Celestial | Sirius Black Love Story

Chapter Twelve

The next day, all the others arrived in the late afternoon. After we had eaten dinner, shepherd's pie, we all went up to the boys' dormitoriy and exchanged remaining Christmas presents.

Later on, when we had all nestled ourselves in our own dormitory, I filled Lily and Septima in on what had happened when they weren't there. They listened intently and made comments such as, "He definitely likes you if he did that", and "You should ask him out", both of these often paired with squeals. 

The next day, however, class started again. My new years resolution was to focus harder during class and do my homework the same day it was given. Though Professor Binns droned on and on, his very aura so boring I felt my mind drifting away every other second, I tried my best to keep up and write notes. In potions I paid attention to Slughorn, and ignored Bellatrix' jeers. By the end of the lesson, my potion was near perfect, and I felt my face glow with pride as Slughorn pointed it out.

In the evening, however, as I sat in front of the fire with the buzz of lazy conversation  filling my ears like white noise, I was so desperate to relax and unwind after the first day back that I decided to get properly started on Binns' essay the next day.

And so the days passed, I became more and more desperate for another holiday and a bit of summer sun, though the days were becoming longer and it had stopped snowing. Every so often Sirius and I would have moments where we were alone and we would talk, I could feel my stomach bubble and squirm, but the sessions would abruptly come to an end when anyone else turned up. I was seeing less of Lupin now that I was trying to do better at school, but we agreed to see each other every Saturday and be alone together for at least an hour. Some other first years noticed this and started to make fun of us, telling everyone we were kissing in private, but we ignored them and the rumours quickly passed.

One afternoon, however, when the sun was shining brightly over the castle and it's grounds, a notice appeared on the notice board in the common room. We would shortly be starting Quidditch.

"Brilliant!" Yelled James when he saw the poster, "It says here we couldn't have it earlier because there wasn't enough staffing. This'll be absolutely brilliant!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Peter looking uncomfortable and rather nervous, "Don't worry, Peter! I'm sure you'll be great at it!" In response to the sceptical look on his face I added, "Well you sure won't be the worst one, I bet I'll be a right mess on a broom."

"Come off it, you'll both be fine, specially you, Ollie, you're almost top of the class now after Christmas," Said Remus.

"Just because I can cast a simple first-year spell doesn't mean I can float meters over the ground on a stick." I retorted, but the others blew me off with waves of their hands, assuring me it would be fine.

Lily and Alice shared my concerns, though Marlene, Alyssa, and Septima all seemed to have flown before and were just as excited as the boys.

--

Two days later, Septima, Alice and I stumbled down to the grounds to attend our first flying lesson, we were trying to go as fast as we could without tripping as we were already a bit late and the rest of the class was there.

Standing by a pile of broomsticks was a tall woman, with a sharp face and golden eyes. "Right!" She said briskly as we joined our classmates, "Now that we're all here, I am Madam Hooch. You must all do exactly as I say, because flying can be dangerous if done incorrectly." I glanced at Lily who shared my terrified expression, "There is, however, no need to worry if you follow my instructions. First, you shall all grab a broom and find a space."

I was the last one to get through to the pile of brooms, and the only one left looked really old, all the twigs at the end were bent and there were several scratches on the handle. I took it and rushed over to an empty space between Sirius and James, thinking it wise to position myself between people who could fly.