The Losing One || Sirius Black

24. Patience

James Potter

Sunday, 9th January 1972.

Hogwarts

From the moment that he saw Sirius on the platform 9 and ¾, James was concerned. It was little things that intensified this feeling he was having.

For example, at Peter's birthday party Sirius showed up with a cut on his cheek. Yes, the curly haired boy had some silly explanation about wrapping presents and about scissors, but none of them were idiotic enough to believe that story.

James knew deep inside what the answer was, but Sirius seemed so happy and carefree at the Pettigrews that he didn't have the heart to mention anything and ruin the boy's day. Especially because he managed to get away from the Blacks for couple of hours and mentioning them would just cut his happiness short.

From the night James had that conversation with Sirius, the two never spoke about the Black family again. Never spoke seriously at least. Sirius would always throw around some silly comments or digs about his folks that seemed lighthearted, but, again, none of the Marauders were fooled by this.

It sparked great concern to James when Sirius said to him that he was actually afraid of his parents. Then the concern was just intensified the moment Sirius confessed that the Blacks actually hurt him. The thought of someone hurting their own child made James feel furious. He didn't even know how exactly the Blacks hurt Sirius, but just the confession on its own was enough for him to hate them.

He spoke with his mom and dad about this situation. James expressed how he felt helpless. On one side, he wanted to talk to Sirius, to help him and understand him, but on the other it just wasn't fair to push the boy into telling something that maybe he wasn't ready to tell. After all, it was his story, not James'.

Euphemia gave him one advice, "Just make him feel loved and safe. Show him that you are there for him. When he is ready, he will come to you and talk about it."

It was a great advice, but James wanted to actually do something, not just wait, but was there any other choice? Probably not, so he just decided to act like he did from the start, silly and chaotic. He knew that Sirius thrived in chaos so the least he could do was join in with the boy.

Or at least that was what he had decided before he actually saw Sirius on the platform 9 and ¾.

To someone, it just looked like father was escorting his son to Hogwarts, but James wasn't an idiot. Sirius told him all about his first visit to the King's Cross Station for the start of the term, the boy was with Orion, Walburga and Regulus.

Now though, he was just with Orion. James gathered from some stories his dad had told him about Orion Black, that the man was obsessed with reputation and looks, so the fact that not a whole Black family showed up to display their power wasn't normal. It would have been the perfect opportunity for that because huge number of wizarding families always show up to bid their children goodbye which would result in a huge number of people seeing them.

On top of that, Orion was gripping Sirius' shoulder, clearly making the boy uncomfortable. James couldn't even imagine what words were coming out of Orion's mouth as he was intensifying his grip on the boy.

It reminded James of the scene when Walburga came to get Sirius before Christmas. She also placed her hand on the boy's shoulder in similar manner to Orion's. It was like some sign of control, like they were putting a leash on Sirius. Like they were trying to show him who was in charge.

James couldn't believe how one action could be so different depending on the person and situation. His dad always put a hand on his shoulder, but it was from kindness and comfort while even an idiot could see the controlling intentions behind Orion's grip.