UNFINISHED VERSION

1.1

There were three weeks left until Violet and James would have to venture to the platform for school. 

Violet was planning to take advantage of these last few weeks when she would actually be able to sleep in. She was a light sleeper, so she rarely was able to sleep past 8 on the weekends without being woken by her roommates. 

Her plan, this morning at least, was interrupted by a loud and consistent knocking on the front door. Violet waited for a few seconds, hoping that maybe someone else heard and she could stay in her warm bed. 

Five minutes later, the knocking continued, unstopped. She pulled herself up, throwing the covers swiftly to the side and grabbing her wand off the small bedside table. She was going into her fourth year, so she wasn't technically allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts yet, but with some weirdo knocking on the door at 2 am on a Tuesday, it seemed like a good thing to have on hand. 

She slowly crept down the stairs, straining her neck as she walked, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person outside. Within two steps of the door, the knocking suddenly stopped. She waited, assuming the knocking would resume, but the hall remained in silence. 

Violet moved forward, her heart racing, as she slowly opened the large wooden door the smallest amount she could, "Hello?" silence. She raised her eyebrow, confused why someone would knock consistently for almost ten minutes, then just leave. She opened it just a bit further, "Hello? Is anyone out there?" 

This time, the girl was met with a pain-filled groan somewhere down by her feet. She swung the door open and there, curled on the porch, she found the source of the knocking. 

It was her brother's friend, a boy who had quickly become a second brother to her over the years, Sirius Black. He was bloody and bruised with tears staining his face. He looked up to the girl in the doorway, it seemed that even moving his neck to see her pained him. "Violet?" 

She dropped to her knees to get a better look at the boy, he barely looked like the Sirius she knew. The boy who would strut through the halls, the boy who would joke with her and her brother, the prankster, the confidence, it was all gone. Now, he sat shaking outside her door with pain and fear heavy in his eyes. 

"Are- are you ok? What happened to you?" She spoke quickly, eyeing his bruises and split lip. 

Violet was confused and had no clue what could've happened to him. Sirius was insistent that none of the boys tell her about the issues he had at home. The girl was like James, but at Regulus' age. He knew she'd worry about him just as his friends did, but she was too young to know the horrors of what happened over breaks. He hated that his little brother had to know, he'd be damned if he let his little sister learn how cruel people could be as well. 

The boy flashed her a strained smile as he tried his best to support himself, "It's no big deal Vi, got in a bit of a ruffle, that's all." 

The girl surged forward to catch him when he wavered, almost falling over, and continued to help him inside and over to the couch. She looked lost, staring at him with glossy eyes, begging him to tell her a way to help. 

"Can you please go get James for me?" His voice was raw, and his eyes were scrunched shut. He was struggling to keep himself awake, if he passed out in front of the girl, she would only panic more.

Violet nodded quickly and silently, glad she wouldn't have to look at him any longer. It felt wrong, he was so far from the Sirius she knew and loved, but she didn't know why. She climbed the stairs and made her way to James' room. She threw the door open and desperately shook him awake. 

The boy was about to tell off whoever dared to wake him, especially at this hour, but when met with his little sister's face, eyes widened in panic with tears falling down her cheeks, he no longer felt the urge. 

He sat up quickly and held onto her shoulder, looking deep into her eyes as he spoke, every essence of the carefree James Potter, was gone.  "Violet? Is everything ok?" 

She started nodding at first on instinct, but quickly stopped moving to shake her head wildly from side to side instead. "N-no."

"What's going on Vi? You have to tell me so I can help."

The girl pointed out the door, "I-its Sirius" she gasped, "He's downstairs, something's- something's very, very wrong." more tears gathered in her eyes as images of the bruised boy flashed through her mind. 

Realization quickly crossed the boy's face, quickly snatched his glasses, and jumped from the bed. He ran down the hall, stopping quickly in his parent room to wake them before he too ran down the stairs.