Chapter Eight: Drown your sorrows
To everyone's delight, there was another Hogsmeade trip at the end of November. I was particularly grateful because I needed to pick up some dress robes for Slughorn's party the following week as well as pick up a present for Sirius who refused to let me (or anyone else) forget that his birthday was soon and he was coming of age.
Nicola and I decided to do some shopping alone before meeting up with Arron, Ollie and the other boys at The Three Broomsticks. My relationship with Ollie hadn't changed much other than we were a bit careful and polite around each other and I was reminded of being in exactly the same position last year. We were in what Nicola called, "The Awkward Prologue" of our relationship and she was convinced that Slughorn's party would be where we'd make it official.
"Do you really think so? He hardly speaks around me anymore," I said as Nicola and I walked up the High Street, looking in to windows and pausing in some shops to browse.
"Are you kidding? He doesn't speak because all he does is stare at you!" Nicola said, winking at me. I blushed fiercely and shoved her away.
"Shut up!" I said, helplessly to her.
She smiled, but then looked at me thoughtfully. "Are you ready for all this? I mean...picking up where you left off...before?"
I saw her looking at me so earnestly and suddenly felt bad that I'd been confiding my troubles in Sirius and not her. Nicola after all, was my best friend in the world and had known and loved my dad too. I thought carefully before I answered her.
"Well, it does...trudge up some issues. One of them being, I feel like a totally different person to who I was back then. But...I reckon if I just treat it as if it's all new – the first time we've flirted or the first date we go on, then it'll be okay and I won't feel like I owe him anything."
Nicola nodded understandingly. "I'm sure he doesn't expect to pick up exactly where you left off. It took him ages just to work up the courage to ask you to the party in the first place."
I smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah, he was moaning on and on to Arron about it for weeks. And then when he finally did, he looked like a complete idiot!" She laughed lightly and I joined in.
"It was actually sort of sweet. Dorkier than he usually is, but I liked it," I said vaguely because my mind was still thinking about my Dad. The pain was less frequent lately and it was easier to push aside now that I had different things to focus on, but there was still a pang in my chest whenever I thought about him. Growing up with no mother, I had always felt comfortable talking to my Dad about boys and even though I could sense his horror, he was always supportive of me. He had listened to me moan on and on about Ollie over the Easter break and I could remember the precise grin he had on his face when he said, "I'd like to meet this chap. Just to let him know you've got an Auror for a father and he better not put a toe over the line".
I snapped out of it when I realized Nicola wasn't talking anymore. She was just looking at me with a slightly sad expression.
"You know, I think you're too worried about the 'Before and After', Bridge. I mean, you were cool before and you're still that same girl, only stronger. And I'm so proud of you for that," she said, seriously, putting a hand on my arm.
I was embarrassed but broke in to a smile. "You really are my best friend, Nicola."
She raised an eyebrow. "Good because I thought Sirius might have stolen you away from me."
I laughed. "Oh no, he's got nothing on you, Nic."
She pumped her fist in a kind of over the top celebration, but suddenly paused in front of Gladrag's where, in the window, they were displaying the most gorgeous set of dress robes my eyes had ever seen.
The robes were a shocking red with a wide neckline and a fitted waist and in a slightly risque move, had a slit going from the bottom hem which would be floor length all the way up to mid-thigh.
"Those are perfect for you...well, maybe in a different color, but the cut is great!" Nicola said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I wish I were going! Slughorn really ought to think about opening his parties up to the general public sometimes..."
"I wish you and Arron could come too...I don't want it to be awkward with Ollie," I said and then before she could scold me, I added, "Don't you think those robes are a bit daring for me?"
Nicola blew a raspberry. "Don't be so ridiculous, Bridge. You have a great body!"
I shrugged. I wasn't that self-conscious about my appearance, although to be quite honest, I thought my tits were a bit too big for my frame since I was short and sometimes I also wondered if my hips grew in size every day. I did think I had a reasonably pretty face, though I always felt that I had to straighten my mass of curly hair and cut in a blunt fringe to cover up my large forehead. The fringe was a nuisance, but it was the only style that seemed to suit me. The problem was, I just didn't think I had the confidence to pull off robes that made such a statement – regardless of how gorgeous I thought they were.
"Come on, you..." Nicola said, dragging me by the hand in to the dress store.
"Welcome to Gladrag's – can I help you with anything?" the shop assistant said to us, immediately.
Nicola beamed. "Yes, do you have those in any other colors?" she asked, pointing at the window.
"Oh yes, we have it in Sea Foam, Black and Pale Gold," the assistant said.
"Black," I said automatically, going for the safe choice.
"Gold," Nicola said at the same time, giving me a look.
The shop assistant looked at me quizzically and I relented.
"Fine, I'll see it in gold," I said with a sigh. After taking my measurements, the young woman scampered off in to the back room and I glared at Nicola. "You aren't even going and you're trying to embarrass me."
"Not embarrass, Bridge! I'm living vicariously! Besides, gold will bring out your eyes!"
"My eyes are brown," I said, rolling them.
"You are clueless – just listen to me, I promise Ollie won't be able to take his eyes off you!"
The assistant returned, levitating a box towards me. "You'll just have to wait a minute, someone is coming out of the dressing room," she said.
"No problem," Nicola said, grabbing the box and turning to the jewelry section.
"Nic, I don't have enough money," I said a bit awkwardly. "I had to buy sodding Sirius those Beater's gloves."
Nicola backed away from the jewelry. "Honestly, I can't believe you spent that much. You've only really known the bloke a few months."
I shrugged. "Yeah, but he's a good mate and he was talking about needing new ones after they lost the match to Slytherin."
"Just don't tell Benjy you're helping Gryffindor with Quidditch!" Nicola chuckled. "Oh look, someone's coming out of the dressing room!"
We turned to see Emmeline Vance emerging from the room in a long, blue dress with a slit as big as the robes in the window had. It also had a scooped neckline which, to put it in James and Sirius' words, made her knockers look smashing. She smiled when she saw us.
"Hi Nicola! Hey Bridget – shopping for Slughorn's party?" she asked.
Nicola pointed to me. "Just Bridget, sadly I have no invite."
"Oh, that's a shame! It's the first time I'm going too. It seems as though Slughorn thought I was going nowhere with my life until I made Head Girl – proved him wrong," she said with an attractive pout.
Nicola and I laughed.
"That dress looks fabulous on you, Emmeline. Are you getting it for the party?" I asked.
She looked at me in confusion and then laughed, shaking her head. "Oh no, my box is over on the counter...this is just, um, my dress." She blushed a little and I couldn't help but redden too, hoping I hadn't offended her.
"Well, it's really nice!" Nicola offered to break the awkward silence and Emmeline smiled easily again.
"Thanks girls. Well, I better be off – I was supposed to leave ages ago but I couldn't find the right dress. Happy shopping! See you later, maybe!" she said, waving as she picked up her box and sauntered out of the door.
"She looks like a bloody Muggle Film star," I spluttered once she'd left. I wasn't exaggerating either – with her wavy chestnut brown hair and clear green eyes, Emmeline was easily one of the most beautiful girls at Hogwarts. When she was at school, she usually had her hair pulled off her face and she didn't wear any makeup, so seeing her all dressed up for a Hogsmeade visit was a bit of a shock. For some reason, I hadn't really noticed her last time, maybe Sirius' first date with her was more of the focus, but now, I was feeling a bit insecure.
"If she looks like that during Hogsmeade, imagine what she'll be like at Slughorn's party – Ollie will probably fall in love with her!" I said, hyper-ventilating a little.
To my surprise, Nicola laughed in my face. "You are ridiculous. Let her impress Sirius and you focus on Ollie – believe me, you'll be the only thing he notices when he sees you in this dress."
"I haven't even tried it on," I said glumly.
"Well, go on then!" she replied, pushing me forcefully in to the dressing rooms.
My feelings of inadequacy were short-lived after I saw myself in the full-length store mirror. Nicola was right, I had to admit the dress robes really suited me and as long as I wasn't too nervous, I was quite confident that I'd look my best. I was happy to fork over the 16 galleons and although my moneybag was now much lighter, I still had enough for a couple of drinks at the Three Broomsticks. We were chatting happily about what I could possibly do to my hair when Nicola stopped short for the second time that day. She was staring in horror at a large poster with a photograph of a very mean, very frightening but wiry and sickly looking man on it.
"Oh, is that a Death Eater?" I said. "Ugh, he's horrid looking – what's he wanted for?" I said, leaning in to read the print on the poster. Nicola grabbed my arm and tried to pull me away, however.
"No, no. Don't read that – it's depressing," she said weakly.
"Well, so is this war, Nicola!" I snapped at her, surprised that she didn't want to be better informed.
"No, Bridget, please – let's go," she said, nervously, not letting go of my arm. Frowning at her, I shook her free.
"Get out of it, Nicola! What's gotten in to you?" I said, turning to read the poster out loud. "Evan Rosier, suspected 'Death Eater' wanted for the torture and murder of Auror Tom Will..." I trailed off and backed away as if I'd been burned. This was the man who'd killed my father? This puny, disgusting excuse for a man had defeated my strong, ever-resilient, brilliant Dad? I felt sick. The Ministry hadn't given me any specifics about my Dad's last mission as it had been confidential. All that they'd said was he was hit with the Avada Kedavra curse and killed on site. They never mentioned that he'd been tortured and that it was at the hands of one of the pathetic followers of the pureblood fanatic leading this war. Lord Voldemort, he called himself. While fear of the Dark Wizard had been steadily building over the years, Dad had always made light of his name, rolling his eyes while others winced or refused to speak it. "Lord," he'd say. "What does he think, he's royalty?"
"Oh Bridget...I'm so sorry, that's why I tried to get you away. You were in such a good mood, I didn't want to spoil the day for you," Nicola said, hovering around me.
I said nothing but bent at the waist and retched a little bit. I didn't vomit though, this time my stomach was filled with fury. If I could have breathed fire, I think I would have.
"Are you okay?" Nicola was asking and I closed my eyes trying to calm down. She was getting better, but she wasn't the person I wanted, no, needed, to talk to about this.
"I'm fine. Just angry," I said in a stiff voice, beginning to walk again.
"What can I do?" Nicola asked helplessly.
I paused and looked at her face, pale with worry and tried not to sigh.
"Would you be horribly offended if I said I didn't want to talk to you about this?" I said quietly.
She looked at me with a small smile. "No. I sort of knew you'd say that. I think Sirius seems to be a bit better with these situations than I am," she said. "You should find him. I'll wait at Broomsticks – come along later if you feel up to it." She patted my shoulder gingerly. "I love you Bridge, I'm really sorry."
"Thanks Nicola and listen, you're better in these situations than you think you are," I said, giving her a short, tight hug.
We walked in opposite directions then. Nicola headed to the Three Broomsticks while I wandered around the village trying to ignore the posters with my father's killer on them and popped in to all the shops I'd heard Sirius talk about. Unfortunately, I didn't find him in Zonko's, Honeydukes or the Book Store and after walking around aimlessly for almost an hour I realized that I was much calmer anyway. He was probably at Broomsticks with the rest of the Hogwarts students and I thought that I could use a Gillywater or two, so I set off to the pub thinking that even if I couldn't talk to him, I could just talk to some alcohol for a couple of hours.
When I arrived, I scanned the crowded pub for my favorite Gryffindor but unfortunately I couldn't see him. I waved to Peter, Remus and James but he wasn't sitting with them so I could only assume he was with Emmeline or in detention. Feeling a bit disappointed, I ordered a shot of firewhisky and then took a Gillywater over to the table where my Ravenclaw classmates were sitting. They all greeted me brightly as if they had no clue what had just happened and I was grateful to Nicola for not spilling the beans. Only Arron seemed to keep an extra eye on me while the other boys chatted and joked away. I smiled along and shook my head at Nicola's questioning look.
"So, Nicola says you bought a really nice dress. I can't wait to see you in it," Ollie said to me softly when the others had broken off in to another conversation.
I nodded and forced a smile. Even though Ollie had nothing to do with this, I wasn't sure I was really up for any flirting at all, regardless of however mild it may be. Instead, I downed my drink and half-stood up to get a new one. Ollie put a hand on my shoulder and shook his head.
"Let me get your next one. Gillywater, was it?" he said with his charming, toothy smile.
I nodded, pleased that he'd offered. I only had a few sickles left so if Ollie was buying my drinks, I might be able to get properly wasted.
"Are you trying to get pissed, Bridget?" Benjy asked, seeing me trying to sip the dregs of my drink and I grinned at him.
Benjy and Matt cheered. "Brilliant – we both got ditched by our dates, so let's all drink to that!" Matt said, clinking his glasses against Benjy and mine.
"Bridge, maybe you ought to slow down a bit," Nicola said, her eyes full of concern but Arron waved her off.
"Leave her alone Nicola, everyone deserves to let loose every now and then," he said giving me a reassuring smile. Nicola still looked worried but she smiled at me supportively and said nothing more and simply sipped her butterbeer.
"Gillywater, Bridget," Ollie said, putting the drink down in front of me. "Rosmerta almost didn't serve me, but I reckon she's a bit lenient on Sixth and Seventh Years."
"Probably because she's been serving Black and Potter since Fifth year," Matt said. "I bet she doesn't want to play favorites, even though they're obviously her's."
We laughed at that and clinked our glasses together. The boys continued to complain about their dates and I laughed along with Ollie as he teased them but I wasn't listening very actively. Instead, I was focused on the delicious drink in front of me and had finished it before Ollie had gotten half way through his.
"Do you want another?" he asked, skeptically.
"Yes!" I giggled. "But I have to run to the Ladies, first. Would you mind?" I said, pulling out the rest of my money and trying to hand it to him.
"Don't worry about it Bridge, I'll get this round," Benjy said standing up and grinning. "We're going to have a brilliant night."
"Cheers to that!" I said, downing the remainder of my drink in one gulp as I stood up too.
"If you're sure," Ollie said, touching the small of my back as he got up with me. "I'll pay for Bridget's."
Benjy and Matt ooh-ed at that and although Ollie blushed, I just giggled and patted his cheek, affectionately. "Thanks Ollie," I said with a smile.
His brilliant eyes looked at me a little hesitantly, but his grin was wide.
"Be back in a jiff," I said, looking around the pub to find my bearings. Nicola looked like she wanted to say something, but I suppose Arron stopped her because all she did say was,
"Turn left, Bridget."
I did so and happily walked off to the archway that held a sign saying "WC" over it. When I turned around the corner however, I stopped short to take in the sight in front of me.
In the narrow corridor that held the doors leading to the Ladies and Men's bathrooms, I saw a couple kissing furiously against the wall. Emmeline was backed against it, with one leg wrapped around Sirius' waist, pulling him closer to her as they snogged. The slit in her long, elegant dress exposed a tan, shapely leg that Sirius' large hands were caressing. A couple of buttons were undone on his shirt and I saw that his belt wasn't tucked in to the loop on his trousers. Their mouths separated for a moment and Sirius slid his head down to kiss her neck and the part of her chest that her revealing dress exposed. Emmeline leaned her head back and was breathing heavily.
"Oh Merlin, Sirius...what are you doing to me?" she said in a ragged, sexy voice.
He looked up from her chest with a cheeky smile and said, "Well, hopefully I'm making you feel good." His voice was husky and his eyes held that same seductive, suggestive look that I'd seen before. I blushed, as the two of them chuckled, throatily together.
"It feels so good," she said before kissing him again, deeply. When they parted, Sirius tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and spoke in a soft, hypnotic voice.
"You're so beautiful. You drive me crazy," he said, seriously.
"You're driving me crazy too...but Sirius, look at us. I'm Head Girl for goodness sake and this pub is crawling with Hogwarts students," Emmeline said, putting her leg back on the floor. Sirius backed off a little but leaned in to kiss her softly.
"Then we could go somewhere," he said, rubbing his neck. "They have rooms upstairs."
She smiled at him and bit her lip making him back away just an inch and straighten up.
"Sorry...I mean, you know – if you want. If you're ready."
She stared at him. "Are you ready?" she whispered and Sirius gave her a cheeky grin before looking down at his trousers. I winced and shut my eyes as they both laughed mischievously.
"I know I'm ready, Em...but it's completely up to you. We could just go out there and have a drink," he said, tucking his belt back in to the loop and doing up a button on his shirt. Emmeline watched him, a kind of hunger on her face before she swooped over to him and planted a kiss on his lips.
"No, let's go upstairs..." she whispered and Sirius looked as though Christmas had come early.
"I'll go get us a room," he said, kissing her softly again before holding her hands until the last possible moment when he let go and disappeared through another archway to talk to the Barmaid.
Emmeline touched her lips and chuckled softly to herself, caught in her own moment so I took this as my cue to 'suddenly enter'. She jumped when she noticed me and I stopped, feigning surprise.
"Emmeline! Are you waiting for the loo?" I asked pointing at the door.
"Bridget! Hi...um, no. I think it's free," she said, hastily standing up straight and fluffing up her hair.
"Your bra strap is showing," I pointed out and she quickly repositioned it.
"Thanks," she said and I simply nodded and entered the loo, shutting and locking the door firmly behind me.
Once I was in there, white-hot fury filled me once more. Sirius was about to go have sex with his girlfriend while I was desperately trying to find him to talk to him! I knew my anger was irrational but I couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. Surely he must have seen the posters in the village too? Surely he would've tried to find me too – after all we were supposed to be mates! Maybe I wasn't as close to him as James or Remus or Peter, but we did share some pretty deep conversations. He did tell me about one of his biggest family secrets, didn't he? He was the only one who seemed to understand me, yet he was off for a shag while I tried to drown my sorrows in Gillywater and Firewhisky shots! After using the loo, I splashed my face with water and tried to reason with myself. He didn't know that I'd needed him, he could hardly be blamed for that! And Nicola was there for me and Arron and Ollie. Matt and Benjy would be helping me get properly drunk tonight, so I could just talk to Sirius another day; a day where he wasn't shagging his girlfriend for the first time.
When I returned to the table, I was much calmer but regretfully feeling much more sober.
"There you are! You took a bloody age," Matt said, gesturing for me to sit down. "Benjy bought us shots!"
I looked at the table and saw three shots of firewhisky each in front of myself, Benjy, Matt and Ollie. Arron only had one and Nicola had opted for another Butterbeer, so the rest of us clinked our glasses and downed shot after shot. The next hour or so was sort of a blur of Gillywaters and Firewhisky shots and even a couple of glasses of water Nicola forced me to drink, but the next thing I remembered properly, was leaning on to Ollie's shoulder, giggling at the song Benjy and Matt were singing. Ollie put his arm more tightly around my shoulders and I noticed that Nicola and Arron weren't sitting at the table anymore.
As Ollie whispered something in my ear about me looking pretty, I looked up to see Sirius leaning against the bar beside his friends. Unlike them, he wasn't laughing and having a good time and he was also talking to an extremely worried, Nicola. His eyes were fixated on me but I couldn't quite open them enough to judge the look on his face.
"I can't wait to dance with you at the party next week. I've fancied you for ages, Bridge," Ollie was saying in my ear, his words slightly slurred. I turned to him distracted and broke in to a huge smile, forgetting Sirius had been there at all. I didn't really notice how close our faces were until Ollie's lips brushed lightly against mine.
"Can I kiss you, Bridget?" he asked, looking deeply in to my eyes.
"Go on then," I whispered back, my words, more slurred than I realized.
And then we were snogging like our lives depended on it and it felt so good to relieve some of the pressure and he tasted like Firewhisky. I'd only kissed one boy before and he'd used far too much tongue, so the varying pressure and subtle tongue movements from Ollie were hypnotizing. Yes, there was a tiny bit too much saliva being exchanged, but I put that sloppiness down to our excessive drinking. I could vaguely hear the sound of Benjy and Matt cheering, "Snog him! Snog him!" when suddenly a throat cleared and they stopped.
"Sirius mate, sit down. Have a drink with us!" Benjy said cheerfully and my eyes flew open and I separated from Ollie. He looked close to blissful but for some reason, I felt horrified. What was Sirius doing here? I thought he was shagging Emmeline somewhere.
"Nah thanks Benjy, I just wondered if I could steal Bridget for a moment," he said, his eyes falling on me. His expression was unreadable but for some reason, I was under the distinct impression I was going to be shouted at.
"You'll have to ask Ollie," Matt laughed and I realized that Ollie's arms were still tightly wrapped around me and he was nuzzling at my neck.
Sirius' mouth turned into a thin line that rivaled McGonagall's and he put an arm on Ollie's.
"All right, Romeo. Let me just talk to Bridget for a moment," he said, in a light voice.
"Oh piss off," Ollie said, shaking his arm lose and hugging me closer.
"Look, I don't want to kick the shit out of you because you're clearly pissed, but if you don't let Bridget go right now, I won't be able to stop myself," Sirius said in a curt, tight voice that didn't sound like his own.
"Oh come on, Black. You get her all of the time – give someone else a chance," Ollie said. I heard Nicola let out a sharp gasp and suddenly Ollie was being pulled from the booth away from me by the scruff of his neck and thrown on to the floor. The movement in the bar seemed to stop as Ollie lay on the floor, attempting to get up but laughing when he couldn't and Sirius let out a laborious sigh.
"Come on, Drunky," he said to me, holding out his hands and pulling me from the booth. He put an arm around me for support and I could feel him sigh again, deeply. His aftershave smelled like the woods and I inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent. He let out a half-chuckle that seemed to rumble all the way through him.
"I'll get her back to your Tower, but you may need to meet us there to answer the question. I couldn't get it last time I was there," Sirius said to someone. I could barely keep my eyes open but I saw Ollie on the floor and started giggling.
"Why doesn't Arron just take her? Now that you've broken it up, we can handle it," Nicola said.
"I think these three will probably need your help. Besides, I want to get her walking a bit so I can talk to her."
"Can't it wait?"
"Are you looking at her right now?" Sirius shot back, incredulously.
"Yes, but she's wasted."
"The best time for honesty," Sirius said and then shook me a little so I opened my eyes. "Come on, you," he said, shaking his head at me and helping me walk out.
"But...Ollie," I said, turning back trying to see over Sirius' shoulder.
"Chamberlain can get on without you for a few minutes," Sirius said, stiffly as we exited the pub. The commotion seemed to have died down, so at the back of my head I was pleased that I hadn't caused a terrible scene.
We walked in silence for a while, Sirius supporting me as I tried to walk in a straight line. Eventually it became a bit easier and the frigid air was making me a little more alert. I stopped and groaned.
"Oh, it's going to hurt me so much tomorrow."
Sirius laughed. "Well, that's what you get for drinking twice your body-weight."
"I did not," I said, grumpily sitting down on a bench at the side of the road. Sirius joined me and I saw that he was watching something in the distance. Automatically, I turned to see Arron supporting Benjy and Ollie on either side of his muscular frame and Nicola struggling to hold my shopping bags and support Matt as they walked to the castle.
"Should I catch up with them? You probably have places to go...people to see..." I muttered.
Sirius scoffed. "Bridget, I'm here with you – I'm fine where I am."
"But I'm all drunk," I said, covering my face with my hands.
"Yes, you are. Happens to the best of us," he said and I heard a smile in his voice. "My question is why? I never took you for a binge drinker."
I groaned. "I'm not. I didn't think I would be so bad."
"Ravenclaws are much wilder than I thought. I always assumed that the alchies were in Gryffindor," he joked.
"We had a bad night. Benjy and Matt got dumped," I said, leaning forward and putting my head in between my legs. I was feeling a bit dizzy.
Sirius gathered my hair up and pulled it back off my face before speaking again.
"And Nicola told me you had a bit of a shock too," he said, calmly.
"Yeah."
"Sorry, I wasn't around to talk about it," he said, sounding a bit guilty as he rubbed my back.
"It's okay, you were shagging your girlfriend," I mumbled as I felt bile rise to my throat. His hands on my back stopped abruptly and I vomited all over the ground with a noisy retch.
"Sorry, sorry," I said, apologetically, checking that I hadn't gotten any on his shoes. No such luck, his expensive looking leather shoes were coated in my vomit and my own trainers hadn't fared much better. Despite my aching head, I turned to the left to look up at Sirius, whose hands were still on my back but he was frozen. He wasn't looking at his shoes, but at my face and there was shock and embarrassment all over his.
"Sirius? I'm sorry," I repeated.
"How..." He swallowed. "How did you know about me and Emmeline? Did James tell you?" he asked, he face suddenly contorting in what looked like rage.
"No," I said in a small voice. "I saw you outside the loos," I whispered, putting my head in my hands feeling mortified.
There was a sharp intake of breath and he moved his hands away from my back. Peeking through my fingers, I could see, even in the dim light, that his face was bright red.
"But-why...why didn't you...how much...I didn't see you.." he spluttered unintelligibly.
"I just saw you kissing and talking about getting a room," I edited, quickly trying to dig myself out of a hole. He seemed to sigh with relief and I straightened up and sat back to look at him.
"Sorry about that too."
He shook his head. "Never mind...never mind. This isn't about me. Do you still want to talk? About those posters, I mean?" he said nicely, although he wasn't meeting my eyes. And not in the comfortable, looking off in to the distance way - his eyes were darting about so rapidly I felt my head spin.
"
Maybe tonight's not the best for it," I said, quietly.
"Okay. Um, tomorrow then? I have some Hangover Tonic. Come find me after breakfast," he said, standing up. "Now, I think we better get you to your bed."
I nodded weakly and he helped me up. We walked in silence to the Castle, managed to fool Filch's critical eyes and finally came to a stop in front of the Ravenclaw brass knocker. However, it wasn't Nicola waiting outside, it was Emmeline and she didn't look pleased.
"Nicola's in the Common Room making sure Matt doesn't need the Hospital Wing. At least I can count on one of the Ravenclaw Sixth Years not to act so inappropriately," she said in a stiff voice.
"Bridget, get yourself to bed and sleep it off. We'll talk about this in the morning," she added, turning to the Eagle and answering a question that I couldn't wrap my head around.
"Can't you just let her off the hook, love? She's had a bad night," Sirius said softly.
"I'll talk to Bridget about it in the morning, Sirius," she said in a stern voice. "Now, you better go to your Common Room – you shouldn't be here."
Whether Sirius actually left I didn't know because Emmeline had pushed me through the door and slammed it behind me. I didn't remember much else as Nicola put an arm around me and led me to the dormitory to sleep it off.
A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Unfortunately love triangles don't fly with everyone, but I hope most of you are enjoying things so far. If anyone is interested in reading anything else I'm working on - I have a new story about Healers up.