Breaking Black (A Sirius Black Love Story)

Chapter 66

From the corner, the eager fourth year eyed my obviously painful hand and seemed to be waiting for James or anyone to tell him I was out for the match and he got to play. Sirius took his wand out of his pocket and tapped my hand on the bat.

"Epoximise."

"Padfoot..." I muttered and tried to release the bat. My hand was still stuck. "Isn't this kind of cheating?"

"Not if we get caught." Sirius chuckled and kissed me on the cheek. "Let's go win our second House Cup."

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Surprisingly enough, Lily wasn't upset when we won and she had to finally agree to go on a date with James. In my opinion, it was a date well waited for, and Lily actually smiled the whole time when James ran to her first after the match, the Quidditch Cup still in his hand and sweat making his black hair more unruly than usual, and asked her the same question he'd been asking for years. All of the Gryffindors let out a cheer as he wrapped her in what seemed to be a bone crushing hug.

On the other hand, Madam Pomfrey was not so ecstatic about our victory. As soon as Sirius finally put me down on the ground after a celebratory hug and kiss, I saw the stout woman glaring at me. Sirius immediately unglued my hand from my bat and I didn't complain when he led me straight to her. Her diagnosis was immediate- four broken metacarpals as well as two deep gashes on my knuckles that would leave scars. Honestly, the worst part of my injury was the scolding I received from Madam Pomfrey for playing with a hand like that. I've seen Madam Pomfrey heal broken bones overnight, however, she seemed to want me to suffer through the pain, and forced me to come back to the hospital wing daily to drink a horrible tasting potion.

In fact, my frequent visits to the hospital ward lasted for nearly the rest of the year. Finally, on this last day, I was allowed to take the bandage off, but as far as Sirius was concerned, my hand was still broken. The best perk to my injured hand was I finally had an excuse to force my reluctant boyfriend to do things for me- like carry my heavy trunk all the way to the train. Pushing both trunks was easy for him, but the bumpy ride really didn't seem to amuse my owl, who looked genuinely concerned every time Sirius made a joke about letting the trunks tumble down to the train down the hill.

A redheaded girl and a boy with wild black hair walked just ahead of us. It was obviously Lily and James. Lily seemed to be laughing at something James said, and I couldn't help but smile. Although they hadn't went on that date yet, they seemed to be getting along very well. James stopped at the end of the path and sat on a bench with Lily, looking up from beaming at her for only a few seconds to wave at us.

The warm, beginning of summer air was sweet to my lungs as I inhaled. There was a pang in my chest as I realized this would be one of the last times we would ride the Hogwarts Express back to Platform 9 and 3/4. In one year, we would be graduating from Hogwarts and off to start our real lives. I brought this fact to Sirius' attention and he laughed.

"You're really taking the Hogwarts Express?" Sirius asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah?" I scoffed. "What other way is there to get home?"

The look on Sirius' face told me to follow him, and I hesitantly left my trunk with Lily and James, hoping they knew to put it on the train. Sirius walked the opposite way from the train and towards the road that led to Hogsmeade. Once we reached a thicket of trees along the path, Sirius stepped inside the bushes and disappeared from view.