inception ━━ james potter

ix. tear in my heart

Lauren coughed uncomfortably as she looked down at her attire. Dark wash jeans that were 2x too big for her and a pale green blouse. "Right... Celeste."

Before another word could be spoken, Lauren shut the door abruptly and bolted to where she had left her daughter. Adelia had listened to her and was sitting patiently on a rug next to a corner table. In one swift move, Lauren heaved Adelia back onto her hip and rushed out the front door.

Lauren couldn't stop the pit in her stomach no matter how hard she tried on the car ride back home. And she couldn't tell if it was only there because she wanted to tell James about the letter she had written to her parents, or if it was for another reason.

•   •   •

     "Wait—wait, explain that to me again?" Sirius was exasperated as he took a hefty sip of red wine. Currently, he and Lauren were sitting next to each other on one of the many couches in his living room, both in fuzzy socks and large pajamas as they drank an entire bottle of wine, approaching their second.

     Lauren guzzled the rest of her wine and began to pour more into her glass as she explained the events that had occurred earlier that day. "God, do you have anything stronger than this?"

     "Hey! Nelson! I need the full details, now!" The black-haired man said as he snapped his fingers in her face. "I'll give you stronger shit if you tell me, now act like you're reliving it and get explaining!"

     The woman's nose scrunched in disgust. "Not sure I want to relive it." Lauren leaned into Sirius' shoulder and let out a muffled groan. At least he smelled good. But she still wanted to smack the shit out of him.

     Sirius wrapped his arm around her shoulder and sighed heavily, breathing in the air around them. "Did it hurt?"

     Lauren furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head and looking up at him. "Did what hurt?"

     He didn't reply for a second, and his eyes grew distant as they stared off into space. Finally, he licked his lips and turned back to her. "Seeing him with someone else."

     Lauren pondered for a second. Did it hurt? It's not like she liked James, but he was the one she was connected with the most over time, and she was so happy to tell him about the letter. But once she saw them together she felt brushed off, and the fact that he wasn't at least a little bit curious about what she had to say. He would have rather snogged a girl.

     "Are we still talking about me?" Lauren asked curiously, trying to avoid the subject as she studied the man's face. "Or is there something you aren't saying?"

     Sirius' face ridden of sadness and now held a deep smirk as he hopped off the couch and disappeared into his kitchen, coming out a second later with a bottle of brandy. He flung himself onto the couch and twirled the bottle in his hands, screwing off the lid and taking a big gulp. "Let's get some more alcohol into my system and maybe I'll start spewing out my deepest darkest secrets like a madman."

     Lauren's eyes glistened before smiling cheekily, grabbing the bottle and taking a large sip. "And maybe I'll do the same."

As the two each passed the bottle back in forth they decided to play a game to make it more fun. They called it, 'secret for sip'. The rules were simple if you wanted a sip you had to tell a secret. It didn't matter how big or how small, as long as it was a secret.