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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
remorse & other green things
BETTY FOUND SIRIUS before James. It was obvious based on the fact that he was staring blankly out at the Whomping Willow, sitting with his legs pulled into his chest. Betty held her breath as she approached him — wanting to make amends, but not wanting to vex him further. Amends for what, she did not know — all she knew was that she hurt a friend and Hope Lupin wouldn't have stood for it, so now Betty didn't either.
"Do you mind if I sit?" Betty asked as she looked down at him cautiously once she was standing right next to him.
He didn't speak. However, it might have been the trick of the light or Betty's hope, but she thought she saw his head shake ever so slightly and took that as a cue. She let out her deep breath in the form of a sigh as she sat down and mimicked his position. Touching her lips to the tops of her knees as she looked out, her eyes darted around the horizon — trying to see everything that Sirius regretted.
"I'm sorry," she said as she turned her head and rested her cheek on her knees. Sirius darted his eyes to her momentarily, but they resumed their position on the willow tree just as quickly. "I don't know what you were talking about, but it wasn't my place to interfere."
"It wasn't," Sirius mumbled shortly, however, his knees sank down and crossed, so he was sitting cross legged and staring at his lap.
"What were you talking about?" she whispered as her eyes stayed trained on him.
"Exactly what you were thinking before you came over," Sirius admitted as he looked up at her, finally, with a mirthless smile. "Dear brother Reg is now ... one of them."
"Oh," Betty mumbled as she looked down, her mind racing.
"Apparently it happened right after I left," Sirius explained, his tone turning bitter as his vision went blurry. He sniffed loudly, making Betty snap her head back up and look at him, sadness washing over her like a low tide. "That's why I left. Did you know that?" Betty only shook her head. "That ... night ... they ... my parents ... tried to force it on me. Say that even if I had made mistakes in the past like befriending a Potter and being sorted into Gryffindor and being in love with a half blood werewolf — not that they were so respectful with the way they talked about any of that stuff — this would be a chance to ... rectify all of that and join the family, truly. Apparently the Dark Lord would forgive me if I did it, but I refused, they tried to use the only unforgivable that they hadn't used on me yet and I went to James's."
"I'm so sorry," Betty whispered as she reached forward and touched Sirius's hand gently, but he pulled away and so she did as well. They sank back into themselves as the wind picked up and the already grey sky became murkier.
