Style // Sirius Black

Chapter XXXIV

Secrets protect people. They keep people safe against the vulnerabilities everyone in life actively seeks to avoid. They're a form of armour that doesn't require a physical aspect, no shield, no sword, just silence. Having secrets is a safeguard from pain and something that could welcome it. Everything in life is a double-edged sword, constantly having different ways of striking home. Nothing is ever simple or black and white. The same thing happens with secrets.

Keeping things from people you love and trust may be one of the most dangerous games someone can play–especially when it's something beyond vital, something that could alter the lives of both parties. You cannot decide what others can handle or how they react to a piece of information; that is solely up to them. It may hurt you, the things that need to be said, but the truth isn't something pretty.

Secrets are beautiful on the outside, wrapped in shining gold paper with a bow. No one knows what's inside, and what people don't know can't hurt them. But when that paper gets peeled back, when that ribbon is untied and falls loose, people react. There may be nothing but good intentions behind the neatly wrapped secret; empathy is usually one of the significant factors.

However, this does not constitute the fact that a secret is simply a lie with a nicer ring.

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Lyra and Sirius sat by the river the rest of the day. He had brought snacks for them, and they barely spoke. He sat behind her, legs wrapped around her and fingers tangling in her hair. He braided it three ways before they switched positions, and Lyra tried various hairstyles on him. The only noises emitted from the throats of the two were laughs from the different variations of braids they had managed.

At one point, Lyra had convinced her lover to wander into the river with her, stripping down to her undergarments. Sirius had been reluctant, not wanting to get his hair wet. Lyra nearly rolled her eyes right out of her head before calling him an overdramatic pretty boy. Eventually, she grew frustrated and pulled him in anyways, laughing something hearty and genuine as he gasped.

The sun had begun to dip below the tree line, and the sky had been lit on fire when the two wandered back towards the ivy-covered manor. She was wrapped up in his arms as they stepped into the cool home, deciding to change before joining the other three quickly. Lyra had slipped into Sirius's quidditch jumper and a pair of joggers, nearly giving the man a heart attack when she stepped out from her bathroom.

Sirius looked up from pulling his hair into a bun, staring at Lyra. His shoulders slumped backwards, and his head tilted similarly. The elastic between his teeth dropped to the floor as his sharp eyes raked over Lyra's body with a pained sigh escaping his lips. The blonde felt her cheeks heat up at the way he stared at her, as though she were going to be the death of him. No matter the length of time the two had been together or would be together, Lyra wasn't sure she'd ever be able to get over the way he stared at her. Sirius looked at the Potter as though she was the one thing in the world that kept him breathing.

"You..." he trailed off, picking up his elastic and tying his hair back finally before strolling towards the girl, resting his hands on her waist, "Are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."

Lyra's heart erupted, and her stomach filled with butterflies, leaving her tugging her bottom lip between her teeth. She hid her face in Sirius's chest, shaking her head as he wrapped his arms around her. She never felt safer or more seen than when the Black had his arms secured around her body. He treated her not like porcelain or a doll he could break, but a woman. In his eyes, she was not a risk, not a pawn in Voldemort's game. Lyra Potter was simply his étoile, his star, his darling, his princess, his everything.

"Look at me," he whispered, lifting Lyra's chin with his pointer finger to look him in his piercing eyes, "I love you, mon étoile, more than words can tell. You are the air I need to breathe. The water I need to live. I could go months without sustenance, living solely of the memories and experiences we have had together."