good things fall apart • sirius black

Brothers

"I think we got the wrong house." James whispered, completely ignoring the gesture to be silent, and Sirius clapped a frantic hand over his mouth.

"Mittens? I've got sardines for you Mittens." The old lady's voice came again, and this time, the two boys were deathly silent.

Thankfully, they heard the patio door slide shut not moments later and the lock click once more, indicating she'd gone inside. Without so much as a shared look, both James and Sirius both dashed for the garden gate behind them, taking it in turns to scale it and jump over. Of course, the messy haired boy about fell over the other side, but before he could hit the ground, he transformed and found himself safely on four hooves. A stag practically on the front porch of some poor old woman's home wouldn't be something easily explained and so Sirius waved his arms around wildly - James was stood before him once more in a matter of moments.

Once back safely on the street, illuminated by the streetlamps, the two black haired boys gathered themselves. Whatever alcohol they'd consumed had been frightened out of them, and Sirius was quick to hit James over the back of the head for his stupidity. How had he gotten the wrong house? He sent letters to Lily Evans all the time, surely he knew her address? Though it appeared they'd found themselves lost in some random Muggle town in the Midlands, somewhere a long way away from the West Country, that was for sure.

Neither of them had a plan for what they were going to do now, but the Knight Bus would be able to pick them up from anywhere, and so they started down the street. It was probably around midnight, not exactly the best time for a stroll, but this was far from the most reckless thing they'd done this summer.

Nothing about the two months off they had from school could've been called tame, and now heavy weights pushed on their chests at the thought that they'd be returning to Hogwarts for their sixth year in just over a week. Going back meant being with their friends again, and pulling pranks on the Slytherins, but it also marked the end of many freedom filled adventures they'd embarked on in celebration of Sirius no longer having the Blacks to conform to.

Cyrus had told them to do everything they wanted and more, for they were only going to be sixteen once; Fleamont had asked for detailed recounts of anything they'd gotten up to; and Euphemia had forced herself to turn a blind eye, for otherwise, she would've torn her hair out. All three adults decided that they'd let James and Sirius have this one summer, and then they'd have to behave - if that was something even remotely possible.

The reckless behaviour had been sparked by Cyrus gifting Sirius a motorbike a week after Ellie left for France (he definitely had taken his daughter's words seriously when she'd joked about it). Him and James had then subsequently been out on it everywhere that was within a fifteen-mile radius from the house, for Sirius was still getting used to actually being able to ride the thing. The motorbike had made a vast majority of his dreams come true, and there was no way he was able to thank Cyrus enough for buying it for him. In Sirius' specific words, it 'completed his vibe'.

And 'his vibe' was also something that now consisted of drinking alcohol on a regular basis, mainly just for the giddy buzz of it. Many a night had been spent splayed out on the lawn outside, staring at the stars as the haze in his mind blocked out all coherent thoughts. Well, all but one... There was a particular beautiful girl that had never left his mind this summer, and it was starting to become more of a problem than it ever had been.

After the motorbike and the alcohol, it hadn't taken long for sleep to be non-existent (especially when she wasn't around to shield him from his nightmares currently), then the smoking came too. Between the two black haired boys, they could get through one pack of cigarettes in about two days easily. It wasn't a healthy habit, but like the alcohol, it also wasn't out of control. Yet. Though, the smoking wasn't something that Euphemia would ignore if she found out, and so they had to be extra stealthy to hide it from her. If they weren't outside, they were hanging out of James' window to ensure that the smell didn't linger on their clothes or in the furniture, and their stash lived safely under Gryffindor Quidditch robes at the bottom of Sirius' Hogwarts trunk.