𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑 ❧ sirius black

XXI - Hogwarts After Dark

Despite James being out of the hospital wing and back to life as it was before, his injury still had a monumental effect on Sirius. The moment that he saw James' unconscious body carried out onto the field would forever be burned into his mind whether he liked it or not; he couldn't erase the memory, and it was killing his mind.

And just as he had done so often at the start of the term, Sirius took back his habit of borrowing James' invisibility cloak for the evening and drifting away beneath it. In it, he disappeared and the intensity of his worries could be dimmed for a moment; his problems paused.

Though his visiting hours with James were a tremendous help with the struggles that Sirius was taking on mentally, he still found himself wandering away with the invisibility cloak more often than not when nightfall struck. To Sirius, there was nothing wrong with being alone with himself during these hours, simply staring up at the stars, at his namesake, and doing his best count his blessings instead of fermenting his problems.

Especially the nights following the Amortentia incident in Potions class, Sirius had a lot to think about. He barely got any sleep that following week; snagging James' cloak became second nature to him, just as it had been in previous years. A side note, having this habit gave Sirius a inner eye to the well-kept secrets of those roaming about Hogwarts after dark, just like himself. Even the secrets of his closest friends.

One night, when Sirius' carried out his routine of stealing the cloak and migrating to the Astronomy tower, he caught sight of two familiar faces along the way. James and Lily.

They're probably just making their nightly rounds, as Head Boy and Girl. Of course Sirius assumed this, after all they were chosen as the heads this year. But peering at them from down the dark corridor, he spotted something that seemed to be more than just nightly rounds.

They were talking, Lily was laughing. Sirius couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were smiling. They were happy. In a moment where they thought they were alone, clueless to Sirius' presence down the hall, James brushed the hair behind Lily's ear and gently kissed her. And she kissed him back.

Oh, I'm never gonna let him hear the end of this, Sirius thought, thinking about how much he'll tease him the following morning for kissing Lily. But no, he couldn't. Sirius was invisible, he wasn't supposed to be there, and mentioning anything would earn him just as much teasing in return as someone who took nightly walks to clear his mind.

It was just another thing he had to keep to himself, for now at least. He would return to the Astronomy tower, seeing James' no-longer-injured face everywhere he went. James was healed, he was happy, so why wasn't Sirius happy for him? From what he saw, it seemed as if James had finally got the girl after years of waiting, and he was out of the hospital wing, happy and healthy.

I'm not jealous. I swear, I'm not.

From then on, he distracted himself with the stars, but the thought of Harper and the Amortentia refused to leave from his thoughts.

Meanwhile, wearing an identical copy of cloak hiding Sirius' identity, Hermione roamed the halls at night to check on the evil items belonging to Peter that still lurked in the Room of Requirement. Though her thoughts a few days prior had her believing it would be best to leave everything untouched, why not create a little chaos in Peter's mind? If something went missing, and Peter went crazy, it would only further complicate his agenda, and possibly strengthen Hermione's along the way. She believed in this case, that with greater risk, there would be greater reward.