Potter

Chapter 37

“Lily?”

Sirius.

“Uh- come in.” I said, bending down quickly to shove a pile of dirty clothes under the bed. I’d pick that up later. Looking back up, I watched as Sirius entered the room, his expression, for once, serious.

“What’s up?” I asked as he pulled the chair from my desk, sitting down on it so he was facing me. He glanced up at me, his elbows resting on his knees.

“I just got back from an emergency meeting, with the Order.” He said slowly, watching me carefully. “We got some recent news of Draco.”

“Oh. Well... that’s good?” I said slowly, frowning. Sirius sighed, looking apologetic as he spoke.

“Lily, he’s missing.”

....What?

Missing. That’s impossible- He had a flawless cover story- flawless- he'd taken every single  precaution. Just...Missing?

These days, missing was as good as dead. He couldn’t be dead- could he? Of course not. That’s ridiculous.

“Lily.”

I mean, the Order would find out if he dead, wouldn’t they? What if they had. What if they were just trying to keep me calm? Well, it wasn’t working. But it would make sense for them to keep it from me, I mean, they wouldn’t want me to freak out-

“Lily.”

God! He can’t be missing- they must’ve been mistaken, I mean, he’s probably just stuck in the manor, yeah? He’s careful, he covered his tracks, he wouldn’t just-

“Lily! Breathe!” Sirius was now crouched directly in front of me, shaking me by my shoulders and causing me to snap out of my thoughts. Blinking back tears I looked up at him, frowning.

“He’s not missing.”

“Lily, I’m sorry-”

“No! He can’t be! I mean, everything was covered-”

“Very thinly. If anyone looked close enough things would come undone- we’re not sure where Draco is, Lily, but I'm sure we’d know if he was dead.” He said, watching me with a concerned expression. I nodded, feeling slightly sick.

Oh, Draco.

Sirius sat down on the bed next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as I hid my face in his jacket. It smelt like cologne and fire whiskey. It was definitely comforting. Breathing deeply, I let out a soft sigh as Sirius pressed a kiss to my temple.

“We have people looking for more information now, if it helps.” He said quietly. “Hopefully we’ll more news by the weekend.”

“You don’t...You don’t think he’s dead?” My voice was softer than usual, thick with dread. Sirius hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“I think we’d be aware if he was- I suppose that would be something You-know-who would want to brag about, if he had killed a spy for the Order.” Sirius mused, and I nodded slowly. Sirius sighed softly, squeezing my arms gently.

“Will you be alright?”

“I will.” I said after a moment, nodding slowly. Lie. “Just give some time.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Alright.” Sirius sighed quietly as he retracted his arm from around me, standing up. Turning back to face me, he smiled weakly.