Rhinestone Cowboy
There’s been a load of compromising
On the road to my horizon
But I’m gonna be where the light are shining on me
Like a rhinestone cowboy
11th July 1975
“I’m sure it was this way!” Ara’s voice was bordering on shrill as she dragged her twin through the halls of Potter Manor. They’d ventured from their usual haunts in Dorea and Charlus’s wing to find James, only to find themselves utterly baffled by his part of the family’s wing.
The West Wing of the Manor was bright and full of confusing staircases and identical hallways.
And the Black twins were lost.
“That’s what you said about the last turn, but I swear we’ve been going in circles.” Sirius pointed out with a half-smirk as she tugged his sleeve along.
“This time I’m right.” She nodded to herself, taking the plunge to knock on a random door - fingers crossed as the wood swung open.
And there, with an utter befuddled expression, stood James Potter. Donning his comfy shirt and slacks hero often wore in the summer. Those same rectangular frames over those same hazel eyes. Almost glowing orange as the daylight pooled from the window to cross his face.
“Where have you guys been? I went looking for you, but Reg said you’d gone looking for me.” He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as she eyed them suspiciously.
“We got lost.” Sirius admitted with a barking laugh.
“Sirius!” Ara snapped in time with the start of James’s shout of reply.
“How did you get lost for three hours?” James gawked, blinking wildly as he scratched the top of his head for a moment, arm returning to his chest as he chuckled. “You’ve been coming here for years.”
“Your house is bloody massive.” Sirius scoffed, mirroring James’s folded arms. “Rich wanker.”
“Pureblood twat.”
“Mop head.”
“Are you both done yet?” Ara rolled her eyes - momentarily caught by that sparkle of James’s hazel eyes. The shades and brightness varied with his moods; so very glowing under his amusement.
“Is there something on my face?” James grinned, waggling his brows.
Blushing, Ara’s eyes widened briefly, before she managed to regain her calm.
“You’ve got dirt on your nose.” She replied with a wry grin, pointing to a random spot and ignoring her brother’s snicker in their mind. “Right there.”
“You gonna help us escape, or what?” Sirius linked his arm with James’s, prompting the boy to lead them through the halls and to the stairs downwards. At the motion, James’s hand shot to grab hold of Ara’s - fingers interlocked as he dragged her through the home.
“Where is Reg, anyways?” Ara asked as they walked down the half-spiral staircase, head tilted as she appraised James as she tried to will the blush from her cheeks. Was her hand clammy? It felt clammy.
“Dad dragged him to his lab since he asked about his inventions. I think he’s making your brother try his new Sleekeazy’s formula.” He laughed, a flick of his eyes at their locked hands as he swung them between the pair.
“I always forget that your dad’s an inventor.” Sirius barked a chuckle, pulling them along to the kitchens.
“So does he, half the time.” James replied with a lopsided smirk. “I think his dream is to one day know every single tea strain by its smell.”
“As far as dreams go, that feels achievable.” Ara shrugged. “Perhaps I ought to decide on a dream like that.”
“Nah,” James smiled, his attention entirely on her. Eyes locked on her own with a softness that made her blush deeper as he squeezed her hand. “You’re gonna be something extraordinary. Mark my words.”
“Oh, I’ll mark them.” She huffed a laugh, shaking her head.
“One day, my dear, you’ll change the world.” He spoke in a low, solemn voice; an almost-perfect replication of Dumbledore’s drawl. He eyes widened, a slight furrow to her brow. He didn’t know about her secret meetings, right? Oh, Merlin, she hoped not. “I hope to be close enough to see it.” He smiled.
“If I manage to change the world, I bloody hope you’re as far away as possible.” Her eyes widened as he leaned closer - her brother scowling behind. The boys were no longer linked by their arms as Sirius crossed his own over his chest.
“Nah. I’ll be there.” He smirked, shrugging lightly. Close enough that she could smell his new soap and shampoo - this soft mix of pine and berry. Ara blinked as she realised that he smelled like Christmas in the middle of summer. “You’re the best show I’ve ever seen.”
“Cheers.” She nodded, voice softer than she had intended. Watching as he scanned her and raised a brow in question, clearly caught onto her nerves.
And so, like the very brave witch she was, Ara Black promptly dropped his hand and fled to the garden.
She had always liked the back of the Potter home, after all.
The stones appeared to glow, like opal shards embedded in the soft grey exterior. Smooth and glimmering; a blend of multicolour in the afternoon brightness.
It felt like magic. Embedded with memories of past Potter generations, bleeding protection and love onto the flourishing grounds of the Manor. Filled with flower gardens and flush trees in the orchards.
It was in the comfort of that sight that Ara finally let herself admit a fact most daunting. As she flexed her hand at the tingle that lasted.
She most certainly had a crush on James Potter.
Bugger.
——
15th July 1975
As the sun settled into the afternoon in waves of heat, the Black twins found themselves alone in the gardens. Between the orchard and the flower patches, by the pond in their swimming trunks and over-shirts.
Sirius blamed Reg for it, frankly. It was their baby brother that had dragged them for a swim, only to be rushed away as letters arrived from his Hufflepuff friends.
Normally, he wouldn’t have minded. It was nice to have a bit alone. Just him and the other half of his soul; his twin in mind and blood. If it were any other day, he really would have been fine. They would have gossiped and chatted, sharing laughs as they lay on the grass side-by-side.
If only it were that simple.
If only he hadn’t ruined the one sure thing in his life with the stupidest plot ever conceived.
“I’m so sorry.” Sirius blurted as he sat upright. He watched as Ara’s shoulder’s tensed; twisting her torso to lift her head to pin him with a questioning look. Propped elbows under layers of white and gold.
“Why?” She asked, head tilted in appraisal. As though he were some academic find, some curiosity to explore.
“You know why.” Sirius muttered.
“Apologies don’t tend to work if you don’t say the whole thing.” Ara pointed out with a mirthless smile. “Especially when you keep apologising without understanding exactly what it is you need forgiveness for.”
“Fine.” He breathed. “Hermie, I… I’m so sorry about James and my plan. I’m sorry that we did it, and I’m sorry that it all got back to Grimmauld.”
“You never asked.”
“What?”
“After Easter. You never once asked if they knew about Remus.” He stayed silent, unable to even think of anything but his own shame. “Of course they found out, you bloody great fool. People talk.” She spoke bluntly, shaking her head at him as though he were a child. “I’ve forgiven you a lot, but this… I love you, but I can’t ever forgive you.”
“Ara…”
“You’re half of my soul, Siri. We share a mind.” She stressed, eyes wide and full of sorrow. “And you knew exactly how awful that would be for me. You knew it would ruin me. But you did it anyway.” Ara shrugged. “So why would I forgive you?”
The air was thick between them; almost suffocating.
“Because I’m your brother.” Sirius implored, finally. “And I will spend the rest of our lives trying to earn your forgiveness for it.”
“You may never get it.” She admitted. “I’m still quite mad.”
“Still.” He shrugged. “I’d really like to try.”
“It was vile, Sirius. Truly vile behaviour.”
“I know.”
“Am I to expect a repeat? If you get mad at secrets again, do you plan to react so strongly?”
“No!” He exclaimed; wide eyes and pinched brow. “I swear it, Hermie. I’ll never do anything against you, ever again.”
“Alright, then.” She mumbled, glancing away as her face reddened. “If we’re doing this properly, I suppose I ought to apologise for having secret meetings with Dumbledore.”
“Meetings? Plural?” Sirius squawked.
“Only three!” She rushed out with a wince. “And he schedules them for during games, you know. It’s like he wants to keep me isolated about it all.”
“I don’t trust him, Hermie.”
“You think I do?” She raised an incredulous brow. “I’m not saying we have to trust the bloke, hell… I barely tell him anything. But we ought to stay on his good side, shouldn’t we? If we don’t, he might never help us.”
“What help has he given so far?” Her twin replied with a bitter sigh. And, well, it that didn’t sting.
“Really, Sirius, the question is what have you done to help?” She replied tightly; jaw tense as she watched her brother swallow through grit teeth. “All my life, I’ve stood at the front and taken the first blows. I’ve spent four years telling our mother not to betroth you or Reggie, taking every responsibility that you, as heir should have. Even Reg has the weight of our father’s burdens on his shoulders.”
She sighed, looking to her twin as he watched her; utterly still and hardly breathing. Could he feel it too, she wondered. The cracking down the middle of their bond as stayed fogged and misty. Only ever clearing to allow him to speak in her mind.
“I thought, maybe, one day you’d start to grow up.” Ara spoke sadly, lips twitched into a mirthless smile as she slid to lie back down on the grass. “Perhaps I’m hoping too early. Perhaps I ought to let you be a child for longer. It was all I wanted, for so long. I just… I didn’t think it would be so lonely to be grown so quick. ”
Her brother did not reply. Instead, Sirius looked to her with utter misery. Downcast eyes and lips.
And, well, she supposed she hadn’t really expected him to.
——
“I thought he must have apologised?” Charlus spoke in hushed tones to the youngest Black child as James Potter waltzed by the music room. The pair were stood by the bookcase and music stand - a book propped open on the ebony platform. Huddled as they spoke with frowns upon their faces.
Naturally, the youngest Potter promptly hid behind the doorframe to listen in.
“Apparently, he said he was sorry after she snapped at him.” Regulus sighed. “But, knowing him, I doubt it was a proper one. And knowing Ara, he’s surely not forgiven.”
“She seems to tolerate my nephew far more.” James’s breath hitched as he realised the subject.
“He doesn’t get it.” Reg let out a long exhale. “Sure it was his idea, but he didn’t know how bad it would be. He didn’t think about the consequences. Too much faith in people’s goodness, I suppose.”
“That certainly sounds like my nephew.”
“It’s different with Sirius. He knew it would get back to Walburga. He just… he had to have known.” The boy’s voice was soft and so very full of disappointment.
“Do you suspect that was the root of her treatment this Easter?” The Potter heir’s eyes bugged as he slammed a hand over his mouth in utter horror.
“Why else would she go so far that the Aurors got involved?”
“They what?” James blurted as he spun around the doorframe - eyes wide as he looked to the others with utter self-reproach.
“Don’t worry about it.” Regulus grit out, looking to Charlus as though sharing a silent conversation before the pair turned to properly face him. “Nice jeans.” Reg complimented James, the older boy bashfully pushing his glasses up his nose.
“Cheers.” He replied with great embarrassment, a sigh as he accepted that he had interrupted too soon. “You can have them when you get a bit taller. I’ve nearly outgrown them.” He showed off the short legs, tucked into brown boots to hide the length.
“Sure.” Reg snorted. “I doubt I’ll make it over five foot ten.”
“Don’t say that, kiddo.” Charlus shook his head fondly. “We’re a family of tall folks and late bloomers. I only reached six foot at seventeen, you know.”
“Why does that matter? We’re not technically related.” Reg’s lips twitched as he jested.
Charlus placed a hand over his heart as though deeply wounded.
“My own boy, my own child.” He spoke dramatically, wrapping Reg in a deep hug - the younger boy squeaking at the impact.
“Alright, alright! I’m sorry dad!” Regulus gasped out, Charlus’s arms simply holding on tighter at the boy’s slip of the tongue. It was beneficial for Reg though, letting him get his bearings as the older man whispered that he was so very happy to hear that word, even if it was just this once, just an accident.
As they parted, Regulus quickly wiped at his eyes, glad that James had chosen to look away at the portraits. Once he was decent, James looked back with a fond smile; so eerily similar to that of Sirius’s. It was the smile of an older brother, proud of the younger as he grew.
“You know, Sirius had his growth spurt last autumn. I bet come September, you’ll shoot over us. We’ll have to get you new school robes over Christmas.” He smiled warmly, if a little awkwardly.
“Yeah, right.” Regulus rolled his eyes.
“I’d bet money on it.” James spoke with seriousness.
The younger wizard looked up at him; those grey eyes so similar to his siblings.
But different, still.
James had noticed that. In all his observing, all his noticing as Burkes were want to do. Despite all the similarities of the siblings - the matching hair and paleness, the identical small nose - it was their eyes that people likened most.
None saw the difference in shade. Not the warmer grey held by the brothers, spotted by lighter flecks against the deep tone. Sirius’s bright sparkle to his irises. Nor the coolness of Ara’s eyes. The grey of stone and storm; never as soft as that of her brothers. Full of harshness and agony.
The odd knowing in Regulus’s gaze would always haunt the Potter heir. The eerie innocence of his watching.
Still, as the younger wizard looked to him, James offered his very best smile. Lopsided as always, flashing pearly teeth.
It was always nice when Reg smiled back. A little shy, a little awkward at first, but oh how it glowed.
Merlin, how they all glowed in the Potter home.
——
31st July 1975
Tucked in the library, hidden between the shelves, sat two Black witches. One donning deep red - styled robes with gold touches. The other in a borrowed shirt. A band tee, printed in black, and muggle slacks.
And currently, they were having the most embarrassing conversation of the younger witch’s life.
“You’re fifteen now, and I was young once, I remember how young we all started.” Dorea looked to her pointedly from her armchair. “And since you and your brothers are under mine and Charlus’s care, we’ve taken the initiative to discuss such matters.”
“Do you mean to tell me that Charlus is giving the boys a sex talk, right now?” Ara gawked, eyes lighting up as she stifled a laugh.
“Indeed. James has been forced in by his parents as well, since Effie fears a repeat of that Weasley mess.” Dorea’s lip twitched upwards. “But you’re a very smart girl and I suspect you have already figured the appropriate means of protection.” She looked to her child with piercing eyes and Ara could not help her gulp. “Especially considering your relationship with Remus this past year.”
“Yep.” She squeaked - trying to hide herself between the cushions on her settee. “Lily brewed me a batch of potion when she found out. So we were very protected.”
“Wonderful.” Dorea nodded. “As much as I do like the Lupin boy, I ought to say that I would not be happy with any accidents while you’re both in school.”
“We aren’t together anymore, Dorea.” Ara flushed scarlet.
“That merely causes me more concern. What if your next lover is someone unfamiliar to me?” The witch seemed utterly aghast at the idea. “You must write me of any suitor’s names. So I may investigate their mother at tea.”
“This is mortifying.” Ara deadpanned, wishing that perhaps the ground could swallow her up. Or, maybe a tree would fall on her head. “I am mortified.”
“Oh darling girl, get used to it.” Dorea chided her softly, snorting at Ara’s blushed cheeks. “Just because your mother expects you to be virginal until wed… my star, I know what teenagers are like. I was once one, myself. And the ruddy reason why I was cast from the Black family, was that your mother wrote her father of suspicions against me before I was caught with Charlus.”
“No!” Ara gasped, horrified at yet another of her mother’s sins.
“The betrothed future heiress versus a blood traitor cupboard shagger? It was no contest.” Dorea sighed, shrugging lightly. “Sometime, I wonder if I ought to thank her. Without her intervention, they might have still married me off. I might have never had this life with Charlus.”
“Is it happier?” Ara asked, almost shyly.
“I didn’t know happiness until this house.” Her eyes were bright with memory and for a moment, Ara could see it. Could see Dorea in her youth; stepping into the Manor for the first time. Finding the gardens that she had made her own; the opal speckling to the back of the house, glowing in the evening sun. “And I left it to chase happiness across the globe, but I have never felt it as I do within these walls.”
“First time I came here with Sirius, James gave us a tour of the Manor. All the windows, curtains just thrown wide. The light walls and the soft floor.” Ara’s breath hitched, struggling to find the words. Dorea was patient, however. She looked to her with kind understanding, and waited. “James started a contest, trying to slide fastest through this one corridor. And as we rounded the corner, we tripped into each other and I knocked over this bust.”
“I remember.” Dorea hummed. “Monty’s always having to fix that ruddy bust of his grandfather.”
“We didn’t know that, then.” Ara shrugged. “We thought he was properly pissed off. So we ran. In the end, you found us hiding out in the library. Made us come to dinner, hear Monty reassure us that it wasn’t a big deal. Gave us dessert.” She spoke the last sentence as though it were utterly shocking. Some bizarre mystery she simply couldn’t understand. “And I realised that this house wasn’t like mine. There were a whole new set of rules to figure out and follow. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and it never did. I lost… we lost Mipsy the last time we broke a bust. And your kindness never ceases to confuse me.”
“I know. It took time for it to make sense to me too. I couldn’t understand why Charlus’s parents were so excited to meet me. This moody, quiet teen their son had to marry due to awkward circumstances. But when Monty asked me if I liked Effie after he introduced her to the family, I realised how much they cared. And how much I cared for them.” Dorea smiled, mischief in her eyes. “Now, we should get back to our prior discussion. Time to talk of the birth control potion.”
“I’d rather die.”