𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜 ━━ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧
004. better off being alone

          𝗦𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗪 𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗗𝗗𝗟𝗬 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗖𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗛 𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 the first year was almost over. Perhaps that is why he often found himself either ignoring her or chasing her around for an awkward conversation. That meant his three other friends would have to constantly hear him swoon over the Slytherin every minute of the day. As if James falling in love at first sight with Lily Evans was not enough. Peter and Remus really wanted the school year to end already—seeing the two of them.

Remus sat beside James, opposite the other two Marauders as the werewolf eyed the Black, who sent puppy eyes toward the Slytherin table. "I thought it was a phase."

"I thought it was a one-day thing," James whispered back, exaggerating. At the start of the year, of course, Black has spent a significant amount of time ignoring the Bridget girl except that negligence did not help his case of shoving his tiny crush away at all. His 12-year-old little heart grew infatuated by the blonde, he decided not to hide his feelings under discontent and nonchalance. 

After all, how much knowledge a young Sirius Black could possibly possess about love?

"Blondie!" Sirius excitedly yelled, catching Scarlet Bridget—who was walking past him—to be caught off guard, she flinched a little at the unbearable loud tone, turning to him. "You—your hair looks pretty today."

Scarlet squinted her eyes a little, painting eye contact with Sirius. "So, it looks bad every other day?"

"What—?"

"It looks good today because I somehow got lucky today, but every other day—"

"—I never said that! It looks... it always looks perfect," Sirius stumbled and re-arranged his words.

Just to calm his nerves, Scarlet sent him a warm smile which made him want to melt down to the floor and lose all his composures. Witnessing this scene, Scarlet's friend Everest hid her face in her palms, suppressing a large fit of giggles.

"I'll see you around, Black," she winked smoothly at him, the grin on her face never falling. She didn't spare him another glance before walking over to her designated table, laughing along with Everest who looked as red as a tomato from all the laughter.

Sirius turned around, slamming his forehead onto the table to hide the crimson blush creeping onto his face, not wanting his friends—whose faces remained amused—to get a glimpse of his blush.

"This is all getting serious," Remus gasped, jaw-dropping in an over-dramatic manner.

"Very Sirius." Peter chimed in with a small giggle, turning to high-five Remus as the two boys made fun of Sirius the entire time they spent at breakfast.

"Why don't you make a move?" James perked up, "I do it all the time, there's nothing to lose."

"You really think Sirius would be able to spend the entire year pining after the same girl?" Remus asked, "His patience is as short as Peter is."

"HEY—!" Peter was about to object to his statement regarding his height, only to be cut off by James.

"Someday, she's got to fold—SIRIUS!" James abruptly turned to the Black, watching as he spilled all his drink over his robe whilst drinking his tea and simultaneously staring dreamily at Scarlet who sat opposite the hall. At James' scream, he snapped back to reality, setting the cup on the table and Peter hurriedly grabbed a napkin to assist him in cleaning up. James shook his head and turned to the Lupin beside him. "I think we lost him."

"I'm gonna buy her flowers," Sirius said, a childish grin on his face.

"Why didn't I think of that?" James wondered.

      "WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE SUMMER?" EVEREST DREAMILY ASKED SCARLET, staring off at the lake. 

Scarlet was torturing a flower, picking out the petals absentmindedly. "My mother said we might go to Greece, I'm not sure."

"Greek people are hot," Everest raised a brow. "You should totally go for the summer romance."

Scarlet chuckled lightly. "We'll see about that, we should head back... it's getting dark."

"But the cold breeze feels amazing," Everest dreamily spoke.

Scarlet was already standing up, making the brunette stand up by snatching at her elbow. When they were heading back to the castle, a sudden figure approached them.

"Uhm, Bridget?" 

The two girls turned around, "Who the hell are you?" Everest asked, puzzled as she eyed his green tie. The two don't pay much attention to anyone but their friends. 

"Abrams," he answered, looking between the two. "Silas Abrams."

Everest and Scarlet looked at each other, a look on their faces that says, 'doesn't ring a bell'. 

"Can I speak to you?" He asked quietly, boring his eyes into the blonde.

Everest shrugged, watching as Scarlet nodded and moved a little further away from her. 

"I-I just wanted to ask you something..." he scratched the back of his neck. "I've had my eyes on you for quite some time."

Scarlet narrowed her gaze, squinting her eyes intimidatingly. "Have you been spying on me?"

"What? No!" He defensively put his hands up in the air, and his tone almost made Scarlet smirk. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out somewhere this weekend."

Scarlet rose a brow. "I... I'd love to but I don't really want to," suppressing a playful grin was proving to be really hard. "I've plans already."

Silas was perplexed, processing her words took a mere moment, "Oh, I mean... that makes sense, I should've asked if you were with someone in the first place."

"I'm not with anyone," she shot him down quickly, shaking her head. "I just have my eyes on somebody else."

Silas looked as though he was re-collecting his memories of all those times he was 'keeping an eye on her' and he could not pin-point who she was referring to.

"Who?" He asked curiously.

Scarlet clicked her tongue smoothly, "I don't give out my secrets for free, Abrams." She playfully twirled her hair, a smirk on her crimson lips, a sight that practically sent Silas' jaw to the floor. She could hear Everest snickering behind her, and it was no surprise she stayed there to witness this.

Over the expanse of the day, Sirius spent the last bit of his pocket-coins to get a beautiful bouquet of white roses for Scarlet. 

So, considering the fact that his first-ever crush also happened to be a close friend of his, and young Sirius' silly mind already planning a grand Autumn-wedding of theirs, he was certain the universe was certainly planning for them to end up together.

Therefore, it's no surprise that his developing heart certainly cracked when he saw Silas Abrams and Scarlet Bridget in the Slytherin dungeon—AKA the Serpant's territory. Her fingers were flirtatiously twirling her hair, an act she used around him.

Sirius felt like a fool for letting himself believe she acts that way only around him. 

His hands let go of the white flowers, watching as they fell to the ground in a very similar manner to how his heart dropped and broke into pieces. It was a very big deal to a twelve-year-old Sirius Black. 

He stomped back into his dormitory, fire practically igniting in his mind.

"What's happened, Sirius?" James scoffed, "Tired of being rejected once?"

"She was off with Silas Abrams," he mumbled sadly, getting into his duvets. His friends shared a look of sympathy, not having seen him in such a state.

"Were they hugging?" Remus asked.

"No—"

"Were they kissing?"

"No,"

"Then you got nothing to worry about!" James tried cheering him up, getting off of his bed and patting Sirius' shoulder. "Half of those snakes are obsessed with Bridget, I say you have a higher chance than any of them."

"Really?" His eyes sparkled.

James nervously smiled. "Sure."

"Besides, isn't Abrams a bit too vanilla to be with her," Remus wondered. 

"I don't know," Sirius laid back on his back. "I think I might be better off bein' alone."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" James scoffed loudly, voice booming.

Peter chimed in. "You're good at flirting, it shouldn't be that hard."

"But she makes me feel like a fool!" Sirius exclaimed, flapping his arms about. 

"Then you shall be a fool in love, Sirius, it's not a big deal," James said knowingly, proud of his foolish behaviour with Lily Evans.

"I'm just going to pretend I don't care," he shrugged in response. "Play hard to get."

The three boys shared a look of confusion. "That's the dumbest idea ever," Peter said nervously.

"That's my final plan." Sirius nodded confidently as though he had won a prize. 

      THE NEXT MORNING, EVEREST LEFT SCARLET ALONE AS she strutted to the Gryffindor for her usual banter and playful greetings with Sirius Black.

"'Morning, Black," she smiled at him, momentarily glancing at Remus who reciprocated with his lips curling up a bit.

However, Sirius moved his head towards her just a little but didn't bother to glance at her. Confused, she averted her gaze towards the three boys that sat near, a guilty look on Remus' face, and a knowing one on James. Peter was just stuffing his face with cheese. 

She looked back at Sirius who seemed totally nonchalant, blissfully aware of her presence but he chose not to acknowledge it at all. Scoffing loudly, she stomped away, not bothering to waste any more of her attention on him.

"That was rude," Remus softly said, feeling remorseful now. 

"Trust me, Remus, this is surely going to work," Sirius nonchalantly spoke, popping a berry in his mouth.

There was a dull ache in Scarlet's heart as she sat down with Everest. The brunette put down her grapes and paid attention to the blonde.

"Trouble in paradise?"

"No," she dismissed. "Why'd you say that?"

Everest shrugged. "Your stone-cold face is back,"

Scarlet sighed defeatedly, facing Everest with a knowing look. 

Everest smirked, "I know what you're gonna say... and I'm going to tell you to go for it."

"How did you know what I was gonna say?"

"I'm your best friend, I know everything," she shrugged, going back to eating. "You two would balance each other perfectly."

The blonde kept looking at her friend, "He totally ignored me this morning,"

Everest nodded understandingly. "He's been obsessed with you for the entire year, I think he's just embarrassed..." That totally makes sense, no one wants to pine after someone for so long, perhaps with the exception of James Potter. "I don't know why you're wasting time."

At the moment, it felt real. It felt right. But the feeling didn't last. Because for the rest of the week, the last week of the first year, he didn't speak a word to her. Their once solid dynamic crashed and crippled, must to her dismay. 

So she let it go, concluding she would be better off being alone.