"How long did it take?"
"Six days." Rigella hugged her knees and looked over at Sirius. "I had to travel at night, mostly."
"Didn't you stop to rest anywhere?"
"What was the point? I had nowhere to stop anyway. And how do you hide a flying horse?"
Sirius looked over to where Aia stood in the moonlight.
"She's so amazing."
"Yeah."
Rigella turned her eyes up towards the sky. On the open grounds above the lake, the view was incredible, the silence only broken by the rustling of the grass in the breeze.
But it was the sky they had come for.
"There. Orion."
"Where?" Sirius lay back on the grass, staring in the direction Rigella pointed out. "Oh, wait… I see it!"
He put his hands behind his head. "This is so cool," he said, gazing up at the starry sky. "I've never done this before. It's so… open, so free. It makes me want to run and scream and dance. I feel like flying. But at the same time… it's so… calm."
Rigella gazed at him silently. He turned his head towards her and met her eyes, not awkwardly, or uncomfortably, or even frightened, the way the other students had since the Defence Against the Dark Arts class three days ago.
He looked… trusting. Reliable. He looked calm, reassuring, and full of the certainty that, if she collapsed again, he would once more be at her side, ready to help.
Rigella sighed and fell calmly back onto the grass. She picked one of the tall blades bending gently in the wind, idly shredding it with her fingers.
"Rigel?"
She jumped slightly. That was the first time he had called her that. "Mmm?"
"The first night you were here… you said Sirius was the name of a star. Which one is it?"
She gazed up at the sky.
"There. See that bright star, at the top of Orion? Draw a line across that way… right there."
"Wow. That is cool." Sirius looked awed for a moment, then turned toward her again, mischievous grin firmly in place. "Bet you've never had your name in the stars."
She raised her eyebrows at him until the grin disappeared.
"What'd I do? Oh, come on, it wasn't that lame…"
"Uh, Sirius? That bright star in Orion I showed you? That's Rigel."
"Oh." Silence. Then- "I knew that."
She grinned at him. "Course you did."
*****
"So."
Sirius looked up groggily from his bacon to find himself being confronted by the other three Marauders. James was staring down at him, smirking magnificently, flanked on either side by Remus and Peter.
"Where were you?"
"What? When?"
"Nice try, Padfoot. Even you aren't that thick."
"Last night," put in Remus, "when you weren't in you're bed."
"And the last three nights before that," added Peter.
Sirius' mouth went dry.
"I don't know what you-"
James silenced him with a raised eyebrow. "Whatever. But as I've heard, a certain fifth year girl has also been absent from her bed over the last four nights." He grinned evilly.
"Look, if you're implying-"
"Oh, I'm not implying anything, my dear Padfoot. I just hoped that if something were to happen…"
"JAMES, NOTHING'S HAPPENING!!!"
This time all three boys' eyebrows climbed almost to their hair. "Whatever," said James as the three of them turned away.
*****
"Hey, Sirius!"
Rigella plumped down on the seat beside him, helping herself to a bowl of porridge.
"Hey, are you alright?" she said, catching sight of his stunned expression. Her eyes followed his to the Marauders, who were now whispering down the other end of the table. "What was all that about?"
"They think I'm sleeping with you," Sirius said in amazement.
Rigella laughed.
*****
Disclaimer: ok, I think we have safely established that I am NOT JK ROWLING. Everyone got that? Good. And no, I don't own Kat either.
Thanks for the reviews, especially Carmal March, who seems to have nothing better to do with her time then read and review my fic!
