Shooting Star

Chapter Twenty-One

I went to wake Sirius up in the middle of the night again. This time I had a reason, though: I wanted him to see the stars.
"Sirius." I whispered, smiling.
"What?" He mumbled sleepily. "What's wrong?" He sat up.
"Come with me." I said excitedly.
"Why?"
"Come on, Sirius. Please!"
"All right, all right. I'm coming." He got out of bed and let me lead him out.
I was smiling as I pulled him out of the dormitory and down the corridor.
"Where are we going?" He demanded.
I turned around and shot him a smile, but didn't say anything. That seemed to appease him, and he followed silently.
I pulled him out the front doors and to the middle of the lawn. "Come on, lay down." I smiled, speaking at a normal volume. I laid down in the grass and stared up.
"What are we doing?" He asked.
"Just wait." I stared up.
After a few minutes, he asked again. I gave him the same answer.
My mum, dad and I used to go out in the back yard and stare at the sky. Natalie used to come before she started hating me so strongly. They would point out constellations. Sirius, Orion's Belt, the Big Dipper, Perseus, Cassiopeia, all that they knew.
"Look." I pointed. "That's Perseus."
"Who's Perseus?" He looked at me kind of funny.
"A Greek hero. But I mean the constellation."
"I hate stars." He said.
I didn't talk for a minute. How do you hate stars? They're the most beautiful of all God's Creation, in my opinion. "Why?"
"That's what everybody in my bloody family is named after. I hate it."
"I love them. Look! Did you see that?"
"See what?"
"The shooting star!"
"What shooting star?"
"Hush and look." I smiled up at the sky.
It took a while, but another one came. "Oh." He said quietly.

He had originally been quite excited about this excursion. Last time Eliza got him out of bed in the middle of the night, she snogged him. He had been hoping for this trip to be somewhat like it, but it seemed he'd been mistaken.
Of course he'd come anyways. He couldn't say no, just in case something was wrong. She was smiling this time, though. How could he refuse her?
She could have at least told him where she was taking him. He would have grabbed the invisibility cloak if he'd known.
It didn't really matter where she was taking him. He would have followed her to Hell if she'd asked.
Usually he wouldn't like this. Lying out in the open meant being exposed. Being exposed meant a constant threat. Sitting still tended to agitate him.
Not tonight, though. Laying here with her, he'd never felt safer or calmer. This was what he wanted to do forever.
But James had to go make that awkward.
"Look!" Eliza exclaimed. "Did you see that?" She sounded absolutely thrilled.
"See what?" He asked, looking away from her and up to the sky.
"The shooting star!"
"What shooting star?"
"Hush and look." She turned away from him and smiled up at the sky.
He hushed and looked. He didn't see anything.
Just as he was about to say something, he did see it. He saw her shooting stars. She put the stars there for all he cared, and she made them fall. "Oh." He said.
"Isn't it beautiful, Sirius?" She turned to look at him, smiling.
"It's beautiful." He agreed. She's beautiful. Perhaps the stars weren't that bad.
He stared up at the sky, waiting on another one, and wondering just how he managed to get her here. How could he, of all people, be with her?
She laughed.
"What?" He looked over at her. Had he said something and just have been really distracted? Had she said something?
"I love it." She let out a breathy laugh. "Isn't it hard to believe that the God who made this made us? Isn't it wonderful?"
She sounded so pleased that he couldn't help but smile. "Yeah." He said. "Yeah, it is."
After a moment, he looked over at her again. "Why are you crying?" He whispered.
"Sorry." She was still smiling at the sky.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm wonderful. Sirius! Look!" She pointed again.
He looked up to a shower of shooting stars. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
She scooted over closer to him and put her head on his shoulder, staring up. He kissed her head and looked back up to the great display above them.
When it stopped, she turned her face into his shoulder and he felt his shirt get wet. He put his arm around her.
"Come on. We should go inside." He said after a while, looking around.
"Now?" She asked.
"Isn't it me that's supposed to disobey the rules?"
"Shut up." She smiled, sitting up.
He stayed on the ground, but adjusted his position to put his head on her lap.
"So, what's been up with you lately?" She twirled a strand of his hair.
He knew he shouldn't be okay with this. He should be sitting too, and ready to grab his wand at a moment's notice. He shouldn't be so relaxed.
But, for some inexplicable reason, he was. Moony said it was because he loved her, and he did. He really did.
His chest tightened, and his eyes burned. He had no reason to be crying. A lump rose in his throat, but he swallowed it down.
"I'm in love with you." He said simply.
She was quiet for a moment and her fingers stopped moving, and his heart races as he wondered what on earth made him say that. "I love you too." She said, and resumed playing with his hair.
He closed his eyes against the tears that kept threatening to overflow. What was wrong with him? Merlin!
"Are you okay, Sirius?" She asked, touching his cheek.
He nodded, not trusting himself to talk.
"What's wrong?" She stroked his hair back.
He sat up and turned to her, kissing her. "Nothing." He said, once again fine as he laid back down.
"All right. But you never told me what's been your deal."
"I did. I'm in love with you."
"No, that's not it. You've been quieter and jumpier."
"I have not been jumpy."
"When I woke you up, you shoved your wand in my face."
"Yeah, I have a Death Eater in my bedroom. What d'you expect?"
"Have you talked to him?"
"Yeah. Lily and I did."
"What'd he say?" She asked. She probably would have been upset they didn't involve her, but they knew she really didn't want to be involved.
"He says he was doing it to protect us."
"What do you say?"
"I say he's a bloody coward." He was so tired of this shit. "He swears he'd never do anything to hurt us."
"Maybe he's telling the truth, Sirius. I mean... He's your best friend."
"He's a Death Eater, Eliza." Sirius sat up and looked at her. All the weight that had miraculously been lifted off his shoulders had come back. Moony said that that's called depression, and that he needs to accept it.
"I know." There were tears in her eyes.
"I don't want to tell James." He said. Not only did he not want to, but he couldn't. How could he hurt him like that? "I don't want to tell Remus." His voice cracked a little bit, and he cleared his throat.
"Me either." She said quietly.