The Art of Persuasion

Chapter 2 : Adventures in the Broom Closet

"You know, Evelyn..." Sirius Black leaned in closer so only I could hear what he was saying.

"I can see you having a thing for dear old Moony, but I didn't imagine that you wrote an entire novel about him," he nodded at the book on my lap.

"So, be sure to dress warm enough for the Hogsmeade weekend. I hear it's going to be a bit nippy, really." My jaw must have dropped, because he gently pushed it up with his fingers.

"It's not polite to stare, love." After he said this, he got up and went to the supply closet. Now here I am sitting in deep astonishment. How could I be so bloody stupid to leave that damn book lying around? I knew I should have left it in my room. But no, I had to finish writing that oh so important entry about me actually eating dinner with Remus, well it was somewhat with the rest of his friends, since I usually sit next to Lily Evans.

James Potter fancies for Lily so he often likes to talk to her. It annoys her a lot, I don't know why really. I mean I don't really know Potter and his friends, well I know Remus pretty all right, but otherwise I wouldn't be quick to judge them. All I know is that they like to prank people a lot. It's really Slytherins though. But my best friend, Geoff Wickett, who's in Ravenclaw, said that they did a few pranks in some Ravenclaw dormitories as well. But getting to point, I don't see why Lily won't give Potter a chance. I think he likes her so much that he's willing to change his 'pompous' behavior.

The reason why I had to write this exciting pleasure this morning was because I was so happy that I forgot to write it in last night. I certainly didn't want to forget all of it, so I began to write it down as soon as I woke up. Eventually, I had to head down to breakfast, and finish the entry there. How could I be so careless? I let my anger get the best of me and I forgot the bloody book, right within the reach of Sirius Bloody Black's hands.

Of course he would read it, almost anyone would, but it had to be him. Let's see, I left breakfast about ten minutes early, and sat in class for about five minutes. That's fifteen minutes and Black likes to come in a tad late, so he had over twenty minutes to read it! What if he's one of those fast skimmers who somehow get all the information by speed-reading?! Then he could read the entire thing in five minutes! Then he could have reread it!

"You know, love, I know you're just so excited about our upcoming trip to Hogsmeade that all you can do is think about it, but I need some help here," Black said, interrupting my thoughts. I turned to him and tried to give him the dirtiest look I could muster.

"Didn't you mother tell you it's impolite to invade other people's privacy?" I spat at him.

"Didn't you mother tell you that if you frown too much that you would get wrinkles?" Black retorted with a grin. He poked his finger at my forehead.

"Oh! I think you already have one," he said, still wearing that damn grin. I fought the urge to feel my forehead, to see if it was true. Unfortunately, my worries got the best of me as I quickly turned my head and felt my forehead.

"It's rather surprising how gullible you are." Black's voice called over my shoulder. That's it, I can't take it anymore.

"BLACK!" I stood up from my seat and glared down at him, but he still appeared calm. I swear, I could see laughter twinkling his grey eyes. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but a cough interrupted us.

"Miss Hall, is there anything the matter?" Professor Slughorn asked with a slight frown. I looked around me to see that everyone was looking at me like I was some maniac that escaped from Azkaban.

"Well, you see Professor; dear Evelyn was confused with direction number four, so I explained it to her. I guess I explained it pretty well too, seeing how excited she is," Black lied to Professor Slughorn. I found myself nodding stupidly and sitting down slowly.