I WILL CHANGE YOUR STARS

The Beginning

Her eyes were wet again. Every time someone mentioned Sirius Black amidst her Potterhead friends, she used to die a little inside. She was 8 when she read the first Harry Potter book. Since then, the characters were the only real friends she had. Then came Sirius Black in the third book ,his tragedy was what she fell for. No matter how much other characters evolved throughout the story, it was him who she fell for.She was head over heels for him. Her Instagram posts were all about him. She dreamed about him, wrote about him. Sirius Black had become her obsession.

"Oh stop it already, Sunu. It's just a book. When will you grow up? ", Priya snapped at her. All the other friends had started laughing. It always happened. They always sat to relive HP stories and when things came to Sirius, Sunu always ended up crying.

"You guys just don't understand. Just stay out of it." She stood up and walked away from the bonfire they were enjoying.

Sunu was 17, a science student at St. Peter's. She was very normal in every way except for her fanatical craze for non-existent Sirius Black. It was November 2017. She was with her college friends at the foothills of the fishtail mountain enjoying her vacations. They had trekked for almost all the day. They were above 3500 meters from the sea enjoying the majestic view, the serene zephyr. Sunu too was having a great time. It was her dream trip after all. Back in Kathmandu, she never stepped out of her room. She had come to this trip with great expectations, hoping that she would give herself a break from the continuous condolences she felt for Sirius. She couldn't help it at all. Her friends knew her very well.

She was someone who didn't even whine when she crashed down from the 2nd floor cottage in her village. She was strong and brave. But the mention of Sirius made her go weak on her knees. It was not his godliness,nor any of his helps to Harry, she loved him for the sadness he lived with. And somehow, she as a woman wanted to comfort him. She had never loved a guy before and didn't quite understand the meaning of love too. But what she felt for someone who she knew didn't exist, was remarkable.

"Sirius Black had muggle girls in bikini pasted all over his bedroom. Though never loved,he was a pervert indeed", Pradeep had told this a few minutes earlier, awakening massive laughter. That's what made her world collapse again. The mention of his name, stimulated all the tear glands in her eyes. She used to be helpless. That's why she had walked away from the bonfire. They would continue ridiculing her if she stayed and she didn't want to be the clown in the town again.

So, she decided to explore the foothills of the mountain all by herself. She left the giggling crowd behind and walked on. The mountain looked even more beautiful at night. It glistened amidst all the stars and the half-moon. All the exhaust seemed to fade away with its radiance. She could see their tents lined up nearby. They had left the lamps on in case someone needed an early nap and wouldn't lose his way. She wanted to go back and enjoy the bonfire but thinking about tearing up again, sent chills down her spine. Her country was known for mountains. Almost all of the peaks that exceeded 8000 meters were there. She felt glad that she had stepped on one of the most famous mountains around. She was afraid to continue walking further away but couldn't quite stop herself.

She could feel the sound from her friends drifting away. At around 11 pm, in a secluded mountain trail, to not even hear whooshing sounds meant that she had come far enough. There were a lot of wrappers around. She had heard people advocating about cleanliness in the mountains but felt the need for it at the moment. A stout man with a mustache had said it on the TV ," Our act of carelessness will trigger the melting of snow." There were wrappers of biscuits and all sort of foodstuffs you would imagine. The walk she was having was very single-romantic. She took out her phone and shuffled through her playlists. There was this song that at least made her smile. She connected the earphones and continued to walk.