Anything But Ordinary

Chapter 4-Where Is Your Heart?

Part One: Sirius and Dorcas

The news of the Halloween Ball hit Kelsey about a week before the actual dance. She had been sitting at the house table, sipping calmly on a glass of cold iced tea when Professor McGonagall announced it to the table. Almost instantly, girls ran off into clusters, laughing shrilly at the slightest mention of boys. Kelsey couldn't help but become nauseated at them.

Since Dorcas' words in the common room, Kelsey hadn't had to talk to Sirius. He worked in silence, not even asking for the smallest bit of help on their assigned potion. She felt guilty for taking credit for his work, but she then remembered his cold words, 'Some broad in my potions class'.

After thinking about it, she knew she'd made a mistake in assuming. She had assumed they were friends. By assuming that, she also assumed that Sirius would have told her if he had plans with someone else at Hogsmeade. She had been under the inclination that friends spent time with one another during social events. Now that she thought about it, she supposed they were never really friends.

The fact that the only friend she had in the entire world was her sister sometimes bothered her. Yet, she knew Dorcas would do anything and everything for her. That always brought her great comfort as she knew that not many people could say they had a friend like that.

Normally, Kelsey knew that she wouldn't be bothered with going to the Halloween Ball as she didn't know a single person there. Yet, for once, she wanted to do something for herself. She had never really gone to many social outings held by Hogwarts and this was her seventh year.

Later, up in the sixth year girls' dorms, Kelsey sat upon Dorcas' bed, braiding her hair like she used to when they were kids. Dorcas was consumed in reading a trashy romance novel. She claimed she found humor in them, but Kelsey knew that secretly, Dorcas was addicted.

"So," Dorcas said, trailing off into conversation. "What do you think about this dance?"

"I was thinking about going," Kelsey answered, knowing that her sister had not been expecting that answer.

"Really?" Dorcas inquired. "Do you have a date?"

"Nope," she replied, not the least bit embarrassed. "I just want to go. I never have fun and I've always enjoyed Halloween. At least it's not a costume themed dance. Now, I'd have to reconsider if it was."

"I might go," Dorcas said quietly. "If I find a date."

"Like that'll be hard for you," Kelsey said sarcastically.

Dorcas just gave her sister a reassuring smile. Inside, she was contemplating all the horrible things that could happen at the dance. She was afraid for Kelsey and knew that the whole 'Sirius' issue was still tender. She was almost positive every single one of the Marauders would show up, one of the pathetic, mindless fan girls handing off each one of their arm's.

She knew that something had to be done.

The following night, she left her sister in the common room studying and ventured out into the halls. Dorcas knew exactly who she was looking for and where they would most likely be. She had eavesdropped on James and Peter talking back in the Gryffindor Tower.

As she took each step, her confidence built. She had to be strong for her sister.

Her brown eyes lit up as she found her destination. Just as she had heard, Sirius was leaning up against a third floor broom closet, a tall blonde girl intertwining her fingers with his. Dorcas coughed loudly and caught the attention of both of them.

"Can I talk to you for a moment, Black?" she asked him. The blonde girl blushed and walked down the steps and back to her designated common room.

"What do you want, Dorcas?" he asked her, slightly perturbed.

"As much as it must pain you to be detached from your 'friend', I wanted to talk to you about the dance," she explained, her voice emitting irritation.

"Sorry, love," he told her sadly. "You're just not my type. A bit too feisty if you ask me."

"Don't make me hurl," Dorcas said angrily. "What I wanted to talk to you about is Kelsey." His eyes lit up at the mention of her name. "On her behalf, I was coming to ask you a favor." She paused for a minute, not knowing how to ask him. "I was wondering if you'd skip the dance."

"What?" he asked her. "You expect me to just skip the dance because you ask me to? I won't do it, Meadowes."

"Kelsey is going to the first social event of her life," Dorcas explained. "She has never really put herself out there for the school to see. She's never loosed up and had fun. Yet, for some reason, she wants to go to this dance. I'm just concerned that with your presence, there would be no way of her having fun, considering how enjoyable you made Hogsmeade."

Sirius considered his options. He was free to go, seeing as it was his choice and not Dorcas'. Yet, something inside of him became reluctant.

"Alright," he said in a strangely mature manner. "You can consider me officially absent from this dance."

Dorcas was pretty shocked that he had given in so easily. She wondered if there were ulterior motives behind his decision. By his genuinely sad expression, she guessed there wasn't.

"Thank you," she said quietly before turning on her heel and returning to the common room, leaving Sirius to think back on all those times he had tortured Kelsey.

Part Two: The Dance

The week went by in a blur. Kelsey grew more anxious by the day as the dance approached. She hoped that by attending this dance, she would be able to make at least one friend. She wanted her years at Hogwarts to be memorable and be able to tell her kids about the fun times she had while attending.

The day of the dance, Dorcas took it upon herself to fix Kelsey up. According to her, she was a blank canvas just waiting to be painted on. Kelsey grew a bit hesitant at these words, considering she didn't like the sound of being painted on.

Apparently, Dorcas knew what she was doing. Instead of preparing herself for the dance, she devoted her time and effort on Kelsey. She took her soft curls and bundled them into an elegant up do that showed off Kelsey's excellent bone structure. She applied only the lightest bit of pink rouge to her cheeks and dabbed on a slightly darker shade of pink onto her sister's lips. Dorcas even let her sister wear the infamous earrings their mother had passed down to them. They hung beautifully from Kelsey's delicate ears. She nervously touched them as Dorcas searched through their closet for the perfect dress for Kelsey.

After what felt like hours of waiting, Dorcas stepped out of the closet, a triumphant smile adorning her pleasant face. A strapless off-white wrap dress with a small black flower in the middle. It was simple and it was perfect. Kelsey smiled as she stepped into the material. It felt cold against her legs, which gave her the pre-dance jitters.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, she found that her sister had already managed to apply her makeup, fix her hair, and step into a blue dress, clutching a slightly darker blue purse. According to her, Dorcas could have worn a garbage bag and her date wouldn't have noticed. She hadn't gone for bright, but rather for accessible. She had waited until last minute and had found herself stuck with Kirk Whibley, one of the dullest boys in the sixth year.

The three of them, Dorcas, Kelsey, and Kirk, stepped out of the Gryffindor common room and made way towards the Great Hall, Dorcas and Kelsey having all the conversation while Kirk stared at every single one of the sequins on Dorcas' dress.

As they entered the hall, their eyes grew wide in amazement. The house banners had been replaced with satin hangings of orange and black. Small jack-o-lanterns hung from the ceiling, lighting the room with a fluorescent orange glow. The band was unfamiliar to Kelsey, but was playing catchy tunes whilst everyone danced. She spotted the refreshments and noticed that Peter Pettigrew was chomping away at a rather large pumpkin pastry. She figured that since Peter was there, Sirius was as well. Yet, that night wasn't about Sirius. It was about her.

"Let's go dance," Dorcas said excitedly, dragging her sister onto the floor. Kirk strolled slowly behind them.

Kelsey was hesitant about dancing at first, but found that it became more fun the more she loosened up. She began swaying in rhythm with the beat and tossed her hands merrily above her head. She began laughing, hearing Dorcas laugh along with her. Before long, an arm snaked it's way around her waist. She looked over to see that the arm belonged to Amos Diggory. She blushed, but went along with it anyways. Surprisingly, Amos danced with her for another hour.

"Do you want to step outside for a breath of fresh air?" he asked her kindly as they danced close.

She nodded her head and felt his hand slip into hers as he led her out. She waved to Dorcas, who was no longer dancing with Kirk, but with another random sixth year boy.

She felt the cool air hit her face as the two of them protruded into the halls. She smiled over at him and he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

Her brown eyes grew wide as Amos walked closer towards her, his lips eventually parallel with hers. He seemed to breathe out, "I only came out here as an excuse to get you alone with me."

No one had ever said anything like that to her before. She felt her face heat up as his lips drew nearer to hers.

Part Three: Suffocation

Sirius knew he had promised Dorcas not to attend the dance, but he found himself walking casually over to the Great Hall anyways. He technically wasn't breaking his promise if he didn't actually go inside of the hall, but peer in. He wanted to make sure Kelsey was having a good time, as well as check on James' progress with Lily.

As he turned the corner, he heard voices. He paused, not wanting to interrupt anything too intimate.

"That's enough, Amos," a girl said, her voice strangely familiar.

"You weren't objecting a minute ago," a guy answered in a husky tone.

"I said that's enough," she repeated, her voice losing confidence by the second.

"Come on," the guy protested. "Don't be a prude."

Sirius rounded about the corner, matching the name with the voice. It had sounded like Kelsey's voice and sure enough, he found Kelsey smothered against a wall by Amos Diggory. Her cheeks were stained with fresh tears and her mouth was swollen.

Sirius pulled Amos off of her, resisting the urge to hit him. "You heard her. She said that's enough."

"I see how it is, Black," Amos said bitterly, adjusting the part of his collar that Sirius had grabbed a hold of. "Playing the hypocrite today."

"I don't force myself on girls," Sirius said coldly. "Unlike you, you piece of scum. Get out of here."

Amos cursed and headed towards the door. Before he entered, he turned and faced Kelsey and Sirius once more. "I never knew you to fancy prude bitches, Black." Before Sirius could do anything, he entered the Great Hall. Sirius turned around as he heard whimpering behind him. Kelsey had shriveled onto the floor, her dress falling behind her.

"I just wanted to meet new people," she told him as he sat down beside her. "I only wanted friends."

"I know you did," he told her softly. Something about her made him protective. He wasn't exactly sure what, but it scared him a bit. The two of them sat in silence as her tears continued to flow. "What Diggory said wasn't true," he told her. "You're not a bitch. Don't let that prat make you think otherwise."

Before she could even think about it, Kelsey leaned over and hugged her body into Sirius', her face snuggled close into his shoulder. And there they sat, spending the Halloween dance, him comforting her as she cried away her tears.

A/N: I don't really know if I like that chapter. Let me know.