fatal love

chapter 154

4TH FEBRUARY 1979

Sirius trudged through the door and collapsed on the sofa, exhausted. He'd been tracking Caius Nott all through Northern Europe for a week, sleeping rough and keeping as low as profile as possible. He'd managed to prevent Nott from making contact with the last remaining tribes of giants, but it had ended in a duel that he'd only won by the skin of his teeth.

He'd left the man stunned and obliviated in the mountains. He hoped he didn't come to regret that - he hadn't had it in him to do worse, and when it came down to it, even after everything, he just couldn't curse a man who was already down.

He was vaguely aware that he was bleeding - he hadn't been lucky enough to escape unharmed, after all. Wincing, he pulled off his robes and the t-shirt underneath. One of Nott's curses had just grazed the side of his stomach, slicing him open.

Crap, he was bleeding on the sofa. It was going to get even more stained, he thought in annoyance. When this stupid war was over, he decided, the first thing he was going to do was burn it in the garden.

Tentatively, he started on some healing charms and hoped the cut wouldn't get infected. That was the last thing he wanted to have to deal with. But he'd taken a bit of a tumble after being hit, and there was some dirt mixed in with the open skin. Twisting awkwardly to get a better look, he realised he'd have to sort it out properly.

So he grit his teeth and tried to pick the muck out with his wand.

"Ah!" he cursed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck fuck fuck!" His eyes stung with burning hot tears, but he carried on, feeling the sickening sensation of his wand poking around his insides.

" Sirius?!" Remus' voice came shouting from upstairs, high-pitched and panicky.

"Yep!" Sirius called back, his own voice sounding like a squeak.

Remus came barrelling into the room. "Oh shit!" he screamed like a girl as soon as he laid eyes on him. "What are you doing?!"

Sirius shot him a glare, starting to feel a little dizzy. "Got cursed. Got dirty."

"I haven't heard from you in days! Why didn't you send me any messages? I've been going crazy!"

"Is now really the time, Lupin?" Sirius said snarkily.

Remus tutted, any worry disappearing in an instant at Sirius' attitude, and he cast his gaze downwards and eyed the injury. "Oh please," he said, "stop your bitching. It's just a little nick."

"Is not!"

"Ugh, and you're making a mess of that. Here, let me." Remus strode over calmly, summoning some of the muggle stuff he'd bought that Sirius didn't understand. Remus dabbed at the cut with a wipe for a bit, then picked up a bottle of something and dropped it on him without warning.

"Ow!" Sirius exclaimed - the stuff bloody stung. "Fucking ow! You prick!"

"Shut up," Remus said, showing no signs of sympathy.

"What is that?"

"Antiseptic. It cleans it. Now stop being a baby and sit still."

Sirius clenched his fists and let Remus work on him.

"Honestly," Remus hummed as he worked, "all this fuss. You can be so dramatic, Padfoot."

Sirius snorted, starting to feel slightly better. "Just because you're on death's door every month..." he replied.

"There you go," Remus said, pulling back, "nice and sterile."

"Cheers," Sirius muttered, spelling the skin back together. He peered down to look at his work - a little messy, but not bad. "Do we have matching scars now?" he asked.