NOX° SIRIUS BLACK

Chapter Forty

     "What are you reading?" asked Calypso when she entered the Gryffindor common room with Remus following behind her after their study session. James, to her surprise, was seated on the couch in the center of the common room with a book in his hands and his brows pulled tightly together out of concentration. When he heard Calypso's voice, he briefly glanced up before going back to reading his book.

       "Oh, nothing . . ." James mumbled distractedly. "Just this book I found in the library."

       Calypso narrowed her eyes suspiciously at James before she plucked the book right from his fingers. James protested, but Calypso turned away and looked at the cover of the book.

      "J. Graves's Relationship Self-Help Book: How to Charm A Witch and other Relationship Advice." Calypso read with an amused smile on her face. "That's a bit of a mouthful. Why are you reading this?"

      "J. Grave is said to be the expert on all types of relationships. The book is giving me really helpful advice on how to get Lily to stop hating me." James said, snatching the book back from Calypso. He opened the book back up and continued reading.

      "Like what?" Remus asked. He set his bag down and dropped into the seat next to James. Calypso sat down across from them and took out her History of Magic homework.

     "It's giving me advice on how to realize if I truly like her or if I like the idea of her. It asks you questions to help you determine whether or not you like someone. For example, Calypso," Calypso was startled when James called her name, "'When something bad happens, who's the person you want to have by your side?'"

     "That's easy. My mum." Calypso joked.

    James rolled his eyes.

   "Besides your mum, obviously. Like, when you woke up after you were attacked, who was the person you were most excited to see?" James asked her. A thoughtful expression formed on Calypso's face as she thought back to how she felt when she woke up in the infirmary with no recollection of what happened to her. She remembered feeling panicked at the sight of everyone crowding around her, but there had been someone that she searched out who made her feel calm amidst the chaos.

     Calypso swallowed the lump that formed in her throat.

    "It would be Aerin, right? Weren't you still dating Aerin at the time?" Remus asked curiously, though James was giving her a rather pointed stare that she didn't dare meet.

     Calypso nodded her head mutely, but her mind was drifting far away from the conversation Remus and James were now having about the self-help book. When something bad happens, who's the person you want to have by your side? She knew that if she was only allowed to choose one person the answer would be Sirius. He was a big help after her dad died and he was the person she relied on the most, but she didn't think that meant that she was in love with him or something . . .

      "Earth to Calypso!" James said, waving his hand in front of Calypso's face. She jumped, startled, and saw Remus, Peter, James, and Sirius all looking at her expectantly. She frowned, wondering where Peter and Sirius had come from. "We're going to sit under the tree by the lake. Are you coming?"

      "Yeah," said Calypso, quickly gathering her belongings. She stepped in line between Sirius and Peter when James pulled his snitch out of his pocket and twirled it between his fingers as they stepped outside into the warm spring air.

      Calypso loved sitting out by the lake in the spring. There was a cool breeze that swept through them and that day was sunny and warm. Sitting with their feet dipped into the water were Lily, Marlene, and Alice. The rest of the courtyard was filled with people, including Karma who was reading with some of her Hufflepuff friends and Dorcas was playing wizard chess with Pandora in the center.