Unfold (Sirius Black & Hermione Granger)

Chapter two

Sirius's PoV

"There are plenty of billywigs in the air," the grey-eyed boy said, his lustrous, black hair blowing gently in the wind.

"That's a terrible saying, Padfoot," James laughed.

"Just a little something my dear uncle Alphard used to say. But don't sneak away from the real question now."

"You didn't really ask me a question, mate."

"I was about to, when you so rudely interrupted me," Sirius huffed as James rolled his eyes. "You've been hoovering around that one girl forever, and I hate to break it to you, Prongs, but she doesn't seem to be very fond of you. The girl has turned you down about a hundred times now, and your obsession with her doesn't bring happiness to anyone. I know she's your one true love and all that, but while you wait for her to realise that herself, which may take a very long time, possibly forever, you might as well have some fun."

James responded by rolling his eyes.

"Hey!" Sirius snapped. "All that eye-rolling will make your eyes fall out, and besides, I'm trying to be serious here."

James snickered as it was Sirius's turn to roll his eyes.

"No pun intended," Sirius huffed.

James raised his eyebrows and looked at his friend. It wasn't very like him to turn down an opportunity to laugh. What he had to say had to be something he'd given a lot of thought.

"Okay. Come on then. What is this question of yours?"

"Well," Sirius began while scratching his neck. "There's this girl, Maggie Andersson, and she-"

James was about to roll his eyes, but a stern look from Sirius's direction stopped him.

"Basically she won't go out with me unless I bring you as a date for her friend."

James was about to open his mouth when Sirius continued.

"I kind of already said you'd do it."

"Argh! Padfoot!" James whined as he dramatically threw his head back. "You know I don't date."

"Yes, yes, but it will be fun!" Sirius answered, emphasising the last word.

"Why can't you just go with someone else. Preferably on a date that doesn't involve me," James said.

"I have dated so many of the girls here, some of them twice," Sirius said and held up two fingers. "And besides, Maggie's really hot."

"While we're on the subject of 'hot', did you see Evans today? She-"

"Glad you brought that up, mate," Sirius said and snapped his fingers. "Maybe the way to her heart is through making her jealous. Women always want what they can't have, and I'm pretty sure Evans knows she could have you any day if she wanted. All you've got to do is make yourself unavailable, and she'll come running."

James hesitated as Sirius threw his arms in the air as if to say ta-da.

"I don't really know," he said frowning.

"Come on. What do you have to lose?"

James could come up with a multitude of answers that question, but stayed silent. He wasn't one to let down his friends, especially his best mate, so he agreed.

"Great!" Sirius grinned as he leaned his head back on the trunk of the tree and closed his eyes.

The term had just begun, the September air still had traces of summer in it, and most of the students were outside laughing, throwing fanged frisbees, dipping their feet in the lake, catching up on homework or just talking in the shadow of a tree.

James looked at his best friend with a worried look. Sirius was brave, an amazing prankster, smart and fun to hang out with. Whenever the two of them were together, usually in the company of Remus and Peter, there was never a single boring moment. Sirius was like a brother to James, his only brother, just as James was much more of a brother to Sirius than Regulus had ever been.

What worried James, however, was the casanova part of his best mate. Sirius had always had a good eye to the ladies, but he had been taking it to a whole new level lately; Switching Hogsmeade trips with his friends for dates with girls he would ditch the next day. James would have been happy for Sirius if he had found a girl to settle down with, or as much 'settle down' as a sixteen year old boy would understand, but the seemingly gallant young boy would sometimes dump one girl and date another in the same day, and by the end of the year he would probably have gone through the entire female population at Hogwarts. James wondered whether that would include the staff, and grinned at the thought of professor McGonagall holding hands with Sirius at the small, pink, over-perfumed tea shop.

James had never been crazy about girls. There was only one girl he had his eyes on, and he was determined to win her heart one way or another.

"I've got a great idea for a prank. It involves pumpkin juice, ageing potion and the word 'spiking'," Sirius said with a wicked grin, breaking the silence. "But let's get moony and worm tail first. We don't want them to miss out on the fun."