See The Rainbows In My Eyes

Love Letters

Saturday 14th February 1976

Valentine's Day is lovely for those who have partners of their own; who can be spoiled with cheap candies, wilting flowers, and creepy arse teddy bears that watch you while you sleep.

That morning they'd scramble out of bed and burst into the Great Hall, jumping into the open arms of their beloved. They'd never have to worry about being alone because they're young and in love but that's the deadliest combination.

Then there are the single folks whose hands remain upheld and hearts have been broken too many times over. One side of their bed would always be cold and their lips would remain forever virgin.

That morning they'd sulk out of bed and brute into the Great Hall, glaring in envy at those who had someone since they didn't.

Screw that Roman emperor who killed those two men, screw the church for honoring their name. They're the reason all those lonely people feel even lonelier once a year.

***

The castle was in theme and Flitwick was hard at work hanging red and pink rose vines along mantles and staircase railings. Portraits choired in You Make Me Feel Brand New by The Stylistics and ghosts dressed in renaissance while carrying baskets of petals which they tossed sinisterly over lone students.

Just out of curiosity, Sirius 'coincidently' passed the bench where he'd crossed paths with Elio but much to his dismay, the boy was not there.

The polished marble was now dusty and sunlight was replaced with shadows. The nook looked so dull without the life the boy gave it.

White-winged love letters flew around the high ceilings like miniature angels, soaring to their designated innamorato or innamorata. Packs of girls stood in huddles as they gushed over their boyfriends' poetic writings but as soon as they caught a whiff of Sirius' after-smoke aroma, their heads shot up and jumped to fix their hair, those once drooled-over letters slipping carelessly from their hands.

Sirius had never been the sort to shy away from attention but when it came to a taken girl staring at him lustfully, he didn't engage. He was no paramour. A heartbreaker? Macker? Arsehole? All yes. But never in a million years would he be involved in an illicit relationship.

He never cheated. Not once, not ever.

Sirius had enough self-respect to know he wasn't some dirty mistress which is why he kept walking past the group of girls whose eyes still surveyed him sinfully.

Being bored out of his mind, Sirius charmed every flower arrangement to spray water at anyone who passed and almost died of laughter when Snape came by and got completely drenched by a group of white angel's trumpets.

Something about the grease from his hair meeting clean water did not mix well, so the boy ended up looking like a dirty oiled parsnip and Sirius completely lost his shit.

He might be your typical womanizer who broke hearts like a sport and couldn't hold down a girl for more than a month but, aside from all the pranks and vulnerable teen girls he liked toying with by talking to them just to see their cheeks fluster, Sirius quite enjoyed the sappy holiday.

Having grown up in a home where love was a gift you rarely got, he found nothing wrong with an entire day being dedicated to expressing affection.

Only the girls who'd stuck around long enough knew how much of a hopeless romantic Sirius was. He'd give them their expensive jewelry and make out lazily in the halls, spilling out honeyed words as if his tongue were a poet and she was his muse.