The school was buzzing. As fall froze into winter, everyone at Hogwarts immediately noticed something was off with James Potter's best friend and sister. No one really knew why or what happened, but the Marauders hadn't entered the Great Hall together. Everyone's eyes immediately snapped up to find the Marauders, as if a magnetic force was pulling them there. It was an accurate enough description of the group. They were always pulling pranks, fooling around with girls (or guys in America's case), but never dating them and they sassed teachers. If you asked any student at Hogwarts, they would either say that the Marauders were the heart of the school (the girls) or great mates to have (the boys).
Both were correct descriptions.
What interested people at that moment, was why America Potter was not amongst the group of merry pranksters.
America was known to be the black sheep of the Marauders. The polar opposite of her brother. She spent her days in the library and was rather quiet when she wasn't around her friends. She walked around the school with a sly look in her stormy grey eyes, her dark hair flowing behind her like a shower mist of wavy red hair and her knowing smirk letting you know that she knew everything you were thinking. She was like a fox. Never stayed in one place at a time and could sneak past you unnoticed.
Sirius Black and America Potter were always glued to the hip, inseparable.
Guys and girls alike wanted to be with America, but most wanted to kill her. Girls wanted to get with Sirius and guys wanted to kill him for hooking up with their girlfriends. But it wasn't like that had ever stopped him.
Until people suddenly couldn't spot the best friends together.
The leaves were covered in snow, and America Potter's favourite season of the year was over. She spent all day in the library, having lunch in the kitchens, she grew eyebags, which looked surprisingly good on her, and she was chugging down six cups of that black coffee of hers.
And Sirius Black was quiet.
He had collapsed into himself, bringing a new girl to his dorm every day, not focusing on school, his cigarette habit had returned, and he was smoking packs so quickly James had to wonder where they came from. He would zone out of conversations and stare at the door as if he wanted to leave and vanish from existence.
When the Marauders dragged him outside, Sirius only laid back, leaning on one elbow and smoking with his other hand, staring into oblivion. He made zero effort to join into conversations, to wrestle James in the Great Hall or shove his face in between Remus' parchment and quill to see how long it would take him to notice before writing on his cheek.
Nothing.
"I know what's wrong," James announced one day in the Great Hall at lunch after two weeks of Sirius' sad demeanour.
Sirius didn't look up at his friend. He just stayed poking at his waffles and rested his chin on his hand. His eyes were close to closing, but just barely he stayed awake.
"Padfoot and his mystery girl broke up," James stated, and Sirius' eyes snapped up to meet his. "Ames—" James started to turn to his left where America usually sat to tell her the news, but cut himself off when she wasn't there. James frowned. America had been missing almost every meal, but James knew she was eating because she knew her way to the kitchens, something she refused to tell him how to do. The boy looked around and spotted her rushing into the Great Hall.
Her hair was perfectly tamed and her dark red curls fluffy, her outfit sharp with her nose buried in her book, her reading glasses on and her eyes blurred as she frantically scanned the words of the book she couldn't get enough of. She had always reminded everyone of an oxford student. Her posture was slightly tilted because of the beige book bag she carried, filled with so many books people began to feel dizzy at the thought of reading a quarter of them. America scurried to the table, still reading, and sat down, her hand aimlessly grabbing the tongue and bringing a piece of toast to her plate, before she felt her hand feel around in search for the bowl of berries, all while she had her nose stuck in a book.
YOU ARE READING
Without Another Choice- Sirius Black
Fanfiction"Ew, Ames. Never date a guy who likes V8," Remus said. She rolled her eyes. "And why not?" she challenged. "Because you can never trust a guy who drinks his vegetables," Sirius explained as if it were obvious. "Plus, tomato juice breath is r...
