/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

𝟏,𝟎𝟑𝟒 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬

It was New Years Day, but Artemis and Sirius weren't feeling particularly festive. They woke up late, and for the first time in the long history of Marauder New Years Days, neither of them had splitting hangover headaches. The Potters' funeral had been held the day before, and nobody felt much like partying afterwards.

Sirius rolled over in bed to pull Artemis a little closer. On days when the sadness of the people they'd lost and the fear of the upcoming war got to be too much, he wanted to be as close to the one person who made him feel safe as possible. Artemis, on the other hand, had woken up feeling anxious.

"Sirius," she groaned, pushing him away and sitting up. "We have a meeting today."

"Not for hours," Sirius said gently. He sat up too and rested a hand on her shoulder. "We've got time, it's okay."

She narrowed her eyes. "I feel like I'm forgetting something."

"You're forgetting the massive hangover we're used to dealing with on the first day of every year," Sirius half joked.

This brought a smile onto Artemis's lips. "Yeah, that's fair. Come on, I need coffee."

Sirius had been planning on spending the morning in bed with Art, but there was no arguing it now. He followed her into the kitchen and tossed a sweater in her direction. The house was always cold in the mornings.

He brushed past her to start making breakfast, popping bread in the toaster and waving his wand to make two eggs fly from the fridge and crack themselves in a saucepan on the stove. Artemis dumped coffee grounds in the coffee maker and flicked her wand at it. It started to gurgle in the comforting way that sort of reminded Artemis of her childhood.

She jumped up on the counter and Sirius wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her shoulder. She wound her fingers in his hair, kissing the top of his head gently. "You know what Mrs. Potter said? About, you know, seeing greater losses in the future because of the war?"

"Yeah," Sirius murmured into her shoulder.

"Sirius, I'm scared."

He stood up straight and gazed at her eyes. He'd known Artemis a long time, but he was pretty certain this was the first time he'd heard her express fear over anything. He set his hands on either side of her face, brushing her hair back gently. "I'm scared too," he said in a low voice. He didn't know how to comfort her. He didn't know how to comfort himself. "I'm scared too."

"I don't want to lose anyone else," Artemis whispered.

"Me either," said Sirius. "But there's nothing we can do right now. Art- there's gonna be good days and bad days, no matter what happens. So for now, let's just have some coffee."

"Yeah," said Artemis, hopping down from the counter and pouring them each a mug of coffee. "Yeah, you're right."

After breakfast, Sirius made the bed while Artemis showered. When she was done, Sirius took the shower while Artemis did her makeup in just her underwear. Sirius stepped out with wet hair, shaking himself off like a dog. "Sirius!" said Artemis, holding up a hand to shield the eyeliner she'd spent the last twenty minutes on. "You can do that as Snuffles the dog, but not as Sirius the grown adult man."