Pragma // s.b.

34

****

Hogwarts in the wintertime seemed as if it had been plucked right out of a fairytale. In fact, it looked more like a giant frosted gingerbread house than a castle. It was well into December, and the snow was falling thickly, covering the ground in a sparkling white blanket. Students produced small fires to carry along with them as they made their way to the greenhouses or down to the Quidditch pitch. Conversations about whether or not students would stay over the break or go home for the holidays floated throughout every corner of the castle.

    This very topic was what we sat discussing one evening in the Great Hall. "I'm not looking forward to having to listen to my father drone on and on about his job at the firm all break", Lewis sighed, blowing on a spoonful of hot soup, steam filling the air around his rosy cheeks. "I'm sure it won't be that bad", Skye said, reaching over him in order to grab a roll. "Skye!", he let out sharply, "You just got your hair all in my soup!". I let out a laugh, her long curly blonde hair was in fact, now drenched in beef stew.

    "Oops", she said, pushing her glasses back up, they had slipped down her nose and were now also dangerously close to joining her hair in Lew's soup. He rolled his eyes, but a grin was plastered on his face, "I think I've lost my appetite". He pushed the bowl away and leaned back. Liv let out a chuckle from beside me and we made brief eye contact. It was no secret that Lew held a small flame for Skye. Our first year he followed her around like a lost puppy until Amber told him to stop. It was undeniably adorable. "I give you a good five minuets before you start eating again", Skye said, now drying her hair off with a stray napkin. Lewis just shrugged, then continued his loving complaints about his dad's boring muggle job. 

    "What about you?"I said to Maggie, who sat caddy corner from me across the table. "You know I'm staying here",she said, the hint of a frown playing at her soft lips. I nodded slightly. Not many people knew this particular fact about Maggie, but when you live with someone for 5 years, you tend to find out the things that even they don't want you to know. She had never known her parents. Growing up in an orphanage was hard for her, she never felt like she had a family. Well, until she met us.

    "I tell you every year", I said, raising an eyebrow, "You can always come home with me". She smiled and shook her head, "And I tell you every year I couldn't possibly. Plus I like the castle when it's empty. It's serene". I knew she would say that. It's the same thing she says every single year. She smiled lightly at me, as if to nonverbally let me know that everything was okay, really.

    I was about to turn and join Liv in her animated conversation with Lewis and Skye beside me when someone grabbed my shoulders from behind and shook them. My hand flew to my heart and I let out a sharp gasp. I whipped my head around, causing my long braid to hit Liv in the face. "What the hell was that for?", I said, scowling at a grinning James who shook with laughter. Lily was positioned slightly behind him, one hand on her hip, fighting a grin.

    "I can't believe you let him do that", I said, jokingly shaking my head in disapproval at Lily. She just threw her hands into the air and tossed her long sheet of orange hair behind her, "I stopped trying to control what he does a long time ago". I let out a giggle and surveyed the pair. Everyone in the castle knew they were bound to get together eventually, despite her protests. James was the guy that everyone wanted to be or be with. Lily was the most gorgeous girl I'd ever seen in my life. They were so perfect together it was sickening.

    Maggie, noticing Lily, smiled brightly and motioned for her to sit down. She moved to sit down, but Sirius appeared out of nowhere and stopped her. "Nope", he said slyly, "No time to sit down and chat Lilykinz. You promised to help James run some drills for tomorrow's game". She rolled her green eyes and shrugged in our direction. "I'll see you in Potions", Maggie laughed and waved as the pair retreated.

    I assumed Sirius had left with them, until I felt a body much to big for the space left on the end of the bench trying to squeeze its way next to me. "Hello, Carter", Sirius said, picking up my goblet and taking a swig of the pumpkin juice inside of it. "Hello, Black", I rolled my eyes, choosing to ignore his previous action. "I have a proposition for you", he said quietly, so only I could hear. Why did that simply statement make my heart begin to have palpitations. But, was it really the statement, or how close he was next to me?

My feelings toward Sirius Black were becoming undenyable. I tried to pretend I didn't lay awake at night thinking about him, or purposefully hang around the Gryffindor common room so I could accidentally bump into him. It was an odd feeling. I had never felt this way about anyone at Hogwarts before. When I was 10 years old, I had the biggest crush on the boy two houses down from our farm. His name was Joseph McKing and he had white blonde hair and a gap in his teeth. When he looked at me I thought my little heart was going to explode. I got a similar feeling when Sirius said my name or accidentally brushed my hand when we were brewing potions together.

"Okay", I whispered back, all to aware that I hadn't worn makeup today and was looking a mess, and was only a few inches away from Sirius' lips. A stray strand of hair fell in front of his face, but he didn't move it. That was just one of the ways we were so different. I would need to fix it, need to get it out of the way so I could continue on with the task at hand. But not Sirius. He knew things would work out the way they were meant to. He knew things would fix themselves. He knew that even if he did move the hair out of his eyes, it would just fall right back so there was really no point in moving it at all.

He licked his lips quickly, then parted his mouth to begin speaking, but was cut off by someone calling my name. "Briony!", the smell of fresh linens filled my nose and I looked up. The first thing I saw was a perfectly tied Ravenclaw tie. "Calum", I breathed. It had been weeks since we had last spoken. I assumed he had forgotten about me, or not really even remembered me in the first place.

"Can I talk to you?", he smiled, his shiny white teeth perfect in everyway. "Yeah of course", I said taken aback. I glanced at Sirius, whose jaw was tight, but other than that held a blank expression. "I'll be right back", I said to him and he curtly nodded. Getting up to follow Calum, I shot a look at Liv who raised her eyebrows. What did Calum Archer want with me? And why now?

We exited the Great Hall and stopped beside a towering Christmas tree dripping with tinsel that changed colors to match what the person nearest was wearing. It shimmered in tones of gold to match my robes, intertwining with deep blues and blacks. "Go out with me", Calum said suddenly. My eyes widened. I opened my mouth to respond but he didn't let me answer. "Sunday night, meet me here. Wear something nice", he reached up and tucked a piece of hair that had fallen out of my braid behind my ear. Then he was gone. The only sound left was the carols from the suits of armor filled the air and my rapidly beating heart.