Chapter Ten:
For the next few days, Benjy and Matt were grumpy at breakfast.
"Look at the pairs of you!" Matt groaned. "You realize that Benjy and I look like a couple now too?" He said, slapping his forehead and scowling at Nicola and Arron as they gave each other a good morning kiss and Ollie and I as he put his arm around my shoulders.
"No offense mate, but you really aren't my type!" Benjy laughed.
"Well, you aren't Meadowes' type either, so there!" Matt said, sticking out his tongue childishly.
Benjy shrugged. "She's massively angry that I'm taking my sister to Slughorn's party - I don't care much." But the look on his face said otherwise as Dorcas and Peter chatted over at the Gryffindor Table.
"You don't think she's actually interested in Pettigrew, do you?" he said, trying to sound casual.
To everyone's surprise I burst in to loud laughter. "Yeah, right! She's just doing Sirius a favor."
"Why would taking Pettigrew to the party be doing Black a favor?" Ollie asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.
"Oh, didn't I tell you? It's his birthday. So, Lily is taking Remus and Dorcas is taking Peter since neither of those boys are in the Slug Club."
"You know an awful lot about the Gryffindors," Matt commented. "Get me in with McKinnon, why don't you?"
Ollie spoke before I could reply. "She's only got an in with Black, Matt. And even a miracle couldn't get you an in with Marlene McKinnon."
We laughed and Matt scowled again. "You lot are always picking on me," he said, leaving the table and ignoring our weak protests and loud laughter.
"What did you end up getting Black for his birthday? I remember he always made a big deal over it when I hung out with them in Fourth Year," Arron said when we'd calmed down.
I chuckled. "Yeah, he made a big fuss over presents this time too. I got him new Beater gloves."
"What?" said two voices at the same time.
I glanced at Ollie in surprise but he seemed a bit stumped for words so I turned to Benjy who didn't have that problem at all.
"How dare you, Bridget Willoughby?! You're helping the enemy! We play them at the end of term. Slytherin did us a favor by ruining his gloves - have you seen how bloody accurate he is?!" Benjy yelled. It was a bit loud for a Ravenclaw outburst and quite a few people had turned to look now.
"Will you shut up? You'll ruin the surprise!" I said, turning around to look at the Gryffindors. Thankfully, they were always much louder than everyone else and hadn't heard Benjy's yelling.
"Why would you get him new gloves? The best thing is that they're so expensive so people don't replace them until they've fallen apart completely!" Benjy groaned. "Now I'll have to train the Chasers to dodge better!"
"Well you should train them better anyway! They've all landed in the Hospital Wing and you've only played one match so far!" I snapped in irritation.
Benjy let out an appalled gasp and stood up from the table. "Bridget Willoughby, I refuse to take this abuse from you!" he said, stomping out of the Great Hall too.
I rolled my eyes at Nicola and Arron. "They're a bit touchy this morning."
"You bought Sirius Beater's gloves? What do they normally go for?" Ollie asked me in a tight voice, interrupting our laughter. He'd moved his arm from around me and was now facing me.
"Oh…um, don't remember," I muttered, sending Nicola a panicked glance.
"Usually around 25 or 30 galleons isn't that right? 40 for a really top pair," Arron said and Ollie's mouth dropped open. Nicola elbowed Arron in the ribs and he winced not realizing the damage he'd caused.
"You spent thirty galleons on Sirius Black? You barely know him!" Ollie accused.
I didn't want to correct him and say it had actually been 40 but instead tried to think of a way to diffuse the situation.
"Well that's not entirely true, they're pretty close mates," Nicola put in standing up for me. She fell quiet when Ollie shot her a glare and instead, whistled lowly. "Right…none of my business," she muttered, turning to Arron and frowning at him.
"Look, it's his birthday. I'll spend that much on you when it's yours!" I said, patting him on the arm. He moved it away and glared at me.
"But it was! It was my birthday in October."
Oh…it had been. I hadn't attended his party because I'd been in a bad mood and had spent the evening in my dormitory to avoid the noise.
"Well…we weren't going out then," I reasoned.
"Well you aren't going out with Black now, are you?"
I was starting to get really annoyed with Ollie now. It wasn't his business how much I spent on birthday gifts for my friends and I told him so.
"Look, Sirius has been a really good friend to me this year and I wanted to get him something nice! I don't see how you're making this about you!" I said.
Ollie looked hurt but just swallowed and shook his head. "Fine. I'm going to Muggle Studies," he said, grabbing his bag and leaving the Great Hall just like the other two boys had.
"Wow, you can really clear a room Bridge," Nicola said after a moment.
"Oh, shut up Nicola," I replied, stabbing my leftover eggs and glowering at them.
"I mean…three days and you're fighting already? I told you this would happen if you didn't follow the rules of the Awkward Prologue."
"Piss the rules," I muttered, angrily.
"Ah, calm down Little Bridge - I'll have a word with Ollie. He doesn't know a lot about what's been going on with your life. Give him a break," Arron said, calmly.
"Well why doesn't he just ask instead of having a go at me?" I moaned. "I'm going to Herbology - I need to throw some dragon dung around or something."
"Make sure you talk it out with him Bridge," Nicola warned. "Don't just go and complain to your friend about it, yeah? That won't help."
At least she had the courtesy not to mention Sirius' name and so, I sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, I'll do that. S'you later," I said, giving them a half-hearted wave and heading off to the Greenhouses. Benjy was in that lesson, so at least I could try to make up with him.
He accepted my apology quite nicely as we waited outside the Greenhouses.
"It's okay Bridget. I overreacted a bit. I'm just sick of losing to Gryffindor at Quidditch. The gloves won't help him that much," Benjy said with a little smile.
"I swear the only team I'll be supporting is yours come Match Day," I promised and he chuckled in response.
"You're a good one, Little Bridge," he smiled. "Mind you don't tell Ollie how much those gloves were though. I reckon he's a bit insecure about you and Black already."
I groaned and felt the annoyance resurface. "Bit late for that. We had a row after you left."
Benjy sighed. "Poor lad. He's constantly comparing himself to Black. I think the bloke makes him feel a bit inferior."
I laughed sarcastically. "He has no reason to feel that way. My friendship with Black has nothing to do with him!"
Benjy put up his hands. "Okay, okay - tell him that!"
"I will," I said, irritably as we entered the Greenhouses. Benjy gave me another smile but practically ran over to his table with some Hufflepuffs to escape my mood.
I was muttering under my breath and grimaced at Mary MacDonald and Jennifer Crawley when I arrived at our workstation. After collecting our homework, Sprout told us to get on with repotting our Honking Daffodils and most of the class scurried in to work mode immediately. I didn't start however and just glared at my desk instead, as Mary and Jennifer avoided my wrath and worked on the plants in front of us.
"Hey there Bridge!" a loud voice said in my ear and inwardly I jumped. Given my mood however, I simply nodded at Sirius and continued my staring match with the desk.
"Hi Sirius!" Jennifer Crawley said, immediately letting go of the plant and tucking some hair behind her ear. I was sadistically amused at the trail of dirt she'd left on her cheek in the process and pleasantly surprised at the look of irritation Mary threw her as she struggled to take control of the project herself.
"Oh, all right girls?" Sirius greeted her with a grin and a nod to Mary. "Thanks for lending us the homework by the way Jen. I've just been really busy the last few days."
I rolled my eyes at him but said nothing as Jennifer's cheeks turned pink.
"It's no problem - you can borrow my notes any time," she said eagerly.
"Cheers," he replied, smiling easily back at her. "Anyway, James is in a bit of a mood so I could use an extra set of hands. What do you say?" he said, tapping me on the shoulder and giving me his best puppy-dog eyes. I scoffed in response but Jennifer beat me to speaking.
"Oh I'd love to help you guys!" she offered excitedly and I felt Sirius' hand on my shoulder clench.
"Ah…actually Jen, I meant Bridget," he said, looking appropriately ashamed.
"Right," she said, turning bright red. "Course." She then turned to Mary and concentrated fully on helping her friend repot the giant plant.
Sirius made a face relaying his awkwardness and despite my mood I had to stifle a giggle.
"Well? Come help me, please?" he asked in a low voice.
I sighed. "Oh all right. Do you mind?" I asked, turning to Mary and Jen.
"Sure," Jen said curtly, not looking at me, but Mary smiled.
"No problem Bridget - we can handle this one by ourselves."
I'm sure Jennifer just wanted to get rid of Sirius and myself, but at least Mary was nice about it.
I grabbed my things and followed Sirius over to the workbench where James sat alone, a gutted expression on his face. When I put my bag down, I sat in a chair, let out a huff and returned to scowling.
"What is up your bums today?" Sirius asked the two of us in exasperation.
"Lily," James sighed.
"Nothing," I groaned.
Sirius clicked his tongue. "Prongs - snap out of it! She rejects you once a week, it's no surprise."
"But the other day, she laughed at one of my jokes!" James protested.
"Yes and I haven't heard the end of it, but mate, she's going to be at the party - who cares if she's not going with you?" Sirius replied, rolling his eyes.
"She's going with one of my best mates," James groaned, rubbing his face.
"Only because one of your other best mates asked her to!"
"Why does she do you favors anyway? Sometimes it's a struggle just to get her to pass me the butter!"
"Because she knows I'm not trying to get in her knickers!" Sirius chuckled. "Now, snap out of it!"
"Fine," James said, laboriously. "Maybe she'll get drunk at Slughorn's party and admit to fancying me."
I laughed at that and Sirius turned on me with a grin.
"There you are! I was beginning to think you'd become mute!"
I frowned.
"What's wrong with you then?" James asked, cheering up significantly now that he'd seen someone in a worse mood than him.
"Nothing," I answered automatically.
"Liar," Sirius goaded.
"Fine. If you must know, Ollie and I had a row this morning."
"Three days and you're fighting already? Impressive," Sirius said with a knowing grin.
"You sound like Nicola."
"Don't mind it too much Bridget. Sirius and Emmeline got in a row three days in to their relationship too," James said.
"Really?" I asked Sirius who rolled his eyes.
"Um, no – it was close to three weeks in."
James sighed. "I know but three days sounded like better comfort."
I chuckled at that. "I appreciate the gesture, James."
"What did you fight about?" James asked, interestedly.
"About what a spazz he was?" Sirius joked and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"He is not a spazz! Stop saying that."
"Bridget, relax - I'm only joking."
"Actually, we got in a fight over you - surprise, bloody, surprise," I muttered.
To my actual surprise, Sirius laughed easily. "That seems to be a pattern, doesn't it? What was the problem this time? Am I spending too much time with you again? Or is it simply because I can't stop staring at you?"
I raised an eyebrow. "What?"
James laughed. "Chamberlain stopped Sirius in the corridor the other day to warn him not to stare at you."
"What?!" I repeated.
"Yeah, he didn't seem to realize that I was only trying to tell you that your skirt was tucked in to your knickers," Sirius said, laughing at the memory.
"Wait…wha-"
"It's okay, I told Hobbs and she fixed it for you. Quite sexy really," Sirius explained, waggling his eyebrows at me.
I shook my head trying to get rid of my embarrassment.
"You do have nice knickers though, Bridget - I especially liked the lacey trim," James said cheekily, ducking when I threw dragon manure at him.
"So, what was the fight actually about?" Sirius said as we began re-potting our plants and avoiding the jets of liquid that squirted out at random intervals.
"About how much I spent on your birthday present," I mumbled as I concentrated on not damaging any of the roots.
Sirius' face was full of glee. "That means you spent a lot! Tell me! Oh, please Bridget, tell me what it is!"
I looked at him curiously. "You're such a child. Your birthday is tomorrow, just wait until then."
"Don't even try. He's already managed to get Peter and Remus to admit what they got for him. Thankfully, my willpower is proving stronger than theirs so far," James said, pulling a face at Sirius.
"Pleaaase? I promise to be surprised anyway," Sirius begged.
"No! You can wait," I said, feeling a smile come to my face. My anger at Ollie was fading away and I was really enjoying Sirius' desperation.
"Is it a box of tricks from Zonkos? No…no…it's those new Sugar Quills…"
"Sirius, shut up," I said, patting him on the arm fondly.
"I know what Emmeline got you," James sing-songed, shooting me a wink.
Sirius' attention was immediately diverted. "Oh what is it? Tell me, please!"
James and I both dissolved in to laughter and continued to work on our daffodils while we fended off Sirius' atrocious guesses and attempts to wrangle the secrets out of us.
When we were leaving the Greenhouses, I was in much higher spirits and laughed with James as Sirius continued to list gifts that he wanted. But I came to a full stop when I saw Ollie standing outside the Exit, his hands in his pockets looking suitably sorry. James and Sirius bumped in to my back and when I glanced back I saw that Sirius was very purposefully avoiding looking at me.
James laughed and pushed his friend forward.
"Come on, Padfoot," he said, nodding at Ollie.
"Is this okay, Chamberlain? I can still see her out of the corner of my eye but I have very good peripheral vision so I can't really help it," Sirius was saying as he looked up at the sky. I covered my face in embarrassment but Ollie shrugged good-naturedly.
"Yeah, I reckon that's good enough," he said and James laughed, pushing Sirius away.
"Bye Bridget!" Sirius called as he craned his neck to look directly at the sky above him.
"Funny guy," Ollie muttered to me before shooting me a small smile. "Can we talk?"
"I smell a bit like dragon dung," I said honestly and he chuckled.
"I can take it," he said, grabbing my hand and walking with me through the chilly grounds and towards the castle.
Once we were inside, Ollie found an empty classroom and we sat down at a desk to talk.
"Bridget, I'm really sorry I went off on you this morning. It's none of my business how much you spend on your friend's present," Ollie said earnestly.
I nodded. "It's okay. I guess it's understandable. I'm sorry I didn't get you a present for your birthday."
He waved me off. "No, that's fine. It was before we were together, I understand."
I smiled and patted his cheek affectionately. He smiled although it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
He hesitated, biting his lip before he spoke. "It's just - I'm really trying not to be jealous of Black but it's difficult when you're so close to him."
I sighed. "It's in a different way though Ollie. He's just a mate - he's just good at dealing with me when I'm depressed."
"Do you think that I could be good at dealing with you when you're depressed, someday?" he asked and I fought not to cringe. I wished it didn't have to be a contest. Nicola understood that Sirius was better at fending off my low moods - she didn't always need to be the one who comforted me. Even so, I nodded at him reassuringly.
"Sure, Ollie."
He smiled and his face looked so happy I couldn't help but smile back. He leaned in and gave me a soft kiss on the mouth before deepening the kiss slightly and leaving me gasping for breath when we separated.
"Um…I'd like to keep kissing you Bridge but…you do smell a lot like dragon dung," he said, giving me a cheeky smile.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter and I hope more of you will review this time! Sorry for the wait, hope you enjoyed.