The Last Marauder Standing || Sirius Black

34-The Last Straw

I was brought back to reality by the sound of shattering ceramic. I looked down at the floor to see the plate I had been holding scattered on the floor in tiny, sharp fragments. I felt my face heat up, embarrassed that I was so taken with my daydream. Then fear set in as Griselda's booming voice filled the room.

"You insolent, stupid girl! La prochaine fois fais ton travail et garde ta tête hors de ton cul!" She yelled, switching to french mid-sentence so Sadie wouldn't have to listen to her cursing in English. It translates to: "Next time do your job and keep your head out of your ass!"

She got up and came over to me. I braced myself, flinching as she raised her hand and slapped me across the face. I never understood what I did to her. When we lived in France she was fine with me. She never loved me as much as Sadie, but she didn't treat me like garbage at least. I could tell she was becoming deranged; like she wasn't herself anymore. Sadie refused to see it, but I could.

My face stung and tears welled in my eyes. I refused to show her that she hurt me, so I blinked them away and looked up at her, glaring. I could feel my cheek turning red where she hit me, but I didn't care. Sadie was crying, begging her to stop, but there was nothing she could do.

"Clean this up and get out of here," Griselda spat in my face, turning around and walking into the living room. I sighed, grabbed an old rag off the counter, and kneeled to pick up the shards. Sadie came over to help me, tears streaking her cheeks.

"Hey, don't worry about me," I said quietly to her so Griselda couldn't hear us from the other room. "I'm tougher than I look, okay?" I attempted a smile.

"I just don't understand why she treats you this way. I always beg her to be kind to you, but it's like she can't help herself. She hardly even talks to me anymore. Have you seen how tired she's become? She has dark circles and her face has become sunken... even her body looks so frail" Sadie shook her head. I never thought about it, but I realized Sadie was actually right. Griselda definitely looked worse and worse every time we saw her. She was certainly losing her mind a bit as well. Even now, it was Christmas eve and she hardly even acknowledged the holiday. When we got home not one decoration was set up, not even a Christmas tree. Sadie was distraught and insisted on decorating as a family, but seeing as we only had a few days to prepare, the decorations were still sub-par. While I would do anything to be free of her, I didn't want her to die... Especially for Sadie's sake.

We finished cleaning up the broken plate off the floor, and once I put the rest of the dishes away I decided to hide away in my room like I usually did. Thankfully Sadie decided to spend some time with Griselda because I really just wanted to be alone and away from the two of them.

I was sitting in my room by myself with a book when I heard a soft tapping on my window. I paused for a moment, thinking I might have been hearing things, but then the tapping came again. I looked at the window and had to hold back a cry of joy. Sirius stood behind the glass in the cool night air, wind whipping his hair around his head, a grin spread across his face. I jumped up off my bed at lightning speed and opened the window to let him in.

"Miss me, darling?" He grinned as I slid the window open. I stared at him in disbelief.

"Sirius, what in the name of Merlin are you doing here?" I asked. I took a step back so he could climb through the window into my room. He closed it behind him to keep the cool winter air from getting in.

"Just thought you could use a little Christmas cheer" He shrugged. "Now, last I remember you promised to tackle me when you saw me" He smirked, opening his arms to me. I giggled and jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist and clutching onto him for dear life. He chuckled and grabbed my waist to support me. He turned around and laid back on my bed so I was now on top of him. I propped myself up and looked down at him, unable to control my smile.