It's Going to Be a Long Night (Sirius and Harry)

Sirius sat down on the astronomy tower's wall, already wishing he hadn't reacted so badly to Serenity's revelation. He'd have to be more careful; she might've grown suspicious. He looked across the grounds toward the willow, still wondering how Miles could have even found the entrance. He turned back to Serenity and watched her polish. He'd upset her; he could tell. He shouldn't have cared. He was the teacher here, and she the student. She should have been the one worried about upsetting him.

Sirius had never worked that way, though. He wanted everyone to like him. Well, he wanted everyone he liked to like him back. He didn't care one way or the other about the people he didn't like. He probably wouldn't have much cared whether Serenity liked him, except that she was important to Harry, which made her important to Sirius as well. Showing his support and befriending her was probably one of the best things he could possibly do for Harry.

"You don't have to tell him that the Marauders went there, you know," Sirius finally said. "I won't mention it, and if you don't, he'll never know. It's probably going to be difficult to find a place no one's ever been to before. The Marauders used to hang around in the Shrieking Shack as well. What's important about a special place isn't necessarily that it's only yours, but that it has special meaning that only you know. So it sort of becomes yours because it means so much to you."

Harry wasn't sure what he would find when he finally made it up to the Astronomy tower. Blood? Shouting? Dueling? He couldn't really imagine any of these things actually happening, but he was sure he wouldn't find them getting along. That would be too good to be true. Harry loved Sirius, but he knew how much his godfather disliked Snape. And he was concerned that Serenity would follow after her father's example, and dislike Sirius in return. But maybe not. Serenity and Harry had found common ground, maybe the same thing would happen tonight. Not in the same way, of course. That would be creepy.

He finally finished the long climb to the Astronomy Tower and knocked. But then he realized that since Sirius was his godfather and guardian, he could probably just walk in. So that was what he did. He looked around, calling out softly.

"Sirius? Serenity? Are you guys here?"

He looked around the office, grabbing a biscuit while he was here. Then he went out onto the tower and had to smile. Serenity looked beautiful, even when she was cleaning telescopes. Any other time and he would have gone up behind her and kissed her. But it was just a little awkward with Sirius right there. So he nodded at them both, but his cheeks blushed as he eyed Serenity.

"You've been working hard, it looks like. When does the detainee get to have a break?"

Harry

Sirius smiled, glad to see his godson looking happy. Sirius could tell, despite his attempts to hide it.

"I suppose we could take a break now," Sirius said with a wink. "Actually, I was thinking that once you got here, we could all go down to the classroom and work on some star charts. Come on, you two." Sirius led the way downstairs and put his gloves by the still-open window to air out. "Serenity, you should stick your gloves here as well. It'll help get rid of the smell from that polish." He used a quick scourgify spell to clean his hands, and aquamenti to rinse them off, flicking the excess water into Harry's face. "Serenity, come over here and I'll clean your hands off for you."

When everything was clean and destinkified, Sirius pulled a couple of tables together and sat, pulling out a chart. It was mindless work, really, which would give them a chance to talk. "I need you two to help me poke holes wherever the stars are, then I can put these over a light and we'll be able to get an idea of what a little of the sky looks like. It's not as good as the real thing, of course, but it's the next best thing." Sirius conjured three old-fashioned soldering irons and handed two of them over. "Try not to rip the chart, if you can help it." It wouldn't matter, really, if they did. Sirius could always fix it, but he'd much rather they be careful on the front end. "So, Harry, how was your day?"

Serenity gently set off to work and began thinking over a better way Professor Black could show his students the stars. She knew that Professor Dumbledore could cast that star scenery in the Great Hall, and he had even taught Serenity how to make certain star patterns with her wand when she had visited him at the Ministry with her father. Professor Dumbledore always taught her the coolest things. When she had turned eleven he had taught her how to turn people's hair green (something he said every little Slytherin should learn how to do), when she was twelve he taught her how to transfigure water into Lemon Drops, at thirteen her magic began to advance more and more and so the Headmaster began teaching her more complicated spells...some she still could not figure out, but others she found extremely useful. So far though, since the old Headmaster did not visit too often, she had not learned any really interesting spells. Her father was teaching her how to be a Legimens and Occlumens; so that was cool...but sometimes it got to be too much and Serenity would go to her friends fever ridden because of the vigorous workout.

"Professor Black?" she said gently. "Instead of using star charts...couldn't you just cast that charm Professor Dumbledore used on the Great Hall ceiling? You could show them the stars exactly and even bring them close enough to touch them? I think that would be very cool."

Blushing a bit she began to poke a hole where the Great Dipper started. She didn't mind doing this though, any moment next to Harry was a wonderful moment. She loved him being near her...loved seeing his beautiful green eyes when he came to speak with her.

"And then you won't have to poke holes in star charts whenever you want to do a lesson...but...it was just a thought."

Blushing a bit she looked over to Harry and smiled gently. And then her blush came back when she realized she had just generally interrupted their conversation.

Harry smiled at Serenity and reached over, gently squeezing her hand in his. This was one of the reasons he cared for her so much. Everyone who didn't know her thought she was so dark and stand-offish. They didn't realize she was creative, intelligent, warm. They could not get past who her parents were and the stereotypes of her house at Hogwarts. Well, if he were completely honest with himself, he couldn't really get past who her father was either. But he knew Serenity, and he knew her heart. And the more time he spent with her, the more he fell for her. He scooted himself a bit closer and began working on his star chart.

"I think that's a great idea," he said, looking mainly at his girlfriend. And then he seemed to remember once again that Sirius was there, and he turned to his godfather.

"So, how does being a strict professor suit you, Sirius?"

Harry smiled and shook his head. He had a feeling Sirius was not enjoying having to dole out detentions. But as he had said, it had to be done if he didn't want his students walking all over him. That still didn't mean Harry was going to sit by and let this opportunity to make fun of Sirius just fly by.

"I'll bet you and Filch are best mates by now," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Have you picked out a set of shackles and a whip? Oh...I had better watch what I say, isn't that right, Professor? You might hang me from the rafters," he smiled.

Sirius laughed and reached out to push roughly at Harry's head. "You know, I'm generally against whipping people, but I might be willing to make an exception for you. You're only lucky the whip's on back order." Sirius winked as his lips quirked into a teasing smile. Harry would know he was joking, but he felt the need to clarify all the same. He knew what Harry had been through with his relatives.

"Though, since you mention it, I have had a few conversations with Filch. He seems to do quite a lot of whinging about you and all your sneaking about and making messes for him to clean up. He thinks I ought to take you in hand, and he's not shy about saying so, let me tell you. The last time he came up here, he was complaining about hats or something in the Gryffindor common room and how he was tired of cleaning them up. I said, 'Isn't it your job to clean up after the students?' and he didn't seem to like that much. I don't think he's too keen on me, actually.

"It's a pity he wasn't here when the Marauders were here. We'd have made short work of him. I'm halfway convinced we're the ones who ran his predecessor off. He caught us out of bounds once, and swore he was going to cane us and rules be damned. Said a good beating would straighten us right up. He was always saying things like that. We weren't sure if he really meant it or not, so we cast a memory charm on him and stuck him to the ceiling in the Great Hall just to be safe. Took them two days to find him, thanks to some low-lying clouds. It was lovely. They never did find out it was us, and I'd appreciate if you two kept mum about it."

Sirius looked out the window. It was beginning to get dark. He put down his chart and his soldering iron. This was busy work anyway; he could do it himself in seconds, or get each student to do their own. That was really the purpose, not to be used in class, but to be used by students in their private studies. He used to make these makeshift things himself and use them to put stars on the ceiling in his dormitory before he learned the complicated spell Serenity was talking about. The N.E.W.T. students could probably learn that one, but it was far too advanced for the younger students. Things still had to be concrete and uncomplicated for them. Points of light on the ceiling was one thing; copying the sky completely was something entirely different.

"Well, I think I've had about enough of this. There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, starting in about fifteen minutes, as a matter of fact. I say we go up and watch it, though before I let you off, Miss Snape, I have to ask..." Sirius leaned in, the mock sternness on his face betrayed by the twinkle in his eye. "Have you learned your lesson?"

Serenity cocked her one eyebrow, a habit she had learned from her father. She had half a mind to meet his happy demeanor with annoyed sarcasm, but she quickly pulled back...if only because Harry was around. Normally after someone spoke down to them like that she would have a catchy rebuttal, but she did not want another detention ruining her record, so she just nodded stiffly.

She was a little angry that her Professor had not answered her question about the star charts and went off on a tirade about that bum Filch, but she bit her tongue and decided that she wouldn't say much until her Professor or Harry spoke to her. A meteor shower sounded interesting, but she really was only going to stay because Harry was with her. If her Professor had asked her to stay with him alone...she supposed she would have stayed regardless; mostly because her father had a lecture in store for her when she left.

Waiting for Harry or Sirius to lead them up to the observatory she sighed and began shuffling her feet. She was tempted to take Harry's hand in her own, but she was scared that he would shrink away seeing as Sirius Black was right in front of them. This was not what she had in mind for bonding with her boyfriend. Of course she knew they weren't going to snog one another's faces off...she just wanted some cuddle time with Harry before something happened to call him away...he was always so damn busy.

Sirius watched Serenity's internal struggle. He could tell she was annoyed. Honestly, did she have no sense of humor? How in the world did Harry get on with someone who lacked a sense of humor? Oh well, the heart was never meant to be understood.

Sirius led the way to the tower and plopped down against the wall. He checked his pocketwatch. The meteor shower would be starting in less than ten minutes. If the predictions were correct, anyway. He invited Serenity and Harry to come and join him just in time to see something streak across the sky. It was starting earlier than expected. These things were hard to predict. Falling stars, Uncle Alphard used to call them. He used to make up stories on the spot to tell about the star and why it had decided to fly away. Sirius was nearly ten before he worked out that stars didn't really have unique personalities and stories to tell, though now he wasn't quite so sure.

He looked up and watched for a moment before he looked at Serenity and Harry and smiled a knowing smile. A deserted tower under a sky full of shooting stars was too romantic to pass up.

"Oh, dear, I've just remembered I have to be somewhere," Sirius said, rising. He spared a wink for Harry and left them alone under the stars.

Serenity watched as her Professor left and her cheeks flushed. Well at least Harry and her would have that moment she had been waiting for. IT always seemed that these moments were interrupted, mostly because Harry was so busy and Serenity herself had her own bull to wade through. But she now owed her Professor something for his kindness. Gently taking Harry's hand she pulled him to sit and settled herself next to him. Still holding her hand she smiled and looked up at the sky as the beautiful stars fell from the heavens. She wondered if Harry thought of his parents...Serenity did not know them...but she was sure that would be the thoughts in her mind.

"It's absolutely beautiful," she whispered gently. "I'm glad you came Harry...I missed you."

These moments were so rare and tender that Serenity tried to hold onto them with all of her strength. She knew that one day it may end in her holding on so tight that her bones crushed to dust, but she would accept that the day it happened. Just because five minutes with Harry made the rest of her life seem a little bit more bearable.

"You're eyes look so green tonight..." Serenity smiled, her thumb stroking over his hand. "I wish mine were that color...every time you look at me I feel like I might get lost in them."

Her cheeks flushed and she turned her face back towards the black, shimmering, sky.

Harry blushed right along with Serenity, but he still held her hand in his own. He looked into her eyes and smiled back at her.

"You have beautiful eyes I could get lost in as well."

He leaned in and kissed her without another thought. They didn't get these moments too often, so he wanted to make sure she knew how much he wanted to be with her. Of course he wouldn't push things too far. Not only was he not going to take advantage of her, but he wasn't ready for anything further than kissing either. He was content just to be here with her.

"So how was Sirius, really? He didn't work you too hard, did he? He doesn't seem like the type to do that. Even when I've talked back too much, he just seems to get hurt, rather than mad. He's never even really yelled, and I know I have yelled a time or two. I often ask myself how someone can be that calm, then I look at Remus...and it's worse."

He smiled and rested his head back against the castle, watching the shooting stars overhead. How could something so beautiful and simple looking, actually be so complex? He often tried to think about stars, now that Sirius was in his life and astronomy was such a big thing for him. But he became overwhelmed too quickly and would force himself to change his train of thought before he started asking questions about the universe again. That would just lead to the afterlife and his parents, and he felt he had enough of that on a daily basis.

He turned to Serenity and sighed in contentment.

"You are beautiful tonight."

Serenity snuggled Harry, her hands gently intertwining with his own. She was so happy right now that words would never describe it. Harry Potter was such a gentleman and just so wonderful. She adored him, bled for him, loved him. Serenity knew that many people thought she was just a stupid girl, lost in love...but she knew that this was love and that she was determined to make it last. Kissing his cheek gently she rested her head on his shoulder and watched the stars shoot past.

"I love you Harry," she whispered softly. "You are way too good for a girl like me."

The stars rained down as she stayed curled up next to her Harry and before she knew it she felt her eyes drifting close and her head lowering from his shoulder to his lap. Wrapping her arms gently around his waist Serenity closed her eyes and began drifting off to sleep.

(OOC: I know it's short but that's my ending post...any last thoughts from Harry? lol)