101 Ways to ditch the Date | SIRIUS BLACK

No. 74

"Someone should go after her," Lily said firmly, "James?"

"Why me?" James held his hands up.

"I don't know ... I'm just panicked!" Lily shouted back. Meanwhile, Emmeline was still rooted to the spot, her eyes wide. Nobody quite knew what to feel for at the moment, everything was grey and nobody was even sure if Ora had the moral high ground to run off like that.

"We should send someone she won't shout at too harshly or judo kick ... she has the legs for it, I'm scared," Mary stepped forward, "So that rules out Emmeline, Marlene, Sirius ... and wait, where's Sirius?!"

"Prongs, we thought you were looking after him!" Remus said.

"He must have slipped off when I looked away for half a second ... Lily distracted me!"

"I am not taking the blame for this!" And with that, a whole other shouting match began allowing Sirius to run further and further away. The anger had dissipated now so as he stumbled up the hillside, following the white-haired girl up the hill, he was just drunk. Still, Ora's shouting and the shock of it all had sobered him ... a bit.

"ORA!" He called after her. She clearly heard, coming to a stop momentarily before turning away and sprinting off again. Sirius loved her long legs yet right now them, combined with her incredible running was proving to be his downfall as she kept ahead of him without even trying. As he stumbled up towards the castle, he whispered her name again, jumping as she replied.

"Go away, Sirius."

It took him a few moments to realise she'd come to a stop, standing behind one of the large stones which seemingly had no purpose other than for angry girls to hide behind.

"If you ... you wanted me to go away, why did you stop?"

She sighed. As she did so, his smile grew wider, outsmarting the Lawyer girl. Except right now, Ora was in no mood to play games, "Because ... because... it's all to much," Slowly she emerged from behind the rocks. Even with only the dull light from the windows illuminating her face, the pure anger and shock radiating from her was evident, "How long did you know that Em felt that way about me? And why didn't you tell me before rather than let it come out like this?"

"Because I had ... too much to drink?"

"Not good enough, you were sober before yet you kept it from me. I could have dealt with it before, if you'd said at the beginning, if anyone had but now ... this is all too much," She sighed, slumping down against the rock, "I wanted to do better this year, I wanted it all to be better for everyone but none of it's what it seemed. I just ... just feel like everything's terrible and fake right now, it's all crumbling from underneath me, like someone keeps pulling rugs from underneath my feet and now I'm just hurtling down. I thought I'd managed to get on top of work but the practice exams keeping going wrong. Marlene seemed bad, the clear villain but she was honest when nobody else was, she's just trying to get over, starting afresh. And Em ... she's always been my rock, even when I was cold to her and now I find out she lied too, manipulated me so I wouldn't have anyone else to rely on. Even you ... you seemed so great but maybe you're not.  Our relationship is built on you leaving people and me using that to feel superior - "

"That's not what it was at all, Ora," Sirius pleaded, "We talk - "

"Yet when I tried to talk to you about what Marlene said you lied or refused to tell me ... Marlene's right, I was selfish, I shouldn't have ignored all those other girls and boys like they meant nothing," She whispered back.

"Look, Ora, you're being silly..." He stumbled slightly, falling against the stone for support, "I bet, you're just ... drunk - "

"No, I'm not. I don't like the taste of Firewhisky," She replied, "It's such a mess, everything. All the things I thought I could rely on are .... just not there, everything was a lie. I want to stop being like this, selfish and hurting people, taking people's pain and using it for myself but I'm can't, I'm worse than I ever imagined too - "