all that i can give - sirius black

chapter two,

Edited: 2/22/22

The Prefects meeting had gone smoothly.

Well, it had to have been. Salvo was made Head Boy this year, making Natalie's life that much easier. In fact, she had gotten the good rounds for the first part of the year, and her partner for the first rotation was Remus. A win in her mind.

The conductor had announced that they would be arriving soon, so Natalie changed into her school robes and neatly folded and put away her dress. She was about to return to her compartment when she heard someone calling her name. Someone who she had been avoiding.

"Natalie!" the voice called.

Daniel.

Daniel Parkinson had been her two-year boyfriend up until the week before she left for Italy. She and Daniel had gone through their fair share of ups and downs, and she supposed she should've seen the end coming sooner.

What she didn't predict was to find him cheating on her the week before she left for a month-long business trip with a Ravenclaw in the year below her. In her family's entrance hall.

But, fate surprised everyone once in a while, she supposed.

Natalie didn't make a big deal of it when she found out, she yelled at him a bit, hexed both her ex and the girl, and promptly kicked them out of her house. She didn't make a public announcement, simply left it at that and before she knew it she was in Italy, with a new tan and some delicious boys with beautiful accents.

She would admit, she had been a bit heartbroken. Maybe if she found out a month before, she would've simply fought with him for a while, but they had been fighting for almost two months straight and the relationship had become exhausting. Still, you don't spend two years of your life with a person and just go breaking the connection like that.

But now he wanted to "talk" and Natalie was not in the mood.

"Natalie," he called again as he caught up to her "Can we talk?"

Natalie looked at him, with his dark hair and blue eyes. Daniel was certainly not physically ugly, and he got good enough grades. He had a strong build and pretty eyes, and enough charm to get himself out of the small amount of trouble he brought unto himself.

But beneath that, he could be ugly. He could twist words so everything ended up being Natalies fault. He could persuade her to make different plans or decisions if her original ones upset him. He could be selfish and mean when it suited him.

But, he could also be kind. He could sneak to the Astronomy Tower with her and dance to music with her. Feed her nice cheeses and sip on elfish wine they stole from her father's cellar. He could comfort her and support her.

He switched between those very often, and choosing between if the relationship was worth the trouble or not was something Natalie still struggled with.

"Daniel," she greeted distractedly. "How can I help you?"

"Can we talk?"

Natalie sighed. "Do we have to? We both know what this is about."

He stepped closer and grabbed her hands, rubbing his thumbs over her palms. A soothing gesture. "Please, I just want to explain myself. I miss you." The last part said so sweetly she could've believed him, if she hadn't heard it a thousand times.

"I'm sure you do, but I really don't want to have this conversation right now. Especially on the train." She gently pulled her hands from his.

Natalie was being far kinder than she should have, but she had been in Italy barely 24 hours ago and she was tired. She wanted to go to the feast and then go to her dorm where her big, comfortable bed was waiting for her. She didn't have the energy to deal with this right now.