Of All The Stars: Sirius Black

𝓟𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓣𝔀𝓮𝓷𝓽𝔂

Estelle and Sirius stared blank and embarrassed at their friends, Estelles cheeks had turned more red than they ever had, and Sirius was scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

He was grinning from ear to ear on the inside, while silently cursing himself. He had made a play on his emotions that he had been trying so hard to push away... How would he explain this to Estelle, how would he take back what couldn't be taken back..

Estelle turned and smiled at Sirius, her cheeks were pink. She didn't look at all angry..instead, she looked quite happy. In fact she was, she was also grinning ear to ear on the inside. It was as if in that tiny moment, all of her emotions fell into place.

The group had gone quite quiet now, after the hilarity of seeing two of their best friends snogging had worn off, they weren't exactly sure what to make of it. It was only a friendly New Years kiss, wasn't it..?

Yet James knew it meant much more, and even though he had been trying to get them together, he hadn't the slightest idea it would work. Still he was staring open mouthed at the two, in matching attire, pink cheeked and gazing at each other... He had created a monster.

***

"What the bloody hell was that?" James said breathlessly catching up to Sirius, who had been walking lazily ahead of him.

Sirius as if snapped out of a daze, turned to him with a confused expression. "Whatd'ya mean?"

"You- You kissed Stella! What do you think I mean, Sirius!?" James said, in the same breathless tone that sounded almost hysterical.

Sirius stopped walking abruptly to stare at James, he was extremely confused by the tone of James voice. He had only days ago been teasing Sirius about his feelings for Estelle, and now he is acting..pretty confrontational.

"Yeah? What are you getting at Potter?" He said after a few moments, narrowing his eyes.

"Why would you do that? You know she is in a really vulnerable place right now. I don't want to see her hurt, Black." James spoke, but it came out as more of a snarl.

"Why on earth would I want to hurt her? What would give you the impression I would want to do that...?" Sirius asked, the anger mixing with curiosity.

James let out a deep sigh. "I dunno mate, Im just worried is all. Just, make sure you know what you are doing here, or you will." James said, his face softening. "She is our best friend, remember that."

Sirius nodded, giving James a weak smile. He was right afterall...She was one of his best friends...

There was the sound of crunching snow from
behind them, and they both looked over their shoulders. Remus and Peter had caught up, they had been walking a lot slower that night as Remus had been feeling quite ill. The four boys started to slowly make their way to the house once they were all grouped together.

Back inside, the three girls had collapsed on the sofa upstairs. The guests had all started to leave, and the girls bid their goodbyes to them. Euphemia offered for the other girls to stay over and had gone to conjure cots upstairs for them.

They had settled down, sitting closely to each other and very giggly. The fire whiskey was clearly still in full effect as they talked animatedly about Sirius and Estelles kiss.

"Stella! What on earth prompted that kiss? I had no idea you two were friendly in that way.." Lily said, throwing her hand over her mouth as she thought about it.

"I couldn't believe my eyes personally." Marlene cried.

"Shh!" Estelle said, putting a finger over her mouth. "It's really nothing, we are just friends.." She added, yet she herself wasn't really sure what to make of the kiss. She definitely hadn't been expecting it, but she couldn't say it didn't feel nice.

"Stella, we all know that isn't true." Lily said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah babe.. That kiss was pretty intense." Marlene added, imitating a rather grotesque kissing motion.

Estelle swatted at her, trying to hold back a laugh while begging her to stop. Just as Marlene stopped snogging thin air, all the boys came through the living room door still shaking light snow dust from their hair.

Estelle looked up, and for a slight moment her and Sirius made eye contact. A smile made its way onto his lips.

Then without warning, James and Sirius dove onto the sofa, squishing their way down beside the girls. Following loud whines and yells, James had found his way in between Lily and Estelle, and Sirius between Estelle and Marlene. Remus had perched himself lazily on the arm of the sofa, and Peter was sat on the ground, his back against Lily's legs.

"Wow, yes this is so comfortable. Thank you all for this." Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh come on Evans, you love it." James said, winking cheekily.

She narrowed her eyes at him dangerously, "Don't be a prat, I could stand up right now and send you all toppling!" She said with a warning tone.

James put his hands in the air defensively, "Okay, Okay."

They spent a little while longer enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and discussing their trip back to school in a couple of days. Estelle was ready to go back, she had grown to really love it in the couple of months she had been there.

It felt more like home than any where else...

Euphemia came back into the lounge shortly after, she was in a dressing gown and had pink fluffy slippers on. Yawning, she ushered the group of teens up into their respective rooms, James had a cot for Peter in his room, Sirius had one for Remus, and the guest room that Estelle had been staying in now had two cots for Marlene and Lily.

They all said their goodnights to Euphemia and each other before closing themselves in their rooms. The girls turned into a giggling mess again, all falling onto the large bed.

"I am not sleeping in that cot." Marlene said, casting a reproachful look down at the cot.

"Yeah.. I am sleeping in this bed, the thing is huge anyway." Lily said, glancing down at the cots then back up at Estelle. Estelle shrugged, nodding in agreement. She dug through her trunk, pulling out some nightgowns for the two, before collapsing onto the bed.

She lay there, with her hair a mess around her head, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind was swirling with thoughts, a lot of them revolving around that kiss.

The holiday season had been a very intense one this year, too many unexpected things had happened. She was feeling overwhelmed, and trying her hardest not to stress about what it all meant she crawled under the covers between Marlene and Lily, who were already tucked underneath.

Closing her eyes, the kiss flashed before them
over and over. She laid there motionless, yet restless, staring at the ceiling.

Sirius lay awake for sometime, Remus was breathing soft and melodic, but it wasn't drawing him to sleep. He was stressing about the kiss, and whether he had made a mistake or not. He felt horrible for springing it on her so suddenly, but then again... Had he been the one who kissed her?

It didn't matter, the kiss had happened... It shouldn't have happened. Yet it had, and it felt right...

Suddenly, he got out of bed, pulling a sweater over his head and grabbing a second one. He didn't have a plan, but he was going to figure it out as he went.

He slipped soundlessly out of his bedroom, and started to creep down the hall. He stopped in his tracks as the low creak of a door echoed through the hallway, and a small shadow emerged from a door.

The figure took a step into the light, and looked over at him. He smiled, her cheeks were still pink and her blonde hair was messy and curled wildly around her face. He could see the hints of a smile on her lips.

"Care to take a walk?"