Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The song "I Wanna Be Sedated" is by The Ramones and I do not, in any way, own it.


Whisper of a Thrill
Chapter Nine: I Wanna Be Sedated

Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my brain
Oh no, oh no

Let's recap, shall we?

After I nearly shagged James, who is now actually my boyfriend, Sirius, James's best mate, who is currently dating Nat, my own best mate, was kissing me.

Yes, folks, that's right. Sirius Black was kissing me.

And by me, I do mean Aludra Batsakis.

Up to speed? Great - now maybe you can explain the situation to me.

I stood stock still, my green eyes wide and staring at his closed ones in a very shocked manner. This was not good. Somehow, I didn't think that this would bode well with James and Nat. No, not well at all.

Finally, after what felt like two days rather than a few seconds, I was able to push Sirius away. We stared at each other for a couple seconds in silence, until Sirius's eyes widened, realizing the gravity of what had just happened.

However, before anything could happen, a loud gasp flew across the room from the entrance to the dormitories. The sound seemed to bring Sirius to his senses, making him leap away from me as though I had dragonpox. In my own opinion, that was a bit overdramatic on his part. I'm not that revolting, am I?

"What the bloody hell?" Remus exclaimed, his hands flailing wildly quite uncharacteristically as he began to walk toward us.

Crap. This was potentially problematic.

"Er, happy birthday, Allie?" Sirius said unconvincingly, grimacing slightly as Remus stood between the two of us, his face quite feral.

"It's not what it looks like!" I insisted, knowing that whenever someone says that, it only makes it seem even more what it looks like.

"I come down here to fetch you - " Remus pointed at Sirius, " - under the orders of your - " he jerked and pointed at me, "boyfriend and find the two of you locking lips? Right after I found a bra on my bed?"

"Is that where it went to?" I asked quietly, swallowing hard.

Remus gave me an exasperated look and crossed his arms. "Well?"

I blinked a few times before turning on him. "Well what?"

"Well - what the hell's going on?"

"Is that really any of your business, Remus?" I asked in a dark voice, my eyes narrowed. "Just because you happened to burst in - "

"And I'm glad I did!" Remus exclaimed with a shrug. "Who knows how far that could have escalated?"

"Nowhere!"

"Yet here you were snogging - "

"We weren't snogging!"

"It sure looked like it!"

"Remus, I swear, I'll hex you if you don't - "

"Shut up, both of you!" Sirius shouted, looking scandalized at the conversation. "Moony, Allie's right - this has nothing to do with you. However, you're involved now."

"Yes, I'd say I am," Remus replied, sitting in an armchair as though waiting to hear a particularly good story. "Let's have it."

"It's my fault," Sirius admitted, looking preoccupied and avoiding my eye. "I caught Allie off guard."

"I'd say," I agreed, folding my arms in front of me. "After you and Peter left, I came over to see what was going on with Sirius. Then, well, he surprised me."

"She didn't even kiss me back," Sirius continued taking the full blame. "Plus, it was hardly a kiss - you showed up before it could go anywhere."

Remus looked at the two of us appraisingly, as though trying to make sorts as to whether or not this was a plausible story. After a few moments silence, he let out a quiet sigh.

"Well, Padfoot, if you're telling the truth and you did initiate the kiss, I'm thinking you need to work some things out with Nat."

I raised an eyebrow at Remus. I knew full well that Remus had had his eye on Nat for nearly as long as I did James and didn't completely understand why he wasn't making me bring Nat down right this second to break the two up. Then again, I knew that Remus is a good guy and wouldn't want get in the middle of a long-term relationship.

To my surprise, Sirius replied, "I've known this for quite some time, Moony."

My eyes widened and I wished that I could read minds. Nat had never mentioned something to me about potential relationship problems with Sirius and that was the sort of thing best mates were supposed to talk about. Then again, perhaps Nat didn't know that there were problems. Oh, this night was just getting better and better.

"However, we shouldn't tell Prongs or Nat about this," Sirius added and I nodded fervently. I really didn't need another angry best mate and boyfriend.

"I don't know - "

"Remus, this isn't really your affair to meddle in," I said sternly, but softening my glare a bit.

"Please, Moony," Sirius pleaded, just short of getting on his knees. "Don't tell Prongs - "

"Don't tell Prongs what?"

The three of us froze and turned very slowly to where James was striding toward us, his hair mussed comically and shirtless. I grimaced slightly, wondering if hickeys had the possibility to reproduce - kind of like rabbits. How much did I drink?

After a few seconds of guilty silence and skirmish looks, James started to look concerned. I cleared my throat, trying to think fast.

"We were talking about my gifts," I started, glancing around at Sirius and Remus for backup on this. "And, er, I was telling them how much I love the choker you gave me."

"Oh," James raised an eyebrow, looking a bit unconvinced. But, not wanting to press the matter, he shrugged. "All right, well, I was just coming down to make sure Moony and Padfoot weren't in a romantic embrace of some sort, since they were taking ages."

After a hesitated moment, Sirius forced out a laugh, but James didn't seem to notice.

"We do have class tomorrow, you know."

Oh, yeah - we were at school. For some reason I thought I had fallen into some sort of Muggle soap opera Nat and I had made fun of when we nicked one of Lily's magazines once.

"We were just heading up," Sirius nodded, giving Remus a pointed look and avoiding my eye a little bit more.

"Good night, Allie," Remus nodded to me, meeting my eyes. I knew he wouldn't say anything to James, but I also knew that he expected me to.

As they walked away, James walked toward me and I gave him a small smile. He reached forward with one of his large hands and rubbed my upper arm.

"I thought you were going to bed."

"So did I," I let out a laugh. "I should, though, or I'll be quite the crab come morning."

"Wouldn't want that," James nodded, leaning forward and kissing me on the lips.

Feeling a bit awkward because we were standing in the exact same place Sirius and I had just a few moments before, I tried to push past it and put one of my hands behind his head, my fingers buried in his orange streaked hair. Merlin, he kissed brilliantly.

Just before we broke apart, my eyes fluttered open and met Sirius's, who was standing at the entrance to the boys' dormitory, giving me an almost wounded look before hurrying up to his dormitory. After James finally pulled away, it felt as though I had been punched in the stomach.

"Good night," James smiled, and then sidled toward the boys' dormitory.

"Night," I bid him goodbye.

Once I was certain I was completely alone, I fell dramatically into one of the scarlet armchairs and stared deep into the flickers of flame in the fireplace. I was sure there were a few house elves chomping at the bit to clean up after the party my friends threw for me, but I didn't especially care at the moment. My stomach was upset and my mind reeling, promising me that I wouldn't be getting any sleep any time soon.

This wasn't fair! Why should I be the one feeling guilty? I didn't ask for him to kiss me - I didn't even enjoy the kiss. It was a complete shock and I'd hardly even had time to react before Remus burst in on the situation.

I expelled a deep sigh, thinking about my friends. One of the main reasons I loved my group of friends was because of how different our dynamic was than that of the rest of the people in our year. It seemed that at least once a week, Lily, Sarah, and Dorcas were in some sort of row, sending dirty looks across our dormitory and hexing each other being their backs. It was really annoying, honestly, and I had never had that sort of problem with Nat and the boys. We rarely got into any sort of feud and if we did, since the majority of our group was male, the problem was either ignored or resolved quickly and efficiently. It worked for me, as I felt emotions were a waste of time and energy.

Resigning to the fact that if I wanted to get through double Potions without falling asleep in my cauldron – this has happened before and Remus barely saved me before I drowned – I got to my feet and headed up to my dormitory.

I silently eased into our dormitory, glad that everyone was asleep – or at least pretending to be. I changed into a pair of pyjama pants and fell into my bed, quickly bringing my hangings closed around me before anyone could notice my presence. Sometimes, I'd rather be asleep than awake, especially now, when things are dramatic. While my dreams can be exciting and full of drama, I can always handle that by switching it off, whereas I have to deal with the things that happen in real life. It's so convenient.

Too bad there isn't an off switch in real life. You'd think they'd have a potion for that.

It felt like I had only slept a few minutes before Lily's alarm clock went off the following morning. My head instantly started pounding and I vowed for the umpteenth time that I would never drink again. Ever.

I rolled over, thinking that I'd just skip breakfast today, especially since my stomach kept flopping. I thought back to the previous day and smiled slightly. The new broom, the necklace, James. However, I couldn't help thinking there was a reason my stomach was flopping.

"Allie!"

Oh, yeah.

My hangings ripped open, revealing Nat, who was lucky enough to never get hungover. I squinted as the morning sun blinded me and pulled myself up into a sitting position. I could see Sarah and Lily starting to get ready, but Dorcas was nowhere in sight.

"Why are you wearing Sirius's shirt?"

"Er…"

"You couldn't find yours, am I right?" Nat laughed, then lowered her voice slightly, although I could see Sarah and Lily inching forward, their attention perked at her last remark. "So, did you?"

I decided to play dumb. "Did I what?"

"Oh, come on, you know what I mean," Nat rolled her eyes, leaning against one of the posts of my four-poster. "Did you and James do the no pants dance?"

I couldn't help but laugh, although it might have also been because of Lily's wide-eyed expression peaking over Nat's shoulder. "In case you don't recall, someone burst in."

"You were in the boys' dormitory?" Sarah spoke up maliciously. "I think that might warrant you losing points - right, Lily?"

"Oh, please, Wickersham," Nat rolled her eyes, flipping her hair as she turned to give the blonde a very aggravated look. "Don't even pretend that you are just exploring when you stumble out of the boys' dormitory at least once a week."

"She has a point, Sarah," Lily nodded, giving Nat a grateful look.

Sarah rolled her eyes, and then got to her feet. "So, you shagged Potter then, Batsakis?"

"No, I did not," I pursed my lips, not wanting to talk about this in front of Lily for some reason. "We've only been dating a few weeks."

Sarah scoffed, gathering her toiletries and a towel. "I give you another week before he's in and out of your pants."

"Sod off, Wickersham," I jumped to my feet menacingly, glad that I was a good four or five inches taller than her. "That's really none of your business."

With another derisive snort, Sarah hurried across the room and into the bathroom. I began to calm down and was surprised when I met Lily's eyes to see how apologetic they were.

"You need to ignore, Sarah," Lily sighed, pulling out her robes and laying them on her bed. "She doesn't mean half of the things she says."

"It'd be easier to do if I didn't live with her," I scoffed, unsure as to why Lily was being so civil toward me.

Lily nodded, then looked over at Sarah's empty bed. "She drives Dorcas and me crazy sometimes, to be honest. Always so controlling, telling us who we can and can't talk to… It's aggravating."

"Why don't you stand up to her?" Nat asked, looking incredulous.

"You don't know her like we do," Lily shrugged, and then folded her own towel over her arm. "Besides, I could ask you the same thing about why you can stand hanging out with those boys."

"You definitely don't know them like we do," I managed a smile.

Lily nodded, starting to walk across the room to take a shower. "See? We're not that different."

Once she was gone, Nat pounced, much like I was expecting her to do. This was the scary part.

"When did you get in last night?" Nat asked, pulling her curls up into a messy bun on her head. "The last time I remember checking the time it was nearly one in the morning."

"Around that time."

"Poor boys, not able to go upstairs until then," Nat smiled slyly. "I half expected you to stay up there all night."

"That would've gone over well when I tried to sneak down come morning," I smiled. "I stayed up in the common room for a bit before coming up." As soon as it left my mouth, I realized what I had said and wanted desperately to take it back, but I knew I couldn't.

"What were you doing down there?" Nat asked, digging through her trunk.

"Oh, you know," I shrugged, hoping she'd drop it.

"No, I don't, actually," Nat gave me a grin. "Anything of consequence happen that I should know about?"

Before I could even begin to think of something to say, Dorcas entered the room, her hair up in a towel. She gave the two of us a fleeting smile and I shrugged at Nat. She pretended to accept this as a worthy enough answer, although I knew she'd grill me for information later.

Great. Hopefully she'll find Sirius first, because I did not want to have to explain this.

Author's Note: Whenever I listen to "I Wanna Be Sedated" I feel like I should play Guitar Hero. I'm pretty much amazing at that song. My friend and I like to duel on that one and we always hit every note. Yeah. Good times.

Anyways, things sure are heating up, eh? Thanks for reading and please let us know what you think! (-:

--kamers