STARS || R.A.B

CHAPTER VI, LATE NIGHT ASTRONOMY TALKS

"Always so generous my love."

"I heard you liked Queen."

"Lily, that's Abba."

"Now, I want you all to turn to page 12 since we are learning about the constellations and how to recognize them in the sky." Mariah turned to face the sky, the wind blowing her hair out of her face as she let a smile on her face. "It's quite difficult to recognize each constellation in the sky since there are so many stars. So let's start in the north side of the sky." She pointed towards the northern sky and let out a gentle sigh.

"If we look through our telescope. Don't worry you won't need them today just make sure to bring them next class. We'll be able to spot Polaris, which though is not really a bright star, it's very easy to find if you use the Plough as a sign point." She dropped her hands to her side while turning to face the kids. "The Plough is made up of seven stars in the constellation Ursa Major, which you can spot in your textbooks." Mariah tilted her head to the right and asked while crossing her arms: "can anyone tell me what the Usra Major is called in simple terms?" "The big bear." A voice echoed which made Mariah's ears perk up.

  Mariah nodded and smiled at the girl kindly. "Correct... But next time raise your hand Miss Dantos. Other students also need a chance to answer." She hummed softly before leaning against the railing. "But yes, Miss Dantos is correct. It's the big bear since its shape is a bear once recognized."

FLASHBACK

  "That's Perseus." Regulus pointed out while looking through his telescope with a blank face, but there was a hint of gentleness in his voice.

  Mariah sat straight up and leaned against the railing while holding her telescope with a sleepy expression. "How do you spot these so easily, Black?" She asked curiously before turning her head to look at him.

  He moved his gaze away from his telescope and looked at Mariah before shrugging his shoulder, averting her gaze as he looked up at the sky. "Uhm, you know... Family and constellations. My mother used to read these astronomy books to me and Sirius when we were younger... Sometimes she would let us stay up a little to try and find the constellations she would teach us about." Regulus explained with gentleness in his voice while playing around with his telescope; a pained expression slightly formed on his face the more he thought about it. "... I don't even know why I'm explaining it all to you, Adelaide." Mariah hummed in response her gaze fixated on Regulus and how his expression slightly changed from blank to pained; yet she didn't say anything about it.

  "Uhm, my... Mum did the same for me when I was younger. I was obsessed with astronomy and would always stay up and sit near my window... My mum would get so angry with me but after stay up and teach me about it." She laughed softly while explaining and felt his gaze slowly turning towards her and looked up to face him.

  She couldn't help but notice how a faint smile grew on his face. "That must be nice.." He mumbled quietly in a breathless tone.

 "It is nice... Does your mum still let you do that?"

  "Do what?"

  "Stay up to find the constellations, obviously."

  "Oh. Oh no she doesn't anymore. Scolds me and Sirius for it now.."

  "Oh.." Regulus nodded while sighing quietly. "Yeah."

  Mariah looked at him and frowned a little. "I'm sorry." 

  "For what?"

  She shrugged her shoulders. "For having a strict mum." He sighed, also shrugging his shoulders. 

  "No need to be sorry for that." He let a quiet laugh escape his lips.

  Mariah felt her face flush a little as she also laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear subconsciously. "Right... Sorry." 

  "For what?" He asked while turning his head to face her with a little smirk on his face.

  "... I don't know." He laughed again. He laughed loudly.

  Mariah felt her face flush even more as she thought to herself: He's laughing... She got nervous. How... How can he just stand there and laugh so beautifully? Mariah looked away and laughed awkwardly while tilting her head.

  "You're so weird." He said.

  "I take full pride in my weirdness, Black." She said.

  "I'm sure you do, Adelaide." He retorted playfully.

END OF FLASHBACK

  "So, class dismissed, I'm sure you're all tired." Mariah waved them goodbye while they packed up for the night.

  "Uhm, Professor Addy?" A student came up.

  Mariah looked over and smiled. "Hey kid what's up?" She asked kindly while resting her arms on the railing.

  It was Janna Hamlet from Slytherin. "Well.. I know we're supposed to use telescopes for next week. But I didn't have enough time to buy one.." Mariah nodded, letting out a hum and smiled while walking over to a nearby table and ducking down to grab a box underneath the table she opened it and dug through it until she found what she was looking for.

M.B.A

  "Here. Take this one." Mariah said kindly while handing Janna her old telescope.

  Janna's eyes lit up in surprise as she slowly took the telescope and saw the initials on it. "Are you sure, Professor Addy?" 

  "I'm sure. It's pretty old so I don't mind." Mariah chuckled while waving it off. "Now head off to sleep, Miss Hamlet." She hummed while digging through the box underneath.

  Janna nodded and held it close before smiling. "Thank you." She exclaimed before bowing a little as she rushed off to her dorm.

  Mariah smiled before looking back at the box and grabbing another telescope.

A.A.A

  Althea Alexis Adelaide.

  "Thanks for the spare one, Mama."

  It's no problem, my little star. A voice echoed against Mariah's ear, but no one was there. So Mariah shrugged it off and walked back to the railings as she held the telescope in hand and looked at the sky through it.

  "Always so generous, my love," Regulus whispered from the roof where he could see the astronomy tower, covered in a dark cloak where no one could see him. A small faint smile on his face while he watched Mariah look at the stars.