Written in the Stars | Sirius Black

XVIII. Dazed and Confused

"I'm not bothering anyone. I'm merely making note of what your companion's sister seems to enjoy studying." Severus gestured his pale hand towards Clara's open textbook, "Useful, don't you think?"

Sirius glanced down at the book briefly before his frown dissolved into a hate filled scowl as he looked back up at the boy. The grin on Severus' face only grew and it was quite unnerving for Clara to see him with such an uncharacteristic expression.

"You know what, Snivellus? Meet me in the Entrance Hall on Saturday evening and I'll show you something more interesting than what's in Clara's dusty old textbook."

Sirius' voice was laced with venom and Clara herself almost felt intimidated by him. That is, until he looked down and met her eyes. He softened momentarily and reached for her bag, slinging it over his shoulder before grabbing her book from her grasp with one hand and taking her hand with the other, pulling her to her feet all before she could take a breath.

"C'mon Clare, it reeks of slimy git down here." he grimaced, sending one more sharp glare at Severus before leading her towards the stairs, never once letting go of her hand.

"Tell Remus I said hello!" Severus called out, and Sirius came to a sudden halt on the first step, "He's missed a fair bit of class this term, hasn't he?"

Sirius didn't even bother to shoot a scathing response back at the boy, but Clara felt his grip tighten on her hand. When she glanced up at him, Sirius' jaw was clenched so tight she was almost worried he would crack a tooth. Despite being thoroughly confused by the whole ordeal, Clara knew well enough that if she didn't take Sirius away from the situation entirely, it would likely lead to detention for him and a bloody nose for Severus.

"Let's go." she whispered as she tugged on his hand slightly.

With an exhale, he nodded and the two climbed the stairs out of the dungeons. They walked side by side in silence throughout their journey back to Gryffindor tower, although they had long since abandoned their hold on each other's hands. Who was the first to let go, Clara wasn't quite sure, but for some reason she felt like it wasn't her - given the sudden sense of emptiness that had taken over in the absence of his hand.

They came to a stop on the staircase as it suddenly began to move, diverting their path to an abandoned corridor on the fifth floor. When they finally hopped off the stairs, Clara grabbed hold of Sirius' sleeve before he could climb the next staircase to get back on track.

He looked down at her with a frown, "What?"

His tone was stern, causing Clara to wince slightly. A sigh escaped from his lips, the closest he would come to an apology for snapping at her. Part of her wanted to drop the subject, knowing that he wasn't in the mood for her nosiness at the moment. But, to Clara, this seemed like more than just the typical bickering between himself and Severus. This seemed like something she needed to get to the bottom of before it had the chance to escalate further. Even if it resulted in Sirius being upset with her.

"Are you going to tell me what that was all about?"

He rolled his eyes, "It's just Snape being a prat."

"But was does Remus have to do with–"

"Why do you always ask so many questions?" he interrupted sharply.

As she expected, her inquiries only served to upset him more. But what she didn't expect was her own reaction to his voice being filled with such anger. Ever since Valentine's Day, her usual squabbles with him felt more cutting than they ever did before. Even though their arguments were no different than they had been since they were children. It was through no fault of his own, really. There was just some part of Clara's heart that had softened for the boy. A wall that had crumbled and left her feeling defenceless.