A/N: In a huge rush to post this chapter! Thanks to reviewers and I hope you enjoy it! Review!
Chapter 3
In my muggle catholic religion, Sunday is the day of rest. Peaceful aimless walks, crossword puzzles and naps that stretch on forever. Not a pounding migraine that was the leftover of a severe hangover. I groaned and managed to stumble into the bathroom, and made the mistake of looking at myself in the mirror. My skin was pale and clammy, my hair was in a sloppy ponytail, someone had changed me into my pajamas but had put on my shirt inside out (Must have been Lily, Dara was too pissed drunk to do it).
I felt the familiar bile rising up in my throat and dry heaved into the toilet a few times, realizing I must have emptied my stomach contents last night; I staggered downstairs and collapsed onto the squashy sofa. The punch bowl had been cleaned out and now a potion was simmering in it, the stench and the fog rising out of it told me that it was your standard, hangover cure. I ladled myself a cup, greedily, chugged it down faster than I chugged my punch last night, tried not to gag and then flopped back down. I squeezed my eyes tight, praying the room would stop spinning.
I rested my clammy cheek on the soft velvety material and then I passed out.
--
When I woke up, someone had conjured up an ice pack and it was resting on my forehead. My temples and the spots behind my ears (Do they even have names?) were pounding but at least Remus' head, who was looming over me, wasn't spinning.
"Oh Billee" he chided softly, and I made a guttural moan. "Use words, Malone" James said with a grin. As my eyes adjusted to the light I saw, that Remus was now sitting on the end of the sofa and that James and Peter were playing chess. "Here are a couple of words for you: Sod off" I muttered, and managed to push myself into a sitting position. "Is she feeling better?" Sirius asked, walking into the portrait hole, and it occurred to me that the hangover potion as well as the ice pack had been all them. He paused mid step and muttered "Yikes" under his breath at the sight of me.
"Oh shove it and twist" I said, gently taking out my elastic and re-doing my ponytail. "How are you feeling?" Remus asked, sounding much like my Mum and I glanced at him blankly "Peachy" I said, sarcastically. It hurt to speak; my voice was strained and husky. I guess this could be easily explained since I wore out my vocal chords singing along to the music last night and then retching into the toilet a couple hours later.
"Well buck up buttercup" Sirius announced too cheerfully. "Her Majesty Lily would like our presence in the library for our first dream discussion" he proclaimed even louder. "Bloody hell" I muttered crossly and stood up, the pain in my head was slowly fading but in no way was I feeling up to discussing divination drivel. "James, come on" I growled "Ah come on, wait till the games done!" he begged. I shot Sirius a look which must have said do-something-about-this-you-great-oaf because he immediately piped up. "James you don't want to be late for the love of your life" he reminded him and James stood up so fast, he nearly knocked Peter over.
--
"So the first question is…" Lily trailed off; trying to locate the said question on her parchment "Is what we learned about each other" she said. "Well I learned that Sirius is afraid of flobberworms" she supplied scribbling it down. "Don't put that down!" Sirius said urgently "That's going to ruin my manly rep" we all ignored him, which was what I had been doing the whole time. I guess seeing me dance like a slapper last night must've turned him on or something because he'd been flirting shamelessly with me the whole time. Right now his arm was draped over the back of my chair, and he was playing with the end of my ponytail. I let him continue because firstly I turn to a puddle of goop whenever anyone plays with my hair (Let alone the hottest boy in school) and secondly this was relatively tame for him.
In the short time we were here he made Lily move so he could sit next to me, put his hand on my thigh and then once I had put a stop to that, he kept on rubbing his foot against my pajama clad leg.
"I learned that James almost drowned" I said flipping through the dream journal warily and Lily wrote that down as well. "Billee has two sisters" Sirius piped up. He had learned this from a dream where Annie, Cam and I were all riding on big geese and then at the end we realized we were on a baby mobile. Yeah, it was weird.
"Two very sexy sisters" he added and I rolled my eyes. He had said I was holding out on him by never telling him about my family and then had browbeaten me into showing him a picture of the three of us.
"For the last time, Annie is married and Cam is only fourteen, you great pervert" I said shooting him a dirty look, and jerking my head away from his fingers which he had started to slide down the nape of my neck.
"Humph, that might seem like a lot now but when I'm eighty-four she'll only be eighty-two" he informed me and I snorted in return. "Yeah, like I'd ever let you get near my baby sister" I said, and crossed my arms over my chest, defensively.
"Oh!" Lily said loudly, and reached in the back pocket of her jeans. "That reminded me, I went up to the Owlery and saw that you got a letter from Annie", she added and handed over a crumpled envelope that read 'William' in a familiar loopy script on the front and smelled of freesias and grapefruit, that memorable Annie smell.
William was her pet name for me; she always called it in a formal, aristocratic voice, a few octaves higher than normal. I ripped open the envelope greedily, my eyes scanning each line frantically, until I reached the end and then I started reading it again. Annie's letters were something that was always looked forward to. I don't know how she does it but ever word is just as warm as funny as she is. When I write letters I sound either as ditzy as Gidget or formal as McGonagall. Her letters were always filled with silly stories about the kids she teaches and her husband, Gavin that made me ache for my house on Grafton Lane, with the peeling paint and rusty swing set.
I realized hazily that they were carrying on with the assignment and were on question three already. My eyes were wet and I saw Sirius staring at me, something like concern evident on his features. "Alright Billee?" he asked and I nodded. "Oh yeah I'm fine, I always get a little homesick when I get a letter" I said and blinked my eyes a few times. "I get sick when I get mail from home too" he said, and there was a bitterness laced through his voice that was new to me.
He didn't smile for the rest of the "dream discussion" and I have no idea why but when he put his arm around the back of my chair again, I found myself shifting my chair closer to his own, and I let him play with my ponytail again. Win-Win.
--
"No!" I cried, Mendara, Lily and I were having a girls night (Which was basically every night) I could feel Mendara's facial cream hardening on my face from where I was leaning against the door frame in the bathroom. Lily was sitting on the toilet and Mendara was spreading the green goop all over Lily's fair, freckled face. "Just admit it, Bill. You guys were all over each other today" Lily taunted and went to touch the goop on her cheek as Mendara slapped her hand away. She has great reflexes.
"Excuse me!" I said, offended. "He was all over me, it was not mutual. Secondly, I only let him be all touchy feely because he got all mopey about his family, and thirdly he has a girlfriend!"
Mendara snorted at this last point I made. "Please, Billee. You are not that dumb"
"Hey! Are you calling me du-" I started to get out, insulted but Mendara interrupted me. "Boys do not date Gidget, you do not take Gidget home to meet your parents, Gidget, bless her heart, is a fuck-me friend" Lily wrinkled her nose, at that term, as did I.
"Okay, if that's true. That's even worse. How do you know that he's not planning on treating me as a fuck-me friend?" I asked.
"Because you're not Gidget" Lily piped up. I rolled my eyes, turning on the faucet as it spat old cold water, and cupped my hands together, making a pool of water in the palm of my hand before splashing it on my face and watching the green cream swirl down the drain.
"This is me ignoring you guys now" I said, my voice sounding monotone, and patted my face off with a towel. "Just promise me that you'll say yes if he asks you out" Mendara said, moving over to the sink and rinsing off her gook as well. "He won't ask me out, Dara" I said in a whiny voice and passed the towel over to her.
"Don't be daft, of course he will" Lily said, standing up and joining us at the cluttered sink. I expected to hear the cliché 'any guy would be lucky to have you' but instead I got Classic Lily "He's best friends with Potter. That guy's piece of advice to everything is 'ask her out'. Got a zit? Ask it out" Lily said, beginning to rinse off her face.
"My grandma passed on. Ask her out" Mendara added, cackling. I rolled my eyes at the both of them. "Just say you will, Billee and then we'll leave you alone" Dara begged, earnestly. "Fine, fine" I said to get them off my case. But I wasn't expecting to be asked out by Sirius Black.
"Okay, great" Dara with a million watt smile "Now I got this pore minimizer stuff, it's a miracle seriously" she said digging around in her extensive make-up bag.
I pushed all complicated thoughts out of my head, and decided just to think about base foundation, minimized pores and other shite like that. I lifted my self up onto the sink countertop, as Lily indulged us her latest misadventures with James. Laughter rang out from the cramped bathroom. And I glanced in the mirror, and saw our faces encompassed in a square, light shining in from the bedroom and committed this picture to my memory.
Just three girls, goofing off without a care in the world.
--
Unfortunately we can't all stay in our bathrooms forever. Lily's copy of the Daily Prophet was being circulated through the Gryffindor table with shaky hands, when I made my arrival in the great hall. Mendara's face was a chalky white, Potter looked as though he did when Lily got a new boyfriend, and Remus was dragging his fork through his scrambled eggs listlessly.
"What's wrong?" I was, immediately as I plopped down in my seat, and Sirius from his seat beside me, passed over the paper. My throat felt dry as I looked at the black and white picture, in which a skull was hovering eerily in the air. "Oh" was all I got out, before my eyes started to comb through the article. A muggle family of four slain in their own home, for doing nothing but being born with the wrong ability. I sucked in a shaky breath and slid the paper across the table to Lily. "I ca- can't finish that right now" I spit out, nervously running a hand through my hair. "One was just a baby" James said, his voice barely a rumble.
"How can anyone do something like that?" Mendara uncharacteristically burst out, and I knew she wasn't really looking for an answer. "He's not human, Dara" Remus said, draping his arm over the back of her chair and giving her shoulder a little squeeze. "How are we supposed to get through the day?" Lily asked, and the question hung in the air until Sirius in a stony voice answered "The best way we can"
--
"Hello, love" Sirius offered with a cheesy grin when I stepped into our Divination classroom. "Hello, to you too" I said, plopping down heavily on my pouf, next to his, and glanced at the two empty ones where Lily and James should have been sitting. "Where are James and Lily?" I asked, curiously, taking the dream diary out of my shoulder bag and setting it down next to Sirius, which he picked up and flipped through it leisurely.
"Probably either shagging in a closet someplace or ripping each other's heads off" he said casually, his eyes scanning over Lily's latest entry. Her dreams were always the most entertaining. "Fair enough" I said with a small smile. He glanced up and grinned at me, before closing the book and gave me his full attention. "So any plans for the Hogsmeade weekend?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.
"That's like three weeks from now!" I said incredulously. "I would have thought you've had dozens of proposals already" he said, shaking his hair out of eyes, a lazy grin on his lips. "Flattery doesn't work that well on me" I informed him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Are you sure?" he asked, tilting his head to a jaunty angle. "Cause I'm pretty sure when I ask you to get a drink we me on said Hogsmeade day, you'll say yes, mainly because of my charming personality and rugged good looks" he stated, a confident smile working it's way onto his lips and making it's self home.
"Oh really?" I said, quirking my eyebrows and fighting hard not to smile. But a slow grin, started to twitch at my corners and his smile only grew larger and lovelier. "Should I take that as a yes?" he inquired. "Maybe" I said coolly, and pushed some hair out of my face, trying to hold onto some air of mystery.
"Okay then, Hogshead two-thirty" He said brusquely and then mimicked me as I wrinkled my nose. "What, not posh enough, dahling?" he said in an aristocratic voice. I snorted; posh was the least of my concerns. I was notoriously low maintenance. "The Hogshead is so…" I struggled for the right word "Dingy" was my choice in the end.
"Billee, Billee, Billee" he said in his soft, teasing voice that I had come to know well over the past week or so. He covered my small, bony, old lady hand which his own, which was way bigger than mine in comparison. He had long fingers, neatly trimmed nails and no hair on his knuckles. Nice, very nice, plus he was warm unlike my last boyfriend Todd, who had a reputation for being clammy. It always felt like a cold fish was sliding under my shirt when we made out, which was another reason I broke it off. Todd was very… hands-y.
"What's the point of going to a pub if it isn't even slightly dingy?" he asked with a knowing shake of his head. "Sorry" I exclaimed, with a small smile, raising my hands as a sign of peace. "You have much to learn, Malone" he said seriously "So that's why you need to get a drink with me, at the hogs head" he added, a small smile working it's way onto his lips.
"Fine" I said finally, as Lily and James finally joined us, their bickering creating my favorite kind of background music.
--
"Hey, Billee" someone called, a male voice. I spun around surprised. The only boys that called my name were Sirius, James, Remus and Peter and usually it was my last name, and they certainly wouldn't be jogging to catch up with me like Quinn Hollander was right now.
Quinn and I had been potions partners last year, and we had an on-going flirtation, but I hadn't seen him at all his year. He was tall, had solemn brown eyes and an adorable snaggletooth.
"Hello Quinton" I said using his birth name in a superior voice as he fell in step next to me. "Muriel" he said tipping an imaginary hat in my general direction. "Shh!" I screeched, and covered his mouth with my hand, although I had to stand on my very tippy toes to accomplish this feat. I had made the mistake of telling Quinn my middle name last year when I was trying to reassure him that he did not have the worst name ever. So I confessed that my second name was Muriel, named after my grandma. Most people thought my middle name was Blanca (More glamorous) but only Lily, Dara and now Quinn knew my dark, dark secret. Okay I know I'm being a dramatic ditz but come on, cut me some slack.
"What, is that some secret or something?" he asked innocently, his voice muffled by my hand, which I promptly moved away and I saw that he was grinning. "Anyways Muriel... Can I call you that, Muriel?" he asked emphasizing the name both times. I playfully whacked him on the arm, I hadn't realized that I missed our little flirty exchanges, but I guess I did because I knew I must've been grinning like mad. "I was wondering if you were free for the Hogsmead weekend, you know do some knitting, drink some prune juice" he said, and nervously ran a hand through his hair.
I bit my lip, maybe subconsciously but Quinn got the message loud and clear. "Ah, I should have known you'd be snatched up already" he said with a smile, a heartbreaker's smile.
"Promise you'll ask me next time?" I asked with a grin and he shook his head. "One time offer, Malone" before running his hands down his torso "And you'll be missing out on all of this".
I laughed loudly, in spite of myself and he ruffled my hair as a friendly gesture before turning on his heel and retracing his steps down the hallway.
--
"I don't want it to look like, too date-y" I said, tossing my newly blow dried hair over my shoulder. "Got it" Mendara said, her voice muffled, seeing as she was half buried in my trunk, throwing random articles of clothing on my bed.
After modeling several outfits for Lily and Mendara (Met with catcalls nearly every time) we decided on a pair of tight, faded out jeans, my favorite red, pink and white plaid shirt, which I unbuttoned a few extra buttons as well as a pair of cute red flats of Lily's. Mendara had just scooped my hair up in a high ponytail and Lily lent me a little white headband.
Overall, I looked cute. The jeans made my arse look kind of big, but what can you do? The three of us walked to Hogsmeade together. Lily left us to go to the bookstore with some of her Ravenclaw friends (Typical) and me and Dara just wandered aimlessly, just talking and laughing like we often did.
When two-thirty struck I hurried off to the Hogs Head. Magnus the bartender flirted with me for about five minutes, and then hurried over to serve a party of three who had a rather suspicious smell. I ordered my first butterbeer ten minutes after the agreed meeting time. I guzzled it down quickly and then ordered a second one, he was fifteen minutes late. My third one was requested at a half an hour. And by the time an hour had rolled around I was seated with the smelly folks (who were actually quite sweet) I had switched over to firewhiskey and we were in a heated discussion which consisted mainly of bashing the Minister of Magic. The bell above the door jingled-jangled merrily, as a group of rowdy ravenclaws, including Quinn and then Lily and Dara walked in. I saw Dara's eyes head to the bar and narrow as she didn't spot me. It was Quinn who saw me first seated with my new friends.
"Billee?" he asked incredulously, as I downed the rest of my drink, as Lucinda, Merrigan and Marigold looked on at me in wonder at my chugging skills. For being so tiny I retained my liquor well, seeing as this was my second firewhiskey and I was only a little sloshed.
"Oh, love" Lily said sympathetically, as she pieced together what happened, as Mendara gently smoothed down my hair with her hand. I felt as if I was going to cry, and it didn't help that Quinn was looking at me with probing eyes, as if saying "You should have picked me".
"Maggie!" I called loudly and Magnus looked up "Keep 'em coming!" I instructed, banging my mug on the table. Lily walked up to the counter, probably to persuade him to ignore my request. "Lily always kills my buzz" I explained to Lucinda, who the ravenclaws were looking at with agape mouths. "Billee, come on. Let's go for a walk" Quinn, said more as an order than a suggestion, and forced my to my feet, where he led me out of the door, his hand situated on my lower back.
He led me a little further, the silence was deafening, and his hand was lightly touching my elbow, gently guiding me where to go. I think he thought I was more inebriated then I actually was, but for some reason I let him continue doing it. We stopped at the viewpoint of the Shrieking Shack, and I sniffled in the crisp early October air. "I hate to say I told you so…" he trailed off in a teasing voice.
"Then don't" I instructed, feeling a slow smile start to spread it's self over my lips. The blanket of stillness covered us once again, before I felt his eyes on me. I turned my head, staring back at him. "What?" I asked, sounding a little rude. "Nothing" he said shyly, his cheeks coloring. "No, come on" I said bumping him with my shoulder, playfully. "Tell me".
He shook his head, a little incredulously "I was just thinking about how lovely you look…" he trailed off, his eyes were twinkling. Quinn's eyes were so different than his. Warm and brown were far less intimidating then the icy blue orbs that had been piercing my brain, leaving little holes, the past few weeks.
It was undisputable; I was the one who made the move. Moving my head, closer and closer to his, and standing on my very tippy toes, I kissed Quinn full on, on the lips. For a second, I was doing all the work, and I was worried he'd think he was sloppy seconds (Which he kind of was, if I'm being completely honest) but soon he started to reciprocate. Even if I knew it wasn't quite right, his lips against mine felt so much better than the burning in my throat from the whiskey and the burning in my heart from rejection. So when he pulled away, a question perched on the tip of his tongue, I interrupted him by pressing my lips against his again.
--
"So you and Hollander, huh?" A voice asked from the portrait hole and I looked up, surprised to see a surly Sirius with his arms crossed over his chest. "Very good, would you like a round of applause" I muttered, under my breath, keeping my eyes on a History of Magic essay I had been putting on.
"What's got you in such a fowl mood?" he asked curiously, plopping down in the chair across from mine. I felt like screaming my lungs out but instead I inhaled a shaky breath and stated matter-of-factly, "Oh I'm not sure. Usually getting stood up at the dingiest bar in all of the world makes me feel positively blissful" I spat the last couple of words out, I knew my nasty look was playing on my features (The nasty look consists of the wrinkled nose, narrowed eyes and pursed lips).
It was awkward for a moment before he started in on the apologies "Billee, you have no idea how so-" he started but I interrupted him "Oh save it" I snapped, crossly.
"Just hear me out" he pleaded in a tone I never heard before, he sounded desperate. "I was visiting Remus in the hospital wing, and completely forgot to tell you I couldn't make it".
As far as excuses go, this was on the list of acceptable ones. I knew my features must have softened slightly "Is Remus alright then?" I asked only with a slight level of hostility in my voice.
"He's fine" he said, in an offhand kind of way. "Well" I said hesitantly, how was I supposed to stay furious with him when he was visiting his friend in the hospital? "Don't worry about it" I said with a sense of finality, and continued on working on my essay about the first minister of magic, but I could feel him watching me still. I heaved a sigh, and reluctantly met his gaze. "Something you want?" I asked with forced politeness.
"I can't believe you're dating Quinn Hollander" he stated skeptically. "What does that guy have to offer at all?" he enquired, but I knew he really didn't want to hear my answer. I rolled my eyes and stood up. I realized that there was no way I was going to finish this essay with him around. "You're cute when you're jealous" I said, with a smirk. I was about to go up to my dorm, but he blocked my path. "Your cute all the time" he replied, his voice husky as he moved closer, invading my personal space. And the smirk promptly fell off my face.
He reached up, and pushed some of my hair out of my eyes and let his hand linger there, his fingertips tracing the outline of my mouth. "Don't do this" I muttered weakly, my heart was hammering in my chest, as he ignored me, gently tracing imaginary patterns down my neck.
I knew I had to stop this. I placed both of my palms on his hard pecs and with more will power then I knew I had I pushed him away.
"You've got to stop playing games with me, Sirius" I growled, inhaling deeply.
"Billee, I care too much about you for games" he said, touching my cheek tenderly. And I jerked my head back roughly. "If that was true" I said stonily, my voice getting louder "Then you would do me a favor and dump your fuck-me mate!" I exclaimed, my voice sounding harsh in my own ears.
And then I stomped up the staircase to my dorm, slammed my door shut and collapsed on my bed, ignoring Lily and Dara's furtive glances. I scanned my last few lines of the essay and saw that I had accidentally wrote Sirius instead of serious. "Sodding essay!" I shrieked, crumpling it in a ball and biffing it across the room. I collapsed on my bed, covering my eyes to block out Lily and Dara's alarmed faces. "What happened?" Mendara finally got out, sounding startled.
"You don't want to know" I said wearily and then burst into tears.