumbfounded.
"Ok." I said. We landed in front of the walloping willow and I saw a little rat. That made me not want to get off the broom. Sirius jumped off and opened up a secret passage way.
"Where does that lead?" I asked him. He held my hand and lowered me into the tunnel.
"Are you ok?" he asked me gently. It was that gentleness that he showed at times, the gentleness that swept me off my feet.
"Yeah. Now where do we go?" I asked him. He led me by my hand we walked for a long time. We entered into a torn up living room. There were claw marks on a lot of the walls and blood on the walls and floor. There was a sofa that was in the middle of the room. It had a few scratches on it but it was still in tact.
"Here, you sit here." He said sitting me down on the sofa.
"What is this place?" I asked him as he sat down next to me.
"It's the inside of the Shrieking Shack." He said.
"Are you serious? The inside? Isn't it supposed to be haunted?" I asked. He nodded and laughed at the same time.
"Lets talk about something else." He said.
"Like what?" I asked him.
"Lets start with, tonight" He said.
"What about it?" I asked.
"I'm sorry. I saw your face when you saw all those girls around me. I shouldn't have done that and I definitely shouldn't have gotten mad because you wanted to study with some guy. Even if he was your ex-boyfriend." Sirius said.
"Sirius, it was just instinct that you got mad. And I wasn't hurt when I saw all those girls. I knew that being your girlfriend wasn't going to be easy. But I signed up for the job anyway. Do you know how many threats I have gotten since I became your girlfriend? A lot and I knew each and every time that I was the lucky one." I said. He smiled that soft lovely smile that I loved so much.
"You are not like any other girl that I have met." He said.
"How many Americans have you met?" I asked him. We both laughed and I leaned against him with my back to him. He put his arms around me and I breathed in his scent. I loved his scent.
"I love you." He whispered into my ear. It sounded so romantic that I thought it was all a dream.
"I love you too." I said to him. We spent a considerable about of the night talking about life, love and our pasts. He wanted to hear about Conner and I wasn't ashamed to tell him.
"He was one of those guys that authors loved to write about. He had all the characteristics and personality traits that made a lot of girls fall in love with him and yet he wasn't all that popular because he had made enemies early on in school. And then he died two years ago." I said and yet I didn't cry when I was talking about him.
"You really loved him didn't you?" Sirius asked. He was kissing my cheeks every now and then and I was playing with his fingernails. I always had a fascination with a man's fingernails.
"Yeah I did. But there is always room in my heart for you Sirius." I said. He kissed my cheek again and I turned my head a little and we ended up kissing.
**
"So I heard that Sirius wasn't too happy that you and Jordan went to the library to study." Lily said when we were doing some homework in the dorms. I needed a friend right now and Lily was there.
"Yeah, do you think it was wrong of me to agree to study with Jordan?" I asked confused. I used to be so full of womanpower and I always knew what to do.
"No, of course not. Ash, you need to keep in charge, don't let him control you, that's what all guys want but us women have to stick together and keep strong." Lily said.
"Lily, I don't know what to do. He seems so mad and I want to be mad at him and yet I want us to be together and not fight, you know what I mean?" I asked her.
"Ash, the only piece of advice that I can give you is. don't lose your strong opinion or your mind." Lily said and we giggled. I knew she was right; I shouldn't lose my strong opinion. That was one of the things that made me, one of the things that made Sirius fall in love with me. But I also knew that he had his own strong opinion and that's why I fell in love with him.
I went to bed that night thinking about what I was going to do. When I had returned to the common room that night I found Sirius surrounded by girls and it didn't even faze me. Why? I used to be so uptight about those things. If a man was mine then he was ONLY mine.
"Ash?" I heard a whispering voice. It was a manly voice and I couldn't figure out where it had come from though.
"Ashleigh?" I heard it again. It was coming from the window. I got up and went to the window that over looked the forest. I loved the view and we were so lucky to get the view. I looked out the window but I didn't see anyone.
"Hi!" Sirius said. His face popped out right in front of me and I fell on my butt. He chuckled and I scowled. I jumped up and rubbed my butt it hurt. He was floating on his broom.
"What are you doing?" I asked in a hush urgent whisper.
"I came to talk to you." He said.
"You couldn't talk to me earlier?" I asked him. He hung his head for a second and then he looked back at me.
"Ash, come with me. Please." He said. I glanced back at Lily and the other girls.
"I don't know." I started to say and then he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the window. I was dangling and trying not to scream.
"Sirius! Let me go!" I said loudly. The cold air was whipping at my bare legs. I was wearing shorts and a tank top. I was figuring that I would stay in my warm room. Sirius pulled me up with all his strength and he set me on his broom. I was in front of him and we started to go down slowly. I was catching my breath.
"I'm sorry." He said. I clung onto him. I was so scared of heights.
"Sirius get me down now. I'm scared of heights." I said.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." He said.
"That's because you don't know me. You think you do. But you don't." I said. I was feeling mad now. He didn't have a right to do that to me.
"Ash, we need to talk." He stated.
"What's so important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow?" I asked him. I was very curious. We weren't going down anymore, we were going toward Hogsmeade.
"I need to tell you some stuff, and I want you to tell me a few things. You are right, I don't know you, I don't know you as well as I would like to. So lets get to know each other." Sirius said. I was dumbfounded.
"Ok." I said. We landed in front of the walloping willow and I saw a little rat. That made me not want to get off the broom. Sirius jumped off and opened up a secret passage way.
"Where does that lead?" I asked him. He held my hand and lowered me into the tunnel.
"Are you ok?" he asked me gently. It was that gentleness that he showed at times, the gentleness that swept me off my feet.
"Yeah. Now where do we go?" I asked him. He led me by my hand we walked for a long time. We entered into a torn up living room. There were claw marks on a lot of the walls and blood on the walls and floor. There was a sofa that was in the middle of the room. It had a few scratches on it but it was still in tact.
"Here, you sit here." He said sitting me down on the sofa.
"What is this place?" I asked him as he sat down next to me.
"It's the inside of the Shrieking Shack." He said.
"Are you serious? The inside? Isn't it supposed to be haunted?" I asked. He nodded and laughed at the same time.
"Lets talk about something else." He said.
"Like what?" I asked him.
"Lets start with, tonight" He said.
"What about it?" I asked.
"I'm sorry. I saw your face when you saw all those girls around me. I shouldn't have done that and I definitely shouldn't have gotten mad because you wanted to study with some guy. Even if he was your ex-boyfriend." Sirius said.
"Sirius, it was just instinct that you got mad. And I wasn't hurt when I saw all those girls. I knew that being your girlfriend wasn't going to be easy. But I signed up for the job anyway. Do you know how many threats I have gotten since I became your girlfriend? A lot and I knew each and every time that I was the lucky one." I said. He smiled that soft lovely smile that I loved so much.
"You are not like any other girl that I have met." He said.
"How many Americans have you met?" I asked him. We both laughed and I leaned against him with my back to him. He put his arms around me and I breathed in his scent. I loved his scent.
"I love you." He whispered into my ear. It sounded so romantic that I thought it was all a dream.
"I love you too." I said to him. We spent a considerable about of the night talking about life, love and our pasts. He wanted to hear about Conner and I wasn't ashamed to tell him.
"He was one of those guys that authors loved to write about. He had all the characteristics and personality traits that made a lot of girls fall in love with him and yet he wasn't all that popular because he had made enemies early on in school. And then he died two years ago." I said and yet I didn't cry when I was talking about him.
"You really loved him didn't you?" Sirius asked. He was kissing my cheeks every now and then and I was playing with his fingernails. I always had a fascination with a man's fingernails.
"Yeah I did. But there is always room in my heart for you Sirius." I said. He kissed my cheek again and I turned my head a little and we ended up kissing.