sanguine ⏩ sirius black

10.

A MONTH LATER, THE CASTLE HAD SWITCHED out its eerie decor for festive ones; replacing the Jack o' Lanterns and cobwebs with tinsel and mistletoe. The crisp leaves of autumn had been long gone, light and fluffy snow taking its place on the castle grounds. The temperature had plummeted drastically, causing the students and staff alike to wrap themselves from head to toe before venturing out of the castle (which they would rarely do).

The only person who was not deterred by the cold weather was Farrah. While the girl loved to sit in front of the fire, covered in blankets with a mug of hot chocolate warming her fingertips, she enjoyed capturing the beauty of the Forbidden Forest in winter just a bit more. 

"She's mad," Josh said to Regulus as the two watched their friend trek through the snow, "She is legally insane."

Regulus bit his lip as he watched her walk, "We should go after her, right? And bring her back inside? Or at least, stay with her? That'd be the good friend thing to do, right?"

"If you want to go after her, you can," Josh responded, "But I am not risking my life nor am I getting hypothermia because Miss Artist over there wanted to capture snowflakes in the moonlight."

The Black made a face at the half-blood to which Josh rebutted, "Listen. She didn't ask us to go with her, she just told us she was going. She's always in there with Lupin and Pettigrew anyway and last I checked, Farrah was pretty capable with a wand. If she wanted us to be with her, she would have dragged us there like last time."

Regulus sighed, "I guess you're right."

"You know I'm right. Now, let's go back to the common room before we get in trouble for being out here past curfew."

While the two boys made their way back to the dungeons, Farrah's mind raced as she strolled towards the forest. She had two bags with her, one containing all her art supplies while the other contained blankets, cookies and hot chocolate. All the things she would need to spend the night in the forest. She hadn't told the boys that that was what she had planned to do because they might have stopped her or wanted to come with her. And that wasn't what she wanted tonight.

She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

"Whatever you want me to do," she hummed under her breath as she walked through the forest, "I will be there."

Unlike the rest of the forest floor which was scanty in snow, the ground of the clearing was covered in a thick layer of the white fluff. She dropped her bags in the middle of the clearing, so that the full moon's light shone down on her, and pulled a thick blanket out from the bag. She spread it atop the snow and put her bags on top of it before sitting on it herself. Farrah stayed there, in the stillness of the night for a few moments, with her eyes closed. 

Four years, she thought. 

With a deep breath, she swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and started working on her project for the night. She knew exactly what she wanted to draw, and she knew it would take her long enough that it would distract for the night. Just what she needed. A distraction.

Little did Farrah know, as she was halfway through her portrait for the night, she was being watched from the outskirts of the clearing. 

Sirius Black was standing behind the trunk of a tree, peeking out to look at the Slytherin girl. He huffed, refusing to believe that one girl could be so daft. Hadn't he told her and her friends to stay out of the forest the last time he caught them in here?

Then again, that encounter ended worse for him than it did for her.

A loud howl caused Sirius to freeze and Farrah's head to shoot up. The boy bit his lip. His friends were getting closer and while Farrah and Remus were close, there was no telling what the boy might do in his werewolf form.