Siriusly Deluded

Ch. 10: Invitations

Weeks later, Lauren and Sirius were sitting on a table in the Great Hall, staring into the dying embers of the fire. Lauren, Remus, James, and Lily had all been assigned (along with the other prefects) the task of decorating the hall for Christmas. Not wanting to be left out, Sirius and Peter had come along to "help" them. They had been in there all day, hanging ornaments on the trees, wreaths on the doors, and garland along the tables.

Over the past few weeks, Lauren had been spending more time with Sirius and his friends. She and Lily, who had been officially dating James for a while, had also become quite close. The Monday after the Gryffindor party was not fun for Lauren. She was on the receiving end of many unfriendly stares. In classes, she could hear people talking about her, as if she wasn't even there. She tried to ignore it, but it was really hard. However, whenever she felt like she couldn't take it anymore, one of the Marauders would offer a friendly gesture, like a smile or a wink.

The Marauders, as usual, had managed to make what could have been a menial task quite enjoyable. For most of the day, there had been mainly laughing and little working. Yet, once th four boys had been split up by Professor Flitwick, who was overseeing the project, a problem still remained.

Sirius, who had decided many years ago that he preferred muggle music, mainly to annoy his parents, knew just about every Christmas song ever written. Apparently, he had taught the Marauders quite a few of them.

Every ten minutes or so, one of them would randomly break into song. And from each respective spot in the room, the other Marauders would join in, belting the lyrics at the top of their lungs.

Lauren couldn't help but smile every time that happened. Sirius had a nice singing voice and all, but she was very glad that he backed away from her while chiming in. She didn't really want a busted ear drum. After a while, Sirius would drop his voice a few hundred decibels and step closer to her, singing softly in her ear.

Lauren smiled, and tried to hum along or sing the occasional phrase (she didn't remember many of the words from when he taught her) when she saw Sirius looking at her with his infamous puppy-dog eyes.

After a while, the boys got weary of singing. Lauren wondered how they didn't lose their voices. With little entertainment from the Marauders, people gradually started leaving the Great Hall. Lily and James snuck off to Merlin-knows-where. Remus, who Lauren noticed had been looking exhausted all day, had tramped off to the Gryffindor dormitories. Peter had scampered after a rather disgusted sixth year Hufflepuff. Soon the rest of the students emptied the Great Hall, leaving Sirius and Lauren alone.

Without a word, Lauren took Sirius' hand and began to pull him across the huge room. He was confused, but he followed her lead. When Lauren reached the far table, she sat down, directly in front of the fireplace. Sirius sighed at sat down next to her, as closely as possible. He wondered what was going on, but he didn't press the issue at first.

After waiting a while, he nudged her gently with his shoulder, smiling at her. When she turned her head and smiled back, he offered softly, "Galleon for your thoughts."

Lauren smiled again. Then she said quietly, "I was going to ask you something, but I wasn't sure if I should."

"Try me," Sirius replied gently.

"Well...my parents are throwing this Christmas Ball...And I was wondering if you wanted to stay with us for the holidays and go to the ball...You don't have to if you don't want. I mean, I don't expect you to--"

"What are you going on about?" Sirius asked laughingly.

"I knew I shouldn't have asked," Lauren faltered, looking down.

Sirius used his hand to lift her chin up so she was looking at him. "Of course I'll come," he murmured softly.

Her eyes lit up. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. Besides, if you hadn't invited me, I probably would have ended up in your fireplace anyway," he said.

Lauren grinned and said, "Who said I didn't keep it closed to keep out hooligans like you?" She struggled to keep a straight face when she used the word "hooligan."

Sirius smirked. Then he joked, "Then I guess I'll just have to apparate right into your bed for you to unwrap on Christmas morning."

Lauren swatted him on the arm, but then smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. He grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers into hers. They sat there for a while, saying nothing.

"I'll come on one condition," Sirius said, breaking the silence.

"Hmm," Lauren replied sleepily.

"You have to come visit me," he bargained.

"At your flat?" she asked, slightly more awake. After staying the summer at the Potters, Sirius had rented his own apartment right before seventh year started. He didn't want to wear out his welcome with his "second" family. Mrs. Potter had always been more like a mother to him than his own, and he and James fully believed that they were brothers.

"Yeah," he answered, looking down at her.

"It's a deal," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. But then she squeezed his hand and tilted her face to look up at him. Then she brushed the back of her free hand across his forehead, pushing the hair out of his eyes.

He smiled and grabbed her other hand. He stood up and pulled her along with him, walking swiftly until he stopped suddenly. Then, with a grin on his face, he lifted his gaze to the ceiling.

Lauren looked up to see what he was looking at. She smiled too when she saw the mistletoe suspended above them. She stepped up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Happy Christmas," she whispered softly before she was silenced by his lips.