The Last Gryffindor (Sirius Black)

Chapter VI: Heart, We Will Forget Him

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Heart! We will forget him!
You and I—tonight!
You may forget the warmth he gave—
I will forget the light!
-EMILY DICKINSON

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"Why isn't she waking up?"

"Padfoot, you need to calm down."

"Why didn't you just go to Professor Dumbledore in the first place?"Another, more reserved, voice added. "He would know what to do better than us. He needs to be made aware."

"I can't go to him; if I tell someone, she'll get in trouble for using underage magic, not to mention stealing my wand."

"Dumbledore is reasonable, I'm sure that he'd understand-"

"Bloody hell, Moony, just because he made an exception for your furry little problem doesn't mean that he'll feel the same way for breaking wizarding law!"

"Both of you need to relax."

Aeliana's heart rate accelerated involuntarily at the sound of raised voices, rousing her to a conscious state. Her breathing must have sped up as well, because as the other person was about to retort, the angry voice snapped, "Shut up! I think she's awake."

She heard shuffling and then a warm hand placed itself on her forearm.

"Lia?" the angry one whispered, softer now. "You're safe. Come on, open your eyes."

The spell that had been placed on her was starting to fade, as she found she was again able to move her fingers. Her eyes, however, still proved too difficult.

"Everything is okay now," the reserved voice intoned. "But we need to know what happened."

In a monumental effort, Lia managed to pry open her eyelids to be greeted by three concerned, yet familiar, faces. Their tense expressions eased slightly upon seeing no irreparable damage had been done.

"That-" Lia's voice didn't seem to want to work, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "That's the longest I've slept in weeks."

Her weak attempt at levity earned a small, disbelieving smile from Remus and an incredulous laugh from James, but it did not crack Sirius's hard exterior by any means. His visage remained hard as stone. Now that he knew she was fine, his concerned expression morphed again into a furious one.

"You two, out," he demanded of James and Remus, still not looking away from Aeliana, unblinking.

James began to protest, but Remus placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, as if to say, "Drop it."

Lia sent Remus a desperate, pleading look, silently begging him to stay, which he heartlessly ignored, giving her leg a reassuring pat before heading out after James.

"I'm glad you're better, Lia. If you ever need anything..." he trailed off uncertainly, shutting the door behind him.

The click of the door reverberated throughout the room, making Lia hyper-aware of just how close Sirius actually was. She made an effort to look anywhere except his eyes. She could have fried an egg with the waves of fury radiating off of him.