Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 162

Jenna tried to steady her breathing, but she was horrified beyond words could express. Her wand had fallen to the floor when the man had grabbed onto her wrists harshly, and now chest were pressed against the wall with her back to him, so she couldn't see his face.

Calm down. Think it through, Jenna thought to herself in that state of panic, with her cloak's hood still over her head. This is not how you're supposed to die. Not here. Not now.

But despite what she was telling herself, Jenna was sure that if the man behind her was really a Death Eater, she was done for. Death would've been a mercy. The Death Eaters were still after her, to try and get back at her for spying on them undercover as Alecto Carrow.

It was when the man spoke that her whole body froze. "Who are you?" he snarled.

Jenna recognized the man's voice the moment he uttered the first word.

"Sirius —" Jenna tried to say in relief, but he was gripping her so tightly and holding her against the wall so that she couldn't get any other word out.

"How did you get past the enactments?" Sirius asked sharply. He hadn't seen her face yet, seeing as Jenna's face was still shadowed by her hood.

Until that very moment, she had never realized how strong Sirius was, feeling as if her hands were going to break any second now.

Knowing that she couldn't take it anymore, in a split second, Jenna suddenly snapped her head backward and hit him in the nose. Sirius groaned loudly, finally letting go of her in pain.

Jenna abruptly turned around and dropped her hood so Sirius could see her face, but she found him holding his nose which was slightly bleeding.

"Jenna?" Sirius said in surprise when he finally saw her face, his eyes widening as he panted. Then he frowned, saying, "You broke my nose!"

Jenna glared at him in disbelief. "And you nearly broke both my arms!"

"I thought you were a Death Eater!"

"And I thought you were a Death Eater!"

"You sneaked up on me first!"

    "I wasn't trying to sneak up on you! You should've known I was arriving from Hogwarts today!"

    "Well, I lost track of what day it was because of all the missions I go on!"

Jenna shook her head and then sighed, walking into the kitchen to soak a cloth under the sink's water.

"Come here," Jenna said more gently this tome, taking Sirius's free hand in hers as the other was still holding onto his bleeding nose. With that, she led him toward the kitchen table and sat him down on one of its chairs.

Jenna bent down slightly to dab the soaked cloth underneath his nose carefully, wiping off the blood. After she was done, Jenna went to pick up her wand from the floor where it had dropped, and pointed it directly at his face.

Before he could protest or ask what she was trying to do, Jenna said, "Episkey." With a crack, Sirius groaned, but then the pain finally went away as she fixed his nose.

"Better?" Jenna asked, and he nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry," Sirius finally said with guilty eyes as Jenna pulled back, throwing away the cloth in the trash. "Did I really hurt you that badly?"

"No, I'm fine," said Jenna, though her arms were still hurting. She then drew out the chair beside him and sat down as well. "What were you doing up anyway?"

"I couldn't sleep," Sirius answered. She had never seen him look so exhausted.

Jenna glanced at the half-empty cup of coffee on the table. "And coffee was the way to deal with sleeplessness?"

Sirius shook his head. "I didn't mean I wasn't able to sleep. I just meant... I couldn't bring myself to sleep. I thought drinking coffee could help me stay up for a bit longer."

"Why? What's wrong?" Jenna asked worriedly, her eyes scanning him and his tired face.

Sirius looked away. Jenna knew it shattered every bit of his ego and pride to say the next words. "I've been having too many nightmares lately."

Jenna's face fell and she frowned. Without saying anything in return, she reached out and held his hand which was laying on top of the table, giving it a gentle squeeze.

She knew exactly how he felt, because she was going through the exact same thing herself. It had gotten only worse now that they both were away from each other, while Jenna was at Hogwarts and Sirius away on mission.

"And I'm being paranoid every minute of every day." Sirius huffed, letting go of her wand to bury his face into his palms from exhaustion. "I get defensive when I hear the smallest sound in the house or the yard. Or I keep sleeping on the couch in the hall, just in case someone would walk in. You should read what's in the Daily Prophet... deaths and disappearances everyday... Death Eaters breaking into people's houses... it's just as bad as last time."

"But did you really have to tackle me like that?" Jenna offered him a playful grin, trying to lighten up the tense atmosphere.

"My wand was in the hall. This was actually the first time I forgot to carry it with me."

"I was lucky then, I guess. You wouldn't have hesitated to curse me."

Sirius returned the smile, but he still looked guilty as he glanced at her. "I'm really sorry I attacked you like that."

"Nah, it's fine." She leaned back against her chair coolly. "I would've definitely done the same if it were you who had sneaked up on me like that."

At those words, Jenna finally saw the usual playful look surface on Sirius's face. "Now, now, Jenny. There is no way you could take me."

Jenna raised a brow at him. "Oh, yeah? Say that to your very-recently-broken nose."

Sirius laughed, shaking his head at her. When his laughter faded away, it turned into a gentle smile as he looked back at her. "I really missed you."

Jenna smiled, leaning in to place her hand against his cheek, caressing it with her thumb. "I missed you, too."