The Brightest Star {Sirius Black}

Chapter Fourteen

"What happened, mate?" Sirius asked, sitting on the end of Remus' bed in the hospital wing.

"Er-... A girl and I got locked out of the common room when she left her essay for McGonagall in the library," Remus started. "We went to get it, and when we came back, the Fat Lady wasn't in her frame.

"So, we went to go get McGonagall so she could get us back in, and I tripped on the staircase with the disappearing step. So, I fell down the staircase."

The three boys surrounding Remus blinked, before believing his story. Sirius shrugged, he would add this to his letter to Nimaine. She had asked to receive a letter once a week with all the silly, strange, and interesting things that happened to the four.

"Is that the girl?" James asked, sitting on a chair near the bed Remus was on.

"Yeah. Ara Smith, she's a first year in Gryffindor," Remus responded.

"Leave it to you to know all the first years, Remus," Sirius muttered, despite knowing the girl's name, looking over at Ara. For the first time, he had gotten a good look at the girl. Her hair was truly white, fresh snow falling over her shoulders in waves.

Her hair rested over one side of her face, and Sirius had noticed she always did that, but never thought anything of it. He snapped back to reality when Remus responded to what he had said.

"I don't know all of them, I just know her. She sat near us during the Great Feast, if you'd pay attention," Remus said, pulling the blankets further over himself.

"Why's she in here then?" James asked. Remus stayed silent for a few moments, thinking about something when he answered quietly.

"I accidently pulled her down the stairs when I tripped." The boys believed him, beginning to talk about Quidditch tryouts.

"I think I'm going to try out to be a Beater, what about you James?" Sirius asked, turning to the boy that was now wearing glasses.

"I'm going for a Chaser," he replied. "Hopefully I'll get the position. It'd be more fun to play than sit in the bleachers."

"What about you Remus? Are you going to try out?" Sirius asked, looking towards his brunette friend.

"I don't think so, it's not really my type of thing," Remus replied.

"That's right, Remus Lupin, the Marauder that studies for fun," James joked, making the four of them laugh. Sirius glanced over at Ara, who looked interested in the subject of Quidditch, but never spoke up.

He shrugged it off, smiling with his friends.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Sirius,

If Remus says he fell down the stairs, he probably did. If the step disappears like you say it does, it is more than likely.

Sirius sat in the common room, homework in front of him, but atop it sat a letter from Nimaine. The group was doing homework, while Ara sat near Remus, who was helping her when she had questions about her own homework.

Poor Ara though, getting caught up in that. I feel bad for her. Maybe you should just use a simple dungbomb on her, instead of the jinx. Use the jinx on someone else.

Sirius finished reading the letter to hear Ara and Remus talking.

"Oh, I remember this assignment. You're supposed to describe how the motion of the wand is important to make the feather float."

"But the problem is that I don't know why the motion is important," Ara complained, covering her face with her hands.

"The motion of the wand is important to the spell, as it tells the wand exactly what spell it should be performing. If the incantation is right, but the motion is wrong, the spell won't work as it's supposed to, most likely causing an explosion of the feather," Sirius said aloud. Suddenly, the scratching of quills on paper stopped, making Sirius look up.

All of the people in the group were staring at him, and he couldn't tell why.

"What?"

"How did you know that?" Remus asked, interested in the newfound knowledge of Sirius.

"Nimi is making me pay attention in class more. I just kinda picked it up from Flitwick when I stopped tuning him out," Sirius said, kind of proud.

"Is there anything else you can remember?" Ara asked, Sirius looked at her before thinking.

"If the incantation of the spell is stuttered or mis-said, the wand won't do the spell. The incantation of the spell you're trying to use is just as important as the motion you're using, and how big the motion is. Try to keep it in a tight area, instead of waving the wand around wildly."

Ara began scribbling down what he had just said, and Sirius began to like having her there, she was kind of like the little sister he had never had. He didn't know why he felt that way, just like how he didn't know why he didn't want to prank her. She was just a girl.

So why did he want to keep her safe?