What Is and What Should Never Be | Sirius Black

12. The Great Sleepover of '77

"Any reason?"

I think back to the night of the ball when Debbie mentioned getting one, and then her veiled distaste when I came back from break with it.

"Debbie brought it up and... I don't know, I liked the idea so I did it." I look up at him and he nods in understanding, still watching my stomach.

"I like it." He looks me in the eyes and I feel the heat in my cheeks again.

"Desdemona, just the person we need!" A male voice calls from the direction Sirius and I are walking in. I see Des and Henry and wave at them.

"What's up, Des?" I greet and the boy shrugs.

"Bit of a bummer, actually," he says as we approach them, "Nick's finally kicked the bucket so we're one bag short."

"Say what?" I gape and Sirius has a confused look on his face, clearly not looped in. "Sometimes Iman has her Slytherin friends over for the night, so Debbie, Janie, and I stay in the guys dorm."

That doesn't clear up who Nick is, but Sirius nods his head to show he's following along.

"Reckon two of you will have to share a sleeping bag tonight. Don't have any other ideas." Henry apologizes and Desmond agrees.

"Wait, tonight?" Sirius asks and I nod. It must have slipped my mind, because Iman did tell us yesterday. "Why don't you just sleep in our dorm? You can stay with Remus."

"Oh?" I ask, knowing immediately that that's a bad idea, and he nods. I turn to Des and Henry in hopes for an excuse, but they just shrug and I'm forced to bullshit on the spot. "I don't want to kill the buzz."

Sirius raises an eyebrow at me as if I'm speaking a foreign tongue. But I'm pretty sure I'm speaking English, I'm not that nervous that I messed up my languages. And it's not like I can just tell the truth that I don't think Debbie would like me spending the night in Sirius' dorm.

Or, maybe I can, and just make sure it's not in English.

"Really, Des?" He laughs slightly. "You're staying with us tonight. No objections."

~*~

I don't tell Debbie I'm staying in Remus' room, I let Jane know though, so if she wants to find out where I'll be she can ask. I don't invite her either, half because it's not my place to invite, and half because there's a reason I'm staying in a different dorm than the one she's in. I hope I'm not being too dramatic, and I hope I'm not being a complete bitch. I reassure myself by reminding myself that Remus is my best friend, we have sleepovers together and this is nothing different.

My pyjamas are stuffed into a bag, along with some records and my toothbrush. I decide to bring my phonograph, remembering Sirius wanted to hear it, so I make sure to pack the KISS album. I'm embarrassed to admit that only after I drag it through the dorm hallways and out of the common room do I remember I'm a witch and there's a first year level charm that makes things levitate.

I was told the entrance to Gryffindor was behind a portrait of a lady, but I don't remember which. Luckily, the lady whose dress I'm complimenting turns out to be the one, as James comes up behind me and says the password, she lets us both in.

"The stairs turn into a slide if a boy steps foot on the girls side, but I don't know what happens if you do for the guys." He says right before I move to walk up.

Hesitantly, I place my foot on the first step, and when the stairs remain stairs, we continue the rest of the way to their room. The layout is different than Hufflepuffs, but the four poster beds are the same. The farthest bed is empty, which I'm guessing is Peters because he's the only person not in the room. James moves to his bed, which is next and decorated with Quidditch teams and equipment. Sirius' bed is aggressively muggle - he has posters of cars and bands all around. And finally, Remus, who has a picture of the four of them, a picture of us two, a chart with the phases of the moon for the year, and a crayon drawing my little sister gave him last time he visited. It has Remus, me and her, with our names messily scribbled underneath in her five-year-old handwriting.