so in love with you // sirius black

chapter 29

   Sirius's chest was gently rising as rain pattered against our windows. One of his arms was draped across me and our legs were tangled together. I slowly pulled away and out of bed. He shifted in his sleep but didn't wake. 

    In the kitchen I poured myself a bowl of cereal, not wanting to bother with the unfamiliar appliances. It was grey and rainy outside, and I could feel fall approaching. As I moved to put the kettle on for tea, I noticed a paper near the stove. 

   It read: Thought you guys would want to see this but didn't want to wake you up. -Lily

   I tossed the note in the trash bin and opened the newspaper that had been sitting below it. I scanned the pages and at first, found only meaningless muggle news. I continued through the pages, confused by Lily's meaning until I reached the last story.

  Family of Three Killed in a Suspected Gas Leak

Late last night a family, The Dawsons, was found dead in their home just south of London. Neighbors reported flashes of light emanating from the house. While some suspected foul play, authorities deemed a gas leak as the cause of death . . .

 My stomach had dropped when I read the family's name. The Dawsons. Sarah Dawson was a muggle-born student two years younger than me. Me and Lily had tutored her for a semester two years ago. I stared blankly at the paper and my eyes burned. It wasn't a gas leak. Lily knew it. I knew it. The muggles probably knew it, but unlike us, they didn't know the truth, and probably never would.

I heard the door behind me creak open and was vaguely aware of soft footsteps coming toward me.

   "Morning" Sirius said, his voice low and scratchy from sleep. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked gently as he met my teary eyes. I silently pushed the paper toward him and watched his eyes scan the page. I waited for the realization to hit him. "Sarah Dawson... she went to Hogwarts didn't she?"

 I nodded.

"Goddamnit." Sirius slammed the paper on the table. "Those bastards, I-" He cut himself off and sighed. I watched him take three deep breaths and then he walked over and rubbed slow circles on my back. 

"You don't need to" I shrugged his hand off my back. "I'm fine." I wiped my eyes. It was stupid I was crying over someone I barely knew and I didn't need to burden Sirius with my tears.

"Maude." He grabbed my chin and turned my face to his. "I don't think you're fine."

"I hardly even knew her," I protested. "I shouldn't be crying, you don't need to"

"You can cry about whatever you want," he interrupted. "And yes I do need to. I want to." His hand was on my back again and this time I didn't push him away. Instead, I turned into his chest and wrapped my arms around him.

•••

"So, our first Order meeting as the real deal," James said.

"We're hot shit now," Peter laughed.

"It's more serious than that," Lily scolded the boys. But all four of them seemed puffed up nonetheless.

We all filed into the Three Broomsticks and took our seats just as the meeting was staring.

   "I'm sure by now you have all heard of the Dawson's tragic death. And I can also be sure we have all came to the same conclusions about what tragic events occurred in their home last night." Dumbledore's tone was grave as he addressed the order. The mood in the Three Broomsticks was heavy, the pub was filled wall to wall with grim-faced order members.

"So what the hell are we going to do about it?" I heard someone call out from the back corner.

"To my great dismay, there is nothing we can do for the Dawsons anymore. As we move into the next school year at Hogwarts we will be trying our best to keep our muggle-born students safe. I hope that some of you will be able to come in and help with that during the school year." There was a grumble of approval at the headmaster's words.