"Thomas was baffled by this girl—first the connection he'd felt to her from the very beginning, then the mind-speaking, now this. "Everything about you is weird. You know that, right?"
"Judging by your little hiding spot, I'd say you're not so normal yourself. Like living in the woods, do ya?"
― James Dashner, The Maze Runner
Chapter 10: Mind, mind
Devery did not show up to class after lunch and that had never happened before in the history of Hogwarts. Hail or shine, sick or well, Devery always turned up to class.
Sirius immediately went on high alert, as did their other friends. Only Lily Evans could rival Sirius in the worry department.
As soon as their History of Magic class finished, the redhead appeared by his side.
"What happened? Is Devery, okay?" Lily demanded with worried green eyes and Sirius shared the same worried look.
"I'm not sure, Evans. She seemed to be okay this morning," he quickly lied to cover his ass. He didn't want to go back to the hospital wing because of Lily's temper again.
"But I did see her leave the girl's bathroom on the first floor in tears, just before lunch," Lily's eyes hardened at his words. "I did see Meriden and one of her goonies walk out before she did, though," Sirius added and Lily didn't look pleased. She had no doubt that Meriden said something to upset her best friend.
"No offense to your taste in girls, Black but before Devery, you really liked to date the most spiteful girls in this school," she said and Sirius made a face.
"You're right on that one, Evans," he agreed.
"Well," Lily pushed her hair out of her face and she immediately took charge of the situation.
"I'll keep an eye out for her in our next class, just in case she shows up. Meanwhile, why don't you do what your best at Black and investigate this further. It looks like Myrtle could give us the answers we both seek," Lily advised and Sirius eyebrows shot up at the mention of the overdramatic ghost.
"You want me? To talk to Moaning Myrtle?" Sirius looked at her like she was insane and Lily got a devious look in her eye.
"You're evil, Evans," he scolded her and Lily smirked.
"I'm just delegating tasks that suit our strengths, Black. You have a special way with the girls not me. Myrtle is quite the interesting girl," Lily elaborated on her thinking further but Sirius didn't buy it and he narrowed his eyes.
"If you really wanted to see me in a wet shirt competition, Evans, all you had to do was ask," he retorted and Lily fumed at such a suggestion when James appeared at their side.
"Where's Leafwood?" James asked and Lily's hard green eyes glanced his way. "We were just discussing that," she answered and James looked at her, questioning.
"And?"
"Black's going to look for her," she said and James gaped at her, a little. "But he has class…. with us."
"No, he doesn't," Lily lowered her voice and James made a surprised noise.
"Someone's going to be on Santa's naughty list, this year," he commented and Lily rolled her eyes.
"Head Girls can excuse students from class if they have a valid reason and this is a valid reason," she explained and James looked amused.
"You're twisting the rules to suit your best interests, admit it, Evans," he dared and Lily glared back in challenge. James laughed. He didn't want to admit it openly but he kind of enjoyed seeing this devious side of Lily.
"I can help Black on this quest, I'm great at finding things," James shared a knowing look with Sirius. He gave his best friend, nonverbal permission to retrieve the Marauder's map from his room and Sirius nodded in understanding.
Lily shook her head at the suggestion. "Both of you skipping class would raise suspicion and you're Head Boy, Potter," Lily told him otherwise and James saw her logic.
"Besides, I need your help," Lily's words surprised both boys and James scratched the back of his neck, feeling slightly nervous by the way Lily was looking at him.
"What are you thinking, Evans?" James asked.
"If Meriden had anything to do with this then I want to be prepared with a prank or two and you are the expert," Lily pointed out and started to walk out of the classroom. James shared an uneasy look with Sirius.
"I'm starting to think… we don't really know what my Lilypad is capable of," James muttered and Sirius hummed in agreement.
"Not me," Sirius spoke up. "I've been telling you, Evans is a nightmare for years."
"My Lilypad is not a nightmare," James quickly defended his crush. "She is an angel send from heaven."
Sirius called his best friend a 'nutter' under his breath and he packed up his books.
"I think I'll deal with Myrtle before I get the map, she might flush it down the toilet," he grimaced.
"Good idea," James agreed when Lily returned and he watched his beautiful redhead march towards his side. Without a word, she grabbed his arm and he happily followed.
"I am yours to command, honey plum," James swooned and Sirius pretended to gag. Lily stopped walking and made a face at the new nickname.
"Too much?" James asked and Lily nodded.
"Sorry, my ladybug," James toned it down with a grin and Sirius got the shock of his life when Lily started to blush. What the hell was happening here?
"That's better," she laughed and James looked quite pleased with himself. Sirius was floored by their interaction and Lily rolled her eyes.
"What do you think you're looking at Black?" She sneered a little and Sirius held his hands up in surrender.
"You stole my buddy in class, Black. What do you think would've happened? I'll become anti-social?" Lily snorted. "I'm naturally quite a social creature so I've decided to make the best of it. Potter is Head Boy to my Head girl whether I like it or not. So, he is my new class buddy and surprisingly… I kind of like it. We work well together. James is a lot smarter than I thought," Lily surprised both boys with her little confession and she dragged James out of the classroom.
He so needed to have a chat with his best friend about this, Sirius immediately thought. James just gave him a wicked grin with a thumb's up.
"Poor bloke," he mumbled under his breath. At least, Devery didn't boss him around like that. She just liked to catch him off guard with compliments and snogging.
Sirius felt his heart pang at the thought of Devery. If he could go back to that morning, he would do things entirely different. Merlin, he missed her and they hadn't even been parted for a day yet.
Merlin, he had it bad for Devery. With that realization, Sirius powered out of the classroom for the moving staircases. He had a ghost to charm and a bitter taste enveloped his mouth.
Moaning Myrtle was an overemotional, fourteen year old ghost who loved to throw tantrums and he was willingly about to enter her lair… all for the sake of Devery.
He was so pussy whipped and Sirius groaned. Never did he think, he would see that happen and he had only been dating Devery for a month. How lovesick would he be in a year from now?
Probably on his knees with a wicked grin on his face while he tattooed Devery's name over his heart, he realised and Sirius strangely didn't feel scared by that potential future.
He kind of liked the idea of being that deeply committed to someone. If you told him that he would want a committed relationship, this time a year ago, he would've told you to get lost.
This time, last year, he was a completely different person and so was Devery, Sirius realised. She was a lot more reserved then. Sirius marveled at how much both of them have changed already and he concentrated on navigating his way to the first floor.
The staircases at Hogwarts loved to move. It took him a couple of tries to get to the first floor and the corridors were thankfully deserted. Sirius glanced at his watch. Class had already started.
As he neared the girl's bathroom, he quickly checked to see if the coast was clear before he entered. He quickly kneeled down to check if all of the cubicles were empty and that was when he noticed just how wet the floor really was. Water started to seep into his shoes and Sirius scowled at the state of them.
Not only was the floor overly wet but the walls, mirrors and sinks were too. It looked like it rained in here. After making sure, he was indeed the only one in the bathroom, Sirius held onto his school bag extra tightly and prepared himself. He charmed his school bag to stay dry as an extra precaution.
He cleared his throat and was about to call for the ghost when he spotted, Moaning Myrtle's head floating in one of the sinks in front of him.
"The boy's bathroom is further down the corridor," Myrtle tsked and her whole body floated out of the sink. Sirius slowly took in her mousy little face riddled with acne, glasses, long pigtails and her ageless Ravenclaw school robes.
"I came here to talk to you, actually," Sirius said and Myrtle approached his side with suspicion written clearly across her pale face.
"If you are here to tease me about my glasses then get lost!" Sirius cringed at Myrtle's sudden shriek.
"My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!" She continued to wail.
"I didn't come here to upset you, Myrtle," Sirius sighed, feeling on edge. He just knew he was going to leave here smelling like a toilet.
"Ooooo, the popular Sirius Black has come here to not upset me? That's a good one!" Myrtle's girly voice started to grow angry and Sirius clenched his jaw. Myrtle was starting to get on his last nerve. He was restraining himself from doing something rather rash to the ghost to get his answers.
"Not everything is about you Myrtle," Sirius pushed her off her high horse with that comment and in retaliation, Myrtle jumped into a puddle in front of Sirius. He backed up with a curse, as his trousers got soaked.
"I'm not scared of you, Sirius Black! I've already made Meriden Spade and her goonies run screaming out of here, today!" Myrtle screeched. At the mention of Meriden, Sirius got right down to business.
"And what made you do such a thing?" He prompted and Myrtle crossed her arms with a huff.
"She deserved it! They all did!" Myrtle let out another screech but her face fell when she thought of how upset they made Devery.
"They were making fun of my friend behind her back. It was disgusting," Myrtle frowned, "Devery is a nice girl and she has always been my friend, so I punished them."
Sirius felt his stomach sink.
"They made fun of her muteness and said you were only dating her because you wanted to rate her in that little black book of yours!" Myrtle screeched again and her pale eyes darkened on him.
Sirius couldn't believe it but he felt sicker in that moment. Devery knew about his little black book. But at the same time, his anger towards Meriden grew tenfold. That Ravenclaw was number one on his hit list. She promised to not tell anyone about it when he caught her littering through his things, one day.
Myrtle captured Sirius's attention again by stalking him closely with her hands on her hips and she looked terrifying.
"Is that true, Black?!" She demanded and Sirius quickly shook his head.
"No, Myrtle. I genuinely like Devery, I've always have."
Myrtle narrowed her eyes and pushed up her spectacles. She looked like she didn't believe him one bit.
"If I see Devery crying again because of you! You will not use a bathroom here without it exploding in your face! You will have to wash up in the lake!" Myrtle yelled and Sirius cringed at the sound of her high-pitched voice. It felt like he was listening to a chalkboard being scratched.
He then made a mental note to somehow manipulate Peeves, the notorious and troublesome poltergeist of Hogwarts to enter a feud with Myrtle. Sirius treasured his bathing time.
"Get out of my bathroom! Boys are not allowed!" Myrtle suddenly hit full volume with her screaming potential and Sirius braced himself when he saw the taps explode. Water sprayed in all directions.
"Bugger," was all he could say before Myrtle splashed him from head to toe with toilet water.
"Get out! Get out!" She kept screaming at him while he gladly potted his way out of the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle shrieked at his back when she slammed the bathroom door behind him and Sirius made a face when he realised one major detail.
The majority of him could've stayed dry if he charmed his uniform too.
"Women," he grumbled to himself, "all bloody nutters, the lot of them."
And here Evans thought he had a special way with the ladies. Bullshit. She knew exactly what he was in for with Myrtle and with that thought, Sirius added Lily to his hit list for pranking too.
"Bloody Evans," he grumbled while he made his way to the Head's tower to get the Marauder's map. He needed a shower, badly too.
Devery didn't turn up to their next class either or dinner for that matter. Sirius was a no show as well and James genuinely started to get worried about his two friends. He hoped they could fix it.
In that moment, he felt like chasing both of them down and forcing them to make amends. But he knew he couldn't do that. It was not his relationship. He was just a friend and he had to accept that boundary.
To keep his worry at bay, he concentrated on what he had to do tonight. He had a meeting with the prefects to lead and he had to setup the room. Everyone would be arriving at any minute but he wasn't entirely alone in that moment, either.
Lily was going over their meeting's agenda, one last time while he placed copies around the table for everyone else. He placed the last sheet down when he noticed Lily, looking his way with much interest. She was doing that a lot lately, he noticed.
"Are you okay, James?" Her concern genuinely shocked him. Plus, Lily rarely called him by his first name and he couldn't help but laugh awkwardly in response.
"Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" He quickly masked his worries with a smile but Lily, surprisingly didn't buy it. Her green eyes looked up at him seriously while she moved to near his side.
James gulped a little at her close proximity. Her beauty as always made him feel a little nervous. That was why he acted so obnoxiously around her since the beginning. His flamboyancy masked his nerves.
"What's really wrong, James?" She asked him again and it was like she was seeing him right through him.
"Nothing escapes your attention, Lily," James quickly lost his smile and he breathed deeply when Lily reached out to stroke his arm.
"I like to keep an eye on my friends," Lily surprised him with her answer and James arched an eyebrow.
"We're friends, now? I thought we were sworn mortal enemies that had to tolerant each other for the sake of our friends?" He questioned and Lily's hand on his arm fell.
Several heartbeats of silence passed between them then while she pondered on something.
"We could be," she finally said, "if that's okay with you?" She started to chew on her lower lip, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious which was just plain bizarre because it was Potter.
She didn't know what was going on when it came to her new likeness of James Potter. Sure, she barely tolerated him when Devery started to date Sirius but the more time she spend with him in classes and with headship duties, he strangely started to grow on her.
She started to see a different side to him and she was wonderfully intrigued by what she discovered. James was a lot smarter than he looked and he genuinely cared for people. He went above and beyond with his responsibilities as Head Boy and he had an unshakable loyalty to his friends and house. He always respected her opinions and asked for it.
James felt taken back by the question but deep inside, he was doing a victory dance. Finally… he was making some progress.
Friend or not. Girlfriend or not. All he knew was he wanted to be in Lily Evan's life for as long as he could be.
James cleared his throat. "I would love that very much, Lily," he answered with a smile and Lily returned his smile.
"So, friend? Do you want to talk about what is really bothering you?" She asked with great interest and James felt his worries magically creep back.
"I'm worried about Sirius and Devery. I really don't like seeing them unhappy. It makes me feel helpless because all I want to do is help them feel better again but the situation is out of my hands," he confessed and Lily stared at him, gently.
"The feeling's mutual, James. I'm worried too," she breathed.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" James wondered and Lily wondered too before she got an outlandish idea.
"Lock them in a room and don't let out them until they work it out?" she suggested as a joke but James didn't see it that way. He actually pondered over the idea with a serious eye.
"That's actually not a bad idea," he muttered and Lily quickly changed her mind and shook her head when she thought of the potential repercussions.
"Nah, forget I said that. It's a bit drastic."
"It is but it is smart," James told her otherwise.
"I suppose it is but it is their relationship and I don't want to meddle in it anymore. I've realised that was awful of me to do and I've learned my lesson," Lily said James saw how much she meant those words.
"We all make mistakes, Lily. It's only human to make one. Mistakes help us learn to become better people," James tried to lift her spirits and Lily smiled at his kind words.
"You really are something else, aren't you? James Potter?" She lightly teased and she laughed when James struck a dramatic superhero pose.
"Geez, ladybug, I've only been trying to tell you that for the last seven years," James threw her a wink and Lily playfully punched his shoulder.
"Well… if that muppet friend of mine doesn't pull his head out of his ass by Monday and makes amends with our lovely Devery, I say, we lock them in a broom cupboard until they do," James suggested and Lily pondered it for a minute or two.
"I like it," Lily agreed.
After freshening up from his ordeal with Myrtle, Sirius was able to use the Marauder's map to track down Devery and his girl was a lot smarter than she thought she was.
She stayed, cooped up in her dormitory. One of the few places, Sirius could not physically reach her side. The ancient staircase to the girl's dormitories was charmed to repel boys by turning into a slippery slide.
So, Sirius stayed cooped up in his dormitory and waited for his girl's next move. Remus was at the prefect meeting with James and Peter was merlin knew where.
Sirius had a telepathy lesson with Professor Dumbledore in half an hour with Devery and he wondered if she had the guts to flake on their headmaster as well.
It was as if, Devery read his mind in that moment. Their notebook started to glow red on his end and Sirius literally dived onto his bed to read the thing.
The silent treatment, Devery was giving him was killing him.
"If I don't do this telepathy lesson with you tonight, are you going to learn elsewhere? Be serious with me," She wrote in her neat script and Sirius quickly grabbed his quill and inkpot on his bedside table. He almost felt like crying in joy to see her handwriting.
"How well do you know me, love?" Sirius wrote in reply and he waited with bated breath for her reply. He couldn't watch but chuckle at how many times, Devery tried to reply back to him. He watched her words form on the page only to see her scratch them out and start again. She called him many names before settling on one.
"Wanker," Devery wrote, "I am only doing this for the benefit of your mind. I am heading to Dumbledore's office now but I need to talk to him privately before we start."
Sirius bolted out of his dormitory as soon as he finished reading and ran to the common room. He nearly ran out of breath by the time, Devery appeared and his grey eyes hungrily took in her form. Merlin, he missed her.
His girlfriend sported a lovely black dress with long sleeves that hugged her every curve. The dress brushed against the floor and Sirius appreciated her long neck. Devery wore her hair up in a tight bun and she had a blue jewel on a black cord around her neck. Her heavy hazel eyes drew him in the most that moment.
"Hey?" He tired a smile but Devery didn't move a muscle. Her expression was as cold as ice and she gave him a dismissive glance before making her way out of the common room.
Sirius swallowed hard. He was in deep shit, he realised and he obediently followed with his tail between his legs. He kept his distance, a few paces away from her and nervously fiddled with the edges of his maroon sweater. He also fiddled with the black shoelace he tied around his neck. He didn't have a proper black necklace to match Devery's ones yet so he improvised. A part of him wanted to dress to match his girlfriend's unique style.
Devery kept focused on leading the way to Dumbledore's office and Sirius tried to concentrate on where he was walking but that proved impossible. He hadn't seen Devery nearly all day so he ogled the hell out of her body, particularly her behind.
He nearly tripped over his feet once or twice and he did bang his toe against a step by accident. It was only then that Devery acknowledged his existence. She asked if he was okay before powering on again.
"You look beautiful tonight," he complimented her when they neared the door to Dumbledore's office and he backed it up with a charming, come hither look, he hoped. Devery just glanced at him.
"Wait here," she signed and she disappeared into Dumbledore's office.
Professor Dumbledore smiled when she entered and Devery forced herself to smile back. Her headmaster looked quite colorful that night in his red and blue starry dress robes.
"Welcome," he greeted. "Do we have to wait for Mr Black to join us?"
Devery quickly shook her head.
"He's waiting outside, I need a quick word before we begin," She said telepathically and Dumbledore beaconed for her to continue.
"What is it, my dear?"
"I need permission to check out a book about Sirens in the restricted section."
She had to know what Severus knew about her kind, specifically and Dumbledore stroked his long white beard.
"Sure, my dear. Though, I have to say, it is about time that you've shown some avid interest in researching this. Hogwarts has many resources, if not, just as many as the Department of Mysteries," Dumbledore looked pleased with her request and he pottered to his desk to write her a permission slip.
He had been trying to get her to look into her kind at school for years.
"Thank you," Devery said when Dumbledore handed her a permission slip. He listed about three books that she could borrow from the restricted section.
"That's all we have, though I do recommend that you speak to Madam Prince about possible other books. She knows that library better than I do," Dumbledore advised and with a nod, Devery folded the permission slip and put it in her pocket. Her dress thankfully had built-in pockets.
"I'll go get him," she indicated and she went to let Sirius into the office.
"Hi, professor!" Sirius greeted brightly and Dumbledore returned his greeting. He then invited his students to take a seat by his warm fireplace and he offered them a nightcap of sorts.
He had an assortment of chocolates, biscuits, cupcakes and tea, spread out on the table in front of them.
"Help yourselves," Dumbledore indicated, taking a seat in-between them. Devery helped herself to a biscuit and Sirius started to demolish nearly everything in sight.
He mumbled in delight at the food and Devery shook her head at him. He loved to talk with his mouth full.
"What?" Sirius blurted out. Dumbledore tried not to laugh too much in amusement at the young couple.
They were acting like a typical married couple.
"As you already know, Devery, to establish a telepathic bond with someone, you need to establish a strong foundation first and then grow from there," Dumbledore started his teachings and Devery backed up his words with a nod. Sirius swallowed his food and looked a little perplexed.
"But shouldn't our relationship already be that foundation, professor?" Sirius asked.
"You are correct there, Sirius but your relationship with Devery only carries a physical sense. You need to create a mental one, now. Think of it as, building a bridge between the island that is your mind to the island that is Devery's mind," Dumbledore answered and Sirius nodded in understanding.
"At the moment, the size of Devery's mind is probably a large country due to her many telepathic bridges," Dumbledore added and Sirius gave Devery an expression of awe.
"How many is there?" He asked and Devery started to count on her fingers.
She counted the numerous members of her family, Dumbledore, Lily and Severus.
"Over twenty," she signed.
"Wow and you know which bridge is which?" Sirius looked genuinely impressed and Devery didn't see what the big deal was, she just shrugged.
"That's bloody cool, love!" He praised her and Devery tried not to react too much to his compliment but it was hard. Sirius was making it difficult for her to stay indifferent.
He was so going to break-up with her soon, anyway. There was no way she could measure up to those other girls in his little black book.
"To begin," Dumbledore called for their attention again. "We are going to begin with a meditation to clear our minds. You can stay sitting if you like or move to the floor."
Devery immediately moved to sit cross-legged on the floor by the warm fireplace. She meditated better on the floor and to her surprise; Sirius joined her on the floor. He copied her lotus pose with comfortable ease and reached out to hold her hands.
"Don't act so surprised, love, I've meditated before," he tossed her a wink. If Dumbledore weren't there, Devery would shove his hands away.
"Good idea, Sirius," Dumbledore praised his student. "Physical contact will help you build a mental bond."
Sirius grinned at his headmaster and Devery ignored them both by closing her eyes. She took slow and long breaths to relax her body. Dumbledore then started to talk them into a nice breathing meditation but Devery tuned him out. Meditation was second nature to her by now.
Time and space soon slipped away and Devery focused her attention on her breath. Her hands slacked in Sirius's huge hands and she could no longer feel him rubbing her skin.
A happy softness enveloped her chest then and that was how she knew she was doing well with her meditation. She was swimming nice and deeply. The colours started to change behind her eyes and Devery breathed, feeling content for the first time that day.
She really needed this release.
The stench of frankincense drifted up her nose then and Devery knew intuitively that it was Dumbledore burning some incense.
"This will help you keep aware and focused," he said softly. Devery then felt his steady hands place a circlet on top of the crown of her head.
"These devices will help you see each other's energy field," he added and it was like Dumbledore pulled back a curtain.
In the endless horizon, Devery saw in her mind's eye, she saw the colourful cloud that was Sirius's aura. Curious to what laid beneath the surface of her boyfriend, Devery carelessly ignored Dumbledore's advice to simply observe.
She foolishly charged towards Sirius's aura and she felt his hands immediately tense up. Devery tightened her grip on his hands just in case he broke the connection.
"It's okay, Sirius, it's just me," She quickly reassured him with her telepathy.
"Devery?" She heard his mind echo in shock. It was the first time, he heard the faintness of her true voice and he surprisingly felt tears spring up behind his closed eyes. He dreamed of hearing Devery make a sound for years.
Her voice held a smoky undertone with a singsong octave. Devery's tone rose and fell in a musical way; Sirius would describe her voice as silvery in a way. He found it quite pleasant to hear and it did nice things to his body, especially when she said his name
"Say my name, again, please?" He pleaded and Devery was taken back by how much emotion his request carried. His aura felt somewhat desperate and hungry for something, she couldn't put her finger on.
"Your name is Sirius Black," she replied.
"Again, please?"
So, Devery repeated his name over and over again, feeling amused. Her telepathic voice seemed to comfort the desperation in Sirius's aura.
"Just keep concentrating on your breath, Sirius. I want to take a look around. Everything will be okay."
"Wait – what?" Sirius's mind grew alarmed and with a cheeky smile, Devery distracted him by sending him a memory of her kissing his cheek.
"Don't you trust me?" She questioned in a singsong voice and Sirius swallowed hard.
"Yes, I do," he breathed and that was all the permission Devery needed before she dove right in and what she saw, stilled her very bones.
His aura swirled with a kaleidoscope of ambers, mauves, gold, silver, dark brown, blues, purples and pinks, each one unique and wonderful as they blended into each other. The kaleidoscope she saw was shaped like a revolving globe and Devery marvelled until she spotted a crack in the globe so she zoomed in closer.
The colours she saw terrified her; they were dark. Ebony black, gray, green and deep red. An overwhelming sense of sadness and loneliness enveloped her chest then and Devery wondered who dared to wound his heart in such a way before she shielded herself against those depressing emotions.
She also saw aggression, envy and anger in equal measures. But these feelings felt like they were fading due to the deep red, she saw, growing bigger and bigger. A seed of pink and yellow was in the center of all that red. Devery peeked closer.
"Devery! This hurts!" She heard Sirius suddenly relent from faraway. She also heard Dumbledore's authoritative voice call her back.
But Devery, foolhardily ignored them both and pushed on. She had to know how Sirius really felt. She slipped into the slipstream of reds, pinks and yellows and drowned in an avalanche of thoughts, feelings and memory.
And the story she saw unfold took her breath away. It was a love story but not your typical one. It starred her and Sirius and it began when he first saw her on the Hogwarts Express when they were eleven.
For seven long years, Sirius had steadily and irrevocably fell more in love with her and now he was falling hard, head first with no conditions.
"How could you be so reckless?!"
Devery heard Dumbledore shout when he was finally able to pull her out of Sirius's head and Devery felt like she had whiplash from the magical yank. She clutched her pounding skull while Dumbledore gave her a stern glare.
Never had she seen her headmaster so furious.
"For your foolhardiness and disrespect of my instructions, that will be fifty points from Gryffindor! For endangering Mr Black's life, you will serve one month of detention and you will not attend the festivities for Halloween!" Dumbledore yelled with a finality that made Devery felt extremely small and he turned his worried attention back on Sirius, lying on his side in visible pain with a pool of blood, dripping from nose. Both of their circlets laid abandoned on the rug.
Devery paled in horror at the sight of him while Dumbledore muttered healing spell after healing spell on the poor boy. He helped Sirius sit up and he cleaned the blood away.
"How are you feeling, Sirius?" Dumbledore asked in a grave voice and Sirius looked uneasy but much better than he was before.
"Okay," he mumbled and Dumbledore quickly checked his vitals with a few more spells but he found nothing wrong expect for a slight body ache from when he pulled Devery out of his energy field.
Dumbledore then waved his wand at his potions cabinet and a potion flew to his hand.
"This will clear up the muscle ache in no time," he handed it to Sirius and helped him drink all of it down. Sirius coughed a little at the taste and Dumbledore looked at Devery for help. But all she did was sit there, looking incredibly guilty for what she just did.
"Help me get him into a seat," Dumbledore instructed and Devery snapped out of her stupor to help. She grabbed Sirius's left arm and Dumbledore grabbed his right. Together, they gently helped Sirius sit down and Dumbledore poured him some water to drink.
"How do you feel now?" Dumbledore questioned with a concerned eye.
"Much better," Sirius forced out after drinking down some water. "The pain is all gone now, thank you professor."
"Good, good," Dumbledore seemed to mumble to himself. "If the pain comes back, go straight to the hospital wing but I think you should be okay for now. That was close."
"Oh, don't worry, professor. I'll be screaming to the heavens for Pompfrey if that pain hits me again," Sirius breathed with a worn out look on his face and Devery felt like she swallowed her tongue when Sirius for once glanced quickly at her with an expression akin to fear.
"Can I return to my dormitory, please professor?" He asked Dumbledore and the headmaster nodded.
"Sure, you can," He gave his student permission and with quick feet, Sirius bolted out of Dumbledore's office with a muttered, 'good night, professor.' Devery jumped when the huge oak door slammed shut. She jumped again when Dumbledore raised his voice at her once more.
"You start your detentions with me tomorrow, Miss Leafwood. I expect you at Hagrid's hut at ten o'clock in the morning and don't be late. You may go now and keep an eye on Sirius's health," Dumbledore dismissed her with a stern look.
"Yes, professor, good night, professor," Devery replied telepathically with her head bowed and took off with quick feet.
In that moment, she could careless about the points and detentions. She needed to find Sirius and apologise. She could've killed him by dissecting his aura like that. Devery ran down the steps out of Dumbledore's office and flew down the corridor.
She spotted Sirius walking really fast around the corner. He looked over his shoulder when he heard someone running and he paled when his grey eyes connected with hers. Sirius quickly kicked up his pace into a run and Devery picked up the hem of her dress to chase him. She followed him to the moving staircases and the paintings along the ancient walls of Hogwarts cheered her on while other paintings, beaconed Sirius to run faster.
He started to take the stairs, two at a time but he misjudged the distance on one and took a little tumble. Devery closed the distance between them in no time while Sirius clutched the banister to break his fall.
Devery watched his whole back tense up when she neared his side and she was just about to touch his arm when Sirius rough voice rolled through her ears.
"Leave me alone, Devery," he warned with stormy eyes but Devery didn't listen. She reached up to soothe his black hair out of his eyes and Sirius shuddered when she touched him.
"No," he tried to protest but his body betrayed him. He turned into a puddle of goo whenever Devery touched him. He leaned into her touch and Devery just kept closeting on him. She pressed his back into the railing and maneuvered one hand to rest on the back of his thick neck.
Sirius was a whole foot taller than her and had a lot more muscle but in that moment, he felt incredibly small. Devery's presence bewitched him entirely and his body surrendered to her wiles. He could've easily pushed her away and escaped her clutches.
But unlike the others, this girl owned him since he first saw her.
"Let me go, please," his voice shook. Fear knocked into him hard then. Call him a glutton for punishment but he wasn't scared of Devery because she nearly killed him. He knew that was an accident and that she didn't mean it.
He was afraid of her reaction to what she saw inside him. He was a mess. A complete utter mess with a lot of unresolved anger and buried heartache.
She saw the real him and he was far from perfect. He was a scattered mess of imperfection who was falling in love with his girlfriend.
It was way too soon for him to reveal what he really felt and nurtured for years from afar like James.
Leafwood was his Evans.
"Devery?" Sirius's voice shook again but Devery ignored his protests again by standing on her tippy toes to kiss the daylight's out of him. Sirius groaned into her mouth and the next thing, he realised, he was the one pushing her into the railing.
Her unspoken acceptance of him burst the gates around his heart open and Devery drowned blissfully in the intensity of Sirius's kiss. His hands ran along the sides of her body like she was a secret roadmap to buried treasure. Her heartbeat mimicked the strong patter, her hands felt under Sirius's sweater and she was getting short of breath.
Sirius held her tightly to him when they both needed air and he nuzzled her nose with his.
"I'm sorry," he breathed and his grey eyes searched her green ones with a molten heat.
"I love you," his mouth ran ahead of his brain, "you don't have to say anything. I just want you to know that and I'm sorry… about everything."
Devery gently held a finger to silence his trembling lips and her soft smile calmed him down.
'I'm sorry, too and it's okay,' she mouthed and Sirius let out a breath of relief. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and breathed her in for a minute or two.
"We so need to learn to sit down and talk, don't we? I can't keep getting injured for loving you, Dev. It's not healthy," Sirius muttered in all seriousness and Devery hugged him back tightly.
And they did learn how to sit and talk, all night in Sirius's dormitory behind closed curtains. Sirius casted silencing charms so they wouldn't disturb Remus sleeping. Peter was still out and about.
They talked about Sirius pushing her away that morning and how Devery felt extremely hurt by that. Sirius promised to not be so abrupt next time and then they talked about Meriden. Devery owned up to the bullying she had suffered at the Ravenclaw's hands and how it wasn't the first time that happened. Meriden had bullied her before in their younger years.
Then they talked about Myrtle and Devery thought, Sirius was rather sweet and courageous for braving such a confrontation with the ghost just to find out what happened to her in the bathroom.
Devery didn't mention Severus at all. Instead, she apologised profusely and cried in regret for barging into Sirius's mind like that.
"It's okay, love," he said for the millionth time while he held her to his chest. "I wasn't exactly being the best communicator."
"But I nearly killed you!" Devery wrote in their book.
"Nah, you more like used the cruciatus curse on me which I used too by now," Sirius confessed and Devery looked at him in alarm. Sirius rubbed his face. "Man, Leafwood, you really are getting me to spill the beans tonight."
"What happened?" Devery signed and Sirius stroked her hair away from her face.
"When it comes to my family, I'm nothing but a blood traitor and muggle sympathiser, love. My old man doesn't look too kindly on that so he disowned me. My old lady and brother too," Sirius retold with pain filled eyes and Devery wanted nothing more than to take his pain away and she did in a way.
"I think you're really great Sirius and your family doesn't deserve you. Hell, I don't even deserve you but if you could feel what I felt for you, it feels similar to the way you feel about me," Devery wrote and Sirius smiled at her with happy grey eyes.
"You are so not leaving my bed, tonight, Leafwood." Sirius kissed her again and Devery happily kissed him back. She'll talk to him about his little black book another time.