Hiya,
So I'm back to updating this story. (Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to update it, I am so sorry!) I'll be updating one chapter (maybe two) a day till I'm back on track!
I hope you enjoy, guys!
Love, Kelly
Chapter 4
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar
~ Roar - Katy Perry
"Are you quite sure about this?" I asked Sirius again as we sneaked towards McGonagall's office.
"Positive."
"How positive exactly are you?"
"Pretty damn positive, love, now hush."
I rolled my eyes. Yes, that didn't put me at ease at all. I glared at Sirius' muscled and very masculine back and wondered how it would feel if my hands -
I took a deep breath and tried to calm the most imaginative part of my brain down. This wouldn't do at all and if I didn't put a stop to this, I was going to go mad.
Sirius Black really was hot though, I mused as I took my place at the beginning of the corridor. Apparently I was the look-out and I was to stall McGonagall if she returned early from her class. According to Sirius she was currently teaching the third years so it was rather doubtful, but in comparison to whatever it was Sirius was doing in her office, it seemed the lesser of both crimes.
No matter how hard I tried to distract my mind from him, it always wandered back to the same trail of thought. Sirius Black was a beautiful example of the male species and there was no denying. His shaggy black hair was just long enough to fall into his eyes and it barely reached his shoulders. He carefully styled it to look a certain way that reminded me terribly of bed hair. His grey eyes and strong jaw made his face almost painful to look at and gave it a manly shape, whereas his thin lips and fine nose were more elegant.
Sirius Black was a walking contradiction. He had broad shoulders and was well-built, but he moved with grace wherever he went. He never slouched, but whenever he was with his Marauders his stance seemed to relax somewhat. Something his mother would undoubtedly have disapproved of.
I sighed and leaned against the wall. Mild curiosity made me put a spell on the corridor. If anyone came within twenty feet of it, an alarm would go of near my head wherever I was.
I walked to McGonagall's office and froze as I stared. "Sirius," I hissed.
"Ah, decided to join the party after all, eh? I started to doubt you had the stomach for it," he said cheerfully as he continued hexing every piece of furniture in an awful shade of pink.
"She'll have our heads for this," I said urgently, cursing my curiosity to kingdom come. I had been better off not knowing.
Sirius gave me a wink. "Nah, Minerva loves me."
Doubtful.
"Be a little dove and do something creative with the fireplace?" Sirius asked smiling faintly as he added green dots to her pink desk.
I bit my lip and looked at the fireplace. Did I dare? Surely she would find out it was me and then she'd probably give me a month's worth of detention. "Sirius," I sighed.
"I thought you wanted to pull a prank?" he sighed right back, shaking his head ruefully as if he couldn't believe me.
"Yes," I hissed, "on a fellow student, not on our freaking professor!"
He sniggered. "Relax, Nika. Breathe. You're a Gryffindor. If you don't start acting up a little, people are going to look at you funny."
"They are already looking at me funny," I said exasperated, but I turned back to the fireplace anyway. I shook my head and tried to come up with something. In the end I decided to paint it a horrible yellow that clashed terribly with the pink Sirius was throwing around. I hung all sorts of kitten pictures around the room and turned to Sirius, who was giving me a smile of approval.
"There's only one thing missing," he muttered, before going through McGonagall's drawers.
"Sirius," I warned softly, thinking that was taking things a bit too far.
"Ah hush. I'm not going to steal anything," he murmured, before whooping. Yes, whooping. He even did a little jump where his heels touched in midair. The boy was crazy, I'm telling you. "I knew she had one of these."
He was holding a small black box as he walked towards me.
"What are you going to photograph?" I asked him with a little frown, before I got blinded by a flash. I pursed my lips as I tried to blink the black and purple spots away. Damn.
"Ah good, it works," Sirius stated happily, ignoring me completely. He took the photo when it came out of the antique looking camera and put it in one of his pockets.
"Hey!" I said, trying to grab it, but stopped short when he gave me a wolfish grin.
"Come here, sweetheart," he said, before grabbing me around the waist and pulling me to his side. His hand seemed to burn through my robes where he touched my hip. I looked up at him and smiled faintly. I laid my head on his shoulder, feeling a little brave after all, and smiled at the camera. I barely heard him counting under his breath, before another flash blinded me.
Sirius let go of me and I found that I was missing his touch already. Honestly, Nika, I admonished myself sternly. I was turning into one of those sappy fangirls, wasn't I?
I grabbed the picture from the camera before he could and studied it. Sirius was smiling broadly at the camera and I looked perfectly at ease. I duplicated the magical picture and put it in my robe. That was one to show the grandkids. "Look who grandma was friends with, children. Oh yes, he was quite handsome, was he not? Good kisser too." Well, I was pretty sure he was anyway. Not that I was ever going to find out.
To my surprise Sirius duplicated a copy for himself as well, before he turned to the fireplace. "Engorgio," I heard him whisper and the original picture enlarged. He used his wand to stick it against the chimney and gave me a brilliant smile.
"Is that wise?" I asked him a bit worried. That was even worse than leaving our signatures behind. What was it that Muggles said? A picture says a thousand words?
"Probably not," Sirius laughed, "but it sure as hell is fun."
As horrible as it was, I couldn't even deny it. For I did have a little fun.
~**~
After I lifted the alarm spell, Sirius took me to our next class. We waited outside of the classroom and Sirius gave me an excited grin. "I wonder how long it will take for her to find our little present."
I laughed at how much like a little boy he sounded. "We'll know soon enough," I assured him which earned me another quick smile from him.
"This was the first time you pulled off a thing like that, wasn't it?" Sirius asked me, suddenly a lot more intense and serious than he had been before.
I shrugged. "What gave me away?" I asked as I made my lips form a sweet little smile. It was surprisingly easy to behave in such a friendly manner with Sirius Black and I actually quite enjoyed coming out of my shell for him. Was this how it started? The growing up bit?
Sirius chuckled. "Your nerves may have given you away a little."
"Damn and here I thought I was being inconspicuous," I muttered playfully.
He laughed again and nudged me in the side. I shrieked, surprising even myself, and jumped away. I tried to stifle a giggle, but Sirius' interest had already been awakened.
"What was that, Schmidt?" he asked me, advancing like a tiger would its prey.
I carefully took a step backward. "Nothing," I said quickly, grabbing my bag and holding it in front of me as some sort of protection. I didn't like the mischievous twinkle in his eyes at all.
Wow. I stilled for a second. I had never thought that before. I flashed a smile. Progress at last.
Sirius seemed to take the smile as encouragement since he kept on advancing. I shook my head when he nodded his head slowly. "You're ticklish, aren't you?"
I hadn't even known till a few moments ago, to be honest. Nobody had ever really taken the time to find out. "No," I breathed, anticipation pumping through my veins like a drug.
He jumped me and I threw my bag to the side. He grabbed me around the waste and tried to tickle me. I tried to push his hands away as I giggled insanely. "Stop it!" I got a hold on his hands and tried to stop them from attacking my body, but the boy was strong. It's all those muscles you were admiring earlier, my mind told me a bit sourly.
I turned my back toward him, wondering if that would be an easier way to push him away. My body felt like it was on fire, but I didn't pay any attention to it this time. My goal was to free myself from Sirius' hands (more progress!) and I was going to damn well succeed too.
Sirius, on the other hand, didn't seem to agree with my motion. His body surrounded me and I realized how bad of a decision maker I really was.
That was the position James Potter and the fellow Marauders found us in when they arrived. I immediately jumped away from Sirius and this time he let me.
"Glad you seem to be enjoying yourself, Sirius."
Sirius gave a sigh. "Honestly, Prongs," he started, but stopped at the shake of Peter's head.
I went to pick up my bag and stared between the two, before I went to stand next to Sirius. I may not know what this fight was all about, but I could at least show some mental support.
James didn't miss it either. "It's Nika, right?" he asked me slowly, exchanging glances with Remus.
"Yes," I replied calmly, noticing from the corner of my eye that Sirius was shaking in anger. Oh dear.
"Why are you hanging around with Sirius?" It was meant to sound condescending and suspicious, but I noticed something there. A little trace of concern, perhaps? I didn't really know for sure. James' face had morphed back into a perfect poker face and the sentence had been too short to analyze anyway.
I vaguely wondered how I got myself into this mess, before opening my mouth to defend my new friend. "The question is, why aren't you? Aren't you lot supposed to be best friends? The big pranksters," I made another one of my infamous big gestures, "together till the end? You even have weird animalistic nicknames for each other. I don't know what's going on between you or what happened last Saturday, but you need to sort it out. And you need to do it quickly."
James gave me a confused look and I slightly worried that I was overstepping my boundaries. It wasn't any of my business and I was a fool to try and fix their friendship, because then I'd end up alone again. Ugh, listen to me. I spent one hour with Sirius Black and I already thought we really were close friends. Maybe I should skip this class and take a quick shower, I reeked of desperation.
But on the other hand, how could I not try to fix it? It was obviously paining Sirius to be parted from his friends and it was better if I was all alone again. Safer, anyway.
It was so, so hard to put those thoughts into action. Especially when a part of you didn't want to.
"Getting tired of me already, love?" Sirius asked, smirking slightly.
"Merlin, yes. Please go away," I said, making a shooing motion.
His smirk only grew larger and I smiled. He gave me a tiny nod in gratitude and I shrugged. It wasn't like what I said hadn't been true.
"You wouldn't defend him if you knew what he had done," James accused, giving Sirius a glare in the process.
I studied his face for a moment, before asking the group quietly: "Did he torture someone?"
James swivelled his head towards me and seemed frozen in time. In the end it was Remus who answered. "No, he did not."
"Then did he kill someone?"
James seemed to reawaken at that. "No, but-"
"Did he use an Unforgiveable on anyone?" I asked again a bit tiredly and continued on when they remained silent. "You need to sort this out, boys. Because I know a lot of people who would kill for the kind of friendship you have and it seems a waste to throw it all away."
Remus shook his head. "You don't get it," he said reluctantly. "I understand what you are saying, but it isn't that easy."
"I already said that I was sorry," Sirius interrupted finally, taking over the lead. "I can't turn back time, what else do you want from me?"
"It's not us you need to apologize to, Padfoot," Remus muttered tiredly.
James balled his fists and his face turned a bright red that I had to admire. He even pulled that off, which was amazing. Was it a requirement to be dashingly good looking to be a part of their little clique? Nah, I thought. That didn't explain Peter since his looks were average at best. "Like hell he doesn't. You owe Moony a million apologies, Sirius, and you owe Snivellus at least twice that."
Snivellus?
Sirius opened his mouth to retort something that undoubtedly would make the situation worse in a matter of seconds, when his and mine name were bellowed through the corridor.
"I think she found out," I managed to say, before an angry McGonagall grabbed our arms and pulled us after her.
So, so regretting this whole mess, but at least I had given the boys something to think about. Right?