shooting star [s. black]

xlviii.

It was the middle of the night, when she felt someone try to wake her up. She slowly pushes herself and looks up to see Sirius look at her in panic. She starts to worry as she sits up and looks at him questioningly. She wondered if it was another nightmare, but he hadn't had one in so long.

"What's wrong?" She asks her husband in panic and he looks around, something clearly bothering him.

"James and Lily are dead." Sirius says with wide eyes and Cassiopeia's heart drops, she looks at him in absolute terror. If they're dead, it means he must have told the Dark Lord where they were, after all he was their Secret Kepper, but that couldn't be, he'd never betray James that way.

"You didn't... Merlin's beard, Sirius, please tell me you didn't." She says with tears as she backs away from him and he shakes his head.

"No. No. Peter is the Secret Keeper. It was a last minute change, I should have never agreed to it or even suggested it. But it's done. Peter told the Dark Lord." Sirius says, his voice cracking at the end and she gasps, covering her mouth. Tears continue to roll down her cheeks as she tries to process what's happening.

"Please tell me this is a bad dream." Cassiopeia breaths out and he looks at her weakly, before leaning across the bed, pulling her into a hug. She bursts into sobs as he silently cries with her. "They can't be..."

"I know, baby, I know." He hums, holding her tightly, causing her to move closer to him. Nothing else is said between them as they continue to cry at the loss of their best friends.

"What about Harry?" She asks weakly after a few minutes of silence and Sirius pulls away, shrugging unsure of the answer to that and she starts to freak out. "What do we do now? We have to get Harry."

"I know, sunshine. Listen, right now we can't trust anyone else. Not Remus, not Peter. It's just us two. We have to go talk to Peter." He says and she looks at him in disbelief, shaking her head.

"Absolutely not. He betrayed us, Sirius. We have nothing more to say to him. Please, let's just go get Harry and get as far away from here. We can go get a cottage, like you wanted in the middle of nowhere. And we tell Dumbledore what happened, he'll understand." Cassiopeia says desperately and he shakes his head.

"We will. But I have to talk to Peter. I have to know why, after all those years. Please." He says weakly and she sighs in defeat, before nodding in agreement.

"Okay, let me just get changed." She hums and he smiles appreciatively, helping her out of bed. She quickly moves to her wardrobe and slips on pants under his shirt, before slipping on a coat on top. She slips on a pair of shoes and walks up to him, making him take her hand and kisses the back of her hand.

"I love you, you know that right? And I'd never, ever do anything to hurt you or the others in anyway. You trust me right?" He asks weakly, clearly afraid that she didn't trust him anymore.