Written in the Stars | Sirius Black

III. Born to Run

J U L Y 1 9 7 6

.・。.・゜✭・.・✧・゜・。.

THE SUMMER HOLIDAY HAD BEEN quite uneventful in the Potter household for the first few weeks. Clara hadn't yet told James what transpired on the train home, though she did apologize for not giving him his share of allowance causing him to miss out on that much desired package of Droobles. The best excuse she could come up with at the time was that she had simply forgotten. Though her brother knew that was quite unlike her, he told her it was alright and that Peter had ended up sharing his pumpkin pasties.

When they first arrived home, she found herself wondering quite frequently whether she should talk to her brother about Sirius. After all, if he was going to confide in anyone it was most likely going to be James. Yet she couldn't fully explain why she worried so much – it was just Sirius. But clearly what she witnessed on the train was much more than the average, run-of-the-mill kind of brotherly bickering. What occurred behind closed doors within the Black family none of her business, but Lily's words were ringing over and over again in her mind.

Death Eater. Death Eater. Death Eater.

Could Sirius' family really be part of that crowd?

After a few weeks, there seemed to be no news. While James had been keeping to himself more, Clara simply chalked it up to her sixteen year old brother wanting to have his own space. Besides, he hadn't been looking overly worried about anything from what she could tell. So, she finally decided to push all the worries she had about Sirius aside and finally attempt to enjoy her break from school free of worry. An uninhibited imagination would always ends up being worse than reality, after all.

As the family sat down for breakfast on a warm July morning, an elegant yet stern looking screech owl came fluttering in to rest on the kitchen window sill, carrying that day's edition of The Daily Prophet and a small stack of envelopes.

Fleamont rose from the table to retrieve the mail, giving the owl a small sliver of bacon from his plate before the bird fluttered away onto its next delivery. Mr. Potter shuffled through the envelopes on his way back to the kitchen table and dropped two letters in front of each of his children. Clara immediately recognized Lily's and Marlene's handwriting on the envelopes before her, the girls had been writing to each other nearly every other day. But across from her, James sat with his brows knit into a slight frown as he gazed at the envelopes in front of him.

"Something wrong, darling?" Euphemia asked her youngest child. Their mother always had a curious talent for knowing when someone was upset, even if they tried their very best to hide it.

"No, nothing."

The boy quickly pocketed the two unopened envelopes and resumed moving his spoon idly around the cereal bowl, the sugary flakes slowly turning soggier with each turn looking more and more like a potion gone wrong. Clara raised an eyebrow at her brother, wondering what could have possibly been bothering him. She couldn't deny that she was wondering whether there was an off-chance it had something to do with Sirius. Curiosity was getting the better of her and she found herself unable to shake the thoughts of him this time.

"Been writing to Remus and the others much?" she asked her brother casually.

But the boy merely shrugged, not taking his eyes away from the bowl in front of him, despite his obvious lack of appetite. Usually he was quite open with Clara and always more than willing to talk about any of the Marauders if given the excuse to. Something was clearly bothering James, she knew this much was true.