･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. .**.☽ .*
If she hadn't had power-walked, Maeve Iverson would definitely have been late for Charms on the first day of term. However, by the time she had gotten to the classroom, there were only two seats left.
They were in class with Ravenclaw, so normally Maeve would have just gone to the nearest Slytherin table...but the only free one was with Barty Crouch jr...so she had to look at the seat beside the Ravenclaw. It was a prefect, just her luck.
She sighed and took her seat beside Caroline Rutherford just as Professor Flitwick began the lesson.
Carrie didn't even take notice of the girl beside her as she had already started writing, taking notes with impressive speed. Maeve watched her for a moment, raised a brow, before focusing on herself and pulling out her own parchment. Now she was beside this Ravenclaw she would actually have to try...what a shame.
Flitwick was rambling on about something or other...Maeve tried to tune in. He was talking about the aims for the next year, and what they had to cover before the revision period that would take place before they all sat their NEWTs. She would just remember that, she didn't need to write.
But Merlin, this Ravenclaw wrote a lot.
This was Caroline Rutherford. According to Remus, she and Sirius were kind of a thing? Although Maeve could never keep track of who Sirius was banging, it seemed to change every other week.
To be fair, this girl was way hotter than the rest of them, but strangely, Rutherford had...intelligence. The overly-intelligent girls rarely went for Sirius, because they knew better. What kind of spell had he gotten this Rutherford girl under? She could easily be the smartest in their year, she was obviously not naive.
Or maybe he had fallen for her, and she could see that.
Maeve almost snorted aloud at the thought. Sirius Black actually falling in love with another person that wasn't himself? Unlikely. I mean they were mates, and she thought he was a sound lad, but even she knew relationships had never seemed to be his thing...his thing was being a flirt and having a lot of sex.
Not that there was any shame in that. That's who she was too, before Remus.
Perhaps Caroline was to Sirius what Remus was to Maeve?
Maeve glanced over at Sirius who was sitting beside James at the back of the classroom. But there he was, just gazing at the back of Caroline's head, watching her soft dark curls relax there as she worked, completely zoned out as he just admired her from afar.
So maybe he had fallen. And maybe he had fallen hard.
· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
"Evening," Caroline said as she sat beside Sirius at dinner.
"Where were you?" He asked, smiling as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Just talking to Slughorn about some extra credit things for potions."
"It's only the second week back," Sirius said.
"Exactly, no time to waste."
And with that she began to pile some food onto her plate.
"Did you have a good day?" She asked as he poured her out a glass of water like she always had.
"Mm, it was good," he said.
"Any interesting classes?"
He looked amused at the question, but shook his head, "I guess charms was alright."
"Hm? Why's that?"
He shrugged, "just was."
James, who was sitting opposite Sirius, failed to hide his laughter at that.
Caroline looked up at him, her lips quirking up in confusion, "what is it?"
James shook his head, "nothing, nothing...just that Sirius couldn't stop staring at you the whole lesson."
"Prongs," Sirius groaned, face-palming as he cheeks became red.
"Awww," Caroline giggled, "really."
He rolled his eyes and put an arm round her, "your hair's just pretty, okay?"
"So pretty you could stare at it for a whole hour?" She asked teasingly, raising a brow.
He sighed, but just turned his head and leaned into her ear, lowering his voice so only she could hear, "what, you have a problem with that?"
She felt her stomach turn pleasantly at that, her body flushing with warmth. But she wasn't going to succumb to his flirty ways like she was sure every other girl he had been with had done.
She was still looking ahead as he said this, and decided to turn her head too so their noses were basically touching, "and what are you gonna do if I do?"
His eyes widened and after a moment he looked away silently, back at his food, taking his arm from round her shoulders as his cheeks flushed.
"What's wrong with him?" Remus asked, sitting opposite Carrie.
"No idea," she said, just smiling at him.
"Think you've left him speechless, Carrie?"
Sirius shook his head, "I'll have you know I'm only not speaking because what I've got to say isn't appropriate for the dinner table."
She raised her eyebrows at this and looked at her plate. Remus and James busied themselves in coughing awkwardly before starting their own conversation.
After a moment she glanced back at Sirius who just smirked at her before placing a hand on her thigh, making her inhale sharply. Oh, how that boy could make her heart race.
She carried on eating as if nothing was happening but struggled to ignore the feeling of his thumb running soft circles on her thigh. His hand went a little bit higher and she just looked at him.
"Behave," she whispered in French, putting her hand over his and shifting it down again.
He smiled cheekily, "sorry, my love."
She kept her hand on top of his as they both continued to eat, very content with just being beside each other.
She thought about how well she had handled that situation, and how she knew the only reason she didn't freak out over the contact was because of how safe she felt with him, how much she trusted him.
And also...his hand on her thigh felt undeniably pleasant. There was no doubt about that.
She knew that Sirius might expect a lot from her physically, she knew he was incredibly experienced with that kind of thing and the most she had done was just kiss a guy. Mostly vertical kissing too. She was slightly concerned that what happened with Julian would happen with Sirius too, she wouldn't be able to handle the physical side of things so he'd get bored and leave her for someone else.
She really hoped that wouldn't happen, and in her heart she knew he would never want to hurt her, but sometimes these things did just happen no matter how good the intentions are. She didn't want him to leave, but she'd never push herself to do things she didn't want to do.
He squeezed her thigh comfortingly, pulling her out of her own thoughts.
"You alright?" He asked.
She nodded, "yeah, fine."
"You sure?"
She looked at him, his grey eyes swimming with concern and care, and felt all her anxious thoughts fade away. She smiled and nodded again, before shuffling even closer to him. He got the hint and put his arm around her once more, rubbing her arm comfortingly.
She sighed in relief. Everything would be fine. She had him.
After dinner Sirius walked her back to the Ravenclaw tower. They held hands and talked and laughed, both of them truly happy and at peace. She didn't really notice the look Sarah Davies gave them as she entered the Ravenclaw common room.
They stood outside the door. He put an arm round her waist and pulled her into him, smiling giddily.
"I'll see you in the morning, yeah?" He said.
She nodded, looking up at him through her dark lashes before lifting her chin and hovering her lips over his.
"Sleep well, Sirius," she murmured.
He just bit his lip, a small smile on his face, before closing the gap and kissing her.
"Good night, darling," he said once they pulled away.
"Bonne nuit, mon amour."
Once she had gotten into the Ravenclaw common room she headed straight for her dorm room. Once she had entered there was no way of not noticing the dark look Sarah gave her as she brushed through her long blonde hair on her own bed.
"Hey," Caroline smiled awkwardly, looking at Sarah momentarily before looking at Farrah, "everything okay?"
"I'm exhausted," Farrah said, already in bed, "I swear all these NEWT classes are really taking it out of me."
Caroline laughed softly, "me too...sorry, is everything alright, Sarah?"
Sarah just shook her head, not saying a word. Caroline looked to Farrah for help.
The girl just sighed, "I think you being all cozy with Black has kind of got to her."
"Oh...Sarah, I'm-"
"It's fine, Carrie. I just thought...girl code, you know?" Sarah shrugged, still not looking at her, "but it's okay, you two will probably be over in a week or something."
"Sarah..." Farrah said warningly.
Carrie felt a pang in her heart, her eyes becoming sad. But she said nothing, just went to the wardrobe to get her pyjamas.
Sarah sighed, "sorry, Carrie."
"It's fine," Carrie said, turning round, "I get it, I'd be mad to lose him too. But I won't, he's not leaving me. And you're gonna have to deal with that."
Sarah's jaw went slack for a second, her eyebrows raised, before slowly nodding, "right. Yeah, okay."
Caroline gave her a small smile which she hoped said 'no hard feelings', before going into the bathroom to get changed into her pyjamas.
She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment. Yeah, she didn't need to worry about Sirius leaving her. She knew what she looked like.
When she went back into the dorm room Farrah handed her a small letter, "this came for you, quite a big owl, know who it's from?"
Caroline looked at her name written on the back of the envelope, "it's my brother's handwriting."
She went over to her bed and sat down, her back leaning against the headboard as she opened the letter. It was weird, Luther rarely sent her letters.
Dear Caroline,
I hope you've had a good start to your term. I hate that I have to write this letter, but I thought you needed to hear it from your brother rather than reading it in the papers tomorrow.
Caroline frowned curiously at those words, sitting up.
Now you must remember, Caroline, that we will always have each other. I'm not going anywhere, I'm your brother and I will always look after you.
Now she was getting really worried, she stood up to read, putting her hand on the bedside table for support.
"Everything okay?" Farrah asked.
Caroline said nothing and continued to read.
Earlier today, just after midday, the Dark Mark was projected over our house.
Caroline's heart dropped to her stomach, she tried to breathe but she couldn't. It was like everything had stopped.
I was coming home to pick up Mum because we were going to go shopping for Dad's birthday present, but then I saw the green skull above the house. I went inside and I found them, their bodies. The Ministry say they were killed by Death Eaters, Carrie.
Caroline's eyes filled with tears, "no...no no no..."
"Carrie, what's wrong?" Farrah asked, more urgently this time.
"What does the letter say?" Sarah asked.
"Caroline..."
It was all too much. She couldn't breathe. She did the only thing she could think of and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her and sinking to the floor, the letter gripped in her hands.
Through her blurred vision, she tried to finish the letter.
It's the war, Carrie.
That hopeless sentence drew sobs from her body, the tears sliding endlessly down her cheeks.
Mum and Dad were caught in the middle of it, probably because Mum's a muggle.
I'm so sorry, Carrie. If you need to come and stay with me for a bit, just ask Dumbledore, I'm going to write to him after sending this letter, I'm sure he'll be happy to help in any way.
Carrie noticed the damp spots and smudges on the parchment where Luther's tears had obviously fallen. That just made her cry more.
There was a knock on the door, and Farrah's voice gently came through, "Carrie? Are you okay? Do you need me to get someone?"
Caroline couldn't speak for a second, but wiped at her eyes and tried, her voice wobbling, "no, it's fine."
"Okay...well, I'm here if you need anything."
Caroline sniffed, still silently crying as she finished the letter.
Je t'aime pour toujours, ma soeur.
Your brother,
Luther
She leaned her head back so it rested on the wooden door, sobs still wracking through her body.
Her parents were gone. Just like that.
How was that possible?
They had inspired her since she could remember, every success she had in her life could be credited to them. They were the bravest, smartest, most brilliant people she had ever known.
And they were dead.
She would never see them again.
She laid on her side on the cold bathroom tiles, crying, her legs curled up to her chest in fetal position, her eyes half-closed as tears seeped through onto the floor.
She had never felt this kind of loss in her life. She had felt heartbreak, she had been sad, but it had never been like this. This was like a gaping hole in her chest. She realised that the aftermath of death is worse than dying yourself. How can you go on when everything you know has just been taken from you?
Her Dad was going to teach her to drive after she graduated Hogwarts, before going to Russia. Her Mum still had to teach her so much too, Caroline had so many questions she would never be able to ask.
Somehow, she latched onto the locked handle of the door and pulled herself up to stand. She needed Tyler.
She opened the door to the dorm. Both Farrah and Sarah looked at her.
"Caroline-"
"I'm going to see my friend," she whispered, not sparing a look to either of them as she headed straight to the door.
She walked down the stairs to the common room, not even acknowledging the fact that she was barefoot and in her pyjamas with her hair in a mess and tears still coming down, she just needed her friend, she didn't care about anything else.
She walked out of the Ravenclaw common room and made her way to the Hufflepuffs, somehow pushing herself to just keep moving. She felt so numb. Once she got there, she tapped on the barrel the rhythm that Tyler had taught her, and went inside.
The few Hufflepuffs still in the common room looked at her strangely as she came in, but she didn't take any notice, she just headed straight for the boys dormitories.
There were only three Hufflepuff boys in seventh year. Two shared a dorm, but Tyler had been lucky enough this year to get his own dorm because he was a prefect. Fortunate for Carrie.
She knocked on the door, trying to wipe at her eyes with the back of her pyjama sleeve, not that it helped. She just couldn't stop crying.
After a moment the door opened.
Without thinking, she threw herself into Tyler's arms.
"Jesus, Caroline," he wrapped his arms round her as she cried softly into his chest, "what's wrong? Did Sirius do something?"
She pulled away with a sniff, and shook her head, before handing him the letter.
He looked at her curiously before taking the letter and reading it. She watched as his eyes widened as he read, slowly becoming tearful like she had.
"No..." he whispered, shaking his head, looking up at her before looking back down at the writing and becoming louder, "no...how, how did this...oh my God..."
He pulled her into another hug, squeezing her even tighter this time, trying desperately to blink back his own tears but failing. Bonnie and Asher Rutherford had been like his second parents, whenever he needed to feel safe and at home, he would go to them.
He spent every New Years with them, some Christmases, he would be in and out every Summer. They were his second home. How could they be gone?
"Can I please sleep here tonight?" She asked softly into his shoulder.
"Yes, of course," he pulled away and ushered her into the room, shutting the door behind her.
She went to the bed and without a second thought burrowed under the sheets, finding comfort in Tyler's familiar smell as she laid her head on the pillow. After a moment she held out her arms for him, and he wiped his eyes before getting under the covers beside her and holding her close to him.
"It will be okay, Carrie," he whispered shakily.
She just gripped onto his shirt, trying to anchor herself to something. He was her brother, he had been since they first met and he had gotten her lunchbox back from some bullies on the playground at primary school. They had always been there for each other.
And now they would need each other, more than ever before.