Starry Serendipity || R.A.B

1. Valerie and her family

Summer 1975

The music blasts through my stereo, a muggle band called "Queens" singing a song that I haven't been able to get out of my mind since Sirius first played it at the end of the school party.

I dance around with a brush in my hands to mimic a microphone. Books are scattered all over the floor so I have to jump in order to not kick them. I faintly hear people talking outside of my room but I try not to focus on it. I grab random clothes and I shove them inside my trunk carelessly.

September is still far away but I feel the need to hide my clothes because I know that otherwise my dear brother will do something to them. He loves to prank everyone in the house and I can't go to school another year with my robes dyed a bright pink.

"Val, can you please turn the music down?" I hear my father yell from his study and in response I turn the music to an even louder volume. I scream to the words of Bohemian Rhapsody as if my life depends on it

"Too late, my time has come
Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time
Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, ooh
I don't wanna die..."

The remaining words are cut off by someone that has come inside of my room and has unplugged the stereo.

"Your mama, will kill you if you don't stop blasting music every hour of the day, do you want to make us all deaf? And please darling, reorganize this room. It looks as if a hurricane was in here!" my mom says with the cable still in her hands, a small smile on her lips.

"You are no fun woman" I whine grabbing some of the books from the floor.

"I'm very much fun dear and you know it. James's friends will be here in ten, I want you down by then with a bright smile and that attitude of yours away. Merlin knows what's up with you teenagers these days" she says leaving the room.

I store the books in the library paying attention to the colors so that they are pleasing to see once they are all in order. I then close the trunk and shove it under my bed to hide it.

I hum the song while I move around the room but I don't dare plugging the stereo again. My thoughts are plagued by the idea of James's friends. The marauders as they call themselves. A bunch of a-holes if you ask me. They are a handful to say the least.

They all share silly nicknames that make no sense to anyone but them and Merlin how I wish that I could understand, that I could have one of those nicknames and be part of their group.
Above all I wish that I had a strong relationship with James.

Sirius Black, or Padfoot as my brother calls him,  is a magnetic force of nature.
His presence is a whirlwind of charm, rebellion, and loyalty, he tends to leave an indelible mark. Beneath the carefree facade, there is a complexity to Sirius that only a few are privy to. His sharp wit and biting sarcasm often serve as a defense mechanism, guarding against the pain and turmoil that lays beneath the surface. His family's expectations and his tumultuous relationship with them are shadows that cast a heavy weight on his shoulders.

There was a heavy fight between the marauders a few months ago, to this date I still don't know why, all I know is that in the aftermath of it, Sirius sulked around the corridors with a cigarette in between is lips or a bottle of fire whiskey in his hands. I tried talking to him but we were never close so he obviously refused my help.