Chapter 40 – Time's Running Out
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"Is this some kind of fetish for you?" Izzie asked and dodged her head laughing when Sirius threw a snowball at her. "Oi, that's not nice!"
"You just accused me of hearing you sing as some kind of fetish." He grinned. They were sitting in an empty courtyard. It was already dark out and Izzie was sitting on the wall with her ukulele while Sirius sat on the fountain edge a meter away from her. "I just like hearing you sing. It soothes me."
"It soothes you?" She smirked, looking at the strings, rather than Sirius. Because looking at him was becoming rather hard when you can't touch him. "Like a lullaby for a baby?"
"No." She saw him scrunch up his nose from the corner of her eye. Too damn cute for his own good! She thought to herself. "Like I can forget all the bad things that are happening."
"Well, if you put it like that." She glanced at him. "Do you want to practice a bit?" She held out the instrument.
"I'll never get a hang of it. I rather listen to you."
"Have you heard your brother play?" She asked as she started a slow melody.
"Not in years." He admitted.
"He's really good. We played together this summer; he can sing too."
"Really?" He asked surprised.
"Yeah." She smiled thinking back at the moment. "Don't think he told Remus though. I think if Remus heard him play, he would faint." She chuckled. "He has a soft spot for musicians."
"Can't blame him." He winked.
"The first time he heard me sing, he followed me around met song requests for days." She laughed.
Sirius couldn't help the fond and goofy smile as she laughed freely. "How old were you?"
"Eight, I think. Maybe nine. I bet Remus knows better when it was." She grinned.
"I would like to see eight-year-old Izzie. Do you have any pictures?"
"I don't. My family wasn't really a kodak kind of family. Remus should have some, his parents were rarely seen without a camera when we were young. I've found some pictures of you in Grimmauld." Sirius looked shocked; he had thought his parents had destroyed everything of his years ago. "Reggie had them. You were a funny looking kid."
"Oi!" He threw another snowball.
"Don't worry, you grew into your ears."
"Still don't know if that's a compliment." He grumbled as he tugged on his ears underneath his hair.
Izzie was shaking the snow from hair as she laughed. Then they heard snow crunch not too far from them. Izzie stopped laughing and looked around just like Sirius. Izzie rolled off the wall and hid behind it as the footsteps came closer.
"Hello? Is someone- oh, hey Sirius." It was a girl's voice, but she couldn't make out who it was.
"Elena, on patrol I see." Sirius said.
"And you, planning a prank?" Her voice was smooth and silky, her flirty voice then.
"No, just needed a break. It was rather crowded in the common room."
"Or did your girlfriend stand you up?" Before Sirius could answer, she continued. Izzie could just imagine her sitting next to Sirius, scooting closer to him. "You know, most of us are wondering if there really is a girlfriend."
"Most of you?"
"Yeah, the girls you know. You know that you are a main topic of our conversations."
Izzie snorted and Sirius quickly coughed to cover for it. "Sorry to disappoint you but there is a girlfriend. And like I said previously, I'm not interested in anyone else." She heard him stand up. "So, if you will excuse me."
Izzie risked a glance over the wall, and saw Sirius brush the hand off his arm and walk towards the castle. The head girl was fuming much to Izzie's amusement. She followed Sirius inside the castle, hidden behind the wall until the head girl was out of sight.
"You didn't need to hide."
"She may not be a Slytherin, but what will the gossip be tomorrow if she saw the two of us together."
"We weren't doing anything, though. Not that I didn't want it too." He licked his lips as he grinned.
"Have you ever been out with a girl so late without it being something?" Sirius scowled at that. "That's what I thought." She grinned at him. "Do you want me to walk you to the common room? I suggested our date this late."
"No, I'll walk you back."
"But you always walk me back. I always feel bad to let you walk all alone in this big scary castle."
"I can handle myself." Sirius puffed his chest.
"Are you sure? Your arms are a little skinny." She knew he wouldn't, or rather couldn't just grab her by the waist, but she still ducked when his arm went towards her. She smirked over her shoulder before she started running towards her room, Sirius on her heels.
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"Goodmorning." Marlene yawned as she sat down at the Gryffindor table with Mary. "Izzie, we miss you in the common room."
"Married life keeps me busy." She shrugged. The two girls didn't know the situation of course, she wasn't that close to tell them about it. They asked Lily about it, because they knew Sirius liked her, but she made an excuse telling them he didn't like her as much as they thought.
"I bet." Mary wiggled her eyebrows. "You snatched up one of the hottest guys in school." She winked to Regulus who sat next to her.
"Uhm, thanks?" Regulus looked with large eyes to Remus, who grinned into his porridge.
"Where is the hottest guy in school?"
"Remus? He's sitting next to Reg." Izzie smiled as she flipped a page from her book.
"Not Remus!" Mary then turned to Remus with large eyes. "Not that you're not handsome. I mean you are quite the catch. I heard some girls talking about-"
"Mary, you're rambling." Marlene chuckled as she filled her cup with orange juice.
"Right. My question. Where is Sirius?"
"Library is my guess." Lily said. And from their shocked faces, the two girls didn't expect that.
"Sirius Black, in the library? Was it a dare?" Mary laughed.
"No, I've seen him in the library a lot the past weeks." Marlene said. "Always with nose deep in a book."
"What kind of books? Naughty books?" Mary smirked.
"Don't know." She shrugged. "He always had a glamour on the books. But from his reaction, I don't think they are naughty books."
Izzie tuned them out, her mind going to Sirius. Ever since they found out their limited time, Sirius spend a large amount of his free time in the library when he wasn't with Izzie. She loved him for it. Wait! What? Loved him? She knew she was starting to fall for him, hard. But she didn't realise she had fallen in love with him. Her heart was pounding so fast in her chest, she thought Regulus might hear it.
"Izzie!" The subject of her thoughts brought her out of it. She blinked a few times before turning her head. Sirius was running in the great hall in a hurry. "Izzie! I need you to come with me." He said a little out of breath. Mary and Marlene shared a look.
"What? Why?"
"Come with me, please." And he looked at her with those eyes she can never resist. She had barely given a nod when he reached for her hand and pulled her up. His grip was tight as the invisible force pushed them apart instantly. Then he tugged her out of the great hall. She could feel every eye on them as Sirius nearly dragged her out. They were two corridors away from the great hall when the push became too big and made Sirius fly against the brick wall.
"Sirius!" She ran up to him and kneeled next to him. She was too afraid to touch him, to hurt him even more. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's not your fault, Iz. I should've known better." He cracked his back before he stood up. "I'm okay."
"Where are you dragging me to anyway?"
"The library." He said before speeding up. She followed quickly behind him, and he led her to the back of the library. "I think I've found something."
Izzie squashed down her hope, but it was only just over two weeks before new year's. Everyone was leaving for Christmas break in an hour and if Dumbledore and McGonagall didn't find anything...
"Sirius..."
"No, Izzie, listen." He tapped the book on the table. His eyes were hopeful and oh, how she wanted to believe he had found the solution. "I nicked this from the restricted section. There is a potion that can break the bond without any side effects." He was so excited that she sat down with a little smile and started reading. But she knew that it wouldn't work and after reading the page two times, she told him so.
"This won't work, Sirius. This only works if the bond was made through a potion. That wasn't the case with us. It was with our blood and a spell."
"But can't we at least try it?" He asked desperately.
"Sirius -" She stood up and clutched his hands firmly, ignoring the magic that tried to push him away. "You're amazing. You're amazing for doing all this research for me and Reg, and I love you all the more for it. But this isn't the way. Reg and I are going to talk to Dumbledore about this during break, see if we can't prolong it."
"You're staying here?"
"Your parents are furious about it. They want to know if we consummated the marriage yet. But I won't let Reg anywhere near them again. And we won't risk staying at Remus's or at the Potters. Not yet. Reg and I will stay here, so we can search for a way to extent it."
"Then I'll stay here too."
She shook her head and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "No, you love Christmas at the Potters. Just enjoy yourself. I promise, I'll keep you updated with the book. That way you can come over the moment something happens."
"I won't be able to enjoy it." He mumbled, pulling his hands back.
"Do it for me, please." Her eyes were filled with tears. "I've taken enough of you already."
"You haven't-" He stopped when she blinked away her tears. "Alright, I'll try." He wiped a tear away from her cheek. His finger trembled against her cheek.
"I should go, I need to talk to Remus before you guys leave. And you need to get your trunk." She pushed past the force that held them apart and kissed him, slow and sweet.
"Izzie." He breathed when he pulled back before he crashed into the bookcase. The kiss felt like a goodbye. "You're going to be here when I get back, don't you?"
"Of course. Where else would I be?" She offered him a smile, but he could tell it was off. "I'll see you soon." She squeezed his hand before she walked out of the library, tears already rolling down her cheeks.
It was only when he was in the train and replayed the whole thing in his mind, he realised she said she loved him, that made the memory even worse because it felt like she was saying goodbye.
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She quickly wiped the tears away and cast a spell to hide her red eyes before she opened the portrait. Remus and Regulus were huddled together on the couch. "Remus?" Izzie frowned. "What are you doing here? The train leaves in thirty minutes."
"I'm staying. My dad had to leave for a work thing and mum's going with him. So, I decided to spend my time with my two favourite people." He smiled.
Izzie's knees started to shake, and she fell to her to floor crying.
"Izzie!"
"Isabelle!"
The boys were next to her in a flash. Remus gathered her in his arms and cradled her to his chest. "Hey, hey." He caressed her hair. "What's wrong?"
She clutched his shirt harder and pressed her face in his chest. The three of them sat on the floor as she cried. Remus and Regulus shared worried glances but didn't say anything. Regulus shuffled closer, so he could hold her too in case she was feeling weak. Thirty minutes later, she had fallen asleep on Remus's lap. Remus carried her to bed, but they didn't leave her as she still clutched to his chest. Izzie laid between the two. Reg casted a Muffliato around them so they could talk without waking her.
The next week, Izzie was withdrawn. She answered Sirius's messages, but they were short, and she never instigated it. They went to talk to Dumbledore, and he had found a way to prolong it, but he couldn't say for how long. Remus and Regulus didn't ask about her breakdown but were careful around her. The closer they got to New Year's, even though Dumbledore said he prolonged it, she felt herself getting weaker by the day. And she saw it in Regulus too, although he didn't say it to her or to Remus. He probably knew she knew but didn't say anything to Remus because he didn't want to frighten him. They both knew they were running out of time.