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Throughout the rest of the day, Iris found herself confused. In their shares classes, James was avoiding her, and if she tried to speak with him, he'd turn his head and speak with the person beside him. At one point, he started talking to himself, as no one was sat beside him.
Iris first thought, perhaps he was upset, with the Lily and Severus thing that morning. But, by around lunchtime, she knew it was something else entirely.
James avoiding her, only added to her own bad mood, making her feel worse by the second. Sitting down in an oversized arm chair in the Ravenclaw common room, she sighed, curling up into herself.
Iris was exhausted, mentally and physically, and she didn't understand what had happened today so drastic for her best friend to avoid her. Perhaps it was one of the boys practical jokes, but James out of all of the lads, wouldn't add to her raging anxiety.
She nibbled on the knuckle of her thumb, deep in concentration. What if it was something that she had done to offend him? What if he had figured out how she felt? Iris believed she was cautious with how she acted but maybe, she slipped up today.
The entire concept made her feel sick to her stomach, just thinking that he was mad at her, it made her feel vulnerable, and weak in the knees, in the worst way possible.
It was late that night, as she sat by the fire, all the other Ravenclaw students, tucked into their beds. Iris started to feel herself drift in and out of sleep, when a warm hand rested on her shoulder, causing her to her jump and let out a noise of surprise.
"Sirius." She whispered harshly, rubbing the sleep from the corner of her eyes, "How'd you get in here?"
The black haired boy shook his head at the girl, frowning at the look on her face. Iris looked terrible compared to the morning, she was pale, with messy hair and dark rings under her eyes. It was concerning to see his friend in this state.
"Sorry to startle you, love." He muttered quietly, "You weren't at dinner, and Prongs was acting strange. I wanted to see if everything was okay."
"How'd you get passed the riddle?" Iris asked, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction entirely.
"Are you doubting my capabilities, Evans?" Sirius scolded cheekily, slipping into the arm chair with the strawberry blonde, "I asked Remus for the answer, clearly."
Iris nodded at the boy, not really having much to say that night. She fiddled with her fingers, keeping her eyesight towards her lap.
"You're not okay." The Gryffindor boy mumbled, pulling the smaller girl into his arms, as they sat by the warm fire.
"It's just James being silly, I'll get over it." She ensured him quickly, sighing as she leant herself against his warm chest.
"What did he do this time?" Sirius groaned in frustration, "I promise you, that I told him to not put that itching powder into your quidditch uniform."
