Potter | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 77

The rest of the team automatically took a few steps back, in fear of getting beaten up Jenna, as she turned her hair back to lavender.

On cue, Marlene started clapping and James and Sirius followed her actions, all grinning.

"Oh, shut up, you three." Jenna rolled her eyes, even though she was smiling too.

After taking a quick shower and changing into their casual clothes, the four of them went back to the common room, where they spotted Alice and Lily studying in a corner.

"Have you ladies seen Remus and Peter?" asked James, walking toward them along with Sirius, Jenna, and Marlene.

"They were in the library," Alice answered. "Remus was tutoring Peter. Poor lad... he seemed puzzled."

"How was practice?" Lily asked the girls, raising her head from her essay.

"Not bad —"

"—It was brilliant!" Marlene cried out happily, breaking Jenna off. "We were lucky enough to get another glimpse of Red Jenna."

"Oh, Jen," Lily sighed disapprovingly, "who did you hex this time?"

"I didn't hex anybody!"

"Yeah, but she was close to murdering him," said Sirius, smirking. "It was Davis she went brutal on."

"It was bloody awesome!" Marlene chuckled, sitting down next to Alice.

"So I gather Davis didn't end up as Keeper," said Lily with a grin. "Who got the spot?"

"Wilson," James answered. "The fifth year boy."

"The girl wasn't too bad either," said Sirius, leaning against the wall nearby casually.

"Oh, yes. And pretty gorgeous too, wasn't she?" said Jenna teasingly. "I bet you would've loved nothing but to have her on the team."

"Meaning?" Sirius raised a brow at her.

"I thought it was obvious." Jenna grinned at him playfully. "You like wooing hot older girls, don't you, Mr. Black? Having her on the team wouldn't have been too bad, would it?"

"So that's it?" said Sirius blankly, moving away from the wall and walking toward her. "That's all you think I'm fit for? Wooing girls?"

"Alright! No need to get your wand in a knot!" Jenna frowned. "I'm just joking around. Besides, why are you even offended? That's the reputation you made for yourself. If it wasn't for you, nobody would've gone to assume that you're just a player."

An awkward silence fell upon them as Jenna and Sirius kept their gazes at each other, the others looking away uneasily, until he finally broke the silence.

      "I'm not one to talk about my feelings," said Sirius coldly, "but you, Jenna, have somehow managed to hurt them all."

With that, he turned around and walked up toward the boys' dormitory, slamming the door behind him.

"That was mean, Jen," said Alice, her eyes lingering on where Sirius had disappeared out of sight.

"What!?" Jenna raved. "He never used to get angry or offended when someone told him these! If anything, he enjoyed being called that! He used to think he was being cool!"

"Well..." Alice started thoughtfully. "Maybe he just didn't want to hear it from you."

Jenna sighed in defeat. "I'll go talk to him," she said, walking toward the staircase.

But the moment she disappeared off to the boys' dormitory, as if suddenly coming to his senses, James's eyes widened.

"They would be alone in there — I'll better go —" but the second he made a move to follow them up, Alice got to her feet and yanked the back of his shirt, forcing James to sit down.

"You're not going anywhere," she said fiercely, but then her eyes wondered dreamily toward the door. "Trust Alice. She knows."

***

Hesitantly, Jenna walked up to the sixth year boys' dorm and slowly slid the door open, popping her head inside.

     There she saw that Sirius was sitting on the bed, his back facing her and his face buried in his hands.

At his sight, Jenna felt an ache in her heart and so she readied herself to apologize to him as she walked in and closed the door behind her.

"You know what I don't get?" Sirius said before she could get the chance to speak, dropping his hands and staring ahead at the wall before him.

Jenna opened her mouth to ask 'what', but Sirius broke her off as he said, "That everyone plainly assumes that I'm incapable of love. Just because my family's heartless, doesn't mean that I'm like them! And it pisses me off, Prongs! It freaking pisses me off!"

And just then Jenna realized that Sirius hadn't noticed her presence, and thought that it was James who had entered the room.

"And she — she's the last person I want to think that way of me," Sirius said softly, sighing miserably. "She just doesn't get it."

Jenna's face fell and she looked down at the floor at those words, feeling sick with guilt.

Sirius seemed like he was too deep in his own thoughts that he still hadn't found it suspicious that the person behind him hadn't replied to him yet and so he just went on,

     "Look, James... I-I've been wanting to confess something for a while now..." said Sirius hesitantly. "I know you might want to kill me afterwards... b-but just hear me out. The — the thing is... I — I think..."

     Jenna remained motionless, not daring to even breathe as she watched Sirius struggle with words, until he finally blurted out,

     "I think I'm in love with Jenna."