Written in the Stars | Sirius Black

IV. Reelin' in the Years

A U G U S T  1 9 7 6

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

THE WARM AUGUST BREEZE mixed with the longer days was exactly what Clara loved about being home for the summer. Over the years, she would often sneak out onto the roof of Potter Manor just outside her bedroom window, reading until the sun had completely set and she was straining to see the words on the page any longer. Tonight was no different.

On this particular evening, she had decided upon reading 'The Great Gatsby' at her father's recommendation. They were the only pure-blood family she knew that openly read muggle literature and listened to muggle music. While it was taboo, she loved it and her father especially encouraged it. Midway through reading the first party scene at Jay Gatsby's mansion, the sound of her window opening made Clara jump. The book fell to the thatched roof with an unceremonious thump causing her to lose her page – and her patience. When she looked over to see the source of the noisy intrusion, she saw Sirius crawling out of her bedroom window.

"Can I help you?" she asked indignantly.

Though it had been nearly three weeks since Sirius had first arrived at the manor, the two of them kept their distance. Or at least Clara tried to.

On occasion, he and James would attempt some sort of humiliating prank on her, although Euphemia often intervened before things were taken too far. Most days, the boy were holed up in James's room, listening to muggle rock music and talking about only Merlin knows what. If they weren't doing that, they were most likely to be found out in the back garden practising Quidditch. Although practising usually meant James was trying to perfect a new technique while Sirius attempted to knock him off his broom at every turn for a laugh.

"I asked Prongs if he knew any good places to smoke where your parents wouldn't get upset and he told me they didn't know about you sneaking onto the roof." he explained, pulling the carton of cigarettes from his back pocket.

"So you decided to not only invade my space but to also do that disgusting habit near me?"

"Exactly." he said with a wink, placing a cigarette delicately between his lips.

Clara let out a disgusted groan as she picked up the book, flipping through the pages attempting to find the place where she had left off. A moment of silence fell between the two as she continued reading. Bitter smoke lingered around her like an early morning fog, though this particular kind of mist burned in the back of her throat unlike the first breath on a fresh summer's day. Sirius remained mostly silent, so even in her discomfort, she wasn't entirely annoyed by his presence.

"So, can we talk about what happened on the train then?" he asked casually, flicking the butt of his finished cigarette off into the distance.

Clara didn't know about Sirius, but she had grown quite comfortable with their unspoken agreement to pretend she hadn't witnessed anything on the train. It came as a surprise to her that he seemed to want to talk about it at all. Folding a dog-ear on the page she was on to make sure she wouldn't lose her place this time, she then set the book aside and glanced at Sirius. Remembering how upset and dismissive he had been to her in that moment, she didn't want him to feel forced to open up to her just because she was James' sister and they were all momentarily living under the same roof.

"We don't have to if you don't want to." Clara offered.

"It's okay, I feel like I owe a bit of an explanation... and an apology."

All Clara could bring herself to do was nod. As she did, Sirius laid back on the roof, resting his hands behind his head. Clara assumed it was probably much easier for him to speak his mind into the vast nothingness of the faded orange sky, rather than to look into the hazel eyes that so vividly matched those of his best friend and bare his soul to her.