/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟔.𝟞.𝟨

"I'm not sick, Mrs. Potter," said Sirius, trying to brush her away, but his hands felt like cotton.

"You never know what kinds of side effects... these kinds of curses carry," she said, pulling out a potion she'd made that morning and pouring it into a glass. "Drink."

"Usually when people tell me to drink, it's in a much more fun context," Sirius muttered, but he took a sip. Shivers ran through his body and he gagged.

Artemis went to wake James up. She looked over her shoulder at Sirius. "Don't throw up."

"Thanks for the encouragement."

She smiled and went back to shaking James awake. "Hey, hey- Prongs. He's up."

"Huh?" James stirred and his blanket fell onto the floor. "Oh... oh! Sirius!" He leapt from his seat and hurried to Sirius's couch. "Hey, mate," he said, leaning over the back of the couch and pushing Sirius's hair from his face. "How're you feeling?"

Sirius waved James away and downed the rest of the potion. "Really getting sick of the whole dramatically-sweeping-my-hair-out-of-my-eyes move," he said, but he gave James a lingering smile as he handed the glass back to Mrs. Potter.

Artemis knelt down at his side again and helped him sit up, positioning a few pillows behind his back with expert care. Mrs. Potter watched with a mixture of amusement and bittersweetness in her expression. She'd never seen Artemis act this careful with anyone, and she'd never seen Sirius take help willingly from anyone but her. James watched too, but with fleeting restlessness, his hands wandering for some way to help.

When Sirius was settled and Mr. Potter joined them, everyone seating themselves around the couch, Sirius began his explanation. He took a deep breath and looked to James, who gave him a comforting nod. "Right, well- it was Christmas and we were eating dinner and I- ah- I think I said something maybe a little disrespectful to my dad, and I didn't think it was that bad, honestly." His eyes flitted around the room and he tried to cover up a twitch, but it didn't work. "Um-"

"Sirius, you don't have to..." Mrs. Potter said softly. "If you don't want to..."

"No, it's fine," he said quickly. He didn't want them to think he was too weak to even talk about it. "So... after dinner, once everyone had left, my dad called me into the kitchen and he said- um- he said I'm a man now. And so he kept going on about how I've got to dress different, and I've got to act different, and be a noble part of the family... and something in me just snapped." He met Artemis's gaze then and her eyes reflected pure understanding. "I just went crazy on him, I don't even remember what all... happened." The truth was he did. He remembered every detail of the night. The yelling, the blinding light of the spells, the pain in his chest, and then his shoulder, and then his head, and then all over. "So my dad fought back, but he's not the best with... talking. So... he likes to use spells. And his fists."

Everyone looked down then and Sirius immediately felt bad. The tension in the room was too much. He hated the looks on Mr. and Mrs. Potter's faces, and the way James and Artemis were looking at him... like they couldn't decide whether to pity him or be angry on his behalf.

"Anyway, I got out of there. I packed a bag and left and I just started running... I don't really know how long I ran for, but I made it to a muggle part of town. And I was sort of freaking out- well, I was really freaking out, and somehow- I honestly don't remember this part- but I stole a muggle motorbike. I just-" His voice cracked and he stared down at his hands. "I just had to get out of there."

"We know," James said, his voice impossibly tender.

Sirius nodded and stared down at his hands. "Right, well- that's about it. I just started driving... and then I was here... and then I don't remember anything after that until this morning."