It had been two months since the imperioused Black had administered the fatal kiss to Ellie, and neither of them had mentioned it. Lily and James had been trying to push them together for weeks, but they wouldn't budge. Sirius and Ellie were both thinking the same thing. I'm sure I'm the only one who feels like this. Ellie, against her will, found herself dreaming about being in Sirius' arms, about the kiss, and the electricity she felt. So, when Sirius asked her to help him with History of Magic homework on a brittle December night, Ellie obliged, hoping for a moment like the one she'd been dreaming about.
"But... is Charity the founder of the 1957 werewolf code of contact?" Sirius asked, his face set and his quill between his teeth.
"Yes..." Ellie agreed, spurring him on, "So what did she do?"
"Um... Well the code states that any werewolf at the full moon must be more than ten miles away from any living human."
"Good!" Ellie exclaimed, holding her hand up for Sirius to high-five, and he high-fived her back.
"OI!" he exclaimed, shaking his hand violently and looking at her rather ruefully, "You shocked me!" Ellie laughed.
"I hate when that happens. Sorry. Here, let me see your hand." Sirius let Ellie take his hand gingerly. He smiled slightly as she touched him, their energies connecting and converging. She felt it too, and quickly let go of his hand. She wanted this moment, wanted it more than anything, but didn't know if she was ready. If he was ready. She turned around and said quickly and curtly,
"Your hand looks fine. Let's continue." And so they did. Though the night, they studied, but Ellie remained brisk and cold. At the end of the night, Sirius said,
"Thanks. I think I get it now." He looked at her hopefully, every inch of his being aching to draw closer, to tuck the loose strand of blond hair away from her rich brown eyes and cheeks rosy from their proximity to the fire. But she kept her eyes down, picking up the textbooks and seeming to make a big fuss out of the parchment.
"No problem." She replied, her tone even and not betraying her true emotions to the boy across the table.
His shoulders sagged. He knew it. "See you in the morning Avia." He said, a hint of dejection in his voice that Ellie didn't catch onto.
"Okay." She replied, eyes still firmly glued to the empty parchment on the table. He waited one more minute, hoping she would look up, hoping she would say something, anything, that showed interest. But she didn't, and so he left.
***
In the morning, Sirius and Ellie barely spoke. They both headed to History of Magic together with James and Remus, Ellie on Remus' left and Sirius on James' right, so that neither needed to communicate with the other. They entered the drafty room to see snowflakes dancing outside the window, and sat down to take the test.
Sirius kept looking over at Ellie, kept wanting to tell her the information he was writing down, that he was finally understanding the questions and phrasing the answers in a way that would have made her proud. But she looked steadily at her desk for the full two hours, pausing only to refill her quill with ink and scratching away steadily on the parchment.
Days passed, and nothing more than 'hellos' were exchanged between the pair. Neither wanted to get close to the other, only to have their heart broken, so neither even gave it a chance.
"Why can't she just say she likes me! This is so confusing!" Sirius ranted to James.
"Why can't he just say he likes me! This is so confusing!" Ellie ranted to Lily. Lily and James had started using muffliato charms whenever Ellie and Sirius were around so they couldn't hear them.
"JUST GO BLOODY TALK TO HER!" James finally bellowed one day. Sirius looked at him. "Isn't it better to have loved and lost than never loved at all?" James continued, and Sirius gave him a queer look.
"When did you get so smart Prongsy." He asked, and James sighed, "Because I've loved and lost since I met Lily." He glanced down dejectedly, and Sirius debated whether or not to leave him like this. When James looked back up and saw Sirius, very much in the same place on the bed however, he gave him a hardened look and yelled,
"GO!" Sirius jumped like he had been burned but headed out of the dormitory all the same. He went down the steps to the common room and saw Ellie, sitting in a chair by the fire, reading a book he could not see the title of. He wanted to walk over to her, but his legs had seemed to turn to lead. He couldn't move, all he could do was stand there, staring at her, watching her golden hair shake and catch the firelight as she laughed. And he knew he wasn't ready to get his heart broken quite yet, so he didn't try to approach her. He steeled himself that he would do it later. There was always tomorrow.
***
The next History of Magic class, their tests were returned. After class, Sirius gathered all of the courage he thought he had ever had, sought Ellie out, and flipped his test around to show her.
"E!" She exclaimed, "Great job Sirius!" She drew him into a corridor where no one could jostle them around, and took the test, looking it over. He watched her as she nodded her head and muttered, "Look at this analysis!" Her eyes grew wide and her cheeks flushed as she looked over the test, and Sirius was caught with a sudden burst of fear. This, this was the most beautiful that he had ever seen her, eyes lit up with excitement, hair carelessly tucked behind her left ear. He didn't think he would ever be able to deserve her. "This is wonderful!" She continued, grabbing him by the neck and hugging him. It caught him by surprise. He sunk into the hug, taking a deep breath and smelling her perfume. He couldn't tell what it was. He took another deep breath, and the hug elongated and deepened. It was lavender. That was it, the most wonderful smell in the world. As he gingerly removed her hands from around his neck, he shot a questioning glance at her lips, and then looked into her eyes for permission. She looked back at him, then closed her eyes and leaned in. And they kissed, right then and there, in the empty corridor, Ellie still holding Sirius' crumpled up test. It was awkward, and quick, but Sirius has never kissed anyone and felt like this before. They pulled apart, and Sirius grinned at Ellie.
"What?" She said, looking up at him, and trying to hide a smile threatening to creep up her flaming face.
"At least you know I'm not imperioused this time."
"Silver lining." She said and laughed. His knees weakened at the sound, "Just what I needed." And she kissed him again.
YOU ARE READING
Finding Her Way | Sirius Black
Fanfiction"I can't believe the things I reveal when I'm around you, it's like I can't even think straight. It's mad, this is mad, because you made me believe in a happily ever after." *** COMPLETED: After being homeschooled for the first five years of her edu...
