The Forgotten One

Yes! A Muggle TV!

-chapter 13-

My white button-up shirt is covered in blood. Fake blood, of course. Sirius is carrying me to the Great Hall. All part of the prank.

Sirius stops just outside the doors, placing me down. "Ready?" He asks.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I sigh. I see James signal us the "GO" from across the hall. I look at Sirius. "Here we go."

"You'll be great," he says. "You're a great actress."

I smile at him. "See you soon." I say.

I walk into the Great Hall.

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Let's just say the prank was a success. After we were told by McGonagall we all, meaning James, Sirius and I, have a month of detention, we all went back to the Common Room to celebrate.

I run upstairs to change out of my blood-stained shirt. I put on a nicer shirt and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. I find my black converse in the bottom on my trunk since we are required to wear flats, and rush back downstairs.

As I reach the bottom of the stairs, a voice says, "Lookin' good, Coffey." I turn around a come face-to-face with the blonde boy who I met on my first day.

I start to walk away, looking for the Marauders. A hand grabs my wrist. "Why not stay awhile? Have a little drink." He holds up a beer bottle.

"No." I snap. I yank my wrist free and search the Common Room for one of the four Marauders. There weren't many people in the Common Room, so I easily find Sirius by the fire.

I sit down next to him. "There you are!" He exclaims, looking over at me. His eyes widen as they travel up and down my body. "Who are you and what have you done with Astrid Coffey?"

I laugh. "I thought I should get a bit dressed up."

"Good choice." He says, winking. My stomach does a somersault.

"Do you want to do something?" I ask in a bored tone.

"Like what?"

"I don't know," I say. "Something. Anything."

"Let's go, then." Sirius says, standing up. He offers his hand out to me and I grasp it. He pulls me up and leads me out of the Common Room.

"Where are we going?" I whine.

"Hush," Sirius says. "We're almost there."

He stops and stands in front of a wall. He stares at the wall, not blinking.

"Umm.....? Sirius? What are you doing?"

"Shhh!" He snaps. I look at him. Not just look, but look. I'm not usually one to check out boys, but this one deserves to be checked out.

His stormy grey eyes are kind of un-focused, just staring off into space. His messy black hair is actually kind of styled, but in a messy way.

I watch him for a while.

Suddenly, a door starts to appear on the wall.

Sirius smiles and grabs my hand, opening the door with the other.

"Welcome," he says as he pushes the door fully open, "to the Room of Requirements."

I walk in and find I'm not just in an empty room like I thought it'd be; I'm in a comfy living area with a small swimming pool in the back corner.

I look up at Sirius. He smiles down at me. "I thought this would take your mind off things."

I wrap him in a tight hug, standing on my tip-toes because I'm much shorter than him. "Thank you." I whisper in his ear.

I look around the room. There's soft-looking white sofas and armchairs surrounding a fire with a TV- yes! A Muggle TV!- hanging above. There's a pool table and air hockey. There's also the swimming pool, which looked much smaller the first time I saw it.

"Why is there a swimming pool?" I ask. I don't want to straight out tell Sirius I can't swim.

"I like to swim to calm down and get my mind off things, so I thought it would be a nice touch."

"Oh okay," I say. "But I don't have a bathing suit." I point out.

"Are you a witch or not?" Sirius says, raising an eyebrow.

"Wanna play air hockey?"

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Sirius and I did everything in the room: pool, air hockey, watch TV, and just sit on the couch and talk. It was nice. Having someone be this nice to me was rare, especially since it was a boy. I couldn't shake the nervous feeling the whole time, though.

"Ready for a swim?" Sirius asks.

"No." I say.

"Come on!" Sirius whines. "We've done everything except swim."

I glare at him. "I don't know how." I say quietly.

"The great Astrid doesn't know how to swim!?" Sirius roars with laughter. "Good one, Ass."

"Excuse me?" I say.

"Ass.... Short for Astrid." I glare at him. "You were kidding, right?"

I keep my expression dead serious-no pun intended.

"Oh." Sirius says, realizing I wasn't kidding. "I can show you, if you'd like."

"No," I say. "That's okay. I can just watch you."

"Really? We were having such a great time and now you won't even get it the water?" It was true we were having a great time. It was weird, getting along with a boy without him making fun of me.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Why are you doing this for me?" I ask. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Sirius obviously doesn't know what to say. He stares at me. "How 'bout that swim?"

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After I magically get a swim suit and change into it, I walk out of the bathroom and gasp. Sirius Black is shirtless in front of me. I can't help but look him up and down. I've got to admit: he's got a nice body.

I walk over to pool and sit on the edge, dangling my feet in. Sirius does a cannonball into the pool, spraying water all over me.

"Ass." I say once he resurfaces.

"Well, since you're ready wet, why got get fully wet?" I don't have time to react. Suddenly I'm pulled by my feet into the water. I immediately close my eyes.

Water flows up my nose and into my lungs. I try to swim upwards, but I can't. I open my eyes to see Sirius below me. I start to cough and water flows into my throat. I fumble for my wand and shoot a simple spell at Sirius. He lets go of my legs and I swim up.

I surface and grab the edge of the pool. Sirius surfaces behind me.

"Shit." He says. "Astrid, I forgot. I'm so sorry."

I nod, coughing up water in the meantime.

I turn around, still gripping the edge of the pool. My lungs feel like they're on fire. I look at Sirius. His messy black hair is covering half his face. I reach my hand out and push the hair back. Sirius grabs my hand before I can pull it away and holds it to his cheek.

"I'm sorry." He says softly.

"It's fine." I say.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"I-I- I think I-" he's cut off by the door opening.