It was after the Halloween banquet and Sirius Black was sick of hearing Peter bitch about James bitch about Lily. James had made another effort at dinner to ask the girl out and it was with no shock and surprise that he was turned down. Of course, they were the ones left listening to James's moping; she always got off scot-free–until the next confession. They all were tired of James's neverending worship of Lily, but Remus and Sirius sat through it with forced smiles on their silent lips. Peter was the only one who actually verbalised what they were all thinking, and he was not welcome for it.

"I'm going for a smoke," Sirius said, standing abruptly. He left without another word and was thankful they didn't say anything. Smoking was a habit he picked up only recently, something he only did when he was stressed or very bored. His go-to place was usually a window on the fourth floor with a clear view of the grounds, but tonight he decided to switch it up–Filch had begun to switch up his route.

The Astronomy Tower ended at the top of an endless spiral staircase. It was one of the tallest towers at the school and held the best view of the sky for that very reason. Sirius appreciated the unobstructed view of the star he was named after rather than out a window. He went further onto the roof and circled the perimeter. The silhouette of a person standing on the edge of the Tower made him freeze.

"Uh, hello?" Sirius inched forward but stopped again when she turned her head. "Rose Bud?"

"Hullo." Crimson nodded to him like they were passing each other in the halls and went back to staring at the ground, hundreds upon hundreds of feet below. A gust of wind blew through them, their hair sticking to their face and their robes blowing in sync. All was silent.

"What the fuck, get down," Sirius tried to remain calm, keep a steady tone, but the shaking in his voice gave him away.

Crimson stood there for another moment and listened to him. He was terrified and doing a shit job hiding it, so she spun 180 degrees on one foot and jumped down. Sirius wasted no time in pulling her further from the edge; his grip was as rough as his hands were trembling.

"Oh, relax Black, I was only enjoying the thrill." Sirius ogled at the girl who was nonchalant through everything before he recalled the look in her eye when she first turned towards him. It wasn't one of a thrill seeker: it held desperation; a defeated, exhausted look that Sirius had begun to see in her eyes lately. Try as hard as she might, he wasn't going to let her dismiss what happened as a mere bad dream.

"Don't!" Sirius snapped, tugging her arm once more and dragging her a few more feet from the edge for peace of mind. "Merlin–this isn't a joke, Crimson. What the hell were you doing up there?"

Crimson flinched at his tone before steeling herself. "I was enjoying the view." Her voice was cold and she pulled away from him, giving them a few more inches of space.

"Why are you lying?!" Sirius cried, running his hand through his already messy hair.

"You seem like you already know, so why don't you tell me?" Crimson was pissed. What right did he have to scold her like a child?

Sirius rubbed his eyes with his free hand and took another puff from the cigarette in his right hand. Crimson huffed and snatched the stick from his lips. With bated breath, Sirius watched as she took a large drag and blew it out of the corner of her mouth. He had to do something—she was becoming guarded.

"Do you come up here often?"

She was ready to leave at the cheesy line but gave in to his attempt to break the ice. Pulling him down so they were sitting against the wall she had previously been about to jump off, Crimson leaned back to feel the cold stones through her robes. "Yeah, actually. Every night."

"You don't smoke ciggies though, do you?"

"How'd you guess," she gasped sarcastically. "Was it the huge sack of weed I had you get me?"

"That was a clue." Sirius smiled at her, stunning her with his beauty. Crimson traced the bridge of his nose with her eyes and reached up to feel his long hair against your fingertips. "Are you growing out your hair?"

Crimson nodded as she flipped onto her knees. Sirius watched, pressing his hands against the ground, as she scooted closer to him. She twisted his hair around her fingers lightly, "I miss my long hair. I had more options."

Sirius nodded. "Peter tells me I should plait my hair, but none of the boys know how to." She still had his hair around her slim fingers and it was rather distracting for him.

"I can do it for you." As if to prove her eligibility, Crimson leaned him forward and settled behind him, running her fingers through his silky hair. Sirius closed his eyes and relished in the feeling. "How would you like it?"

"I'm not sure. What are my options?"

They settled into a calm silence as they shared the cigarette Sirius brought with him. Crimson studied him as she twisted the hair around itself and he asked her what she was doing for the break. She told him her one uncle, Logan the motivational speaker, had a huge gig up in Scotland so she and her other uncle, Louis, were having a small quiet Christmas. He promised to teach her some more tricks at his gym.

"Your uncle sounds like a badass," Sirius grinned up at her. Crimson tied off the first braid and moved to the second.

"What're you doing for Christmas?"

Sirius let his smile fall as he thought about the upcoming break. "Well, usually I stay here, but the boys're all going home so I thought I might as well too. I mean Reggie isn't awful company yet so… I'll be getting yelled at by Mother, as far as I know." He tried to focus on the grounding feeling of Crimson tightly braiding his hair and the grounding sound of her humming to show she was listening.

He liked to be listened to.

"All done." She moved from behind him to next to him. The two felt a little colder at the space put between them. Autumn was quickly passing through the UK and it was obvious to them both. They huddled tightly beneath their robes and fought for the cigarette's heat until it was gone.

The next morning when Crimson got out of bed she felt the ache of last night in her bones until she stretched it out. Just like that, it was gone. As per usual, she was up before the other girls in her dorm, so she got dressed and climbed out of the Hufflepuff basement alone. Steven would catch up with her in due time, and she wasn't wrong. The moment she sat down to have a quiet cup of coffee Steven stormed into the Great Hall, loudly, and sat down across from her, loudly.

"Did you see Sirius's hair?" He asked, out of breath. "Did you do it?"

"Do what?" Crimson feigned confusion until Sirius strutted into the cafeteria, head held high. The girls all giggled and whispered to themselves as he moved smoothly to his table. "Oh, that? Yeah, he found me last night." She was pleased to see that the setting spell had worked and his hair looked as good now as it did when they left the tower.

"Well, wonderful job," Steven applauded. "I couldn't have done a better job myself. So, have you given my offer any more thought?"

"Yeah, I probably can't do anything until the second week," Crimson said in reference to his offer to come over and see his family again. His little sister, Stephanie, absolutely adored Crimson and couldn't wait to come to Hogwarts next year.

"No, that's fine, mum was just asking about you in her letter last night." Crimson had met Steven's family last Easter break and they were a pleasant sort. They lived in Brighton just outside of town where they had lots of room to play around and fly on their brooms.

"I'll send you a letter over break."

She didn't. Crimson didn't send a letter to Steven over break, just his gift with no note attached. She didn't reply to Sirius who had owled her, much to her surprise, with a gift, and she didn't expect anything from him, so she had nothing to send back to him anyway. No. Crimson was radio silent. Steven had just assumed she was having a pleasant time with Logan and just forgot about their plans, so he just looked forward to seeing her at school again.

The morning of their return to school Steven woke up and kissed his sister goodbye. His father waited for him at the front door with his trunk in hand (Mr Stebbins never understood why his son slept so late) and was quick to apparate them straight onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters. The students with scarves wound tightly around their necks made for a colourful crowd as Steven kissed his father on the cheek quickly before boarding the train.

He jogged down the compartments one by one until he came to the one he was looking for, only it wasn't what he was expecting. Steven stood outside the glass and looked at the girl who sat inside. Her hair was braided off to the side, her arm was in a muggle cast in a muggle sling, and her eye was black and blue. There wasn't any confidence in the way she sat, slumped over in her seat with defeat written across her face. Steven stepped in before she could see him studying her.

"Rosie?" Crimson turned to him, and he could see the damage was worse than he thought. The purple was mixed with a yellowish-green that covered her entire brow rather than just one eye. "What happened?"

"Shit happened." She refused to say anything else. Crimson just seemed to have awful luck during breaks. It seemed that, no matter what, she came back to Hogwarts different than when she left it–worse than when she left it.

Steven tried not to pry and stayed silent during the ride. He wanted to tell her about his amazing Christmas with his family, but that clearly wasn't the right move. She got off the train quickly once they stopped and Steven chased after her to the carriages. He fended off two Ravenclaws from getting in after him and sat in another, bumpier, silence than the train ride.

Crimson wasn't sure what he was thinking, but the pity on his face was enough for her. She didn't need pity; she needed Madam Pomfrey to fix her face and arm so nobody else could see her like this. She wouldn't allow anyone else the chance to pity her. The instant the carriage reached the castle Crimson got off and practically ran to the infirmary where Madam Pomfrey was making the bed for the students.

"My! What happened to you, dear?" She asked, appalled at Crimson's state. "Come along, we'll have you healed so you can go to dinner."

A few wand waves and potions later, Crimson Reed was back to her regular state. Her arm was a bit sweatier than before, but that was more because of the cast than anything. She hoped Steven wouldn't make a big fuss once she got to the table, but he would. she knew he would.

"I'll tell you later," she cut him off before he could start his mothering. "Now tell me about your perfectly pleasant break before I break someone's nose." The second-year next to Crimson scooted away.

And so he did. And it was wonderful. And Crimson was jealous of his perfect break. It seemed that no matter what she did she always found herself at rock bottom and by the end of the feast she most certainly was. Instead of heading through the barrels after dinner, Steven pulled her through the painting of the fruit and into the kitchens. He asked for a cup of hot chocolate and let Crimson do all the talking that night.

"Louis was at some networking event with his manager and asked me to go get something for dinner for when he got home–he hates eating in front of strangers. So, I went and got us some fish and chips from the nearby restaurant. We always ate there when Logan wasn't there to shame us for eating unhealthy food.

"I was on my way back from there when I passed a group of guys who had come out of the pub. I thought if I kept my head down they wouldn't notice me. they were so pissed they wouldn't notice if a car hit them. But they did, and they followed me for two blocks before they got impatient. They dragged me into an alley… I tried to fight them, but they only got angrier and they almost—"

Crimson's voice, which was getting heavier the longer she spoke, broke and she took a deep breath. "Luckily, someone heard my screams. Got me to a hospital, called my uncle. After that, the rest of my break was quiet. Logan came home early for my last weekend and we watched movies. It was nice."

"Are you—"

"They really like you, you know that?" Crimson cut him off and sniffled loudly. "They like that you call me Rosie and tease me about it. They like that I have a friend at Hogwarts… Do you want to know why my name is Crimson?" Steven nodded, scared to speak. "It's because when I was born the sheets covering my mother were stained crimson. She didn't survive, and my father called me his 'Crimson Stain' all my life. My uncles were the ones who changed it to Rose.

"Steven, I don't know what you see in me, or why you decided to stick around… so thank you. I'm just a stain on this world."

"You aren't a stain," Steven said after he was certain that she had finished. "You've had a rough life, but you aren't a stain. I call you Rosie because you are beautiful and a blessing. And clearly, I'm not the only one who sees it."

"My uncles don't count." Crimson scoffed.

"I wasn't talking about them," he smiled. "Black must see what I see, because what does he call you now?"

"Rose Bud?"

"Rose Bud."

That night Crimson lay in bed thinking about what Steven had said in the kitchens. She thought about how the night before she regretted letting Sirius Black stop her from stepping off that roof. That if he hadn't, she wouldn't be in the pain she was in now. And while she still thought that she was better off dead, she was secretly glad he saved her life, if only so she got to play with his hair, finally.


Author's note

This is the last chapter in my vault. Updates will be sporatic. Thank you for coming this far. :)