𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗚𝗘

𝘞𝘐𝘕𝘋 𝘐𝘕 𝘔𝘠 𝘏𝘈𝘐𝘙

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After endlessly shifting from one side of the bed to another and trying in vain to silence her thoughts, Camille gave up on the idea of getting any sleep and instead, she looked out of the window and at the clear night sky that was full of stars. Placing her index finger on the cold glass, she started to trace the lines of the constellations she knew. There was Gemini, with Castor and Pollux close to one another, and Orion's Belt. Her finger followed the line of Orion until it reached the brightest star in the sky.

"Sirius," she breathed out.

How cruel and mocking, she couldn't escape him during the night either. He might not be allowed in this wing of the Tower, but the star that wore his name was right outside her window, illuminating her bed and watching her closely. Wherever she went, he followed.

She was thinking about his apology, about what he said to her today and how genuine his words sounded to her, and she couldn't help but ask herself if she was painting a picture of him in her head again, one that wasn't close to the reality, or if he really meant every word he said to her earlier. And if he did, then what was she supposed to do?

It was easier to be upset with him and to try her best to look busy every time he was around, but it was the only plan she had. If she forgave him for running away and leaving her stranded, what would she do after that? She couldn't be his friend, it was useless to even try to pretend she could, and she didn't want to move on either. She couldn't give him a cold shoulder forever, and she couldn't pretend she didn't peek at him from time to time when she was sure he wasn't watching, or that it didn't bother her every time she noticed another girl trying to get his attention. It couldn't go like this forever. So what was there to do?

She was mad at herself for crying earlier, but what she was even more mad about was that she didn't have the courage to tell him that those were tears of relief, not of sadness or anger. How could she belong to Gryffindor, the house of the bravest, when she acted so cowardly for no reason?

With every second that passed, more and more questions went through her head, and they were getting louder.

"Alright, tell me the ingredients of the Antidote to Common Poisons," Lily said.

"It contains Bezoar, Mistletoe Berries and Unicorn Horns," Camille replied, then smiled at the sight of Lily nodding.

"You're really good at this, Camille!" Lily pointed out, her voice a little too loud for the library setting. She could feel the glares of some students that were seated nearby and when she realized her mistake, she lowered both her head and her voice. "I think you're even going to make it to the Slug Club!"

"The Slug Club?" Camille asked curiously.

"It's Professor Slughorn's favorite students club! You can only get in if he likes you, and the membership comes with a great deal of benefits, such as invitations to his exclusive parties!" she explained, whisper-shouting, "Isn't that exciting?"

"Good morning, my dear Evans!" James voice ringed out as he pulled the chair next to Lily, startling her. "Rainier," he then greeted Camille too, winking.

"Lower your voice, Potter!" Lily threatened him, furrowing her brows as she turned to look at him. "Do you even know where you are? This is the library, did you get lost or something?"

A few short moments after, the chair next to Camille was pulled as well, making the blonde girl jump.

"Yes, Lily. I'm afraid we're very well aware of where we are," Sirius said, taking a seat. Then, he looked over at Camille, greeting her with a tired smile. "Good morning, Camille."

"Good morning, Sirius," she whispered back, much to Lily's surprise.

"We just need you two girls to say that we've been here for the last half hour, if anybody asks," James said, flashing Lily an obnoxious grin. "Deal?"

"Merlin's Beard, what did you two little maniacs do again?" Lily scoffed.

"We've been—" Sirius trailed off, looking down at Camille's book and dragging it with his index finger in front of him, "—studying Advanced Potions books, obviously."

His answer made James cackle with laughter, earning another annoyed groan from Lily.

"Did you pull another prank on Severus?" the girl asked, clearly not happy with this situation. "We're not going to cover for you."

"Maybe," Sirius said, his cheeks dimpling devilishly. "Are you two done studying yet?"

"No—" Camille said.

"—Yes," Lily said at the same time.

"Lovely." Sirius chuckled, then rose from his seat and looked over at Camille. "Come on, let's go for a walk."

"But it's almost dark and it's a school day," Lily said.

James put an arm around her. "It's not like we're going to Hogsmeade, Evans. We're just talking a walk around the castle grounds."

"May I?" Sirius asked, offering a helping hand to Camille.

The girl looked at his hand for a brief moment, then met his eyes and nodded, placing her hand in his. He smiled and helped her get back to her feet. He should have probably let go of her hand, but instead of doing that, he laced their fingers together and guided her out of the library, walking right behind James and Lily.

They made their way through the corridors and out the castle, and wherever they went, people started whispering. Some were wondering what the two Marauders were up to, whether it was another legendary prank or not, and others were more interested to find out why the two Gryffindor girls were tagging along. Most of them were aware that James has been flirting with Lily for a while now, but it was hard to tell what was happening with Sirius and Camille. Even so, nobody dared to follow them.

"Where are we going, Sirius?" Camille asked, chuckling. They've been walking for a while and neither him or James said a word about where they were headed to. Or if they were headed anywhere. For all she knew, they could be simply wandering around the castle with no destination or purpose set in mind.

"You'll see," he replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

It was getting late and the late autumn weather made most of the students go indoors earlier, but there was still a brave lot who refused to retreat until curfew. It didn't take long until they eventually stopped in front of a giant willow tree. Lily started to question James about why he brought her here, but he eventually convinced her to take a seat on the grass right next to him. Camille was about to do the same, but Sirius pulled her back by the hand.

"We're not sitting there. Accio broom stick," he said, reaching his other hand out and waiting for his broom to arrive. When it did, he climbed it and instructed for her to do the same. "Hop on, Camille."

"What?" Camille was clearly suspicious about his intentions, and she hesitated to get on his broom.

"We're not going far, I promise. Please?"

Biting her lower lip for a short moment, Camille stared at his broom and then she eventually sighed and gave in, mounting his broom. She put some distance in between them, so that she could grab the stick with both of her hands.

"Not like that," Sirius commented, rotating his upper half of the body to look at her. He unclenched both of her hands from the broomstick and wrapped them around his torso, with a playful smirk on his lips, all while maintaining his balance by gripping the broom stick in between his thighs. "Better."

Camille's cheeks started to sting and they heated up until they were turned into a shy shade of red. The broom started to rise, and as soon as Camille's feet were no longer touching the ground, she leaned forward and tightened her grip around Sirius' torso. It wasn't that she didn't trust him to be a good flyer, but she just couldn't tell what he had in mind and judging by the look on his face, he was scheming something again.

The boy felt the tingling sensation of her warm breath against the back of his neck and he couldn't help but feel butterflies explode in his stomach. He loved the way her arms fit perfectly around his body, he felt like he could stay like this forever. Today was a big improvement for him, quite unexpected actually. After he made her cry last night, he didn't think she would even want to see him today, but she did, and she even smiled at him. And now she was here with him, allowing him to fly her wherever he wanted.

Just as promised, he didn't go far. He stopped as they reached a solid-looking branch near the top of the tree James and Lily were sitting under. He flew as close to it as he could, and then he turned around to look at Camille once more. "I'm going to need you to let go of me for a moment and hold steady, alright?"

When the girl nodded and did as she was told, Sirius dismounted the broom and climbed on the branch. He tested it out a little before he held both of his hands out to her, motioning for her to come closer.

"You're mental," Camille said, her eyes widening when she realized what he was suggesting. "No way. What if I fall?"

"I won't let you fall, I promise," he said. "But if you do, I'll be right here to catch you."

As scary as this was for her, it didn't take much to convince her to do it. Just the verbal confirmation that he was not going to let her get hurt was enough to spark up the flame of courage in her and before she realized it, Camille was already getting ready to dismount Sirius' broom and step on the tree branch. She grabbed his hands and put one foot on the branch. As soon as she felt the broom stick moving in the air, Camille removed her other leg from there and jumped. She lost balance when she did and she pushed him, but he wrapped both of his arms around her waist and pulled her with him, steadying them both as his back hit the hard, wide trunk. For support, Camille had her palms pressed against his chest and she closed her eyes until she felt safe.

"I got you," Sirius whispered to her, making her open her eyes again.

She was so close to him that he could make out every single one of her lashes and her magnetically vivid eyes were making him dizzy. He almost felt the need to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't a dream, but he was afraid that if it was, he would wake up and she would be gone again, and he didn't want to let go of her just yet.

He then noticed the flushed and rosy color of her cheeks, and he found himself completely astonished by the beauty of the girl he was holding in his arms. Since the first time he laid his eyes upon her in the summer, Camille took his breath away with every chance she had, and the most beautiful part was that she did it so naturally, without even realizing what she did to him. She was clueless about how her image and her name have been forever imprinted in Sirius' mind and heart from the very moment when they met at the beach.

One of his hands made its way up to her cheek and he gently brushed his thumb against her soft skin, his heart fluttering when she leaned into his touch. Then, Sirius leaned forward, his forehead pressing against hers and he closed his eyes, allowing himself to stay like this, even if only for a little while.

Sirius Black felt like the luckiest, the most blessed man that has ever lived on Earth whenever he held Camille. He didn't know how she did it, or if she even knew that she managed to do what he never thought would happen. With gentle, silent moves, Camille Rainier broke through all of Sirius' walls and made her way to his heart. He couldn't say she stole it, because that would mean she ran away with it. No, his beautiful girl settled in his heart and she made a home for herself there, showing him what it meant to be loved with no ulterior motive, but for who he truly was, beneath all the masks and the make believes. This was all so foreign to him, as he did not know this love while growing up, and he was still afraid that one day, she might make up her mind and run away, leaving him with the ghost of her memory, but what he felt for her was stronger than this fear.

He made the mistake of letting go of her once, he was not going to do that again.

After staying like that, in silence, Sirius couldn't fight the anticipation anymore. Tilting her head backwards only slightly, Sirius leaned to press his lips against Camille's. He had missed her so much since he went away that the pain in his heart started to feel physical, and it hurt deeper each and every day. He needed to kiss her, he ached for her soft lips against his, both his body and his soul ached for Camille's touch.

But he didn't get the chance to brush his lips against hers when a voice ringed out from underneath, causing them to slightly pull away from each other.

"Mr. Black!" Minerva McGonagall said, a hint of threat in her voice. "Ms. Rainier! Get down, both of you!"

Noticing how bothered McGonagall looked, Sirius couldn't help but break into a wide, mischievous grin.

"Will do!" he said, then turned around to look at Camille. With the hand that touched her cheek only a couple of moments ago, Sirius summoned his broom. "Ready to go back down, Camille?"

Unlike him, who switched to his usual playful attitude, Camille froze when she heard McGonagall's voice and if she thought her cheeks were heated up before, they were surely on fire now. And so was her heart, she was afraid that it might even jump out of her chest any second by now. The last couple of minutes seemed like an illusion, like something she would dream about at night, but coming to realize that this was no longer just in her mind, that Sirius was indeed going to kiss her if it weren't for Professor McGonagall interrupting them, Camille felt conflicted.

She nodded shyly, and she followed Sirius' lead. He was the first one to mount the broom, and he made sure to help her get on it safely before he flew them both back to ground, only to be scolded by McGonagall, who threatened to take fifty house points from them, James and Lily included, if they didn't make it to the Gryffindor Tower in the last five minutes they had until curfew.

Sirius reached his hand out for Camille to take and when she did, he started running towards the castle, laughing like the damn fool he was.

"Ay, faster Prongs!" he called out to James, who was right behind them, running alongside Lily, "You don't want the Gryffindors to murder you for losing them fifty house points, now do you?"

"Shut it, Padfoot!" James replied with a grin, sprinting even faster and dragging Lily with him, "Evans and I are going to make it to the Common Rooms before you and Camille do!"

"Is that a challenge, Prongs?" Sirius asked.

"I bet you ten galleons on that!" James provoked him.

And so, they all ran. And as the evening wind was blowing through Camille's golden curls, separating them and making them bounce, Sirius thought for a moment that she looked more beautiful with every second that passed, but now, seeing the joy in her eyes, that spark of adventure, and hearing her chuckles getting lost in the wind, all while tightly holding her hand and running for their life, she was absolutely breathtaking. Camille Rainier was a beautiful girl, that was needless to say, but when she set herself free, when she let the adventurous side of her take over, Sirius wished he could somehow capture this moment and put the picture into his wallet, so that he'd be reminded of it for evermore.

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this chapter was so fun to write and i decided to post it today in honor of taylor and harry winning their grammys yesterday & having a cute moment together 🥰 we can still hope for a collab one day

also, i'm taking friend applications! i posted an announcement on my message board, but feel free to send me your discord usernames anywhere if you want me to spam you with hp, taylor swift, 5sos, ariana grande & many more things and ideas about books i might or might not end up actually writing 😂

in the meantime, thank you for reading!
don't be a stranger!