When with Rome {Sirius Black}

36.2 Duelling a Toad

"Ready?" Barbara asked, her smirk getting bigger and bigger as the seconds ticked by.

"One, two, three, CONFRIGO!" Umbridge shouted.

"AGUAMENTE!" Barbara retaliated. The crowd screamed as the fire spell and the water spell combined, causing too much smoke to see. Nonetheless, they still saw the colors of spells flying back and forth.

The smoke cleared after a few minutes, and the crowd noticed that Umbrige was going all out, using very dangerous spells, while Barbara was using less dangerous, yet effective, spells. The teachers held their breath, secretly hoping for their student to win. They prayed that the dangerous spells used against her would continue to miss.

"Petrificus tortalus!" Umbrige shouted. Barbara, unfortunately, was not quick enough. The spell made her fall to the ground, frozen solid, on her stomach. Umbrige laughed maniacally, and approached her opponent. Barbara seemed to have a little fear in her eyes; but at the same time, she seemed to be stronger. The teachers couldn't do anything because Dumbledore casted a spell around the courtyard, used to shield the students; and he refused to take it down. He had confidence in his pupil.

"Well, now, what do we have..... here?" Umbrige whispered in a sickly sweet voice to Barbara. Umbrige delicately and slowly picked up Barbara's wand. She started to examine it.

"Hmm, I can see this is a peculiar wand. Not to mention the weird scratches on it." Umbrige commented so all could hear. She huffed to herself, and began to try to figure out what the 'scratches' meant. She was completely unaware that Barbara was slowly conquering the incantation used against her

"Here, how about this, Potter. I will have a wand while finishing this duel; and you can use your," she giggled, "strength." Cockily, Umbridge took the charm off of Barbara and had her back turned, walking back to her side of the duel.

Barbara ignored the witch's taunt and got off of the ground, calmly wiping the dust off of her robes. "Alright, Umbridge, I'll agree to that. I don't need a wand."

Umbrige looked triumphant, but little did she know what a big mistake that was. Barbara got up from the ground, and put her hands out in front of her as if she was warming her hands in front of a fire on a cool night. There was an unknown smirk on the Royal's face that made Umbridge and the onlookers confused. All were confused, that is, except for the Marauders, Lily, Marlene, and Dumbledore, whose eyes twinkled exceptionally bright.

"Expelliarmus, bitch." Barbara shouted. She made a swishing motion with her hands; and red light of the well known spell formed in the palm of her hands. When it gathered enough energy, it shot towards the target: Umbridge.

The older Professor was so shocked, she dropped her wand on the ground right when the spell hit her. Needless to say, the column that she was thrown into was fine, but Umbridge was a different story.

Cheers broke out throughout the crowd. Barbara could hear James screaming "That's my sister!" Over and over again. Everything seemed concluded, nobody gave the other witch a second glance; for everybody was cheering for Barbara. Even those who didn't like her were clapping respectfully, as they didn't like Umbridge more.

It was around nine o'clock, most students remained in their Dorm Rooms, including Sirius Black. But he wasn't planning to sleep. No, he was under his covers, looking at a certain map by wand-light.

The Marauders Map.

Sirius was looking for someone on the map at that particular moment. And he definitely didn't want any of his friends to know who.

"Hmmm...." He mumbled to himself. It was quite frustrating; looking for someone for ten minutes, to no avail.

Suddenly, his blankets were pulled up and he saw James, his best friend, looking at him confusedly.

"What are you doing with the Map, Paddy?"

"Looking for your sister," he admitted, "I haven't seen her since dinner."

His partner in crime chuckled. "You're an idiot if you can't find her. She's right there, see?"

Sirius groaned at his stupidity. How could he forget to look at the Astronomy Tower!? That was his favorite place– the one place he actually liked to look art he stars because he was reminded more of Hogwarts than his family.

"Borrow my cloak if you want to. Just don't do anything you'll regret." James said with a wink, and walked back to his bed.

Sirius took the advice, the cloak, and the Map. He put the cloak on him, making him and the Map invisible, and headed out of the Common Room.

Sirius was successful at avoiding all the teachers, Filtch, and Mrs. Norris. He was up the stairs when he saw Barbara sitting on the ledge of an open window, one leg outside of it and dangling carelessly. Her other leg was laying on the window ledge where she lay peacefully.

He coughed, getting her attention. "I missed you after you defeated the toad. I just wanted to say good job out there."

She smiled. "Thanks, Sirius. I didn't know you could be genuinely nice."

"Hey, don't push it, Potter." He joked with her. Silence fell over Barbara and Sirius, until she motioned for him to sit on the ledge with her. Sirius made his way over and sat down next to her after Barbara's legs were dangling in the room.

"You know," Barbara spoke up, "I've been mulling this over for a while and I think I finally figured it out. I think I only beat her because I was thinking about how you guys are being mistreated by her."

"I don't think that's what you should tell yourself. You defeated her because you're good at what you've been trained to do. Maybe that was motivation; but your skill is what gets you far, Barbara."

They looked at each other, small smiles on each of their faces. Before either could move away, they both felt themselves being pulled closer towards each other.

Their lips met, perfect synchronisation following their movements. Their kiss lasted longer than Sirius had anticipated, until Barbara pulled back, needing for air. Sirius took a few deep breaths as well. He never kissed a girl like that before. It was usually a fierce snogging session. For him, the kiss was gentle, but fierce, and passionate with more meaning than he's ever felt before.