Liquid Luck [Sirius Black]/editing

chapter 69

"No?" He asks with a chuckle.

"Great because I took three Galleons from your bedside table this morning but they took a mean tumble out of my pocket in the hurry. I'm almost positive the grass swallowed them so if you really think about it the grass is to blame."

"You what?!" He exclaims with a sudden fury glazing his eyes.

"It's so good you aren't mad at me, that would be really bad for our relationship if you were." I muse just to rile him up further.

"You have five seconds to run." He growls through gritted teeth.

"From what?" I say in fake oblivion.

He rushes forward and I scream at the top of my lungs and run away from him. The other three boys stand there in surprise. "I zoned out for a good minute, what happened?" Peter asks.

*

A small knock on our dormitory door interrupts me from my homework. Lily frowns, glancing between each of us, "We're all here, who else knows us?"

Marlene looks at me with a smirk. "Probably Unicorn's boys looking for her again."

"I beg to differ, we parted earlier tonight on account of our assignments needing completion." I tell her plainly.

"Well, someone answer the door." Dorcas mumbles sleepily.

Alice gently places her book down and skips over to greet the person behind the door. She opens it and standing in the doorway is a younger girl whom I don't know. "This is Chiara's room, isn't it?" She asks in a mousy voice.

"Yes, here I am." I raise my hand into the air.

"Someone is looking for you. He's outside the common room asking for you." She continues.

Who could want to talk to me at such an ungodly hour? Maybe it's Benji—maybe something's wrong. I immediately shove my homework aside and rush past the small girl to get to my little brother. Only when I get down, I don't find Benjamin standing outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Duke?" I ask the taller platinum blonde boy in concern. His eyes are red and puffy as if he's been crying and he looks awfully tired. "Dukey, what's wrong?"

"C-Could I come in?" He asks in a raspy voice. "It's about to be curfew and I really don't want to get into trouble right now."

"Of course, come in." I take his hand and pull him inside. There are few students lounging around but I know Duke would rather this be private. "Oi!" I shout, gaining everyone's attention. "Everyone out now!" Just like that they all scramble to pack their things and head up to their respective dormitories leaving us alone.

I pull him over to sit on the squashy couch in front of the fire and pull his legs to sit on top of mine because I know he finds that comfortable. He opens his mouth to talk but closes it back up again and again. "Take your time." I nod encouragingly.

"I just had a panic attack." He whispers. "It isn't as if I haven't had them before, I have. But this was worse." A single tear trickles down his cheek and that starts up a trail of droplets to follow. "I-I'm s-s-so stressed with O.W.L.s at the end of this year a-and m-my mental h-health is just going down the drain. I d-don't know w-what to d-do. I f-f-feel like I-I'm failing." He gasps for breath between words as more tears fall down his face.

I impulsively scoot forward and wrap him in the tightest hug. He sobs into my shoulder, soaking it with tears. "You are not failing." I coo. "It's okay, baby. Everything's going to be okay. I've got you now." I soothingly run my fingers through his soft hair, massaging his scalp. "I know there's a lot going on right now, but just for now put school aside. You come first. School is important, yes. But your mental health is so much more."

"I-I just f-feel like I-I-I'm drowning." I let him sob and continue to hold him until he starts to calm down.

I shift on the couch so he's even closer and I hug his head to my chest, still playing with his hair. "You need to give yourself a break from everything, darling. It's okay not to be able to do any more right now. It's okay to do nothing one day if you feel like you can't."

He sniffles. "I'm drained, Chiara."

"So let's give yourself time to revitalize. You need a complete mind cleanse. I'll do it with you. I'll be with you to help if you'll have me."

"That would be good." He says quietly. He tightens his grip around me. "You don't understand the healing powers of being held in someone's arms. I didn't know what to do but I knew that I needed you."

I feel my heart warming and my mind subconsciously wanders to thoughts of James. "I do." I smile and lift his chin to look me in the eyes. "You are so worth it, Duke. You're smart and capable and your setbacks don't define you. You could feel amazing one day and awful the next, but that says nothing about who you are. It doesn't make you any less worthy. We'll take everything one step at a time together. Take this as a compliment, you're pretty as ever but you look exhausted." I smile warmly at him and he smiles back down at his hands.

"I am exhausted." His soft brown eyes find mine again and he looks so sincere. "Thank you."

"I don't wanna hear any of that. I care about you." I get up off the couch and hold out my hand for him to take. "Now come darling, let's get you to bed. You will sleep up in my dorm with me tonight and tomorrow we take a mental health day. School be damned."

A/N: The way I cried while writing this lol. I'm just emotional today. This one's for those of you who struggle in the mental health department. (I do too.) I love that this story has its silly moments because they're always my favourite to write, but I also think that it's important to show real life situations too. How Chiara got her period too for example. I don't usually see fanfics mentioning anything about that and it bothers me because it's a reality that some of us have to deal with.

Anyhow if you're still reading,
I love you so much x and everything will be okay.