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“You sure you know where you’re going, Black?”
Mary leaned against a large rock and scowled at him through a curtain of frizzy brown curls. A fine sheen of sweat coated her upper lip, and tendrils of damp hair clung to her forehead. When Sirius slipped an arm around her and kissed her, he felt her shirt clinging to her skin and tasted salt on her lips.
“That wasn’t an answer,” she muttered when he released her.
“No, but it made you stop spewing doubts about my sense of direction.” He tugged at a particularly wild curl and grinned. “I wish you could see your hair right now. It’s bigger than James’s ego.”
She pushed the strand behind her ear, but it sprang back. “Fuck off. It’s the humidity. It feels like we’re walking through soup.”
Moisture coated Sirius’s skin, and his clothing hung on him limp and heavy. “It is a rather soupy summer day, isn’t it? It’s alright, though, we’re almost there, and then you can cool off. It’s just up this way a bit more.”
“You said the same thing when we left Hogsmeade, and that was at least an hour ago.”
“Well, James and I were on brooms when we found it, so it’s hard to judge the distance. We’re getting close, though. Go ahead.” He gestured at the rough path.
“Why am I leading the way when you’re the one who knows where we’re going?”
“Ladies first. I’m just trying to be chivalrous, Macdonald.”
She laughed, throwing her head back so her hair caught the weak rays of sun peeking through the swaths of cloud. “Bullshit. You just want to ogle my ass. You have been the whole time – I know that’s why you tripped earlier.”
“No, I tripped over a root.”
“That you didn’t see because your eyes were glued to my ass!”
“Well, it’s practically staring me in the face, and it’s a fucking great ass. What am I supposed to do, not look at it?”
She didn’t answer but continued to pick her way across the roots and uneven ground. Sweat formed on Sirius’s forehead and dripped down the back of his neck, and his breathing grew ragged. He was wondering whether they had taken a wrong turn when he heard the faraway rush of water. Mary turned around, grinning.
“Is that it?”
“That’s it.”
They hurried forward, the sound growing louder, until the trees opened up and a spectacular waterfall came into view. Water tumbled over rock, descending into sheer cliff and crashing into pools below. Mary grabbed Sirius’s arm and gasped.
“Holy shit,” she murmured.
Her eyes were fixed on the waterfall, but Sirius watched her, enjoying her unabashed wonder.
They stripped down to their undergarments and made their way across rocks and roots until they reached a pool. The surface rippled slightly, and shiny pebbles lined the bottom. A light mist grazed their faces from the curtain of water crashing beyond. Mary dipped her toe into the water and shivered.
“Cold?” Sirius asked before scooping up a handful of water and splashing her.
She squealed in protest and retaliated. He pulled her into the water, both of them laughing and flailing their arms. They landed in a heap, enveloped by cool water. Sirius draped his arm around Mary’s shoulders and leaned back against the rock, worn smooth by the current. She rested her head against his chest, and they lapsed into silence punctuated by the steady rhythm of the waterfall. Sirius closed his eyes and breathed in the peppermint scent of Sleekeazy’s in Mary’s hair. Water lapped at his shoulder, and Mary’s warm breath tickled his neck.
“You’re sleeping,” she whispered.
Sirius’s eyes fluttered open. “Am not. I took a nice nap after I finished the Transfiguration exam.”
Mary groaned. “You’re too fucking smart for your own good. I barely had time to finish, never mind take a nap. It’ll be a miracle if I passed – I should’ve offered to shag the examiner.”
Sirius snorted with laughter. “I doubt it would’ve helped. I’m 99% certain Tofty is gay – I saw him staring at Dumbledore’s ass.”
“No you didn’t!”
“I did. He nudged Marchbanks and said something about Albus and his pert ass.”
Mary threw her head back and laughed, dipping her curls into the water.
“Anyway, N.E.W.T. scores are the least of our problems.”
Mary’s body tensed, and the mirth evaporated from her face. Sirius didn’t continue, but the unspoken truth hung between them: N.E.W.T. scores won’t matter when we’re fighting a war. Mary wrapped a curl around her finger, tightening and tightening until her fingertip turned white. He watched her retreat inside herself, walling herself off, until he stood up and pulled her to her feet.
“Come on.”
They slipped over rocks and splashed through the pool, clinging to each other to stay upright, until they reached the thundering torrent of water. A fine spray misted their faces, and Sirius watched a drop of water quiver on Mary’s eyelash before plopping onto her cheek.
“What?” Her lips curved into a smile.
Rather than answer, he tugged her into the stream of water. Her squeal was muffled by the crash of the falls. When they emerged in the little alcove behind the waterfall, she pushed her drenched hair out of her face, laughing.
“My hair’s going to be hopeless now.”
Sirius shook his head, spattering her with water droplets. “Your hair was already fucked. It’s hot soup summer, remember? Either way you were going back to the castle looking like you have a miniature Whomping Willow on your head.”
“Oh, shut up.” She sank into the water, stretching her legs out and leaning her head against the rock behind her. Sirius settled beside her, and her hand found his under the water. The pounding water and overhanging rock formed a cozy hideaway, and with Mary’s head on his shoulder and her foot resting against his leg, he could almost forget about the rest of the world.
Mary squeezed his hand and sighed. “I love it here.”
“Told you it was worth the hike.”
She reached over with her other hand and traced the jagged scar on his chest. “I don’t want to go back to taking exams and…”
She let the uncertainty of the future trail off into the crash of the waterfall.
“Well, we could just stay here, but we’ll run out of cigarettes,” Sirius said.
“God, I’d rather take the Transfiguration N.E.W.T. again than deal with you when you haven’t had a cigarette,” she said with a shudder.
“Guess we’ll have to go back, then.” He pulled her onto his lap, enjoying the hitch in her breath when he slid his hand down her bare back. “But let’s stay a bit longer.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, banishing all thoughts of Transfiguration exams, wizarding wars, and everything besides the warm press of her lips.
Humid air sat heavy in Sirius’s lungs and clung to his fur. His paws faltered on the uneven ground, the rocks and incline jarring his weary joints. He considered hunkering down in the undergrowth, but then he heard the familiar rush of water. His ears pricked up, and his tail wagged once, twice, three times – an involuntary response to the surge of memory prompted by that sound. Weariness forgotten, he bounded toward the rushing water, letting out a gleeful bark when he caught the first glimpse of rapids and glistening rock. Gravel flew out behind him as he launched himself up the hill and into the water.
The current pulled at his emaciated body until he reached a calm pool where the water lapped at his chest. He scanned the surroundings, ears straining to detect the rattle of breath, then transformed. His human form was strange and unfamiliar after spending weeks as a dog. Half-swimming, half-stumbling, he made his way to the alcove behind the waterfall.
The torrent of icy water soaked his tangled hair and tattered uniform, but it brought him a sense of clarity he hadn’t felt since he had flung himself into the sea to escape Azkaban. He stood under the cascade until his skin was numb and he gasped for breath. When he slipped through into the sheltered space behind the waterfall, the memory wrapped around him like the humid air, overtaking his senses. He heard Mary’s bright laugh; out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of dark curls, a flash of smile. A hint of peppermint reached his nostrils; it had been years since he had encountered Sleekeazy’s, yet he would know the scent anywhere.
He braced himself for the cold pull of Dementor fog to suck Mary’s smile away and replace it with a flash of green light, her hair spilling across her frozen features, the sickly sweet flowers at the funeral. It had been weeks since his escape, yet the freedom of memory was a revelation each time. So he sank into the memory as his body sank into the water, tentatively at first, then submerging himself.
“You’re sleeping.”
“My hair’s going to be hopeless now.”
“I love it here.”
Her words swirled in his mind and bounced off the rock behind him. He felt her fingers tracing the scar on his chest and her hair tickling his chin.
“I miss you.” A hoarse croak, the first words he had spoken in God knew how long.
The crash of the waterfall was the only reply.