The Last Gryffindor (Sirius Black)

Chapter XIII: Loose Lips Sink Ships

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SYet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word.
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword
-OSCAR WILDE

• — • — •

"So that is where you've been hiding," a low voice whispered, soft as a bated breath, into Lia's ear from behind.

Heart hammering a mile a minute, she somehow recognised the voice through the alcoholic haze clouding her thoughts.

She would recognise it anywhere.

Sirius pulled her down the dark passage, one hand still covering her mouth, the other tightly coiled around her middle. It was a good thing, too, because all the drinking left Lia clumsy and light headed, not to mention foolish enough to not run away, despite the rational part of her brain screaming that going anywhere with Sirius could ruin everything. Months of planning — wasted in seconds. For some reason, that didn't seem to matter very much at the moment.

Pausing outside an empty classroom, Sirius peered inside before pushing the door aloft and dragging Lia in after. Once he'd closed the door quietly behind him and leaned up against it, he finally let her go, seeming somewhat reluctant to do so.

For what seemed like an age, he didn't say a word. Lia could see displeasure rolling of his glowering frame in waves, but it was hard to care when she drank as much as she had. Her blissful indifference seemed to only add to his annoyance.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he finally asked. "Sitting next to my brother at lunch and Snivellus in Potions is one thing, but skipping off the grounds with them hand in hand and then coming back drunk with the most depraved students in all of Hogwarts is far stupider than anything even James would have dreamed up."

He took a forceful step forward, and she took a matching, albeit teetering, one back. Before she could process what was happening, his hand shot out toward her face, leaving Lia with no time to do anything besides flinch. His lips thinned at her reaction and he narrowed his eyes as he cupped her cheek, nudging it to the side for better inspection.

"Is this blood?" he demanded when his fingers came away red. "What did they do to you?"

"It's from all the shattered glass," she defended, ducking clumsily away. "Alecto got it much worst. She was actually drinking from the bottle when it got hit."

Sirius stared for a moment, brow raised skeptically, and Lia knew instantly that he couldn't have cared less about Alecto's wellbeing if he'd been payed. Despite her weak protestations, he managed to use the edge of his robes to wipe the blood from her cheek.

"Bloody hell, you're hammered," he decided after he finished, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

"Am not!" she cried, stepping forward in indignation, only to stumble slightly over thin air, hoping he didn't notice. "I am perfectly sober."

"Evidently," Sirius said flatly, not at all impressed.

Lia reached into her robes and pulled out the flask, raising it to her lips, only for Sirius to snatch it away in the next instant.