Sweet Creature || Sirius Black

ꕤ sober solutions ꕤ

Christmas break begins tomorrow and nearly all of Hogwarts is using their spare time after classes to either relax or pack their trunks for long journeys home. The Gryffindor quidditch team, however, knows no such luxury.

Still reeling from their devastating loss against Slytherin at the beginning of the school year, James demanded that they have a team meeting in the quidditch tent directly after dinner. He has been drilling plays into their tired minds for hours, almost as though he is terrified all of the players will suffer quidditch amnesia over the break and ruin his chances of obtaining the House Cup.

Emaline genuinely wants to win when the year comes to an end, especially if it means beating Ravenclaw. But she has not heard a single word James has uttered for the past three hours, and it has everything to do with the fact that she is acutely aware of Sirius's presence only a few feet behind her.

Two weeks have passed since her breakup with Todd and Sirius has not spoken a word to her since. For years, all she thought she wanted was for the obnoxiously loud boy to leave her alone. Now that he's doing exactly that, she has no idea what to do with herself.

She hasn't heard from Todd either, nor has she seen him at all, though that is thanks to a different member of the Black family. Emaline has no idea what Regulus did after they parted ways that night, but Ravenclaw lost fifty house points not long after and rumors surrounding the Lockhart brothers have been flying.

It took her no time at all to get over the heartache he caused. Moving on and forgetting about the time she stupidly wasted on him is all she longs to do. Except Sirius is making it increasingly difficult for her to do so.

Emaline thought confessing her feelings for the boy would be easy. He would ask her on a date like he has nearly every day for the past few years, and she would finally say yes. It might take some convincing to make him believe it isn't some cruel joke she's trying to play, but she was prepared for that.

The problem is it seems as though Sirius no longer wants anything to do with her. He leaves the common room every time she enters it. He hardly looks her way anymore; if he accidentally makes eye contact with her any time she's talking to Peter, the only acknowledgement she gets is a polite smile.

"Unbelievable!" James shrieks, startling everyone within the tent. He's finally turned away from drawing plays on the chalkboard to see all but one of his players fast asleep. "This is why I have favorites! Ema is the only one paying attention."

The rest of the team groans, nearly causing the girl to feel bad for accepting the unwarranted compliment without protest.

"Thank you, Ema. You can go," James says, making any thoughts of feeling bad disappear entirely as she jumps out of her seat with a smile.

"Thanks, Captain!"

"As for the rest of you sorry lot-"

She doesn't hear whatever punishment he doles out, already out of the tent before she has her coat and scarf wrapped properly around her body for fear of him changing his mind if she stays another second.

Despite the freezing air nipping at her cheeks, Emaline is far happier trekking across the snowy grounds back to the castle than she was sitting in the lovely warmth of the tent. Each step she puts between herself and Sirius, her head becomes a little clearer.

If he truly has lost interest, then she is going to have to respect that. She had countless chances to know what it is to be loved by the boy with his heart on his leather sleeve, and she turned down every one of them.

Perhaps it is for the best, Emaline tries to reason with herself. Sirius has moved on, hopefully to find someone as devoted to him as he has always been to her. She will be leaving Hogwarts soon enough anyways, living her life as a busy healer who hardly has the time to pine over a childish crush.

"Slow down!"

With those two words, all of her rational thinking goes out the window.

Emaline stops walking, glancing back to see Sirius hurrying towards her. With no winter apparel to be seen, he has his arms wrapped tightly around his body in a weak attempt to preserve any body heat as the wind berates him.

The only jacket he will wear without an argument currently has a tear in the seams and until Remus gets a chance to sew it back together, he is forced to suffer with only sweaters to attempt to keep him warm. He will never admit it to any of the boys that he gets cold extremely easily, having made far too many arguments that scarves, mittens, and earmuffs are not cool enough to ever adorn his body.

Without so much as a second thought, Emaline unwraps her festively green scarf and places it around his neck as he catches up to her.

"You didn't have to do that," Sirius protests whilst also wrapping it around his neck and burying his face in the warmth of it.

"I know." She smiles, wondering if this will be her chance to tell him. "You didn't have to follow me out here."

"I know." He matches her smile, keeping pace as she starts to move again.

Emaline struggles to hide her disappoint as silence envelops them, the only noise being the crunching of their feet on the frozen ground. The castle looms closer and closer with each passing second, and the silence presses closer around them.

Realizing he isn't about to make things easier for her, she musters up enough courage to say, "Todd and I broke up."

"I heard," is his simple reply.

She studies his face as well as she can in the dark, wondering if he has more to say about it. When he offers nothing, she changes the subject.

"So," she presses, wondering if a different topic will make him talk more. "What was that promise you were telling me about?"

She nearly jumps for joy as his step falters, elated to get a reaction out of him.

"It's not important," he attempts to brush it off. "You were just drunk and rambling."

"Oh," Emaline sighs. "Okay."

Fortunately for her, the pout turning down the corners of her lips is more than enough to cause Sirius's attempted nonchalant facade to crash and burn. He mentally kicks himself for being so terse towards her, never having meant to hurt her feelings.

"You asked me to kiss you, and I told you to ask again when you didn't smell like firewhiskey," he tells her and Emaline almost regrets asking in the first place. Beyond embarrassed, crawling into the Black Lake and allowing the mermaids to drown her suddenly sounds like a lovely way to spend the rest of her evening. Unfortunately, Sirius has more to say. "Then, you made me promise not to let you forget that night."

He reaches out to grab her hand and she stops walking altogether, utterly mesmerized by his touch. Mistaking the look for one of disgust, he quickly starts to pull away but she tugs him back, holding his hand firmly in hers.

She expects to see amusement dancing in his eyes when she looks up at him, a joke ready to fall from his lips about her drunken mannerisms. A frown on his ever joyful face takes her completely by surprise.

Sirius watches her closely, waiting with baited breath for her to come to her senses and snatch her hand away, telling him to forget all about that night like she has.

"Do I smell like firewhiskey?"

He blinks, almost too stunned to speak. "N-no?"

Pushing her embarrassment aside for the time being, Emaline steps close enough to be able to see the flecks of blue in his grey eyes as clouds move away from the full moon's light.

"Then kiss me."

"I have to go."