Winter In The Shade | Sirius Black x Female Ravenclaw Reader

VII

Staring at the doors of the Great Hall you felt like you were arriving for the first time that night, the rapid pace of your heart reaching your ears as you took one hesitant step towards the entrance of the Great Hall.

"No." you mumbled to yourself, turning on the spot as you stopped and closed your eyes for a moment, hearing the party still very much alive behind you. You felt some people rush past your side, the air flowing to your side as they stumbled their way out of the party. Your eyes fluttered open with a soft sigh, taking one deep breath back. "You promised." you chastised yourself "One dance is not that important, not a big deal." you muttered, turning once more with a confident look in your eyes "One dance." you repeated, eyes burning on the ceiling of the Great Hall as you repeated the words inside your head.

You lowered your gaze from the spot you had been staring at, biting down on your lip as you took one step, placing one foot in front of the other with a slow pace. You wondered why you were so nervous, asking yourself why the thought of one dance woke everything inside of you. Was it the fact of the dance or who you were sharing that dance with? You had already admitted to yourself you wanted this, the idea so thrilling you had been thinking about it since you let yourself dream about it, even while dancing with Regulus.

Your stomach dropped at the thought, all the time spent with Regulus that night was pulled out from a fairytale, nothing could have made it more perfect and still, while you laughed in the company of your best friend your mind drifted to the thought of what waited for you later that night. Your mind drifted to Sirius Black.

You wanted this.

A small smile appeared on your face as your steps became more light, the stone floor didn't feel so hard against your feet as the air around you cleared. The warmth of the party engulfed you as you started to look around, taking you deeper and deeper into the crowd as you looked for grey eyes. Minutes passed and you started to feel self conscious, placing your hands in front of you as you started to fidget with your fingers as you walk aimlessly.

"Looking for someone?"

Your body jumped at the closeness of the voice, the whisper falling next to your ear sending a shiver down your spine that made you turn, not before you took the smile that grew on your lips and changed it for a scowl as you recognized the voice.

A bright smile met your hard eyes as you looked up at him. He had his hands inside the pockets of his trousers, your eyes following the line of his body as you saw him for the first time that night, really seeing him. You remembered he had been wearing a suit jacket, the piece of clothing long forgotten as he stood just in his white shirt, the front of it untucked from his pants as he leaned back, your eyes snapping back at him as you felt the blush rise up on your cheeks.

"You looked a little lost there." the smirk could be heard on his voice, the smug sound dripping with confidence as the colors in your cheeks darkened. If he noticed you staring at him, he mentioned nothing of it.

"Not lost." you said, trying to sound bored as you crossed your arms in front of your chest "Just waiting."

Sirius's smile only widden, nodding his head as he turned to the door he had seen you enter not five minutes ago. "I apologize." he told you in a low voice, moving to stand next to you as he failed to mention how he had to compose himself once he saw you entering the Great Hall, Remus and Peter intervening to get him to react as James panicked with him.

You both stayed in silence, not knowing what to say as you stood close to one another, the closer you had ever been on purpose. You had your head low, trying and failing to not smile as you felt his gaze on you, the gentle tilt of his head towards you making you want to hide.