CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX! ༉‧₊˚✧
━━━━ ⋆𖤐₊˚.༄ ♡ ━━━━

JAMES KNEELED TO the ground before Lily, looking up at her through his long eyelashes.

He slid his two fingers across the floor, smiling as they slipped without resistance.

"The house elves always mop the floors on Mondays," James explained, standing up. "I call it. . . Mop Mondays."

"A very creative name for your small brain to have come up with, James!" Marlene ruffled his hair teasingly. James yelped, shooing her hand away and desperately attempting to fix it (to no avail).

"The floor is just slick enough for us to carry through with our plan," James says, rubbing his hands together like an evil genius.

"It really is not a plan." Diya rolled her eyes from her spot against the wall. Her, Lily, Marlene, and James had just left their first class of the year, and already he was entrapping them with his pranks. They stood a few meters away from the top of the staircase, their back facing an empty hallway. "How far is Peter with the trays?"

"This Mop Monday will be one to remember," James said, kneeling on the floor again, with more drama behind his eyes. "This slick floor will meet those trays, and legends will be born."

Just then, Peter came dashing up the stairs carrying a stack of fancy trays. "I got them!"

Diya kicked off the wall before walking towards Peter, grabbing the trays from him and tapping him on the back. "Any issues sneaking this out of the Great Hall?"

"Not really. If McGonagall saw me, she didn't say anything." Peter shrugged.

"She's probably just grateful we haven't already struck," James smirked, still sliding his hands back and forth on the floor.

"Speak for yourself," Sirius's voice came from behind them. "Did I miss anything?"

Diya shook her head, "Not yet. Shouldn't you be in detention for trying to charge people to use the Prefect's bathroom?"

"Hey, you aren't even a Prefect! How'd you get the password?" Lily exclaimed, walking toward Sirius. When he pulled a slip of paper from his pocket, Lily snatched it from him, huffing as she strolled back to stand next to Diya.

"I snuck out. You can't seriously expect me to stay in detention among the other commoners. Plus, Professor Binns left the door open," Sirius upturned his nose, earning a smack on the back of the head from Diya.

At the front of the growing group, James began to line up the trays, smiling as they slipped out of place.

Marlene crossed her arms, "I'm about to make history. The world isn't ready for Marlene 'The Missile' McKinnon."

Sirius muscled his way to the front of the group. He slicked his hair back, which had nearly restored its original length. "Alright, you lot, we need some ground rules. Clear the way for whoever's on the tray. No magic, let's embrace our muggle side—" Lily snorted at that, "—And most importantly, have fun!"

James stood up and turned to his best friend, pitching his voice, "Have fun? Who are you, my mother?"

Sirius puffed out his chest, bumping it against James's, "You really want me to get started about my mother right now, James? Because I'll—"

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty," Marlene rolled her eyes, picking up her tray and dismissing the bickering of the two brothers. "The Missile is ready to take off."

"Alright, Marlene, you ready?" Diya began. "James claims that the last time he tried this, he made it just a meter shy of the staircase. You're going to get a running start from the end of the hallway, and as soon as you pass the banner, get on your tray and slide as far as you can. "

"I was born ready," Marlene declares, tying up her hair and putting on a pair of sunglasses from her pocket. She jogged to the end of the hallway.

"Be careful!" Peter said, taking his place along the wall to ensure he didn't get in Marlene's way.

Lily cupped her hands over her mouth to shout, "Three, two, one, go!"

James whipped around, still preoccupied with his bickering with Sirius. "Wait, we're starting?"

As Diya yanked him toward her on the wall, Marlene let out a battle cry, barreling down the hallway before sliding onto the metal tray and rocketing down the hallway.

Amid James and Sirius arguing and Marlene taking her position, the group failed to notice Filch coming up the steps, his loyal cat by his side.

Sirius narrowly secured his place against the wall before Marlene "The Missile" McKinnon whizzed past him, flying past James's previous record and directly into Argus Filch, knocking him down the stairs and following shortly after.

"Oh my god!" Lily screamed, immediately running in the direction of the crash.

"I know, right?" Sirius laughed, "Prongs, she just shattered your record!'

"And probably Filch's pelvis, too. . ." Peter winced as he ran to the top of the stairs, looking down at the mess below him. Filch was in a heap with Marlene's tray at his feet, Mrs. Norris sniffing his fuming face, and Marlene lying beside him at the landing.

She groaned, staring at the ceiling as she pushed her crooked glasses onto her forehead, "You guys have got to try this."

Diya laughed as she ran up to the rest of the group, clutching her stomach as she watched a beet-red Filch try to lift himself up from the ground. "That's the last time any of us underestimate Marlene "The Missle" McKinnon, that's for sure."

"I'll get you for this one, Potter!" Filch yelled, attempting to stand up after his tumble. "None of you are getting away with this! To the dungeons. Now!"

༉‧₊˚✧

September came and went, and October seemed to be flying by just as quickly.

After their literal run-in with Filch, it had become much more difficult for Sirius and Diya to sneak around as they had been for the first couple of months. Alice, the only person outside the couple to know of its existence, tried to help wherever she could, bailing Diya from incriminating situations. One such situation revealed itself in late September.

"Alright, I'm off to Quidditch practice!" Diya said, standing up from her spot on the Gryffindor Common Room floor. She and the girls were having one of their usual study sessions — or they had been until Sirius walked past the group briskly and winked at her slyly.

Preoccupied with the thoughts of her love affair, she failed to notice Sirius's other half trailing behind him.

"Di, Quidditch practice is tomorrow. . ." James said, his head tilted in confusion.

"Right," Diya ran her hand through her hair, caught in her lie. "Well, I'm just gonna go then."

Marlene stood up, a smirk on her face, "Wait a second, Diya. Just where are you going?"

That's when Alice stood up, "She's joining Frank and me in the library. She didn't want to tell you guys," Alice lowered her voice and shielded her mouth from the nosy third years in the corner. "But Frank needs some tutoring."

"Oh," Marlene deflated, hoping for some drama. "Never mind then. Carry on, I suppose."

Diya glanced at Alice, an unspoken Thank You between them as they left the Common Room.

Apart from Alice's help, the clandestine couple had taken turns snatching and memorizing the prefect schedule from Lily and Remus, but even that system had flaws.

The Gryffindor Common Room was bathed in a soft, amber glow, Diya's shadow dancing around the room as she walked over to the chair in the dim corner. The usually bustling Common Room was silent, the only sounds being the crackle of the dying fire and Diya's nervous nails against the spine of her book. For once, there were no students in the cozy room, most of them asleep in the dorms. It seemed that Diya was the only one irresponsible enough to leave her warm bed after midnight.

A year ago, she wouldn't have been caught dead out of her bed past eleven on a night before classes, but much had changed in a year.

Would Diya admit that she held Sirius to a higher degree than her schooling? Maybe not out loud, but it seemed like he might be, especially since her tutoring career had gone down the drain since she returned from the summer with her boy-whatever-he-was.

Diya stared down at the page before her, the words entirely illegible. She had been stuck on the same sentence for nearly four minutes, her mind and gaze mainly trained on the staircase leading to the boy's dormitory. Minutes felt like hours as she waited for Sirius to meet her in the Common Room. Her heart fluttered with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. Sure, they'd had their fair share of broom closet encounters, but they had never done anything while prefects patrolled. Diya wasn't sure if she was more nervous about being caught or more excited about the risk of it all.

Just when Diya's anxiety began to take over, the portrait hole swung open, revealing her tall, messy-haired, stormy-eyed person, and she felt it all wash away.

"Finally," she said, closing her book and leaving it on the chair as she stood up to walk toward Sirius. "Started to think you stood me up."

"As if I'd ever stand anyone as beautiful as you up," Sirius scoffed as though she'd said the most insane thing in the world.

Diya rolled her eyes playfully, sliding her hands up his chest and hanging them around the base of his neck. "We have to be careful tonight. The narcs are on duty."

"James already told me." Sirius leaned down and kissed her, "I'm a little worried about him knowing Lily's entire schedule, though. We've been stealing her and Remus's schedules for weeks, but he knows more than us! Very troubling. . ."

"That boy will never change." Diya patted Sirius on the chest, "Let's go, loverboy."

Nodding, Sirius followed Diya back through the portrait hole and into the moonlit hallways of Hogwarts. The portrait swung shut behind him, and he turned around. Knowing the Fat Lady's distaste for him, he egged her on.

"Would you sing a song for us, Dear Lady?" He twirled Diya, "My ears ache for your shrill, shredding voice."

As the Fat Lady told him off for teasing her once again, Sirius bolted, dragging Diya with him.

"Dragging that sweet girl into his nonsense. Hmph!" She watched with disdain as they ran down the corridor.

Once they made considerable ground between themselves and the Fat Lady, he maneuvered Diya down the dimly lit hallway. He kept an arm around her waist as she shivered, both from his touch and the chilly air as autumn presented itself.

Sirius led Diya through his shortcut to the second floor via the deserted corridor only a few people knew about. Diya paid no attention to the vacant nature of their surroundings.

The two whispered to each other under their breath, his ears alert in case he heard anyone else lurking in the hallways at this hour.

"You're not clinking tonight?" Sirius murmured into Diya's ear.

"Clinking?" Diya smiled in confusion, "What do you mean clinking?"

"Your anklets. They're not clinking right now." Sirius explained.

"Oh, my anklets!" Diya grinned. "I took them off so we could sneak around easier."

"Leave them on next time. Makes things more exciting." He said as he squeezed her waist, smiling as she jumped from the unexpected feeling. He removed his hand from her waist, opting to hold her hand instead as they continued down the hallway.

Sirius paused in the middle of the abandoned corridor. He lifted their entwined hands to his lips, kissing hers, silently beaming that she had taken off something that he had never seen her without, just for him.

Diya walked blindly, her eyes trained on Sirius the entire time, positive that he knew where he was taking them. He and his friends had always had a way of knowing exactly where they were going, and Diya trusted them more than anything.

"Here we are," Sirius spoke in a low voice, "Welcome to my humble abode."

"Your humble abode is a tapestry on the second floor?" Diya raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"I took us on an adventure! Just beyond that tapestry and a short walk away is Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. We are stopped at the beginning of a beautiful shortcut from the second floor to Gryffindor Tower. Did you not notice the whole deserted corridor thing?" Sirius placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to look behind him toward the corridor they'd just come down. "Or were you too lost in my eyes?"

Diya shoved Sirius into the stone wall, turning toward the tapestry so he wouldn't see her blush and realize she had been lost in his eyes and their small talk. "As if."

Sirius pushed off the wall and placed himself flush behind Diya's back. Moving her long hair to the side, he laid his head on her shoulder, kissing her neck before gazing at her face. His arms snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "So now that you've lured me here, what are you planning to do with me?"

Diya elbowed him in the stomach, laughing as he groaned. "You're the one who led us here, Mr. Black! If anything, I should be asking how clean your intentions are."

Sirius smirked in the dim light, his hands on Diya's hips as he turned her toward him, "Dirtier than Filch's nails, darling." Sirius jerked her towards him.

"Ew!" She shrieked as Sirius attacked her neck with kisses, tickling her waist at the same time. He laughed into her neck as she continued to writhe against him, dissolving into a giggling fit.

"Hello?"

Diya and Sirius froze.

"Is someone there?" Another voice echoed from the other side of the tapestry. One male and one female. Remus and Lily. "Wait here."

Sirius's eyes lit up with amusement as Diya's lit up with slight fear.

"What do we do?" She shook him lightly in desperation.

"Follow my lead," Sirius squeezed her hand three times before dropping it and spinning around.

The tapestry pushed open, revealing who Diya thought it might be: Remus John Lupin.

Sirius, who had kneeled to the ground, sprung up as the door opened, "See, I was right! It's exactly five hundred!"

Remus gaped at the sight in front of him, not helped by the fact that Sirius was clearly pretending to count the stones on the wall.

Diya looked at her friend briefly, pushing her fear down as she continued the dramatics, "I was so sure that there were more than that!"

"Well, the more you know, I guess!" Sirius pretended to dust his hands off before jumping 'in shock' at seeing Remus in front of them. "Moony! How's the patrol?"

Remus sighed, rubbing a hand over his scarred face before closing the tapestry before Lily walked over, "Must've been the wind. There's no one here."

"Hmm, alright," Lily's voice came before her footsteps echoed further down the hallway.

Remus opened the tapestry again, "Padfoot, can you please go back to your dorm so I don't have to lie to my friend every time you're out past curfew? And stop dragging Diya into your plans!"

Diya winced internally. Remus looked exhausted, the bags under his eyes more prevalent than usual. "Sorry about that, R.J."

Remus mustered up a smile for the girl, "Goodnight, Di," Then he closed the tapestry fully.

Diya turned to Sirius, who looked to have a similar thought. "Well, that felt less exciting than I thought it would."

Diya nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I don't think I'm feeling it anymore."

Sirius slung his arm over her shoulders, leading them back up the corridor towards Gryffindor Tower. "That's alright, Talwar. My body isn't going anywhere."

"Shut up!" They laughed as she shrugged his arm off her shoulders, only walking a few paces before he put his arm back around her where it belonged.

༉‧₊˚✧

Even though the couple made sure to sneak around the castle, trying not to leave a trace of their relations, they still had their slip-ups. What else could be expected of two people young and in . . . whatever they were in.

One of those early October mornings, Sirius strutted through the doors of the bustling Great Hall, beelining for the far left table. Being a late riser, all his friends had already lined the table, their plates loaded as they chatted about their plans for the day.

Diya sat at the end of their group, her sister to one side and an empty spot on the other between her and James. Naturally, Sirius headed straight for that spot.

"Good morning everyone!" Sirius interjected before planting a casual kiss on Diya's forehead.

The second his lips left her forehead, he felt his heart drop. Fuck.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still. The surrounding chatter faded into a distant murmur as Sirius and Diya locked eyes, a silent understanding passing between them. But as the seconds ticked by, reality began to set in.

Sirius had never heard his friends as quiet as they were at that moment. Peter had even choked on his pumpkin juice, the poor bloke. Sirius mentally slapped himself. Of course, he would be the one to get them caught.

Determined to keep up his ruse, he moved down the table.

"Good morning, Prongs," Mwah!

"Good morning, Moony," Mwah!

"Good morning, Wormtail," Mwah!

Sirius planted a wet, slobbery kiss on each of his friend's heads.

"Good morning, Frank," Sirius leaned down to deliver his final kiss, but Frank stopped him with his hand on his chest.

Tapping his chest dismissively, Frank said, "Mornin', Sirius. Why don't you sit down before you climb the table and kiss everyone on that side, too?"

Sirius lifted his arms in mock exasperation as he made his way back over to his girl. "I'm trying to switch it up! Arrest me!"

The girls on the other side of the table tried to hold in their giggles at the look of shock on everyone's face. Zoya stared at Sirius with amused horror before she turned back to her plate and leaned into her sister.

As Sirius took his seat next to a blushing Diya, he stole a piece of toast from her plate before attempting to veer back to their conversations.

"So . . ." Sirius took a bite out of his toast. "What else is new?"

Diya cut in immediately, hoping to escape the topic on everyone's minds, "I've been having some trouble in class lately."

Remus — helpful as always — joined the new conversation, "Diya not doing well in class? The world must be ending."

"No, it's not that I'm not doing well," Diya smiled at Remus. "It's that I'm doing a little too well."

Alice chimed in, "How is that a problem?"

"No one wants to answer my questions anymore," Diya pouted, crossing her arms in front of her. "I must've been asking too many because it's been like all the professors have made a pact to not answer any of my questions."

Since Diya had been sneaking around with Sirius, she hadn't had time for tutoring sessions. To cope with the loss of her academic burden, she had begun asking as many questions as possible in class, hungry for knowledge. It had gotten to the point that some of her fellow classmates began to groan each time they saw her hand shoot up.

"We could help you, Diya," Lily leaned toward Diya from across the table, grasping her hand assuringly.

Diya raised an eyebrow, "How exactly would you help me?"

"Just pass me a note whenever you want me to ask a question for you, and it should be fine!" Lily grinned. "Especially if it's a potions-related question. We all know Slughorn loves me."

James fluttered his eyelashes, leaning diagonally toward Lily, "Who wouldn't love you, my dear Lilypop?"

Diya's head snapped to Lily, her eyes wide as she mouthed "Lilypop?" to her best friend. For once, Lily actually laughed at one of James's pickup lines.

"How long did you spend thinking of that one, Potter?" Lily asked him genuinely.

James blinked, surprised by the pleasant tone in Lily's voice. Refusing to let the moment slip away, he straightened his posture. "Only took a couple days this time! I think I'm getting better at it."

"Sure you are, James." Lily smiled.

Desperate to ignore the rapid heat spreading across his face, James turned to Diya. "I'd also be happy to help you with those questions, Diya."

Hearing James's interest in the topic, Peter chimed, "Me too, Diya!"

Diya beamed, turning toward her friends, "I'm seriously taking you up on that offer. All of you!"

In fact, after their classes later that day, several Slytherins could be seen walking down the hallways in a paranoid state, deeply disturbed by James Potter and Sirius Black's newfound interest in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

༉‧₊˚✧

The end of October brought along pumpkin-flavored desserts at dinner, the leaves beginning their descent from the branches they once resided in, and Diya Talwar's birthday.

The Astronomy Tower had become Diya and Sirius's latest twilight destination. The two sat on the cold stones, leaning against each other, focusing on the puzzles in the sky. Diya stared at the night sky above her, but her mind was swirling with something else entirely.

At some point over the summer, Sirius finally did what Diya and Zoya had never had the guts to do: stand up to their parents. Sirius had gone as far as leaving and probably being cast out of the House of Black forever.

"When did you leave home?" She whispered.

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows, his gaze moving from the stars to the girl in his embrace.

"Where's this coming from?" He whispered back.

"We never got a chance to fully unpack anything back at James's house," Diya responded, her hands playing with his. She didn't look him in the eye.

Sirius sighed, his eyes trained on Diya playing with his hands. "Something is changing. I could feel it. Grimmauld Place had never been the best place for me, but it wasn't like I ever thought I would flee."

Diya lifted her head from his shoulder and looked into his eyes, mere inches from hers.

"They're so obsessed with keeping everything pure." Sirius didn't meet Diya's eyes. "They planned to marry my cousins off the second Andromeda left."

She nodded to herself, remembering the furious reaction to Andromeda Black falling in love with a muggle-born and the chaotic ex-communication shortly after.

"They married those two off, and my mother was planning to find suitors for me and Regulus next." Sirius's fingers began to warm in Diya's grasp. "Then there were whispers. Evil things I don't even want to think about. I don't know what they were doing exactly, but I reached my breaking point when they dragged Regulus into their Death Eater bullshit."

Diya opened her mouth, ready to ask about Regulus, but even in the dark of night, she could see the tears beginning to swim behind his eyelids and promptly shut her mouth.

Her heart fell to her stomach at the idea of that thoughtful boy becoming a death eater. The same boy that braided flowers into her hair over the summer and sent hidden notes to her through a notebook.

Regulus had confided in Diya how much he envied his brother's bravery — a true Gryffindor. In fact, she had been one of his only confidants. He probably felt more than alone. Sirius was gone, and Diya hadn't seen him since the year began. Now look where she was. Wrapped in his brother's arms for the 6th time that week.

Diya's thoughts ran wild as Sirius continued. "He stopped talking to me altogether, and we lived in the same house. Things went downhill from there. I don't want to get into it, but let's say that this summer had more glamour charms than usual. It was more dangerous for me to stay than go by then."

"I never agreed with their views anyway. Especially not after I met James, Remus, and Peter and realized how easy life could be if I wasn't playing their game. It's not like that house was a home anytime after I was sorted into Gryffindor." Sirius looked at Diya, whose eyes were studying his face.

"And then you went to James?" Diya asked.

"And then I went to James," Sirius confirmed before looking back to the sky.

Diya's eyes swam through the stars above her, Sirius's words reminding her of Zoya. Her engagement was scheduled in less than two months, and she hadn't told a soul. Had her parents even informed the Patils yet? Did Zoya even realize how soon her engagement ceremony was? Diya had been the one more involved in the entire event, anyway.

Unlike Sirius, Diya was nowhere near ready to confront her parents and end this arrangement. Sometimes, her cheek still stings from where her mother slapped her when she protested the first time.

Would she have to dance at her sister's engagement? Would she be forced to celebrate the worst moment of Zoya's life?

Sirius cleared his throat. "What are we doing for our birthday this year?" He asked, leaning his head against hers.

"I'm not sure," Diya whispered back, unsure if her voice would crack if she spoke at her regular volume.

"I say we throw a party," Sirius responded. Diya felt his chest vibrate underneath her as she continued to gaze into the stars.

"Hmm?" Diya hummed back.

"We're turning seventeen, Di," Sirius began to weave his fingers through her hair. "We can do anything we want now."

Diya closed her eyes as events flashed behind her eyelids.

She thought of her sister's episode before she met Manav Kashyap.

She thought of her father and his vague promises of protection against an invisible enemy.

She thought of her mother's swift hand against her cheek and how she could still feel the sting if the wind blew by quick enough.

She angled her head to face Sirius. "Yeah. We can do anything we want."

Even though her words brought a smile to her lover's face, the lies that fell from her lips left her feeling cold and her stomach turning.

But when he bent down to kiss her softly, she pushed away the negative thoughts, happy to be selfishly enveloped in the present.

༉‧₊˚✧
a/n

this chapter was getting close to 10k words
with diya and sirius's birthday party scene
included, so i decided to split this chapter
in half. diya and sirius's seventeeth
birthday coming soon!

i'm almost done writing it and i can say with full certainty that it's my favorite chapter overall so far <3