UNFINISHED VERSION

1.2

"Sirius"

The boy cringed at the brunette's voice behind him. She'd been following him around since he showed up, asking how and why he was in such a condition upon arrival.

He planned to use his normal plan of action, quickly walk out of the room and pretend he hadn't noticed her.

That failed when he turned to find her fully blocking the kitchen doorway, both feet planted firmly on each side, leaving no room for Sirius to slip past. "No. You're going to answer me this time."

"Vi-"

"Violet." the girl interrupted, "Call me Violet. You don't get to call me Vi after you ignore me for two and a half weeks."

Sirius sighed looking down to the floor. There was no way out of it this time, "Fine, Violet. You win."

"So you'll actually tell me this time?"

"Yeah, come on, let's go sit down" They both walked into the living room, sitting down on the plush couch."It's a long story."

Violet watched Sirius as he told her everything, leaving no detail out no matter how much he wished to.

The brunette watched her friend as the confidence he had recently gotten back dissolved the deeper he went, fear clouding his eyes just as they had that night.

The boy sat, speaking every horror into existence that he tried to keep from her. She sat, listening intently to his words, taking in every sentence and every gesture he made to make a picture of what he had to experience.

She didn't cry, she didn't flinch, and she didn't look at him in pity, instead, she sat how she usually did, radiating nothing but comfort and understanding.

It took a few hours for him to say everything he wanted, by the end Sirius Black was clinging to the girl as she ran her fingers through his hair, trying to calm the boy down.

Of course, Sirius saw Violet as a younger sister, James was his brother after all. But, Violet was also one of the few people he felt comfortable around.

She had a loving and mothering nature similar to Euphemia's, a type of personality he never saw around his own mother. So in these moments, he was able to fully break down and find relief in the girl.

He would protect her from the outside world, and she would protect him from the world he kept hidden inside his own mind.

They sat silently on the couch, Violet doing her best to calm the boy, to bring him back to the Potter Mansion and out of the darkness of Gimmauld Place.

Once his breathing had evened out and his tears were dried, Violet spoke up for the first time, "Sirius?"

He gave no verbal reply, but she could feel him nodding his head from where he was still pressed against her.

She stalled before speaking, chances were, it was going to come out all wrong. Plus, there was also a slim chance he'd respond well.

But, she'd already begun, there was no going back now. "Well, we are going back for your brother right? Regulus is still in there."

Just as she expected, Sirius scoffed and sat up to look her in the eyes. "No."

"What do you mean no?"

He just shrugged, "We're not going to get him, he'll be fine"

"You- what?" horror thick on her words, "You can't be serious!"

"I'm always Sirius." he spoke, but this time there was no joking in his signature words.

"Sirius! We can't just leave him there!" She yelled shocked at the boy, "I can't believe you would suggest such a thing"

"He's just like them Violet!" Sirius yelled back, standing as he spoke, "Regulus is just like them, the perfect Slytherin boy. The perfect heir, the perfect little pureblooded minion-"

Violet was standing now too, disappointment replacing all the warmth in her features, "I can't believe you'd say these things- Sirius he's your brother-"

"Not anymore" he sneered, "I'm not a Black anymore, and he's made it perfectly clear that he still wants to be one."

Violet's eyes widened, words evaporating from her tongue.

How could someone be driven to such extremes they leave in the middle of the night, but refuse to go back for their brother?

Yes, James can be annoying at times, but Violet could never imagine a scenario when she'd speak of her brother as horribly as Sirius had.

Sirius glared down at the girl, "You know, after everything I just told you, I thought you'd understand why I would run-"

She blinked at him rapidly before yelling back to him, "I do understand! That's why I'm shocked and confused as to why you'd choose to leave your brother-"

"Because he's fine there!"

"How do you know that?"

"Because!"

"Because what?"

Sirius sputtered throwing his arms around, "Because! He's perfect! He's the perfect son Violet! Nothing will ever happen to him there! They make it incredibly clear how much they love him and how much they hate me!"

Violet looked at the boy as he paced the room arms flying with every sentence he spoke.

Her whisper broke through his frantic thoughts,
"Sirius, did you ever think it was maybe just an act?"

He stopped, turning to look at her. His confusion was obvious by how his face twisted up and eyebrows furrowed together.

"I mean, you were this crazy-rebel-rule-breaker there, right? I know you're like that anyways, but you'd always pull it up a few notches, right? Simply for the purpose to make your- to make them angry?"

Sirius' face fell in thought, the anger slowly disappearing.

"What if Regulus is doing that too, but in the other direction? What if he's scared to defy them, so he just- he just follows instead."

She walked over to the boy, hugging him softly, "Just something to think about."

The brunette had successfully changed Sirius' mind that day by bringing up a reason he'd never thought of before. Maybe, the brother's relationship would be mended upon their return to Hogwarts.

At least, it would've been, if the young Black hadn't increased his act tenfold after the disowning taking on more traits than ever before.

Maybe it would've all been fixed much quicker if this didn't increase the anger the eldest Black held.

One thing, however, never changed.

A certain brunette fourth-year still could see through the act of the boy, and her need to demolish it never wavered.