Rating: See previous chapters.
Summary: Screw it. It'll give it all away.
A/N: Yay! Reviews are a wonderful wonderful thing! Keep up the great work mateys! And we continue on to chapter eight...
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The stunned silence that greeted Addison when she stepped into the Great Hall made her very uncomfortable. Actually, uncomfortable was an understatement. She was terrified. For so long she had walked around campus unnoticed, and she had been content with that. Now that people other than her friends knew she existed, she wanted nothing more than to run away.
And she attempted to. Fortunately, Dora and Virginia were there to push her forward again.
"Go on," Dora whispered encouragingly. Addison swallowed nervously, and wondered why the distance to the Ravenclaw table seemed so long. It had always seemed shorter than that.
As she walked quickly by the other long tables of students, she heard their whispers and gossip. Questions such as "Who's that?" and "What got into her?" reached her ears, and she felt the beginnings of a blush tint her cheeks. What was I thinking, she thought in agony. Only a few more steps and I'm there, she comforted herself. Unfortunately, this was not to be so.
"Hey," Sirius Black said silkily. Addison blinked in confusion and felt her face flush even redder. For once she wished he hadn't spoken to her. Where did he come from, she wondered. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her friends slink off to their table. She was going to hex them for leaving her by herself.
"Hi," she replied, and shifted nervously. She was very aware of the fact that the Great Hall was watching them with an uncommon attentiveness. "Um, can we talk later?" She asked softly, and cast a quick glance at the other students.
Sirius smiled wickedly, making Addison even more uneasy. "Sure." He draped his arm over her shoulder, as if they were old friends, and walked her over to her table.
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The moment Sirius put his arm around her, gossip began to spread like a wildfire. Some of it was good, some bad, most was driven by curiosity.
"Who is she?"
"How does she know Sirius Black?"
"They must be an item."
"Aww. How sweet."
"What does that little bitch think she's doing?" Trissa Hart demanded hotly. She glared as Sirius chatted amicably with Addison and her friends.
"She seems to be friends with him," Trissa's best friend Georgia remarked. Trissa turned her glare to her friend.
"I know that, Georgia. But everyone knows that Sirius is mine." Trissa felt her self-control slowly slipping.
"That's not exactly true," Georgia reminded her. "He's almost yours."
"Damn right. And now she's going to bloody ruin all of my hard work. I can assure you, Georgia, that she won't get away with it," Trissa stated, and grinned maliciously at the Ravenclaw table.
Georgia twirled an auburn curl nervously. Trissa was one of the more popular girls in the school, and she was accustomed to getting what she wanted when she wanted it. Sirius had been a different case. He seemed oblivious to her constant flirting, and when he had finally started to take notice at the end of last term, he was once again ignoring her again. At the moment, Georgia felt very sorry for the object of Sirius's attention. Trissa wasn't the type to let things pass her by.
"Are you sure that he's really interested in her?" Georgia asked, hoping that there might be a way out of Trissa's plot for revenge.
"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Trissa flipped her blond hair over her shoulder. "We'll just ask him ourselves when he sits down." Like Sirius, Trissa and Georgia were both sixth year Gryffindors. "What is that girl's name, anyway?"
Georgia shrugged. "I don't know. I've never seen her before."
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Sirius shook his head in regret. After he had waved good-bye to Addison and was heading back to the Gryffindor table, he realized the mistake he had made. At the time, he thought it funny to put his arm around her. He had known that it would start gossip. However, he hadn't taken the time to consider what the gossips might say and how they would react. This thought was prompted by the venomous look sent his way by Trissa Hart.
Sirius knew that she fancied him, as did many girls in the school. But honestly, Sirius wasn't that interested. A few months back before the beginning of summer he had acted like he held an interest in her just to humor her. Now, he could care less, but he had a feeling Trissa wasn't going to take to kindly to this sudden abandonment.
Sirius sat down heavily in his seat and grinned goofily at his friends. They, however, were not grinning back. Instead, they were gaping at him. "What?" he asked, looking at each one of them in turn.
He didn't hear their response, because Trissa and Georgia saw this as their opportunity to drag him away. In spite of his resistance, he still found himself at the empty end of the table. "Hey Trissa," Sirius greeted her pleasantly, meeting her cool gaze steadily.
"Hello Sirius. Georgia and I just wanted to say hello and catch up with you. It's been ages since I last spoke with you."
Sirius nodded. "It has. But if you'd excuse-"
Georgia interrupted him. "How was your summer?"
"Great," Sirius said quickly.
"Meet anyone new?" Trissa leaned forward and batted her eyelashes.
Sirius was growing annoyed. "Maybe." It was a clipped response, but Trissa didn't seem to be getting the hint.
"Really?" Georgia asked, wide-eyed. Sirius shrugged.
"Who is it?" Trissa asked sweetly, honey lacing her words. Her eyes did not match her tone however. She was glaring icily at him.
"No one you would know," Sirius replied off-handedly. He cast a helpless look at his friends. James waved cheerily at him.
"Oh, I might. Why don't you try me?" Trissa was persistent.
"You don't know her, ok?" Sirius snapped. He was about to lose his temper, and was afraid he might do something he would regret later.
"Fine then." Trissa looked dismayed, and was about to leave when Georgia barged in once again.
"Who was that girl you were talking to?" Georgia asked in genuine curiosity. She wanted to know the name of the poor girl who's life would soon be a living hell in a matter of hours.
"Addison," Sirius replied. "I have to finish my breakfast. Excuse me." He quickly vacated his seat and joined his friends, who were finishing their breakfasts. He could feel Trissa glaring daggers at his back.
"What was that all about?" James whispered so that Trissa and Georgia couldn't hear.
"Long story," Sirius shrugged and began to butter a piece of toast.
"We have-" Remus glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes. That's plenty of time."
Reluctantly, Sirius began to recount his conversation.
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