CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
blood boiling

𖦹 ⋆｡˚⋆ฺ ⋆｡˚⋆ฺ˚⋆˚ 𖦹

COVE ISN'T THINKING STRAIGHT.

She's blinded by the smog of her own fury, rage chattering in between the very ridges of her skeleton. Her hands ball into tight fists, sharp nails piercing through the flesh pulled taught across her palms. The sheer disbelief can be felt deep in her bones, her eyes narrowed in incredulity at the thought of Sirius Black unleashing such a major secret that had never been his own to tell.

How dare he? The three words circulate in her head like a mantra, spinning in circles until her labyrinthine thoughts become dizzyingly indecipherable. Remus had told her that his friends were in Divination last, so she finds herself hurrying up countless flights of stairs until her legs are aching from the incline, vaguely aware of Remus on her heels. She doesn't quite make it up to the bottom of the ladder, her eyes snagging onto two boys that have risen above the busy corridor — literally. They're precariously balanced on a pipe that snakes over the wall, watching the world as it drifts past.

  She stares witheringly at Sirius and James as they stand around the opposite end of hall, blowing cigarette smoke out of an open window and looking over their shoulders in case a professor catches them in the act. It only makes her more infuriated. His brazen attitude has her sharp teeth grinding together, pure loathing bubbling hazardously inside her. Who does he think he is?

  Sirius looks up when she draws closer, eyebrows raised patronisingly. It's then that her anger gets the best of her.

Cove strides up to him and slaps him square across the face, ignoring the overly dramatic gasps from everyone surrounding them. She lunges forward to hit him again, preferably harder, but a pair of arms circle around her waist and she's pulled away, her limbs flailing violently.

"Put me down!" she orders. The iron grip only tightens.

"Calm down," Remus murmurs in her ear, trying to still her frantic movements before she takes someone's eye out. "There's no point in getting violent with him."

Sirius is still reeling from what happened. His fingertips graze over the scarlet mark on his cheek, bewilderment evident on his face. "What the fuck?"

"Don't start with me, you little twat!" she hisses. "What were you thinking?"

Remus clears his throat, looking between them and the gathering crowd. He brandishes a glare at the flock of nearby students and silently curses himself for neglecting to wear his prefect badge that day, narrowly avoiding a bruise from Cove's squirming.

"Alright, clear off," he says sharply. "It's nothing to do with you lot."

Some people break off from the crowd, yet the majority remains, ogling at the scene.

James steps off of the pipe to harness his Head Boy privileges when they hesitate. "Detention for anyone that doesn't piss off."

They all disband in quick succession.

  He turns back to the problem at hand, an incredulous expression playing on his face. "What the hell is the matter with you two?"

  When she goes limp in his arms, he finally puts her back on the ground, poised to grab her again if she tries anything. She doesn't.

  "You told," Cove snaps, pointing a trembling finger in his face. "You told even though you had no fucking right."

"Told what?" James asks, exasperated.

Sirius glares. "I was looking out for my friend. He had the right to know."

"Yes, but not from you. It was my responsibility to tell him about my own fucking secret, you idiot. Do you even understand how dangerous that would've been for me if that information fell into the wrong hands? If Remus wasn't nearly as accepting as he is?"

"I didn't think—"

"Exactly," she scoffs. "You didn't think."

  "I was trying to protect him," Sirius defends weakly. "Relationships with your kind never end well. It's dangerous. I was trying to do the right thing in telling him before he got hurt."

"With my kind?" she fumes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He doesn't say anything to correct himself straight away, his jaw ticking. "I didn't mean it like that."

  "Careful, Black," she spits out his surname like it's acid in her mouth. "Your prejudice is showing."

Sirius opens his mouth but it snaps closed when nothing comes to his rescue. His shame is clear, and something sick in Cove finds satisfaction in seeing him hurt.

James is still looking between the three of them in pure confusion, looking to Remus for an explanation that he'll never give. He shakes his head at James' imploring look.

"Come on, Cove," Remus says, resting a hand on her shoulder to guide her away.

"Moony—" Sirius starts.

"Don't," he snaps. "Just don't."

°•.•°•.•°•.•°

  ONE LENGTHY RANT TO REMUS AND a cup of green tea later, she's finally cooled off a bit.

  She's taken a step back from the situation to go over every second that had passed, to evaluate what she really thinks and what it is that still harrows her. Turmoil takes its seat at the head of the table, muddling her emotions until her internal conflict diverges between guilt and perfect complacency. She wonders if she was too hard on Sirius, taking into account that he hadn't thought about the impacts and acted upon his instincts before thinking it through. Then, she tells herself no — he deserved every word that landed a blow on his ego, he deserved the slap across the face and he deserved to be burdened by an overwhelming piece of her mind.

Now, she's in the Gryffindor common room and the first thing that she had discerned upon walking in, is that it's really red. When the chandeliers aren't enchanted with an artificial strobe effect for the parties, it becomes clear to her just how overkill they went with the scarlet and gold. Everything from the wallpaper to the plush armchair that she's sat upon is adorned in similar reddish hues, even the beautiful roses growing in the vases around the room being blood red. Aureate accents coat everything that isn't shockingly carmine, almost as if to outline the glamour of the common room, the resplendence of the house itself.

Not pretentious at all.

Truly, Cove doesn't hate it. Even if the theme can feel garish in areas, the colours remind her of Remus. His jumpers, his poorly knotted ties, his golden freckles when he blushes. Not to mention the inviting aura that radiates as soon as you step in, greeted by the roaring hearth and friendly faces that are always dotted around. It's no Hufflepuff common room, but Cove certainly feels that she'll find comfort wherever Remus does.

Pip is curled up in her lap, paws twitching in her sleep as though she's having a particularly pleasant dream. Cove is still waffling on about her irritation with Sirius, her hands waving to form the mad gestures that she's accustomed to in the face of frustration. After watching her in amusement for a good few minutes, Remus grabs onto her flailing hands, holding them tight in his own to calm her down. Smile lines creases his honey eyes at the sight of her.

"What?" she pauses, a smile of her own beginning to spread. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

  Remus shakes his head slightly. "No reason."

"Seriously, Rem," she says, laughing nervously. "You're looking at me as if I've gone and grown another head."

  He grins. "What, am I not allowed to look at my girlfriend anymore?"

  They both freeze.

  She searches his face, partly in admiration of how it looks under the golden glow from the fireplace, partly for answers. Wondering if it was a joke or if he really meant it. He seems to be doing the same, cautiously trying to gauge whatever's going on in the almost impermeable confines of her mind. Remus bites his tongue, giving her time to make up her mind and speak first.

  "Are we?" is all she can muster.

  "Is that—" he clears his throat. "Is that okay?"

  Cove retracts her hands from his and pulls him into a suffocating hug, Pip meowing discontentedly from where she's squished in between them. "Of course it's okay, you daftie."

  He sighs in relief. "Good. I, um, didn't want you to think that we're moving too fast. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

  She giggles. "Relax. I'm perfectly comfortable." Cove pauses, pursing her lips as she feigns deep thought. "Though, you could've at least taken me somewhere nice first."

  "Yeah?" he says, humour lacing his tone. "Anything particular in mind?"

  "Oh, I dunno. I'm sure you can think of something good."

  He hums. "Interesting. Do you have any plans over the holidays?"

"Well, it's starting to sound like I do now."

"Godric, Cove. That's a bit presumptuous, don't you think?" he teases.

"Coming from my boyfriend? Nah, I didn't think so."

The furious red that flushes his face sends her into hysterics. She kisses away his diffidence and time begins to wear on, the embers in the fire burning down to a crisp as the population of the common room eventually whittles down to only the two of them.

He walks her back to her common room when they notice that curfew is fast approaching. Cove cradles Pip close to her chest on the way down, relishing in the comfort of the kneazle's fluffy cheek resting over her thumping heartbeat. For the most part, the corridors are deserted, apart from the odd ghost or hurrying student that had lingered in the library for an hour too long.

  They pass by the kitchens, the halls getting dimmer and dimmer the further they progress into the dungeons. When they stumble across a tall stack of barrels, Cove raps her knuckles rhythmically against the correct one and the brick wall parts to reveal a tunnel. She turns to face Remus

"Find me on the train tomorrow?" she asks hopefully, head tilted.

He nods. "Sure. I'll do my rounds and then I'll come find you. You sit in one of the compartments down near the driver's bit, don't you?"

Cove beams. "You remembered."

  "How could I forget? You battered into me on the first day back outside that very compartment."

  She gasps in faux offence. "You're talking mince. You battered into me."

  "Uh huh. Whatever you say, love." He scratches Pip behind her ear one last time, leaning down to peck Cove on the cheek. They decided that she's to stay with Cove over the holidays because of his mother's unfortunate allergies. "Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."

  "Night," she mutters, suppressing a yawn. "Don't let the bed bugs bite."

   The wall closes in between them, leaving her to trudge back in the direction of her dormitory before her exhaustion can completely set in. Her mind wanders to dwell on the concluding term, coming to the realisation that she'll be back on Lewis this time tomorrow. She doesn't know what it'll be like, what with the overhanging threats from the allegedly sighted Death Eaters. Rán's net, she hasn't even begun to think about enduring Christmas with her mother and father!

   As per usual, she doesn't know if she's prepared to go home.

 

author's note!

ONE CHAPTER UNTIL VOL II EEK

their love language is physical touch bc i say so 🤨

i've made sirius an absolute wanker for no reason but I'll try to redeem him later at some point 🙄🙄