Gloria Sisyphus was not a fan of the Great Hall's dinner tonight, but she was genuinely hungry. Remembering what Bailey had told her about the Hogwarts kitchens, a little snake in dark green robes snuck into the evening corridors of Hogwarts.
Before she even reached the kitchens, a hand pulled her into a recess in the hallway. Startled, Gloria snapped back to her senses only to find herself pulled straight into Sirius Black’s arms. She opened her mouth to speak, but a cat's meow echoed from down the hall—Mrs. Norris! How had she not noticed?
As the sound faded away into the distance, Sirius looked down at the young girl in his arms and teased, "Well, well, the brilliant Leah didn't even notice Filch's cat. That doesn't sound like you at all. And wandering the corridors after hours? What's going on?"
The truth was, he and James had thought they were discovered and had scrambled to hide, only to stumble upon the very girl he was always thinking about. Sirius had half-convinced himself he was hallucinating. When he finally registered that the girl was completely lost in thought—oblivious even to Filch's cat—he had left James behind to sprint over and pull her out of sight.
Gloria panted slightly, pressing her lips into a thin line. She mentally calculated the time; surely curfew hadn't started yet? How on earth was this considered wandering after hours? But when she spoke, she used just two words, concise and to the point: "Hungry."
Sirius froze, staring at her in sheer disbelief. Did she have any idea how different her voice sounded right then? Soft, sweet, and helpless—to Sirius's ears, it sounded entirely like... she was pouting at him.
A blush crept onto Sirius's face, the tips of his ears turning a bright crimson, though thankfully the dimness of the shadows concealed it. "Really? Right, you barely touched anything at dinner tonight. So... were you looking for the kitchens?"
Desperate to change the subject, Sirius didn't even realize what he had accidentally given away. "Yes... but how did you know I barely ate?"
"Uh..." Merlin, how was he supposed to answer that? Tell her he spent all evening watching her? *I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead.*
"Hey, Sirius! Where are you?"
James’s voice drifted over just then, offering Sirius a prompt escape. What a lifesaver! What a absolute brother!
Sirius took Gloria by the hand and led her out to meet up with James, completely missing the knowing, mischievous glint and the subtle smile in Gloria's eyes as she followed.
When James caught sight of Gloria trailing behind Sirius, a flash of confusion crossed his features, instantly followed by a look of sheer enlightenment. *Ah,* he thought, *that explains it.* What else could possibly make Sirius split up from him and act like his life depended on it? Only this little ancestor.
"Come on, James, let's go," Sirius said without looking back.
"What? Where to?"
"The kitchens."
"Wait, what?!"
The Hogwarts kitchens were located in the dungeons, not far from the Hufflepuff common area. All one had to do was find a painting with a large bowl of pears and tickle the green pear; the handle would appear, opening the entrance. They had discovered this trick at the end of their first year.
Gloria felt a flicker of novelty. She had never been down here before. Bustling house-elves hurried to and fro as Sirius and James strode in with the supreme confidence of frequent visitors.
Sirius summoned a house-elf. "Make a portion of cheesy mashed potatoes for this young lady."
The elf glanced at Gloria, bowed low, and scurried off.
"It's getting late, and eating too much isn't good for digestion. Luckily, you like mashed potatoes—they'll fill you up without keeping you awake."
Hearing his words, Gloria blinked. "How did you know I liked those?"
Sirius stiffened, letting out a light cough before adopting a casual tone. "I heard. Cough—at the Sorting Feast, I heard Buchstaben mention that you liked them."
Gloria thought back to the back she had glimpsed that day and smiled.
James wrinkled his nose as he ate, nursing a growing suspicion that he really didn't belong in this room.
Another school year slipped away. The students, freshly done with their exams, strolled along the shores of the Black Lake, and Gloria and her friends were no exception. Elodie and Beverly chatted animatedly on either side of her.
Suddenly, Gloria felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Turning her head, her vision filled with a blue rose. This rose was unusual; its hue was neither too deep nor too pale. Startled, Gloria blinked and raised her eyes to look at the person holding it.
It was Sirius, bathed in the summer sunlight. The golden radiance poured down his back as he walked toward her against the light, shining brighter than anything else in the world.
The sound of the Black Lake's ripples rolling in the breeze made Gloria feel as though she had been transported back to that distant seashore, where the crashing of waves echoed in her ears and stirred up a tidal wave within her chest. Once again, she heard the impossibly clear rhythm of her own heartbeat.
Was it the wind moving? No. It was her heart.
The high-spirited, dashing young man in the sunlight was handing a blue rose to a girl with striking white hair, surrounded by the smiling, knowing gazes of their friends. It was a picture-perfect scene, a cherished memory hidden deep within everyone's hearts—the summer they would never forget.
Gloria accepted the rose and stared down at it. "This color..." How peculiar.
"It's the color of your eyes."
Hearing Sirius's voice, Gloria snapped out of her daze and looked up at him.
"I grew this specially. I spent the whole school year researching it, and right now, this is the only one in existence." *Though it won't be the only one for long.*
Sirius kept that last thought locked firmly in his heart. He had wanted to give her a gift—a surprise, something utterly unique for the most special person in his life.
Gloria didn't quite know what to say. Aside from her mother and Elodie, she had almost never experienced such a meticulously prepared surprise.
On the journey home, Gloria cradled the little rose with the utmost care, guarding something far more fragile than just a flower.
She was also guarding a boy's reckless, unbridled affection and a girl's blossoming heartbeat.
At the station, Gloria spotted her mother waiting for her. She threw herself into her mother's arms as she always did, the long-awaited embrace blinding her to the unusually pale flush of her mother's face.
Until they reached home, and the illusion of peace was shattered by a violent fit of coughing from her mother—like a massive boulder crashing into a tranquil lake, churning up towering waves.
Stains of bright red blood soiled the pristine white rose. Gloria’s heart hammered against her ribs—panic, sheer terror.
Seated alone on a bench outside St. Mungo's, with no one beside her—not even Kreacher—the heavy, suffocating silence dragged her straight back to the relentless arguments of her early childhood.
That prophecy. The prophecy that had branded her from the day she was born.
*"You will bear a special child who will bring glory to the house—or perhaps utter ruin. And this child will take your lover away from you."*
Ever since that day, her life as she remembered it had borne a heavy mark: harbinger of doom, bad luck, curses, maledictions.
Wary, suspicious glances.
And then, once her innate talents began to bloom, those fears warped into greed, into endless expectations and insatiable demands.
She morphed from a harbinger of potential doom into a treasure destined to bring glory.
An object of infinite utility.
Yet that same shift brought forth her father's bitter resentment, because her mother’s failing health could be traced back precisely to that period.
It was all her fault. The echoes of her parents' roaring fights from her infancy rang in her ears once more.
Her father's furious rage, met with her mother's unyielding defiance.
*"This is my choice! No matter what the outcome is, I will do this, because I am her mother!"*
*"I will not allow anyone to hurt my daughter!"*
*"If the prophecy is real, do you have any idea that you are going to die?!"*
*"So what? Are you telling me to kill my own child over some ridiculous prophecy? Do you hear how absurd you sound?"*
*"I could never do that. No mother in the world would ever do such a thing!"*
*"Even if I really do die, that is my fate, and it has nothing to do with the child! This is my baby. She is no bad omen—she is my one and only treasure."*
*No, it's not true, Mom. If I'm your treasure, why did you end up lying so fragile and broken in a hospital bed?*
Gloria had always tormented herself with guilt. Her father had spent her entire life placing the blame squarely on her shoulders, and everyone around her had constantly whispered: *Your mother became like this entirely because of you.*
It wasn't until her mother's health gradually improved later on, and with her gentle, repeated reassurances, that Gloria had managed to push those memories down. But now, this glaring, bloody sight ripped open every single one of those suppressed recollections.
Until she was pulled into a warm embrace that broke the cycle of her memories.
"Leah! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
It was Elodie, hugging her frantic friend tightly, with a deeply worried Sirius standing right behind her. Capellia had invited him to the Jones estate for a visit, only for them to receive this dreadful news midway. As Sirius listened to Capellia recount pieces of Gloria's past along the way, every step of the story twisted his heart into knots. How old had she even been back then?
How could anyone place so much weight on such a ridiculous prophecy? Seeing her pale, bloodless face now, Sirius longed to pull her into his arms and hold her close, but he had no right yet. He could only stand by and watch over her.
"Miss Sisyphus." The ward door swung open, and a healer emerged, calling Gloria's name. Like a stranded fish suddenly finding water, she lunged forward, desperately thirsting for good news.
"Your mother has woken up. You may go in and see her now."
When Gloria saw her mother again, the woman's face still lacked any trace of color. Yet as she gazed out the window and then turned to look at Gloria, her smile remained as gentle as ever.
"Mom..."
"Hm? Come here, Leah."
Chessie stroked her daughter's pale cheek. She knew her Leah must have been terrified out of her wits. Pulling the girl into her arms, she murmured soothingly. Out of Gloria's sight, a flash of deep sorrow and worry surged into Chessie's eyes. She let out a soundless sigh, patting her daughter's back just as she used to do when she was small.
"Don't be afraid, Leah. It was just an accident. Look, Mom is fine now, don't worry."
Chessie knew that Gloria's inner anxieties wouldn't vanish simply because of a few comforting words, but she was powerless to do more. She couldn't bear to break her child's heart any further, yet she had to slowly force her to grow accustomed to it.
Even though, deep down inside, she knew her daughter was strong—yet that fierce strength invariably crumbled into dust the moment it concerned her own mother.
*But I have no choice left,* Chessie thought, the reluctance and grief in her eyes deepening. *Leah, Mom has no other way...*
Pulling herself together, Chessie forced a smile and pinched her daughter's cheek. "All right, Mom knows you got a fright, but I promise you, there won't be a next time, okay? It's fine now. We'll go home soon."
With that, she loosened her grip on Gloria's hand, gesturing for Capellia, Elodie, and Sirius to come inside. They hadn't seen each other in a while, after all. Elodie gave Gloria a reassuring look, then nudged Sirius, signaling with her eyes for him to stay close by her side.
Gloria stepped back out from her mother's room, though she didn't wander far. She sank back down onto the bench, staring straight ahead in utter silence, until she felt a familiar presence settle onto the bench beside her. Only then did she murmur his name, her voice scraped raw and hoarse:
"Sirius."
"I'm right here."
Gloria tilted her head back to stare at the stark white ceiling for a long, unbroken stretch of time before finally turning her gaze to him. Meeting the unshakeable worry swimming in Sirius's eyes, Gloria managed a small smile, and on her own initiative, she reached out to take his hand.
"I'm fine."
Because he was here, and Elodie was nearby, she was going to be alright.
She didn't tell Sirius, but without her realizing when it happened...
Sirius Black had quietly become Gloria Sisyphus's ultimate safe haven.