Barking Mad (Sirius/OC)

The swirling storm inside

I apologize for any and all grammatical mistakes and typos in this story. I wrote it during NaNoWriMo and am still finding loads of them even though I thought I had proofread every chapter already. Hm. I'm sorry and I will try to be more attentive from this point on! Thanks for the votes, guys!

Chapter 20

The wind is howling like the swirling storm inside

Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried

~ Let It Go - Demi Lovato

I waited in front of the classroom, my homework pressed against my chest just in case. You never knew if McGonagall was feeling generous and allowed us to do some school work. That I definitely could use.

I was staring at the oak door of McGonagall's classroom when Sirius walked toward me and leaned against the wall beside me. He didn't say a thing and neither did I. I wasn't in the mood for saying anything about what had happened only two hours before and wished that I could just erase the whole fiasco from my memory.

I wasn't kidding when I said that sometimes it was better to simply stick your head in the sand and say 'screw you' to the rest of the world. We waited for what felt like an eternity, but was probably closer to a tortuous ten minutes. I didn't even dare look at the handsome lad next to me, I just knew that I wouldn't be able to resist him if I did.

And I wanted to resist. I needed to resist and stand up for myself. Just this once.

Well, scratch that damn it. From now on I was going to stand up for myself and screw the consequences. I was done crawling under beds and hiding behind Dumbledore's robes when things got rough. I was my own person and the Sorting Hat had placed me in Gryffindor for a reason - or so I gathered and hoped - and I was going to prove that I belonged here.

I stared a hole in the door and hugged the books closer.

"Nika?"

"Yes?"

Well, it had been a good speech, right?

"Never mind."

I silently breathed a sigh of relief and berated myself at the same time. Was that ignoring him? Honest to Merlin, I was so desperate for his attention that I was just becoming even more pathetic, if that was even possible.

I held my head up high and smiled faintly when McGonagall finally arrived. "Good evening, professor," I greeted her politely.

"Miss Schmidt," she nodded. "Mr. Black."

"Always a pleasure, professor," Sirius replied huskily.

I rolled my eyes. Smooth, son. Smooth. Did he honestly think he would be able to flirt his way out of detention?

I dared a glance at his face and chuckled darkly. Of course he thought that exact thing. He was a Marauder after all, a King of Hogwarts and self-proclaimed heartthrob. He probably thought he could do what he damn well liked and get away with it too.

Guess what, handsome, I thought with a sneer, the wind's changing.

I followed McGonagall into her classroom and she had us sit down at our own desk. I chose mine in the front, whereas Sirius confirmed his "cool" status by picking a seat in the back. Whatever.

He wasn't bothering me anymore. I was done.

Other and better men, better looking and funnier, amen, I rhymed silently, repeating the verse I had read somewhere once.