•••
Usually Georgie never got to see 4AM, most nights the moment her head touched the pillow she would be out cold for a calm, blissful sleep. There were lots of pretty things to see at 4AM, it was: the pretty blue and yellow hues just starting to intermingle with the star-speckled sky; the way even the smallest sounds echoed across the valley. She'd still rather be asleep though, the fact she was up to witness it all was a problem.
Sirius had been behind the seemingly useless green dust. She'd strongly doubted herself for several hours now but this time, it all genuinely seemed to add. Intricate tree diagrams littered the bed, each one coming to the same conclusion. Even after deciding to trust her slow mind, sleep still evaded her, wondering what to do about it. She wanted to tell Regulus but didn't want to annoy Sirius who still made her heart jump (admittedly it was more of a half-hearted skip at this point). Fenwick's mind was still addled with love to offer serious advice until he was out of the phase.
Still, perhaps a second opinion, some soothing advice would help calm her down. She didn't want to make four in the morning her new bedtime after all.
Professor McGonagall wasn't expecting nor hoping for a visitor at such an early hour, enjoying a peaceful slumber instead. That was why it came as a bit of shock when she was awoken to find Georgie perched on the end of her bed, one hand raised menacingly in the air as she pondered whether it would be very disrespectful to tap her Head of House awake. Unlike Professor Slughorn, she merely sighing wearily at the sight. She'd known this day would come eventually and frankly, avoiding a morning visit from Georgie for Five years was somewhat of a record.
"Morning, Professor. Long time, no see."
"Do you know what time it is?" She asked plainly, fumbling around for her glasses with one hand.
"It's ..." Georgie thought for a moment, "After four but not quite five."
Professor McGonagall sleepily glanced at her clock, "It's Quarter past exactly."
"Hey, I was right!" She beamed, "Two for two ..." Quickly her face became solemn again, "But the um ... other thing I was right about wasn't good sadly."
I'm not sure this was either, Professor McGonagall thought to herself but instead asked, "What was it, Georgie?"
"Well ..." She wrung her hands, tilting her head towards the window uncomfortably before beaming, "Hey! You have such a pretty view of the moon from your - "
"Georgie, please!" The girl jumped, "I do have a class to teach in four hours and forty-five minutes and whilst I am always here to provide guidance to those who need it, I will gently ask you to keep it concie."
"Well ... you see ... I have this friend who I think might have done a ... er ... a prank - "
"Was this friend named Sirius Black, by any chance?"
"What?" Georgie shook her head so fast is became a blonde blur, "No ... it's not ... he's ... a she and she is really not Sirius. You don't know her, she goes to another school ... no, wait!"
"I'll have a word with him in the morning. Goodnight, Georgie - "
"No wait, it's really not," Georgie sounded far more earnest this time, "I came for advice, I couldn't sleep. I think my friend did something ... not bad bad but not nice either. Nobody else knows but I don't want it to happen again. My gut tells me I'm hungry but it's also telling me that I should tell someone but I ... I promised I wouldn't. What do I do?"
"You could tell me and I'll see what I can do in the morning," Professor McGonagall offered kindly but Georgie again shook her head, hunching her shoulders around her neck.
"No, I don't want to do that," She mumbled, "I could talk to him about it, tell him to stop ... would that work? And if I don't tell R - I mean, the other friend then I won't break anyone's promise. If I just tell him not to do it, he ... er, she won't do it again!" She jumped up off the bed excitedly, "Thank you, Professor, I'll go to bed now! I think I know what I need to do now!"
The solution posed didn't sound that good but right now, Professor McGonagall's mind was foggy, "Happy to help, Georgie... close the door on your way out!"
"Oh, right!" She heard the excited voice say from outside, only shutting her eyes once the door firmly slammed shut. Even then she became aware of a slight shuffling outside followed by a soft whisper of, "Goodnight, Professor, sweet dreams!"
"Goodnight to you too, Georgie."
"I hope the bedbugs don't - "
"Georgie."
"... bite. Sorry, I'll sleep now."
•••
It took Georgie a few days to prepare but she finally felt ready to talk to Sirius. She'd scheduled an official appointment at their former peer-mentoring table in the library much to his surprise and she intended to be early. Rosie had proved very helpful in prepping for this, giving her stealthily whispered tips in Care of Magical Creatures.
"Now, I know heels fuck up your feet but I always feel so ridiculously powerful when I have a good six inches on the boys," Rosie instructed, whilst Georgie listened intently, "Write that down! I know you, you'll forget."
"Oh, sorry ... go on, I can multitask."
"Red lipstick is optional but I like it."
"I'm quite bad at that."
"It's optional," Rosie shrugged, "I can help if you want - "
"No, it's okay," Georgie replied, "It looks pretty but one time I tried it for a wedding and it got all over my food. I had to throw the whole meringue away."
Rosie looked a little confused, her jaw hung open for a moment before, with a little shake of her head, she regained her composure, "Remember, be firm and don't beat around the bush. Men will appreciate that and be more likely to talk over you if you're unwavering. Sit up straight and tall. If he tells you you're wrong but doesn't offer a valid, actual reason why, persist until he does. If it turns out he's just cross that you're right with no evidence behind his objection ... well, then you've got him."
"Got him where?"
"Just ..." Rosie clicked her fingers snappily which was followed by a hasty duck behind the girl sat in front, " ... got him where you want him. It's easy, Georgie. Oh! And eye contact is important. Go get him, I believe in you."
With Rosie's blessing still flitting around her mind, Georgie did feel a lot more powerful as she walked through the corridor. Somehow she'd managed to find a pair of heels, digging them out from under her bed. They were a gift from her Mother just in case there were any fancy dinners or dances and whilst she didn't like them - they were black and far too shiny - finding out she could walk in them, was powerful. The girls in her dorm coached her on it which had led to the strut she'd adopted now.
Rosie was right, the new height and little taps echoing around the corridor was nice.
By the time she arrived, Sirius wasn't there but she was fifteen minutes early after all. That time ended was well used as she spent most of it trying to adopt a power pose to start the meeting on a good note. When he did arrive, he was fashionably late and she'd mastered the art of resting your chin on your hand so it looks thoughtful.
"Georgie ... hold on," He pulled out his wand, murmuring an incantation which made another small bouquet of flowers pop out the end, "For you..." The trick still brought a sense of wonder to her mind but this time she refrained from reacting which was a struggle. Sirius noticed this, his eyes widening a tad as he took a seat, "Not doing it for you today?"
"Sirius. I came to talk not look at flowers..." Her eyes darted down to them forlorn on the table which made her feel incredibly sad. In that moment, she decided she could be firm and snatch them off the table ... Sirius smiled at this but she continued to refrain, "But I will take them anyway because they're pretty."
"Alright, serious Georgie," He lifted his hand up with a flourish, bringing it down over his face, making his face solemn as he did so, "What do you want to talk about?"
"Sirius Black," She began boldly, maintaining intense eye contact just like instructed. Annoyingly, she noticed that Sirius was imitating her, his hands clasped on the table, head leant forward just a little. The pose which she'd spent hours formulating came easily to him apparently, "I know that you put gem bombs into the Deatheater meeting. And I ... I think ... no, know - that's a power word - I know you snuck it in with the food."
Clearly, Sirius was ironically not that good at being serious. His face lit up, the solemness vanishing in an instant, replaced by sly mirth, "Oh yeah? How did it go?"
"It wasn't very nice! It really scared us and destroyed the food - "
"I did that for you," Sirius shrugged, "Destroying the paper trail as it were so they couldn't suss out how they'd got in. Don't want you getting caught now."
"Um ..." This threw her little, rendering her temporarily confused about what to say, "Thank you but I would really like if you didn't do it again. Even though the dust didn't do anything, it made the meeting end and it was nice until that. Your help with the food has been very nice but I like to feed them, not explode them."
"Oh, it did something," He winked, ignoring most of what she'd just said, "But it's a trade secret, I'm afraid."
"Sirius - "
She was cut off as his strong hands unexpectedly reached forward, tilting her chin up, "You know, you have really big eyes ... it's cute."
This made her involuntarily blush as she pulled her head back, "I do know that but - "
"I should give you a nickname, all my friends have one," He cut in, tilting back in his chair, "You like flowers and you're cute as a button ... how about Little Flower - "
"SIRIUS, I'M TRYING TO TALK!" She shouted suddenly. The sudden shouting left her weirdly out of breath as she quickly adopted a somewhat shaky, half-hearted power pose.
For a moment, it seemed that Sirius was actually going to listen to her requests. She watched as he locked his fingers together, stretching his arms as if limbering up. Then he leant forward on one hand, a small strand of dark hair falling in front of his eyes. His lips twisted into a smirk and only now, when he'd fully utilised his sly handsomeness, did he speak.
"Listen, Georgie, what you're saying, it's coming from a good place but you don't really know what you're talking about. The Deatheaters aren't very nice people, that's just a simple matter of fact and whilst they let you cater for them, you really think there's anything akin to friendship there? No, you're a servant really ... not to Regulus, I'm sure he's very grateful to have a friend but my brother is the exception not the rule."
He paused for breath and Georgie wasn't quite sure what to say. She wanted to say something but the rapidness of his speech combined with the soft, monotonous nature of his voice had caught her off guard.
"Speaking of Regulus, me and him well, let's just say we're not on very good terms at the moment. He'd be alright with me knowing you but if he found out, you two only became friends because I pushed you into it? That you told me personal details about his life just because I asked? Well, I don't know much he'd like that, especially coming from me - he might think you'd taken sides or were a spy of sorts... He's always been a bit fragile deep down especially when it came to the subject of his rebellious older brother. In fact, telling him I was behind it would probably shatter his trust with you entirely, the one person he's actually let in and even grown to genuinely like ... I mean, me leaving, well ... it messed us both up rather bad. Our current set up works in both of our favour, if we stop him from finding out so perhaps if he starts to snoop around with that repulsive Snivellus, throw them in the wrong direction ... I hear the Carrows are acting up, right?"
Everything was so well timed, from the single flower he twirled between two fingers in time with the rhythm to the way he looked up under his eyelashes at the end.
"But I really like him no - "
"Now? Yeah, but the past still counts, Little Flower," He winked, "So what I suggest is that you continue doing your thing: an oblivious yet sweet girl who just wants to help and I'll do mine. You don't even have to know it was me - if they catch you, I'll claim I duped you and Reggie will continue being your friend! Erase this conversation from your memory! Prongs did that once and it was a very funny story, we still bring it up to this day. They trust you enough not to suspect you and I've got big plans here. You'd struggle to carry that much food on your own anyway as your levitation charm requires a bit of work especially with the demands only increasing each week ... I help you, you help me."
The true extent of his words was just sinking in, realising to her horror what he was getting at. She was trapped, a pawn in what had probably always been a master plan. There was a shuffle from in front and when she looked up, Sirius was standing tall, his coat artfully flung over his back, held up with one hand. With the other, he tossed the flower right into her now open fingers.
"Nice talk, Little Flower," He looked up in thought, "You know what, that's demeaning, you deserve a better nickname although I am feeling the flower theme. We can think on it, alright?"
With that, he strode out of the room whilst she sat there in silence, hunched over and dejected - the exact opposite of what Rosie had instructed. She was a Gryffindor, she'd once broken up a fight and even crossed the lines into the Slytherin common room. She wished she could just be mean and smooth talking to him ... or just say anything at all. Yet Sirius Black seemed to hold a special control over and she didn't know how to get out.
When she finally found the energy to leave the Library, the day was only made worse when she bumped into Regulus in the doorway. He didn't smile, clearly meaning business too.
"Georgie, hello," She whirled around, almost going over on her ankle thanks to the heels, "Fancy seeing you here, it's been a few days ... This is an odd request considering what I've previously told you and I will explain later but is Sirius - "
"He's not there," She stammered, "And please stay away from him ... he's not good for you."
Regulus looked vaguely bemused, " But is he in there though?"
"No, he's not and please don't talk to him," She repeated again, taking a deep breath to soothe her hectic mind, "It was the Carrows - "
"What?"
"They did it, I think," Georgie replied before turning on her heel and briskly walking away, "Now please don't talk to him, Regulus! Promise me you won't please?"