Tenebrous ❆ Sirius Black [2]

Chapter Sixty Two

Camille found herself staring at the wall, or at least what was left of it. Her room, along with many of the others within her home, had been almost completely stripped to the bone. Just the sight of it all made Camille feel an overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude. When the house caught fire, none of her neighbours knew she was inside. She didn't want to think of what could have been if Remus and Milo hadn't come when they did. 

A hand taking her own made Camille jump back into reality and snap out of her own thoughts. Looking up, she was met with Remus' sympathetic eyes. Ever since she had been released from St. Mungo’s, Remus had barely left her side. And when he wasn't there, someone else made sure to take his place. Somebody in her position might've found it annoying or exhausting; rarely having any time by themselves, but Camille found comfort in it. Despite how she acted, and what she said to cover it up, deep down inside, Camille was scared. 

By now, word of her lucky survival had spread through the wizarding community. It had surely reached Death Eater ears by now too. With no knowledge as to why the attack happened, or what may have led to it, Camille feared that the Death Eaters may take the time and come back to finish the job. Always having company and being around her friends and family made Camille feel much safer than she would have if she were left alone. 

"Do you think you can recreate it?" Remus' question made Camille's eyes turn back to the wall in front of them. Through the charred stains and burnt markings, if she looked carefully and focused enough, she could still see the traces of the hand drawn map which had decorated the majority of its surface. 

Remus knew how much the map of stars meant to Camille. She and her grandmother had drawn it together the summer before her grandmother passed away. With many memories connected to it, Camille wished there was some way for it to be salvaged. 

"I'm not sure. Grand-mère was the genius when it came to the stars, not me." Camille admitted. For now, her family had been staying at the Leaky Cauldron, the house no longer livable, but she hoped to recreate the map once they settled in their new home. The idea of asking Sirius, who adored astronomy, had occurred to her, but she knew better than to mention it in front of Remus.

The sounds of multiple ongoing conversations could be heard around the house. Wanting to support the Beauchamp family, many of Camille's friends had accompanied the group that day. The idea was to look through the rubble and see whether there was anything that had survived the fire and could be saved. 

However, three people were obviously absent. Sirius and Nadia had both thought it best not to come. Even when she was still at St. Mungo’s, Sirius had made sure to visit Camille in the moments when Remus wasn't there. Everyone already knew that the next time Sirius and Remus saw each other, an argument was bound to explode between the two. Sirius didn't want to have that happen when Camille and her family needed time and peace to adjust to what had happened. 

Nadia's reason for not coming was quite similar. Her irritation with all that was happening between the two was getting harder and harder to manage, and Camille of course couldn't blame her. Nadia didn't want to risk snapping at Remus in an attempt to defend Sirius when it was the last thing anyone needed. Peter was the only one whose absence went unexplained. Camille found herself slightly worried, hoping everything was alright with him and his mother who she knew had been quite ill lately.