A Broken Inheritance

Chapter 61: Breaking and Entering

Sirius stared at her.

Then he laughed. It was a dry, bitter sound.

"You know what's actually selfish?" he said. "Deciding for everyone else what they can and can't handle. Deciding who gets to be close, who gets to help."

Her fingers tightened slightly on the back of a chair. A twitch. Barely visible. But Sirius saw it.

"You think I don't see what you're doing?" he said. "Pretending nothing's wrong while you come undone in front of my best friend?"

Anastasia crossed her arms slowly, her eyes razor-sharp.

"What now?" she asked, her voice low. "You're jealous that James gets to see me cry?"

Sirius scoffed, stepping back. "No. Merlin, no."

"Then what, exactly, is this?"

"I just don't understand," he said, frustration bleeding into every syllable.

Sirius threw his hands up. "Why am I not safe, when I've bled next to you? When we've lived the same bloody nightmare?"

Her expression didn't crack, but her fingers twitched slightly.

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe because he's not a reminder of it."

That stopped him. He stared at her.

"Sirius," she said, very carefully, "you're the only person who knows every corner of it. And sometimes, that's not comforting. That's claustrophobic."

"How did we get like this?" he asked finally, voice low.

"You know how."

"No, I don't," he said, sharp now. "Even when we were at each other's throats, we knew each other. There was something. There was still something solid there. Some kind of kinship. A shared language."

"There still is," she murmured.

"Bullshit."

She blinked.

"You've shut me out," he said, louder now. "You've shut everyone out and somehow made James the exception."

"You keep bringing James up. It's not a competition, Sirius."

"No, but it sure as hell feels like it!"

They stood there in silence, breathing hard.

Then, quietly, she said, "Don't throw yourself back into the fire just to soothe a guilt you never needed to carry."

His jaw tightened.

"That what you think I'm doing?" he said. "Coming back for some noble redemption arc?"

"I think you're risking everything," she said, quiet and cold, "your new life, your new family—for what? This mess? This rot?"

"Do you even know what that feels like?" he looked at her for a long moment, "To watch someone you love unravel, while pretending not to notice? To be told to stay out like you're nothing? You think I chose to lose Regulus?"

Her gaze flickered.

"We haven't spoken in months, Ana," Sirius said, voice fraying. "He won't even look at me. And you—you're barely hanging on. But you won't let anyone see it."

"You think I care about being comfortable while you're still shackled to that place? To him?"

"That's not your burden to carry."

"Don't give me that."

She stepped back. "It's not your responsibility."

He scoffed. "God, you're such a hypocrite."