The Darkest Star | Sirius Black |

8

It was a cool and breezy night, the wind whistling ever so quietly, the light from the gibbous moon, bathing the sea with a pearly glow and small, short waves mildly crashing on the shore again and again. The beach was sloped downwards and there were no other lights save that of the moon. A huge church, probably built in medieval times was located on top of that slope.

The beach was deserted except for two young men seated a few metres away from the sea, wearing identical vests and shorts, their legs outstretched and staring at the moon. A loud gong pierced the darkness and it continued to sound eleven more times before finally coming to a stop.

"Happy Eighteenth Padfoot!" said James, running his hand through his hair making it messier than usual.

Sirius smiled at him. "Why, thank you Prongs!"

"A little more enthusiasm would have been appreciated," said James in a mocking tone.

"Well, when one is spending the eve of his eighteenth birthday at a beautiful resort, actually intended for him and his girlfriend, with a specky git like you my dear Prongs, one finds the enthusiasm very hard to come by."

James laughed, punching Sirius on the shoulder.

"I agree with one thing. This is a place one 'should' be spending with one's girlfriend!" he sighed.

Sirius noticed this and looked concerned. "Everything alright, Prongs?"

James nodded. "Yeah. It's just that everything's going so good with Lily and me, you with Rene but I have this sense of foreboding that I just can't seem to shake off."

Sirius scoffed. "Shut it, James. You are being too paranoid. True, we are indeed in the middle of dark times but that is no reason to be afraid of anything that may or may not occur."

James was now looking directly at Sirius, his face looking pensive. "Am I being paranoid? Or just pragmatic? Look all around us. People are disappearing and disappearing fast. I'm just afraid that someone will disappear and it will be my fault."

"Are you saying that someone will try to hurt Lily to get to you?" asked Sirius.

James nodded. "They already came knocking once. They even said that they'll allow me to keep the 'Muggleborn' if I joined them."

Sirius' eyes widened in shock. He knew that Voldemort was actively recruiting followers, especially those freshly out of Hogwarts but he never imagined that they would even think of recruiting James.

"What did you tell them?"

James regarded Sirius with a scathing look. "What'd you think I said?"

"No, I meant what exact words did you use?" rephrased Sirius.

James' expression turned to one of mischief. He turned his gaze from Sirius and gazed at the waves, making white foam as they crashed on to the shore.

"I took a leaf out of your book," smirked James.

"Yeah?" asked Sirius.

"Oh yeah! In true Sirius Black fashion, I told them that Voldemort can go and shove his offer up his hairy butt!"

Sirius guffawed, spit flying from his mouth at the sudden outburst. He laughed so hard that his eyes became moist.

"Bet he loved that!"

"Up his butt?" enquired James, causing both of them to fall into a fit of laughter once again.

A slightly strong breeze swept across the area where they were sitting, suddenly causing them to grow a bit cold. Sirius crossed his arms, practically hugging himself and rubbed his shoulders for warmth. Beside him, James did the same.