A Break from Monotony, or, How That Idiot Sirius Black Managed to Charm Me

Disclaimer: The fabulous Ms. Rowling is the owner of all characters from the Harry Potter series. Credit is given where credit is due.

Chapter 13

Sirius Black, the Tactless Wonder

For the first couple of days back after break, Sirius seemed to have forgotten that Morgana existed. This suited Morgana well, because this meant she was able to focus in her classes and spend quality time with Lily and Judy.

That Thursday, however, Sirius plopped down in the seat next to Morgana at breakfast, leaving barely enough space for her to maneuver her right arm to dish out some sausages.

"May I help you?" She asked, scooting to her left.

"I just wanted to say hi," Sirius answered.

"Why don't I believe you?" Morgana asked, slicing up her sausages one by one.

"Because you always suspect me of having hidden motives," He responded coolly, pouring himself some pumpkin juice.

"That's because you have hidden motives, Sirius," Morgana said, before popping a slice of sausage into her mouth.

Remus, who was sitting across from them, snorted.

"How dare you accuse me of such indecencies?" Sirius asked, feigning disbelief. "Can't I just say hello to a friend?"

"Anyone else can," Morgana said. "You, however, cannot."

Sirius, who was carefully picking out the perfect piece of toast, did not say anything for awhile. "You see! You don't even object! What do you want, Sirius?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could help me with some Charms tonight," Sirius said, selecting a golden piece of toast. "I'm absolutely hopeless with this whole flying thing, and, according to Lily, you're quite good."

Morgana glanced up, to see Lily wearing quite the guilty expression. She mouthed 'sorry' from across the table.

"Couldn't you have asked James or Remus or...anyone else?" Morgana asked, helplessly. She could not imagine working with Sirius in close proximity in her free time. It was bad enough, in her opinion, that she had classes with him.

"Er," Sirius said, his cheeks going slightly pink. "I did."

"And they said they wouldn't help you?" Morgana asked, staring pointedly at Remus, who stared just as pointedly back, smirking slightly.

"Yeah," Sirius said, quietly.

Morgana, despite her deep dislike of the boy, felt pity for him. "Okay, fine." She said. "I'll help you practice levitation. But you have to promise to leave me alone afterwards, okay?"

"Bitchin'!" Sirius cried. He side-hugged her, much to her dismay, and returned hungrily to his breakfast.

Morgana, who felt eyes upon her, turned to her left to see Geraldine and Susie looking quite mutinously at her. Morgana rolled her eyes at them and, deciding she was no longer hungry, stood from the table.

"Hold up, Morgana!" Lily called. "Are you going down to Potions already? I'll come with you."

Once the two were quite well out of earshot from Sirius, Morgana rounded on Lily. "Why'd you tell him I'm good at levitation? I don't want to help him!"

"Well, to be honest, I already promised Sev that I would go for a stroll with him this evening, and I didn't want to tell Sirius that when he came asking," Lily said hurriedly. "You know how he feels about Sev."

"Why does it matter how he feels about Sev?" Morgana interjected loudly.

"I would never hear the end of it," Lily said, shrugging. "I already don't like talking to Sirius."

"Fair point," Morgana said, nodding. "But neither do I! So why did you tell him to talk to me about his levitation problems?"

"He asked if I would help him, and I didn't want to tell him about Sev, so I lied and told him I was absolute rubbish at making things fly," Lily answered, guiltily.

"That is a complete and utter lie!" Morgana said loudly. "You are brilliant at making things fly!"

"I didn't want to help him, Morgana!" Lily whined. "He asked me if I knew anyone who could help him, and you were the first person to come to mind." She added. "I'm really sorry, Morgana, but I was thinking on my feet."

Morgana sighed heavily, but said nothing. Lily and Morgana finished the rest of their journey to the dungeons in silence, where they stood outside of Slughorn's door, awaiting their classmates.

Morgana finally broke the silence. "Sirius really needs to find better friends," She said. Lily look puzzled. "They all know how to make things fly! It's second nature to them."

x

Time is a funny thing. It runs slowly when you're anticipating something, and yet, unbelievably fast when you are dreading something else.

Morgana's classes seemed much shorter and seemed to go by much faster than normal. Before she knew it, she was eating dinner with Lily, Judy, and Remus, very much dreading her impending levitation lesson with Sirius.

Remus had brought a book to the dining table, presumably to avoid conversation with Morgana that evening. He seemed to be very intent upon this book, which was one Morgana did not recognize, only surfacing every so often for a bite of pie or a swig of juice. Morgana realized exactly what he was doing and was therefore getting more and more irritated with him.

"Remus!" She hissed at him, as he dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "You know perfectly well how to making things fly! Why couldn't you teach him?" She asked, keeping her voice low so it would not carry down to where Sirius was sitting.

Remus put down his book and folded his napkin before answering. "I'm…busy tonight, if you must know."

"Busy doing what?" Morgana asked wildly. "So busy that you can't help your friend?"

"Yes," Remus answered. "I'm too busy to help him."

Morgana glared at Remus, but knew that he was not making excuses. "Well, whatever you're doing surely does not prevent James or Peter from helping him."

"As I recall, James told Sirius to get stuffed when he asked, and Peter sort of shrunk in either fear or admiration, but even if he could muster up the courage to work with Sirius in a one-on-one situation, Peter doesn't really talk, does he?"

"No, I suppose he doesn't," Morgana answered, looking down the table to where Sirius, James, Peter, Susie, and Geraldine were sitting. Peter looked on in what could have been either fear or admiration as James and Sirius flirted relentlessly with Susie and Geraldine. "I see your point."

"So that leaves you," Remus shrugged. "The giggling twins over there don't know anything, Lily's got her date thing with Severus, and Sirius is too proud to ask Justin for anything less than a...well, let's just say he's too proud to ask."

"Anything less than a what?" Morgana asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at Remus.

"It's just something Sirius says," Remus shook his head. "It's rather inappropriate. Please don't make me repeat it."

Morgana and Remus shared a moment of silence, before he stood. "I must be going now," He said, darkly.

"See you tomorrow, then," Morgana said, waving him off.

After Remus left, Morgana looked at her plate and found she was no longer hungry. "I guess I'll be going too," She said to Lily and Judy. "I'll see you in the common room."

Sirius stood eagerly as Morgana passed him, and, not unlike a puppy, followed her back to the common room.

When they got there, Morgana saw no evidence of Remus whatsoever. "Hey, Sirius," She said, pulling her wand out of her bag. "Where's Remus going tonight?"

"I asked him the same thing this morning," Sirius said. "He said his mum's ill and that he had to go visit her. I asked him what was wrong and he wouldn't tell me. I think she might have something embarrassing, like the Clap or something."

"That is disgusting, Sirius," Morgana said, trying very hard not to think of Remus' mum. "And it was very tactless of you to ask what was wrong with her."

"What does tactless mean? Because I've been called that before and I'm starting to think it doesn't mean handsome." Sirius asked seriously.

Morgana stared in disbelief at the boy before her. "Let's start, okay?"