On the day of the Gryffindor/Slytherin match Adara awoke with a start at exactly four in the morning. She rolled over to her side after looking at the clock and stared at the blue curtains that hung from her four poster.
She knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, she was too excited. She really didn’t have a reason to be this excited as she wasn’t even playing, but she could barely lie there. Actually, she couldn’t. She quietly pulled apart her curtains, slipped on her slippers and robe, shoved her wand in the pocket, then silently walked out of her dorm and down the stairs to the common room.
The fire was almost dead and everything was dark and silent. I wonder what the rest of Hogwarts looks like? she thought. And since she had nothing else to do, Adara decided to find out. She walked out of the common room and down the stairs. As she stepped off the last one she noticed that it was pretty cold today. That would be rough on the Quidditch players. She wondered how many other people were up this early. Probably not very many.
She walked along the silent, cold corridors for a while, just taking in the scenes of Hogwarts in the early morning. It wasn’t that different from late at night. She looked out of one of the windows and saw that the sun was not up yet, but that it was lighter than it was at one in the morning. Adara would know. She smiled as she remembered her late night patrol with Sirius.
As she walked, she began to get a bit tired. She decided that she’d sit and rest for a while, then go back to her common room. She sat down under a portrait of a very chubby lady who was snoring rather loudly. Her thoughts again traveled to the match that would take place in about six hours. She hoped that Gryffindor would win.
Sirius had said as early as yesterday that he thought they had a good chance what with all the extra practices that Potter was imposing. Sirius had told her that once Potter realized that his team would have to play on Saturday no matter what, he had accepted it with only minimal yelling and cursing towards Sirius. Let’s just say I’m not scared that I’ll be murdered in my sleep, Sirius had smiled. Then Adara thought she heard something like “too many witnesses,” but she wasn’t sure. Anyway, the Gryffindor Quidditch team had been practicing twice a day: once before classes then once in the evening. Sirius grudgingly admitted that the practices were needed, but had pointed out that sleep was, too. Today, everyone would know whether the extra practices would be worth it. Adara hoped that they were; she would feel incredibly guilty if they lost.
She wasn’t really sure when she fell asleep, but she was suddenly being violently shaken awake, “Adara get up!” someone hissed.
Adara blinked awake then squinted in the bright sunlight, “Wazamatter?” she stumbled tiredly over her words, still not fully awake.
“For Merlin’s sake,” someone muttered then Adara no longer felt the ground beneath her. Normally, this would be a problem, but now, all Adara could think about was how warm she suddenly was and how much more comfortable her current position was. She sighed contently.
Then sense began to seep into her. She remembered waking up early; she remembered taking a walk around the castle; she remembered sitting to rest but that was all. She opened her eyes again and this time told them to stay open. She was now aware of the soft motion of someone carrying her. She looked up to the face of her holder, “Sirius?” she asked.
“Are you really awake this time?” he grinned down at her.
“What do you mean?” she asked, now fully awake, “and I can walk, thank you.” She twisted in his arms.
“Hold on, one second,” Sirius told her, tightening his grip on her. He was carrying her honeymoon style. Adara crossed her arms and waited. Sirius turned another corner then stopped and gently set Adara on her feet.
Adara stumbled then manage to stand up. She was suddenly aware that she was still in her robes and slippers. Great. “Why were you carrying me?” she asked, looking up at him. Sirius was in jeans and a tight red t-shirt; Adara tried not to let her eyes settle on his abs for to long.
“Because you happened to be sleeping right in front of the Gryffindor common room and, as it’s six–thirty, people are waking up and I thought you might not like to be found by the whole house asleep in your night clothes,” Sirius told her matter-of-factly.
Adara groaned, “Oh, no!”
“Don’t worry, if anyone saw you they didn’t make a big deal. I was one of the first out here, too.”
“Thanks, then,” Adara said, “but you could have just woken me up instead of carrying me.”
“I tried,” he told her, “well, for a while I just listened. You say the most interesting things in your sleep,” Adara blushed. She couldn’t remember what she had dreamed about, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want it vocalized. “but then when I tried to wake you up, you almost cursed me, so I just brought you here,” Sirius ended.
Adara nodded and looked around, still not ready to face him because she didn’t know what she’d said while asleep, “Where are we?” she asked.
“Your common room is just around the corner,” Sirius replied.
“How do you –”
“Ask me no questions and I’ll tell no lies,” Sirius smiled at her.
She sighed, “Fine, well I’d better get up before they realize I was gone.”
“Yeah.”
Adara walked past him then turned back around, “Oh, and kick some serpent arse today, alright?”
Sirius broke into a huge grin, “I plan to.”
Adara smiled back at him before walking to the stairs. Once she reached them she sprinted all the way to her common room and burst through the door as soon as she answered the question. The common room was no longer empty but Adara didn’t stay long enough to register who was there. She ran all the way to her dorm then shut the door as quietly as she could behind her. Estelle, whose bed was closest to the door, poked her head out of her curtains, “What are you doing?” she asked groggily.
“The door was open,” Adara faked a similar tone, “I was just shutting it.”
The other girl stared at Adara for a minute before grunting and disappearing behind her curtains. Adara let out a sigh of relief and tip-toed over to her own bed. She pulled some clothes and a towel out of her trunk then walked quietly over to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
*
“I hope that Gryffindor wins, they were really nice to switch with us like that,” Christine says from Adara’s right. The latter nodded and pulled her black cloak around her more tightly with the hand that wasn’t entwined with Jayden’s as the wind whipped her hair every which way. Despite the fact that she had Sirius’ sweater on underneath her own cloak (only because it was warm), she was still a bit chilly. The four of them (Jayden, Adara, Christine, and Cole) were on their way down to the pitch for the match. It was nine forty-five, they had fifteen minutes but wanted to get good seats.
“I think they have a good chance,” Cole comments, “I’ve heard that Potter’s had them practicing twice a day since Tuesday.”
“He has,” Adara answers before she can stop herself. Her friends stare at her, silently asked how she knew, “Lily told me.” She invented, not wanting to mention Sirius. Jayden always seemed to stiffen up when she did.
They walked for a while in silence before Jayden spoke, “This wind will make it hard to play. Makes me more grateful that we aren’t.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, except Adara. She wondered if it would hurt the Gryffindor team’s chances.
They got really good seats, front row a bit to the side of the mid-pitch. Adara checked Jayden’s watch, five minutes until it started. She glanced at the side that Gryffindor would come from. They should walk out to take a lap around the pitch anytime now. She looked around at everyone else that was filing in. Most of the Ravenclaws were cheering for Gryffindor, having heard of the kindness they had done for them. However, the Hufflepuffs were wearing silver and green; they would need Slytherin to have even the smallest chance for the cup. Adara narrowed her eyes at them. Stupid followers.
She heard the crowd roar and looked immediately to the entrance. Gryffindor was walking in. She smiled. Reason said that it should have been hard for Adara to see Sirius walk out from nearly 150 feet above him, but her eyes were drawn to him as if by force. She cheered along with half of the school.
“And that’s the Gryffindor team, people, with James Potter as the captain, this team is guaranteed to be well-trained. They were kind enough to take this game in place of the Ravenclaws, who have a member in the hospital with boils all over his –” Adara spun her head to look at who would be doing the commentary for this game. As usual, it was Remus Lupin. Adara hid a smile as McGonagall snatched the mike from him just in time.
She turned her head back to watch six red blurs and Sirius mounted their brooms and sped into the air. They raced around the pitch once then landed in the middle of the field to wait for the Slytherins. Remus must have convinced McGonagall to give the mike back, because he was commenting again, “And that’s the Gryffindor team,” he said.
The other half of the crowd erupted into cheers. Adara looked and saw seven green blurs fly in from the other entrance, loop around the pitch, and land opposite the Gryffindors.
The middle of the pitch looked oddly Christmas-colored. Sirius stood to the left of the center holding his beater’s bat in one hand and his broom in the other.
“And the Slytherins enter on the other side of the pitch on the new Clean Sweep, a bribe… I mean gift from Lucius Malfoy’s father,” Remus said.
The captains shook hands. Adara knew that each would go away with a sore hand. The referee held up her hand, Adara knew she was counting down. Three, two, one, she heard a whistle and everyone shot into the air, “And they’re off! It’s Potter with the quaffle, to the seventh year Bell – Potter – Neely– Bell – back to Neely, ouch and a lucky hit bludger by Crabbe gives Slytherin possession!”
Adara groaned. She searched the pitch and found Sirius just as he swung his bat close to Bell’s head. The bludger went flying straight for the Slytherin keeper. Adara smiled as it crashed into his arm; let’s see him use that to prevent a score. She tuned back in to Remus’ commentary, “ – and it’s intercepted by Neely – to Potter – Bell – Potter – Neely – SCORE! Slytherin’s keeper misses the dead–on throw by the very talented chaser Neely, who happens to look very nice in her kit! 10 – nil Gryffindor!” Adara jumped up and down with Christine as they cheered. It wasn’t much, but they were ahead.
She saw Sirius high-five the very tan girl named Neely then he went back to his job. He raced after the black ball then slammed it towards one of the Slytherin chasers.
“- Lestrange – Zabini – YES! A perfectly aimed bludger by Sirius Black soars right into Matthes and he drops the quaffle, Potter snags it and the three Gryffindor chasers fall into formation – to Neely – Bell – Neely – Potter – Bell – Potter aaand SCORE! Another bludger by Black takes out the Slytherin keeper as he misses the second save today. 20 – nothing good guys – sorry, Professor – Gryffindor.”
Adara squealed and clapped as hard as she could. She never noticed how good Sirius was as a beater. She always thought them to just protect the other players, but Sirius took beating to a new level: he had basically scored that one himself!
“Matthes – Lestrange – Zabini – Lestrange – Zabini doges a bludger from the other Gryffindor beater, Johnson – Matthes – Zabini –” Adara held her breath as the other team gained on the seventh year Gryffindor keeper, “and a tricky move by Lestrange… score. Slytherin finally puts some points on the board,” Remus added grudgingly. Adara set her jaw. Jayden cursed. Adara smiled sadly up at him, happy that they were on the same side.
She looked back to the playing field. She watched Sirius, ignoring everything else. You have to win, you have to! She told him mentally. And suddenly, right by his ear, Adara saw the snitch.
This was the only reason Adara hated coming to Quidditch matches, because a lot of the time she would spot the snitch multiple times before either of the seekers would. It really made her mad.
And today, fate was seriously pissing her off. Gryffindor was now down 90 – 50 and Adara had seen the snitch no less than five different times. She was about to pull her hair out. Of course, Slytherin was playing dirty and that was the main reason they were ahead, but if the Gryffindor seeker could just catch the snitch…!
“ – and Bell puts one through for Gryffindor, 90 – 60,” Remus was saying, “that snitch must be hiding today, folks, thirty minutes and counting and not one sighting by either of the seekers!”
Adara groaned as she looked around to find the Gryffindor seeker, Open your eyes! she told him mentally.
Another thirty minutes, and Slytherin was up 210 – 70 and there was only one sighting of the snitch by the Slytherin seeker. Luckily Sirius had aimed a bludger at the bloke’s head and he’d lost sight of it. The Slytherin beaters were being brutal, too. Adara had seen one huge bloke, Crabbe or something, actually hit one of the Gryffindor chasers with his bat. While half of the stands saw the same thing, the referee didn’t so no penalty was called.
“Potter with the quaffle, Bell – Neely – Bell – Potter – what’s that? The Gryffindor seeker is turning into a dive, this could be it!” Adara spun to look at the seeker again and immediately saw that he was chasing the little golden ball. But, uh-oh, the Slytherin chaser was on the other side. The two seekers were heading in the opposite direction towards the little golden ball. It was a game of chicken, only fifty feet in the air on brooms going about 90 miles an hour. This was not going to end well, “And the seekers are speeding towards the little ball in the middle of them, this looks bad people.” Remus said, “Who will pull out first? Slytherin or Gryffindor?”
Adara was wondering the same thing. She had her hands covering her mouth and was hardly breathing. They neared the ball, closer, closer, until, “And OH MY MERLIN!” the crowd erupted in cheers, Adara listened, not quite sure what had happened, “And Sirius Black has taken out the other seeker with a bludger that, if a foot off, would have taken out his own seeker. Gryffindor catches the snitch, 220 – 210, GRYFFINDOR WINS!!” Adara screamed and jumped up and down like a maniac! He’d done it! They’d done it!
Without even looking at any of her friends, Adara turned away from them and pushed her way as fast as she could through the crowd of people. She ran down the wooden stairs, cutting rudely through people and not caring. Finally she reached the pitch and sprinted out to the celebrating team. Sirius was grinning hugely and was facing her in this little teams circle. He looked up from the celebration and saw her.
Running between two of the Gryffindor teammates, Adara hit Sirius and threw her arms around him and her legs in the air, “YOU WON!” she yelled over the noise as she hugged him and he held her up.
She felt his chest move and knew he was laughing even though she, unfortunately, couldn’t hear it, “I know!” he said in her ear sending an odd sensation down her spine. She put her feet down and felt the ground, though barely.
She pulled her head back from his shoulder so she could see his face, “You were amazing!” she said.
He laughed again. She felt his breath on her face, another shiver that had nothing to do with the cold, “Thanks.” He set her down completely and she took a small step away from him, “Your boyfriend is giving us the death glare.” He stated plainly.
Adara looked over her shoulder and saw that Jayden had made it on the pitch and was indeed doing just that, “Sorry.” She said.
“It’s okay, he just doesn’t understand,” Sirius told her, somewhat sadly.
Adara nodded. It was too true, why couldn’t anyone understand that she and Sirius were just very good friends? Especially those of the male gender, i.e. David, Jayden, Potter.
“Well, you were awesome,” Adara told him excitedly, “with those perfectly aimed bludgers! I’ve never seen anything like it!”
Sirius smiled, “Yes you have, last year,” he pointed out.
“Yeah, but I wasn’t paying attention to you, then,” she said before her mind caught up with her words. Adara blushed and there was a very awkward pause, “I mean, I didn’t know you then.”
Sirius grinned at her more, “Right,” he said, “but you’d better go before Booty decides to come over here and attempt to kick my arse.”
“He wouldn’t do that, he owes you for today,” Adara pointed out.
“Maybe,” Sirius allowed.
They just looked at each other for a minute. Adara noted that his cheeks and nose were pink from the cold and that his hair was windblown. It was a… good look for him. She blushed and looked at her feet at the thought. She had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who was waiting and staring a few feet away.
“Well, I’d better go, you are amazing,” she said, then blushed again, “I mean, at Quidditch.”
Adara could tell that Sirius was trying not to laugh at her making a fool out of herself, “Thanks.”
“See you later,” Adara waved. Sirius nodded and Adara turned and walked back to Jayden.
“That was such a good match wasn’t it?” Adara asked Jayden happily as they walked back to the castle. She was in a good mood despite just having embarrassed herself.
“Yeah,” Jayden answered staring straight ahead with a hard look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Adara asked, though she knew the answer.
“Nothing.”
“Jayden,” Adara pulled him to the side so that they wouldn’t get trampled by the crowd of people leaving, “I’ve been with you for three years, I know something is up.”
Jayden was looking anywhere but at Adara. She was getting worried, Sirius had never bothered him this much before. They were friends, how many times did she have to tell people this? “Is it Sirius?” she asked.
Jayden refused to look at her. He was looking over her head at the Forbidden Forest, “Jay, look at me!”
And finally, he did. “Why are you being like this?” she asked.
Jayden laughed a weird laugh, “It’s just like David told me,” he said. Adara’s whole body froze. He had told him. She felt like she was slowly breaking apart into tiny pieces. Betrayal did that.
“What?” she managed to whisper.
“I didn’t want to believe him, but after that display,” he motioned to the pitch.
“Friends,” Adara managed to say, “Friends.” But, against her will the night in the hospital wing flooded her mind.
Jayden shook his head in disbelief.
“I just hugged him, Jay, I don’t…” she tried to explain. How could her boyfriend of three years think that she liked Sirius? “I hug David and Xeno.” She managed to say.
Jayden looked at her with an expression Adara couldn’t read, “Yes, but they think of you as a friend, too.”
It took Adara a minute, but she finally understood. Jayden didn’t think that Adara fancied Sirius, he thought that Sirius fancied Adara! She felt her heart begin to beat again. She reached down and took Jayden’s hand in both of hers. He let her, “You think that Sirius fancies me?” she asked.
Jayden looked at her as if she were stupid, “Think? Addie that guy is in love with you.” And Adara couldn’t help it, she smiled. Jayden scowled at her and pulled his hand out of hers.
“No, Jay,” she said, “I’m sorry.” He began to walk away from her, her smile faded, “Jay, wait, listen.”
She ran to catch up to him and grabbed his arm. She pulled him back away from the crowd, “That is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard in my life,” she told him. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she saw Sirius kissing her that night in the hospital wing.
That was a mistake! I kissed him back, but I’m not in love with him. She told herself.
“Addie, you don’t see the way that he looks at you!” Jayden told her.
Adara blinked at him, “Are you serio –” she stopped mid-word knowing that that was not the right one to use, “I thought that I was there when he looked at me, my mistake.” She said.
Jayden rolled her eyes, “Yes, you are there, but you aren’t a guy.”
“Thanks for clearing that one up,” Adara crossed her arms sarcastically. There was nothing special about the way that Sirius looked at her.
“Adara,” Jayden said. Adara heard a hint of anger in his voice, “what I mean is that you wouldn’t know what to look for.”
“My incompetence must blind me,” Adara snapped back.
“You know that’s not what I meant,” Jayden told her somewhat harshly. He ran his fingers through his hair, “but can you honestly say that he looks at you the same way that David or Xeno or Cole do?”
“Yes,” Adara answered immediately. Without taking time to think about it; she didn’t want to.
“Then maybe you are blinded,” Jayden shot back at her.
Adara lost her retort in the context and tone of his voice. He had never been like this to her before. She felt tears threatening to overcome her. She wiped them out of he corner of her eye with a gloved hand then looked up at Jayden, whose angry glare was quickly fading into one of remorse, “If that’s the way you feel, fine,” Adara said then turned on her heal to walk against the crowd. She didn’t know where she was going, but she wanted away from people. Away from the celebration of the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. Just… away.
“Adara, wait, I’m sorry!” she heard Jayden call after her and she hurried away. She didn’t look back as she prayed that he wouldn’t try to follow her. Hopefully he had more sense than that.
They had never been in a fight like this before. Usually, the two were the ideal couple. They hardly ever fought, and if they did it was over something stupid like what to do for Easter break. And they always made up within a few hours. This time, however, it was worse. This was not some meaningless “you come with me for vacation this time” issue. Not only had Jayden insulted her friend, but he had called her incompetent.
And there was also a fresh wave a guilt that swept over her. The kiss and the fact that she didn’t see Sirius the same way she saw David or Xeno made her want to crawl into a hole. And did he look at her the same way her other guy friends did? Maybe she and Sirius were just closer friends. They had more fun together, that was for sure.
Without knowing it, Adara had walked back to the Quidditch pitch. She walked out to one of the stands, sat against one of the supporting beams, and allowed herself to cry.
*****
A/N: Dispite the fact that you all probably either like me for having Jayden and Adara fight or don't like me for ending it there, I actually like this chapter. There are a lot of little Sirius/Adara hints, even if she doesn't realize it. I'm just going to warn you right now, next chapter is INTENSE. Not just because or Adara/other guy moments either.
Please review, I'll think of it as a birthday present. haha. I'm so grateful to all of you that reviewed and all of you that favorited my story. This is heading for the same review count as Erin which AMAZES me. I love you all. haha.
Anyway, please review.
Preveiw:
She pushed open the door with all her strength and began to speed walk up to the castle. She couldn’t help but eye the Forbidden Forrest wearily. “Lumos,” she whispered. Light flooded the ground in front of her and she instantly felt better. She continued walking at a fast pace and was just passing Hagrid’s cabin when she saw something move out of her peripheral vision. She did the absolute worse thing she could have: she froze. She turned to see whatever it was head on and just froze with fear. Something was running up from the Forbidden Forrest. Run! Run! Her brain told her. And she wanted to, she really did. However, her body seemed to have no intention of doing so.
dun. dun. dunnnnnnnnnnn.
Review, you know the formula! =]
Write a Review Along Came Sirius: Chapter Fourteen: Match
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