It's Nice To Have A Friend

43 - I Feel Sparks Fly

Mallory laughed at Sirius as he impersonated the fourth-year that they had passed on their way down to McGonagall's office. Her laughter slowly died out as he fell silent. Mallory, Sirius, and Marlene were the last fifth-year Gryffindors to talk with McGonagall about their schooling after O.W.L.s. They were sitting in the hallway, their backs against the wall, dying of boredom slowly.

Sirius played with a thread he found on the floor. Mallory watched him silently, studying him. She loved how she could tell that he had broken his nose at some point in his life by the slight crook in his nose that was only visible if you were close enough to him. Luckily, Mallory usually was. She loved staring at his jawline. It was sharp and distinct. And there was the way his hair fell perfectly as if made to frame his face, eyelashes were stupidly long. Something about them made him look soft whenever he looked down. Mallory especially loved the faint freckles across his cheeks. Mallory was sure nobody knew that they were there, maybe even Sirius. They sprinkled across his cheeks lightly. When Mallory had first transferred, she had no idea they were there but as she got closer with Sirius and they started testing their boundaries, she started noticing them when he'd pin her against the couch or move his face in hers.

Sirius's gaze flickered over to Mallory. Mallory froze slightly as a small smirk grew across his face. She felt her cheeks and ears burning in embarrassment, the blush flushing down her neck. Mallory expected him to say some arrogant comment about how she was staring at him, but he didn't. He simply turned back to playing with the thread. Mallory watched as his fingers tied the thread into knots and pulled them tight.

"Merlin, how long is Lily going to take?" Mallory complained, turning away from Sirius and leaning her head against the wall. Sirius's head snapped up and turned to her.

"Who knows, she's probably trying to figure out how to get every job possible," Sirius muttered, copying Mallory's movements as he leaned his head against the wall and looked over at her lazily.

"Wait! You just said 'Merlin,'" Marlene told her, a smirk growing across her face. "Y'know... Like us!"

Mallory looked over at Marlene. "Obviously," Mallory slowly started, "I'm going to pick up words you all say."

"Schmidty is a wizard! Schmidty is a wizard!" Sirius sang, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him. Mallory softly laughed and rested her head on his chest.

"I've always been a wizard," Mallory muttered as she smacked him softly with the back of her hand in an attempt to get him to stop singing.

"What if Mal gets a British accent?" Marlene asked. "That would be so hot!"

"No way! I like her American accent!" Sirius protested, grabbing her face with his hand and squishing her cheeks. Mallory swatted him off of her, glaring at him as he grinned back.

"Your opinion doesn't matter," Marlene told him. "Mal's does though. What do you think?"

"I don't want an accent," Mallory softly admitted, partly because her heart fluttered when Sirius said that he liked her American accent, but she wasn't going to admit that. "I don't really like girl British accents."

Marlene gasped and stared at Mallory, her jaw dropped and brows knitted together. "That's sexist," she grumbled.

"Maybe it's because I'm not attracted to girls! I don't know!" Mallory defensively said as Sirius chuckled softly, his arms still tightly wrapped around her. "Sorry, Marls."

"She thinks I'm sexier than you, Marls!" Sirius exclaimed, sticking his tongue out at Marlene like a little kid. Mallory tilted her head up to watch him, her cheeks still flushed red.

Lily stepped out of the office as Sirius continued to taunt Marlene. She sighed. "Sirius, McGonagall is ready for you," Lily stated.

Sirius looked over at Lily. He unwrapped his arms from Mallory and slowly stood up. Mallory stood up beside him, smiling at him. He wrapped his arms around Mallory again and pressed a kiss against the top of her head.