A Black Knight (sirius black love story) 1

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Be—Smack! How I hated that sound. It didn’t exactly wake me up. I had been lying in bed awake for almost an hour. Still, the sound seemed to bring an ominous feeling into the room. September first had now officially begun. I had been dreading this day for weeks, since that one terrible afternoon. Since the day I was forced to choose. Betray my mom or betray my dad. At sixteen years old who wants to make that kinda decision? But I did choose. And now I would be starting my final year of education at a totally new school. Hogwarts. Not exactly the most charming name.

I quickly emerged from my nest of feathery pillows and down comforter. Practically running across the room, I entered my bathroom, grabbed the counter to stop my sliding feet, and gazed critically at my reflection, ready to repair the damage. My hair. Although it was down, it was pulled back from my face, sticking out wildly in all directions. Even Simba would have been proud of my golden lion’s mane. Product of a restless night. Not too bad… Nothing a little shampoo and conditioner couldn’t fix anyway. Leaning closer to the mirror I gave my skin an appraising stare. When I was in my early teen years, my porcelain skin tended to break out when I was stressed or nervous. Never know when that little, bad habit could pop back up again. However, this morning, my complexion was clear and smooth, glowing healthily in the morning light. I gave a small sigh of relief. Thank goodness that awkward stage was over. Leaning even closer to the mirror, I examined my deep, cobalt blue eyes. I have often been told that my brilliant blue eyes are my most stunning feature. One boy even told me that whenever he looked into them, he felt like he was staring into a vast, endless ocean. Cheesy, I know, but at the time it was cute. No red today. The white was white and the blue was blue, just as it was supposed to be. Finally satisfied that the damage wasn’t too bad, I hopped into the shower.

15 minutes later, I hopped back out. Literally. Unfortunately, my foot hit a small puddle of water on the tile floor and I was suddenly airborne. Grasping out for anything I grabbed hold of the shower curtain and almost like it was in slow motion, I watched as one by one the rings broke causing me to get tangled up in the curtain and landing with a loud THUD inside the bathtub. Well that was graceful… I got slowly to my feet, and saw my black and white kitten Midnight staring at me imperiously. “Yeah, like you’ve never done that before.” I stared at her defiantly for a few seconds before she stalked off.

I looked at the clock. 9:30. Crap! I only had 30 minutes to get ready. The train leaves at eleven, but my mom wanted an hour to get there. Happy that I turned 17 a week ago (and that my mom knows every spell in the book when it comes to getting ready), I gave my wand a swift downward flick. In a clear voice I said, “saeta siccus.” My once wet hair was now dry and perfectly straight flowing down to the middle of my back. I’ve always thought I curl my hair better than magic does, so I turned my curling iron on and set to the task of deciding an outfit while it heated up.

What to wear? What to wear? It was a typical drizzly day in London. Shorts and a t shirt were out. I decided on a snug, light pink cowlneck sweater and some tight, faded blue jeans.

Rushing for time, I hurriedly curled my hair so that it fell into soft curls around my face. I put on some mascara and a tiny bit of eyeliner. Not a big makeup kinda girl.

“Rosalie! Let’s go!” I heard my mom shout up the stairs.

“Coming!” I yelled back. Throwing the last few items into my trunk, I slammed it shut, scooped up Midnight and levitated my trunk down the stairs. I saw my mom when I reached the bottom. Her familiar cobalt blue eyes showed what I had feared for my own eyes earlier that morning. They were bloodshot, swollen, and red. Another morning spent sobbing. She smiled at me, trying to hide the obvious pain on her face.

“Toast?” She held up a small stack.

“Thanks Mom. You’re the best.” I returned her smile, trying silently to tell her that everything was going to be okay. We took my stuff to the car and started the drive to the station, talking about nothing important, both avoiding the subject of the source of her tears. We got to the station with twenty minutes to spare. Hiding my wand underneath my sweater I got my trunk out of the car while my mom found a trolley.

“So you just walk right through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, but don’t let the muggles see.” She gave me these instructions as we walked into the station, Midnight trailing silently behind us. I turned to face her. I could feel tears threatening to escape my eyes. How could I leave her? Her eyes echoed mine. We were so much alike. Did we share the same fate too? “I love you.” A tear escaped. It slid slowly down her rosy cheek. “You look beautiful.” She smiled proudly. “Everyone will love you. Don’t worry, you’ll do amazing.” She pulled me into a tight hug.

“I love you too,” I whispered. “Promise I’ll write.”

“You better.” She smiled teasingly. “Bye sweetie. Have fun.” I started walking towards the barrier.

“Bye Mom.” I made a quick peek over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching, and stepped through the barrier. A magnificent scarlet steam engine greeted me. An array of noises greeted me as well: the loud whistle from the train, signaling ten minutes to departure; students greeting and catching up with old friends; owls hooting; cats meowing; not to mention the scuffling of hundreds of feet. There was so much going on. I moved through the crowd carefully, trying to avoid walking into anyone. I attracted quite a lot of stares anyway. Apparently they didn’t get too many transfer students. Well two could play at this game. I stared right back at them, not rudely, just politely. Well…as politely a stare as you can get. It was in my polite staring that someone caught me eye. It was a girl with dark red hair fighting through the multitude, heading my way. I turned to her. She ducked, dodged, and squeezed her way toward me. I couldn’t help but laugh quietly at her skills of navigating a crowd. They seemed to work though, because she got to me quicker than I would have thought possible. Her last move was my favorite. It involved agilely dodging the outstretched arms of a boy trying to hug her.

“Hi. Are you Rosalie?” She stood before me, breathing heavily, slightly out of breath. She was gorgeous. She had startling emerald green eyes that contrasted beautifully with her pale skin and lovely auburn hair which cascaded gracefully down her back. She had full red lips that were currently pulled up into a heart-warming smile.

“Yeah. Rosalie Knight.” I smiled hesitantly at her.

“I’m Lily Evans, head girl at Hogwarts. I just wanted to welcome and meet ya.”

“Thanks.” I wasn’t really sure what else to say.

“Wanna sit with me and my friends?” she offered politely.

“I’d love to.” I gave her my full smile. She smiled back seeming to be considering something. Then without warning, she linked arms with me, and steered me to the train.

Lily said in a quiet voice, “I’m really glad you came here.” It was too early to say ‘me too’ so I didn’t really know what to say. Luckily, Lily seemed to sense my discomfort. She gave me an understanding smile and launched into a description of Hogwarts, the grounds, and herself. Her voice was so gentle and kind I found myself liking her immediately.

We reached her compartment and she slid the door open to reveal two more girls. One was very tall. 5’10 or 5’11. She had short, layered dark brown hair, and sharp light blue eyes. She grinned and jumped up when we walked in and said in a loud voice “Welcome!” She gestured around the compartment with her left hand. I lifted my eyebrows and giggled.

“Thanks!” I said just as loudly. The tall girl beamed at me.

“I’m Evie McCawley,” she said holding out her hand.

“Rosalie Knight.” I shook her hand, goofy grins on both our faces. I turned to the other girl. She was teeny! Only about 5’0. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she wore a size double zero in jeans. She had long dark brown hair that went just past her shoulders. Set in a tan, heart-shaped face, she had sparkling, chocolate brown almond-shaped eyes. Currently, she was rolling those eyes at me and Evie, but she too stuck her hand out in greeting.

“I’m Brooklyn.” She added no last name.

“Nice to meet you all,” I said politely. I put my trunk away, then sat down between the window and Evie. Lily took the seat next to Brooklyn.

Leaving no room for an awkward silence, Evie asked the obvious question that Lily had failed to ask earlier. Although she worded it a bit differently than expected. “So…why are you here, and where did you come from?” She asked the question rather bluntly, but I could see a smile forming on the corners of her mouth.

I answered in mock consideration. “Would you like me to give biblical references or can I just answer straight up?” I smiled teasingly.

“Straight up. References just confuse me.” She made a face.

I grinned, then felt it slide off my face a bit. Guess I should answer her question... “Well…” I started off hesitantly. “I went to a private school for my first six years of school, but I just decided that I wanted to do my last year in a public school.” Technically it was the truth. I mean who in there right mind would just decide to change schools their final year? Oh well. For now it would have to do.

“Oh, what private school?” Brooklyn asked in an interested voice.

“Uh…it was just a small one. I doubt you’ve heard of it,” I answered awkwardly. Brooklyn didn’t notice my uneasiness.

“I don’t know, I’ve heard of quite a fe—“

“So Evie how was your summer?” Lily interrupted skillfully. One little question was all it took for Evie to launch into the hilarious story of her new found love of singing. I took the chance to give Lily an appreciative grin. I thought she smiled back at me, but it was hard to tell if it was me or Evie’s story. Brooklyn stared at me for a few seconds, confusion in her chocolate brown eyes, but it wasn’t long before she got caught up in the story, laughing heartily with Lily. I felt bad for not being totally honest with them, but I wasn’t about to tell them the private school I had attended was Knight Academy of Magic, the school my father was the headmaster of. Because that would undoubtedly lead to the question of why I would leave my father’s school, and I just wasn’t ready to answer that one yet. I suppose I could have just lied. Told them my father was extra hard on me or something like that, but not telling the whole truth felt a hell of a lot better than flat out lying. Besides, while my father wasn’t perfect, he definitely wasn’t too hard on me. He wasn’t anything. He was absent…