minnow // sirius black

seven

7 :   croissants

The entire walk to the astronomy tower was extremely quiet. The only sound being my footsteps and the blood rushing through my veins. The closer I got, the more ridiculous I felt wearing what I was.

There was nothing between my skin and the soft sweater.

I held the small velvet bag in my hand as I crossed my arms across my chest.

I was, now, concerned that this wasn't a good meeting. I hadn't thought about it until I started thinking about all the things that could happen, several of which being extremely inappropriate. Among the things that could happen were the worst case scenarios. Maybe this wasn't enough for Sirius anymore, maybe he didn't like me anymore. Maybe he wanted to go fully public. I was terrified.

I was terrified until I got to the top of the spiral staircase that went to our spot.

Sirius stood there, on the opposite side to where our first kiss happened, leaning against the railing.

For a moment, I didn't even notice anything but him. I noticed the way he was standing, how peaceful and content he looked. How attractive his jawline was, and amazing he looked in green. I noticed the way the gentle breeze moved the curls on the very top of his head. I noticed the way that when the breeze would hit his face, he'd blink just a bit more rapidly.

I was entranced, at least until he turned his head the littlest bit to me.

I then noticed the fuzzy blanket. Mostly because I was trying not to get caught staring, even though I knew he had seen me.

I realized what was all there, and smiled.

On top of the fuzzy blanket was a large basket that was full of croissants, different butters, as well as fruits and two jugs of what looked like apple and orange juice. Holding the blanket down were four massive books that I vaguely recognized as his school books. There were a couple candles that were floating above the scene, the same way the candles floated in the Great Hall. They softly bobbed up and down.

He invited me to a freaking picnic. In December.

Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, I smiled widely when he carefully stepped around the set-up, and held his hand out to me.

I placed my empty hand in his, and relished in the warmth that the small contact gave me.

There was this sense of ease with how I removed my boots, making sure to keep them within reach, so I could reach both my wand, and the little bag I had dropped in one of them, and sat on the blanket. He continued to move, going to a pile of blankets that sat next to where he had been standing. He fished a fuzzy blanket from the pile and draped it around my shoulders. I looked up at him and smiled, he returned with his own, small, smile.

He carefully removed his own shoes, removed his wand from his pocket, setting it in one of the shoes, and sat across from me.

"Is this my Christmas gift from you?" I asked, smiling. The happiness that ran through my veins was unmatched. With each day that I spent time with Sirius, the happier he made me.

"Kind of," He smiled. "There's something else, but this is before that."

"Where did you get the food?"

"I talked a Hufflepuff 2nd year into asking the house elves for a picnic of croissants."

I snorted. "By 'talked into', do you mean you bribed him?"

Sirius winked cheekily, and I gave a tiny laugh.

"Now eat, I know you're hungry."

And so I did. I chose the largest croissant I could see, and lathered it in apple butter. Sirius took a smaller croissant, and smeared a little bit of a strawberry jam on it. We each took a bite, and I practically moaned.