Zeus || S. Black

Chapter 14

For the week, Mara tried to avoid Sirius Black like the plague. If he was in the courtyard, she'd be in the library and if he were in the great hall she'd be in the kitchens. Her plan worked well until Thursday rolled around. Mara was not looking forward to the combined charms class but she knew attendance was mandatory and she'd rather not get bad marks as a seventh year. 

So when she entered the room and took her seat, the girl's eyes were stuck looking forward, not wanting to even look at the Gryffindor. She heard him before seeing him. His voice was distinct as his laughter fluttered through the air. His laugh getting closer before the chair next to her was pulled out. 

"Still ignoring me?" Black asked, trying to ease the tensions. 

"Still an absolute asshole?" Mara snapped back. 

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Nope. That was my Sunday self. A body double if you will. This Sirius right here is the same one you've been crushing on," the boy joked, trying to get the girl next to him to smile. 

Instead of smiling, Mara turned red with anger. "Sorry to say, but you are delusional since I'm not crushing on you." 

"We both know that's not true." 

Before Mara could respond, Professor Flitwick entered into the classroom to explain this week's lesson. "Okay class, this week I've decided to teach you the patronus charm. Yes miss Rhodes?" Professor Flitwick called on Elise after noticing her hand up. 

"Isn't that charm used against death eaters?" The blonde Ravenclaw questioned. 

"Why yes, five points to Ravenclaw," Professor Flitwick began once more before noticing another hand. "Mister de Luca." 

"Were we not supposed to learn this is defense against the dark arts?" Angelo asked. 

"Yes however it seems as though your professor had left it off her syllabus for the year and I thought it was quite necessary to learn, especially for those in seventh year," Flitwick explained. 

After going over the incantation as well as the wand movements, he asked students to begin trying it, this time staying in the classroom to watch. For four particular students, it seemed almost too easy as a dog, stag, wolf, and rat were running around the classroom. Mara noticed Sirius was one of the four that completed the task fairly easily, watching as his patronus walked around, sniffing some students before it got to Mara. The dog wagged its tail before rubbing up against her leg. 

"Sirius as a dog, who would have thought?" Mara sarcastically asked, causing a few to laugh. Sirius sent Mara a look which she ignored. 

"All right then, since you four seemed to have prior knowledge of the spell, please help out your partners and then the other students once they complete the spell," Flitwick instructed.

The first time Mara tried the spell, nothing emitted from her wand, not even the silver mist she saw others with. "What's your memory?" Sirius asked, wanting to help. 

"That's none of your business," Mara snapped, not wanting to have a conversation with the boy. 

"I only ask because it probably isn't strong enough. You need a memory that causes you to feel so happy you could warm yourself in the dead of winter," Sirius explained. 

While she didn't want to admit it, Mara knew her memory wasn't nearly as strong as needed. So the girl racked her brain for a few minutes, trying to find happy memories. Those that she had with her parents or brother were off limits because she'd only get sad over their death. Another was with Sirius, but due to being mad at him, those were also invalid. Memories during the summer weren't all that happy so the only times that she could possibly recall were from this year and last year. 

One memory that popped up was of last year during Christmas break. Most students went home, leaving enough time for Mara to spend with her sisters. On Christmas the trio sat by the fire in the Gryffindor's common room as they stuffed their faces and stayed up all night talking. That night was one of the first times Mara experienced joy after her parents died. And that was the memory she decided to use. 

Her first attempt with the new memory was better than her previous as mist emitted from her wand. After a few more tries, the mist began to form a shape. It wasn't until the last few minutes of class where the orca came from her wand, swimming around the room, slowly stopping as it was met with another orca.

When Mara looked for the other person with the orca, she couldn't help but smile as she saw her sister staring at her with a similar grin. 

"You know orcas are known for their familial ties," Stevie told Mara as they left the classroom together, wanting to catch up. 

"I didn't know that but I like it," Mara smiled. "So how's everything going with you and your friends?"

"Great," Stevie began. "James has been slowly backing off of Lily which she's happy about and Marlene and I have been closer than ever. We even have movie nights. We're in the middle of all the disney movies from publishing date. We're currently at Alice in Wonderland." 

"So it was you that started calling Black Thumper then?" Mara questioned, knowing that Bambi was before their current movie. 

"Of course. If it wasn't me, Marlene would have," Stevie replied. "I heard about you and Sirius by the way." 

"I should have known. That boy has a reputation for a reason," Mara criticized herself. 

"Hey now, you had a reputation too while at Ilvermorny," Stevie argued. 

"That's only because all the other houses were out to get all the horned serpent students," Mara argued. 

"That's not true and you know it," Stevie teased, knowing Mara hated her reputation while attending the school. 

"Well I will still argue that it wasn't my fault and that I'm the victim in this situation," Mara held her ground. 

"I don't think Gretchen Newsby would agree."