101 Ways to ditch the Date | SIRIUS BLACK

No. 50

Ora wasn't quite sure how to process what she'd just seen, her mind still desperately trying to convince herself that it wasn't Marlene simply to avoid making a difficult choice. For once, the couple walked in silence although she could see Sirius glancing at her out of the corner of his eye continually which only increased the pressure she'd placed on herself. Finally, they made it to the Ravenclaw tower and hoping to completely avoid the situation, Ora darted away from him, letting go of his hand/

Sirius wasn't as willing to let her go though, quickly asking her, "So ... when shall we start planning how to take her down - "

Ora held her hands, keeping him at forearm's length, "Sirius, I think you've misunderstood, I still don't want to be involved."

"But you saw her ... she knew I would be there and she followed us ..." Sirius blinked a few times, his brow furrowing, "She's guilty."

This was a very hard decision for Ora as whilst the idea of scheming was ridiculously appealing, the idea of coming between Emmeline and her new friend was not. 

"Sirius, I don't want to. I'm sticking to what I said before," She replied calmly, "It's just Em - "

"Probably wouldn't want to be friends with such a schemer."

At this, Ora exhaled in frustration, "I know but I ... I don't want her to be alone. Look, I can try and talk to her for you, let her know if you find out anything really bad but I don't want to mess up her friendship with Marlene."

Sirius opened his mouth to speak again, but Ora wasn't really in the mood, answering the Eagle's riddle in what must have been a record time and slamming the door behind her. The whole thing felt like a sticky mess and it had only just started. The choice was hard as on one hand, she would prefer to have Marlene out of her life completely, the girl seemed like unnecessary trouble especially given how well things were going with Sirius but Emmeline seemed to really like Marlene and she didn't want to leave her best friend alone. 

When she arrived at the dorms, Emmeline was already there, working away just as she usually did when there was nobody to hang out with. Cassandra and Amy were engrossed in a star chart, slightly looking up as Ora flopped onto her bed, immediately rolling over to continue with Dexter's contract which was splayed on the bed.

"Did you sort out whatever you and Sirius were up to?" Emmeline asked, looking up from her book.

"Eh," Ora shrugged, twirling her biro like a baton, "Kind of. We're not going to break up or anything but it will take some work."

"The best things do - "

"Except for school," Ora cut in, looking up and grinning, "It's best when things just come easily."

Emmeline rolled her eyes, "No, it applies to that too," She craned her neck slightly, her eyes squinted, "What are you working on? Updating the contract between you and Sirius so you win every argument?"

"That would be smart," Ora admitted, biting the end of her pen, "But no, this one's for Dexter."

Although Ora hadn't invited her over, Emmeline decided to help anyway. As she was walking across the room, Ora watched as a pillow suddenly hit her friend in the head, the two girls exclaiming, "Hey!" in time, before turning to Amy and Cassandra who both looked a little sheepish.

"Sorry," Amy giggled, "We just wanted to know your star sign and you weren't replying."

Emmeline blinked a few times, "I think I'm a Virgo."

With that, she skipped across the floor, lying down next to Ora before whispering, "Is it bad that I'm stressed now? What if I get a bad horoscope?"