Black & White - A Harry Potter Fan Fiction

Chapter 8-6

Sirius' unscheduled outing had gone unnoticed. James had done an excellent job in covering for him, and he had been more than happy about his idea of the mirrors. There was no need for Lily to know, not yet. If Harry decided to use them, then James would tell her. Once back at Grimmauld Place, it was too late to work in the garden and too early for dinner. With nothing to do, Sirius wandered from room to room. Idleness was dangerous, it made him brood and dig up memories.

Leisure time was making him go insane.

Time was a strange thing.

Once he never seemed to have enough for everything, and yet he had wasted so much. If he hadn't acted like a fool, he would have had much more time with Sara. He would have many other memories, not only the stolen half days when she sneaked away from school to see him or the summer vacations counting the days until she had to go back to Hogwarts again.

He had been such an idiot. He had realized too late what he felt for her. It had been sudden and, naturally, he had been the last to know. Remus, as usual, had already seen it. If only he had listened to him.

Lily and James's decision to get married had been hasty, and they hadn't involved many people in the matter. But giving up entirely on tradition wasn't an option. To announce their engagement, they had thrown a party one month before the wedding. They had chosen a Muggle place, to limit the chances of meeting Death Eaters and to keep a low profile. All of their friends and most of the members of the Order of the Phoenix were at the party.

Sirius found it all insufferable. He was happy for them, of course, but deciding to get married in such a moment was foolish to him. James and Lily instead seemed anxious to tie the knot for that same reason, for that instability and that lack of security which had upturned their world.

They were free to do as they wished, but Sirius had a hard time staying there pretending everything was well. While he watched his best friend leaning toward his fiancée, whispering something in her hear, then placing a quick kiss on her neck, he wondered what drove people to lose themselves in romantic foolishness while the world was going crazy.

And yet it seemed he was the only one thinking that way.

The others were scattered here and here, drinking and laughing and dancing and chatting as if there was nothing to worry about.

A movement near the entrance door attracted his eyes. A girl had just entered and was looking around. He needed a moment to realize she was Sara White. What the hell was she doing there? Shouldn't she be at Hogwarts?

At that moment, Sara saw Lily and went to her, arms outstretched. She wore a simple black dress punctuated with something sparkling. She looked older than her age. Lily hugged her, then took her by the hand and lead her to their table.

A cold hand touched Sirius' forearm. He turned toward the bar's counter where a blonde beauty was looking at him quizzically. He had forgotten about Amanda. To make it up, he put an arm around her waist and pulled her to him for a passionate kiss. When he detached from Amanda, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, that Sara was looking at him with an arched brow.

"Let's go." He took the girl by the hand and got closer to his friends. It seemed the guests were all there. The happy couple was delivering cards with the announcement and invitation to the wedding, while two waiters were placing a cake on a small table near a wall.

Insufferable.

Once the cake procedure was completed, most of the guests went to sit at the small rounded tables to eat their dessert and drink their cocktails. James sat by Lily and took her hand. Sirius took his place at the same table, with Amanda perched on his knee; her short skirt leaving very little to the imagination. Peter stared at her, open-mouthed. Remus was doing his best to ignore her.