A/N: Hey guys, sorry this took so long to put up. I intended to finish and upload it earlier, but I slept most of the day and then got busy with other stuff. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!
Chapter 5 – Too Close For Comfort
Remus and Hailey were in the common room finishing up their Ancient Runes homework when Sirius came in and rushed over.
"When was that potions essay due?" he asked anxiously, plopping down in the armchair next to the one Remus was sitting in.
Remus and Hailey smirked at each other before looking back at Sirius.
"Tomorrow," Remus answered calmly, keeping his amusement out of his voice, though he couldn't quite manage a straight face.
Sirius's eyes widened. "Oh bugger," he muttered.
"That's what you get for procrastinating," Hailey teased quietly.
Remus chuckled while Sirius rolled his eyes.
"We're partners," Sirius started hopefully, looking at Hailey with a puppy dog face. "Can you help me?" he pleaded.
Hailey sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Welcome to my world," Remus told her sardonically.
She gave him a sarcastic smile. "Fine," she sighed exasperatedly to Sirius, who grinned brightly.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he told her.
Hailey rolled her eyes again. "Let's just get to work," she instructed tiredly.
A few hours later Remus had retired up to the boys' dormitory, and Sirius and Hailey were the only ones left in the common room. While Sirius had been scribbling furiously trying to finish the essay, Hailey, who had finished her homework an hour ago, was laying on the couch reading one of her Muggle books, occasionally answering questions Sirius had about the essay.
"Finally! I thought I'd never get done," Sirius sighed dramatically, tossing his quill down excitedly.
But when Hailey didn't respond, Sirius looked up with a bewildered expression. He smirked when he noticed Hailey had fallen asleep, her book dropped beside her and a peaceful look on her face. Sirius chuckled quietly at the sight.
"Hey Anderson," he called, not too loud but not quiet either. Hailey, however, did not stir. He sighed and stood up, walking over to the couch. "Anderson," he said again when he stood over her. She still didn't wake up, but she did shift a little. Sirius smirked. He picked up her book and sat it on top of her bag. This is probably a bad idea, he thought as he scooted her legs over and sat down on the couch by her. "Hailey!" he said, a little louder this time.
Hailey's eyes shot open as she jerked awake, staring straight at Sirius.
"So that's what it takes to wake you up," he teased quietly as she became more alert.
She stared at him with an odd expression for a second. "You called me Hailey," she said softly.
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "What?" he questioned, confused.
"You've never called me Hailey before," she explained.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "You wouldn't wake up when I called you Anderson," he replied casually, though inwardly he had realized his mistake.
Hailey nodded slowly. "Uh-huh," she muttered, clearly unconvinced but willing to let it slide. "I take it you finally finished your essay?" she asked.
Sirius nodded. "Yep," he answered proudly. Hailey shook her head, grinning amusedly. "Thanks for helping me," he told her earnestly.
She gave him a small smile. "You're welcome," she replied simply.
Then Sirius grinned at her. "You're cute when you sleep," he commented truthfully. Hailey raised her eyebrows at him. "What?" he retorted defensively. "Can't you take a compliment, Anderson?" he teased.
Hailey scowled playfully at him. "Stop watching me sleep Black, it's creepy," she shot back.
Sirius chuckled. "Or what?" he retorted mischievously.
She smirked. In an instant, before Sirius realized what was going on, Hailey threw her legs around him and rolled them both off the couch and onto the floor.
They landed with a slight thud, and Sirius gazed up at Hailey, who was looking back down at him.
"If you wanted on top all you had to do was say so," he commented suggestively.
Hailey rolled her eyes in disgust. "Git," she stated, hitting him in the stomach.
"Ow!" he exclaimed, but couldn't stop himself from chuckling.
"Think that's funny, do you?" Hailey asked lightly.
Sirius, still laughing quietly, nodded. "Yeah, I do," he answered in the same manner.
"Oh yeah?" she asked again, raising her eyebrows. Sirius grinned as he continued nodding.
Smirking, Hailey started smacking him repeatedly.
"OK, OK!" he cried in surrender. She grinned, but stopped hitting him.
Suddenly, Sirius started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Hailey questioned slowly.
Sirius grinned. "I can't believe you fell for that," he chuckled.
Hailey's eyes widened in realization a mere split second before Sirius rolled them, so that now he was on top. She struggled for a moment, but Sirius pinned her wrists down beside her head and she finally stopped.
"Feel better now?" she asked airily.
He nodded happily, continuing to smirk brightly at her. However, before he could respond they heard a quick intake of breath and a nervous cough. They looked over and noticed James and Lily standing there looking pretty uncomfortable. Sirius and Hailey glanced at each other, then, realizing the position they were in and what that must look like, they both quickly sat up and scooted away from each other a little.
Sirius gave an uneasy cough then said as casually as possibly, "Hey guys, what's up? We didn't hear you come in."
"Obviously," James smirked. Lily rolled her eyes and smacked him on the shoulder. "Ow!" he muttered, rubbing his shoulder.
"We just got back from rounds," Lily told them conversationally. "What are you guys up to?"
"I think that's –" James started, but quickly silenced at the glare Lily was sending him.
Sirius and Hailey glanced at each other awkwardly. "Just finishing up some homework," Hailey answered tentatively. James was trying to hide his grin, but Hailey ignored him and looked at Lily. "Something up?" she questioned, noticing the look on her friend's face.
"Uh…" Lily muttered, glancing at James unsurely. He smiled stupidly. She rolled her eyes, but took a calming breath and looked back at the two on the floor and slowly informed them, "James and I are kind of dating now."
Both Sirius and Hailey's eyebrows raised dramatically.
"That's great you guys," they congratulated.
James and Lily both smiled, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Thanks."
Hailey smirked at Sirius, who rolled his eyes but handed her her winnings. "Thank you," she mumbled happily.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grumbled.
James and Lily glanced at each other curiously at their friends' exchange, but decided not to comment on it now.
"Well, it's getting late, we should get to bed," Lily said.
Hailey nodded. "Yeah," she agreed, standing up and grabbing her stuff.
"Goodnight Lily," James told her.
Lily smiled. "'Night James," she replied, giving him a light kiss, causing them both to grin.
After Lily and Hailey went up to the girls' dormitory, James walked over by Sirius, who was gathering up his things.
"So…" he started lightly. "What was going on between you and Hailey?"
Sirius shrugged. "Nothing," he answered. "We were just goofing around."
James raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Uh-huh."
– X –
The news of James and Lily finally getting together was the main topic among students for the next couple weeks. Though everyone knew they would eventually end up together, the fact that it had finally happened was huge.
Now that they were together, Lily had started spending more time around James, and the other Marauders by extent. And since Hailey was Lily's best friend, she too was hanging around the Marauders more.
Sirius was thoroughly enjoying this fact. Granted, he and Lily still had a few issues, mainly due to her disapproval of their rule-breaking, but they were learning to set aside their differences. But he was savoring the extra time he got to spend with Hailey. Though Remus was the only one who had so far picked up how much he was starting to like her, James was starting to get suspicious about the two after what he and Lily had walked in on.
Even though he knew Remus was right, that he did really like Hailey, Sirius still wasn't sure what that meant. He wasn't used to wanting to be around someone this much. He'd never met a girl like Hailey before, and she continued to surprise him. Every time Sirius caught himself considering asking another girl out since Hailey was still saying no, something she would do or say would grab his attention again and made him remember why he liked her, she was a constant mystery.
One night, after staying up to finish some homework they had put off till the last minute, James and Sirius had finally gone to bed. Remus and Peter, having retired early, were already fast asleep. Within minutes James was already snoring. But Sirius couldn't sleep.
He glanced around the dormitory, noting everyone else was asleep. His stomach gave a light growl, and Sirius decided to get a snack.
Rolling out of bed, he went over and search through his trunk, only to realize he'd eaten the last of his snacks a couple nights ago when they had stayed up planning how they were going to get together for the full moon over the holiday.
Sighing, Sirius pulled on a t-shirt, stuffed his wand in his pants' pocket, and grabbed the Marauders' Map.
As he was making his way through the common room, he noticed Hailey curled up in an armchair by the fire reading one of her Muggle books.
"Couldn't sleep?" he called quietly, walking over behind the couch.
She looked up quickly, then released a breath when she noticed who it was. Shaking her head slightly, she replied, "No, so I thought I'd read for a little bit. What about you?"
"Oh, I was just gonna head down to the kitchens for a snack," Sirius told her. Hailey nodded slowly. "Wanna come?" he offered.
Their walk through the corridors was a fairly silent one. Though they had been hanging out more recently, Potions was the only time Sirius and Hailey had been alone together since that night in the common room when James and Lily had walked in. It wasn't as if they were avoiding each other, but things just seemed slightly awkward between them.
"So, got any big plans for break?" Sirius asked, finally breaking the silence.
Hailey shrugged. "Just going home," she answered. "You?"
"Me and James are going to his house," he told her. Hailey nodded, she already knew that he lived with the Potters now.
Again they fell into silence. But right as Sirius was about to say something else they heard a noise. He glanced down at the Map, and saw that Filch was getting ready to head their way.
"In here," Sirius hissed, pulling Hailey into the nearest door.
They were silent and listened. Filch's unmistakable footsteps could be heard down the corridor. Sirius and Hailey both stayed quiet, even barely breathing, as they heard him pass the small broom closet they were hiding in.
When the sound of footsteps died away, they let out a collective sigh of relief.
But as their eyes adjusted to the darkness, Sirius and Hailey were all too aware of how close proximity they were in. Their faces mere inches apart, they seemed unable to tear their eyes away from each other. The only sound that could be heard was their shallow breathing.
As if some unseen force was holding them there, they stayed like that for what seemed, to them, like hours.
Eventually, Hailey swallowed, averting her eyes for a split second. "He's probably gone by now," she whispered, once again staring into his eyes.
And just like that, the moment was gone, the unknown power holding them there broken.
Sirius nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, probably," he agreed quietly.
Hailey opened her mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again and turned away, exiting the broom closet.
Sirius closed his eyes and sighed before following.
A/N: I hope you liked that chapter! I'm going to try to have the next one up within a day or two, but with the holidays I might not have much time to work on it. I'll get it up as soon as I can though. Reviews are greatly appreciated!