"Sickle for your thoughts?"
Corinne turns away from the lake to see Sirius taking a seat next to her. "Are we trying the friendship thing then?"
"I reckon it's better than fighting," he shrugs, pulling out a blade of grass and holding it up to the light.
"That's true."
"So what's bothering you?"
"It's just . . . why does everyone feel the need to couple up? I mean, it seems like most of the seventh years have a significant other. It's stupid. Even Benjamin has a girlfriend now. Benjamin!"
"I don't see the appeal either, but I know someone who does. She says it has to do with his character, whatever that means. Who is this lucky girl?"
"Henrietta from Hufflepuff."
Sirius lets out a bark of a laugh. "Helpless Henrietta? That's a good one."
"You still haven't answered my question," she grumbles.
"About all of the couples?"
"Yes."
"I think it has to do with everything going on," he says, no longer joking. "It's more real for us because we're going to be out there after this year, and that along with the stuff the Prophet has been reporting is putting everyone on edge."
"I guess I can understand that. But still, for them to abandon me like that-"
"They're all with their 'significant others' right now?"
"No, just Jeremy but-"
"So maybe you're pushing them away as much as they are you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, you're here with me instead of trying to stick it out with them."
"What, you don't want to talk to me?"
"That's not what I meant," he says placidly. "I enjoy your company but if you miss them then you should be with them."
"I don't want to talk about this."
"There are a lot of things you don't want to talk about."
"Well what about you?" Corinne accuses. "You're not with your friends."
"James is with Lily and Remus and Peter are working on the DADA essay. But I spend most of my time with them anyway. A few hours away won't kill us. It's healthy, even."
Corinne looks at him, unsure of what to say. His calm, rational responses make him hard to argue with. She gets the feeling that being Sirius' friend is going to be much different than she imagined.
OoOoO
"Hey, what if we have a Midnight Tag match against the Gryffindors?" Corinne asks her friends, remembering her conversation with Sirius a couple of weeks ago. They all glance up from their miscellaneous work and give her a curious stare.
"With which Gryffindors?"
"The five of us?"
"Why?"
"Probably just the Marauders. I highly doubt Miss Priss will want to play since it's after hours," Corinne answers.
"You know, if you want to be friends with Sirius, you should at least stop insulting Lily. She's his best mate's girl."
"You're right," Corinne relents, "and she isn't too bad either, I just . . . I don't know. I don't particularly like her. She's nice enough, but . . . ."
"I know what you mean," Jeremy says. "She's great, don't get me wrong, but she's not someone I can consider a friend. She's too, uptight, I think it is."
Corinne takes a good look at him for the first time in a long time. That's what she misses about him from time to time; the fact that they used to get along so well and had so much in common. Most people adore Lily; she and Jeremy were never fans.
"Yeah, that's my issue with her. I can talk to her and have a conversation, but she isn't someone I'd want to spend my day with. But you're right Ben, I should make an effort to at least be nice."
"I thought we were talking about Midnight Tag. When are we playing? Let's set this up!"
"Sure, I'll talk to Sirius tomorrow and see what-"
"Wait, how are we going to play against each other? Tag isn't played in teams."
"It can be. We all hide and they try to find us. They only win if they can find all of us. Then we switch."
"Oh and whoever does it faster wins!"
"Hmm, that's a nice touch. We should time it, shouldn't we?"
"This is going to be great! When are we playing?"
"Er, I don't know. I'll talk to Sirius and let you know."
"The Gryffindors are going down!"
OoOoO
"Hey Sirius!"
"Corinne? What's wrong?"
"Does something have to be wrong in order for me to talk to you?"
Sirius laughs. "No, I'm just used to you cursing me instead of talking. I was headed outside, want to come?"
"It's cold."
"Yeah, and?"
"I'll be cold."
"Get over it, Johnson. Come on," he says, walking out ahead of her.
She has no choice but to follow him to the lake. "Hey, remember how we were talking about Midnight Tag?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you still up for it?"
"A little Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw? Of course!"
"Who's going to play for Gryffindor?"
"Peter, James, Remus, and me."
"There are five of us playing for Ravenclaw, you need one more player."
"Hmm, okay we'll find someone. That won't be hard," he says, skipping a stone on the lake.
"Okay, sounds good."
Sirius looks over at her and sees that she has her arms crossed over her chest and she's shivering a little. He considers giving her his coat but he doesn't want to be cold either. That's when he remembers that he's a wizard.
"Did you just do a spell?" Corinne asks, seeing Sirius flick his wand.
"Yeah," he answers, not offering any explanation. He starts walking around the lake instead. "So how's it going?"
"Perfect," Corinne answers shortly.
"That great, eh?"
Corinne is distracted by something big and black flying at them. "What the-"
"Here, for you," Sirius says, catching it and handing it to her.
"Oh, er, thanks. That's really, nice of you." She's taken aback by his consideration, but she knows better than to think it's anything more than what it is.
"So why is everything 'perfect'?" he asks again.
"Oh well because everyone is being stupid! Benjamin is still seeing Henrietta-"
"-She should have her eyes checked-"
"-And Steven is still awkward around me," she continues, ignoring Sirius' comment. "And Jenna is being annoying. And Jeremy isn't speaking to me-"
"That's a lot of 'ands'," Sirius chuckles.
"Shut up."
"Oi, be nice or I'll have to take a leaf out of Jeremy's book."
"I'll beat you to it if you don't stop acting stupid."
"Has anyone ever told you that you have a nasty temper?"
"All the time. It's my brother's favorite line."
"Cody, right? I remember him. Nice bloke."
"Only because you don't know him."
"I will soon."
"What do you mean?"
"He, er, well he invited me to your house over the holidays."
"What?"
"He-"
"No I heard you but, I mean, you two hardly know each other."
"I think he wants to annoy you to death."
"Well his plan backfired. I don't mind you so much anymore."
"You don't mind me so much anymore? Whatever happened to us being friends?"
Corinne laughs but ignores his comment. "So are you planning to come or what?"
"Yeah, now that you're my friend it wouldn't be weird. I couldn't believe he invited me though. I mean, that's random isn't it?"
"Cody will do anything to get on my nerves, including inviting a complete stranger over to the house. He's going to get us killed some day. I mean, really? You could have been a psychopath for all he knew."
"Oi, that's not true! Besides, he said he checked it out with Steven first."
"Still, it's a little creepy."
"You're making a big deal out of this."
"Whatever."
Sirius rolls his eyes. "Stop being so moody."
"I'm not being moody. Maybe I'm concerned for my well-being."
"Yeah, because I'm a mass murderer."
She laughs. "I knew it."
"Oh, so I look like a murderer?" he asks, taking a step towards Corinne.
"Maybe you do," she grins.
"Well maybe a dive in the lake will make you change your mind." He picks her up and takes a few steps towards the water.
"No! No, no, no! I was kidding! You're the sweetest most kindest person in the entire world!" she giggles.
"That didn't sound sincere, Johnson."
"It was! It- ahhhh!"
Sirius loses his footing and accidentally drops Corinne in the lake. He doubles over in laughter. "I'm so sorry, Corinne! It was an accident!"
"Black!" she screeches. "This isn't funny!"
"I know, here, let me help you," he says, trying to force the last of his laughter away.
"No, I don't need your help." She stomps out of the lake and storms away towards the castle.
"Oh come on, Johnson! It was an accident!"
OoOoO
"Boo. I found you."
She jumps about a foot in the air and Sirius's hand over her mouth is the only thing that keeps her from shouting.
"et guh ef me!" she tries to yell, but his hand is still stifling her.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak troll."
She bites his hand and he lets go with a yelp. "Oi! What was that for?"
"So you would let go of me!"
"I take it you're still sour about the other day?"
"No, you think?"
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, love," he says, taking a step closer to her.
"I'm not one of your bimbos so don't call me 'love'."
"Dammit Corinne, why do you always have to throw things in my face? I'm not like that anymore and you know it."
"I don't-"
He takes another step closer and corners her against the wall. "But if you want me to be that person, I can."
He's too close for comfort and Corinne fidgets under his gaze. Maybe she crossed the line; maybe upsetting him wasn't the best idea. Of course she's too proud to ever admit anything of the sort. "I'm not your mother, Black. You can do whatever you want."
"Really?" he whispers.
Corinne can feel his breath on her face. She's utterly repulsed by him. "Get away from me."
"Maybe I don't want to."
She pushes him away and he laughs. "Lighten up, I was playing. You take everything too seriously."
"Well how am I supposed to take that? Am I supposed to play along?"
"That wouldn't be a bad idea, or you could laugh about it. You get angry so easily."
"Do not," she mutters.
He ignores her childish statement. "This is random, but what do girls look for in a bloke?"
"Who's the girl?" she grins.
"There's no girl, I was just wondering."
"Aww come on, Sirius! I'm always the one opening up to you. You never tell me anything about you!"
"You sound like a first year."
"You just don't want to admit that you actually fancy someone."
"I don't."
"There's not one person in the entire castle who catches your eye?"
"I haven't really been looking. I just want to enjoy my last year here without any relationship drama."
"Then why the question?"
"I dunno exactly. I was just thinking the other day about how Lily finally accepted James this year, and I was wondering what changed. What do girls look for?"
"Fine, I guess that's an honest answer. Er, I don't really know. Mostly, we just want guys to stop trying to be a hunter trying to hunt us and start trying to be a warrior out to protect us."
"What? So girls don't like when we pursue them?"
"No, that's not it. We just don't like that it's a game, like who can get the most girls or whatever. We'd rather you protect us by being honest, not leading us on, not playing games with us, stuff like that."
"Hmm, that's interesting."
"Yeah."
"So are we ever going to have that Midnight Tag match?"
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Er, how about we do it tonight?"
"Tonight? Yeah, we'll do it. Where do you want to meet up?"
"Well, we'll be in an empty classroom on the seventh floor. I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding us with your 'spare piece of parchment'," she grins.
"I still have no idea what you're talking about, but yes, we'll be able to find you," he grins back. "So what time are we meeting at?"
Corinne stares at him, giving him her best is-that-a-serious-question look.
"Oh, right, Midnight Tag. Ha-ha, okay we'll be there."
"Alright, I'll see you tonight, Sirius."
"That sounds-"
"Don't even go there, Black."
OoOoO
"I haven't played this in so long," Jenna says.
"It's because of what happened last time isn't it?" Ben says with a huge grin on his face.
They all start laughing at the memory. "That was the time we used your dad's restaurant and she got stuck in the freezer right?"
"Yes!" Steven says, still laughing. They had all been playing midnight tag in the small restaurant, and Jenna thought hiding in the walk in freezer was a great idea, which it would have been, had she been wearing warm clothing. Jeremy was 'it' that time, and he had tagged Ben so everyone slowly came out of their hiding spots. Everyone except Jenna. They couldn't find her until they heard her trying to get out.
"It's not funny!"
"I still don't know how you got stuck in there. All you had to do is push the door!"
"I tried! It wouldn't budge! I was freezing and no one was around- I thought I was going to die!"
"I heard something pounding in the freezer and all I could think was: is someone stuck in there?"
"She was all writing her last will and testament on the walls-"
"Not knowing all along that all she had to do is push-"
A new voice interrupts their teasing. "What's all this racket in here?"
They stop laughing immediately.
"Slughorn!"
They all jump off the desks they were sitting on and run to the back door.
"Hey, stop! It's us!"
The Ravenclaws stop at the sound of James's voice and turn around.
"Who was-"
"Pete here is good at imitating voices."
"That was really good!"
"You scared us, Peter!"
"It comes in handy," Sirius says. "By the way, this is Frank Longbottom, our sixth year protégé."
The group takes it in turn introducing themselves to him. They've all seen each other around but haven't ever actually spoken to him.
"So how is this going to work?"
"We're going to do a team tag game. So one team gets five minutes to hide and the other has to find them all. Then we switch."
"Yeah but we're limiting it to the sixth and seventh floors only. The castle is too big and we'd be up all night."
"Sounds good, that's enough to find places to hide anyway."
"So when you find someone what do you do?"
"You have to catch them but the only magic you can use is the leg-locker curse. This room is where the finding team waits the five minutes and it's also the safe zone. Any member from the hiding team who makes it back here without being caught is 'safe'."
"How do you win?"
"The team who catches all of their opponents wins. If both teams catch everyone then it's whoever did it in the least amount of time."
"Here are the rules," Corinne begins. "One, the only magic allowed is the leg-locker curse by the 'it' team. No one else can use magic. Two, no hiding in any of the houses. Three, if you get caught by the professors, don't sell out everyone else. Four, the finding team cannot set a guard on the safe zone door. And five, no using spare pieces of parchment," she winks at Sirius for this one.
Sirius laughs and the others look at him and Corinne oddly. "What was that parchment bit about?"
"It's an inside joke," Sirius tells them.
"Wow, you two have inside jokes together. Interesting," Jenna says pointedly.
Corinne narrows her eyes at her in a don't-you-even-go-there fashion.
"So, who goes first? Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?"
"You hide first," Jeremy says, "you have five minutes. Go!"
OoOoO
"That game was a disaster," Jeremy mutters over breakfast the next day.
"I know, we weren't even ten minutes into it when McGonagall showed up."
"It's almost as if she knew we were going to be out."
"She always knows stuff. It's a good thing the Marauders knew about those shortcuts."
"Yeah, she would have skinned us alive if she'd caught us."
"We'll just have to have a rematch sometime."
"Oh my gosh Corinne look at this!" Jenna squeals, breaking the monotony of the morning. She's bouncing around in her seat, waving a letter in the air.
"What is it?" Corinne asks curiously.
"Okay, so remember Damien?"
"Hazel eyes, huge smile-"
"Amazing body! Yes that Damien!"
"Yeah," she smiles, "what about him?"
"Well, he wants to see you!"
"He wants to see me?"
"Yes! Chad just wrote to me and said that he's been asking about you!"
"We're lost," Steven says, deeply curious about this Damien bloke.
"You know how my sister got married this summer? Well Corinne spent a week at my house helping us get everything ready for the wedding, and my sister's fiancé's brother's friend, Damien, spent the week too. My parents thought it would be a good idea for Chad and I to get to know each other since we're going to be family- or, well they're married so we're family already- but we weren't at the time-"
"I'm even more lost now," Benjamin mutters.
"Chad is Jenna's new brother-in-law and he, along with his friend Damien, spent a week with us at her house. Everything else is just details," Corinne says, hoping they understand her explanation.
"Damien is sooo hot!"
Corinne refrains from agreeing for Steven's sake, but she can't help the silly grin that comes to her face. Someone actually likes her!
"And now he wants to go out with you, Corinne!" Jenna says excitedly.
"Ah, well he's going to have to wait for summer then-"
"No, Chad said they're willing to come to our next Hogsmeade trip if you accept."
"Oh, well, erm-"
"I'll tell them yes, this is great!"
"Don't they go to school or something?" Steven asks, annoyed.
"No, they actually both graduated from Hogwarts two years ago," Jenna shrugs. "They were in Gryffindor though, so maybe that's why we never noticed them before."
"Wait," Jeremy says suddenly. "Are you talking about Chad Nichols and Damien McLaggen?"
"Yeah, do you know them?"
"They were on the Gryffindor team when they were here. Chasers, I think," he answers, his face contorted in concentration. "One of them might have been a Beater. Hell, maybe even the Keeper."
"So in other words, you have no idea which position they played," Ben tells him.
"Shut up," he says, stuffing some potatoes in him mouth.
"Anyway, this is going to be great! You'll finally have a boyfriend!" Jenna shrieks.
Corinne narrows her eyes at Jenna, who hasn't even realized what she's said. So she isn't the type of girl who can get a ton of boyfriends, is that so bad? She had Steven, that's good enough for her. At least that what she told herself up until now. Damien McLaggen eh? Life just got more interesting.
OoOoO
"What are you up to?" Sirius asks, taking a seat next to Corinne.
"Nothing really, I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
Corinne hesitates. "Um, well it's nothing serious really."
"Come on, secrets don't make friends," he says, elbowing her lightly.
"Why are you so persistent about us being friends?"
"You know Johnson, I'm not entirely sure," he answers honestly. "I guess it's because you're pretty okay to talk to when you aren't in one of your moods."
"Excuse me, but I don't have moods. I get an attitude when you're being a git, but I don't get into any moods."
"Another reason," he chuckles, "is that you make me laugh. Back to my question, what were you thinking about?"
"It's nothing important. It's just that . . . well I'm going on a date this Hogsmeade weekend."
He takes a good look at the girl before him and can't quite understand the appeal. She isn't beautiful, she's average. Her brown-green eyes are the most interesting part about her, and that isn't saying much. She has wavy brown hair that flies wherever the wind is blowing. Her face is too pale, her features simple. If she wore makeup it would help, but she doesn't. She has a large chest, but that's because she's a little thick. He supposes he isn't being fair, there isn't anything wrong with being average. After all, not everyone can be beautiful, but . . . well, she isn't his type and he has a difficult time imagining that anyone can be interested in her. He tries not to be rude, but it slips out of his mouth before he can stop himself. "You are going on a date?"
Any progress he was making with her is instantly gone. "Yes, why is that hard to believe? Steven went out with me, didn't he?"
"Yeah, look, I didn't mean it like that," Sirius says, backpedaling.
"Really Sirius? Then how did you mean it?" she asks, her temper flaring. How dare he insult her like that? She hadn't even wanted to talk about it but he insisted, and then he has the nerve to insult her? Is it so hard to believe that boys actually fancy her? Just because she doesn't look like the girls Sirius dates doesn't mean she isn't pretty. Just because a girl doesn't look like a model doesn't mean she's ugly.
"I only meant- why are you making a big deal out of this?" he asks, frustrated.
"Friends don't insult each other!"
"Friends laugh at each other! It wasn't an insult, I was teasing!" he lies. He was dead serious about his comment, but she doesn't need to know that. He didn't mean it to be cruel anyway.
She has half a mind to storm away, but his words reach her and she forces herself to settle down. This whole friendship thing with Sirius is harder than she expected. "Oh, right. That's fine, I suppose."
Sirius waits for an apology in vain. Of course she wouldn't apologize, and if he were completely honest with himself, he doesn't deserve one. She doesn't know that though, so the polite thing to do would have been to apologize. But since when has she been polite?
"Well I'm going to go. I'll see you around," she says after a minute.
"We should do this again," he says, unsure of why he suggested that.
"Right, bye," she says before taking off. She still isn't over his comment. Talk about a blow to her self-esteem. She doesn't even know why she still talks to him. She should go back to hating him like she used to.
OoOoO
"Hey Steve, Jeremy, what's up?" Corinne asks casually, plopping down on an armchair next to them.
"I'll see you later, I have to go meet Jenna and Ben," Steven says, getting up abruptly and hurrying away.
"What was that about?" she asks Jeremy. Steven is usually much nicer and they get on very well despite their short dating period.
He doesn't answer right away. Steven told him what happened, but it doesn't make sense to him. "Sirius talked to Steven the other day and told him that you never loved him."
"What?" She tries to control her voice, but she can feel her temper rising. Why would Sirius butt into this and tell Steven that? What the hell was he thinking?
"Yeah. I mean, I don't get why that's such a huge deal since you two have never dated, but he seemed a little bothered by it. Still, it can't have been that bad since he's going to ask Jenna out later."
"What?" she repeats at the risk of sounding stupid. She heard what he said, but all of this information is coming out too fast. She's still beyond angry about Sirius's interference, but this new information about Steven and Jenna is shocking.
"Steve is into Jenna, he wants to ask her to the next Hogsmeade trip."
Corinne stares at the bookshelf in front of her, lost in thought. She doesn't even know what to think about that. Did Steven seriously move on that quickly? Was he hurt at all by what that idiot Black told him? How long has he been interested in Jenna?
She finally decides none of it matters. Steven is dumb for getting upset about her not loving him but then turning around and asking Jenna out. And Sirius Black is going to pay for opening his fat mouth.
The perfect opportunity for revenge shows itself the next day. It's just after classes and Corinne spies Sirius talking to Cassandra, a Gryffindor underclassman. Corinne grins to herself as she strides over to them. "Hi Sirius, Cassandra. Sirius, Evelyn is looking for you, something about forgetting her robe in your dorm."
"What?" Cassandra asks, a frown creasing her forehead.
Sirius tries to rectify the situation before it gets out of hand. "Cass, don't listen to her. She does this anytime she sees me talking to a girl. She's a jealous nutter."
"Go ask Evelyn, she'll tell you the truth," she lies. When Cassandra asks Evelyn she'll realize it isn't true, but it doesn't matter. At least she killed his game right now.
"I can't believe you, Sirius!" Cassandra yells, angry at having almost been played. What nerve! She thought he had been sincere, but of course she should have expected differently from the damned 'marauder'. She storms away to find Evelyn and tell her what a scumbag she's presumably dating.
Sirius turns to Corinne once Cassandra is gone and gives her a cold look. "I'll thank you to stay out of my business next time."
"You mean like you stay out of mine?" Corinne replies sarcastically.
"What are you on about?"
"I know about what you told Steven yesterday!"
"Is it always about revenge with you?" he practically yells. "Can't you be normal and forgive people? I did you a favor!"
"A favor? You told him I never loved him! How the hell is that a favor?"
"He wanted to ask Jenna out but was worried about how you would feel about it. I told him the truth so now you're both free."
"Did you ever stop to consider how he would feel about that?"
"He obviously isn't feeling that bad since he's snogging Jenna right now!"
"I hate you!"
"Tell me something I don't know!"
Their conversation, like so many others, ends in Corinne storming away and Sirius fuming.
