𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍 | 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘺

Chapter 44 - Black Theatrics

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δεινός /deinós/

(adj.) fearsome, marvellous, powerful; clever, skilful; awful

The wondrous ability of men to be terrible and at the same time incredible, to build and destroy. 

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No one in Gryffindor Tower slept that night. They knew that the castle was being searched again, and the whole House stayed awake in the Common Room, waiting to hear whether Black had been caught. Betelgeuse walked through the Gryffindor students, doing her Prefect duty. "Try to get some rest," she suggested to a first-year. Professor McGonagall came back at dawn; Betelgeuse had managed to convince the first-years to go back to their dorms.

"What's the news, Professor?" Fred asked, jumping out of the armchair he had been sitting in. "Did you catch him?"

Professor McGonagall told them that Sirius Black had again escaped. Betelgeuse was secretly relieved her uncle had eluded security again.

Everywhere Betelgeuse went the next day, she saw signs of tighter security. Professor Flitwick could be seen teaching the front doors to recognise a large picture of Sirius Black; Filch was suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. Sir Cadogan had been sacked. His portrait had been taken back to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady was back. She agreed to return to her job only on the condition that she was given extra protection. A bunch of surly security trolls had been appointed to guard her.

Ron had become an instant celebrity. Though still seriously shaken by the night's events, he was delighted to tell anyone who asked what had happened, with a wealth of detail.

"— I was asleep, and I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was this draft— I woke up, and one side of the hangings on my bed had been pulled down— I rolled over— and I saw him standing over me— like a skeleton, with loads of filthy hair— holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches— and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scampered."

Betelgeuse was sitting a few seats away from him, clanging her jaw. With every time he recollected the events, he enriched them with new wild details.

"It gets rather boring after a while, doesn't it?" Betelgeuse heard Harry ask her. She did not reply, following with cold eyes Ron, who sat before her. She did not wait for the red-haired boy to began talking; she got on her feet and headed to the Library.

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Betelgeuse avoided all her friends that day, and as always she did when she needed to be alone, she found herself sitting on the top of the Astronomy Tower, staring at the starry sky after dinner.

"I had a suspicion I would find you here," a soft even voice called from the darkness.

Betelgeuse raised a challenging eyebrow, turning to the boy, "How?"

"For Salazar's sake, Bel. You are a Black! You constantly seek the guidance of the stars," he replied, sitting beside her.

Betelgeuse regarded her cousin with a thoughtful gaze, "Quite observant of you, Draco." She turned her attention back to the night sky, observing how gloriously the stars shone. The two cousins continued to stargaze in silence, basking in the stillness of the silent night.