Hello my beautiful readers!
We're on Chapter 15! That is honestly so unbelievably surreal to even contemplate. I'd like to thank everyone of you who have stuck by me for supporting me and this story. I love you all.
Thank you so much to Adiba.s101, Guest, Raven that flies at night, Madwamoose, Marie0907, and Yvonne for their lovely reviews and welcome to my new readers. I hope you are enjoying the story!
I'm sure many of you will enjoy this chapter! Theres some pretty intense moments but theres also some really happy ones. Its all about balance hehe!
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"To seek greatness is the only righteous vengeance."
-Criss Jami
Students from all years and houses had gathered for one of the most anticipated events of the year, Professor Bradley's Duelling club. It had been talked about non stop. The Slytherin's had spent the week practising curses on other students, Ravenclaws had had their heads in books at all hours of the day, Hufflepuffs were coming up with Strategy's and the Gryffindor's were telling people how they'd kick the Slytherin's asses.
All in all, it was a pretty normal week.
After breakfast, the Great Hall, had been cleared of its standard four tables; instead having one large duelling platform in the middle of the hall. Students chattered about all sorts in anticipation and excitement, the shorter students that had been pushed towards the back were jumping so they could see over the hoards of students. It seemed that all the students looked excited; even those of whom had been blood purity supporters.
The Gryffindor seventh years, stood in a group towards the middle of the crowd chattering amongst one another, Lots had noticed that their dynamic had changed in the last week. James and Lily were closer than ever and propably the most sickeningly sweet couple in the school, Mary and Remus were constantly together flirting and joking around at any given time. It was nothing that was unexpected, it was the rest of the group that changed more than anything, Beverley walked around the halls with such vigilance, her wand in hand, eyes dark, a silent warrior, she payed attention to everything and no matter how good she was at being subtle, she'd changed too much to not be noticed, her hair was no longer Blue or pink, it was Black or Blonde, her outits didn't stand out too much, it was too unlike her. Elizabeth and Sirius had gotten closer, with both their best friends hooking up it was inevitable if you thought about it.
That in itself wasn't unusual, it was the way they stared at eachother when they thought no one was looking, the way that their hugs lasted abit too long or how when the other was talking it wouldn't be surprising to see the one glance at their lips in desire.
And Peter as per usual was eating and telling jokes.
No suprises there.
"Do you think he's going straight into duelling?" Elizabeth whispered as she leant over towards Sirius so he could hear her clearly over the chattering of teens.
Sirius shrugged, "I dunno, but I sure hope so."
"Me too."
"Yeah but you probably just wanna learn stuff, I wanna kick some Slytherin ass while im at it." Elizabeth let out a snort and rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah, who says I don't want to?" Elizabeth pursed her lips and leant to the side whilst crossing her arms over her chest. Sirius let out a bark of laughter at her out of character statement.
"Puh-lease, You, Elizabeth Gilmore, good girl of Gryffindor?"
She interrupted, "Nice use of Alliteration."
"Shut up and let me continue my dramatic spiel."
"What large words you're using!" she laughed causing him to shove her lightly to the side, causing her laughter to get louder and Sirius couldn't help but crack a wide smile. She had surprised him when she let out such an unrestrained, blissful laugh, the type of laugh he felt like he hadn't heard in centuries. Her laugh was like a melody, pure and beautiful, free and charming. He wanted to hear more, the sound was so intoxicating, the way it made his chest feel like it was overflowing, the way his stomach flipped.
And then it was over, the room silenced in an awkward manner, it wasn't gradual, it was all at once.
Professor Bradley stood at the end of the platform, straight backed, his battle hardened eyes sweeped over the students that were standing in silence anticipating what he'd say.
The blonde Professor took a deep breath had echoed through the silent hall.
"4,671."
Around the hall people inhaled sharply at the number, they knew what it was, they'd seen it this morning. It was a reminder of how serious war was.
"4,671; That is the current death toll, muggle and magic, and that wont even be all of it. There's the people that have gone missing, whose bodies were never found, people who just died and cannot be related to the war. Some of you have people you know included in that number, some of you have family, friends."
Many were now looking down at the ground or up at the clear sky of the hall, mourning the loss of those they loved, trying to push down the pain that was throbbing in their chests. Sirius turned to see Lily holding both Beverley and Elizabeths hand, Sirius looked down at Liz's free hand and in his mind contemplated, did someone need to like someone romantically to hold their hand…nah. Sirius moved slightly closer to her and moved his large hand towards her small slim hand. As their fingers intertwined she looked up at him with piercing blue eyes which were red rimmed from salty tears gathering, she gave him a small closed mouth smile of gratitude before turning away to face Bradley.
"One day, many of you will be included in the death toll, some of you will be tortured for information, tortured for the sake of it,some of you will be hit with a stray curse, some will be hunted down. You will lose those you care and love, you might have to kill someone." Bradleys arms were locked at his sides but you could see his fists clenching and knuckled white from loss of circulation.
Elizabeth watched the man curiously as she tried to push away the abyss of grief that was threatening her. She felt her insides churning at the thought of the war. She wanted nothing more than to fight, but she wanted nothing to do with killing and torture. But she could not have one without the other. they were synonymous.
"The first time I was ever in a proper duel, I was 19 years old, my first Auror mission with my best friend, we were partners you see." The Professor looked old, too old for his age , his eyes were far away even as he looked at all his students. Elizabeth couldn't help but note the deep sadness and roaring anger that was tattooed in his gaze. "That Day I learnt more than you can imagine, but I lost so much more. David, he was one of the bravest chaps I knew and when we were sent out, we were so young, so naïve, the older aurors saw our excitement and laughed at us, Why would someone be excited to go duel to the death."
He sighed deeply and shook his head in defeat, "It was our arrogance that cost us our innocence. The way it does so many people."
Sirius looked around the room and saw peoples reactions, he watched as Lily bit her lip as if deeply in thought, her pale skin slightly pasty and eyes worried as she looked up towards James at those words. He sighed, of course she'd look at the one she called arrogant for years. In his heart Sirius once again felt a pang of jealousy, he hated himself for it, but he couldn't help it. James had everything, the family, the brains, the friends, the girl… he had, barely any of that and he was envious of it. Nobody would ever look at him the way Lily had looked at James, with such care and worry. He'd never admit it out loud, but he wanted that. With a shake of his head Sirius continued to look around the hall until he felt eyes on him, familiar eyes.
Sirius turned around to see his brother looking at him, worry etched onto his face, something swelled within him, affection maybe? Sirius shook his head and turned away from the grey eyes so like his own, he didn't want his brothers care, his brother hadn't taken his advice once, hadn't defended him, hadn't thanked him. Nothing. He didn't want his brothers care.
He didn't know what he wanted.
Bradleys eyes inconspicuously gazed over the Marauders, "In some of you I see so much of myself and David, I see the pride, the thirst for trouble, a strong sense of justice, the bravery, the arrogance. I see it all." he said, regret laced through his tone, "And I fear for what will become of many of you."
Sirius turned to James, feeling Bradleys words directed at them. His brother, he loved him so much.
"We went out and we were doing fine, you know following all the rules, stun don't kill. Do not maim if possible. But then all hell broke loose, before we could apparate away as per orders the apparition wards went up and Dave and I were trapped. We duelled for several minutes, unforgivables and curses we'd never heard about were thrown about. And then it happened." He shook his head and clenched his teeth in anger.
"A killing curse hit him." He looked around at the shocked hall. "That day I lost a part of myself, my best friend, my brother, my confidant, my family, my other half. He was everything to me, as I was to him, and that day, because of our stupidity and arrogance he died." Professor Bradleys jaw clenched and unclenched, his pale blue/grey eyes slightly red rimmed and his voice wavered as he stated what his best friend was to him. The marauders stared towards one another before looking away, the thought of losing either of them was unbearable.
"I don't want either of you to lose anyone like that, even if it inenvitable."
The words caused an unknown force to hit Sirius, it was heavy, and rested on his shoulders. He once again looked around the room and pointed out his friends, just to check, see if they were alright, if they were alive. He never wanted to be someone like Bradley, he didn't want to tell people he'd lost his best friend, or anyone he loved for that matter, he didn't want to refer to them in past tense.
It would make everything so real.
It was in that moment that he realised the cold hard truth.
The real world was awful.
It was brutal, bloody yet beautiful. A prepossessing painting that was drawn in all but black and white. He looked up towards the podium with determination flickering in his eyes, he was burning with resolve.
However, The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long.
Elizabeth let a smile grow on her face, however this smile was not of sweetness and love, or of joy and accomplishment. It was of knowing that she could take on what was thrown at her. As Elizabeth turned to look at the tall, dark haired boy; no, man who was standing next to her, his face a determined mask but his eyes encasing several emotions, it seemed that all around him the force of magic burned and bubbled.
It was a hot volcanic mess, that she was sure would one day erupt.
She knew that reality finally hit him in the face, just as she'd said it would, a blunt punch. It had hit them weeks ago, where they'd felt and seen death, where they experienced pain and terror. But it seemed that Sirius was slow on the uptaking.
As they partnered up for the practise spell casting, Elizabeths smile grew larger with resolve.
Her name was Elizabeth Gilmore, and she was a fighter.
Several injury's later a cringing Professor Bradley stood up infront of the group of students, he was massaging his temples with the pad of his thumbs.
"Suffice to say, there is much room for improvement." At his words many of the lazier students groaned in annoyance, hard work? Really?
"No groaning, most of you were awful, I've seen second years duel better than some of the fifth years." He looked pointedly at a group of Hufflepuff girls who were the biggest idiots in the school, they had spent the whole time screaming and complaining whilst hitting students they didn't like with curses instead of their partner.
"My original plan was to have abit of tournament to gauge what your level is but I can already tell what most of you need, A lot of time and patience I'd say. I'd like my seventh year NEWT class to step forward, yes Mr Mulciber, all of you, now cut out your whining." The seventh year students stood forward, some cowering slightly under the scrutiny of the entire school whilst others stood confidently, thriving under the attention. "All of you are expected to compete in this little inter -house tournament, those of you who do not, well I'm sure we can have our next class outside near the lake." He gave them all a fleeting smile causing many to cower away from the teacher who didn't make idle threats.
Nobody wanted to have a class near the lakes after last time.
"How this will work is we will work through the house's gauging out the top two best duellers from each house, then those eight students will face off between each other. The winner will get 200 house points, second place 100 and those who get into the semi's get 50 points each."
"So, let's have the Ravenclaws in my class up here, give them a large applause!"
She'd thought it'd take a fairly long time, however it was going quite quickly which was saying something considering the Ravenclaws were all quite adept at duelling. To Elizabeth's joy, Pandora Nolan, who was a very talented witch, very crafty and talented at experimental spells got first place in the Ravenclaw group and much to her distaste Victoria Mallows, who despite coming off as ditsy was surprisingly intelligent. She was a Ravenclaw after all.
For Elizabeth watching the Hufflepuffs was probably most entertaining, not because they were bad, gosh no, they were fierce, and they were smart. Around third year she'd made friends with several of the Hufflepuffs, their house values embody loyalty, hardwork and just. However they are just as cunning as any Slytherin. Lyra Bones, younger sister of the renowned Amellia Bones who had become one of the first female aurors who made it past training, lost, many people expected her to win out of the Hufflepuffs but she didn't, she lost and when she did whispers erupted around the hall, smearing her name, shouts of disgrace; Elizabeth didn't react, she'd personally duelled with the youngest Bones before, and she was good, better than good, she was brilliant. Did the pressure get to her? Was she unwell? Dorcas meadows had butchered everyone in her house coming first whilst Sturgis Podmore came second.
And then it was they Slytherins, whom had fought valiantly, and whilst they were known for their rescourfulness the Slytherins struggled without being able to cast darker, less legal curses. And then Bradley stepped forward when two were left.
"And now our final Slytherins, Severus Snape and Hailey Sonda!" many gasped at this pairing, it was an odd pairing, the darkest of dark and the brightest light. Hailey was acclaimed as the most well liked Slytherin in centuries, she got along with virtually everyone, she was kind to all but could kill with a stare, she was generous but she was selfish, she contradicted herself in so many ways.
Hailey's complexion was pale, but she glared at Snape with amber eyes unflinchingly; with fierce determination. Snape himself returned her stare with a slightly confident smirk playing upon his pale features.
They were of the best in Slytherin, both fierce warriors, both talented, both hardworking, and only one would win, unless an exception was made.
"You know the rules, Are you ready?" They nodded curtly at him without taking their eyes off one another.
'On the count to three then. One… two… three! Duel!'
Unlike other duels the two of them stood frigid, still staring at one another, sizing one another up before Hailey moved, she didn't aim, she didn't cast a spell, she just twisted her body in a complex maneuver, which caused Snape's annoyingly arrogant smirk to widen. He cast the first spell which in theory should've knocked her out, but didn't, she twisted once more so she was back in her original stance when she started to cast.
She'd never had to cast so fast, to block and cast spells simultaneously, she was tiring but she could feel adrenaline raging through her, she'd never felt so thrilled, so confident with her abilities.
Snape was one of the most accomplished duellers in their year, he was crafty and creative, none of his past opponents had got past his shields, not one push or scratch, nothing. Haileys face screwed up in thought as she placed a dome like shield around her, after a few moments her shield noticeably waned, a latin spell came barrelling out of her, a bright light erupting from her wand as she chanted, it was when her shield seemed to stay in place and strnger than ever, it looked like an impenetrable fortress.
Snape seemed to stop for a moment as he stumbled on what spell to use, when he felt a force push against him causing him to gasp as he fell to the ground, his stomach felt like it had been pulled out of his body then placed back, he looked up at her with anger replacing his usual scowling features, she had a triumphant smile over her face as she looked down at him, with a snarl he muttered 'levicorpus' where she was hoisted up by her ankle, he let out a chilling soft laugh as he watched her struggle to pull herself back up, and as the standard five seconds passed Dumbledore opened his mouth to announce the end of the duel when everything changed, a wave of magic was released from Hailey causing many around the hall to stumble back including Snape, she gathered herself up and stared at him.
Both their features were aflame with determination, resolve and anger, they were alight, they were ablaze. It seemed to those watching that the duel did not start until that moment, flashes and streaks of light were thrown between them, reds, whites, purples and blues, it was a multicolour shower of lights. They seemed to rebound off eachother, until they exploded, cheers erupted from around the hall as they fought fiercer than anyone else had to that moment.
Snapes jaw was clenched as sweat dripped down his brow, in a moment of frenzied noise he muttered an incantation 'ut in somno', it let out a colourless streak that caused the brunette to stumble back gasping in pain as her eyes started to close against her will, she clenched her teeth together as she too muttered an incantation before she felt a forced sleep nearly come over her, "pro illis qui mala" where he grabbed his head and let out a grunt as he dropped his wand with trembling hands.
The hall silenced.
It was a draw.
Then came the time for the Gryffindor, where Professor Bradley chose the pairings brutally, Lily with James, Mary with Remus. Lily butchered James, not because he was untalented, no defence was one of this best classes, it was the fact it was it Lily that he was meant to be fighting. How could he hurt his Lilyflower. Much of the same happened with Mary and Remus, except Remus won this one, defence was his best class, he was in the top three for defence in their year.
"Sirius Black and Elizabeth Gilmore." Sharp intakes of breath were heard at the pairing, it was an enigmatic pairing, he was known all over for his sheer brilliance at everything, his grades, to his pranks to his looks. Elizabeth Gilmore was the unknown of the pair, Gryffindor 7th year, amazing grades, friends with many, but to many of those friends, they still didn't know her. Two profound students, fighting each other for a prestigious title.
Elizabeth felt her heart clench, could she fight him? She knew he would be a formidable partner, he would fight and nothing would stop him. Could she cast a spell against him...
Sirius watched as she nodded at him, signally she was okay. He was glad, he shouldn't be glad that she was going to give it her all, but he was. She would finally show the students what she was made of, and for her to fight him. He couldn't wait to see her eyes light up with passion and drive, to feel her magic in the air...
They walked towards either side of the platform, ascending the steps slowly causing the rest of the student body to shiver in anticipation. They held their wands tightly in their hands as they met eachothers gazes. Bradleys words were blurred out, they'd heard it a million times, don't kill, don't use illegal spells. It was throughout that blur that they heard the words signalling them to begin, and then blue met grey.
Let the fight begin.
To those watching it was like they were dancing, switching offensive and defensive stances, their feet moving swiftly and softly, their moves elegant. A storm of colourful lightening clashed together in between them, creating a supernova of colours. It was, to the onlookers, simply magical.
They had started just moments after they were given the signal to begin, as they broke the intense electricity connecting them together, they sent a spell towards eachother which clashed and rebounded causing them to conjure shields. Moments passes as they both got more confident, neither of them had managed a hit to eachother. Both their defence was strong, Elizabeth mused, their weakness was their offence.
During her muses she saw a white flash of light in her peripheral vision causing her to duck at it shot over her head and was absorbed by the duelling shields. Her eyes narrowed as she realised what the spell was.
So he was playing dirty huh, of course. After her epiphany a smirk grew on her pale face, who was going to stop her if she did hurt him, her heart started beating faster as more violent curses erupted from her wand, curses shes never practised, flashed before her mind, a powerful surge enveloping her, her magic running through her veins burning her, marking her.
She felt powerful.
She felt free.
Her insides churned in protest at the thought of purposely maiming him, but she wanted to win, she wanted to prove to everyone she wasn't a weak damsel in distress that couldn't put up a fight. No. She was going to show them the tough material she was made from.
He realised moments before she did that he shouldn't have sent the curse, he switched the defence as she switched to offence, sending spells at him alarmingly fast, and for a moment he slipped, her spells were fast and they were strong. His musings were interrupted by a strong erupting pain in his side, it vaguely reminded him of a stinging jinx but it sure as hell didn't feel like one. He looked up as she saw her face, gone was her light blue gems, replaced with fiery sapphires they were.
She looked enraged, she looked angry, she looked dangerous.
He knew he had to end it before she got so lost in her own power, that she wouldn't find herself after it was over. Her defence got sloppier as his offense got stronger. Chaos reigned around the hall as Sirius gathered all his strength, all his power, and pushed it all into his spells, the spells thrown between eachother were so bright that it made others wince at the brightness, it was like looking at the sun without your sunglasses.
He could feel her blaring anger, he knew inside that any more and she would be lost. This duel needed to end. He needed t save her by hurting her.
And then it happened. He hit her with a spell, a spell that he'd known since he was a child.
A black family spell.
Disgust permeated him as he saw her stumble back, her wand arm shaking as it clutched her stomach, her face blanched in pain and her eyes slowly lost their sapphire glow, becoming aquamarine once more. A soft moan escaped her as she crumbled to the floor. Sirius looked at her with an apologetic look on his face which was replaced with a smile as he heard the blinding cheers of the crowd, he'd enjoy this small sentiment as he tried to forget that he'd drifted back to his origins when he was desperate. His eyes caught his younger brothers who was looking at him in disbelief, a wry smirk plastered across his face.
Bradley watched the duel in fascination, he saw talent and potential in both of them, talent that would be dangerous, potential that would have unsavoury sorts craving their skills, seducing them to join their cause. He watched as they both switched tactics, switching between offense and defence sporadically. What caused him concern was that whilst both had prospective powers for both sides, what they would choose was their choice.
But as he watched Elizabeth Gilmores eyes darken to a sapphire blue, a shock went through him, a searing jolt, if she joined Voldemort.
Their efforts would be feeble.
And as Sirius Blacks features became darker, more dangerous, as his aura became clouded with darkness, his heart plummeted. No matter how much he preached his allegiance to the light, no one could deny how intune he was with the darker aspects of magic.
Afterall it ran in his blood.
Blood, a powerful weapon, a magnet between humans. A contract of loyalty.
Loyalty.
Both these students would choose their way, he only hoped that they followed the light. For if they joined the dark,
Even the stars would stop shining.
There was a two hour interval before the finals, where the school ate lunch, the duellers got healed and finalists read up on last minute spells.
But Sirius was confident, he knew that he didn't need to study what he was going to do next, if he did he'd fail. He was spontaneous and he would stay spontaneous even in times of hardship. The tall, long haired teenager stalked through the halls contemplating the duel that got him into the finals. The duel against Elizabeth Gilmore.
Despite having not shown it, inwardly he was shocked beyond words at her actions. The passion and determination in her eyes was not a passing thing. It was bright and burning, She had shone so brightly with a raging fire within. It was glorious and the energy around her was addictive. He knew it was wrong, he knew it was dangerous... but the fire that she acted with that day was remarkable.
He'd never seen her potential so visibly before.
Sirius looked up as he heard voices ahead of him to see a familiar curly haired black teen. His breath hitched and he felt himself tense as he watched the boy interact with Avery. He could feel his blood boil as he saw the friendliness they were able to interact with. He couldn't...it was Dangerous.
Ahead of him was Regulus.
His little, baby brother was on friendly terms with a known death eater. He felt a wave of protective desire come over him. Regulus wasn't allowed to be friends with Avery, he couldn't be. It was wrong. But then where was his right to get in the way of his brothers desires. He felt guilt gnawing in him, and then pinpricks of regret. He left him.
As Avery walked away, Regulus turned around, his mouth turned downwards in a frown. As Sirius's grey eyes met identical ones he felt a wave of regret. Regulus's frown set itself into a more angered line. He furrowed his brow as his face contorted in anger. He seemed so full of anger these days. Sirius couldn't help but think. Despite having not spoken to his brother in well over a year, it didn't mean he didn't watch over him from afar. He was his little brother, and despite everything, he loved him.
"Sirius." he muttered as he ended up face to face with him. Sirius looked upon his younger brothers face that so was alike to his own. His nose was lightly more sloped, his features softer and his eyes had a tinge of blue to them.
"Regulus." he whispered, as he didn't need to look down to look into his brothers eyes, he had grown so much. they both stood gazing at eachother for a moment. Regulus opened his mouth and shut it reluctantly. Sirius saw this and thinking his much calmer brother was going to reprimand him spoke.
"Look, if you want to say anything just say it." he spat, causing the boy to flinch back slightly. Regulus looked at him and stepped forward so he was barely a foot away from his older brother.
"There is so much I want to say to you Siri." he shook his head bitterly, "I want to berate you for leaving me, I want to hate you so much for leaving me. I want to tell you all they did to me, how I copped the brunt of your punishment, that I still have scars laced on my back and couldn't walk for several days"
Sirius winced at the visible pain in his brothers longing gaze.
"I want you to know how mother cried at night and how Bella smashed your door, I want you to know how father used the cruciatus curse on me , how the summer after you left 7 of my bones were broken." Sirius felt tears spring into his eyes as his brother spat out his punishments and accidents because of him, how since he left he'd made his little brothers life a hell.
"They constantly reminded me how I wasn't you, that I couldn't measure up to the legendary Sirius Black!" he spat and scuffed his foot on the concrete, "That I wasn't as charismatic, or as confident or wordy. That I didn't have the fire to be him but I was all they had left!" Sirius stood in silence at his brothers pain inducing words. "That to be good a Black heir I needed more of my mothers fire as opposed to my fathers calm, that I needed to be more charismatic like Grandfather Arcturus and more wordily like Grandmother Cassiopeia."
Regulus stepped forward once again so he could feel his brothers breath on his face. He enunciated every word with a stab to Sirius's chest with his finger. "Everything that you were! And You know whats even worse Sirius?" He shook his head in disgust,
"You never would have left James as easily as you left me."
Sirius opened his mouth and nothing but a strangled sound escaped him, "Re...Regulus." Regulus shook his head and stepped back, blinking away the unshed tears in his red rimmed eyes.
"No Sirius. I don't want to hear it." he turned around and began to walk away as his brother watched his retreating form. Sirius felt a tear run down his face. Regulus turned around after about five meters.
"Oh and, good luck for today, You'll smash it."
Sirius didn't even hear it, all he could hear were his brothers torturous words. His brother, that he vowed to protect, suffered because of him. His brother thought he didn't love him as much as his best friend.
Despite his actions not showing it, he loved his brother more than he could convey with words.
Unlike everyone else Elizabeth Gilmore was not inside enjoying the mounds of food, she was outside sitting in the cold breeze, watching the lake ripple from impact of light raindrops.
Her heart clenched as she watched her surroundings, it was so beautiful, so innocent, so natural, so unlike her. She felt bile rise in her throat as she thought back to the duel, she wished she could erase it from her mind, forget it ever happened. She had tried to maim someone, tried to hurt them, she felt the urge to kill, to damage. What sort of person did that make her. She felt inclined to tune herself into the ferocious dragon that had started blazing fire within her, she felt urge to open up to magic once more, to allow her power to rush through her veins, to be engulfed by magic, intoxicated by power. But she hated it, she loved it just as much as she hated it because she knew it was wrong.
She wanted to hurt Sirius, she wanted to hurt him so bad, but she cared about him, she was his friend, maybe something more. How can she hurt someone she claims to care about.
She felt dirty, she felt tarnished, she felt as though no amount of scrubbing could get the filth that stained her off. Her heart felt dirty but it felt pure, an internal conflict within her, to love or to hate, power or no power. She'd never craved to be great, to be known, she had always wanted to be good, but what had changed?
Over the last few weeks her feelings had been conflicted, and it was all because of the shaggy haired hunk that was in her year level, he made her stomach churn, her cheeks redden and heart flutter. Was hat it, was that what made her change. She didn't love him, but she couldn't imagine life without him in it, the thought of a life without him stealing her bacon, teasing her, playing pranks, laughing, it made her entire being ache, her heart would feel vacant, her entire existence would feel meaningless. What was this? Was this love? Was this infatuation?
Her aquamarine eyes shut in relief as she felt the rain begin to fall in heavy pitter patter patterns, running down her dark strands of hair, as if footsteps across tiles. The rain and her tears mingled in a salty harmony, she could feel it cleansing her, washing her, as if the rain was gods healing touch, it brought serenity to the chaos that was her life. She let out a gasp as the gusting wind carried the rain in a wild diagonal sheets, swirling in the energies of magic, shining in the darkness. The rain cleansed troubled souls, brought them relief in a world littered in pain.
"Oi Lizzie!" A loud voice yelled after her as she tracked her way to the Gryffindor common room, her cloak leaving a trail of water behind her, it was like a trail of slime a slug left. She heaved a heavy sigh as she recognised the deep voice running after her, it was the last person she wanted to see after being thoroughly humiliated infront of everyone, with her conflicted feelings and teenage hormones, she didn't want to see him. She kept walking ahead, as if she'd never heard him. But his strides were much faster than her own, even when she was speed walking.
"Lizzie wait up!" at last she had reached the fat ladies portrait,
"Coca Cola." She muttered as the portrait opened, it was obvious who chose that password, Lily, she bought cans with her in her luggage to sustain her, unhealthy obsessions 101 with Lily. Sirius followed her in and grabbed her hand. She turned back and looked at him, fury blazing on her strong features.
"Let me go." She muttered, he shook his head in disapproval.
"No, I didn't just run up seven levels chasing after you for you to not hear me out." She looked at him with an eyebrow raised, causing him to shift uncomfortably on the spot. "Okay so I took afew shortcuts." Elizabeth rolled her eyes before attempted to push him off.
"Let go of me!" she repeated, her eyes widening.
"No. Okay, I wanted to apologise for before."
"For what do you want to apologise for?" she asked , her voice laced in confusion, he'd done nothing wrong.
"Beating you." He mumbled looking down and let go of her wrist, causing her to rub it with a wince, she hadn't realised how strong his grip was.
"You're apologising for beating me?"
He nodded in affirmative.
"When it was a competition?"
Again affirmative.
"You can be a dumb piece of shit." She mumbled before turning away and taking afew steps away from him, he looked up and grabbed her wrist again causing her to wince.
"Look I'm sorry for beating you."
"Why on earth are you apologising?"
"Because I feel compassionate and feel the need to apologise and check if your okay."
" That sounded sarcastic and completely ingenuine, Did Remus give you a script to learn."
"No for merlins sake! Do you have such little faith in me?" he questioned his eyes flashing briefly with hurt. Elizabeth could feel her anger rising, she had no bloody patience to have an argument with him about something that didn't warrant an argument. "Alright so I wanted you to stop ignoring me."
"Ignoring you! When did I start ignoring you!" she hadn't been ignoring him, if anything she'd been with him more since James and lily got together.
"That's the point, I dunno, you seem ingenuine when your around me, like you're not sure how to act around me and its annoying!" he paced, his fingers pressing the bridge of his nose. She could help but snort at his reply, how dense was this boy.
"Ingenuine! Ingenuine! If anyones being ingenuine its you!"
"How on earth am I being ingenuine?"
"I ask you the same question!" By now all those that had been sitting in the common room had turned to watch the dark haired pair who were ferociously arguing in the middle of the common room.
"You drive me crazy you blue eyed nutjob! With your constant smart arse comments and being nice then ignoring me and being just argh!"
"That's rich coming from you! You could drive the most stable Psychiatrists to physiatrists!"
"Would I be able to tip you that far over?" He spat causing her to wring her hands in frustration.
"YEAH ME! Gosh everything you do is so… ARGH JUST! YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY WITH YOUR BACON STEALING, YOUR HAIR GETS STUCK EVERYWHE…"
"IT DOES NOT!"
"YES IT DOES, AND THEN EVERYTHING YOU DO IS GOOD, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO TRY! YOUR LIKE A BLOODY GOD, EVERYONE WORSHIPS THE GROUND YOU WALK ON AND ITS SO INFURIATING!"
"YOU KNOW WHATS INFURIATING, THE FACT THAT AFTER BEING FRIENDS FOR QUITE A WHILE YOU THINK THAT OF ME! THE FACT THAT YOU ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, THE WAY YOUR EYES ARE ALWAYS A DIFFERENT COLOUR AND YOUR HAIR SHINES IN THE LIGHT, SOMETIMES I JUST…" he broke off realising what he was saying, why on earth would he start spewing sappy stuff when she was doing nothing but scorning him. "You know what, your not worth my time, have fun wallowing up here whilst everyones at the comp."
"Fine by me, why would I want to watch you lose anyway."
With that they both parted ways. One determined to ignore the other and the other to prove the other wrong.
Hours had passed, as had many duels, four had been eliminated then two more, leaving the finalists. Hailey Sonda, Beverley Wilkens, Victoria Mallows and Sturgis Podmore had been eliminated in the first round. Then Dorcas meadows and Pandora Nolan, leaving two arch enemies, Severus Snape and Sirius Black.
It was going to be one hell of a duel, probably one of the best in Hogwarts history.
The two boys, stood up and faced one another, power radiating off both of them, anger flowing throught their veins, determination littering over their features. Later on they would say that even this duel was not as impressive as Elizabeth and Sirius's, it was impressive, there was no denying that; but not as much. The spells exchanged were equivalent in power, but the variety was of a plethora. Light, neutral, dark; neither held back.
Angry words were spat between the enemies, curses were thrown around and they maimed eachother beyond belief.
"Levicorpus!" Sirius exclaimed, he knew he'd won, but just because it was snivellus, one more act of humiliation wouldn't hurt. Sirius walked over to Snape and looked into his dark eyes, a victorious smirk plastered across his handsome features, "Beaten by your own spell, at least this time you had some pants on, snivellus." And then he dropped him, causing him to knock him unconscious.
Victory tasted even better when you beat someone you disliked.
It didn't taste this good when he beat Elizabeth, actually it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He didn't ponder on it as he was lifted off the platform by hords of students cheering his name, he loved winning.
That night, during the party Sirius was Ubiquitous, except with Elizabeth. He wouldn't admit it outloud but he wished she'd joined in the celebrations, given her a hug so he could inhale the vanilla scent of her hair, to feel her smaller body curve into his. He wished she was there to congratulate him, tell him that she was greatful that he humiliated snivellus, but she wasn't, instead she was ignoring him and cursing his very existence.
After everyone had gone up or left to their own common rooms he stayed down stairs, telling James he just wanted a moment of peace. The fireplace he sat infront of shadowed his face, making him look darker, more mysterious. He was lost in the flames and all the ways he could describe it when he heard someone speak.
"So I heard that you beat Snape."
Sirius turned so fast one that he thought he might get whiplash. Liz was their standing in a too large grey tshirt and navy pyjama pants with puppies on them. her hair was up in a high ponytail and her multiple earrings were still in her ears, her face was scrubbed of the very little makeup she wore and her eyebrows stood bold against her pale skin.
"I thought you didn't like dogs." He pointed out nodding to her pants causing her to flush slightly.
"I'm just afraid of them, but I wont deny that they're adorable." A small smile grew on his face at the statement, "At some point we had a puppy but, after he died I just became detached from them, no dog could replace Buddy."
"Bad experience?" she shook her head in denial, a wry grin on her face.
"When Buddy died things changed a lot." They sat in silence side by side, relaxed from the heat of the fire. "I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean most of it."
"Most of it?" he raised an eyebrow as his lip upturned.
"Shut up!" she nudged him with a small laugh, her pearly whites gleaming in the dark room.
"For what its worth, I'm sorry too." He looked at her, she looked so beautiful in that moment, it didn't matter that she didn't have makeup on, or that her hair was frizzy and probably unbrushed, that her clothes were unflattering. she looked like the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. She was perfect. Sirius turned to look at her, determination on his face, she turned towards him when he turned towards her in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
He had to do this, he couldn't keep it any longer. The guys didn't know and to be honest, even he hadn't fully accepted it.
"Nothing, just, just hear me out?" she nodded, suspicion growing in her eyes. He grabbed onto her hand which was warm from being near the fire, it fitted in his perfectly, like their hands were crafted like puzzle pieces, meant to slot together. She looked down then up into his eyes.
"This is tough, and im not sure what in merlins name im doing right now and I could stuff everything up but…for a while now, you've made me feel things, strange things, things I've never felt before. I mean I don't get butterflies or blush, ive never blushed actually, ignore that." He rambled, causing Elizabeth to put her hand up, her cheeks slightly pink and her eyes alight.
"Just get to the point." Hope stirred in the pit of her stomach, was he saying what she thought, but then dread, how did she reply, what did she do…
"I think I like you, like, like like you." He blurted out, her mouth opened in shock, she must've been a sight to see in her pyjamas with her ridiculous facial expressions. She was silent for a few moments trying to gather up the courage to say the words she wanted to. But after afew moments of straing at eachother Sirius stood up.
"Wh..What are you doing?" she spluttered in confusion turning to look up at him.
"Going, obviously I made a mistake in telling you that. Don't worry about it." He looked so down, like a sad puppy, or what she imagined a sad puppy looked like. He turned and walked off, hurt lacing through his steel grey eyes. A pang of pain went through her chest at the look. She stood up and followed him but he'd already gone into his dorm. A sigh escaped her as she leant against the wall infront of her.
What the hell was that?
Whats going to happen next? We're getting closer and closer to the big moment guys! Not long now!
His gaze dropped to her pouting lips and like a starved man he lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers.
Oh my! Who is it? It could really be anyone really, in your review let me know who you think it is!
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Thechosenbibliophile xoxo