𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧ chapter 18 ✧

1976

Once Aurora had finally made it to the top of the stairs to the astronomy tower, she paused for a bit to regain her breath. Smoking, she decided, was definitely not helping her fitness when it came to climbing stairs. Once she could breathe evenly again, she stepped out into the steady stream of moonlight illuminating the middle of the room. She checked her watch to see if she was early. 9:03PM. As if on cue, Sirius stepped out of the shadows, almost as if he appeared from thin air.

"You scared me." Aurora scolded, smacking his arm as he laughed at her shocked facial expression.

The two sat down in the centre of the circular room and both lit up.

"You know, Marlene thinks there's something going on between us." Aurora mused, a cigarette between her teeth.

"Oh yeah?" Sirius replied, breathing out a long drag of smoke.

"Mmmm, I think she's jealous. She really does like you." Aurora almost smacked herself. How could she have just revealed such a personal secret about Marlene to Sirius? Sure, Marlene was behaving ridiculously at the moment, but she was still one of Aurora's closest friends.

"Really?" Sirius sat up straighter, this having captured his attention.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that. Marlene would kill me." Aurora backtracked, but it was too late.

"What makes you think she likes me?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. He really was oblivious.

"Well, I don't know, I just know, you know?" Aurora rambled, avoiding eye contact.

"I'm not following." Sirius crinkled his brow in confusion.

"Just forget I said anything." Aurora tried to scoot further away but Sirius grabbed her arm.

"No, c'mon, you can't do that. You have to tell me now!"

"I can't."

"You don't have a choice. If you don't tell me, I'll be forced to ask Marley."

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh but I would."

"Fine, but you have to tell me a secret afterwards, okay? And if you don't I will not hesitate to hex your favourite body part until it shrivels up and dies." At this, Sirius eyes widened in horror and his hands instinctively moved to shield his groin.

"You are one terrifying lady."

"I'm not saying a word until we shake on it. Do we have a deal?"

"You've made an offer I can't refuse. Deal!" And the two shooks hands.

"Okay, so I'm not sure if you're aware, but Marlene has fancied you since we all figured out boys don't actually have cooties that will kill you if you come into contact with them," Aurora began, earning a chuckle from Sirius, "so when it became obvious that you were not interested in a proper relationship anytime soon Marley took what she could get, which I suppose is your current arrangement. The reason it's so turbulent however is because you're too thick to realise that she actually likes you a lot and this isn't just a hobby to her.

"For whatever reason, you don't want a proper relationship, so Marlene grows moody and frustrated when you snog other girls and refuse to commit. I'm assuming you don't realise the actual reason for the mood swings because apparently, you're denser than the castle walls which leads to one of your explosive fights because the two of you suck at communication and all that 'feelings' malarkey."

Sirius was silent for a while.

"First of all, thank you for calling me stupid no less than three times in a new and creative way each time," Sirius began, a small smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. Aurora smirked at this too. "Secondly, I must be as dim as you claim because I had no idea she felt that way. I thought she was just being dramatic."