Tenebrous ❆ Sirius Black [2]

Chapter Ten

Nadia sat at the dining table, munching on a piece of toast as her breakfast with the day's copy of the Daily Prophet spread out on the table in front of her as she read through it. It seemed like there was a new attack every day, and no matter how much the Order tried, no matter how hard the Aurors worked, none of them could stop each and every one. The mere existence of the Order seems to have made the Death Eaters more aggressive than ever, like they were trying to overwhelm them and ensure they couldn't catch wind of all attacks before they happened.

Nadia most of all was starting to be aware of it. Her dreams had turned from singular events to a mix of the lot and recognizing clues for each location, each victim or each attack became much harder. It was like You Know Who was counting on it... Like he knew. She was starting to feel like she wasn't doing enough anymore.

"Good morning love." Sirius' voice brought her out of her reading and made her look up just as he placed a kiss to her temple before moving to the kitchen to grab himself a cup of coffee so he could fully wake up.

"Morning." She greeted, just seeing him bringing a small smile to her face. She had woken up much earlier, as neither of them were really morning people, had chosen to let him sleep in while she caught up on the news.

"Are you ready for tonight?" Sirius asked as he took a seat on the other side of the table, sending her a questioning look. Tonight was yet another full moon, and while their group had been slowly adjusting to spending time with Remus during these nights while they're away from Hogwarts and the safety of the Forbidden Forest, they were slowly getting a hang of it.

"You know I always am." Nadia said reassuringly. Hope and Lyall hesitant, but opened up to the idea of their son continuing to spend the full moons roaming around with his friends, however, it was their job to keep him away from populated areas and distracted so he wouldn't lose control. And so far they had been successful.

Sirius nodded his head in understanding, accepting what she had told him. He always felt the need to make sure, and especially this month. As Nadia's dreams had been giving her some trouble, she was starting to get more tired due to the lack of proper rest, and he couldn't help but slightly worry about it. But he knew she was capable of making up her own mind.

"Why do you read that? You know it makes you feel bad." Sirius asked, changing the subject as he pointed to the newspaper beside her making Nadia give out a small sigh.

"It does, but it's not like I can avoid that. This is the world we live in, it's safer to have all the information than to shy away from it." She explained.

"I just wish you didn't blame yourself every time we didn't make it somewhere in time." Sirius said gently, reaching over the table to take hold of her hand. She tried to hide it, and for the most part she did it well, but Sirius was one of the few who could see past that. He knew she was remembering every situation she missed, every name of a person she felt like she had failed. He worried that she would soon crack under all the pressure and guilt she was putting on herself.

"How could I not? I have these dreams that we all thought would be so useful in this fight, but they seem to be doing nothing to help. I'm doing nothing to help." She spoke in an exasperated tone, finally closing the paper as she got tired of reading about all the darkness.

"Nadia, the fact that you can't get much information from your dreams doesn't mean you're doing nothing." He quickly dismissed her claim, standing from his seat to move over to her his hand going to her cheeks so she would look up at him as he stood in front of her. "You're doing everything you can, you're helping and nobody can ask you to do more."

"But I have been thinking about doing more. I have an idea of how I can." She stated making him give her a pointed look.

"Nadia, you'll run yourself to the ground like this. You're already part of the fight, what more could you do?" He questioned, not liking the idea of Nadia running herself dry to make up for her lack of information she had been able to give the Order as of late.

"This isn't about fighting. I've been thinking about applying for a trainee position at St. Mungo's." Nadia said openly making him give her a curious look as he dragged a chair over so he could sit right next to her.

"What inspired you to get that idea?" He asked curiously. Of course Sirius knew it was her dream to be a healer, everyone knew that. But since they joined the Order she hadn't spoken about it much, but he found himself happy that she was once more thinking of her dreams for the future.

"It's what I've always wanted to do, and at first I put it off because I didn't want to be distracted from the Order, but I've been thinking lately. It would be useful to have someone who is professionally trained. Maybe we wouldn't have to swarm the hospital every time someone is injured." Nadia pointed out. If she became a proper healer, not just an amateur who had read a couple of books, she could help whoever may get hurt. They wouldn't have to wait for a real healer or to take the victim to one. She could do it on the spot.

"Are you sure you can do it, with everything else?" He asked. He liked the idea of her pursuing the thing she loves. He could see the excitement in her eyes just as she spoke of it, and he wanted her to have something that would make her happy. But he just wanted to be sure she wasn't overexerting herself.

"I can. I'm not just doing it because of the Order or to be useful. This war, part of letting You Know Who win is letting him control our lives. I won't let all of this control mine." She said defiantly making him look at her with a proud smile on his face. He couldn't stop admiring her determination and perseverance. "I always talk about how I want to do this. Well, it's time to suit the action to the word, the word to the action."

"You know I support you on whatever you choose." He said finally, making her face spread into a wide and happy smile. "If you want to do this then I'm right there by your side; bringing you lunch on long days, and dragging you out of the hospital when your shifts are done but you insist on staying longer and learning more." He added, knowing she would most likely do that.

"You do realize it also means you'll have to take care of the plants more often?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, making his expression shift.

"You know what? On the other hand, maybe you shouldn't rush this decision. Give it some more thought and time." He spoke in a debating tone making the brunette give out a small laugh of amusement before she leaned over and placed a small kiss to his lips to shut him up.

"I'm gonna do it, and I think you'll live without me for a couple of hours every day." She said gently, knowing he was just being dramatic as usual. "I'm gonna go get started on my application right now." She added, standing up from the table and moving to put away her things in the kitchen. But he stopped her as he stood after her, his hands sneaking around her waist and turning her towards him again.

"I'm proud of you." He whispered gently, making her smile up at him with a loving look in her eyes. She didn't say anything in return but instead kissed him once more to show how grateful she was to have him supporting her.

Published: 04th October, 2019