Author's Note: This is my longest chapter so far. Hope you like it :)
The days leading up to the Friday night study date had flown by. Celeste was going crazy with anticipation of being alone with the two gryffindor boys, later that night. She had no clue why she felt so flustered at that thought. They had known each other for years. What could have changed between them to make her feel this way? Maybe the fact that puberty hit them like a freight train. Remus no longer had acne and had grown into his lanky limbs. Whereas Sirius' voice had significantly lowered and his height had finally reached a solid five foot ten.
From the moment she had laid eyes on them at the train station she knew things would be different this year. Well at least on her end. She had no clue what the boys were feeling. I knew I should have worked on legilimency. Seeing the way Remus' tawny curls fell over his forehead and how Sirius' grey eyes raked over herself and her belongings made her swoon. Something she had never felt before and certainly did not expect to feel from them. She just wished she knew how they were feeling.
Celeste may be a ravenclaw but when it comes to romance, she is completely blind. Then again teenage boys aren't exactly the brightest when it comes to that situation either. Well unless you're Sirius Black. He practically has a doctorate in flirting, or at least that's how he makes it seem.
Sirius Black could not stop thinking about what would happen during their 'study date' as he had taken to calling it. When the words "It's a date" fell from Celeste's lips, he felt as though his chest had exploded. Everyone thought of him as a heart breaker and that he did it out of pure pleasure. Sure, he had broken a few hearts over the years, but truthfully he did it to protect himself. Nobody could break his heart if he broke their's first. Nobody could shatter his heart the way his mother and father had anyway. At this point it was a defense mechanism that he used as a crutch.
One person had beat him to it though. Rather one boy had beat him to it. Remus Lupin unknowingly broke Sirius' heart when he revealed his reasoning on wanting to stop their summer romance. His lycanthropy. Something that he nor anyone else had any control over. But Sirius wasn't about to let the best thing that ever happened to him go. Not without a fight anyway. Thus the agreement to support one another had been made.
Sirius believed that having Remus even in such a small way, meant that he may still have a chance at loving the wolf long term. He was absolutely thrilled anytime Remus would blush at his words or laugh at his antics. Each time something like that happened, a piece of his heart was put back into place.
Nothing anyone else was doing helped heal the boy's broken heart. That was until Celeste Miller's soft laugh rang out on the platform. It was like a song attuned perfectly to his ears. Almost as if it was made for him and him alone. He couldn't wait to hear it again, he could only hope he would be able to make her laugh later.
Remus Lupin felt like time had slowed down just to spite him as he and Sirius awaited Celeste's arrival. Sirius had yet to tell Remus where the were going to practice the charm, but he had a good idea of where the black haired boy may take them. Sirius insisted that they bring the map with them claiming he didn't want any unwanted visitors. Remus took this as Sirius not wanting Prongs and Wormtail poking fun at him for actually caring to learn the charm. But in reality Sirius wanted to make sure nobody would be barging in on his alone time with Remus and Celeste.
Sirius turned to Remus while biting his lip nervously. "Do ya reckon she's skipped out on us?"
Remus hadn't even thought of that possibility. In all the year's he has known Celeste he had never known her to be a flake. If she said she was going to do something, then she was going to do it. He really hoped that she didn't decide to become one now. He had been looking forward to this for days. "I doubt it Pads, she's not like that."
"Well then where the hell is she? She's fifteen minutes late. I don't know about you but I think that means she's ditched us." Sirius looked down at the stone floor beneath his feet in an attempt to calm himself down. He had been very excited for this and if she skipped out then his heart would be crushed.
"I'm here... I'm here... So sorry I'm late." The girl was breathing heavily as if she had just ran a marathon. To be fair she basically had. "I swear I have a good reason... Just please let me... Explain." She said while still huffing and puffing.
Both boys were shocked at the state the girl had arrived in. Her ponytail had almost completely fallen out. It appeared as though it had been pulled from its original placement. Her tie was crooked and her shirt was no longer tucked into her skirt. Upon further inspection from Remus' watchful eye he had noticed slight bruising on her wrists as well as under her eye.
"What happened Celeste?" Remus asked.
"I swear I wasn't ditching you guys. I was...." Her panting continued.
"You were...?" Sirius questioned.
"I was .. I got into a fight with a few snakes." She gestured to the bruise under her left eye.
"Who?" Remus said as Sirius asked "Who did this?"
"Evan Rosier, Thomas Avery, and Matthew Mulciber." The girl spat. "But i'm okay and I'm here now so let's get to your practice spot Sirius."
"No way are we studying, I'm gonna find those snakes and beat the shit out of them."
"Sirius, you need to know this charm. Besides I might look rough, but you should see my handiwork." She winked at the Black boy and they all laughed.
With gritted teeth he agreed, looking to Remus who nodded, and they set off.
Celeste was in awe at their practice spot; The Room of Requirement. Sirius informed her that the room would become whatever they wanted it to be. Seeing as they were going to be practicing the Protego charm from their defense class, Remus asked the room to become the defense classroom, and it did.
"Since you won't let me teach those pricks a lesson of my own, we may as well start the one you're teaching."
"I already told you I handled it. But you're right. Let's begin"
He wanted to scowl at her but refrained from doing so in fear of truly starting an argument.
The lanky boy watched as his peers stood up. Sirius loosening his red and gold tie as he did so. Remus' green eyes slid to the girl who's skirt was riding up her thighs, showing off her long legs. He couldn't help but admire the beauty of them. Sirius with his aristocratic features and toned body along side Celeste with her glorious face and figure. They should be on the front page of The Daily Prophet for how bloody good looking they are.
"C'mon Remus, We're about to get started." She waved him over and he obliged.
"Pads, we've been at this for twenty minutes. All you have to do is focus and you'll get it." Remus was getting fed up with Sirius' lack of work ethic. He seemed to have been itching to get here all day but now that he's finally here he's wasting time. What's his problem?
"Well I'm sorry but it's bloody difficult to focus right now." He snapped. Sirius was trying so hard to cast the charm but he needed to breathe first. Remus had left all of the teaching up to Celeste, choosing to only give his input here and there. Which left Celeste to do all of the adjustments herself. With her being so close to him in just her button down and skirt without her robes, he was having a very hard time focusing.
"Why's that?" Celeste asked completely oblivious to Sirius' attraction to her.
Of course she would ask that. The pureblood looked down at the stone floor beneath his shoes, hoping to hide the flush on his cheeks. "No reason... Just distracted by your bruises I suppose."
Celeste walked towards Sirius and placed her hand on his cheek, guiding his eyes to hers. "Look at me Sirius, I'm okay. I swear. It's only a few bruises, they'll heal in no time."
"They should've never laid their filthy hands on you." His grey eyes blazed with fury as they met Remus', which held the same look.
"S'okay, let's just try the charm again." She smiled sadly at the young men. A smile that they both returned.
"Okay Pad's, I think this is gonna be it. Go ahead."
Sirius did as instructed and cast the charm with the adjustments Celeste made. "Protego!" A large transparent blue shield appeared from Sirius' cypress wand.
Sirius ran to Celeste and picked her up by the waist spinning her around. "I did it Celeste!" She giggled out of pure elation for the boy. At that sound both Sirius and Remus grinned. He put her down next to Moony and clapped him on the robe clad shoulder.
"So Professor Lupin, Professor Miller, did I get an Outstanding?"
Remus and Celeste turned towards one another and then back towards Sirius. Simultaneously they replied in their cheekiest tones. "No."
It was safe to say all three of them left that evening in fits of laughter. They hoped it would remain that way forever.
If only all hopes and dreams came true.