My Breath || S. B.

23. Husband and Wife

The photographer finally arrived. Thirty minutes late and no one is happy about it, though the arrival of Chief Lao was enough to make them forget that. It is no secret that Junia's grandfather, whom she had never met, is a great and powerful wizard, so even the Blacks were bowing and scraping in their own home.

Junia could only be glad that she had an extra 30-minutes of her unmarried status before the ceremony began. Sirius most likely felt the same way too.

"Come to the next room, Sirius and the photographer are already waiting," Freya told her before exiting the room again.

Junia took one last look in the mirror. If she is going to be photographed, she has to look the best she can. Even if it's a photograph with Sirius Black.

She twirled in her simple broken white gown. It was not a very modest dress for the time, especially with the low cut V-neckline. The long flowy sleeves fortunately made up for it. Junia was happy that she could at least pick the dress. Her neck is obviously covered in Crawford's signature sapphires, to complement the simplicity of her dress. She wore it along with her favourite pair of matching earrings and bracelet. And of course, the engagement ring that is stuck to her finger.

Her hair is only tucked behind her ear on one side. After all, she couldn't do much with her short hair. Though her shiny raven hair is enough to make people turn heads even during her bad hair days.

She came out of the room quietly. No one was in the hallway and she could hear the commotion from downstairs. At least there wouldn't be too many people watching the shoot. Junia entered the room where the photographer is supposed to be, though no one was there. Except, Sirius.

He was standing in the middle of the room, fixing the cuffs of his sleeves. Junia must admit, he looked quite alright when he's all cleaned up like that.

Sirius too seemed to have thought the same about her. It wasn't his first time seeing her in a dress. He has seen her wear bolder dresses before, but this was the one that made his cheeks feel warm, which is extremely new for him. Or perhaps it's just the first time he has seen anyone worn such a bright colour in the House of Black. He quickly looked away, unnoticeably flustered. "I thought you were the photographer."

"I thought he's supposed to be here," Junia replied.

"He was. Went out for a smoke," he said.

Junia nodded as she looked around the almost empty room. There was only a chair in the corner of the room, which Junia assumed would be used for the photograph. The walls, like any other walls in the Black's house, are dark green with patterns of vines with no flowers.

"Is this room usually empty?" Junia asked out of curiosity.

Sirius shrugged, "All the unoccupied rooms here are empty until it is needed. Charmed that way."

Junia nodded and there was a long moment of silence in which both wished that the photographer would enter the room soon.

"You talked to her, didn't you?" Sirius suddenly asked.

"What?" Junia turned to him.

"McKinnon," he said, finishing up the bourbon left in his glass.

"I apologised to her," Junia told him. "That's all."

Sirius nodded, "I met her a few days ago. She wouldn't talk to me."

"Maybe because you treated her like a piece of shit," Junia mumbled. Unfortunately for Junia, she didn't know that Sirius has excellent hearing.

Sirius bit the insides of his cheeks to refrain himself from smiling or saying anything. As much as he wanted to dislike Junia, he often found her blunt and honest opinions entertaining. "I—"