Chapter 13 – Under The Rainbow

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She closed her eyes as the whiskey took effect, moving her head slightly on the music. After a few songs, a smile stretched on her lips, her eyes still closed as one of her favourite songs came on. She started to move her head on the beat, and without her even noticing she started singing along.

"When I find myself in times of trouble; Mother Mary comes to me; Speaking words of wisdom; Let it be."

She may not have noticed herself, but Lily and Remus did, they had looked her way the moment the song came on and they grinned a little wickedly as she started singing along. They have been waiting years for this. Lily transformed a bottle into microphone and Remus let it float over to her, until it stopped just under her chin. Her voice soon filled the room, and everyone stopped what they were doing just to look at her, Izzie was still oblivious to the world.

"And when the broken hearted people; Living in the world agree; There will be an answer; Let it be."

Her voice filled the room, but she didn't notice as she thought only she could hear. She swayed a little from side to side, her glass of whiskey in her hand as she sang along. Sirius was now visibly drooling, and Lily tried to snap him out of it, but no such luck.

"Let it be, let it be; Let it be, yeah, let it be; Whisper words of wisdom; Let it be."

But Sirius wasn't the only one looking at her like she was a rockstar standing in front of them. Both guys and girls were openly gaping at her. Lily and Remus always loved her voice, the way she could carry everyone with her. They told her she needed to sing more, but before now, nobody knew she could sing like that. They had been waiting years for a chance to show her off. They knew she would be pissed at them, but they'll recover. The parts where there were no lyrics, she just moved along the music, softly.

"And when the night is cloudy; There is still a light that shines on me; Shine on 'til tomorrow; Let it be; I wake up to the sound of music; Mother Mary comes to me; Speaking words of wisdom; Let it be, yeah!"

With the last verse, everyone was singing along softly. Everyone in the Gryffindor tower knew that song because of Sirius. But for Sirius it seemed like the first time he heard it. He was barely breathing as she finished singing and drank the last of her whiskey.

Then she opened her eyes.

Everyone was staring at her, then they recovered from their shock and started clapping. She looked down and saw the microphone. She waved her wand, sending it on fire before glaring at Remus and Lily. Oh, they'll pay for that! She thought to herself. With another wave of her hand, and snowstorm appeared in the room, blinding everyone before she ducked out of the common room. Away from gawking eyes, away from Sirius who she had a glimpse of before the snow hid him from her sight. He looked starstruck? Was that the right word. She didn't know, she just knew she had to get out of there.

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Izzie made her way to the Charms classroom; she was a little surprised when she saw Reggie sitting there waving his wand to a pair of blue birds. She sat down next to him on one of the benches.

"Hey, Reggie. Please tell me you and Remus didn't ruin my favourite classroom."

Reggie spluttered and flushed crimson red. "No, no-" He cleared his throat. "No, we would never ruin your happy place."

Izzie chuckled. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Wasn't ready to head back to the common room. You?"

"Needed to get out of the common room." When Reggie tilted his head, his black curls falling to one side, she said. "Never mind me. You make him really happy, Reg."

"He makes me happy." He said with the tiniest of smiles. "Never thought I deserved someone like him."

"Oh, Reg." She sought out his gaze and when he nodded, she engulfed her arms around him. "You deserve everything, and I mean everything."

He nuzzled his nose a little in her hair. "So do you, Isabelle." When he pulled back, he cleared his throat. "Remus told me about Sirius."

"Sirius and I are just friends, Reg. Don't know what he's been telling you but -"

"He says he likes you."

"We're friends and I think he's just annoyed I'm one of the few girls who he hasn't kissed." Izzie huffed, but she wasn't sure if she still believed it.

"You don't believe that do you? Even I've seen the way he acts around you."

"He's just friendly because of Remus." She held out her hand when he opened his mouth. "Besides why would he like me like that? I'm an utter disaster. Saying that I'm a mess is an understatement. I've got darkness around me, Reg. I'm not-" She stopped talking when she heard footsteps and when she whipped her head around, she noticed that she was crying.

"Reg-" When she looked around, she just noticed Reggie put a disillusionment charm over his body as he jumped off the desk. "You don't have to hi-"

"Shh." He said, stepping against the wall. She could see the blurry outlining if his body but only because she knew he was there.

"Izzie?"

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She looked at the door and saw Sirius looking at her worried. "Oh, hey, Sirius." Her voice shook a little.

"I've been looking for you. Are you okay?" He stepped closer but stopped a meter in front of her.

"I'm okay." She smiled a little. "I just needed a breather after..."

"You were brilliant by the way." He smiled, stepping closer. He took her hand in his, his thumb grazing the top of her hand.

"No." She looked away, turning to the spot she knew Regulus was still standing and probably smirking. "It was nothing."

"Why didn't you tell me you could sing like that?"

"Only Remus and Lily knew." She glanced at the wall Reg was standing when she heard a surprise cough. But Sirius didn't seem to notice, his eyes only on her. "They've been trying to get me to sing more for years."

"You should." His eyes twinkled as he looked at her. His gaze was so intense, so magnifying she needed to look away. Regulus was moving, he was making his way to the door. Without Sirius noticing, and she really wondered how he didn't notice, Regulus scribbled a heart on a piece of paper on the desk next to her. She quickly grabbed and made it into a wad, tossing it at his head with a subtle wave of her hand. She was grinning when it bounced back from his head. "Iz?"

"Yeah?" She looked back at Sirius. His free hand slowly reached up and slowly, oh so slowly cupped her cheek. He was nearly standing between her legs.

"You've been crying."

She chuckled a little dryly, wiping her eyes again. "It's okay, I'm fine. It has nothing to do with what happened. Honestly, I should've known they would do something like that."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Can I sit with you?"

"Hop on." She padded the place next to her with a little smile. She pulled her legs up until she was sitting cross-legged on the desk, Sirius feet swung loosely over the ground. His shoulders brushed hers slightly. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Sirius was itching to ask why she had been crying and how he could help, while she was debating if she would show him something or not.

"I want to show you something." Izzie said, while Sirius said. "Were you here alone?"

They both looked at each other in surprise, chuckling lightly. "You go first." He said eagerly.

"I wanted to show you something, if you want?" She asked shyly. And it was a look he hadn't seen on her before, at least not with him.

"I always want to learn something knew about you." He said with such honesty, it took her by surprise.

"Don't - don't laugh, okay?" She asked nervously, twirling her wand in her hand.

"I won't, I promise."

She nodded, but Sirius still saw how nervous she was. She let an inkpot fly over without using her wand or her voice, it still amazed Sirius how natural she was at Charms. For the next part, she did use her wand as she transfigured the inkpot into a small guitar.

"I think you made the guitar too small." He said as he inspected the instrument.

"It's a ukelele, you big dumb-dumb." She chuckled. "A transfigured one is not as good as a real one, but it will do." She shrugged. Sirius pulled his legs up until he is mirroring her position. He was leaning forward in interest, like a five-year-old boy who was looking at a brand-new Lego box. She tried out a few notes until she found the right ones. "No laughing, you promised."

"And I keep my promises."

So, she started playing, singing softly with the melody of the ukelele. "Somewhere over the rainbow; Way up high; And the dreams that you dream of; Once in a lullaby, oh. Somewhere over the rainbow; Bluebirds fly."

Sirius was truly mesmerised by her. By her voice, by the way her fingers played on the ukelele, by how her lips curved around each word. This was a memory he was going to replay over and over in his head. Izzie had her head bent low, focusing on the instrument in her hands. He was looking at every part of her, afraid he would one day forget. There were parts of the song, where her breath hitched, like; Someday I'll wish upon a star, wake up where the clouds are far behind me and, And the dream that you dare to; Why, oh why can't I?

"Oh, somewhere over the rainbow way up high; And the dream that you dare to; Why, oh why can't I? I. Ooh-ooh-ooh."

She looked up shyly, her cheeks tinged red, and Sirius smiled, smiled so wide it started to hurt. "You promised you wouldn't laugh."

"I'm not laughing, love. Believe me." He breathed. "That was -" He took in a deep breath. "That was the most beautiful thing I ever saw."

Her blush became more prominent, and she ducked her head, playing with the strings of the ukelele. "Heard, you mean."

Sirius's finger gently tipped her chin up, so she was looking in his grey stormy eyes. "Both." Izzie thought he was going to lean in, but she wasn't ready. Before she had a chance to pull back, Sirius pulled back himself. Rubbing his red stained neck, a blush appeared on his own cheeks. "Thank you for sharing this with me."

"You're- you're the first one I've shared this with."

"I-" His eyes turned comically large. "Lily?" She shook her head. "Moony?"

"I've only played guitar for him."

Sirius was lost for words; he never has been lost for words in his life. He was just gaping at her. She chuckled as she closed his mouth with the tip of her finger. "We should head back."

"Yeah." He snapped out of it. He jumped off the desk and held out his hand for her. She let her feet fall over the edge. She reached over to take his hand but before he could pull her off, she pulled him closer to her. She kissed his cheek, grazing over the corner of his mouth, they both were frozen for a long moment, letting the kiss linger. "What was that for?" His voice was a little hoarse.

"For not laughing at me." She said, blushing as she hopped off the desk. Sirius was still holding her hand.

"I would never laugh at you."

"Oh, then you haven't seen me try to do laundry the muggle way." She laughed as they walked out of the Charms classroom.

"Tell me everything." He grinned, enjoying the feeling of their hands swaying between them.

"Well, it was two years ago at Remus's house-"