𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜 ━━ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧
019. love is an obligation

          𝗔𝗦 𝗜𝗧 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗧, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘 on assisting Scarlet with her Astronomy knowledge was well-kept. Late in the evening, Sirius Black was found at the last place he ever is, the library.

Whilst he reminded Scarlet about some of the basic facts about the sky and allowed her to work on her own, he worked on homework on History of Magic, struggling on it too.

"What are you working on?" Scarlet asked, scribbling on her Astronomy notebook.

"There's an essay due tomorrow, about whether or not Bridget's work was justified."

"That doesn't seem hard," the girl shrugged. "You weigh both sides."

"I don't understand why we have to learn your family's history," Sirius groaned. "I get it is History of Magic but it's so awkward!"

Scarlet grinned. "Well, luckily for you, you have the perfect person to remind you of her history."

"Really? Who?" His eyes brightened up and Scarlet mentally slapped herself in the forehead in annoyance.

"Me, you idiot!"

Sirius squinted his eyes before his jaw dropped, "Ohhh."

"Yep," she turned some pages in her book. "My surname comes from a really powerful Irish witch, Bridget, from a thousand years ago." She starts, looking at Sirius who is deeply concentrated. "She was exceptionally bright, one of the strongest from her time... due to her practicing magic quite a lot, muggles surrounding her found out of her power."

      "However, back then, perhaps even now, muggles were not accepting of wizards and witches, we were frowned upon, and it's believed some muggle witch-hunters were after Bridget, trying to kill her," she explained and the boy nodded. "When they did find her, they tried to investigate her, torture pieces of information out of her."

"What did she do?" Sirius asked, curious about the story now.

"She killed them," she shrugged mindlessly. "She killed the entire group of muggles and grew an immense amount of hatred for those who tried hunting us... she also claimed if a family hates their muggle-born children, those families should be sentenced to death. Bridget spent her life driving hunters out of the magical world, taking their lives."

"She'd have a field-day with Petunia Evans." Sirius joked and Scarlet chuckled lightly at his immense attention and understanding.

      "Her work became famous, some agreed with her whilst others objected, but she was determined in her beliefs, and really ambitious."

"Sounds like someone else I know."

Scarlet slapped his arm before continuing with a scowl. "So, when she got married to a Gryffindor wizard, she insisted their children take her name as a legacy, to honour the work she had done in her life... she died quite young—nobody really knows how but that ideology passed down, the ideology of revenge."

Sirius stared in shock, thinking about how he had no clue about his own family's history. He wondered if the Black family had a reason to believe in pure-blood supremacy.

"So, that's where your family's motto comes from, Oeil pour oeil?" Sirius concluded. "Because Bridget was fond of revenge."

"Her husband mentioned 'it was revenge that almost drove Bridget to insanity', that 'it's a cruel thing that eats you alive until nothing is left'," Scarlet shrugged, pointing at a certain quote in the book. "After she started to become mad, the entire family moved to Paris but when a change of scenario couldn't save her, she continued to get more hungry for revenge."

      "Everybody misinterpreted what she was fighting for. Our bloodline was never about purity, always about revenge, however, since she targeted a lot of self-loathing muggle-borns, they assumed she stood for pureblood supremacy. Soon enough, her true aim was erased and the Bridgets became part of the Sacred 28 and also the Trente Purs... the Bridgets always moved between England and France."

"Maybe you should teach our class," he chuckled after a few seconds passed. "I can guarantee I will never forget it."

"What can I say, I am quite resourceful," Scarlet smirked, placing her elbows on the table and closing her book.

"Look, here it says whilst everyone judged Bridget and her husband for their choice of surname for their children, her husband fully supported and defended this action," Sirius pointed at a part of his own book, showing the girl. "They always stuck together, must've been soulmates."

Scarlet grimaced. "I don't believe in soulmates," she shrugged. "It's the dumbest idea ever."

Sirius' jaw dropped to the floor. "Are you kidding?" he gaped. "You're kidding, right?"

"Do you see me laughing?" She blurted out. 

"You believed me when I rambled about invisible strings, and all of us having a connection... but you don't believe in soulmates?"

"People who believe in soulmates spend their life waiting for a person they think is made for them... It's a fool's game," she shared, shrugging nonchalantly. "You're not a fool, Sirius."

Although it sounds pathetic, Scarlet never truly believed in soulmates. At least, a constant worry nagged at her heart—that she would never find someone who would fall in love with her. That she might have to spend her life with someone so distant, that she would prefer living alone. Seeing her parents was one thing, she didn't know if she could live a life like them.

"Well, it's not like that," Sirius was way off the topic of study. "You're making it seem like falling in love is some complicated mania, as though it's an obligation."

"Is it not?"

Sirius shot her an unimpressed look, shaking his head. "No."

      "The idea of falling is quite simple, it's us who make it difficult for excessive drama."

Scarlet smirked lightly, doodling on the corner of her paper. "I don't want to spend my quality time worrying about soulmates." Even if she did believe in them, she never thought she had one.

"You should be the last person to worry about not having a soulmate, Blondie," Sirius scoffed.  "Someday, someone will fall for you so hard, they won't be able to get back up... and I, for one, can't wait to find out who the lucky man will be."

"Sure."

"And I'll be standing there at your wedding... laughing at you and saying, 'I told you so'."

"You'll not be invited to my wedding, Black." Scarlet rolled her eyes, finding him annoying. "I'm gonna go find another seat." She gathered her books, ready to leave so she could actually study, just when Sirius grabbed her wrist, turning her around.

"Don't go," He pouted like a child. "A pretty face helps me study."

"Grab a mirror, then." Her lips curled up a little, she sent him a short wink.

Sirius' jaw dropped momentarily. "Wha-what are you doing? What was that?" Scarlet furrowed her brows at his stuttering. "You can't do that!"

"Do what?" She fluttered her lashes innocently, looking at him right in the eyes as he continued to stumble upon his words, his thoughts melting away right at the moment.

"Flirt." He sternly said through gritted teeth. "Only I can do that."

"Hm," She hummed, glancing at her surroundings dramatically. "Must have missed that rule..."

"Well," Sirius coughed lightly. "You better remember that rule now because you can't do that..."

The girl mustered the laugh that threatened to leave her lips. "I'm pretty sure it was you who said I should try breaking some rules now and then."

"That's not... it—it's not really..." He mentally groaned, squeezing his eyes shut in embarrassment as he felt like slapping himself. Sirius Black? Speechless? How humiliating.

Scarlet patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll get there." With that, she walked away, leaving a very flustered Sirius behind.

      SCARLET ENTERED HER DORM ROOM, SURPRISED to find Everest wide awake on her bed. "Are you finally not sleepy, Eve?"

"Where have you been?" She asked, popping onto her stomach and resting her head on her hands, elbows against the soft bed.

The blonde girl started to take off the hair clips from her hair, sitting in front of the dressing table. "The library, I was studying with Black, and yes, before you ask, just studying—"

"—That's not what I was gonna ask," Everest shrugged, a worried expression plastered to her face. "The library isn't even open at these hours."

"What are you talking about?"

"Scarlet, it's 2 in the morning," Everest softly spoke. "Now, I know you weren't with Black, I don't mean to butt in your business—"

"Eve..." Scarlet cut her off lightly, her voice hoarse as she looked at her best friend through the mirror. "I remember leaving the library at half past 8."

A thick fog encapsulated the girls' dorm room, silence hanging thick in the air.

Everest opened her mouth to say something, but her words were shoved back down her throat as she processed what was told. She let out a nervous chuckle. "Please, tell me you went somewhere to meet someone and the two of us aren't going insane."

Scarlet's breath hitched as she turned on her chair, facing her best friend's eyes who looked equally nervous. "I—I don't remember," she blinked away the gloss that started to form over her irises, she licked her dry lips, suddenly feeling dehydrated. "I don't know—I don't know what's going on."

She stood up abruptly, making her way over to the bedside table and attempting to pour herself a glass of water. However, her hands shook, a few droplets of water spilling as she quickly let go of the jar and the glass and settled it on the table, digging her fingernails into her palms to steady herself.

"Easy, there, S!" Everest jumped off of her bed, holding her arms and squeezing them tightly to stop the trembling of them. "It's okay, you're okay." She comforted, pushing the hair out of her face to assist her in finding relaxation.

Scarlet breathed heavily, her lungs constricting as she squeezed her eyes shut. She found herself nodding to the brunette's words. "It's okay."

Everest poured her a glass of water, bringing it to her lips as she drank it, feeling her breathing pattern turning back to normal.

"It's alright," Everest said encouragingly. "Do you want to sleep next to me for one night?"

The blonde bit her lips hard, feeling the taste of the metallic crimson liquid as she nodded with a shaky inhale. "Please," she whispered, falling onto the girl's bed as Everest took her into her arms tightly, and a sense of consolation washed over Scarlet.

She needed to talk to someone, she just didn't know where to start.