It takes two | Sirius Black

57.

He was jealous of the bond his siblings had managed to develop with Sirius. He was even more jealous of Sirius' bond with Harry. Sirius and Zion had their moments but it wasn't the same. They didn't hug. Maybe Zion wasn't ready, he didn't feel ready but he was so fed up of watching everyone else get his Dad. Even his Mum was getting close with his Dad again and Zion just felt like he'd missed the memo. He didn't want to keep waiting for the right time, he'd already lost twelve years with him.

Zion puts the cases on the floor, before he can change his mind or talk himself out of it he marches forward and puts his arms around Sirius. Sirius doesn't hesitate to hold him and hug him tightly. Zion shuffles ending their quick hug, as they break apart, Sirius pats Zion on the back reassuringly.

"See you at Christmas." He says with a nod.

"Yeah see you then." Zion mumbles awkwardly as he retrieves his and Marlie's trunks off the floor.

"You hugged him!" Marlie beams excitedly in his ear as they walk out of the house, "Maybe you can start calling him Dad too."

Zion rolls his eyes but smiles as he feels something warm glowing inside him, "Yeah Marls maybe."

He looks out of the window of the car, Sirius is waving at them with a smile. As they drive away he looks out of the back, watching as Sirius walks out into the road to continue waving them off. Zion felt a heavy sadness in his chest for the first time in years. He'd always been excited to go back to school, but this year he was filled with nothing but dread.

Looking at his little sister, he sees the moment her smile fades from her face. He notices the moment she starts twiddling her thumbs and chewing her lip anxiously. He looks across at Phoenix who's staring out of the window, his eyes glazed over with fear. And as much as he can't stand the tosser, he looks at Harry, who has the same look of utter dread on his face.  Going back to Hogwarts should be exciting for them all but instead they're all scared. He wants to tell the driver to turn back around, but he's the older brother and he has to be strong for Marlie and for Phoenix. Hell, he'd even be strong for Harry too just because of how important he was to the family.

It seemed emptier on the train, the compartments were less full than normal. The familiar buzz of excitement was nowhere to be heard, people were talking in low voices, staring at Harry as he walked past them. Phoenix tugged Harry into their usual compartment with Ron and Hermione, slamming the glass door behind them.

Zion glares at the onlookers, "Got nothing better to do that stare?"

The reminders of Cedric Diggory were everywhere, haunting the students with sadness. Zion walks past Cedric's friends all huddled together in their compartment, talking sadly about how he should be with them. He walks past his girlfriend, Cho Chang sobbing in the arms of another girl as she struggles to comprehend going to school without him.

Cedric was everywhere.

When they got to Hogwarts, the sorting took less time as there seemed to be a cutback on new students. Many students were side eyeing and glaring at Harry, Phoenix felt like he couldn't say anything because he thought his secret would somehow be exposed. He wasn't ready for Hogwarts to know he liked boys.

Worse of all, reminders of Cedric graced the hall, Dumbledore mentioned him and Phoenix wanted to scream at him. He partially blamed the headmaster and the ministry for reintroducing the Triwizard games, maybe Cedric would still be alive if they had never let the games make a return.

He stares at Cho, who cries softly at the Ravenclaw table. He wants to scream at her too, he didn't have Cedric as long as she'd had him and it angered him. It annoyed him that she was the one getting the reassurance that he needed. Cedric had been someone to Phoenix and no one was allowed to know.