Serendipity (S. Black)

FORTY-SEVEN

"you will always deserve better than me"

*

Remus hadn't spoken since dawn. Peter and Sirius explained everything in hushed voices once they made it to the hospital wing, making sure no one could overhear. After that, he just put his head in his hands and said nothing for the longest time.

"Where's Kriss?" He finally inquired in a shaking voice. "Sirius, where is she?"

"I don't know," Sirius answered.

"And James?"

"James has the map," Peter responded nervously. "I have no idea where they are. I'm kind of shocked they're not in here- ow!"

Sirius stomped on his foot, trying to conceal how badly they, specifically James, were injured when they escaped. Already he'd pulled on his leather jacket to hide as many bruises as he could. On the outside, he remained calm, but on the inside, it was all he could do not to scream and freak out, because it was killing him to not know.

"They were both okay when we saw them, mate," Sirius said in a falsely cheerful tone. "Just cuts. No permanent damage."

Remus pulled his hands inside his sweater sleeves and groaned. "This is all my fault."

"It wasn't you." Peter put his hand on Sirius's shoulder and nodded. Sirius winced at the contact and quickly tried to cover up his discomfort with a reassuring smile, but Remus saw it anyway.

"Yeah, it was."

The doors to the hospital wing burst open, revealing a familiar blonde wearing a leather jacket. A yellow bandana tied her hair back, and a frantic expression graced her face. Sirius immediately stood up at the sight of her.

"Lily wasn't in the dormitory this morning," Eva said to him, her bright green eyes flicking between the three of them. "Do you know where she is? I didn't know if she was with you. Marlene's worried too. If we don't find Lily soon, she's going to come up herself, and she still doesn't know about any of this! You're all looking at me like I have three heads - what's wrong?"

Sirius shot a quick glance at the two boys before making a decision. "Walk with me," he muttered, taking her hand in his and pulling her out of the hospital wing.

"What's going on?" He only shook his head. "Sirius, you're scaring me."

Still he didn't say anything, just kept pulling her along until he found a deserted corridor.

"Sirius-"

"Last night was a disaster," he whispered, pressing his palms against the cool stone walls of the castle. "Kriss was out. She and James both got injured, but I don't know how bad because we haven't seen them since last night. I think Remus is this close to a mental breakdown, and Merlin, I'm bloody exhausted."