Nyctophobia - Sirius Black

Chapter 41

A/N I take it back. I'm a complete and total failure. Have a chapter.

"I can't go back to Neverland." Ruby told Wren. She didn't understand, explaining that it could become Ruby's home in the same way that it was Wren's. She didn't understand that if Ruby went back, she didn't think she would be able to leave.

Her magic pulled almost forcefully when she left, because when she was in Neverland, it was free and Ruby wasn't scared. And as much as Ruby could pull herself away, she could feel her resolve weakening every time.

Instead, ignoring that even when she was far away from the place she had already begun to call home, she spent hours in the library after curfew now, instead of pacing up and down the Gryffindor common room, or just staring at the stars trying to sleep.

She didn't spend those hours alone, but they're still hours she spends thinking more about Sirius than the words on the pages in front of her. Jana didn't seem horribly bothered, because she spent those hours either reading silently, or watching tendrils of magic float around Ruby in the dark.

The gold magic was more prominent now, only visible in the near pitch darkness of the library, lighting up the pages of the book so Ruby could make out the letters without her eyes aching.

She wondered if they were always there but she hadn't bothered to notice, or if this is a new development. On days where Madame Pince spent the night in the library, sorting or just keep students out, they smuggled books out and into the Slytherin common room.

More often than not, Ruby ended up sleeping comfortably on the couch, too tired to walk up the Gryffindor tower.

She didn't try to control that golden glow as long as it remained comforting. Maybe it was a piece of Neverland trying to pull her back, to pull her home, but as the hours and days flew by, and she spent more time focused on the quiet hum of Theus's emotions than her classes or her meals.

There was no silence or distance between them, and it wasn't awkward as they both waited for Ruby's response, neither really sure whether she would ever answer at all. They studied and wrote their essays side by side, meals often too, but even when they didn't, they kept a close eye on each other, because neither really trusted the other not to fall back on instincts born from years of abuse and starvation.

"We haven't hung out since the Halloween ball." Narcissa declared one Saturday morning. "Let's go down to Hogsmeade this afternoon. Just the two of us." Ruby agreed readily.

The air outside was chilly, but not that different from Cokeworth air, beyond that it tasted and smelled leagues better. The sharp wind caressed her face, blowing her braid back and stinging her throat when she took a deep breath. Light snow covered the fields, the snow on the path long turned to slush under the feet of strolling students.

Hogsmeade was already decked in holly and lights. Christmas break was still a month off, and the day itself even farther, but the decorations brought a cheery atmosphere that would have been otherwise dreary, so Ruby didn't mind all that much. Not like she hated those red and green streamers in the school house every year, made mere days after Halloween while the teacher told them with false cheer how many days were left until Christmas.

(There had been thirty days left when Ruby had accidentally started a small fire that burned nearly a fourth of those horrid streamers, although the fire had nothing to do with her actual hate of the streamers; she had just neglected to reset a broken finger.)

She had never understood the appeal of the holiday, but as she stared at the festive town, she thought she just might understand. It was warm and welcoming, fighting away the chill of the winter.