She's the Girl | A Marauders Love story

Chapter 9

Avoiding conversation

Hailey woke up to James's snores. Her eyes snapped open. She and James were cuddled up on the couch together in the living room. There was a blanket halfway on them and James's arm was around her waist. The house was clean, but they had stayed up all night to accomplish that. She looked at the clock. It was noon. She moved James's arm and sat up.

"James."

He stirred.

"James. It's time to get up."

He opened his eyes.

"What time is it?" His voice was husky and his words were slurred.

"It's noon. Time to get up. Our parents are getting back tomorrow, and I want to make sure everything is clean."

James sat up.

"Let's do it."

Hailey and James got off the couch and started cleaning again. This time, they were determined to make sure the house was spotless. They were no longer cleaning up the aftermath of a party, they were scrubbing the walls and cleaning out the fridge this time. It was hard work, but neither of them wanted their parents to think they had been lazy all month.

As they cleaned the bathroom, Hailey thought back to the night before. Suddenly, she stopped scrubbing the wall and dropped her rag. She and James had kissed last night. She glanced at him. He hadn't mentioned it, and it didn't seem to be on his mind. Maybe he had forgotten about it. He had been the one to initiate the kiss, so he most likely didn't regret it, but for some reason, neither of them were willing to bring it up. It had only been for a second, so maybe it was an accident.

Hailey resumed cleaning the wall, but continued thinking about the night before.

The front door opened and Hailey and James looked at each other.

"Is that?"

James shrugged and the two of them approached the front room cautiously.

There was a crash followed by some colorful language. Hailey stopped for a second. The voice was too familiar.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

She and James breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. It's just you."

"Just me? I expected a warm welcome."

"If you wanted a warm welcome, you should have announced your entrance rather than scaring us."

Sirius laughed.

"Fair point. So what are you guys doing?"

Hailey pointed to the living room.

"Cleaning. In fact, your timing is perfect! You can help."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm going to go to the store so Mum doesn't think we've been eating garbage for month." James grabbed his coat and started putting his shoes on.

"We'll stay and finish the upstairs."

"See you soon!"

James nodded and left. Hailey turned to Sirius.

"We kissed."

Sirius tilted his head.

"I'm pretty sure I would know if we kissed, Hails."

"Not us, James and I, last night after the party. You came down the stairs right as it happened."

Sirius stared at her.