101 Ways to ditch the Date | SIRIUS BLACK

No. 79

The hug between Marlene and Sirius lasted a mere few seconds before she abruptly broke it off, her hands springing away from his back with a start. Ordinarly he'd make a snide remark about being too hot to handle but now was really not the time.

"Shit," Even though her voice was so soft it was nearly inaudible, the clear shock of a horrific realisation was evident. It did break Sirius away from the realisation he was about to have but decided rethinking his life was probably better done with James and mugs of hot chocolate, not when he was an emotional wreck on Dawid's awful sofas. 

"What?" He asked, managing to quence his sobs momentarily, "Marlene - ow!"

She jumped up with such franticness that she succeeded in elbowing him in the face - perhaps on purpose, "Marlene! Where are you going?"

"We just left Em and Ora alone together ... this is not what they need right now, it's truly the worst idea anyone's had ever and I mean ... I went out with you," She murmured, "I'm literally thinking of every single scenario possible right now and none of them end well... " As she spoke she was already backing towards the door, suddenly turning in a mad flurry, "Be right back!"

The phrase 'When one door closes, another opens' felt bizarrely applicable to the situation as no sooner had she gone, Sirius realised he wasn't alone: the lean figure of Dexter Warrington was standing in the now open doorway. Considering moments earlier the boy had been so angry he'd punched a wall and stormed off, he looked remarkably collected, eerily so in fact.

"Sirius."

Wiping the tears from his cheeks, one hand still wretchedly nestled in his hair, Sirius looked up, aware that right now he looked like a  mess - a very hot mess but a mess nonetheless.

"What?" He laughed slightly, "Bloody wish I'd brought James along on this... I could do with seeing him right now."

"You didn't," Dexter stated flatly, "You brought me."

"Technically I didn't bring you, you wanted to come. Brought implies I ... put you in my pocket or something."

Dexter didn't seem bothered by his half hearted snark, "Yes but I'm here is the point that I'm trying to make, Sirius."

"Are you going to try and comfort me too then?" Sirius asked dryly, "Because right now, I really don't think that's possible - "

A look of slight disgust crossed Dexter's face, "No ... I'm not going to try and comfort you. In fact, I think you should remain upset - "

"Cheers."

"No offence intended, I don't want you to be sad but I just think from a logical perspective, one of us should at least look outwardly emotional - rest assured I look much like you on the inside. It's just that one of us needs to be collected and rational if we're to appeal to both sides of Ora," Dexter replied. It took Sirius a moment to realise Dexter wasn't trying to organise a cheeky threeway ... he was talking strategy to make her stay. 

It wasn't his intention but this succeeded in making Sirius stop crying, looking up out of interest as Dexter took a seat besides him, fingers pressed together as if he were about to make the world's best business pitch.

"Sirius Black, I don't know how much time we have but whilst I was being angry in the kitchen, I figured out that we need to approach Ora leaving as a case. She's emotional right now, yes but she's also an incredibly logical person - "

"Not always," Sirius smied, "I mean for some reason, she chose to go out with me, that wasn't her brain talking ... oh Merlin's beard, I just want to go back and - "