in which Sirius discovers he has a sister, who falls in love with an idiot
"If I'm the sun, what does that make you, you're certainly not the moon." He laughed
"Maybe I'm the gravity that holds everything down?" She smiled that self-deprecating...
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i thought you gave up
August 16, 1995
She fell asleep without eating that night, Andi and Ted walked by her room and saw her sound asleep at six-thirty p.m, they didn't second guess it, it was a busy day.
They didn't know something though, the pain she felt as she was asleep, something that would cause her to fear even closing her eyes.
It was dark, the only light coming from the end of her wand. Ryder was at the edge of a cliff, she felt like she was floating, watching over him. Suddenly he jumped into the water below, not caring about the freezing temperature or the thin layer of ice on the top.
She screamed but no sound could be heard, almost like an impulse, she dove in after him. He gave no fight as he sank lower into the water, his clothes weighing him down.
Air came out of his mouth and nose as he breathed out.
She swam closer.
No more air came out.
The next thing she knew she was pulling him up out of the water and onto the sandbank nearby, but he wasn't breathing.
He wouldn't breathe.
He gave up.
She felt hands around her waist as she silently screamed for her best friend to wake up, to take a breath of air.
And then she woke up
"Eri! Eridanus you're okay!" a voice called out to her, the hands were warm, a stark contrast to the icy water she had just dove into
"Andi she's awake" Ted. Ted was talking now
Andromeda had been the one holding her, Ted had his wand in hand, they both looked confused and worried as they searched her face for emotion
"Ryder?" Eridanus' voice was hoarse like she had been screaming. Had she been screaming?
"No baby, Ryder went home hours ago." Andi ran a hand through the undid plait
"He was drowning, he died, I couldn't help him. I lost him too" Ted sat his wand on the vanity and sat on the bed with Eridanus and Andi. He beckoned the Kneazle hiding in the doorway forward
"Ryder is very much alive Eri, trust me, I'd floo over and get him for you but its nearly four in the morning" Ted assured her as Ophelia curled up against her person, the purr was loud
"He jumped in. He willingly jumped in."
Ted and Andromeda looked at one another concerned before turning back to the teen spiraling into a panic attack, clutching her heart and then her hands quickly moving to her throat, scratching at something that wasn't there, her breathing was heavy and cold sweat appeared across her skin
"I can't feel anything, I can't feel anything, why can't I feel anything?" Andromeda moved to sit next to her on the bed, shooing Ted away from them.
"Eri, let's count to ten okay? Let's count to ten" She took the teen's hand from her throat and started counting her fingers, then moved to the other hand, at first it was only Andi counting, but Eridanus slowly began counting along, her voice still tired from the screaming. "What do you need Sweetie?"
"Can we just keep counting?"
Eri's tear-stained face followed Andromeda's finger moving along hers, counting the digits on her hands over and over until Eri had calmed down a bit. She hadn't felt this kind of fear ever. Not even when her mother passed.
"Hey, Remus is here if you want to see him, we must not have heard the floo go off" Ted stuck his head in the door, seeing Eridanus and Andi stop counting, Eri moved to stand up but immediately sat back down on the bed
"Dizzy" She mumbled before standing again, her legs a bit more supportive of the notion, and moved to go downstairs
Remus was there, dressed and visibly scared, the second he saw the teen he pulled her into an embrace
"Are you okay? Godric, you scared me" The adult noticed the confusion painted on Eri's face and wanted to smack himself "My wolf recognizes Sirius as pack, so he recognizes you as pack too. I get a vague idea of how you all feel, but that was strong."
"Wait what-"
"I'll explain it better the next time I see you, but I had to make sure you're okay."
"Okay," She nodded, leaning into his embrace, she and Remus had become close through letters for her research, he told her stories about Sirius and James when they were in school, and she opened up to him about her mother and how she grew up.
"I should get home, Sirius was worried when I shot up out of bed and just left" They laughed and she nodded again, letting him go. They said one final goodbye and Remus left.
"You need to get back to bed. I have some dreamless sleep if you want-"
"Yes please" She responded to Andi
After taking the potion she felt okay to go back to sleep, confident even. Ophelia curled up with her person and fell asleep just as Eridanus did.
A few hours after she was woken up by the sound of laughter and the smell of bacon
As she rushed down the stairs for food she recognized a specific, bark-like laugh.
"Siri?"
"Hey Eri"
"Siri!"
Eridanus ran into her brother's arms and pulled him close, her face hidden in his neck, his face hidden in her messy bed head
"You're here"
"I'm here, the floo at Grimmauld only goes a few places with the Fidelius and one of them is here, a highly warded house in the middle of a forest"
"Dumbledore won't be happy about this."
"That he won't"
They both laughed, Sirius took in his sisters appearance, her body filled out even more with the constant playing of Quidditch around the property, her skin had darkened a bit to a much more natural shade of pale, and she was (in his biased opinion as an older brother and something he will never say aloud to her) prettier than a veela, also something that could secretly run through their blood, all Black's were unnaturally beautiful.
"Ryder!" She noticed the teenage boy stuffing his face with bacon, immediately relecing her brother and tackling the boy out of his chair "You're alright"
"Hello Eridanus," He said sarcastically
"Toe-Rag! I thought you were dead last night" She only held him closer as she insulted him, something she learned to think was a sign of affection, with Sirius' little jabs at Remus before pulling him close.
"Well I think I'm alive, I won't be if you hold me any closer though"
