'Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.'
― Lao Tzu
*Beautiful cover by @oscarisaacss*
| Sirius Black |
| Order of the Phoenix - ? |
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SIRIUS HAD NEVER LOOKED AS bad as he did now. His stubble was overgrown, his hair was greasy and always seemed to stick up in all different directions. He didn't bother changing his clothes. His cheeks and eyes looked sunken in from the lack of food and sleep. He didn't look good and it worried everyone around him, but, how could they expect him to be okay when she wasn't? How could he act happy and normal when Echo Bennett was lying in a hospital right now, fighting to not bleed out to death.
After he received the letter from Dumbledore informing him about what happened, Sirius was more than ready to apparate at the hospital, he wasn't even bothered about the fact that people would see him all he knew was that he needed to see her. Luckily, Arthur and Molly Weasley apparated at Grimmauld Place before Sirius could gain enough strength to apparate out of it. Sirius broke down as soon as his eyes landed on a few blood stains on Arthur's shirt (ones he mustn't have seen when he cleaned himself but) because he knew that blood didn't belong to Arthur.
Molly frowned as she watched the young man crying hysterically, his whole body shook violently, his cries the only sound in the whole house; even Kreacher seemed to have quietened down. Arthur had left the room to clean up any excess of the blood, he and his wife were order to get to Grimmauld Place as quick as they physically could and he hadn't even had time to go back home to get changed or realise exactly what had happened.
"I-I have to go," Sirius suddenly stated, "I-I need to see her."
Molly shook her head and rushed over to the younger man, "You can't, Sirius, you can't," She told him as Arthur walked back into the dining room. Without question the ginger haired man rushed over, he had to practically restrain Sirius as the man shook in his arms, trying his best to get free.
"Let me go, Weasley!" He growled, "I need to go."
"Sirius, we can't risk it," Arthur told him.
"I don't give a flying fuck! I need to see her."
"Sirius, please," Molly pleaded, "She wouldn't want you to risk it, you know that."
Sirius calmed down for a second, "But I-I need to be t-there for her," He stated as more tears spilled from his eyes, "What if--What if something happens?"
"Nothing is going to happen," Arthur told him, trying his best to comfort the younger man. Truthfully, he didn't know if something would happen, after all, the injuries the woman received were incredibly deep and within minutes of the attack, she had passed out from the blood loss. But they couldn't risk this. Not if Echo had a chance of surviving, "The Healers are helping her as we speak, she's-she's going to be okay."
Sirius stopped fighting, he stood incredible still, his eyes looking straight at a wall, "How bad was it?"
Molly frowned, she reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder but he was quick to shrug it off, "Sirius."
Sirius' jaw locked, "How bad was it?" He finally looked back at Arthur, he could see the older man was hiding something and he needed to know, "Don't lie to me."
Arthur let out a defeated sigh, "It was bad."
"Arthur!" Molly scolded.
"The bites were deep, but she's at St. Mungo's now," Arthur continued, "Like I said, the Healers are helping her and she will be okay."
"Is that what they told you?"
Arthur looked puzzled for a moment.
"That she'll be okay?" Sirius clarified.
"Yes," Arthur lied.
Sirius let out a shaky exhale before he walked out of the room. With tensed shoulders, tears falling like waterfalls once again and a heart full of pain, the black haired man went to Echo's bedroom. He didn't want to invade her privacy, but he needed something to comfort him right now. He grabbed a jacket she left on her bed before he sat down and pulled it up to his nose. It smelt just like her and it gave him that slightly bit of comfort.
His eyes had closed momentarily, but when he eventually opened them, a photograph on her bedside table caught his gaze. His hand shakily reached forwards, his vision got blurrier from the tears, but he knew what this photograph was. It was the one Harry had given her, after he showed her it and she tried to give it him back, the teenager told her to keep it, that it clearly meant much more to her.
For the next few weeks (Sirius wasn't exactly sure how long it had all been), Sirius spend most of his time in Echo's bedroom. He refused to eat, he refused to sleep and he refused to talk to anyone. Well, anyone that wasn't Harry or Remus coming back with any news about Echo's condition.
Sirius had never felt so scared in his entire life. Even life in Azkaban seemed much better than what was happening right now. He had only just got her back and now he came so close to losing her forever. It was his literal nightmare. One he wished he could just wake up from.
