Chasing Time (sirius black)

MISS AMERICANA AND THE HEARTBREAK PRINCE

TRIGGER WARNINGS: violence, some slight racism, and there could be others so please let me know what I missed/I apologized if I missed any.

Oh and I missed you all ♥️ Enjoy...

It felt like I hadn't slept for two and a half years. Literally. Not one wink of sleep could be found last night. My mind ran in circles for hours. Maybe I could've gotten up and gone on a walk or read or something but I kept hoping that maybe I'd fall asleep at some point if I didn't move.

Tux's cold nose nudged my arm and I turned my head to see my dog giving me the saddest eyes. Groaning, I pushed myself out of bed. "I'm up, I'm up. Stop giving me the Sarah McLachlan commercial look."

He whispered barked at me, clearly offended at the reference. Shaking my head, I padded towards the bathroom to make sure I didn't look as bad as I -

Well, shit.

I definitely looked as bad as I felt. This was going to be the longest day.

——

Lily was still in a pleasant mood the next morning. Prefect duty with Jam-James had been...interesting. They'd discussed the plans for the ball, going over the to-do list as they patrolled the halls. When he wasn't asking her out to Hogsmeade or writing sonnets about her, he was actually great to talk to. His ideas for the ball mirrored her own, taking a few of her details and elaborating them into finer ones that she never would've thought of on her own.

For example, Lily had thought having the Great Hall ceiling reflect a night starry sky would be romantic, James suggested adding in gold stars falling from the ceiling periodically throughout the night. With a few simple charms, it would be easy to turn the normal starry scene into a breathtaking night sky. It surprised Lily that she found she enjoyed talking to James.

Maybe even looked forward to it now.

Maybe.

Mads yawned next to her as they entered the Hall and Lily couldn't help the frown forming on her face. Her best friend had larger bags under her eyes than usual which confused Lily. When she'd returned to the dorm room for bed, Mads had been fast asleep for once. She hadn't even heard Mads wake up in the middle of the night like she normally did.

You wouldn't be able to tell that though from looking at the brunette. They reached their spots on opposite sides of the long oak table and Tux darted under it to plop his head in Sirius's lap. The boys were already in deep discussion over the upcoming game, barely acknowledging them as they joined. Peter scooted over quickly as Mads collapsed next to him and practically fell into Sirius, not on her usual side.

Without breaking his conversation with Remus and Jam-JAMES, Sirius slipped his right arm around Mads to support her while simultaneously sliding his own mug of coffee within her reach. Her hands blindly reached for his to find the mug then grasped it tightly before taking a large gulp.

And that was what had Lily's eyes bugging out of her head.

Not Sirius reacting to Mads's movements like a magnet or his ability to know she was there in the first place. No, it was Mads with her eyes closed, reaching for his hands with total accuracy to find the mug.

She didn't even know she was doing it!

"You trying to catch flies, there?" Remus muttered next to her. Lily quickly snapped her jaw shut and glanced at the werewolf on her left.

"You saw that, right?" Lily whispered, noting that Sirius was now distracted by Mads who was mumbling something into his shoulder.

Remus shot another look towards the two before meeting her eyes with one raised eyebrow. "Hard not to. She's managed to track him all the way from the dorms to the kitchens so I'm not surprised she's now using him to find coffee."