𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗚𝗘

𝘐𝘕𝘊𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘐𝘖

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"According to our schedule, we'll be heading straight to Charms after breakfast," Lily said, reading out today's schedule to her newest friend as they were walking down the corridor, heading to the Great Hall. "Your first class at Hogwarts, isn't that exciting?"

She squeezed Camille's hand with eagerness and flashed her a wide grin, to which the blonde replied with a chuckle. Then, she spoke in a still strong French accent. "It is, I'm really nervous about it. Ah, this is so difficult!" she complained, letting out a sigh as they took their seats at the Gryffindor table, next to each other. "I'm trying my best not to make it too obvious that I'm not used to being in England, but as soon as I open my mouth, it's over."

She noticed Lily switching her gaze to something behind Camille's back, her attitude quickly changing to an irritated one. She was about to ask her what happened, but somebody cut in.

"I think your accent is beautiful," a voice said.

She didn't need to see him to know who the voice belonged to, but she still turned around to look, as she was surprised that he would willingly not only talk to her, but also compliment her. And indeed, the voice belonged to Sirius Black, the boy she thought she knew like the back of her hand, but not anymore. And out of all the empty seats there were, he refused to sit anywhere else other than right next to her.

"Morning, Evans! What's with the rigid face?" James Potter asked, right before he sat down next to Lily. Normally, he would have tried to squeeze himself in between her and Camille Rainier, but he doubted he'd succeed this time, given than Lily was almost hugging the new girl by the time they arrived.

On the other side of the table, sat Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, who were both carefully studying the interaction between Camille and Sirius.

"Not you again, Potter!" Lily complained, putting down her toasted bread so that she could focus on glaring at the boy. "Leave me alone, will you? It's too early for this."

If Lily was at least voicing her complaints to James, Camille didn't say a word to Sirius. Instead, she straightened her back and reached for the honey jam, adding some of it on her already buttered toast.

Seeing that his friend didn't succeed to talk to her, Remus stepped in and reached his hand over to the table for her to shake. "I'm Remus Lupin, and these are my friends, Peter Pettigrew—" Remus gestured towards Peter, then James, "—James Potter—," he looked briefly at Sirius as he was about to introduce him too, but decided against it, "and I think you already know Sirius Black. Welcome to Gryffindor, Camille."

"Not as well as I thought I did," she replied. Camille extended her own hand, but instead of shaking Remus', she rotated it so that his palm would face upwards, then placed hers on top of it. As she introduced herself, the corners of her lips rose and she was looking amused. "Merci, Remus. Camille Rainier."

Remus was taken aback by her gesture. This was not something girls usually did, at least not to him, but he was quick to get the meaning behind her actions and he gently lifted her hand, and although his lips were close to the knuckles, he he didn't kiss it, only symbolically brushed them against her skin, then let go of her hand and cleared his throat, his gaze briefly switching to Sirius, who had a puzzled look on his face.

He wasn't exactly sure what game was Camille playing, but he could remember her doing the same thing to him—offering her hand for him to kiss—like it was yesterday. But, unlike Remus, Sirius not only brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them, but he also let his lips linger, all while staring into her dazzling blue eyes. He couldn't help but wonder if that was something she usually did, or if she was only trying to cause him pain.

Lily and James were also staring at Camille, but unlike Sirius, Remus and Peter, they had amused looks on their faces. At this point, Lily knew Potter and the rest of the Marauders weren't going to leave, and trying to get them to do so was pointless, so she followed Camille's example and minded her own business, enjoying the delicious breakfast that was served instead of getting annoyed with Potter.

Throughout breakfast, Remus asked a few questions to Camille, followed by Lily, who was excited to hear more about her new roommate, and Camille politely replied to each and every one of them. The pot of strawberries in front of her was already empty, so the blonde had to reach to the nearest one, but Sirius anticipated what she was going to do, so he grabbed it first and gave it to her, like it was some sort of peace offering. He knew she loved them, he had been buying her fresh strawberries every morning in the summer. She didn't refuse them, but she didn't say much about it either. She muttered him a polite, but cold thank you, not even a merci, then she resumed her answer to Remus' question.

After they ate, the girls headed straight to Professor Flitwick's class, while the boys chose to wander around the hallways some more until the start of the first class.

"Give her time, she's probably still upset about you leaving without a word," Remus said, slightly shrugging. "But you have to apologize for it, somehow. If you want her to ever talk to you, again."

"Of course I want, but I doubt she—"

"Nonsense, Moony!" James clicked his tongue in disapproval. "All Padfoot has to do is to ask her out on a date, take her to Honeydukes, and possibly to Madam Puddifoot's, if that's what she fancies, and she'll be all yours!"

"Clearly. I can see how that worked out for Lily Evans and you," Sirius said, scoffing.

"No need to add salt to the wound, alright?" James brought a hand up to his heart, feigning hurt. "The difference is, Evans won't agree to come with me to Hogsmeade. But if she did, that's where I'd take her!"

"Prongs, I'm not asking for date ideas. I'm trying to make her talk to me and eventually forgive me for being a bloody fool. I will worry about dates later, but for now, I have to fix my mistake."

"And how, may I know, are you planning to do that?" James asked, making Sirius sigh.

"I don't know."

When they reached the classroom, James and Sirius were disappointed to find out that the seats next to Lily and Camille were taken, so they sat on the other side of the classroom. At least they weren't late, this time.

"Good morning, class, and welcome back to Hogwarts!" Flitwick said, taking his seat at teacher's table. "Today, we're going to learn the Vinegar-to-Wine spell. As you can probably tell, it's a charm that reverses the naturally occurring mechanism, and instead of allowing the ethanol to oxidate and turn into vinegar, it turns vinegar into wine."

He pointed his wand at the cup of vinegar in front of him and demonstrated the spell, then turned to his students and made them all repeat the incantation for it.

"Very good, yes. Now, who wants to demonstrate? Let's see," Flitwick said, looking at the many hands lifted in the air. But then, he took out the register and searched for a particular name, satisfied to find out that the person he was about to name already had her hand up in the air. "Ms. Rainier, please! I am looking forward to seeing your skills in charms, your resume from Beauxbatons Academy is quite impressive."

"Thank you, Professor," Camille said, trying her best to articulate the words in the proper British manner, but her French accent still slipped a little. Just as Flitwick demonstrated earlier, Camille pointed her wand at the cup that was placed in front of her and concentrated, then mouthed the incantation. Soon enough, the goblet that once had vinegar in it was full with a deep crimson red liquid.

"Very good! Very good, indeed, Ms. Rainier!" Flitwick approved, nodding his head at her goblet. "Five points to Gryffindor!"

"That was awesome, Camille!" Lily excitedly whispered to her, giving her hand a light squeeze as congratulations.

Then, on her desk, right next to the goblet, a paper bird landed. Upon Camille's touch, it unfolded, revealing itself as a secret note that came from the other side of the classroom.

You were brilliant just now!
— Sirius

After she read it, her name was called out by Flitwick.

"Ms. Rainier! Is there any charm you'd like to demonstrate for us today?" he said, looking at her resume once more. "I see the recommendations from your teachers, but it's not explicit enough to list the curriculum you've followed."

"Actually, Professor, there is one," Camille admitted with a devilish smirk as she pointed her wand at the paper note she received, before muttering, "Incendio." And, as a result, the note from Sirius caught on fire and burned to ashes in only a matter of seconds.

Her eyes were now no longer fixed on where the note used to stand, but locked with Sirius' grey ones, who had shock written all over them. Now, he was left speechless. He tried to get her attention in several ways so far, and none of it worked, which meant there was only one thing left for him to do: Sirius had to get her alone and talk to her. And since none of his usual sugarcoating worked with her, he also had to find a way to make her listen.

"Yes, Mrs. Rainier, very well. A very good demonstration of the Fire-Making Spell," Flitwick said.

"Hey, Padfoot?" James whispered. "Are you sure the Sorting Hat didn't mess up this time? That was very Slytherin of her."

"Actually, I think she's just really mad with me," Sirius whispered back, letting out a long, frustrated sigh.

What Camille didn't notice, however, because Professor Flitwick had her undivided attention for the moment, and neither did anyone else, was that, on the other end of the row the Marauders were staying on, there was somebody else who paid very close attention to her and to everything she did in class, someone who wore a green and silver tie around his neck, and whose greasy long jet black hair was almost blocking his vision. And, unlike most of the students, he wasn't looking at her in an affectionate or admiring way.

"Camille, just a moment!" Remus called out to her, stopping the girl right before she could ascend to the girl's dormitory. "A word, please?"

She turned around to Lily, who nodded her head in approval and muttered something about waiting for her upstairs, in their room. Camille watched Lily briefly as she walked up the stairs, then she switched her gaze to Remus and began to walk in his direction.

"What you did this Tuesday in Professor Flitwitck's class, the Vinegar-to-Wine Charm," he said, specifically addressing only one of the two spells she performed, "it was very good! And you got it right the first time."

Camille smiled. "Thank you, Remus. How about you? Did you succeed in performing it as well?"

Remus couldn't help but notice how formal she was, and he wondered if it was because she was in a place that's new to her, or if it was a habit of hers to keep people at an arm's length away. Well, she certainly didn't do so with Sirius. At least, not until he upset her.

"Eh, well.." Remus trailed, scratching the back of his head as he spoke. "I did it, eventually, but it was harder than it looks. It took me a few tries and some concentration, and I'm still not sure what I did was completely correct."

"It didn't explode," Camille pointed out. "That's what usually happens. You've seen it for yourself."

The charm was pretty tricky and not everybody got it right. Some got lucky in the end, like Remus, but the others were slightly less fortunate than him. When executed poorly, the spell could end up making a small explosion and it was needless to say that there were quite a few students that walked out of class smelling like vinegar. Not exactly a great way to debut the  term.

"Yeah." He chuckled. "I must have been lucky, though. It would have been quite embarrassing to blow up that glass flask and get vinegar all over me."

As much as Camille wanted to believe this was an innocent conversation between a Prefect and a student, her gut feeling was telling her that Remus was trying to keep her here and buy some time, for one reason or another. And because she was curious enough to find out what he was trying to buy time for, she agreed to stick around and chat with him some more. One by one, the students left the common room and headed to their dormitories, leaving Remus and Camille alone.

"What did you think of your first week at Hogwarts? Did you like it?" he asked. "Is it anything near Beauxbatons' standards?"

"Oh, it's difficult to compare Beauxbatons to Hogwarts. They're much stricter there, and they value proper etiquette and stainless reputation more than anything," she explained, gently waving a dismissive hand. "It's more relaxed at Hogwarts and I find it quite lovely so far."

"I'm sure you'll grow to love Hogwarts just as much as we do. Besides, it seems like Hogwarts already fancies you," he pointed out, lifting both of his eyebrows as she shot her a teasing look. "Oh, I heard you talking to McGonagall earlier, are you taking O.W.L.s this year? Didn't you take them last year?"

Camille decided to let him slide this time, and only replied to his question. "At Beauxbatons, you take them in your sixth year, but since I got transferred here, I didn't get to do so, so I will be tested this year."

"I see, yes. That makes sense." Remus nodded. "Pardon me for asking, but why did you leave Beauxbatons? And France. I assume you've moved to England."

She hesitated to reply. But as she parted her lips to speak again, somebody cleared their voice behind them, causing Remus to switch his attention to the source of the noise and Camille to turn around.

What a coincidence, she thought, ironically, when her eyes laid upon Sirius Black. So this is why he was stalling. She should have assumed this would somehow be about Sirius. Since she got here, everything seemed to be about him, one way or another. Everywhere she went, she heard his name coming out of somebody's mouth, either followed by praise, or criticism. A troublesome, but attractive heartbreaker, according to most of the girls and arrogant, entitled mischief maker, according to some of the boys.

"I believe that's a story for another time, Camille," Remus eventually said, offering her a gentle smile before he started to back off from the conversation. "I better get going and leave you two to talk. I will see you at breakfast. Goodnight."

Camile simply nodded her head at him, her eyes then darting to Sirius as soon as Remus was out of the picture. She crossed her arms and lifted both of her eyebrows, waiting for the boy to say something. Camille had her back turned to the window, so the moonlight was falling right on his face, gently illuminating his features. He was troubled, that much she could tell, and she couldn't help but see the resemblance of him and a dog with his tail tucked between his legs. She didn't want want to make any assumptions—she stopped doing that on the day he left London, when she realized she didn't know him at all—but she thought he was anxious about something.

"Camille.." Sirius whispered, his eyes still avoiding hers.

This seemed easier when they came up with the plan: Remus, as a good Prefect, had to congratulate her on her first week at Hogwarts and keep her downstairs until everybody else went to sleep, then Sirius would come and get the chance to talk to her in private. But what he couldn't plan was what to say to her after that.

"Sirius," she said, calling out his name just like he did with hers. This time, it sounded so plainly, ordinary even, compared to all the other times his name rolled out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry," he finally murmured something that sounded like an apology.

This was difficult for him and uncomfortable nonetheless, but he was trying his best. He could use the fingers of one hand to count the times when he's been truly sorry about something, he was more used to being the one to be wronged, but he knew he was at fault this time and that he really screwed up this time. What he didn't know, obviously, was how to right his wrongdoings.

"Is that all?" Camille asked, right before scoffing with indignation. "This attempt of an excuse, you can't possibly believe I'm going to magically forgive you because of it, now do you, Sirius Black?"

He was not used to this coldness in her voice. The intensity of hot emotions, that he could handle. He could take anger, jealousy and even pure rage, but this? This hurt him more than anything she could say if she was blinded by fury. But this formality, this indifference she was showing to him, it was slowly killing him inside.

"Camille, please.." Sirius pleaded, slowly shaking his head. "You—the way you're speaking, you're speaking like an Englishwoman to me. Why?"

"Do you really have no trace of human decency in you?" Camille asked, feeling offended by his weak apology. "How dare you ask me such a question after you used me as your play thing for the summer and then ditched me after you got bored of me?"

"What?" In response to her accusations, Sirius eyes widened and now he was no longer looking at the ground, but at her. He wasn't sure if her words were a good hint that she was extremely mad at him, or if it was the red color of her cheeks, but at least he got her to say something, right? "What are you talking about, I didn't use you as—"

"Don't lie to me!" If usually, Camille Rainier was good at containing her emotions and hiding them with a neutral-looking face, thanks to the many years of practice she got at Beauxbatons, Sirius Black managed to break through that barrier and anger her to the point where she would feel like she had been set ablaze, and all it took was a simple, weak apology. "You left without saying anything, you packed your bags and went Merlin-knows-where and you didn't say a word to me. You let me fall in love with you and you made me believe you really felt something for me too, when you were just playing one of your sick little heart games with me! And now what? Now I'm interesting again, because I'm a new face to Hogwarts? Merde, Sirius!"

"Camille, that's not true," he said. His defense, it was going to be weak, just as weak as his apology had been, but it was the best he had and he had to stay something. He couldn't let her believe he toyed with her heart. "It wasn't that. I know I have no right to ask you to do this, but please, believe me when I say that I didn't want to hurt you—"

"So you did it unwillingly, alright, that's even worse!" She could feel the heat building up in her cheeks and the sinking feeling she has had that day, when she realized Sirius' chest was no longer in his apartment, it came back.

"No, I didn't!" For a second, he considered putting his hands on both of her arms, but he decided against it. If he were in her place, he surely wouldn't want to be touched, not by him. "I shouldn't be asking you this, but I know I fucked up and—It's all I've ever known, Camille. Running away. I thought you'd be going back to France, and the thought of saying goodbye to you was so painful and I know, I'm an idiot, and I deserve the cold shoulder you're giving me, but please know that everything that happened last summer, it was real. I wasn't playing with you or your heart, I could never do that."

"So you thought that saying nothing at all was better than saying goodbye?" Camille's voice came out as shaky. She couldn't understand. No matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't understand him. "Have you thought that maybe, just maybe, it would have been a better alternative to tell me that maybe we'll see each other again? Or some other cheesy, pathetic excuse of some parting words?"

This was out of his control. She was right, and he knew it. But Sirius Black has never done well on the defensive, that's why he did his best to keep his place as the one who wielded the sword, not the one who dodged from it.

"You've had a choice, Sirius Black." Tears started to roll down her burning cheeks, much to her embarrassment. She thought she was such a fool in his eyes, just another desperate crying girl that made it to his list. "And you've made your choice when you packed your bags and left."

Seeing the sparkly tears falling from the corners of her eyes, Sirius was left speechless. He knew he was the reason behind her tears and her pain, and there was nothing he could do or say to her now that would make things right. And it hurt, every tear that rolled down her beautiful face was like a sharp knife that stabbed his heart. How the hell did he end up hurting the only girl that he ever cared about? Camille Rainier broke through his walls like they were made of paper and he knew since the day he met her that her name would be forever imprinted on both his mind and his soul.

She slid by him and rushed to the staircase, not waiting for him to say anything. She climbed up the stairs as fast as she could, and before she could reach the door that led to the girl's dormitory, Sirius' called out her name again.

"Camille!" he said, standing at the bottom of the staircase. "I-I'm really sorry."

Pressing her lips together, Camille used all of the strength she had left so that she wouldn't turn around to look at him. He must have already thought she was pathetic, she didn't want him to see her looking like a ruin too. But when she spoke, she spoke loud enough for him to hear. "You better be."

And with that, the girl pushed the door open and went through it, going straight to her dorm room. Much to her surprise, Lily Evans was still awake and when her eyes laid upon the crying the girl, she rose into a sitting position.

"Did you.." Camille started, but she couldn't find the courage to finish her question.

But she didn't need to. Lily understood. "I didn't hear anything, it's alright. Come here, you shouldn't sleep alone in your bed tonight," the red haired girl said, reaching both of her arms forward, to Camille.

She nodded her head and did her best to fight her tears, not wanting to wake up the other two girls they were sharing the room with. She walked over to Lily's bed and pointed her wand at her clothes. All it took was a whisper and she was changed into her night attire. She climbed up in Lily's bed, only to be embraced by her as soon as she was seated.

"Oh, Camille. I'm so sorry," Lily whispered to her, holding her tightly in her arms and gently rubbing her beautiful golden hair. "I don't know what happened downstairs, but he must have messed up big time if he made you cry. You don't even have to tell me about it, but I'm here for you. Now come on, let it all out, so you can get some sleep."

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i'm back from my hiatus and i'm dying to show you all the chapters i wrote! please don't forget to give this story some of your love, i love hearing your thoughts! 💜