Pretend
Sneaking into Regulus' room was easier than Sirius had expected. A wayward thought entered Sirius' mind that maybe his brother had left the room that way for him, but he brushed it off. The younger boy was visiting that Malfoy git anyways, so Sirius didn't hold him in a very high opinion right now.
Sirius couldn't help but sigh in relief at the sight of an almost-full pot of Floo powder hanging by Regulus' fireplace. He couldn't leave via Floo — the wards would certainly warn his parents if he attempted that — but he knew very well that it would be safe to make a call at this time of the night.
He took a pinch of the powder in his left hand, the right one unusable in a makeshift sling, and let it fall into the fire. He crouched down in front of the bright-green flame and spoke out the Floo address as loud as he dared followed by the Marauder password. The next position was going to be difficult to hold, but Sirius plunged his head into the flame, bending as low as he could without hurting his arm even more.
'Prongs,' he called out and smiled in relief when he heard his best friend call back — he'd been half worried James would have fallen asleep since the mirror-call. 'Your dad's a potions whiz, right?'
James jumped off his bed and flopped down cross-legged in front of the fireplace. 'Padfoot, mate, you look terrible.' Then, as an afterthought, he added, 'Yeah, he is.'
'Great, thanks for the compliment, by the way. Now fetch me a vial of Skele Gro, would you?'
James let out a sigh Sirius knew he wasn't meant to hear. The bespectacled boy then grinned at him. 'Fell down the staircase again, did you? You're pathetic, mate. And I'm not your dog to fetch you stuff.'
The boy nevertheless stood up to bring the aforementioned potion, leaving Sirius to stare around the room. The pain in Sirius' arm was getting almost too much, especially because of the position he was sitting in — his body balanced on one arm as he tried not to crush the one cradled to his chest. James returned soon, though, a vial in his hand.
Sirius managed a smirk. 'You say you aren't a dog, and yet, here you are, doing my bidding.'
James breathed loudly through his nose and chose not to reply. He instead crouched down, opened the vial, and held it to Sirius' mouth. The latter grimaced but swallowed the disgusting thing without any protests.
'And you call yourself graceful,' James muttered; Sirius couldn't be more grateful for having a friend like James.
'Thanks, Prongs,' Sirius said, serious for once. James looked at him and opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again and just nodded. He stood up, brushed the non-existent dust off his pants, and turned to move to his bed without saying anything.
Sirius sighed and retreated his head. He knew it pained James to see him getting hurt like this, but he appreciated how his friend helped him each time without any complaints, pretending it was just a tumble down the staircase or a door banging his head or a table falling over him every time Sirius called for help.
After all, it was easier to pretend than to acknowledge the truth.
Written for Jenny (Claude Amelia Song)
Word Count: 563
Prompts used:
Written for Hogwarts Friendship Challenge
• calling a friend in the middle of the night to ask for help
Written for The Houses Competition (G, Drabble)
• "And yet, here you are," [Speech]
