It's Nice To Have A Friend

47 - Friends Don't Look At Friends That Way

Mallory wandered up to the astronomy tower where Sirius instructed her to meet him. He was waiting at the top of the tower, staring up at the stars. It was strange, the silence that had fallen between them in the past week. They had spoken maybe five words to each other. It hurt Mallory to not talk with Sirius, but she didn't know what to say.

"Ready?" Sirius asked her as she finished the walk and stood beside him. Mallory nodded slightly at him. "Today should be a fairly short lesson," he informed her. "We're talking about the constellation of Orion."

Mallory's brows furrowed slightly. "I thought that Orion wasn't visible in the summer," she stated.

"He's not. But you told me you could spot it even if he was visible."

"I can," Mallory stated proudly, causing a small smile to form across Sirius's face.

"Anyway, I'm going to give you a brief summary of the Greek hunter, Orion."

She nodded and listened to him as he told her about Orion. He pulled out a picture that he had drawn of the constellation before grabbing a pen that Mallory had given him several months before (that he was supposed to return after using). He started drawing on the picture of the constellation as Mallory watched in awe. The once random dots that had seemed to have no order, were turned into a hunter shooting a bow.

Sirius folded his drawing and handed it to Mallory. Mallory immediately unfolded it and stared at the drawing. She could feel Sirius watching her and just the thought made her cheeks burn. "Do you fancy James?" he asked softly.

Mallory looked over at him. He was looking at her as if the answer to his question was the cure to end all wars. "No," she replied.

"Why'd you kiss him then?"

"I didn't."

"I saw it."

Mallory pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. "I didn't kiss James," she restated.

Sirius seemed satisfied for about half a second before he asked, "What about Jake?"

"Drake," Mallory corrected.

"Do you fancy him?"

"No."

"Did you kiss him on that date you went on with him?"

"No. I did not kiss Drake," she informed Sirius, folding the drawing of Orion and sticking it in her pocket.

Sirius was silent for several seconds, his eyes flickering across her face as if he was searching for something. Mallory doubted that he'd find it as it was getting darker by the minute. "Do you fancy me?" he finally queried, biting the inside of his cheek as the words left his mouth.

Mallory panicked. She felt her cheeks start to scorch her as she stared up at him. "No," she lied, biting her bottom lip. In her mind, she jumped off the tower after her response. Why'd she lie about it?

Yet, she was still next to Sirius. She didn't escape when she could and Sirius started to laugh, a smile appeared across his face. "Merlin, Mals, your cheeks are bright red," he teased softly.

"It's cold and windy," Mallory stated, but it was neither cold nor windy.

Sirius laughed at her again. "You're a massive liar, Mals. Do you fancy me?" he asked again, stepping closer to her and taking one of her hands in his.

Mallory wanted to die. Her gaze fell onto their hands clasped together as if they were a couple. No matter how much she and Sirius flirted around with each other, she never got used to the butterflies.