CHAPTER SEVEN
Narcolepsy

i get upset or happy
i go to sleep
nothing hurts when
i go to sleep
but i'm not tired
i'm not tired

To-do list:

1. Find out the real reason why Sirius was late to Muggle Studies this afternoon.

2. Find out why Allie was running.

3. Find out what Dad wrote Peter and why he didn't write me.

4. Avoid Remus at all costs.

5. Ignore the questions people are giving me as to why I'm avoiding Remus.

6. Get Allie's birthday present.

7. Decide what I'm buying Allie for her birthday present.

8. Practice apology for when I show up Sunday without a gift.

Wow, that's not a friendly-looking list, you know that?

Two seemed the easiest, so as soon as I could I found Allie and cornered her in the dormitory, since we had a free period, and our oh-so-friendly dorm-mates did not. I found her curled up on her bed trying to catch a bit more sleep before N.E.W.T. Potions. She grunted her annoyance as I attempted to interrupt this ritual.

"Gerroff, Nat…"

"Wake up, Allie. I need to talk to you."

"No."

"Yes."

"Bloody-! Give it here, Natalia!" I had just jerked the pillow out from under her head. She sat up and tried to grab it from me but I had jumped away and hidden on the other side of Lily's bed, putting it between the two us. She glared at me before Summoning it to her with her wand. It shot out of my hands and into hers. "Go away."

"You're PMSing," I stated matter-of-factly.

"I am not PMSing. I'm just overtired."

"You're PMSing."

She sighed her annoyance. "Yes, Natalia, I'm PMSing."

"You're a grumpy little bugger when you're woken up, you know that?"

She pulled the hangings around her so quickly that I could have sworn I'd heard some of the seams rip from the sudden violent strain.

Okay, so maybe not number two. Let's try a different one. Four and five went hand-in-hand and I obviously couldn't do them only once and be done. So I decided to track down Sirius and attempt to interrogate him once more. Adjusting my tie – which I had on as a headband – and straightening my shirt – which was deliberately inside out – I strode down the stairs, taking them three at a time in my descent – which was quite difficult, I might add. At the very bottom I ran into Sirius, who picked me up and swung me around in greeting.

"Just who I was looking for!" we both said at once.

I laughed, giving him a quick kiss before taking his hand and leading him to sit on a couch. I plopped myself down between his legs and leaning back against him. He set his arms around my waist.

"Who goes first?"

"Ladies first, Siriana," I said teasingly. That was his feminine name that James had given him in the fourth year.

"Oh, but Peter's not in here," he shot back evenly, giving me a grin.

I laughed. "Oh well, then I guess you can go."

"Okay, bye." He pretended to start to get up.

"Hey!" He laughed and settled back down. "Okay, okay. Well, I was going to ask you how Allie's doing. She's been a bit more withdrawn lately and she's been hiding in her room all day."

"She's sleeping and PMSing. Nothing unusual. Why?"

He swallowed and said a little too quickly, "Nothing, just curious."

I gave him a look and he turned away, refusing to meet my gaze. "What's going on, Padfoot? Any why were you late to Muggle Studies? That's the one class you aren't ever late for."

"I … was talking to Allie. Her mom gave Calysta her old broom so now she has to ride the crappy school brooms. She was … really upset."

Why the hell was he being so nervous? He and Allie were friends. They were allowed to talk! "And?"

"And nothing. I just got caught up. Sorry."

"It's not something you need to apologize for, Sirius," I said coolly. "You're acting so strange. All of you have gone off the deep end lately – Allie with freaking out about her mom, James with dating Allie, Remus with getting mad at me for existing, and now you with being so paranoid about telling me you were talking to Allie. It's like you're trying to hide something from me, and it hurts."

I got up and strode out, deciding to spend some time with some friends that would never start acting insane around me – library books.

To my great surprise, however, I ran into Peter in that very same library that I was trying to escape the world in. He was trying to do his History of Magic essay – and failing miserably. When he saw me, he frowned and went back to the paper.

"Hello to you, too," I said to him, far grumpier than I had intended.

"Sorry, I've just got to get this done. We've got Hogsmeade all day tomorrow…" He faded off as he scribbled a few more words onto the parchment.

"So, er, what did my dad write you about?"

That made him stop working. "Oh, er, nothing important. Just said my mom wanted to say hello…"

"You're a horrible liar, Wormtail."

"I know."

"So what was it really about? Me?"

"Er, well, yes…"

"And what did it say?"

"Well, er…" He pretended to be absorbed in looking something up in his text, so I waited patiently and stubbornly. "Fine! He reminded me that Sunday is the anniversary of…of your mum's death and that I'm supposed to be real chummy and nice with you…seeing as we're kinda related…"

"Isn't that just like him…" I growled angrily. I stormed from the library.

Okay, so today sucks.

A lot.

My dad has no tact, Allie is grumpy, Remus is in love with me, and Sirius is an arse.

Sucky.

Sucky sucky sucky.

Maybe I'll go jump in the lake. The squid might be friendly. If he's not, maybe he'll eat me. Either one seems nice.

I'm fine, I swear. Stop giving me those looks.

xoxox

Author's Note: Yeah, this sucks. Oh well. You'll get over it. I really didn't know what to write. But yeah… Oh,btw, that song has amazing lyrics if you look at the whole thing. It so fits Nat.

-Carp