Prima Donna | Sirius Black Fanfiction

Epilogue

Paris, Summer 1993.

I hurried down the busy Paris side streets, my heels dangerously slipping into the cracks of the cobble-stone ground. It was nearing the end of summer and I had opted for a light topstitched cardigan and short skirt set; professional but a little bit fun.

"Sorry I'm late!" I slipped into the metal seat of the small round table which was dangerously close to the curb of a small cafe. 

The brunette in front of me broke into a grin. "What else can I expect. You look gorgeous as always." Scarlett laughed, reaching over the table to kiss me twice. In true Scarlett fashion, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a Montrose Magpies top. As their newest chaser, Scarlett was my only connection to the wizarding world but was sure to keep me up to date on all the news. 

"What's been happening?" I asked after ordering a small cappucino from the rather rude waiter.

"Nothing much, training's been brutal. The quidditch world cup will be in England next year, I was thinking you could come, we could turn it into a little get-together with the girls."

Scarlett and I both smiled sadly. Since Lily and James's death almost 13 years ago, a 'get-together' with our old school friends was often a painful reminder of the ones we had lost. The marauders no longer provided the comic relief either, their history was bloodier and more tainted than ours.

"That would be lovely, I've never seen you play before." I placed my hand on her shoulder reassuringly, trying to stear the conversation away from the sad memories. 

Scarlett beamed "I saw Remus last week and he's already got a booking for a tent space and everything." Remus Lupin was the only marauder left, he always had been the most loyal and responsible one. My blood ran cold as I suddenly realised Remus was all alone, his supposed friends had either killed eachother or abandoned him, the names of those friends, I had been trying to eradicate from my brain for the last few years. I remembered the exact day I found out the horrors Sirius had committed. It had been an early morning, just before I launched my first ever line as the new lead designer for YSL. I didn't make it to the after party of that show, instead tried to drown my memories in my small Paris apartment with a bottle of tequila. I couldn't comprehend how that could happen. How could Sirius Black, the man I had loved for so long, commit such hateful crimes against his own friends. As much as I despised him for it, it just didn't make sense. 

"Milla?" Scarlett asked uncertainly, the clink of her cup against the saucer jolted me back to reality.

I nodded mutely. "Yea, I would love to see Remus." My mouth was dry and I knotted my finger around my long hair. Scarlett chewed on her lip, avoiding my eyeline. "What's wrong?" I asked. I knew her better than anybody.

Scarlett's eyes darted up from her croissant momentarily. Her eyes were wide. Her fingers tapped nervously on the mug as though she was trying to decide whether to tell me something. "He escaped from Azkaban." Scarlett blurted out.

I gasped and my hands spasmed, dropping the cappucino with a loud clatter. Hot milky coffee spilt across the white table cloth. "Ah, putain." I muttered, signalling for the waiter. 

"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it." Scarlett muttered, swiftly rising from her seat to avoid being scorched. She helped wipe up the coffee quickly.

 "No, no. Don't be sorry." I quickly dismissed her. I had moved on with my life and tried to forget but this had brought all the emotions rushing back. "I needed to know." I took a deep breath, the thoughts racing through my brain. 

"He won't come looking for you will he? I mean... you have security you'll be safe, right?" The words spilt out of Scarlett's mouth before she could stop herself.

"No why would he? He didn't even come after he graduated, I'm sure he's long forgotten us." I worked hard to keep my voice steady. As much as I wanted to pave my way in the fashion world and had slowly begun to leave those days at Hogwarts behind, a small part of me had been counting down the days until their graduation from Hogwarts. I would find myself subconsciously looking out for the tall broad shoulders or the long dark hair that I knew. For the first few months, I would race to open the front door every time it rang. But he never came. I didn't blame him, I didn't go over there either. I was so swept up taking over the business after my uncle got ill that it was never even an option. That little hope that was left was further crushed the night I found out about Lily and James's death. "I should go, I have a show at four." I checked my rose gold watch, kissing Scarlett goodbye and telling my chauffeur to meet me around the side.

A hundred possibilities ran through my mind. He wouldn't come back for me would he? He hadn't. If killing Peter and betraying his friends hadn't already taken his conscious, Azkaban would've taken his soul. Why was I still hoping I'd see him then? I hated to admit it, but I was still silently wishing that the media was wrong. I knew first hand how they could twist the facts.

I had completely dissociated for the two hours of the show, almost sending Linda Evangelista onto the runway with a dress on backwards but Nigel, my intern saved the day. I was shaking by the time the show finished, I was so inside my head and the emotions had completely blurred my competence.

"Lovely again Ms Saint-Laurent." Linda approached me, towering over me in her heels. She grasped my hands in hers. "Are you alright?" 

At that moment I saw it. I knew that black hair and that posture from anywhere. The young man talking hurredly to Nigel was gaunt and disturbed, but I knew him. I almost collapsed right then and there into the model's arms. 

"Excuse me for a second." I stumbled over to Nigel, blocked momentarily by an entourage of coat hangers in intern's arms. The next moment I looked up, he was gone.

"Who was that?" I jogged over to Nigel looking over his clipboard. 

"What? Oh, not a clue." He looked back down at the runnings of the evening. "Just some cute customer, he's apparently part of some English magazine company, Canis Majoris or something daft like that. Honestly you british people use the most absured names." Nigel scoffed. "Anyway, he was looking to do an interview with you and buying the silk set-piece but I told him he's just going to have to wait like everybody else. They're not out yet."

Nigel shrugged, pushing his glasses over his nose, leaving me dumbfounded in the wings of the stage.

"Oh, I completely forgot he told me to give you this." Nigel handed me a small piece of dirty parchment.

Toujours Magnifique. I'm proud of you.

- S.O.B.

At that moment I knew. I knew he hadn't done it. I broke into a run, pushing my way through the white backdoor of the building. "Sirius!" I called running out through the back street. I fell into a crowd of photographers blinding my eyes momentarily.

'CAMILLA ! ' The press engulfed me. I couldn't breathe.  

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"You seem different." Nigel commented as we continued to pack up the garments carefully. It was well into the evening and the after party was set to begin. "I haven't seen you this happy since... forever."

I shrugged. There was still a candle-light of hope within me, still burning faintly in the background. He hadn't done it, that was all I needed. I had never remaried, or found somebody that could replace him. Sirius was always the one. Knowing he was out there, re-writing the wrongs that had been plagued against him in only the way Sirius could, settled my spirits.

Who knows, maybe all wasn't forgotten.