𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜 ━━ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧
037. blood runs thicker than water

( songs for the chapter:
what was I made for — billie eilish
dear reader — taylor swift )

           𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗧. If there was anything Mrs Potter could do like a master, it was cooking—of course, amongst her other specialties. 

The gang of Marauders cramped themselves in James' room, wanting to party all night most likely (which Mia did not approve of) whilst Scarlet and her mother got the biggest guest room with the largest bed. 

      It was no surprise Scarlet did not like change, not even when it was a different ceiling she was starting at—trying to drive herself to sleep. Then came the horrid figures and nightmares drilled into her brain. Shadows. Void. She couldn't stand it.

      With a huff, she got out of her bed and made her way to the Potters' kitchen. For a moment, she eyed the cabinet Celeste was going through earlier—the one filled with butterbeer and fire whiskey. Then she dropped the urge and approached the coffee machine and allowed it to do its magic.

      Having parents so loving must be a blessing in disguise. Scarlet envied it—the freedom James Potter endured. There must not have been one single drop of tragedy in his blood, after all, he was born to parents so loving. Sure, Celeste tried, but that did not mean Scarlet wished the burden on her shoulders were eased.

Perhaps these two days would make her mother realise what really is important. Appreciate love over titles. 

"Can't sleep?" A smooth voice sounded, and she turned around with a light smile at the familiar tone, watching Sirius approach her with small steps. She shook her head in response, making him shrug. "Me neither,"

Scarlet decided to pour half of the black coffee for Sirius, passing the cup towards him. She watched as he moved to the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk. And poured the milk into the coffee until it turned cream-white. She grimaced and then grimaced even more when he put three table spoons of sugar in it.

She didn't put anything further into her coffee.

"Why are you awake?" Asked Scarlet, "Your boyfriends are all asleep, or what?"

He watched mischief lingering in her eyes and mockingly smiled. "Let's talk about you, missing Chasseur?"

Scarlet decided there was no harm in being honest. "I was being bombarded with more thoughts than usual," she shrugged, holding the cup in between her palms. "My brain likes torturing me," she spoke with humour, chuckling lightly.

Sirius gestured for her to take a seat by the dining table. "Tell me, what's going on?"

She sat down and took a large inhale, eyes dropping to her drink. "It gets mortifying... seeing families like the Potters and knowing I'll never get something like it,"

Sirius' face fell in astonishment. Scarlet was not the one to share something so vulnerable, something that made her look weak. He understood, he really did. Because despite how many friends become your family, a part of you will always wish you were born into a family that is warm and made of love. Walburga must have loved him at some point, he just doesn't remember it because it was before he could even hold onto his memories. Back when he was a baby.

"I can adjust to anything you throw at me but a part of me wishes..." she trailed off, only for Sirius to finish her sentence.

"To be loved?" His voice was husky.

She scoffed. "No," there was a look of grimace on her face, as though she could not believe Sirius would even consider it.

Sirius bit the insides of his cheeks. "You don't have to hate the idea of love as though it's below you."

She continued. "I've always chosen respect over love because I can't handle the insults and derogatory terms like you can..." She respected Sirius for it, the way he spoke against his family's beliefs, the way he had the nerve to stand up for himself instead of following the flow of the water.

"Blondie..." his voice comforted her. "Someday, you'll find a group of people that will make you realise family isn't just blood... and that love and respect can co-exist without any conditions."

She finally looked at him with her eyes dipping in the dim light of the house. "You and your friends, I guess you're the lucky ones."

Sirius nodded as though he agreed. "We are," there was nothing that made him feel better than his three tightly-knit friends—the group he considered his blood-brothers at this point. "Besides, you have Chasseur, you two are practically girlfriends,"

Scarlet laughed, looking down at her beverage, watching the grey smoke from her coffee disappear into thin air. For a moment, she felt lucky to have Sirius Black in her life. She took in his appearance, his crisped-up white shirt tucked in—the top three buttons undone, and his hair was practically a mess. She was not surprised—Sirius was often messy. In fact, his messiness was Hogwarts' standard all year. Maybe it was because he made everything look good.

      That was what varied between Sirius and James. James always looked presentable—not a single piece of hair out of its designated spot, shirt tucked in loosely, and posture as impeccable as ever. Sirius was the opposite, mainly due to his rebellious tactics.

Perhaps the fact that Sirius thought he was starting to sound more wise than he was made him continue speaking, slumping over the chair nonchalantly. "Then again, don't take advice from me, do what you want."

Scarlet wanted him to continue ensuring her. For some peculiar, unexpected reason, she loved hearing him talk—no matter how much she denied it. 

      Sirius couldn't exactly give her advice because truthfully? He was falling apart himself. For now, his main course of advice was to throw stones at the devil trying to ruin his life. And by the devil, he meant his mother.

      Of course, Scarlet wasn't going to defy her mother—she was above that (or below it, according to Sirius). Sirius always believed in standing up for himself no matter who he was up against.

"Blondie?"

"Hm?" 

Sirius looked concerned. Scarlet hated pity. It did not land them in a good situation.

"I'm sorry so much burden fell on you," Sirius genuinely spoke, then his palm landed on her knuckles and her breath hitched in her throat when he squeezed her hand. "Shitty families, these people are."

"It's not a burden, it's a duty," Scarlet firmly spoke, and Sirius saw her slowly putting that icy-facade back on. "I'm perfectly fine with it and don't speak about my family that way."

"Nonsense, nobody is fine with it in the end." Sirius scoffed.

"Well, I am, and I'm not you, so..."

"Where's this coming from?" Sirius questioned in a perplexed manner. "You were good two seconds ago."

"Oh, so a woman stands her ground, that must mean she's not good."

A thunder strikes as soon as Sirius is about to retort. He was glad at the loud interruption, the situation may have escalated beyond both of their own good considering neither knows when to put an end. 

      He stood up and she lost the touch of his hand. Making his way over to the windows, he pulled the curtains away.

"Godric, this doesn't look good." He mumbled.

With a roll of her eyes, she spoke a little louder. "You're probably exaggerating."

"Well, I'm not, it looks like the house is gonna fly away like a fucking helicopter." He rudely spoke. 

"It's just rain." She retorted. Then another thunder strikes so loudly, that Sirius flinches visibly.

Scarlet furrowed her brows at the pouring rain which was followed by footsteps in the house.

"Oh, good you two are here!" Mrs Potter voiced at the sight of them. "Will you go wake up your friends? The weather doesn't seem very nice."

Sirius raised his brows to say, 'I told you so' at an annoyed Scarlet and made his way up the stairs to bring the other three. Within a few minutes, everybody was awake.

"Huddle together in the living room, only one window there," Mrs Potter was quite serious when it came to safety.

      The Potter Manor did have a million windows, large ones, in fact. The dim-lighted room occasionally lit up with lightning strikes every now and then. Even at a time like this, James could not stop laughing.

"I'm sorry, serious situations make me laugh!" He tried defending himself.

"Until you die, then you won't laugh anymore," Remus said through gritted teeth, lazily slumped over the couch in a tired manner. Fleamont instantly fell asleep on another couch as soon as he made his way downstairs, light snores filling the room.

Celeste and Euphemia were double-checking the locks on all the windows and doors. 

"Cel?" Mia nervously spoke up. Celeste turned her head toward the woman, a smile to make her continue speaking. "When I said I'm glad you're here, it wasn't just formalities, I really am happy to see you again."

"Me too, Mia," Celeste bowed her head in a polite manner, drawing the curtains close and facing the woman again. "I really am sorry about what happened all those years ago."

"Not everybody can escape such a thing, it wasn't your fault, Cel," Mia raised her brows in an assuring manner, as she placed her hand on the blonde's shoulder. Celeste tensed under her touch, her stunning eyes softening in a way she found callous, and Mia instantly removed her hand.

      Hesitantly, she spoke again. "Don't let Scarlet get sucked up in such a thing." It was a pleading, desperate voice. Within a few hours of spending time together, Mia had grown fond of the girl. Perhaps, as a mother, she saw something in the young girl that most miss, a chance. A chance to turn her life around. 

      The Potter woman saw what the pureblood community and all the responsibilities did to Celeste Bridget. She did not wish such a frightful fate, even on the most atrocious individuals. 

      The two whipped their heads around at the loud noises emitting from the living room. Peter was pacing around anxiously and James was blowing one of the whistles he uses for Quidditch at him, ordering him to sit back down and relax. The scene made Scarlet laugh, loudly. Even Celeste never saw such a joyful expression on her own daughter.

      Sirius and Scarlet were on the floor, knees pressed against their chests with their backs against the wall. James then dropped to the ground in front of the pair, lying down and staring dreamily at the ceiling as he muttered something about a 'Lily'. It made Scarlet laugh again.

Celeste's face fell to a deep frown. "There is nothing I can do, Mia." She whispered, voice almost breaking at the sight of the friends. So free, so careless. As though nothing in the world can hurt them. "I mean, what should I even do?"

"Nothing," Mia answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "Absolutely nothing."

"What do you mean?" The Bridget became puzzled.

"I mean, they don't drive down the path of darkness unless you force them to," Mia reminded, knowing once Celeste was too forced into the cruel mania. "If you let her be, she'll find the right way for herself."

Celeste chuckled. "You should've been a girl's mother, you would've done great."

Mia laughed out loud. "James and Sirius are enough trouble as it is, I don't think I could handle another child."

The blonde woman let out a little laugh. 

"Don't mind me asking," Mia turned to her again. "What in Godric's name is going on with Sirius and Scarlet, I saw them talking all alone here when I came down."

"You know, teenage love," she shrugged in response. "How innocent."

"Sirius is a good lad, you know," the Potter grinned. "I know he's a trouble maker but even after growing up in that horrid house, he has so much love in his heart."

Celeste sent a solemn look into the living room again, watching Sirius as he paid uttermost attention as Scarlet asked questions. She looked utterly confused. Celeste looked back at Mia and stole a stare. 

"You always possessed so much love in your heart, Mia," Celeste truthfully spoke, features softening and Mia looked taken aback, not expecting old memories to fade back in. "In a world full of darkness, you had been my light."

A silent pause lingered by, Mia looked away to the table and chuckled softly to lighten the tense atmosphere, "I'm glad to see you finally admitting I'm special." She joked, and an elegant laugh fell from Celeste's lips.

The women made their way into the room and Mia pushed Fleamont off the couch; he still kept snoring, not fazed as he lay on the carpet and the old friends sat with their legs crossed.

      "EAGLES."

"ABBA."

"DAVID BOWIE."

"QUEEN."

"THE BEATLES."

"ELTON JOHN."

"SPRINSTEEN."

      SIRIUS let out a cheer in sheer excitement as soon as Peter mentioned something about Springsteen. Scarlet remained quiet as they discussed muggle music and their culture, not knowing much about it herself. There were a lot of random names which made no sense without context.

"What do you mean, Queen?" Scarlet questioned, still sitting beside Sirius who let out a laugh at her confused expression. "The Queen of England isn't a singer, as far as I know."

"No, no, it's a rock band, Bridget." James explained.

"And who is Springsing?"

"Springsteen," Remus corrected. "Also a singer, you should totally listen to him, he's actually from America."

"Why would I listen to an American?" Her brows pinched together. 

"Moony! Did you manage to get the new record, Born to Run?" Sirius clasped his hands together in excitement.

"It's sold out everywhere!" James groaned with exaggeration. "I visited ten shops over Christmas."

"Tell me about it," Peter frowned. "I wish I could get it."

      Within a few minutes into the conversation, the four forgot all about the storm outside and the loud thunder striking. Although, it could not be louder than James' voice. Celeste and Mia burst out into fits of girlish giggles every now and then.

      Suddenly, Scarlet turned to the closed window and watched the weather outside getting worse. The large clouds spat out heavy rain and the star was tar-black, growing more and more grey from the gloomy flow of heavy rainfall. 

      She felt a nudge of an elbow hit her ribs gently, making her turn her attention to the grey that was Sirius' irises instead of the sky. He pointed a finger at a very excited James who was apparently calling her name when she zoned out.

"What's this?"

James shot her a tight-lipped smile, handing her a thin, square-shaped thing that looked a lot like a giant card, wrapped in deep green paper.

"I'm sorry! I've had it with you being confused whenever we talk muggle music!" James threw his hands up in defense. Apparently, Scarlet missed a lot of their conversations when she zoned out for a few seconds. The boys do talk awfully quickly. 

"He wanted to give you your present early." Remus summarised it, short and simple.

Taken aback, Scarlet pulled open the wrapping paper to reveal a record that looked similar to the ones James had in his room. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie.

      If it had been anybody else in the place of Scarlet, the receiver would have pulled the awfully thoughtful James Potter into a large hug and not let him go. But being Scarlet, she awkwardly patted James' shoulder which earned another loud squeal of excitement from him.

      It was quite sweet, how he was more excited about giving than receiving. 

"Thank you, Potter, this was really thoughtful." She chuckled, running a dainty finger over the record.

"Promise me you'll play it when you get home."

Scarlet shot her mother who sat a bit far away a glance, Celeste—having witnessed the moment—nodded at her which earned a large, toothy grin from the young girl. "I promise!"

From the corner of her eyes, she could see Sirius staring at her in a dreamy manner as she admired James' gift. She locked eyes with him again and he broke out into a mischievous grin.

"I want to open my presents too." He shot up to his feet in the blink of an eye, and then James followed too.

"Me too!" He exclaimed, "Pete, Remus, coming?"

The boys looked at each other and shrugged, running off to the living room.

"NO, NO! YOU HAVE TO WAIT TILL MORNING!" Mia shouted.

"BUT MUM!" James groaned, jumping on his feet like a child. "What if the storm kills us—?"

"Don't be disgraceful, Potter," Scarlet scoffed, but then sheepishly turned to the women. "Can we open the presents?" She too was as curious.

"Pretty please, Mrs Potter!" Peter pleaded.

After a long, deep inhale, Mrs Potter flickered her hand in an agreeing manner. "All right, go on, you kids."

The presents Celeste and Scarlet brought for every one of them were not as satisfying and thoughtful as the things the boys bought, but everybody was cheerful nonetheless. 

Lily sent Remus a large teddy bear and it was no doubt, he absolutely adored it. Peter got Scarlet two nail polishes in a box, and she also received a packet of hair clips from Remus. With such gifts, she was no longer thinking about going back home and opening much more expensive things that her other friends surely sent her—of course, except Everest's. Eve's gifts were always the most thoughtful ones, and full of effort.

      She realised the useless and quite expensive show-pieces were not a good present to gift those boys after all, it was nothing compared to what she received. Well, at least, she realised her mistake.

The torrential rainfall outside slowed, and she tugged at Sirius' sleeve. "Sirius?"

"Hm?" He swiftly turned around, answering in a hum.

"I didn't mean to snap, I mean, earlier—"

"Don't worry about it," he winked playfully, picking up some loose wrapping paper to tidy up. 

"No, it's... I went to see Andromeda last week," she blurted out and Sirius' jaw dropped. 

"What, when, where, how?"

"Uh—it doesn't matter, it's just... she was talking about the things you talk about, romance and soulmates, and all that nonsense," she spoke and Sirius nodded in confirmation. Andromeda filled his head with all those loving stories all the time before she left, they were the closest. "She got in my head."

"She tends to do that," Sirius chuckled. "How'd you like my favourite cousin?"

"I loved her," Scarlet confidently stated. "I really did, she—she's so..."

"Wise?"

"Yeah," her eyes twinkled as the two looked at each other, for a moment, Scarlet was considering taking Andromeda's advice. "Wise."

𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑨 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑨𝑲𝑺

they're so happy
and relaxed in these
chapters, it's melting 
my heart.

tbh, i take back what I
said about cel & mia
being like sirius & james
'cause.... obviously not.