Star-crossed | 𝑹𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌

Certainty at last

• Camille Malfoy •

"You were never mine to lose,
but I lost you all the same."

Even though Sirius had shown visible intolerance towards Emma's possible pregnancy, he still stood in front of them a day later with a pregnancy test. With a pinched expression on his face, he handed it to the two girls in the girls' toilet on the first floor.

"This one's for Muggles," Camille remarked with a sideways glance at the baby-blue wrapper Emma was shakily turning over in her hands.

"So what?" he retorted, annoyed. "Or are you of the opinion that witches have a different anatomy to Muggles or that magical babies are untraceable as of late?"

Camille pressed her lips together and decided she'd better not reply to that. Instead, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and rolled her turquoise eyes, with which she scanned the room a moment later. At first glance, it was a normal castle toilet room, with the row of cubicles on the left and the mirrored front opposite, under which were washbasins with silver taps.

Camille had only made the mistake of going to this toilet once. After the ghost of a young girl had made her business so unpleasant, she had never returned. This was true for the majority of Hogwarts' students, which was why this was the perfect place for Emma to take her pregnancy test. Fortunately, there was no sign of the annoying Moaning Myrtle either.

"So how exactly does this work now?" asked Emma hesitantly. Camille put a hand on her shoulder supportively as Sirius shrugged, but looked no less nervous. "I don't know, but I'm sure there's a manual."

Emma nodded and opened the small box, which she merely managed with difficulty due to her shaking hands. Out she pulled an oblong white object and a folded piece of paper. Camille took the box from her so she could study the instructions at her leisure. Her brown eyes skimmed the tiny writing. It was so precise that it was impossible to believe that a human being could have written these letters evenly strung together.

Sirius gazed at it silently. His thin lips pressed together and his square jaw tightened. At that moment, he looked so much like Regulus that Camille instantly yearned for the Blacks' younger son. Just the thought of him brought a soft blush to her cheeks that she hoped Sirius didn't see.

Suddenly Emma's eyes widened and she held up the white object. "You want me to pee on it? Is this some kind of stupid joke of yours?"

Startled, Sirius looked back and innocently raised both hands. "I swear I have no idea."

She sighed and bit her bottom lip as she turned to the cubicles. "Well, fine. As long as I finally have some certainty then..."

Camille gave her an encouraging nod and squeezed her shoulders one last time before releasing her friend into one of the toilet cubicles. The lock on that one clicked into place and the blonde was alone with Sirius, who was prancing around the room with his cloak flowing. Camille, meanwhile, sat down on one of the benches and lapsed into silence as she kneaded her sweaty hands in her lap.

Muggles really were strange. Who would think of urinating on an object that would tell you if a baby was growing in their womb? Camille let out a deep sigh. She hoped so much that the test would be negative. For Emma's sake and for the child's. Because Sirius, with his pinched face, didn't really look like he wanted to take care of it.

"What exactly is your problem, anyway?", Camille snapped at him, quietly angry. "Get a grip on yourself. It's your own fault if you have unprotected sex!"

Sirius glared back at her from his grey eyes, which at that moment seemed almost as dark as his surname. Snorting, he replied, "He wouldn't have been unprotected if Emma had taken that potion."

"How about you just stop screwing around, then you won't get into such a situation in the first place," she returned pointedly, provocatively raising her light eyebrows so high they had to reach her blonde hairline.

"Can't have everyone waiting for marriage to be unsullied for the rich Death Eater bachelors," Sirius retorted dryly, averting his gaze. Camille felt the anger climb up her throat where it formed into a viscous lump. It was so quiet now that a dripping tap alone counted the seconds they waited for the result. Emma must have already finished and now seemed to be waiting for the test to show something. Alone. With the potential father's displeasure, who could blame her?

Smugly, Camille smoothed out her skirt and decided not to respond further to Sirius' insolence. Shivering, she pulled her cloak around her body, because due to the low attendance at the toilet, no one seemed to feel obliged to fix the leaky windows through which the wind snaked. She suppressed the urge to check on Emma. If she didn't want to see anyone right now, then she would accept that decision.

"Have your parents ever talked about marriage?" asked Sirius suddenly, quietly and without his usual bitchy and overbearing tone in his voice, so Camille was surprised that the words were directed at her. "Sure."

"I mean that they'll look for someone suitable themselves and make an... make an arrangement. Over your head."

Camille frowned before letting it sag again in surprise. For this encouraged wrinkles, as her mother had always urged her. "No, they wouldn't. I have a say in this matter."

"What if they forced you?" echoed Sirius. "If you had no other choice..."

At that moment, one of the cabin doors opened with a creak and Emma stepped out white as a sheet. In her hand she held the test. With bated breath, Camille and Sirius stared at her. The tension was almost palpable. Emma took a deep breath, closing her eyes to brace herself. The blonde straightened up, ready to rush to her friend's side at any moment. But the latter now expelled the air in a relieved puff. "Negative."

Camille let her pent-up breath escape too, and all tension fell from her frail body. Exhausted, she ran her hand over her face and paused at her forehead. Her skin was positively glowing. "For Merlin's sake," she murmured.

Sirius rose, the shock on his face not yet having completely dissipated. "That's settled then," was his curt response to the incident, and he turned to leave. With his cloak billowing, he disappeared from the room and, judging by Emma's look, seemed to take a part of her with him.