CHAPTER 10

— ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀᴍᴀᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴡᴇᴀᴋɴᴇꜱꜱ —

Scarlett Salvatore

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Scarlett grew up listening to her uncle telling her how her mother fell in love too easily and nearly almost always got hurt. She also grew up with her mother telling her how love was the most amazing thing in the world. So she really didn't know where she stood with all of it.

She remembered Silas kissing her the night before. She saw the look of disappointment on his face when she smiled at him like it was a regular day at breakfast but Scarlett could not, for the life of God, allow herself to let him in.

She grew up with Silas. She knew him. He usually kissed girls or more and left them the next day and the last time they had kissed he was the first one to ignore her. He was the first to turn his back.

Scarlett didn't want to hurt him but she didn't want to allow herself the chance of getting hurt. So she pretended to not remember the night before.

That was why she didn't join her cousins after breakfast and why she had only half promised to go meet them outside when she could.

She sat down at a desk in the library after having promised her roommates that she would have dinner with them. She was the only one from her group of cousins and Silas to actually work for school. So she sat there and began working on her essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts which just like the teacher was as boring as they come.

She had to write about four pages worth of how mermaids were immune to water curses. Scarlett was nearly going all Ripper on the paper when she noticed someone standing over her and she looked up to see Regulus Black standing a few feet from her an amused smile on his face.

"You look like you're about to pull out your hair," he mused and Scarlett shrugged. "Is that for Professor Clague?"

"Yup, the most boring essay I've ever had to write and back home I actually had to write one about Vampire eating habits," she said with a snort. "I never thought an essay about mermaids could be boring."

"Yes, well, Clague isn't the most exciting guy," Regulus said as he gestured for the chair a couple of chairs from her. Scarlett nodded with a smile and he sat down and began to unpack his bag to study.

"Can I ask you a weird question, Regulus?"

The boy looked up at her from his book and shrugged.

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were born into a different family? Without a tragic past and warnings that are endless?" Scarlett said thoughtfully.

Regulus looked slightly taken aback, "Is this question about you?"

Scarlett gave him a tight smile and nodded, "I just figured you were a good person to ask. I figured you would understand."

He was quiet for a while his fingers tapping atop the table and he hummed quietly before nodding. "I have. I always think that somehow it would be easier but then again, I wouldn't be me... I dunno, I just managed to get used to the idea that my family is not usual."

"Same," Scarlett muttered with a small smile before she shrugged and stood up. "I'm going to go, my cousins invited me to hang out and I've been here moping. It was nice talking to you, Regulus."

Regulus nodded her way and went back to his studies as Scarlett packed her stuff and walked out of the library.

She realized something that day. She was her parent's daughter and they took centuries to find each other and love each other. So she didn't want to find it at seventeen.

Because she didn't want to get hurt. Because one thing her family taught her is that first love always ends. Maybe Davina and Kai are an exception to that, and maybe Silas was an exception too, but Scarlett didn't want to find out with him. She didn't want him to be her first love because she knew she wouldn't want to let him go if it got to that point and it ended.

And as she walked alone in the corridor, on her way outside to meet the others she staggered slightly when she heard Silas call her name.

"Scar, wait up! I need to talk to you!"

"What's up?" Scarlett asked looking up at him with the most normal smile she could muster and trying hard not to glance at his lips.

"I wanted to talk to you about last night," he said, "Do you remember anything?"

Yes, and I want it to happen again. "Not really," Scarlett said instead, "I must've been pretty off. I remember you getting me to my room so thank you."

Silas scratched the back of his neck and nodded with a forced smile, "Yeah, of course."

"Took you guys a while to get here." Hope grinned up at them as they reached the group sitting on the grass and sat down.

"You're starting to sound as condescending as your sister Hope," James muttered when Silas sat down next to him.

Scarlett noted not everyone was there. Only Her cousins, Silas, Marlene, and Lily were sitting with them. Sans Marauders—

"I smell dog," Hope said all of the sudden, and Scarlett frowned at her. That was a weird thing to say. "For real. Look!"

Hope pointed at a Black dog running toward them. Scarlett nearly grinned at the sight of the Padfoot. The "dog" passed right by them and jumped on Indy which made James glare and Scarlett laugh.

"Hey, Pad—I mean, who are you, boy?" India asked the dog petting his head; Scarlett grimaced slightly at her slip-up and then chuckled amusedly at the sight of James grimacing as Black licked India's cheek.

"Hey mut! Stop licking my sister's face before I castrate you," James warned and the dog immediately stopped, tail in between his legs.

"Oi! Snuffles!"

Scarlett turned her head to the side to see James Potter and the other two Marauders walking towards them.

"Is this dog yours?" Lily asked cooing at the dog along with Marlene.

Potter glared at the dog and said, "Yeah we found him in the trash. Where his body will be if he doesn't behave."

"That's horrible," Lily said with a gasp.

"I'm just kidding, Evans." Potter was still glaring at the dog who was now getting pets on his belly.

"He's so cute!" Marlene exclaimed, "Snuffles is what you called him?"

"Yup. Snuffles," Lupin said awkwardly.

"Can you even have a dog in Hogwarts?" Hope asked with an eyebrow raised knowing full well who the dog is.

"No..." Pettigrew squeaked.

"That's why we're taking him back to the dog house," Potter said.

"You should think about castrating him, Potter," James told him and he nodded in agreement as said dog whined. "I think it would contain his excitement."

"Agreed," Potter said and the marauders went away along with Padfoot just as Scarlett saw James turn to India with his eyes narrowed.

"You just let him lick your face?" he asked her and she blushed pursing her lips. Oh, she knows. She so knows. Scarlett nearly burst out laughing.

"It's just a dog, James." Marlene laughed and Scarlett saw as his cousin pursed his lips but indeed stop glaring at India. "Black is so much more of a dog than him," she added and Scarlett had to stop herself from laughing by putting her head against Silas' shoulder.

She felt him stiffen so she awkwardly pulled away. It was going to be hard not to let him in. But Scarlett didn't want to risk losing him to a first love's curse. And somewhere inside her she knew she was lying to herself, but she wasn't ready to let Silas in. Not now. 

"Yeah. Black's a dog," Silas said but his laughter didn't sound that genuine. "You should be careful Indy, you'll get fleas if you spend too much time with him."

"Go fuck yourself, Spiderman." India huffed and started walking away.

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