/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟓.𝟜.𝟥

"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be." ~ Charles Dickens

~october 1975~ ((continued))

After working on the map for most of the night, none of the boys felt like falling asleep. Instead, they took the cloak and snuck outside to enjoy the last warm weather of the year. The moment the four of them were in the October night air, Sirius threw off the invisibility cloak and broke off from the group, turning into his dog form mid-run and tumbling across the grounds. "Is he okay?" Peter asked, tilting his head and watching Sirius chase down a squirrel.

"I wonder that every day," said James, laughing as Sirius tripped over his own paws and somersaulted to the edge of the Black Lake.

Remus snorted and pulled his sweater tighter around himself, heading down to join Sirius by the water. "He's just got too much energy," he said reasonably. "You know how he gets when he's shut inside for too long."

"Oh, I know," murmured Peter. "Pity Art's not here, she usually gets all his energy out fighting with him."

Remus nodded. "Either that or acting just as stupid as he is."

The three of them smiled fondly and finally caught up with Sirius, who barked and jumped up on Peter, who looked terrified and stumbled backwards. Sirius transformed back to a human and shook his hair out wildly. "What, afraid of dogs, Pete?"

"No," Peter said defensively, but his hands were trembling ever so slightly.

Sirius wasn't paying attention anymore. "Come on, guys, let's go swimming," he said eagerly, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"I'm gonna speak for all of us when I say absolutely fucking not," said Remus.

Sirius sighed and sat down on the grass, lying back so the leaves under him crunched in a satisfying way. "I wish it was a full moon," he said longingly. "I want to do something fun."

"Funny how that's your idea of fun," said Remus, sitting next to him.

Sirius was scouring the grounds with his eyes, searching for something, anything, to get his energy out on. He felt like he might explode. He knew he got like this sometimes, too energetic for his own good. He'd been that way since he was a kid. His mother hated it. "Let's go exploring in the Forbidden Forest."

"Sounds good to me," said James.

Again, Remus shook his head. "Don't give in, Prongs," he said, smiling a little at the nickname. "I'm up for doing something fun, but not downright stupid."

Sirius stood up again, unable to decide whether he wanted to stand or sit. "Well, when there's nothing fun left to do, some of us have to resort to stupidity. Come on, James, let's duel." He drew his wand, challenging James, who grinned at him and pulled out his own wand.