The Bug Collector | marauders

Under the Stars, and Surrounded by Greenery

At first the kiss was not acknowledged at all, Rose and Sirius might share a glance at one another from time to time, but much like when he'd kissed her on the cheek in the greenhouse, nothing between them seemed to change yet. As promised Sirius spoke not a word about it to the other marauders, or they didn't let on that they knew.

Then, during Easter break it happened again.

James and Sirius had showed up to the Evans' home unexpectedly through the cover of darkness, much like they had the on the night they met. Once Rose joined them the three managed to convince Lily to come along with them for a reprise of that first night.

"You're far taller than you were last time you snuck me and my little sister out into trouble, Potter." Lily said with her arms crossed over her chest as they walked under the glow of streetlights, their shadows stretched across the pavement.

"I'd say all-together I'm a proper lad now, Lilyflower." He said smoothly.

James' confidence was as unmatched as Sirius' chaotic levels of energy.

"You lot want to actually get into some trouble?" Rose asked.

"What are you thinking, Thornsie?" Sirius asked in response while pulling her to his side
by an arm over her shoulder.

"If I remember how to lock pick well enough from Moons' teachings, we could totally get a look at this old abandoned aquarium I wanted to visit, it's got a room that's a full on tunnel with the tanks all around you." She said as she began leading their party in the direction of said old abandoned aquarium.

"Sounds fine enough, right, Lily?" James said looking over at Lily for confirmation of the plan.

"We can still watch the sunset too, the place is it's near a nice hillside." Rose added to sweeten the deal.

"Fine, sounds like it could be fun." Lily admitted as they walked on in the darkness.

—

"James, please stop hovering, and Sirius, please just be still I'm the one picking the lock. Give me time." Rose said frustratedly as she worked on the lock connected to a metal chain that was keeping the entrance closed.

For once Sirius' pacing had paid off, however.

"Rose, be a snake." He said

"Excuse me?" She looked over at Sirius who was pointing at a small hole in a cracked window, Rose preferred to not to use magic away from Hogwarts, but in the case of lock-picking the student had not become as skilled as the teacher.

"Oh, brilliant." She said before doing as he suggested, shrinking down into a tiny orange snake before sticking her forked tongue out at them in a sharp hiss.

"I'll never get use to that." Lily said as she picked up her sister and handed her to Sirius.

"Alright, be careful." Lily said as Rose slipped through the hole, she then changed back into her human self and unlocked the window latch, subsequently lifting it up for them to crawl inside.

Sirius crawled through first, after him James climbed in, before helping Lily through the window, then closing it behind them.

They explored the empty corridors, all the usual suspects of an abandoned building were present, various profanities graffitied on the walls, plants that had begun to overtake the building from the outside in, and all the exhibits expectedly empty. 

Inside the vacant tanks new wildlife had taken root. An ecosystem of aquatic plants had begin to grow in the water left behind, it was surprisingly clear despite all the bright green algae.

They passed through hallways and tunnels with large glass tanks that stood from the ceiling fo the floor, the vegetation growing inside them looked like an underwater forest, as they walked along Sirius would occasionally turn into padfoot, walking off ahead to check for anything interesting before returning with directions to what they should check out next.

"Hey Thorns, snake down, I want you to come with me." Sirius said, after returning from one of these ventures in human form.

"I can't really see when I'm a snake, Siri. That's why I stick out my tongue so much, helps me feel my surroundings." She responded

"You can switch back when we get there I wanna show you something I found." He said and Rose rolled her eyes playfully. Nevertheless she agreed, before turning to Lily.

"You'll be fine with James, Lil?" She asked.

"I think so, if not all be fine all on my own. That'd be better than being stuck with Potter if he starts to act like a prat." The other ginger haired girl said.

"I'm beginning to feel like you don't know me, Evans." James said.

"Lily Evans. Just to clarify." He added

"We all knew what you meant you, knob. Don't annoy her too much, we'll be back." She said before her and Sirius both transformed into their animagus forms.

Lily picked up the small snake and sat it on the shaggy black dog's back, the snake hissed out a thank you, opening it's small mouth then closing it again. The dog padded away and Lily laughed light-heartedly.

"I'll never get use to that." Lily emphasized her statement from earlier that night.

—

Padfoot trotted down the dark hallway with ease, the snake sitting on his back bounced up slightly with each movement, but did not fall off.

Eventually, Pads walked through a doorway that had long ago lost it's door, leaving only the metal hinges behind. As he stopped Rose slithered to sit atop his head between his ears to get a better look at what was in the room, then he transformed back into human Sirius, Rose fell off his head but he caught her before she hit the ground.

"Gotcha." He said before placing the light-orange snake on the ground for her to transform back into herself.

Once back, she rubbed her glasses and finally took a look at the room before her.

Inside was a large tank with a gaping hole in it's glass, and a crack that ran all the way to the ceiling. The opening was large enough that Sirius stepped inside without having to duck down very far, and if you peeked into the hallway they had come from you could tell where the items from the room had been pushed away from the force of the water gushing out of the tank when it had broken.

Another opeming, this one in the ceiling, allowed moonlight to flow into the dark room in streams, illuminating the room further.

All types of plant-life had begun to grow in the room, the entire floor was basically covered in shrubbery and vine-y plants climbed down the glass siding as they had taken root in the ceiling.

It was as if the entire tank had been encased in newfound flora.

"Sirius, mate, this is so cool." She said looking around in awe, and running her hands through the beam of light, watching it shine onto her arm. The air was fresh there, like a clear breath in a garden.

"Knew you'd like it." He said rather quietly.

When Rose's attention was back on him she'd realized he'd been staring.

She walked up to him and he reached a hand out to touch her hair, running his fingers through the curls till they were almost trapped in them.

That brought her even closer.

Rose gently grabbed a fistful of his shirt and backed them into the light from the ceiling. There he removed his hand from her hair and brought it to her cheek, the other wrapped around her as he leaned down to place a kiss on her lips.

Under the stars, and surrounded by greenery.

—

When morning came, and the group sat atop a hill covered in clovers and sweetgrass, Rose looked back at Sirius and wanted nothing more than to be back in his arms again.