— 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟑
After your Potions class, Professor Slughorn instructed that you and Severus, being the top of your class, would tutor the students who were on the verge of failing — Sirius and James. They had no qualms with it, they were aware of the bare minimum effort they gave when it came to their studies.
But as soon as Sirius and James heard that each of them needed to partner up, the two boys immediately darted for you, clearly not wanting to study under their archenemy. However, it was Slughorn who ultimately gave the final decision. With an unhappy James being paired with Severus, and you with a victorious Sirius.
One day, the afternoon before you woke up screaming in the middle of the night, you suggested that you and Sirius study in the library to review and go over what you had learned over the term. Barely ten minutes into your study session together, he was already bored and decided that watching girls giggling about him from across the room was more interesting than listing the effects of a Doxy egg.
Furiously, you scolded him for not paying attention, instead he slumped over the book you told him to read, saying how he was more of a 'hands on' learner. Despite the doubtful look you gave him, with a defeated sigh, you tell him to meet you at the Potions classroom the next day — which was a Saturday — the last trip to Hogsmeade before the holidays. After complaining how he'd rather spend the day with his friends, he finally caved when you threatened that he could study with Severus instead.
"You're an hour late! And I never thought I'd hear myself say that." Sirius shouts from his seat at the far end of the empty classroom as you briskly walk in, "That's one hour of precious time I could've had at Hogsmeade today."
Sirius, for once in his life, was actually on time. He took it upon himself to set a table ready with his cauldron and ingredients he picked from the shelves. After thirty minutes of waiting, he feared that something might have happened, knowing you weren't the type to disappear without a word. As his patience diminished and irritation arose, when you finally entered the quiet room, he was just about to give you an earful until he noticed the obvious exhaustion that was plastered on your face.
"Sorry." You grimly mumble, placing your Magical Drafts and Potions textbook down on the table as you sit on the stool chair beside him.
Sirius' eyes go wide, completely caught off guard by your apology and the lack of feisty attitude you usually had towards him. His lips pressed into a thin line as he studied you, noticing the dark circles that had formed under your eyes.
He clears his throat, glancing over the pages you were flipping through, "So what're we learning today, teach?" He lightly says, a little more cheery than usual in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Let's see if you can brew a simple Wideye potion." You say, stopping on a specific page and handing the textbook to Sirius.
And without another word, Sirius nods and gets to work, closely examining the instructions in the textbook with your occasional help. The ingredients had to be added into the cauldron in precisely the right order and quantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times.
After what almost seemed like an hour of brewing, the surface of his potion had a shimmering mist of green vapour when Sirius noticed you were quiet for a while. Your eyes were trained on the cauldron, heavy eyelids almost too slow to blink, and irises too stationary. It was as if your brain was suffering a massive short circuit and was struggling to get back to where you were.
"Hey, Y/N. I have one." You barely hear Sirius say, unaware of his attempt to try out another pickup line. His voice was foggy in your ears until he leaned in closer, completely dismissing it, "You alright?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah. Sorry." You blink a few times, your eyes sliding back into focus.
He raises a doubtful eyebrow, examining your distracted expression, "You know I pretty much ignored a step and added more Billywig than instructed." He easily says, lightly shrugging to peer inside the cauldron, "So this thing just might explode any second."
Your eyes snap wide open, frantic to look inside the cauldron, "Sirius!"
"I'm kidding." He gives a carefree laugh then looks at you a bit more seriously, surprising you, "Look, I know I can be a jerk sometimes."
You smirk, scoffing at him, "And here I was beginning to think you were incapable of being self-aware."
"Harsh." He laughs again, finally relieved to have your spunky attitude back once more, "I just noticed you're not looking too good."
You suspiciously squint your eyes at him, "You're not getting out of our study session early, Sirius."
He shakes his head, and touches the crease in between your eyebrows, "I'm just saying that you look like you got a lot on your mind." He quietly says, leaning on his elbows on the table to press on closer, "My hearing is definitely capable of doing its job. I know you're closer to Moony, but I'm here anytime if you need someone to just listen."
"Anytime?"
"Anytime."
Doubting his words, you raise an eyebrow, "Even when you're too preoccupied locking lips with a girl?"
His eyes glint, flashing his signature smirk, "Jealous, are we?"
You bravely lean in, your noses almost touching, "Not. In. The. Slightest." You return his smirk, harshly enunciating every word.
The two of you held each other's stare for what seemed like a long time. You were dangerously close to his face, and you were growing painfully aware of the somersaults your heart did in your chest. He had the kind of face that stopped any girl in their tracks but never you — you remind yourself — never you.
But when his eyes slowly lingered to your mouth, you knew you were crossing dangerous waters. His eyes flipped up to yours, lids hooded then quickly back to your mouth. He knew what he was doing, and the crackling tension sparked across your skin.
Without a hint of hesitation in his mind, he grins, finally answering your question, "I meant what I said, princess." And he finally backs away to check up on the cauldron, "You see that?"
Quickly composing yourself from what just occurred, you raise your head to see Sirius had successfully brewed the potion, "You did it!" You jump in excitement out of your stool, not noticing he had flinched when you wrapped your arms to hug him.
When you let go, you notice him staring wide-eyed dumbfounded down at you, "Did you just—did you just hug me?"
"Yeah? Is that not what you do when you celebrate something?" You chuckle, curiously studying his face.
"No, I celebrate with a bottle of Firewhisky I hide under my bed." He quickly says, trying to cover up any real explanation until he notices your pensive look, "It's just that no one's ever done that to me before."
You blink, "What? Hug you?"
He nods, shrugging his shoulders, "My family was never the touchy-feely type." He looks away, his eyes turning dark, "I don't remember the last time I've been hugged or even remember what it feels like." He let out a restrained laugh, "James' group hugs and him tackling me to the ground most certainly does not count."
You never knew the full details of his family, but you had your suspicions that it definitely wasn't a happy one. Especially when he'd get a Howler from his parents every few weeks. You gulped, almost guilty and forgetting that you might have done something insensitive. But you didn't want him to feel undeserving of receiving affection either.
"Well, get used to it, Black." You simply say, giving him a mischievous grin, "I'm going to hug you so often you'll get sick of it."
"You know what?" He turns his head to you, his eyes and smile so gentle you could almost feel its effects warm up the back of your neck, "I don't think I will."
After that, the two of you packed up and made your way back to the Gryffindor Tower. Once you reached the empty common room, you took one step on the stairs that led to your dorm room when you stopped to look back at Sirius.
"Oh, and Sirius?" You call out to him, and he turns around responding with a hum. You nervously clutched the books around your chest, "For the record, you can talk to me anytime too."
Mischief Managed