Lady Stardust

25. Sirius's Fault

June 13th

Ariene was watching Sirius after yesterday's occurrence. She was extremely on edge that day as well as the day before and she had a strange gut feeling that things weren't settled. Ariene was sitting in class, bouncing her leg nervously as she tried her best to pay attention. She hadn't taken notes, and since exams were over she didn't feel the need to. She simply shifted her eyes around the classroom and was eternally grateful when the class had ended. She picked up her book bag and left before anyone else, eager to get back to her dorm.

"Why in such a hurry?" Remus said, coming to her side.

"Just a boring class. Can't ever get away fast enough." Remus chuckled.

"Right." Ariene and Remus chatted as they walked up to the tower. When they got to their dorm Ariene raised an eyebrow at Sirius's record player, and Wish You Were Here slid out of the sleeve and floated on, the needle resting on the edge as the disc began to spin.

"Cheers," Remus said. Ariene knew how much he loved Pink Floyd.

"Anytime. Anyways, what's even the point of classes anymore after exams?" She asked him as she went to sit on her bed.

"Oh, you know, oppression," Remus sighed. Ariene laughed and leaned back, flopping on her comforter.

"Remus, what do you think you would be if there was no war? Like, in the future?" Ariene asked. She heard Remus's breath hitch.

"Well, there aren't many jobs open for people like me," He said, lowering his voice. Ariene raised her eyebrows.

"Oh. Right. Well if that was- aside..?" She asked, hoping to not be offensive.

"Ariene, I really don't know. Do you know?"

"A professor," She said. Remus sat up.

"You want to be a professor?" He asked. Ariene chuckled.

"Oh, nom de dieu, no. I meant that you should be a professor." Ariene said. Remus made a strange face.

"Well what do you want to be?" He asked her. Ariene sighed.

"A muggle," She said. Remus laughed.

"You're kidding. A muggle?" He repeated. Ariene turned to him and nodded.

"When I was younger my parents would talk about them. They'd say 'Ariene, muggle children don't get any of this. Be grateful.' I think it had some sort of reverse effect, considering that I didn't want 'any of this," She said, using air quotes.

"Hm," Remus said. Ariene could tell that he was judging her, and she rolled her eyes.

"You know what? Forget it. I don't want to be a muggle. Fine." She said, sitting up, annoyed that he had had that reaction.

"Sorry, it's just not-" Ariene gasped before Remus could finish his sentence. She felt pulled away from this room, pulled away from this world, and she opened her eyes to find a blurry room. A broom closet, maybe? There was a strange haze over everything.

Ariene squinted to see Sirius Black and Severus Snape conferring in the corner of the closet. Their voices sounded like they were underwater, and Ariene could barely hear anything over the sound of blood rushing in her ears.

"The whomping willow has a button on the side and it opens a passageway to the shrieking shack."

"You're lying."

"See for yourself."

Ariene gasped and blinked, finding herself back in her dorm room, Remus looking at her concerned.