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"Did you know that it's called The Forbidden Forest because it's forbidden to enter?" asked Angelica, wondering why her instincts hadn't kicked in yet and why she was allowing Sirius Black to take her anywhere.
"Did you know—" he responded, mimicking her tone, "—that when people make things forbidden to me, I just want it more?"
"Oh, I know," she said.
"Mind your step." He led her over a mass of tangled roots and nests, unbothered entirely by the rumbles and growls echoing in the distance.
"Is this where you fulfil my parents' lifelong quest of murdering me?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at the showers and gulping as shivers of fear trickled down her spine.
"That would satisfy them. I am doing my best to displease both our parents to the best of my ability," pointed out Sirius.
"Mmh." She held his hand and jumped over a tree stump. "Not just our parents."
When his eyes met hers, she gave him a smile that could not possibly have been faker.
He sighed and motioned to the side with his head. "We're here."
She turned to see a bench made from tree vines- clearly crafted by magic- over a pond, laden with water lilies. A glance up told her that while she might have found the best place of solace, he had found the best view of the stars at Hogwarts.
Stars specked the night sky and while there were patches of blue, it was simply enchanting. It had her wondering whether they too were an enchantment like in The Great Hall.
During her study of the surroundings, Sirius had removed his robes, shoes, and socks, and had taken a seat on the bench, his feet hanging in the water. "You coming?"
She glanced over at him. The starlit sky hit his face and had him looking such that if she said no, she'd be disregarding a bounty of the universe. So, she bent down and undid the laces of her boots and removed them along with her socks.
Just as she was about to walk to him, he shook his head, "No. Get rid of those too."
He didn't even need to look at what he was talking about for her to know he was referring to her gloves. She looked down at the leathered black gloves enclosing her hands and then back at Sirius.
She peeled them off and tossed them over her shoes, and then she joined him at the bench and sat beside him, letting her feet hit the cold water.
"Do you come here often?" she asked, looking at him as he smiled up at the sky.
"Yeah," he answered. "It's my favourite place at Hogwarts."
"Bet all the girls love it," she remarked, leaning against the back.
"James is the only other person who knows about it," he told her.
She threaded her hands through the water. "I guess I'm pretty special then."
He caught quite clearly onto the bitterness which lined her voice, but still, he locked eyes with her and said, "I guess."
"So, what did you want?" she asked, drying her hands on her robes.
When he looked at her with confusion, she shrugged, "I doubt you just woke up and decided to show me a place like this for no reason. You must want something. What do you want?"
"Maybe I just want to spend time with you," he told her.
She laughed and tucked her bangs behind her ears. "If you wanted to spend time with me, Sirius, you would have done it a long time ago."
She was still laughing at his comment, and since it seemed she wouldn't be stopping anytime soon, he placed his hand on her back and pushed her.
Angelica wasn't sure what happened.
All she knew was that the pressure came from him and with a splash, she found herself submerged in water. She stood up straight, pushing her soaked hair out of her waist and realising she stood in a pond with water up to her waist.
"You jerk!" she exclaimed, and that set him off because Sirius erupted into a fit of laughter.
She didn't have to think twice before reaching forward and pulling him into the water by his leg.
She turned away as the splash followed and once, he stood up straight, she was disappointed to see that it barely covered his hips but pleased that he was just as soaked as she was. With the addition of his beloved hair sticking to his face.
The amusement on her face had him stretching his hands. "Oh, it's on, Angel."
"No—"
She cried out when an avalanche of water went flying at her face.
"You're so dead for that!" she declared, shielding her face with one hand, and splashing water at him with the other.
"I can do this all night if I have to," retorted Sirius, not blocking her splashes and sending water at her with both hands.
"If you live that long. There's probably like a bajillion diseases in here, Genius!" Angelica dropped her hand from her face and instead shoved him until he fell into the water again.
His smirk was wider than ever as he watched her wipe grime out of her eyes and pull at the shirt and robes which were sticking to her body. "You're an idiot."
Sirius nodded and pushed himself up and out of the water. He turned and held his hand out to her. She was about to take it, but then she jerked it back and glanced to the side where her gloves were. "I—I don't have my gloves on."
His hand remained outstretched. "Did I ever care?"
She looked into his eyes and hated that he still had her heart skipping beats. She placed her hand in his, feeling her world slip from her control.
6-year-old Angelica peeled at the skin around her nails. "Are you sure I can practice with you?"
Sirius held his hands out to her and nodded, looking very relaxed. "I'm sure. Besides, you know everything about me, Angel. I don't care what you see."
And so, she placed her clammy hands in his and lost herself in his mind.
By the time, Angelica's consciousness had returned, she was standing out of the water and shivering from the nippiness of the wind hitting the water clinging to her. But then, something draped over her shoulders, and she caught sight of red-lined robes hanging from her shoulders. And that time, she couldn't ignore the heat spreading through her despite the cold.
"You okay?" he asked, walking around to stand before her.
She couldn't answer him truthfully, so she didn't answer him at all and went to collect her shoes.
Sirius and Angelica then took a slow walk out of The Forbidden Forest, exchanging no words but it wasn't a problem. In fact, no matter how hard Angelica tried, she could not find a single flaw in that moment.
"You think I could use that place sometime?" she asked, clutching onto his robes even tighter. Even with the obvious smell of the forest they were both emitting, she could still catch the smell of smoke mingled with sugar coming from his robes.
"Only on one condition."
She shook her head. "I'm not taking you down there with me every time."
"Then you can't use it," he remarked.
She glanced at him sideways. "I only asked out of courtesy. Your answer doesn't influence my decision at all. I'm going to use it."
"Good luck finding it."
Before she could reply, the approaching voices of Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn had them panicking. They shared a look before darting across the distance as fast as they could and disappearing into the castle.
Though the Gryffindor Tower was on the left and the dungeons on the right, they both made swift right turns and skidded down the classrooms, glancing warily at their surroundings for the presence of a grubby caretaker and his cat.
They were running past the Ancient Runes classroom when something too familiar caught Angelica's eyes and had her skidding to a stop.
Sirius stopped a few steps in front of her and spun around to her. "What is it?"
But Angelica wasn't listening to him. She was trying the door, her fury growing when it didn't open.
Once Sirius got to her and looked into the Ancient Runes classroom and saw what had caught her attention, her worried gasp fell from his lips. "Look, Angel. Maybe—"
"Alohomora," said Angelica, pulling the door open and marching in.
Immediately, the two students jumped apart and Angelica watched the colour drain from her brother's face. Rabastan turned to the girl at his side and said, "Tina, go—"
The short-haired girl frowned. "But Rab—"
"Just go. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Though she clearly didn't want to, the Ravenclaw girl made for the door, but Angelica grabbed her arm, and stopped her. "Listen here. If you really care about my brother, you won't talk to him ever again. Don't look at him. Don't think about him. Don't touch him. Ever."
Tears immediately formed in the girl's eyes, but Angelica didn't care.
Sirius pulled Angelica's hand away, letting the Ravenclaw girl free. Once she was free, she hurried out of the classroom.
Angelica turned her attention to Rabastan and approached him as she yelled, "Are you crazy?!"
Rabastan frowned. "Keep it down—"
"Do you have any idea what they will do to you? Do you know what she is—"
"Yes, Angelica," he snapped. "I know what she is. She is Mug—"
"No!" Angelica shook her head. "No, Rabastan. She is not Muggleborn. She is a Mudblood. A Mudblood. Do you want to become like Andromeda? Or—"
She turned her attention to Sirius who stood in the doorway, watching the two siblings. She grimaced, "And besides, Andromeda got married. What do you have?"
Rabastan admitted, "I love her, Angelica. Who cares about the stupid blood status?"
"What did you say?" she asked, feeling an overwhelming desire to hit him. "Stupid blood status? If anyone finds out—"
"They won't," he affirmed, walking closer to her, and bringing her into a hug. "Trust me, Angie. No one is going to find out."
Angelica shook her head. "You better hope so. Oh, Rabastan. I could just kill you myself! Go to bed."
For a change, Rabastan actually listened to her and left the classroom as quickly as he could.
Angelica turned around and saw Sirius standing there watching her, with his lips pressed together. He cleared his throat, "You should probably get to bed too."
The walk to the dungeons was silent and not in the way they were silent before.
This silence was heavy and filled with unspoken words.
They made a turn and Angelica walked into someone. When she looked up at the obstacle in her path, she found herself looking into the eyes of the other Black brother.
And it was final. The universe hated her.
Regulus ran his eyes over her messy appearance, giving her a concerned look before his eyes moved to the person next to her and the look of concern changed to scorn.
To make matters worse Sirius grinned, "It's a beautiful night innit, Reg."
Angelica turned to Sirius. "You can go hurry along back to the Gryffindor Tower."
Although a saddened expression crossed his eyes, Sirius spun around and left.
She looked after him, feeling an odd bending in her chest but then she faced forward again and met the eyes of a very judgmental Regulus.
"I bumped into him—" she began, but Regulus just pushed past her and walked into their common room.