Barking Mad (Sirius/OC)

From you I cannot hide

Chapter 3

And I can't lie

From you I cannot hide

And I've lost my will to try

~ Breathless - The Corrs

The next morning Sirius sat down next to me without a word. I gave him a weird look, before realizing how serious he actually had been about the whole friends thing. "I thought you were kidding," I finally muttered as I buttered my bread.

He didn't reply and I didn't say anything either. There was nothing I could say really, because let's be real here. I only knew a tad bit more than what the rumour mill knew about the infamous Sirius Black and the Marauders in general. Pranksters. Loyal. Funny. Good shags. Family issues, on Sirius' part. And that was about it, it wasn't much as far as knowledge went.

I didn't really feel like diving into the whole mess right now either. My food was staring me in the face and my stomach was rumbling with an obvious demand for me to eat it. At least my stomach shaming me, brought a small smile to Sirius' face.

It was weird, I thought as I silently ate my breakfast. People were still giving us strange looks, but most of them seemed to steer clear of Sirius today. My guess would be that last night's explosion had already spread through the school like a wildfire and people had drawn their own conclusions. My own dorm mates weren't any different. They had decided that James was usually quite a good judge of character and had made up their minds about what must have happened.

I had been about to berate them, when Lily beat me to the punch. Sometimes that girl really surprises me. Just when you think you know what she was about, at least a little, she suddenly changed course altogether. It was part of what made me like her. She was wild and unpredictable at times, although most people just knew her as a studious and righteous witch. I knew very well how Lily Evans could hold a grudge like nobody's business. A thing we had in common at least.

We ate in silence and I was somehow glad that we did. Sometimes silences are just as enjoyable and memorable as long conversations are. This silence in particular felt heavy with unasked questions and all things unsaid. I knew that Sirius was suffering but I didn't dare ask about it. I mean, honestly... Would you have? I was just glad that I could steal a few moments from Fate with my long-time crush, before she took him away again. Which Fate undoubtedly would do, because she was a heinous bitch. Trust me on this. We were long time acquaintances after all.

It was only after I had filled my stomach till the point that the mere thought of food made me sick, that Sirius spoke for the first time. "Good morning."

"Hi." That wasn't badly put at all. Bravo, me.

"I'm sorry but I can't really remember. Do you take DADA?" He hadn't looked up from his now empty plate and something inside me broke at the sight of him. He was seriously hurting and I could do nothing about it. I glanced at the other Marauders and found that none of them were sitting in their usual spot. Instead they had taken their seats at the beginning of the table, where the teachers were giving them narrow-eyed looks in obvious mistrust. Well, then.

"I do. I have a free period now, though," I said as I poured another glass of milk for myself. I gently shook the jug back and forward in silent question. Sirius nodded and I poured him a glass too.

"Me too." We were silent again as we sipped from our milk and I tried to batter away the butterflies wreaking havoc in my stomach. Get yourself together, Nika. Seriously, stop it.

"Hey," he suddenly piped up. "Do you wanna do something fun?"

Like make out in an empty broom closet? Doubtful he meant that though. I bit my lip and cocked my head to the side in question.