Finding fireworks || Sirius Black

23

"Sirius, I think you should ask Jo for a dance"

Sirius' POV

Jocelyn was acting weird again. Last night she'd come to dinner in one of those tops she used to wear back in September, and I had struggled to eat any food. The light fabric of the blouse clung to her body in ways that I found painfully unfair. She had also increased the amount of make-up she wore, again. This wasn't a big deal, I told myself. Maybe she just liked makeup. What had me worried was that she kept disappearing with no explanation. I regularly checked the map, but I couldn't find her in it half the time. When I could find her, however, she was in busy areas of the school with a bunch of other random students around her.

I didn't like it. I had a bad feeling about this. I know I had said to James being around her was killing me, but not knowing where she was or what she was doing was even worse. The only thing that made it bearable was that she wasn't with Hardin, for he was often in the common room with Matt and Cal when Jocelyn was gone.

"Have you seen Jo today?" I asked Lily as we all sat in the common room together.

"She went running this morning again and I saw her when she came back to shower but not since. She said something about catching up on work and that extra assignment she's working on with McGonagall" Lily replied.

"Explosive snap?" Peter suggested. People nodded and he started getting things ready.

"She's been AWOL since the day before yesterday," I said.

"She's been training a lot" Lily informed me.

"What do you mean? Jo has always trained a lot"

"No, like, more than usual. She's been running every morning since the holiday started and she's gone to the gymnasium twice in the afternoon. She never trains in the afternoon"

"Do you think she's upset over Alice still?" James asked her.

"Alice did love Christmas. Maybe she's finding it hard to enjoy the holiday. Maybe she feels guilty" Lily said looking thoughtful.

"That sounds like Jo" I shook my head. I wish she'd stop beating herself up over Alice's death.

"I'll see if I can talk to her tonight when she gets back"

We spent a few hours chilling in the common room, but Jo didn't come back before we gave up and went to bed. I checked the map one last time before falling asleep and spotted her in Dumbledore's office. I thought this was a bit strange, but then again Jo was always running errands for McGonagall so this could just be one of those.

The following day, Jo showed up for breakfast. Lily was whispering something furiously in her ear, and she was smiling. I relaxed a little.

"Morning" she sat next to me and I handed her a plate with toast, butter, and jam.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Where have you been? You missed an intense explosive snap game yesterday. Peter almost lost his eyebrows" I told her. She chuckled.

"I'm busy. Doing lots of extra work for McGonagall"

"It's Christmas. Has she no mercy?"

"Apparently not" Jo shrugged.

"Are you working with her again today?" I asked her.

"Yup. But I think I'll be done in time to join you tonight" she replied.