𝙰 𝙳𝚘𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰 𝙳𝚘𝚟𝚎 - 𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘

Chapter 26

"Okay, okay, what about a mash-up of a niffler and... oh! A Cornish pixie!"

Sirius looked down quizzically at his girlfriend, who was trying to come up with the oddest magical creature mashup. They'd gotten away from the rush of the day's lessons by having a small afternoon picnic by the lake and were now on their way back up to the castle, hand in hand, as students around them began to do the same in hopes of getting back to the castle in time for supper.

"That's a horrifying thought, love," Sirius mused, pressing his lips to the side of Aurelia's head. "Perhaps its best you stick to charms and not the creation of new magical hybrid creatures."

"You're just jealous," Aurelia retorted light-heartedly, leaning her head on his shoulder. Sirius' leather jacket had magically made its way around Aurelia's shoulders, and so his natural scent had enveloped the both of them, a comforting smell that Aurelia had become overly familiar with.

"Darling, how could I not be jealous of the kind, beautiful, intelligent and generous person I call my girlfriend?"

Aurelia blushed at Sirius' words, and buried her face into his chest, causing Sirius to chuckle as James, Remus and Peter caught sight of the happy couple, running over with wide grins.

"Naw, what's got our little Dove blushing so?" James cooed, loosening his school tie off as Peter laughed quietly, a good humour sitting among all of the Marauders today. Remus, ever the quietest of them all, looked up from his book to place his hand on Aurelia's shoulder, and she lifted her head to smile all of their ways, pressing her cheek against Remus' hand.

"She couldn't handle my wonderful vocabulary," Sirius declared, shaking his curly hair out. "It's a travesty, honestly."

"Padfoot, you failed Lily's muggle homework, and the subject was English," Remus said with a sigh, brushing a hand over his scarred face. Sirius pulled a face, as James and Peter laughed, causing Aurelia to chuckle along with them. Her eyes wandered over the rock formations she and Sirius had kissed behind more than once, and a pang struck at her heart as she noticed Lily and Severus talking.

Only that pain altered into something more, when her brow furrowed as she realised Lily was slowly becoming riled up, and her face was red, streaked with tears. "James," she muttered in a low tone, her voice too quiet for the loud, rowdy boy to hear. "James!"

The boy's head snapped to her.

"What's wrong?"

Aurelia's eyes, which were still trained on Severus and Lily, glanced over once at James, before trailing back over, a silent command for him to follow. Remus and Peter quietened, suddenly at unease by the lack of emotion decorating James' face as he caught sight of Lily and Severus beginning to argue louder and louder.

When Lily took one step back, no spell could hold James back as he ran towards her and Severus, followed quickly by Peter, Remus, Sirius, and Aurelia, the latter struggling to keep up with the boy dragging her along. Ensuring no one was looking her way, she let go of Sirius' hand and ducked behind a tree, transforming into her Animagus form, and clutching at her wand and bundled clothes in her beak.

Sirius merely held his hand out momentarily to grasp the items, and stuff them into the picnic basket they'd brought with them, before continuing to run after the rest of the Marauders, followed by a much quicker Aurelia, who perched herself on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Mudblood."

Peter and Remus could not help but gasp as they caught the tail end of Severus' conversation with Lily, the use of such a word aimed not only at a muggle-born, but at the girl everyone knew Severus adored. Lily's eyes were flooded with tears as James stepped in between her and Severus, and a loud, resounding crack echoed as James' fist connected with Severus' nose, breaking it in more than one place.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he bellowed in an angry tone, clutching behind him at Lily, who looked so broken and run down. Remus reached out to take her from James, and immediately tucked Lily into his side, hiding her tear-stained face from the growing crowd around them. Aurelia hopped closer to Sirius' ear, nuzzling into it in a comforting manner as she witnessed James Potter, the boy who had always seemed to never take anything seriously, point his wand at Severus' throat, his brow furrowed, and his eyes set on Severus' face in a manner that could cause death in one wrong move.

"Come on Lily, let's get you back to your common room," Remus said, nodding towards Sirius, who would stay regardless to ensure James did not make any stupid moves. Sirius reached a hand up to caress Aurelia, before motioning for her to follow Remus and Lily, his eyes trained on James and Severus.

Aurelia cooed in anger towards Severus, before flying away to land on Remus' shoulder, earning a raised brow from the boy. "Can you fly ahead and ensure the common room is empty, Lia? Our window is open, and you can borrow some of Sirius' clothes."

Aurelia nodded her small head, before flying off towards the direction of the Gryffindor tower, nearly shutting her eyes as she heard James begin to go off at Severus like he'd never done before. The way he shouted and had to be held back – even Lily, who wanted to simply crawl up in a ball and cry, had to stop and look back at the boy defending her, the boy who'd pined for her year after year.

She realised it was not some simple case of childhood infatuation, as she watched James speak with such passion, as if her honour were the only thing, he sought worth in defending.

"He loves you," Remus muttered, as he continued to guide Lily away. "We all do, Lil."

His eyes trailed up to the small dove form of Aurelia, as Lily tucked herself in further under Remus' arm, the boys lanky limbs enveloping her entire being like a cocoon. Aurelia landed with ease on the open windowsill of the Marauder's dorm room within a minute, and quickly changed back to her human form once inside, throwing on some of Sirius' clothes, which hung from her body like a sack of potatoes.

Never had she ever though that Severus and Lily would fight.

It was unlike her cousin and best friend to do so.

An unsettled feeling came about her as she felt a wave of a premonition come over her mind, and she forced herself to lean against Sirius' bedframe, as nausea overcame her. In her mind, she saw Severus, sitting in a circle of other students who all wore dark robes in the heart of the Room of Requirement, all lift the sleeves of their robes, revealing a mark that made the blood in Aurelia's body turn cold.

The Dark Mark.

Severus had completed whatever recruitment was desired of him, and he'd become one of them.

Aurelia could only cry, as she felt her heart tear into two.