shooting star [s. black]

xi.

Cassiopeia turns the page to her book, on a piece of parchment she writes down a few notes for her potions assignment. She had decided to sit in the court, since this October day was surprisingly warm, warm enough that she had even set aside her robe. Other students were buzzing around the courtyard, she even noticed the Ravenclaw Quidditch team walk by at some point or another.

"What are you doing here all alone?" She looks up and smiles at Sirius, who sits across from her.

"Just studying." She answers and he smiles softly.

"Care if I join you?" He asks.

"Not at all. You're welcome to stay." She giggles, making him grin before pulling out his own books to study.

"You're doing potions?" He asks and she nods in confirmation. "Great, let's do this together."

"Sure. I've already done this much." She hums as she shows him her parchments and he looks over them. "Have you already started?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely wasn't too busy getting a thousand feathers." He says sarcastically, making her snort.

"And yet you're one of the best students." She snickers and he looks up at her in shock.

"Wait, how do you know?" He asks, causing her to give him a look of disbelief and roll her eyes playfully.

"Sirius, I've obviously noticed. But I'm curious how you find the time to be top of the class and all these pranks." She muses and he chuckles, a blush rising to his cheeks as he gets all flustered.

"It consists of a lot of last minute work." He admits, making her giggle as her heart swells seeing him flustered.

"Well, here you are. Doing it a week in advance. That's a good start." She points out as he hands her back the parchment.

"You bring out the responsible side of me." He says and it's her turn to become a blushing mess as she looks down. He can't help but smile proudly to see her blush, he always felt proud when he was able to make her blush or even just smile. "And I bring out the fun side out of you."

"What?! I can be fun without you." She says stubbornly and he gives her a look.

"Darling, I love you, but no." He says and she huffs, trying not to blush again.

"You sound way too much like Andromeda right now." She grumbles, not thinking through what she said and he looks at her in confusion.

"Wait. Andromeda? As in my cousin or do we coincidentally know someone with the same name?" He asks and she smiles sheepishly as she starts to get nervous.

"Well... we... you see... yes it's your cousin." She mumbles, but he heard her and he looks at her in shock.

"No way! How do you know her? How long have we known her? Why didn't I know that you knew her?" He asks and she bites her lip.

"I've known her since first year." She answers and his eyes widen in disbelief. "We met when my parents and I got lost in Diagon Alley."

"Merlin's beard! You're telling me we could have met this whole time and we didn't." He gasps, making her nod in confirmation. He throws his quill at her, making her catch it and give him an amused questioning look. "I feel betrayed on the highest level! You've ripped my heart out, sunshine."

"I'm sorry. I was going to tell you, but I didn't know how to." She says shyly and he looks even more confused.

"What? Why not?" He asks.

"Because I don't just know her." She takes a deep breath, feeling slightly nervous.

"Merlin's beard! You two are dating? Wasn't she with Edward Tonks? My brain is about to explode." Sirius says and she shakes her head.

"No! Her and Ted are happily married. It's just, outside of Hogwarts, I live with them." She explains and it doesn't seem to help his confusion.

"What? I'm so confused, darling. Why are you living with them? What about your parents?" He asks and she looks down sadly.

"Uh, they died. A year or two ago, in an accident. And I didn't really have any where else to go, no one wanted a witch in their house. So Andromeda took me in." Cassiopeia hums and he softens, as his heart breaks.

"I'm sorry for your loss. And I'm sorry for asking, I shouldn't have. It's your personal life." He says softly, slight annoyed at himself for having asked her about it.

"No. It's okay. Don't worry about it. I mean, I wish they were still here. But I've learned to live without them, unfortunately." She assures him and he smiles weakly, before reaching out to take her hand in his.

"Still. And you know, if ever you just want to talk, I'll always be there. I've been told I have a good shoulder to cry on." He says with a smirk, making her snort and shake her head.

"I'm sure James has told you many times." She hums and he winks at her.

"I'm glad you met Andromeda. If she's still the same, she used to be a really great person. My favourite cousin." He hums and she snickers.

"She said the same about you. She even invited you over to dinner, when I told her we met." She giggles and he smirks.

"You've talked to me about my cousin." He gushes as he uses his free hand to put on his chest, where his heart is. She playfully glares at him and throws his quill back at him, causing him to chuckle. "How cute, my little sunshine talks about me."

"Shut it and do your work, Padfoot." Shes grumbles, and he chuckles as they start doing some work.