Barking Mad (Sirius/OC)

I think I love you better now

A/N: Thanks so much for the votes, guys (: Hope you enjoy this one as well!!

Chapter 5

I'll pick you up when you're getting down

and of all these things I've done I think I love you better now

~ Lego House - Ed Sheeran

I woke in a sweat, still shivering from the nightmare. I pulled open my curtains and stumbled out of bed. I blindly made my way to the bathroom and nearly had a heart attack when a voice spoke up.

"You were moaning again, Nika," Lily Evans said quietly, before lighting the room with a Lumos spell. Her eyes had always been too wise for her age, I thought as I moved my hands up and down my arms in hopes of getting warm again. "Are you okay?"

This wasn't the first time she'd asked me that after one of my nightmares. I used to feel guilty about waking her up every now and then, but the other girls never seemed bothered by my dreams. I had concluded that Lily Evans was an exceptionally light sleeper and had left it at that. I had never answered any of her intruding questions about what my dreams were about and in our second year she finally stopped asking.

My nightmares didn't occur every night, but they were a regular thing for me ever since I was eleven. "I'm fine," I mumbled, before continuing my way to the bathroom. I did my business and waited a little, assuming that Lily would go to bed again. When her light never dimmed, I gave a faint sigh and rubbed my eyes. Well it wasn't to be avoided, I suppose. I opened the bathroom door and moved back into our dorm.

"Come sit here for a moment, Nika. I'd like to talk, if you don't mind," Lily asked politely.

I hesitated but went to sit on her bed anyway. She drew the curtains closed and gave me a wan smile. "How are you really?"

I shrugged. "I'm the same as always," I assured her, but her smile fell off her face while I spoke.

"You know I worry about you, right?" Lily whispered, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. I looked at our hands and smiled faintly.

"I know you do, Lily," I whispered back, squeezing her hand again. "I don't get why you do though. We're not even friends."

She hesitated for a moment and bit her lip as she seemed to mull over her next words. "You really don't, do you?" she said in the end, continuing when she saw my confused look. "You don't get why people would worry or care about you. I, for one, don't think it strange at all that Sirius Black chose you to befriend."

I felt a blush creep on my face. "That's very kind of you to say, Lily, but-"

"No," she interrupted, shaking her head, "no buts. I don't know what happened to make you so timid when that's obviously not your natural state. Don't give me that funny look either, Nika. I've heard you mutter under your breath when you thought nobody could hear your sarcastic remarks."

"Sarcasm does not equal a wild spirit," I pointed out, shifting uncomfortably on her bed.

Lily's smile widened when she saw. "No, it doesn't and that's not what I meant at all. I'm just saying that you've been avoiding people for six years now and I don't know why you keep isolating yourself. Surely you must be lonely?"

I don't know what it was that made me decide to open up a bit. Maybe it was Lily's hopeful smile or maybe it was the desperate look in her eyes that made me want to comfort her. Whatever it was, it made the words tumble out of my mouth before I could stop it. "It does get lonely at times," I agreed.