Chapter Fifteen;
Sirius walked into the Three Broomsticks at 2PM on the dot, looking around and frowning as he saw Severus wasn't there yet. He walked over to a table in the corner, hidden from view unless you turned a small corner. He leaned back in the chair, impatiently waiting, nodding to Rosmerta as she began making him a glass of Firewhiskey.
After she left the glass on the table, he leant forward and took a sip, then began drumming his fingers on the table. 'Where the hell is he?' he thought to himself as he checked his watch and frowned at the 2:07PM. 'I'm just being impatient…' he decided, crossing his arms on the table and resting his head on them, gazing around the room, trying to find something to occupy his time. He closed his eyes for a moment, silently humming to himself.
"May I sit?" came a soft voice.
Sirius cracked open an eye and saw a red-hair woman with blue eyes staring down at him, she was very pretty, he grinned up at her, "Sure."
The Woman sat and held her hand out, "Valerie. Pleasure," she introduced herself.
"Sirius," he responded as he shook her hand.
"May I ask what a… handsome man like you is doing in here all alone?" she asked as she sipped at her drink.
"Oh, well…" he paused in his sentence, frowning, 'What the hell are you doing?' he asked himself, shaking his head clear of thoughts, "Honestly, I'm waiting for someone."
".. Oh, waiting for a girlfriend?" she asked as she sipped once again.
"Boyfriend, actually," he replied, smiling.
She turned a light shade of tint, "Oh my… and here I was going to ask if you were free for dinner, sorry," she apologized with a chuckle, looking around, "I should get going, bye, Sirius," she said with a smile as she stood up and winked at him.
Sirius chuckled, "Bye, Valarie," he responded before gazing around the room and his eyes falling on Severus, whom was standing beside the entrance, glaring at the two. Sirius blinked, giving a faint smile. Severus however rolled his eyes and walked back out.
Sirius sighed and placed a galleon on the table, standing up and following Severus through the door. When he reached outside, he looked around and saw Severus walking towards Hogsmeade's apothecary. He sighed and ran after him, by the time he entered the apothecary himself, he looked around and saw no sign of Severus. He frowned as he began looking around the store; he made a disgusted expression when he saw all the vials of ingredients, remembering why he hated Potions in school, the ingredients you had to mess with.
He walked towards the back of the store, noticing a book section and figuring that was where Severus got all his potions books. He walked over and glanced at the titles, pulling one out and examining the book before seeing Severus through the small space the book occupied. He put the book back and walked around the shelf, smiling when he came into view of Severus with a book opened and reading it, " 'Lo," he greeted as he walked towards him.
Severus glared from the corner of his eyes, "Stay away from me, Black."
"Back to surnames…?" Sirius asked, frowning. Severus opened his mouth to respond but then snapped it shut, putting the book back in its place and searching the titles again in silence. "Severus, it uh, wasn't what it looked like. She was just talking to me."
Severus rolled his eyes, pulling another book from the shelf, "Do a lot of women talk to you and wink, Black?"
Sirius groaned, "Severus. You can't seriously be jealous."
Severus' lips tightened into a thin line, "I am /not/ jealous."
Sirius blinked and let his lips curl into a small smile, "You are. You're jealous! Bugger, I didn't think you could get jealous."
Severus snapped the book shut loudly, tucking it under his arm and glaring, "Oh right. I'm sorry, I forgot I'm supposed to be the emotionless bastard everyone thinks I am," he responded as he turned on his heel and walked out of the book section and to the counter.
Sirius stood in place for a minute, his smile turning into a frown. 'It was a joke, I didn't mean too…' he paused in his thoughts to follow Severus out the door, "Severus, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, okay?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets as they walked.
Severus stopped and glared at him, "Why're you following me, Black?"
"Because I'm trying to apologize! You git! I was doing nothing wrong in the beginning, and I shouldn't have said what I did earlier, but you shouldn't have just ran off because you /think/ you saw something!" Sirius explained, glaring down at Severus.
Severus looked around and saw a few students and pass-byers gazing at them, he looked away, "We'll talk later about this, Black."
"Oh, no we won't! We're talking now," Sirius said firmly.
"I said… later, Black," Severus hissed.
"No! Stop trying to push me away, Severus! Did you even want to go with me on this date today?" Sirius randomly blurted out, crossing his arms.
Severus gritted his teeth, "I hate you," he said before turning away and walking back towards Hogwarts, ignoring the whispers and giggles of the students around them.
Sirius frowned when he looked around and saw a lot of people staring at them. He sighed and shooed them all off before walking towards Tonks and Remus' house and knocking on the door. As he waited for an answer, he tapped his foot impatiently, not waiting for a 'Come in' instead walking straight in when Remus opened the door. He looked around and saw Ron's mop of hair in the dining room, he assumed everyone was in there and out of ear-shot. He turned to Remus and frowned at the worried expression, "Something happen, Sirius?"
"Yes, something happened! Severus just assumes things without even letting me explain," he said in a rush, not caring if he made sense or not.
Remus sighed and took a seat in his armchair, "Explain what happened…"
Sirius paced the living room, "I was waiting for him in the Three Broomsticks and he was ten minutes late, I closed my eyes for a minute and when I opened them a girl was asking to sit next to me, so I said sure,"
"Why did you say sure? You should've told her the seat was saved," Remus said, his chin now resting in his palm on the chair.
"I said sure because… I didn't want to be rude!" Sirius claimed.
"Oh, please Sirius, I /know/ you. She was probably pretty and you forgot momentarily all about Severus, didn't you?" Remus asked.
Sirius frowned, plopping down on the couch and pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lighting one up and taking a drag, "It's… possible…"
"I knew it…" Remus replied.
"Well! It's not like I buggered her on the table or anything! We spoke for… less than thirty seconds before I told her I was waiting for someone. She stood up, winked at me and walked away," Sirius explained.
"And then what happened?" Remus asked, holding his hand out to Sirius.
Sirius passed his pack of cigarettes to Remus and took another drag, blowing the smoke out as he answered, "Severus saw her wink at me, I guess and then he ran off. I chased after him to an apothecary, I didn't even know they had one in Hogsmeade, did you?" he asked, trailing off.
"Yes, I did. Continue what happened, Sirius," Remus said in an impatient tone.
"Right, sorry. Anyway, we were talking in the apothecary in the book section and… well… I brought up he was jealous, and then I said… I didn't know he /could/ be jealous," Sirius continued the story, frowning.
"Everyone gets jealous, Sirius…" Remus reminded him.
"I know that! I was… I was just… I don't know, kidding!" Sirius claimed. "Well… I guess I was… anyway," he said with a sigh, "He stormed out after telling me he was sorry for not being an emotionless bastard, and I followed him into the streets and… I didn't know people were staring and I asked him if he really wanted to date me, I don't even know why I asked that, it was stupid… but… I guess he got embarrassed and he told me he hated me and stormed off."
They sat in silence, Remus watching Sirius closely, Sirius finishing off his cigarette. It was a few minutes before Hermione called from the kitchen, "You need to go apologize for being a git, Sirius!"
Sirius raised his head and giggles burst from the kitchen, Tonks, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all emerged with smiles on their face. "Why should /I/ apologize?" Sirius asked, glaring at them all.
"Because you can't expect /him/ to apologize. Come on… it's Professor Snape," she explained.
Ron chuckled, "She's right, you know. She usually is about these things," he said as he took a seat.
Harry nodded his head from behind Tonks, "So go on, Snuffles," he waved him off.
"I take it you guys accept my relationship now?" Sirius asked.
"Well you're not going to /have/ a relationship if you stay here to chat with us," Remus said, giving him a smile.
Sirius rolled his eyes as he stood up, "Fine, fine. Where do you think he went though?"
"His chambers. To hide away," Hermione suggested.
After everyone nodded, Sirius shrugged his shoulders, "Wait… but I have to chaperone…"
"We'll take care of it, Tonks and I," Remus said, standing up and putting his coat on, "If Albus asks why you and Severus left, we'll say… you two had a lovers' quarrel and wanted to fight in private," he joked, smiling.
"Yeah, you can explain at dinner in the great hall in front of the staff and students, and then Severus can kill us both!" Sirius replied, grinning as he put on his cloak and walked out of the house, and beginning to walk back to Hogwarts.