Written in the Stars | Sirius Black

V. Rhiannon

A U G U S T  1 9 7 6

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

IF CLARA WAS EVER ASKED whether or not she believed in soulmates, she would quickly say that Marlene was hers. The blonde, with her frizzy curls and vivacious attitude, was the only person on Earth who could bring out Clara's carefree and adventurous side. No one would believe that the typically uptight and serious girl had a single spontaneous bone in her body, but Marlene really brought out the best in her. She was her other half.

For the first time that summer, Marlene would finally be visiting Potter Manor. The two rarely got to spend much time together over the holidays, mostly because the blonde's family spent a majority of it travelling. But since her arrival at the Manor, she and Clara had been spending almost every waking moment of their time in Clara's room. The two had months of swapping secrets and sharing all the news they needed to catch up on – things that couldn't ever be properly conveyed in a letter.

But, as with each visit of her yearly visits to Potter Manor, Marlene had brought along a new record for Clara to enjoy. Being a half-blood witch meant she always made sure to stop in the record shop in the village her muggle grandparents lived to pick up something new for Clara. In her eyes, Marlene really did have the best taste in music. She's the one who introduced Clara to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Imagine her heartbreak to find out that the former had broken up before she and Marlene had even met. At least she still had The Stones.

But by far Clara's favourite artist she had been introduced to by Marlene was David Bowie. There wasn't a week that went by where she didn't listen to one of his albums beginning to end at least twice. However, as Marlene rummaged through her trunk, she assured Clara that she had really discovered the best album of all time.

"You're really building this up a lot, Mar. Besides, you told me last summer that The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds was the best album of all time." Clara said with a laugh.

"Well, this one is better! There's this one song specifically, I can't stop listening to it." she replied as she pulled the album from her bag.

While Clara couldn't get a good look at the cover, she could just barely make out a sepia toned photo of a man and woman standing close to one another. Pulling the record from the sleeve, Marlene set the vinyl onto Clara's old record player making sure to drop the needle on exactly the right spot. Soon the room was filled with the sounds of a guitar riff as 'Rhiannon' by Fleetwood Mac began to play. The blonde began swaying to the music immediately, but once the sound of a woman's beautiful and raspy voice started, she began singing loudly along to every word. The free-willed blonde urged Clara to join as she reached out to her. Laying a hand in Marlene's, Clara was pulled from her bed and whisked into an unexpected dance party.

A laugh fell from Clara's lips as Marlene sung along, loudly and rather out of tune. The blonde truly didn't have a care in the world. If there was one thing Clara admired most about her best friend, it was that she seemed to never give a single damn what anyone thought of her. Nothing but joy and music filled the room but after about a minute or so had passed, a loud knock came from Clara's bedroom door.

"Oi, Potter!"

With a groan, Clara turned around to pull the needle away from the record, banishing the sound of Stevie Nicks' voice from the room. Opening the door with a prominent scowl on her face, she saw Sirius leaning casually against the opposite wall with his hands in his pockets.

"Your face'll get stuck like that, you know." he said with a grin.

"What do you want?"

"Monty's in the study, so I can't sneak onto the roof." he informed her, pulling a carton of cigarettes from his pocket and shaking it lightly.