Brightest ✯ Sirius Black

✯forty-six✯

Christmas day was much better. The festivities helped Cleo forget all about her dream for the time being, and Sirius' speech still gave her chills when she thought about it. That evening, when she returned to the common room, a small box sat on the table with her name on it.

"Oooh, what does Cleo got?" Ambrosia elbowed her, winking. The group gathered around her, teasing. 

"Shove off," Cleo laughed, reaching for the box. She didn't know who it could have been from, as they had all done their gift exchange earlier that morning. She ripped off the tag and read it.

Cleo, I know it's not much, but Happy Christmas. With love, S. B.

"S.B?" Luna pondered, as everyone looked at Sirius who was sprawled across the couch eating a cauldron cake.

"Don't look at me," he shrugged. Cleo frowned and ripped open the packaging before tearing off the lid to the box. Inside was a framed portrait of her and... Skander. Skander Blishwick.

"Ooooh," Indie sighed. "S.B."

The picture was a pretty one, but she had no idea who had taken it. It was that day, at the lake when they skipped studying for O.W.Ls. In the photo, Skander had his arms wrapped around Cleo from behind, and was spinning her around in the water, the pair of them soaking wet with huge beaming grins on their faces. She felt herself smile and her cheeks reddened a bit as all of her friends began to tease her.

"Lemme see," Sirius got up off of the couch and came over, taking a single look at the frame in Cleo's hands before he scowled and walked back to the couch with a grunt. Luna looked back at Cleo and rolled her eyes. 

"It's cute," she said, nodding. They all dispersed. They finished their night with a few rounds of Exploding Snap, a game that Cleo had to admit, she was not good at.

And then, just like that, break was over. The holidays ended, the new term began, and Cleo started up her meetings with Dumbledore once more, just as she had done the year previous. She had been finding time to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays with him or Professor McGonagall after Quidditch practices, which resulted in very late nights of trying to cram in homework.

She entered Professor McGonagall's empty classroom to find she and Professor Dumbledore standing in an empty room.

"Ah, good evening Miss Markis," Dumbledore called as she entered.

"Good evening professors," she greeted. "What are we doing tonight?"

"Tonight, we will begin dueling," Dumbledore replied.

"I-I'm dueling both of you?" Cleo stuttered, suddenly a bit frightened. Dumbledore nodded.

"I am confident that you will do well, and there is no need to be afraid. No serious harming will be done, I can assure you."

She reminded herself of a few advanced defensive blocking spells before it officially began. She dueled Dumbledore first, genuinely more afraid for her time with McGonagall than anything else. He beat her four times before she finally managed to send Dumbledore's wand flying through the air, letting it clatter onto the ground.

"Very good!" he cried, nodding happily. "Very good indeed."

McGonagall came next, and she was a bit tougher, as Cleo expected. By the end of it all, she was panting, sweaty, and out of breath. "No need to worry dear," McGonagall said afterward. "We have much to learn, but soon you will be far better than any other student at Hogwarts, I can assure you of that." Cleo took them as compliments and blushed.

It was dark as she was walking back to the dormitories. She had a slight spring in her step, and with the confidence she carried, she felt like she could take on Voldemort himself again. A portrait on the wall shushed her as she walked past humming a little diddy, but she hardly cared about that all because the thing that really interrupted her happy humming, was a howl.

Now, she had known there were many creatures lurking about the forbidden forest, but for an odd reason, she recognized this howl immediately. It was far too close to the castle for comfort, and she abandoned all sense of intelligence as she sprinted to the yard, leaving the castle walls and stopping on the grounds underneath the bright full moon.

The water of the Black Lake shone below her a ways, and Hagrid's hut had not a light on. The silhouette of the Whomping Willow lured and underneath the massive tree was a figure. This figure was unlike any other boy or girl. It had a pointed nose, it stood nearly 8 feet tall, its hunched back and massive claws making it look nearly unreal. Cleo gasped, but then covered her mouth quickly. But it was far too late.

The creature turned, the only thing telling her it had seen her was the bright blue glowing orbs emanating from the dark holes on its furry face. It growled and began to creep closer, it's large feet making loud stomps as it walked. Cleo seemed to be frozen in fear, for she knew exactly who this was. She couldn't very well hex Remus, she could hurt him, but if she didn't do something, he would hurt her.

Fortunately, she didn't have to think very long. Another growl came from beside her and launched itself at Moony. A much smaller, dark mass of fur leaped on top of the werewolf and began scratching at him, trying to drag his attention away from the girl in front of him. She felt a tug on the back of her shirt and turned to see a large stag with her sweater in its mouth, pulling her away with incredible yanking force.

She hesitantly backed away, afraid for both Remus and Sirius' safety. She feared they were going to tear each other apart if no one stopped them. The stag turned back into James.

"Cleo, get out of here now!" he yelled. This was the most serious she had ever seen the boy.

"But-Remus... a-and Sirius-"

"Cleophus, now!" he ordered, looking grave. She turned and ran up the hill back to the castle as the growling and barking continued. When she turned around and leaned her back against the castle wall and looked down at the Whomping Willow again, she saw Moony crawl into a deep hole underneath the tree, and the others followed. She could have swore she saw Padfoot look up at her, but by the time she registered what all had just happened, they were gone. 

oooo drama

this is rushed and weird i'm sorry

hope ya'll like it

ur cute

just a psa

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em