Professor Wimbles' pitchy magnified voice travelled through the Astronomy class, reaching into the furthest recesses of the room, including where the Marauders sat huddled in pairs at the back. This was a very well-chosen spot for discussions that could not reach the ever-listening ears of the Hogwarts populace, particularly those belonging to Severus Snape.
Sirius stared around at the other students, looking haughty and bored, yet very-handsomely so, while Peter fidgeted absentmindedly.
For many it was a relief that tonight's class was within the confines of the castles walls, sheltering them from the ravenous winds that currently raged beyond and hit ferociously at the windows, causing a mild rattling. The Marauders rejoiced in the freedom the outdoor classes provided, they would have been able to set up their scopes in a remote part of the ground and pass the next few hours lazily taking in the still atmosphere. Thus James emitted a groan of disappointment when the astrological maps were passed around. "This shit is boring" he muttered, "I wish it was a full moon" he added as a barely audible afterthought. A dark, troubled look flashed for a millisecond on Remus' thin face but this went unnoticed due to his head being buried in a large tome depicting the astrological movements of Jupiter's 800th star tonight. "We might be able to map Pluto's moon tonight!" Remus gushed contentedly. "Boring, we saw it last year" said Sirius, a corresponding look of magnificent boredom proclaiming itself on his god-like features. Remus shrugged, and pointed at a small etched diagram in the textbook, "Musrar" he added by way of explanation. James peered over his shoulder at the small sketch of the bright green planet, he was sure it was probably very interesting but was distracted by how accurately the green matched that of Lily's eyes.
The other students assembled into pairs to tackle the large, curled maps with travelling squiggly arrows and barely legible labels the hopped as the planets orbited the page, nonsense to those not learned in the teachings of astronomy. The maps were very old and thick so several worked out a method of one person holding the map stable while the other copied down copious amounts of co-ordinates and star labels.
Alone Marissa was growing frustrated with the map. She tapped it a few times with her wand, muttering incantations to keep it unfolded but should not have been surprised at her failure. An object of this magical power would obviously be immune to a school goers spells. The grey standard school dress emphasised her narrow hips and bow legs as it skirted around her pole-like form. She used her long, slender arms to unfurl the map out in front of her, it insisted on reforming back into its tightly wound form, she sighed with exasperation and patiently attempted to unfold it again. Professor Wimble saw her struggle and briskly instructed the nearest human to partner with her for the period. With an unfazed brush of her hand she whisked the obviously reluctant Sirius to where Marissa struggled.
Sirius held it down impatiently, wishing dearly to be back with his friends in the safety of the end desks. He made faces to the group he had been amongst mere moments earlier, who were now mimicking romantic serenades. It was indeed fortunate that Professor Wimble had turned his back to assist the Farren twins for Sirius Black formulated a rather rude hand gesture in response. As the minutes in the class furthered it seemed as though the pair of teenagers were trying to have as little contact as humanely possible with each other. Wordlessly the minutes slunk by and Sirius' arm was growing sorer with the strain of holding the heavy astrological map. They were both equally unwilling to broach the bulbous silence between them. Marissa furiously labelled and relabelled, scratching out planet names diligently.
She flung the parchment as fast as she could over to his side of the desk and he halted it from falling off the edge with a light 'thunk' of his palm. Entirely unfazed by her aggressive behaviour, Sirius regarded the work briefly before speaking in his easy London-spiked drawl. "I don't need to copy you, I know it already" he smiled. Then with as much nonchalance possible, he lazily pointed to several labels. "Wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong again Gardner". She indignantly noticed that in her haste, Sirius was correct; the majority of work was pointless. He surveyed her idly and lost interest redirecting his focus to Elena Farren's bum, Marissa struggled deeply for something to retort and true to her nature she said nothing at all. Sirius had always detested the way women got tetchy for the most miniscule reasons so he inwardly celebrated the fact Wimble had paired him with a mute
Finally after much deliberating in her mind she said exactly what she had always wanted to tell Sirius Black. This statement had been something Marissa had incessantly pondered She spoke words that made Sirius jar uneasily. "You don't have to pretend you don't care so much, it's okay to feel something". Marissa pronounced each syllable gently and delicately, as if she had been contemplating them for an exceedingly long period of time.
The steeliness in his eyes glinted with shock and one fist tightened around the packet of cigarettes in his pocket, crumpling the withered box further. For the most part, Sirius Black was most definitely proud and he was the one who contributed to others discomfort. It hadn't always been this way but it was a type of defensive behaviour he had learned to survive in the Black household. His cool façade had been the block to his mother's ringing sentiments; "Scum" and "Disgrace to his heritage" had been among her favourites.
It wasn't that Marissa had expected him to burst into salty tears and divulge his inner most hopes and dreams to her, it's just that she hadn't expected the coldness in his voice when he spoke next. "You might want to fix that question, you still have seventeen wrong". He stared coolly ahead making no inclination that the conversation was to be considered further. Elena Farren looked well tonight.
Minutes drifted by without further interaction and very soon the hour was lending itself to the end of the lesson. Sirius unfurled himself with slight relief from the uncomfortable wooden chair, looking forward to re-joining the boys whose howls of laughter broke repeatedly from the back of the room. He moved to leave.
"Ehm.. Exc.. Excuse me, ..Sirius?" she timidly began, almost stopping herself halfway through but loudly enough to intercept his departure.
"Mhm?" came the uninterested response.
"Wh..I mean.. How did you get Murar as part seventeen?" She paused, there was a wobble to her tone that revealed her unease. "It's just I don't.., I mean I can't.."
"Easy, the 170 degree turn around star 10240 gives it the green glow"
She stared at the page, trying to make his answer fit with the reams of theory she had spent hours integrating into her mind. He leaned over and used his quill to identify the question. His heady smell enveloped Marissa and caught slightly in her throat. She looked jerkily up to his close hovering form, and she was suddenly aware to the very light stubble that covered his linear jaw. She also marvelled at the crystalline nature of his charcoal grey eyes, they were aligned to the page but from where she sat their glittering nature was fully visible. Involuntarily she passed a barely audible squeak. This near-silent noise diverted Sirius to her delicate visage.
Their lines of vision became entangled and it was then that Sirius noted their closeness. The proximity was so wonderfully minimal that her breath flitted lightly up towards him, catching his without much effort on her part.
Marissa's round brown eyes blinked widely at him from behind the confines of her thick, matted eyelashes. Bare inches from her lips, he glanced at their fullness and rosiness before redirecting his fascinated gaze back to those superbly exquisite eyes. She looked at him fearfully, completely wary of what might just happen. Oblivious to the buzz surrounding them they were in an odd stage of transience that included only each other. If it had been another girl, Sirius would have no qualms in pushing her against a desk and kissing her roughly. Sitting there she looked too fragile for this genre of behaviour and so he abstained from following what his instinct screamed at him to do.
'This wasn't what she wanted!' her conscience yelped incessantly. Hastily he mind whirred with the prospect of contact. His towering form created a shadow over her body that made her tense. Never before had a boy made her feel so small, in fact it was usually the reverse. The pair was so close, just the perfect distance for him to place his lips lightly against hers and draw in her close by tipping her face upwards. Marissa's breathing grew rapid and in what was only seconds but seemed like so much longer she yearned for the privilege of having him. In Marissa's world fantasy never aligned with reality. It was time to acknowledge that and she pushed the chair in as she left swiftly, clumsily knocking into a desk on exiting. The lithe figure faded into the castle's corridors.
The familiar tall body that was James Potter treaded towards the lone Sirius.
"Oi, what was that?" James enquired.
"What?" Sirius feigned surprise, as if he hadn't felt James' hazel eyes on his back for the entire duration of the class.
"Back there! That!", he nudged Sirius.
"Nothing!", Sirius replied gruffly slinging his bag over his shoulder with such ferocity he was sure there would be a tender bruise at the point of contact by tomorrow.
In a simpering, mock-concerned voice with a corresponding facial expression, James began "I'm so sorry Pads, I had no idea it was your time of month".
Sirius couldn't help up emit a bark-like laugh at his friend's childishness; it made so many things bearable.