Sister (slow updates)

Chapter Seven

I made my way down the stairs, listening to James and Sirius joking around. As I made it to the end of the steps, my foot slipped and I stumbled through the doorway. Just as I was about to fall flat on my face, an arm quickly stuck out in front me, wrapping around my waist and pulling me to my feet. I glanced up to see Sirius. We stood for a moment, just looking at each other, his arm still secured around my waist.

"Oh, uh, thanks," I said quickly, adjusting my bag back onto my shoulder.

"Not a problem," he replied, slowly removing his arm. "Be more careful next time, yeah?" I rolled my eyes and smiled, turning away to find Lily. She was waiting for me by the portrait hole. James was talking animatedly beside me, and I could still feel Sirius' eyes on me.

"Let's go, Jamie," I stated, hooking the arm that didn't have my bag through his and dragging him off towards the portrait hole. The other three marauders followed closely behind us. I smiled when we reached Lily. "Ready to go?" I asked. She nodded, glancing at James, who had suddenly gone very quiet. I let go of James and followed Lily out into the corridor, the boys following suit.

As we made our way down to the Great Hall, our group of six, I could still feel someone watching me. Every time I looked behind me, Sirius would quickly look away and suddenly become very interested in whatever Peter was talking about. Lily and I walked ahead of the boys, and she kept glancing between Sirius and I, raising her eyebrows every time she caught my gaze. When we made it to the Great Hall, she dragged me down to sit with her and her friends.

"Jo-" James started, beginning to sit down and watching Lily drag me away. I glanced back at him with a small smile.

"She'll be fine," Remus said, sitting next to him. "She's with Lily."

But James wasn't the only one staring after me. Sirius was watching me, head tilted slightly to the side. His hair fell across his forehead at the angle. He only looked away when James started talking to him, and he sat down on the side of my brother that wasn't occupied by Remus. Meanwhile, Lily had dragged me down the table a bit further from my brother and his friends, plopping down into the seat next to a girl I recognized from our dorm. Marlene.

"Oh, he's totally into you," Lily said immediately as I sat next to her.

"Huh? Who?" I asked, finally looking away from the boys.

"Sirius, obviously," she stated, grabbing a platter off the table. "Who else would I be talking about?"

"He does not!" I argued. "He's my brother's best friend! There is no possible way he sees me like that."

"I beg to differ," Lily shrugged, plopping some of the food onto her plate and setting it down, reaching for another platter. "I saw the way he looked at you this morning, Jocelyn. And he held onto you way longer than necessary. There was a moment."

"Clearly you're seeing things," I rolled my eyes. "Sirius Black most certainly does not like me like that. There's no way."

"Then why was he staring at you the whole walk here?" she shot back, eyebrow raised.

"Oooh, Sirius was staring at you?" Marlene grinned, leaning closer to Lily.

"The whole time," Lily laughed. "Looking like a lost puppy, might I add. Not even James' relentless talking pulled his gaze away."

"He was not!" I demanded, reaching for the jug of pumpkin juice in front of me.

"Seems to me like he's not the only one with a crush," Marlene giggled.

"No, absolutely not," I blushed, looking away from them. I caught Sirius' eye from down the table. He gave me a grin before he was back to conversing with James.

"Aw, don't worry, we're not going to tell anyone," Lily laughed.

"Of course we're not!" Marlene added. "Everyone will figure it out for themselves when they see the way the two of you stare at each other."

I blocked out the rest of their conversation, deciding it was best to just let them keep talking. It wasn't like they were going to stop anyway, regardless of what I said. I thought back to the dream. I came to a slight realization. At the beginning, I saw Sirius. Sirius and myself. Were we, perhaps, together? Was my dream telling me I did like Sirius? Should I even be taking the dream seriously at all? I mean, obviously not, because there were inconsistencies. James and Lily together? James dying? Sirius being the cause? It didn't add up.

"It's just a dream," I told myself softly, drilling it into my head that I was being silly for believing such a thing could have possibly been real.

I sat relatively quietly throughout breakfast, listening to Lily and Marlene. Every so often, I glanced down the table at my brother and his friends, occasionally catching Sirius' gaze. I started to think that, just maybe, Lily had been right about Sirius liking me. I knew it was a silly thing to think. I was never the type of girl Sirius usually went after. Yet still, part of me liked the thought of Sirius seeing me as more than James' twin sister.

After I picked around at my food for a bit longer, not really feeling hungry at all, I stood and grabbed my bag, shoving my timetable in between my case of quills and my tattered copy of Pride and Prejudice. "I'll meet you back at the common room, Lily," I smiled. "I need to talk to a few of the professors about classes."

"I can come with you," she said, setting her fork down. "I would like to talk to Professor Slughorn about his Potions course."

"No, that's alright, you finish breakfast. I'll be fine, promise. See you later." I gave her a small wave before taking off towards the doors of the Great Hall. I waved at James as I walked by and he made to stand up. "You finish eating," I said immediately. "I know you'll be grumpy later if you don't. I'm just going to talk to a few of the professors." He gave me a look. "I'll meet you in the common room later. Promise."

James sighed and sat back down, nodding. He gave me a small smile before turning back to his plate and his friends. I left the Great Hall, turning the corner and heading for the marble staircase. I walked up to the landing and then turned to my right, making to go up the next flight of stairs. Just as I reached the top, however, I came face-to-face with the Slytherin girl from the train.