The Marauders: Padfoot

"Make A Wish"

I slowly climbed the steps to the astronomy tower. It was dark, apart from the small blue glow emitting from the tip of my wand, caused by the lumos spell I had cast moments before.

The wooden stairs creaked quietly under my feet as I ascended the stairs.

At the top, I was met with the open balcony, looking out at the stars. It was a clear night, and the milky way could be faintly made out directly above the grounds.

I stared up in wonder as a meteor whirled across the sky, and disappeared in an instant.

"Make a wish." A voice whispered faintly from behind me.

I closed my eyes tight, scrunching up my entire face, making my wish.

I turned around and smiled at Aidan.

"Are we allowed up here?" I whispered, even though there was nobody around, it seemed as though my voice would break the beauty of the night if I spoke any louder.

"Of course we are. I doubt Dumbledore would deny us a chance to look at the stars on a night like this anyway." He smiled.

There was no moon so it was hard to make out his features but I watched him closely in the dark as he pulled his satchel off.

He pulled out lots of pillows and a few blankets as I watched in confusion.

"Extension charm." I mumbled to myself.

He looked up, before gesturing to the mini fort he had made under the stars.

His cuts and bruises were completely gone, Madame Pomfrey had definitely done a good job on him,

"Who did you duel with?" I asked him out of curiosity.

He sighed before looking towards me.

"A Gryffindor. James Potter." He laughed a little.

I stared at him in shock.

"Always knew Gryffindors were arrogant little things, apart from you of course."

James didn't have any cuts or bruises last time I saw him. I briefly wondered why they had dueled before allowing my mouth to seek out an answer.

"Why did you duel?" I asked, moving a little closer to him.

He put his arm loosely around my shoulder and I instantly went rigid. I wasn't used to this.

"One of my friends dared me to go into the shrieking shack, and I'm not one to pass up a dare. But James, he tried to stop me, he was insistent that I couldn't go in. I just laughed it off but when he pulled out his wand I knew he was serious." He said, frowning up at the stars.

"That's odd." I mumbled, resting my head on his shoulder.

It was starting to get cold and I began to shiver before Aidan pulled a blanket over me.

"I think he's hiding something in there. And I'm going to find out." He whispered, his voice getting lost in the cold air.

I stared up at the twinkling abyss of glittering cosmos above us.

"Seren." I said, looking up at the stars.

"What?" He asked, obviously confused as to why I had said my own name.

"It means star in Welsh." I told him.

He turned to me and softly caught my cheek in his palm. My breath caught as I looked into his eyes.

"You are a star." He mumbled, running his thumb across my bottom lip.

My mind danced with ideas and thoughts. In this moment I wanted nothing more than to be kissed by him.

I bit my lip, a habit which I should probably try to control.

"Don't bite." He whispered, pulling my lip from my teeth.

Don't bite. I thought of Lily, how she always scolded me for biting my lips and my nails.

I nodded as no words would escape my throat.

A shooting star flew across the sky, drawing my attention away from his eyes.

"A shooting star." He said.

"Make a wish." I replied, closing my eyes.

"I already have."

And then his lips were on mine.

My mind raced. I loved it and hated it, and I hated myself for liking it. It was such a confusing concoction of feelings.

I get broken out of my trance when I feel his warm tongue dance across my bottom lip. It feels intoxicating and my mouth instantly opens in surprise, allowing him in.

He hesitates for a second and I realise that he's just as shy as I am.

He overcomes his insecurity in an instant and that's when I feel our tongues collide.

I melt into his embrace and my fingers gently stroke his soft curls as our tongues dance delicately.

My second kiss.

Then I think of the first, with Sirius and I instantly feel bad.

I break away and cover my eyes with my hands.

"Seren?" He asks, as I keep my face covered.

"I'm sorry." I apologise with tears brimming my eyes, threatening to escape.

I'm glad for the darkness and how it hides the weak tears in my eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asks, leaning towards me.

I instinctively move back.

"It's just... It's too soon." I mumble.

He continues to watch me with worried eyes and I know that I owe him more of an explanation.

"My heart has been broken, and right now I don't think it's strong enough for this." I added, chewing on my bottom lip.

He nodded and took a deep breath.

"Do you maybe just want to take things slowly, we can go to Hogsmeade some time or something... Only if you want to though." He asked shyly.

"That would be nice." I said, pulling the blankets tightly around me.

The wind was picking up and beginning to nip at my skin.

"Maybe we should go back?" He offered, noticing me shivering.

I nodded in reply and helped him get everything back in his satchel.

Guilt was eating away at me, and I didn't know if it was from kissing Aidan, or from pulling away.

We walked back in silence along the dimly lit corridors. It was late so we made sure to keep out footsteps quiet, not to be caught out of bed after dark.

Aidan walked me to the Gryffindor tower, where we said our goodbyes.

"Thank you for tonight. And I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, I rushed things a bit, I know." He said, encircling me in a hug.

I hugged him back and smiled at him when we broke away.

I made my way inside the portrait hole and was surprised to find Lily sitting by the fire waiting for me.

I saw Sirius look up from where he and the other were sitting over on the sofa.

"How was it?" Lily asked me, jumping up from her seat.

I gave her a worried glance, to tell her that it hadn't gone well. She instantly grabbed my hand and led me up to the dorm where I told her everything.

Flora and Marlene listened in interest and once I was finished, they all gave me sympathetic looks.

"Why are you all... Looking at me like that?" I asked shyly.

Lily's gaze lowered to the floor, almost as though she was regretting what she was about to say before she had even said it.

"You don't really have the best of luck do you?"