Love & Scars

40. Time Is Running Out

"Is this some kind of fetish for you?" Izzie asked and dodged her head, laughing when Sirius threw a snowball at her. "Oi, that's not nice!"

"You just accused me of hearing you sing as some kind of fetish." He grinned.

They were sitting in an empty courtyard. It was already dark out, and Izzie was sitting on the wall with her ukulele while Sirius sat on the fountain edge a meter away from her.

"I just like hearing you sing. It soothes me."

"It soothes you?" She smirked, looking at the strings, rather than Sirius. Because looking at him was becoming rather hard when you couldn't touch him. "Like a lullaby for a baby?"

"No." She saw him scrunch up his nose from the corner of her eye. Too damn cute for his own good! She thought to herself. "Like I can forget all the bad things that are happening."

"Well, if you put it like that." She glanced at him. "Do you want to practice a bit?" She held out the instrument.

"I'll never get the hang of it. I'd rather listen to you."

"Have you heard your brother play?" She asked as she started a slow melody.

"Not in years." He admitted.

"He's really good. We played together this summer; he can sing too."

"Really?" He asked, surprised.

"Yeah." She smiled, thinking back at the moment. "Don't think he told Remus, though. I think if Remus heard him play, he would faint." She chuckled. "He has a soft spot for musicians."

"Can't blame him." He winked.

"The first time he heard me sing, he followed me around with song requests for days." She laughed.

Sirius couldn't help the fond and goofy smile as she laughed freely. "How old were you?"

"Eight, I think. Maybe nine. I bet Remus knows better when it was." She grinned.

"I would like to see eight-year-old Izzie. Do you have any pictures?"

"I don't. My family wasn't really a Kodak kind of family. Remus should have some; his parents were rarely seen without a camera when we were young. I've found some pictures of you in Grimmauld." Sirius looked shocked; he had thought his parents had destroyed everything from his years ago. "Reggie had them. You were a funny-looking kid."

"Oi!" He threw another snowball.

"Don't worry, you grew into your ears."

"Still don't know if that's a compliment." He grumbled as he tugged on his ears underneath his hair.

Izzie was shaking the snow from her hair as she laughed. Then they heard snow crunching not too far from them. Izzie stopped laughing and looked around just like Sirius. Izzie rolled off the wall and hid behind it as the footsteps came closer.

"Hello? Is someone-oh, hey, Sirius." It was a girl's voice, but she couldn't make out who it was.

"Elena, on patrol, I see," Sirius said.

"And you're planning a prank?" Her voice was smooth as silk. Her flirty voice then.

"No, just needed a break. It was rather crowded in the common room."

"Or did your girlfriend stand you up?" Before Sirius could answer, she continued. Izzie could just imagine her sitting next to Sirius, scooting closer to him. "You know, most of us are wondering if there really is a girlfriend."