"How forbidden it was to be in love with them both, the Black brothers, her Black brothers."
Family honor always came first. At least that's what she was taught.
Never step a foot out of the lines set by those who came before her. Keep the northcott...
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The Great Hall mulled with chatter and laughter, spirits lifted as the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year came closer and closer until it was only a day away.
Sirius Black found himself letting his eyes drift to the table farthest across the room, his gaze ever so slightly sweeping over the dark-haired young woman that sat in between her betrothed and another Slytherin he could care less for.
He'd found he'd noticed her far more than he ever had since that day in the empty corridor, glances here and there that before he would never have even imagined himself doing. It was an odd thing, perception. All these years he'd always seen her the way he'd wanted to see her - a carbon copy of his mother.
But now that he'd gotten glances of humane emotions underneath all her tough skin, it felt as if his entire perception of her and their relationship they shared had been flipped upside down. He wondered if perhaps this would come back to bite later on, if maybe ignorance was bliss when it came to Elara Northcott.
The last time they'd truly met face to face had been weeks ago, something having altered that night when he'd uttered the words "I'm sorry."
Though neither of them commented on it, those two words had sent every perception of their realities in a direction that they would've much rather left unexplored.
Looking back, Sirius knew that he should have probably taken it back, should have convinced her that he hadn't meant it. But the thing that nagged at him was that he had meant it. He looked back at that moment and knew that even for one very minute second, he'd meant his apology.
It was obvious that the shift in dynamic had changed them both because for the past couple of weeks it seemed that they evaded each other, always locking eyes but never gathering up any courage to speak. Instead they sent letters.
The first letter to arrive had been seen by Remus, who opted to stay up late into the early hours of the morning. Sirius was glad that all the questioning he'd gotten was a raise of Remus' brow. He brushed it off and said that it was probably a secret admirer.
From then on she made sure to always send letters at exactly 4:27 in the morning, right after Remus had gone to bed and just before James began to wake.
They were always brief and to the point, much like Elara herself. They'd describe Regulus' moods, anything he'd say or do that was out of the ordinary, or any other information she thought he should know.
As the weeks ticked by and he still hadn't gotten a letter addressing a meeting time or place, Sirius slowly became tense, knowing that with each letter sent, that they were wasting time. It wouldn't be long until the winter holidays rolled around.
