Black Blood | S. BLACK

03.

THE NEXT DAY, Augusta had already constructed the perfect plan. It was brilliant, perhaps a little mean, but brilliant nonetheless.

Most students were usually exhausted during the mornings. However, the Marauders were always an exception to, well, everything really.

One could already hear them bursting with laughter during the crack of dawn, prepared for their daily dose of mischief and mayhem.

When Augusta entered the Great Hall, her palms were sweaty with anxiousness. As much as he liked to pretend she was brave, she was not. Not as the Gryffindors were, at the very least.

Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she approached the almost empty Gryffindor table. She had never spoken to any of them before. Remus had once apologised to her after bumping into her in the hallways to Transfiguration class, but that was about it really. To approach them out of nowhere was daring.

She needed to be cautious.

"Hello." Sirius Black said and smiled as soon as he noticed her approach them. "I think you're a bit confused. The Hufflepuff table is that way." He pointed. Damian was the only one sat by the table, and smiled encouragingly when Augusta met his eyes.

She shook her head and turned towards Sirius once again. However, whatever paragraph she had prepared was completely forgotten when their eyes met.

She had never understood it whenever girls would dreamily talk about Sirius Black's eyes, but as she stood so dangerously close so to those sharp irises, she was struck speechless.

Luckily, Marlene McKinnon came to her rescue:

"Merlin, Sirius, please don't." She groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she was in great pain. Sirius ignored her, casually taking a bite of his toast with careless elegance.

Augusta shook her head, remembering the plan, and turned to offer Remus a sweet smile. He looked slightly taken aback. It was obvious that he had not expected the attention.

"Hello Remus. "She said, fiddling with the hem of her skirt as if she was nervous. "I was wondering whether you had any plans for Hogsmeade tomorrow? Maybe we could go together?"

Silence. All of them looked stunned.

"I-" Remus hesitated, appearing both lost and confused. "I would like to, er... Augusta?" Her name was a question, but she did not blame him. "However, I've already made plans with Sirius, Peter and James—"

"No!" James bolted out of nowhere, startling everyone. He adjusted the glasses on his nose and grinned brightly. "No you have not, Remus, you have not. He would love to- you'd love to, right Rem?- He'd love to hang out with you!" He nudged his friend's elbow who in return flushed.

"Right..." Remus said before smiling at Augusta. "Sure, Augusta, I'd like to."

Relief flooded over her. That easy, huh?

She beamed. "Alright. See you then." She then turned away, walking towards the Hufflepuff table, heart still hammering in her chest.

Sirius watched her leave with an odd expression, as if she was a living mystery.

James was too busy clapping Remus on the back to notice his friend's suspicion. "Nice one, mate!"

Remus was still blushing. "Er... thanks."

Sirius turned to them and grinned, trying to convince himself that hat he was happy for Remus. "Yeah, congrats." However, his suspicion overpowered him. "Don't you guys find it weird that she just appeared out of nowhere? We've never talked to her before, have we?"

"She's just shy, Padfoot." James said, waving his hand. "Took her a while to gather up some courage- she is a Hufflepuff, after all."

Sirius was still frowning, unsure of what to think. A half-blooded Prince sorted into Hufflepuff. Not a very usual occurrence.

"What do you think, Pete?" Sirius asked, turning to Peter who gulped before his face turned scarlet:

"I think she's pretty..."

Sirius scoffed. "You're hopeless." He said, turning to watch the girl again. However, as soon as he did he immediately regretted it. She was laughing with her friend and brushed a strand of midnight hair behind her ear with an air of confidence.

There was something adoringly different about Augusta Prince. As much as he did not want to, he found himself agreeing with Peter. She was pretty.

• • •

Augusta was surprisingly not nervous at all as she prepared herself for Hogsmeade. Damian watched her lazily from where he sat some distance away.

"You're really going with this plan, aren't you?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Great plans take patience." She said. "And besides, it isn't as if my plan is remotely evil. Just a little pay-back for all the things they've done." Spraying on some perfume, she turned to grin at her friend. "I'll make sure to apologise."

• • •

She saw Remus first, standing by the train, before he noticed her. He was dressed casually, as always, and seemed slightly nervous.

"Hey Remus," she greeted, smiling sweetly as he turned to smile at her. The bright colours of his Gryffindor themed scar was a nice contrast to his dark brown robes.

"Hello," he greeted, a little shyly but still with the pinch Marauders' confidence. "You look nice." he commented, slightly lifting his shoulders as he did so.

She grinned. "Thanks."

The train ride was surprisingly pleasant . He bought chocolate for her and he was fairly easy to talk to. She would occasionally spot one of Marauders spying on them from the corner of her eye, but they would vanish as soon as she would turn their way.

Hogsmeade itself was nice. They went to get some Butterbeer, spoke of Quidditch, which Remus seemed to be a fan of even though he did not play it, and the upcoming N.E.W.T.

"Are you going to be staying? After taking them?" She asked him. He looked taken aback, astonished at the question, but laughed gently:

"I never want to leave."

She smiled. Augusta could not help but agree.

Minutes turned into hours, and they passed by swiftly. Augusta found that Remus was a solid company; not at all what she had expected. They actually had quite a lot of things in common.

Remus Lupin. She thought to herself quietly as she noted how his brown eyes shone like two ambers in the sunlight and how he had freckles on his cheeks. I'll spare you.