Chapter 7- Mudtime Blues
Sirius Black awoke bright and early on the sunny, Saturday morning. Normally, he wouldn't be seen until past noon, but with weather as nice as this, it couldn't be wasted on sleep. He had big plans for that day but they wouldn't work out unless Moony, Prongs, and Wormtail awoke at a decent hour.
He got up and walked into the surprisingly unoccupied bathroom. None of his other roommates were awake yet, but Sirius was too twitchy to sleep. He hadn't gotten out on the Quidditch field yet and was preparing to do so. Sirius jumped into the shower, singing an off-key melody, and changed quickly.
He saw that Moony was collapsed on his bed and felt the urge to annoy. Prongs was probably sleeping after his long night previously, so Moony was next in line to bug. He jumped right onto Remus's bed and screamed "Good morning sunshine," in a sing-song voice he saved for moments like these.
"Sirius, you crazy idiot, it's Saturday. Go bug Wormtail," Remus said, then pushed the pillow over his head and tried to fall back asleep.
"You're no fun," Sirius said. He saw Wormtail halfway on his bed and halfway off.
Some people sleep in the weirdest positions, he thought.
It was 5:30 on a Saturday morning and almost no one gets up that early. Sirius walked down the stone steps into the Gryffindor Common Room to see another person already there. He knew at once who it was. He saw long, dark hair, hunching over a green, matted book on the couch.
Halle Douglas was sitting on the large, Gryffindor Couch reading her book intently. She seemed to be studying the pages and absorbing the content. The book, 'Quidditch Through the Ages' would normally not be caught on Halle's reading list. Many people knew Halle as the spoilsport who ruined Quidditch. Halle hated Quidditch because she hated Sirius with a passion. But, the desire in her heart caused her to do spontaneous things such as Quidditch. Today she couldn't deny it.
"Hey Douglas, good book?" Sirius called from the archway by the stone steps. Halle jumped about a foot into the air and looked over her shoulder. She groaned at the sight of Sirius and placed her bookmark in the book.
"Black, what the hell are you doing up this early?" she asked him, swearing under her breathe.
"Why, I am seeing why you're up so early," he replied sarcastically.
"Really, why're you up this early? I got up so I can enjoy some peace and quiet for once. You should be happy, you disrupted it," Halle replied angrily.
"Same thing you're doing up. Working on my Quidditch," he said, smiling at her anger. "I was gonna go practice, you want to join me?"
She contemplated the thought for a moment. Before her hate could take control her heart said, "Sure."
"Ok, I'll be right back. I am gonna go borrow Moony's broom," he said, running up the stairs. Halle could hear Remus's yells which sounded like, "Sirius, you freaking lunatic, go away," and then she chuckled as Sirius said, "Love you too sweetums."
He raced down the stairs and caught his breathe and handed Halle a broom.
"You ready?" he asked her. She nodded intently.
"Um, Sirius, I don't know how to play Quidditch," Halle said nervously, as they walked onto the field.
"Well, most of it comes naturally. You're either really good or really bad. You have to try all the positions out to see," he said casually. "You've flown before, right?"
She nodded and started mounting her broom.
"And you know the rules to Quidditch? And all the techniques?" he added.
"Yep," she said.
"Then you should be fine. Like I said, most of it's natural ability," Sirius said. He mounted his broom and took off for a second, enjoying the cool breeze. He came back down and reached into a trunk he'd brought with them.
"Nicked it from Hooch last year," Sirius explained, seeing Halle's curious looks.
He pulled out a Quaffle. He handed it to her.
"We have one Chaser opening and one Beater. I think we'll try Chaser now and I'll play Keeper until you get the feel of it," Sirius said. "Ok?"
"Ok, I'm ready," she said as she whirled into the air. She loved the feeling of soaring above the ground. She felt the wind tickle her hair and she loved every second of it. She then felt her grip on the Quaffle. It wasn't that strong, but it wasn't bad. She tried to throw it through one of the rings but missed it by a long shot. Sirius threw it back to her. She tried again and again. After fifteen tries she finally made one. Sirius clapped and let out a whoop for her.
"Ok, now it's time to try Beater. We can both do this. Take this bat and every time the Bludger comes near you, give it a good whack as hard as you can towards me. If all goes well, we should be able to pass the Bludger for a while, until one of us misses," he said.
She took the bat and watched as he released the Bludger. He hurried onto his broom and soared opposite to her. The Bludger came near her and she mustered all her strength and whacked it towards Sirius. She laughed as she imagined the Bludger hitting his head, yet she just saw the Bludger return to her. She hit it again and again until she could hit no more.
"Douglas, hit it towards the ground," Sirius called, from below. He must have just flew down there and was waiting to put the Bludger away. She whacked it towards the ground and saw Sirius grasp it with his chest and tackle it to the ground. He struggled to put it back into the trunk.
He stood up and faced Halle.
"Douglas, I am Captain of the team this year alongside James. We worked out this co-partnership thing and McGonagall allowed us to do so. But, as co-Captain and Beater of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, I think you should try out. You're really good and we could use you this year," he said.
Sirius was being serious. He wanted her to join the team. Before her brain could say no her heart answered yet again. "Yes, I'll be there," she said.
"Great! With us as Beaters, Remus as Keeper, and James as Seeker we will be unstoppable," he sung. She laughed at him, that was the Sirius she knew.
The clouds shifted and the beautiful day turned into a storm. The rain surprisingly fell from the clouds and landed onto the soft ground. Sirius and Halle were far from the school and they had to run to return to the castle. Sirius was running but saw that Halle had stopped. He turned around and saw her dancing in the rain, her hands out and her mouth open.
He grinned. As he tried to run back to her, he slipped and fell onto his back and into the mud. Halle saw this and laughed and tried to reach him, but fell as well in the process of doing so. She landed on top of him and looked into his eyes.
"Sorry," she said blushing.
"No problem here, I rather like it," Sirius said. His gray, warm eyes comforted her and she noticed the immense attraction she felt for him and the electric chemistry flowing between the two. Sirius responded by reflex and brought his lips to hers. She didn't hold back, but caressed her lips against his warm ones. Then she realized what she was doing. Sirius Black was not her boyfriend or anything else. He was Black, the boy she hated above all else. She also knew he didn't care about her, but cared about his reputation.
She got up and began running away. Sirius tried to stop her but his knees slipped and he landed back into the mud. He lay there, in the rain, thinking of what had just happened between the two of them and a smile gleamed across his face.
Halle heard her feet splashing across the mud, surprising herself that she didn't fall. She had no idea where she was running to, but had the clear picture of who she was running from in her mind and heart.