𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜 ━━ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧
051. our loathsome constellations

          𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗗 about how her conversation with Marlene McKinnon went, and there was no doubt that she would hear all about the two girls' time together from Everest later on.

      With no worries in her mind and a less dense heart, she made her way to the Astronomy Tower, her shoes clicking softly against the stairs as she made her way to the top.

      A figure with a head full of black curls rested by the telescope, pale and dainty fingers miraculously working with the tools and adjustments. His robes were lazily folded at his feet as he leaned to look through. Except, despite looking a lot like Sirius Black, the silhouette was not Sirius.

She coughed sharply, trying to gather his attention.

"Salazar!" Regulus jumped out of his skin in fright as he saw her creeping in. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"First of all, mind your language, kid." Scarlet replied with an attitude, slyly turning around to make sure Sirius was nowhere nearby. "What are you doing here?"

"I asked first," he folded his arms.

"I come here often," she shrugged. 

"The Astronomy Tower?" Regulus raised a brow. "You said you hated the subject."

Scarlet only glared. "That is beside the point; I never see you here."

Scarlet watched him silently look back at the sky in a tense manner, hovering over the old telescope. The blonde squinted her eyes.

"You're not failing Astronomy, are you?" 

"No!" Regulus exclaimed back in defense, finding her assumption ridiculous.

"Good," she folded her arms and approached him to stand right next to him. "Because that would be embarrassing."

Regulus sighed heavily and stared ahead for a solid minute. His shoulders were still tense and his chest rose and fell in a rapid manner. As though he was desperately trying to steady his breathing. 

"Regulus," she softly said his name and the way he reacted with a sly flinch, Scarlet thought he might break. "What happened?"

Just two nights ago, they were getting drunk and laughing about irrelevant matters. However, at the moment, he looked as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. 

He replied quietly. "I'm tired... and I can't sleep."

"Oh, thank Merlin," Scarlet muttered. "I thought you were waiting here for a girl and she left you hanging, or something."

Regulus couldn't help the small, breathy laugh that left his lips. And it felt satisfactory to make him laugh; it felt like she accomplished something.

"The sky... it's the only place we're all together on," Scarlet's head snapped towards his as he spoke the words. Cautious. Painfully silent. "My father, Sirius, and I, we're all by each other's side and we never fell apart."

Salazar fucking Slytherin, how was Scarlet meant to react to it? She knew the hope Regulus had, one for a strong, glued-together family; Scarlet did not want it for Sirius. Not after how lowly he would speak of his parents. No matter what merciless actions a parent takes, unless it is to the uttermost extent, a child can never truly bring themselves to degrade their parents. 

      The Black family did not deserve Sirius Black. Yet, she understood what Regulus referred to. His hope. His solace.

"I think there's another universe somewhere, a different life where he still loved me, where we all stayed together."

His grey eyes shone beneath the moonlight, and Scarlet almost pulled the boy into a hug. Then, she resisted and played on the thought. "He does love you, Reg."

Regulus shook his head as though he had already accepted the cruel truth. "He does not, and I don't blame him." 

      Scarlet was not the one to assume anything about others' family dynamics. She had no right. However, there was one thing she was utterly sure of. The Black brothers—they both had one brother. Regulus' was Sirius and Sirius' was James.

The moment was cut short by hurried footsteps, and Scarlet wanted the soul of Salazar to drill a hole beneath her and shallow her when Sirius Black showed up.

      Pursing her lips and digging her nails into her palm harshly, she glanced between the two Black brothers.

Regulus stared right ahead at Sirius with an intensified glare, and Sirius resisted the urge to make a snarky comment. Clearly, the older Black's presence was bothering the younger.

Shocked, the younger glanced at Scarlet. "Is this why you're here? To see him?"

"Reg," Scarlet sighed roughly. "This doesn't mean anything."

Sirius felt a small pang in his chest at her words. Even though he fundamentally believed that it did not mean anything to him either. What they were doing was totally for fun. 

"Oh Merlin, you two have lost your mind," Regulus mumbled, running a hand through his hair before he faced Sirius sharply. "Don't do this,"

"Do what? Why do you care?" Sirius scoffed, then glanced between the two Slytherins with a knowing look on his face. "Ah, I get it, you have a crush on her." A grin played on his lips.

Scarlet scoffed at his ridiculous motion. "Don't start." 

Regulus started to lose his patience, practically ignoring Scarlet's sharp tone. "You said this was never meant to be serious, that it was a joke! You're just messing around with her."

"You're a child, Regulus," Sirius spat, almost venomously. He did not take a word Regulus said seriously. "Why don't you fuck off to your territory and let us be, hm?" He sent an annoyed grin in his direction, completely impolite.

The way Sirius talked sent a pang to Scarlet's heart—especially after what Regulus just shared with her. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Regulus stiffen a little due to the lack of respect he received.

"I cannot believe this," Regulus shook his head vigorously. "Not only did you become distinct, but you had to take her away from me too."

"She was never yours to be taken from," Sirius mockingly laughed, reminding Regulus of his place.

Scarlet's heart ached at his crestfallen face due to the way Sirius belittled him. "Both of you are acting like children."

Sirius blankly blinked at her, "Me? He's the one—"

"Sirius," she warned him to re-collect his thoughts and words before actually speaking.

"Go and find somebody else to snog every night and leave her alone," Regulus cut in, folding his arms childishly. "I won't let you hurt her, I won't allow it."

"It doesn't matter what you want," Sirius raised a brow. "It's about what I want and I want her."

"I'm standing right here, don't speak about me that way," Scarlet glanced between the two. The Black brothers always managed to take their exaggerated argument one step ahead of the moon itself. Usually, it resulted in regretful words and a tone of disrespect. 

      She was not going to stand and watch them speak of her as though she were an object, they needed a reminder of her status. Although... a feeling did rush down her blood when Sirius uttered the words I want her, she shook herself away from those thoughts. It's a figure of speech. He just wants to take the win over Regulus.

"Apologies," Regulus muttered softly, chin down as he stared at the floor whilst clutching his robes tightly in his arms. 

"Regulus."

"What?"

"Get out."

Regulus stared in anger and started walking out of the place before Sirius had the chance to humiliate him further.

"You're too hard on him," Scarlet approached him with light footsteps, and the irritated expression on Sirius turned into one filled with lust. "It won't hurt to be a little kind, you know."

"He deserves none of it," Sirius shrugged, not exactly regretting his behaviour. he always thought of his brother as a fool—an incompetent bigot.

Sirius ignored the firm look on her face—as she stayed a little frustrated about his treatment of Regulus—and pulled her into a much-needed kiss. It was clear as glass that he was still quite tipsy as Marlene informed her earlier on. 

His kisses were sloppy, his hands were messily digging through her luscious hair, and he could not get enough of the taste of her. Sirius' confidence was what made him alluring to his classmates, and yet, when he looked into the twinkling eyes of Scarlet, the arrogance all washed off.

      Soon enough, Scarlet gave up trying to play hard to get and kissed him right back, and this goes without saying, he was horny as fuck. 

"You are," she inhaled, pulling away for a moment, her breath was caught by his mouth. "So bloody drunk."

"I could get even more drunk," he leaned down to press another deep kiss to her lips. "On this."

She kissed him back a bit more harshly than intended, and he stumbled back onto a wall, feeling her palms on her chest. She could feel the rapid heartbreak of his heart beneath the pads of her fingers. 

"Fuck," he groaned against her mouth, softly biting her lower lip. "You—you're lovely, Miss Bridget." He raised a brow, grinning like an idiot.

Scarlet leaned back slightly, and her lips were still touching his even though they were not moving, giving him a feather-like touch. A tipsy Sirius was more confused than a normal Sirius, and his fun-smitten grin sent her over the moon.

      After a long moment of snogging, Sirius bid her goodbye and walked away from the tower. She watched as he did so. An unusual magnetic force acted upon her, forcing her to run back to him and hold on. Hold on.

This is a figment of your imagination, Scarlet shook her own thoughts away. This doesn't mean anything.

It does not mean anything to him.

There was something painful about illicit affairs. Scarlet Bridget never believed she could be loved. Destiny did not plan any love in her story, it was only ever darkness. 

      She wholeheartedly believed that she was just a fading haze in his life, a mere clandestine meeting in the dark, but it did not matter as long as she had a tiny part of Sirius Black's exquisite life. A part of his heart. 

      For the time being, Sirius cherished her. Just for a moment, they will be together. Until she would lose him. Lose him.

      And it hurt knowing it probably did not mean anything no matter how much she hoped and hoped. It was a dirty little secret. 

      However...

      He was worth it.

      All of it.

      WHEN SCARLET GOT BACK TO HER DORM ROOM, her heart was beating faster than she had imagined.

"Good, you're here, what happened to Regulus?" Narcissa Black's voice almost caused her to stumble over a flower vase, it was sudden and sharp.

"What,"

"He came in here and ran to his dorm like a toddler, do you know what happened?"

"He had a row with Sirius," she shrugged, admitting truthfully.

Narcissa held a book in her hand and her gaze lingered on the younger girl for more seconds than necessary before she huffed, "Sit."

Scarlet did not question the matter as she sat on the couch, staring at the older blonde. Narcissa silently shut her book and stared at her intensely.

"Where were you?"

A scoff left her crimson lips as soon as Narcissa uttered those words. "Cissa, I mean this in the best way possible, if I took a drink every time you and Lucius snuck out so you could snog, I would be dead by now."

Narcissa glared at her. "Because I'm in love with him."

Scarlet gagged. Truly gagged at her words. "Please, don't even say that to me again.... I'm gonna throw up."

"Are you in love with Sirius?"

Was Scarlet Bridget in love with Sirius Black?

"Fuck, no," her bluntness when swearing left Narcissa appalled. Then Scarlet made sure to be a little less obvious so Narcissa did not figure out her lies and ended up running to Walburga Black to snitch.

"I'll ignore that vile language," she stared right at the fireplace, taking her eyes off Scarlet which caused the younger to sigh out a breath of relief. "Then what are you doing?"

"I don't know," Scarlet blurted out softly, as thoughts roamed in her mind.

"Does he..." Narcissa gently spoke, zoning out into space as she kept her eyes still. "Understand you?"

Scarlet's heart skipped a beat. Sirius understood her, more than most. He put in the effort, and unconsciously, she started to fiddle with the necklace hanging from her neck, glinting against her pale skin. "Yes."

Narcissa smiled at her. "Well, that is always the first step, Scarlet, and as much as I can't stand him... Sirius loves with all of his heart, you'll never feel like you're getting small pieces of him."

      Narcissa Black always had the aura to bring softness in any situation. Her gentle tone and comforting features of her words—her existence resembled a garden full of exquisite flowers. Examining even closer, she could see the similar details between her and Andromeda. 

"Okay."

Narcissa nodded with a small smile playing on her lips, "Goodnight, Scarlet."

      Narcissa had this beautiful grin on her cheeks, and she could hardly contain the goddamn smile. She bit down on her bottom lip. Her eyes glimmered. At the moment, Scarlet could not help but admire her adorable mannerism. Narcissa Black was stunning. Her jewelry was delicately placed on the right places of her pale skin, eyes shining brighter than her pearl teeth. 

      Scarlet had never exactly liked anyone other than Sirius; nobody else could send her blood boiling with overwhelming sensation. Although, there were times Narcissa would gently grip her chin and paint Scarlet's lips red with her lipstick, and run her dainty fingers through her hair to plait them neatly before a school function or family ball; those times would send a cacophony of fireworks erupting in her stomach and send her chest into a whirlwind of racing beats.

      Scarlet, from a young age, never put much time or thought into the idea of attraction. Then, all thoughts disappeared at once. And her mind was not her own anymore.

Suddenly, her heart felt hollow and Scarlet opened her lips against her will to speak, "I actually have something to do."

      The blonde did not question it, and instead, shrugged roughly. A moment of emotion consumed Narcissa's heart at the moment, she was so into the thoughts of Scarlet dating Sirius, that she did not question where the girl was off to at this time of the night. Maybe she should have asked. 

"All right." Said Narcissa anyway. She wished more than anything else that Sirius would get his acts together in a way that would allow Scarlet to be contemptuous with him but also uphold her reputation. After all, a Bridget would never marry a blood traitor.

𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑨 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑨𝑲𝑺

i hate this chapter
nothing happens and i 
didn't know what to do

but it will get better
and it's defo going to 
get darker and darker 
after this.