intoxicating love → sirius black

thirty one; the arrival of sirius black & slytherin catch ups

"Nice of you to finally show," Narcissa smiled. 

"Sorry, I lost track of time playing Quidditch," she admitted sheepishly.

"Oh how I love that sport," Regulus sighed dramatically.

"I'll never understand people's obsession with the sport. I guess it's fun, but the seriousness everyone approaches it with is far too much."

"Narcissa!" he cried. "How could you say that!" 

"It's in moments like this that it's blatantly obvious that you're related to Sirius," Aria laughed.

"It's just a Black family trait," Narcissa giggled.

"Insanity and dramatics," Regulus finished. "Don't forget the good looks."

"I know, it's incredibly annoying."

"Oh you must find it endearing," Narcissa retorted dryly. "You're friends with three Blacks. There's only Bella, and she's far too old and she's absolutely insane. And then there's Andy, but well Andy..."

"I think Sirius is counting the days till he finds a good enough reason to get himself disowned," Regulus frowned sympathetically. 

"He isn't going to do that. That boy's an idiot, but he cares too much about you. The only way he'll leave is if they force him out."

"That's what Andromeda said," he pointed out quietly.

Narcissa frowned and shook her head sadly, "No she left because they made her choose between someone who she truly loved, her happiness and a life she didn't want. She made the decision she clearly wanted to for a while, and I don't necessarily blame her for it, but after she left everything started falling apart."

"You shouldn't feel bad. I know I'd be upset if James just left without saying goodbye. You did lose a sister that night. You had every right to feel upset or angry or just downright mad. Everyone needs to be selfish sometimes."

"That's strange coming from you," Regulus pointed out. "You're like the most welcoming, forgiving person I've ever met."

"Trust me, if someone were to betray my trust without a good enough reason why, I won't be so nice," she said sharply. 

"I don't doubt that, I've seen your hexing abilities in Defense," Narcissa muttered under her breath.

"How did you even get out of your house without anyone being suspicious?" the dark haired boy asked. 

"I told mum I was meeting with some Slytherin friends, and she understood, so she's just shopping around the alley. She had a similar experience back in the day anyways, she was the Gryffindor Greengrass, and the majority of her childhood friends were in Slytherin."

"I forgot your mum was a Greengrass," Narcissa admitted.

"We all do," she shrugged. "She's not at all close with anyone in her family. Everyone she used to be really close with as a kid just drifted apart from her as soon as she was sorted, but she has other friends now so it makes up for it."

The trio continued their conversation for an hour, enjoying several rounds of different ice creams in the safety of the four walls around them. It was nice seeing Regulus and Narcissa so carefree, so free. When they were alone they didn't bother their perfect decorum or stick to proper, respectable topics of conversation. They weren't afraid to laugh or crack jokes, they behaved like genuine teenagers. The major flaw of the Wizarding World was that children were never allowed to remain children for long enough. 

The Sacred 28 children, the focus of society, were raised to behave maturely and were mistreated from such a young age that they were forced to grow up all too fast. Adding in the threat of the war, it would seem that Aria's whole generation would be forced to grow up, make difficult choices, and be on the front lines, though at this time it was only a whisper, a suspicion, a threat, but it only a matter of months or years, it would become a reality. A reality children should not to deal with, the fate of the world should never have to be upon the shoulders of children, but when destiny and fate have other ideas, it's out of their control, at least that's what they all believed. 

Aria believed destiny and fate were wonderful things at the naive age of fourteen. She saw the beauty of it, two fated lovers written in the stars or reaching one's dreams. She didn't think of people being fated for death, fated for murder, destined for evil. She didn't realize that all she held dear was going to spiral out of control and fall apart, she was blinded by the beauty of the world. But that's how it should be, a child should only appreciate the brilliance of the world, not have to be haunted by the horrors they were forced to witness. Children should be innocent, but this generation were different, they were slowly becoming the children, no the face of the war. 

Aria wasn't very familiar with loss, she was only four and six when her grandfather and grandmother died respectively. But Aria had heard stories of the war against Grindelwald. She heard of the loss, she could hear the grief and the sadness hid in people's voices as they talked about it. Aria was not looking forward to a war occurring, but she knew if a war was to come, she would defend her friends and family to the best of her ability. 

When the group of three said their goodbyes with promises to write and be in contact, Aria left with a bright smile on her face. Both her friends were in good shape, though both were undeniably lonely by themselves in their large manors. When Aria and Euphemia arrived back home, Aria immediately kissed her mother's cheek, thanking her for being a brilliant mother, before disappearing off to find the boys. Euphemia could only smile softly at her daughter, feeling incredibly blessed that she had been gifted with two such brilliant children, when she had nearly lost hope of even being able to have one. 

The week flew by in a blur of pranks and Quidditch games and adventures throughout the town. The days of summer were ticking by, but went by in blissful fun and fond memories.