A/N: I'm going to slow this down. I've just been writing things that've popped into my head, so I'm going to start letting things lead into eachother. So I'm slowing it down; Letting people get to know the characters.
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, EXCEPT WHAT YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE!
Coral pulled away from Sirius. "I can't! Sirius! I don't know you! Please, just-just give me time. I need to get to class." said Coral. She ran up to the castle, fast as she could. Sirius sighed. He was moving fast, and he knew it. He usually did; He wasn't used to girls not immediately accepting him. They usually were falling for him within the first few minutes of meeting or seeing him.
"I've got to ask Remus what to do on this one..."
"Moony, mate! I need some assitance." It was about ten minutes before Charms class would start, and Remus was always early. Always. "Sure. What is it?" said Remus, putting down the book he was reading.
"Coral. I don't know what to do! I've tried everything I can think of. She's come close to falling for me...But not close enough." said Sirus, running his hand through his hair.
"Sirius, it's the second day of school. First technically, but that's not important. Give the girl some time. She doesn't know you. Let her get to know you. And not the arrogant, self-orbiting, cocky you. The one that a girl like her can fall for. You know, sensitive. And don't really tell her how you feel. Your actions will say everything. For instance, in class, sit next to her. Close, but not so close that she's uncomfortable. If you need help, and you know she's good at whatever it is, ask her for help." said Remus.
Sirius's jaw dropped. "You've been holding out on us, Moony!" said Sirius, clapping Remus on the back.
"No. I've been talking to Lily for the past five years. She tells me these things when speaking of James. Obviously they come in handy at times like this." said Remus, shrugging and getting back to his book.
"Everyone, take your seats!" Class was starting and Coral walked in just before the bell. Sirius made sure that the only seat avaliable was next to him. He followed Remus's instructions, and it turned out that they worked rather well. He carried on like this for the next month, and made sure not to lead on any other girls; Remus said it would make a bad impression on her.
One day in the Common Room, James confronted Sirius. "So, we're out of our 'Flavour of the Week' phase, eh, Padfoot? You haven't been on a date once, and it's almost Halloween!" cried James, a worried look on his face.
"Yeah. That was lame anyway. I'm concentrating on one bird right now." said Sirus.
"Oh, Coral Peck? You're still into this bird? She hasn't even tried to make a move on you. Sade Brown, on the other hand, has made many. All of which you've chosen to completely ignore. Are you bloody mad! She's the fittest girl in our year!" said James, throwing himself into a chair across from Sirius's.
"So?"
"So! Sirius, you're turning into a sap."
"No I'm not. I'm being...sensitive."
"Sensitive? You've been talking to Evans or something?"
"No. Moony. But he talks to Lily."
James rolled his eyes. "You're making a big mistake, mate. You used to be 'Most Wanted' by every single bird in school. Slacking..." muttered James.
Sirius jumped up out of his chair so fast he almost toppled over. "Slacking? At least I can get a girlfriend! You've been after Lily for what? Six years now? And you haven't even managed to make her fancy you even a little. You of all people shouldn't be talking about slacking!" cried Sirius. He was getting sick of James picking on him; he had been for the past month. He didn't know anything about what was going on.
"Sirius! What's your problem, mate? Huh? I was just saying! And it's not my fault you're acting all abnormal because of Coral." said James.
"I'm not being abnormal!"
"Oh? Well what do you call not dating anyone in two months! That is abnormal for you. And anyone in here will agree."
Their argueing had caught the attention of everyone in the Common Room by now, and everyone nodded in agreement with James.
"I don't care anymore, James! What you think really shouldn't matter to me. Same goes for the rest of you!" Sirius stormed up into the boys' dormitory, and threw himself on his bed, shutting his curtains; he didn't want to talk to anyone. Especially James.
Coral sat in the library, reading a book about how magical buildings were built; it was rather fasinateing. She was near the end of the book when Sade Brown came storming in.
"Oh, damn you, Coral Peck! Damn you, damn you!" she cried, slamming her hands on the table. Coral jumped, her eyes wide.
"Well, what did I do? Sade, I barely even talk to you!" said Coral, pushing her chair away from the furious face of Sade.
"You're the reason I can't get Sirius to date me! You're the reason I havn't been with the boy of my dreams!" cried Sade. Just as quickly as she'd become enraged, she burst out crying.
"Oh, why does he have to fancy you? What've you got that I haven't?"
"Nothing that I can think of." said Coral, patting Sade awkwardly on the back. She hadn't seen someone cry so hard since her little sister had broken her arm.
Coral left the library shortly after she'd gotten Sade to calm down. Decideing she needed to think about all that Sade had been enraged about, she went to the common room. She reached the portrait of hte fat lady, and climbed in. Walking down the short hall that lead to the main room, she heard people yelling. She quickly identified them as Sirius and James.
"Slacking? At least I can get a girlfriend! You've been after Lily for what? Six years now? And you haven't even managed to make her fancy you even a little. You of all people shouldn't be talking about slacking!"
"Sirius! What's your problem, mate? Huh? I was just saying! And it's not my fault you're acting all abnormal because of Coral."
"I'm not being abnormal!"
"Oh? Well what do you call not dating anyone in two months! That is abnormal for you. And anyone in here will agree."
"I don't care anymore, James! What you think really shouldn't matter to me. Same goes for the rest of you!"
Coral saw Sirius storm up into the boys' dormitory. As soon as he was out of site, she went in. Immediately, all eyes were on her.
"Coral! I need to talk to you." Remus immediately came to her rescue, knowing that everyone would probably be bombarding her with questions.
"Thank god for you Remus." breathed Coral as soon as they were in the halls.
"Sirius came to me about you about a month ago."
"He did?"
"Yes. And asked for advice. He's not usually good with takeing things slow so I told him that he should get to know you, let you get to know him. And as of late, James has been putting a lot of pressure on him. And I think...that if you were to, say, ask Sirius to the Halloween Ball? It may make things easier for my friend. Or even if he asks you, just say yes?" said Remus, a pleading look in his eyes.
"Well...I don't know-"
"Please! Coral! You're litterally Sirius's only hope with this."
"Alright...But if he ends up being as arrogant and selfish and-and-"
"Coral. Trust me. He'll toe the line."
"But what about Sade? She came flying into the library today, looking as if she'd kill me on the spot!"
"I'll speak with Sade Brown."
"Remus...If this doesn't work, it's on your head."
"Don't remind me."
"Coral? Coral! I need to talk to you!"
Coral whipped around to see James running after her, looking as if the castle were on fire.
"What is it James?"
"I need-I need to talk to you...about...Sirius..." panted James, clutching his chest, attempting to catch his breath.
"Sure thing. What is it? You want me to say no if he asks me to the Halloween ball, and then tell him to ask Sade Brown?" said Coral, assuming he'd request the opposite of Remus, based on his and Sirius's argument the previous day.
"No! Where'd you get that idea from! Sirius is my best mate! I want you to say yes, or ask him if he doesn't ask you by lunch today. You know, there's only three days left. He's bound to ask you."
"But I thought you were mad at him?"
"No. Why would you think that?"
"Because I heard the pair of you argueing last night...you know? Slacking, and all of that?"
"Oh...That. That was just a little...disagreement. Don't worry about it."
"Okay."
"To what?"
"Not worring and asking him or saying yes."
"Oh, you're the best Coral!" cried James, hugging her tightly, then running off to class.
"Ask her, Padfoot! You know you want to! She'll say yes. I know it. Positivly."
"How do you know?"
"She's into you! Do you not see the way she looks at you? She's infatuated!"
"No she's not. She would've made a move."
"How do you know? She's American. She might be different."
"She is different, Moony."
"Exactly. Ask her. Next class."
"You're sure she'll say yes?"
"No. I'm positive."
Sirius and Remus had been talking all study hall about Coral, and how he should ask her to the Halloween Ball. Next class was Lunch, and he knew he'd be able to talk to her then. She was too concentrated on her notes right now. Plus, Madame Pomfrey would probably scream her old, wrinkled, lungs out at him for speaking.
As soon as the bell rang, Coral was up and gone before he could get a chance to talk to her, so he headed to the Great Hall as fast as he could.
As he entered, he looked around, he spotted her with Joel Mac, a seventh year Ravenclaw. He walked over quickly, making sure that he looked as good as he possibly could at the time.
"Um, Coral could I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure. I'll talk to you later, Joel." Joel nodded, waved, and turned to talk to Sade Brown.
"I need to ask you something." they said together. They both laughed slightly.
"You go first." said Coral, guesturing to him.
"Um...I was wondering...if you'd eh...want to go to the Halloween Ball with me?" said Sirius. He made a mental note to have someone punch him for being so nervous around a girl; 99.9 of the time, he wasn't.
"Really? I'd love to!" said Coral, grinning.
"Really! Wow! I thought that you wouldn't want to, seeing as we don't know eachother that well, but-"
"We know eachother well enough, Sirius, to go to a Ball together. Now, tell me, is this like, a date?" said Coral, smirking, twirling a lock of her hair around her finger.
"Um...If you um, want to look at it that way, then um, sure." studdered Sirius. When she did that it felt as if his heart was going to beat out of his chest.
"Then it's a date." said Coral, smiling. She turned and walked out of the Great Hall.
Sirius ran his hand through his hair, his heart still beating wildly. Why was it so hard for him to ask her? Why had he studdered? Usually he was smooth and sweet, and the bird was the one nervous. This time, she was smooth and sweet, and he was going out of his mind.
Remus walked over to him, grinning. "Good job, mate. Told you she'd say yes."
"I know! But I didn't think that it would be so hard to ask her. Ususally it's a breeze for me to ask birds out, but...but not her. Why, Remus?"
"Because you have feelings for her. You don't just think that she's a little snogging toy. You look at her as a person."
"You've known me too long, Moony, if you know more about me then I do."
"True, very true."
"She's different, Moony...very different."
"I know, Sirius, I know."
Coral threw her self down on her bed, her heart racing. She'd been so cool, even though she'd been completely nervous. She hoped Sirius didn't take notice.
"Oh, Coral! I'm so sorry for yelling at you! I've met someone! He's much better than Sirius! Well, to me he is." Sade came in the dormitory all smiles, and plopped down onto Coral's bed.
"Joel Mac." She'd known for a while that Joel liked Sade, and she knew that he was Sade's type. She'd been introducing them when Sirius had come to talk to her at lunch.
"How'd you know?"
"Well, I introduced you, didn't I?"
"Oh yeah! Thanks! We're going to the Halloween Ball together! Isn't that just brilliant!"
Sade skipped out of the dormitory humming "Crazy For Feeling" loudly. Coral smiled; She thought it was absolutely adorable.
Coral jumped up in bed, dripping in a cold sweat. She'd had a dream about someone...she didn't know who, but it was important. She could feel it.
She looked over at her watch that was on the bedstand; it was three in the morning. She sighed and fell back into a deep sleep.
10:30 am. 10:30! No!
She couldn't be running an hour an a half late! No! Coral jumped out
of bed, and got dressed in a flash. She was late for History of
Magic, third time this year.
"Professor Binns, oh, I'm so
sorry! I over slept! I'm sorry!" said Coral, sitting down in her
usual seat next to Remus.
"It's fine Miss
Peck. Fine. Just sit down and take notes." said Professor Binns,
drawing out all of his words as usual.
"Third time this
year Coral. We're slacking!" whispered Remus, grinning at her.
Coral smiled and shrugged, and the pair got to writing notes. They
were just about the only two in the class who did. Coral, that day
though, had trouble concentrating on notes. Her mind was on the
Halloween Ball...and Sirius...
