/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟔.𝟠.𝟣

"love one another, but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls." ~ Khalil Gibran

~february 1977~

She could feel his body against hers, his hands intertwined in the softness of her hair, his lips finding their way around hers, like they were adventuring to other lands; but all she could think about was the dull roar in her head. She was floating, and not in the euphoric way of the month before, when they'd first started doing... whatever this was... but more like she was a kite that someone had let go. And now she was spiraling through the wind, destined to crash at some point, suspended motionless in the air.

Sirius could tell Artemis's heart wasn't in it. Even as her fingers fumbled to unbutton the top of his shirt, he knew something had shifted. She was bored, or maybe she was regretting being with him in the first place. But she'd been the one to catch him after Transfiguration and drag him back to their usual broom cupboard. Maybe she'd changed her mind. Either way, he stepped back and brushed a bit of hair behind his ears. "I think it's around lunch time," he said, looking down at her with his head tilted, his expression a picture of mild curiosity and concern.

She blinked, like she was coming out of a daze. "Has it been that long?"

"Probably." He checked his watch and let out a hoarse laugh. "Yeah, it's been that long."

She nodded, her eyes traveling up and down him like she was reading him the way she read all those old books she kept around. He didn't know how he felt; it was like she could read his mind just by looking at him. "Do you want to go to lunch?" she asked. It was a genuine question, but it was loaded and he didn't know the right answer.

"Would you rather just stay here?"

She didn't know what she wanted, but she hated coming off as timid. The honest answer was that she didn't want to go anywhere. She didn't feel like going to lunch, but she also didn't exactly feel like staying in the broom closet, but at the same time, everything else felt unappealing. She knew her mental state was spiraling, she just didn't know how to fix it. "No, I'm actually going to go to the library for a bit. There's a book I wanted to look for."

"You're skipping lunch?" Now the concern on his face was solidified.

She avoided his eyes, hating it when he worried about her. "I'll grab something in the common room, there's always food there. I want to get that homework done for McGonagall."

He hesitated. He didn't know if he should try to get her to come to lunch, or to just let the whole thing go. He decided on the latter. He convinced himself it was fine. She's not my girlfriend anyways. It's not my place to worry about her.

But as they left the broom closet, straightening their ties and fixing their hair like there was nothing remotely suspicious going on between them, he couldn't keep the creeping sense that something was wrong out of his mind. Sirius hated how much he worried about her. What happened to the days when he tried as hard as he could to get her angry? When he'd pull the most evil pranks possible on her and start up arguments at the drop of a hat because he thought it was funny when she was annoyed. Now, when he looked at her, he just wanted to ask her what she was thinking about. He just wanted to know what was going on in her head when she seemed so far up in the clouds.