Disclaimer: Same as before.
Enjoy.
"So who's the lucky guy who asked you to the dance and wasn't turned down?" Lily asked me the next morning.
"What are you talking about?" I asked innocently.
"There's a fourth dress hanging in there." She pointed at the common closet we all shared, "quite like the one you tried out yesterday and neither one of us bought an extra dress."
"Yes. So who is the guy?" Alice pressed.
Fuck. That's the one question I didn't want to answer. How was I supposed to tell me best friend that I'm going out with the one guy I completely despise. How am I supposed to tell Mandy that I'm going out with her ex. How am I supposed to tell these girls that I'm going out with Sirius Black! Argh.
"Oh, it's just some guy." I said, staring at the carpet on the floor, and to my horror, I blushed.
Alice whistled, "Some guy? Some guy's got you blushing like this. Tosh, what's his name?"
Rolling my eyes, I decided to get it over with. "Sirius." I mumbled.
Nobody said anything, nobody moved. They just stared. And stared some more. Then Lily managed to ask, "Black?"
That got me rolling my eyes, "No. That other Sirius you know nothing about. Of course Sirius Black."
Then I looked at Mandy and said, "Mandy I'm so sorry. I really don't want to go for the dance with him. But he called me a smart ass and grumpy. I just had to, you know. Oh man, I'm sorry." I babbled.
I was really afraid how she'd react to the news. To my surprise she started to laugh. "Are you joking? I have come to terms with the fact that we weren't meant to be. I never thought you'd date him. You were never affected by him." Yeah, the clenching stomach is so just something wrong that I ate. And if I wasn't so affected I wouldn't have agreed to go out with him would I? "Just watch out for his kisses. They're mind blowing."
"You're telling me." I mumbled.
Again. Silence. And staring.
Then Lily commanded, "The story. Now."
So I told them. Everything. "I hate him. I couldn't say no. Not after what he said about my smart ass mouth and grumpy attitude. Bastard." I seethed. "But there's just something there you know. He just… every time I think about him and how we've just have two conversations both which ended up as arguments… the only thing that explains… you know that Switchfoot song-On Fire. There is this one line that explains what I feel- Yet everything inside you knows there's more than what you've heard
There's so much more than empty conversations filled with empty words." I sounded like such a fool to myself.
"And you're on fire when he's near you
You're on fire when he speaks
You're on fire burning up in these mysteries." Alice completed, looking at me.
I looked down, blushing.
"I knew this would happen. Rather I hoped. This is amazing." Lily exclaimed.
"So you're not mad?" I asked.
"About what?"
"That I didn't tell you before. Or that I'm going out with a guy who I've only said bad things about since forever."
"I know what a big deal this is for you. To admit it to yourself, let alone to me. I didn't tell you what I felt about James till I went out with him. And sweety, if you've changed your mind about something, why would that anger me. Good for you."
"Hold it right there. There are no feelings here whatsoever. Least not like the ones you have for James. The only reason I agreed to go out with him is so that I can prove him wrong about my sm-" But Alice interrupted me, "Smart ass mouth and grumpy attitude. Yes we know." And rolled her eyes.
So
then after having everything out in the open,
I grabbed my uniform and got dressed.
Once I was out of the
bathroom the girls forced me to apply gloss and dry my hair magically
and apply darker kohl than usual. I didn't look much different that
usual me, but there were sublte changes. My hair was straighter than
usual, each piece falling in it's rightful place. My bangs fell
into my eyes that looked bluer than usual cause of the dark kohl.
When I complained about the gloss and how my hair could stick to it
Lily said, "Tough. You're just going to have to deal with it."
"You look great, Alex." Mandy smiled at me.
"Go get 'em tiger." Alice winked at me.
Lily. Lily just looked at me with this look in her eyes that I didn't understand. She looked… proud. She just smiled and nodded at me. I nodded back and took another deep one.
--
Before pushing open the door to the Great Hall I turned towards the girls. I needed to say something, especially to Mandy and Alice. "Look. I know I'm not the easiest person to live with. And I sure as hell am not the nicest. But really you guys are great. I'm not just saying this because of today. I've just… I'm more of a glass half empty person. But.. all I'm saying is thank you. For everything." And I smiled. They smiled back.
As I pushed the door open and entered the Hall, I muttered, "Let's get this over with."
That got them all laughing. And I laughed with them.
We were still laughing when we reached the boys. Admitted that it wasn't really funny, but this was the first time the four of us, were so comfortable around each other. This was the first time I had completely been a part of them, and it was a big thing. Today, Frank was sitting with the Maurauders, and by the time I could process that I had to sit down, I realized that the girls had arranged themselves in such a way that the only empty seat left for me was the one next to Sirius. Who, by the way, looked great even in the uniform. Angry with myself for not anticipating this move, I grudgingly took my seat.
"What's so funny?" James asked, after he had greeted Lily in his own special 'non verbal' way.
"Oh nothing. Just some empty conversations filled with some empty words." Alice said nonchalantly, winking at me.
And I choked. On my own spit.
And those wicked wicked girls, the ones who I thought were my friends, burst into laughter. The boys were… well they seemed confused with my coughing and their laughing.
Sirius handed me a glass of water as Frank asked, "What is that supposed to mean? Alex are you okay?"
I couldn't answer as I was still coughing, so Mandy answered for me, "Oh she's fine. She's just a little burned?" And then she giggled. She actually giggled.
To which Sirius said, "Burns don't make a person cough like that." just as Remus asked, "By what?"
Lily answered him, "By a mysterious fire."
And the water that I was drinking went down the wrong pipe and came out through my nose. Thank god it wasn't coffee.
Peter, the ever so observant one told me, "Alex, there's water dripping from your nose."
"Gee, you don't say." I snapped. But the effect was kind of ruined as I was dabbing my face with my napkin. This is why you don't tell people things. They hold it against you for the rest of your life and never let you forget it.
"I'm confused. What is going on here?" James asked, finally annoyed by how the girls were laughing about something he didn't quite get.
"You really don't want to know." I answered him, after having recovered from my two consecutive fits.
"Actually I really do." James was adamant.
"And so do I." Added Sirius. Something in his voice told me he already had an inkling. That bastard.
"No you really don't." I told them, nicely. "Remus, can you please pass me the coffee."
"Is that all you're having." Remus finally asked me, indicating my third cup of coffee.
"Yeah, I'm not really hungry today." Truth be told, my stomach was doing summersaults that Olympic gymnasts would be proud off.
Soon the conversation drifted off the something else entirely and I didn't pay attention. I was hyper aware of him sitting next to me, aware of every move he made. I had to force myself to not move away everytime his elbow brushed against me. And then they started talking about the one thing I didn't want to discuss, ever. The dance. James and Lily we're going together. As were Frank and Alice. Remus and Mandy we're going as friends. And Peter was going with a Ravenclaw girl.
"So Lex, you going to be in the Room on Requirements this year as well?" James asked me playfully.
And I turned red.
"Actually she's going to be accompanying me this year." He said in the arrogant tone of his, as he slipped his arm around me and pulled me towards him.
James burst out laughing and Remus raised an eye brow at us. Furious, I shook off his arm and pulled away. "Get off me." I mumbled. I was too busy trying to not blush.
"You guys are going on a date? Together?" Frank asked in an awed voice.
Unable to answer, I stared at the table cloth and nodded silently. But He. No, He has to make a big deal about it. "As a matter of fact we are." And slipped his arm around me again.
"No wonder you're all dressed up today." Peter accused me.
I cannot belive he just said that, "I am not dressed up. It's just the school uniform." Asshole, I added in my mind.
James squinted at me, as if looking for something, "You do look awfully nice today." And then went back to his eggs. The arm around me tightened, "Of course she wants to look all nice for me." I could just hear the smirk in his voice.
I threw of the arm again, "I am not all dressed up for you. So all of you, shut up."
"I thought Sirius was joking when he told us last night." Remus said, in that quiet voice of his.
"Yeah you're the last person who I thought would date Sirius. How wrong was I?" James laughed.
That's it. I was done listening to all this crap. "You know what!" I threw my napkin at James to get his attention, "The only reason I'm going to the dance with him is to show him that I'm not just a smart mouth with a grumpy attitude. So all of you can just shove it up where the sun don't shine for all I care." And I finished my coffee.
"Hey, calm down. We're all just joking." Frank tried to placate me.
"Well I've had enough of it, so just stop. Please." I pleaded. It wasn't that I didn't like to be teased or anything. It's just I'm aware of what a big thing it is to agree to go out with Sirius. I have never been this attracted to anyone in my entire life. And I'm just really nervous.
Just like that the air changed. And everyone started to talk about other things.
"You could get out of it if you want y'know." His voice a whisper, his breath hot on my ear. I went very still. "Cause I already know that you're not just a smart mouth with a grumpy attitude." My heart missed a beat as he kissed the shell of my ear.
Turning my head in his general direction, I whispered, "Well I have this dress lying in my closet that nearly emptied my savings that will go to waste if I don't. Heck, I even bought new shoes. Wouldn't want it all to be for nothing." He took my chin between his thumb and fore finger and tilted my face to meet his eyes, something that I had been avoiding. Once again, I realized just how good looking he was and what beautiful eyes he had. His eyes roamed my face, "No we wouldn't want it all to be for nothing." And he nodded.