Black Hole

"These Days, These Days"

On the way home from first year, July 1972

Neither Sirius nor Lyra-Jade had said a singular word to anyone but one another that entire day. Not quite unusual for the latter, but definitely for the former. While three boys, their friends, talked excitedly about the events that would take place that summer, they both stayed silent.

"Dad said I could go to Quidditch camp!" 

"Mum is taking me and my sister to Ireland!"

"Tons of new films coming out in the cinema this summer, Mum said she would take me to each one!"

As they talked amongst themselves, Remus Lupin couldn't help but steal constant glances at the silent Black siblings, who sat opposite of him next to James. Surely the other two must see that they are acting weird, he had thought. Maybe they were too excited to notice? But Remus always noticed Sirius and Lyra-Jade. He was closer to the two of them than he was to anyone else at the school. He glanced at them, seeing Sirius' face turned towards the window, silently watching the green mountains and baby blue sky. Lyra-Jade's eyes never left her brothers face.

When the trolly witch came, Sirius didn't jump up and buy half the cart like he did the first time they were all on the train together. He just sat.

Remus and James, however, did jump up at the witches' entrance. James bought about a dozen cauldron cakes. Remus bought two chocolate frogs and one licorice wand. When he sat back down, he tapped his foot to Lyra-Jades, causing her eyes to shift from her brother to him. He held out the licorice wand to her. Her face broke out in a rare smile.

"Thank you, Remus." She said, taking a bite.

His heart fluttered as he smiled back at her. She always had a beautiful voice. She spoke like she sung: angelically.

"Sirius." He said. No response, he just kept staring, probably unaware that the trolley witch came by at all. His sister nudged him.

"What?" He snapped, voice laced with annoyance. She nodded to Remus, who tossed the frog into Sirius's lap.

"Oh," he said, "Thanks Reems." He didn't eat it, just stuffed it in his pocket and looked back out. Lyra-Jade looked at Remus and gave him a sad smile before turning her gaze back to her brother, one hand holding the candy and her other stroking her cat. James and Peter were so absorbed in stuffing their mouths with cauldron cakes and talking about Quidditch they didn't see the interaction at all.

Remus had sighed and pulled out his book. A few hours later, and he was still reading. Lyra-Jade was asleep, her head in Sirius' lap and feet on James, who was also asleep, slumped against the frame of the cart door. Peter was staring out the window with boredom, upset that no one was awake or talking.

There was a knock on the door. "Almost there," said Frank Longbottom, their Head Boy that year, opening the door, "'Bout fifteen away."

"Thanks." Remus called out to him, but he was already walking away.

"How long did he say?" Asked Sirius frantically. Remus saw that his eyes had widened quite comically.

"Fifteen minutes or so." Peter told him, eyebrows scrunching up at his friend's odd expression. 

Sirius started breathing quickly, much too fast. He shook his sisters' arm. "LJ! LJ, Wake up." 

"What?" She asked, lifting her head from his lap.

"We are almost there!" He told her, leg bouncing up and down and up and down, "We are almost to the station, LJ!" His voice got louder, waking up James.