Knowing the Marauders

Speaking Of James

Chapter 54: Speaking Of James

-Bex p.o.v.-

Sirius. He was acting strange around me. He had been for weeks.

It was mid March by now and spring was beginning to arrive. The days became longer, the weather was nicer, and Sirius was stranger.

I had managed to stay as new Bex. It was hard, but I managed. It actually had nice results. The teachers were much prouder of me and father praised me on more than my imagination and charismatic mischief making. It felt good to make others proud of me.

I hadn't ever really felt it, no one has ever actually said the words, "I'm proud of you." And now that teachers were, it felt so good. I didn't want it to stop.

"Hey Gorgeous," Sirius greeted, sitting down with me.

I smiled at him, looking away from the crystal clear water of the lake and into his stormy eyes. "Hey Sirius, how are you?"

"I'm good. Uh I wanted to ask you something, actually." He rubbed the back of his neck, he looked nervous.

"What is it?" I asked curiously. He stopped rubbing his neck and just watched me for a second. He seemed to get lost in my eyes. I giggled, "are you okay, Sirius?"

He shook his head, clearing it. "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. You just, you know, did the thing again."

"The thing?" I asked.

"You know," he insisted. "The one where you ask a question and tilt your head and your eyes go all wide and innocent. You look genuinely curious and so interested. It just caught me off guard, that's all."

I nodded, "well I'm sorry to disrupt your thoughts. What did you want to ask me?"

He faltered, "uh just wanted to know if you did that essay in history of magic," he created an excuse, rubbing his neck again.

I frowned, looking at him curiously. He looked away, I shrugged it off, nodding. "Yeah, I did it over the goblin rebellion of 1764. Did you need help or something?"

"Uh I just couldn't think of a topic." He explained. "Any ideas?"

I shrugged, "well you could do it on many things. Maybe goblin metals. Like how they weld and the magical properties of their creations. That seems like it would be interesting."

He nodded, "great idea. Thanks. Umm I'll see you later." He stood and started to walk away.

I frowned, "Sirius," I called after him. "Do you want to sit with me?"

He looked surprised but nodded enthusiastically, sitting down with me. "Why are you just sitting here?"

I shrugged a little, "it's just really calming. And the water looks so pretty. It's one of those days where you can see right through the water, all the way to the sand. I love when the water looks like that." I smiled, staring at the water. "See, you can watch all of the fish swim around, look at that one!" I pointed towards a pretty colored fish in the water.

"Which one?" Sirius asked, staring at the water in confusion.

I grabbed his hand, leaning in really close so I could see from his view, I pointed his arm at the fish, "that one there. See it?"

"Yeah," he breathed softly.

I turned my head to the side, only inches from his face. He had been looking at me the entire time, nowhere near the lake water or the colorful fish. I blushed softly, pulling away and dropping his hand.

He cleared his throat, straightening up. "So umm, got any plans for later tonight?"

"I have astronomy tonight. Just like every other Thursday, Sirius. I thought you knew that." I looked at him curiously.