𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜 ━━ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧
030. power to mend the world

          𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬 Professor McGonagall to Dumbledore's office. Scarlet has been to his office very few times, mostly with complaints. One of them was the hygiene issues in the common room due to the Slytherin boys━they were simply disgusting after Quidditch practice.

"Miss Bridget, good morning," Dumbledore welcomed her as she took a seat, Minvera stood quietly nearby with incredible posture. "How is everything?"

"Good, sir," Scarlet nodded, left confused about the cause. "And you?"

"I'm fine as always, Miss Bridget," Dumbledore smiled underneath his large and undone beard. "Anything causing you trouble?"

Scarlet's breath hitched. For a mere moment, she wondered if they were aware of what Madam Pomfrey had told her all those nights ago━regarding her nightmares. For a moment, she forgot about that conversation. Nothing peculiar happened ever since then.

"I could give you a list, sir," she shrugged. Minvera snickered in the back but then coughed to conceal her interruption.

Dumbledore hummed, "Very well, so it would be a good idea to appoint you to the Prefect position that has opened up, so you could bring about changes,"

Scarlet's jaw hung open longer than she expected. She had been wanting to be a prefect ever since last year━and with the help of Narcissa, she had already learned a lot about the responsibilities. She assumed the only reason she wasn't given the position at the start of the year was because of how focused she was on her exams━therefore, her application was not great.

"I'd be honored, sir," she smiled cheekily, turning around and locking eyes with Professor McGonagall who shot her a confident smile back. A sense of pride hit her heart.

"Very well," Dumbledore stood from his seat and pulled out a badge from the drawer, decorated in Slytherin colours. It was a deep shade of emerald and outlined with a shimmery silver. The word 'prefect' was printed on it in silver too.

"Thank you," she took it from him, smiling down at the glistening badge. "May I ask how the position was open, sir?"

Dumbledore paused for a moment. "Yes... Miss Black will be absent for a few days due to family matters, so we had the other prefect Miss Caterson substitute temporarily as Head Girl, Minvera and I thought it would be a great opportunity to watch you handle the duties, seeing how intrigued you were,"

Scarlet made a mental note to make sure Narcissa was all right━she assumed it must be regarding her middle sister's marriage, seeing Bellatrix had been married into the Lestranges a few years back. 

"I appreciate it, sir, thank you," she gratefully thanked him again, lightly bowing her head in a polite gesture before leaving the office. As soon as the doors shut behind her, she let out a yelp of excitement.

Allowing the joy to get to her, she looked around to see if anyone witnessed it and coughed awkwardly, silently thanking Merlin that nobody was around to see it.

      She made her way towards the Great Hall, watching as it was completely full since it was almost time for breakfast. Usually, she was early which is why everybody who knows her was left confused. A hand was over her robe when she approached Sirius; the boy who immediately found her in the crowd.

"Blondie," he coughed lightly, remembering last night's incidents. "Good morning,"

At his words, his three friends shot him a weird look. A very tired Remus set down his fork, "Why are you being so polite?"

"Who cares," Scarlet scoffed, "Look at this," she dramatically removed her hand to reveal her badge that was clipped perfectly to the front of her robes.

"NO WAY!" Sirius excitedly yelped, standing up and facing her fully. "You got it!"

"I got it!" She laughed in excitement in return, not too loudly. However, she did let out a yelp when he unexpectedly wrapped his arms around her back, completely enveloping her into an excited, warm embrace, discarding the reluctance to reciprocate her affections. 

      The bag around her shoulder thudded against the ground, his chin pressed against her head and the faded scent of jasmine clinging to her bleached locks wavered into his nostrils.

      A few seconds passed before Scarlet finally melted into it. She lurched closer━if that was possible━and coiled her arms around Sirius' neck, her face pressed against his shoulder. She found that the smell clinging to his clothing━an indistinct aroma of minty swear━had once been a vexing indication of his presence, but now comforted to no end.

      Sirius Black just managed to evolve her excitement even more. She understood now when people said a singular hug held the power to mend the world.

"EWW!" The infuriating voice of James Potter broke them apart, Scarlet pulled away first and watched Sirius smiling with pride. It was not his usual smirk, or even a grin━he shot her a genuine smile. 

She looked away and allowed her locks to fall on her cheeks to hide the blush rising to her face. James was covering Peter's eyes. A few Gryffindor eyes glued on the pair━the pair that was basically considered royalty according to the gossip of Hogwarts.

"Great, you traumatised poor Peter!" Marlene said with a mouthful of toast, laughing out loud.

"Wait till you see us kiss," Sirius still had one of his arms around Scarlet's waist, and he tugged at it which almost made her fall onto his chest once again. She genuinely stopped breathing. She simply couldn't breathe. A few more sounds of grimace were sounded by his friends.

She looked up to a grinning Sirius, "You're driving me insane," she snapped through gritted teeth, a scowl on her face to hide her blush. Sirius took her words as a compliment. "Get off,"

Scarlet shoved him away, but a smirk made its way to her lips, unable to be held within.

"I love you too, Blondie!" exclaimed Sirius, loudly enough for the entirety of Gryffindor's table to find his words audible. Thankfully, no one from the Slytherin table was paying attention. She would not hear the end of it.

She was thankful nobody held the matter against her━the fact that she was dating a Gryffindor (their sworn enemy for hundreds of years) simply because she had a reputation for being loyal. The Slytherins knew all too well Scarlet Bridget would never turn her back on them, let alone for Sirius Black.

      Scarlet made her way to her designated table and made a clear, mental note that she was not going to that table anymore from the next morning. She was sick of blushing. 

"Does this mean I cannot mess around when I'm with you anymore?" Everest whined as the blonde sat down. 

"You're my best friend, you get special treatment," the girl winked playfully.

Evan glanced over the table, his jaw-dropping as he pointed at his own badge. "Merlin, this means we'll get to work together."

"This means we can bother as many Gryffindors as we want," Scarlet said in a mischievous tone, and Evan laughed. 

Everest was biting the insides of her cheeks as the two of them ended their conversation. "I have something to tell you,"

Scarlet looked at her, watching his expression turn from excited to even more excited. "I made beater in Quidditch!" she exclaimed, causing Scarlet to gasp.

"Congrats!" Scarlet clapped her hands together.

"To the both of us, "Everest dramatically clicked their glasses of beverage together. "This is surely going to be our year,"

"Don't jinx it, Eve," Scarlet warned her before she could brag about their accomplishments even more. 

"So now that you're a prefect, does that mean you'll be able to gather gossip?"

"Funny how that is the first thing you think of," Scarlet chuckled lightly. She turned forward to see a look of grimace on Regulus. "What's wrong with you?"

"I hate this coffee, what's wrong with this school's elves," said Regulus, settling down the cup of coffee on the table. 

"Not every elf can make coffee like Kreacher, Reg, you know that," Scarlet said, indicating he needs to stop complaining about every little thing; although she does the exact same.

"It's just too sweet," he shot the cup another dirty look as though he had some personal vendetta against it.

"How do you take your coffee, then?" Everest asked, utterly confused. She usually takes three extra sugars in her coffee.

"Black," shortly, he replied.

"I'm not surprised," Eve murmured. 

"Reg, do you know where Narcissa is?" Scarlet asked him, "I heard she's gone back home, is everything all right?"

Regulus stiffened lightly which indicated to Scarlet that whatever the reason is, it was not a joyful occasion. "I suppose you'll have better luck asking her yourself, I can't say much,"

Scarlet understood the undertone of his words and nodded lightly.

      SCARLET HAD SIX PILES OF HOMEWORK FROM CHARMS. Her delicate fingers held onto the large pile of papers and a thick book as she sat down in the library. It had almost been an hour or so she was doing her work, and it did not seem to be over.

"Is this seat taken?" Scarlet looked up at the deep, kind voice and saw Remus hovering by her side, his frame causing the shadow of a sillehotte on her page of work. 

"All yours," she shot him a polite smile and watched as he sat down right next to her around the round table. 

"You're all alone, that's an unusual sight," he opened up his books, starting a small conversation with her.

"I had a lot of work and Eve snores... so the library it is," she shrugged roughly, eyes scanning the book she had opened up in front of her. 

With Remus' silence, she looked up, popping her chin in her palms as her elbows rested on the table. 

      "What's The Beatles?" 

Remus looked up, a little confused before she pointed lazily at his t-shirt, "Not what, you mean who," Scarlet blinked. "They're only the best rock band ever!"

"Hm, muggles?" She watched him nod in confirmation. For a moment, she thought it would be odd after knowing the secret Remus had been keeping about himself. However, Scarlet almost forgot how outstanding she really is at concealing something she is feeling or thinking.

"How did you manage to get an Outstanding on the DADA essay?" he coughed lightly, leaning forward to tap on the piece of paper on the table.

"I get Outstanding marks on everything," she grinned and sent him a playful wink,

Remus chuckled shortly. "Now, now, no need to get cocky,"

Scarlet started to work on her Charms essay that asked her to weigh out the arguments for and against the Reductor Curse. Her fingers were delicate when she wrote, she did not put much effort into her cursive handwriting━and paused rarely as though thoughts came naturally to her, only something small the Lupin boy picked up on. 

"You're doing it again," she let go of her ink-pen, allowing it to drop on her paper the moment Remus looked away. "The staring,"

"Am not,"

"You are," she emphasised, squinting her eyes in an intimidating manner to tease the boy, he was about to justify himself when she shrugged it off, flickering her wrist to gesture her calm feelings. "I know, I know, I look familiar to you,"

"Sorry, I can be a little weird sometimes..." said Remus, but there was a deflated undertone to his words rather than a playful one, something intense behind his eyes. Scarlet's shoulders slumped, she wondered if he was thinking about his condition when saying those words.

"What are you two doing here?" Another voice startled the two of them, the awkward silence being cut off, thankfully. Scarlet did not have to come up with an answer to Remus' statement.

"Work, mate," Remus replied, short and simple as he stared at Sirius' frame dashing over the two.

"Work, really?" His brows pinched together.

Remus' eyes widened at the accusation the Black's gaze spelled out. "Merlin, yes, only work."

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked suddenly, tone quick and sharp as his eyes stared darkly into Scarlet's bored ones.

"Not Remus," she retorted. Remus sunk back in the wooden chair, cheeks turning red in utter humiliation of being stuck in the middle of the arguing pair.

"You said you'd help me with my Defence Against the Dark homework," he snapped back, sitting down with a scowl on his face. Remus looked more and more deflated by the second, eyes widened when he realised he would be stuck between the two of them. And both of them were fierce enough to never back down.

"No, Sirius, I reminded you and you laughed at me," she told him, remembering their small conversation during the lesson. Somehow, he found it astonishing that Scarlet thought he would be doing any work at all, it's not her fault that Sirius changed his mind. "And it's not practical work, I'm sure you'll be fine,"

"Because you'd rather work with my best friend,"

"What's your problem, man?" Remus finally spoke up, glaring at his friend with a crossed look on his face.

"And you don't even do your homework," the blonde chimed in.

"I only came because you asked me to," Sirius softly said, an unusual frown on his face all of a sudden. "I thought you wanted to work together,"

"Sirius, look at this," she slammed her hand on the pile of paperwork on her side. "I don't have time to argue,"

"Neither do I, I have an essay to work on," Sirius folded his arms. Remus and Scarlet blinked, pausing a little to look at him weirdly.

"Why don't you two have fun and I'll just━" He started to stand up.

"SIT!"

"Sit down."

Both Sirius and Scarlet ordered in unison and he instantly sat back down, obeying as though a magnetic force pulled him back. Sirius exclaimed his command whilst Scarlet spoke through gritted teeth in the usual Scarlet Bridget frightening manner. The two of them still stared at each other darkly, not sparing anyone else another glance.

      To say Remus was regretting this, sitting between the two glaring individuals, would be an understatement.

Scarlet continued writing, subtly shaking her head. Until a moment came and she felt a burning gaze at the side of her head. 

"All right, you both have a staring problem," she snapped angrily, "Should I fetch Madam Pomfrey, so she could fix it?"

"I do not have a staring problem," Sirius scoffed loudly. "Focus on your work,"

"Padfoot, maybe be quiet━"

"Quiet yourself, Remus!" Sirius snapped loudly.

"We're in a library, do I need to teach you the customs of a library, too?" Scarlet hissed, asking him to tone down the volume of his voice.

"Why do you speak to me as though I'm an idiot?"

"How else would you understand me," Scarlet snapped back, not exactly wanting to deal with this. She had work to do and planned on writing Narcissa or Lucius a letter asking what the hell was going on in the House of Black.

"Aye, aye, Miss Prefect," he rolled his eyes, speaking sarcastically. The bickering was not unusual between the pair, in fact, it reminded them of the times they first became friends. However, Scarlet truly despised it when she just could not get rid of him. Sirius Black was unavoidable.

Shuffling her papers, she put them into a neat pile and shoved them inside her Charms book, starting to leave. That was when her movement was interrupted by the presence of Regulus Black━it looked as though he didn't plan to stay for long.

"What are you doing?" she asked and he shrugged calmly, not bothering to answer either.

"I need to speak to you, Sirius," Regulus told the boy, merely ignoring Remus' presence.

"Off you go," Sirius said, almost bored as he swung an arm over Remus' chair, over his back. His posture indicated he didn't care about what his brother had to say.

"I was hoping I could speak to you alone,"

"That's not going to work," Sirius mockingly shook his head, sharing a look with Remus.

"Mother told me to keep an eye on you, and report your activities back,"

"O-kay..." 

"Sirius, I don't want to tell her something that will make her upset," Regulus said, although something about her tone said he was desperate.

"I don't think Mother has the heart to be upset, Reggie," said the older Black. "You can say whatever you want,"

"Don't you understand the importance of this," Regulus pushed, slamming his hands on the table to get his full attention. Regulus could never really get Sirius' attention fully, not anymore. "Haven't you heard what they did with Andy?"

"Only spared her from this gruesome family," Sirius quietly told him. Scarlet's lips formed an 'o' shape, finally understanding bits of what had been happening. 

"What if they do the same to you, what'll happen to me?"

"Regulus, sod off, I don't have time for your complaints," he snapped rudely, and Regulus visibly flinched and stumbled back from the table with slow movement.

Regulus scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Whatever, why do I bother,"

Sirius hummed mockingly. "Yeah, why do you," he muttered under his breath.

"Reg, let's just go," Scarlet whispered to him, locking her hand with his and softly dragging him away before he stared into his brother's face strongly enough to drill a hole through his head.