Love & Scars

An Unwanted Proposal

Two days after her breath-taking performance, Izzie had gathered attention from all the guys in the Gryffindor tower, even the years bellow them, much to Sirius and Remus's chagrin. He had noticed she grew a little agitated from the attention, the sudden touches or appearances making her tremble. Like now after Transfiguration, it happened again. Dorian, a seventh-year Gryffindor came up to her from behind her. And when he touched her shoulder unexpectedly, she flinched. Sirius was there before Remus could react.

"Hey, Iz." He made sure to make eye contact with her before he placed his arm around her shoulders. "Ready to go?"

"Go?" She asked, as Dorian looked between them, frowning a little. "Uhm, yeah. I'm ready."

"Sorry, Dorian, we have a date." The words rolled from his tongue easily. Maybe because he wanted to ask her for ages.

"A date? You don't date." He said matter-of-factly.

Izzie's head tilted until her eyes flickered to his. He smiled softly at her. "I waited for someone special to come along."

She ducked her head, avoiding his intense gaze. His heart jumped when he saw her cheeks turn red before her hair fell in front of it.

"Yeah, uhm." Dorian frowned again. "If you still want to hang out sometime, Izzie, you know where to find me." He smiled before walking down the corridor.

"She won't." Sirius muttered to himself. He kept his arm around her as they walked through the corridor, and she didn't pull away. When he guided her to the left, she finally looked back up at him.

"Where are we going? The common room is that way." She pointed over her shoulder.

"I'm not taking you on a date if that's what you were thinking." He smirked, leaning down closer to her.

"Because you don't date."

His smirk faltered, a crease between his eyes. "Like I said, I'm waiting for someone special."

"She or he must be exceptional, then." She looked back forward. "Are we going outside? It's raining." She frowned.

Sirius stopped walking and looked away from her to the open doors where the rain was pouring down. "Shit! There goes my plan for our non-date." He grumbled.

"Well -" She took his hand that rested on her shoulder and lifted it over her head. "Why don't you come with me to the kitchens. I'll share a cake with you, the elves make the best chocolate fudge cake." She tugged his hand, back towards the warm halls of the castle.

Sirius turned away from the rain with a seductive smile. "Is that your way for taking me out on a date?"

"Hardly." She chuckled, but Sirius started to follow her down the corridors. He would follow her anywhere, even if it would be to sit in the Slytherin common room next to Snape. "You would know if I would ask you on a date."

"That -" He shifted their hands until their fingers were intertwined. "I don't doubt." His heart thundered as she walked in front of him, tugging him through the castle.

The next few weeks, Sirius was so busy with pranks with the other Marauders, he barely had any alone time with Izzie. Remus or Lily were almost always present in the common room or anywhere else. Even the study dates had dwindled once she got the hang of everything. At night, when he couldn't sleep, he replayed the memory of her singing and playing the ukelele just for him in his head. He always fell asleep with a smile on his lips. The attention on her had reduced immensely when the rumour around school was that they were dating. But girls didn't seem to believe it, especially since he was barely by her side the past weeks.