INVISIBLE STRING, marauders era

CHAPTER FOUR - Sirius Jump's out of a Tree, so Nashira Jump's out of a Tree

- 1971/1975 -

The Summer of 71' : 12 Grimmauld Place - 2 months till first year

During the summer before first year Sirius broke his leg climbing a tree at a muggle playground 30 minutes from their house. It took double that time for Nashira to help a limping Sirius back to 12 Grimmauld Place. Regulus had run ahead in hopes of finding help. When the two finally returned, they found Regulus on the doorsteps. He had gone in earlier to ask their mum to heal Sirius. At first she agreed, but when Regulus told her where Sirius had broken his leg she told him that the boy was lucky his only consequence of going to that filthy place was a broken leg. She said it would heal with time, and would serve as a valuable lesson. Apparently Regulus tried asking again after that, but she warned him to get out of her face before she broke his leg to match.

And so, the pair helped sneak Sirius upstairs to his room without their mother noticing. Neither child knew anything about muggle healing remedies, and they certainly couldn't use magic as they were yet to get their first wands, so they had no way of helping their brother. Sirius had not cried. In fact, he had not stopped smiling from the moment the trio heard the crack of his bones. Regulus thought he had gone delirious from the pain, but Nashira knew he was just trying not to worry his siblings.

Regulus convinced Kreacher to bring them some ginger nut cookies, and not long after they ate Sirius fell asleep. Nashira waited for Regulus to follow suit before going back downstairs to the library. By that time, the house was asleep. It didn't take her long to find the books she was looking for, and then she made her way to her father's room. Had she gotten caught, she would have probably ended up 6ft under. However, she knew her father was a heavy sleeper, and she hoped that would be enough. In her haste, she knocked over a stack of papers while trying to find her father's wand in the pitch-black room, but he never stirred, not even once.

Next, she grabbed a candle from her own room and began walking back to the park Sirius had broken his arm at only a few hours earlier. As she walked, she came to the realisation that there was probably a much, much better way to do this that didn't involve her walking 30 minutes, alone, in the middle of the night. But that didn't matter, all that mattered was for her plan to work.

When she got to the park, she placed the books, wand, and candle at the foot of the olive tree and began to climb. It was easy to climb, and she understood now why Sirius had spent so long in that tree. She sat at the top for a few minutes before mimicking his fall.

She soon discovered that breaking a bone bloody hurt. She hadn't broken her leg, but she definitely heard something crack in her right ankle. She wished she could say that like Sirius, she kept a smile on her face the entire time, but that would be the biggest lie. She didn't move for a good hour, scared that if she moved, she would only break it more.

Once her tears began to dry, she reached over to the books she had brought and began reading. The first spell she taught herself was episkey. It didn't work. She didn't think it would. After all, from what she had read it only healed relatively minor injuries such as broken noses, toes, and split lips. Nonetheless, she started to get scared. Why did she just throw herself into this without thinking? She was 12 and she didn't even own her own wand for Salazar sake. She had never even attempted magic before and yet here she was, so confident she could learn how to mend a bone overnight. Someone needed to give her a reality check.

She moved on to the next spell with more determination. She had to do this. She needed to learn this spell so she could help her brother. Hell, she needed to learn this spell so she could help herself. No one knew where she was, and she couldn't make it back on her own in this condition. She needed to be back before sunrise, otherwise her brothers would worry, the muggles would probably find her, and her parents would kill her. That thought was good motivation to keep going.