Barking Mad (Sirius/OC)

I need a light to take me home

I sighed. I had grown to care for the girl, but she was no fun in class. None at all.

"Maybe you should take your own advice," Lily murmured as she kept on taking notes with her eyes on her parchment.

I frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

"Well boys like mysterious girls, right? Maybe you should stop pining after him in the open and only do it behind closed doors," she whispered.

"I'm not pining after him," I muttered darkly.

I saw the corners of her mouth curl. "Honey, you're trying so hard to find fault with him that it's becoming obvious to everyone except yourself. You can't change your feelings overnight."

"Alright, Dr. Evans, take it easy," I murmured.

Was that what I was doing though? Was I in serious denial about my feelings for him? I mean, I knew they ran quite deep and I wanted to hate the guy desperately, but despite my harsh words and the angry looks I kept throwing at him when he glanced my way, I hadn't been quite successful.

Lily slowly laid down her quill to give me a concerned look. She was doing that way too often lately, I thought. Was I really that obvious about my misery?

Probably.

Most likely.

Pathetic, pathetic.

"I'm just saying," Lily started softly, "if he won't come to you then you'll have to go after him. Fight for him and all that."

I raised an eyebrow. What? "I thought you didn't like the lad?"

Lily sighed and shrugged. "I don't, but if he's what makes you happy then you should go for it and damn the consequences."

"This isn't one of your romance novels, Lils," I pointed out, if a bit sadly. "Besides it takes two to tango, you know."

"Open your eyes, Nika," Lily said, patting my arm softly. "He's miserable." She nodded to Sirius and I studied his posture.

Yes, he sat a bit slumped and he hadn't laughed once during this class, but he had seemed cheerful enough during breakfast that morning. "I don't know," I said hesitantly.

"You asked me to trust you, so why don't you trust me on this?"

What if Lily was right though? What if Sirius was as miserable as I was? But that would mean that I actually meant something as a friend to him and the way he had treated me so far, suggested the opposite.

Then again I hadn't been Miss Friendly towards him myself, now had I?

The point was moot. I wasn't as confident in my ability to woo as Lily and Sirius were. The best I was probably going to do was knock him out cold when I tried to seductively kiss him and head banged him by accident instead.

Or I'd just make him run like Dementors were chasing him again. Either one was a likely scenario.

I was about to reply, when someone knocked on the classroom door. I almost praised Morgana and all her little minions when I saw who it was.

"Good afternoon, professor. Please pardon my intrusion," Dr. Greene said smoothly.

He had blond, spiked hair and was a little round in the belly area. He had kind brown eyes and overall he reminded me of a walking and talking teddy bear. I was deliriously happy to see him, which only told me how far the mighty had fallen.

I liked the bloke, sure, but I didn't like the intrusive questions or how drained his sessions always made me feel. He helped me loads, but talking with him was emotionally exhausting. I had yet to find something he hadn't been right about though and I trusted the man with my life, which was why I had asked Dumbledore to call on him again.