Chapter Eight - Peggy.

Why does Saoirse have to be so rude to me? She's only been here as long as I have, how come she knows so much about Sirius Black? He's just a boy. Although, as much as I try to reassure Saoirse that I just want a friend, he's so attractive, with that hair, and that charming smile. 

I pick up my books and sit down at a table here in the library, ready to study for my Defense Against the Dark Arts test that's coming up next week. If I flunk another one, I'm going to get an owl sent home, and then I'll have to tell the headmaster that I actually don't have a guardian anymore. That will be exceptionally awkward, to say the least. 
All of these articles and figures make no sense to me. After about five minutes of staring at the same chart, I put my head down on the open book, my curls falling in front of my face. I'm utterly exhausted. 

After Saoirse and I had that argument last night, I couldn't sleep a wink. I was tossing and turning all night long. I don't mean that I kept going in and out of sleep, like most people do. I watched every hour go by, counting the time. I went down to the common room at around four and found someone's cup of tea, then heated it with my wand and drank it. I stayed in the armchair for the last two hours, watching a blush of rosy pink creep slowly across the horizon.
At breakfast, I wasn't awake enough to be hungry, so I drank some coffee. That gave me enough energy to power through a couple hours of laughing and talking with Zinia, but now I'm slumped again.

"Would you like help with that?" The voice that I hear is masculine, soft and friendly, with a hint of amusement in it. I look up to see a boy of medium height, with a gentle flop of sandy brown hair. His eyes are green and sparkling, and there's a couple of wide scars across his face lengthwise. He has a small smile, and his robes are patched and fraying. 
"Yes, please." I pull my hair into some semblance of a ponytail, leaving a few strands loose around my face. I mean, I am attracted to someone else, but I have to make a good impression nonetheless. 
"I don't believe we've met. I'm Remus Lupin," the boy says, extending a hand. I shake it, my French manicure (Muggle nail varnish is one of my favorite money-uses) gleaming in the light of the library. 
"Margaret Glenn," I say, tucking a curl behind my ear.
"Call me Remus," he says, running a hand through his hair to spike it.
"I go by Peggy," I say at the same time, and we both laugh awkwardly.

"D'you mind if I sit?" Remus asks. 
"Please," I say, pulling out the leather-backed chair next to mine. 
He sits, puts his feet up on the table. "What unit are you studying, Peggy?"
I rest my chin in my hands, and blow a strand of hair out of my face. "We're studying the same unit as you are, silly. Morphic animals and creatures of multiple appearances. And I can't figure out any of the charts."

"Oi, Megs!"
I look up to see Sirius Black, tousle-haired and smiling. His tie is crooked and he's not wearing his vest like we're supposed to. I mean, technically, I'm not wearing mine either, and I have a long, Gypsy-style yellow skirt instead of the short uniform skirt, but I like rebellious dressers.
"Sirius!" My face lights up, and I'm extremely thankful that my hair's under control. 
"How are you?"
"Good, good," I say, standing and pushing my chair in. "Yourself?"
"Better, now that I see you. You got any plans for the day?"
I giggle. "No, not really. I was just planning to study for my test next week."

Sirius smiles. "You could do that." He spins and then sweeps me off my feet, holding me around the waist and turning me in a circle. "Or you could come to Hogsmeade with me."
I laugh as he sets me down. "You really want me to?"
"Of course!"
"Then sure. I'd love to." I wave to Remus. "Thanks for helping me study!"

In Hogsmeade, the weather is sunny and cool, and the wind is gentle. My hair blows around a little, and Sirius has to keep adjusting his tie, but it's pleasant nonetheless. 
We've been talking for over an hour now, and every word he says just enthralls me more. We step into the Three Broomsticks, and I hear a familiar, lilting Irish voice. 
"-does exactly what I told her not to, of course, goes on the bloody date with him anyway-"
It's Saoirse, sitting with Kate and Lena, the ones who warned me not to go for Sirius. Well, too bad. I grab his hand almost savagely, smiling cheerfully at him and glaring at their table. Kate catches my eye and waves. Lena shakes her head, letting her ash-blonde hair fall across her eyes. Saoirse, on the other hand, is nowhere near as passive, and flips me an exceptionally rude hand gesture. 

When he sees the girls and their reactions to me, Sirius laughs. "Aren't those girls your friends?"
"They were," I say, a touch of bitterness coming across in my tone. "But Saoirse and Lena and I have had a bit of a falling-out. Kate's just...odd, and Claire doesn't like me anyway. I suppose I'm on my own at the moment."
Sirius shakes his head, a lock of shaggy hair slipping out from behind his ear. "You're not on your own, you've got me! What did you guys argue about?"
Oh, God. I can't tell him that we were fighting about him. I bite my lip. "Well...it was just something pointless. Really silly, totally worthless, but it blew up. I'm sure you don't want to hear about it." I'm babbling now, my eyes flicking to either side.

"Alright then." Sirius looks amused, and goes up to buy us some Butterbeer. 
"If it isn't Miss Margaret Glenn," says a voice, and I look up to see James Potter, Remus Lupin, and a roly-poly smaller boy by the name of Peter. James continues to speak, a tone of amusement creeping into his voice. 
"So, tell us how you did it."
"Did what?" I fold my arms, and my legs stiffen into a defensive stance under my skirt. Three years of pointless ninjutsu training kicking in as always.
"Snared Sirius," James replies, crossing his arms as well. "He's the hottest commodity in our year, and nobody even knows who you are. What love potion did you use?"
My cheeks blaze. "I didn't use a love potion." My toe scuffs on the floor, and I look down, embarrassed. 

James leans closer, and I shy away. 
"Come on, you can tell us. I won't tell anyone."
"What are you doing to my date, James?" Sirius is back, two bottles of chilled Butterbeer in hand, plus a little something that he slips up his sleeve. 
"We're just getting acquainted," James sneers, his glasses sliding down his nose. 
"Come on, Megs, let's go walk around. I know a spot," says Sirius, glaring at his friends. 

We're up on a hill now, sitting under a tree. Sirius uncaps my Butterbeer for me, then his own. We tap the bottles together and I take a sip of the cool, fizzing liquid. The sun touches my face, and I sit back against the tree.
"You know, I'm glad I met you," I say, setting my bottle down in the grass. "I feel like you understand what I'm feeling."
Sirius laughs. "I get what you mean. I think you understand being an outcast."
"Yeah, because I am," I say, sighing. "You're all popular and handsome and you could have any girl you want. But you picked an outcast Hufflepuff who can't make a potion right."
He shakes his head. "No, I picked a gorgeous, friendly, sweet Hufflepuff who's much better at academics than she thinks. And I know more about being an outcast than you'd think- I'm one in my own home."
"What do you mean?" I ask, stretching my arms over my head. 
"Well, my mother hates me because I don't share her views about purebloods, and because I'm a Gryffindor. She's a supremacist, and of course my brother's a total suck-up, agreeing with everything she says and making her proud by being in Slytherin and all. As soon as I'm seventeen, I'm leaving home and never going back."

I sip my Butterbeer again. "I know what you mean. My mother and I have never gotten along, but when my dad died, we started having rows every day, practically. When I left for here, she and I exchanged several Howlers, and I said some things I shouldn't have, and...she kicked me out of the house. I'm out on my own now."
Sirius whistles under his breath. "Good Lord, I thought I had problems."
I take his hand, more gently than before, and snuggle against his chest, the warm air making me feel more comfortable than ever. "It's alright. Saoirse's going to help me...or she was. I guess I'll figure out something else."

Walking back to the castle later, Sirius smiles at me. We head towards the entrance to his common room, and I'm still in a bit of a haze from the sun. We stop in front of the portrait that marks the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. 
"Well, that was lovely," I say, beaming. "Thank you for taking me."
"Of course," he says, smiling. Then, he reaches into his sleeve and pulls out a yellow rose. He reveals it with a flourish and then tucks it behind my ear. "For you."
I smile softly as well, adjusting my hair around the flower. "It's beautiful."
And then he's kissing me, and it's the first time anyone's ever done that, and his hands around my waist but I don't know what to do with mine so I kind of put them on his shoulders, and this is the best I've felt in a long time, and then it's over. The end. 

Sirius disappears into the common room, but I stand there for a while, shocked and grinning.