Chapter 4
As soon as James and Sirius left the Hospital Wing, with considerably less hair than they had yesterday, they immediately began plotting their revenge against Severus Snape. Something bigger, badder, and more embarrassing than the fiasco that occurred in Professor Slughorn’s classroom. If Snivellus thought he could get the best of them, he was sorely mistaken…he should’ve learned that lesson during their first year!
“All right; let’s think, boys! This shouldn’t be difficult,” James said as they walked towards their first class of the day - Transfiguration. “We always have the upper hand over him, and that’s bloody well not going to change now!”
“You could try inflating his head. Oh wait! I forgot you and Sirius already did that,” Peter suggested, remembering that they had already used that on Bertram Aubrey last term. It cost them a double detention when his head swelled to twice its normal size. It was quite funny actually and well worth the detention.
“Please tell me you have a good idea, Moony!” James was growing impatient as Remus silently pondered his answer. It was usually easy for them to find ways to get back at Severus Snape, but today none of them could think of anything original. Everything they thought of had either already been done before, or was simply not big enough.
“I’m sure I found a really good one while I was reading my new book. I’ll look at it after class and let you know.”
“What about it, Padfoot? Think we can wait until after class?” James was particularly puzzled by Sirius’ attitude this morning. Sirius was always excited about pranking someone, but today his mind was elsewhere. He had barely said a word all morning.
“Sure, James,” he mumbled before he went back to thinking about the day before. He had asked himself the same question many times but he still didn’t have the answer. Who does Rosa think she is anyway? Does she honestly think that because she’s an Auror’s daughter she’s better than anyone else? And why did he, Sirius Black, care what she thought? She was just a girl. Good for one thing and one thing only.
Just as soon as those thoughts entered his mind, he caught sight of Samiya and Lily entering the classroom. Well, one thing was for sure…it wasn’t over just yet!
“What’s his problem?” James asked Remus and Peter as Sirius walked away without saying another word. Running inside the classroom, Sirius caught sight of an empty desk right behind Samiya.
“Can you believe her? And then she said…. What are you doing here?” Samiya added, after finally noticing Sirius sitting right behind them, watching the two girls with a clearly amused expression. He leaned back in the chair, making himself comfortable.
“Isn’t this an empty desk?”
“Yes, but your friends are on the other side of the classroom, Black. What do you want?”
“Just thought I’d try a change of scenery.” He smiled innocently, leaning back in his chair. He couldn’t help but smile at Samiya’s confused expression. She obviously couldn’t tell what his true intentions were in regards to sitting behind her and Lily.
“I see you shaved.” Both girls laughed loudly at Samiya’s comment. Besides a few stray hairs here and there, both James and Sirius seemed to be back to normal. However, it would take a long time to forget that just yesterday they looked like two hairy bears.
“HA HA! Very funny.” Sirius frowned, leaning towards the girls. “You’re laughing now, but just wait till the both of you see what we have planned for Snivellus,” he added as Professor McGonagall entered the classroom. Tilting back his chair, he couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Samiya was going to pay dearly for her comment.
It didn’t take long for Sirius to notice how hard Samiya worked in every one of her classes. Evans and Rosa were a regular pair of teacher’s pets! It was either one or the other that usually had the right answers, and when not being a know-it-all, Samiya was writing down as much as she could.
“Psst… Rosa.”
“Yes, Black?” Samiya replied, not bothering to look back at Sirius. She was still half-paying attention to the class which was a review of non-verbal spells.
“Can you hand me an extra quill? I forgot mine.”
“Ask someone who cares,” she replied, copying the notes from the board.
“Then I have no other choice than to talk to you the rest of the class.” Samiya turned around roughly. What was he trying to pull? Get her to fail Transfiguration?
“Leave me alone. Can’t you see we’re in the middle of class?”
Sirius smirked, leaning back in his chair once more. Getting her mad was easier than he thought, and of course it had its advantages. She looked cute when she was mad. Samiya turned back towards the front of the classroom, trying to catch up with the material.
“Why don’t you stop pretending to ignore me and talk to me? I’m bored, you know,” Sirius continued, rolling up a spare piece of parchment and throwing it at her head. He could hear her grumbling to Lily as she grabbed the piece of parchment from where it had landed on her table.
“Who says I’m pretending?” Samiya turned around once more, throwing it back at his face.
“Miss Rosa and Mr. Black, do you want to share your conversation with the rest of class?” They were being so loud that they hadn’t noticed that Professor McGonagall had stopped her lecture.
“No, Professor,” they both replied.
“Very well then. Let us continue with the lesson.” But Samiya didn’t get to hear much of the lesson as Sirius kept poking her in the back for the next five minutes. This was the last straw! The next time Sirius Black did anything to interrupt her; he’d be getting the verbal lashing of his life!
“Oh, Rosa?”
“THAT IS IT! Can’t you get it through your big head that I DON’T want to talk to you? LEAVE ME ALONE!”
“Miss Rosa, what is the meaning of this outburst?” Samiya was so angry she had forgotten she was in the middle of class. Glancing around, she could see Professor McGonagall looking livid. Her lips were pursed in a tight line and her eyes flashed warningly. Samiya mumbled a quick apology before turning forward again; not before giving Sirius a dirty look.
“And Mr. Black, do I even have to ask what you did?”
“It’s not my fault she’s desperate to date me.” He smirked, running a hand through his dark hair.
“I wouldn’t date you even if my life depended on it,” Samiya retorted. The nerve of him! Telling everyone that she wanted to date him! Samiya couldn’t deny that he was attractive, but why would she ever consider dating anyone as conceited as him?
“Frankly, I do not care if you want to date each other but leave the shameless flirting out of classroom where it belongs. I’ll see the both of you in detention tonight for your lack of respect for your fellow students, who actually want to pay attention to the class.”
“But I didn’t do anything! It was his fault!” Samiya yelled, pointing at Sirius, who took the opportunity to blow her a kiss. Lily had to hold Samiya back from killing him at this point.
“Would you like another detention, Miss Rosa?”
“No. I’m sorry, Professor,” Samiya said, forcing herself to calm down a bit, afraid of what shade of crimson McGonagall’s face was going to turn next.
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Samiya stormed into the Transfiguration classroom ready to get her detention done as quickly as possible. She hadn’t had a detention in years! Not since she became serious about becoming an Auror, and Sirius Black landed her in a detention in just one day. Part of her really wanted to get another detention just for killing him, but what good would that do? Well, it would take that smirk off his face that he had all day after telling everyone that she wanted to date him! And to think she had spent the rest of the day trying to avoid all his jealous admirers and ex-girlfriends who suddenly marked her as an enemy.
“Good. He’s not here yet,” Samiya said to herself as she began cleaning one side of the Transfiguration classroom. She made sure to grab the cleaner area of the classroom before Sirius could get there. It was the least he could do after embarrassing her like that! Soon, however, her thoughts were interrupted by the person she had now dubbed as the bane of her existence.
“So all we have to do is clean this? Not bad at all.” Sirius took a seat at an empty desk opposite Samiya. “I’ve had worse detentions with James.”
“Save it for someone who cares.”
“Jeez... A little touchy tonight are we, Rosa?” James was right; both of these girls were too serious. They were seventeen for crying out loud! “I was just having a little fun with you.” Samiya stopped cleaning, turning towards Sirius in disbelief.
“You mean having a little bit of fun at my expense. I particularly enjoyed the part where I was threatened by half the girls at Hogwarts.” She couldn’t even understand why she continued to talk to him but as soon as she began, it was hard to stop talking. “Apparently there’s a rumor going around that we’re dating. Could you even imagine how that happened?”
“Just half the girls? Wow, I’m losing my touch.” Sirius laughed. Although he did feel a little guilty about what he did, it was kind of funny to imagine all the death threats Samiya must’ve gotten from the girls at school. Too bad she didn’t see it the same way.
The rest of the night seemed to drag on slowly, as Sirius attempted to make conversation with Samiya. He would’ve probably had more luck talking to the wall than his detention partner!
“So when are you going to shut up?” Sirius looked at Samiya, puzzled by her attitude. Most of the girls he dated had no problems with him talking about himself. Or maybe it was fact that they were trying to impress him. Sirius didn’t really know.
“When are you going to start talking to me?” Sirius retorted, causing Samiya to sigh. It was enough to drive her crazy! Samiya had chosen to ignore him all night. It was either that, or kill him. Every word that came out of his mouth was something about either himself of one of his friends… It was sickening. And Samiya Rosa had had enough.
“If it will get you to stop talking about your bloody adventures, I just might. All right, what do you want to know?”
“Well, I don’t know! School, Quidditch, friends, the future… whatever you want to talk about.” Samiya took a seat right across from her classmate, pleasantly surprised at his answer.
“School’s fine. A lot of work but I’m trying to take it day by day. Besides, having Lily and Cate as your friends doesn’t hurt either. As for Quidditch, I can’t wait till our first match against Slytherin. I practiced a few new moves over the summer that might help us win. Cate and Lily are fine. And as for future… what can I say?”
“You have big plans for it. It seems as if you have your whole future planned out.” Samiya’s face brightened at Sirius’ comment. He never seemed the type of guy to pay attention to those things. But then again, in a family like hers, your career was bound to be important.
“I’ve dreamed about taking my place beside my family since I was a little girl.” Every one of them was doing something important in the war, whether it was by working in the ministry or healing the sick and wounded. Samiya couldn’t have been more proud of them.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do until I was fifteen. The night my brother-in-law was murdered. It sparked something in me. And from that day on I knew I wanted to be an Auror like my father and brother. Fighting dark wizards, saving lives, making a difference in the world around us. I’m sorry; you probably think I’m being silly.” She hadn’t meant to act so emotional in front of Sirius, but it was a matter close to her heart. She still missed her older sister, Ana’s, husband. It had been the first time she had experienced the grief of losing of loved one. Although she was still grieving, she was now even more determined to fight against Voldemort and his followers once she was of age.
“I don’t think you’re being silly at all.” Sirius couldn’t help but be impressed with her. It was an honorable dream and something he completely admired. “And I understand you a little better than you think.”
“Really?”
“Being an Auror is the only thing that I could ever do after the war.” It was the second time Sirius Black had left her speechless in a night. She had always assumed that he and James Potter never took anything seriously, including their future careers.
“The ministry is going to need all the help they can get in this war. Besides, what better way can I stand against people like my family?” he continued, lost in his thoughts. The ultimate act of defiance against his family would be to fight against everything they stand for.
“I think you’ll be a great Auror.” Samiya smiled. She could see the same fire in his eyes that her father had. The same passion in his voice that she had when she spoke about it. And it was obvious that Sirius had a love for the action and adventure that a career like that brought you. It was evident by all his adventures with James, Remus and Peter.
“Thank you.” Now he was the one who was speechless. That was probably the first compliment Samiya had given him in seven years. Not only that but it was one of the nicest he’d ever received in his life.
“Now do you think you can tell your fan club to back off and leave me alone?”
“Why? You mean you don’t want to date me?”
“Sirius Black, I’m warning you!”
“All right! Calm down.”
The rest of the night passed by quickly, as Samiya and Sirius had gone back to bickering as they usually did. But their dislike had been replaced with a new sense of respect and admiration that finding a common dream will bring you. Maybe they could learn to become friends eventually, despite the fact that Sirius was too immature and Samiya was too uptight for their own tastes. Only time will tell if that would happen.