The Forgotten One

I Smell Horrid!

-chapter 18-

I roll (literally) out of bed. I hit the floor with a thump! I just lay there, not wanting to get up. I look up at the ceiling. I enchanted it to look like the night sky. I find a bunch of constellations I now know. I hear footsteps walking up the stairs, then a tap on my door.

The door's locked. I locked it three days ago when I first got the letter. I haven't been downstairs since. I also haven't showered since. It's too much work to get up and go shower. People have tried to get me to come out, but I just refused. I even turned Sirius purple again just to get him to leave me alone. He was the one who was constantly trying to get me to come out.

The taps continue. I finally reach up to my bedside table and grab my wand. I flick it in the direction of the door, hearing a lock click, letting the person outside the door come in.

The door opens and my room is flooded with light. I shield my eyes with my arms, having not seen light in three days. The door clicks closed and I uncover my eyes. I look up at dark shadow of Sirius.

He looks down at me with a disapproving look on his face, his hands on his hips. He doesn't say anything as he bends down and picks me up; I don't object.

Sirius carries me to my bathroom, setting me down in the tub. "Shower."

I look up at him. "No." My voice is hoarse since I haven't said a word since Christmas.

"Seriously?" Sirius questions. He walks over to the light switch and flips on the dimmer of the two lights. "You need to shower. You really stink."

"No." I say again, this time my voice sounding somewhat normal.

"Why not?" He questions. "Because you're too scared to shower? Is that it? Well, news flash; Voldemort isn't going to kill you when you shower."

"How do you know?" I retort, standing up in the tub. "He could be searching for me just like he did my parents. Only difference is he got to them, and not me."

"Want me to prove it?" I don't answer, just stare him straight in the eyes. "I'll stay guard for you while you shower so nothing bad will happen. Okay?"

"Okay." I say, my voice just above a whisper.

Sirius smiles slightly and walks out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I quickly strip out of my smelling clothes (Why hadn't I showered earlier!? I smell horrid!) and turn on the shower.

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I pull back the curtain and step out of the shower. I can't believe how good I feel after just one shower. I wrap the towel around my body and open the door to my bedroom.

Sirius is sitting on my bed, The Outsiders in his hands. I smile at the sight of him reading an actual book, not just some Muggle magazine he picked up outside the Leaky Cauldron.

Sirius looks up at me, a smile instantly spreading across his face. "You look better already."

I smile a bigger smile back at him. I walk over to my dresser and grab my hair brush from the top. I run it through my wet hair, making water droplets fly all over the carpet. I set the brush back down and open the top drawer of my dresser. I pull out what I feel comfortable in; a pair of sweats, a t-shirt and a sweat shirt. I walk back to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me.

I change into my clothes, leaving the wet towel on the floor behind me when I walk out of the bathroom.

I'm embraced with a set of arms as soon as I walk out. I rest my head against Sirius's chest, breathing in his scent. He smells really good.

I wrap my arms around Sirius, squeezing him. He squeezes back.

I pull away from Sirius, embarrassed. He has a girlfriend, and I'm hugging him like he's mine.

I look up at him, and see that he's looking down at me with a look of sadness and sympathy in his eyes.

"Thanks," I say. "For everything." I walk towards the door but Sirius grabs me by my elbow, spinning me around to face him.

"What's wrong?"

"Why would you think something was wrong?"

"Astrid," he says, looking me in the eyes. "You ran off yesterday after the kiss-" Oh God. I thought that was a dream. "-and then you get the letter about your parents. I know that that killed you. And now you won't even look at me."

"And?"

"Why?" Sirius asks. "Why won't you look at me the same way I look at you?"

"You have a girlfriend," I say, voicing my thoughts. "It's not right for me to look at you and touch you like you're mine."

"Girlfriend?" Sirius laughs. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"You don't?" I ask. " I thought you were dating Lauren."

"The Hufflepuff?" Sirius laughs. "No way in hell I'd date her. I have my eyes on someone else."

"Okay." I say, not pressing the matter.

"You wanna know who it is?"

"Not particularly." I say truthfully.

"In time you'll find out."

"Okay."

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Batter flies in every direction.

Left, right, everywhere.

Then I get hit straight in the face. Batter stings my eyes, making it impossible to see. I wipe my eyes with my hands, only to see Sirius and James, with huge smirks on their faces, standing right in front of me; the direction in which the batter came from.