stars | sirius black

29: Hints and Suspicion

AUGUST 21, 1978

Ministry of Magic, 4:45 pm

"EXPELLIARMUS!" ARABELLA YELLED, DODGING spell after spell that her opponent threw at her. Her eyes held anger as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She panted as she decided to take the defensive route for a little while, throwing every blocking spell and counter curse she knew.

Sirius couldn't help but look at his pregnant fiance with worry, getting a little distracted that he almost didn't notice spells and curses hurdling toward him. Once he was certain that Arabella had everything under control, his eyes turned back to his opponent: Lucius Malfoy. 

Sirius smirked as he shot every curse he knew towards his old schoolmate, blocking the ones thrown towards him effortlessly. 

"Why am I not surprised that you're here, Malfoy?" Sirius said with disdain in his voice, casting a nonverbal spell in Lucius' direction.

"You're a skilled dueler; what a pity, Black. We're supposed to be on the same side." Malfoy replied with a sneer, blocking Sirius' attack and casting a nonverbal spell of his own.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked, letting his guard down for the slightest moment.

"Don't tell me you don't remember your fifth year at Hogwarts?" Lucius asked in a taunting tone, chuckling at Sirius' surprised reaction.

"How did you know about that?" Sirius asked, pure confusion and surprise on his face. His wand was now visibly lowered, unbeknownst to the other members of the order that he and Lucius had stopped casting spells towards the other.

"I was in on it." Lucius said with a smirk. "I was originally the one to give you those potions but we weren't very close-"

"-for good reason." Sirius spat, cutting him off.

"Anyways," Lucius continued. "I suggested that your girlfriend be the one to give you those potions. If it wasn't for your meddling friends, we would've gotten away with it."

Lucius smirked at Sirius' surprised reaction, shaking his head as Sirius stared at him in silence. He didn't get to enjoy the moment as he felt his dark mark starting to burn, a signal that there master was calling them. The other death eaters must have felt this too as they started to apparate one by one.

"It was nice chatting with you, Black. Unfortunately, I have a meeting to attend to. Who knows, maybe I'll see one of your friends there." Lucius taunted with a smirk before disapparating. 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MALFOY?" He yelled at Lucius' disappearing form, but to no avail. Sirius threw his wand in frustration, landing in the spot where Lucius once was. He stared blankly at the place where Lucius was for what he felt like was the longest time, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Accio Sirius' wand." Arabella said, looking at Sirius worriedly. He had been standing in the same spot and staring blankly for about  a minute now. She excused herself from James and Remus who were talking to her and went to approach Sirius.

"Hey love. Are you alright?" Arabella asked from behind him.

Sirius jumped at the sound of Arabella's voice, startled at her presence. He put a hand over his heart in shock as he looked at Arabella surprised. "Merlin, Belle. You gave me a fright."

"Sorry." Arabella said sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders at Sirius. "I was getting a little worried."

"Hey now, it's my job to worry about you." Sirius said softly, gesturing at Arabella's stomach where a small bump was showing. 

"I know that, but I can't help but worry about you too." Arabella said, looking at Sirius in the eyes. Sirius felt his heart begin to swell at Arabella's words and when she looked at him with in eyes he knew she meant every word. They've been out of Hogwarts for a while now but Sirius swears that the spark they had when they were kids never faded. He was just as giddy and crazy about her now as he was back then. 

"I love you, Belle." He said softly, giving her a soft smile.

"I love you too." Arabella replied. "Now, tell me what's wrong. You've been staring in frustration at the same spot for about a minute."

"Sorry, it's just something that Malfoy said before he left." Sirius said, shaking his head. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" Arabella asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Of course." Sirius grinned so she wouldn't worry. "Let's go to talk to James and Remus."

Sirius put an arm around her shoulders as the made their way towards where James and Remus were. 

"You know you can tell me anything right?" Arabella asked, looking up at Sirius. 

"I know."

______

SIRIUS DIDN'T get a hint of sleep that night. He tried his best not to toss and turn much, he had already woken Arabella up once. He sat up, running a hand through his hair. He looked at Arabella's sleeping form and involuntarily smiled. He walked as quietly as he could out of their room and made his way towards the kitchen.

He made himself a cup of tea to calm himself down. He couldn't stop thinking about what Lucius told him earlier at the ministry. He hoped that it would pass, he didn't want to increase his paranoia. He hoped that by daylight he had forgotten about Lucius' words.

Little did he know, he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about Lucius' little hint much longer than he hoped.

_____

hey guys! it's been a while hasn't it? i'm so sorry:( but thank you for being patient and expect a lot of timeskips in this part of the story bc we're only going through some major events.

also, thank you all so much for the baby name suggestions! 

hope you all liked this part and please give it a vote if you think it was worthy and let me know what you think down in the comments.

lots of love and i'll see ya soon,
arielle