𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑 ❧ sirius black

XIX - A Sight for Sore Eyes

"James!" Lily belted out upon the sight of his limp body being carried out onto the field. The color in her face drained as she, along with Marlene and Alice, burst out of their seats and raced with urgency down the stairs, which seemed so terribly long in that moment, down to the grassy bottom.

Hermione was about to join the other girls to see James, but was taken aback by the boy next to her. Sirius remained motionless in his seat. James, practically his brother, was wounded. He was there for him when no one else was; he was everything he needed; he was good. Without a doubt, James was that source of good in his life, distracting him from the family trauma of his childhood. Come to think of it, Sirius had never really thanked James for that, for being such a great support system: his truest friend.

What the hell would he do without him?

Hermione watched the bravery fade from Sirius eyes, and the murmurs of the crowd faded as she dialed in on him alone. In a moment of comforting, Hermione gently placed her nervous hand on Sirius' back, an action that she quickly questioned herself for doing. He tensed up almost immediately. So did she.

"Let's go see him Sirius, he needs you," she spoke, the anxiousness in her voice amplified.

And so they walked out of the stands together, Sirius especially picked up speed in a disorganized fashion just as Lily had done only moments before. Once he finally made it down to where Lily was so anxiously waiting, he saw Gryffindor's second-year seeker carrying James over to where Dumbledore had so quickly appeared.

Lily ran over to them, Sirius immediately following along with Hermione, Marlene, and Alice.

The anxious ginger then grabbed the attention of the nervous seeker carrying James. "W-What happened, um," she paused, "I'm so sorry, what's your name?"

"Zachary Sutton," he paused, "Zach." It was clear that Zach was shaken up by this situation. Despite his strong arms holding up James with consistency, he was weakened with everything that he saw. Hermione could see it in his eyes.

While she, Alice, and Marlene kept their distance to avoid crowding the injured boy, Lily spoke for both her and Sirius. "Zach, what happened?"

Gulping, he placed James on to a stretcher that Dumbledore had summoned. The Headmaster himself was just as eager to know how James had been injured. "It was a horrible accident," Zach started, looking down at his feet, "I was falling behind Lucinda in catching the snitch, and James got caught between her and the boundaries. I can only assume that he lost his balance and ran into the wall. I wish I were there to see it, to have helped him in any way."

Zach's voice began to break. "I feel terrible," he swallowed.

"Thank you Zach, I can't imagine how hard this is for you. Madam Pomfrey will have him back on the field before we know it," Dumbledore eased.

"But James never loses his balance," Lily spoke under her breath. She remained baffled as she tried to follow Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey to the Hospital Wing, before being sent back.

While Lily became combative and tried to fight her way into seeing that James would be okay, Sirius, again, remained motionless as he watched his unconscious best friend being carried away. Everything possible thought about losing James ran through his head, how he wouldn't be able to manage it, how he would feel alone, how one of the few people that was good to him throughout his unfortunate life could leave just like that. He could bear it, and it scared him.