Chapter Four

Third Person POV

"Wait he's kidding me right? Why would he be interested in Aditi? She's not the type of girl that he goes for!" Marlene asked confused, with a tinge of jealously.

"Who knows, maybe he's been out with everyone else so he's going in a different direction? But who cares? We found our girl!" Lily said getting up from the table.

"What? Aditi? She cannot possibly pull this off. She's far too nice to be that mean to anyone." Marlene said shaking her head.

"I have to agree with Marlene on this one Lils. That girl won't be able to do this. He'll notice right away that something's not right." Emmeline said following Lily out of the great hall.

"But she'll have us three behind her" Lily replied speeding up to catch up to Aditi. "Besides, we don't have much of a choice if Sirius already chose her"

"ADITI!"

[hr]

Aditi's POV

I was still reeling in what happened with Sirius when I heard my name again. It was not a voice I recognized at all which meant that it was someone I never really spoke to. But really two strangers calling me in one day? What are the odds? I turn around to see the three Gryffindor girls running to catch up with her. I look at them with further confusion as these were the same girls who stared at me this morning.

"Um, Hi!" I say with my usual chirpy greeting. Even if I have no idea who the other person is, I treat them like I treat my friends. Gideon always said it's not a good thing. But I don't see the harm in it, really. I'm just being polite.

Without saying anything, the three girls dragged me into the closest empty classroom. Maybe this is why Gideon insists on me being more cautious about talking to strangers. Of course, I protest and inquire about what's going on. But my soft voice doesn't seem to pierce their concentration.

"We need you to do us a favor" Lily started

I look at the three girls with even more confusion. I'm not sure if that's possible at this point. I should just stop being surprised and/or confused at things today. It's barely past breakfast and already I've had two of the weirdest encounters ever. As usual, without thinking, I say

"Sure, what can I do for you guys?" I could have said, it depends on the favor or tell me the favor first. But no, I automatically say 'sure!' This is a problem with me. I can never say no, like ever. I wish I learned that skill at a young age. It would be so useful right now.

"Do you remember when you talked about getting revenge on Sirius? Well we decided to take the idea and go with it." Emmeline said excitedly. "We are going to have a girl make him fall in love with her and then dump him on day of the Christmas ball so that he can never forget what happened." They all looked at me expectantly at this. Wait, am I supposed to have a reaction for this? My confusion has reached its peak.

"Good for you? But I'm not sure why you are telling me this" I ask, completely clueless as usual.

"Because you are going to be that girl" Lily said smiling. If I had water, I would choke on it. But since I didn't, I choked on air instead. It took me a few seconds to recompose myself. Are they kidding me? Yes, that has to be it. This is a cruel joke that they decided to play on the innocent and clueless Ravenclaw.

"Pardon me, what did you say?" I ask. There's always that possibility that I heard them wrong.

"You are going to be the girl that finally gets revenge on Sirius" Emmeline said smiling. Nope, I definitely heard correctly.

"You have to be kidding me!" I exclaim, shaking my head and heads while slowly backing away to the door. "I am the worst person to pick for that!"

"It's not a joke. You are the only person at this point that can do this! He's already interested in you"

God, if you can hear me, please stop this cruel joke right now. They want me to be the girl that breaks Sirius Black's heart. See there's plenty of problems with that. One, I never went out with anyone in my life (the guy last year does not count!). Two, this is Black we are talking about. Why would he want to go out with me? And three, it just won't work!

"Now I know you are crazy. There's no way he'd be interested in me." I said shaking my head. "I really wish I could help but I'm really not the right person for this." I turned around and started to walk out. But I was too late – Marlene stood in between me and the door.

"You were the one who gave us the idea. You are the one who got our hopes up about showing Sirius the pain he causes. So if you don't do this, you will have on your plate the pain of every girl that he ever went out with." Marlene said seriously.

Damn that girl. She's trying to guilt trip me into it. Using my weakness. I hate disappointing people. But the question is – Do I disappoint them now or later? I'd rather peel the band aid off now.

"I'm really the worst person to help you guys." I said as I walked past Marlene. "I'm sorry."

[hr]

Aditi's First Person POV

I walked out of the classroom, realizing that I was severely late for my class. I ran to the third floor, slipping into the classroom. The professor motioned me in as I gave an apologetic smile. One of the benefits of being a good student was the permittance of the occasional slip up.

I found a seat in the back and quickly sat down. It's not my usual choice of seats but I didn't have too much room to complain. As I tuned into the lecture, my hand automatically started writing.

"In order to properly turn this vinegar into wine, you must…"

I did the right thing. There was no way that I would have been able to pull off tricking a guy like Sirius Black into falling in love with me. I've never been the most confident person but if I was, I'm not what he would go for.

"…discovered in 1600s…"

And then to intentionally break his heart? Is that not wrong? I can't stand it when I accidentally hurt someone but if I did so intentionally? I mean, he's a bad person for what he does but does anyone deserve that? I guess if there was one person who did, it would be him.

"…Remember, this motion is different…"

I don't think I'll ever be able to get out of my head the cat fight from last year. How do you date three girls at the same time? And keep it a secret for that long? I don't even know how someone could have pulled that off. I guess it made it a little easier that they were from different houses. The worst part wasn't even that he did that – it was how those girls fought each other as if he was the one in the right and the other girls were the problem.

"…now we'll move on to non-verbal spells…

Maybe he does deserve to get his heart broken so he knows how it feels. But for me to be that person? I don't even know where to start with that. I mean the first part would be that he would actually have to like me. It's the first step and it's a step we'd fail at. I mean, considering his last girl was someone like Marlene McKinnon, one of the most sought after girls at Hogwarts, I doubt I stand a chance.

"Ms. Chopra, was there something you needed?"

Started out of my thoughts, I look up to see my professor peering down at me. I look around to see empty seats where my classmates sat.

"Oh no, I'm sorry." I reply, my cheeks burning. The professor glanced down at my notes, which were just scribbles of writing.

"Is everything alright?"

I smile and nod. "Yes, I'm sorry. It was just an odd morning" The professor, assured, walked away, leaving me to gather my stuff. I stuff everything into my bag and quickly walk out. I don't know what happened to me. I never tune out of class like that. I shake my head as I walked to my next class. The rest of the day seemed to pass in some sort of daze. Every time I tried to focus, I just ended up zoning out or thinking about this morning. These things don't happen to me very often. So when they do, I tend to analyze every little thing about the situation.

Every time I zone out, I always ask myself – I'm doing the right thing. Right?

[hr]

As soon as my last class let out, I immediately go back to my dorm. Normally, I would go to the library and spend an hour or two going over my notes from today. It was just my way to retain the information that I just learned. But I needed a break today. I just wanted to curl up in my bed and sleep.

I opened the door to my dorm and I find Gideon and his twin, (and my other best friend) Fabian Prewett sitting on my bed, talking. I always found it hard to make friends. When I first came to Hogwarts, I didn't know what to do. I didn't exactly mesh with girls, finding it hard to talk about and be interested in certain things like boys and makeup. And I was too shy to talk to boys. So I tended to stick to myself, often going by the kitchen to talk to the elves. Then one day, the twins caught me going to the kitchen and made me show them how to get in. Amazed that I found a way in during my first year, they kept making a point to talk to me after. Eventually, I became comfortable enough with them to not be shy and since then, the three of us were best friends. They went on to become relatively popular especially when they joined the Quidditch team but they never forgot about me, something I'll always be grateful for.

When they saw me, they immediately stopped and turned towards me. "Why is James Potter asking about you?" Gideon asked as he got up to close the door behind me. He then got behind me and pushed me onto my bed as he sat on the windowsill.

"What?" I ask confused. Should I even bother with that emotion anymore? This entire day has been one of the weirdest days of my life. That's why I didn't even bother asking how Gideon manages to get into the girls' dorm every time or how Fabian, a Gryffindor, is in the Ravenclaw tower.

"James Potter, you know the apparently handsome and popular hunk that every girl is after?" Fabian asked sarcastically.

"I know who he is Fab." I say a little exasperated. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, James' came to me after practice and asked me who that Indian girl was that was with me all the time. Then he started to ask me if you had a boyfriend and if you had a date to Hogsmeade this weekend." Fabian said his voice expressing his confusion and shock. "He then asked me what you liked. When I asked what this was about, he said that he was just curious"

I stared at him in shock. That made absolute no sense. My only interactions with James was during perfect meetings this year. Why would James' Potter ask about me? Did he need a tutor too? That can't be – as dumb as he acted, he was actually a brilliant student.

Gideon cleared his throat, bringing me back into reality. The two of them were looking at me expectedly, as if I was hiding something from them. We told each other everything so if there was ever a sense that we didn't tell each other something, we all got a little salty.

"I don't know!" I said truthfully. "Today has been extremely weird day. Someone must have spiked something over at the Gryffindor's table. First, Sirius talks to me out of the blue and then Lily, Marlene and Emmeline corner me in a classroom, telling me that they think Sirius likes me and that I had to help them, and then I actually zoned out of class today! I'm telling -

"WAIT, hold up" Fabian said, holding up his hand as stop sign. "What did you just say?"

"I know, it's shocking." I said nodding. "I actually zoned out of class and my notes are all just scribbles. It's -"

"No you dud. The thing about Sirius. Did you just say Sirius liked you?"

"No, I said they told me that they think that" I clarified. "Of course, it's not true. It makes no sense."

I looked at my friends' face and I saw something else transpire – it seemed like they understood something.

"What?" I ask again, never having said that word so many times in one day.

"Well, I'll be. Sirius and Aditi" Fabian says smiling and shaking his head.

"What are you talking about? I just told you it's not true" I said looking at them as if they were a little slow on the uptake.

"Aw, our innocent belle" Fabian said as he put his arm around me and squeezed. Belle was their nickname for me after we all watched La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) together. I apparently was exactly like Belle. A bookworm, always giving people a chance, regardless of who they are. It's not far from the truth. If I was in Belle's situation, I probably would have given the Beast a chance. Hey, everyone deserves a chance! "I forget how naïve you are."

This is usually the point of the conversation I stare with a confused face and they take turns explaining. I like to think I'm smart but when it comes to crushes, love and all that Valentine Day's related stuff, I will definitely call myself stupid. I can never tell if someone flirts with me or if someone likes someone else. I never grew up with that around me. My entire life focused on studies and getting ahead in life. I had it all planned out. I was in Hogwarts for the school year and went to Muggle School during the summers. I would graduate from both schools and spend three years in university doing the same thing. Until I could not study anymore, I would continue studying so that I would start with an advantage when I finally became a scientist. There was never a room for friends or love. That would come when my parents decided it was time. That had been my life.

Of course, since coming to Hogwarts, my mindset has changed, especially in the friends department. After I became friends with Fabian and Gideon, they helped me get out of the 24/7 study mode. I found a balance between friends and school. But love…that's something that still evades me.

"My dear, James was asking me because he was trying to find out information for Sirius" Fabian said, with a little teasing in his voice. "It looks like Sirius has a little crush on our little Aditi here."

"He- what?" I said, my small eyes widening. "You mean… this morning, he was talking to me because… because he liked me?"

The two started laughing at my dumbfounded look. "Yes, genius!" Fabian said. "You know you suck at being a girl when you have two guys deciphering this for you."

I stare at them, not really looking at them. I never really had anyone like me. I was the nerdy kid you went if you wanted someone to tutor you. Or the one you came to if you needed a shoulder to cry on. Not the one you liked.

"That's not possible. Why would Sirius Black like a girl like me?" I asked which earned me a pillow to the face from Gideon.

"Oh shut it Adi," Gideon said annoyed. "You know you are an amazing person and any guy would be lucky to have you."

"You said that Lily wanted you to help her?" Fabian interjected before I could respond.

I snapped back into the conversation at Fabian's question. "Oh yeah. They essentially want someone to make him fall in love with them and then dump him so he knows how it feels."

"And they want this person to be you?" Gideon asked, his eyebrows going up. "Do they even know you?"

"Exactly!" I said, glad that there was one person who finally understood her. I'm not crazy after all to turn down their request.

"So are you going to do it?" Fabian said his face morphing into an inquisitive one. I looked at him as if he was crazy to even ask. Gideon gave him the same look.

"Of course not. I said no."

Gideon nodded in agreement but Fabian was staring at me as if I did something wrong. I didn't even have to say "What" before he expressed his opinion.

"Maybe it's not a bad idea" Fabian said slowly. We both looked at him as if he grew horns. He held up his hands in defense and motioned to let him explain. "Looking at it from their perspective, he already likes you."

"Which is debatable" Aditi interjected, still in disbelief.

"Alright, supposedly likes you." Fabian corrected himself. "And from what I hear, when he focuses on one girl, he goes after her until she says yes. So he's not going to switch gears. So they can't really pick anyone else if he is interested in you now can they?"

I hate when they make sense. That's my job.

"Not only that, this might be good for you."

"Good for me?" I ask my voice a little squeaky. "How could breaking someone's heart be good for me? That's got to give me some bad ju-ju."

"Adi, you never let yourself have fun. You always study and study. If Gid and I weren't here, you would just live in the library. Even though this won't be real for you, you'll at least get to experience it before you graduate and the rest of your life takes over. Not just that, maybe you'll make some actual girlfriends."

I started to protest about his accusation that I didn't have girlfriends but he shot me a look daring me to argue. I swallow my words as I sighed in defeat. It was still true. Sure, I had friends who were girls but not anyone that I would consider as close as the twins.

"You think I should do this?" I ask her slowly and softly.

"I don't know. But I'm saying don't dismiss it." He said shrugging. I looked at Gideon who looked unsure and concerned.

"No matter what, be careful." Gideon said shrugging. "I don't want you to be hurt by either of them."

I sigh, falling back onto my bed. I stared at the ceiling, my head swirling with unknown questions and answers. I never had this problem before. Any question I had, I found the answer in a book. My mind has never been jumbled about what to do.

Well this is certainly a day of firsts for me.

I'm so sorry this is late! The holidays are a crazy time. But anyway, here's chapter 4! Please read and review. I'd love any feedback!

3 Ms. Sappho