Liquid Luck [Sirius Black]/editing

chapter 66

Stumbling down the girls dorms staircase, I find Sirius leaning against one of the squishy red couches looking around the room in a bored manner. When his eyes land on me however, he perks up remarkably. "Ready to go?" He asks me, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Well let's see: jumper, trainers, chocolate, brain," I list on my fingers. "Yep, all set!" I say happily making Sirius chuckle and shake his head. "Where are we going tonight?"

"I was thinking just around, wherever our legs take us."

"Sounds good to me." We make our way toward the portrait hole and Sirius holds it open for me to walk through first. Him acting all gentlemanly is doing nothing good for my growing crush on him.

Our hands swing back and forth as we walk down from the Gryffindor Tower in a comfortable silence, occasionally brushing fingers and making my cheeks heat up as we do. I hadn't noticed this before my big revelation but everything Sirius does leaves me feeling excited. Things ranging from telling me I smell good or touching me in any innocent way.

"How are you?"

I flit my eyes up to meet his. "I'm good. Not much to report feelings-wise." Except that I fancy the pants off you. "You?"

"Me too." He smiles down at his moving feet. "Oh what ever happened with Fabian and Gideon and the whole Zonko job situation?"

"They all got along quite nicely from the start!" I maunder. "They'll be helping with attending to customers, putting things away on shelves, and working the cash. Zonko took me aside afterwards to tell me I don't have to worry about being replaced as his favourite. He's a silly man."

"You've got to be silly to own a joke shop, it's expected." Sirius laughs. "Is that what you want to do after we graduate?"

I frown in thought, "Oh, uh, maybe. I honestly haven't given it much thought yet. I'm more of a take life as it comes kind of person. It's certainly a possibility though...What do you want to do?"

"I've wanted to be an Auror since I could remember."

"That's dangerous, Sirius." I say quickly.

"Well to quote you back to you, what is life without a little risk?" He smirks and I can't help but smile now too. "I want to do more."

"More than what?" I tilt my head as I stare up at him.

"Just more. I want to be somebody. A hero – Merlin, that probably sounds awfully stupid, doesn't it?" He scratches the back of his neck self-consciously.

"No!" I disagree immediately. "I-I think it's admirable. I like that you know what you want to do and are willing to work for it." I tell him sincerely.

We continue our peaceful stroll down hallways and past classrooms until the vague indistinct sound of faraway footsteps makes us stop dead in our tracks.

Sirius looks down at me worriedly and I do the same up at him. Without warning, Sirius takes my hand in his and drags me down another corridor. "In here!" He whisper-shouts, pulling me into a broom closet and shutting the door behind us with a loud bang.

The only audible sound being the fast-paced intakes and exhales of breaths and the loud thumping of our hearts. I suddenly become hyper aware of the intimacy of the small closet we've squeezed ourselves into. It's dark too but light seeps through from underneath the door through the crack, illuminating Sirius' features softly.

We're standing dangerously close together, so close that our warm breaths are melding in the cool closet. Sirius is already staring into my eyes and I can't stop myself from doing the same. He takes a step toward me and I instinctively take a step back which results in me tripping over a bucket and almost falling to the floor.

The reason for my remaining upright however is Sirius' hands on me. His grip is low on my waist which causes butterflies to erupt in the pit of my stomach. He and I are still engaged in our staring contest only now our faces are slowly inching closer together. "Sirius," I whisper. Our lips are almost touching now and the only thought in my head is about how intoxicatingly good he smells.

The door then comes bursting open and he and I jump apart the moment it does right before we can connect. There, in the doorway, looms McGonagall. She's got a baffled expression plastered on and her jaw has long fallen to the floor. I stand there awkwardly twisting my hands together in front of me, not knowing what to do or how to act. Sirius seems to be handling himself better as he exclaims in mock surprise, "Minnie! What do you think you're doing out so late?!"

McGonagall's face contorts to a mixture of expressions but she settles on stern and unamused. I release an involuntary snort and that's all it takes to send me into a fit of hysterical laughter.

I could swear I see our Head of House crack a smile too but my own fit blurs my vision so it's hard to say anything for sure. "I'm not sure I even want to know what was going on in here." She states in irritation.

I stop laughing now and glance at Sirius from the corner of my eye. How isn't this affecting him? He's standing there looking as perfectly collected as ever.

"With that said, I suggest you two just get up to bed immediately."

I look up at her in surprise, "No detention?"

"Do you want a detention, Ms Holland?"

"Nothing against you personally Minnie, but not particularly, no."

"Then shoo," She waves her hands at us as one would a fly.

The walk back is particularly awkward for me. Sirius is once again acting as if nothing's happened – or was about to happen. In fact, he's even got a slight skip to his step. Meanwhile I'm still shaking like a caffeine addict and my heart is going a mile a minute.

We make it back to the common room and stop in front of the dormitory entrances. "Sleep well, love."

I look up at him and I can only imagine what kind of googly eyes I'm giving him right now. "You too."

He smirks at me one last time before racing up the stairs. I release a shaky breath once he's gone and back myself up to the nearest wall. Merlin help me, I'm smitten.