Shelter • wolfstar au

44 ; black genes

Chapter Forty Four: Black Genes

"Do you want to talk to him?"

Marlene's voice startled Nathan and caused him to jerk up from where he lay on the hammock. Raising himself so that he rested on his elbows, he asked, "How is he?"

She sighed and climbed up to the hammock. "Well, aside from his burnt leg, twisted elbow, broken shoulder, his flesh coming out from his cheek where you'd hit him and his arrogant manner, he's quite fine, really."

Nathan drew his legs closer to him and wrapped his arms around them, bringing his right hand up to look at the palm. The pale skin was covered in spots of dried blood. He had hit Sirius impulsively, right on the spot where he already had a burn that wasn't healing, and the wound had opened and a few drops of blood had clung to Nathan's skin. He had noticed it only an hour or two after slapping Sirius.

"Is he mad at me?" he asked, looking up at Marlene again, as he began to pick up the flecks of dried blood out of his hand. For some reason, Marlene looked extremely worried at this.

"That's the thing," she said in apparent frustration. "He isn't. You would think he'd whimper and complain and be the perfect drama queen that he is, but he's acting like nothing has happened. He seems to have lost all forms of expressions and I'm so worried about him, Nate."

Nathan chewed on his lip. He wasn't really surprised at what his sister had just said. Sirius had changed. A lot. He was now less expressive about his feelings, and was far more reckless than he had ever been. He couldn't be sure whether this was an effect of the war, or something else. If it was due to the war taking its toll upon Sirius, then why hadn't it happened before? Why the sudden change?

The answer came to him the moment Marlene voiced his thoughts out loud.

"Do you think it's because of Remus?" They were already talking very quietly, for the piles of crates wouldn't stop their sounds from reaching Sirius, but she dropped her voice further, speaking in a whisper. "He has been acting strangely ever since we got separated."

Nathan shook his head a few times. "I don't know, Marls. I honestly don't know."

They remained in silence for several minutes. The sound of light sores reached their ears, showing that Sirius has fallen asleep. He untangled his limbs and looked at his sister, his eyes suddenly grim.

"How much food do we have left?"

She didn't answer right away, and instead looked up at the ceiling and stared at the wooden pillars with great concentration, as though she hasn't heard his question. Finally, she spoke. "I'll ration the food between the three of us and then I'll tell you how many days it will last."

"Okay," he agreed with a nod. "I'll go check on Sirius."

But he didn't. After Marlene had left, he remained seated on his hammock for several more minutes, trying to gather his thoughts and trying to justify hitting Sirius. He knew Sirius was an adult and even if he was older than him, he had no right to hit him.