Chasing Time (sirius black)

Daylight

I woke up the next morning with a mouthful of red hair. Spitting out as much as I could, I had to reached up to get the rest of it before I choked. Lily ended up staying in my bed all night and I'd slept more soundly than I had in weeks. Having her close to me, even while I slept, helped to ease the fears plaguing me every moment I was here. And those fears were exhausting.

Lily yawned, waking up mostly likely because I was obnoxiously trying to get free from her hair. It may be beautiful but it was possibly deadly since it tried to suffocate me in my sleep. Sounded like Lily, beautiful but deadly. "What time is it?"

Still a bit sleepy, and you know partially blind, I searched for my watch on my nightstand, fumbling a bit. Bringing it close to read the hands, I turned back to the redhead in my bed. "Seven. Plenty of time before class."

"Perfect." She pushed herself up and made her way to the bathroom looking like she came straight off a magazine cover. How did she look like that? Especially after I inhaled half her hair? It was stupidly impressive.

Mine on the other hand was a mess. I didn't need a mirror to know that. After plunging into the Lake then staying up to lie to everyone I cared about, I'd been too exhausted to shower and brush my hair. Quickly, I followed Lily into the bathroom and hopped into the shower.

As I did my best to untangle the mess on my head, I heard Mar and Ali come in to get ready for the day.

"Merlin, hopefully they'll be at -" Mar's voice cut off mid conversation to loudly address me. "Morning, Mads! Glad to have you back."

"Morning, Mar. And thanks." I replied loudly so she could hear me over the water.

"Marlene was complaining about Julie again." Ali's voice said outside the shower curtain.

"She won't shut up for two minutes!" Marlene whined, her voice also sounding like it was right outside my curtain.

Lily, always the voice of reason, replied to them before I could. "And yet both of you could go sit with your significant others at their tables and escape it. Some of us don't have that option."

"And abandon you? Never." Ali scoffed. I finished up my shower, threw on a towel, and pulled back the curtain to see my dorm mates clustered in front of me. "Wow, you look, uh, -"

"Clean?" Marlene grimaced slightly as she inspected me openly.

"Smooth, Mar. Good to know my outside is matching my inside today." I grumbled, brushing past them to get my hairbrush and begin unknotting my birds' nest. I didn't even get one stroke finished before Lily tutted and manhandled my toweled body to the bench where she began to detangled me. "Is Julie that bad though?"

I saw Mar and Ali exchange glances with each other through the mirror in front of me and almost laughed out loud at their eye rolls. Lily shook her head as she pulled a particularly nasty knot and I couldn't help hissing through my teeth.

"Mmmm not as bad as Jade but still not as good as you." Mar gave me a shit eating grin at the same moment that Lily snagged on another knot and I flinched at the sharp pain. "And now you can finally save us from her incessant chattering."