4 March, 1980 - Brave (II)

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Sirius woke to the sound of a door opening and the vague sense that something bad had happened. This was further punctuated by the ache in the middle of his chest that felt rather like a massive bruise and the fact that he couldn't remember how he'd ended up in bed. This was never a good sign, in Sirius's considered opinion and now seemed like no exception.

It took a moment for the memories to trickle back in and none of them were particularly pleasant. He had been at the battle, at the giant camp Dumbledore had found. They'd had the element of surprise and things had been going well and then... reinforcements, he remembered with a slight jolt. Death Eater reinforcements had arrived and things had shifted. He'd been on the defensive, shielding himself as best he could, firing back when he got the chance and... and then nothing. Blackness. He must have been hit.

The next thing he remembered was a hazy image of Lavinia kneeling next to him, spells flying past her and her hand in his. Which was ridiculous, of course, and probably just some sort of fever dream. Lavinia wouldn't have gone near the battlefield. She would have avoided it like the plague. And especially since she'd shown up to help heal... the chances that she would jump both those hurdles in one day were beyond slim.

And now he was here. He shifted slightly so he could see the rest of the room by the light of the three quarter moon. It was Lavinia who had entered and was now closing the door slowly behind her, probably, he thought, to diminish the noise. He considered calling out to tell her she needn't bother, but... but his chest hurt and he was tired and she would find out soon enough since she was probably here to check on him.

Only she didn't turn towards him. In fact, she barely stepped into the room. She just turned, grabbed something off the top of his dresser and examined it. He couldn't tell what it was from this far away, nor could he make out anything on the half of her face that was visible. He also couldn't imagine what she might want off the top of his dresser so he was left watching her in confusion, still unsure whether or not he should say something.

She made a strangled sound that jerked him from his contemplation and moved, her hand grasping the door knob. And again she paused. He could see her shoulders rise and fall, as though taking a deep breath, as though bracing herself. But what...

It happened in the briefest of seconds. She shifted, just slightly, and the thing in her hand caught the light. There was a flash of silver and Sirius felt the ground open up beneath him, something wild and afraid seizing his chest and making it ache with more than the aftermath of a spell.

He spoke without thinking, knowing only that he had to keep her here. That she couldn't leave. Not with that knife that he had left where he'd tossed it months ago, which she would have seen on the occasions that she spent the night in his room. Which was now in her hand.

"Vin?" The word was hoarse and tight and his chest protested terribly at the expansion on his lungs, but he ignored it, fighting sluggish limbs to pull himself up in bed. She could not leave. He could not let her leave.

"Vin, please." He couldn't stop his voice from catching and breaking, couldn't stop the words from echoing the pain and fear that was pulsing in his head and heart. Because this couldn't happen. Not again. Not after so long. Not in this house where they had built something good and clean and better than those days.

He was pushing himself out of bed, not caring that his arms and legs felt heavy and uncooperative, when she collapsed, her legs giving beneath her as she dropped down, her hand sliding down the door, her sobs as heart rending as they had been the day Regulus had died, pulling something in his chest and ripping at his soul.

He tripped and nearly fell when he tried to run to her. His legs didn't seem to be particularly capable of holding him up right now, but he didn't care. He just had to get to her. He had to get that knife out of her hands and wrap her in his arms and make it better any way he could.

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