Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling. She can have my characters and ideas as well.
CHAPTER 16
The last day of school before the break had finally arrived and the school was buzzing with excitement. Nobody paid attention to any of their classes; the students were either daydreaming about the evening, or passing notes to each other discussing it. Once the last class of the day was finally over, the students all dashed to their dorms to start getting ready.
Nina, Lily and Sara were in their dorm for only five minutes before it looked like a tornado had gone through it. Clothes, make up, and accessories were being thrown left, right and center as they all tried to scramble up something suitable to wear.
"Okay, how does this look?" Sara said as she came out from behind her closet door.
"Whoa!" Nina said looking at her stunned. Sara was wearing a short black skirt and a slinky light pink tank top.
"That's perfect! You look really hot." Lily said looking at her.
"Okay I know I can't pull off a skirt like that. I'm going to stick to black dress pants." Nina said sifting through her closet. She found a beaded turquoise tank top and tried it on with her pants. She looked at herself in the mirror. Hmm…this doesn't look so bad. The neck and back is a little low though…and it's very fitted…I dunno…
"Ahh!" Sara screamed suddenly and Nina turned around quickly to see what was the matter.
"Nina! You have got to wear that! Lily look at her."
"Oh yeah, Nina." Lily said smiling. "You'll definitely turn some heads."
"You guys don't think the back is too low?" Nina asked uncertainly looking at her back.
"Oh stop being such a fussy ninny. You're wearing this, and that's final. Mousse your hair up so it gets a little wavy and put on some darker eye makeup. And wear some heels." Sara ordered her.
"Okay, okay. You sound like you're my personal style assistant or something." Nina laughed. "Lily what are you wearing? Have you decided?"
"Hmm…I think I'm gonna go with this." she said looking at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a short navy blue dress with thin straps. Nina and Sara both thought she looked very pretty.
As soon as they were ready, the girls went down to the common room. Nina was feeling very nervous; she'd never dressed up so much before and she knew she looked very different. Remus and James were already waiting downstairs in the common room for their dates. Nina was a little relieved to see that Sirius wasn't there yet. She thought James and Remus looked very cute in their muggle outfits. As soon as they saw the girls they stood up and looked at them with slightly stunned expressions.
"What the hell happened to you guys?" Remus asked still gawking at them.
James grinned and said, "See, I knew this dance was a good idea! I'm brilliant!"
"Shut up, Potter before I change my mind about going with you." Lily said with a smile.
"Where's Sirius?" Sara asked looking around for him.
"He was still doing his hair when we left." James answered.
"Geez. He better not look better than me." Nina said sarcastically.
"I highly doubt that." Remus said looking at her.
They all decided to leave and save seats for Nina and Sirius while she waited for him to come down. The longer she waited; the more butterflies began to creep into her stomach. She heard someone coming down the stairs and whistling to themself and figured it was probably him. She stood up from her chair just as Sirius walked into the seating area and they stopped at looked at each other for a second. Sirius was wearing a fitted black short-sleeved buttoned shirt and dark charcoal gray pants; his hair looked perfect.
Nina cleared her throat and said with a smile, "So…you look good."
"You do? I mean, I do?" he sounded a little flustered and but then recovered himself and said indifferently, "You look okay, I guess. Sorta different. Interesting hair." Merlin, she looks hot. What the hell am I gonna do? Must…control…urge…to…touch…
"Thanks." Nina said sarcastically.
"Well," Sirius said with a sigh, "it's too late to take anyone else to the dance, so I'll just have to break my rule and go with someone not-so-hot tonight."
"It's not that late, you know. I'm sure there's somebody you can take if you want." Nina said with a smirk.
Sirius took Nina's hand and said with a smile, "But then who's going to look after you?" I'm not going to let anyone else even come near you.
Nina huffed and smiled wryly, "Let's go then. These guys are saving us seats." While walking to the Great Hall, Nina realized that Sirius was still holding her hand. She tried to release it a couple of times but noticed his grip got a little tighter each time she tried. He only let go when they reached the hall and entered through the double doors, Nina's jaw dropped. The hall was completely transformed into a dance club. There was a giant disco ball floating in the middle of the dance floor. The students were all finding seats at tables and greeting each other. There was music playing in the background but nobody had started dancing yet. They spotted the others sitting at a table close to the dance floor and joined them.
"Aww, you two look so cute!" Sara gushed at Nina and Sirius as they sat down at the table. "Don't they Remus?"
"Er—yeah!" Remus said like he was being forced to agree with her. "Really cute!"
"Oh be quiet." Nina muttered to them.
"Well, you guys are just in time." James said looking at the dance floor. "They're starting the dancing now." The lights dimmed and the disco ball started to spin slowly reflecting light around the room.
"Ooh! Let's go!" Sara jumped up while pulling Remus and dragging him towards the dance floor.
James looked a little nervous and said to Lily, "Um…would you like to dance, Lily?"
Lily smiled at him shyly and said, "Sure, why not." They got up and left Nina and Sirius alone, again.
"Nina, you didn't want to—" Sirius was about to say when Nina interrupted him.
"No. I can't dance. At least not to these slow songs." she said.
"Oh, okay. Cool. I didn't really want to anyways." Sirius said as he leaned back in his chair. He was about to say something when he heard a voice behind him and he turned to see who it was.
"Sirius! I have been looking everywhere for you. You promised me a dance, remember?" Sirius looked at the girl trying to remember what her name was.
"I did?" he said looking confused. He did? Nina thought to herself, feeling slightly annoyed.
"Yes." she replied. "Why are you sitting here anyways? Don't you have a date?"
"Um, yes, I'm sitting with her, if you didn't notice." Sirius said feeling slightly irritated now.
"Who?" she asked looking at Nina and said in a sneering voice. "Oh. Well, do you want to dance with me or not?"
"Don't you have a date of your own?" Sirius questioned her.
"Yeah, but I got bored of him." she answered indifferently. Then she leaned closer to him and said brazenly, "Besides, you said you wanted to come with me but were stuck with someone else."
By this time, Nina was thoroughly pissed off and decided to take Sirius out of his misery. "Of course he'll dance with you! Go and dance with her, Sirius. It's not good to break a promise. Besides, there's no reason to be stuck here sitting with me. I need to go to the ladies' room anyways. I'll catch you later." Nina said getting up.
She walked straight to the washroom without looking back. When she stepped inside she went straight to the sinks and she looked at her face in the mirror. You are so stupid. I told you to get those crazy ideas out of your head. You'll just end up getting hurt. Anyways, it's better this way. It'll make your life a lot less complicated. You know what you have to do when you get back home to your parents tomorrow. There's nothing standing in your way now. Just the thought of going back home made her weak in the knees. She held on to the ledge of the sink and breathed deeply. When she felt better she checked her face in the mirror and fixed up her hair and walked out of the washroom.
"What took you so long?" Sirius was standing right outside of the washroom door.
"What are you doing here?" Nina asked him confusedly.
"Why did you leave me alone back there?" he asked her again.
"Why aren't you dancing?" she questioned him.
"Why aren't you answering my questions?" he sounded angry.
"Why aren't you answering mine?" Nina sounded even angrier.
"Because I asked you first." he said firmly.
"I don't remember what you asked me." she said uninterestedly.
"I asked why you left me alone so abruptly." he told her.
"I said I needed to go to the washroom…" Nina said sounding a little annoyed.
"That's all?" Sirius asked her skeptically. Is he trying to get me to admit that I was jealous or something?
"Yes…why else would I leave like that?" Nina asked him looking perplexed.
"I dunno." He shrugged his shoulders. "I thought maybe you were upset."
"Upset at what?" Nina asked.
"About what what's-her-face was saying." Sirius replied.
"I don't even remember what she said." Nina lied trying to look like she didn't care. She's lying.
"Don't lie." he said.
"I'm not lying." Nina said offended, and he raised her eyebrow at her. "Don't look at me like that."
"Look, I told her I was going with someone else before I even decided to go with you. I just made up something to avoid going with her. So don't take anything she said personally." he explained.
"I didn't." Nina said nonchalantly. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Sirius. I'm fine. I seriously had to go to the washroom."
"Okay good." Sirius said with a forced smile. Damn! I thought maybe she was jealous. "Now come, I'm getting bored so you have to dance with me." He started to drag her towards the hall.
"Nooo. Really, I can't…" Nina said while he pulled her into the hall through the doors. "Maybe later."
"I know you won't." he said letting go of her and frowning. The music changed and some faster disco music started. Many of the girls shrieked and a lot of the boys ran off the dance floor as neon blue lights started shining around the hall.
"Oi Nina!" Nina saw Sara running towards her. "There you are. We were wondering where you two ran off to. Nina come, you gotta dance with us now. Your favorite song is on."
"Nina said she couldn't dance though." Sirius told Sara.
"Ha! That's a good one." Sara said sarcastically. "She dances better than any of us."
"Really?" Sirius asked her sounding surprised.
"No, she's ly—" Nina tried to say as Sara yanked her on to the dance floor. The song playing really was one of her favorites that she danced to by herself all the time. She quickly scanned the people around her and saw, most of them being girls at that particular moment, that none of them really knew how to dance. They all looked like they were having so much fun though so Nina figured she'd just let loose and dance with her friends. They danced until their feet ached and then walked back to their table where the boys were sitting, all looking very flushed.
"Here." Sirius said passing her a drink. "You look like you need this."
"Oh, thanks." Nina said cheerfully and drank it.
"So, is there anything else you want to lie to me about?" he said dryly.
"What do you mean?" She asked him confusedly.
"I thought you said you couldn't dance." he replied.
"No." James interjected. "Lily can't dance."
"Hey!" Lily said indignantly.
While the others continued to argue about who could or couldn't dance, Nina picked up a napkin and started to fan herself.
"You look hot." Sirius said to her quietly. Damn hot.
"I am." Nina said still fanning herself.
"Do you want to go outside or something?" he asked her.
"Yeah sure." Nina replied and then asked Sara and Lily, "Hey do you guys want to go outside and cool off for a bit?" No! Sirius thought to himself. I don't want anyone else to come with us. Why is she so stupid? They better not say yes.
"Oh yeah!" Sara said. "I'm really warm." Damn it! Sirius thought getting up. Remus got up as well and he asked Lily and James if they were going to join them.
"No, that's okay." Lily said. "I'm alright here."
"Yeah me too." James said, "I'm cool." The rest of them left the hall and walked out of the doors that were nearest to the Great Hall.
As soon as they were outside Remus whispered something in Sara's ear and she suddenly said, "Hey, we just gotta go check something out. We'll be back soon." And they ran off together. Nina rolled her eyes and Sirius laughed. They walked towards a terrace that overlooked a garden and stood there leaning over the ledge.
"It feels nice out here." Nina said looking across the grounds. "I'm sure I'll be freezing cold in about five minutes." Hmm, I'm sure I can think of a way to make you warm, Sirius was thinking.
"You still look hot though." Sirius muttered quietly.
"What?" Nina asked facing him now.
"So, are you going home tomorrow?" he asked her changing the subject.
Nina sighed and replied a little drearily, "Yeah. Should be an interesting holiday."
"Doesn't sound like you're too excited about it." he said.
"Yeah…I'm not. My family's a little…complicated." Nina said slowly.
"Well, I'm sure they're not as screwed up as mine." Sirius said with a smile.
"I dunno…" she said.
"Trust me. If you're willing to go home to them, you're better off than me. I'm going to the Potter's this break." he explained.
"Oh. I guess." She shrugged and Sirius thought Nina looked a little sad. "I'm cold now."
"Yeah, me too." Sirius said and they decided to go back inside. When they went inside and walked down the corridor, they happened to see Lily and James together. Nina and Sirius stopped abruptly when they both realized that James and Lily probably didn't want anyone to see them at that particular moment. They must have heard Nina and Sirius though because they quickly moved away from each other. Lily's face was beet red and James looked a little flustered.
Sirius cleared his throat and said, "Don't mind us. We're just passing through." He took Nina's arm in his and they both walked straight towards the hall, both trying really hard not to burst out laughing. When they walked in they saw Remus and Sara and informed them of what they just saw.
Sara was hysterical. "Oh man! This is just too good! I'm going to have so much fun bugging Lily tonight." The four of them hung out the rest of the evening waiting to see if Lily or James would return. When the dance was finally over and they still didn't come, they all decided to call it a night and went back to their dorms. Nina and Sara were packing their trunks for the next day's journey when Lily finally came in.
"Well, well, well." Sara said grinning at Lily. "Aren't we looking very flushed?" Lily covered her face with her hands and plopped backwards on her bed. "So spill your guts, girl. I want to hear every detail."
"Sara!" Nina exclaimed. "Don't be so nosey."
"Oh, its nothing." Lily said moving her hands away from her face.
"Didn't look like nothing to me." Nina said with a smirk.
"No, that was it really. I don't even know what happened. We were just talking and then James just kissed me out of nowhere." Lily explained.
"Ooh!" Sara said, "So what did you do?"
"Nothing! I let him." She looked embarrassed and then continued, "That's when we got caught. I was so embarrassed but then James was really sweet and he took me for a walk. That's it. We just talked and stuff."
"So that's it?" Sara asked sounding a little disappointed.
"Yeah, I guess." Lily shrugged. "So what did I miss?"
"Nothing exciting." Nina said. "We were all just gossiping about you two."
"So I guess there'll be rumors around the school by tomorrow morning that the Head Boy and Girl are dating, eh?" Lily asked dryly.
"Probably." Nina agreed. "So what're you going to do"
Lily got up from her bed and headed towards the washroom. She turned around said, "Nothing. The rumor just might be true." She smiled broadly and shut the door.
"So…have a good holiday, then." Nina told Sirius as they boarded off the train at King's Cross Station the next morning. The rest of the gang were still on the train giving their significant other extra long goodbyes.
"Yeah, you too." he said.
"Try not to miss me too much, okay?" she said with a wry smile.
"You know that will be impossible. I don't know how I'm going to last two weeks without you bugging me." Sirius replied trying to sound sad. Man, I really do feel sad. I still can't figure her out.
"I'm sure you'll survive." Nina said sympathetically.
"I hope so." he said with a smile. He started to feel nervous.Okay, stupid. What are you supposed to do now? Should I give her a hug? I hugged the other girls; it might be odd if I don't hug her.
"Well," Nina said anxiously, "I better go and look for my parents." So this is awkward. Am I supposed to hug him goodbye? I hugged James and Remus. Wouldn't it be odd if I didn't hug him? Especially considering I'm supposed to be better friends with him than those guys? If I don't hug him, he'll know I think of him differently. Wait...what if he doesn't hug me? Then I'll know for sure these past couple of weeks weren't just my imagination...
"Oh. Yeah…right. Okay then..." he said and held out his hand. A handshake? What are you, some kind of mental case? Oh, she looks a little taken aback, quickly do something, you fool. As soon as Nina took his hand, he pulled her into a brief hug. When he let go he said, "Take care of yourself, Nina." Why don't you tell her how you feel, you thick-skulled buffoon. What are you waiting for?
"You too." Nina said and smiled, although inside she felt very sad. Well, I guess that's it then. It was just me after all. She started to walk slowly towards the greeting area when she heard Sirius call her. She turned around and saw him coming towards her.
"Nina, wait." he said a little anxiously. "Before you go…I—uh—just wanted to tell you something." Oh Merlin, how do I say this?
"What is it?" she asked him looking concerned. What does he want to say? He looks nervous. Oh damn…maybe he does...
"I—um—just that…," he stuttered, "if…you're ever going to be in town this holiday, then come and visit me." he finished lamely. Ugh. Really smooth.
"Oh." Nina said trying very hard to sound remotely cheerful. "Okay sure. I doubt that I'll get a chance though, but if I do, I'll definitely let you know." They said good-bye again and Nina headed back, feeling thoroughly depressed now, to the greeting area to find her parents. Sirius joined James and his parents and saw Nina with her's in the distance.
Sirius watched her as she left with them and he suddenly felt really uneasy, like he had just lost something. Why do I have this sinking feeling that I've just made a really big mistake?
A/N: Ooh, it's all downhill for Sirius from here folks! hahaha! Hope you enjoyed those chapters. Since I was nice and posted two chapters today, I expect lots of reviews! Next chapter will be posted after the weekend. Have a good one!
