𝗔𝗖𝗧 𝗜 ━━ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗧
058. somewhere along the way

( song for the chapter:
about you—the 1975 )

❝𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠. 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑝𝑜𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑛-𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒, ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠.❞

━━━━ 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒗

          𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗚𝗟𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 coming to an end. The O.W.L.s were a piece of work, and at times, she wanted to rip apart her exam papers and shove them down Professor Slughorn's stupid throat. 

      To the best of her ability, she had convinced Everest that most of her peculiar behaviours were a result of night terrors and trances. Thankfully, the girl did not force her into spilling her secrets and let her have privacy like a decent human being. It was either that or she was eager to spend almost every night snogging Marlene McKinnon in some corner of Hogwarts.

      Speaking of snogging, she hasn't had the chance to speak to Sirius Black ever since exams started. In fact, most friends were separated from each other as a result of it. Exams should be banned.

      After the end of her last exam—the Charms assessment, the group of students huddled out of the exam hall and cheered each other on, celebrating the end of hell. 

      That was when she felt a grip on her hand, a familiar grip that dragged her away from the crowd of cheery teenagers. She glanced at the scoop of black hair she could recognise anywhere, and her heart instantly picked up its pace. 

Sirius dashed through the hallway with her hands intertwined with hers and entered an empty classroom, slamming the doors shut immediately, and faced her. "Sirius," she whispered when he laid his eyes on her.

"I know how harsh I was about the entire situation," he breathed out. He had prepared an entire speech for what he was going to say—how much he was worried about her, and how the exams had practically separated the two of them—but all those prepared words melted away as soon as he stood in front of her. "I wanted to apologise."

"You don't have to apologise, Sirius," she smiled softly, nervously fiddling with her fingers which were clasped behind her back. "You saved me."

Sirius squinted his eyes and searched for humour in her cobalt eyes, failing to find any, he realised she was being sincere. And that mere sentence, that she admitted to the assistance he had provided her with, sent him to the Moon. 

      Without being able to control himself, he held her by the back of her neck and connected his lips against his, ignoring the surprised gasp that left her throat. 

He inhaled as he pulled away, holding her face gently in his hands and caressing her cheekbones with his thumb. "I'm sorry I didn't look out for you, more carefully."

"You've done more than enough," she whispered back, staring into the eyes she longed to see. 

He then gulped and looked like he was in here with a demand. "So, we're going back home today."

"Yes," she nodded, curiosity peaking up.

"I want to freak out my mother," he spoke in a monotone as though it was a completely normal thought. "Can you trim my hair?"

"Did you drag me in here so I can... trim your hair?" She squinted her eyes in his direction.

"Yes."

Scarlet looked at him as though he had grown an extra head, then sarcasm laced her tone. "Sure, Sirius, want me to do your eyeliner too?"

"That'd be great!" He excitedly grinned, and his smile inflated when her expression remained rigid. "You're kidding."

Scarlet felt her lips curling up just a little. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe not."

Sirius raised a brow, "Wait, you're being for real?"

"I want to see how Mrs Black reacts to you in eyeliner." She stumbled back a little, pushing forward a chair and gesturing to it. "Sit."

He sat down quickly, watching her as she moved her hand into her bag, pulling out an eyeliner. "You carry everything everywhere?"

"Narcissa always had an effect on me, she said I need to carry makeup all the time."

Sirius did not complain since it brought him quite the benefits. Slowly, she walked forward and stood right between his legs, and his eyes widened ever so sharply. He felt her fingers moving her hair away from his face, pushing them aside. 

"Can I tell you something?" He looked up at her, breath getting caught in his throat.

A hum emitted from the back of her throat, a comforting sign that he could continue. She was slightly perplexed for a moment.

"I'm glad about the way it all worked out," he said after a while, softly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, calmly. "Tilt your head up."

Sirius felt something being dragged along his water line. He did not flinch or anything, he was too busy staring at her eyes. "You and I," he said. And his words echoed off the walls. "Me and you. Whatever this is."

Her movement slowed. "Sirius."

"Scarlet." he blinked. Her heart felt stiff at the sound of her name.

She locked eyes with him fully, and her heart picked up its pace. She ran her hand through his hair one more time, pushing away a strand of hair from his forehead. Suddenly, she realised what this was. What he was getting into next.

"Look, Blondie," he said, ever so softly. "I should've told you these things quite some time ago but I got scared," his eyes bled into hers. He let out a shaky breath. "I got scared."

Her arm slowly fell limp, her hand holding the eyeliner falling to her side now. "Scared?"

"I'm going to be really honest," Sirius pointed out, as though he was still nervous about it.

Slowly, she nodded.

"I don't care how this started," he pointed between them. "I don't care that you kissed me for a bet all those years ago and I spent years resenting you for it—"

"No need to sugarcoat it, Sirius, you hated me, you had your reason." She shrugged with a light grin.

"For a while..." he nodded, feeling embarrassed. "I don't care if we started all this with a lie, with your help in that stupid prank—I don't care about all that, because somewhere along the way I stopped pretending."

"Pretending what?" she swallowed. She wanted him to keep talking—for the first time in her life.

"Pretending like you weren't on my mind the whole time—ever since that night we duelled on the Astronomy Tower. Pretending like all I felt for you was annoyance and resentment." He breathed out. "Pretending like none of it mattered. Somewhere along the way, I just stopped lying to myself about what really mattered. And what matters to me is you."

Her heart swelled. "Sirius—"

"So, I don't care that this started because of some immature bullshit," he said, out of breath from talking. "Because it's not bullshit and I don't think it's ever been immature at all—because somewhere along the way, I found you. I don't care if this is coming out of nowhere but I can't keep this in. I've been thinking about it ever since I kissed you on the Quidditch pitch."

      "Somewhere along the way, I realised it's always been you."

He wasn't loud but his words were powerful and held so much meaning that they impacted the air she took in. Her heart twisted and her stomach tightened, and she wondered where the hell Sirius bloody Black pulled that whole thing from.

"Sirius," she repeated, this time even softer.

"Scarlet." He let out a shaky breath, still sitting there on the seat with her in between his legs.

      Time stood still where he waited for a response. Finally, after a few silent moments, her lips quivered upward.

She couldn't help but let out the tiniest laugh, and the only thing that came to mind. "Salazar, you are such a cliche, Sirius Black."

      His face broke out the widest smile at those words and the immediate burst of emotion in his chest caused him to pull her closer—as close as she could get.

      He didn't know what kind of response he was anticipating. But the reaction, that was Scarlet Bridget. And it made his heart flutter uncontrollably. He wouldn't have it any other way. It was the perfect thing she could have said to him.

"Could'e warmed me you were gonna declare your undying feelings for me." the sound of her laugh beamed off the walls. 

      She laughed and if Sirius could turn the sound of it into water in a lake and drown in it every night, he would have.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight. "Monumental declarations don't come with warnings, Miss Bridget." he laughed, placing the tip of his chin on her stomach, staring up at her. "It ruins the surprise."

"How hard did James hit your head this time?" she grazed the outline of his defined jaw with the pad of her thumb, a surge of emotion washed through her. "Salazar freakin' Slytherin..."

"You don't have to say anything in response," he said, calmly, feeling her soft finger on his chin.

"I'm not good with talking," she said, smile slowly diminishing as she watched his daydreaming eyes. "About... feelings, I don't know, I've never really had to before."

"You don't have to explain yourself, I promise it's alright," he stared at her with soft, honest eyes, making sure she knew. "Whenever you're ready."

      Scarlet did not know she was capable of feeling such a plethora of emotions all at once. He held her heart in his hand as though it was glass, as though she would break. She trailed her eyes around his calm and honest face.

"I can't believe you're real sometimes," she said out loud. She didn't really know if she let it slip by accident or not.

"How so," he trailed his hands down from her waist to the back of her thighs. Scarlet thought of the way he calmed her storm. His vivid imagination. The way he lived life at its fullest. Of his selflessness. He would have never guessed that one day she'd be standing between the legs of Sirius Black, thinking positively about him.

"You're just not the person I thought you were, at all." She admitted, finding a particular interest in the strands of his hair. "In a good way, a really good way."

"Is that so?" A smile grew on his face.

"And maybe," she trailed off, debating silently whether she should continue. She knew she was going to, anyway. "Maybe... before all of this, I used to sometimes pretend you're mine. Really, truly mine, not as part of the prank."

"Maybe?"

"Definitely maybe," she confirmed with her lips curling up. "I'm glad I met you too, or something, I don't know." Then, she cringed at her own words.

      It wasn't a declaration of love, but Sirius knew that Scarlet was trying. Trying to express her feelings. She was astoundingly fantastic at a lot of things, but not when it came to feelings. He knew that. He'd known that even before she told him. But she was trying, and that's all he needed.

"And I guess, I still do want you to be mine." She whispered, voice thick and words falling like a wall of bricks.

His grip tightened on the back of her thighs, and his eyes never left hers.

"I don't know what this means or what's gonna happen," her hands found the collar of his shirt and rested there. "But I'm only seventeen, so I guess that means I have all the time in the world to figure out the right words."

A particular smile slid onto his lips now, something she'd never seen. He was looking at her with a certain look, a meaningful one.

"And I have all the time in the world to figure out how to say them to you," she finished.

"As I said before," he whispered. "You don't have to say anything. Just kiss me."

      Scarlet smiled before leaning in. Carefully, she placed her lips on his. A sea of fireworks erupted in the pit of her stomach at the contact, and she inhaled deeply from the overwhelming emotion it caused her. His hands tightened at her waist and his chin was raised significantly to reach her lips from her standing position.

      They did not reattach or move their lips together in undeniable passion and heat. All they needed to do was bask in the gloriousness of one kiss, one beautiful, soft, delicate kiss.

      His words echoed in her mind, and the growing jumble of nerves tangled in her stomach. 

      The year has been difficult. But somewhere in the haze, Scarlet found Sirius. Tender kisses she hoped would last forever. The smiles that lit up her entire world. Sirius Black was the best thing that ever happened to her. And she never ever wanted to let go.

𝑪𝑨𝑹𝑨 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑨𝑲𝑺

I'm sorry if it felt a little rushed
but i wanted the bad effects to be
emphasised later on in ACT 2

which means, this is the end of ACT 1!
ending on a happy note? it seems.

58 chapters, PHEW!! I love
the end of this and
might have shed some tears.

i have a love/hate relationship
with being 17. any advice??😭

this story has a large 
part of my heart tbh.

a massive thank you to all who
showed this story love and support
ILY guys so much <3

virtual hugs from,

CARA.