shooting star [s. black]

xxxi.

Cassiopeia walks into the potions class, taking a seat in a corner at the back. She puts her bag down on the floor and pulls out the things she needs for the class, before letting out a breath. From the corner of her eyes she notices the boys walk in and she makes eyes contact with Sirius. Her heart drops as he looks at her sadly. He's about to walk up to her, but Remus notices it and pulls him back, smiling weakly at his best friend. Sirius' shoulders drop as Remus says something to him, before following his friends to different work place. She assumes Lily and Marlene had told them of their conversation.

"Good morning, class. Today I thought we could cover Amorentia Potions again. But this time we will actually make the potions and everyone will say what they smell." Professor Slughorn announces, making most students grumble, while Cassiopeia's heart drops.

The last thing she needed was her Amorentia to smell like Sirius and then having to describe it in front of everyone. She shifts uncomfortably in the chair as she pages through the book to where the ingredients and methods to make the potion is. She glances up at Sirius to see him mindlessly looking at his desk, making her look down as she tries not to burst into tears. She takes a deep breath and focuses on the task.

"Miss Lovia, is everything alright? You seem distracted." Professor Slughorn walks up to Cassiopeia, who looks up at him in bewilderment, not noticing Sirius turning to look at her over his shoulder.

"I, uh, yeah. I'm just fine." She says weakly, making the Professor raise his eyebrows but decides to drop it.

"Alright, just had to make sure my star student was doing well." Slughorn smiles encouragingly, before walking away and she sighs, before focusing on the task ahead. Sirius sighs as he looks back down at his desk, not feeling any motivation to do any work.

"Bet, James will smell Lily." Peter snickers, causing Sirius to look up at his friends.

"Shut it, Wormtail. What will you smell anyway?" James asks, making Peter shrug. James rolls his eyes, before looking at Sirius and sighing. "You holding up, Padfoot?"

"Yeah. I suppose." Sirius says softly, but James doesn't believe him. When, Marlene and Lily had come back from seeing Cassiopeia, telling them what she had said, Sirius' world seemed to stop. While trying to comfort their friend, the boys couldn't help but wonder how she had seen Sirius with another girl, when he'd been with them the whole time.

"Do you want to get out of here? We can totally create a distraction and you can sneak out." James suggests, making Remus look at the two.

"It only takes using the wrong ingredients." Remus adds on and Sirius shakes his head.

"I want to hear her Amorentia. I want to know if it'll be me." Sirius admits, causing Remus and James to look at each other.

"What if it isn't?" James asks sadly and Sirius glances at her over his shoulder, unshed tears in his eyes.

"Then I don't know." Sirius sighs, just as she looks up at him. His breath gets caught at the back of his throat and all he wants to do is rush to her. He can see the pain in her eyes, the puffiness under them as a sign of crying. He wants to comfort her, but he knows she'll push him away.

Cassiopeia looks back at book, not baring to look at Sirius any longer. She couldn't understand how he seemed so heartbroken now, when she last saw him, he was so emotionless. Did he regret what he did? Or what if Lily was right and he actually had always been with the boys, but that wouldn't explain what she saw.

"Mister Black. Why don't you go first?" Slughorn asks, making Cassiopeia look back at Sirius, to see him stiffen. Her heartbeat increases and she tries not to freak out. She watches as he brings the flask up to his nose and as his eyes flutter shut. "What do you smell?"

"Roses, rain and... fresh paint." Sirius says softly, making Cassiopeia let out a breath as her shoulders drop and she looks down to hide her tears.

"Thank you, Mister Black. Mister Potter, you're next." Slughorn says, but Cassiopeia doesn't listen anymore as she tries to not cry. A sudden ringing in her ears appears and air suddenly becomes limited as everything around starts to spin. She feels light headed and she holds on to the table to keep her balance. "Miss Lovia? Miss Lovia?"

"Oh, sorry. Uh..." She trails off as she wipes her tears away and takes smells the potion, making her heart skip a beat. "Wood, like a dog, leather."

"Thank you." Slughorn nods before walking away and asking someone else. She looks back at Sirius and they both give each other a sad look, before looking away.