Man's Best Friend
Chapter 2
"The Girl"
Song: Mr. Brightside
By: The Killers
It was a cool Saturday evening in the middle of October and the sun was just beginning to make it's descent behind the hilly grounds of Hogwarts when a fifteen-year-old Sirius Black swaggered out of the Forbidden Forest, a cocky grin on his handsome face. He had just finished his day-long detention for…he paused to think about exactly what it was, 'Ah yes, chucking Snivelly into the lake.' Technically speaking, Sirius hadn't actually pushed Snape into the lake, he had sent a leg-binding curse at him, and it just so happened that he fell backwards, and right behind him was the lake.
Sirius shook his head. Professor McGonogall hadn't seemed to understand his earnest explanation, though. In fact, she said that the jinx made the whole ordeal even worse. 'Oh well' he thought to himself, 'it really could have been much worse.' He had ended up helping Hagrid find unicorns and plucking hairs from their tails to use as rope. According to Hagrid they were very strong and "dead useful."
All in all, Sirius thought he got off very well indeed. He got to spend a day with Hogwarts' version of the Big Friendly Giant and chasing unicorns down in the Forbidden Forest just made it more of an adventure. Sirius liked adventures, and he hadn't been remotely afraid. He was practically invincible for Christ's sakes.
"I'm like, God, or something" Sirius said out loud to himself, smiling broadly as he made his way down the grounds towards the school.
"Not God, Sirius, just a star!" Shouted a laughing female voice. Sirius looked down to see Maddie (who's actually name was Madison) smiling at him.
Maddie was an irresistibly hot Gryffindor sixth year. She had curly strawberry-blonde hair that went down to her shoulder and bounced when she walked, and dark blue eyes that sparkled and shine, and what mattered to Sirius most of all, very womanly curves. She wasn't exactly intelligent, especially not by Marauder standards, but she had a good sense of humor and was, overall, a sweet girl. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that it was James' current girlfriend, Sirius probably would have been hitting on her by now.
Sirius walked over towards where she was standing and hugged her.
"Hey Mad"
"Hey Sirius. You know I have to tell you, the way the sun was hitting you as you walked out of the forest it definitely did make you look like God."
Sirius laughed, by this point it was definitely taking quite a bit of effort to his best friend to not flirt with this girl, who was obviously up for it.
"So, what are you out here for? It's getting late you know, dinner's going to be served soon."
"Yeah, I know, but James said to meet him out here. He said we could have a 'moonlit picnic dinner'. I don't know how he expects to get the food though." Sirius smiled blandly, he knew exactly where Prongs would be getting the food.
"Look, the sun's setting, it's pretty, right?" Maddie asked sweetly, turning towards the skyline.
"Actually, I think it's rather cliché." Sirius stated blankly, making a last-ditch attempt to defer her flirtations with him.
"Oh." They were both silent for a time, making Sirius feel vaguely uncomfortable.
"So um…when's James supposed to be coming?" He asked searching around for something, anything to say.
Maddie shrugged her shoulders, looking disappointed. "He was supposed to be here a while ago." She stared up at Sirius, who, even though he was younger, was about a head taller then the petite girl. Sirius looked back down at her, and felt a stab of pity go through him. She looked completely miserable and he knew she was just completely confused inside. Sirius knew Maddie had always liked the two boys, even when they ere younger and were just friends. As they grew up, though, Sirius and James had become incredibly popular and Maddie had just sort of...drifted out of the picture. By the looks of it, Maddie really liked the both of them, and was probably thrilled when James asked her out. ('We are gorgeous guys after all'.) The fact of the matter was, though, that James was madly in love with Lily. He always had been and always would be. Maddie was just one of James' fruitless attempts to get Lily off his mind at worst and at best make her jealous. Sirius knew that even though Maddie wasn't in the class of James and Sirius intellectually, she wasn't stupid either, and she was probably grasping by now that she was getting used.
All of the sudden, Sirius realized that Maddie had grabbed on to his hand. And Sirius didn't pull away. This girl was hot, and he felt bad, and he was quite sure James wouldn't even notice, never mind care, even if he popped up right now. Then she leaned in and he thought she wanted a hug, and that he was quite willing to give. ("I'm just helping out a friend.') This thought comforted his growing worries about betraying his best friend. However, what it turned out she was doing was quite different. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned in towards his face. 'She's trying to kiss me!' Sirius quickly weighed his options. James would be incredibly pissed off at Sirius if he caught him kissing his girlfriend, even if he didn't care about said girlfriend very much, and Sirius was dead loyal to his friends. On the other hand, Maddie was hot, ready and willing, and James was nowhere in sight. In fact at this point, Sirius was willing to bet he stood the poor girl up.
'Oh, fuck it' His mind told him angrily and he put his hand on her cheek and put her mouth gently on his.
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
'Hmm. This is nice. She's a good kisser.' Sirius thought to himself as he licked her soft lips and she opened her mouth and deepened the kiss.
Madison put her arms around Sirius' neck and pulled him closer to her, and he didn't object. He was starting to breathe heavy and his pulse quickened. He wasn't even aware of anything anymore except her, and only her.
'God, she's gorgeous,' He thought to himself. Eventually, Maddie pulled softly away and smiled at him, leaving her arms around his neck.
He smiled back, a charming, sexy grin that made all girls melt and he kissed her cheek sweetly and ran his hand over her hair.
"You're beautiful, you know that?" Sirius asked her hoarsely. She just smiled and snuggled against his arms.
Sirius was quite content like this, but suddenly he saw James exiting the castle, looking rather harried, and was all-out sprinting towards the pair. He quickly pulled away from Maddie and she looked at him hurt and confused. Sirius spun her around and she went a brilliant shade of red and took a step away from him.
"H-hi James" she stammered, and Sirius gave a hollow smile.
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this?
Sirius found his voice and quickly said, "I was just coming back from detention and she was waiting for you so I decided to keep her company while she waited." AS he said this he felt a stab of guilt go through him. Sure, he lied all the time, and it usually came very easily to him, but this was his best friend he was lying to, and he definitely did not like to do that.
But James didn't seem to realize the conflicting emotions inside Sirius. In fact, Sirius didn't even think James heard a word he said. His friend looked incredibly flustered and was profusely apologizing to Madison.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, oh, yes, thanks, Sirius."
It was only a kiss
It was only a kiss
"No problem, Prongs ol' buddy," Sirius said in a falsely cheerful voice. He clapped James on the back, gave Maddie a wave and headed back towards the castle.
As he was walking back to the Common Room he realized that he could not get the damn girl out of his head. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he knocked into a tiny first year girl, who dropped all her books and blushed as she got down on the ground to pick them up.
Sirius quickly bent down and helped her pick up her things.
"Thanks," she said shyly, "My name's Emily." Sirius nodded, he wasn't even paying the slightest bit of attention, and he quickly stood up and walked away. He was so distracted he even forgot to swagger in that "I'm hot and I know it" kind of way.
Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke
And she's taking the drag
'She's so pretty, the way her hair falls down around her face, and her skin is so soft.' He was so absorbed he hadn't realized he'd reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Password?" She asked and he told her, and made his way into the common room, running his hand through his hair slowly.
He suddenly felt the urge to go over to the window and see what the couple was doing.
'You can't do that, that's your best mate'
"Yeah, and my best mate's using Maddie'
Wait. Since when did he care? Besides, that was like the whale calling the rhinoceros fat. He used girls all the time. For entirely different reasons, he mused, but still.
Against all that his head had told him, he strode over to the window.
Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head
But she's touching his chest now
What he saw made a lump form in his throat. They had apparently finished eating, because James had put the picnic basket aside, and they were laying on the red and white checked blanket, Madison's head on James' chest and James was absentmindedly stroking her cheek.
Sirius couldn't take this anymore, but yet he couldn't seem to look away. Finally, he managed to tear his eyes away from the window, and he pounded up the stairs into his dorm and slammed the door behind him.
He takes off her dress now
Let me go
And I just can't look
It's killing me
And taking control
He threw himself onto his bed and buried his face in his pillow. He put his hands up to his face and suddenly realized it was wet. Was he…crying? No, it couldn't be. Sirius never cried. Well, not since he was seven and Regulus broke Sirius' toy broomstick and then his mother had grounded him, Sirius, because he should have been watching his younger brother better.
Why was he crying? It couldn't be that he actually had feelings about this girl? No, no, that was impossible. Sirius Black was too much of a rebel to become attached to girls. He was probably just upset because James had the opportunity to get somethin' tonight and he probably wouldn't take it, while it could be Sirius, and he definitely would not have turned such an opportunity down.
Yes that had to be it.
But then why the hell was he still crying?
Jealousy
Turning saints into the sea
Turning through sick lullaby
Sirius pretended to have been asleep when James strode into. He grunted in reply when James punched him in the gut.
"Oy, Padfoot, get up mate, it's Saturday night at nine o'clock and here you are sleeping. The night is still young and so are we, it would be a shame to waste such a perfect party opportunity."
Sirius rolled over on his back and looked at James. "I'm not really in the mood tonight, I'm kind of tired."
James looked shocked. Sirius watched as he racked through his brains to see why his womanizing, partying best friend was suddenly too tired to go out on a Saturday night.
"You get another Howler from your Mum?"
"Yeah," Sirius answered, relieved that James' excuse made sense.
"All right, then I'll stay here with you. Moony says we should get some rest anyway, we have a big exam coming up Monday." He paused, "Moony sounds a bit like my mum at times." Sirius laughed at this, it was true; Remus did often remind him of Mrs. Potter, but quickly his mind went back to Maddie.
"How'd tonight go, anyway?"
"Oh. It was pretty good, she seemed kind of distant with me at first, I guess because I was so late, but by the end everything seemed good…not nearly as amazing as Lily, though," he added as an afterthought and Sirius winced as though he had been punched again.
"Listen, Prongs, I'm gonna turn in now, alright?" James nodded and said,
"Sure Padfoot, listen, your Mum's a pure-blood maniac, don't let her get to you alright?"
"What? Oh yeah, right. I won't. Thanks mate."
"Anytime."
Joking on your alibi
But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Sirius groaned and suddenly realized what it was like to have feelings for a girl. It made him sick, really, and he couldn't believe James went through this torture since, well, forever, with Lily. It was quite disturbing, really, that he had no control over this emotion at all. He was a badass, badasses were supposed to use girls for only one thing: sex. Ergo, he would just have to force himself to control this emotion too, and destroy it. He had managed to control other emotions before; this one would be no different.
Really. He was a rebel, he liked to pull pranks, jinx Snivelly, go out after hours, wander the grounds, drink, play Quidditch, flirt with and charm multiple girls into his bed, party, and he was also one of the smartest kids in his year. Somehow, most of these factors landed him in detention a lot too. He just didn't have time to care about a girl. He was too busy being bad.
And with that last thought he nodded triumphantly to himself, put any thoughts about Maddie out of his head, rolled over and went to sleep.
Open up my eager eyes
I'm Mr. Brightside