Chpt. 11 - A Short Winter Moment
Her soft, curly hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. Her perfectly manicured fingers tapped the snow to the beat of a silent song. Laura turned around enough to see Sirius standing behind her, his long, dark hair whipping about his shapely face in the cold wind. She stood up and embraced him, letting his warmth engulf her small, limber frame. Laura's cheeks were red from the cold, and her eyes shone more purple than ever. She looked up to see Sirius smiling at her, and when she met his gaze he pulled her in closer. They stared off to their right, watching 5 or 6 fifth years ice skating on the frozen lake. Winter had come quickly this year, it was only the beginning of November.
For Laura, everything was perfectly perfect. She had the guy of her dreams. The love of her life. The boy that was different. The one that would never hurt her. Things were looking up for Laura at last. Her parents weren't fighting as much at home, or so her little sister said in her letters. Her brother was finally forced to enroll in wizard therapy at St. Mungo's. Of course, this because of his most recent suicide attempt, but she pushed that thought from her mind. Everything could still be perfect. Laura again began to count the good things in her life silently. She was getting an A in potions thanks to help from Lily. Her family was getting better. And she had Sirius.
To Sirius, everything around him was a lie. How he could he feel so happy, and so distant at the same time, was a conundrum he could not quite solve. Laura was always there for him… of course she would tell him she loved him eventually. Part of him loved her too, but it wasn't enough. It would never be enough when so much of his heart belonged to someone else. He should have seen everything coming; it was all his fault that he was in this mess. Laura was amazing, and Marlene had told him she was over him. He needed to face reality - that she was gone from his grasp. His throat began to tighten as the sweet smell of lavender shampoo from Laura's hair drifted into his lungs. Suddenly he was gone, his thoughts away with Marlene.
It was a cool, breezy September afternoon, and Professor Flitwick had let them out of class early, thanks to Lily's brilliant confundus charm. Marlene and Sirius had ditched their friends to take a stroll around the castle grounds. Sirius's eyes snuck glances at her as they crunched through the leaves. He normally didn't tramp around with female company - it scared the other potential dates away, but she was different. She wasn't the quiet best friend of Lily Evans that she pretended to be. She was spunky. Wild. Cursed like a sailor. Had a real knack for dirty knock-knock jokes. Marlene McKinnon was like an angel sent from heaven just for him.
The two found themselves by a hill on the other side of the lake. They sat down on a large rock, next to a large patch of lilacs that were beginning to dry up with the season change.
"So why did you want me to come with you over here?" she asked.
"I dunno. You were there. And I was there. And class was over. What else was there to do, you know?"
"And Lily was there, and the other Gryffindors. They seem to have misplaced their invitations."
"Yeah. Guess so."
Sirius looked over his shoulder and his eyes caught hers. The petals from the flowers nearby rushed soothing scents to him as the wind picked up. Her hair was flapping madly around her face, and so was his. She held his gaze, and soon Sirius couldn't tell if he had been looking at her for a minute or an hour. He wondered if her lips were as soft as they looked.
"Black, this is getting a bit of... something. Awkward or goofy or romantic, I can't exactly deci-"
And then his hands locked on her arms and his was dragging her closer. His fingers moved to her face, her hair, her back, his lips pressing against hers, wanting her, tasting her. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe. But he didn't want to do either, because that would mean the kiss was over. The only kiss he'd ever had that he couldn't possibly imagine ending. Marlene McKinnon was the first girl he ever loved.
Maybe he should have been the rat instead of Peter. He had to tell Laura, but he could not bring himself to do it. Maybe it was how warm she felt in the cold wind, or maybe it was something else, but something told him to wait. To leave this moment alone. And they stood there, staring off to their right, watching 5 or 6 fifth years ice skating on the frozen lake.