Cigarette Burns - Sirius Black

Ch 11: Diversions For the Mind

A gentle hand shook Morrigan awake. She struggled to open her eyes the tears from the previous night sealing them shut. It was as if the grief was pushing on her chest restricting her breaths  waiting for her to slowly die under the pressure, taking pleasure in the slow torture it brought. Sirius hated waking her, knowing it would be kinder to let her sleep and postpone the sadness she would inevitably feel, but the others would be arriving today. 

"Come on love, let's get you downstairs," Sirius said brushing her hair out of her face gently. She only nodded gently in response as she sat up, bringing a hand to her head to try and stop the throbbing sensation. She got out of bed and slowly shuffled down the stairs situating herself on the couch on the lounge. "I'll ask Kreacher for some breakfast," he pressed a small kiss on her temple and went into the kitchen. 

Kreacher who had never been fond of anyone who wasn't from the house of Black followed Sirius's orders and took care while preparing the girl breakfast. While he would never admit it, he had a soft spot for the girl who left out baked good for the elf. She showed him a genuine kindness he had not experienced before, other than his former master Regulus Black. When he had finished preparing the meal he brought it into the lounge where Sirius sat with Morrigan, her cheeks still stained from the tears the night before. Kreacher placed the tray on the coffee table in front of them. 

Morrigan shot him a small smile, "Thank you Kreacher." She only received a small nod in return but it was much more polite than the grumbles Kreacher gave when being asked to do something by Sirius. She looked up at Sirius hoping for any kind of distraction to stop her from thinking about Cedric, "Sirius you said the others would be here today, what did you mean?" 

"Morrigan I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say everything but- but the Weasley's will be staying with us this Summer, Remus will be coming over more often along with some others. The house will be much busier." 

She contemplated his words, "Is this to do with you-know-who?" He only gave a curt nod in response silence falling over them again. "Sirius, thank you, for staying with me last night." 

He watched as her eyes filled with tears once more, "I'm always here love, now please eat, you need your energy." 

Morrigan grabbed the tray off of the coffee table and took a bite of her breakfast. She ate slowly sipping on a cup of coffee while she stared at the plates on her lap. It was completely silent compared to their usual morning routine and it only added to her heartbreak. "There's no going back to normal is there?" 

Sirius shook his head, "I'm sorry Morrigan." 

She didn't bother to bring up their relationship, not wanting to add to her heartbreak. Knowing that there were going to be more people in the house meant that they had to either be better at hiding their involvement or end it altogether. She didn't like either of those options. 

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As the Weasleys prepared to depart for Grimmauld place a sad realization passed over the family. 

"Mum?" Fred called out, "Does- does Morrigan know, about Cedric?" 

The family stopped their packing and shared nervous glances. Arthur Weasley cleared his throat, "Remus went last night and told her." 

"In the middle of the night?" Molly cried, "I know that she needed to be informed but they could have let the poor girl sleep first!" 

"Molly, they had to know to expect us at the house, they had to know to keep safe," Arthur explained, "Remus sent me an owl this morning, she's... she's coping, not very well but Sirius is with her."