Genetics • Sirius Black

Chapter Seventy Two: Beach.

If I had told myself at the beginning of the year I would be at the beach with the kidnapped heir of the Black legacy, a sunburnt ginger, a lesbian, and a werewolf, then I would have warned myself to find a nicer swimsuit.

Moggs Eye Beach was a quiet little place. Even during the summer months, there was barely a soul around to watch as two wizards drenched in black stood at the very edge of where the grass met the sand with thick sunglasses and floppy hats. The pale boy had his arms crossed over his chest and face, which made it clear that the sun was far too bright for his liking. The tan girl was adjusting her oversized cotton shirt that covered her swimsuit.

Regulus Black had sea breeze in his nostrils and wrinkled his nose. "What if this isn't even the spot?"

"This is the spot."

"How do you know?"

"The diner is there, the pink beach house is over there, and here is the pole." A pointed, manicured finger flew to the wooden structure sticking out of the ground next to them.

Regs looked the pole up and down. "But, how do you know it's that pole?"

Even behind the thick sunglasses, Regs knew her eyes narrowed into slits. "This is the only pole."

Waves crashed on each other in the distance, wind whistled in the air, and seagulls squawked at each other. After a few seconds passed, he said. "Are you sure this is the right beach?"

"I will leave you here."

"First, you abduct me, then you abandon me. That's rude, Freya."

"I did not abduct you."

"You took me from my home without my parent's permission and took me to the Midlands of England to this strange beach. Sounds very abduct-ish to me."

"You came on your own accord. I believe the correct phrasing is you snuck out." Freya Grey said, then carefully added, "I just helped you do it." He turned to her, and she opened her mouth to say more but knew the truth was not entirely on her side. Technically, was it her idea? Yes. Did she provide all the transportation? Yes. Has this trip been strategically planned so neither of his guardians would know? Yes. Finally, she just said, "I did not abduct you. If you did not like the beach, why did you come?"

"Honestly, I did not think we would make it this far." He answered genuinely. "Sometime between the second bus ride and third outfit change, I realized I was wrong."

She was unsure whether to be proud that her plan was working or offended that he even questioned it. Fortunately, she had no time to ponder either since, in the distance, she saw a redhead waving her hands in the air and running towards them at full speed.

***

Freya Grey's words punched the air out of Lily Evans's lungs. Her attention was on the spread of Lily's bed, a deep red every Gryffindor had. It was pretty.

Once the shock left her body, Lily's stare turned to thorns. "You call that a mistake?" She shot up from the bed, no longer wanting to share the same space as Freya, who seemed to keep her posture perfect and stare low on the floor. It was like a statue. "He called me a filthy mudblood."

Freya flinched.

The truth stung like a thousand needles.

But Lily felt betrayed by Freya's suggestion. Mistakes. Mistakes were forgivable. They were accidents. "You don't say that to someone you love. He loves me? Are you joking? God, Freya." The curly-haired witch's gaze was transfixed on the ground, holding her posh manner. "Can you even look at me?" Hard as a slap, Lily's words hit the air, and Freya tore her attention off the floor to Lily's face, but the spiral had already started. "I know, you probably think I'm being emotional or stupid or brash or whatever, but don't you think I'd forgive him if I could." Her volume rose, wet with rage. "I have been with him years, way before you. I withstood the spells, the snide comments about Remus, the glares from his friends, but what he said today was--- I just can't. I won't." Then, the rage reached its peak, and the glass broke. "He was my best friend." A tear fell down her face and splashed onto the ground. All the years, the memories, dwindling into dust and deceit. Finally, she was just tired. Her body could not withstand any more of this hypocrisy. How could he love her when he hated what she was? Dull pain radiated through Lily's chest, and she fell back on the wall behind her, then slid down to the floor. "He knew what he was doing. He knew." No longer filled with fire, instead, her eyes were like coals that had been used up, empty and colorless as they landed on Freya. "Those things don't just slip out. They slip out because you believe them. If you don't understand that... then just get out."