Written in the Stars | Sirius Black

VII. Starman

S E P T E M B E R   1 9 7 6

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

THINGS HAD SEEMED TO GO BACK TO NORMAL by the next morning. Marlene and Sirius seemed to part ways as if their friendship had only ever existed on the Hogwarts Express. Everything was back in order and life seemed to make sense again, as if the train ride had only been an unpleasant dream. The only minor difference in her routine was that Fabian wished Clara a good morning as the twins made their way into the Great Hall for breakfast.

After sharing several classes with Prewett boys over the years, she'd never really made any effort to befriend either of them. She only knew about Fabian's crush because he had shamelessly asked James to put in a good word for him after a game four years prior. After that, she decided she definitely wanted to keep both twins at arm's length, never speaking to either of them more than she absolutely had to during classes – which admittedly more than Clara deemed necessary.

It's not that she found them unattractive necessarily. They were both really quite good looking boys; tall and muscular, thanks to years of playing as Beaters on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. With full heads of thick auburn hair and dimples adorning their cheeks, it was no shock that several girls had crushes on them throughout the years. But Clara felt as though she and Fabian simply had nothing in common. The train ride the day prior was proof of that as he had focused solely on discussing Quidditch strategies and techniques with his teammates while she struggled to stay awake.

Quickly deciding to put those thoughts out of her mind for now, Clara poured all of her attention into the latest edition of The Daily Prophet. The newspaper was splayed out on the table before her during breakfast, as it usually was. After forming somewhat of a terrible habit, she found herself reading the paper every single morning without fail. Morbid as it was, she scoured the pages in search of news about more muggle murders the seemed to be occurring with more frequency. And as anxious as the news always made her, being uninformed made her feel even worse.

Completely focused on reading the article in front of her, she mindlessly poked a fork onto her plate, blindly stabbing at a strawberry before placing it into her mouth. Consumed by the words on the page, she hadn't noticed the roar of laughter coming from her brother and his friends just a little ways down the table. Unbeknownst to her, a diabolical plan had been hatched on the train the day prior. Masterminded of course by none other than Sirius Black.

Suddenly, a shiny pair of black shoes found themselves in front of Clara's plate. Quite a curious site indeed to see the strawberry stained porcelain flanked by the freshly polished footwear. But when she looked up, horror set in as she locked eyes with Sirius Black.

In front of the entire school, the boy stood atop the Gryffindor table with his hands casually placed in his pockets and his grey eyes shining like silver stars. Possibly the most mischievous grin she'd ever seen in her life was planted on his face which only served as a warning, letting her know that she was in for something that would truly make her want to sink through the floor and disappear forever.

"What are you-?"

But before Clara could finish her question, the boy broke his eye contact with her. She watched, mouth agape, as he pulled his hands away from his pockets and loudly cleared his throat. Looking out into the large crowd of Hogwarts students in the Great Hall, the audience he had clearly been seeking finally gave him their undivided attention.

A pink blush was growing on Clara's cheeks, she had no idea what he was about to do, but she knew it couldn't be good. Maybe he'd pour a bowl of scrambled eggs over her head. Maybe he'd tell everyone about that time he caught her writing love notes to that one Ravenclaw boy in her third year. Maybe she should have formed an escape plan, like sliding beneath the table make a break for it when he wasn't looking. But she sat frozen, petrified by her impending embarrassment.