When She Spoke (Marauders Era)

Chapter Twenty Three

Christmas morning was when Sirius left. Of course, he'd been planning this particular Christmas morning for over a year, but it all seemed a bit sudden. He had awoken to the smell of bacon on the stove and hot chocolate frothing away in the kettle, which would have been comforting if the smell hadn't come from his very own kitchen. Sirius hated home-cooked meals with The Noble House of Black. They were always much too uneventful and scripted.

Every year, once a year, Aunt Druella, Uncle Cygnus and their three daughters would arrive at nine O'clock in the morning (usually clothed for a fully-functioning ballroom) and sit down to eat miniscule portions and have conversations that had already happened.

"How was the first bit of your break?"

"Decent," Sirius had scowled through a mouthful of crepes.

"Mine was exciting!" Bellatrix had announced unnecessarily to a dining room full of careless family members. "Rodolphus proposed!" She then held up her left hand to show them all an obtuse gem attached directly to a silver band grasping her middle finger. Sirius had rolled his eyes in annoyance, remembering the dark-haired, pig-faced boy who his cousin had been sucked into an arranged marriage with. All of the relatives surrounding him began applauding immediately, acting as surprised as they would've if the whole wedding hadn't already been planned.

"Aren't you, like, sixteen?" He'd scoffed. "Isn't that a tad young?"

"Seventeen!" She screeched, furiously adjusting her mane of wild midnight curls. "I am seventeen and perfectly mature enough to be married!"

"Married to a pig," he muttered under his breath, taking another bite of his crepes.

"Married-" Aunt Druella then sneered. "- to a wealthy boy from a pureblood line."

He had given her a gaze worthy of only the biggest, baddest storybook villain (such as those that Lark often imagined replacing her adversaries) and then sunk into silence.

It was only later, once breakfast had been cleared away and more "intense" socializing began (screaming matches across the parlor) that Sirius let his actions truly sink past his skull. Today would be the day that he left it all behind. He would run away from the fake conversations and constant verbal abuse, not once looking back.

He could almost feel the freedom pushing all of his troubles off of his shoulders as his trunk plopped down the stairs. Then, right as he was just about ready to forget the past sixteen years he'd spent with The Noble House of Black, a small voice came from the hallway only five feet above the stairwell he'd been descending on.

"Don't look up," Andromeda whispered from over the mahogany railing. Though Sirius didn't forget her command, he could still picture her choppy chestnut hair dangling into the open space like water frozen just before it could make its way to the ground and her long, tanned fingers turning white at the knuckles as they always did when she was worried. "Don't you dare look up, Sirius Orion."

"Right," he replied, sorrowfully ignoring the break in her voice.

"Good that," she whispered. He looked down at the maroon carpet that coated the stairwell in a feeble attempt to avoid glancing at his cousin. "Now, I know that you're leaving me here. I also know you well enough to guess that you're probably regretting that for the first time right this second. I'm here to tell you that thinking that way is completely pointless.

"When you step foot out on that sidewalk, you better remember that I can handle myself. You'd best remember that, as of right now, I never want you to step foot in this house again. Got it?"

"'Dromeda-" Sirius objected, trying hard to calm his nerves, which were quivering and swaying like iron shavings under a magnet.

"One more thing," she interrupted him anxiously, and he could hear her boots sliding anxiously against the wood panelling. "You need to know that you're not alone, okay? There are a lot of pureblood asses out there and-"

"Stop hinting, 'Dromeda!" Sirius exclaimed. "I figured it all out last night with Padfoot. He brought it up after Lark left. I'm not stupid."

"I'm not saying you are!" Andromeda argued, practically fuming. "It's Lark who's ignorant beyond compare; you need to make sure that she stays aware because..." She shot a reluctant glare at her middle. "-as of right now, I'm not very capable."

"Of course I will," he reassured her, softer this time. "I just don't want to break her down into even less than she already is; she seemed so happy last night. I didn't want to take that away."

"I know, Sirius, but please take a moment to think!"

"I will," he snarled, tugging the trunk farther down the stairs. "Just give me until holiday ends."

So when Sirius stepped out into the brisk December air outside of Grimmauld Place, there was only one person on his mind: Lark Riddle. 

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A/N: What's that off in the distance? 

Oh yes, that's Jily. 

XOXO,

    Rose