Dancing In The Rain •Sirius Black•

Chapter 40

•Edited•

~Claire~

"Claire?" Camellia questioned.

I knew she was talking, I could hear it. But my mind was elsewhere as I stared at my hand that lay on the book in front of me.

"Claire are you okay?" Lily asked, and once again I could hear her, but my body gave no reaction as I continued to stare at my hand. Or rather, the ring upon it.
"Clairesse!" Camellia exclaimed.

Finally, I looked up at her. A scowl on my face.

"Don't call me that!" I spoke.
"Blood hell Claire! We've been trying to get you're attention for forever!" Lily stated.
"What is it then?" I asked, wishing to go back to staring at my ring and daydreaming of my future wedding.

Camellia scoffed, rolling her eyes as she pulled the book from my grip.
"You realize you've been on the same page the entire three hours we've been here studying, right?"
"Oh," I said, realizing that she was indeed right.
"Oh," Lily mocked, a smile forming on her lips.
"What?" I laughed.
"You were thinking about Sirius, weren't you?" Camellia questioned.
"Pfft! What?! No! Why would I be thinking about Sirius?" I exclaimed.
"Ouch," Sirius's voice spoke from behind me.

I yelped as I turned around to find Sirius standing with James, Remus and Peter.

"I mean....ok fine. I was thinking about Sirius," I grumbled under my breath.
"Yes we know," Remus said, chuckling as he sat next to Camellia.
"I can't help it!" I exclaimed, my arms flailing.
"Well then talk about it rather than staying silent for hours," Peter stated wisely. Well. So he thought.

Taking a deep breath, I prepared for my rant.

"No Cla-"
"I just want to marry him! I mean I know that I said that we'd get married in less than a year, and sometime after July, but I want to get married now! I mean December isn't an option seeing as it'll be snowing and I hate snow! So that leaves August, September, October and November! August will probably be to soon, and September will be sad since we won't be at Hogwarts! So there's October and November! October is always really cold, and November never rains!" I exclaimed.
"You made that very simple," Sirius spoke.

I could feel my face heat up as everyone stared at me.

"I'm a little excited," I mumbled.
"A little?" James repeated.
"Ok a lot," I admitted.
"I'm excited for you. But you still haven't made me the Maid of Honor," Camellia stated.
"Oh, well do want to be my Maid of Honor then?" I questioned with a laugh.
"Yes please!" Camellia grinned.
"James? Best Man?" Sirius asked.
"Yes please!" James mimicked in a high pitched voice.
"That was rude!" Camellia scowled.
"Yeah James! That was rude!" Remus laughed.
"This is abuse," Camellia pouted.
"It's okay Cam. We can break up with James and Remus and run away as free women," Lily stated.
"Ooh can I join?!" I asked.
"Oi! You've already agreed to marry me! There's no turning back!" Sirius yelled.
"Dang, guess you'll have to go without me," I sighed.
"Don't worry Claire, we'll never forget you!" Lily and Camellia called dramatically.
"You three have been spending to much time with us," James said, rolling his eyes as he pulled his red haired girlfriend up to her feet.
"You'd think they were Marauders," Remus laughed.
"We should add them to the map!" Peter piped in.
"That's not a bad idea," Sirius said.
"Wait what?" Camellia, Lily and I questioned.
"Oh yeah. You guys don't know about the map," James acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How did you guys make this?" Lily exclaimed, her eyes wide as she took in the map.

The names of students and professors littered the halls and common rooms, as it was a Saturday and no one was in classes.

"It took forever!" Sirius groaned.
"Complicated spells. Also a lot of books," Remus grumbled.
"It was James's idea actually," Peter spoke.
"But you all helped," James claimed.
"Still your idea," Sirius said.

My eyes fell on the Gryffindor common room, and then to the boys dormitory.

The names Mr. Moony, Mr. Wormtail, Mr. Prongs, and Mr. Padfoot were in the room in red letters.
Camellia Prewett, Lily Evans, and Clairesse Bennet were in black letters.

"Really? Clairesse? Thought you guys loved me enough to make it Claire," I scowled.
"Actually. What if we made it to where if one of us got married – for example Claire and I – then when we did, it would make Claire's name Mrs. Padfoot?" Sirius spoke.
"Good idea. Except by the time we get married we'll be done with Hogwarts," James piped.
"You never know!" Sirius exclaimed.
"I think it already does that," Remus muttered, his eyebrows furrowed as he thought of what he had just said.
"Rain on my parade why don't you Remus!" Sirius huffed.
"I want to see it though," I whined.
"Why? So you can be Mrs. Padfoot?" James teased, a grin on his face.
"Yes!" I exclaimed, the grin on James's face faltering as he struggled not to laugh.

Remus waved his wand, muttering words under his breath, and soon the name Clairesse Bennet disappeared. A few seconds later, the words Soon-To-Be-Mrs. Padfoot appeared in red letters.

"Aw, I like that!" I laughed, glaring at Lily as she sent me an odd look.
"Oh leave me alone," I pouted.

It was kind of quiet after that. No one spoke.
Our eyes traveled around the parchment that lay in front of us.

"I can't believe we only have two months left," Lily mumbled.
"And then we're on our own," Peter sighed.
"What are you talking about, Pete? No one is going to be on their own!" James claimed.
"Yeah, we have each other!" Sirius exclaimed.
"You're right!" I grinned.
"Of course I'm right!" James yelled, Lily slapping his arm playfully.
"Yeah, no matter what we'll all stick together!" Remus joined.
"No matter what," Camellia repeated with a smile.
"What about the war though?" Peter questioned.
"What about it?" James asked.
"Well, I mean, You-Know-Who is goi-"
"Please, Pete. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. You can call him Voldemort," Camellia sighed, watching as Peter flinched at the name.
"R-Right. V-V-V-Voldemort," Peter scrunched his face up as the word left his lips, "H-He's rising, and people are going to j-join him. We can't trust a-anyone."

We all stared as he visibly shook with fear.

"Peter, we can trust each other. Do you honestly think that we would serve that coward that calls himself a lord?" I questioned, reaching over to squeeze his hand comfortingly.
"N-No," He whispered.
"Exactly. And as of right now, the only thing we should be fearing are these N.E.W.T.'s," Lily added.
"You're all right," Peter nodded.
"Of course we're ri-" James started.
"James shut up!" I growled.
"Ok, ok! Sorry Mrs. Black, forgot how angry pregnant woman got!" James exclaimed.

My cheeks flushed as the boys burst out laughing, whilst the girls covered their mouths in attempt to stifle their laughs.

"Sirius Black! Tell him I'm not pregnant!" I squeaked.
"I mean you could be," Sirius shrugged.
"Sirius!" I scolded, my face burning as I attempted to cover my face in embarrassment.
"Sirius! We did not need to know that!" James yelled, covering his ears.
"Clairesse!" Camellia and Lily exclaimed.
"I hate you Sirius Black!" I groaned.
"Love you too, love!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~