The common room was more or less empty but for a couple of first years, and the boy sitting next to her. She could have claimed she didn’t care that it was him sitting next to her, that he was just another of the boys she flirted with and didn’t actually have any substantial feelings for. Of course, if she said that, that would have been a lie in every sense of the word. Usually Mary was pretty good at keeping feelings and physical things in different compartments of her life. It was pretty easy for her, after the things that had happened during her previous semester. She thought she might be a little disconnected, and the thought would only just about enter her head when Sirius came strolling around the corner, or shot her a smile in the Great Hall during dinner. No, she hadn’t disconnected, she just hadn’t found someone who made her feel anything stronger than what Sirius Black managed to make her feel with something as simple as the sound of her name. It was completely and terribly unsettling; her crush on him was undeniable.

The couch was pretty big, but they were sitting fairly close, and every time she went to brush hair out of her face, her hand would brush against him. She’d kind of lost track on how many times she had seen him smile, and felt her heart skip a beat, during their little time sitting there on that couch. But really, even as she struggled to make sense of the stupid book she was reading in, she was very, very aware of just how close he was sitting. Turning the phrase around, she was also aware of how far away he was sitting. How someone could be so close, yet so far away, was beyond her. Granted, Mary wasn’t the smartest of the Gryffindor girls, but she still thought it was a mystery in and of itself. She let out an annoyed huff as she slammed the book shut and glared at it, trying to think straight. It wasn’t working, of course, because the only thing her mind seemed able to focus on with complete certainty was the boy to her left.

”I really don’t like books.” She could have directed it at Sirius, but actually, she was talking to the book in front of her on the table. It was like it was mocking her, just lying there, with a feeling of “I know what you need to know, and you’re just being stupid”. The school nurse had said something about projection, about her projecting her feelings, after the incident, and now Mary was actually starting to realize she might have a point. She let out a small sigh, and longed to be outside. The sun was out, but it was still really cold, and the cold still made her want to plunge into the Lake to feel anything but the cold. Which would really be counter effective, seeing as the Lake would be just as cold, if not colder.

She leaned a little closer to Sirius, running a hand through her hair to get rid of some nervous energy. ”Want to take a study break? We could… take a walk, or something?” she said, smiling and raising her eyebrow just a little bit. He’s flirted enough to recognize flirting, she was pretty sure.