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SEPTEMBER FIRST YEAR
IT'S SEPTEMBER AND IT'S ENGLAND, so the rain is lashing against the window, turning the glass into a map of tiny rivers of water, which link like veins, spreading and blurring the view outside. She's sitting with her head against the glass, spreading the cold over her skin, and she's learning to breathe. In, out. She can do it as loud as she wants and no one's going to explode at her. In, out.
(She's like an animal released into the wild for the first time, and she doesn't know what to do.)
"Doesn't your friend ever talk?" A voice calls behind her, retreated into the warmer part of the carriage. She knows the owner of it is grinning before she even turns around. "His friend can hear you." She says simply, studying the boy. Black hair, round glasses, the arrogance of a pureblood family and the cocky smile of a life carefree. There's nothing sarcastic, sardonic in it- not at all like Sirius, and yet strangely similar. "I think that answers your question, mate." Sirius stretches. "I'd be careful if I were you."
(He's adjusting to freedom much better, and she wonders how he does it. He's always been an evolver.)
"James Potter." The boy ignores the warning and wiggles his eyebrows at her. Her eyes, though a deep brown, are as endless and void as the depths of a forest, impossible to fathom. "Aurelia Brennan." She says her last name like a swear word, and Sirius doesn't miss it. He's been doing the same since as long as he could form opinions. "So family friends, right? Do either of you have siblings? I'm an only child." "You're living the high life, then." Sirius pops the top button of his shirt. "Trust me, living with a sibling drives you round the bend."
He's conspicuously avoided the question, and she can't bear it. "Regulus." Aurelia says, mostly to clear the dark cloud hanging between them. "His little brother." "Little bother." Sirius quips, and James laughs, the sound golden in the dark of the day. "Stop tugging your hair, 'relia, it'll come out." Her hand falls from the tightly wound plait in surprise, as she doesn't realise she's doing it. "In fact," Sirius continues, leaning towards her. "You don't need to have your hair like that at all, so-" in one sharp tug, he's pulled the elastic from the end of her hair, and it starts to unravel. "Sirius!" He laughs at her distress, even when she slaps him on the arm. "Live a little, 'relia." She scowls, but makes no attempt to fix the damage he's done. Instead, she combs her hair through with her fingers, until it's a froth of waves, curtaining her face.
(And so the first time she ever lays eyes on him is through that darkness of hair, obscuring her vision.)
The carriage doors click open, and there he is, as sudden as a magician pulling a rabbit from a top hat. "Do you, ah, mind if we sit here?" A voice asks. Aurelia pushes the hair from her face to see the tall figure in the doorway better, and it's this moment that their eyes meet.
