Everybody Needs Somebody
By: Jess
Summary: Katie Potter, James's twin, has been in love with Sirius Black for as long as she could remember. But she's never had the courage to say anything to him. Sirius feels the same about Katie, but figuring this out for themselves will be harder than they both thought. SIRIUSOC.
Author's Note: eh, not a huge fan of this chapter... i think it makes Katie sound really fickle and el stupid-o. whatcha think?
Jude finally ran out of boys, but Lily said she forgotten one.
"Who?" Jude asked, obviously frustrated with how picky I was with boys.
Lily smiled. "Sirius Black."
I gulped. Does Lily know? After all these years of trying and trying to act as if I feel nothing but friendship towards Sirius, did I mess up? Had Lily really seen through my act? I felt my heart racing, the hair on my neck standing on end, my eyes widened, my throat dried up. I couldn't speak. Oh, please, Merlin! God, Zeus, Buddha, anyone! Please tell me Lily doesn't know!
"Sirius?" Rose asked. "Why Sirius?"
Lily shrugged. "Jude just didn't say his name, that's all. Besides... Ms. Potter has a dare to fulfill with him, might as well get it over with!"
"Ah, yessss," Jude's eyes sparkled in mischief. "The Dare!"
My eyes widened even more, but inside I was sighing in relief. They didn't know! PHEWWWW.
"C'moooon, Katie!" Lily teased. "It's just a wittle smooocchh!"
"Well, is it just a Yule Ball, Lily?" I raised an eyebrow.
Lily zipped her lips, but Jude and Rose kept egging me on. "Oh, go with Sirius! I heard he's not going with anyone!"
"So?" I said, trying to hide my obvious joy.
"Soo, that means you should go with him!" Jude smiled.
"I dunno, I mean... wouldn't it be just a bit odd?" I stuttered.
"No, you could just go as... friends!" Rose suggested.
"It's no biggie," Lily added.
"Ah, but here's the big dilemma, ladies," I said. "We haven't even asked each other."
"A problem easily solved!" Jude smiled. She ran downstairs to the common room, the rest of us on her tail. She stopped at the stairs leading to the boys' dorms and shouted, "Marauders! Front and center, now!"
We waited a few seconds, and then heard pounding on the floor, the obvious sign that the boys were coming down. I tried to make a run for it, but Rose grabbed my arm. "Oh please, Katie! It's no big deal! We'll just ask if he's going with anyone, and if he's not, then you can ask on your own time!"
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever..."
"Yes, ladies? What can we do you for?" James smirked.
Jude rolled her eyes. "Sod off, James, we need to ask Sirius a question."
"Actually, it's them," I pointed to Jude, Rose and Lily. "Because I honestly don't care." It did sound a bit harsh, but it was convincing.
"Well? What is it you lovely women need to know about me?" Sirius asked suavely. "I can't take all of you to the Halloween Ball if that's what you're asking." He winked my way.
"So you're saying you don't have a date?" Rose asked.
Sirius nodded. "I've received many an invite, but alas!" he sighed dramatically. "They're all whores."
"Gee, how nice, Sirius," Jude rolled her eyes.
"You should talk, Jude," I told her. "You've turned down all eighty-six thousand bajillion boys that asked you!"
"They all want to get up my skirt, Katie, can you blame me?" she shot back.
"Hey, Katie!"
I turned around and saw Jordan Finnigan, a sixth year Gryffindor, coming up to me.
"Yeah, Jo?" I asked.
"Lance from Hufflepuff wants to see you," she told me. "He's waiting outside the entrance."
I looked around at the girls a bit nervously. Lance Ross was in my year, a Hufflepuff, who happened to be extremely gorgeous, and pretty nice too. He was in most of my classes, a great laugh. I had done a DADA project with him in my fourth year, we ended up to be pretty good friends in the end. Lance was a gentlemen, always holding doors open for girls, pulling their chairs out for them, even carrying books. Some of the guys thought he was too sweet, even thought he was gay for a while. But Lance was an all around nice guy, fun to be around, and pretty good looking too. I shifted my eyes to the girls and the Marauders, but none of them seemed to help me. They were all in too great a shock to say or give me a reaction. Only Jude was giving me a thumbs up sign.
"What do you think he wants?" Rose asked.
"Probably homework help or something... Thanks, Jo," I shrugged and went stepped out of the entrance to the common room. There was Lance, standing against the wall, his straight blonde hair falling over his soft brown eyes, which were staring at the ground. He had changed out of his uniform into a buttoned light green shirt and bellbottoms, he looked pretty cute just standing there, hands in his pockets, waiting for me. I could feel my heart racing a bit as I approached him.
"Well, if it isn't Lancelot Ross, coming to visit me!" I laughed as he looked up and smiled at me.
"Hey, Katie, what's up?" he gave me a friend hug.
"I'm peachy, how bout you?"
"Doin' good," Lance smiled.
We drifted into an awkward silence for a few minutes, I started shifting back and forth on my feet and looked up at the ceiling.
"Wanna go for a walk?" Lance brought me out of my thoughts of how the people painting this castle reached the ceiling. Really tall ladders? Maybe they flew...
"Sure," I smiled. I gave Lance my arm and we walked down the stairs to the first floor, where we sort of mingled outside, near Hagrid's Hut. Both of us had been silent the whole way, not really knowing what to say.
"Sooo, how bout that weather?" I joked. I hated having these weird silences, they were making me a bit uncomfortable. Obviously it helped take away some of the tension in the air, and Lance laughed.
"Yeah, I think it's gonna rain soon," Lance said in all seriousness. I nodded in agreement.
"It's so calm outside. You never really hear any birds singing and what not before rain," I said. "Complete silence. The wind starts to blow... it's nice. I love the rain."
"Why?" Lance asked me. "You don't seem like a gray and overcast type of girl, Katie."
I laughed a little. "You're going to make fun of me when I say this..."
"Oh, please. We all have our reasons for why we like the things we do," he told me.
"Well... I like doing things outside in the rain. Like, right when it starts," I started to blush a little bit. I never really told any one this. "Dancing in the rain, running, singing... now this you're going to laugh at me for saying."
"What?"
I could feel my face turn even more red and I looked at the ground. "Kissing in the rain..." I drifted off. "Don't make fun of me, Lance!"
He just smiled at me. "Why would I make fun of you for that?" I felt a raindrop, followed by about twenty more. It started to pour within a few seconds.
"I always thought I sounded stupid for thinking that," I laughed.
Lance laughed. He had a nice laugh. It was kind of like the a sun rise... small at first, then bigger and bigger. I soon joined in laughing with him, both of us getting soaked to the bone, and neither of us caring. When we finally stopped our giggle fit, Lance looked quite serious and smiled. "I don't think you're stupid, Katie," he said in the most sincere voice I've heard. He put his hand against my cheek, and let it fall to my neck.
I smiled back. "Thanks, Lance." I could feel our faces drawing closer and closer together, so close that his warm breath was tickling the tip of my nose. I looked down, breaking our connection. He took his hand off my neck, and back to his side. "So, why'd you call me out here anyway?" I said loudly over the rain. I know Lance too well, he didn't call me out here to talk about why I liked the rain.
"Well, I was wondering..." he trailed off. "Do you have a date to the Halloween Ball?"
I smiled and shook my head. I had been hoping to ask Sirius, but it's not like Lance wasn't a good alternative. In fact, we was a great one.
"Then, when you want to go with me?" he asked. "I understand if you don't want to but-"
I cut him off by closing the gap between us. Lance had obviously been caught off-guard, but returned the kiss whole-heartedly. He brought me closer, holding my face between his palms, and let mine run through his soaking wet hair. It was so romantic, so perfect. So right. But... I saw Sirius's face in my head. Why? For a split second, I thought I was over him. Over loving him, over dreaming about him, over Sirius. But no, not even close. Maybe Lance was just a fill-in for Sirius? A Red Herring? I didn't want to do that to him. He was a good friend of mine, and so sweet. I didn't want to disappoint Lance.
Then why did I kiss him?
STAR
Lance walked me back to the Fat Lady's portrait, where she started giving me the Third Degree on where I went.
"For the last bloody time!" I shouted at the portrait. "Ivory Tusks!"
"Oh, no need to get testy, miss!" the Fat Lady scoffed. She opened the door.
I turned back to Lance and smiled. "See you tomorrow then?" I said.
He nodded and kissed me lightly on the cheek. "Bye, Katie."
"Bye." I quickly walked into the common room, to find it empty. Obviously, Lance and I had been together for at least an hour. I began to walk quietly up the the steps and into my dorm, to find everyone still awake. Even the Marauders were in the room with us!
"And just where have you been?" Lily raised an eyebrow at me over her book.
"What took you so ruddy long, Katie? Were you really explaining the homework for that long, or was he just too slow to remember?" Jude rose her eyebrow.
"And why're you all wet?" Rose asked.
"We took a walk in the rain," I said simply, as if there was nothing strange about it. "He wanted to go to the Halloween Ball with me. I said I would."
"Eh?" Sirius looked puzzled.
"Lance... asked me... to go with him to Halloween Ball, and I... said yes," I said slowly. "Understand now?"
"You are?" Rose and Jude squealed. They jumped on me and we all screamed in excitement.
"This is sooo great!" Lily said.
"I know! Now you and Jude need dates," I said, staring at Jude, them to Remus and smiling. I already had a plan formulating for getting them together.
"Lance Ross? That Hufflepuff?" Sirius scrunched his nose. "Isn't he kind of fruity?"
I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, he's a really sweet guy, Sirius."
Sirius's face looked worried. "Are you sure you want to go with him?" he asked me. "I mean, Lance? Come on, you could do better than that!"
I gave Sirius a dirty look. "Is there something wrong with Lance?" I asked.
He stood up and walked over to me. "Well, think about it! I mean, he's so polite, always holding doors open for people, never says anything rude..."
"Oh, and that's bad?" I rolled my eyes.
"I'm telling you, Katie!" Sirius said. "Guys like that may seem nice. But really they're just looking for something else!"
"Sirius Black!" I shouted. "Are you implying that Lance would try something like that to me? He's a gentlemen!"
"How do you know?"
"Well, I'm much closer friends with him that you!" I snapped back. "Why do you care so much, Sirius? Is it that big of a deal I go with him?"
"His parents, Katie! His dad was in Slytherin when he were here!" he told me. "He's got to be with the Dark Lord!"
"News flash, Black!" I screamed. I was really getting annoyed. What was wrong with me going with Lance! "Your parents were in Slytherin too! And look at you! You're not in Slytherin, nor supporting Voldemort!"
Rose and Lily flinched at hearing his name, both of them were muggle-borns.
"You just can't trust him, Katie! He's too nice!" Sirius shouted, just as frustrated as me.
"Too nice?" I shrieked. "So you'd rather have me going with a pervert like your brother, because they definitely won't try to get into my pants like Lance will! Wow, that makes sense!"
"Fine! Just don't come crawling to me later on, Katie!" he shouted and stormed out of our room and down the stairs.
"Don't worry, I won't!" I shouted after him. "If I do need any help, which is highly doubtful, I'll go to my real friends that are happy for me!"
I screamed in frustration and stomped my foot on the floor. I stormed past my shocked room mates, grabbed my PJs, and went into the bathroom to shower. I turned the water on full-blast, scorching hot, and I didn't even care. I let the hot water drip against my back and fall down the drain, while I replayed my fight with Sirius over and over again. Who is he to tell me whom I can go with to a party? I did want to go with Sirius, but now I didn't even want to hear his name! I mean, sure. I did love him (I think...), but he's being so stupid! He doesn't have a right to tell me whether or not I can go with Lance or not! I already said yes to him! There's nothing Sirius can do about it! It's not like he even asked to go with me or anything!
I'm so fucking confused!
Still fuming, I jumped out of the shower and changed into my pajamas. I brushed my teeth, so hard that the bristles of my toothbrush were frayed and broken. I even made my gums bleed, but I didn't notice. I slammed the bathroom door shut to see that the Marauders had left, but the girls were wide awake. They had obviously been waiting for me to come out, because the second I came out, their heads went back to reading, or painting toe nails. Ignoring them, I walked to my bed, threw of my covers and climbed into my bed, and shut my eyes, without a good night to the girls. When all the lights were out and I figured the girls were asleep, I quietly climbed out of my bed and walked down to the common room with a book.
I saw Remus sitting in a chair near the fire, reading The Iliad, a book I had bought for his thirteenth birthday. He had finished reading it in four days, and told me it was probably one of the best books he had ever read. I was so happy he liked my present still, even four years after.
"You feeling okay, Katie?" Remus asked me, not looking up from his book.
It startled me, I didn't expect him to know I was there. Nevertheless I answered him. "Yeah, I guess I'm feeling a little bit better." I took a seat next to him. "I see you're reading the book I bought for you."
He nodded, and smiled. "It really is a good book."
"That it is," I opened up my book, As You Like It by William Shakespeare, and began to read.
"You read Shakespeare?" Remus seemed surprised.
I laughed. "I'm not so stupid I can't understand good old Bill. Poor Silivius," I sighed. "In love with a girl who loves a cross-dresser but doesn't know it..."
"Mmm... I feel sorry for Phebe," Remus said.
"Really?"
"She's too dumb to realize it's a woman in men's clothes," he said.
"Very true, Remus!" I laughed.
We continued reading for another forty-five minutes, then I decided that "Mission: Get Remus And Jude Together" should take process.
"So, you do have a date to the ball, don't you?" I asked Remus.
He looked up from his book and shook his head.
Thank goodness! I thought as I asked, "Well, why not? Have you asked anyone?"
Remus shook his head again.
"Why don't you?" I said. "Come on, sooo many girls are dying to go with you, Remus! You just don't notice!"
I saw a blush creeping into his cheeks and I knew I'd hit gold. "Jude doesn't have a date..." I trailed off, hoping he would catch the hint.
"She doesn't?" Remus asked exuberantly, but then calmed down. His face was bright red.
"Noooope," I smiled. "She's been turning down guys left and right. You should ask her! She says all the guys that are asking her don't seem very sincere or don't have good intentions. You're the complete opposite of those perverts!"
"You really think I should ask her, Katie?" he asked quietly. "I mean, I'm not exactly the type of guy you'd see with her and-"
"You, Mr. Lupin, need to stop having such a horrible outlook on yourself," I scolded as I threw my hands in the air. "You're exactly what Jude needs! She's always telling me she's looking for sweet someone."
Remus remained silent. He seemed to be going over what I had just said in his head. I stood up and patted him on the shoulder. "Is this because of a certain something that happens every full moon, Remus?" I asked sincerely.
He shrugged. I was referring to the fact Remus was indeed, a werewolf. And werewolves are very much discriminated in the world, Magic or Muggle. I could tell Remus thought if Jude knew she'd turn her head and look the other way. "Remus, listen to me," I assured him. "Jude is going to murder me for telling you, but she's positively gaga crazy googly-eyed over you! She's had a thing for you since last year! Do something about it! She doesn't care, she likes you just the way you are! Werewolf or not."
With those last words, I walked upstairs to my dorm. "Good night, Remus."
"Good night, Katie."
A/N: Another chapter. Phew... that's what I get for procrastinating on homework! See, I gotta recite a part from Romeo and Juliet for school, due Wednesday... 14-18 lines. I'm doing the prologue... AHEM
Two households, both alike in dignity,
(In fair Verona where we lay our scene)
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean
From forth fatal loins of these two foes
Two star-crossed lovers take their life;
yadda yadda yadda... two hours' traffic... blah blah blah.
6 lines out of 14... you see my dilemma.
Remus: You're just slow.
takes out chainsaw COME OVER HERE AND SAY THAT!
Sirius: Watch it, Moony.
Damn straight, you better watch it... REVIEW!
Jess