I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride
A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
that now I'm in a whole new world with you.
Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky.
A whole new world
Don't you dare close your eyes
A hundred thousand things to see
Hold your breath - it gets better
I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
I can't go back to where I used to be.
A whole new world
That's where we'll be
A thrilling chase
A wondrous place
For you and me.
-Aladdin
Cedrella put her books away rather more haphazardly than usual, gathered up her notes, and hurried out of the library after Septimus, not even stopping to speak to the venerable old librarian, Madam Figg, on her way out as she normally might have done. In fact, she was in such a hurry that, coming around the corner of the corridor outside the library, she nearly ran headlong into someone.
It was Rodney Selwyn, who was leaning against the wall and surveying her darkly with a curious expression on his face. They stared at each other for a moment, and Cedrella remembered that he had lost privileges to all future Hogsmeade visits as a result of his suspension. She could not fathom why he was looking at her like that, especially in her flustered state. She could almost feel her mind working hard to think about anything, in that moment, other than Septimus.
Then Rodney extended a hand as if to let her pass. “Go ahead, Black.” His eyes were boring into her.
She threw him a withering look and walked by silently. She could feel him watching her all the way down the hallway, and was relieved when she turned onto a staircase and was out of his line of sight. And yet, as Cedrella hurried on towards the Owlery, it was surprisingly easy to put Rodney Selwyn and his unsettling stare out of her mind. He doesn’t matter, she thought. He’s just an attention-seeking jerk. He can’t do anything to you now.
She threw open the heavy wooden door of the Owlery, breathing in the familiar bird smell, looking eagerly around for something out of the ordinary that might indicate what Septimus’ surprise was. She saw nothing, however, so she sat down in their favorite spot under the window to wait. A few owls fluttered down from their perches to rest on her arms and shoulders, and she spoke to them quietly, trying to find out if they knew what Septimus was planning.
Only a few minutes had passed before the door creaked open again and there Septimus stood, looking rather out of breath but quite pleased with himself. He was wearing a cloak, had another one thrown over his arm, and carried nothing else”except his broomstick. He grinned at her. “Ready?”
“If you are expecting me to fly that,” Cedrella said, eying the broom warily, “then no, I am certainly not.“
Septimus tossed her the second cloak, looking undeterred. “Go on, put that on, it’s not so warm out there, though it’s really a fairly nice day for February!” He looked positively exuberant, and Cedrella could not quite keep a smile off of her face, even as she was threatened whith the terrifying prospect of flying.
She put on the cloak, which was too large, and looked up at him, shaking her head. “Sep, I’ve never flown before, I told you that. Don’t you think it’s a bit dangerous?”
“Only a little”and where’s the fun without a risk?” He laughed at the appalled look on Cedrella’s face. “I’m joking, Drell. Well, mostly. You’ll be fine, I’m going to steer and hold onto you the whole time. This is just our method of transportation today”we’ll save the lessons for another time.”
“Right. Lessons.” Cedrella rolled her eyes. She slowly fastened the buttons on her borrowed cloak, feeling slightly dizzy from the sensation of being so surrounded by Septimus’ smell.
He held out a hand and pulled her to her feet, and Cedrella was reminded for a moment of that first night in the Owlery when she had unthinkingly helped him up. Who could have predicted what she was starting, what she had set in motion that night? Who could have guessed that four months later would find them here?
Septimus had mounted the broomstick and was looking at her expectantly. “Drell! Come on. Are you really so afraid?”
Cedrella shook her contemplative thoughts away and regarded him for a moment. “No,” she said suddenly, and she wasn’t. Septimus wasn’t going to hurt her. He would never let that happen. She climbed carefully onto the broom behind him, settling herself. It was surprisingly comfortable.
“Hold tight,” Septimus said, and Cedrella wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling slightly shy at how close they were. But before she had time to even fully formulate the thought, Septimus had kicked off the stone floor of the Owlery and they shot out of the window and all shyness flew from her mind as the castle fell away and they soared, bullet-like, into the open air. She clutched him for dear life as the broom swerved to the left.
“Open your eyes!” Septimus yelled after a few frightening minutes, the wind whipping his voice back to her.
Very, very cautiously, Cedrella raised her head off of his back and cracked one eye open.
They were soaring over a lake, barely ten feet over the water. All around them were the snow-capped peaks that surrounded Hogwarts, tall and craggy and glittering. Septimus turned the broom right, nearly skimming the water, and then shot upwards again, hurtling through the edge of a forest for a moment, dodging trees, and then soaring upwards along the side of the nearest mountain. They flew over the side of a cliff and dove into a tiny valley, brushing the tops of several pines before swerving again in a heart-stopping loop and rising, faster and faster, up the side of the next mountain. The wind whipped her hair and stung her face and made her eyes water, and yet Cedrella kept looking, rendered utterly speechless by the beauty of the scenery, the speed with which it was flying past her, and the sensation of being utterly weightless.
All of a sudden Septimus dove again and spun the broom around”Cedrella shrieked, more with sheer exhilaration than anything else, as they hung upside down for a fleeting moment before Septimus righted the broom and wove expertly though a copse of trees.
“Having fun?” he yelled, as they rounded another curve.
“Yes!”
Septimus just laughed, and they went on like that, laughing and whooping and shrieking as they flew through the mountains until Cedrella could hardly breathe. And then Septimus dove once more and Cedrella toppled harmlessly into the grass, lightheaded and gasping, and Septimus fell beside her.
“You”should have”warned me!” she exclaimed.
Septimus was so out breath he could hardly laugh. “I told you, Drell”it was a surprise! Wasn’t it fun?”
“The most,” Cedrella admitted, burying her cold face in his shoulder.
“Wasn’t I right? As always?” Septimus said delightedly.
“Oh, don’t be so smug.”
They lay there, catching their breath, for another few minutes, and then Septimus stood up, pulling Cedrella to her feet as he did so. “Look.”
She did. They had not landed on a random riverbank, as Cedrella had supposed. They mountain meadow where they stood was perched on the edge of a cliff, a cliff that looked out on more peaks in the distance and a deep green river, still with bits of ice floating in it, shimmering with pink and orange shadows from the setting sun. “Wow.” She gazed at the scene, drinking it up. “Where are we? How did you find this place?”
“Rudy found it in his third year, just exploring. He didn’t pay attention to how he had gotten here, and after that he could never find it again, but he was always looking. When I came to Hogwarts he took me along, and we found it. After that we always came here when we went flying”when I was trying to get onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team in third year, I brought Quint here to help me train”in secret, you know, so the other new chasers wouldn’t know what they were up against.” He laughed.
“Well,” Cedrella said, looking at him, “I’m quite honored that you’ve brought me to such a special, secret place.”
Septimus shrugged. “I wanted to take you out on the broom”I knew you would love it”and I also thought you would probably appreciate this place more than me an my brothers put together. It’s a girl thing, I think.”
“What a compliment,” Cedrella said dryly. Septimus chuckled.
“I brought us something else,” he said, drawing two bottles of butterbeer out of the pocket of his cloak. “Would you like a drink?”
“That sounds lovely,” Cedrella said, smiling, as Septimus removed each cork rather ceremoniously and handed her one of the bottles. “Shall we have a toast?”
Septimus held up his bottle. “To flying,” he said, “and to me being right.”
“And to Valentine’s Day,” Cedrella added reproachfully, before he could take a sip. “The best one I’ve ever had.”
“And to Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup,” Septimus continued solemnly. “May we beat Slytherin to smithereens.”
“And to Slytherin winning the House Cup,” Cedrella countered. “As we rightfully will.”
“And to me passing Potions.”
“And to me completing my research.”
“And to Pepper, who helped you!”
“And to you, Septimus,” Cedrella said, “who have helped me even more.”
“And to you, Cedrella Black, because you’ve made this year great when it should have been terrible and because I… Because.”
Cedrella laughed and they clinked their butterbeers together, and she took a long, warming drink.
**
They stayed in the meadow, sipping the drinks and eating more truffles Septimus had brought, watching the sun disappear behind one of the mountains as the light become purple and dusky and then velvety black.
“Look,” Cedrella said, after a lapse in conversation, pointing up at the sky. “The stars are all out.”
Septimus looked up too. “Yeah,” he said. “Those, there”it’s the Giant Dipper, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Cedrella said. “And there…” she traced with her finger. “There’s the North Star, and the Little Dipper. I’ve always thought it was odd that Ursa Major”“
“Ursa what?”
“Ursa Major, the bear. Do you not know your constellations, Sep?”
“I know a few! I didn’t fail my Astronomy O.W. L.”
Cedrella lay back in the grass, so she could see the starts more clearly. It was a crystal clear night, and the familiar heavens were spread over her like a blanket. “I’ve been taught the constellations for as long as I can remember,” she said softly. “When I was small, I remember Mother telling Callidora and I stories about them. Our favorite was about Perseus and Pegasus” they slayed the evil gorgon Medusa together. Pegasus is there, do you see the square? That’s his body. My favorite part of the story was after that, though, when Perseus saved the princess Andromeda from where she was chained to a rock and guarded by a sea monster at the order of Posiden. He married her, even though she was already promised to someone else, and their children ruled Greece for hundreds of years. Andromeda is there,” she said, pointing to the north. “Right next to Perseus. The gods couldn’t bear to separate them, even in death, they loved one another too much.”
Septimus had lay down on the grass beside her, his eyes following her pointing finger as she spoke. “Are there more?”
“More what?”
“More stories.”
“Oh,” Cedrella said, laughing a little. “Of course there are, Sep. There are hundreds, I don’t know all of them. Some of the stories are practically part of family lore, though”for example, that’s Sirius, the Dog Star. It’s an old family name, so that was one of the stories Mother told us a often when we were little. Or Arcturus”that’s my father’s name, another family tradition”he’s right there. Zeus created the bright star Arcturus to protect his mistress Callisto and her son from his angry wife, Hera. Poor Callisto and Arcas are up there too”also known as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.” Cedrella smiled, pointing out the stars. “Zeus turned them into bears to hide them.”
Septimus had been staring up at the sky intently as she spoke, but now he turned to look at her.
“What?” Cedrella asked, smiling at his curious expression.
“It’s like”I don’t know. I mean, not that your father is much of a protector, or anything like that”but is it nice, to have them all up there? Like your family is always there, watching over you or something?”
“Yes,” Cedrella said softly. “I know the sky well enough that I can always look up and find them. I like to think that long ago my ancestor, the first Arcturus Black, really was a strong, brave protector, and that he still watches over all of us.”
“I wish”“ Septimus paused, then continued in a low voice, “I wish my dad were up in the stars, too.”
“But he is,” Cedrella said, surprised. “I’ve thought it was perfect ever since you told me his name, Sagittus Weasley. He was born in December, wasn’t he?”
“December 12th,” Septimus agreed, gazing at her with an almost hungry look on his face. “Go on.”
“That’s what I thought,” Cedrella said. “He was born under”and named after, I’m guessing”the Zodiac sign Sagittarius, the archer. Sagittarius is known for being honest, jovial, and freedom-loving”but also reckless, and sometimes blindly optimistic. In the summertime you can see him, riding along the southern horizon. Right there,” she said, pointing up at the heavens. “In June you’ll be able to see him, right there. Represented by a centaur drawing a bow, do you see?” Septimus had grasped her hand tightly as she spoke, and she now lifted it up and traced the shape of the constellation with his finger.
“Yes,” Septimus said, his voice almost a whisper. Cedrella glanced sideways and saw tears shining in his eyes. “I see him.”
“You can always find Sagittarius by following the Milky Way to the south,” Cedrella said, pretending she hadn’t seen. “But he only rides during the summer months. That’s why he’s sometimes called the Sun Zodiac.” She paused, watching Septimus stare up at the sky as though seeing it for the first time. A tear trickled out of the corner of his eye and she reached out and caught it with her finger, smoothing her hand across his face. It had never occurred to her that Septimus did not know about his father’s namesake, and even more extraordinary was that he seemed to take the same sort of comfort in his relation to the cold, distant stars that she did. She had thought it was only someone like her, searching at seven years old for something, someone, who would always be there for her, who could do that.
Suddenly Septimus reached out and pulled her closer to him, holding her there against his chest in the grass, one hand twisting into her windswept hair, pressing his face into her head. “Cedrella.”
“Yes?” she said faintly, that frantic thrumming of her pulse returning. One of her hands pressed against the back of his neck. How did that get there?
But Septimus didn’t respond, he simply tilted her head upwards and kissed her. It was a different kind of kiss”there was none of their customary shyness, nor Septimus’ jaunty, sometimes rather forced boldness. No, Cedrella thought, even as Septimus’ soft, hot lips melted her insides and caused small explosions somewhere down near her stomach, no, this is not the same thing at all. This can’t be allowed, it’s too much… Her own lips were working against Septimus,’ her hands were in his hair, pulling him closer.
Nothing, none of the many hours she had spent in Septimus’ company, the dozens of letters they had exchanged, or the weeks she had spent thinking of nothing but him, had prepared Cedrella for how she felt in that mountain meadow. What remained of her protests fell away just as her fear of flying had done as she lay in Septimus’ arms with his hands on her back and in her hair and his lips on hers in that way that was almost frantic in their intensity. She kissed him and kissed him, forgetting the constellations, forgetting her father and his, forgetting Charis and Lucifer and Pepper and Mathias and flying and everything in the world except Septimus.
They flew back across the mountains and valleys and lakes in the fuzzy dark grey of very early morning, and landed back in the dark Owlery before it was even properly dawn. It was only standing there in the familiar stone tower that Cedrella realized how very cold, and hungry, and tiered she was. Mathias landed like a warm weight on her shoulder, concerned, but she stroked his feathered back and told him she was quite, quite all right. More than all right, in fact.
She and Septimus looked at one another. “Thank you,” Cedrella said, at last. “I will never”it was a wonderful surprise.”
Septimus shook his head, smiling in a tender way quite unlike his usual teasing, gleeful expression. “Thank you.”
They shared one last long, lingering kiss before Cedrella pulled away, cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself, and slipped out the door. The night was almost over. She looked back once, as she tiptoed down the steps, and saw the silhouette of Septimus, standing stock still where she had left him, staring after her. She blew him an invisible kiss.
**
It was terrifically lucky, Cedrella thought, that there was no class that day. She had fallen into bed the moment she entered her dormitory and been asleep in moments. When she next opened her eyes, the room was full of the usual eerie green light from it’s underground window, and was completely deserted. ¬¬Her roommates, Eleanor Selwyn and the two seventh year Slytherin girls, Veronica Bulstrode and Annabelle Burke, usually slept late on weekends, so Cedrella was not surprised to look at the clock on her nightstand and see that it was past noon. Grimly, she got out of bed and padded into the bathroom, wondering how on earth she was going to explain away this one. She only grimaced further when she saw her reflection in the mirror above the sink”her hair was in wind-tossed knots all down her back, her cheeks were pink and chapped from the wind, and her lips, her kissed lips, were red and swollen. Cedrella took a cold bath, put powder on her face, dressed in fresh robes (she had never changed the night before), and neatly combed and pinned her hair, thinking all the while about what, in the name of Merlin, she was going to tell Charis. If she was lucky, Charis had stayed late in Hogsmeade with Lucifer and been busy telling her friends all about it last night, and would not have noticed her absence until this morning. If that were the case, Cedrella was sure she could explain it away”they had missed each other at breakfast, she had gone to the library and run into Professor Slughorn there who needed a hand with something… But it was quite possible that Charis had come looking for Cedrella last night, wanted to tell her all about her date. And if that were so Cedrella was certain that she was in for another bout of justified, but difficult questions. Steeling herself, she left the dormitory and headed up the steps to the Great Hall.
She did not see her sister at the Slytherin table right away, so she sat down by herself and ladled some soup into a bowl, glancing up and down the long table for a head of brown, wavy hair like her own. She had almost decided Charis must have already had lunch, when she spotted her. Her stomach lurched unpleasantly. Charis was not sitting with Mattie and Winifred, or even with Lucifer. She was seated across from Rodney Selwyn, and they had their heads together, speaking intently.
Soldiers by dominiqueweasley
Chapter Notes: Cedrella shares a special secret with Septimus, but someone seems to be up to something.I'd like to put a big "fluff" warning on this short little chapter... it is Valentine's Day after all!