Liquid Luck [Sirius Black]/editing

Chapter 129

He bites down on his bottom lip, maintaining eye contact with me as he slips the windbreaker off my shoulders. My breath hitches in my throat and I shiver a little from being in only a bikini top and bottoms. "Sirius?"

He scoops me up off my towel and carries me bridal style down the beach.

"Sirius! Put me down, you – you psycho!"

"Ohh, such a good one! Did you come up with that yourself?" He makes fun of me as he makes his way towards the water's edge.

By now, the sun's gone down and it's almost entirely dark out here so the water looks black and murky. Strong waves crash over Sirius' legs but he powers through, walking us deeper into the ocean until he's waist-deep.

"Hiya, lovebirds! How nice of you to finally join us." Fabian greets teasingly.

"Aren't you two cold?" I ask.

"I was at first. But once you get used to it, it actually feels quite nice." Duke explains, floating on his back with his arms and legs spread out around him.

I desperately cling to Sirius and the warmth that his body radiates. "Don't you dare let me go, Sirius Black."

"I won't." Sirius snorts. He then directs his attention to Fabian. "Hey, mate, what're you gonna do without Duke this year at school? I know I'd go insane if I couldn't see this one for that long." He nudges his head in my direction.

"It won't be too bad because we can meet up at Hogsmeade on the weekends." Fabian says.

We spend time enjoying the ocean some more before the night has to come to an end. Fabian and Duke Disapparate together, leaving me and Sirius on the secluded beach.

We settle down just off the coast and lay together in a grassy field to watch the stars. Sirius huddles close to me and starts naming all the stars he can see twinkling above us. "...then there's Polaris, Betelgeuse, Arcturus, Antares, Pleiades, and Canopus." I watch him in fascination. "And look, there's the star that was named after me."

I roll my eyes, laughing. "I'm sure they named a bajillion-year-old star after you, Sirius. Not the other way around, no way."

"They did, I swear!" He chuckles.

I turn on my side to look at him and he does the same. "I love how much you know about the stars." He bashfully casts his eyes down. "Speaking of which, Lily owled me yesterday. She's really into astrology right now and she says Pisces and Scorpios make good couples."

"I think she's right." He says, his eyes flickering between my eyes and my lips.

"Fabian and Duke are going through a bit of a dry-spell." I say, ripping out blades of grass and sprinkling them in the space between us. "Duke told me they're still in love, things just aren't as exciting as they used to be."

"I suppose that happens to couples sooner or later." Sirius shrugs.

"It hasn't happened to us."

"No, because I'll never get tired of this body." He teasingly runs his hand up my thigh and I crack a smile. "But you know that's not all I'm here for. We were best friends first, and we still are. You're a constant surprise, Chiara. You'll always be exciting to me."