Eyes on the Stars Feet on the Ground

Clear as Day

"Did you hear?" whispers swirled around the Great Hall, "Sirius Black broke in again."

"I hear he broke into the Gryffindor boys' dorms." 

 "Ron Weasley woke up with a knife to his throat."

"Apparently he had a list of all the passwords."

"What the hell Sirius?" Andromeda was baffled that her younger cousin would choose to do such a thing.

"It's the future Andy!" Sirius defended himself, "ask Eleanor or Cielo."

"Well?" Andromeda rose an eyebrow, glancing at the couple from the future, "do you have an answer?"

"I don't know," Cielo shrugged, "I met Sirius as a conscious human a total of once. It never really came up in conversation. The one time I met him, I was more interested in hearing about other things."

"Mommy," little Tonks pulled on her mother's sleeve, "what does hell mean?"

Andromeda spluttered as she tried to explain to her daughter what she had meant. Ted laughed as he watched his normally put-together wife attempt to justify her cursing to their daughter.

"This better not make my life worse," Cielo grit his teeth and sat down at the table. As he did, suspicious eyes turned to him, and the whispering intensifies. Cielo wished the world would swallow him up; he had never done anything to deserve this. Why were people so hung up over this?

"Good morning Cielo," Cedric greeted him, patting the seat next to him, "come sit with me." The older boy had noticed the look of discomfort on his pseudo brother's face, and wanted to ensure he was alright.

"Will they ever stop staring?" Cielo groaned as he put a piece of scrambled eggs on his plate, "what do I have to do with Black?"

"Nothing," Cedric reinforced, knowing the doubts that were surely starting to grow in Cielo's mind, "just ignore them. They have nothing better to do." 

"It just makes me so angry," Cielo flailed his fork, nearly hitting Cedric in the nose.

"It makes me angry as well," Cedric revealed, a dark look crossing his face, "I've hexed enough people for daring to speak badly about you in front of me. Why in Merlin's name would I want to hear people talk trash about my little brother?"

"Looks like pretty boy has a dark side," James smirked, "is it weird that I want to see him hex someone?"

"Yes," Lily told her fiancè, "that's incredibly weird."

"Liiils," James whined, "that was so mean of you."

"I only said the truth," Lily replied cheekily, a teasing smirk on her face. James grinned when he saw that look. He loved it when Lily let out her more devious side.

Cielo and Cedric eventually split up, as they did have different classes to attend. As Cielo entered the DADA classroom, Donovan Griffer waved him over.

"Are you alright?" Donovan asked his friend concernedly, "the rumors about what happened in the dorms is spreading. I know he's your uncle, so I wanted to see if you're alright."

"I am," Cielo gave Donovan a weak grin, "peachier than ever."

"Alright," Donovan accepted the suspicious answer, "well, do you want to be partners for today's lesson?"

"Sure," Cielo agreed eagerly, "I've been practicing Don. You won't see what's coming."

"Good morning," Professor Lupin entered the room, haggard as always, "we will be practicing the disarming spell again. I will be observing you and marking down results."