The Bug Collector | marauders

Papilio Polyxenes Asterius

Papilio polyxenes asterius is a type of black butterfly.
—

Sirius had been getting into far more trouble lately.

Sirius had been getting far more mail lately.

Sirius smiled and laughed along with his lads, but he looked exhausted.

Even now, he lay in his animagus form at Rose's feet, she was sitting with her knees pulled to her chest, chin resting gently upon them, she ran her fingers over clovers and blades of grass as the dog slept on the edge of Black Lake.

He needed a quiet adventure.

It had been over a whole month since Sirius had both ignited and shot down the small crush Rose felt for him, but nothing between them had actually seemed to change.

He would often come watch her work in the greenhouses, lean his head on her shoulder and mutter incoherent complaints about his family. Rose enjoyed his watchful presence, she'd hum to herself and occasionally take his hand in hers comfortingly.

On days when he seemed to be feeling down Rose would try to finish her work early and ask for his help pranking Snape, since the train incident he and his goons would glare at her far more often and Rose was growing tired of it.

Even if Sirius wouldn't tell his friends exactly what he had going on they did what they could to help.

They cared, all of them did.

"Pads" she whispered, twirling the green pendant of her necklace around in her fingers.

He lifted his sleepy eyes to meet hers.

"We need to get you to the forest to change back, we were suppose to head to the astrology tower to help Moons roll cigarettes nearly an hour ago." She said nudging him gently.

In the time they had spent in this same spot Rose had fnished her homework for the day and started plans for a new plant to add to the greenhouse. The idea was to take a carnivorous plant of sole sort, and add a charm to allow it to speak, Rose thought it would be both challenging and entertaining.
She'd drawn a few different types but the Venus Flytrap had the best look. Soon she would share the illustrations with Professor Sprout and see if she'd give the go ahead for the experiment. The professor usually would, but on occasion she would deny an idea.

Padfoot stretched out lazily and transformed back into Sirius right there on the grass.

"Sirius! Are you trying to get into trouble?!" She  asked with confusion.

"I don't have to try to do that, Thorns. Plus, no one's going to see us out here" He said with a smirk and another quick stretch.

"Hagrid might." She countered.

"Doubtful, Love."

Rose huffed and stood up next to him, he was still laying stretched out on the grass, his tie had loosened and his shirt had springs of grass stuck to it.

"You look a mess."  Rose observed.

"Be sure to let my mother know, perhaps she'll send another howler." He responded bitterly 

A howler was a magical letter, they came in a red envelope and when you opened it the sender's voice played out of it.

They were usually reserved for angry messages and exploded if left unopened for too long, or after the recipient heard it.

They were hot to the touch.

Rose extended her hand to help him up, he took it and made his way to his feet, brushing off the grass.

"Sorry about your mum." Rose said softly once he was standing.

"You didn't make her that way." He said with a shrug as they made their way to the astrology tower.

—

December 22nd 1975

"Bye Moons!" Rose yelled as Remus hung out the side of the train, the other marauders smiling and waving from the windows beside him. Lily had practically pulled Rose off the Hogwarts Express when she saw their mother's red hair through the crowd.

Their mother had a short bob like Rose but without bangs, her hair was tucked behind her ears with a soft hat atop her head.

"Mum you'll never believe what Rose's friends did to me on the way home!" Lily shouted playfully and wrapped her arm around their mother's.

The thing in question was releasing an army of chocolate frogs in Lily's train cart.

Not that bad at all, really.

"Oh piss off, Lils we've done far worse." Rose said which resulted in a ridiculing look from their mother and a snicker from their other sister Petunia.

"Sorry, mum." Rose grumbled as the four of them walked away together.

—

Christmas Eve 1975

In the Evans' household even Petunia had a smile on her face on Christmas Eve, their mum would make a festive breakfast and throughout the day the girls would usually get along, in the evenings extended family would come over for dinner, the home would be decorated heavily with Christmas lights and other decorations, the smell of citrus and cinnamon clung to the air. Their mum would even allow the girls to have wine with dinner, despite Lily and Rose still being seated with the other "children" of the family while Petunia sat with the adults. Rose didn't mind much, the children laughed at her practical jokes and Rose enjoyed making them happy. Lily felt like she deserved to sit with the grownups and Rose very much agreed. 

Before the first family members headed out they would all exchange gifts. There was always a distant aunt or something another that would forget which girl liked what and so this year Lily ended up with clay pots and gardening tools while Rose got fresh canvas and soft pastels.

They swapped gifts once everyone had gone.

As the house cleared, the Christmas lights were turned off, and all that remained in the living room was the tree, empty furniture, and the cold in the air. Rose retreated up stairs to wish her sisters and mum a goodnight before retiring to her room.

Around 2am Rose was awoken from her sleep to a sound of a thud in her room.

She grabbed her glasses quickly and tried to piece together what it was she had heard in the dark, she leaned over and flipped the lights switch, seeing the cause of the noise.

A boy with messy black hair and tearstained cheeks looked up at her. 

"Regulus?" She asked completely dumbfounded. The boy looked rough.

"Sirius—" he started but couldn't seem to finish.

"Sirius—" he tried to say again, but cries escaped his lips instead of coherent words.

Rose practically jumped out of bed to come comfort the boy.

"What is it, Reg?" She asked in the softest voice she could. 

"Sirius is gone". He said finally.

Sirius is gone.

What does that mean?