All the Time in the World | Sirius Black

20. Lovesick Puppy

For the last month, James had tried to convince me that Sirius did not mean what he said. And every time, I'd either ignore him, jinx him, or tell him that Sirius said it under Veritaserum and could not lie. Sirius, on the other hand, had started off with profusely apologizing for making me cry and then, as the month progressed, slowly stopped pleading with me. He gave up. Since Remus and Peter never pestered me about the situation, I still spoke with them sometimes but spent most of my days with Lily, Marlene, and Severus.

Today was the day of the Apparation lesson at Hogsmeade. I walked with Lily, Marlene, and Severus while the Marauders walked behind us. I could hear their whispers and some of their evil comments about Sev, but I knew they knew better than to try anything while Lily and I were present.

As promised, after our lesson (which I passed) Severus and I hung out. Instead of Three Broomsticks, we went to Hog's Head, where I knew the Marauders wouldn't go.

"Are you alright?" Sev asked as he placed a butterbeer in front of me.

"Of course, I am. Why wouldn't I be?" I said.

"You don't seem to hang out with anyone but Lily, Price, and me," he noticed.

"I got into an argument with Potter and Black," I admitted. "We're not on the best of terms."

Severus nodded and took a sip of his butterbeer, clearly seeing that I didn't want to talk about it. Instead, we spent the hour we had, before we had to go to back to Hogwarts, talking about everything and nothing. My previous sour mood was forgotten as I laughed at his horrible Hippogriff joke and he told me stories about potion mishaps he's seen from previous years. I told him stories about my first few years with my friends, making sure to give vague information and changing their names.

It wasn't until I saw a black deerhound looking in through the Hog's Head window did my sour mood return. With ten minutes until we had to leave, I told Severus I would see him back at the castle and used the excuse of going to pick up a few robe.

With a quick smile, I marched out of Hog's Head and called Sirius the dog over as I made my way towards Gladrags. I chose an alleyway in between two shops and stood there was I watched Sirius shift from his Animagus to his human form.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" I whispered harshly, hitting his arm. "Spying on me? You have no right!"

"I couldn't find you so I went looking for you instead," said Sirius softly.

"No," I said, "you still have no right. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself during this little trip and can very well walk from here to the castle."

"I still wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh ho ho," I said sarcastically, "you suddenly care about me now. Fun-ny. Lovely. Brilliant. Thank you so much Mr Sirius Black, how ever will I thank thee?"

"Arie, please don't be like that," Sirius frowned. "If you'd just let me explain—"

"Go on! Explain!" I shouted, not caring about people hearing our argument in an abandoned alleyway. "Better yet," I smirked, "take my hand— go on."

I outstretched my hand and Sirius tentatively took it. As soon as he clasped my hand, I turned on the spot and Apparated into the Shrieking Shack. Letting go of Sirius's hand, he stumbled slightly and scrunched up his nose at the feeling of Side-Apparating.

"Did you just—"

"—Apparate us into the Shrieking Shack? Yes, I did," I said matter-of-factly. "Now, talk."

"But that was dangerous."

"I've done more dangerous things than Apparate with one person," I spat. "Talk, you have five minutes until I Apparate us back to Three Broomsticks. Go."